Họ tên: Lương Hùng Thuận

MSSV: 030436200184
Môn: Văn học Anh-Mỹ

Đề: “A person has to have time and patience, and to observee people carefully in
order to learn their true secrets. Eventually people say or do something that reveals
who they really are.” Adapted from 'The Writer's Notebook' by Somerset
Maugham.
Write an essay of around 300 words to explain the meaning of the above quote
using information from the story Mr Know-All to support your view.
Bài làm
It takes a long time to understand and judge someone. Somerset Maugham
once wrote in his notebook “A person has to have time and patience and to observe
people carefully in order to learn their true secrets. eventually, people say or do
something that reveals who they really are.”. This view has been clearly expressed
in the story Mr.Know All through the personality change of Mr. Kalada and Mrs.
Ramsey.
Firstly, Mr. Kalada is initially described by the narrator as a show-off, self-
important, bossy, argument, and vain person so almost everyone on the ship doesn't
like him. But the narrator truly understands Mr. Kalenda after hearing that Mr.
Kalada lied about the value of the pearl necklace to save Mrs. Ramsey. This shows
that even though Mr. Kalada love to show how smart he is and knows he will win
the pearl chain debate, he still chooses as an idiot to help the woman. Thereby, we
can see that the narrator has to spend time and careful attention to the way he
behaves to really understand Mr. Kalada's personality who is a true gentleman.
Secondly, At first, the narrator comments Mrs. Ramsey is a modest, pleasant
manner and a sense of humor so most people have a first impression of her.
However, in the argument about the pearl necklace when facing Mr. Kalada, she
revealed her grief, begging and despairing for fear that her lie to her husband
would be revealed. This situation has shown us that Mrs. Ramsey is not really
great as the narrator's description, in fact, she is lying to her husband and is willing
to let Mr. Kalada lose his honor.
In conclusion, the story "Mr.Know All" and the quote by Somerset
Maugham have one thing in common that before we want to understand or judge
someone, we should take the time to observe and pay careful attention to their
actions instead of jumping to conclusions about one's characteristic.