The Right To Fail By Mary Zinsser

In the articles, “In Praise of the F Word” by Mary Sherry and “The Right to Fail” by William Zinsser, the two authors share their various views on failure. Their ideas coincide when they discuss that failure creates success and that it gives them opportunities to rebuild and restart, yet they differ from each other when Sherry and Zinsser discuss the way they view failure as a tactic or as a sign of progress.

The two articles come to an agreement when the authors discuss success. Both believe that failure can create success. Sherry claims that the fear of failure can drive a student towards success. Sherry provides her personal anecdote to support when she tells her son, “ ‘She’s going to flunk you,’ I told my son. I did not discuss it any

In essence, he claims that every time one falls down, they are just one step closer to climbing up to their success. The main idea that he presents is that “Failure isn't fatal. Countless people have had about with it and come out stronger as a result” (Zinsser 525). Both articles describe failure as the key to success and a way to learn from mistakes. Zinsser agrees that failure actually prepares the youth for success, and if they don’t fail, they will never explore and get to know themselves. Failure shouldn’t be depicted as a bad thing but as a helpful thing. Failure allows youth to restart their path to success because “for the young, dropping out is often a way of dropping in” (Zinsser 525). Personal growth spawns from failure. It gives today’s youth an opportunity to analyze their mistakes to emerge stronger after.

However, although Sherry and Zinsser both believed that failure can help win success, they promote failure very differently. Sherry believes that failure is a tactic used to scare or inspire people to work harder and do better. She claims that “fear of failure… is- a positive teaching tool” (Sherry 521). Therefore, failure is a tactic used by outside parties to impose a drive for people who search for success. Failure is feared by so many young people because of the stigma that once one fails, there is no way to be successful after. By threatening to remove a thriving future, students are inspired