Free Essay

Sandra Bullock

In:

Submitted By hansen94
Words 967
Pages 4
A:
1)
Text 1 – The Sandra Bullock Trade
Text 1 is written by David Brooks and was brought in The New York Times in 2010.
In the beginning the text focuses on Sandra Bullock’s life. She has just won an Academy Award for best actress, but beneath the surface, something seems to be very wrong.
Brooks uses Bullock as an example of his later conclusion. He puts a spot on the relationship between happiness and economic wealth.
According to Brooks there is something a lot more important than economic wealth. “Marital happiness is far more important than anything else in determining personal well-being”. Brooks uses a lot of statistics to support his points of view. From one of the statistics, he deduces that winning the lottery does not make you any happier. Instead he tells that we are happiest after our retirement.
“The overall impression from this research is that economic and professional success exists on the surface of life, and that they emerge out of interpersonal relationships, which are much deeper and more important”. The main point in this text is that marital happiness is way more important than economic wealth.
Text 2 – But will it make you happy?
Text 2 is written by Stephanie Rosenbloom and was brought in The New York Times in 2010.
It focuses on the fact, that we are in an economic crisis and we do not spend as much money as we did before the crisis. Because of that, we have to use our money properly.
“..people are happier when they spend money on experiences instead of material objects..”. This claim is a generally assumption in the text, and Rosenbloom keeps talking about how it makes you happier, when you spend your money on an experience instead of plain old stuff.
Fashion lovers disagree with Rosenbloom. The fashion journalist Hayley Corwich says, “I could pull out things from my closet that I bought when I was 17 that I still love”.
In spite of this pronouncement, the request from Rosenbloom is: Spend your money on experiences instead of material junk.
2)
Brooks uses a lot of statistics based on studies of consumption and happiness. It makes it more reliable, and we are influenced by this. “According to one study..”. “This is the age of research”. This is an example of ethos argumentation.
He also refers to a lot of scholars and researchers. “According to Carol Graham of the Brookings Institution”. “Research by Donald A. Redelmeier and Sheldon M. Singh”. This is just another example of ethos appeal.
In spite of the fact, that Brooks uses all these statistics and refers to Scholars, the message is very clear, and something all citizens can relate to. We are all searching for happiness in some way, so this topic definitely hits bull’s eye.
Brooks also uses pathos appeal. He talks to our heart, and sometimes he lays it on thick. “If you have a successful marriage, it doesn’t matter how many professional setbacks you endure”. It might be right, but we also want to hear this. My point is that the reader is engaged because Brooks tells us what we want to hear. It would be awful if he presented proves, which showed that money makes you happier.
3)
Would you be happier if you were richer?
Maybe I would not be happier, but money creates opportunities. And that is a fact, no statistics or any scholar can change. Of course money does not buy happiness. But it is still some kind of a safety valve, and if you use the money responsible, I really do not see the problem.
But I really agree with Rosenbloom. If the basic needs are fulfilled, a lot of the surpluses are irrelevant. But “basic needs” is a very indistinct conception. And as Rosenbloom tells, we compare ourselves with the neighbors. And this comparison displaces the limit. My question is just, where do we end up? We look at our neighbors and think “I want that too”. And it really is a destroying circle.
All these comparisons are not just a personal aspect; it is also in our society. Maybe I am going too far, but I allege that all these comparisons spoil our welfare state. But maybe it would not be that terrible. Singer talks about how greedy for money we are, and the invention of the currency was maybe not that genius.
Maybe he is right; money really can make us go nuts. Just take a look on Greece. The country is in ruins, and countless demonstrations take place in Athens. Most of the demonstrators are not poor, the basic needs are fulfilled, and the only explanation of their fit of rage is greed. So it does not seem like lack of money makes you happier either. So how can we express anything about the happiness value of money?
I really do not think we can. And I do not think money has anything to do with happiness. As previous said, the basic needs have to be fulfilled, but after that, money does not do anything. It creates opportunities, but opportunities are not happiness.
It is a very complicated topic to deal with, and the fact is actually, that there is no answer of this important question.
Made by Frederik Kold Jensen

--------------------------------------------
[ 1 ]. Text 1 – Side 2, linje 11-12.
[ 2 ]. Text 1 – Side 3, linje 41-43.
[ 3 ]. Text 2 – Side 4, linje 11-12.
[ 4 ]. Text 2 – Side 4, linje 19.
[ 5 ]. Text 2 – Side 4, linje 39.
[ 6 ]. Text 1 – Side 3, linje 37.
[ 7 ]. Text 1 – Side 3, linje 16.
[ 8 ]. Text 1 – Side 3, linje 22.
[ 9 ]. Text 1 – Side 3, linje 7.
[ 10 ]. Text 1 – Side 3, linje 12-13.
[ 11 ]. Text 3 – Side 6, linje 1.

Similar Documents

Free Essay

The Sandra Bullock Trade

...Two things happened to Sandra Bullock this month. First, she won an Academy Award for best actress. Then came the news reports claiming that her husband is an adulterous jerk. So the philosophic question of the day is: Would you take that as a deal? Would you exchange a tremendous professional triumph for a severe personal blow? On the one hand, an Academy Award is nothing to sneeze at. Bullock has earned the admiration of her peers in a way very few experience. She’ll make more money for years to come. She may even live longer. Research by Donald A. Redelmeier and Sheldon M. Singh has found that, on average, Oscar winners live nearly four years longer than nominees that don’t win. Nonetheless, if you had to take more than three seconds to think about this question, you are absolutely crazy. Marital happiness is far more important than anything else in determining personal well-being. If you have a successful marriage, it doesn’t matter how many professional setbacks you endure, you will be reasonably happy. If you have an unsuccessful marriage, it doesn’t matter how many career triumphs you record, you will remain significantly unfulfilled. This isn’t just sermonizing. This is the age of research, so there’s data to back this up. Over the past few decades, teams of researchers have been studying happiness. Their work, which seemed flimsy at first, has developed an impressive rigor, and one of the key findings is that, just as the old sages predicted, worldly success has...

Words: 375 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

The Sandra Bullock Trade

...Text 1 is written by David Brooks and the title is "The Sandra Bullock trade" The text focus lies on money, David Brooks opinion is that money doesn't make us happier! Person relations are much more important than a career and a lot of money! In the start of the text he uses an example of Sandra Bullock that gives us a view on the relationship between wealth and happiness. Sandra won a big price and was ensured a good future with lots of money and acknowledgment, what many people would se as a dream future, but at the same time her husband turned out to have cheated on her. The question is know, what is most important? 1. A job with a lot of money or 2. A happy relationship Brooks own opinion is that the relationship is the most important, as he says in text it doesn't matter how many setbacks you go through in your life, when you just have a successful relationship and the other way if you have an unhappy marriage, does career triumphs not make you happier, you will always feel unfulfilled. Brooks says that the relationship between money and wellbeing is complicated, but the correspondence between relationships and happiness is not. We gain happiness through our daily activities like: having sex, socializing, having dinner with others and so on. Brooks uses an example in the text, which says that being married produces gain equivalent to more than 100.000 dollars a year. By this example Brooks also maintain his claim about how happiness doesn't come through money and well...

Words: 384 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Sandra Bullock Stands

...Sandra Bullock Makes The Proposal Stands Sandra Bullock is one of the greatest actresses in the history of cinema. All her movies are beloved movies and are very close to the heart of the audience The proposal movie is a unique addition to her history. Sandra Bullock asserted in this movie how a skillful actress she is because she had the courage to choose a hateful mistress role and excel in it despite of being different from type of characters she used to present before, she could transit smoothly and professional from frigidness, to comedy, to romance, and she undoubtfuly could make us enjoy the movie despite of its easily predictable and stereotypic events. Bullock used to play the role of an ordinary woman who finds herself suddenly in the face of an extraordinary events and obstacles. Yet, in this movie, she portrays a powerful, cranky, pushy, and bossy woman. This “pitch” has been hated deeply by all her employees especially the miserable Andrew who had a lot of ambitions that he worked hard to achieve(). His devotion to his work is the thing that made him the perfect candidate for blackmailing by Margaret who threatened with ruining his future if he did not comply with her demands. She...

Words: 948 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

The Relation Between Wealth and Happiness

...WEALTH AND HAPPINESS A1: The articles The Sandra Bullock Trade and But Will It Make You Happier? both dis-cuss the relation between wealth and happiness, and it doesn’t require much to figure out, that these articles agree that happiness doesn’t depend on wealth in general. But as The Sandra Bullock Trade nearly refuses any connection between the two and even states that “if you have an unsuccessful marriage (…) you will remain significantly unfulfilled” (p. 2), But Will It Make You Happier? points out that even though happiness isn’t dependent on income, your buys will influence your mood. The Sandra Bullock Trade acknowledges that poor people are generally unhappier, but the article also claims that as long as your basic needs are fulfilled, money makes no difference. This is probably the biggest disagreement between the articles, as But Will It Make You Happier? is somewhat more capable of differ-entiating the dilemma. Instead of just having a one-tack mind, the article focuses on both the pleasure that money can bring, but it also declares how we are more likely to find joy when we buy social activities than when we buy material objects. A2: The Sandra Bullock Trade catches your attention from the very beginning. The headline itself makes you want to read it, because a celebrity like Sandra Bullock is a person that will instantly catch your attention whether you want her to or not. Another means, which The Sandra Bullock Trade uses, is to turn directly to the reader...

Words: 742 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

5 ’Crazy People’ Who Were Right All Along Analysis

...the opposite. Furthermore, you see the author’s use of humour in his colourful language. He uses expressions like “kick a battleship’s ass” and “he wasn’t just full of hot air”, which both are metaphors to interest and entertain the reader. Both of the quotes are from paragraph #5, but playful language is used during the entire text. The used language is overall very casual, and the author makes use of an informal tone. In the text you also find intertextuality, which is references to other movies or texts, the readers know. For example the author makes a reference to the character James Bond from the movies of the same name, when he says “Asian 007’s” and he references to the American pop-culture when he mentions American actress Sandra Bullock in a casual tone. These intertextual references create a space where the reader feels at home in the text because of the many recognizable elements. The function of the text is both delighting and persuading the reader. The delighting shows in the great the use of humour and playful language, which engages the reader and makes the article interesting...

Words: 478 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Wealth and Happiness

...Wealth and Happiness 1. The first text “The Sandra Bullock Trade” says that marital happiness is more important than anything else in determining happiness. If you have a good marriage, then no matter how many personal setbacks you have, you will always be reasonably happy. If you do not have a good marriage the no matter how many career triumphs you gain, you will still be unfulfilled. It also says that the relationship between happiness and income is complicated for instance poor nations become happier as they become middle-class. But when they achieved the basic things, the income is not that important anymore. At the same time the text also says that if you join a group it makes you just has happy as if you double your income. In the end the text mentions two impressions, the first one is that from all the research you can see that economic and professional success exists on the surface of life and it comes from interpersonal relationships and that is way deeper and more important. The other impression is that we pay attention to the wrong things. We overestimate the fact that money will make our lives better. Text number 2 is “But Will It Make You Happy?” it starts with saying that consumers spend more and spend less than they have done in a long time. It also says that new studies of consumption happiness show that people are happier when they spend money on experiences than when they buy material objects. Yet the text says that scholars haven’t found out whether...

Words: 784 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Work

...Film Essay: The Blind Side Michael Glyde Wiles Waldorf College: Critical Thinking Film Essay: The Blind Side The film “The Blind Side” Written by Michael Lewis, Starring Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Quinton Aaron, and Kathy Bates is a powerful true story. The movie is set in Tennessee; the Blind Side contains two separate but important stories. One details the real life trials and tribulations of a young black man named Michael Oher. The other details the evolution of the position Michael will ultimately play in the game of football. The left tackle position, in today’s NFL left tackles get paid the most money next to the Quarterback because they are responsible for guarding the quarterback’s blind side. The goal of the main charter is to help a young homeless boy. The major decision was taking the young man into the family home and giving him a place to stay this decision was made by the family Sandra bullock (Leigh Anne Touhy) and Tim McGraw (Sean Touhy) along with the children. The process was not an easy one, after taking in Big Mike the family had to deal with many obstacles, Michael’s grades were poor so they had to get him help by hiring MS sue to tutor him they also dealt with people questing the fact that Sandra bullock (Leigh Anne Touhy) had a daughter the same age as Michael and how she would deal with that. There were many problems and roadblocks, a few were the fact that people at the school did not think that Michael belonged at the school or if he could...

Words: 896 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Character Evaluation of Margaret Tate

...Character Evaluation: Sandra Bullock as "Margaret Tate" Krista Reeves PSY/230 October 17, 2014 Michelle Irwin Character Evaluation: Sandra Bullock as "Margaret Tate" “Give me your shirt, and your tie”; this is a line from the very popular movie The Proposal, where Andrew Paxton, played by Ryan Reynolds, runs into a co-worker and spills his boss’s coffee on his shirt. Now, why do you think he would be so worried about his boss’s opinion? Could it possibly be because of her personality or how domineering she is at work? In this movie, Sandra Bullock plays an uptight, discipline, assertive, controlling boss at a New York publishing company. Margaret Tate, Sandra’s character, is often referred to as the “witch” from her co-workers. She is an editor for this publishing company where Andrew is her assistant. In this position, we see her frequently use her power of authority to get her way. What kind of personality does this Margaret Tate possess? One could say she was an extravert, but the one trait she does possess mainly is that of conscientiousness. Describing Sandra’s character in this film, you would have to say that she is full of energy, dependable and assertive in her career, well-organized, but one who also displays a controlling personality. Margaret Tate’s personality was one of unrelenting desire for her career. She is passionate at what she does, in control of her life, always maintaining a strict routine day after day and not straying from it. Definitely...

Words: 1005 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Eksamensæt a, Delopgave 1

...Outline People are different, but then again how different are people actually? In the following texts we hear about research some journalists have been doing and about their results. The text “The Sandra Bullock Trade” is about a differences and similarities between Wealth and happiness. We hear about Sandra Bullock who won an Academy Award followed by the news reports claiming that her husband is an adulterous jerk. The question now is: if you experience a professional success like that and afterwards experience a personal failure, would you be fine about it? Does they equal out? David Brooks writes that personal success is more important to us than professional success. But it’s not as simple as that, for example he writes that if a country goes from poor to middle-class the country become happier. He compares happiness with money when he writes “..Joining a group that meets even just ones a month produces the same happiness as doubling your income”. He concludes with saying that the professional success only exists on the surface of life and personal success is deeper and more important. In the text “But will it make you happy?” starts out with a lot of facts and information. But one of the differences is that in text 1 he tells us about his research at concludes that personal success will in the end be the best source to happiness. Stephanie Rosenbloom is more detailed, she gives examples like “..People are happier when they spend money on experiences instead of...

Words: 333 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Money vs. Happiness

...A 1. Give an outline of the views on the relation between wealth and happiness presented in texts 1 and 2 In the first text “The Sandra Bullock Trade” David Brooks presents his own subjective attitude towards the topic “money vs. happiness”, and Brooks is convinced that there is little or no connection between being wealthy and being happy. “Marital happiness is far more important than anything else in determining personal well-being” he says, and underpins this with the statement that if you are happily married everything else doesn’t matter, you will be reasonably happy anyway. On the other hand he claims that if you have an unsuccessful marriage you will never be truly happy. He introduces some statistics to backup his opinion showing that the relationship between happiness and income is tenuous after the point where basic necessities have been achieved. “…people are happy in their 20’s, dip in middle age and then, on average, hit peak happiness just after retirement at age 65” According to Brooks and this assertion happiness is based on age rather than on income, and he also mentions that the daily activities most associated with happiness are the ones where you socialize with others. All together he’s of the opinion that happiness does not rely on the fact that you are either wealthy or not. In text 2 the topic is seen in a different way. It’s not seen as an “either money or happiness”-situation but more by the way the money is used. According to studies of consumption...

Words: 1037 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Happiness

...emphasizes how we tend to pay attention to the wrong things in life, as we overestimate the value of money, instead of valuing personal and social wealth higher. The primary point in text 2 is that spending money on experiences instead of luxury goods is proved to produce longer-lasting satisfaction. The reason for this is that materialistic wealth tends to aim at outdoing others, as you would always want to have the bigger flat screen, the faster car and the newer cell phone, while it is less likely that you would compare your experiences in such a fashion. 2. The author of text 1 David Brooks uses an example from the real world to engage the reader in the text, an example he calls The Sandra Bullock Trade. This introduction is an excellent example of a dilemma where Sandra Bullock first won an Academy Award, a great career accomplishment, but in the meantime news got out that her husband was being unfaithful with her. David Brooks hereafter...

Words: 837 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Wealth and Happiness

...between wealth and happiness presented in texts 1 and 2. David Brooks who is the narrator in texts 1 telling us of how wealth is nothing compared to the relationship with other people. Out of some studies that have been made ​​it has been proven that most people get more happiness by socializing with others then making lots of money. David Brook does not think that money has anything to do with happiness. He means that marital happiness is more important than anything else. It doesn’t matter how successful you are or how many triumphs you record career. It is the personal relations there are much more important than having a great career with lots of money. In this text David Brook makes an example with Sandra Bullock. Two important things happened to her in one month. Sandra won an Academy Award for best actress and afterwards came the news reports claiming that her husband is an adulterous jerk. David argues that marital happiness is more important than anything else in determining personal well-being. If you just have a successful marriage, you will be happy immediately. Text 1 ends with that personal relation are much more important than having a great career and lots of money. The relationships are the most important of all. Text 2 written by Stephanie Rosenbloom is more different then text 1. Text 2 has another focus. Stephanie Rosenbloom is looking at which way of spending money gives the most happiness in people’s life. According to Stephanie it matters how we choose...

Words: 372 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Crash the Movie

...is both a victim and guilty of racism. People’s impulses have been an issue within this movie. A negative impulse have been instinctive and their positive one could be and have been dangerous. This movie shows that everyone feels prejudice against other cultures, groups or races and somewhat resents them for it. The actions and feelings displayed and touched on throughout the movie are simply just the consequences. The first demonstration displayed in the film of racism or an act of racism came when a wife of an attorney, played by Sandra Bullock assumed that the two men walking towards her were to going to rob her. Though that became the case, she made an assumption based on color or ethnic background. I don’t believe that she should have based on the area that they were all in and the restaurant that they came out of. This displayed subjective reality. Subjective reality is when what you perceive to be true actually does come true. So Sandra Bullock’s character plays that part when she sees the two men as a threat, she grips her purse causing her subjective reality to become true. An LAPD officer, played by Matt Dillon displays an act of racism as well based on pulling over, harassing and assaulting a husband and wife of color, just because he had...

Words: 1135 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Happiness

...Colino and “The Happiness Factor” by David Brooks, both authors give insights on happiness, how to be happy, and where happiness comes from. Colino mainly talks about how having a healthy self-esteem, a sense of optimism, gratifying relationships, and meaning and purpose in your life have the most influence on your happiness. Brooks talks about how money, fame, and wealth shouldn’t make us happy. However, both Brooks and Colino express that happiness comes from your inner self, and what you surround yourself with, not materialistic things. First of all, Brooks views on happiness differs from Stacey Colino. Brooks feels happiness comes from relationships with people, and not money. He brought up a good example with the famous actress Sandra Bullock. She won the Academy Award for best actress in 2010. Then news reports came out that her and her husband had a divorce. He was an “adulterous jerk.” Brooks stated that if you have a unsuccessful marriage or relationship, it does not matter what career achievements you have, you will remain unhappy. According to Brooks, countries with high social trust have happier people, better health, and more efficient government. Furthermore, Stacey Colino states basically how to be happy and what steps to take. She gives different ideas on how to be happy, for example, develop an upbeat attitude, hang out with your favorite people, etc. Stacey views happiness with what you have around you, if you’re around negativity you’re most likely going...

Words: 467 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Rich, Married or Bouth?

...1. Have you ever heard about living four years longer if you won an Oscar, and not just were nominated? In the text “The Sandra Bullock trade” by David Brooks, he is talking about how the Oscar nomination can make your life longer. In a research by Donald A. Redelmeier and Sheldon M. Singh, they have concluded that people, who won an Oscar live four years longer than people who only was nominated. Another thing David is telling us is “The daily activities most associated with happiness are sex, socializing after work and having dinner with others.” (P3 L6). David is telling us that in a relationship that is between happiness and income is complicated, and how being married can imagine a psychic gain equivalent to more than $100.000 a year. If you got a lot of money and used them all on clothes and shoes, is the question can pointless shopping make you happier? The text “But Will It Make You Happy?” by Stephanie Rosenbloom is telling the reader about we rather would e.g. dive with dolphins, than e.g. buying new gadgets for your car, because is make us happier. Stephanie is explains how some rich people do not like to show they have a lot of money, that means they actually is embarrassment over they are rich, that is reduced the ability to reap the small enjoyments in life. 2. “Two things happened to Sandra Bullock this month. First, she won an Academy Award for best actress. Then came the news reports claiming that her husband I an adulterous jerk. So the philosophic question...

Words: 357 - Pages: 2