...Hero Essay English 9 Mr. Castellano Our next major writing assignment is to write an essay about someone you consider to be a hero. We are doing this essay now because it coincides nicely with our reading of The Odyssey. As we have discussed in class, Odysseus is the archetypal Western hero: brave, strong, clever, quick-thinking, steadfast. The list could go one. My point is that as we read about this ancient and, I believe, still relevant hero I want you to think and write about someone who is a hero to you. This should be a fun assignment. I am sure you have heard all too often that there are no more heroes today, that everyone we look up to is corrupt and will ultimately disillusion us. I whole heartedly disagree. Heroes are everywhere we look: we just need to look. (In a book I read this Summer, one of the characters says, “We find what we look for.”) Heroes can be people we know personally and people we have only heard about. Here are only a few suggestions: Jesus Christ, St. Francis, Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King, Jr., Barack Obama, Captain Chesley Sullenberger, your Mom or Dad, an athlete, coach, teacher, or friend. Again, the list goes on. Just thinking about and planning this essay (as well as writing it, of course) will be a good exercise in recognizing how many heroes you have – how many people strive for high ideals and live virtuous lives. They’re there: look for them. Part of this essay will include what you define as...
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...Definition Essay 06 September 2012 Definition Essay The key principals of heroism are courage, selflessness and a lasting impact. To some people that can mean a person admired for their achievements, to others it could be a renowned warrior. A hero to me is someone who shows great courage and puts others before themself but expects nothing in return. It is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as a mythical or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability. Often heroes are portrayed as male figures in films and stories usually depicting warrior- like traits. Some dilute heroism when they attribute it to celebrities, giving them hero recognition when in reality they’re job is to entertain. Some illustrious political figures are also admired for their stature, sometimes being thought of as heroes. Many religions hold mere men as demigods or magnates. All of these fail the true definition of heroism in my eyes. Heroes can be described as someone who is able to resist fear. An individual who does a courageous act doesn’t necessarily have to affect society as a whole but can definitely change the lives of those involved. They’re putting themselves at risk, or using their resources purely to help someone else in need. These people may not get media attention, or be praised by hundreds of people, but they have certainly made a lasting impression on people’s lives. A hero, in Greek Mythology or folklore, was originally described as a demigod...
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...Seth Wilson Barrick English 9/ Period 1 3/13/12 Odysseus Hero Essay We consider heroes as crime fighters like Spiderman, Batman, a soldier, or a cop. Someone who does something courageous. My definition of a hero is someone who does something that no one or a few people would do. Even if it’s something small like quit smoking to save money for rent like my mom did, or something big. A man named Leonard Skutnik was just walking home from work and witnessed a plane crash straight into the ice covered waters of the Polomac River, an as people watched the passengers start being rescued they noticed one woman start to drown, and that’s when Leonard jumped into the freezing water...
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...Arthur Miller wrote his essay titled “Tragedy and the Common Man” in 1949. This essay explains Miller’s definition of a tragic hero as well as why a common man has as much ability to be the hero of a tragedy as someone of nobility. The Crucible is a play written by Arthur Miller in 1953 that dramatizes the Salem witch trials of the late seventeenth century in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In the play, the town of Salem falls into hysteria after Reverend Parris finds his daughter, niece, and their friends dancing in the woods with his slave Tituba. The young girls claim they have been bewitched by people in the town to avoid punishment, although, the punishment then comes for the accused regardless of their innocence. A vital character to the...
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...Kayla Romine Mr. Kaplan English 12 P.4 25 October 2011 Heroes Essay “Hero” is one of the thousands of words a person is capable of looking up in the dictionary and the definition is not exactly described what it is stated as. Many Americans believe that the definition they are capable of getting out of the dictionary is the most correct and reliable definition. However, that is not the case because everyone in the world as their own definition of a hero. On the website of The My Hero Project by Ashley from Fredericksburg it is stated, “ When asked "What is a hero?," Christopher Reeve replied that he used to believe a hero was someone who commits a courageous action without considering the consequences. Now he believes that ‘A hero is an ordinary individual who finds strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.’ ” A hero does not have a specific definition that could be set in stone for each individual to comprehend. As in the Iliad with Achilles and in the epic of Beowulf, both were heroes in different ways. Whether it be them being main characters or being a male. Beowulf's’ heroic strengths and weaknesses versus the strengths and weaknesses of Achilles’ will be further described. Although the characteristics between the two are widely different, they are both fueled by pride and glory. The only reason Achilles goes to Troy is to enhance his own glory. On the other hand, Beowulf is not as persistent, but the value of glory in his society implies...
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...Drama Essay “Othello, the Moor of Venice” Jami Bruno Liberty University In the drama “Othello, the Moor of Venice”, written by Shakespeare around 1604, we find Othello in a downfall that was fed by a villain named Iago. Othello soon becomes the tragic hero of this story. Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero is “someone who is a noble soul, from high estates, and has a downfall in the result of his hamartia or tragic flaw” (Kennedy, & Gioia, 2007). Othello is easily persuaded with bad advice, that his wife is being unfaithful and is in love with another man. Othello being insecure, is crushed when he is fooled into believing that his wife Desdemona has been unfaithful. With anger and jealousy in his heart he finds himself causing a downfall in the result of his own tragic flaw. Desdemona continues to stay faithful to her husband even as her husband accuses her of being in love with another man. She is a sweet, kind and intelligent woman who is truly devoted to loving Othello. Heartbroken to find her husband has turned against her and plans to kill her, she tries to defend herself with the truth. She is unable to dismiss the lies told to her husband by the villainous Iago. Iago’s hate for the Moor stems from several different directions. He plays the main reason Othello has a tragic flaw. Fueled by his own jealousy, Iago has started a rumor about Othello’s wife and Cassio, Othello’s honorable lieutenant. Emilia is the wife of Iago and Desdemona’s maid. She is submissive...
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...To What Extent is Eddie Carbone the Tragic hero of the Play ? ‘A view from the bridge’, an intriguing play written by a graduated journalist named Arthur Miller. Miller was born in New York, 1915. He started to write plays while he was at University of Michigan, and even carried on after graduating. Miller grew up in Brooklyn; this was where the play was set. As Miller was trying to make a name for himself, he worked at a shipyard for two years. He heard stories form his Italian friends he works alongside about how some men coming over to work illegally and being betrayed. This is where ‘A View from the Bridge’ was first inspired. Tragedy: it is a dramatic event where the main character is tested in certain circumstances in which the characters real form becomes unmasked. Aristotle was a famous Greek philosopher and writer, who defined the word tragedy. He said it should represent ‘terrible and piteous’ and lead the audience to experience ‘catharsis’ or feel sorrow. Miller used this technique to create a modern equivalent of a Greek tragedy. In addition, Aristotle also said that every tragedy must have a tragic hero; the protagonist of the play. Aristotle also talks about how a “Tragic Hero” This essay will be exploring how Eddie could be the “Tragic Hero” of the play – “A View from the Bridge”. Aristotle’s definition of a “Tragic Hero” should be good at the beginning but not entirely as this unrealistic. The character should be “appropriate” – meaning men should be manly...
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...Which Play is More Tragic: Hamlet or Agamemnon In my opinion, the play Hamlet is more tragic than Agamemnon. They are both tragedies as they both fulfill Aristotle’s definition of tragedy as they both depict the downfall of a basically good person through some fatal error or misjudgment, which produces suffering and insight on the part of the protagonist and arousing pity and fear on the part of the audience. They also have all the elements of Greek tragedy such as hubris, catharsis, peripeteia, anagnorisis, and hamartia (“Ancient Greek Tragedy”). The most important reason that Hamlet is more tragic, in my opinion, is because the protagonist, Hamlet, is an integral part of the play and his character is much more developed. In Agamemnon , the protagonist, Agamemnon, is a secondary character to his wife who, in my opinion is the main character. Hamlet is a tragic hero, as is Agamemnon, following Aristotle’s criteria for the elements of a tragic hero. For example, they both evoke the audience’s pity and fear, have a major flaw of character and are destined to fall in some way (“Tragedy in Drama”). However, because Hamlet is the main character, we see, hear and understand more of his character. When Hamlet delivers his many dramatic soliloquies about mortality, betrayal, and the futility of life, he shows us his tortured world and the anguish, grief, and uncertainty which eventually takes over his life, leading to his death (“Hamlet Tone”). As the reader, I felt so much sympathy...
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...should consider those who do so true heroes. Should heroes be defined as people who say what they think when we ourselves lack the courage to say it? Plan and write an essay blah blah blah, etc. A hero can be anyone- someone who fights crime, one who stands up for another, and maybe even one who silently defends. In my opinion, and Im sure many would agree, a hero is one who defends, protects, and stands up for what he/she believes in. Whether they have braved physical danger or not, heroes come in all different types, include those who protect with words over actions. Therefore, a hero should also be defined as one who says what he/she thinks when others lack the courage. One of the finest examples of this is the ever famous black woman Rosa Parks, who refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery bus in the times of racial segregation. Parks did what many other blacks were unable to do and stood up for her beliefs , that a black woman is no different than a white woman. She was spurned by the entire community of whites, yet she stuck to her beliefs and brought about change. To this day, she is hailed as a hero, even though she did not brave physical danger. Parks stood up for her beliefs when others lacked the courage to do so and is definitely a true American hero. Another example of a hero comes from a renowned piece of American literature, To Kill a Mockingbird . In this story, a lawyer by the name of Atticus Finch is to defend a black man who allegedly...
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...collect this homework in Week One of Term One, 2014. All the best!! Failure to complete the required reading and activities will mean that you will be unprepared to begin the year and giving up time to complete the work afterschool. YEAR 11 ENGLISH UNIT 1 & 2 OUTLINE 2014 UNIT 1 Reading & Responding – Outcome 1 The Kite Runner - Text response essay (800 – 1000 words). Creating & Presenting – Outcome 2 Visual Text ‘Redfern Now’ - One written piece in an imaginative, persuasive or expository style (600 - 800 words) related to the context of Identity and Belonging + 2 hurdle tasks exploring imaginative, persuasive or expository styles. Language Analysis – Outcome 3 You will focus on the use of persuasive language techniques written articles and visual images. You will then produce a language and visual analysis essay. (600 – 800 words) Exam: Reading and Responding and Language Analysis - 2hrs 15mins • A reading and responding essay for The Kite Runner • A language and visual analysis essay on the issue studied in class UNIT 2 Reading & Responding – Outcome 1 The Crucible - Text response essay (800 – 1000 words) Creating & Presenting – Outcome 2 Minimum of Two – One written response in an imaginative, persuasive or expository style to a prompt (600 - 800 words) related to the context of Masculinity in Australia 70%. 1 Oral presentation on the context 30% Using Language to Persuade – Outcome 3 You will study a particular issue in class...
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...Crime Fiction: The Hard-boiled Detective In Raymond Chandler’s essay ”The Simple Art of Murder” (1944) he introduces the world to his personal definition of a true hero in a new branch of crime-fiction. The essay circulates around a new type of crime story, having the real world as its steppingstone. Contrary to the typical British so-called Golden Age Detective Fiction, this sort of crime story reflects itself in the real world, a decentred world. A world that undermines basic predicates, such as order, stability, causality and resolution. Writers who occupy themselves writing these stories strive against describing a centerless world, in order to capture reality and put it straight to paper. He describes it as, “…not a very fragrant world… but continues”…it is the world you live in.” (p. 197) Chandler singles out Dashiell Hammet as the one person who actually rescued crime fiction by bringing it back to the people, in a renewed version, that embodies life in the hard-boiled world. According to Chandler, the hero, solving crimes in a ruthless city containing only people with a perverse satisfaction of being corrupt, must be a man of certain character: “He must be a complete man and a common man and yet an unusual man.” (p. 197), saying that the detective, if necessary has to have the ability to identify himself with anyone, and simultaneously also be able to elevate himself from the general population, in order to create distance from the violence-torn local society. With...
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...Study smarter with the Course Hero app.Get the App Course Hero logo Study Resources By School By Subject By Standardized Tests By Book Tutors Get Homework Help My Questions About Tutors Become a Tutor Flashcards My Flashcards Find Flashcards Create Flashcards About Flashcards Sharing Upload Documents Create Q&As Balthesar My Dashboard My Account Invite & Earn Logout Sibille_W2.docx - Running Head: FREE SPEECH 1 Free Speech... Home Ashford University POL POL 303 Sibille_W2.docx Download Document1 - 3 of 7 This preview has blurred sections. Upgrade to View Full Document Running Head: FREE SPEECH 1 Free Speech Name: Allana Sibille POL303: The American Constitution Professor: Erin Olsen Telles September 18 th , 2015 Background image of page 1 FREE SPEECH 2 Free Speech According to the United States Bill of Rights, under the First Amendment, Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise of thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peacefully to assemble, and to petition the Government for redress of grievances (ACLU, 2015). This is the American idea of what free speech is but it is entirely different. A modern misconception of free speech is that it’s not entirely free; state rulings on free speech issues whether stemming from the federal or state constitutions, are not included and they may come out differently (Winkler, 2009). According to Mahaffey...
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...Beowulf Essay To be a hero in Anglo-Saxon literature and culture one must be a warrior. In the Anglo- Saxon culture a hero had to be intelligent, valorous, prideful and most importantly strong. Fighting for glory and fighting for his people until death was the duty of a hero. The hero had to be willing to face these odds and Beowulf portrayed this. Beowulf is the perfect example of an epic hero because of his prideful actions and willingness to take on fighting the strongest monster and the other hard deeds. "The seafarers used to say, I remember, who took our gifts to the great people in token of friendship-that is fighting man in his hands grasp had the strength of thirty other men. I am thinking that the Holy God, as a grace to us Danes in the West, has directed him here against Grendel’s oppression. Thus good man shall be offered treasures in return for his courage. " (Line 377) Strength is essential to be being an Anglo-Saxon hero. In these lines we can see Beowulf has massive strength if he has strength of thirty men in his arms. "I have not in my life set eyes on a man with more might in his frame than this helmed lord. He's no hall fellow dressed in fine armor, or his face belies him; he has a head of a hero." ( Lines 247) It is clear that physical appearance is essential to being a hero because it is important that you look the part. Even if Beowulf was not the greatest warrior it is always best to act and look the part so he could give the people hope. But...
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...Hamartia in Oedipus the King According to the Aristotelian characteristics of good tragedy, the tragic character should not fall due to either excessive virtue or excessive wickedness, but due to what Aristotle called hamartia. Hamartia may be interpreted as either a flaw in character or an error in judgement. Oedipus, the tragic character in Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, certainly makes several such mistakes; however, the pervasive pattern of his judgemental errors seems to indicate a basic character flaw that precipitates them. Oedipus’ character flaw is ego. This is made evident in the opening lines of the prologue when he states "Here I am myself--you all know me, the world knows my fame: I am Oedipus." (ll. 7-9) His conceit is the root cause of a number of related problems. Among these are recklessness, disrespect, and stubbornness. Oedipus displays an attitude of recklessness and disrespect throughout the play. When he makes his proclamation and no one confesses to the murder of Laius, Oedipus loses patience immediately and rushes into his curse. Later, he displays a short temper to Tiresias: "You, you scum of the earth . . . out with it, once and for all!," (ll. 381, 383) and "Enough! Such filth from him? Insufferable--what, still alive? Get out--faster, back where you came from--vanish!" (ll. 490-492) If an unwillingness to listen may be considered stubbornness, certainly Oedipus would take advice from no one who would tell him to drop the matter of his...
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...This essay will use the mythological criticism approach to compare two stories, “A Story of an Hour,” by Kate Chopin, and “A Rose for Emily,” by William Faulkner by showing that both stories have similar archetypes embedded within their narratives. By definition and according to our text, archetypes are “characters, images and themes that symbolically embody meanings and experiences,” (2059, Meyer). In both of these stories, I see that the main characters are involved in a quest for feminine self-discovery and freedom of the human spirit. In Joseph Campbell’s, “The Hero with a Thousand Faces,” the author discusses the journey we are called to in life, and that some choose to follow that call while others do not. In this case, both female characters choose not to answer the call, and become trapped in their initial wounding. The both feel they have no power to move out of their current state. In Carol Pearson’s book, “The Hero Within: Six Archetypes We Live By,” six major archetypes are discussed. They include the orphan, the innocent, the magician, the wanderer, the warrior and the altruist. All of these archetypes can also have shadow sides, as described by author Pearson. In my opinion, the archetype that best fits Mrs. Mallard, the main character of “A Story of an Hour,” by Chopin and Miss Emily Grierson, the main character of “A Rose for Miss Emily,” by Faulkner, is the orphan archetype and its shadow side. Mrs. Mallard is a woman trapped in an unhappy marriage...
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