...Dying With Dignity Gavin Proeh English 1 Ordinary people can change someone’s life. People who stand up for what is right and help others find dignity in their lives can be considered heroes. One does not need to win the Nobel Prize or be Superman to be considered heroic. In some cases, helping individuals accomplish tasks others find too difficult to tackle can be considered heroic. In the novel, A Lesson Before Dying, Earnest Gaines demonstrates that Paul Bonin, Grant Wiggins, and Jefferson define heroism by giving dignity to all individuals and giving respect to a disrespected community. Heroes disregard the racist codes of society by treating all people as equals. In the novel, Paul, a white man who works at the jail, recognizes the injustices in society, and insists on treating all people equally with kindness. Grant comes to the jail frequently to visit Jefferson and help him die with dignity. Paul forms a friendship with this young black teacher and their bond and desire to help Jefferson grows stronger and stronger. This friendship goes against segregation, and a partnership is formed that is based on trust and loyalty. Paul understands people and recognizes Grant’s pain when Grant visits a defeated Jefferson. A few days after the execution, Paul greats Grant with Jefferson’s notebook, “ If I could ever be of any help, I would like you to call on me. I mean that with all my heart”(255). Paul shows bravery by reaching across the racial...
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...Olivia Massey Mrs. Stewart English H2 Summer Reading Assignment PLAY: Night of the Foolish Moon AUTHOR: Luigi Jannuzzi 1. The message of the play is to follow your heart and to do whatever it is that makes you happy in life. The overall idea emphazises the fact that you can’t let other people bring you down, and you must chase after what you want regardless of what anyone else thinks. 2. Idealism in the play shows that everything in life doesn’t always go the way that we plan it, and sometimes there are difficult situations and emotions that must be overcome to make you stronger and wiser. 3. There quest in this play is for Roger to find love and to find someone that he deeply connects with on a personal and spiritual ritual. He is also on a mission to find what his purpose in life is. 4. The dilemma of the “Ingenue” is that Bernie seems very innocent and claims she saw something different at the crime than what she actually witnessed. By the closing of the play, she realizes that she needs to live her life, be honest, and learn to let go of her life. 5. Roger loses his idealism when the incident at the court occurs and he feels defeated and hopeless. However, he soon regains his idealism when Bernie begins to rely on him and ask him for help. 6. I think Victor is always annoyed with Roger because Roger is very unconventional and always does his own thing, while Victor is very strict and always goes by the book. 7. Roger says he doesn’t want to do theatre anymore...
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...Concept of Death Everyman’s Perception of death Seeking Traveling Companions Journey Repentance Death Conclusion Morality plays were written to convey a simple moral lesson to the audience or the readers. One such example is the play “Everyman” which was written in the late fifteenth century by an unknown author. Everyman is an allegorical play because it has two levels of meaning. One level of meaning is seen through the eyes of God. The other level is seen in how Everyman views life. The main character known by the name “Everyman” is representative of all God’s people and the subsequent journey each must take in order to make the Presence of God their dwelling place as well as the pitfalls that must be avoided along the way. The protagonist is symbolic of people who seek salvation through their good deeds. One theme highlighted in this play is the transitory nature of human life. Life is transitory; which means it never stays the same. It is always changing and moving toward the end that God designed for this earthly life. The Messenger introduces the transitory nature of life when he made the following statement: “How transitory we be all day” (emphasis added, p.266). Everyman was given a warning by Death that God was calling him to account before...
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...Suffering and Compassion No one anticipates whether something good or something bad will happen to them. People hope to find the answers to these questions and to relinquish their heart ache that has been given to them, so people look for answers where they cannot be found. Some believe that it is a simple act of nature, luck, and even the power of God that causes pain even though the reason of these occurrences that happen to us cannot be known. When Bad Things Happen to Good People is a book in which the author Harold S. Kushner asks the question: why God? When his son is diagnosed with a degenerative disease Kushner cannot understand why such an act of pain is happening to him and his family: “People try to make sense of the world suffering by assuming that we deserve what we get. That our misfortunes come as punishment for our sins” (Kushner, 1995, 12) can this statement make sense? How can it? Kusher is a rabbi, and helps others through their difficult times, listening to people confess the pain that they are feeling. Kusher is one of God's holy followers, so how can this statement explain the loss of his son and the feeling of emptiness in his heart that may never be filled. Spiritually, one would like to believe that religion can be a form of comfort in a situation of suffering, but questions emerge, such as how can there be a kind and loving God who is responsible for the bad things that happen to people. This forces us to question the power of God. (Kushner 1995, 34)...
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...1. Compare and contrast traditional Hmong birthing practices with those in the United States. Because the Hmong culture varies so differently from that of American practices, significant traits can be compared from each way of life. One of these differing practices is childbirth. Typically, Hmong women do not go for regular checkups, let alone see any medical professionals, for the duration of their pregnancy. Once it comes time to deliver the child, the mother gives birth in her own home, by herself, without making a sound as to not “thwart the birth” (Fadiman 1997, 3). No epidurals, medication, housewives, or nurses are utilized and the mother tends to take care of everything on her own. The only assistance the woman receives is a cup of hot water, upon request, from her husband who must avert his eyes. The woman would stand as she delivers, pushing the newborn into her arms. Her husband would then cut the umbilical cord with a pair of heated scissors. Because the spiritual side of life is so important to the Hmong, the placenta would be buried in the family’s hut so that “when the [child dies] his or her soul [can] travel back from place to place, retracing the path of its life geography, until it reaches the burial place of its placental ‘jacket’ and [puts] it on” (Faiman 1997, 5). After birth, women were to eat and drink warm liquids and follow a strict diet of steamed rice and chicken boiled in water with five special herbs (Fadiman 1997, 9). The child’s body would be...
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...an artist who was gifted, yet simultaneously cursed, with a burdening empathy for humanity. This endowment led her, along side with a series of hardships, to a life that was saturated in sorrow. At a very young age she witnessed the death of a younger brother, then first handed experienced the rise of Hitler in the First World War and Second World War, and subsequently lost both her son and grandson to both wars. She was not unaware of her woeful perspective, even when she had attempted to turn herself towards joy with her life and work, she found joy to be unobtainable as her life was seemingly brimming with bad luck. As she wrote in her journal: “How can one cherish joy when there is really nothing that gives joy?”1 Although, her sorrow wrought life and work proved that they were not in vain; as her unabridged honesty in her work led to anti-war propaganda, the pioneering of women’s suffering being displayed in art, and her insatiable focus on the working class enlightened all amongst all classes of the gulfs which separate social status. She was a master at showcasing man in his darkest hours from the prospective of the sufferer, inspiring a worldly compassion deep into the veins of all humanity. She began drawing at a young age and her father, Karl Schmitt, was a constant force in the development of her art. He recognised her talent from early on and encouraged the growth of her skills through lessons and moral support. He worked as a builder and Kathe would join him at...
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...Mirror: Who Am I? For our short story analysis, we have chosen Whose Face Do You See by Melvin Burgess, a British author whose focus is on children and young teen’s story. “Whose Face Do You See” tackles the dilemma and contradiction of the comatose Marianne, and those of her loving parents. In this story, mirror played a very important role in helping the main character to rediscover herself, this leads us to wonder about how we people really see in this world. Therefore in a two-way mirror, which side are you on? The primary literary technique that is used in this story is monologue. It is the only way the story is portrayed as through the eyes of the mother and Marianne so that the story is presented with the emotions of the characters. The italicised parts of the short story represent the inner speech of Marianne while the normal text represents the mother’s point of view. This pattern continues all the way until the very last line of the story where Marianne’s speech is no longer italicized. The significance of this change will be discussed later in the next few paragraphs. Each character is similar in their characteristics. Marianne is in a state of comatose with poor medical prognosis of ever opening her eyes again. In her despair she had developed a secondary will that denied her very existence. Marianne’s split will saw herself as a separate existence, and through it, she hopes to lessen the suffering the “other” Marianne might have to go through, if she were to die...
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...worthy of living. Survivor’s Guilt We were the one’s wrongdoing. We could have helped millions of people live if we would have just stepped in. How can we take that lightly without feeling guilty? “Survivor's guilt is connected primarily to the intense feeling of powerlessness experienced by the individual in the concentration camp. Also, there is the concern on the part of survivors’ for their own lack of feeling while in the camp, i.e. anger, sadness and so on,” (Douillard). Many people who were in the Holocaust, and made it out, suffered from survivor's guilt. Sometimes, It made them feel like they shouldn't of lived (Hass). So how did we expect them to be fine over in Germany even though we knew hundreds upon thousands of people were dying every month from the horrible deeds were done? We should be the guilty ones. Food deprivation One of the main reasons the people in concentration camps died was because they were starving to death. The only attempt that we did to try to help them was with the Berlin wall and trying to help them with the food situation; that still wasn't enough to help. Most of the survivors’ still believe to this day that they could've saved some of their family members lives by just skipping one meal that they did not need. “The only thing she ate was the slice of bread she got and I used to get angry with her. Once I yelled at her, “If you don’t eat, you will die!” Needless to say, I know in my head I’m not the cause of her death… but in my gut I felt...
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...Oprah Winfrey: An Inspiring Leader Of Today Rhonda Whiteman Central Methodist University Abstract A black female born in the Deep South to poor unwed parents, during the mid 1950’s, Oprah Gail Winfrey had very little chance of becoming one of importance, much less becoming the first black female billionaire in the world. This paper will explain Oprah’s difficult childhood and continue on into her adult life explaining how she succeeds not by chance, but through perseverance, generosity, and inner strength, she wears her heart on her sleeve and has the ability to listen to her public in a way that no other has achieved. She inspires hope and inspiration to millions by sharing her imperfections of just being Oprah, overcoming diversity, proving to her faithful audience that anyone’s dream of success can truly become a reality. Biography Life for Oprah Gail Winfrey started out January 29, 1954 in a small poor town deep in the south of Kosciusko, Mississippi. An unwed mother named Vernita, informed Oprah’s father about the conception after she was born. Vernita realized that she could not make a living for her and her young daughter, so the decision was made to leave Oprah with her paternal grandmother, while Vernita moved to Milwaukee. Oprah was a very bright child learning to read by the age of three, and appeared in front of her first audience for her church Easter program. Oprah at a young age, moved...
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...life for all three of you. I’m not sure if you knew this or not, but I have been taking a course in interpersonal communication and the things I have learned in this course have not only benefitted myself but they have benefitted my relationship with Peter. Before the course, Peter and myself struggled with communication for many different reasons, but going through this course and looking back on our problems I realized that the things we have been struggling with could have been prevented if we knew how to properly communicate with each other. My goal of this letter is to share with you my personal trials and tribulations regarding our relationship and how important interpersonal communication is in any relationship. I hope you can learn from my mistakes and use this letter as a tool and keep it in your toolbox for when you are having troubles and are not sure how to go about solving them. My wish for the three of you is to have a healthy long lasting relationship. There are a lot of things I have learned so I hope you don’t mind that this might be a lengthy letter I’m going to start off by talking to you both guys about communication. You may be thinking to yourself that you already know how to talk I don’t need a lesson on how to do that, but communication is more than just giving and receiving words, proper communication is the ability to effectively communicate are needed and to be able to attentively listen. “As newborn babies, our first cry is an announcement to...
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...A&P and Araby John Updike's A & P and James Joyce's Araby share many of the same literary traits. The primary focus of the two stories revolves around a young man who is compelled to decipher the different between cruel reality and the fantasies of romance that play in his head. That the man does, indeed, discover the difference is what sets him off into emotional collapse. One of the main similarities between the two stories is the fact that the main character, who is also the protagonist, has built up incredible,yet unrealistic, expectations of women, having focused upon one in particular towards which he places all his unrequited affection. The expectation these men hold when finally "face to face with their object of worship" (Wells, 1993, p. 127) is what sends the final and crushing blow of reality: The rejection they suffer is far too great for them to bear. Updike is famous for taking other author's works and twisting them so that they reflect a more contemporary flavor. While the story remains the same, the climate is singular only to Updike. This is the reason why there are similarities as well as deviations from Joyce's original piece. Plot, theme and detail are three of the most resembling aspects of the two stories over all other literary components; characteristic of both writers' works, each rendition offers its own unique perspective upon the young man's romantic infatuation. Not only are descriptive phrases shared by both stories, but parallels occur with...
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...Focus Simplify Take Responsibility End to End When Behind, Leapfrog 150 100 150 100 Put Products Before Profits Don’t Be a Slave to Focus Groups Bend Reality 150 150 100 Push for Perfection Impute 100 Tolerate Only “A” Players Engage Face-to-Face 150 0 150 15 Know Both the Big Picture and The Details 100 0 100 10 150 100 150 100 150 100 Combine the Humanities with The Sciences Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish 150 100 HBR.ORG ILLUSTRATION: TREVOR NELSON The Real Leadership Lessons of Steve Jobs Six months after Jobs’s death, the author of his best-selling biography identifies the practices that every CEO can try to emulate. by Walter Isaacson April 2012 Harvard Business Review 93 THE REAL LEADERSHIP LESSONS OF STEVE JOBS “The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.” —Apple’s “Think Different” commercial, 1997 HIS SAGA IS the entrepreneurial creation myth writ large: Steve Jobs cofounded Apple in his parents’ garage in 1976, was ousted in 1985, returned to rescue it from near bankruptcy in 1997, and by the time he died, in October 2011, had built it into the world’s most valuable company. Along the way he helped to transform seven industries: personal computing, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, retail stores, and digital publishing. He thus belongs in the pantheon of America’s great innovators, along ...
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...Sold to joezayed7@gmail.com THE SUNFLOWER SIMON WIESENTHAL THE SUNFLOWER SUPERSUMMARY 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS PLOT OVERVIEW 3 CHAPTER SUMMARIES AND ANALYSES 5 Chapter 1 Chapters 2-5 Chapters 6-10 Chapters 11-15 Chapters 16-20 Chapters 21-25 Chapters 26-30 Chapters 31-35 Chapters 36-40 Chapters 41-45 Chapters 46-50 Chapters 51-54 5 8 12 15 20 23 26 29 33 36 39 42 MAJOR CHARACTER ANALYSIS 45 Simon Karl Josek Arthur Adam Bolek Karl’s Mother 45 45 46 46 47 47 47 THEMES 49 SYMBOLS AND MOTIFS 51 COPYRIGHT 2016 THE SUNFLOWER SUPERSUMMARY 2 IMPORTANT QUOTES 53 ESSAY TOPICS 61 COPYRIGHT 2016 THE SUNFLOWER SUPERSUMMARY 3 PLOT OVERVIEW The Sunflower by Simon Wiesenthal is a book of non-fiction. The first section, also titled “The Sunflower,” is an account of Wiesenthal’s experience as a concentration camp prisoner under the Nazi regime. In the account, Wiesenthal describes his life in Poland prior to the German occupation, his experiences of anti-Semitism within the Polish culture, and his life as a concentration camp prisoner. He describes life in the concentration camp, the continuous humiliations, the hunger, the illness, and the constant threat of death. Central to the narrative in “The Sunflower” is the story of Simon being summoned to the deathbed of a young Nazi soldier whom Simon calls Karl and who has been wounded in combat. Karl confesses to...
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...The man (the father, called Papa) travels the road with his young son. He believes he has been appointed by God to protect the boy, and he does so at all costs, even killing another human being in order to save his son. Unlike his son, the man remains deeply suspicious and even paranoid of other individuals and their intentions, understandably. He is loath to approach other travelers on the road to offer them assistance, while the boy often wishes that he would. The man grows sicker throughout the novel, and his illness is manifested in his persistent cough and bloody spit. At the end of The Road, the man dies next to a stream in a clearing in the woods. The boy is born into the post-apocalyptic world. He knows nothing about the world before the catastrophe. He travels the road with his father and believes that he and his father are the "good guys" who carry the fire. In various encounters with other travelers on the road, the boy continually displays his faith in humanity and his humbling trust in others. Despite their near brushes with brutal violence and death, the boy consistently pleads with his father to help others in need. After his father's death, the boy is rescued by a family of people who assert that they are also the good guys. The wife of the man who is the protagonist has already died, and her situation is only described in flashbacks. She chose to avoid rape and murder, which she believed were inevitable, by committing suicide. She used a piece of sharpened...
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...Spiritual Discernment in Counseling In my life I have been faced with many unique and wonderful situations. Each of these events have shaped me into the person I am today, and consequently have influenced my career path as well. In this paper, I will explore my personal position, my past and present influences, and the practical application of all of this in order to identify my calling. I assert that, more importantly, the struggles and challenges I have encountered have made an even bigger impact on the person I have become and allowed me the clarity to focus in on my life’s purpose. Personal Position When considering the major approaches in Spiritual Discernment, I find myself drawn to two. I strongly believe that we are all on a journey and that we are unable to stray far from our destined path. This is the essence of the Bulls-Eye Approach. God is in control. He has a plan for our lives. We have the power to make choices that can lead us astray, but only so far. God will always guide us back to the path we are meant to walk. However, I also find myself considering the Wisdom Approach when looking at my life’s path. I do not believe that God’s gentle guidance always comes in the form of signs. I believe that the Holy Spirit guides us through His wisdom, and that if we are self-aware, we will know what is right. God will guide us through the influence of our strengths, talents, and abilities. He also provides us with the influential counsel that have our best interest...
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