...So go ahead. Fall down. The world looks different from the ground (Oprah Winfrey). Naomi is the main protagonist in the book called “A Complicated Kindness”, written by Miriam Toews. This story is about Naomi, she is a Mennonite teenager living in a community. According to Naomi’s perspective, being a Mennonite in your teens is a bad scenario. Naomi follows through in the present with her boyfriend, Travis, her father, Ray, and the number of flashbacks reminding Naomi of her mother Trudie and sister Natasha (Tash). Naomi reminisces on the challenges in the past and breathes through the settings in the present, changing her attribute spiritually and her way of thinking. Naomi loses and leaves her previous hopes and creates new ones. She becomes more independent. And as she grows, her mindset is also changing. Due to Naomi`s circumstances some of her previous hopes were broken; however, she carries on creating new hopes to move on. Naomi has lost so much as she grew, but she keeps her hope of getting her family back together. Even though her hopes were crushed, even after loosing hope, she thinks positively and shapes new goals and hopes to carry on. ”That sounds good, right? Actually I haven't dropped the bracelet but I will. Soon. I'm pretty sure of that. I`ve got the car. All I have to do is sell the house. A good solid unfurnished bungalow....
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...Help can come from unexpected places no matter where you are. The story "7th grade" by Gary Soto and the "Scholarship Jacket" by Marta Salinas. They share a common theme. Both stories teach us, help can come from unexpected places. When you need help, you need help might find it where you least expect it. In 7th grade by Gary Soto tells a story about a boy named Victor, who's in 7th grade he tries to impress his crush Teresa. When he is in French the teacher asks if anybody already knows how to speak French already. Victor raises his hand, wanting to impress Teresa. The teacher asks him to speak what he knows. Victor doesn't know any French says what he thinks sounds like it could be French but it sounds like nonsense. The teacher didn’t...
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...Religion is interpreted differently by all who are affected by it. Some believe in specific Gods, others believe in the general concepts, and some do not believe at all. These extremes and their impacts are clearly portrayed In Miriam Toews, A Complicated Kindness. The protagonist, Naomi ‘Nomi’ Nickel, is an outlier from the extremist values of her Mennonite community, as she is not a devout Mennonite and often criticizes their ideals. Her mother and sister were exiled because of their non-conforming actions and viewpoints, while Nomi and her father confront the restraining morals and their consequences during their absence. Through the mental and physical challenges that protagonists and minor characters cope with in their daily lives, Toews’s...
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...Elements of a good ending; A Complicated Kindness and Kite Runner While writing a novel the writer must emphasize on the basic elements of ending the storyline. Efficient ending of a story answers the reader’s expectation of the story’s question. A good ending seals the reader’s impression of all they have read in the story. Therefore a good ending is necessary in writers doing literature writing as they motivate a reader to enjoy reading. There are four main elements which guide a writer in creating a good story ending in a novel. Comparisons between two novels; a complicated Kindness and Kite runner ending will help establish a good example of each of the four elements discussed below. First a good ending should seek to address the main problem or the antagonist. The protagonist does not necessarily have to win every time in a story but the main issue and problem be addressed in a way with the major win or defeat on the protagonist part. A complicated Kindness Miriam Toew’s keeps on addressing Nomi who is the antagonist in the story towards the end of the novel Nomi is seen as an courageous girl gathering means to help re unite her family together. She does so by seeking to trace her mother and a sister who left their community. She oppressively resists the rebellious rules and cultures in her society. Another significant element is the tying of loose ends and provision of a closure .this element applies on enhancing the reader to get anticipated on the next series of the novel...
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...surprise, but not a very good one. And then it went away. The way it does it. But it exhausted me, like a seizure”. Speaker: The speaker in this passage is Nomi Nickel, the main character in A Complicated Kindness, speaking on her view of loss. Context: This passage is from Chapter 13, page 105 of A Complicated Kindness. By this point in the book, Tash,...
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...I would love to start with the words of Dalai Lama: “This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.” The current situation is characterized by a spiritual impoverishment of the spiritual powers of man, which makes it almost impossible to moral action. Man denies given reality, transforming it into a free creative act. But where did he deny? In other words, if we use the analogy of the springboard, then that allows a person to jump, leads to jump and where he jumps, and who decide how far to jump? Springboard for itself can not cause a jump, but only one of the conditions of its possibility. That is, the existence of one does not require given reality denying it, because it is not in the animal world, but it exists in the human. Reality does not imply a project of transformation, but a man comes always dissatisfied in everything and everybody, and begins to break and build. There are always deployed vast horizons of opportunities in front of every man, to where he should decide to put oneself and choose one single path. And the situation is further complicated by the fact that people here cannot get rid of choice at random, here is required of him the necessity of choice. The choice should not only be free and personal, but necessary. Moreover, the need for external not taken into account, a person is looking for, demands from himself if he is honest with himself...
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...You Decide: Understanding your spouse – Ten Guidelines Sandra Pacheco Marriage and Family - SOCS 315 Professor Gomes October 4, 2013 DeVry University Marriage is a difficult already. So it only gets worse when children come along. Things get complicated when children come along, since there is more people to take care of. Even though, children are a blessing from god, they are huge responsibility. Marriage with children can be very stressful. Couples can sometimes have conflicts because of important decisions in life. Whether, it's taking care of your 3 month your old or going back to work? You have to really analyze both sides to make the best decision you can possibly make for your little one. Guideline 1: Express Anger Directly and with Kindness What Leonora needs to do: Leonora should make Joshua understand that she is doing a job for the betterment of their child only. She is not doing for any other reason but for the bright future of their child and family only (Blackburn, 2011) What Joshua needs to do: Joshua needs to understand that she is doing all this for the welfare of their child only so that they don't have to face any kind of financial trouble in future for their child. Guideline 2: Check Out Your Interpretation of Others' Behaviors What Leonora needs to do: According to me Leonora should wait some more months to join a job because her daughter is very small and needs her. Leonora should...
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...help notify the reader of the devastating ending awaiting for the family by the misfits. O’Connor’s description is very realistic and genuine because it simply reflects the diverse, complicated feelings people often have when they are struck in the same situation as the characters. O’Connor presents many different themes and personalities of characters that reveal different ideas and emotions going from hope for a vacation all the way to anger and lamentation. O’Connor portrays both the impure intentions and obstacles that face the family through theme, symbolism and characterization. O’Connor uses many themes in order to intensify the plot and entertain the readers. One of the most important themes that O’Connor states is prayer and forgiveness. The words O’Connor chose to reflect prayer and forgiveness to show the different stages of morality both the grandmother and the misfit when through. The grandmother had a manipulative and hidden characteristic that affected the whole family’s aftermath. The writers twist in diction usage to show the reader whether or not the characters are ultimately deserving of the tragic aftermath. The grandmother’s selfishness lead her to loose both her and her family’s life. After the misfits meets the family, O’Connor points out a need for forgiveness and kindness as a theme to help the reader gain so hope to keep the ending a surprise. The grandmother says to the misfit “Pray, pray, pray, pray” in hopes he brings his soft side and knows that...
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...Kindness is a very interesting word with a simple definition, however when put it into action the idea is much more complicated and complex. Diversity is a similar word that has a very simple definition but a deep complexity when put into action. How is it as people that we can take very simple positive words and make them very complicated and bleak, our nature makes us so. The idea that is brought forth in Anne Sexton’s “After Auschwitz” is very dark and angry, her meaning behind that poem I believe was to depict the human race as we are, as animals. People would prefer to think that good outweighs the bad however, when genocide is concerned that is simply not possible. The complexity of this issue will keep a person up at night, after reading...
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...How to be a good person? This may seem like a simple question, yet it may be a complicated one, too. Generally, there are two sides to every coin. For example, without evil, there can be no good. In order to answer the question, one must ask which factors facilitate doing good things and which ones facilitate doing evil things? In my opinion, there are many key factors which facilitate good and evil acts: patterns of childhood, societal pressure where one lives in such as: family, school, peers or friends. Family is the most important factor influencing human behavior and attitude awareness because people spend most of their times with their families at home. Second, schools take the next role in influencing and building people’s behavior. Schools enhance the learned behaviors given at home from the family. Thus, in school, teachers become secondary parents. Third, friends or peers influence opinions, attitudes and behaviors. I have read many stories about good people. One story is about Jesse Figuerido, a maintenance mechanic at Edgerton House who wins the James N. Murphy Award. He receives this award because of his kindness to all of the people around him. He is known as a nice and a good person. He does many good things including helping other people and always sacrificing his time unconditionally for others. He is a good example of being a good person, and tries to show this to MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) students. He wins the students’ hearts by...
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...“Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” Abraham Lincoln Living a happier life often seems to be about living your big dreams and putting in a lot of work over a long time. Practical people somehow always manage to make things work for them or for the good of the group. Level-headed and sensible, they can keep it together even when everything else around them is drastically falling apart. Being practical means being ready to deal with a particular situation exactly as it is, not whining for better circumstances or going on about not having enough resources to solve the problem at hand. Being practical in life is a valuable trait to possess, as the real world never tires of throwing curve balls from time to time and seeing whether you’re skilled enough to deal with the difficulties that unexpectedly come your way. 1. Be Contented And Embody Acceptance. Be contented with the tools you are given to deal with a difficulty, accept the failures and challenges the situation presents, and make the best of what you have to resolve the difficulty you are in. 2. Be Responsible. After accepting of a situation, accept the responsibility attach on it. Being responsible means taking charge of a situation and doing what you can do to manage things better and solve problems. This doesn’t mean that you should always take all the aspects of the problem-solving process, exhausting your resources to come up with the best possible plan of action and solution...
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...(SY. 2013-2014). We need your help to answer the questions below honestly. Rest assured that your answers will be kept with full confidentiality. Thank you for your kindness and consideration. Researchers, Camama, Kevin Clinton L. Cruz, John Paulo B. Cuaresma, Joena A. Dela Cruz, Elyzabeth Jecielle M. Pinca, Micha-Ella Jee Y. Name: _____________________________ (optional) Section: _________________ Gender: Male ( ) Female ( ) Age: _______ I. Read each question carefully. Check the box that corresponds to your answer. (You can check more than one.) 1. Are you engage in any kind of vices? (vices --- alcohol, cigarettes, online games, gambling, social networking sites, computer games, reading manga or comic books, etc. ). If “NO”, please proceed to test II. yes no 2. What is/are the vice/s that you are engaged with? Smoking Playing online games Drinking liquor Social networking sites Playing computer games Marijuana Shabu Gambling (billiard, card, kara y crus, etc.) Others, please specify: ______________ 3. What are the reasons why you are engaged in vices? Boredom Peer pressure Curiosity Advertisement 4. What are the factor/s why you are engaged in these vices? Society Media Family problems Financial Problem Complicated relationship 5. How often do you engage yourself in vices? Rarely Sometimes Seldom Always II. Read and rate each of the following. 1 to be the greatest affected...
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...The issue of life and death is the central theme of Margaret Edson’s play “Wit”; whereas the main character’s (Vivian Bearing) finding of her misconception of witty language’s significance is used by the author for representation of Vivian’s change due to her disease. In particular, Ms. Bearing’s advocacy for the need of wit in language loses its importance under the influence of her experiences in the hospital. Vivian’s concept of witty language undergoes fundamental changes during her hospital stay, which results in her understanding of the role played by simplicity in the expression of real life human experience. Being a professor of English, Vivian Bearing is passionate about the subject of her life, that is, language. Her primary idea of language has cardinally changed under the influence of her experiences in the hospital, where she appeared in the result of her diagnosis of Stage IV ovarian cancer. Vivian in fact adored language in its complicacy, whereas poetry of John Donne was used by the woman as a source of the author’s wit that provided her with great examples for her students’ learning of sophisticated English. In particular, Donne’s sonnet “Death Be Not Proud” was her favorite one, as it was a manifestation of “…wit at work: not so much resolving the issues of life and God as revelling in their complexity” (Edson 39). However, Vivian reshaped her opinion of language’s beauty as triggered by its wit after her own life’s complication by the need to choose between...
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...Nowadays, China, the emerging market in Asia, contains huge business opportunities. At the same time, because of the different culture and history, the characteristics of Chinese society including its source of power, social order, and solidarity, is actually very different from the West. The big difference is that China is a relationship-oriented society. For this reason, how can Westerner adapt the ways of doing business in China? Here are three recommendations for the entrepreneurs that want to enter the Chinese market. Learn The Crucial Concept of "Face" The meaning of “face” in China covers much more aspects than the Western countries. Face is related to dignity, respect, and also to a person's social status, therefore face is more important for someone who is in higher position. Declining to attend social or business occasions with an unconvincing excuse, rejecting the gift directly, making emotional expression out of control or even showed too maverick yourself, might cause people lose face (Zhang). For instance, Chinese people sometimes think that the businessman of the Western countries “struts his stuff” purposely. In China, if someone in a middle or low position proposes new ideas in front of the entire person during the meeting, that action may be regarded as a display of their learning. This also may lead to jealousy and loss of face your boss. The loss of face would cause the reduction of your social resources which can use to cultivate and establish you social...
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...Pygmalion- George Bernard Shaw The play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw is a play about social change as well as language. It takes place in London, England in the early twentieth century when speech and choice of words was an important factor in one’s social standing. Shaw reflects this in the two main characters, Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle. The character Eliza Doolittle is presented at first to the audience as ‘The flower girl’. She is a common girl who sells flowers down at Covent Garden, once known as London's main fruit, vegetable and flower market. She lives in poverty as during then, Covent Garden was a very poor area. At first, she is shown to the audience as quite a rude, smart-mouthed and loud girl. In the play she keeps on repeating “I’m a good girl I am” making people understand that she just sells flowers, and not herself; she is not a prostitute, as many would assume so. At the start of the play, we are also introduced to ‘The Note Taker’ soon known as Henry Higgins himself. Higgins is a professor of phonetics and the Pygmalion to Eliza. He is presented as a person who has a lot of power, is arrogant and careless about others. Moreover, Higgins is very wealthy, he is shown to the public his upper class status by the way he dresses “It’s aw rawt: e’s a gentlemen: look at his be-oots…” When he first meets Eliza he insults her and bullies her by calling her “a squashed cabbage leaf” and a “girl” when clearly she is a woman. This shows how he is also very...
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