...Ever wondered what a dog is thinking? Well, in Racing in the Rain a 2011 heartbreaking novel a race car driver’s beloved pet imparts wisdom and life lessons in retelling his own story from a canine perspective. With wit and peculiar charm, Enzo tells of the stages of a dog’s life and the wonderful and distressing days spent with his hero, Denny Swift a struggling race car driver supporting a young family in Seattle, with a sick wife. They understand each other perfectly, and from day one, Enzo accepts the position of being Denny’s comforter and guide. He’s front and center whenever Denny struggles in his home life or career, and there are times when Enzo struggles too. Enzo has difficulty accepting change. The first human to enter Enzo’s inner...
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...------------------------------------------------- DATE SUBMITTED ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- July 4, 2013 Title: Life’s Meaningful Challenges Summary: One of the greatest truths is that life is difficult. Most people moan more than facing and solving their problems. Life is a series of problems. It only requires discipline to overcome such pains and problems. We prefer to procrastinate and ignore them. It is in this whole process of meeting and solving problems that life has its meaning. Problems are the cutting edge that distinguishes between success and failure. The tendency to avoid problems and the emotional suffering inherent in them is the primary basis of all human mental illness. Therefore we must inculcate ourselves and in our children the means of achieving mental, spiritual health. When we teach ourselves discipline, we are teaching ourselves how to suffer and also how to grow. Life example: I always experience hardships. Well one of them would be dealing with my major classes. I’m having problems with managing my time to meet my deadlines on my major subjects. Sometimes, I don’t even have time to sleep. I often ignore some of them just to get out of stress. Reflection: Life is never that easy. All of us are meant to try how things would work out rather than letting them just be there. Problems and pains make us...
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...Hero The Glass Castle is a memoir written by Jeannette Walls. It examines her struggle as a child and living in poverty as a young adult. She faces many challenges that helps her to become self-sufficient and successful in life. One of those challenges is her dad Rex. He is an alcoholic and he was also irresponsible. Even though Rex was irresponsible, Walls wrote about all the best times she spent with her dad. Despite all that Rex put the family through, Jeannette still loved him for two main reasons: first, for his constant ability to make her feel special, and second, because he is a never-ending source of inspiration. One thing Rex puts the family through is all the moving. They moved a total of four times from Arizona to Battle Mountain to Phoenix and then to Welch. At times Rex would just say “‘Okay, kids’ Dad said ‘the civilians are revolting. We better Skedaddle.’” (Walls109). Skedaddle means to get going and move, but in Rex’s language it meant to move to a new city and take whatever you can put in your pockets. He wasn’t a man that would take many things with him when he would move anywhere, and so he made his family do the same. Rex would always reassure Jeannette that everything is okay and he would make her feel comfortable about the situation they are in. She saw her father like a hero, saving them from the bad guys every time they moved, at least when they were younger. Rex’s ability to make Jeannette feel unique is on of the main reasons why she still holds...
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...An essay on my virtual child by Kara Lamb: The gender of my child is male; I named him Nathan after my real life partner. Like my first attempt the program gave us a girl when Nathan was around the age of 3, of which I named Marley. I did not seek outside help for this trial or have help from my real life partner. The application I wanted to focus on was language and how it develops over the time in my virtual child. In early infancy we start to see reflexive cries. An example of this,” Nathan's crying is rhythmic and moderately loud when he is hungry, wet, or cold. If he is startled” (Manis, 2008). Around three months I started to notice Nathan attending to many sounds “Nathan smiles at familiar people and toys, is able to laugh at surprising or funny things” (Manis, 2008). As Nathan is going in ninth month he begins to show Jargon, Gestures and final by twelve months he shows complete Holo Phrases, “nine months old, Nathan began to understand a few words and point to something he wanted. At twelve months old, Nathan now clearly understands a couple of dozen words. In fact, Nathan just recently pronounced his first clear word and pointed at the object in question”. After Nathan second birthday does he only begin to develop telegraphic speech but still struggles to understand simple directions and test below average even into his third year report card; “He scored below average in language comprehension and production” (Manis, 2008). To help with this I chose...
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...Nathan Hale 12/14/06 Urban Inventions Refuge We all have it. It’s a part of everyday life and it wears down on us. The strain is what wears down on us slowly whittling away years of our lives. This being the case, why are we not already dead? The answer is relaxation, try it. No really, right now, put down this paper, close your eyes and take a deep breath in through your nose, hold it for eleven seconds, now slowly and as quietly as possible exhale through your mouth. Did you feel your shoulders drop? That’s a lot of tension you just let go of. Believe it or not you’ve been carrying with you all day. We should take thirty second out of our day every chance we get to do this because we need to relax or unwind. This is an example of a refuge in its simplest form. Refuge is known as many different things; retreat, vacation, or break. The list goes on and on. We live such high anxiety lives that we need to take breaks periodically. The real question is how? There’s a place in everyone’s fantasy that they long to visit the mountains, a room in a relative’s house, a tropical island. These places are individual and beautiful. And just like beauty, it’s in the eye of the beholder as to what their refuge is I have many refuges, some real and some imaginary. For example, one of my imaginary refuges is an island in the middle of a large lake. But this is no ordinary lake; it’s located on top of and in the middle of a volcano’s crater. And when I sit on my beach house’s...
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...Nicholas Nguyen Professor Wagenhoffer English 100 19 September 2014 Humans have a natural affinity towards overcoming challenges and difficult adversity. Throughout life, we adapt to challenges and master the ability to surmount obstacles. Despite the difficulties we experience, the process of overcoming complications allows us to become more knowledgeable on the task at hand. However, it is not just the conquering of adversity that is beneficial, but the adversity itself has positive effects on the challenged. Adversity allows an individual to develop a sense of discipline, as well as encouraging individuals to exercise their mind to confront a problem or conflict. Specifically, students who encounter hardships are more inclined to try harder, which promotes competition within the school. Although adversity may be beneficial towards some students, challenges can be detrimental for students who lack confidence. For instance, some students develop a mentality of despair; they believe that if one has to work hard, then the person does not have the natural ability for the assignment. Based on the effects of adversity aforementioned, I believe that students can both benefit from the obstacles faced in school with the proper mentality or the effects could be hindering. Students face adversity every day, regardless of how transparent the obstacle may be; some problems may not be as evident as others. According to Carol S. Dweck, author of Brainology, all students face adversities...
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...The Life Less Taken The Life Less Taken In the poem “Alzheimer’s”, Kelly Cherry describes Alzheimer’s disease by observing a man’s life, as he experiences a new lifestyle, all while showing the effects of dementia and the disease. The setting of the poem and the narrator’s fluctuating tone convey multiple emotions and thoughts to allow readers a glance into not only the effects of Alzheimer’s disease, but the struggles as well. The speaker’s tone progresses from an attitude of acceptance to an attitude of great concern; and finally to an attitude that describes the seriousness of the setting at certain times. When the man is introduced into the poem, he is described as crazy with a mind that he is not accustomed to. As the setting is further elaborated upon, the man is overcome with worry and he begins to question the important things. The speaker indicates the man is no longer the man he used to be right at the beginning. As the story continues to unfold, the setting and tone is built upon by adding the house and mentioning his belongings such as the piggy bank. By describing his memory and what the man has forgotten, the narrator is implying important, significant, and unimportant things in the old man’s life. As the poem is read, the tone and setting identified by the narrator allows the reader to catch a glimpse of how Alzheimer’s disease has not only affected the man, but how the disease could affect the reader. Alzheimer’s...
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...Russian Negotiation Report (Director of the Archives) 1. What, in general, did you learn about negotiation from the simulation? What surprised you? What would you do differently? The pub was chosen to be the place to meet. It was meant to be a friendly place with drinks so that barriers would be broken. Of course, given it was just a simulation and we actually knew each other as friends, I’m guessing the real world scenario would be slightly different, or at least the effect of choosing a friendly place would have different impact than I would imagine. That being said, I did notice that in an environment with a lot of background noise (I remember a basketball game was on), people tend to speak loudly, which leads them to be looser in the way they talked. Interestingly, that led some people to make serious accusations to their counterparts. Then again, it was a simulation and this effect would probably be less probable in real life. The minister was a bit late to the meeting. That didn’t give us enough time to prepare with the minister. That was a huge mistake. It appeared that the minister had a lot of information that we didn’t know and could’ve used to better the outcome of the negotiation and avoid disagreements within our Russian side. For example, the minister had a clear demand of receiving %50 of the revenues, while Pipeline wanted to split the profit 50-50. Because the minister didn’t communicate this radical demand with the cultural attaché beforehand...
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...those times as always goes back to abroad to work. Although, i could’nt denied the feeling of being bitter and being incomplete yet as much as i can, i should be strong, as my mother told me that: “We should not feel sorry about whatsoever lapses they had, for even her, my grandparents too have lapses, which proved mans imperfection. But despite of the fact, she asserted that instead “It’s already enough to ever thank our parents for bringing us to world. It’s something very valuable and no worth of money can ever measure. Even though life appeared seems worst to us. We have the ample time to make it right and pleasing because we have a life and given the right and freedom. Thus, live it to the fullest. But sad to say only few, is persistent to find their meaning in life. Which is truly depicted in the movie,”Special Child” that even Ishaans parents didnt measure to some definition of love. If Ishaan has hardened his heart surely his life would be completely lost. Fortunately, our God is gracious he wont leave us rather just test us to teach...
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...not the way it is usually played. Instead, Evan played the guitar like a piano, which surprised Wizard, Arthur, and all the other orphaned children. When he played Wizard's guitar his own way, it produced new kinds of sounds that are considered revolutionary, but in real life, it is considered impossible, unless a real-life prodigy like Evan could do such a thing. Not only that, when Evan saw Hope playing the piano, at first, Evan doesn't know how to play it, but when he saw the musical notebook in front of the piano, with just the sounds he heard from outside plus his fantastic imagination, he was able to produce musical notes, and to Hope's surprise, Evan's scattered works filled with musical notes amazed Hope and convinced the parish pastor that Evan is a genius. I was even more impressed with Evan when I found out that Reverend J, the parish pastor, enrolled Evan to the Julliard School, where most people studying there are college students. While at Julliard, he composed his own rhapsody that, later in the movie, became part of the New York Philharmonic where his real mother, Lyla Novacek, who is a Julliard alumnus, will also be performing. With music, everything is possible. Music gives meaning to life, and gives meaning to everything. Music defines us who we are and what we are. Some of the memorable quotes made by characters from the film are really worth cherishing. Evan stated that, "But I believe in...
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...Networking Sites (SNSs) are virtual communities where users can create individual public profiles, interact with real-life friends, and meet other people based on shared interests. They are seen as a ‘global consumer phenomenon’ with an exponential rise in usage within the last few years. Anecdotal case study evidence suggests that ‘addiction’ to social networks on the Internet may be a potential mental health problem for some users. However, the contemporary scientific literature addressing the addictive qualities of social networks on the Internet is scarce. Therefore, this literature review is intended to provide empirical and conceptual insight into the emerging phenomenon of addiction to SNSs by: outlining SNS usage patterns, examining motivations for SNS usage, examining personalities of SNS users, examining negative consequences of SNS usage, exploring potential SNS addiction, and exploring SNS addiction specificity and comorbidity. The findings indicate that SNSs are predominantly used for social purposes, mostly related to the maintenance of established offline networks. Moreover, extraverts appear to use social networking sites for social enhancement, whereas introverts use it for social compensation, each of which appears to be related to greater usage, as does low conscientiousness and high narcissism. Negative correlates of SNS usage include the decrease in real life social community participation and academic achievement, as well as relationship problems, each of which...
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...shorter amount of time. In “Lord of the Flies”, when Ralph addresses the boys he says: “So we’ve got to decide if this is an island. Everybody must stay round here and wait and no go away. Three of us-if we take more we’d all get mixed, and lose each other-three of us will go on an expedition and find out.” (Golding 20) In this quote, Ralph gives out orders to the boys in his tribe and explains why certain things should or should not be done. The boys all have a common goal, which is to find out more about their surroundings. Then, in order to accomplish that goal, the chief organizes them to ensure productivity. If Ralph did not do that, the boys would be wandering without a purpose and perhaps would even get lost. Likewise, in real life, when one goes to a public place, for example the grocery store, they can see how the workers there were given different jobs by the person in charge. Whether it is cashier, janitor or baker, everyone does his or her job, so the store can run smoothly. Through Ralph’s words, Golding demonstrates how people in a society need to be assigned roles by someone in power, in order for tasks to be completed...
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...one to ever put a name on the familiar phenomenon “loving yourself” which came to be known as narcissism. He named it after the story about a good-looking boy, Narcissus, who fell in love with his own reflection. Back then narcissism was used as a medical expression but today we are more likely to describe it as a phenomenon. The text “Me, Me, Me”, an article written by Sarfraz Manzoor, leaves us under the impression that today's narcissism is worse than ever before, especially among the youth (according to a study from San Diego). The Internet has a powerful role in this as it can help anyone, who wants, to achieve wealth and fame without even relating to their real lives. Through the Internet, it is possible to create your own reality, kind of like a parallel world, which most likely is the complete opposite of the real world. This is important to the new narcissistic way of living as appearance means everything. People today are also much more likely to get plastic surgery. They do this to feel better about themselves, to get a boost of self-confidence, and to be ready for competition from their fellow human beings. Therefore, people spend money like crazy to design their outer appearance most of all to appeal to as many men or women as possible. Attention becomes a competition you cannot win too many times. New Narcissism can be explained as a phenomenon where today's society is willing to do almost everything it takes to achieve fame, attention and wealth simply...
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...Physics have always been my favourite subjects throughout my schooling career, mostly due to the implications on the real world. By taking Mechanical Engineering at university, I have the opportunity to continue with these two passions of mine. I have enjoyed carrying out practical experiments which can then be proved using mathematical calculations. I took part in a Combined Cadet Force (CCF) and specialised in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineering (REME) section. In this, five pupils maintained and repaired old cars then use them to practise driving skills on the school grounds. This has given me an insight of the engineering behind everyday cars and has increased my enthusiasm to study engineering at university and then possibly begin a career in this field. Over the summer, I arranged for an expert to take me out to see a nodding donkey and explain how they worked. Nodding donkeys are structures used to collect oil from the ground using fairly simple techniques and mechanical gears. Sport has led a major role in my life over the recent years. I have regularly taken part in inter-house matches in rugby, basketball, hockey, and five a side indoor football and represented my school in rugby. I also enjoy running and have taken part in two long distance races, one of which was sponsored and for charity. Music has also been a large influence on my life as I have been playing the Alto Saxophone since I was nine years of age. I feel music is essential as it can be used...
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...The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page As a reader many of us read for knowledge. And that is life. It is like a book. It has many chapters, and we need to read the pages to learn from our experiences. As we live, things happen around as time flows. And as we read, things also happen while we read the story. And our levels of experience increases as we learn. Just like a book. We read the story from page to page. In real life, the pages represent the days, weeks and time that passes. The chapters represent the portion of our lives. In one chapter we enjoy everything we have, but what we do not know, is in the next chapter, our story ends. And we are the characters and we portray ourselves in our own story. We meet people, which can be the cause of our failure or the one who guides us to the right path. When we read, we learn. Just like in our daily lives. When we live, we get knowledge from experiences. After one chapter, there goes another one. Our story continues to move on until it is our time. In books, there are happy moments but there also sad. In our lives, we may stumble and be lost. But that does not mean we are lost forever. We cannot get to the next stage if we keep on repeating the pages of our lives. We must forget the past in order to get into our destination. Because in life we cannot skip something, for we may lose something that plays an important role in our lives. We must live our lives to the fullest. In books, what happens is...
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