...Nguyen Professor Wegley ENG 102 18 January 2014 The Happiness Store: A Place to be Happy in Less Mundane Ways Gary Larson has brought laughter to many people by his popular long-running comic called The Far Side. In one of these cartoon series, the character names Crawley was told by his friends: “You cannot buy happiness”. However, “Mr. Crawley surmised that they just didn’t know where the store was” (Figure 1). Humorously, Mr. Crawley’s conclusion about the reason why his friends could never buy happiness may be comical and eccentric, but it conveys Larson’s message about a common and reflective argument in our life as he identifies people’s different aspects of happiness and ways to accomplish it. Is simply painted in black and white with captions at the bottom, the single rectangular panel makes it easier for the readers to recognize Larson’s typical painting style and his message throughout the comic. Looking at the panel, what impresses viewers at the first glance is the “Happiness” store with a remarkable, large signboard on the corner of a crowded street. On the pane of glass, there are several flyers for advertisement such as “Complete your life”. Besides, that store selling happiness is the place which Mr. Crawley’s friends – the characters in the comic did not know. Thus, they were unable to purchase happiness. The hilarious point is that “happiness” is an abstract, ungraspable definition; how come there is a store selling it? Nevertheless, according...
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...Meaning and Existentialism in My Life - Existentialism is a phiosophy which revolves around the central belief that we create ourselves. External factors are not important. It is the way that we let external factors affect us that determines who we are. As individuals we all have the freedom to choose our own path and that is what life is all about. Along with the freedom of choice comes the responsibilty of one's actions which can make some people anxious but give others meaning to their lives. To overcome this anxiousness and accept responsibilty is to meet the challenges of life and to truly live it.... [tags: Existentialism, ] 675 words (1.9 pages) $14.95 [preview] Understanding Existentialism - Do we matter. Do we seek personal happiness in life. These are questions from existentialism. The dictionary defines existentialism as an individual’s experience filled with isolation in a hostile universe where a human being attempts to find true self and the meaning of life through free will, choice, and personal responsibility. Hamlet is an existentialist character who believes that he is forced to avenge his father’s death and the hatred builds in his heart because of the many betrayals which direct him towards a senseless life and constant thoughts about suicide; this ultimately leads to his demise and he is left with naught.... [tags: Existentialism] 872 words (2.5 pages) $14.95 [preview] Life Value vs. Existentialism in Grendel - A main theme in John Gardner’s Grendel...
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...Brandin Harvell English 111 Definition Paper Have you ever wondered why so many famous and rich people are stressed and unsure of the meaning of their life? The media has basically brainwashed us to believe that being successful involves having a lot of money, living in a huge house, have new sports cars. Even dictionary.com says success is “the attainment of wealth, position, honor, or the like” but this really isn’t the case. (Dictionary.com) Success is really based on ones aspirations which aren’t always about money. In this essay I’m going to talk about the deeper meaning of success. So what is success? For me success involves respect, appreciation and happiness. These traits are considered hard to attain. But in today’s world success is deceived in our thoughts to become rich. The media wants us to believe that being successful involves living in a self-centered life, in which involves nothing but the pursuit of riches. They say this will bring you happiness but this is not true. Money is simply like a new toy that eventually gets boring. Don’t get me wrong money can buy you luxuries, and might make your life easier but will it really make it better? No. For existence money can’t make somebody educated in a field; that can only come with hard work and dedication. Also money can’t help you solidify a long –term relationship with your boyfriend or girlfriend only thing that can do that is love and commitment. (Sasson) The terms respect, appreciation, integrity...
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...Final Essay Both Kant and Aristotle discuss their own interpretations of what morality is and what it looks like. They have very different ways of looking at what it means to act morally and what needs to be done to achieve morality and how happiness factors in to morality however. Aristotle believes that the end goal of morality is happiness. Happiness is the “final end” to all moral actions, it is the thing all humans are striving for even subconsciously. It is the final end because all actions lead to happiness, but happiness can only lead to itself, you build a ship to travel, you travel to trade, you trade to make money, and so on until you reach happiness but there is nothing greater than happiness. Aristotle reasons that since happiness...
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...became a housewife, one became a doctor, and one decided to join the Peace Corps. Each woman had found her own niche in life and was happy. They each, in their own eyes, had what is called, success. Success means achievement, accomplishment, victory, and triumph. The dictionary states that success is “The achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted; the gaining of fame or prosperity” (The Dictionary.com n.pag.) and “The favorable or prosperous termination of anything attempted; the attainment of a proposed object; prosperous issue” (Hypertext Webster Gateway n.pag.). These are just dictionary definitions, though. One needs examples and instances in order to fully understand the meaning of success. Our Service Can Write a Custom Essay on Success for You! Over the years, many people have viewed success as the gaining of fame and fortune. While this is true, success encompasses all kinds of prosperity. Fame and fortune is just one form. The reason why most people view fame and fortune as the prototype of success is because these two things usually come to people who have worked long and hard. For the most part, in order to be and feel successful, one needs to have worked at it. Bob Brown once declared, “Behind every successful man there's a lot of unsuccessful years” (Cyber Quotations n.pag.). Colin Powell also stated, “There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, learning from failure” (Cyber Quotations n.pag.). Success is something...
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...Nicholas Hamilton Rhetoric 20 Amy J. February 17, 2015 The Irony in Nietzsche Friedrich Nietzsche writes in his essay “On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense” about the understandings of knowledge, truth, and morality. Interestingly the translation of the original title for Nietzsche’s work might have been “On Truth and Lie in the Extramoral Sense.” This is interesting because the translated version that is given for readers is “Nonmoral”; however another possible translation could have been “Extramoral” which shows that his writing may either be something not consistent with morality, but it may also be overly moral as well. Kenneth Burke writes in his work “Four Master Tropes”, about the tropes of metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, and irony. He provides numerous definitions of irony as well as the three temptations of irony. Nietzsche’s writing and ideas about “truth and lies” are “ironic” based on the definition and examples Burke uses as well as the standard dictionary definition of irony. This irony accomplishes incongruity with what appears to be truth and lies and what it actually is; since there is no concrete truth, this is ironic in itself. Individuals often confuse and misuse the term ironic, but Kenneth Burke gives his opinion of what irony is. He says, “Irony arises when one tries, by the interaction of terms upon one another, to produce a development which uses all the terms…they are all voices, personalities, or positions, integrally affecting one another” (432)....
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...read in class. Does the passing of time make love weaker or stronger? In Shakespeare´s sonnets Love does not have a single definition, but rather an intangible collection of characteristics. Together they create a powerful force, which seems to defeat all obstacles. The aim of this essay is to identify how Shakespeare uses nature, human physical appearance and irony throughout sonnet 116, in order to define love as an overwhelming force, that triumphs over time. In sonnet 116 Shakespeare uses imagery and metaphors from nature to represent both, what love is and what it is not. He presents a metaphor saying that love “looks on tempests and is never shaken”. The speaker tries to represent in our minds that real love is present in spite of harsh situations. When we really do love someone, it is possible to get through hard times. These bad situations, can work as experiences which make our love become stronger and thus help us maintain a steady relationship. Moreover, the speaker says that love “… is the star to every wandering bark”. The star makes reference to the “pole star” which was used to help navigators find their right way home. We can interpret these words by saying that when we are going through a bad situation love leads us to the right path. On the other hand, the speaker explains what love is not by saying “Let me not the marriage of true minds admit impediments”. Our mind helps us think, feel, and acknowledge social impediments. The minds’ love however, goes beyond...
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...Humanism”. This central theme existence preceding essence is the backbone for most existential thought and that is why it is discussed and understood thoroughly from the beginning of this paper. This leads to the existential thought, absurdity of life. Life being absurd is a component of the existential human condition and this is discussed using The Myth of Sisyphus as a beacon of how absurdity applies to life and happiness. This was written and discussed by Camus in his work The Myth of Sisyphus. Lastly this paper will discuss how others impact the individual or human relationships, discussed by Sartre. His thesis regarding others interactions are that it is Hell. This is the central theme in his play No Exit, and unpacking this existential thought this paper will use his work Being and Nothingness. Human Condition Existence comes before essence; this is a main theme found in existential philosophy. Sartre (1946) states in his lecture “Existentialism is Humanism”, the theme existence precedes essence, is an ideal that all existential philosophers hold true. To understand the existential claim that existence precedes essence it is beneficial to define the opposite, “essence...
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...The Most Expensive Home The door thuds as you close it behind you on your way out to go to school, work, or wherever you are headed. You don’t have a second thought about what you’re leaving behind: your home. But have you ever thought about the significance of that word, “home”? In Joan Didion’s essay, “On Going Home”, Didion describes her experiences and thoughts on what defines her meaning of home. Didion uses many asyndetons and polysyndetons to emphasize her emotions and poses several rhetorical questions. Throughout the essay, it can be concluded that perhaps the generation that truly knows the meaning behind the word “home” is gradually disappearing. The contributing factors to such interpretation derived from Didion’s personal experiences with her direct family, her husband, and even her own daughter. Didion first sets her definition of home by clarifying that to her, home means “not where [her] husband and [she] and the baby live, but the place where [her] family is”. Her diction reflects the way she thinks about her home, with words such as “troublesome” that give off a negative connotation. Although she defines this place as her home, she expresses how she changes personalities and formalities in front of her parents and brother, which her husband is unfamiliar with. This transformation represents her familiarity with her family, whom she grew up with, or her childhood, and a vague description of what makes up her home. However, since she is not in her childhood...
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...largely about the modern interpretations of happiness and the way psychology has been dealing with improperly by only looking at how to minimize pain and not maximize happiness. He starts the article by recounting some of history of psychology that led to the current state of affairs, beginning at World War 2. He claims that right before WW2 there were 3 main objectives to psychology: curing mental illness, making untroubled people happier, and studying genius/talent. These all fell by the wayside after WW2 however as all of the funding began to flow towards the study of mental illness, not towards the study of mental health. This was mainly because of the increase in both the discovery of mental disorders and also the sheer number of people who were left distressed in the wake of WW2. This led to a huge increase in treatments and cures for many disorders. However it also caused many problems in society and science. There was too much focus put on the minority that had disorders, and not on the majority that, although seemingly bereft of maladies, were not altogether happy. Therefore he states that psychology should be just as concerned about what is right with people as what is wrong. The second section of the article deals with the question of what happiness actually is, because we have to know what it is we are trying to increase. Although science can’t illuminate happiness, it can reveal some of its components, which...
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...In Joan Didion’s essay, “On Going Home” Didion describes her experiences and thoughts on what defines her meaning of home. Didion uses many asyndetons and polysyndetons to emphasize her emotions and poses several rhetorical questions. Throughout the essay, Didion poses an important point that, perhaps her generation is the last to truly know the meaning behind the word “home”. The contributing factors to such conclusion derived from her personal experiences with her direct family (mother, father, and brother), her husband, and even her own daughter. Didion first sets her definition of home by clarifying that to her, home means “not where [her] husband and [she] and the baby live, but the place where [her] family is.” (Didion1) Her diction reflects the way she thinks about her home, with words such as “troublesome” that give off a negative connotation. Although she defines this place as her home, she expresses how she changes personalities and formalities in front of her parents and brother, which her husband is unfamiliar with. This transformation represents her familiarity with her family, whom she grew up with, or her childhood. However, since she is not in her childhood anymore, this familiarity is somewhat uncomfortable to her and her husband, whom Didion is more accustomed with. She, therefore, calls her “home” a “burden” (Didion2) where her source of tension and drama come from. Didion’s relationship with her husband reflects what she left behind at “home”. When Didion...
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...1 - Character must be of noble/high stature 2 - Hubris (tragic flaw) - pride blinds them 3 - Downfall 4 - Enlightenment (near the end of the play) 5 - Their death Someone of high position; in this time period, that meant royalty. He is 'universal,' meaning that everyone everywhere can relate to the kinds of problems or sufferings or emotions that the hero experiences. He has a 'tragic flaw' - this could be a personality trait (like greed, lust, ambition, jealousy, etc.), OR an error in judgement (a bad decision). This 'tragic flaw' leads to his downfall - usually ruins his career, reputation, power, etc. He is enlightened at the end of the story, meaning he realizes where he went wrong, he is humble, and he accepts the consequences . A tragic hero is a character in a work of fiction (often the protagonist) who commits an action or makes a mistake which eventually leads to his or her defeat. The idea of the tragic hero was created in ancient Greek tragedy and defined by Aristotle (and others). Usually, this includes the realization of the error (anagnorisis), which results in catharsis or epiphany. Aristotelian tragic hero Characteristics Aristotle once said that "A man doesn't become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall." An Aristotelian tragic hero must have four characteristics: Nobility (of a noble birth) or wisdom (by virtue of birth). Hamartia (translated as flaw, mistake, or error, not an Elizabethan tragic flaw). A reversal of fortune(peripetia)...
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...hedonism. Which is a more plausible theory of happiness? 1. Introduction (250) Happiness belongs to Hedonism. If one experience more happiness during life, his life will be better. The more happiness you experience, the better your life is. There are actually two schools of thought here, Narrow Hedonism and Preference Hedonism, each with its own definition of happiness. Narrow Hedonism deems happiness a homogeneous state of pleasure, while Preference Hedonism expands the definition to include any state of mind favored by the individual, including pain (yes, pain is happiness, for some). However, the two schools are united in their focus on mental states, which as you will see is a silly idea. Hedonism is a way of life, characterised by openness to pleasurable experience. There are many qualms about hedonism. It is rejected on moral grounds and said to be detrimental to long-term happiness. Several mechanisms for this 'paradox of hedonism' have been suggested and telling examples of pleasure seekers ending up in despair have been given. The relation between hedonism and happiness has been studied at two levels: that of the nation and the individual. At the national level average happiness is correlated with moral acceptance of pleasure and with active leisure. At the individual level it is similarly linked with hedonistic attitudes and also correlated with hedonistic behaviours such as frequent sex and use of stimulants. In this essay, it will firstly discuss what is hedonism...
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...the visible light spectrum and the reason colors appear is due to the pigment that is not absorbed by an object. The description of the reflection allows the eye to see the color and have the brain cells interpret the meaning behind that specific color. The effect of seeing and interpreting colors allows the human brain to cause an emotional response. Knowing that color is the base of how the human race judges and determines what to do next will help humans survive. A great example is when a tomato is bright red, our brain classifies it as ripe and ready for picking. But when the vegetable is green your brain convinces itself that the veggie is not ripe for picking to consume. When a teacher tells his/hers students to write an essay they are given a blank word document. The white page represents the new beginning of the student’s thoughts. Other times a blank page is represented as a thought that has yet to be composed, waiting for a start. Colors have various meanings in different cultures around the world. The most common representation of Red is evil or a sin. While White is commonly recognized as goodness and purity. Learning how dissidences of colors affect one’s emotion can help you show how you feel toward a loved one or help identify the meanings of color correctly. White: pure, new, seraphic, goodness, virginity, and respect...every word describes how White is no longer considered boring or plain. To start off, White has always been the symbol of the purest...
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...The Meaning of Freedom The meaning of freedom in the United States has come into such controversy. Everyone has a different ideology on how they perceive their personal freedoms and what it really is to be free. As a society some would say we do not possess the ability to speak, act, and think openly without fear of persecution. We must ask ourselves if we are slaves to our government and other authority figures or are we our own masters. I would say that we can only be slaves to our own limited experiences. If we choose to be enslaved no matter our treatment then that is what we are. If we choose to speak our minds and follow our hearts we will always be free. What Is The Meaning Of Freedom There are many definitions of the word freedom, but the word slave is usually tied into that phrase. Although in another time there was real live slavery, in today’s age it is reflected more by a person’s mind than actual bonds. People can just as easily be enslaved by oppressive rules and governing officials as they can by bonds. To be forced to abide by rules and regulations that are not honorable or in good taste is equally a sign of our lost freedom. Martin Luther King said it best “I am in Birmingham because injustice is here. Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. left their villages and carried their "thus saith the Lord" far beyond the boundaries of their home towns, and just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the...
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