...My father walked with such determination that he might as well have been wearing a red cape and tights. Sure, this is a common perception for most children, but my parents survived the 1973 Cambodian genocide and have managed to provide a life for which my siblings and I will be forever grateful. When life got the best of me, my father always knew what to do and still does. As cliché as it is, he is my superhero. His catch phrase: “There’s always someone out there that views your life as a heaven.” Admittedly, this often went in one ear and out the next, but without it, I wouldn’t have been able to bear the unexpected. During my freshman year of high school, my father was diagnosed with colon cancer. I remember being taken by surprise and developing an unexpected emptiness. I felt nothing. I was in denial. Despite the fact my mind went blank, I only remember wondering how anyone could view my life as anything remotely close to “a heaven.” My Friday nights were spent in waiting rooms as I flipped through outdated issues of Time Magazine; my eyes constantly shifted from pictures to passing nurses. Though I missed football games to attend sessions with my mom, the fidgeting of her hand in mine assured me that this was where I should be. I began missing my golf matches and eventually ended my participation. Though I was slightly disappointed, none of these events mattered because I realized my ability as an emotional rock for my family. My dad’s illness resulted...
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...Wiesel), Elie’s father being alive decreases the chances of Elie surviving. Elie takes many risks for his father. He gives his father some of his rations of bread and soup. Elie also helps his father pass a selection in Gleiwitz. Elie helped his father in many ways, like teaching him how to March. Elie sacrificed himself a lot for his father, putting himself in danger at times. Elie decreased his chances of surviving when he would give his father rations of his own bread and soup that Elie was given for himself. The prisoners would get very little rations, and yet Elie would give his father his rations. In one occasion the prisoners were allowed to go outside, and those who were sick stayed in the blocks. The prisoners who were allowed to go outside were give their bread and soup rations. The prisoners were then allowed to go back to their blocks, and Elie rushed to his father and asked him “Did you eat?” “No.” “Why?” “They didn't give us anything… They said we were sick, that we would die soon and that it was a waste of food… I can't go on…” “I gave him what was left of my soup” (107). Elie started realizing he should care less about his...
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...Gilgamesh Passages Tablet I The tablet I passage from line 1 to 28 are significant because it talks about how he (Gilgamesh) was granted powers and with these powers such as knowledge, Anu granted him the totality of knowledge of all (line 4) describes how Anu the father of the gods gave Gilgamesh the power of knowledge. He built the city and raised its walls in all it magnificent splendors. He carved on a stone stela all of his toils, and built the walls of Uruk-Haven (Line 9-10). Also look at the wall which gleams like copper (?), inspect its inner wall, the like of which no one can equal (lines 11-12). These text describe the walls and how the city Uruk was built by a mighty being like Gilgamesh. This at the end describing the city and certain thing built by Gilgamesh such as the Temples, Gardens, and the league (probably referring to the ocean or body of water). Another passage from I is the 3rd passge from which the people of Uruk prayer to he gods. This passage shows how the people of Uruk don’t enjoy Gelgamesh as a king due to how he treats his people for ex. Gilgamesh does not leave a girl to her mother (?) The Daughters of the warrior, the bride of the young man (line 5-6). Gilgamesh is all powerful so no one can challenge him and he deemed as a bad King as how he treats his people like wild ox. The people get fed up with the treatment and they pray for the gods to make him his match (a zikru). All this so explaned in line 7 of the next passage. (Let them be a match...
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...Sometimes people aren’t as great as we perceive or hear them to be. The epic poem The Odyssey by Homer is about a war hero and king named Odysseus and his journey home from the Trojan War and it reveals how even great leaders have their flaws. Odysseus is faced with many trials throughout his journey home to Ithaca. Although he is said to be a perfect leader, we later see that his flaws are what cause these challenges and ultimately gets in his way to get home. Odysseus is a person who likes adventure and likes to experience things first-hand, because of this he is an imperfect leader. Odysseus has his qualities, he’s a brilliant strategist and has shown that by being the one who came up with the idea to use the Trojan Horse to end the ten-year-long war. When coming back from the war, one of his first trials is against a cyclops named Polyphemus. He and his men get captured by the Cyclops and get trapped in a cave where it is blocked by a huge boulder. When Polyphemus asks for Odysseus’ name, Odysseus says “‘Nobody - that’s my name. Nobody - so my mother and father call me, all my friends,’” (223). This is a good idea not to tell they cyclops his name, it shows he's quick to think of a good plan because of him being on the spot when faced with the question. The reason why he says his name is “Nobody” is so when Odysseus attacks the Cyclops. NOBODY is attacking Polyphemus. It’s a clever trick and it would have worked if Odysseus hadn’t revealed later that “‘say Odysseus, raider...
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...talks about his view on death after a near death experience he says “Death is very likely the single best invention of life. It is life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make for the new,” (Paragraph 6). I would certainly agree with this statement, people will all die it is a part of the human experience and why life should be so greatly valued. Death is something that follows us wherever we go; it cautions us to the dangers of the world until each of our times on earth come to an end. People either fear death or embrace it, which effects how people value life. Life is a gift that I believe no person should take for granted. People die every second of the day without a choice or say in the matter. When a person dies it effects the people who loved them the most, for example from the article “What Is a Life Worth?” by Amanda...
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...(June 1935- August 1935) My name is Eleanor Wagner, I grew up in Hamburg, Germany. I recall being friends with all the neighborhood children. I was about nine or ten years of age as were most of my friends. There was one girl in particular who I considered to be a very dear friend to me. Her name was Helena Koch. Her family was very tight knit and consisted of her mother, father, and two younger siblings, a brother and sister. Our parents were friends as well and worked closely in a business not far from home. As innocent children we saw no differences in one another, and soon that would all change. I was of German decent and Helena was a German-Jew. An order came into effect that month of June 1935, which ordered all Jews out of their homes and forced into a poor neighborhood not very far from our own and was known as the “Ghettos.” At this time I was too young to understand why my friend Helena had to leave with her family. We were happy and they did no wrong. I remembering trying to visit Helena in her new home but it was closed off from everyone else. There were so many people in this small neighborhood and it reminded me of a sardine can. I can only imagine how they felt. My mother did not know what was going on either and fumbled for answers when I would bombard her with questions of Helena and her family. She would just tell me “maybe it is just temporary, and at least her family is together.” I think she wanted to keep the hope for me but I believe now she didn’t have...
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...Throughout Jamaica Kincaid’s memoir, My Brother, grief takes on a large role. It’s one of the most beautifully written themes within the storyline in my opinion. Given the rich symbols (gardening, ants, and especially the sinner and saint image) and themes, it was difficult for me to choose something specific. I kept it short and simple. This quote sums up my thoughts on the memoir: “The day was cold, it was the middle of January, the sun was shining. For me such a thing is a paradox: the sun is shining, yet the air is cold.”(Kincaid 102). To me, the entire memoir is slightly paradoxical. In addition, this seemed like a tangible way to image grief. Other people are happy, smiling, while you watch, immersed in your sadness. You walk outside and its sunny and...
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...Self-Analysis My environment was not very stable growing up. The definition of “dysfunctional” definitely comes to mind when looking back on the family unit that I was raised with. However, I do recall that watching how others around me socialized and interacted taught me that there were other ways of living and loving and I was determined to learn them. From an early age, I learned in bible school to treat people the way I wanted them to treat me, ie. The Golden Rule. I also learned that regardless of how I was treated in my home life by my siblings and parental figures, I could CHOOSE to treat others differently. I always knew that the way my father believed he should speak, interact, care for and discipline us was not the right way. As a child, I watched my neighborhood friends interact with their families, and it opened my eyes to how a normal family treats one another. For instance, I recall a certain neighborhood boy who always smelled on the school bus. Other children were so cruel to him; I would listen to them taunt him every day. One day, I stood up and socked one of his bullies in the nose. From that day forward, Wyatt Burkett and I built a friendship based on loyalty and mutual respect. It is surprising that my ability to stand up for my beliefs caused more people to respond to me and become my friend. I learned that you have to stand up for what you know in your heart is the right thing to do and people will respond to that socially. According to Kegan and Lahey’s...
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...Brandon Flores 1/29/2011 Humanities Oriental Institute When I went to the “Oriental Institute”, I saw and got to experience a lot of different cultures and antiques from very old civilizations. Being in those very rooms and getting to see firsthand how these cultures had lived and survived in those times was astonishing. One of my favorite exhibits I really enjoyed was the Mesopotamian empire exhibit. I found it so fascinating because a lot of the pots and designs from that time I have already seen in my hometown in Mexico and also because this is when cities began to come about. What I also learned about this civilization was that it rapidly spread throughout Southeast Asia and Europe and was made up of three main periods. The periods were the lower Paleolithic period, the middle Paleolithic period, and the upper Paleolithic period. This empire life was similar to many parts of the northeast in this period. Another thing I found fascinating about Mesopotamian life is the importance of music in this culture. What music did was tell stories of gods or of important events that happened. It became a means of passing important information down as time passed. What I also found to be very interesting was the “Laws of Hammurabi”. These laws were basically like the term “an eye for an eye” because through each law you are paying the price for a misdeed. Finally, what I found to be the most interesting object in this gallery was the “Human-Headed Winged Bull”. This colossal...
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...[pic] [pic][pic] ETL201 Selected History Topics for Social Studies Individual Assignment Oral History Name : Masri Kario ( Rico ) Matriculation No. : 020200D24 T. Group No. : 1 Tutor : Dr Ang Cheng Guan Tutorial Day/Time : Monday, 12.30 - 1420 hrs Date of Submission : Saturday, 18th October 2003 [pic] An Institute of Nanyang Technological University [pic] Singapore was once been under the Japanese occupation that lasted for nearly three years. On February 15, 1942, Singapore surrender to the Japanese after realizing that the situation was very bad especially there was a shortage of food and ammunition at the frontline battlefield. Furthermore the Japanese had cut off the water supply from State of Johore. After a meeting held at the Battle Box at Fort Canning, British commanders concluded that there was no other choice but to surrender. At 5 p.m. that day, led by Lieutenant-General Percival and other officials like Brigadier Newbigging, Brigadier Torrance, and Major Wild, made their way to the Ford Factory for the meeting. It was a first time ever meeting of top-ranking officers from both armies. However both had their own agendas like one wanted for an unconditional surrender while the other one wanted to negotiate. It was considered as one of the darkest period in the lives of every Singaporean people then. It was the beginning day that the fate of Singapore...
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...the dust blows, stopping men and tanks, it brings with it memories of an ancient world, much older than Islam or Christianity. Western civilization originated from that place between the Tigris and the Euphrates, where Hammurabi created his legal code and where Gilgamesh was written -- the oldest story in the world, a thousand years older than the Iliad or the Bible. Its hero was a historical king who reigned in the Mesopotamian city of Uruk in about 2750 BCE. In the epic, he has an intimate friend, Enkidu, a naked wild man who has been civilized through the erotic arts of a temple priestess. With him Gilgamesh battles monsters, and when Enkidu dies, he is inconsolable. He sets out on a desperate journey to find the one man who can tell him how to escape death. Part of the fascination of Gilgamesh is that, like any great work of literature, it has much to tell us about ourselves. In giving voice to grief and the fear of death, perhaps more powerfully than any book written after it, in portraying love and vulnerability and the quest for wisdom, it has become a personal testimony for millions of readers in dozens of languages. But it also has a particular relevance in today's world, with its polarized fundamentalisms, each side fervently believing in its own righteousness, each on a crusade, or jihad, against what it perceives as an evil enemy. The hero of this epic is an antihero, a superman (a superpower, one might say) who doesn't know the difference between strength and arrogance...
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...,July 21st 2009 ENC 1102 M,W, 7:45am Term Paper “The Theme of Human Struggle in the Works of Ernest Hemingway” In my research paper I will show how elements of life and death, folklore/fables, myths, and rites of passage support the theme of human struggle against nature in the stories "The Old Man and the Sea," "Indian Camp," "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" and "The Snows of Kilimanjaro” by Ernest Hemingway. Through comparative analysis of these stories' underlying themes I will address the initiation experiences of his heroes. Human dignity, morality, and the formation of human individuality through mental strife and the struggle against nature are often themes of Hemingway. Humans cope with the complexity of the world by developing simple mental models based on opposite parts. Life and death are together, two extremes of one energy. Life is the active force and death is the inactive force, but they cannot be separated. Thus, they are two aspects of one reality. When people are reading about living beings and mythological beings or those who are dead, they view the word of the dead as a living world. The dead eat, sleep and move. In the book “The Hero in Hemingway's short stories”, J. DeFalco points out that: " in the Myth there are usually three dominant movements which are cyclic in pattern. They are the departure of the hero, the initiation, and the return from heroic adventure." (17). The movements of the hero to the world where...
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...after adversity and loss. The road to resilience lies in working through the emotions and effects of stress and painful events. Being resilient is important if you want to become like Bill Gate, or any other successful person. I believe that Louis Silvie Zamperini, Sardar Milkha Singh, and Maysoon Zayid all displayed resilience though out there respected lifetimes and have become such successful people. Louis Zamperini was , if I...
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...due to the fact that René means reborn or born again in French. The title provokes contemplation for the renewal of pre-Revolutionary society. Furthermore, Chateaubriand focuses on lack of memory to point to the necessity for the rebirth and restoration of pre-Revolutionary French society. The first time there is a lack of memory in René, it occurs on an individual basis. On the very evening of the passing of René’s father the “indifferent passer-by trod over his grave”; “aside from his daughter and son, it was already as though he had never existed” (89). René’s father, a ruin of the past himself, stands as a symbol for pre-Revolutionary society. Just as the ideals and morals of pre-Revolutionary France -which had influenced René since birth- had died quickly at the start of the Revolution, René’s father, the “creator” of his “thought”, had passed away in his arms from a “disease which wrought him to his grave in a short time” (88). Even though he had just died that evening, René’s father is barely commemorated or remembered. Chateaubriand inspires horror within readers for how quickly things can...
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...monomyth outlined by Campbell are consistent with those of The Godfather: Part I, a 1972 film directed by Francis Ford Coppola. By taking Michael Corleone, the main character of The Godfather, and viewing him as a hero within his world, one may be able to conclude that Coppola may have employed the ideas of Campbell. Campbell’s monomyth theory consists of 17 stages that may appear at different times along the story. Nonetheless, a story may not contain all 17 stages. The Godfather contains many elements of the monomyth, however, they are found in an unusual order. DEPARTURE The first part of the adventure of the hero, as seen in Campbell’s book, is Departure. This is the initial frail state before the hero’s transformation begins. The hero is sympathetically introduced to the audience. The hero’s situation and dilemma can already be noticed and we can see that he is living some kind of polarity which is pulling him in different directions and causing him stress. In this chapter, there are many stages that a hero must go through....
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