...Topic: Are sitcoms and TV shows a bad influence for teenagers? Box Full of Perfection Ah, TV shows –– they are just so damn corrupted. I mean look at us, all we do is compare ourselves to the characters of the sitcoms that we watch on TV and most of the time we worship their so call “fabulous” life. And how is the important again? Exactly, it’s not. Staring at a "stupid box" with moving pictures that shows “perfect looking” people, is not how teenagers suppose to waste their time. Oh, god we are so corrupted. Just the other day, one of my friends was complaining, over the fact that she is not pretty or skinny like Hanna (a character) from the sitcom Pretty Little Liars. “Apparently”, Hanna has beautiful shiny blond hair, has smooth glowing skin, also, she is very very slim ––– Seriously. Sounds like a Barbie doll to me. Not to mention, it’s called “Photoshop”, where any ordinary person can be turned into a beautiful swan from an ugly duckling. TV channels like MTV and CW, they have all changing drastically over the years. Most of my friends waste their time watching shows like Teen Wolf, Jersey Shore, Sweet 16, ANTM, Degressi and various types of shows. Funny thing is that, all these shows have one thing in common, and that is “physical perfection”–––– Seriously. How’s that even entertaining? I thought entertaining was about laughing at hilarious shows and crying when a sad sitcom comes on. How is staring at plastic faced actors even funny. Yeah sure, they...
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...Teenagers’ Pursuit of Perfection: Detours and Roadblocks to Development Lipa City In partial fulfillment of the requirements in English IV English IV Research Paper Teenagers’ Pursuit of Perfection: Detours and Roadblocks to Development Table of Contents Title Page……………………………………………………………………………………………….. i Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………………… ii Table of Contents……………………………………………………………………………………. iii I. Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………………… p. 1 a. Statement of the Problem ..….……………………………………………………....... p. 2 b. Significance of the Study …...………………………………………………………….. p. 2 c. Scope of the Study ……...………………………………………………………………… p. 3 d. Definition of Terms ...……………………………………………………………………. p. 3 II. Review of Related Literature and Studies …………………………………………… p. 6 a. Related Literature ……………………………………………………………………….. p. 6 b. Related Studies …………………………………………………………………………… p. 7 III. Methodology ………………………………………………………………………………………... p. 9 a. Research Instrument …………………………………………………………………... p. 9 b. Research Participants and Locale ……………………………………………….... p. 9 c. Research Method ……………………………………………………………………….... p. 9 IV. Data Presentation and Analysis …………………………………………………………. p. 10 V. Findings, Conclusions and Recommendations …………………………………… p. a. Findings b. Conclusions c. Recommendations VI. Bibliography VII. Appendices CHAPTER 1 Introduction “The...
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...Scientific research concerning living organisms is usually beneficial. They are done to cure people from illness and to save people's lives. Especially thanks to this day and age where we have the technology and research to do so, compared to back then. However when science used to alter people or animals then it crosses a line that is considered immoral to all -- for instance altering a rabbit’s genetics so that they can glow in the dark. Changing an organism and making them mutants like that violates the sacredness of life, and although it is somewhat condonable for this type of research with rabbits, if we were to do something similar to humans it would be beyond comprehension. It is clear that Hawthorne does not agree with alternating the human form with science, especially when using that science to try and make things more perfect in ones life; "Has it never occurred to you that the mark upon your cheek might be removed?" says Aylmer hinting at how he wants to remove his wife’s birthmark, on her cheek. Aylmer feels that this experiment is necessary just because his wife was nowhere near perfect, with this birthmark. "...upon another arm perhaps it might, but ...you came so hideous from the hand of Nature that this slightest possible defect, which we hesitate whether to term a defect or a beauty, shocks me, as being the visible mark of earthly imperfection.” If Georgiana’s “imperfection” had not stood out so much in his eyes Aylmer more than likely would not have minded...
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...Nature of Humanity According to Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne was born 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts. He descended from a Puritan family who participated in the Salem Witch Trials. His father died when Nathaniel was four, and he did not lead a very exciting or remarkable life. A rich tradition of family and local history provided much of the material for Hawthorne’s works. Nathaniel Hawthorne is mostly preoccupied with human flaws, pervasive evil, and evil in humanity. In his stories, “The Birthmark” and “The Minister’s Black Veil”, Nathaniel Hawthorne attempts to convey the nature of humanity by describing a quest for human perfection, creating a sense of loneliness, and proving that flaws structure humans. “The Birthmark” has a very deep theme: man’s attempts to transform nature in order to make it more perfect than it already is. Aylmer is described in the beginning as a man who is a great scientist and a lover of nature but who also has a beautiful wife whom he loves dearly. Georgiana says, “To tell you the truth it has been so often called a charm that I was simple enough to imagine it might be so” (1). “Ah, upon another face perhaps it might,” replied her husband; “but never on yours. No, dearest Georgiana, you came so nearly perfect from the hand of Nature that this slightest possible defect, which we hesitate whether to term a defect or a beauty, shocks me, as being the visible mark of earthly imperfection”(2). To Aylmer, his wife is perfect, but Georgiana’s...
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...Arriving at Perfection Can anyone be perfect? How do we go about achieving perfection? Well Benjamin Franklin thought he could live his life to perfection and achieve this in everyday tasks. People second-guess themselves or look back and wish they would have done whatever they had done different. Benjamin Franklin was on a mission to show everyone he could be perfect but also show to everyone he came across. Even though his ways of being perfect were not the same as everyone’s standards, Benjamin Franklin still tried to show that he was perfect in everyway possible. There is something in all of our lives that we wish we were better at. There are things we may try to do to make those things better: study more, put in extra hours at the job, see a counselor, or practice harder. In Benjamin Franklin's essay "Arriving at Perfection" he sets out to devise a plan of self-examination, resulting in self-correction. “Arriving at Perfection” Benjamin Franklin explains how he is perfect and how he is going to show everyone to stride to be perfect. He said, “It was about the time I conceived the bold project of arriving at moral perfection”. This message shows the standard of his thoughts and motives of Benjamin Franklin. Benjamin Franklin, along with being a worthy human being, was an extremely ingenious person as well. Franklin was a very clever man, intellectual and witty, and he did not let his ideas go to waste. He draws you into the essay and depicts how perfection is achieved...
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...Hawthorne it reminded me of how society is today. Our society has many ways of manifesting its obsession with physical perfection. In our society people go to extreme lengths to achieve perfection. Even though “The Birthmark” was written more than a century ago it’s an early version of our modern obsession with physical perfection. Society manifests its obsession with physical perfection by having surgical procedures done on a daily basis. In “The Birthmark” Georgiana was born with this birthmark in the shape of her hand on her cheek and her husband is really bothered by the birthmark. After discussing the birthmark Georgina decides to have the birthmark removed. In my opinion this story is about how a man fails when he tries to play god and his failure to understand that perfection is attainable. It also deals with man’s failure to realize that it is our imperfections, not our perfections, which makes us unique. I found myself disliking this story very much. Why couldn’t Aylmer just accept his wife as is, why couldn’t he just realize that she was perfect just the way she was? In trying to “perfect” Georgiana, Aylmer is testing God’s creation. He doesn’t believe that how God created Georgiana is perfect, and he is obsessive about making her his idea of perfection. This story is a perfect example of how society is today and of our obsession with physical perfection is. Even today, people try to play “God” and change things that nature has put in place. Its human curiosity; how much...
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...The Perfect Definition Oxford Dictionaries says that the definition of perfect is “having all the required or desirable elements, qualities, or characteristics; as good as it is possible to be.” If perfection is based on these requirements, what is the perfect limit of these desired requirements? Limits are based on satisfaction. Satisfaction is based on rules and opinions. I do not believe this definition serves the word justice. I think perfection is based on opinion and self-satisfaction. Something being described as perfect is not a fact, it is an opinion. There is no way to do something flawlessly. Everything and everyone has flaws. Everyone makes mistakes. There is no scientific way to live perfectly or do everything perfectly. People keep trying to reach for something that cannot technically be reached. But there is something people keeping seeking to reach. If you cannot reach perfection, therefore you must make another limit for yourself. Some think that there is no such thing as perfection because there is always room for improvement. It starts with the desire of something. People keep trying to get better at things until it satisfies someone or themselves. Once they have reached their goal and think there...
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...This week I have chosen to apply the ‘Don’t overextend yourself’ and ‘Aim for Consistency, Not Perfection’ methods into my daily routine as a way to hold myself accountable. Don’t overextend yourself By definition the word Overextend, means to obligate, or expand beyond a safe or reasonable limit. I have been known to be a people pleaser. I have done some evaluation both on a professional and personal level and acknowledge that I am in the grip of a disorder some people might call manic compression—trying to do everything perfectly in an attempt to please everyone around me. While everyone around me is enjoying their life, I am not wondering how I got myself there. This week I have made a choice to not commit myself to something I do not want to do, or to concede out of obligation. I have two incidents that I encountered this week professionally and personally that I would like to share. This past week, a friend of mine asked if her 20 year old son could stay at my home while she continued to live with her sister as she was looking for an apartment for the both of them to live in. I found myself faced with a conundrum, she has been there for me during some of the most challenging times of my life and I felt obligated to help her out in this situation. On the other hand, I do not want to live with her son because it would make me feel uncomfortable and I value my personal space. I do not want to take on that responsibility because her son has been known to make questionable...
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... Crayons, to my six-year-old mind, symbolized everything that was wrong with the world. The color was always lumpy and uneven, so it was virtually impossible to color completely inside the lines. Crayons smelled like burning cardboard mixed with old potpourri, and broke too easily. I could never sharpen them, even with a special crayon sharpener, so they were as nice as when they'd first come out of the box. After I used a crayon once, the point would become rounded, defective. Eventually, the paper wrapping would slide off or the crayon would get so short I would have to tear away the label. The crayon wasn't perfect anymore. It was ratty. Blunt. Short. Ugly. Ten years later, I still have something of a profound preoccupation with perfection. Recently I was making a birthday card for a friend. It was beautiful - I had cut out flowers from construction paper and pasted them on. I meticulously outlined each flower with glitter glue and drew "Happy Birthday," braving the brain-cell-slaughtering odor of a Sharpie marker. After cutting the words out, I pasted them onto the front of the card and outlined them in glitter glue. The card sparkled under the lamplight and the flowers were exquisite. I had made the card so that some of the flowers were pasted outside the edge to give them a three-dimensional effect. Then I noticed one of the flowers seemed at a slight angle. I delicately tried to peel it off and reposition it. Then the unspeakable happened - a soft ripping sound...
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...Franklin 1. The claim Franklin makes is in paragraph 1 “I wish’d to live without committing any Fault at any time; I would conquer all that either Natural Inclination, Custom, or Company might lead me into.” which explains that he hopes for a life of perfection; or to lead through a fault-free lifestyle. 2. The counter-argument is in the last paragraph, Franklin states how concentrating on one thing may cause a weakening in another, eventually leading oneself into imperfection. 3. One of his grounds are when he makes a “little Book” to record any faults made to later examine them so that he can improve towards perfection. Another ground he makes is the list of thirteen virtues that he has picked up from other writers and made into his own so that he can follow and perfect them daily. 4. An objection to his book records that he keeps is that he cannot be entirely perfect because of the daily obstacles that he does have control over which can cause him to be at fault regardless of how careful he is. 5. The rebuttal is presented after he explains how focus on one virtue can lack attention to another by counterstating that he can extend his concentration for all the virtues, which can predominantly keep him free of any faults. Didion 1. The essay “On Self-Respect” claims how self-respect is key to guideline a responsible and successful life. She states, “Character—the willingness to accept responsibility for one’s own life—is the source from which self-respect...
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...Every coach has a different approach when it comes to motivating their team. Different forms of locker room communication range from yelling, cursing, instilling fear, encouraging, and incorporating individual drive. Coach Gaines focuses on the importance of self encouragement, connection between teammates, and the idea of perfection to motivate his team in the final minutes of their last game. From the film Friday Night Lights about the bond between athletes, Coach Gaines’s speech of his specific meaning of perfection in athletics is meant to inspire young athletes using ethos and pathos instead of decibel levels to understand the game and what it means to each specific person. There is no one better than Coach Gaines to give this speech to the football team; he shares a connection with the team members on a physical and emotional level due to his previous experiences as a player and his current ones as a coach. Coach Gaines is a retired quarterback and went on to coach for 35 years, with this experience, he understood the distinct situation the boys were in, as well as the emotions they were feeling. “Now ya’ll have known me for awhile, and for a long time now you’ve been hearin’ me talk about being perfect” (Gaines, Gary). This specific line employs ethos, creating the credibility...
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...was a common benefit to society. Although Franklin was educated as Presbyterian, he treated all religion with respect. He believed that even the worst of religions had some good. Franklin did not let his religion tie him down. He often did not attend public worship and thus received admonishment from his minister. Once Franklin heard his minister’s five points he became conflicted. As a result he withdrew from his church and wrote his own prayer entitled “Articles of Belief and Acts of Religion” Franklin’s most arduous project was his attempt at moral perfection. He established his thirteen virtues to guide himself onto the right path. By charting his journey for moral perfection, Franklin was able to examine himself and learn from his faults. However as time went by, Franklin realized that it was not possible for him to become perfect. He acknowledged his failure and pointed out that his journey toward moral perfection shaped him to become a happier man. Franklin concluded in his memoir that pride was a moral imperfection that was difficult to subdue. Franklin uses ethos to establish credibility as role model for the young men of America to become successful. By highlighting his own experience with family, education, morals, and religion, Franklin establishes his authority on success. The library that Franklin began from scratch served to emphasize the importance of contributing to society and education. Even todays’ libraries exist to provide books to people. Franklin’s...
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...Rene Descartes in his Discourse of the Method begins with the problem of showing and proving his own existence, but later in the reading changes the problem and it is concentrating on proving the existence of God. The first time that I thought to myself that this reading is probably about something else than proving his own existence was where the author started talking about perfection. The author defined God as “something that truly was more perfect than I was, something indeed having perfections of which I could have any idea” (Descartes, 2010, p.16). The “surprise ending” of this reading is in my opinion a very strong thought that everyone thinks about each day. Today, we are familiar with so many different religions, but I feel like no matter what religion it is that image of God is always described as perfection. Personally, I do agree with Descartes saying that “there had to be some other more perfect being on which I depended and from which I had acquired everything that I had” (Descartes, 2010, p. 16). Each person goes through life each day and makes the right and wrong decisions, but how we feel inside about life has a lot to do with our faith and believes. The author in my opinion was very clear about the ending of this reading. Descartes concentrated mostly on convincing his reader on existence of God. Even though it seemed in the beginning that he is focused on a picture of his own existence he provided his readers with a smooth transition to an existence of God...
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...Breaking down the media’s distorted views on beauty: Beauty. At the mention of this word, most girls are inclined to take a quick look into a compact mirror or run a few fingers through their hair, sizing themselves up with the nearest advertisement featuring a flawless bottle blonde. Some may go a bit further, running an endless list of insecurities through their minds and letting out an exasperated sigh. Every girl has done it at least once in her lifetime but it isn’t her fault. Women have been taught to compare themselves to others for most of their lives. There are signs everywhere, at every corner, flashing the words “you aren’t good enough” to every teenage girl. For years, the world of media has been working hard to construct the ideal image of what a “perfect woman” is supposed to look like. You and I know it well. Magazines, movies, and commercials, among other outlets, have spoon-fed girls with the idea that they can only be beautiful if they have long legs, great hair, and curves in all the right places. According to modern day society, girls should walk and talk pretty, have perfect skin, and cake on makeup; they should watch their weight and keep up with the newest trends in fashion. In Arthur Miller’s ‘Death of a Salesman’ when referring to next door neighbour Bernard, Biff states, “He’s liked but he’s not well liked”. Most people are liked by their friends and acquaintances. Willy’s recipe for success is based entirely around a cult of personality. Only great...
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...“Perfection is an illusion and those who seek perfection will find themselves unfulfilled their whole lives” (Fiona Childs). In the story Pancakes by Joan Bauer you will read about a girl named Jill and how she feels that everything always has to be perfect. You will see how she attempts to do everything by herself just to make it turn out the way she feels is best. You will also learn the lesson that no matter how hard we try nobody is perfect. As you read this story think about if you would classify yourself as a perfectionist like Jill does. Andy broke up with Jill for being a perfectionist because he could not deal with someone who couldn't be happy unless everything went the right way. Jill had no choice but to classify herself as a perfectionist because that is exactly what she is. Whether it's how she has to iron all of her clothes before she puts them on, or having to get all the orders right a work, or feeling like she has failed, she had to have everything perfect! That definitely shows at her work, Jill was having a long day at work and everything turned inside out and backwards when a table of 66 came in. At this point of time Jill didn't even know where to start, after the huge table came in everyone started coming in. And she was the only waitress there....
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