Hero Essay English 9 Mr. Castellano

Our next major writing assignment is to write an essay about someone you consider to be a hero. We are doing this essay now because it coincides nicely with our reading of The Odyssey. As we have discussed in class, Odysseus is the archetypal Western hero: brave, strong, clever, quick-thinking, steadfast. The list could go one. My point is that as we read about this ancient and, I believe, still relevant hero I want you to think and write about someone who is a hero to you. This should be a fun assignment. I am sure you have heard all too often that there are no more heroes today, that everyone we look up to is corrupt and will ultimately disillusion us. I whole heartedly disagree. Heroes are everywhere we look: we just need to look. (In a book I read this Summer, one of the characters says, “We find what we look for.”) Heroes can be people we know personally and people we have only heard about. Here are only a few suggestions: Jesus Christ, St. Francis, Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King, Jr., Barack Obama, Captain Chesley Sullenberger, your Mom or Dad, an athlete, coach, teacher, or friend. Again, the list goes on. Just thinking about and planning this essay (as well as writing it, of course) will be a good exercise in recognizing how many heroes you have – how many people strive for high ideals and live virtuous lives. They’re there: look for them. Part of this essay will include what you define as a hero. Is a hero someone like Odysseus: someone larger than life and almost supernatural? Or is a hero someone like Mother Theresa who lived her life in a very simple and humble way but profoundly affected thousands and even millions of people? Or is a hero someone like your Mom who is not famous but who inspires you and your family in the way she fulfills her responsibilities with dignity and grace? There are as many definitions of hero as their people in the world. That’s your first task: figure out what it means to you to be a hero. Then find someone who meets those criteria. During the weekend, start brain storming about qualities of a hero and some individual heroes. Start putting ideas down on paper. We will talk about this in class on Monday. I will give you time on Tuesday and Thursday to write in class. As always, organize and plan out your ideas; get feedback from others. I do not want this to be a research paper; this is about someone that you know enough about already to say he or she is a hero. Your Introduction should include your definition of a hero; that should take 3-4 sentences. Then name your hero and say he or she meets that definition. The Body of the essay will be 2-4 paragraphs in which you detail the things that make your person a hero. This is the first essay assignment for the 3rd quarter: start well. It should be the usual length: 1-2 pages typed or 4-6 sides handwritten, double-spaced either way. It is due on Tuesday, 3 February. It is worth 100 points. Do your best.
Hero Essay English 9
Sample Essay Mr. Castellano

There are about as many different definitions of a hero as there are heroes. And, contrary to what some might say, our world is full of heroes. But a hero is not necessarily someone who does something glorious or especially courageous. For me, a hero is someone who fulfills his or her task faithfully and with dignity. A hero is willing to take full responsibility. A hero is also someone who acts with grace under pressure. With all the time in the world, anyone could perform the hero’s task; but the hero is able to perform under the most difficult of circumstances. Finally, and most important, the hero puts the well-being of other before himself or herself. Captain Chesley B. Sullenberger, III, the pilot of US Airways Flight 1549, meets all the criteria for being a modern-day hero. First of all, Captain Sullenberger completed his task faithfully and completely. As he said at his welcome home on Saturday, “I did what I was trained to do.” While parts of this statement is a result of the Captain’s humility, it is also very true: he and all the other members of the flight crew had been trained for years for just such a situation. As we all know, must flights go quite uneventfully. But this flight was the one time he needed every bit of the hours of training and years of experience. And they all paid off. Captain Sullenberger did everything he was expected to do and needed to do. As a result, all 155 people on the jet were brought home safely. Captain Sullenberger also performed with grace under pressure. Imagine all the fear and panic that must have been flooding him when he lost power in both engines. It is understandable if he had lost his cool or acted impulsively. But, instead, he did everything exactly right. All the pilot’s who commented on the safe emergency landing afterward kept saying how the landing was a textbook landing: it was as close as anything in this world can come to being perfect. Captain Sullenberger remained calm and thought through what he needed to do. He trusted his instincts. The landing of the jet safely required him to use his head, hands, and heart together and in coordination in exactly the right way. And he did. In my mind, the most important aspects of a hero is to put others before oneself. We have all read and heard many times how the Captain walked down the aisles twice to make sure everyone was out of the jet before he himself abandoned ship. We have all been justly moved and impressed by this. But, equally important, from the moment of take-off (and even before) Captain Sullenberger took his responsibility of flying that jet extremely seriously. He knew (as he always does) that the lives of everyone on that jet were completely in his hands. So everything he did in preparation for take-off, during the short flight, and (of course) during the critical minutes of the emergency landing had the safety of the people on board in mind. The media have made a big commotion about the humility of Captain Sullenberger in praising the rest of his crew. It is good that he is not boastful. But his humility started with his taking the lives of others as more important than his own. That is truly humble and heroic. We were all moved by the events of two weeks ago, and we should be. Captain Sullenberger did a great thing and brought all his charges safely home. But it was the thing he did every day for 30 years. And that makes him an even greater hero for me: do your work, do it faithfully, think of others.