In I Am The Messenger by Markus Zusak, the main character Ed is a nineteen-year-old cab driver in Australia who has never amounted to anything. One day, while with his three best friends, an event occurs that forever changes his life. While in a bank, they are held up at gunpoint. Ed ends up stopping the criminal and saving the day. Days later, as the bank robber’s trial is ending, he tells Ed that he is “a dead man… [And to] [r]emember it every day when [he] look[s] in the mirror” (Zusak 38). This overlooked statement by the reader comes back in the end of the novel to reveal an important message that “everyone can live beyond what they’re capable of” (535). Before attending the trial though, Ed begins to receive playing cards with addresses, names, times, and movie titles on them that require him to complete tasks, which challenge him in more ways than he could ever imagine. In the short story “Good People” by David Foster Wallace, the two characters, Lane and Sheri, are faced with a situation that changes their lives as well; Sheri is pregnant with Lane’s baby. Even though Lane’s and Sheri’s situation is a little different than that of Ed’s, they relate greatly as all the characters are forced to make decisions that can alter the rest of their lives. In the novel, morality is used to accomplish self-discovery and growth of Ed’s personality by pushing his boundaries, and in the short story “Good People” by David Foster Wallace, morality is used to accomplish growth and the realization of consequences of one’s actions by placing the young couple in a faith questioning situation no adolescent wants to face.
When Ed is given the first card and visits 45 Edgar Street at midnight, he sees and hears one of the most disgusting things t...
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...r strong faith, it causes more issues about whether what the correct thing to do is. This problem is too complex for the couple to rely on faith alone. Everyone has different beliefs and ways to handle things, but in the end we all face issues that are not easy. These tasks, even the smallest of gestures can make a difference in a person’s life as Ed realizes that “big things are often just small things that are noticed”(Zusak 221).
Works Cited
Morales-Sánchez, Rafael, and Carmen Cabello-Medina. "The Role Of Four Universal Moral Competencies In Ethical Decision-Making." Journal Of Business Ethics 116.4 (2013): 717-734. Business Source Complete. Web. 8 Apr. 2014.
Wallace, David F. "Good People." The Norton Introduction to Literature. 11th ed. New York: W. W. Norton &, 2014. 149-55. Print.
Zusak, Markus. I Am the Messenger. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005. Print.
“Let Them Talk!” written by Wayne E. Wright is an article that focuses on the idea of promoting English Language Learners (ELL) oral-language skills in the classroom instruction time to improve their literacy and academic achievement. Too often are an ELL’s speaking and listening skills overlooked and not given enough attention to, even though it is one of the most important parts of communication. Wright encourages teachers working with ELL students to allow time for the student to adjust, not to pressure them into their language development, respect their various stages, bring them into whole class and small group discussions, correct simple language errors in speaking that impeded comprehension, and have them interact and communicate in the classroom for meaningful purposes.
Luna is the main character. She is smart, thoughtful, and a little shy. She is also very curious. Luna has an opinion about everybody, and she likes intellectual and creative people. She likes talking about her ideas and theories. Luna loves photography, and she has just gotten a camera. I think Luna is very brave because even though it is probably scary to try to find out all of the secrets that her mother had, she is still doing it. That takes courage. Luna is a strong person - she might seem hard to get to know, but once you do, she is a very good person.
“ I Am the Messenger,” by Markus Zusak is a story of a young man named Ed Kennedy, a hapless 19 years old cab driver. He thinks that he has no purpose in life whatsoever; his life is so boring and miserable. He is the lazy type of guy who procrastinates a lot and never does anything to change where he is at in life. His mother, even, told him that he was lazy and all he did was driving his cab around the city and playing cards everyday with his friends at the nightclub. “He said we’d just pack up and go, and look where we are,Ed. We’re still here. I’m her. You’re here, and just like your old man, you’re all promise, Ed, and no result”(Zusak, p.244)
Ethical decision-making is the responsibility of everyone, regardless of position or level within an organization. Interestingly, the importance of stressing employee awareness, improving decisions, and coming to an ethical resolution are the greatest benefits to most companies in today’s world (Weber, 2015).
The. “Good People.” The Norton Introduction to Literature. Gen. ed. -.
Ferrell, O. C., Fraedrich, J., & Ferrell, L. (2011). Business ethics: Ethical decision making and cases: 2011 custom edition (8th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.
The autobiography I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai begins with the scene of young pakistani education and women’s rights activist Malala being shot in the head. Her school bus had been stopped by the Taliban who, after asking which of the girls was Malala, put a bullet into her head. Malala ends the powerful prologue with the words “Who is Malala? I am Malala and this is my story” (9). Malala then rewinds to the story of her birth and how in Pakistan, no one congratulated her parents when she was born because she was a girl. Pakistani culture pushes for the birth of a boy as an islamic majority country. However, her father saw the potential in his daughter as a great leaser and named her after one of the great female leaders in Pakistan- Malalai of Maiwand who inspired the Afghan people, who were losing hope, to spur the army to victory against the British/Indian forces. Malala describes life in Mingora, Swat Valley, Pakistan. She outlines the Indian- Pakistan revolution and the shift of the Pashtun people into the Swat Valley. Malala’s father grew up in Shahpur but struggled to get his education in the town where he met Malala’s mother. They married and his dream of building a school, Khushal Public School, became reality when they moved into Mingora.
O’Connor, Flannery. “A Good Man is Hard to Find”. Eds. John Schilb, and John Clifford. "Chapter 13 Doing Justice" Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012. p1283-1296. Print.
O'Connor, Flannery. "Good Country People." Trans. Array A Good Man is Hard to Find. New York: Harcourt, 1995. 433-447. Print.
In the short story “Being There”, by Jerzy Kosinski, there are multiple examples of satire that are displayed throughout both the book and the movie. A few of them are: media, death, politics, and racism. The satire of the media was very similar in the book and the movie. Media played a big role in society and still does to this day.
O'Connor, Flannery. "Good Country People." Literature and the Writing Process. Ed. Elizabeth McMahan, Susan X. Day, and Robert Funk. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2002. 130-143.
Throughout the history of storytelling, there have always been storybook characters that inspire and motivate young readers to become more engaged and knowledgeable about the struggles that some people go through. Reading has always been a pastime of mine; while reading I collect new friends in wonderful places that otherwise I could only dream of. Each of these characters that I have befriended and connected with over the years, has shaped my personality in some way or another, and choosing just one seems an impossible task. Although women’s rights have skyrocketed in the past century, overall the world is still predominately male-orientated, but the world of books has no bounds for inspirational women. Countless authors have written books with strong female leads, most of them fiction, but nonetheless inspirational. When choosing the most influential to me, I could start by writing about the character that first allowed me to immerse myself in the world of the written language, Nancy Drew. Or I could write about the character that allowed me to feel comfortable with being unique and intelligent, Hermione Granger. But I won’t go into those clichés, the book character that has inspired me more than the heroines starring in the hundreds of books that I’ve read is real life Super Girl, Malala Yousafzai.
A major theme in Markus Zusak’s novel I am The Messenger is personal growth. At the beginning of the novel, Ed Kennedy does not seem like your everyday character in a novel. He does not seem like the person to amount to anything. Ed is a nineteen-year-old cab driver (underage) who loves playing cards with his three best friends, Marv, Ritchie, and Audrey, whom he has been hopelessly in love with for a long time, with little success. Because of the place, Ed is currently in, he feels that his life does not mean anything.
The thought of good people brings warmth and joy to my heart. On a daily basis I would like to think that most, if not all, of the people we surround ourselves with strive to be good people. My initial thought that came to mind before I began to read David Foster Wallace’s “Good People” was that this would be a story about all the people around each other doing good for one another bringing happiness to me as a reader. The story took a huge turn as it did not talk about the good of the people, but the expectations and judgments we hold for others to be good people. My eyes and my heart opened up, as Wallace’s story unfolded, in which he used a controversial issue to make a point by tugging at the emotions of the reader. I now know that this story was not to make a statement about a very controversial issue, but to make us realize that being a good person doesn’t always mean we have to follow by the expectations or rules that have been set for us, but by being who we truly are and having an understanding for one another.
While our organization prides itself in a well-defined and thorough code of ethics, there are occasions where situations arise, but the solution is not clearly defined within our code. In such a case, it is critical to develop a decision making framework that allows our employees to make a decision while operating within the moral guidelines of our corporation. In the hope that we can eliminate discrepancies, Royal Dutch Shell has created an ethical decision strategy that will make clear the ethical standings of our corporation and ensure a consistent decision making process. Our decision making process is focused on our stakeholders, and how we can maximize their benefit.