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essays about persistence
the pilgrim's progress
the pilgrim's progress
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Many people wonder what it would be like to go from a dangerous city where they live and journey to a plentiful heaven. This storyline is portrayed in John Bunyan’s allegorical book, Pilgrim’s Progress. This fascinating story describes the life of Christian, a married man living in the City of Destruction, who longs to travel to the Celestial City. As Christian struggles to stay on the right, though more difficult path, I fight to focus in school and not pay attention to distracting ideas. I also fight to get strong enough in dance to become a professional dancer, just as Christian has to climb the Hill of Difficulty to get to the Palace Beautiful. In order for Christian to arrive at the Celestial City without wasting away his life, he must be patient. In the same way, I must be patient to reach my life goal. Just as Christian struggled to get through his obstacles in his life, I must get stronger to dance, focus in school, and be patient in order to reach my life goal of becoming a faithful and patient person of God.
Christian encounters many people who try and lead him down a different path including Worldly Wiseman. Worldly Wiseman encourages Christian to take the get rid of his burden, and take the short, easy route to his destiny, instead of the long, hard route Christian is currently taking. Christian finds that even though the short route is described as ‘better’ by Wiseman, Christian knows that he needs to stay on his own route because he finds relief: “I don’t care what I meet in the way as long as I can also find deliverance from my burden” (Bunyan 16). Worldly Wiseman focuses his life on getting rid of all burdens, and focusing on worldly comforts. Christian, on the other hand, keeps his burden, and pushes th...
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...e, I struggled to get stronger to go on pointe, but in the end, my reward was actually being able to dance on the ends of my toes without getting injured. Also, I had to focus hard in school while missing the fun with friends, but my grades stayed high and it made school easier. At the time, I was not feeling very wise like Mr. Worldly Wiseman, but I soon learning that it also taught me to be patient. In all of my experiences in my own life, I learned to be more patient with myself and realized how much easier it will be to reach my life goal with new experiences. Even though I have not yet met my life goal, I still learn through my experiences just as Christian learned from his experiences going to the Celestial City.
Works Cited
Bunyan, John, and L. Edward. Hazelbaker. The Pilgrim's Progress in Modern English. Alachua, Florida: Bridge-Logos, 1998. Print.
...ind of the reader is what method or process was required for the pilgrim to acquire this self-abasing attitude. One key element appears to be the realization of his inability to survive without God's assistance. The failed attempt to climb Mount Purgatory serves as a moment of revelation. After being driven back by the embodiment of his faults, he receives divine assistance in the person of Virgil, who is the medium by which the grace granted by Our Lady is dispatched. The example of docility towards the divine will is a challenge to each reader to cry out in the words of the Psalmist "Not to us Lord, but to your name give the glory." (115:1) The reader is called to shift allegiance, as it were. In order to achieve the redemption promised "in the fullness of time," it is necessary to identify with the self-denying pilgrim rather than the self-edifying sinner.
Do not let your hands be weak, for you shall be rewarded.”– 2 Chronicles 15:7 John Muir and William Wordsworth both faced challenges to get to where they were going. As the verse above says “do not let your hands be weak…” do not give up on what you want to get up and keep pushing forward. “For you shall be rewarded.” Both authors faced an obstacle before reaching their reward. In any situation an obstacle will be placed in your path. Will you keep pushing or will you turn around and walk away? In Wordsworth’s poem “I wondered like a lonely cloud” Wordsworth was laying on his couch, depressed, alone then he remembers the beautiful scene once he walked up that hill and saw a field full of dancing daffodils, he once again was instantly filled with joy. John Muir’s main character found himself in a difficult and desperate situation. As night fell upon him and he had nowhere to lay his head for the night, and he began to fear that he would be stuck in a swap that was home to many that would consider him a wonderful dinner. William Wordsworth faced the obstacle of depression. While on a walk, he came upon a field of daffodils that brought him infamous joy. I think of the verse I used and how Muir and Wordsworth both had to face an obstacle no matter how small or big, however both pushed for moving forward and as they pushed forward to receive their reward just as the verse above states. Although many may see a different reason for Muir and Wordsworth being
Throughout the course of John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress, the main character, Christian, is established as a quest hero. While it may be argued that Christian is not a traditional quest hero, because he does not experience a type of death and rebirth, or because his invocation comes from both an object, a book, as well as a person, Evangelist, there are still enough similarities between Christian’s journey and a traditional quest hero’s journey to establish him as a traditional quest hero. The novel introduces Christian as “a man clothed with rags…a book in his hand, and a great burden upon his back” (11). After he has been reading the book and is met by Evangelist, Christian recognizes his world for what it is, becomes “greatly distressed
...hool and work and life in general. I did not strive to do my best in high school and especially my dual enrollment classes. I was not ever thinking about my future and started not coming to classes. Once I accepted God in my life Junior Summer, all that changed. I realized I was on a negative path and God helped me turn my life around. Senior year is going wonderful so far, my grades are the best they have ever been and I am busy as ever with work, school, church, and volunteer work. I love it this way, I believe staying busy requires me to stay on task and get a lot done, that is the lifestyle I have to take to college. Although that bad patch in high school lowered my grades and performance, making it more difficult to get into college, I am thankful it happened so I could learn from it before heading off to a new chapter in my life, hopefully at Auburn University!
“There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will” (Shakespeare). In life we all have a route that we are supposed to follow to achieve our goal. Our attitude towards the path to achieve that goal is what will shape our ends. Our reactions to our obstacles we face are what are going to set us through the path. Shakespeare was trying to have an overall theme throughout his tragedies, to get through obstacles to keep continuing on the path to our overall achievement in life.
Vaughan, Alden T. “Early English Paradigms for New World Natives.” American Antiquarian Society. 102:1 (1992) 33-67.
After taking the advice of Mr. Worldly WIseman so that he might spare himself danger, sorrow and pain, Christian turned
Christianity has its challenges. It places demands on us that set us apart from the rest of our world. The bible calls us a peculiar people, who navigate the challenge of living IN the world, without being OF the world. When we say ‘no’ to temptations that are enjoyed by the masses, we are labeled as self-righteous snobs, religious weirdoes, or worse. But we persevere, and we press toward that invisible line the Apostle Paul drew in the sands of time…for the high calling in Christ Jesus.
John Bunyan born 28 November 1628 to 31 August 1688, is known as an English Christian writer and speaker. He is well-known for the writing of The Pilgrim's Progress. Although Bunyan was a Reformed Baptist, he is remembered in the Church of England with a Lesser Festival on August 30th. Bunyan was not well educated. He followed down the pathway of his father who pursued tinker’s trade, and also served in the Parliamentary Army from 1644 to 1647. He lived in Elstow until his wife died. Bunyan then moved to England (Bedford), where he had remarried. In the 1650’s, John became a successful deacon and began speaking or “preaching”. He continued to preach without a preaching license, and the main authorities turned their cheeks for a while, but later had to imprison him. In March of 1675 he was again imprisoned for preaching publicly without a license.
Throughout their lives, many Christians, as well as nonbelievers, have heard the story of the three wise men who journeyed from a far distance to see the birth of Jesus Christ. Author T.S. Eliot, however, tells the story from a different perspective, one of the magus, in his work, “Journey of the Magi.” In this, Eliot describes the long and arduous adventure these three men embarked upon while simultaneously adding in additional allusions to the life of Christ. All of these images combine to compare and contrast the realities of both life and death in the context of Jesus’s birth and Christianity. By doing so, Eliot has created a new and fascinating experience for his readers by bridging the gap between the worlds of life and death.
and Writers. 4th ed. Ed. John Schlib and John Clifford. Bedford. Boston: Bedford, 2009. 1526-1561. Print.
The author of The Pilgrim's Progress is well described by Coleridge's remark: "His piety was baffled by his genius; and Bunyan the dreamer overcame the Bunyan of the conventicle." This remark points out the difficulty that Bunyan faces when he attempts to write a religious piece of work in the style of allegory. The Pilgrim's Progress is "pious" because it is a piece written in dedication to God. It contains important religious teachings -- what a good Christian should do and what he should not do. What Coleridge means by Bunyan's "genius" is basically the story itself. The story is so well written that people become so interested in the story and forget the whole spiritual truth behind and this worry Bunyan. Coleridge also indicates in his remarks, the tension between "piety" and "dreaming". "Dreaming", as we know is unreal, and it can hardly be connected with "piety". But Bunyan, through his "genius", not only managed to bring these two things together, but in way that would be satisfiable to all.
In a multitude of tales written across time, both true and fiction, there lies an antagonist and a protagonist. Often times, it transpires that the protagonist pushes through whichever obstacles the malevolent antagonist decides to throw their way over the course of the story. Now, that simple baseline, the baseline of multitudinous stories, aims to demonstrate that the human soul pushes on. No matter what someone may encounter, sooner or later they’ll move past it, and their soul will prove stronger in spite of it. In order to corroborate my theory, I’m going to share some specific findings from stories including the “The Myth of Sisyphus”, Matthew 26 and 27 of the bible, and lastly, “The Crisis”.
John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress is an allegorical story about the Christian religion. It allegorizes the journey of a Christian into "the Celestial City, which represents heaven. Although Pilgrim's Progress may seem simple and straightforward, there are many deeper meanings throughout the whole story. Bunyan uses the names of his characters to signify whom the character represents in the story, for example, the character Hopeful represents hopefulness, Help represents people who are willing to help others in need of assistance, Faithful represents people who are faithful to whatever they are associated with, and the main character, Christian, represents all young Christians in the world. His journey to the Celestial City is a journey every Christian must face in their lifetime before allowed into heaven. Within his journey there are many obstacles such as temptations both tangible and intangible for instance, the merchandises sold at Vanity Fair and the shortcuts offered, illustrate temptations real Christians must face and overcome; finding an easy way into heaven, and being thrown off course by material things. The character Christian overcomes many obstacles before reaching his destination, the Celestial City. But during his journey he does not face all these obstacles alone. He meets a variety of people all through his journey to the Celestial City; some of these people mock his traveling to the Celestial City, some decide to follow him, and some help him along his way. Christian meets Faithful who decides to join him on his travels. Faithful is a character that faces many difficulties on his own journey to the Celestial City; his journey has many diff...
A recent failure that has changed how I go about my daily life is one that many college freshman experience in their first year. In high school I was a very good student, but I did not have to put in a lot of effort to get the grades that I wanted. I would joke with my friends and say that high school taught me how to put in the least amount of effort, and still get the maximum result. All of my teachers told me, as they did every student, that college was going to be different and if you do not put in more effort it would be very difficult. I knew this coming into school, but I am not sure if part of me wanted to prove people wrong, or if I actually was just adjusting to college life. I did not study as much as I should of, and as a result my grades suffered. Luckily I did not completely ruin my grade point average, but since first semester I have completely changed my study habits. This has taught a much needed lesson about hard work, and I am determined to never again fail at my studies. I am the kind of person that learns a lot from failures. My dad has always told me it is ok to make a mistake, but never make the same mistake twice. This I a motto that I live by.