We kept running. We reached the next destination, Mia, by 6.00. We had just past some big cities. By then, of course, we were down to a “run” that was actually a weak walk-jog. We were so dehydrated after the run and so weak as well. “Come on, Gleam must go on. I am sorry I did not bring water, but we can do without it.” I reminded Gleam every time she seemed to be giving up. Actually, Gleam was much more strong and brave than me. I had already half given up, and when I tried to help her, my voice went into a scared squeal and Gleam comforted me. Shouldn’t I be comforting her? Isn’t that my responsibility? This made me feel weaker and also made me aware I had to be stronger. So I tried. I looked around the city, trying to look and be bolder than ever before. It had worked. I felt stronger, and now so did Gleam. “Let us go”.
After a while of running, jogging, and walking, we reached Katache, a big city. It was 1.00 in the morning and people were going into offices, cars were going past, and the regular routine started. Since I left, this was the first time I thought of Ma. I actually didn’t want to think of her, for it would be too much pain, but I had to. She must have been very worried about me and Gleam disappearing. Did she see the note? Did she read it? If she did, what if she is coming to help? I don’t want her to face the same trouble. All of this fear, worry, and glimpse of hope crowded by brain. I didn’t even notice what I was doing until Gleam pushed me back. I was about the run into a tree.
“Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about something. You know, Mother.” I said desperately, letting tears roll down my cheek. Gleam understood this and immediately tried to cheer me up. She came over and...
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...utes later, I saw Dr. Lavan, the head doctor, walk out, talking to a nurse. “Doctor,” my Dad said faintly.
Lavan turned around. “Oh, Mr. Swan. Your wife is not dead, but don’t worry too much. But, the injury has left some traumatic brain injuries that we cannot repair at the moment. I am sorry sir, but she is in a coma. We will order some new medicines, but for now, she will have to stay hospitalized.”
We were shocked and depressed. I saw my dad pale and crying. When my dad looked at me, the shocked look on his face told me that I looked the same.
Me, Gleam, and Dad cried, wept and mourned. Nothing else mattered anymore. With tears in his eyes, my father had looked at me and said, “It’s okay”.
“Oh, Dad, how can it be okay? Not with Mom like this…”I replied.
“Courage and sacrifice,” he said, looking up.
“Just weeping. I can still hear her weeping now sometimes. I know the exact sound of it, like a note you hear or a song that keeps spinning around in your head and you can’t forget it.”
In John Marsden’s Tomorrow When the War Began, the quote from David Seabury “Courage and convictions are powerful weapons against an enemy that depends upon only fists and guns”, is evident throughout the novel with the character’s various successes. Conviction (willpower) is very strong in the main characters, as the stakes are high with their entire town invaded leaving very few free. This conviction is also essential for courage, which as Ellie explains in the book, can only be found amidst fear. “I guess true courage is when you're really scared but you still do it” p.25. There are various frightening moments in this book, like when the ride on mower was used like a bomb or having to rescue Lee using heavy machinery. These are all moments the characters used their will to survive to propel them to do something that they were terrified to do. The characters also face daunting themes head on despite the previous stress. This is courage, found within conviction, and it has proved to be a good weapon against those with physical weapons.
“Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction,” declared John F. Kennedy, President and World War ll hero. This means if you go out and do something brave but it doesn’t have a purpose it is pointless. A lot of courage is shown in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, To Kill A Mockingbird, Schindler’s List, and The Merchant Of Venice.
Undaunted Courage is a very detailed account of what Ambrose considers the most important expedition in American history, Lewis and Clark’s exploration of the west. Ambrose attempts to project Thomas Jefferson’s vision of a country that stretches from sea to shining sea, of an open road to the west, of an “Empire of Liberty”. Ambrose repeatedly shows how important the expedition was to the United States and especially to Thomas Jefferson by giving examples of the powers given to Lewis by Jefferson in order to complete the expedition. Lewis is given a letter of credit signed by Thomas Jefferson
In the literary work, Speaking of Courage, Tim O’Brien highlights the trying struggle of a post-war solider attempting desperately to integrate himself back into American society. Paul Berlin’s trials and tribulations exemplify the “dominance of a citizen culture in the United States,” as mentioned by Dr. Decker in class. American society does not allow for the soldiers we have sent off to fight to return as warriors.
Chen, Tina. "'Unraveling the Deeper Meaning': Exile and the Embodied Poetics of Displacement in Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried." Contemporary Literature. 39.1 (1998): 77. Expanded Academic ASAP.
In the film Saving Private Ryan, directed by Steven Spielberg, Captain John Miller takes his men behind enemy lines to find Private John Ryan. Private Ryan’s three brothers have been killed in the war and no one knows if Private Ryan is alive or not. Captain Miller takes on the challenge of bringing home Ryan to his Mom so she wouldn’t lose all of her sons in the dreaded war. The story follows the journey and hardships Captain Miller and his men face trying to locate and bring home Private Ryan. Spielberg portrays the theme of sacrifice in the scenes when the group almost splits apart, they find Private Ryan, and Captain Miller dies.
2. Dike (p.77 to 79) Robert Ross shows his perseverance, when he tries to save himself from drowning in the dikes. He fights against Mother Nature, and thinks strategically by pushing himself and not giving up. He was fearful of drowning, mentally motivated himself to get out and avoid dying, and soon eventually breaks free. This shows how strong Robert is when motivated by the will to survive. Although he was fearful, he overcame it and saved himself, since some would just give up. Before entering the war, it was seen that he would run away from his problems (Rowena’s death), but now as he realizes that there is no point of return, he finds a new sense of drive. He shows his willpower, by maintaining an independent, and strong, logical mind when faced with fear, and learns to fight so that was doesn’t get the best of him. “I don’t want to drown, he thought. Please don’t drown. He pushed himself up with his head hanging down,” (Findley 79).
The Red Badge of Courage, by it’s very title, is infested with color imagery and color symbols. While Crane uses color to describe, he also allows it to stand for whole concepts. Gray, for example, describes both the literal image of a dead soldier and Henry Fleming’s vision of the sleeping soldiers as corpses and comes to stand for the idea of death. In the same way, red describes both the soldiers’ physical wounds and Henry’s mental vision of battle. In the process, it gains a symbolic meaning which Crane will put an icon like the ‘red badge of courage’. Stephen Crane uses color in his descriptions of the physical and the non-physical and allows color to take on meanings ranging from the literal to the figurative.
Cara: Oh hello. Yes well, I just received some rather bad news. It is about my father. I've lost most of him. He had a major stroke last night and has suffered severe brain damage resulting in amnesia.
As I walked in to their bedroom, I found my mother sitting on the bed, weeping quietly, while my father lay on the bed in a near unconscious state. This sight shocked me, I had seen my father sick before, but by the reaction of my mother and the deathly look on my father’s face I knew that something was seriously wrong.
A simple definition of sacrifice is to give up something for the sake of something else, whether it is for another human life, for an idea, or even for a belief. “She was 17 years old. He stood glaring at her, his weapon before her face. ‘Do you believe in God?’ She paused. It was a life-or-death question. ‘Yes, I believe in God.’ ‘Why?’ asked her executioner. But he never gave her the chance to respond. The teenage girl lay dead at his feet.” (DC Talk 17) This example of a sacrifice really happened at Columbine High School in Littleton, CO, on April 20, 1999. In the story Iphigenia and in today’s society, justification can be found in favor of the sacrifice of life for the lives of others, for the sake of one’s country, and for one’s religious beliefs.
When you envision a hero do you think of a superhero or a real life person? There are many
make a choice between the love of your life and going to a football game, a
Asking my father for money or if he wanted to buy gum. My father would give them a dollar or buy few peices of gum. I notice my father face look unhappy and try hard to smile. I ask my mom " why does kids doing that?", my mother respond and explain to me that some families where very poor and the hole family would work to be able to survive, even if it ment to put there children to work. I can tell even my mother look sad. There was silent for a good while. My mother put on music to cheer up, that always