Definition Essay On Hope

Hope: a universal term, while intangible, hope can be felt all around. The word “Hope” originated around 900 A.D. and holds different definitions in the eyes of those who are experiencing it. When asked, high school students described hope as a new beginning or a light at the end of the tunnel. The ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ varies based on the recipient of the question. For high school seniors: graduation; for a struggling family: payday; for a sick and hurting patient: the top of the hour when their medicine becomes readily dispersed. Hope comes in different forms. Hope shines light through hard decisions, politics, tragedy and everyday life. Through hope, motivation appears while promises and intentions to create a better future are

With that, it is important to remember that hope shines in not just the largest of acts, but also the smallest. Throughout literature, hope displays in several different sources such as Emily Dickinson’s poem Hope is the Thing With the Feathers. The poem states, “Hope is a thing with feathers that perches the soul and sings the tune without the words, and never stops at all.” Hope shines eternal and never disappearing, it lies in the smallest places like with the feathers. At the end of the poem, Dickinson states, “I’ve heard it in all the most chill land, And on the strangest sea; yet, never, in the extremely, it asked a crumb of me.” Hope proves to be a light at the end of the tunnel for some, although Dickinson explains that hope can take a piece of you. For example, if one hopes for so long and the miraculous end result never comes, it can be detrimental to one’s spirit. Hope can be a dangerous form of wishing, which diminishes the amount of motivation within those people. Motivation sparks all actions, without motivation there would be no