It was my aunt who taught me the meaning of honesty. Not because she actually was honest, but because she lied all the time. I think she felt that the easiest way out of any given situation was generally the best way out. For her, that meant telling a lie that sounded believable. As a young child I thought it was cool to lie and get out of things so easily and being around my aunt was the main problem. Naturally, when ever I would come to her with a problem, concern, or a question wondering what I should do, she would always tell me to make up a good lie and run with it.
“Aunt Ruby, I told April that I would go to the movies with her, but I would rather go to Jessica’s house and go to the mall with her.”
“Tell April you’re sick,” she would say. And most often I would. But I didn’t seem blessed with her lack of principles. On many occasions April would find out that I really went to Jessica’s house and to the mall without her. These occasions taught me that it is more painful to be caught in a lie than to tell the truth in the first place. I wondered how it was possible that my aunt had never learned that lesson that I had just learned so painfully and so easily.
I started thinking of all the lies that I’d heard her tell. I remember the time she told her friend that her favorite shopping mall had closed, just so she wouldn’t have to see her there anymore and have her approach her and talk for five minutes. The time she told my Uncle that she loved the new purse he had gotten her for her birthday. The one that really takes the cake is when she told her friend Patty that the car was down and that is why she hasn’t been to see her in a couple of weeks. The thing that I don’t understand is why you have to lie to the people you love if you don’t like or want to do something. What bothered me after awhile was how she incorporated me into her lies. Like the time she called the school and told them I wouldn’t be there today because I had a dentist appointment, when in fact, she wanted me to baby sit my little cousin so she could go get her hair done.
In the dramatic film, Pieces of April, by Peter Hedges, April, oldest daughter of three, decides to invite her estranged family over to her apartment, in New York, for possibly the last Thanksgiving dinner they will have together as a family. At a young age, April moved out/left her family because of their problems. These so call problems of April’s were her drug use, drug dealing boyfriends, and issues between her siblings and her. These family problems consist of lack of understanding towards April and so she is an outcast. Joy, April’s mother, has always had a terrible relationship with April than with Beth, April’s younger sister. With
In this story, the lies that AnneMarie was told effected her life. AnneMarie’s life before the lies was hard/joyful, but after the lies, she realized that they were to keep her safe. One of the lies that was told to AnneMarie was the lie about the death of Aunt Birte. When Annemarie asked Uncle Henrik about her, she became furious because he lied to her. Although later, Uncle Henrik explained, “It is much easier to be brave if you don’t know everything. And so your mama doesn’t know everything. Neither do I. We only know what we need to know.” (p. 65)
Welty's honest tone draws readers more closely to her emotions regarding literature through phrases like "the feeling that resides in the printed word, reaches me through the reader-voice" and "whether I'm right to trust so far I don't know". Welty uses words like "truth" and "trust" in order to express her abstract emotions in a way that the reader can understand, but that is also representative of her actual feelings. She writes, "the sound of what falls on the page begins the process of testing it for truth" and "I have always trusted this voice". When people write, the words tend to resound inside their own heads as they go. By "truth", Welty means how "right" or "correct" the words sound together. This not only refers to grammar, but also
Frances Piper’s change in nature can be seen the day of Materia’s, her mother, funeral. She cannot control the laughter that escapes her while the funeral proceeding is happening. However she is amazed when James and Mercedes, her sister, think that she is crying. In that moment of her life, Frances learns something “. . . that will allow her to survive and function for the rest of her life. She finds out that one thing can look like another . . . Some would simply say Frances learned how to lie” (142)...
Honesty is a value that is imperative to the trust and honor of a person. When the main character in “Ashes” by Susan Beth Pfeffer, is faced with a decision that may cause her to break the trust she has with her mother, she is torn as to what she should do. The main character is Ashleigh, a middle school age girl, whose parents are divorced. Within the last couple months previous to the story, Ashleigh had decided she liked her dreamer of a father more than her practical, prepared mother. In the middle of the story, Ashleigh’s dad asks her to steal $200 out of her mom’s teapot of extra money for his newest deal. Therefore, Ashleigh is portrayed as a flat character as her personality is not very developed, but the reader
I shook my head, ashamed for invading my friends’ tragedies with memories I conjured up by their descriptions of them. I was still staring at Alice’s relaxed posture. The frown on her face was evident even while she rested unconscious with wrinkles near her seventeen year old eyes. I could still see the scar from stitches. Vesper shifted under the blankets on Alice’s couch. He was missing a father while Sebastian and I were missing a mother. But Alice was missing the two people that had given her life and left while she was living it. A trust fund was left in their
When you’re honest about the things you do, you don’t have to carry burdens about lying. Being honest can lead you to being happy because you made the right the decision to begin with. Doing honest deeds are rewarded to the people who tell the
Integrity is an idea that has been discussed by individuals with a verbal acuity far beyond anything I could ever hope for. With that in mind, I will not delve deeply or poetically into what integrity is or should mean. However, I will simplify the meaning of integrity; at the core, integrity boils down to doing what is right even if nobody is watching. See a piece of trash on the ground and nobody is around...pick it up. Driving down the road with no cops in sight...drive the speed limit. Arrive at a tollbooth and no attendant is working…pay the toll. An applicant is not readily available to sign a form for enlistment…track them down and ensure they sign it. I could write examples until infinity becomes paltry in comparison, yet I am sure I have made my point clearly; the greater good must be upheld regardless of who is there to ensure it is happening. It seems obvious that integrity should be a trait every individual is hardwired with from birth. However, integrity is a thankless trait; nobody is around after all. An individual cannot expect someone to clap, to smile, to thank them, to do anything actually. By definition, integrity should be something that is followed through with simply because an individual wishes to do what is correct, not because they expect accolades of any sort.
Critical thinking is associated with various methods and the definition will vary. A business student will look at critical thinking differently from a psychology student. The definition has changed quite a bit over the years; it can be simple and direct, as looking at a situation and asking specific questions and coming up with a conclusion. Educator Diane Halpern’s definition, “Critical thinking is the use of those cognitive skills or strategies that increase the probability of a positive outcome.” Critical thinking is used to describe thinking that is purposeful, reasoned, and is goal directed - the kind of thinking involved in problem solving, formulating inferences, calculating likelihoods, and making decisions. Critical thinking also involves evaluating the thinking process - the reasoning and factors considered before making a decision. Critical thinking is sometimes called directed thinking because it focuses on a desired outcome (Petress, 2004, p. 463).
Critical thinking is the skill of examining and assessing thinking with an outlook to improving it. This entails thinking cautiously with clarity, precision, depth, accuracy, and logic. Critical thinking entails a course of thinking in a particular manner. Critical thinking is the practice of thinking clearly, with precision and diligence; of thinking carefully, with reason and deepness; and of thinking open-mindedly, by investigating points of view and recognizing assumptions and biases within a given point of view. Thinking critically exposes one to examine and to evaluate ideas against what one already know and thereof making resolutions about their worth. A critical thinker tries to uphold an objective position and attempts to compare all side of an argument and appraise its strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, critical thinking skills involve: vigorously looking for all sides of an argument, testing the reliability of the claims made and testing the accuracy of the evidence used to sustain the claims. Since a critical thinker is objective, he/she is supposed to be an open minded. Questioning is at the backbone of critical thinking because it permits one to go ahead of the basic information. A critical thinker becomes vigorous examiner by asking questions (Moore, et al. 2007).
When is lying okay? According to the article, “Honestly, Tell the Truth,” by Barbara Billinger argues that lying is not okay and that you should tell the truth, no matter what situation you’re in. I agree with the author Barbara explains to us that we should always tell the truth and not lie in anyway, and to always be honest.
You pull up to the second window at the McDonalds’s drive-through to pick up the shake you just ordered and paid for, and the person working there hands you a huge bag of food while asking you if this is what you ordered. Do you A: Answer “Yes” and take the food or B: Answer “No” and tell him/her that you only paid for a shake? Yes this really did happen to me. What did I do? Believe it or not, I did the honest thing and gave the food back. But the real question is what would a majority of American’s youth do in a similar situation. There are two potentially dishonest acts in this situation, lying and stealing. In my opinion most high school kids are not above lying and/or stealing. The reason this is true is simply that many of today’s parents are not above lying and/or stealing. So after observing people that hold a high place of respect do things unmoral like this, their conscience says to itself, “Okay, lying and/or stealing is not really that bad, and is acceptable to my parents.” A majority of Americans youth today are morally confused, due to the un-honorable actions of their parents.
Honesty is a characteristic that everyone should possess. However, being honest is a difficult task for many people. Living honestly means allowing a person’s true self to be exposed to others. Honesty is considered owning up to one’s wrongdoings and not lying, cheating, or stealing. Being honest is a trait that many people believe is obsolete. Even though every person interprets honesty differently, it all stems back to telling the truth. Being honest allows a person to earn respect from their peers. Honesty is allowing oneself to be completely exposed by being truthful.
Growing up, we are always told to never lie because it is the worst thing you could ever do. “Lying will only lead to a horrible situation with less than mediocre results. While lying is not always good, it is not always bad either. Samuel Butler once said “Lying has a kind of respect and reverence with it. We pay a person the compliment of acknowledging his superiority whenever we lie to him.
I do not know of anyone who wants to be known as Pinocchio, the wooden boy who lies and in a result, makes his nose grow bigger. As an old proverb says, honesty is the best policy. I agree with being honest at all times. First, telling the truth to me, is always the right thing. When I catch someone in a lie, I just think to myself, what has come up of this world? A person’s truths and lies prove who that person is, and what that person is capable of. Second, people can earn a great deal of respect and trust from telling the truth. Now, people trust their “gut feeling”, but someone’s “gut feeling” should always be truthful. Respect is something that is earned, and at sometimes, given to people who do the things that they are supposed to do for themselves and for others. Last, most people were taught to tell the truth at a very young age. A truth is