Thirdly, we need to look at the poem “Icarus” by Wendy A. Shaffer. The poem is talking about free will versus obedience and conformity through the main character Icarus. The title named Icarus and nothing more, suggesting to the reader that this is solely about him or that we should concentrate on him. The poem opens with asking if what thoughts passed in Icarus’ mind as he approached the sun and his wings began to melt. The speaker of the poem that Someone who question Daedalus’ role as the father or someone who thinks of Icarus as adventurous and maybe even a bit careless. After that It then moves on and asks if Icarus ever questioned his father’s motives. The poem ends with his fall and the final questions about failing fathers, but the
In Alex Horton’s essay, “Ides of March,” which he posted on his personal blog, “Army of Dude”, on March 20, 2011, he tells us a little about his platoon, Battle Company, Second Platoon. In this reflective essay he tells us how they have disbanded – and he tells us about the platoon’s losing one of its own, Brian Chevalier, who was a “driver for first squad.” Chevy was blown “out of the Stryker” he was driving, apparently being killed instantly. He talked about how it happened so suddenly, like an announcement when a family member passed away. In this essay Horton remembers Chevy, sharing stories and memories from other men in their platoon. The reason on why Horton wrote this essay because on an emotional state about what he felt about when
The Geeks Shall Inherit The Earth is a book by Alexandra Robbins which summarizes the story of seven different teenagers that have many different problems, which many of todays teenagers also have. I found myself having many similarities to the teenagers in the story, for example, when with her group Whitney, the popular bitch, thinks “You didn't day that when we were alone, but now that you're in front of a group you do” (Robbins 21). I can relate to this because I feel as though many people are pressured to say or do things they normally wouldn't whenever they are with their group or ‘clique’. Robbins has this idea that the freaks and geeks, or “cafeteria fringe” will someday grow up and use what they are criticized for to become more successful than the other peopler people. She calls this the ‘Quirk Theory’ (Robbins page 11). This helped me to learn that right now, in high school, not being ‘popular’ may seem like the end of the world, but the reality of it is that after these four years, it wont even matter, but what will be important is how you learned to grow as a person and the true friendships that were made. This makes me want to focus more on my education and learning to grow as a person instead of focusing on how many friends I have or who I sit with at lunch, because truthfully it wont matter once high school is over.
The drama, Mission of Mercy, by Esther Lipnick is a very inspiring read. It tells about a girl who doesn’t want to be like her proper, fancy family at all. Instead she wants to become a nurse. She leaves her home and becomes a nurse. It inspires me because both of my parents, and other family members of mine, are teachers, although I’m not going to be one. Mission of Mercy is a drama that could inspire many people to go for what they want, even if other people don’t always approve of it. Florence changes throughout all of the the scenes 1, 2, and 3.
In Craig Lesley’s novel The Sky Fisherman, he illustrates the full desire of direction and the constant flow of life. A boy experiences a chain of life changing series of events that cause him to mature faster than a boy should. Death is an obstacle that can break down any man, a crucial role in the circle of life. It’s something that builds up your past and no direction for your future. No matter how hard life got, Culver fought through the pain and came out as a different person. Physical pain gives experience, emotional pain makes men.
In Fish written by Stephen Lundin, Harry Paul, and John Christensen we find a woman who moved to Seattle from Southern California with her husband her two children. This woman Mary Jane Ramirez had everything going for her she was a happy person who had a happy life her family their relationship couldn't get any better. They both had good jobs, jobs that they enjoyed. Then one day, twelve months after they had moved to Seattle Dan her husband was rushed to the hospital with a burst aneurysm he then died. After that incident everything changed for Mary Jane especially when she took an offer to work on the third floor for First Guarantee Financial.
There may be no greater fact known than that of human beings seeking a purpose in this life. Are we here simply because of our parents meeting or are we here because God ordained it for some divine reason unfathomable by yourself, but seen by those in your community? What would the world be if Gandhi had not examined himself in his writings? Ultimately we will never know the consequences of unexamined lives because it is simply human nature to seek a purpose, no matter the situation you are born into; meaning, rather King or citizen we all seek to examine our lives to find reason. This brings us to Achilles, the main hero of Homer’s The Iliad and the life that he eventually found a purpose in. This essay will seek to explore through Socrates quotation, “The unexamined life is not wroth living” how Achilles longing for a purpose affected the Achaean community at large both militarily and politically.
This passage defines the character of the narrators’ father as an intelligent man who wants a better life for his children, as well as establishes the narrators’ mothers’ stubbornness and strong opposition to change as key elements of the plot.
Christopher Wills has written a fascinating chronicle of human evolution in a style that will keep the reader glued to the book to find out what happened next. The Runaway Brain is organized into four sections. First Wills addresses The Dilemmas, the many problems that students of evolution encounter mainly from public perception of the subject and from the many prejudices of those involved with the work. The question of where our species first appeared is a particularly contentious one, although it is now widely accepted that the species originated out of Africa. There are, regardless, those who still disagree and especially at first, many dismissed an African origin out of hand. Wills' second main issue is that of the transition to actual "humanity" and if it occurred once or twice. As he discusses in the chapter entitled "An Obsession with Race", those who deride those of African descent often use the multiple origin theory as one that justifies racism. Wills decries this abuse of the science and firmly argues against those that would use evolution to further racist propaganda. He also takes issue with those who insist on believing that all of humanity came from one Eve and one Adam, instead putting forth the theory of the "mitochondrial Eve"; that we all descend from the mitochondrial DNA, but that we do not in fact descent from two individuals.
In today’s world, everyone has a sense of security that is born from the technological developments that science has given to society. While they may feel safe, there are much larger threats of disaster that people are not prepared for. These include natural disaster and human error. Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales aims to educate the people on how to better protect themselves and prevent death. The novel accomplishes this through sharing personal stories and stories of others who have survived near death experiences. This is an important subject in our culture and its importance is verified by professional reviews. To further express this importance, there are a plethora of popular television shows in pop culture that seek to entertain as well as educate its audience. Although modern technology makes it feel relatively easy to avoid and escape life threatening situations, basic survival skills, like those taught in Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales, are a useful tool to have in any situation. These thoughts are reflected in qualified book reviews that further show the significance of the subject in today’s society.
On our journeys we all must resist, or give into, temptations that may hinder our ascent to our goal. All people give into temptation at least once in their lives. One time that Odysseus gave into temptation was when he listened to the Sirens’ songs. We don’t always collapse into temptation, like when Odysseus wanted so badly to kill the suitors but forced himself to wait for the right time. Another time Odysseus defied temptation was when he refused to reveal himself to the people but ceased expose himself until he felt it was the right time. Temptation is not the only thing to obstruct our expedition.
Threw out the whole poem he tells his son that if he falls or messes up he can fix it and get back up. Just basically trying to tell him to learn from his mistakes instead of repeating them over and over again without learning anything. I chose this poem as my second topic because it helps me to prove my theory or thought about the main question. Mainly because threw out the whole poem he is not the one deciding what he does, to me it sounds like his dad is telling him what he should be doing. So it does sound like fate and destiny coming from the dad to the
Sophocles, in his work Oedipus Rex, creates a tension between the two main themes of his classic tragedy: fate and free will. The tension in the story is intended to make the reader contemplate how much free will we actually have in our lives. This tension begins in the middle of the story when we learn that an oracle prophesied to Laius, Oedipus’ father and the late king of Thebes, that he would be murdered by his own son. (ll. 784-788) Laius, trying to take his fate into his own hands, decides to get rid of his newborn son (Oedipus). However, instead of killing the child, he decides to cripple him and sends him to a mountain to die. (ll. 790-793) By getting rid of the child, Laius believes that he has escaped his fate. However, we find that his choice not to kill Oedipus himself later contributes to his own death and the fulfillment of the prophecy.
In today's society we let our lives be led by a certain force that we believe in very strongly. Yet, a common debate that still rages today is whether we, as a species, have free will or if some divine source, some call it fate, controls our destiny. In the play, Oedipus the King, that special force is also used and is known and defined as fate. This played an important role in the lives of the characters just as it plays one in our daily lives.
A common debate that still rages today is whether we as a species have free will or if some divine source, some call it fate, controls our destiny. The same debate applies to Oedipus the King and Oedipus at Colonus. Does Oedipus control his actions, or are they predetermined by the gods? It’s that question that makes Oedipus a classic, and many different people think many different things.
In Sophie's World, Jostein Gaarder teaches philosophy and it explains basic philosophical ideas better than any other reading book or textbook that I have ever read. The many philosophical lessons of the diversified thinkers of their own time were dexterously understood. The author has a wonderful knack for finding the heart of a concept and placing it on display. For example, he metamorphoses Democritus' atoms into Lego bricks and in a stroke makes the classical conception of the atom dexterously attainable. He relates all the abstract concepts about the world and what is real with straightforward everyday things that everyone can relate to which makes this whole philosophy course manageable. ''The best way of approaching philosophy is to ask a few philosophical questions: How was the world created? Is there any will or meaning behind what happens? Is there a life after death? How can we answer these questions? And most important, how ought we to live?'' (Gaarder, Jostein 15).