Lindsay Roach
ENGL 057
Writing Assignment 10
Application Paragraph
The “balding, probably in his fifties” man with “an extravagant mustache” in The Man in the Water, is a perfect example of what it means to be courageous. After the plane collision, he “was seen clinging with five other survivors to the tail section of airplane.” He put his own life at risk in frigid water to save other passengers time and time again. “Every time they lowered a lifeline and flotation to him, he passed it on to another of the passengers.” When the helicopter came back for him he had already gone under. For as long as he could stay above water, “they went at each other, nature and man: the one making no distinctions of good and evil, acting on no principles,
People don’t always deal with the same issues in the same way. In the novel, A Yellow Raft in Blue Water, author Michael Dorris explores the perspectives of three women whose stories are tangled together through a history of secrets and lies. Rayona, Christine, and Ida all deal with their own share of hardships throughout the course of the novel. As each new perspective is revealed, it becomes clear that our three protagonists face issues with self discovery, a desire to fit in, and personal growth. Despite that though, each one deals with those problems in different ways. Apologetic, aggressive, and distant--Dorris’s effective use of word choice enables the reader to tap into the mindsets of each of these characters, allowing us to see
Mark Twain best described courage when he said that, “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear” (Twain). Both in The One Who Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey and Watership Down by Richard Adams, the authors deal with the topic of courage and each share a similar view on it as this quote. Indeed, both authors suggest that courage is not accumulated simply by acts of heroism, but rather by overcoming fears and speaking one’s mind as well. These books are very similar in the way that bravery is displayed through the characters in an uncommon way. Firstly, an example of bravery
A brave hero often risks his/her lives to save someone else. In Zeitoun, Dave Eggers tells us a story of Abdulrahman Zeitoun, the hard working Syrian American owner of a contracting company in New Orleans. Zeitoun and his wife Kathy ran the company together. They have three children named Nademah, Safiyah, Aisha. Kathy has a child from her first marriage. Zeitoun is very closed with his family and he takes his family like nobody else. When hurricane Katrina landed in 2005, endless number of people were affected. Mayor Nagin ordered a first time ever mandatory evacuation. Kathy moved with the children to her sister’s house in Baton Rouge. Zeitoun refused to leave with his family because he didn’t want lose his properties, but at the same time, his customers trusted him and gave him their house keys to check on their houses, which caused his separation with his family. This illustrates that Zeitoun is a responsible, powerful, trustworthy, and unselfish person. During the hurricane, Zeitoun was using a canoe rescuing people. Due to the lack of rescue work, many people didn’t get enough supports at that time. Zeitoun had the courage to sacrifice his family, safety, and selfish needs for saving the people.
Throughout The Awakening, water the main motif serves as a catalyst to the metamorphosis of Edna. During the length of the story Edna goes through a process of changes that coincides with the presence of water. Water serves as a conduit for liberation and empowerment that facilitates the rebirth and even death of Edna. In this essay I will argue that the motif of water represents the continual transformations that occur within Edna throughout the story.
Displaying acts of courage has the aptitude to make immense alteration to one’s personal integrity. Courage is seen as a virtue, and is a constantly repeated choice. The presence of courage is paramount to the actions of the characters throughout Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. “I wish none of this had happened.” (Frodo, LOTR:FOTR, Jackson), “So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.” (Gandalf, LOTR:FOTR, Jackson). This moment which occurs early in the first film, elucidates the way courage is implemented throughout the films, where it must be found within the individual to consummate both colossal and trivial feats. The significance
The definition of bravery in the Standard College Dictionary Canadian Edition is, "the quality of mind or spirit enabling one to meet danger or opposition with fearlessness, calmness, and firmness." Bravery is a quality that is shown by many of the characters in the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. The characters are brave in their effort to protect physical well-being, personal values, their reputation and sanity. In the novel the characters exhibit genuine bravery in order to guard the things important to them.
“There are so many ways to be brave in this world. Sometimes bravery involves laying down your life for something bigger than yourself, or for someone else. Sometimes it involves giving up everything you have ever known, or everyone you have ever loved, for the sake of something greater.”
The Hero: "Often, for undaunted courage, fate spares the man it has not already marked."
... Man in the Water”: The Politics of the American Hero, 1970-1985. the Historian. Retrieved from: http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer
“Courage - a perfect sensibility of the measure of danger, and a mental willingness to endure it.” Courageous people understand the danger that they face when they act how they do. That is what courage is all about. Many historical events occur due to people having the courage to do what they think is right, or because of those who use their courage to do what they want. Having the courage to stand alone in one’s beliefs may be one of the hardest thing a person can do.
One can easily be caught up in high action movies, such as Batman, Avatar, or Iron Man. Many children want to be like the heroes in these movies. They dress up to look like them on Halloween. Some even sleep in their favorite hero’s outfit. Unfortunately, today's society has lost the actual meaning of heroism. In an essay titled Hollywood’s Hero Deficit, by James Bowman, the author laments over the loss of genuine heroism. Bowman states that: “Heroism can continue to exist only on a plane far removed from the daily lives of the audience.” True heroes are not violent warriors. They try to do what is right. Heroes, like Odysseus, have a noble quest: to get home. Heroes are clever, not contentious. Today’s view of ‘Heroism’ can only exist in fairy tales, for todays heroes only show bravery through violence. Even worse, these acts of bravery bring happiness to the hero. The pure heroism that comes from moral victories has been missing in today's society for several decades, and has impoverished our society..
Graebner, William. “The Man in the Water”: The Politics of the American Hero, 1970–1985. The Historian, 75 no.4 (2013): 517–543. Accessed April 10, 2014. doi: 10.1111/hisn.12015
Heroism can show itself in many shapes and forms from ordinary people to heroic and courageous people something to think about is that anyone can show heroism. A lot of people have shown heroism just by doing the right thing such as just helping someone or not acting mean towards others. heroism can show itself in many different forms but sadly some ordinary people don’t get recognized for the heroic acts that they do. Many different people just don’t recognize heroism from ordinary people as they just think of superheroes and supervillains. In reality anyone can achieve heroism as long as they strive for it. While ordinary people can sometimes not be recognized for acts of heroism, these heroes are courageous and can defeat all of the challenges
The mind can make people do crazy things in the simplest or the most stressful situations. As shown in the articles, movie, and book, it takes courage and bravery to do what most people will not do or fear to do. In order to overcome fear, one must find courage and be brave, such as David Cooper did in his sea rescue or Joe Slowinski when that pesky brown king snake hung around his neck at the age of 3. In conclusion, it’s easy to agree that courage and bravery drive people to do crazy things.
The movie Courageous discusses important issues we face in society today. This movie shows the importance of family, the danger of drugs, and the major importance of Christian values. Courageous causes me to consider how I treat others around me and how I can become a better Christian. I learned that living a life looking out only for myself and pursuing worldly pleasures not only consists of superficial and temporary happiness, but also consists of pain, suffering, emptiness and a longing for something more than what we have.