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Importance of happiness essay
The importance of happiness
The influence of cultural differences
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The story “Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit” by Leslie Marmon Silko stimulates thoughts in the reader's head about the world around them. In the story Silko contrasts the views of beauty between the old time Pueblo world and Western Civilization. Silko believed that Western views of beauty are superficial, artificial, incomplete, and codes for determining social status. In contrast, Silko said the old Pueblo world determined beauty by the interactions people had with other and the world around them. These two views of beauty invoked another quality of life that is determined by similar factors; happiness. Happiness cannot be determined by social status or superficial qualities, but only by the relationships we hold with others and the …show more content…
Beauty was determined by interactions with others and the world around them. “They looked at the world very differently; a person’s appearance and possessions did not matter nearly as much as a person’s behavior. For them, a person’s value lies in how that person interacts with other people, how that person behaves toward the animals and the earth” (Silko, 311). Similar to Silko’s views of beauty, happiness is determined by our interactions with others. Appearance and possessions in most cases cannot sustain a happy life. A person that has quality and meaningful interactions with family, friends, and loved ones will experience happiness on a larger scale. In the modern world, people believe that wealth and luxuries will lead to happiness but these qualities alone don’t lead to the emotional youforia a person is looking for. The interactions and relationships people hold with loved ones are far more important qualities to attain in life than …show more content…
“The important thing is for my kids to be happy and healthy, You should choose whatever career will make you happiest. I just want to be happy” (Haybron, 287). All of these basic claims that people refer to when thinking of what will make them happy connect to Leslie Marmon Silko’s view of how old-Pueblo people determine beauty. When a person’s kids are happy and healthy they experience longer sustainable relationships with their loved ones. Relationships with family and friends are connections that people cherish dearly. When these relationships are cut short people experience depression and sadness. Humans also have an inevitable fear of being alone, when loved ones are sick or dying people’s happiness can deteriorate detrimentally. Also, when a person chooses a career that will make them happy it can create positive interactions and relationships on a daily basis. If you are miserable every day at work but are making large amounts of money you will not necessarily be happy. Choosing a career that will make your life more positive can create a chain effect of happiness. People’s basic definitions of happiness reach to a further level of basic needs of relationships and interactions that people see as necessities. When these necessities are achieved one has a better chance of achieving their personal
Leslie Marmon Silko will enlighten the reader with interesting tales and illuminating life lessons in her story “Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit”. Silko, being a Native American will show the style in which people in her tribe, the Laguna Pueblo functioned and how their lifestyle varied from westernized customs. (add more here) Silko’s use of thought provoking messages hidden within her literature will challenge the reader to look beyond the text in ornate ways and use their psychological cognition to better portray the views of Silko’s story.
“Yellow Woman” written by Leslie Marmon Silko is a short story based on a Native American Legend story. In this Legend story, a woman has been taken away from her family for a period of time. The Yellow Woman are taken by a Ka’tisna spirit which is better known as a mountain spirit. Throughout the story, the reader learns that the narrator is in an overarching battle with her personal identity as a Pueblo Indian Woman. On top of the narrator's battle with understanding her personal identity she is in a constant battle with trying to understand what events are happening in real life as well as what events are remnants of this legend story told by her grandfather. In sum, the struggle that the narrator has is the common theme occurring throughout.
I would like to investigate the many struggles of women, whether it be race that differentiates them or an event that any woman could experience that brings them together. Beauty is not easily defined, and women everywhere struggle to not only please the people around them, but themselves. Wanting to describe themselves and feel beautiful is one of the many struggles women experience throughout their lives. “Las Rubias” by Diana Garca from Fire and Ink represents a common example of what women of color experience while comparing themselves to the “beauty” of white women. The poem is divided into eight numbered sections, each containing their own experience or thought.
In “Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit”, Silko uses several techniques in her writing to make clear her viewpoints on beauty, harmony, and the differences between modern and Pueblo societies. She writes about recollections of lessons taught to her in the past such as teachings and stories from her grandmother and aunts. Silko uses flashbacks of impacting events to make the reader fully realize the large difference between modern and Pueblo society. The stories of Yellow Woman offer Silko a unique means of educating the reader about the Pueblo’s views on harmony and the beauty of others.
As Walt Disney once said, “Happiness is a state of mind. It’s just according to the way you look at things.” Walt Disney is one of the best known founders for a motion - picture production company. This infamous and plausible man is among the many who support the claim that happiness can be achieved in an assortment of ways by contenting both adults and children. Maanvi Singh’s , “You Can Buy Happiness, If It’s An Experience,” Caitlin Kenney’s “Study: ‘High Incomes Don’t Bring You Happiness’” and ABC News’ “Can We Cultivate Our Own Happiness?” assert how one can achieve happiness. Genuine happiness can only be attained if one truly accepts what their lives present them with. Even though several beliefs claim that money is the key to stimulating
Leslie Marmon Silko’s “Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit” focuses on the ideas of beauty and identity, specifically how her understanding of these ideas changed as she grew older. Throughout the text, Silko’s structure effectively establishes her beliefs and values through her use of flashbacks to integral people and events in her life and her retelling of the stories of her people. This organization not only makes her points clear, but it also makes the text convincing and engaging for the reader.
Introduction: The concept of the change and longevity of the fairy tale (or myth) is well illustrated in the story “Yellow Woman” by Leslie Silko. Not only is the story a modern explanation of a traditional Native American myth, but the style that Silko uses to tell it evokes and adapts the oral communication style that those old myths were passed down with. The story is also very self-consciously aware of its place as a modern revision of a myth, and makes many internal references to this aspect of itself. “Yellow Woman” becomes, in effect, the modern version of a Native American myth or legend, and therefore is a perfect example of the way in which old tales are made new.
“Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart” (Kahlil). People focus more on the outward appearance instead of the inward appearance. One’s inward appearance is comprised of their character, values, morals, and the true nature of their heart. On the other hand, the outward appearance is composed of one’s dress and grooming. The inward and outward appearance determines whether or not a person is ugly or beautiful. The choices that we make also define whether or not one is ugly or beautiful; choices made in the past can sometimes be repeated in the future.
A powerful influence over happiness is how people perceive situations and how they choose to engage with others. Life may change within an instant and have a spiraling spin of high and low points, but the positive state of mind and the value of social relationships determine the
In Civilization and Its Discontents (Ch. 2), Sigmund Freud argues that happiness is routed in two basic ideas: the first having to do with no pain and the other having to do with pleasure. Along with his idea of what the root of happiness is, he also describes multiple ways this happiness can be attained. Freud states that love and beauty are both means of achieving happiness. Although love and beauty cannot completely prevent all worldly suffering, they both offer a powerful explanation that can help an individual determine the true meaning of their life. In this presentation, we will argue that this argument succeeds because true happiness is difficult to come by in this life, but things such as love and beauty provide a basis for passionate strife in an individual, while also causing an intoxicating kind of sensation that may lead to a definite meaning to Earthly existence for a human being.
The short story "Barbie-Q,” by Sandra Cisneros has many reflections on cultural diversity and how each culture views its own individual beauty of women and girls which is cultural beauty. Women value culture and the beauty it represents. In the short story "Barbie-Q, "p. 205 (line 1 ) , Sandra Cisneros reveals
Dale Carnegie once expressed, “Happiness doesn’t depend on any external conditions, it is governed by our mental attitude.” Analyzing this quote, it is crucial to note the underlining theme that happiness, true and genuine happiness, requires a shifting away from conformity and the status quo in order to discover the treasure found in one’s own self. Therefore, finding out who one’s self is mandates a state of solitude which acts like the green pastures by the still waters that restores the soul. However, with its roaring and hungry fire that sends up flutters of red and yellow and orange and white fireflies soaring into the carnivorous night, conflict is the key ingredient in shifting away from acquiescence and society’s present state of affairs.
An elevation of beauty is treated as a form of improvement, both for men and for women. Simply put, women emphasize their differences in order to gain a sense of equality and avoid comparison from men. However women are limited in the sense that beauty in itself is very restricting. And the fact that women direct their beauty towards men shows us that men are the basis and the end means of beauty. In which this beautification is not really a form of self-improvement; there is no real flourishing...
Sontag introduces her essay to the audience by establishing a focal point around the fact that women viewed today are derivative from the religious perspective of how women were viewed in history. During the ancient times, Greeks and Christians practiced their own methods of analyzing and critiquing women and their beauty. The Greeks believed that the lack of ‘inner” beauty could be compensated with “outer” beauty. They distinguished the two beauties in a way that suggested that both were interconnected to one another within an individual. The preference and priority was given to the ‘outer’ beauty, while the ‘inner’ beauty would be kept at bay. Christianity, on the other hand, gave moral significance to beauty; in defining beauty, or words of physical character to be associated with woman and feminine. Gradually, Sontag introduces the distinguishable beauty between men and women. She does this by recapitulating how in a Christian religion, a woman’s body was parted into many sections to be judged and scrutinized, while men are visua...
...e ability to achieve anything in life. Hopefully, readers would learn from this novel that beauty is not the most important aspect in life. Society today emphasizes the beauty of one's outer facade. The external appearance of a person is the first thing that is noticed. People should look for a person's inner beauty and love the person for the beauty inside. Beauty, a powerful aspect of life, can draw attention but at the same time it can hide things that one does not want disclosed. Beauty can be used in a variety of ways to affect one's status in culture, politics, and society. Beauty most certainly should not be used to excuse punishment for bad deeds. Beauty is associated with goodness, but that it is not always the case. This story describes how the external attractiveness of a person can influence people's behavior and can corrupt their inner beauty.