Overcoming Personal Challenges Analysis

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If we let our personal challenges destroy us, then we are nothing and have nothing to offer the world. It is important that we take control of our situation and use the personal hardship as an opportunity to better ourselves. It takes a keen eye and careful self-evaluation to remove any inclusions that will mar the beautiful diamond we possess in all of us. Each one of us is shaped into a distinctive cut of stone, giving way to different grades of clarity and color, making us rare, valuable, and uniquely our own. Frederick Douglass and Barbara Ehrenreich are two individuals who lived in different time periods; however, both individuals used their personal struggles to inspire change in the hearts of others. Just as I use my struggle as a tool to chip away the imperfections in my life, Frederick and Barbara used their experiences to chip away the fallacies of our nation. Personal challenges encourage me to grow as an individual and make better choices for a brighter future. Frederick Douglass did not like the way African Americans were portrayed in print. Through drawn illustrations or written descriptions, the white man’s hand was heavily burdened with the apparent disgust that black individuals were no more human than dogs. The white artists of the day generated biased illustrations with “exaggerated distinctive features” (Fried 92). Frederick believed that the images of African Americans, created by whites, robbed them of their credibility and painted a slanderous portrayal of Negros. These publications abolished the souls that lived within, instead of abolishing the slavery that many were fighting against. “Frederick Douglass felt that portraiture should reflect a person’s true character and experience” (Wells 90). In 1839... ... middle of paper ... ...Poverty into an American Crime." Understanding Rhetoric. A Graphic Guide to Writing. The Basics. Visual Rhetoric. Readings. Ed. Dore Ripley. Pleasant Hill: DVC, 2013. 96-101. Print. Fried, Gregory. "True Pictures." Understanding Rhetoric. A Graphic Guide to Writing. The Basics. Visual Rhetoric. Readings. Ed. Dore Ripley. Pleasant Hill: DVC, 2013. 91-93. Print. ObamaCare Summary: A Summary of Obama's Health Care Reform. n.d. Web. 18 03 2014. . "Photography." Understanding Rhetoric. A Graphic Guide to Writing. The Basics. Visual Rhetoric. Readings. Ed. Dore Ripley. Pleasant Hill: DVC, 2013. 93-95. Print. Wells, Donna M. "Frederick Douglass & the Process of Photography." Understanding Rhetoric. A Graphic Guide to Writing. The Basics. Visual Rhetoric. Readings. Ed. Dore Ripley. Pleasant Hill: DVC, 2013. 90-91. Print.

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