Influence (Lit Exploration)

Influence

The actions of others can influence and affect the beliefs and ideologies of oneself; in the film, A River Runs Through It, Robert Redford explores this idea and displays it most vividly through the character of Norman. When someone grows up around people who are vocal about their beliefs then these beliefs can transfer over to oneself and can help shape one’s own ideologies and understandings for the future.

Within this excerpt we follow Michael Oher and he describes all of his memories of his favourite teacher, Mrs. Logan. Most of this text are memories of how you can see Mrs. Logan and how she firmly believed in all of her students; in doing what she felt was right she left an impact upon Michael and this is shown through the final line in the text. “I had carried that memory of Mrs. Logan with me for years because she made me believe that I had talent worth developing and the ability to see it through.” This quote is of Michael saying how he has clearly been affected by the actions of Mrs. Logan and how he has kept the memory of her for many years. This means that Michael has been touched by the actions of her not giving up, and believing in him and everyone else; everyone received the belief and encouragement that was provided by Mrs. Logan. When someone believes in you; one can feel the authenticity of the belief and that creates a cause and effect relationship; when someone experiences receiving the support then they are more likely to provide it in the future.

In the film, A River Runs Through It, we primarily follow Norman, and we see how the actions of others affect Norman’s beliefs. The actions of Norman’s father have clearly made an impact on Norman as a person; though the art of fly fishing Norman is able to really connect to his brother, Paul, who has also grown up with the same values. In the beginning of the film we can see that one of the father’s main values are fly fishing, and with that we can see how it has heavily influenced and left an impact on Paul, but we are also shown how being away from the graceful lifestyle of fly fishing has affected Norman. Norman struggles to get back into the flow of fly fishing, but by the later parts of the movie we see Norman catching a lot of fish and finally accepting that grace that was once taught to him after reconnecting to his home, his father and his brother. This grace that was taught to Norman and Paul never actually leaves them, it only becomes weak when it is not put to use. One’s beliefs may be clouded but when the time is right they will sort themselves out and the influences that which implanted the ideas of them will be revealed, no matter how long it takes.

As an example of the idea of being influenced by others within my own life would be that I have experienced a lot and I will continue to experience more; this involves meeting new people and knowing how to treat them, and throughout a lot of my life I had the idea that I will pretty much be on my own for majority of my life, which is true. But I will have to talk and communicate to people everyday, whether I want to or not; I never had a solution for how I would deal with people in the future. In tenth grade I was introduced to the idea of infinite love and gratitude(ILAG) through my choir teacher, Ms. Orchard. This was new and strange ideology that I never truly understood until a year later when I was taught how to effectively use the ideology of ILAG in my drama class taught by Ms. Hunnisett. Within that drama class my core beliefs changed, I realized that everybody has good within them and that if you show ILAG to others then dealing with people becomes more than just bearable, it becomes enjoyable. In my final year of highschool I have drama and within it, one of the closest groups that I would call a family, I have ever met. This is all because of the actions of two teacher who’s strong beliefs have transferred over to us students and has influenced us for the better; I know I will never forget the lessons I have been taught and I know that I will continue to follow the beliefs of ILAG.

As one comes to realize their own beliefs, they will understand why they believe them, but they must also remember where those beliefs came from because I believe that the people who can change how one thinks are the truly important within life. It is important to reflect upon the origins of one’s beliefs because only then is it possible to see who truly impacted and affected your life.

Category: Samuel, Uncategorized | LEAVE A COMMENT

January 16

Actions Are The Pens We Use To Write Our Life

Actions are so common in our everyday lives that sometimes we go blind to how big of an impact they can have both on ourselves as well as others. In Gus Van Sant’s Finding Forrester we see, through the actions of Jamal Willis and William Forrester , that sometimes we do not realize our individual choices can lead to having a major impact on the lives of others, this is especially true when those others are individuals that are close to us.

In Finding Forrester Jamal Willis is the typical black teen from the Bronx and many believe him and others alike will never amount to much. But Jamal is different and it’s clear he can get out of this stigma but he still makes the choice to hide his intellect because he is afraid of not fitting in anymore. This choice I view as very cowardice because he is not brave enough to show everyone what his real passion is and he puts on a fake persona for everyone. By doing this he is indirectly affecting the lives of all the other children around him who also hold up this stigma because they never try because they just believe that it’s true. By purposely not getting the best mark Jamal could get he fed this stigma that others had created and that put down a lot of people around him. Its actions like these that have a bigger impact than we envision, but soon enough we see that Jamal starts making better choices that have a positive impact on the lives of those around him.

One of the biggest choices Jamal made in the film was returning to Williams apartment to apologize and then ask for help.Despite being yelled and cussed at Jamal did exactly what William sarcastically asked ,which was to write a five thousand word essay on why he should not break into others homes. This choice made a huge impact on William because near the end of the film we find out when Jamal had initially come into Williams life that William knew what he had on his clock and without Jamal’s arrival William would have died alone never gone out of his apartment for decades ,and not having closure of his brothers death. This choice led to making the best out of what time William had left and it also unraveled a lot of mysteries William otherwise would have taken to his grave and this goes to show how one action can both change a person and drastically alter what their life would have been. This choice also impacted the lives of the people around Jamal such as his girlfriend who was given Williams signed book as a present which made their relationship stronger and the life of Robert Crawford who had finally been put in his place by administration for making the lives of students unnecessarily difficult.

Another action in the film which undoubtedly had a very big impact on the lives of others was when Jamal chose to purposely miss his foul shots. He did this because he did not want to feed the stigma that the only reason a kid from the Bronx was in this prestigious school was because he was good at sports. By missing those foul shots he made sure that he would not accept that his true passion would be taken away from him because he needed an “easier schedule to focus on basketball.” This choice affected the lives of his team who may now lose future scholarship opportunities, but more importantly once again the life of William. When William saw that he had missed those shots on purpose he knew that Jamal’s true passion was in fact writing. And despite him refusing earlier to say that he had given Jamal consent to use his title, he would do the unspeakable and leave the comfort of his apartment, which he had never left alone in decades. This action would lead to instilling the confidence William needed to visit his home country before he died.The reason he left originally was to go to Jamal’s school and confront Robert Crawford to make sure that Jamal did not have any speed bumps because of him. This action alone instilled hope in Jamal and that is sometimes the most important quality an individual needs to survive or thrive, it also showed administration of Jamal’s school that Jamal did have two talents and this is around the time when the film ends but without doubt we know this action that William took would go on to drastically change Jamal’s life and and help him become an established writer.

In the end Finding Forrester goes on to show us how much of an impact our choices and actions can have on the individuals around us, in this case in particular actions by others lead a boy getting out of a very hard stigma and an old man making the best out of his final days despite being on the verge of death. We also see this in Arthur Black’s “ Making A Difference One Starfish At A Time” when a man changes his whole life philosophy into one where he believes that its the small and kind actions that make the biggest differences when a man buys him soup. If not yet, their will come the day when a certain event, action, or choice another individual made will cause you to look at the world in a very different way a very real example of this for a lot people is the action a greedy man named Osama Bin Laden made that lead to events on 9/11/2001. Good or bad impacts, individual actions can have a huge affect on the lives of others.

Category: Surpreet, Uncategorized | LEAVE A COMMENT

January 11

Polished Literary Exploration: Dreams

June 2014: What is your opinion of the idea that the influence of others can have a lasting effect?

When people are under the influence of somebody who is close to them, those words that they say or express to one another are more impactful. The idea of this can be shown in the given excerpt, I Beat the Odds, by Michael Oher and in A River Runs Through It directed by Robert Redford, it is shown through the characters of Reverend Maclean and Norman. When people are given a sense of change that can distort their way of life, it can cause a case of a change in order to meet certain guidelines creating that long lasting effect upon an individual.

At a young age, children are more vulnerable to new ideas and are able to create beliefs most easily based off of what they see or hear. In the excerpt of I Beat the Odds, Michael Oher is an NFL player who was greatly influenced by his fourth-grade teacher, Ms. Verlene Logan. She states, “One day, you’ll make big money because you are too fast!”, which helped create influence within Michael since he has fully taken those words and carried out her statement. She had great optimism towards everybody that she taught as she something in everybody. She knew that one day, Michael was going to be big and did not want him from achieving athletic success. The influence of his teacher has shaped his later life since she was so persistent in making his talent develop. At a young age, he did not appreciate the effect that his teacher gave to him, but in the end, he carried out those words through his life as he always held them close to him. People who are the closest to us, the ones that we value the most, have more of an impact as they are the ones that see the truth within and are able to notice what is the greatest strength or virtue.

When an individual protests against something and is persistent, it can lead to differing beliefs among people. Within A River Runs Through It, Paul, at his young age, refuses to eat his oatmeal for hours, and sits in protest towards his father. Eventually, his father gives up and releases Paul from the dinner table. His father, being a minister at the church, and being a huge believer for faith, wished for forgiveness for Paul. At a young age, Paul had developed this sense of a rebel nature in the society which created an impact on his entire family, mainly his father. Over time, Reverend Maclean felt like he had lost a sense of connection with Paul since he was always off doing his own thing. It was to the point where it made Reverend lose a sense of connection with Paul and his faith that he holds. It also has a sense of feeling that none of his sons are going to try and follow in his footsteps of being a minister which further makes Reverend feel a sense of failure in exposing the faith to his children. When people do not appeal to certain beliefs of those close to them, it can cause change into how one will interact and view themselves.

Individuals can take the people who are close to them and hold the values they share and it can help identify and shape their life in order to have them close. In A River Runs Through It, Reverend Maclean, disapproves of Norman’s decision of wanting to enroll into forestry as a profession and Norman was quick to change his mind in order to please his father. When his father took out his red pen, in the past, it was used to correct Norman’s mistakes in his writing. Unlike his brother Paul, Norman respects and takes his father’s words and faith close to him which he used to help shape himself as an individual despite needing to go against his ideals. His father helped Norman as a child and Norman is still under his father’s arms even though he is much older and an adult who can be capable of making his own choices in life. If Norman chose to go against his father’s wishes, it creates a sense of lost honor to his father which he does not want to happen. Within society, people are more inclined to listen to their parents as this is a natural belief. People are often quick to make decisions that are to please people in their families.They are not likely to go against their truly loved one’s values and beliefs and it can create a sense of disconnect from one another.

People who change in order to take the words of others develop differently in order to have them close to them at all times. Usually, at a young age, people are more capable of taking in values and beliefs of others they hold true to them for the future. Within life, the people around often have different values that hold true to them and people need to know when to have the freedom to chose the values that they truly believe and not to be mindless about their ideologies.

Category: Chris, Sept 2017 | LEAVE A COMMENT

December 31

Literary Exploration: Ability to face hardship is an essential human quality

Most people, when they come upon a hardship, become hesitant to face it therefore, leading to a persona which lacks an essential human quality that would have been originally gained by facing the hardship. However, when it comes upon realization that when one travels through the journey of that hardship, the main reason for such a occurrence is to help gather a quality which not only strengthens the personality of a person but also strengthens the human nature of that person. Once the person takes this idea into account, they are finally aware of the importance for the ability to face a hardship as in the end it is this hardship that leads one to gain a essential human quality that builds upon their persona. In The Glass Castle, author Jeannette Walls, explores this idea of when a person comes upon a situation that seems to be difficult, it is usually these situations that provide the person with their most strength; an essential human quality. this is explored through the character’s of Jeannette herself as well as her father, rex as they go through life facing many hardships while enabling themselves to conquer it. Most of the qualities that a human possesses is through them facing a hardship and as the novels continues, Jeannette is seen as a person who goes through many difficult times but comes out of them with strength. When an individual comes upon a situation where it deems itself to be very difficult, the individual is forced to believe that it is impossible to overcome it, however; once they realize that they have no other option but to face the difficult circumstance, they become enable to conquer the hardship and as a result gaining a essential human quality which in return will help them. Through this, one is able to pursue new interests, face their fears, and gain new skills.

Initially when a naïve and a inexperienced person comes upon a situation that is essentially new to them, they become fascinated creating a new curiosity that leads them to discover new ideas therefore, opening up a new circumstance that may be dangerous and harmful. once overcoming such a situation, their fascination only deepens resulting in a new pursuit of new interests. Jeannette demonstrates this idea through the character Jeannette when is cooking hotdog and caches on fire. Though she recovers, in a way that is deemed unnecessary by her parents, she becomes fascinated by fire and gains a new interest with it. This evidence shows the reader that when Jeannette, being an inexperienced young girl at the time, cam upon the situation of cooking with fire, she was fascinated at the very start. This lead to her not paying attention to her priorities and therefore, catching on fire. The fire was her fear at first, as at that time she was scared as she caught on fire, but when she recovered, that fear became her fascination. She was entranced by the fire. She overcame the hardship of being burnt, and turned that fear into a interest in which Jeannette never gave up her attention towards it. The fact that, after recovery Jeannette played with fire as if it were a new hobbies, proves the fact that when she had the ability to face the hardship of being burnt, allowed her to gain the essential human quality of new fascinations and interests. This indicates to the reader, that when an individual comes face to face with a hardship in which they have never experienced before, they may turn the fear into a fascination if the situation arises to be dangerous. Especially when an individual is inexperienced and has not been able to undergo what the world is offering them, it is prominent for them to be led into a situation that may be dangerous. It is from this point on, in which they decide to choose fear or bravery, therefore leading to a new developed persona. When they conquer the difficult hardship, they are allowing themselves to be open to new ideas, new inputs, and new perspectives leading to new interests.

Then, when an individual faces a circumstance where they must face their fear, it is possible that they do not want to face it, however; when they conquer the fear, they gain a new essential human quality that strengthens their personality. Jeannette demonstrates this idea through the character Jeannette when she becomes afraid of the demon under her bed, but then scares it away with the help of her dad. This evidence shows that when the demon became her hardship, she was afraid to face her fear at all. However, with the help of her father, she was able to overcome that fear. Her ability to face the hardship then led to her to gain an essential human quality of bravery as well as the ability to face her future hardships. the demon, also being a symbol of all the hardships that she later on faces, shows the reader that as Jeannette overcame her fear that day, she overcame her fear for the many hardships that she later on faces. This is an indication to the reader that when an individual is able to face their fear, the outcome will most likely result in the individual gaining a new quality of bravery, and confidence. It is a natural instinct of a human to back away from their fears, however; when the ability of facing the fear come to play, the quality of bravery and confidence starts to show; a quality that may have never been showed before. This then becomes a new essential quality that tends to stay with the individual throughout the many other hardships that they may face.

Finally, when an individual goes through a experience in which they have never gone through before or do not have the knowledge to go through the situation, they usually learn new skills that help them in that situation. This then becomes their new essential quality; a newfound skill. This is demonstrated throughout the novel when rex teaches Jeannette to swim. Jeannette is thrown into the pool constantly, failing each time to swim as it is something that she does not know how to do. This evidence demonstrates to the reader that Jeannette was constantly thrown into a situation that was entirely a hardship for her. Realizing that learning to swim would have to be achieved entirely on her own, she overcame her hardship by going against the current instead of letting the current control Jeannette. By conquering the water and learning how to swim, she was able to face her hardship and gained a new skill. A new essential human quality: swimming. This demonstrates to the reader that when an individual faces a hardship that is completely new to them, they may have difficulty overcoming the hardship. This then will lead to the individual realizing that the only way to overcome the situation is to face it. Once the overcoming is final, the individual comes to an awareness that not only have they overcome the situation and the hardship but they have also gained a new skill and an essential human quality.

New pursuits of new interests, overcoming of fears, and the capability to learn new skills are some of the many results that occur when an individual comes face to face with a situation that may be overbearingly difficult in which is proven to be strenuous to overcome. The ability to overcome this hardship dos not only show the determination and strength used, but also results in the many essential human qualities that come out of the conquering of hardships. This is seen all throughout the novel, The Glass Castle, as Jeannette goes through life enduring many hardships, however; overcoming them through her strength of bravery, acquiring many other human qualities. Most people refrain from trying to successfully overcome a hardship as it the human nature to back away when they are in fear. However, it is significantly essential to face the hardship, as in the end, it only strengthens the individual as well as their persona.

Category: Neha, Sept 2017 | LEAVE A COMMENT

September 15

Life Philosophies

DO NOT GIVE UP

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The most obvious one. Work hard. Work hard for yourself. Work for the things you want to achieve. On the road to your success you will face many obstacles and feel like giving up. But there is no point in trying and settling for less than you planned to.

I’d like to share a story of me in grade 10. I was in -2 english and -3 math I knew there were a lot of people taking -2 so I was fine with that but taking -3 math made me feel like I was put into a class full of people who don’t try in school at all. So instead of actually trying I kind of accepted that I was dumb and worthless especially after I searched up -3 math can’t get me a proper job in the future. My parents were disappointed in me and all of my friends were in -1 classes. I didn’t try the whole semester so when I was put into math 10c I realized that this is my chance to work hard and prove to my friends and family that I am capable of something. I ended up getting a higher mark in 10c than I did in -3.

So that is what motivates me to keep trying in school and not giving up because I am capable of achieving more than I can imagine. Its these small steps that prepare you to keep on working hard. And you all may not see how much potential you all have but believing in yourself and working hard and having a strong mindset will get you where you want to be.

GO OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE. TAKE EVERY OPPORTUNITY LIFE HANDS YOU AND IF YOU MAKE A MISTAKE; FORGIVE YOURSELF.

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Although it can be hard to try things that are nerve racking it is important for all of us to try something new because with new experiences comes more knowledge and opportunities. Maybe when you come out of your bubble, everything you ever wanted can be out there.

Some of us are not as privileged as others so we should not take anything for granted instead we should make use of yourselves.

Later on we will realize that bad decisions and choices have only made us more knowledgeable and prepared us for other life challenges. We should all take our mistakes and bad choices as blessings so we are better prepared for next time.We should all learn to forgive ourselves not only for the bad choices we made but for not knowing what we know now. There is strength in forgiving. Because forgiveness does not mean you are over it, it means you understand your worth and you are powerful enough to not let that bring you down.

BE HAPPY AND STAY HAPPY

Be happy. Once this year is done I encourage you all to plan your future where you feel comfortable around the people you are with and happy with what you do. Take a year off to travel or to work or go to university or any trade school if that is what you want. Because of what I have noticed in my life personally is that if I don’t like the people I’m surrounded by I miss out on the fun. If I don’t genuinely like what I am doing I won’t try at all. Do stuff you’re passionate about no matter what anyone thinks because this is your life follow your dreams and work hard for your goals. If you aren’t happy with where you are in life make goals to change yourself and/or circumstances. Work hard for your happiness. Once you are happy life becomes beautiful to you. Life is too short to always live under other people’s rules. Invest time in yourself and I promise you happiness will follow you.

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LOVE YOURSELF

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And my one last. Love yourself. Love yourself because no one will do it for you. I feel this one needs to be brought out in today’s society especially since it is such an important part in building yourself. You cannot expect anyone to give you the love you need to be happy. Not your girlfriend not your boyfriend, your best friend or even your family sometimes. I feel like when someone starts to show some attention we become too attached and sometimes in that process of being attracted to someone we detach yourself from us. It is true that every relationship has problems whether it is with your spouse friend or family.But some relationship can be unhealthy. There is a lot of emotional, physical and sexually abuse that happens often in some relationship making it hard for the victim to consider themselves as a victim in the first place. And then it gets hard to walk away or take a stand for yourself especially when the other person is using your weakness against you. I believe the first step to love yourself is to believe that you are everything you will ever need. Before you are someone’s friend, sister, brother, daughter, mom or dad you are your own person. Do not allow anyone to make you their property. Sometime in your lifetime you will have people bringing you down and no matter how hard it gets you need to convince your mind that you are nothing but beautiful.

Over the weekend I was caught in between two teenager girls arguing with the mom of the girls ex-best friend. They started off talking about how her daughter is a “cokehead” and how her boyfriend beats her. Before the mother got to say anything back they yelled at her for not being financially stable and made her feel like society views her lower than everyone else just because she lives on rent. I was standing there trying to process how much hate those girls have for them to not only talk rudely about their ex best friend but also create a scene where they yell at a mother who probably is working hard to keep a roof over her families head. If I was to assume they were telling the truth, it blows my mind just trying to imagine what that young girl might be going through. The abusive boyfriend might be using her weakness against her making it hard for her to realize that she is worth way more than that boy treats her. Maybe she does not have anyone supporting her- helping her gain that confidence to stand up for herself. Maybe due to her innocence she unintentionally gave him the power of control. And that is not a sign of weakness- is a sign of broken love; broken promises; childhood trauma that still needs healing till this day. If the picture of her in my head is true I admire her. As a another girl in this world I want her to know that she will survive this. I feel a really strong connection with her, without even knowing her and if I was to reach out to her I won’t ask why, when, where or any detail of traumatic incidents where she struggles to define her feelings. I will open my arms to her; provide her shelter and prove to her that she will find a way back to herself.

One thing everyone can take away with this is to not fear anyone’s rejection, so when you believe what you are, you will respect yourself and the right people will come to you.

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Category: Sept 2017, Simran | 4 Comments

January 20

Risks of Trust

Putting full trust and confidence in another person can be risky in not knowing the other person’s intention. When Othello made the naïve decision to trust in Iago and believed his words was for Othello’s best interest, he was unaware of the dangers behind his true intentions. Othello’s ignorance led him to be unable to comprehend a danger that was standing right in front of him. With his trust in others never being corrupt before he has never experienced a reason to not trust in others. Many experiences have helped shape me into the person I am today, and who I give the ability to invest a relationship in. Our initial innocence as humans change as the chances we take in trusting others can be proven risky.

As we grow older our innocence depletes as we learn from negative and positive experiences. I have put my faith into many people who have not retuned the faithfulness in return. I have put time and effort into friendships and relationships that have proven nothing but a waste of time. Although they impacted me negatively I have learned who will be there for me and whose actions are only for their benefit. The friends surrounding me are people I can trust, yet this didn’t come easy for me. As I was making new friends and meeting new and different people, I wanted to have the ability to trust, although those weren’t the people who are with me today. I was unaware of the dangerous intentions of the other person, using me as a temporary comfort before someone else better comes along. The manipulative ways of another person are in many cases not seen on the surface bit can only be seen once you have already entered into what you believe as healthy relationship.

It takes great strength and courage to jump into the unknown. In William Shakespeare’s Othello the idea of trust and unforeseen dangers is explored through the relationship of Othello the Moorish Captain and his trusted yet unfaithful ensign Iago. Othello’s wife Desdemona shows nothing but love, faithfulness and care for him, yet the plans of jealous Iago make her seem quite the opposite. His mischievous plan to plant Othello’s gifted handkerchief of Desdemona’s on Cassio in looks of cheating. Othello is appalled at what he believes is true of Desdemona and continues to torcher her with his belief in the affair of Desdemona and Cassio. Iago’s intentions were unknown in more ways than one, he acted this way because of his belief in the unfaithfulness of his own wife. His hurt was taken out on Othello making him feel the way Iago did, Cassio was caught in the cross fire. Othello and Iago came after Cassio with vengeance stabbing him in the leg and continued to question the faithfulness of both him and Desdemona. The truth came out but it happened all too late to save Othello’s life, he made the decision to end his life with a broken heart.

In life we have the option to cover up with a shell protecting us because of the situations we have dealt with, or continue to let people in and invest in relationships. The dangers in trusting in others shouldn’t force us to second guess everybody’s intentions. Although jumping into the unknown risks of building relationships and becoming attached to someone can be scary, we need to have faith in others. If Othello were to survive the heart break, his faith in others and innocence has changed. He would then think about all the possible reasons in not trusting people. The experiences you have lived through shouldn’t make you shut down and lose the faith you have in others. In many situations you must learn to forgive and move on, not letting the past impact the belief you have in the future. The harshness the world brings upon you can be seen as a way to learn and grow stronger as a person, not necessarily growing a tougher skin.

Our initial innocence as humans change as we are impacted by those around us. We are also in charge of how we react to those situations, Othello could have made the decision to trust in his wife’s word against Iago’s and the outcome would’ve been much different. We are always given opportunities that can affect how we see our future and our relationships with others, but in many situations we do not see the danger behind trusting in someone one hundred percent. I am in charge of the risks I take and also how I choose to react to them, strengthening me as a person or changing my view on others.

Category: Rachel, Uncategorized | LEAVE A COMMENT

January 20

The Influences Of Others

June 2014: What is your opinion of the idea that the influence of others can have a lasting effect?

Society today puts a lot of pressure on people to perform to their fullest potential, like a diamond, pressurized it forms into something beautiful, it can turn into your passion. This idea of negative encounters that leads us to thrive and built a path of success of our own is illustrated through Norman MacLean, a character from “A River Runs through It”, Randy Pausch, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, and myself. In Norman’s case, those negative experiences were brought by Reverend McLean, his father and his input on his life. For Randy, this experience was made by the camp counselors, and myself it is university. When negative influences are involved in your life, they can lead you to a path of success.

Norman MacLean amounted to his fullest potential by the criticism of his father. During the opening scene of “A River Runs through It”, Norman is shown, writing. When he completes his piece, he bring it to his father; he pulls out a red pen and starts marking, correcting and editing all over the page. When young Norman gets his writing back he is told to redo it, until it is up to his father’s expectations. When he does do it to his expectation, his father tells him to recycle it and go on with his day. Later in his life, Norman finds that writing is his passion and pursues it in a career; nonetheless, this makes him want to become an English professor at the University of Chicago. With his father’s chastising him, it urged Norman to explore the art of writing; therefore, it made him build a passion towards it. In this case, his father supports the idea that when you receive criticism, it can build up your skills and drive your success later on in life, which inevitably made his passion grow towards writing. Not only did his father push him as to perfect it, he gave him the push he needed to explore what works for him and what doesn’t, determining his boundaries of what he is capable of. Thus, makes him grow as a character. When getting criticized by someone you look up to, it makes you work that much harder, because you always want to impress them by showing how “smart” you are. That Norman wanted was his father doubting his intelligence.

As a child, Randy Pausch had the opportunity to witness the first man step out onto the moon, which lead him to become inspired to greater good in his short life. When he was at sleep away camp, he had his heart set on wanting to see Neil Armstrong set foot onto the moon, unfortunately, he was turned to away because he had to go to bed. His dreams were crushed. As soon as he got back home, his dad took a picture of Neil Armstrong landing on the moon from his television set. This made him want to become Professor. When his father showed him the picture it made him realize that big dreams can come true, and finds inspiration to help the world becoming a better place. He states, “… I’m a scientist who sees inspiration as the ultimate tool for doing good.” Randy finds the internal motivation to make the world a better place for not only him, but the people who are effective by him, which is successful in his eyes. The camp counselors ignited his passion to help and educating others, so they don’t miss out on the opportunity of learning, just like he did. The counselor inhibited his ambition of wanting to see what hope looked like. They made that effect that would demolish a child’s innocence and creativity, opposed to his father whom fueled him. He encouraged him to find what he loved and make it his passion. In Randy’s case, it was computer sciences. From his drive towards accomplishing goals, he was able to energize others. His father influenced him, by letting him dream big. He let Randy think that he was unstoppable, he lead him to believe that he could do anything to help change the world. In the end, he did.

In everyday life, you overcome obstacles that can impact your life goals. This year is a crucial year. This is when your life actually begins. Everyone is giving you feedback about your grade, marks and goals. For me, everyone was commenting on what I should go into at university. My dad said accounting, my mom said education. When people keep putting their own input into your life, it gets overwhelming. After contemplating what everyone was saying, I realized that at the end of everything, it’s my decision. In the end, I made the ultimate decision to apply to get a Bachelor of Nursing. I had to think about what I really love to do. I had to separate my strengths and weaknesses. All the influences that were getting put into my life where for other’s needs. Not mine. It was time that I did what I wanted to do. Everyone that was inputting their desires into my dream, were being selfish and negative. This caused me to become overwhelmed and more complicated than it needed to be. The one thing that I knew for sure was that I wanted to help people. The commenting that were directed at me, put me into a state of confusion and wonder. It took me to understand that if I’m going to be successful, I need to listen to myself and do what I am passionate about.

A pathway of success is derived by the obstacle that stand in your way to where you want to be. When analyzing Norman and Randy’s childhood, they encountered bad experiences that made them who they are today. They left a legacy of great sorts, they inspired, taught and overcame adversity. They flipped the bad and made it into a positive. They both followed their passion, and that lead them to success. In my own experience, I had to find what made me happy, and that would make successful.

Category: Anusha, Uncategorized | LEAVE A COMMENT

November 17

A River Runs Through it & Attack on Titan Literary Exploration

Photo Credit: Hartwig HKD via Compfight

A belief is described as the ideal that individuals follow as true and can change accordingly by the circumstances that others create with their actions. In the movie, A River Runs Through It, Norman reevaluates his respect for Paul after he saves Norman’s relation with Jessie when he intervenes with her before she leaves. As well as in Attack on Titan, Eren’s beliefs were drastically altered after that faithful day when his mother offers her life to the Titan for the survival of him and Misaka. When hardship arises, the choice of action that others take in response can shift an individual’s beliefs in a positive direction. This is evident through Robert Redford’s film, A River Runs Through it, by examining the character of Norman after Paul helps him with reconnecting with Jessie, as well as Tetsurō Araki’s anime, Attack on Titan, by examining the protagonist Eren after his mother decides to sacrifice herself to the Titan to save Eren and Misaka from further harm.

The choices that others make can influence a positive shift in an individual’s beliefs, like how Paul influences Jessie to reconcile with Norman which sways Norman’s views about Paul. This took place after the scene where Jessie takes the train tracks back to his residents as a punishment for Norman returning Neal, undressed and drunk, to her. At that point, it seems that Norman was about end his first relationship in a bittersweet manner until Paul intercepts Jessie with his car. He uses his charm and words to sway Jessie into assuaging with Norman as a way to give a second chance for their relation to continue and flourish. Originally, Norman was starting to believe that Paul was become more and more out of control with all of the problems that he accumulated over the time that he wasn’t there to keep him out of trouble. Norman also acknowledges Paul’s actions and respects him more not just as an artist of a unique style of fly-fishing, but for what he did for him than what he did at Lolo’s during the time that he was away. This indicates how nowadays, people are quick to judge others by appearance and their “mask” of an attitude that usually creates the stereotypes that others believe in by how they are depicted in the media. These stereotypical beliefs can be broken in the right way by the actions of the ones who are marginalized by society.

Besides Norman’s beliefs about Paul being shifted, in Attack on Titan, Eren experiences a similar moment, but with his faith in humanity. A mother’s protective reaction to adversity can trigger a sudden shift in beliefs and values. After the breaching of the outermost wall of the fortified city, Wall Maria, the Titans, heartless humanoid beasts that are at least several stories high and devour humans not as a food source but as a pleasure, invades the community in a raging manner. Eren realizes that his home was in the invaded territory and hurries back to his home with Misaka, his adoptive sister, to see its condition and their mother. After arriving and desperately trying to free their mother from under the fallen structure, one of Titans tramples to their direction. Noticing that she was crippled from the waist down, she begs Eren and Misaka to just leave her there and continue to survive while knowing that she’ll just slow them down even if she was able to free herself. Eren and Misaka escapes safely while they helplessly witness their mother falling victim to the terrifying Titan who consumes her alive mercilessly. The mother’s choice of a heroic sacrifice plus the effect of childhood trauma influences Eren to have more faith in humanity and the belief that it’s his responsibility to protect the human race by training to become one of the specialized soldiers who are trained to fend the Titans. Choices of action made during sudden and dangerous events such as the life or death situation that they experienced during the invasion of the Titans have more impacting effects emotionally and mentally on others than most other choices made during their lifetime. In order to continue to pursue his new beliefs, more choices of actions have to be taken to manifest his beliefs.

Even though the relationship between these two texts isn’t very obvious at first, the way that Norman’s beliefs were redirected positively by Paul’s intervention and the way that Eren’s beliefs were directed positively after his mother’s sacrifice are very similar to each other. The effect range of the adversity for both are on opposite ends since in A River Runs Through It, the adversity was set to a personal scale for both Norman and Jessie while in Attack on Titan, the adversity was affecting an entire population of people. The choices that Eren’s mother have made are considered as selfless acts as his mother gave her life in exchange for the safety of Eren and Misaka. Also Paul’s choices are considered as selfless Paul uses his best qualities as a charmer to persuade Jessie to forgive Norman by saying how lucky she is to have Norman as a boyfriend as a way to save their happiness. The actions that Paul and Eren’s mother created positive influences to Norman’s and Eren’s beliefs respectively as Norman began to see Paul as someone important in his life not just as his younger brother and Eren avenging for his mother’s death by protecting others from the hands of the Titans as a specialized soldier who are trained to fight the Titans. Despite the different genres and situations of both texts, the same conditions have been met to create the positive shift in the protagonists’ beliefs.

Adversity in life is inevitable. One’s actions in response to the adversity can positively alter other people’s beliefs significantly. Whether it’s Paul’s involvement in his first relationship with Jessie or the mother’s plea for them to survive and having to unfortunately witness the gruesome death as they leave her behind, both events resulted in the positive shift in beliefs for the protagonists. Norman refers to Paul a lot as he retells his life story to the world just as Eren joins the military to take action against the Titans for who were the cause for his mother’s premature and bloody death as both are the result of the actions taken by someone close to them.

Category: Sammi, Uncategorized | LEAVE A COMMENT

December 29

Significant Events

The idea that significant events can change an individual’s perspective is true, for I believe that once it has happened it wouldn’t be the same as before. There are many cases in the novels I have read that the main character is changed by an event. Usually in novels the significant changes are for the better as in the novel “Finding Forrester”. This book is about Jamal, a black teenage kid from the Bronx that runs into the path of an amazing author. This interaction triggers a significant event for both Wallace and Forrester. Ever since they have met, it has inspired Jamal’s new life goal, for now he is supported in making positive academic achievements. Instead of hiding his true identity from his peers he now shows off his brilliance. Because of the new perspective in his mind, Jamal has changed from being a kid that had to hide his intelligence. He is now a kid in a new school for people who can show off how intellectual they are. Both the event of meeting Mr. Forrester and the change in schools have made a huge impact on Jamal’s life. These significant events have definitely changed the perspective of Jamal Wallace and now it’s a better learning environment for him to live in.

Although most significant events in stories end up making a positive impact to make the audience interested but, there are some who are less fortunate. In the text of the ‘Whip Hand’ it talks about Sid Halley, who was a world champion race jockey. Sid has suffered from a significant crash that crushed his left hand, thus ruining his riding career forever. This event has changed his perspective for now he cannot race, which is really devastating and had a massive effect on his perspective. The intensity of the crash made him severely injured and unable to race again in his lifetime.

Ever since birth there has been significant events in which it had to have changed an individual’s perspective. You may not realize that an event has changed you but I believe it has for every cause there is an effect. Each significant event in a person’s life takes time to make an impact. Just like friendship throughout the years of a kids childhood, it either strengthens or vanishes.

Category: Josh H, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

December 9

Great Action

Self exiled, renowned author William Forrester lives a life of solitude and insignificance until he meets Jamal Wallace: a Bronx ridden, self disclosed, closet academic that reinvigorates his beliefs. Initially, in Finding Forrester Jamal Wallace appears to be fortunate when he meets the established writer William Forester; however, he reciprocates the influencing values that appeared to make him so fortunate, which can be clearly identified by the great actions of Jamal Wallace. In witch the great actions are the onset where our beliefs are influenced in a positive format. Because of assumption, enlightenment, and courage, William Forester’s stagnant beliefs progress into a way of life worth living. The general argument made by Gus Van Sant, in his work Finding Forrester, is that our convicted beliefs can only be reinvigorated and refreshed through the great actions of the ones around us. More specifically, Gus Van Sant argues that stereo types create barriers within a relationship. However, breaking society’s convention of typical stereo types creates an unbreakable relationship, where the display of courage forms a catalyst of an epiphany about our beliefs. In other words, our beliefs are stagnant until a catalyst of great action is set before our eyes; thus, changing our beliefs by embracing a new life.

Many individuals’ beliefs are shaped revolving around the stereotypes that exist among them; therefore, it takes the actions of the ones prejudiced to liberate the beliefs of the beholder. For instance, upon the first eye to eye interaction between the two men Jamal hopes to see if he will take a look at more of his writing, but in return received a scolding and a door in the face along with a rhetorical challenge to complete a 5000 word essay. The actions displayed by Forrester during the first eye to eye interaction were all reminiscent of the stereo types of an African American teenage boy. Suggesting that he is incapable of high level of academics and aspirations can only withhold the life on the streets. Forrester’s Interpretation of Jamal inhibits the relationship of the two men, but Forrester’s miscellaneous challenge of the 5000 word essay creates a gateway for Jamal to surpass the barrier placed upon the relationship of Forrester and Jamal. This challenge is thecommencement where Jamal will continually revitalize Forrester’s beliefs by his great actions. On the other hand, Jamal reciprocates stereo types on Forrester creating a barrier on both sides. In view of these barriers, the actions of both Jamal and Forrester will be needed to chisel down each other’s barriers; ergo, liberating their beliefs of narrowness and presenting a refreshed belief. Riddled with rumors about the man in the window, Jamal has subconsciously accepted stereo types about Forrester presuming he is an axe murderer or even maybe a ghost. Forrester will have to break this stereotype through the knowledge he holds as the great American novelist. But in beginning of this relationship, Jamal is the one with everything to gain and everything to lose while Forrester seems impassive in the matter; thus, making it even harder on Jamal to pursue the relationship. With this in mind it seems that Jamal will be forced to break the barriers that both he and Forrester hold. Therefore, Jamal’s actions will only be allowed to take a permanent effect in refreshing Forester’s beliefs when the barriers are broken.

Despite the parallelism of Jamal’s and Forrester’s stereotyped interpretation upon meeting each other, an unbreakable bond is created. But, for this particular bond to be formed the past actions of a soon to be mentor will have to be discovered to reach an epiphany, creating the unbreakable bond. Although recognizing Forester’s knowledge of literature, and with little actual knowledge of the man, Jamal sees him as an introvert. With the unknown story of Forester’s past, Jamal is left to assume the stereotypes about the man that he has picked up from the street. Jamal learns later from his ignorant teacher about Forester’s connection to literature; thus, breaking the stereo type Jamal has placed on Forrester. The knowledge of his new friend being the great American novelist gives Jamal the confidence that Forrester can help him to academia. As Jamal spends more time with Forrester, it strengthens their relationship, ultimately becoming closer to each other. The great American novel displays the writing brilliance of William Forrester, and with William Forrester in his presence, Jamal’s believes that he too can emulate Forester’s work and become a great writer. From another perspective, we see the stereo types Forester has placed on Jamal dissipate due to Jamal’s actions; thus, refreshing Forester’s beliefs on his own life. Forrester first saw Jamal as a punk on the street that would probably amount to nothing; however, this was disproven extremely quickly. As their relationship develops Jamal starts to grow apart from his friends, putting what mattered to him first; writing. Despite society’s expectation of Jamal being the basketball man, Jamal wishes to be seen as academic; therefore Jamal misses two free throws in the championship game. Jamal does not miss these shots by lack of ability, but misses with the intentions to showcase that all his strengths are not represented on a court. From these actions Forrester witnesses Jamal’s true aspirations for life, which in return sparks a progressing enlightenment in Forrester where he questions his own life and what his aspirations are for his final years. The enlightenment of Jamal and Forrester forecast the impact they have on each other’s life, enviably bringing them closer.

Sometimes a change in beliefs needs to be caused by more than just the simple actions of another. Sometimes it needs the indisputable courage of one, to truly change the beliefs of another. The cynicism of Jamal’s teacher towards Jamal’s ability as a writer has been brought up throughout the film, and when the school writing contest approaches, Jamal wants to ensure that his work is masterful to prove his ability as a writer. Jamal has complete confidence that his writing in Forrester’s apartment will exhibit Jamal’s ability as a writer. He breaks one of Forrester’s rules by taking one of his pieces from Foresters apartment. The courage Jamal displays in his actions tell that Jamal is willing to risk the relationship of the man that has brought him to a level of academic brilliance; therefore, illustrating that he is willing to risk it all. The courage indicates Jamal’s true dedication to writing, and it sparks another epiphany in Forrester giving him the ability to break his beliefs of leaving his apartment. As a result of Jamal’s plan backfiring, Forrester is forced out of his apartment to save the credibility of Jamal. As a guest of honor, Forrester is given the opportunity to present a piece of writing. Forrester presumes credit for the words, but at the end of writing he announces that the words belonged to Jamal and because of that, he receives applause from the audience. Forrester’s courage shown through overcoming the constraints he placed on himself to give credibility to Jamal, gives Jamal the realization that he too is capable of writing as great as Forester’s. As Forrester and Jamal both break from their original stereo types and constraints, they make the full transformation of beliefs.

Gus Van Sant uses the metamorphosis of Forrester’s and Jamal’s beliefs to demonstrate that one’s convicted beliefs can be transformed; however, one cannot do this alone, it takes the great actions of others to complete this transformation. Immediately upon meeting Jamal face to face, Forrester shuns him with a rhetorical challenge of a 5000 word essay. But, Jamal proves Forester wrong by completing the essay; thus, breaking the first barrier Forrester has placed on the relationship, granting Jamal passage into Forrester’s world. As a result of Jamal’s actions and through the medium of literature, Forester and Jamal see each other without the stereo types originally placed on each other, thus allowing Jamal and Forester to truly see the meaning of the actions of one another, and allowing them to refresh their stagnant beliefs. In conclusion, the transformation of Forrester’s beliefs are evoked by Jamal’s courage; thus pushing Forrester into an epiphany rejuvenating his beliefs. Through Finding Forrester Gus Van Sant’s exemplifies, themetamorphosis of beliefs is only possible through the great actions of those around us.

Category: Troy, Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Hunni Blog 30-2

Building Voices one Blog Post at a Time!