It Couldn T Be Done

There are many characteristics, including talent and intelligence, that make a person successful. However, the most essential characteristic that makes a person successful is perseverance. Perseverance is defined as the continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition. Perseverance can be shown by J.K. Rowling, who got rejected by twelve major publishers but worked hard to publish her book and sold over 120 million copies of it, and Elizabeth Blackwell, who defied the stereotype that women could not become doctors and became the first female doctor to practice in the United States. Perseverance can be shown in people’s daily lives such as working hard until the end when writing an essay or being determined
to perfect a pirouette in dance. Great works are performed not by strength or intelligence but by perseverance. The short story, “The Last Leaf” by O. Henry is about two close friends, Sue and Johnsy, having a hard time with Johnsy’s pneumonia. Johnsy believed that she would pass away when the last leaf of the ivy vine fell which scared Sue. To help Johnsy have hope in herself and calm down Sue’s fear, Sue goes to her neighbor, Mr. Behrman. Sue asks Mr. Behrman to paint the last leaf when the last leaf falls and he does paint it. Johnsy looks out the next morning and sees that the leaf was still there, not knowing that it was fake, and gives her hope to live. As the last leaf was still hanging, after the strong winds and rain, “‘I’ve been a bad girl, Sudie,’ said Johnsy. ‘Something has made that last leaf stay there to show me how wicked I was. It is a sin to want to die.’... An hour later she said: ‘Sudie, someday I hope to paint the Bay of Naples.” (8) Johnsy did not want to live because she said that she would die if the last leaf fell and there was nothing she could do to stop that from happening, so did not try to fight against the disease. However, since Mr. Behrman painted the last leaf without Johnsy knowing and she saw that the “last leaf” was still hanging, it gave Johnsy hope to live. The last leaf gave Johnsy perseverance to tackle pneumonia and stay strong until she was healed from it. Because she had hope and perseverance, it made her want to accomplish her life goal, to paint the Bay of Naples. The poem, “It Couldn’t Be Done” by Edgar Albert Guest is about people saying that a thing “couldn’t be done,” and doubt that anybody could do it.
Hearing this, a man uses determination and perseverance to take on the thing that “couldn’t be done.” After hard work, the man eventually does the thing that “couldn’t be done.” After somebody scoffed at the man and said that “it couldn’t be done”, “the first thing we knew he’d begun it. With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin, Without any doubting or quiddit, He started to sing as he tackled the thing That couldn’t be done, and he did it.” (12-16) The man never got discouraged by the remarks of the people, but instead started the thing very positively without any regrets. He started to smile and sing during the thing which made him more eager to face it. The man worked hard and persevered until the end, where he did the thing that “couldn’t be
done.” The video, “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance” by Angela Duckworth is a TED Talk about how grit, not talent or IQ, is the key factor to becoming successful in life.
Grit is passion and perseverance for very long-term goals, meaning that a person endures and determined until the end. When Angela Duckworth found out that social intelligence, physical health, and IQ were not contributed to being successful, but grit was, she defined grit as, “having stamina. Grit is sticking with your future, day in, day out, not just for the week, not just for the month, but for years, and working really hard to make that future a reality. Grit is living life like it’s a marathon, not a sprint.” (3:00) Having grit is very beneficial to people because it is persevering for the long run, which is your future and accomplishing goals that were just a dream before. Grit is not giving up in the middle, but working hard and persevering through obstacles until the end. Grit is what makes a person successful in life and in their
future. Some people may say that great works are performed by talent and not by perseverance. People may argue this because in the short story, “The Last Leaf,” Mr. Behrman used his talents to save a person from dying. Mr. Behrman was a painter who wanted to create a masterpiece before he died. However, there had been no touch on the canvas in his apartment for twenty-five years. When Sue came to him and ask for his help with Johnsy and her hopeless heart, he used this as an opportunity to paint his masterpiece. When the last leaf of the ivy vine fell, Mr. Behrman went outside at night in the icy cold, rain, and wind to use his talent of painting on drawing the last leaf on the wall. Johnsy, the next morning, believed that it was the real leaf which powered her to fight pneumonia that she had and be healed instead of dying. However, because Mr. Behrman went out on that dreadful night, he had caught pneumonia as well. He was hospitalized for two days until he passed away. Although he died, he was able to create his masterpiece before his death and was able to save another person’s life by doing so. However, perseverance is the trait that leads to the most success. Perseverance can help a person by making them successful in life and accomplish goals easier and faster. Perseverance helps people persist and drive towards a destination in the future and makes the destination a reality. Perseverance not only impacts a person’s future but impacts the world around them. When a person perseveres, they motivate and inspire others to persevere as well. When communities persevere as one, it allows them to grow much faster and know the struggles of people in it, which makes communities even closer.