During January of 2013, a fourteen year old boy by the name of James Persyn took the risk of letting a rape victim into his home. In the small town of Shepard, James was home alone along with his brother sister. At around 10pm there was a knock at the door. The lady was in danger, so he let her into his home, which was a huge risk. A series of chaotic events followed, yet James, his two siblings and even the rape victim made it out just okay. James Persyn is an important person who portrayed a “hero”. Most people dream of being courageous, or a here. Though these people have not yet been tested in dangerous situations.In order to be courageous, one must be mentally, and morally strong enough to venture, perservere, and withstand danger no matter how afraid or how difficult the situation is. To be courageous, one must be like James Persyn. James is courageous because he risked danger, is brave and overall did the right thing.…
Arnold proved he has courage when he decides to leave his school on the reservation and transfer to an all white school twenty miles away. Arnold’s teacher shows Arnold he has enough courage to leave the reservation school, he showed him he has hope. “And now you have to take your hope and go somewhere where other people have hope. “Where is Hope?” I asked. “Who has hope?” “Son,” Mr. P said. “You’re going to find more and more hope the farther and farther you walk away from this sad, sad, sad reservation.” (Alexie 43) Arnold realized he had enough courage to find hope. Arnold uses Mr. P advise, and by doing so shows everyone it take courage to find hope but you can find it.…
In the story “Eleven” the narrator Rachel acts more like a child. In the ninth paragraph, the author states, “That’s not, I don’t, you’re not…Not mine.” When Rachel speaks like this she is not forming her words properly like a tween would. She is talking like a two-year old that is whining. Additionally, the character Rachel stated “Not mine, not mine, not mine.” When Rachel says this, she is not stating what she wants to say, making herself sound childish. Rachel needs to speak her mind to the teacher, instead of saying “not mine” in her head. Finally, according to the text Rachel stated, “That stupid Phyllis Lopez, who is even dumber than Sylvia Saldivar.” Again, when Rachel calls people stupid and dumb since someone made a mistake she is…
Courage can be taken out of context, and when speaking of determined adolescents courage can be the difference between a sob story and the smell of sweet victory. The main character of Greasy Lake really didn’t have a choice of a sob story. They expected to,…
What is courage? According to dictionary.com, courage is the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain etc., without fear; bravery. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, both Atticus and Boo Radley are both courageous through the challenges they are faced with. Both of these men are citizens of Maycomb and create change within their town. Although Atticus and Boo Radley are very different people, they prove to be similar through their acts of courage. Though their acts of courage are similar, they both generate change to different aspects of their lives. Both men change things through their acts of courage, but the changes are drastically different. Atticus’ courage is a long term change, and it will help Maycomb see African Americans as equals and not as inferiors. Boo’s change on their other hand, will be more of a lesson that teaches not to judge a book by its cover.…
In a modern society where good deeds and integrity are taken for granted, it is necessary for people to stand up for what is right. The short story “A & P”, written by John Updike, tells the story of Sammy and how he takes a stand for what he believes is right, only he is not given the gratitude he deserved. “Everyday Use”, written by Alice Walker, is another short story that shows how substantial it is to stand firm for one’s convictions and beliefs, especially in familial matters. Mama, the protagonist in “Everyday Use”, must make the decision of protecting her self-conscious daughter Maggie, or giving in to Dee, her other egocentric daughter who has forgotten the traditional values of their family. These two short stories indicate the importance of protecting people from the harshness of reality because not everyone is secure or aware enough to be able to stand up for themselves.…
Another example, of courage is when NightJohn ran away to go teach other people to read and write. It was even more courageous of him to come back at night and tell Sarny this “Follow me. We got to go so’s you can get back before first light” (page 85). NightJohn put his life at risk just to teach a girl to read and write, and risked her life just to live a little like the whites do. NightJohn didn’t have to come back to Sarny, but the amount of courage he has told him to go back, and make her happy and teach her.…
Courage is the ability to conquer fear or despair, a trait that all people have within; except it is only the people that perform tremendous feats or overcome the larger than life obstacles that most people notice. The people of the town of Ashton were afraid of a giant named Karl, a man that stood as high as a house. Edward Bloom came to the rescue of the townspeople and decided to confront this mean and scary monster, acting as a human sacrifice. He was able to convince the giant to leave the town for bigger and better things. Edward stepped up and became a hero; able to stand fear straight in the eye. Not only did this exemplify his bravery, but it also opened up many opportunitieshis eagerness to see and conquer the outside world, to be ambitious and take the road that fewer people had traveled.…
Numerous writers have written books and poems to encourage readers to speak up and stand up for themselves, including “The Journey” and “Speak”. They both pass along the message that if you don’t let people know how you feel, what you have gone through, and what you stand for, you are not going to reach anywhere in life. In the novel “Speak”, Melinda never told anyone that she was raped at the party, therefore people in her school misunderstood her action. At the end of the story, She decides to tell her friends about the incident. People now understand her and she was accepted by others as a result of her speaking up. People are not mind readers; they never know what’s going through your head unless you tell them and express yourself. Another valuable lesson that we all can learn from “The Journey” and “Speak” is that no matter how much people doubt you or how much your life is going against you, you must to pick yourself up and carry on. In “Speak”, Melinda dealt with several problems in her life at once, including her grades, her social life, and the terrible memories of what happened at the party. In spite of all the things that are dragging her down in her life, she stayed strong and beared through the school year. When Andy Evans tried to attack Melinda, she fought back by stabbing him with a piece of glass. She earned…
Without courage there would be no bravery in the world. “Courage” by Anne Sexton reaches out and tells us what it is to be brave, she teaches us that we have to have courage, for our own sake. The article “Mich. Teen Helps Save Abduction Victim’s Life” by John Carlisle introduces us to a boy that lives us to the expectations of courage. He shows us that it is hard, but worth it to be courageous. In Michigan, a fourteen year old boy, James Persyn the third had to be more courageous than ever when he decided to save the life of a woman that he did not even know until she came knocking on his door asking for help.…
Survival is a brutal fight to stay alive. To win this battle, one needs to possess bravery. There have been countless occasions where ordinary people had to confront the harsh reality of survival. Ishmael Beah of A Long Way Gone had do fight every fear in his body to keep going. A woman on a crashing plan had to make sure of her own safety and escape despite the actions of others. A person named Rainsford needed to be brave to keep calm and figure out the best course of action. When confronted with danger, being brave is vital.…
I had intended on going to the vigil Wednesday night (2/8) but much to my dismay, there was no vigil (or I missed it). So instead of attending a diversity event for this paper, I watched a documentary on Netflix called 13th. This film discusses the issue of racism in the United States criminal justice system; specifically relating to how the 13th amendment transformed the view of African Americans from slaves to criminals.…
John Updike's short story, "A&P" is fictional in a sense that it has a common pattern that leads the reader through a series of events. These events began when three young ladies in bathing suits walk in A&P, and catch the eye of a young man named, Sammy. He seems to favor the chunkier girl of the three that walk in to the store.…
A person is courageous when fear is present, yet they still choose to act in spite of it. Frederick Douglass demonstrated courage through his passion to learn, to read, to write. The risk of being caught was tremendous, “it is almost an unpardonable offence to teach slaves to read” (2). Without a risk, “there can be no progress” (Frederick Douglass). Douglass’s goal was to attain his freedom. He wanted to be acknowledged as equal to a white man. He refused to accept anything less than his own spiritual, physical, and intellectual…
As I placed the car into park, turned the key off and stepped into the crisp cold winter air, I begin to feel my pulse raise. With each step we took drawing us closer to the door, I felt my heart beating faster. With a quick turn of the ice cold door knob, I found myself standing in a whole new world. The food, the music, the faces, the language, everything was different than what I knew. For the first time in my life I was the minority in my small home town of Winamac, Indiana.…