“The subject was The Meaning of Life. It was taught from experience.”(Albom,2) Tuesdays with Morrie is the final lesson between a college professor, Morrie, and one of his long-lost students and the author of the book, Mitch Albom. After seeing his professor in an interview on the show called Nightline, Mitch is reminded of a promise he made sixteen years ago to keep in touch with him after college. In this novel, the author uses dialogue and flashbacks to display the theme that following the popular culture is not always the best way. Album Clearly demonstrates this theme in many ways. At the beginning of the story, he uses he uses a flashback to show the theme. “ Some of us are agitated. When is lie going to say something? We squirm, …show more content…
My are we embarrassed by silence? What comfort do we find in all the noise? I am not bothered by the silence. For all the noise I make with my friends, I am still not comfortable talking about my feelings in front of others—especially not classmates. I could sit in the quiet for hours if that is what the class demanded.” (Album, 16). Album uses this flashback to show how the culture we live in doesn’t encourage silence. Instead, they encourage everyone to know what they are doing and how cool it is. You can see this when everyone is checking their watches and looking out the window to be above it all. He then emphasizes this theme by using quotes. “‘Well, for one thing, the culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves. We’re teaching the wrong things. And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn’t work, don’t buy it. Create your own. Most people can’t do it. They’re more unhappy than me—even in my current condition.’”(Album, 11). Album uses this quote that Morrie said to show how the culture is made to bring people down and not lift them up. Those people should talk to other if they are having a bad day and be strong enough not to bring other people down and not follow everyone else create your own path.
In the novel Anthem written by Ayn Rand, flashbacks are used by the author to show the readers events that they did not get to hear about. Flashbacks also help the readers understand what one character was doing while another was doing something else. Anthem is written after the protagonist, Equality, had already reached his goal therefore the whole book is one large flashback however each scene in the book can be defined as on flashback. With help of flashbacks in Anthem, readers are able to see the whole picture and the whole story behind what has happened in their society.
In turn, Mitch working know one day his life would end. The aphorism help Mitch relax and enjoy life. Morrie Schwartz taught wonderful life lessons like love each other, build relationships, and live life now. All these themes connect to each other by telling the readers to live a fulfilling life and be themselves. Life can force people to stress out and crack under pressure.
In the essay “The White Album,” Joan Didion recalls her most memorable experiences of the late nineteen sixties, ponders which one captures the essence of the era, and asks herself what these experiences meant in her life. The essay begins with Didion’s life before her 5 years of exploration. She felt that she was a responsible woman with a reputation. Cut to 1966, she appears to have lost her sense of narrative. Every major event that took place was happening without a grand picture in consideration.
She hoped that writing as well would help her to see what the experiences’ meant but discovers it doesn’t because there was no meaning. In summary Joan Didion’s essay “The White Album” shows a very different perspective of the late nineteen sixties. History sells the illuision of war, love, and drugs. Didion’s flashes expose the human side of history. Didion wrote the essay to find lessons in the madness.
Moreover, it’s best to be comfortable with ones own identity in their own skin than anything else. The second example of this lesson is shown in “The Journey” by Mary Oliver. “But little by little, as you left their voices behind, the stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds
Once again, the author incorporates music into the background of the scene to add to the importance of Connie’s push for maturation and desire for whats on the other side. As the girls got picked up from their nightly adventure and were headed toward home the author states, “she couldn’t hear the music at this distance” (319) giving the implication that once Connie is back under the watch of an elder, she isn’t free to be herself and act as if she is an adult, she is pushed back into her lone shell of childhood. When Connie is
Music is the most significant of symbols in Oates short story to the point that it is dedicated to Bob Dylan. Bob Dylan was a popular singer of the 1960’s and many of his songs spoke out in favor of the civil rights movement and anti-war movement, perhaps Oates felt inspired by his work when she created this story. Considered a window to the soul, music plays a large role as the backdrop of the story. Throughout the entire story, the type of music and the songs playing are listed such as at the dinner and Bobby King’s radio station playing in Arnold Friend’s car. These types of music are conflicting as the music in the dinner is described as “background music like music at a church service” and the station in Arnold’s car is “hard, fast, shrieking songs” (pg 1056-1058).
Shell shocked is a type of post-traumatic stress disorder that occurred during World War I. Many Army officials tried to cover up shell shocked because they wanted to keep those men in the battlefield. Throughout the novel Maisie Dobbs, there were several cases of shell shocked. Doctors Charles S. Myers and William McDougall looked into shell shocked and started doing studies with the soldiers that were affected by it. Shell shocked did have a few treatments which consisted of a bromide, massage, electrical faradization, and a milk diet, but many people thought that shell shocked should be treated with military discipline.
Nursing has been around since ancient times. People have needed the healing hands of nurses for thousands upon thousands of years. In Africa, the healing techniques of witch doctors and medicine men were taught to chosen children. The medicine men and witch doctors were like the nurses for the entire village. However, these more primitive techniques have evolved into much more evidence-based practices.
Society plays a significant role in shaping an individual’s character. Human beings have learned to communicate and understand through the context of their languages, traditions, behaviors, beliefs, and values. Their cultural experiences and values have shaped the way they see themselves and what they come to cherish. When individuals are part of a cultural group, they learn the ways of that culture, enabling them to feel like as though they belong to the community. This concept is illustrated in works by authors such as Arthur Miller, Anne Bradstreet, and Mark Twain.
In the Nonfiction novel written by Mitch Albom, “Tuesdays With Morrie” tells of this author’s experiences with Mitch’s old professor, Morrie. Mitch recalls his experiences with Morrie very personal and impacted his life in a positive manner. Once it was time for Mitch to graduate, he promised his friend that they would stay in contact and continue to strengthen their relationship. Unfortunately, Mitch got caught in the trap of life and lost contact with his old professor for 16 years, until one day Mitch was flipping through channels on his T.V. and sure enough, there his old friend sat. It was on the Ted Koppel show that Morrie was talking about this disease he had encountered, ALS.
When people have a bad or disappointing day, do they lack self-confidence? It does not matter who someone is, people should always look on the bright side and carry an encouraging attitude no matter the situation that lays ahead. Through the country song “It’s A Great Day To Be Alive” by Travis Tritt, he understands people may have non-successful days, but looking at what he personally has in life, he is thankful and knows the joyful days are yet to come. The poem “I, Too” by author Langston Hughes, illustrates how discrimination is more than difficult, but having confidence in oneself and the people around will get through the hard times. In the song “It’s A Great Day To Be Alive” and the poem “I, Too”, both have the message of having confidence in life.
For our next section on war films, in class we viewed and discussed the films Paths of Glory by Stanley Kubrick, The Remains of the Day, by James Ivory and the documentary A Painful Reminder. I think that there are many similarities between these three films, and while they take place during different places and times, I think they all carry with them the same examples of the consequences of war on society. For this reason, I will discuss the consequence within these films and how they relate to the society that the films take place in, as well as how the filmmakers use techniques to show these consequences on society. One of the biggest similarities that I found between these films was their depiction of class among the characters, and how
In life, one must realize that it is impossible to be perfect, and so there are always going to be things that one will regret. Albom is saddened when he hears that former doctor of sociology and favorite professor is passing away, from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis when seeing his story on Nightline anchored by Ted Koppel. He reminisces about his classes and friendly episodes they had together. Stricken with ALS, Albom knows Morrie doesn’t have a lot of time left and travels to Massachusetts from Michigan when reminded of the promise he made 16 years ago. This consultation goes indeterminately satisfactorily that they rendezvous for the next 14 uninterrupted Tuesdays.
The utmost powerful lesson that Tuesdays With Morrie provides its audience is to treasure the gift that life is, by living every day of our lives as if it was our last. This lesson is apparent at the start of the movie when we witness Mitch living this high-profile lifestyle which kept him constantly busy with work. Due to his work filled lifestyle, he wasn't able to make much time to enjoy the small things in life such as spending time with his loved ones. Overtime his work-obsessed behaviour caused him to have a fall out in his relationship with his girlfriend Janine. Thankfully, Morrie helped Mitch realize the unhealthy lifestyle he was living and taught him how to prioritize the things that meant most to him without completely interfering with his work.