Owl Essay

When should someone be considered a responsible adult? In many cases this is a hard question to answer. Most people believe that the ages between 18 and 21 is when a person should be considered a responsible adult. The laws and society are sending mix messages to teens and adults around the world. In the article “What Is The Age Of Responsibility?” say that the world expects the youth to grow up fast put restrictions on them. The world need to make up their minds on when someone is considered a responsible adult.

What is the right age of responsibility, where a teenage is entitled as an adult? Some say 18 and lower, while others say 21 and higher. Nowadays, there is a wide spectrum of ages as to what is deemed to be correct in society. “What is the age of responsibility” by Alan Greenblatt explains how young adults are constantly getting mixed messages as what age they are viewed as responsible young adults. The age of responsibility for young adults should be at age 21.

Before we continue, we should discuss what maturity is. According to Wikipedia, the definition of maturity is “ a psychological term used to indicate that a person responds to the circumstances or environment in an appropriate and adaptive manner.” This response is generally learned rather than instinctual, and is not determined by one's age. Maturity also encompasses awareness of the correct time and place to behave, knowing when to act with appropriate emotion for the situation. Maturity incorporates personal accountability, meaning you take ownership of situations you are involved in. By following one’s conscience, you are taking personal accountability.

Evolving towards adulthood is certainly difficult at times. It is remarkably complex due to the fact that adolescents are taught so many different lessons simultaneously, causing it to be too overwhelming when trying to make the right decisions. It makes this process even more complicated knowing there are many different views on what is right and wrong. Two great examples of this confusing, but worthy, journey reside in the lives of the protagonists of two classic novels. The first being Pip in Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations, a novel in which a young boy describes his life as he's developing. And the second is Scout in Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, a novel that’s told from a young girl’s perspective as her father tries to prove a man innocent after being unjustly accused of rape. Both authors do a splendid job showing the process of the characters’ maturity from when they were children, to when they are adults. The two characters face a few similar situations, while at the same time learning a great deal throughout the novels. They do this until they finally reach the final stage of maturity.

Most of the time, becoming an adult is planned. There are religious ceremonies, the gaining of a driver’s license, and other forms of new responsibility to signify the coming of age. Sometimes though maturity comes at you like a freight train. It comes at you in the blink of an eye and there is no stopping it once it hits you. You are forced to grow up and take on new responsibilities that you thought you wouldn’t have to take on until many years later. It's up to you though to decide what to do from there. You can either try and run away from the problems you have come to face or you can take the train head on and conquer what has been presented to you. I decided to face the train.

In her poem “ Barn Owl”, Gwen Harwood uses many different techniques to create a poem based of life and death. By using symbolism and imagery she describes how a loss of innocents has occurred when the child rebels against their father but by doing this the child has gained maturity and undergone individual growth. In the first stanza we learn that this poem is taking place at daybreak, where a child of unknown gender and age, has crept out of the house with their fathers gun. We are unsure of why the child wants to go outside with a gun but we can assume that it was a planned event.

She eats by herself for the first time in her life, and afterwards remarks on how she feels about it: “How strong, how full of life and hope I felt as I walked out of that bakery. I opened my arms, burning to hug the new day. The strength of a million people was struggling up in me” (157). The words “strong,” “life,” and “hope” epitomize Sara’s newfound freedom she feels after breaking ties with her family. She relates her feelings within to that of “a million people struggling up in me” and these people-filled descriptions of loneliness show that even though she is physically alone, her individuality is such a success to her life that being only with herself is still a triumph. Sara continues, “I, alone with myself, was enjoying myself for the first time as with the grandest company” (157). She mentions that she is finally “alone with [herself],” but starkly contrasts this isolated description with the feeling of “the grandest company.” Sara celebrates her individuality another time when she leaves college with enough money to rent a beautiful room. She describes how, “I celebrated it alone with myself. I celebrated it in my room, my first clean, empty room” (241). By saying she is “with” herself even though she is “alone”, Sara demonstrates again that her individuality is a success. She celebrates the luxury of being alone and overcomes the hardships of her past by embracing

Jeannette can see and understand what is going on to her and her family. Jeannette shares: ‘mom you can’t quit your job’ I said. “ we need the money.” mom asked. “you have a job. You can earn money. Lori can earn money too.”(218). jeannette gets into a conflict with her mother. Jeannette don’t want her mother quit the job; because Jeannette understands this time her family need the money than ever. Opposite to Jeannette, her mother do not care much for the family and her children. Jeannette also conflict with her father after she tells him about her mother problem. Jeannette shares: “who do you think you are” he asked. “Shes your mother.” “ then why she doesn’t act like one?” i looked at dad for what felt like a very long moment. Then I burted out, “and why don’t you act like a dad” (220). Instead go to the bar and drink; jeannette wants her father to get a job to help the family. Jeannette wants her parents have responsibility for their kids and their family. Jeannette matures in her mind and also her actions such as talks to her parents to get a job, and take care her siblings. She is a young lady, but she has a mature thinking. Jeannette says:” i was afraid that Mr.Brecker wouldn’t give me the job if he knew I was only thirteen, so I told him I was seventeen.”(215). Jeannette has to work to get the money to help her family when she only thirteen years old. At this age, most children are only focus on school, but

Being an adult is the number one thing that children want to be: The desire to get older to do things that you want when you want and having no one say otherwise. However, what is an adult? An ambiguous term that really falls into the hands of the individual, where at Sixteen you can drive, eighteen you can vote, and twenty-one you can drink, for those in the USA, all varying ages that individuals could use as indications of adulthood. Robin Heinig wrote and article “What is it about 20- somethings?” where she discusses Arnett’s proposal about a new developmental stage, “Emerging Adulthood”. Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, an American professor in psychology, believes that we aren 't entering adulthood till the later portions of our twenties. For some, this may be true but for the general population including myself I find this hard to believe. Leo Hendry’s article, “How universal is emerging adulthood? An empirical example”, on emerging adulthood gives a deeper understanding to what this generation 's kids are going through. The late teens are a crucial part to the lives of a young adult. It 's the time that we spend trying to identify ourselves, escape the circumstance that we are put into at a younger age, or just had a better family income. Arnett is not wrong, but all other external factors need to be accounted for before we know, or even consider if emerging adulthood is a new developmental stage.

What does it mean to be an adult? But then again, what does it mean to be a child? An adult is one who is seen as responsible and independent while a child is the complete opposite, dependent on others and irresponsible to the point where it became ridiculous. Yet, what about those who are in a limbo between both adult and child and shows both of these characteristics, because in the position of a young adult, they are somewhere in between since they look old but might still have a couple thoughts those of a child might have. They still do not have all of the responsibilities an adult might have but they don't have as much freedom as a child might have. This is where Holden Caulfield

The girl’s inner characterization resembles a coming of age character. She develops because of the action and her traits as a child are presented in contrast with her traits as a teenager. This contrast is emphasized using the third-person narrator at the beginning of

Gordon shows Mark his family’s dance mask & briefly describes all of the tradition surrounding it

What does it mean to be an adult? Does accountability make a person an adult? Does learning and improving on past experiences make someone an adult? Will caring for one’s self make somebody an adult? These are all small pieces to the puzzle but there is more to an adult then being a self-reliant, hardworking individual that pays their bills on time. In my opinion, you can be sixteen years old and be classified as an adult or twenty eight years old and not be an adult. Being an adult means that you are responsible, mature, and independent.

When asked the question “When do you become an adult?” many people would give an age but in reality the answer isn’t that easy. To me adulthood is when you are able and willing to accept responsibility. If you cannot or will not be responsible, you have no right calling yourself an adult. What does make you a grown-up? Is it moving out of the house? Hitting a certain age? Having a relationship? Getting a job?” How is it that we can do. those things, that we consider to be “adult”, but we still feel like kids? Or that we feel like grown-ups, we're certainly old enough, but we haven't. seemed to have accomplished any of those things “grown-ups” have done? People never seem to quite understand the meaning of being an adult.” It has always seemed to me that age is irrelevant. You can be 12 and understand things better than a 30-year-old or you can be 40, have two PhD’s and still wonder if pigeons are migratory birds”.” Many people my age think that getting out of

I recently heard a quotation from a pediatrician who was stating: “It is ten times more difficult being a child than an adult, due to the many possibilities and choices you ought to be making”. Now, my own thesis on this is, when you are a teenager, you can multiply the diffuculty by a factor of fifty. A lot of young people find it very strenous taking the last step towards adulthood and their own independence. Especially when you have parents that, unconsciously or not, do not allow you to do so.