With fictional characters that save the world by possessing superpowers, like supersonic speed and unearthly strength, it is hard to imagine what being a hero truly means. Well, with that being said, what is a hero? According to T. A. Barron (2007), “A hero does something truly important, regardless of whether anyone ever notices” (Barron, 2007, pg. 3). Interestingly enough, this idea is extremely important to embed in the minds of elementary students. Thus, the topic explored in this social studies unit address heroes with a focus on characteristics of heroism; an idea that suggests something special about the qualities of a person. Accordingly, this idea will be further explored in the study of one special, distinct hero that changed the lives of thousands of individuals: Maya Angelou. By looking closely at Angelou’s life, students will use this information to determine who their hero is. During this unit of lessons, the students will investigate the role traits play in the development of a hero. In turn, this will allow the students to resonate with ideas of heroism that suggest anyone could be a hero. This idea is not only relevant to these lessons, but carries onto the civic values of the students, as they learn how to empathize, help others in need, and stand up for their own beliefs. In the introductory lesson, students will explore the characteristics of heroism. It is important for students to recognize these traits in order to identify two things: (1) Who is a
A hero should be able to overcome obstacles and gain something from it. Junior being courageous and go against what is seen as logical for someone like him drives him to make more decisions that seems to have a negative outcome, but ultimately has a positive one instead. Although it might seem extremely tempting to give up, resilience will yield a payoff that is worth all the blood, sweat and tears. Furthermore, motivation from anyone will push an individual to their limits to find out what they can do. Junior demonstrates these traits to find a better life, and to do that, he must experience harsh times. Adversities will be a part of every life, but an individual would have to decide if they would allow it to destroy them, or stand their ground to be a
In I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, Angelou uses various stylistic devices and rhetorical strategies such as similes and metaphors. Angelou’s use of similes are used in order to describe her own character. In this, Angelou remarks “For nearly a year, I sopped around the house, the Store, the school and the church, like an old biscuit, dirty and inedible” showing that Angelou's inner feelings of not being good enough to be picked or loved. Correspondingly Angelou felt her skin looked “dirty like mud” showing her inner insecurities of her skin colour being unattractive. The sense of Angelou’s insecurities can also be seen with the use of metaphors regarding Angelou's skin as she remarked “I was described by our playmates
“Attractive personality is much more powerful than attractive genetics or any ability to fill in an impossible” (Kotyakov). Every woman can relate to the poem “Phenomenal woman”, written by Maya Angelou . She wants to show the world what makes her beautiful and expresses it in various ways. Women, now put themselves down because they do not think about their inner beauty, they only listen to what people may say about them. The message this poem sends out to the world of stereotype is empowerment comes from being confident in your own female skin. Beauty does not define a phenomenal woman. This poem represents the definition of a phenomenal woman because it helps women understand how it important it is to have self-love, independence and
Heroes are not created during hard times, but it is during these hard times that heroes are revealed. Christopher Reeve explains that a hero is an ordinary individual who possesses the strength to persevere and rise above overwhelming obstacles. Meaning no matter your size, your age, or your gender the capabilities of becoming a hero comes from within, as long as you have the determination and will power to triumph over the devastating obstacles that lay in your path. The stories “An Act of Vengeance” and “A Worn Path” by Isabella Allende and Eudora Welty, respectfully, are prefect examples. Allende portrays a young lady overcoming the terrors of her youth as she grows in to a strong woman and avenges her father. Whereas, Welty gives a description of a fragile old woman demonstrating the strength and perseverance to succeed and obtain the medicine that her grandson so desperately needs, even though her body struggles to make the trip. Although both stories depict a tale of what a hero is one has a better description, “An Act of Vengeance” more closely follows the guidelines of Christopher Reeve’s idea of a hero.
Heroism: Why Heroes are Important is a short essay by Scott LaBarge. In the essay, LaBarge is the narrator and tells a story his choice of becoming a philosopher. Inspiration came from one of his hero’s, Henry David Thoreau. Through pathos, logos, and ethos; LaBarge reveals what message society should learn. He not only informs the reader, but persuades them to think deeply and research who a hero is by using historical background information, an intended original audience, and emotional appeals to create an effective argument.
Maya Angelou was born on April 4, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri from Bailey Johnson and Vivian Johnson. Which later in her life she grew up to become an author, dancer, actress, screenwriter, and a poet. As life went on for her, she slowly became an amazing person that so many began to admire. Angelou has written many poems and has received numerous awards, but the one that has stood out the most to me is, “Alone”. Angelou shows you that in the world we live in, in order to be successful you must be accompanied by friends.
Maya Angelou, who was the first African-American to work in the San Francisco streetcars, accomplished many things in her life. This fact proves that Angelou was a woman who believed in doing what needs to be done in order to accomplish her goals. Angelou made an influence on the world with her books and poems that related to diverse people in different situations, but most importantly, she fought for African-American right in the early and middle 1900s.
The inspiring African-American woman born in 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri has been one of the many influential voices of our time. Educating herself and having love for the arts helped mold her life into what she imagined becoming a poet, memoirist, novelist, educator, dramatist, producer, actress, historian, filmmaker, and even a civil rights activist. During her early years while still in High School Dr. Angelou experienced brutal racial discrimination directing her to the values of traditional African-Americans.
When I first read this poem, I was overwhelmed with conflicting emotions. Maya Angelou depicts herself as a fighter that will never give up, no matter the circumstances. She has obviously faced some difficult situations in her life that should have stopped her but she continues to triumph in the face of adversity. In this way, I am inspired to continue pursuing my goals. I also felt discouraged and disgusted, mostly because of the types of obstacles that are described in this poem. It is symbolizes the obstacles that many African Americans faced in the past as a result of the abolition of slavery, racism and inequality. The discouraging part of this poem is that some of these very inequalities and injustices still go on today. So, while this poem illustrates strength,
Helen Keller was a woman who had gotten a sickness as a child and because of the sickness she became deaf, not only was she deaf though she also became blind. Despite these challenges she never gave up, she learned to communicate with others, earned college degrees, and wrote over a dozen books that inspired people. Many doubted her, but she never gave up, showing enormous amounts of perseverance. Another example would be Martin Luther King Jr. He was a very passionate and positive man who fought for equality among blacks and whites. Because of his dream of equal rights, he had to face many obstacles. While most would've given up, he took that obstacle and fought against it. This makes them heroes because they were stronger than the average individual and chose to take their challenges in a good way and move
As I was reading Maya Angelou’s biography, I have found a personal connection to her. Maya’s parents were separated when she was young and she went to live with her grandparents. I lived with my mother up until I reached the age of starting school, when my mother realized she could not support me on her own. She left me with my grandparents and went to live on her own, to find a sustainable job. As the years went on, she met somebody and started a family of her own. Maya Angelou showed individualism through her experience as well as I have. I learned to be independent and went on my own to learn countless things you would need a mother for.
When asked "Who is your hero?", people are prone to say the orthodox answer of "Spider-Man." The word hero can have another context other than someone in a fiction series. An honorable hero is Maya Angelou because she has given many contributions to affect history since 1928 when she was born. Maya Angelou is a southern African-American woman who endeavored many hardships, but became an inspiration to women across the world by how she overcame them. During the time she was born, racial prejudice was still a problematic situation; however, Angelou voiced these issues and became well known for speaking up. Maya Angelou is a hero with many traits such as courage, perseverance, and skillful intelligence.
The word hero stimulates distinct ideas within each individual’s mind; some people may imagine a strong, muscular, super-powered, and confident human being. This type of thought process is what some people would believe is the ideal way to describe a hero, while other individuals may believe that a brave, honest, selfless, and courageous individual, that sacrifices him or herself for a good cause, to be the best way to portray a hero. In the article, “The Thematic Paradigm”, Robert B. Ray categorizes the official hero and unofficial hero. The introduction of the official and unofficial heroes allowed other types of heroes to be discussed such as the anti-hero and the reluctant hero. However, whether or not these heroes remain prevalent in
As said by Christopher Reeve, “a hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.” Over the course of this quarter, the Biblical Biographies classes have studied the lives of Jonathan, Jonah, Esther, and John, who were considered heroes because of their actions and characteristics. In the book Twelve Unlikely Heroes, John MacArthur retells the stories of these extraordinary people and makes their traits evident. If each person’s best characteristics were taken and combined to create a new hero, she would predominantly be a person who is faithful, determined, rebellious, and one-of-a-kind.
Some of the best examples of heroes are generic people who happened to have chosen to become a police officer, of a doctor, or firefighter, or even a public activist. These ordinary citizens save lives just as much as the classic comic book characters we think of when we hear the word ‘hero.’ However, the reality is that anyone can be a hero by standing up for what they believe in; some of the most famous heroes in history were just average people advocating for their beliefs to create a better tomorrow. Some examples of such influential people include Martin Luther King, Jr., Malala Yousafzai, Mahatma Gandhi, and Harriet Tubman. In fact, someone could be a hero to someone else just by doing a small favor, such as donating, doing community service, or just helping someone because they needed help. Even by doing the smallest actions, it is easy to become someone’s