Persuasive Essay: A Separate Peace

Peace is very complex. It could happen when your young, or when your older and more experienced. Peace can come from bright times or dark time, such as death. In the novel A Separate Peace by John Knowles Gene finds peace in a very odd way. He has a quite “separate peace” from everyone else. Staring off as one piece, braking off into a separate piece, and finally finding a separate peace, Gene discovers he is himself, and not Finny.

In A Separate Peace there is a young boy who is named Phineas of Finny for short. Finny is the all-around loveable guy on campus; his purpose was to lighten the world as the World Word II is raving outside. Being at Devon

Being an athletes is one of the best-paid jobs on Earth. Being that they are paid so much the cost for the consumer is very high. The prices of tickets and sports memorabilia have been steadily rising over the years. The average ticket prices for the NHL, MLB, NBA and NFL all rose 5% to 10% this year, according to Jon Greenberg, executive editor of Team Marketing Report. (Mihoces).

First, Phineas is a character who shows his emotions and states them to others. As Gene narrating states that, “Exposing a sincere emotion nakedly like that at the Devon School was the next thing to suicide,”(40). This quote shows two positive character traits that most people believe are strong traits to have. The quote shows that Phineas has immense confidence in being able to show his emotions because without confidence a person would never say such a bold statement in a society like Devon that frowns upon it. This same quote also shows that Finny has courage. This is displayed in the fact that it takes a great deal of courage to say such a statement that shows emotions no matter who it is stated to. Another characteristic that Finny displays is a less positive one. As stated in the previous paragraph in the quote about Gene studying, Finny does not realize that people actually put effort into doing their best at something. Everything comes naturally for Phineas and therefore he is unable to try to better himself in society because he has not had to. This lack of effort is not a positive part of Phineas’s overall character. Lastly, Finny’s athletic talent is a large positive trait in his character. As stated by Brinker in the later chapters, “You had better balance than anyone in the school”(161). This quotation from Brinker shows off just one aspect of Finny’s overall athletic

Then, Knowles uses the death of Phineas to describe a funereal environment and an aloofness created inside of Gene. “He was incomprehensible. I felt an extremely cold chill along my back and neck, that was all… I did not cry then or ever about Finny. I did not cry even when I stood watching him being lowered into his family’s strait-laced burial ground outside of Boston. I could not escape a feeling that this was my own funeral, and you do not cry in that case” (185-186). In the last quote, Gene appeared to be quite intolerant to the fact that Finny

Over 7,500 animals are killed in zoos because they are deemed surplus, as stated by Liz Tyson an animals rights activist. This giraffe in particular sparked a huge controversy. HIs name was Marius, he was homed at the Copenhagen Zoo and was 2 years old when the staff killed him with a bolt gun. Marius was then dissected and fed to lions in front of ongoing zoo goers. What got people fuming is that he was a healthy, young giraffe. Therefore I believe the killing of Marius should not be justified.

The years I spent there were some of the best of my life. I can still remember certain events that put a smile on my face: celebrating Chinese New Year with our second grade teacher, Ms. Wilson; being on

St. Mary’s has prepared me for high school like no other school could ever do. If it wasn't for all my amazing fun teachers I would not be attending Loyola

Finny is shown to be a charismatic character who stuns charms everyone with his wit and vitality. Creating new inventions shows him to be a free spirit. Finally, Finny’s good nature also surfaces. Eventually, when the perspective of time brings Phineas more clearly into focus, readers, like Gene, come to know Phineas: a charismatic, free spirited, and good (pure of heart) individual.

Instead, of traveling from a distant land to attend Devon, he is a native making him much more comfortable in the area than Gene was. Phineas is a stupendous athlete that dominates any competition that requires physical skill. This is supported by all the awards he had acquired in his athletic career. However, he contrasts this phenomenal ability with his ignorance over education- often being labeled a “D” student. He is also a very deceptive person; being able to sway anyone with his words and wit. This leads to him being a very possessive person. “Finny” does hold a tremendous weakness nonetheless, he is quite vulnerable towards Gene’s

Source: CDC, National Center for Health Statistics, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Health, United States, 2002. Flegal et. al. JAMA. 2002;288:1723-7. NIH, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Clinical Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults, 1998.

“Your assignment is to write a persuasive essay and present it to the class in a week. You will be graded based on how convincing it is. Today we will be choosing topics,” announced Mr. Bowerbank, my 7th grade English teacher and ruler of classroom 110. My class simultaneously groaned at the prospect of work. I simply lifted my head with intrigue as it was already May and about time we had our first essay. He then proceeded to give examples of topics we could choose and gave us some time to think before we had to tell him our topic. My classmates were already rushing to tell the teacher their idea lest someone else steal it. That meant the usual abortion, death penalty, or drug use topics were out. I really couldn't think of anything and the teacher was slowly making his way through the remaining students like an executioner beheading criminals in a line. I have always thought that he would make a marvelous supervillain if he had a curly mustache, a tophat, and a cape. Eventually my name was called. I slowly dragged myself over to his desk. Even sitting down, he still seemed to tower over me. “What is your topic Cindy?” As usual in such desperate times, my mind turned to food. “Waffles are better than pancakes.” I figured that a waffle was just a differently shaped pancake with a nicer texture. “Hmm. Excellent topic. I look forward to your essay!” I survived to live yet another day.

These past four years have really been a life changing experience. From a childish freshmen not only at school but at home too, to a still sometimes childish senior, one who knows when and how to control himself. This school and its teachers have taught me so many lessons that will not be forgotten any time soon.

Why spend money that is really needed for other things? Why live uncomfortably? Why be trapped in this hole called a home that belongs to another person? Why not live free and peacefully? When a person rents he or she usually throws away money that could be used to purchase something that belongs to them. Money is not easy to come by so why pay out hundreds toward something that is not benefit to the person paying it out. There is no good explanation for making a decision like this. The best option in a situation like this is to buy a house. Buying a house is a better option than renting an apartment.

Having escaped rule from a tyrannical British government, the United States was founded on ideals of freedom and equality for all people. These fantasies of universal egalitarianism turned out to be merely that: fantasies. American history is full of stories of the oppressed struggling to get the rights they deserve and of the controversy over these issues that consequently ensues. “The Hypocrisy of American Slavery” by Frederick Douglass and “We Shall Overcome” by Lyndon B. Johnson are two speeches made confronting two of these issues. Douglass’s speech, delivered in 1852, condemns the institution of slavery and maintains that slaves are men and are therefore entitled to freedom. Johnson’s speech, on the other hand, was written in 1965 and discussed the civil rights movement. In it, he implored local governments to allow all American citizens, regardless of race, to vote. Despite the significant gap in time between these two addresses, both speakers use similar persuasive techniques, including ethos, pathos, and parallelism, to convince their audience that change needs to be implemented in America.