The Lives of Others Essay

Should people put the value of life into monetary value or should life be kept solely as an emotional quantity? People and societies throughout the ages have been trying to answer the problem of putting the value of life into terms of dollar bills. The ancient Egyptians buried their dead with all of their worldly belongings. They believed a person’s monetary worth on Earth was over, and they should take all of that earthly worth with them to the afterlife. Modern day Americans are different from the Egyptians. Today people believe that the families of the dead should be compensated for “their” loss.

Topic (Biographical Essay): We are interested in learning more about you and the context in which you have grown up, formed your aspirations, and accomplished your academic successes. Please describe the factors and challenges that have most shaped your personal life and aspirations. How have these factors helped you to grow?

Tom Bissell’s, a teacher at Portland State University, main idea was to indicate to his audience why video games matter to him by using various argumentative appeals. One must ask themselves, can this author be worthy of respect? Can he give his readers enough facts to get his argument across? Will he try to give us a soft story to buy his way into in his argument? Throughout most of Bissell’s book, he uses the logical appeal by describing, in great detail, Fallout 3. Sadly he lacks the Emotional appeal to complete this argument and he loses my credibility throughout the article.

The concept of living “the good life” means something different for everyone. There is a general understanding that living “the good life” is associated with unyielding happiness and lasting satisfaction. The exact meaning of this desired life was pondered by thinkers and philosophers for hundreds of years. They constructed principals of behavior, thought, and obligation that would categorize a person as “good”. Although some of these ancient philosophies about “the good life” had overlapping ideas, their concepts varied widely. This contrast of ideas can be examined through two major characters in two famous works: Aeneas in “The Aeneid” and Socrates in “The Apology”. Aeneas exemplifies the philosophy that the direct route to “the good life" is through faith, trust in the Gods, and family, while Socrates in “The Apology” emphasizes free will, and vast knowledge of life.

The elements of cinematography in the film include a low angle shot looking up at the farmer as he chops wood at the beginning of the scene. The shot is preceded by the infamous extreme long shot of the military convoy. The director uses close ups to capture emotions throughout the entire opening scene. Fear in the faces of the farmer’s daughters as they come face to face with the Jew Hunter. Fear in the face of the farmer when he prepares himself as the military convoy approaches. Close ups are used at the table when the confrontation looms; the camera zooms in when the farmer begins to crack under the

238,900 miles away, the earth’s moon is one that is truly unique. With a given age of about 4.5 billion years the Earth serves a major role in real life and in the book Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer. When catastrophe strikes, Earth takes a turn for the worst and great natural disasters occur. Thousands die, but there are a number of survivors. If there are survivors, how beneficial is the moon actually? What would happen if the moon had been destroyed? How necessary is it for human survival? The Moon, is a great benefactor to human survival because of the benefits earth gets from it.

In Berlin, three Russian soldiers rape innocent Jutta. Marie-Laure loses all hope of ever reuniting with her father. Holding loss and sorrow, the characters all bear the scars of war when the novel comes to its resolution. Likewise, the novel imposes questions on the power to control destiny and how the world around us predetermines the outcome of life. Although established that some personal choices are unfeasible, Doerr conversely emphasizes the dominance of an individual over their own path. Within the climaxing scene, Werner recovers his free will by saving Marie-Laure, acknowledging that he hasn’t taken control of his life “… in years. But today. Today maybe I did.” (Page 469). Furthermore, the conversations between the two protagonists demonstrate the collective humanity that traverses preconceived notions of “good” and “evil”. As stated

What scale is being used to determine what a life is essentially worth? And who determines this? For most of our lives, we have grown up being taught that ‘All lives are created equally’ while this is important it is not entirely true. You would think that when you die your family could finally be at peace with no worries or fears but they tend to worry how you’re valued is being determined by law. I believe that everyone should be treated equally, even after death.

Joseph tells himself he was justified in drinking because Carmen was giving her attention to other men, making him the victim. Carmen believe Joseph was the villain that night, ignoring her while he drank. The partners victimize themselves and villainize

Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s film The Lives of Other’s (2005) is set in East Berlin during the socialist reign from November 1984, up until the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989. The political context plays a significance role not only in the film’s subject matter but also in its cinematography, which exploits the voyeuristic tendencies of the audience, reflecting the surveillance of the Stasi Secret Police officers. The film follows a loyal socialist and playwright, Georg Dreyman who becomes subject (along with actor girlfriend Christa-Maria Sieland) to extensive Stasi surveillance due to his association with subversive artists such as Paul Hauser and Albert Jerska. Hauptman Gerd Weisler is the accomplished Stasi officer assigned to

Drea, seated across from Joan at the Cup and Sword Tavern, grinned at her friend. Drea was thrilled to learn of Joan’s pregnancy and grateful for her friendship. It had been a lonely few years, raising Wallace without a father, but Drea’s new relationships with Alis, Carina, and Joan had drawn her out of isolation. This was the first time in years Drea had gone out for an evening meal with a friend, though she experienced a dull pang of guilt for leaving Wallace with the neighbor.

Though our society has adapted and developed, inequality remains prevalent all around the world. Our society assigns value to human live based on ethnicity and gender. Currently around the world there are over 30 million slaves in which 60,000 are in the United States. Even though slavery has been abolished in nearly every country many people still measure the value of individuals in cents and dollars. Should life be calculated in terms of money? How should we as a society assign value to a persons life? I personally believe that you can't assign a price to someones life and you shouldn’t It’s both politically and morally unjust.

     I can remember as a child always asking myself the “why” questions of life. What is the purpose of life? Why are we here? What is the purpose of life? Why do certain things happen? And is there really a God? I had always kept these questions to myself and eventually pushed them out of my mind altogether. I was raised in a Christian household and you just were not allowed to ask questions of that nature and doubt the faith. The world is the way it is because God made it that way and that is all there is to it. I was really excited to take this class because it would finally give me the opportunity to exercise my personal thoughts and beliefs. I have come to agree with Socrates that “the unexamined life is not

Care for others. The way this will help you achieve happiness is that when you help others it gives you a warm feeling inside. It makes you feel as if you have done something right. This feeling is almost unexplainable. Helping others is one of the best things you can do. For example, when you complement someone the best feeling is when you see the look on that persons face and see how happy you made them. Also, if you do not care for others you will live a lonely life. Without care for others no one will want to be around you. So, if you care for others you will have a joyous life.

I can remember as a child always asking myself the "why" questions of life. Why are we here? What is the purpose of life? Why do certain things happen? And is there really a God? I had always kept these questions to myself and eventually pushed them out of my mind altogether. I was raised in a Christian household and you just were not allowed to ask questions of that nature and doubt the faith. The world is the way it is because God made it that way and that is all there is to it. I was really excited to take this class because it would finally give me the opportunity to exercise my personal thoughts and beliefs. I have come to agree with Socrates that "the unexamined life is not worth living." In my opinion life is a combination of