Tuesdays with Morrie Essay

The looking glass self theory looks at how an individual views themselves. The theorist of this theory is Horton Cooley. The looking glass self is another theory that is separated into stages. This theory is made up of three stages. The first stage id that a person imagines how they are perceived and viewed by others. The second stage of the looking glass theory is when a person imagines how they are judged by others and this is based and concluded by the first stage of the theory which is how a person imagines they are perceived by another individual. The final stage of this theory is the experiencing of a type of feeling or reaction to the staged in one and two. Gbadebo.S.A, (2011), pp124. For example a person may believe that they are perceived as being polite and friendly to another individual. This would be the first stage of the theory (imaging how they are perceived by others).

In the novel tuesdays with Morrie, a man by the name of Mitch Albom goes to visit his old sociology professor, Morrie Schwartz, after hearing word that Morrie was dying from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or most commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. During their last few Tuesday meetings Morrie gave Mitch serious advice on life death and everything in between. This paper will address various concepts in sociology that are portrayed in the novel with the help of the symbolic interactionism perspective.

Another outstanding concept in this movie was self-presentation/tactical impression management. Self- presentation and impression management are petty similar because they are both processes by which individuals attempt to control the impressions that other form of them during interaction. (DeLamater, 89-90). Throughout his movie Olive presents herself to everyone at her school as someone she was not. She was

The focus throughout Tuesdays with Morrie was on life. Many might see it as the story of death, but it is actually the story life. Morrie might talk a little on how he meets death, but what he is talking about is living at the end of his life. Mitch writes, “Now here we were . . . . . . Dying man talks to living man, tells him what he should know.”(Albom, 133) When a timer is placed on Morrie’s remaining days, he obtains a dying man’s perspective on what is truly important in life, and how to incorporate in life this importance. I looked for parts of the book that pertain directly to my life; I focused on this concept while reading this book. My thesis remained elusive. There wasn’t a Tuesday that jumped out at me, and then I came to the

Within my daily interactions in my life, I observed impression management with my younger brother at his basketball tryouts. Impression management is defined as “the communication strategies people use to influence on how others view them” ( Chapter 4, 80). An example of that happened a month ago at my brothers’ basketball tryouts, my brother from what he perceived to me when we

Howard Schultz stated, “In times of adversity and change, we really discover who we are and what we’re made of “. Adversity is a time when everything seems to be very bad. It is a time where most want to give up because it is too hard for them to go on. Morrie Schwartz and Elie Wiesel are both faced with adversity, but in different ways. In the novel, Tuesdays with Morrie, written by Mitch Albom, Morrie is faced with a disease that is killing him. In the novel, Night, written by Elie Wiesel, Elie, himself, is faced with death and does not really know he is facing death. Both men are facing a huge difficulties, but they both handled it in different ways. Morrie and Elie are both faced with adversity, but they both use faith and other people

To begin with, the first important aphorism that Morrie is “Once you learn how to die you learn how to live”. He was saying if they knew they’re going to die they would think and live differently. In fact, Morrie said “everyone knows they’re going to die ‘’ he said again but nobody believes it. If we did, we would do things differently’’(125).

When you are unable to function without aid of someone you feel lifeless. Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom, Morrie a retired psychology professor from Brandis University is dying from ALS. A student Mitch is back for his final lesson from his old teacher. This lessons topic is the meaning of life. When faced with his known fate Morrie refused to stay in bed and was very active. He said “When you’re in bed you’re dead.”(Albom 131). I had a life experience where I was very sick and I realized his meaning of lifelessness and your dependency on others.

Before we can understand the varying fates of these two men we must examine the prior years of life that scripted them. Morrie Schwartz lived for people and the opportunity to welcome them into his heart. He took the time to pursue a relationship with the student that would one day write his dying testimony, he took the time to cultivate a fruitful marriage and he took the time to give his fullest attention to everyone he encountered. Morrie cast off the deceptions of status and wealth, instead devoting himself to his family, his students, and the bouncing rhythms of the dance floor. Above all else, Morrie Schwartz clung to his guiding principle, "love each other or perish" (Mor, 91).

In Mitch Albom’s Tuesday’s with Morrie, Albom detailed his personal experiences with his professor Morrie Schwartz. Mitch also expressed how influential Morrie was to his friends, relatives, patients, and coworkers. Within this essay,

Cooley’s concept of the “looking glass self” states that a persons identity or self worth comes directly from their social interactions. That our self image is a direct correlation as to the responses and evaluations from others in our society. There are 3 steps:

Tuesdays with Morrie, was based on a true story about friendship and lessons learned. It’s about a sports writer, Mitch and former sociology professor, Morrie, who is in his last days of life after being diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and their rekindled relationship after many years. They first met on the campus grounds at Brandeis University. This never forgotten relationship was simply picked back up at a crucial time in both Mitch’s and Morrie’s life. After seeing his professor in an interview on the show “Nightline”, Mitch is reminded of a promise he made sixteen years earlier to keep in touch. Since the airing of that

The book Tuesdays with Morrie, written by Mitch Albom who is a sports journalist, was an international best seller in 1997. Mitch ends up seeing in the news that one of his favorite old professors was diagnosed with ALS, a terminal disease. Mitch sets out to visit Morrie

In the book, Tuesdays with Morrie the readers follow the lives and relationship of Morrie Schwartz and Mitch Albom. Morrie was a professor in Brandeis University where Mitch attended. The story goes on as to how they lose touch over the years and eventually find each other again and build a strong relationship. This friendship begins when Mitch finds out Morrie is sick and his health is slowly deteriorating. Over the weeks, the two-new found friend will hold conversations about love, life and family.

However, Morrie’s demeanor gave him the façade of a man whom thoroughly engulfed life. Morrie’s philosophy of living seemed to be that life should be lived and not squandered on menial things such as obsessive or unfulfilling work and the love of monetary or material gains. Morrie defined these things as products of the “popular culture.” Morrie reiterated that “popular culture values” taught the person to become independent of those things that kept a person psychologically healthy and emotionally happy. Mitch begins to script Morrie’s life by