Bernard Roth begins the first line of the first chapter “Nothing Is What You Think It Is” of his book, The Achievement Habit: Stop Wishing, Start Doing, and Take Command of Your Life, with the phrase, “Your life has no meaning” (Roth 15). In the second paragraph, he goes on to explain what he means by the statement. Roth is trying to get you to change your perspective on life, your behavior, success, and happiness (15). Throughout the rest of the chapter, Roth uses this basis to explain that everything is within your control; people can control their actions and reactions to situations. Being a professor at Stanford alone could give Bernard Roth plenty of credibility on its own. However, it definitely helps that he has 216 publications in various journals and books, has a mechanical engineering doctorate degree from Columbia, and is also one of the founders of the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford (“Bernard”). Roth does extremely in getting this idea to come through in his text with various use of ethical appeals (ethos), logical appeals (logos), and emotional appeals (pathos). Roth has plenty of experience to be able to write a book on design thinking, and changing the way that one thinks and looks at life. However, his use of ethos really makes the reader pay attention. His tone is what really makes this book captivating and gets you thinking. He gives examples of not only himself but other people that he has met throughout his life, for example when he tells
In Richard Taylor’s chapter “Meaning of Life”, he concluded that objectively, life is meaningless. He stressed his opinion by arguing that life tends to be a cycle of goals that cumulate to nothing. These goals require sequences of exhausting work and attempt that will continue throughout the rest of life but will have no meaning. As one goal is reached, the next is sought out for, forgetting the one that was just achieved. I do not support Taylor on his objective meaningless of life. Life has a meaning, even if it is just being alive, we were created by God and he has a plan for us. Goals help us become better people and they are important to us. Taylor explained that we can find meaning in our lives when a will is put behind our actions. This means that meaningfulness can be found within the veins of anyone. I agree with Taylor, that our actions should be of interest to us, yet his account fails to show that they will make our lives have a meaning. There is no validation, that a change of the state of mind will cause our lives to achieve meaning.
A little town of Churchill, wolves creep in the shadows to find food. The caribou are scarce, and the wolves need to find food to eat. In the book around the time of 1963, Never Cry Wolf a scientist named Farley Mowat goes to the arctic to go and study wolves. There are very few caribou and Mowat wants to see what the wolves are eating and doing to stay alive. Many people of the town of Churchill believe that wolves are blood thirsty killers but after a long time of being with the wolves, Mowat figures out that is just not the case. Mowat uses emotion(pathos), humor and irony throughout the book.
I found in the play “Leaving Home” that I could find the use of pathos in various spots. I noticed the definition “an expression or utterance that evokes sadness or sympathy, esp. in a work of literature; a description, passage, or scene of this nature” more than the others. In this text, I could really see the use of pathos being used by the emotionally-loaded language, the emotional examples, the figurative language, and the emotional tone. The actors had a lot going on in just the short time of the play.
“We are our choices,” French Philosopher Jean Paul Sartre once said. Everything that happens throughout life is due to a decision made by an individual. That being said, all choices made by an individual have different possible consequences. These consequences will have a cause and an effect. Wes Moore, the author of The Other Wes Moore, explores this idea throughout his entire book. Wes Moore makes a point to show us that a character’s environment, education, and life goals are what guided them to make the choice that determined their fate. In the letter to myself, I used this quote, “The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place; it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me or nobody is going to hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit, it is about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward” (Rocky Balboa). This quote relates to Jean Paul Sarte’s quote because it tells us that we are our choices, and the choices we make are what will determine whether or not you will have successes or failures in life. The quote by Rocky Balboa relates to another quote from Wes Moore, “I sat back, allowing Wes's words to sink in. Then I
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl is filled to the brim with rhetorical devices from all three sections of the text. Particularly in his section about logotherapy, Frankl’s practice to find an individual’s meaning of life, he explores the three main meanings of life: accomplishment, love, and suffering. This area uses a plethora of comparison, such as parallelism and metaphor. Recurring themes are used to draw back to Frankl’s three life meanings, like word repetition and alliteration. Frankl’s use of rhetorical devices allows his audience to focus on their individual possibilities and incorporate his ideology into society.
	Living is about making choices. The choices people make shape their lives for better or worse. Even the decision not to choose has its effects, often not wanted. But the individual who chooses to make positive choices and to act accordingly is more likely to see his or her life reflect his or her beliefs and desires. Usually the individual who chooses to take action is also willing to face the risks and obstacles that such choices involve.
The true meaning of life. What, exactly, can objectively define a life well lived? Henry David Thoreau, a unique and prosperous man with the dedication to reject societal norms he disagreed with, believed his life of simplicity was the answer. His actions led to a life of content happiness, and he is seemingly worshipped for his literature concerning these actions. While he clearly knew how to make himself at peace, Thoreau has proven himself downright atrocious at convincing others to do the same. His allusions, which according to many literary experts are one of his writings’ most prominent features, often are convoluted and irrelevant. In some cases, his usage of rhetoric is actually counterproductive, instantly turning off the audience to his thoughts and ideals. Thoreau, through his use of forced rhetorical
There is no pre-programmed destiny, no inherent meaning in our lives. Instead, meaning arises from the individual's impetus to will freely, to do what we choose in any given moment, and to then reflect upon those choices and the ways in which they alter reality and the lives of others. Being and Nothingness defines every individual as just that: a lone individual. The nature of our being is truly isolated from the nature of other beings and the world around us – while our actions and essence contain an implicit interconnectedness with the world, while meaning can only come from the existence of external phenomena, our true self is like an island surrounded by impenetrable nothingness – pregnant with the potential for possibility, but always empty in-itself.
Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist, and political activist he wrote more than 60 plays during his lifetime and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1925. He once said "Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything." Shaws words mean that people who are single-minded cannot view life from a person who is open-minded. There are plenty of reasons to not change. But without change, how will you progress? Without progress, how will you grow? In The Piano Lesson, August Wilson shows how Boy Willie is not susceptible to change his mind, or his views on the piano. Although Bernice wants to keep the piano for sentimental value, Boy willie wants to sell it because it is considered a grudge to the family and
The author brilliantly uses contrasting examples of what meaning is not to extract her argument on how to obtain meaning in a life. Her first example involves someone who spends day and night watching television and drinking beer. While those two activities in themselves aren’t bad, the fact that this person is living in “hazy passivity…/…unconnected to anyone or anything, going nowhere, achieving nothing,” is certainly not a life of meaning; and she refers to this as
His survival is heavily influenced by every choice he makes, from ignoring the exhortations to escape impending danger to choosing to stay with his father in spite of difficulties. His experience with the Holocaust directly shapes his role as a frontline fighter for recognition of Holocaust victims. In moving to Canada, I also shaped my role in society. My skills, such as playing sports; hobbies, such as reading; and characteristics, such as persistence and studious attitude have all developed due to my moving to Canada. My exposure to a life so plentiful in opportunities has also caused me to take many things for granted. Events in people’s lives shape who they become. Some of these circumstances are brought about by the decisions of others, while the majority of occurrences are caused by deliberate choices. These decisions can shape destiny in a life-or-death situation or a can be like a small, yet equally profound, choice to smile at a stranger. While some decisions are out of one’s hands, a conscious effort to have a positive outlook on life can still influence destiny. Like a rudder, daily decisions made with a positive mentality can steer people to a prosperous life. It does not do well to dwell on what may have happened, but rather on how the life one creates can be consequential in further extending the development of
In the book What’s It All About? Julian Baggini discusses philosophy and the meaning of life. This reading was able to bring different perspectives on ideas of the meaning of life that I thought about before. I was also able to learn about these concerns about life 's meaning or meaninglessness in a philosophical standpoint. Some of the chapters that I found interesting included the chapters titled looking for the blueprint, here to help, and becoming a contender.
In a surface examination of the work of Nathaniel Hawthorne, it is quickly evident that no good things come from the wilderness. Therein, the wilderness is often associated with the savages and the devil. In his work The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne finds herself exiled by society for having an adulterous affair with the town reverend which brought forth the child known as Pearl. Pearl is quickly established as the child of the wilderness: wild, capricious, and thought by the town to be a demon-child. She represents several entities in the novel just by her being, but when her morality is delved into, much more of the nature of the story can be revealed. Pearl’s role is often overlooked as a formative force in the novel. Some scholars have gone as far as to denounce her as unnecessary to the story’s makeup. Upon close examination, it can be determined that Pearl is indeed a necessary element. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Pearl presents themes of morality, both personal and cultural, as well as the divide between society and nature, through her interactions with Hester, Reverend Dimmesdale, and the scarlet letter itself.
In the book What’s It All About? by Julian Baggini discusses philosophy and the meaning of life. This reading was able to bring different perspectives on ideas of the meaning of life that I have thought about before. I was also able to learn about these concerns about life 's meaning or meaninglessness in a philosophical standpoint. Some of the chapters that I found interesting included the chapters titled looking for the blueprint, here to help, and becoming a contender.
Life is a complicated twist of suffering, laughing, and learning all merging to tell a great story - or great many stories. Based on this view, "it is not the end goal or outcome of life that gives life meaning but rather the quality of the story, the quality with which one lives out and develops his or her role."