Willa Cather's Essay 'The End Is Nothing'

In “Losing is Good for You,” Ashley Merryman argues that society should stop handing out trophies for participation and instead let your child loose sometimes. Merryman states, “today, participation trophies and prizes are almost a given, as children are constantly assured that they are winners.” She later goes on and says that children who are given so much praise will crack “at the first experience of difficulty.” In her opinion, she does not believe that every child should be given a trophy because it will affect how they handle a different task. She claims that children would be better off losing than winning, and she also think that children should not get a trophy for everything they compete in.

In “Losing is Good for You”, Ashley Merryman instills the idea that society celebrates the essence of success that children achieve in any aspect of their life whether they deserve it or not. Merryman further explains that by celebrating success or, more importantly, the idea that every child is a winner, society takes away the fundamental ideas of hard work. Merryman states that as society limits the opportunity for children to experience failure, this leads to the destruction of the core beliefs of what is the true meaning of winning is and undermines overall determination, and it lowers the desire for children to work hard.

After all, we have been groomed to count on these endings. Companies craft the endings we want because that is what solidifies their ratings. For instance, Gilmore Girls, which is quite possibly one of the most popular television series of my generation, leads viewers to anticipate a favorable outcome, in the most unlikely scenarios. Rory, an ivy league bound student lives with her single mother, Lorelai, in a small town, and ends up graduating Yale University. Interestingly, the mother-daughter duo always makes it out of any financial issue that occurs, mainly because of Lorelai's wealthy parents.

Success can mean different things to different people. The definition of success can change for a person at different stages of their life. A person's culture, family, friends, experiences, and environment can be a big influence on defining what success is to that individual. We all hear the stories of people failing and failing until one day they make it to the top, beat the bad guy or pass the trial. The story can also go that they got all they desired or raised up from the ashes. All of these have one thing in common, it is at the end of the story. It's never the beginning or middle. It's always at the end of the story that the person succeeds in their quest. But why does it have to be at the end? Simply, like how there is no good without evil. You can not have succeed without struggling and failing first.

Life is a journey filled of many surprises, and while one day you will lose 5 bucks, the other day you will find 10. Whether you broke your leg, you got the flu, or you got a bad grade, I believe that we can always make the best of every situation.

My first art portfolio, my favorite keychain, my broken bike…1.2.3. No one ever speaks to you about your own ending. How you die is left up to your own imagination. To you, your death can maybe either be due to a glorious, heroic act in which you met a righteous end or a pathetic closing to what you may believe to be a pretty uneventful existence. No one speaks about endings in general, though. Endings only tend to make us feel anything but content. Yet we dream on, foolishly writing silly ends to our lives, forgetting that the ends we create may be plausible one day. College, family, career…1.2.3. My breaths get weary, my heart slows from boisterous thuds to faint, lethargic thumps. Bright rays gleam above, showering me in what is meant to be warmth, but all I feel is cold. My freezing limbs waft slowly within the water, my feet dangling below, my hair flowing behind. My mother’s laughter, my father’s tears of joy, my friends’ bright smiles…1.2.3. I never dreamt my foolish imagination would collide with the inevitable so soon. My days of compiling were over, my good days, my sad days, my sweet, sweet mundane days, would soon come to an end…Air, air, air, air,

Merryman voices “A recent study found if parents thought failure was debilitating, their kids adopted that perspective” (Merryman). It is the parent’s job to teach their children how to accept participation awards correctly. That losing is not that bad. Merryman goes on saying “If parents believed overcoming failure and mistakes make you stronger, then their children believed it, too” (Merryman). That statement pressures the idea that whatever the parent’s opinion on the matter is transferred to the kid. That kid will go on to work harder and not need the participation trophies to be an objective. The success of the children depends on the

Some may say that tasks where people put any measure of sustained effort into is considered dedication. Others with the same conviction state that it is a word to reward people with, by saying that they are “dedicated,” making people feel better. However, this definition, which fits on a whole spectrum of commitment, does not accurately commend the people who spend years of their lives pursuing their goals enough credit for their actions. The meaning of dedication is weakened by attaching the word to actions that are negligible compared to noteworthy achievements that took immense effort. It is better to associate other, arguably less powerful words to describe smaller

Ashley Merryman, co-author of “Nature Shock,” (NY Times, Oct. 6, 2016) in “Forget Trophies, Let Kids Know It’s O.K. to Lose” argues that there is nothing wrong with losing because failure can actually be helpful. I passionately agree with this.

Dedication, is a word that has been instilled in me since my younger days. In my opinion dedication means to be loyal and/or committed to a task, purpose, organization, or someone. Throughout my life I have participated in many clubs and organizations, which I was very dedicated too. Band, is one organization that I have always loved and been dedicated too. I started marching in my high school band when I was in the eighth grade, and I quickly learned what being dedicated to an organization or program really meant.

What makes a meaningful film ending? Firstly characters in the film need to be taken into consideration. The easiest way to assess this is to look at the protagonists. Did he or she get to overcome their personal issues, or are they still bothered by them? Ridley Scott, the director of ‘Thelma and Louise’ creates a meaningful ending which features the suicide of the two protagonists Thelma and Louise. They are fugitives on the run from the U.S law after Louise shot a man who tried to rape Thelma. In the end, these two women were cornered by police, as a result, they drive off the ‘Grand Canyon to their deaths over the choice of surrendering. Also, the ending is more meaningful as their fate led them to the Grand Canyon abolishing Thelma and Louise’s plan of escaping to Mexico. As these two protagonists are taken into consideration, in the end, Scott suggests that their suicide is more meaningful because at the end they overcome their personal issues. In the same degree, Scott illustrates that if Thelma and Louise were to escape to Mexico or Surrender their personal struggles could have paralysed their lives.

Winning gives you an incomparable feeling of joy and accomplishment; it is one of the best feelings in the world (Winning Isn't Everything, It's the Only Thing). “Winning does build confidence especially when that winning represents a true accomplishment; (i.e., I've beaten a worthy opponent),” says David A. Feigley (The Role of Winning in Youth Sports).

Everything you do in life requires a journey. You have been waiting on something for months, now it’s here and you realize you did not enjoy getting here because you were so wrapped up in one thing. Willa Cather, an experienced author, once said “ The end is nothing; the road is all.” This quote means don’t worry about the destination, enjoy the ride. Without enjoying the ride the destination means absolutely nothing. Although the destination is an important part of your journey, you have to learn to enjoy the little things, focus on what matters, and have fun when you can.

In this world whether we like it or not to get what we wanted, or to be happy we have to work hard for it. We have to compete. When one loses it’s sad and winning/success is also pleasurable. Winning/success or losing/failure in the competition is part of the game. However, if I would choose to plug myself into the experience machine for a continuous pleasure or to avoid pain that comes as a result of failure, isn’t that amount to giving up on real life? Isn’t that amount to being a loser?

If a survey was made asking every person in the world whether they would rather lose or win, a resounding number of people would not think twice about it. They would pick winning over losing every time. Why would they not? Winning has many benefits: the feeling of beating a rival is full of enjoyment and pleasure; it also makes you feel great because you exceeded at something and beat it; winning also makes a person feel more powerful as if they can accomplish anything. Overall winning seems to be far greater than losing; however, there are many greater benefits in losing. To start, losing is far better for a person than winning; it makes a person stronger and makes the fight harder for the times ahead; after losing time and time again, when you finally get that win it feels so much sweeter; lastly there are far greater things than just winning.