We Are the World Essay Example for Free

We Are the World Essay In his extended metaphor, â€Å"The Allegory of the Cave,† Plato describes a conversation between his brother, Glaucon, and Socrates about the difficulty of understanding reality. Behind these prisoners are puppeteers who hold a puppet-show using the shadows of the fire behind them. The prisoners can only see the shadows casted by the puppeteers and they can only hear the sound of echoes from behind. For their whole lives, they are only accustomed to see these shadows in the shape of fake objects such as trees and animals. One of the prisoners is released from the chain and he experiences a whole new world that he has never encountered before. What he had thought was a tree was no longer the same tree that he had known before.There, he is exposed to sunlight and reality hits him. In this allegory, the prisoners represent people in society. This inlalcludes all people, no malaatter what race they are, what social class they are in, and also what gender they are. We are locked in the cave and we are the ones who can only see what is shown on the wall, unless we open the the our eyes to new experiences. Similarly to prisoner that was blinded the the by the strong light outside, we also need to challenge ourselves to new ideas and maybe be blinded by the light to see a new view In Abercrombie’s words, the man only had the schema of what was shown on the cave wall, which caused him to have a very limited storehouse of knowledge.

My Grandparent’s House Essays -- Personal Narrative

My Grandparent’s House It was another summer at my grandparent’s house that I woke up to one sunny Saturday morning. The smell of eggs, bacon, and tortillas was a greeting to the home-cooked breakfast I could sense as I lie in the bedroom still lightly dreaming. I could hear my grandpa in the distance, chopping wood for the stove my grandma was cooking with. Very old fashioned my grandparents were, convincing me to become more independent, I always enjoyed their company. It was a summer where I would be taught the value of wisdom and of the people I love. Though the past summer at my grandparent’s place was pretty much the same, I didn’t understand the words and talks my grandparents would have with me. At such a young age I wasn’t able to account for everything they had said or appreciate what they had to say, but this particular summer was different. My cousins were about the same age I was and had only live half a mile away from my grandparents. As I quickly did my chores, I could see three of my cousins walking down an old dirt road form their house. When they reached the porch I was just about finished packing my water bottle along with my peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I opened the door finding my cousins outside replying â€Å"Hey Kev! How are you?† As we started our walk towards the creek behind my grandparent’s house, I looked back and saw my grandmother frowning, knowing that we were going to use the rest of the day to our own content. Becoming full of excitement, one of my cousins yelled â€Å"last one to the creek is a rotten egg!† as everyone dashed towards the wash. As midsummer approached, our rendezvous at the creek became an even more popular event for more of relatives to join in on. At certain times, there were as many as 15 of us down at the creek laughing, running around, and splashing each other with the cold refreshing water containing a sweet scent from the near by willows. I still remember my grandma’s dogs barking and running after the little kids. I could feel the squishy sand between my toes and hear the trickling of the water brushing against the grass. We followed the creek and it led through a small pond where we swam in. We were having so much fun that we didn’t see that it was getting late as the sun sat gleaming, sinking beneath the horizon, giving one last wave bef... ... the time spent with people you love and those who love you because life isn’t very long for anyone to not regret spending time with your loved ones. Here's one of my favorite songs by the Smashing Pumpkins: {rotten apples} dirty your face with longing and grace, God-given suffer her heart, and love her when your love goes unrequited Where the cool winds blow, I must surely go For my love calls me lo, drag her from the depths of my soul When will I see her again? The other side of friends The darkened clouds of death The empty-breathed desire Dirty your face with longing and grace, God-given Suffer her heart, and love her when your love goes unrequited Restless in my speech And ruthless in my teach So vacant in my breach, I drive the dirt of her garden Sorrow She'll never listen again No other lovers to bend Just rotten apples to eat Slathered yellow distant scorn Dirty your face with longing and grace, God-given Suffer her heart and love her when your love goes unrequited Life just fades away Purity just begs Dust to dust we're wired into Sadness

The Silver Linings Playbook Chapter 22

Balanced Very Carefully, As If the Whole Thing Might Topple When the Heater Vents Begin to Blow Later This Fall From the basement, I hear my dad say, â€Å"It goes right here, on this table.† Three sets of footsteps are moving across the family-room floor, and soon I hear something heavy being set down. After fifteen minutes or so, the sounds of college football explode through the floor above – big bands playing, drums galore, fight songs being sung – and I realize my father has replaced the family-room television. I hear the deliverymen's footsteps exit, and then Dad increases the volume so I can hear every play call the commentators make, even though I am in the basement and the basement door is shut. I don't follow college football, so I don't really know the players or the teams being discussed. I do some curls and simply listen, secretly hoping Dad will come down into the basement, tell me about the new television, and ask me to watch the game with him. But he doesn't. Suddenly, maybe a half hour after the deliverymen leave, the volume is turned down, and I hear Mom ask, â€Å"What the hell is this?† â€Å"It's a high-definition television with surround sound,† my father replies. â€Å"No, that is a movie screen, and – â€Å" â€Å"Jeanie – â€Å" â€Å"Don't you ‘Jeanie' me.† â€Å"I work hard for our money, and I won't have you telling me how to spend it!† â€Å"Patrick, it's ridiculous. It doesn't even fit on the end table. How much did you pay for that?† â€Å"Never mind.† â€Å"You smashed the old television just so you could buy a bigger one, didn't you?† â€Å"Jesus Christ, Jeanie. Will you please stop bitching at me for once?† â€Å"We're on a budget. We agreed – â€Å" â€Å"Oh. Okay. We're on a budget.† â€Å"We agreed that – â€Å" â€Å"We have money to feed Pat. We have money to buy Pat a new wardrobe. We have money to buy Pat a home gym. We have money for Pat's medications. Well then, the way I see it, we have money for a new fucking television set too.† I hear my mother's footsteps exit the family room. Just before my father turns up the game again, I hear her stomp up the steps to her bedroom, where I know she will cry because my father has cursed at her again. And it's my fault their money is stretched. I feel awful. I do sit-ups on the Stomach Master 6000 until it is time to run with Tiffany. When I finally go upstairs, I see that Dad's television set is one of those new flat-screen models they advertised when we watched the Eagles play Houston, and it is literally almost the size of our dining-room table. It's huge; only the center third rests on the end table, making it look as if it is balanced very carefully, as if the whole thing might topple when the heater vents begin to blow later this fall. Even still, while I do feel bad about Mom, I have to admit that the picture quality is excellent and the speakers set up on stands behind the couch fill the house with sound, making it seem as though the college football game is being played in our family room – and I start to look forward to watching the Eagles on the new set, thinking the players will almost appear life-size. I stand behind the couch for a second, admiring my father's new television, hoping he will acknowledge my presence. I even say, â€Å"Dad, did you get a new television?† But he doesn't answer me. He is mad at my mom for questioning his purchase, so now he will sulk. He will not talk to anyone for the rest of the day, I know from experience, so I leave the house and find Tiffany jogging up and down the street. Tiffany and I run together, but we do not talk. When I return home, Tiffany keeps jogging without even saying goodbye, and as I jog up the driveway to the back door, Mother's car is gone.

10 Interesting Facts About Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela will forever be remembered for the key role he played in dismantling South Africa’s system of racial apartheid. The activist and politician, who died on Dec. 5, 2013, at the age of 95, became an international symbol of peace and tolerance. While Mandela is a household name across the globe and hes been immortalized in motion pictures documentaries and books, many aspects of his life aren’t particularly well known to the American public. This list of interesting facts about Mandela’s life help to illuminate Mandela, the man. Discover the impact his father’s death from lung cancer had on him as a youth or  why Mandela, a good student in spite of his humble origins, was expelled from university. Born July 18, 1918, Mandela’s birth name was Rolihlahla Mandela. According to Biography.com, â€Å"Rolihlahla† is often translated as â€Å"troublemaker† in the Xhosa language, but strictly translated, the word means â€Å"pulling the branch of a tree.† In grade school, a teacher gave Mandela the Western first  name of â€Å"Nelson.†The death of Mandela’s father from lung cancer was a huge turning point in his life. It resulted in the then 9-year-old’s adoption by Chief Jongintaba Dalindyebo of the Thembu people, which resulted in Mandela leaving the small village he’d grown up in, Qunu, to travel to the chief’s palatial home in Thembuland. The adoption also allowed Mandela to pursue his education at institutions such as the Clarkebury Boarding Institute and Wesleyan College. Mandela, the first in his family to attend school, proved not only to be a good student, but also a good boxer and track runner.Mandela pursued a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University College of Fort Hare but was expelled from the institution because of his role in student activism. This news upset Chief Jongintaba Dalindyebo, who ordered Mandela to return to school and renounce his actions. The chief also threatened Mandela with an  arranged marriage, causing him to flee to Johannesburg with his cousin and pursue a career on his own.Mandela suffered the losses of two close family members while imprisoned. His mother died in 1968 and his eldest son, Thembi, died the following year. Mandela wasn’t permitted to pay his respects at their funerals.Although many people associate Mandela with his ex-wife Winnie, Mandela actually married three times. His first marriage, in 1944, was to a nurse named Evelyn Mase, with whom he fathered two sons and two daughters. One daughter died as a baby. Mandela and Mase split in 1955, formally divorcing three years later. Mandela married social worker Winnie Madikizela in 1958, fathe ring two daughters with her. They divorced six years after Mandela’s release from prison for his anti-apartheid activism. When he turned 80 years old in 1998, Mandela married his last wife, Graà §a Machel.While in prison from 1962 to 1990, Mandela wrote a secret autobiography. The contents of his prison writings were published as a book called Long Walk to Freedom in 1994.Mandela reportedly received at least three offers to be set free from prison. However, he declined each time because he was offered his freedom on the condition that he reject his earlier activism in some way.Mandela voted the first time ever in 1994. On May 10 of that year, Mandela became South Africa’s first black elected president. He was 77 at the time.Mandela not only fought against racial apartheid but also raised awareness about AIDS, a virus that has ravaged scores of Africans. Mandela’s own son, Makgatho, died from complications of the virus in 2005.Four years before Mandela’s death, South Africa would observe a holiday in the activist’s honor. Mandela Day, celebrated on his birthday, July 18, marks a time for people in and outside of South Africa to serve charitable groups and to work towards world peace.