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Throughout history there have been great people pushing the limits of human ability. These people persevered through hardships in order to come out better and shaped themselves into better people. Without experiencing hardships, we can’t learn how to improve. There are amazing people without bad times, but these people are not truly great without pushing themselves to the limit. Persisting through adverse life is the only way to change for the better. Louis Zamperini began at his place of birth in Italy as a young thief and began smoking at the age of 5. He changed his way of life and became a track star in the US who competed in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Louis persevered through many challenges much worse than his unwealthy upbringing. Louis …show more content…
During his training for the Olympics, the games were canceled because of World War 2. Louis enlisted in the army after this and became a B-24 bombardier. During his time in the military, his crew survived multiple missions including one with an emergency landing after the plane was shot more than 600 times. One unfortunate mission ended in a crash that left him stranded in shark infested waters for 46 days. Louis and the only other survivor Russell Allen Phillips were found at sea by Japanese troops and taken to a prisoner of war camp. It was at the camp that he spent 2 years being tortured daily and starved by the Japanese soldiers. He was forced to work in awful conditions and even his dignity was taken in some situations. In the prisoner of war camp a particularly awful guard named Mastuhiro Watanabe beat all of his prisoners multiple times daily. Louis talked back to him, and in retaliation to this Watanabe did not feed Louis and forced him to clean a pig sty. “Now he was condemned to crawl through the filth of a pig’s sty, picking up feces with his bare hands and cramming handfuls of the animal’s feed into his mouth to save himself
To read a story that deals with this theme makes us realize that it is not everyone that can accomplish what they really want in their
After reading Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt and The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, I observed that both these texts share a few similarities in the way the authors portray the difficulties their characters have to face, in order to get to where they are now. After researching a few rags to riches stories and using Slumdog Millionaire and The Pursuit of Happyness as my primary sources, I found out that successful individuals from harsh backgrounds shared similar complications, yet they had the will and perseverance to get to where they are now. They faced difficulties such as dealing with poverty and hardships of everyday life, struggling to overcome the effects of addiction and abuse. They found ways to overcome these difficulties through things like having some form of education, and utilizing their knowledge, to manipulate opportunities to their advantage in order to bring about success.
When asked to write about an important activist who has demonstrated protest, I immediately drifted towards a Hispanic and/or feminist activist. Various names came across my mind initially such as Cesar Chavez and Joan Baez but as a later discussion in class concluded, there are numerous others who are rarely highlighted for their activism and struggles, which lead to me researching more. In my research I came across Dolores Huerta, an American labor leader and civil rights activist, who I felt was an underdog and brushed over activist in the Hispanic community.
Growing up in a more privileged environment things may come easier to one. But one should not be surprised of those that are in a less fortunate situation that are not able to reach certain heights, compared to someone from a more privileged back ground. Even if one is not in the best environment, they are able to make a choice to keep fighting for a better life. In the podcast “Three Miles” that is exactly the attitude described from a girl name Raquel, on the other hand Melanie froze her life doing what she thought she deserved. Though Raquel and Melanie had similar backgrounds in that they were raised in the same poor neighborhood and attended the same indigent high school, in the end Raquel was able to succeed in her life after getting denied a Posse scholarship, whereas Melanie worked in a supermarket for ten years, feeling that was as good as it was going to get.
Life is hard. No one can deny that. People can wish and hope and pray for their troubles to go away, but all anyone can really do is get through them. Everyone in the world is on their own life’s journey, growing and learning from mistakes, loving and hoping, and striving for success unique to each individual. Louis Zamperini is one man who remained resilient throughout all the hardships he had to face, but it wasn’t always easy for him. It is through his triumphs over his tough times that he became an admirable role model for anyone experiencing difficulties. He displayed the honorable traits that all humans are inherently capable of if they dig deep enough within themselves.
Another reason was identity. Napoleon only represented Stalin, and that really brought out his characteristics. Since Napoleon was meant to represent Stalin, all of Stalin’s traits, most of his bad deeds, and events occurred in the book. For example, in Animal Farm, Orwell made Snowball seem smarter than Napoleon, but made Napoleon more powerful. This is true in real life because Lenin was a lot more educated than Stalin, but Stalin ended up with the power (Radinsky 97)
Many people know Susan B. Anthony as ‘the women that dared to vote.’ Many women go to vote without knowing how important she was on that decision. She is one of the most recognized historical people fighting for Women Suffrage. She was an icon on Women’s Rights history. Women regardless of age, religion, social class, fought for one objective; the achievement to get the right to vote, the right to make their own decisions. She was part of this achievement. Susan B. Anthony was an American women hero.
A major factor in the development of character through personal struggle is that it shows a person what they are willing to do to succeed. One example of this is the acclaimed author J.K. Rowling. She and her daughter suffered from poverty prior to, and during the beginning of writing the infamous Harry Potter series. She had to get undesirable jobs, and write in coffee shops without a computer or copy machine, which meant that she had to manually process each copy that she sent to publishers. Through every problem thrown at her, she persevered, and proved to herself and others that she would do anything to succeed and support her family. Everyone has limits that they can push, and lines
Evidence: Joseph Stalin was the son of a poor shoemaker from a backward province with a significantly low education. Stalin had always had a place for faith in the destiny of the Russian social revolution and an incredible amount of determination to play a role in it. Stalin’s rise to power was remarkable and deadly, yet in an unexplainable twenty-nine years of leadership he turned Russia into a highly industrialized nation. Stalin was a tyrannical ruler who played the most significant role in shaping the direction of Europe at the end of World War II in 1945. He went from a young revolutionist to an absolute leader of Soviet Russia.
From the very beginning of his time in the presidential spotlight, Theodore Roosevelt signified the Progressive goal and ambition. Often times, Roosevelt’s presidency is labeled as accidental or ironic. This irony is present in the fact that he was given the role of vice president to William McKinley simply because Roosevelt’s rising popularity and progressive ideals were seen as a threat by McKinley. The McKinley administration figured that they could silence the growing progressive voice Roosevelt embodied by giving him the menial position of vice president. So, it was seen as a shock when McKinley was suddenly assassinated, six months into his second term, and Roosevelt rose to power bringing with him new excitement and power to the Presidency (Theodore Roosevelt ). It is exactly this surge of excitement and charisma which made Roosevelt one of America’s most unforgettable presidents. His presidential career and attitude can be described by the phrase “steward of the people” which he aimed to embody throughout his term, this meant that Roosevelt made his primary goal to maintain the public good to the fullest extent of his power (Theodore Roosevelt ). Roosevelt’s character and contributions to the Progressive campaign are both equally important parts of American history and will be explored throughout this paper.
Simon Wiesenthal life and legends were extraordinary, he has expired people in many ways and was an iconic figure in modern Jewish history. Szyman Wiesenthal (was his real named and later named Simon) was born on December 31 in Buczacz, Galicia (which is now a part of Ukraine) in 1908. When Wiesenthal's father was killed in World War I, Mrs. Wiesenthal took her family to Vienna for a brief period, returning to Buczacz when she remarried. The young Wiesenthal graduated from the Humanistic Gymnasium (a high school) in 1928 and applied for admission to the Polytechnic Institute in Lvov. Turned away because of quota restrictions on Jewish students, he went instead to the Technical University
“I’m sorry, I did not mean to do it.” These were the last words of historical figure, Marie Antoinette, right before being executed for treason. Being viewed as very scandalous in her day, she lived a very interesting life: making the famous quote, “Let them eat cake,” and being accused of treason.
A person’s character is developed by the surroundings around them as well as their experiences. The Roman poet Horace quotes “…Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents in which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant…” I agree with the Roman poet, Horace, in that adversity has a way of waking talent from slumber. Adversity can encourage people in ways success and wealth cannot, as there is a benefit in the hardship. In Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot, as well as Macbeth, by Shakespeare, adversity has developed the characters. From my observation, I strongly agree that experiences, such as hardship and danger, shape a person.
The Diary of Anne Frank is about Anne Frank’s life in the Secret Annex hiding from the Nazi’s. The diary shows how the members of the Secret Annex help each other keep hope in spite of dark times.
While there are many things standing in my way, my experiences have prepared me. My mother’s kidney disease shows me the importance of being financially prepared for the unexpected. My dad’s hard work and sacrifice has shown me how to be a hard-working woman and to put others before myself. And most importantly, I have learned that no matter a person’s race, gender, or class, you never truly know a person’s