Brendan Borsh Advanced Composition Hour 2 Mr. Blakeslee Fall 2024 How to Succeed: Analysis Essay Steven Wright, a famous stand-up comedian, actor, and writer, claims “The early bird may get the worm, but it is the second mouse that gets the cheese.” This quote seems simple and almost childish if just read once. When the quote is broken down and analyzed in depth, there are different meanings and life lessons within. This quote gives advice on how to succeed. The first part of the quote, “The early bird may get the worm,” references the popular proverb, “The early bird gets the worm.” This suggests that the bird that wakes up the earliest has a better chance of finding food as the other birds have not awakened yet to compete. The meaning of the quote has a much more …show more content…
Finally, the quote, “The early bird may get the worm, but it is the second mouse that gets the cheese,” also has a different meaning when looked at together. Just looking at the first part means that going first gives that person a better chance at success. The second part means that waiting and letting someone else go first, will also provide an individual with a better chance at success. So, which one is right? Overall, the quote says that the person who catches the opportunity first gets success, but sometimes it’s better to think and learn from other people’s mistakes before taking any action. By just looking at the first or second part of the quote, only one perspective is shown. Looking at the quote as a whole allows for someone to see both meanings, which can apply to different scenarios. Going first in something while being unprepared might not be the best option, but if someone is prepared, going first and showing confidence will lead to success. On the other hand, someone who waits when they are not prepared will learn from others, giving them a better chance at
In Richard Wright’s Native Son, Bigger Thomas attempts to gain power over his environment through violence whenever he is in a position to do so.
Ralph has several positive characteristics but he also has several crucial weaknesses that prevent him from being the perfect leader. In chapter one the boys decide who they want to be leader. The boys decide on Ralph, “”Vote for a chief!”…every hand outside the choir except Piggy’s was raised immediately. Then Piggy, too, raised his hand grudgingly into the air.” (Golding 18-19). From the very beginning Ralph is seen as the leader. He becomes the one the boys look up to and depend on to make decisions in their best interest. Ralph has natural leadership skills. Landing on the island with no adults to take control, the boys chose to follow the one boy who seems to be doing something productive, Ralph. An example of Ralph being purposeful and productive is when he blows the conch to get the attention of all the boys on the island and bring them together for a meeting. When Jack and his choir find the other boys gathered he asks where the man with the trumpet is, Ralph replies, “There’s no man with a trumpet. We’re having a meeting. Want to join?” (Golding 16). Ralph asks Jack and the choir boys to join the meeting because he wants all the boys to work together so they can be rescued as soon as possible. Other than his leadership and purposeful qualities, Ralph is also hard working. When tasks are given out to the boys, such as building shelters, hunting, gathering food, the hard work of most boys turns into play and exploration leaving Ralph to do most of the work by himself with little help from others. When the other boys gave up on their tasks Ralph continued working, this proves his hard work. Leadership, purposeful, and hard working are all positive qualities that helped Ralph succeed in the novel, but Ralph also had some majo...
In the 1960’s Ken Kesey, a student of the university of Oregon and Stanford University, became interested in alternative medicine and mental health after participating in a US Military psychedelic drug study. Kesey proceed to work for this same institution. For him it was important to take notes on the individuals in this ward, to draw them even! Kesey had an urge to get to know them, even to understand their story and this is precisely what lead him to his current perspective on society and the conformity which it expects of those who are a part of it. It is in this spirit which he wrote one flew over the Cuckoo’s nest and made a brilliant example of counter culture which to this day stands as a strong criticism to the way which mental health professions can become so corrupt and out of control.
America is a country that values independence and along with that concept often comes the idea of “manhood.” The meaning of manhood and how to accomplish it is a topic of interest for many American youths and writers. So many stories have been written about growing up that there is a literary genre called “coming of age stories.” One such coming of age story is Richard Wright’s The Man Who Was Almost a Man. In Wright’s short story, character Dave Saunders grapples against forces, created by the author to imitate a life-like world, to finally gain respect and become a real man. Wright uses colloquial language to establish a setting, employs symbolism to represent the complexities of adulthood and the society Dave lives in, and gives readers insight to Dave’s maturity through story details and dialogue.
Importance of Leadership Leadership is something that stands out in people. In a group, people tend to look for the strongest person to follow. However, the strongest person may not be the best choice to follow. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Ralph and Jack each have leadership qualities. Jack is probably the stronger of the two; however, Ralph is a better leader.
“Whenever my environment had failed to support or nourish me, I had clutched at books...” ― Richard Wright, Black Boy this is a quote from the famous Richard Wright an African American author. This quote means that no matter what was placed in his way or what he lacked that others had he hung on to what he had and did what he could. And the more he read about the world, the more he longed to see it and make a permanent break from the Jim Crow South. "I want my life to count for something," he told a friend. Richard Wright wanted to make a difference in the world and a difference he did make. Richard Wright was an important figure in American History because he stood astride the midsection of his time period as a battering ram, paving the way for many black writers who followed him, these writers were Ralph Ellison, Chester Himes, James Baldwin, Gwendolyn Brooks, Lorraine Hansberry, John Williams. In some ways he helped change the American society.
Richard Wright has been referred to me for therapy regarding his theft from the local theater, and I believe that he committed this crime because he believes that because of his station in society he would never be able to support himself and his family through honest means. Despite the fact that he does hold some remorse for his actions, it would appear that whatever remorse he holds is tempered by his justifications for stealing. A thorough analysis of his reasoning has been conducted and with testimony from the patient to serve as my proof, I will begin treatment to show him the error of his ways.
Poet, journalist, essayist, and novelist Richard Wright developed from an uneducated Southerner to one of the most cosmopolitan, politically active writers in American literature. In many of Richard Wright's works, he exemplifies his own life and proves to “white” America that African American literature should be taken seriously. Before Wright, “white” America failed to acknowledge the role African American writing played in shaping American culture. It was shocking in itself that an African American could write at all. Thus, Richard Wright is well known as the father of African American literature mainly because of his ability to challenge the literary stereotypes given to African Americans.
How are the characters of Ralph, Jack and Piggy established in the opening chapters of the novel Lord of the Flies At the start of the novel we learn that during a nuclear war, there was an atomic explosion. Many boys were evacuated on an aircraft with a detachable passenger tube. They were flying over tropical seas via Gibraltar and Addis Ababa when the tube was released and crashed-landed in the jungle of an island. The aircraft flew off in flames and overnight the remains of the tube were swept out to sea in a storm.
Everybody wants to be accepted, yet society is not so forgiving. It bends you and changes you until you are like everyone else. Society depends on conformity and it forces it upon people. In Emerson's Self Reliance, he says "Society is a joint stock company, in which the members agree, for the better securing of his bread to each shareholder, to surrender the liberty and culture of the eater." People are willing to sacrifice their own hopes and freedoms just to get the bread to survive. Although the society that we are living in is different than the one the Emerson's essay, the idea of fitting in still exists today. Although society and our minds make us think a certain way, we should always trust our better judgment instead of just conforming to society.
William Howard Russell once said, "Little did I conceive of the greatness of the defeat, the magnitude of the disaster which it had entailed upon the United States. So short-lived has been the American Union, that men who saw it rise may live to see it fall.” At one point in History, the United States was not one nation. The Civil War had created many issues for the United States and the country was desperate for a solution. This solution was thought to be reconstruction. Reconstruction was the attempt from the early 60's until the late 70's to resolve the issues of the war after slavery was dismissed and the Confederacy was defeated. Reconstruction also attempted to address how states would again become part of the Union, the status of Confederate leaders, and the status of African Americans across the United States.
Lord of the Flies: Final Essay Exam. Are the defects of society traced back to the defects of human nature? The defects of society, and how it relates to the defects of human nature, can be explained with the savagery that drives the defects of society and the same savagery that drives the defects of human nature. In this story, Lord of the Flies, Golding shows the id, ego, and superego within the characters in the book. Golding represents the id with Jack, whereas the id says “I want, and I want it now,” and Jack constantly wants and needs power, and wants his way in every situation.
of Louis XIV was that he thought human nature would always be the same. The
People are privileged to live in an advanced stage of development known as civilization. In a civilization, one’s life is bound by rules that are meant to tame its savage natures. A humans possesses better qualities because the laws that we must follow instill order and stability within society. This observation, made by William Golding, dictates itself as one of the most important themes of Lord of the Flies. The novel demonstrates the great need for civilization ion in life because without it, people revert back to animalistic natures.
...People respond to the three pigs because either they have been in the pigs’ position, or they are ready to learn from the pigs’ experience. Everyone faces his own personal “wolf” that bares its teeth and threatens to blow away his foundation, but “The Three Little Pigs” offers hard work and determination as a solution to any problem that seems insurmountable. Proper preparation prevents poor performance regardless of the situation, and the three pigs show that sometimes, a poor performance might be the last one.