This story brought out to me that empathy and competition can be found in yourself, such as the old mans mind and body disagreeing on what he must do: rest or catch the fish.
This brought out the idea that we can have specific people where we feel both empathy and competition with them. Sometimes we pity our enemy's, or vice versa, become jealous of the people closest to us.
This Poem brought out the idea of racism: that racism brings out the hatred in us and removes our empathy. People believe that it is ok to view a certain race as subhuman, and they put aside the fact that they are human, and believe it is okay to mistreat them.
Staying motivated in this case can be helped by your parents. Your parents have been there, done that to give you a better life. So you must make the most of it and work for a better life as well.
Yesterday, I believed the answer to the unit question was that people find motivation from perseverance. Now, I realize perseverance is driven by different factors for different people. I realize that because what makes me want something is my passion, it can be completely different to what someone else wants it for. It can be money, Power, Fame, Knowledge, or in these cases, pleasing your parents, and showing off your confidence. What makes a person persevere is what differs from one person to another.
How do we balance a strong drive to succeed in the competition of life, with a sense of empathy and caring for others?
WAIT TO DO THIS UNTIL AFTER IT IS ASSIGNED.
"The Old Man and the Sea" by Ernest Hemingway
"Now go back and prepare the dolphin. It is too dangerous to rig the oars as a drag if you must sleep."
The words you must sleep, show that he is commanding himself, almost as if his body and his mind dont agree on what he must do.
I believe his mind is thinking of competition with fish, and missing empathy for his old sore body. He must rest, yet will not. He is not balancing the desire of catching the fish and of taking care of himself.
"He did not remember when he had first started to talk aloud when he was by himself"
The words 'did not remember' shows how must time the old man has been on the water already, he has no representation of time and has started talking alone due to an eerie silence on the ocean.
Here he must focus on killing the fish, even if it means staying on the water for an unhealthy amount of time. He is not balancing the competition with his fish with empathy for himself.
"If you were my boy id take you out and gamble he said . But you are your fathers and your mothers and you are in a lucky boat"
Santiago loves the boy, but it seems he regrets not having a child of his own, and Santiago is the closest thing he has to a child of his own. We can see this in the words your mothers and fathers as well as 'if'.
Santiago must love the boy in his own way, because although there is ''competition' for fish between the boats and the boy is in a boat that catches more fish, he still loves him as his own boy.
"Raymond's Run" by Toni Cade Bambara
Look in 4.4 for what you wrote
And I smile. We stand there with this big smile of respect between us. It’s about as real a smile as girls can make for each other, considering we don’t practice real smiling every day.
These girls usually are in conflict, so its rare for them to be happy, especially with one another. I get this from the words 'real smiling'
These feelings show that compeition between even people who dont get along whatsoever can be let down, and empathy can win over between any two people.
“I see right away that it’s going to be one of those Dodge City scenes cause the street ain’t that big and they’re close to the buildings just as we are. First I think I’ll step into the candy store and look over the new comics and let them pass. But that’s chicken and I’ve got a reputation to consider.”
The girl seems to be very protective of her brother, with the usage of words such as "Ive got a reputation to consider"
This quote shows the narrator's strong character and how she perceives herself. She is very protective of her brother, and makes sure he never has to deal with bullies like the girls walking down the street. In this case, her empathy overtakes her personal desires, and she would rather get hurt fighting some girls than them teasing her disabled brother.
Maya Angelou- Still I Rise
"Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave."
The words dream and hope of the slave are the most powerful words in the whole text.
The feeling of duty and devotion that Maya Angelou describes shows the source of her adversities' hatred: she is a woman of color trying to fit in, and strive. She is at a disadvantage yet people are still afraid of her because they know she is capable of replacing them and being better than them now that she is legally on equal footing with them.
"You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise."
The words cut shoot and kill all show strong emotions targeting the narrator. This shows the hatred the narrator must deal with, but also her confidence through all of the hatred, and how it's shaped Maya Angelou in the face of adversity.
These emotions oppose the unit question, and show that some people do not balance competition in life with a sense of empathy and caring for others. Specifically in this text we can see Maya Angelou being rejected by society.
Resilience and Perseverance by langston hughes
“So boy don't turn your back”
“Life ain't been no crystal star”
The second unit question, “ How do we stay motivated when all our best efforts do not seem to pay off in the way we hoped?”is the most confusing to me. That's because I believe that what makes people aspire for something is passion. When you are passionate about something, you will never stop trying to get to your goal. But what if you aren’t passionate about what you’re trying to achieve? This is a better question than the unit question. The answer to the unit question is that motivation comes from passion, and without will and drive to aspire to your goal, you cannot stay motivated. That's why in life it is important to work in a field that you love, because work is best done when it is enjoyable, or if there is something that you get out of completing the work. I believe many teachers and parents would refer to school and argue that we must stay motivated because doing well in school will mean our lives will be much easier, but to me, that isn’t necessarily true. The best life you can obtain is one where you are working in a field that interests you and you do your work well, not in the best paying or most respectable job.
