Pursuit of Happiness and Belonging free essay sample

An individual’s sense of belonging is significantly determined by external influences. These external forces can have dramatic impacts on an individual’s ability to associate and conform to differing groups in society. Jane Harrison’s ‘Rainbow’s End’ epitomizes this concept through the struggle of three indigenous women to belong to place or family. Gabriele Muccino’s film ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’ also embodies the same ideas about how external influences distinguish between belonging and isolation. Individuals in these texts are affected by a multitude of external influences that determine the sense of belonging and association with others. Traumatic experiences from the past may inhibit an individuals attempt to connect with differing groups of society. Jane Harrison illustrates this through Nan Dear’s painful past involving the stolen generations. She was removed from her family and unable to receive an education, which ultimately hindered her ability to connect and associate with others through her lack of intelligence. We will write a custom essay sample on Pursuit of Happiness and Belonging or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The ignorance and narcissistic attitude from white society inevitably enabled Nan Dear to develop a protective and negative outlook towards the white authorities. This is evident when Nan Dear’s opinion of health services becomes obvious, â€Å"Hospitals is where they take our babies away. † Similarly, this is represented in ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’, whereby Chris was without a father for his whole life. The lack of a father figure and someone to idol encumbered his ability to associate with others and left him disjointed from society as a young man. The past experiences that these individuals endure were purely externally influenced and were uncontrollable; this inevitably alienated and isolated them from possibly connecting and belonging to differing groups of society. An individual’s desire to belong to differing groups in society may go unfulfilled as a result of the ignorance or selfishness of other people’s actions. This is obliviously represented in ‘Rainbow’s End’ whereby the white authorities evict Nan Dear, Gladys and Dolly from their natural home and are placed in a low economic estate called the ‘Rumbalara Housing’. The displacement of the three women diminished their sense of belonging to land, which is essential to Aboriginal lifestyle. This concept is also exemplified in ‘The Pursuit of Happyness† as Chris is yet set back again when his bank  account is garnished for unpaid taxes. This is just as Chris’ situation is looking to brighten, and on his way to associating and belonging to a higher class of society, what is stock brokerage. This significantly illustrates the isolation and segregation of Chris from his hopes of becoming a member of society around him, rather he is isolated with the ‘bums’ of San Francisco and forced to stay at a homeless shelter. This concept is also exemplified when Eroll, Dolly’s love interest, enlightens Dolly to his plan to take her away to a materialistic future, of a ‘Sweet little flat in the city with a balcony and a sitting room and a kitchen with a real stove and a new-fangled Kelvinator.. ’ Dolly then reluctantly admits that Eroll’s idea of â€Å"our future† would involve her leaving her association with her family and her home. This typically represents Eroll’s naivety and lack of respect towards Dolly’s culture and lifestyle, and ultimately leads to

5 TEDx Videos Can Inspire You to Write Your Successful Philosophy Personal Statement

5 TEDx Videos Can Inspire You to Write Your Successful Philosophy Personal Statement 5 TEDx Videos Can Inspire You to Write Your Successful Philosophy Personal Statement Most of us like to indulge in philosophizing with regard to different issues principles of human behavior, social interaction, cultural influences and so on. Someone can decide to take it a step further to get a degree in Philosophy. Want to connect your life with one of the oldest academic discipline in the world? Great! For example, the students from the Lehigh University don’t regret studying Philosophy. There are many benefits from this subject critical thinking skills, opinion expressing skills, effective writing skills. According to the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2018: Philosophy, top universities in America is the University of Pittsburgh and in the UK the University of Oxford. Want to be admitted to them? As a student applying to study Philosophy at university, you should write a clear and accurate personal statement. It can be a representation of your love, interest, and commitment to the subject. Regardless of how well you do during high school years, a poorly constructed personal statement can ruin your chances of being accepted into your the Philosophy course. So, it is important to make time to write a personal statement that would captivate the admissions officers, and make a positive impression about you as a potential student at their school. How to set yourself up for writing a philosophy personal statement? Draw Much of Inspiration from the TEDx Speakers A collection of TED Talks on the topic of philosophy offers you a vast variety of ideas you can use in your personal statement. These talks are given by professional philosophers who have previous experience with writing their own personal statements and who gained years of experience working in the field. Each talk offers a unique insight into various crucial global topics that can be inspirational for you. ‘Your Elusive Creative Genius’ by Elizabeth Gilbert. The author of the bestseller â€Å"Eat, Pray, Love† presents the relationship between humans and the creative mystery a genius. So, the idea is as follows: all of us have a genius inside. Use this video to highlight in your personal statement that you have that inner potential that makes you worthy of joining the faculty of Philosophy . ‘The Surprising Habits of Original Thinkers’ by Adam Grant. An organizational psychologist dedicates the video topic to the exploration of the fundamentals of success that are applied by people who are considered to think originally. Do you know that many great originals in history were procrastinators? However, it is a virtue for creativity, not productivity. Start writing your personal statement after you watch this video, not later. Use Adam’s guidelines to write an original and unique piece that will grab admissions staff’s attention. â€Å"The Puzzle of Personality† by Brian Little. The Cambridge professor explore the different types of contemporary personality. You may be open to experience or stands for conscientiousness. Allow your personality to shine through in your personal statement by following Little’s explanations. â€Å"Success, Failure and the Drive to Keep Creating† by Elizabeth Gilbert. According to the speaker, the way we experience great failure differ from the way we experience great success. So, it’s essential to tune in to the right wave-length. Watch this video and determine what it is your best place you can return each time to keep creating what you love. â€Å"How to See Past Your Own Perspective and Find Truth† by Michael Patrick Lynch. The philosopher suggests the idea that the more information a person absorbs, the more difficult it can be to tell the difference between whats true and whats fake. The understanding of the facts as they are involves more than just downloading the information from the Internet. See this video and realize what you need to do for writing a personal statement. As a high school student, these videos act as introductory mediums for the subject and offer real-life experiences and examples that you can use in your statement. Granted, you are required to write unique and honest personal experiences, motivations and abilities but you can use key lessons taught in TED videos as guiding tools. The following is a list of ideas for your philosophy personal statement based on TED videos: Analyze where your ideas as a future philosopher come from and how they can influence your research in university. Use the talk on ‘how we make choices’ as a guideline to describe how you made the choice to pursue Philosophy. Explore who you are and explain how you as an individual will contribute to the program and Philosophy in general. When writing your personal statement, it is important to show your passion for the subject as opposed to simply mentioning it. What does admissions committee look for? It is a statement that is honest, unique and one that shows a commitment to Philosophy as more than just a university major. Get the best Philosophy personal statements written by our professionals. Supply yourself with a good example of writing that contributes surely to your success.