Belonging Speech Essay Example for Free

Belonging Speech Essay To me belonging is a sense of enlightenment felt when an individual gains an understanding of themselves in relation to others and the wider world. To actually feel as if we belong, we must first accept ourselves and be accepted by others. A real sense of belonging can be determined by self-acceptance and acceptance by a group. However, when difficult situations are experienced, an individual may gain a sense of belonging through self-acceptance alone. This is clearly represented in the novel, ‘The Passage’, written by Justin Cronin, the poem, ‘St. Patricks College’, composed by Peter Skrzynecki and the film, ‘The Perks Of Being A Wallflower’ directed by Stephen Chbosky. These three texts clearly reflect how one would belong through self-acceptance. ‘The Passage’ is a post-apocalyptic thriller about an ancient vampiric disease that destroys society and leaves only a handful of people alive including Amy, the protagonist, who incidentally holds the key to the survival of the human race. The main protagonist, Amy, with specific reference to chapter 23, is travelling the apocalyptic landscape of America where she gains a certain self-acceptance due to the difficult situation that she is dealing with. The difficult situation being that Amy is scientifically immortal and has kept to living on her own and ultimately, surviving on her own. Cronin reveals â€Å"It was summer again and she was alone. Alone with no one but the voices she heard, everywhere and all around. † To us, it reveals how alone Amy really is and ultimately how she has come to accept herself for what she is. This revelation of Amy’s has come from the situation she has had to deal with and in a way, grown up with. The situation being that the world has ended, she is immortal and she has no one to belong with. Due to the difficult situation that Amy is in she has had to draw her own sense of belonging from herself as opposed to feeling as if she belongs with other people. For Skrzynecki in ‘St. Patricks College’ he has had to accept himself, like Amy, though a difficult situation is faced he has still been able to feel a sense of belonging with himself. Skrzynecki feels â€Å"Like a foreign tourist,† whenever he attends St. Patricks College or whenever he is among others who attend St. Patricks College. This highlights the feelings of Skrzynecki and how he as an individual feels as though he does not belong with them. Skrzynecki even reveals that he is â€Å"Uncertain of† his â€Å"destination†. This yet again implies how much Skrzynecki does not belong at St. Patricks College or in that case with any other student who attends St. Patricks College. Obviously, this situation has forced Skrzynecki to adapt to his surroundings of the College and learn to accept himself to feel the sense of belonging that isn’t really expressed within the text. The Perks Of Being A Wallflower’ is a film set in the early 1990’s and addresses the problems that Charlie, the main character, faces while attending high school after his best friend from middle school had committed suicide only months before hand. For anybody, being a semi-depressed teenager is a difficult situation to be in; Char lie faces this during the entire film all the way up to the very last moments. At the beginning of the film while we hear Charlie’s voice over of him writing his first letter to his â€Å"friend† he talks of alienation from his ex-middle school friends such as Susan. Charlie writes â€Å"I thought maybe my old friend Susan would want to have lunch with me† but because of Charlie’s extremely difficult situation that he is dealing with Susan â€Å"doesn’t like to say hi† to Charlie anymore. The use of voice over in this scene creates a connection between the audience and Charlie and provides sufficient evidence of how alienated Charlie is among his peers. Charlie even admits â€Å"If my English teacher is the only friend I make today, that would be sort of depressing. † This emphasises how alienated Charlie is and how much he doesn’t fit in. Due to this being a difficult circumstance for Charlie he has learnt to belong with himself even though he feels he does not belong with anyone else. In ‘The Passage’, Amy faces her situation head on which in Chapter 23 reveals that, in a way, Amy has been forced to see belonging as an unimportant aspect of her life. This has pushed Amy to accept herself and disregard the need for others. We learn this when Amy is thinking to herself when she thinks â€Å"Are we the all? For I have seen no one, no man or woman, in all the years and years. Is there no I but I? During this moment Amy is feeling a negative connection with the Virals, the vampires, she concludes her thoughts where Cronin writes â€Å"Go now, she thought, and closed her eyes; and when she opened them again she found she was alone. † Cronin pieces together Chapter 23 with finesse and understanding of Amy. He was able to show us two things: the first is that Amy did not want to belong with anyone as she feared for their safety and the second was that even though we must be accepted by others to belong, we are able to belong if we are to accept ourselves if we are involved with a difficult situation. For Skrzynecki in ‘St. Patricks College’ he also finds belonging an unimportant aspect of his life while he attends the College. This might not be as bad as Amy’s situation but to Skrzynecki it is still daunting. Skrzynecki â€Å"†¦ stuck pine needles Into the motto On my breast. † This shows the lack of caring for the motto and in turn the College. As Skrzynecki doesn’t really care for the College belonging obviously does not matter as much as Charlie from ‘The Perks Of Being A Wallflower’ wants to belong. For Skrzynecki saying, â€Å"The Lord’s Prayer In Latin, all in one breath† was a feat clearly showing his disregard for the significance of The Lord’s Prayer. The Lord’s Prayer is clearly connected to the College for religious reasons and because Skrzynecki misses the significance of the prayer it proves that Skrzynecki didn’t want to necessarily belong. Due to Skrzynecki being alone and feeling excluded from the college he has had to rely on his own self-acceptance to feel his own sense of belonging. ‘The Perks Of Being A Wallflower’ is a film where the main theme is belonging. Charlie reflects just that and begins to accept the fact that he is a â€Å"wallflower† and feels a sense of belonging with himself. Aside from this, Charlie wants to feel included, he wants to belong and eventually he feels that with Sam and Patrick. At Charlie’s first party Patrick makes a toast to Charlie of which Charlie questions with â€Å"what did I do? † where Patrick responds â€Å"you didn’t do anything, we just wanted to toast our new friend† this conveys a sense of belonging among the audience as well as Charlie and the other characters. This is different from Amy in ‘The Passage’ and Skrzynecki in ‘St. Patricks College’ because they do not want to belong or don’t feel the need to whereas Charlie wants to belong and wants to fit in. Accompanying this is the use of camera angles. When the camera is facing Charlie it is in a high angle position showing Charlies vulnerability and when it points at Patrick it’s a low angle position demonstrating the importance of Patrick. This is a clear representation of how one would feel a sense of belonging when they are accepted by others as well as how one would feel a sense of belonging when they accept themselves. To feel as if you belong, you must accept yourself and be accepted by others but when dealing with difficult situations you can rely on self-acceptance to feel as if you belong. This is without a doubt clearly represented in ‘The Passage’, ‘St. Patricks College’ and ‘The Perks Of Being A Wallflower’. These three very similar texts all show how a sense of belonging can be determined by self-acceptance and acceptance by a group. However, when difficult situations are experienced, an individual may gain a sense of belonging through self-acceptance alone.

Divorce and the Bible Essay -- essays research papers

The law defines divorce as  ¡Ã‚ §a legal dissolution of the marriage contract by a court or other body having competent authority. This is properly a divorce, and called, technically, divorce a vinculo matrimonii. ``from the bond of matrimony.'' (b) The separation of a married woman from the bed and board of her husband -- divorce a mensa et toro (or thoro), ``from bed board.'' ¡Ã‚ ¨ Does this definition follow that of the Bible? Mark 10:1-12 ¡X  ¡Ã‚ ¥Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them. Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking,  ¡Ã‚ §Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife? ¡Ã‚ ¨  ¡Ã‚ §What did Moses command you? ¡Ã‚ ¨ He replied. They said,  ¡Ã‚ §Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away. ¡Ã‚ ¨  ¡Ã‚ §It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law, ¡Ã‚ ¨ Jesus replied.  ¡Ã‚ §But at the beginning of creation God made them male and female. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate. ¡Ã‚ ¨ When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. He answered,  ¡Ã‚ §Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery. ¡Ã‚ ¦ According to Mark, Jesus was not only against divorce but he detested the actions of man to allow it against the word of God. He is trying to explain what divorce means to God. Apparently, it is the joining of two people ¡Xminds, bodies, and souls. These people are no longer people. They are a person. He also states that Moses only made the law to solve the problems that humankind was having. It seems that Moses was without patience when making his declaration. The crowd was already going against God, and their religion had taken a step down their priority list. Moses was just giving his people what they wanted to hear. He only allowed the man to give a statement of divorce. He allowed them to take from that what they did. He was still serving his religion with this decision. He was not allowing them to separate their souls. I believe Jesus was only reiterating, or clarifying, this act of Moses. He explained to the masses that Mose... ...owever, in this case, the union of souls is not stressed. How can an unbeliever expect the God that they do not believe in to unite them? Once the unbeliever is saved, the souls will be united and a divorce is not allowed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  However, if the unbeliever never does accept God, then the he/she is permitted to cut off the marriage. A believer is to stand by the side of his beloved. He/she is held to all the rules of marriage and divorce. This, of course, meaning that the believer calling for divorce does not separate the couple in God ¡Ã‚ ¦s eyes. If the unbeliever calls for a divorce, then it is as if the marriage never took place. They are free to remarry.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Most of these authors hold the same views. Divorce is an accepted thing before man, but not before God. Then, divorce only means that you are allowed to live in separate homes. As far as remarriage goes, it is adultery on the behalf of all involved. The exception from this rule is only applicable if one of the marriage partners is an unbeliever and, as such, calls for the divorce. Then the divorce is a complete divorce and remarriage is allowed without being considered adultery.

Sector of Economic Activities

The primary sector of the economy extracts or harvests products from the earth. The primary sector includes the production of raw material and basic foods. Activities associated with the primary sector include agriculture (both subsistence and commercial), mining, forestry, farming, grazing, hunting and gathering, fishing, and quarrying. The packaging and processing of the raw material associated with this sector is also considered to be part of this sector. In developed and developing countries, a decreasing proportion of workers are involved in the primary sector. About 3% of the U. S. abor force is engaged in primary sector activity today, while more than two-thirds of the labor force were primary sector workers in the mid-nineteenth century. Secondary Sector The secondary sector of the economy manufactures finished goods. All of manufacturing, processing, and construction lies within the secondary sector. Activities associated with the secondary sector include metal working and smelting, automobile production, textile production, chemical and engineering industries, aerospace manufacturing, energy utilities, engineering, breweries and bottlers, construction, and shipbuilding. Tertiary Sector The tertiary sector of the economy is the service industry. This sector provides services to the general population and to businesses. Activities associated with this sector include retail and wholesale sales, transportation and distribution, entertainment (movies, television, radio, music, theater, etc. ), restaurants, clerical services, media, tourism, insurance, banking, healthcare, and law. In most developed and developing countries, a growing proportion of workers are devoted to the tertiary sector. In the U. S. , more than 80% of the labor force are tertiary workers.

Civil Rights