Mindy Lewis’ Free Essays

Adolescence is difficult and painful: rebellion, critical parental scrutiny, an overall feeling of not living up to expectations. For some of us it is a time of excess – drug use, arguments, lots of psychic pain. Mindy Lewis’ compelling memoir is about what happens when adolescent rebellion is not treated as routine. We will write a custom essay sample on Mindy Lewis’ or any similar topic only for you Order Now Her version of teenage acting out led to a more than two-year incarceration in the New York State Psychiatric Institute at Columbia–Presbyterian Medical Center (which she calls PI) when she was almost 16 years old. The book, Life Inside, explores Lewis’ life, telling a story of an upbringing quite different from most, and its effects. Always a creative soul, Lewis expressed her emotions in painting, rarely in writing. But an intense cyber-romance in the early ‘90s led her to begin to express her emotions in writing. She began to take workshops, writing essays and the occasional short story. Positive reinforcement in the workshops and small successes getting published made her take her writing a little more seriously. She actually wasn’t sure she could go through with her story, until she followed friends’ encouragement to write it, not just for herself but for the others who had been with her and for those who are in a similar situation now. Life inside chronicles a reasonably happy childhood in Manhattan, her father’s departure for California, and the dissolution of her parents’ marriage. The arrival of a stepfather did not provide any cushion as her relationship with her mother started to disintegrate when she began high school, smack in the middle of the ‘60s. Though her painting ability had secured her acceptance at the High School of Music and Art, she soon began to feel as though she didn’t fit in. She just didn’t feel hip enough for the other kids and heady atmosphere that pervaded the school. Lewis had discovered an escape in marijuana, LSD, and a collection of other drugs. Her parents sent her to a psychiatrist to try to find a way to reach her, and though he didn’t seem to think that she was â€Å"crazy†, he recommended institutionalizing her when she was suspended from Music and Art and made a perfunctory attempt at suicide. Several things strike the reader during the journey through the book: the remarkable level of detail about Lewis’ experiences at PI; the difficult adulthood that seemed as excruciating as it was inevitable following such a contorted adolescence; and the courage that it must have taken to commit all of it to paper. As Lewis says: â€Å"In [Life Inside] I hoped to give something—clues to parents of adolescents, or to adolescents themselves who are in pain. I wanted to let them know that there are kindred spirits—they’re not alone. There is a path out of the dark. If the worst situation in my life can become a positive, it’s like alchemy. It gives me faith that miracles can happen in life.† Her story is honest and open. As a reader, one could identify with her pain and her experience, even though it is quite different from one’s own. Many of the feelings she describes are universal, which leads us to question society and its definition of insanity. The book is really well-written and vivid, with great attention to physical and emotional detail. The story moves quickly (over 30 years in 350 pages), with its main focus how the 27-months in the institution affected Mindy’s life. However, the book also details Mindy’s journey to understand her life, the world around her, her family, and how to create meaning from experience, going beyond â€Å"life inside†. Readers who will particularly appreciate this book include lovers of well-wrought prose, and people who feel impaired by something in their past, and cautiously optimistic about their chances of getting over it and/or growing from it. Life inside received a starred Kirkus Review, and was named 2003 Book of the Year by the American Journal of Nursing. It is a vivid first-person account of the author’s experiences as a rebellious 15-year-old remanded to a psychiatric ward in the late 1960s. No comments are needed for the following words: â€Å"While conversing with me it was quite obvious that she is more genuinely wrapped up within herself†¦ She is very self-conscious and is usually unable to face the interviewer†¦ Her walk is a sort of bedraggled shuffle which makes me think of someone being led off to their execution. The patient is fearful, extremely anxious and depressed. At times her anxiety rises to such heights that she begins to tremble.† â€Å"There must be something wrong with my reflexes. If they’d been working right, I would have pulled my foot away, or kicked him. I hope he’s a better shrink than he is a doctor.† â€Å"The sleeves hang over my hands, which is fine with me — the more that’s hidden, the better†¦ Once I was a nice little girl, but those days are over. Before I can stop it, that nice little girl’s tears fill my eyes. I blink them away, hoping nobody saw†¦ I can’t take another minute sitting out here in the hallway. Privacy is as important to me as air, and I’m suffocating.† â€Å"I sit here in my chains and the days go by and nothing ever happens. It is an empty joyless life, but I accept it without complaint. I await other times and they will surely come, for I am not destined to sit here for all eternity†¦.I muse on this in my dungeon and am of good cheer.† Today Lewis is by any account a healthy and creative adult with extraordinary insight. She is an artist by profession, a dancer by avocation and a writer by sheer force of will. At 50, Lewis has kept her youth with her. She is tall, trim, and strong; belly dancing is a passion and bike riding and swimming help, as well. Her manner is direct, tempered by a quietness that bespeaks a life path that has not always been clear or easy. Inviting the readers to take a close look at contemporary views of mental health through the lens of her own powerful and intimately rendered story, in Life Inside, Lewis has written an important memoir, as tough and candid as it is inspiring and compassionate. Bibliography: 1. Lewis, Mindy. Life inside: A Memoir. Atr How to cite Mindy Lewis’, Essay examples

Mindy Lewis’ Free Essays

Adolescence is difficult and painful: rebellion, critical parental scrutiny, an overall feeling of not living up to expectations. For some of us it is a time of excess – drug use, arguments, lots of psychic pain. Mindy Lewis’ compelling memoir is about what happens when adolescent rebellion is not treated as routine. We will write a custom essay sample on Mindy Lewis’ or any similar topic only for you Order Now Her version of teenage acting out led to a more than two-year incarceration in the New York State Psychiatric Institute at Columbia–Presbyterian Medical Center (which she calls PI) when she was almost 16 years old. The book, Life Inside, explores Lewis’ life, telling a story of an upbringing quite different from most, and its effects. Always a creative soul, Lewis expressed her emotions in painting, rarely in writing. But an intense cyber-romance in the early ‘90s led her to begin to express her emotions in writing. She began to take workshops, writing essays and the occasional short story. Positive reinforcement in the workshops and small successes getting published made her take her writing a little more seriously. She actually wasn’t sure she could go through with her story, until she followed friends’ encouragement to write it, not just for herself but for the others who had been with her and for those who are in a similar situation now. Life inside chronicles a reasonably happy childhood in Manhattan, her father’s departure for California, and the dissolution of her parents’ marriage. The arrival of a stepfather did not provide any cushion as her relationship with her mother started to disintegrate when she began high school, smack in the middle of the ‘60s. Though her painting ability had secured her acceptance at the High School of Music and Art, she soon began to feel as though she didn’t fit in. She just didn’t feel hip enough for the other kids and heady atmosphere that pervaded the school. Lewis had discovered an escape in marijuana, LSD, and a collection of other drugs. Her parents sent her to a psychiatrist to try to find a way to reach her, and though he didn’t seem to think that she was â€Å"crazy†, he recommended institutionalizing her when she was suspended from Music and Art and made a perfunctory attempt at suicide. Several things strike the reader during the journey through the book: the remarkable level of detail about Lewis’ experiences at PI; the difficult adulthood that seemed as excruciating as it was inevitable following such a contorted adolescence; and the courage that it must have taken to commit all of it to paper. As Lewis says: â€Å"In [Life Inside] I hoped to give something—clues to parents of adolescents, or to adolescents themselves who are in pain. I wanted to let them know that there are kindred spirits—they’re not alone. There is a path out of the dark. If the worst situation in my life can become a positive, it’s like alchemy. It gives me faith that miracles can happen in life.† Her story is honest and open. As a reader, one could identify with her pain and her experience, even though it is quite different from one’s own. Many of the feelings she describes are universal, which leads us to question society and its definition of insanity. The book is really well-written and vivid, with great attention to physical and emotional detail. The story moves quickly (over 30 years in 350 pages), with its main focus how the 27-months in the institution affected Mindy’s life. However, the book also details Mindy’s journey to understand her life, the world around her, her family, and how to create meaning from experience, going beyond â€Å"life inside†. Readers who will particularly appreciate this book include lovers of well-wrought prose, and people who feel impaired by something in their past, and cautiously optimistic about their chances of getting over it and/or growing from it. Life inside received a starred Kirkus Review, and was named 2003 Book of the Year by the American Journal of Nursing. It is a vivid first-person account of the author’s experiences as a rebellious 15-year-old remanded to a psychiatric ward in the late 1960s. No comments are needed for the following words: â€Å"While conversing with me it was quite obvious that she is more genuinely wrapped up within herself†¦ She is very self-conscious and is usually unable to face the interviewer†¦ Her walk is a sort of bedraggled shuffle which makes me think of someone being led off to their execution. The patient is fearful, extremely anxious and depressed. At times her anxiety rises to such heights that she begins to tremble.† â€Å"There must be something wrong with my reflexes. If they’d been working right, I would have pulled my foot away, or kicked him. I hope he’s a better shrink than he is a doctor.† â€Å"The sleeves hang over my hands, which is fine with me — the more that’s hidden, the better†¦ Once I was a nice little girl, but those days are over. Before I can stop it, that nice little girl’s tears fill my eyes. I blink them away, hoping nobody saw†¦ I can’t take another minute sitting out here in the hallway. Privacy is as important to me as air, and I’m suffocating.† â€Å"I sit here in my chains and the days go by and nothing ever happens. It is an empty joyless life, but I accept it without complaint. I await other times and they will surely come, for I am not destined to sit here for all eternity†¦.I muse on this in my dungeon and am of good cheer.† Today Lewis is by any account a healthy and creative adult with extraordinary insight. She is an artist by profession, a dancer by avocation and a writer by sheer force of will. At 50, Lewis has kept her youth with her. She is tall, trim, and strong; belly dancing is a passion and bike riding and swimming help, as well. Her manner is direct, tempered by a quietness that bespeaks a life path that has not always been clear or easy. Inviting the readers to take a close look at contemporary views of mental health through the lens of her own powerful and intimately rendered story, in Life Inside, Lewis has written an important memoir, as tough and candid as it is inspiring and compassionate. Bibliography: 1. Lewis, Mindy. Life inside: A Memoir. Atr How to cite Mindy Lewis’, Essay examples

Larkin critic quotes on pessimism Essay Example

Larkin: critic quotes on pessimism Paper Christopher Ricks [He writes] like something almost being saidit is a study in self-pity. Bryan Appleyard (misanthropy) He is an advocate of misanthropy and pessimism. Bryan Appleyard (pessimist) [Larkin is] a hopeless and inflexible pessimist. Bryan Appleyard (triviality) Many poets have adopted a personal pose of extreme pessimism and loathing of the world None has done so with quite such a grinding focus on littleness and triviality as Larkin the man Philip Larkin Its unhappiness that provokes a poem. Being happy doesnt provoke a poem. Leo Cox (non-existence) For him, life is just a brief and over-rated interlude in the ongoing state of non-existence. Leo Cox (nature) Larkin uses nature as a medium for discussing his preoccupation with how transient and pointless everything in the world is. Leo Cox (existence) Larkin feels cheated by existence. Janice Rossen So much of Larkins habitual melancholy is driven by intense fury. Andrew Motion Larkins poetry grows out of rage: the rage of unsatisfied desire, the rage of shame. Leo Cox (degraded) Birth, death, funerals, love, community and marriage are all degraded at Larkins hands. Bryan Appleyard (misery) His dreary, predictable, damp, reductive misery tolls relentlessly. Bryan Appleyard (inward) Larkin was seldom more than grimly inward and futile. Andy Golding Cynicism is never far away from Larkins poetry.

The Movie Batman Returns and Its Hero

The Movie Batman Returns and Its Hero Introduction The movie Batman Returns is a typical example of how Christopher Vogler’s structures rings true in storytelling. Nonetheless, the director and production team took liberties with the sequences of these occurrences as well as the nature of characters that belong to those categories. In certain circumstances, one may be fooled into thinking that a character is an ally only to realize that he is an adversary. It was these twists and turns that make the movie breathtaking.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Movie Batman Returns and Its Hero specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The hero in Batman begins Batman begins has all the twelve elements of the Hero’s journey. The story is intertwined by a series of distant and close flashbacks which help to provide a background to the goings in the story. These flashbacks are what reveal the first component of the Hero’s journey; the ordinary world. Audiences can get a glimpse of Bruce’s earlier life. He seemed happy and fulfilled as a child with both parents until their death. Thereafter, the young man develops a great degree of animosity and hatred towards his parents’ murderer Joe Chill. One also gets a glimpse of the influential people in his life, such as Alfred Pennyworth and Rachel. The call to adventure occurs at an early point in the film. During the trial of his parent’s killer, Bruce decides to carry a gun with him into trial. His intention is to shoot the perpetrator if he is acquitted. However, another assassin learns of the wrong and prevents him from this great misdeed. It is at this point that the call to adventure occurs. Rachel tells him that Joe Chill had critical information about Gotham City’s worst drug baron – Carmine Falcone. He, alongside other hardcore drug lords, was terrorizing the city. They were the real problem, and if Bruce only killed Chill then he would be ex erting revenge. Rachel asserted that true justice occurred when hardcore criminal elements like Falcone were captured. Bruce thus realized that Falcone was responsible for the city’s decay. He needed to deal with this man and others like him in order to restore sanity in Gotham (IMBD 18). In most films, the refusal to call occurs shortly after the call, and Batman Begins is not an exception (Vogler 7). Bruce confronts Falcone at his underground bar and gets beaten by his employees. At this point, he escapes into China where he steals and infiltrates into the criminal underworld. It seems as though the last place one would fight Gotham’s ills would be in China, which was miles away from his home place. Furthermore, he appeared lost and confused when he made this escape. Bruce then enters the fourth phase of the hero’s journey by meeting with his mentor. This happens when he goes back home and gets introduced to Lucius Fox. The latter individual gives him insights about the goings-on of Wayne Enterprises, and is the one who introduces him to a series of special weapons.Advertising Looking for essay on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Fox’s ideas lead to formation of the Batman persona since it is his technological inventions that facilitate this transition. It should be noted that at the beginning of the movie, Henri Ducard appears to be the mentor since he teaches Bruce valuable fighting and life lessons. However, later on in the film, one realizes that he was an evil man bent on destroying Gotham city. The fifth phase of Vogler’s hero’s journey is crossing the threshold. This occurs when Bruce modifies the battle suit, ski mask and other devices from Wayne Enterprises to create a disguise. However, when he first confronts Sergeant Jim Gordon, the story begins to take off from there. Shortly after this phase, Mr. Wayne then enters into the tests and allies stage of the hero’s journey. This occurs when he does his first heroic deed. Falcone is unloading his drug shipments from a cargo ship; Bruce causes his allies to disappear, ties up Falcone, and disarms the thugs (IMBD 23). At this point, one learns that the hero’s key enemies are the drug dealers, with Falcone as the key suspect. Corrupt police officers such as Arnold Flass are also his adversaries. Conversely, Officer Gordon is his key ally in law enforcement as he is a just officer. Batman Begins’ sixth phase of the hero’s journey takes place much earlier than one would anticipate (Vogler 20). Batman’s biggest fear is that of bats. It reminds him of his parents’ death and the depression that followed thereafter. When he is back in the League of Shadows, Bruce inhales smoke that causes him to have delusions about bats. It was at this point that the individual overcomes the phobia, fights Ducard. and wins the sword fight. When he gets back home, he chooses the bat symbol in order to reflect this inner fear. He wanted his enemies to experience the same terror that the bats elicited in him. The Supreme Ordeal occurs when Ra’s plans on destroying the city using the microwave transmitter. Batman tries to stop him by engaging with him in the train. There are four League of Shadows members who seem to outnumber and beat Bruce. However, he manages to overcome them but has to deal with the paranoid residents of the city. As Batman enters into the train where Ra’s is located, one gets the sense that things are only going downhill from there. Ra’s even despises Batman by calling him an ‘ordinary man in a cape’ (IMBD 35).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Movie Batman Returns and Its Hero specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However, the hero proves the audience wrong when he uses a clever tactic to cut off one s ection of the train. Since the microwave emitter was the prime problem, its destruction through a train explosion marks the emergence of the hero from the near-death experience. This explosion also got rid of Ra’s who had become a source of turmoil in the film. Batman’s ability to come out of this situation proved that he was a hero worth his salt. The ninth phase of the journey, which is seizing the sword, occurs shortly after beating Ra’s. Bruce talks to Rachel and reconciles with her. She has now learnt that Bruce and Batman are one and the same. Furthermore, she realizes that she had misjudged Bruce’s character on the basis of his drunken escapades (IMBD 41). This scene ends with the promise of a reunion that could occur when Batman seizes to exist. Vogler explains that a kiss and some wise words are typical in this case. This was true for Batman Begins because she stresses how Batman’s cowl is Bruce’s real identity. When some evil force s pursue the hero after the seizing-the-sword phase, then this becomes the road back. One may argue that no such phase took place in the film. After Bruce destroyed his adversaries, he only meets with members of Wayne Enterprises as well as Alfred and Sergeant Gordon. No high-octane action scene follows after his victory (Vogler 26). However, one may also argue that the road-back phase occurs in a mild form through the person of William Earle. He shows up at the Enterprise ready to take on leadership of the corporation. Nonetheless, this chase ends as soon as it begins when William Earle learns that Bruce bought most of the stocks on offer and he has majority control over the enterprise. The eleventh phase of the hero’s journey is the transformation, which Vogler called the resurrection phase. At this point, Bruce realizes that he is pertinent to the success of Gotham City. He has also learnt about staying true to himself as well as the need to believe in himself. At the begi nning of his adventure, Bruce was not sure he could take down such a powerful force as the drug underworld, but through cooperation with his friends, he proved that he could. In Batman Begins, the last part of the film, which is the return phase, occurs when Bruce uses the experiences he encountered with Ra’s and Falcone to become a better superhero. He knows that criminals are not to be underestimated as they can use as much technology as he does. Gordon highlights this aspect, but Batman seems unfettered by it. He knows that restoring safety in Gotham is an achievable endeavor.Advertising Looking for essay on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Conclusion The production team of Batman Begins played cleverly with the twelve steps of the hero’s journey. Some steps like the ‘road back’ were almost nonexistent while others were intermingled. For instance, approach to the inmost cave occurs before meeting with the mentor or crossing the threshold. Perhaps more importantly, the most critical phase of the hero’s journey fulfills all expectations of a Supreme Ordeal; it is tension-filled, spirited and full of action. This film has all the phases of the hero’s journey without drawing attention to the structure. The production team had thus perfected their skill. IMBD. Batman Begins (2005) synopsis. 2005. Web. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0372784/plotsummary#synopsis Vogler, Christopher. A practical guide to Joseph Campbell’s the hero with a thousand faces. 1985. Web.

Birthday Wish Quotes That Add Joy to the Occasion

Birthday Wish Quotes That Add Joy to the Occasion Birth symbolizes a beginning. But each passing year brings with it a reduced allusion to eternity. Make a birthday wish that inspires you to live zealously. These birthday wish quotes remind you of your majestic existence. Abraham Lincoln And in the end, its not the years in your life that count. Its the life in your years. Pablo Picasso It takes a long time to grow young. Frank Sinatra May you live to be 100 and may the last voice you hear be mine. Richard Bach Fly free and happy beyond birthdays and across forever, and well meet now and then when we wish, in the midst of the one celebration that never can end. Pope Paul VI The older the fiddler, the sweeter the tune. Rabindranath Tagore Im lost in the middle of my birthday. I want my friends, their touch, with the earths last love. I will take lifes final offering; I will take the last human blessing. Charles Schulz Just remember, once youre over the hill you begin to pick up speed. Lewis Carroll There are three hundred and sixty-four days when you might get un-birthday presents, and only one for birthday presents, you know. Guy Johnson My mother asked me what I wanted for my birthday, so I said I wanted to read poetry with her. Charles Lamb New Years Day is every mans birthday. Audrey Hepburn Success is like reaching an important birthday and finding youre exactly the same. Paris Hilton The way I see it, you should live every day like its your birthday. Leo Buscaglia A life lived in love will never be dull. John Glenn There is still no cure for the common birthday. Buddha Do not dwell in the past; do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.

Primary and Secondary Sources Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Primary and Secondary Sources - Coursework Example Lincoln’s â€Å"Gettysburg Address†is an example of a primary source.Meanwhile, secondary sources are materials that digest, analyze, evaluate and interpret information contained within primary sources or other secondary sources.Examples of these are books and articles (Henderson, 2011, n.p.). In using primary sources to make a background review of a study, one of the main advantages it provides is reliabilityas it serves as the original source of information of the topic.Primary sources also avoid the problem encountered in secondary sources, where new author may distort and put their own spin on the findings of prior cited authors. Government records such as census are classified as primary sources and it provides an accurate and unbiased description of events. Choosing the right source whether primary or secondary sourcedepends upon the author themselves as both of the sources may have benefit and disadvantages. To sum it up, primary sources give raw data while secondary sources help to understand primary sources, thus these both types of sources can be of equal importance in the conduct of a

Locke Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Locke - Essay Example Without getting consent from the original owner, at this point, no one can possess the resources (Locke 35). Accordingly, all individuals must labor to acquire property. In addition, the property must personally benefit the individual for it to be considered individual property. Labor that the individual cannot use can be traded in for money, which can later be re-traded for property. Locke contrasts gaining of possession through actions both natural and unnatural. The major difference between the two processes is whether the property that one sought for ownership had a previous owner or still lay within the common ownership domain. People who want to acquire property that already belongs to other individuals do not apply labor to own the property (Locke 40). Instead, they are out to own what someone else has already applied his/her labor to with nothing, such as money, in return. While it can be argued that any individual taking ownership of anything should first seek out others to ask their permission if the community owned it, Locke deemed this approach impractical. He compares it to requiring permission from everyone in sight before eating an apple one has found fallen by the roadside (Locke 41). Similarly, if an individual takes ownership of property and leaves more of the same for other people to own and enjoy, no property usurpation can be claimed to have gone on. This should be considered as an action of natural occurrence. However, Locke does caution on how natural private property can be, arguing that the individual should only take as much as is required for personal and family enjoyment (Locke 45). In addition, the property must be only enough for enjoyment without it going bad in the process. For instance, it is not natural in his view to hoard what can perish. While this is true, it is not unnatural for an individual to own or gather more than is enough for personal consumption if the excess is further traded for the purpose of attaining what one does not own or produce. Since labor endows private property with its naturalness, an individual cannot claim property simply for owning it. The individual is required to labor on the land. Therefore, any individual can lose ownership of their property if there is no application of labor (Locke 46). This is because, in that state, the property is not of benefit to them or anyone else. From a cursory reading of Locke, one could assume that he proposes that it is right for a person to put up boundaries on national parks and apply labor to it, allowing the property to become his/her private property. However, deeper reading counters this interpretation by showing that, at this point, there is there is an overlap of divine law and human law. While nature allows man to use earth as he sees best for convenience and self-sustenance, man is not necessarily the determinant of how individuals will use the land (Locke 50). For this reason, people come together to create social bodies and juris dictions such as towns and villages, which determine the best way to benefit collectively from the resources. Sometimes, these jurisdictions may determine that some land will be left out of individual hands and be in common ownership. Attempting to own the property individually would cause a decrease in its usefulness to the community that possesses the land together.