Humberto Valencia

Privilege.

Privilege is a right or immunity granted to certain people in order for them to carry a responsibility or to enjoy of something. I t derives from the Latin word privlegium.

Many books take use of this word, to refer to something great or hard to achieve; like in The Giver by Lewis Lowry; the main character called Jonas is given the privilege of holding the memories of a whole community so well organized, but that lacked feelings, and lived in an environment of sameness. It is a hard assignment for Jonas, since he will have to feel things he didn't knew about. Also along with that assignment he had to pay the price, he felt lonely and pain because of the memories he was given. He also had the choice of lying to other members of the community and read books that were different from the ones he used to read at school, those activities, regular members of the community could not do.

Privilege is a word that has been used for a long time. Marcus Aurelius, a Roman Emperor said: "When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive -to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love." This explains what privilege meant for him, in this case, being alive and do everything that came along with it. The most important from my point of view were to think, enjoy, and love.

Many of us see things as a privilege, and we all have a different concept of the word, but it all comes down to having a greater responsibility that we might as well enjoy.

Sonny Noy

Kawatta, différent, and dissimilis, in any other language the word "different" to me still means to stand out and/or be out of the ordinary. "Different from" and "different than" are both common in British and American English. The construction "different to" is mainly British because the 18th century, language critics have singled out "different than" as incorrect. Traditional guidlines say "from" is used to compare between two persons or things.

"In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different." This is a quote by Coco Chanel that explains how being atypical is not something to fear but something to strive for. In the book The Giver Jonas was peculiar from everyone else because he was the only one who could learn of true pain and happiness. The community that Jonas lived in cherished similarities and knew of no other way of living. After he learned of an offbeat way of life that his community was ignorant of Jonas chose to run away and join a new community. Jonas' strive to be different lead him to his freedom.

In the movie "Whale Rider" the girl, Paikea, chose to break the rules to become a very important person in her village. In her village males were the ones who studied the ancient ways. She broke the rules and learned the ancient ways and inadvertently became the chief of the village by passong some of the most difficult test of the ancient ways. If she hadn't chose to be different and break the rules she would have never become the most important person in her village.

We all have the freedom to be different. It is something we should try to achieve and not to fear just because our community expects us to be similar. We must learn to fight for what we believe in ourselves and learn from our lessons of "Shooting an Elephant." Our differences will make us irreplaceable.

Moala Fakava

Equality

Equality is the quality of state of being equal. I think equality basically means being equal. The origin of equality came from the Latin word “aequus” which became “aequalis” for Middle English.

Equality is used by many authors in lots of books. Equality relates to “Shakespear’s Sister” because she was one of the many that tried to make women’s rights as equal as men’s. Equality also relates to “The Giver.” There’s an organized world where everyone is equal. If you were to be at all different, you were to be released.

Back in the day when the blacks and whites were treated unequally, Martin Luther King, JR. preached some hard-core quotes about equality that touched many people. Not only did Martin Luther King, JR’s quotes touch people in his days, but it also lives on until today. Here is one of his famous quotes about equality that touched many people.

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character”

Martin Luther King, JR.


I found a lot of information on equality on many different internet sites. I went to www.google.com. There was www.equality.org. I also went to www.equalitynetwork.com. Then I searched on www.equality.com, but it really wasn’t what I was looking for. Then I went to www.equalitynow.com and that didn’t help much either. Most of these web sites didn’t really get me the information that I really needed for my assignment, but I it gave me enough for me to get through it.

Anthony Smith

The definition of courage is the ability to confront fear, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. The origin of the word courage comes from the Latin word “cor” which means he*art. In three other languages, German, Italian, and Spanish the word courage is “mut, coraggio, and valor. ” My definition isn’t the same but basically means the same thing. Courage to me is not being afraid to be different, doing what you feel is right, stepping out side of your box and having heart. Like the little girl in Whale Rider did. Her grandfather told her plenty of times that she couldn’t be a whale rider. But the girl had courage, she felt in her heart that she was meant to be a whale rider and she proved everybody wrong. She also had courage when she road the whale because she knew that she could’ve died by doing that but she wasn’t scared she knew it’s what she had to do and she did it regardless of what everybody told her. In the story “Shooting an Elephant” the man had a different kind of courage he had Kodak courage, doing what is right at the time. Because he didn’t want to kill the elephant but he knew that if he didn’t he would be laughed at by the people. So instead of doing what he felt was right he did what he thought the people would want him to do.

I found a couple quotes by Eleanor Roosevelt and a couple unknown artists that I liked. These first two by Eleanor Roosevelt. “We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face…..we must do that which we think we cannot.” And then this one “Do what you feel in your heart to be right, for you’ll be criticized anyways.” These next two are by unknown artist. “Courage is not defined by those who fought and did not fall but by those who fought fell and rose again.” And this one “Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” I just think that these four quotes really define courage.
I found five websites with the word courage in it. www.wiwpedia.org says it is well known that physical and moral courage matters in the military. www.courage.org is a website for a mission courage center were the mission is to empower people with physical disabilities to reach for their full potential in every aspect of life. www.ejectejecteject.com says moral courage is the courage of the astronauts’ believing in space. www.fastcompany.com is a website about finding courage within you. www.couragecamp.com is a websites for courage camps.

Umar Ijaz

English 7-8: Choice(s)

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “One’s philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes…and the choices we make are ultimately our responsibility.” Great emphasis should be given to the word choices, as it is the main idea of this quote. What Eleanor Roosevelt meant was that a person’s ideas and thoughts can never be expressed clearly in words, but through the choices they make, those thoughts can be seen and heard for miles. Simply, you can tell what kind of a person someone is through the choices they make.

The word choice significantly influences or has influenced almost everybody. The formal, dictionary, definition of the word choice is the act or power of picking or choosing. A choice can also be the variety that is offered for selection. For example, when you are deciding what to major in, in college, you are making a choice or choosing. The possible majors that that particular college or university offers, are your choices. In French, the word choice or choices is les choix (layz-shwa), in Spanish it is Opciones and in German it is Wahlen (vuh-len).

In the book, The Giver, Lois Lowry, the author, demonstrates a world considerably lacking in choices, or emotions for that matter. The citizens of a small community ( in the book) have everything chosen for them, from their toys to their occupations. In my opinion, Lois Lowry displays a choice less community to show the reaches the eminent role choices play in our world.
Today, there are many websites that probably use the word choice. During my research, I found five websites that are based on the word choice. www.helpforteens.com was the first website I had come across. The purpose of this website was to help teens make the right choices in their lives. From peer pressure to college, this website had it all and was great. The second website, www.statschoices.com, was a more specific website, designed by the University of Nebraska to advise new students on making the right choices when it comes to registering for classes. www.lifechoices.com and www.lifechoices.org were both websites similar in address, but different in content. The life choices.com website contained links to other appropriate entertainment websites, whereas the life choices.org website was dedicated to helping pregnant women make the right choices during their pregnancies. www.choicesarizona.org, the last website on my list, was actually created by a non-profit organization which is dedicated to legally giving the terminally or hopelessly ill the choice of death.
Choices have and will continue to play a dominating role in our society. From the moment we learn to talk to the moment we die, we are always faced with choices, always!!!

Joseph Connelly

Wisdom


"Never mistake knowledge for wisdom. One helps you make a living; the other helps you make a

life," quote Sandra Carey. Knowledge is otained through self-determination and hard work, but

wisdom can only be obtained through experience.


The exact diccionary definition of "wisdom" states, " an accumulated philosophic or scientific

learning." To me widome is the knowledge that one obtains only through experience and time.


The word wisdom is a Middle English and Old English word. Its earliest origions can be found in

the teachings of ancient wise men (of Babylon, Egypt, and Palestine). It was related to as the art

of living and sometimes to phiosophical problems concerning the universe, man, and God.


Lois Lowry, the author of The Giver, demonstrated the word "wisdom" as the accumulation of

memories Jonas obtained from the Giver. She exemplified "wisdom" as the pain and suffering

Jonas underwent through time and experience.


Again, knowledge is obtained through self-determination and hard work, but wisdom can only be

obtained through experience.

john smith

ushould never give up bacause u can be mad at your self and u can be selfesh at some of the diceans that u have made and u ahoud never give up thats why u should never give up.