Neima
Demessie
Definition
paper
10-9-11
English
1020
Professor
James A. Ross
What is Courage?
Imagine having one of your closest
family member helplessly screaming for help while on top of a roof, because the
house was flooded by a dangerous hurricane that had swept the whole city. Would
you risk your own life to save them or would you watch them suffer? What would
it take an individual (Google Image) to put their life on the line so save
another life? During hurricane Katrina, many people risked their own life to
save those who were not their family. Through courage and sacrifice people were
able to help one another survive that harsh devastation. The question of
courage comes up in most discussion as such this, what is courage? In most dictionaries,
the definition of courage is defined as a “quality of a mind that enables a
person to face difficult, danger, pain without fear” (dictionary.com). Courage
is not just a quality of a mind, or overcoming a fear, or just doing something
good for others because it makes one feel good about them. The definition of courage
is a sacrifice a human being does for the wellbeing of others; Knowingly that
an individual is risking his/her life, whether its a soldier fighting for his
country, a fire fighter risking his life to save another, a mother giving her
life away to save her children.
In everyday media, the number of how
many solders that died each month fighting over seas are displayed, with a
moment of silence for each solider that has passed. The media never question
why those solider a solider put him/her on the line by sacrificing their life
to protect the life of every American individual or any country for that
matter. To sacrifice oneself so that an innocent individual in that country won’t
die is courage. “Thanks to the courage you put yourself in harm’s way and in
most of the cases you do it in order to help or to save someone else” (Vidican
pg. 1). Without having the courage to sacrifice how would the world would be?
What would it look like? As individuals we do not really question our self why
those soldiers decided to go fight, the only thing that we have in our mind is
that, that individual went to the military because he/she wanted to get their
college paid for, or because they wanted to fight for their country. Each and every individual soldier that went
to war already made up in their mind that they rather die them self then seeing
one of their family member, or just an individual die. Dr. Stephen Diamond, a
forensic psychologist on Anger, Madness, and destructive Behavior, said
“Courage is indispensable” (Diamond pg.1), that is a true fact, each and every
individual have courage, but in order for one to say he/ she is courageous they
would need to sacrifice themselves for another, like firefighters.
It is
said that firefighters are one of the most courageous people on earth. Every
individual on earth have the choice of becoming whoever they want on this
planet and off all the possibilities, those who choose to be firefighters are
the ones that have courage. They put their life on danger, by sacrificing
themselves to the fire, and saving another life by doing so. “Courage is
required in almost every basic human activity, or endeavor. For instance, to
allow oneself to love and commit to another person takes immense courage.
Separating from out parents forging an independent like for ourselves is a
courageous act “(Diamond 3). Like every individual, a firefighter has his/her
own life, they have children’s, their own family, but they obligated themselves
to save the life of another by putting them self on the line, sacrificing not
only their life but also bearing the pain of their family. “Regardless of their courage, the
firefighters are still humans, and they are affected by their job, the scenes
from the hospital when the children are pronounced dead are just as terrible,
as they have to witness the crying of the family members” (Vidican pg. 1). To
face such pain, and heartache of losing a loved, a person would still choose to
put their life on the line despite all the side effects. A person cannot be
created with the mentality that they will be courageous, but an individual
learn through life experiences, and just like the firefighter, it is a
sacrifice a person makes when they see another suffer. “…true courage is
displayed by a soldier who is ready to fight against his fellow man and who are
aware that they might die. Some say that the brave people are the ones who do
not sense fear, but that is wrong. The courageous people do sense fear, but
they overcome it, and that is what makes them great. Courage is not about being
scared; it’s about being terrified, but persevering anyway” (Vidican pg. 2). A
firefighter would sacrifice oneself for anyone, which would lead us to mothers
who would sacrifice her life for the life for her children.
A mother’s love is said to be one of
the most unconditional love anyone can receive. A mother’s courage is no
different from any of the courage’s that a firefighter or soldiers would have.
A mother would go as far as death to give a life for her children. Whether it’s
fighting to find cure autism, or arguing with a principle for something that
her child did, a mother would do anything and everything for her child. In the
movie Lorenzo’s Oil, the courage that Michael Odone (Susan Sarandon, Directed
by Gorge Miller) had for when her son got sick was powerful. She never gave up
hope to find cure for child, her ability to keep her head up, and seeing her
child dying was incredible. She sacrificed every bit of strength she had for
her child. “The life of one boy is not enough reward for you to risk the
reputation of the institutions and the esteem of your peer” (Miller,
Lorenzo’s Oil). She went as far as insulting anyone for telling her that her
child would die. “To persevere rather then quit, to act with integrity then
expedience, to take responsibility rather than slough it off, to embrace
reality rather than retreat from it…”
(Diamond
pg. 6) It takes all of those, and many more to have the mentality to be a
courageous person.
Courage is not just over coming fear
or being brave, it’s about sacrificing oneself to the good of others. Whether
it being a solider fighting for his country, putting himself in front of a
bullet so that another person won’t have to die, or a firefighter putting his
life on the line of danger so save another’s life, or just plainly a mother
fighting for her child, willing to give her life up so that her child can live
on more daylight is what courage is.
Overcoming a fear, or just plainly being brave take sacrificing oneself
for the wellbeing of other, that is what
can be considered courage. Having courage is choice, one can give up his
or her life to save another, it is a decision made by an individual to stand up
and endure the pain that it comes with it, and picking oneself up from that
pain or sacrifice and keeping on going, whether is going to kill them or not.
Image Work Cited
Image 1
Image 2
Image 3
Image 4
Work
Cited
Image from Google
Lorenzo’s Oil (Movie quotes)
Lorenzo's
Oil.
Dir. Gorge Miller. Perf. Susan Sarandon, . January 15, 1993. Film.<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104756/quotes>.
Articles
Diamond, Stephen. "What is courage?: Existential Lesson From the Cowardly Lion." (April 28, 2011): pg.6. Print. <http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/evil-deeds/201104/what-is- courage-existential-lessons-the-cowardly-lion>.
Vidican, Sergiu. "An Analysis of Courage." (January 12, 2011): pg.4. Print. <http://www.metrolic.com/an-analysis-of-courage-155033/>.
Your definition of courage reminds me of a hero or heroic because being a hero is like sacrificing their life to help save other people who are in need of help. Your paper is definitely effective due to the fact that it is arguable because most people do not see courage as a sacrifice. They see courage as something else like being able to suck it up and face their fears. I also liked how you used a mother's love as one of your sources because it is something that a lot of people can relate to and that's the part where your persuasion comes in.
ReplyDeleteThis was definitely a good paper. I thought your qualifiers were strong, and you supported them well. I thought your comparision between courage and sacrifice was strong, and definitely added to your definition. The pictures you added also corroborated your definition, and gave your definition an emotional appeal. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI like your introduction for it made me hooked at the beginning just waiting for your definition. I think your definition could have been a little more condensed and more simply worded, but was still strong. Wonderful job in letting your readers connect emotionally!
ReplyDeleteI liked how you presented a public definition first and then corrected it to your definition. I noticed a few errors while reading your paper. Your paper was very organized and flowed well. I think it would help to add a photo of a mother being courageous because it was one of your qualifiers. Good job on your photos-they were very rhetorical and supported your definition/qualifiers well.
ReplyDelete