Zora Neale Hurston :: Zora Neale Hurston

	Zora Neale Hurston was an astounding Afro-American author who was recognized not for being the first Afro-American writer, but rather for her ability to bring forth her cultural language and imagery. If not for Zora's pioneering effort as a female black writer, the world of modern literature would have never seen the cultural insights of the African American culture in such a candid way. 	Zora's date of birth is said to be in January of 1891, however her actual date of birth is debated today due to the fact that records of African Americans during the 19th century were not accurately kept (Lyons 2). Zora's home town, which was not disputed, was Eatonville, Florida, which was founded by African Americans and was the first all-black town incorporated into the United States (Cheryl@geocities [online] ). Her father John Hurston was a tall, heavy muscled man who often seemed "invincible" to Zora (Lyons 2). John was a community leader and was influential member of society. His positions in Eatonville included: Baptist preacher, town mayor, and skilled carpenter (Lyons 2). Though John was a revered member of Eatonville he had is faults as well. His eye for other women often left his family home alone for months out of a time (Lyons 1). Zora's mother, Lucy Potts Hurston was the "hard-driving force in the family."(Lyons 2) Lucy was a country schoolt eacher, who taught all her children how to read and write, which lead to six out of her seven children earning a college degree (Lyons 2-3). Unfortunately, Lucy Hurston died when Zora was nine years of age (Otfinoski 46). Zora was the seventh child out of a family of eight (Otfinoski 45). During her childhood she felt unloved by her father and thus was seen as the odd on out (Lyons 2). 	Zora's education was comprised of six years of grammar school, high school, and several prestigious colleges. Zora attended grammar school in Eatonville, Florida at Hungerford School around 1907 (Lyons 3). The summer of 1917 Zora began the next step of her education by attending Morgan Academy in Baltimore, Maryland. By 1918 when she had finished her high school requirements, Zora had attended multiple schools, in order to gain the best education as an African American female. 1918-1919 Zora attended Howard Prep School in Washington D.C. In 1920 she earned her associates degree and in 1924 earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in anthropology at Howard University (Lyons 24-6).

Ambition in Your Life Essay

Ambition a passion that never fails you and will never let you fail it, and this is why it will ultimately cause the downfall of the individual. In the novel Frankenstein and in the Play Macbeth, ambition is the main theme in these two pieces. Both Victor and Macbeth had great dreams of accomplishing certain things that defy a higher order. Ambition drove both of them to strive for what they want and never give up on their dreams. Ambition without doubt help or even single handling brought Macbeth and Victor to their dreams. Ambition is the best quality that a person can have, it allowed Victor and Macbeth to achieve what they always wanted. Whatever can bring you to the top, also has the power to make you fall harder then you fell before, being overly ambitious can also destroy a person and people that surrounds this individual. Victor and Macbeth succeeded in accomplishing their deepest desire but this does not mean they have succeeded in achieving happiness. Everyone dreams about achieving goals and dreams in life that is nearly impossible to grasp due to certain circumstances. Why do some individuals still try in chasing their dreams even though they know that the chances of succeeding are very slim? In the novel Frankenstein and the play Macbeth, Victor and Macbeth had dreams of achieving goals that defy a high order which promises server consequences. Victor and Macbeth are examples of the individual that were driven by ambition, this ambition was so strong and relentless that it actually allowed both Victor and Macbeth achieved their impossible dreams. In Victor’s case he succeeded in creating life and Macbeth succeeded in becoming king and this was all due to being ambitious and determined. Yes Victor and Macbeth did achieved what they wanted but both paid great prices in doing so. Was it worth it? Ambition is the best quality anyone can have, until we crossed the line of chasing a dream and just being obsessed. No one is born with the ambition that makes you obsessed with your goals and dreams in life. Certain incidents must occur to push this person to let ambition make you become obsessed with the goals and dreams in life. Victor and Macbeth both experience this incident that allow their ambitious minds to take over. Victor experienced the lost of a love one, which was his mother. This shock was too great for Victor to handle, this caused victor to hate the fact of death and suffering in life. The chance and opportunity of being able to bring his mother back, and to end all suffering was to captivating. He had the knowledge and power to do so. This caused his ambitious mind to grow and start to take over. The same line of events occurred to Macbeth as well. Macbeth had no intention in betraying his king and taking the throne. Until the three witches implanted the seed of betrayal in Macbeth, he started to think of the opportunities that being the king would bring to him. Betrayal thoughts started to occur in his mind. Macbeth was never sure of what to do until he talked to his lovely wife, she convinced him in taking this opportunity in becoming king. Macbeth kept his ambitious mind under control until the actual first deed of betrayal was committed which was the killing of Duncan, the current king of Scotland. After this incident, ambition took over Macbeth and caused in to do everything in his power to secure his throne. A determined and overly ambitious mind is a blind one. You may spend your whole life striving for a dream or goal that you have. You work so hard in getting what you think you really want, but when you actually achieved and accomplished you goal or dream. You realized that you’re not happy and lost certain things that are so much more important to you then your so called dream or goal. Macbeth and Victor both experienced this in their lives. Victor tried to create life and he succeeded in doing so, but in the course of creating â€Å"The monster† he abandoned what was really important to him, which is his family, his friends, most importantly his life. His creation actually destroyed everything that Victor loved and cared for. The monster should not be blamed because victor crossed the line of trying to better human kind and playing God. He created this hideous and ugly monster that no one can possibly love and abandoned it and left it to die. The actions of victor can also justify the actions of the monster. If victor actually took the time in thinking of what he was doing, he would’ve realized the mistake he was making. He made another mistake right after making the first one. He gave this monster life and limitless power and intelligent, obviously this monster can survive and cause great harm to him and his love ones. If he actually stayed with the monster and taught him how to live and act towards other beings, things would’ve of turned out totally different. Macbeth experienced the same exact lines of events and feelings that victor did in his life. If Macbeth thought of the acts that he was committing, he would’ve of realized that the only thing he is accomplishing in killing the king, is damning himself, his only loved ones. It is obvious that if he committed this act of betrayal and defiance of a higher order, only bad can occur from this. He didn’t realize this right after this act just like victor. He continued to do wrong because of his ambitious mind, which Victor also experienced. He continued acting on his relentless ambition to secure his throne and his undying passion to seek happiness which at the time was being king for him. Which was completely wrong. Knowledge is power and power can corrupt any human being. Victor and Macbeth had the opportunity to achieve their dreams and goals. This thought corrupted both their minds. As both Victor and Macbeth succeeded in achieving their dreams, they experienced different feelings. When Victor was successful in creating life, it totally scared him that he actually create life and it caused him to flee. This ultimately caused the downfall and death of Victor. In Macbeth’s case when he became king, it made him a more determined and stronger person. It made him paranoid and trusted no one, which caused him to make more mistakes, such as killing any one that stood a threat. Victor and Macbeth both were not happy even though they achieved their dream. This is because they acted on impulse which caused them to do whatever it takes to succeed, which caused them to make mistakes that they regretted towards the end of their lives. All of this and every mistake that both Victor and Macbeth made were because they let their ambitious mind blind them of their senses and conscious of what is really important to them and what truly makes them happy. Chasing a dream is good, until the mind is obsessed and is poisoned with the ambition that will change you to a whole new person. You can also order a custom term paper, research paper, thesis, dissertation or essay on ambition from our professional custom essay writing service which provides students with high-quality custom written papers at an affordable cost.

Our Relationship With Nature Explored in Jon Krakauers...

In Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer explores the human fascination with the purpose of life and nature. Krakauer documents the life and death of Chris McCandless, a young man that embarked on an Odyssey in the Alaskan wilderness. Like many people, McCandless believed that he could give his life meaning by pursuing a relationship with nature. He also believed that rejecting human relationships, abandoning his materialistic ways, and purchasing a book about wildlife would strengthen his relationship with nature. However, after spending several months enduring the extreme conditions of the Alaskan wilderness, McCandless’ beliefs begin to work against him. He then accepts that he needs humans, cannot escape materialism, and can†¦show more content†¦Throughout his journey, McCandless met several people who genuinely wanted to help and befriend him. However, he was so committed to his Alaskan Odyssey that he felt like human relationships were just a distraction, not a necessity. One of these people, Ronald Franz, enjoyed McCandless’ company so much that he wanted to adopt him. McCandless reacted to this proposition by pursuing a job offer and discreetly slipping out of Franz’s life. Once the job offer proved to be a fluke, McCandless desperately called Franz and asked for a ride. By asking for help in the form of a car, McCandless demonstrates that his journey was beginning to challenge his beliefs. Although McCandless was initially against materialism, he was beginning to realize that it was also beneficial to his journey. By abandoning his old beliefs, McCandless demonstrates that exploring nature is an experience that can significantly change one’s beliefs. Although it was clear that McCandless needed human relationships, he continued to pursue a life of isolation in the Alaskan wilderness. As he walked around the Sushana River, McCandless spotted an abandoned bus and decided to use it for shelter. Krakauer visited the bus a year la ter and discovered that McCandless grew quite attached to the old bus. McCandless filled the bus with pots and pans, a makeshift table, a keroseneShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Christopher Mccandless s Into The Wild 2362 Words   |  10 Pagesuncharted territories. A similar experience actually occurred in real life , and hence a fantastic novel was born by the story of a young man with a seemingly bright future, who soon endured the journey of a lifetime. The well known novel â€Å"Into the Wild† by Jon Krakauer is based on the true story of Christopher McCandless, a young man from a wealthy family in the Eastern United States, who, after graduating from Emory University, donated all his available money to charity and embarked on a trip throughRead MoreThe Idea Of The Absurd3255 Words   |  14 Pagescohorts tend to create extravagant or incompatible files / nuts / bolts (call it what you want) which leads to ultimately ineffective projects on the whole. Here at Cessna, we want to channel those passions - cut out the absurdism per se - to realize our next engineering challenge. M a r t i n e z | 3 The absurdism of the bureaucrats that he faces is almost unreal considering the economic impact that Cessna has on the local and national community, having one of the best-selling aircraft of all timeRead MoreProject Mgmt296381 Words   |  1186 PagesConnor and Lauren). C.F.G. â€Å"We must not cease from exploration and the end of all exploring will be to arrive where we begin and to know the place for the first time.† T. S. Eliot To Ann whose love and support has brought out the best in me. And, to our girls Mary, Rachel, and Tor-Tor for the joy and pride they give me. Finally, to my muse, Neil, for the faith and inspiration he instills. E.W.L Preface Since you are reading this text, you have made a decision that learning more about project management