Toni Morrison's Commencement Speech at Wellesly College on Adulthood Essay

Toni Morrison's Commencement Speech at Wellesly College on Adulthood - Essay Example When we talk about development, there are three phases- the future, the present and the past. The trick here is, to understand the realities of each phase face them and live each one of them with the greatest zeal. According to Toni Morrison, nothing gives one a more satisfactory feeling than becoming the adult at mind and heart- not in age. Age is inevitable and so is death, but adulthood is not! One can live being a child forever- immature, careless, insensitive and aimless. The beauty of being an adult is that one can work towards whatever he wants to achieve. Some people like Kardashian never grow up because they do not achieve maturity of the mind. Adulthood is about being content with the present, being happy about the bounties one has and working towards better every day. It is also about understanding the differences between generations and coming to a compromise to reduce discrepancy between generations. Furthermore, adulthood is the outcome of learning from experiences and mistakes that have been made during childhood and teenage, where the requirement is to acquire ample understanding of life from them. Morrison further clarifies this phenomenon by saying that adulthood in the global context requires one to make their story individualistic and different rather than just ordinary. Every adult has the opportunity to make at least his own circumstances different and personalized in the context of his individual circumstances. Morrison believes that every individual who is mature enough to be called an adult should have the tolerance and patience to bear problems and develop tolerance in oneself for others and for things that are out of one’s control. Instead of whining about a specific situation, one should make desirable effort to achieve results that would make things relatively better. Morrison believes that it is the

Exploring the interest Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Exploring the interest - Essay Example Both Baca and Lu assert that language skills can be used for a variety of purposes and to advance causes which cannot be advanced otherwise. Reading books can play a phenomenal role in a person’s life and the power of writing is such that it can cleanse the wounds and quench the maddening thirst. Baca’s description of what he experienced while writing and how writing relates to thinking suggests that the power of words cannot be denied as it helps transform all the hidden thoughts in black and white. Lu also suggests the same idea but in a different context. She claims that there is a conflict between the world of home and the world of schools. Things we learn at home can potentially conflict with the literacy taught in schools (xxx 372). Baca (cited in xxx 390) expresses in his autobiography how his interest in writing eventually helped him immensely in developing language skills which are important to come out to strangers. Good language skills and writing talent play an immense role in ensuring safety and happiness. While imprisoned, words of the poets like Neruda, Paz, and Hemingway brought life to Baca who thrived for such things as they made him feel liberated and rescued from the unfortunate circumstances which targeted him. Power of the words was such that it transformed Baca into another person whenever he listened to the poetry of great poets from other prisoners. Baca expresses how their poetic language used to enthrall him and carry him to places far away from the gloomy prison cells where he was captivated. That power rescued him from the highly unfortunate inability to defend himself by way of words. Nothing is as humiliating as not being able to express himself (Baca, cited in xxx 387). Lu, in similar context as Baca, express how words helped her to fill up the silence which always haunted her throughout her childhood due to not being able to speak up to her mother how overtly