Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul :: essays research papers

Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul is the first of seven editions of the Chicken Soupseries. It is loved and admired by everyone that reads it. It has become a popular book all over the world. The author, are various people-was a struggling single mother when she started the Harry Potter series. She spent time in a cafà © in England to write the books. She did a fabulous job, she has been the recipient several awards for the series, and the first book will be transformed into a movie, which should be released in November of 2001. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Harry Potter, and I plan on reading the rest of them. From what I have read in just the first book I am sure that I will enjoy all the rest. The author has a very creative way of writing that is easy enough to understand, but also involved so that the reader isn’t bored stiff. This is partially why I feel that it has had such great success. Another big reason for its success is because it can be read and enjoyed by all ages. If you are young, you can relate to the first years; if you are older you can think back and it brings out the child in you. This magnificent story is about an eleven year old boy who has been deprived of practically everything all his life. Harry Potter lived in a cupboard under the stairs with his â€Å"muggle† relatives. Muggle refers to humans who lack any sort of mystical power. His Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia treated him very poorly because they refused to accept him for whom he is: a very famous child with great potential as a wizard amongst the magical world. As he grew up he never got anything of his own, even on special occasions. He received his spoiled cousin Dudley’s old clothes, which were all too big for Harry. At school Harry was bullied around, at home he never got a full dinner, and his birthdays were often forgotten. Needless to say, he lived a very depressing life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Fortunately things changed. Harry received an envelope in the mail, but Uncle Vernon did not allow him to read it. Another letter came; once again Harry was not allowed to read it. More and more letters came, it was apparent to Harry that someone was trying to contact him and would not stop until he got the message.

Athletes and Ethics: The Choice to be Role Models

The merits and ethics of athletic scholarships, and the accountability athletes had to accept to conform to projected social norms is a contentious issue.On one hand, the pressures athletes face depend on the nature of the various normative and actual notions of role models projected onto athletes by the relevant institutions, the branches of these institutions, and society at large. However, the pressures athletes face depend on the attitude of the athlete towards the concept of the ‘role model’, and how seriously the athlete takes subjective notions of public image   and civic virtue.The social and institutional versus athlete pressure/role model dynamic essentially hinge on whether athletes should be viewed as role models, the difficulty in being a role model, whether they should indeed be expected to be role models, or if athletes even have a choice in the matter.Athletes and Ethics: Big Pressure for High School and College AthletesA young boy enters the house in h is favorite purple Lakers jersey. As he sat in front of the television, he sees his favorite basketball star, Kobe Bryant, arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting of a woman.   From the perspective of civic functionality, there are some strong views against the use of athletes as role models.Citing the high profile example of Kobe Bryant, Brown (2005) contends that there can be a discrepancy between the public persona and private deeds of high profile professional athletes. Bryant’s case is instructive of cases where an athlete’s public good standing can be shattered in the light of public scrutiny. Whether or not there was truth to the allegations, did Bryant hold any responsibility to the public regarding the damage this has to his image? Either way, he did not have a choice.Athletes as Role Models: A Perception of the Past  At issue here was the view that to be a role model was defined by the contributive function made by a member of society. Doctors, police, firefighters and soldiers were apparently more intrinsically deserving of the social abstraction of â€Å"role model.† However, the philanthropic activity of athletes did not negate their supposed lack of social function outside of a sport (Brown, 2005).The emergence of the celebrity status of athletes as role models of the youth may seem to be a product of mass media and marketing. To prove that this was not so, all puns aside, Mosher (1998) gave further credence to the image of sports people as role models.A presentation of the athletes as role models in a historical and sociological context must be done to show the perception these sports people had for the longest time. The British amateurism in the sports of the 19th century, where amateurism and elitism worked hand in glove to exclude the working classes from any participation in certain sports that were the reserved for the â€Å"civilized gentlemen† of the ruling elite (Mosher, 1998).Chivalry was the image of role models, as translated to the modern century America’s language, was both universally accepted and desirable. America, where improving one’s lot was the central pillar for its foundation, did not let amateurism find fertile ground in this self-proclaimed egalitarian nation.Hence, with professionalism and the social mobility associated with it, came the desire of upstanding role models in sport inherited by concepts of chivalry in the Old World.Going back further in time, the Greeks were seen to greatly influence how heroism was related to sports. During their time, sportsmen were regarded as heroes. Competition was something that was highly regarded and those who participated were regarded to be men who were above ordinary men (Boon, 2005).The hero figure was someone who had physical strength, courage and an innate ability to confront dangerous circumstances without fear; most of these qualities were attributed to their Greek athletes as well as to their great warr iors. A hero was the Greek’s version of the public’s role model, even if it the modern term was an understatement and less romanticized.Athletes still held the same power, influence and impact that were given by history to sportsmen. They were ideally seen to transcend mediocrity and to prove themselves by exceptional acts and to serve as perfect examples because of their superior qualities (Boon, 2005). They were seen to dominate human action and to symbolize success and perfection, as well as the conquest of evil. Thus, they were seen to be men of good character because if they were not it would mean they were imperfect and mediocre.Aside from the Greek correlation of sports and heroism, aside from physical development, how did sports become a tool to build character in the American perception? There was a time wherein sports was not even considered to be something good in American life as it was seen to be the root of gambling and everything that was un-Christian? H ow come it has now been regarded as an avenue of chivalry and gentlemanly behavior?It was during when the Church attempted to regulate sports that it was seen to serve the purpose of character development for boy and girls (Mosher, 1998). Even basketball was created to promote teamwork, self-sacrifice, obedience, self-control as well as loyalty. The biggest factor that was seen to have implanted the idea that athletes must be role models was the Olympic movement (Mosher, 1998).In the present, the analogy of comparing people of chivalry in the past to athlete role models of the present time was seen to be outdated. However, the fact that it was still existing seemed to provide the sense of intrigue as to where this concept came from and why it had survived for so long (Skidelsky, 2003).In the 19th century, sportsmen accepted the idea that they had a special duty to behave well. Athletes were seen to be required to behave under the â€Å"proponents of ‘muscular Christianityâ₠¬â„¢Ã¢â‚¬  as it was instilled in moral instruction of the sports (Skidelsky, 2003).This created the belief that physical robustness was expectedly connected to moral purity, something that would be indubitable in the present world of sports. The public, at present, would be constantly bombarded with how athletes were not able to cope with the pressures and temptations of fame.Unlike the requirement of the past, professional sports had ceased to require any form of moral or responsible behavior for these athletes to be successful (Glenarden, 1997). Possessing success seemed to be held by society to be more important than possessing good character, morals or ethical behavior.

7 Signs of a Bad Roommate Relationship

Even though college roommate relationships are more likely to be good ones than not-so-good ones, there are always situations where things arent working out for the best. So how can you know when your college roommate situation is officially bad? What are the signs of a bad roommate relationship? 1.Youre Glad When Your Roommate Isnt Around That isnt to say that you arent happy to have some alone time every once in a while; privacy can be hard to find in college, after all. But if you always are looking forward to your roommates absence, there might be a problem. You dont have to be best friends with your roommate, but you probably shouldnt mind when theyre around. 2. Youre Not Speaking to Each Other Unless Absolutely Necessary—If Even Then In some situations, roommates can decide, whether consciously or by default, that not speaking to each other is the best solution. And while this may work for a little while, it definitely wont work long-term. Not speaking to each other is still communicating in a way, and eventually, that kind of Silent Treatment message is going to get expressed in other, even-less-productive ways. 3. You Argue More Often Than Not Conflict is pretty much unavoidable when you live with someone for nearly a year in a situation that constantly has external stresses put upon it (midterms, finances, relationships, etc.). Just like good friends can argue and still be friends, roommates can address and work through conflict without damaging their roommate relationship. Still, if you find yourself arguing more often than not with your roommate, that might be a sign that your relationship has officially soured. 4. Everyone Knows You Dont Like Your Roommate Is it normal for people to have ups and downs with roommates, and to share those ups and downs with friends? Definitely. But if you have had so many issues and conflicts with your roommate that your friends, family, and classmates know about it, then it might be time to consider switching roommates -- or at least look into dealing more directly with your frustrations. 5. Youre Secretly Hoping Things Get Bad Enough That Your Roommate Moves Out   When youre in a situation with conflict, there are often two major choices: fix the conflict, or fix the situation. Ideally, in a college roommate situation, your aim should be to resolve the conflict so that the two of you can get back to living together in a positive, healthy way. If, however, your goal is to have your roommate simply move out (thus changing the situation), things may be worse than you thought. 6. Youre No Longer Making an Effort to Resolve Conflicts or Fix the Situation If youve resigned yourself to having a bad roommate and being in a bad situation, there may be justified reasons for feeling that way. But officially quitting on making an effort to repair—or at least improve— your relationship and/or your situation is never a good sign. 7. All Respect Has Left Your Roommate Relationship Respect in a roommate relationship comes in all forms; you and your roommate should respect each others space, time, things, and relationships—not to mention each other as people. But if things have degenerated to the point where you just dont care or respect anything about your roommate, your situation definitely needs some help.