Every day of our lives we are being influenced. It can be a very negative experience especially when it causes us to abandon our morals out of fear. But it can also be positive, for example, it can inspire us to succeed and drive us to achieve our dreams. It is a very rare moment in our lives when we are not being influenced by outside forces. As humans we are constantly being manipulated by others because we value their opinions, but we are also being influenced positively by being inspired by others’ actions which can cause us to become determined to succeed and achieve our goals. George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” and the excerpt from Randy Pausch’s “The Last Lecture” both help demonstrate the two different sides of this spectrum. George
…show more content…
The except from Randy Pausch’s “The Last Lecture” explores the idea of being positively influenced by others and how it can inspire us succeed. The passage begins with the line “I knew then that pretty much anything was possible” in reaction to the 1969 moon landing. The narrator then goes on to say “It was as if all of us, all over the world, had been given permission to dream big dreams”. These quotes exemplify how when something as huge as the moon landing happens it can awaken our belief that anything is possible. These lines illustrate these things because the majority of humans are wired from the time we are young to believe that anything is possible if you believe in yourself, but as we grow older we become more pessimistic and start to discourage ourselves from even trying because we don’t believe in ourselves anymore. The except ends with the line “Give yourself permission to dream, fuel you kids dreams too” this line exemplifies the importance of having dreams, as well as, the importance of others and the positive influence they have. These things are significant because by having a goal that you want to achieve it can help push you farther in life and by having people who influence you positively in addition to inspiring you to go after your dream it can help you not only achieve your ambitions but also can cause you to help inspire other people in your life to also go after their
The except from Randy Pausch’s “The Last Lecture” explores the idea of being positively influenced by others and how it can inspire us succeed. The passage begins with the line “I knew then that pretty much anything was possible” in reaction to the 1969 moon landing. The narrator then goes on to say “It was as if all of us, all over the world, had been given permission to dream big dreams”. These quotes exemplify how when something as huge as the moon landing happens it can awaken our belief that anything is possible. These lines illustrate these things because the majority of humans are wired from the time we are young to believe that anything is possible if you believe in yourself, but as we grow older we become more pessimistic and start to discourage ourselves from even trying because we don’t believe in ourselves anymore. The except ends with the line “Give yourself permission to dream, fuel you kids dreams too” this line exemplifies the importance of having dreams, as well as, the importance of others and the positive influence they have. These things are significant because by having a goal that you want to achieve it can help push you farther in life and by having people who influence you positively in addition to inspiring you to go after your dream it can help you not only achieve your ambitions but also can cause you to help inspire other people in your life to also go after their