Alberts Aimless Absurdity - 898 Words

In Albert Camus’ novella, The Stranger, he exposes his beliefs on absurdism through the narration of Meursault. Camus’ definition of absurdism is a philosophy based on the belief that the universe is illogical and meaningless. Camus, founder of absurdism and French Nobel Prize winning author, sends the reader his underlying theme that life is meaningless and has no ulti-mate significance. This underlying theme of life’s absurdity is extremely personal to Camus through his own individual experiences of his life. Camus establishes his process of absurdism directly in the first line. Meursault narrates, â€Å"[m]other died today. Or, maybe, yesterday; I can’t be sure† (Camus 4). This is the first indica-tion Meursault does not pay much consideration to the life of his own. In normal cases, children who have lost their mother, or any parent, should know details of such a horrifying event in one’s life. In Simon du Plock’s â€Å"Albert Cam us – Existentialist or Abusurdist?†, he points out, â€Å"[i]n that murder scene [where Meursault kills the Arab] is contained the key to unlocking Camus’ concept of the absurd†¦[l]ife, as Camus describes it†¦is pointless, meaningless, and must end in death† (du Plock 16). For example, the murder scene is the first concrete action Meursault and Camus take to show that human life is meaningless past death. Leading up to Meursault’s slaying of the Arab, it is arguable that he was looking for something to happen. Meursault went to the beach with a gun when it

Absolute Adjectives Definition and Examples

In English grammar, an absolute adjective is an  adjective, such as supreme or infinite, with a meaning that is generally not capable of being intensified or compared. Also known as an  incomparable, ultimate, or absolute modifier. According to some style guides, absolute adjectives are always in the superlative degree. However, some absolute adjectives can be quantified by the addition of the word  almost, nearly, or virtually. Etymology From the Latin, unrestricted to throw Examples and Observations W. H. Auden In a world of prayer, we are all equal in the sense that each of us is a  unique person, with a unique perspective on the world, a member of a class of one. Kenneth Grahame Toad Hall, said the Toad proudly, is an eligible self-contained gentlemans residence, very unique, –The Wind in the Willows, 1908 Tom Robbins Switters was pretending to write on an imaginary notepad with an invisible pencil. I may have been fired by the CIA, but I still moonlight for the Grammar Police. Unique is a unique word, and Madison Avenue illiterates to the contrary, it is not a pumped-up synonym for unusual... Theres no such thing as most unique or very unique or rather unique; something is either unique or it isnt, and damn few things are. Here! He mimed tearing a page from the pad and thrust it at her. Since English is not your first language, Im letting you off with a warning ticket. Next time, you can expect a fine. And a black mark on your record. –Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates, 2000 Robert M. Gorrell The usage panel for the American Heritage Dictionary disapproves by 89 percent expressions like rather unique or very unique. The argument is that the word is an absolute adjective that cannot be qualified in any way. Because it goes back to Latin unus, meaning one, the argument goes, and means only, as in his unique son, no degrees of uniqueness are possible. The word was adopted in English from French in the 17th century with two meanings, being the only one and having no equal. It was seldom used, treated as a foreign word, until the middle of the 9th century, when it became popular to mean remarkable or unusual or maybe just desirable. This is certainly the most common use of the word today. Many users of the language, however, are still reluctant to accept the current meaning, perhaps partly because the word has become so popular with advertising copywriters. –Watch Your Language!: Mother Tongue and Her Wayward Children, 1994 Ernest Hemingway [I]n a perfect bullfight no men are wounded nor killed and six bulls are put to death in a formal and ordered manner... –Death in the Afternoon, 1932 Preamble to the U.S. Constitution We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union... Adam Smith The man of the most perfect virtue, the man whom we naturally love and revere the most, is he who joins, to the most perfect command of his own original and selfish feelings, the most exquisite sensibility both to the original and sympathetic feelings of others. –The Theory of Moral Sentiments, 1759 Martha Kolln and Robert Funk Certain adjectives denote meanings that are  absolute in nature: unique, round, square, perfect, single, double. They can fill both the attributive and predicate slots, but they generally cannot be qualified or compared. We can, of course, say almost perfect or nearly square, but most writers avoid more perfect or very perfect. In the case of unique, it has come to mean rare or unusual, in which case very unique would be comparable to very unusual. However, given the historical meaning one of a kind, the qualified very unique makes no sense. –Understanding English Grammar, 1998 Theodore Bernstein If one wishes to niggle, almost any adjective can be regarded as an absolute. But common sense tells us to avoid any such binding position. The proper course is to respect the absoluteness of words that become ridiculous if comparative or superlative degrees are attached to them... A list of such words could be quite short: equal, eternal, fatal, final, infinite, perfect, supreme, total, unanimous, unique, and probably absolute itself. –Miss Thistlebottoms Hobgoblins, 1971 Lynne Murphy [W]e can divide the realm of  absolute adjectives into two types: non-scalar absolutes, like odd, which are not modifiable, and what well call scalar absolutes, like perfect, which indicate a bounded portion of a scale. –Lexical Meaning, 2010 Gertrude Block [T]he dilution of meaning is typical of English. Take the word very, for example. In Modern English, very has no intrinsic meaning; it acts only as an intensifier to add emphasis to the adjective it precedes (the very best, the very least). But in Middle English it carried the meaning of genuine. Chaucers knight (in the Canterbury Tales) is described admiringly as a verray parfit gentil knight (i.e., a genuine and perfect gentle knight). The original meaning of very still exists in a few phrases, like the very heart of the matter, and the very thought of it.–Legal Writing Advice: Questions and Answers, 2004

Individual Optimism and Health Free Essays

Iris Hobnobs Optimists take proactive steps to protect their physical and mental health as well as focusing on goals that benefit their socioeconomic standing. â€Å"The trait of optimism may provide cognitive, coping, and contextual resources that promote better mental health† (Carver, et al. , 2010. We will write a custom essay sample on Individual Optimism and Health or any similar topic only for you Order Now P. 880 up. 2). Optimism is a behavioral trait that describes people who look for the positive in a situation. Optimism can help people cope in negative situations and lead to greater well-being. Optimists ability to cope with negative situations gives them increased opportunity to succeed and live healthier lives, compared to pessimists, because they believe a positive result is more likely. Comparatively, optimists should be measured the same against pessimists on a scale of very pessimistic to very optimistic with the majority of people falling somewhere in the middle (Carver, et al. , 2010). People display varying degrees of capability when confronted with positive and negative situations and tend to react based on their acquired behavior. Past experiences can affect the espouse of a person to either pessimism or optimism depending on whether the cause was permanent or temporary (Peterson Salesman, 1984). How a person responds can influence the ultimate outcome of a situation whether it pertains to physical or psychological health. Psychologically, optimists seek a positive outcome in the face of negative causes or conditions that range in influence anywhere from benign to malignant. A person dealing with a stressful situation There are rare instances in which optimists fall short on their ability to overcome a negative tuition, which are mostly discounted due to the specificity of situations. For example, if a pregnant mother is optimistic about the health of her baby but has a miscarriage despite her positive attitude. A mother’s optimism for her child’s health did not influence the possibility of a miscarriage and left her especially vulnerable because she had not prepared herself to deal with the possible negative outcome. This situation is uncommon because the prevalence of medical assistance in most industrialized nations supports an optimistic viewpoint for the birth of a healthy child. Past causes that have a persistent negative effect can influence a person to think pessimistically because the stability of negative effects increases the likelihood of a perceived negative outcome. Conversely, temporary negative effects can influence a person to think more optimistically because the negative effects do not have a strong enough correlation with the perceived outcome (Peterson Salesman, 1984). The idea that ‘everything will turn out all right in the end’ removes a person’s need to analyze potential negative conditions due to the eventual positive outcome. By not focusing on the potential negative conditions, the level of distress experienced during negative situations is decreased, also fostering continued dispositional optimism. Therefore, optimism is seen as an acquired behavioral trait and coping mechanism and can be taught to pessimists to improve their well-being. Patients with terminal illnesses may overlook the negative conditions of their illness by emphasizing the positive conditions with dispositional optimism. Researchers have also found that a person with dispositional optimism can positively influence heir physical recovery or management of life-threatening illnesses, such as cancer or HIVE, because the increased capability minimizes the level of distress they experience and allows them to use additional bodily resources toward recovery. The general line of thinking underlying this research is that optimists may be less reactive than pessimists to the stresses of life; the lower physiological stress responses may (over many years) result in less physical wear and tear on the body; the end result may be better physical health and even greater longevity† (Carver, et al. 2010. P. 883 up. 13). Optimists are also less likely to engage in activities that can harm their physical health or develop harmful habits and addictions, such as s moking and drinking. Engaging in physically harmful activities can be seen as an escape mechanism (Carver, et al. , 2010) in response to conditions or experiences that the person feels are too stressful to cope with or overcome. In moderation, these activities may not have a direct influence on a person’s immediate physical health but can foster behavior that increases the risk of continued harmful activities. Smoking one cigarette can make a person feel more relaxed and may not seriously affect their health, but smoking every day increases the risk of serious health problems with little prospect of physical recovery. Optimism can foster behavior that benefits a person’s well-being, psychologically and physically. It allows a person to overlook or cope with emotionally stressful situations despite the negative circumstances and see an outcome to which they will ultimately benefit. A person with dispositional optimism also shows a motivation toward goals that improve physical health and a decrease in the level of engagement in activities that might be harmful. Optimism is a behavioral trait that does not have to be inherited and can be taught to anybody that wish to improve their well-being. How to cite Individual Optimism and Health, Papers