I Was Anastasia ends the reveal of Anna Anderson's devastating past and the gruesome fate of the Romanov family. In the final chapter, Anna Anderson reveals her secret of being able to impose as the Duchess. People want Anastasia to survive. We want to believe the legend. Anna is smart enough to know this, she's so devious that she plays with our mind. "You're all so enamored with the legend. Yet here is what you, and all the others, fail to understand: there would be no legend without me. I am the one who stopped her from being a tragic little footnote in history. I kept Anastasia Romanov alive for decades." (Ariel Lawhorn, I Was Anastasia, page 321) Anastasia's perspective ends with her seeing her family die, and then we're left with her mortally injured, on the brink of death. In my mind, I know she couldn't possibly survive, yet the author never confirms her death. So, she leaves the reader to wonder if Anna could possibly be Anastasia. So What? What does it matter that people believe in Anastasia? What does it matter that Anna kept this legend alive? Well, I think the answer is hope. The new government after the Tsar and his family were assassinated turned out to be worse than the Tsar. Not only did the new government not care, but they sent citizens off to internment camps and many never returned. It was a traumatizing time for many citizens, mainly the rich. The legend of Anastasia gave people hope, to keep calm and carry on. And that probably played a role today, the Russian peoples weren't willing to put up with treatment that leaders like Joseph Stalin. I think everything in history happened for a reason. We have to learn from our mistakes. One of the biggest lessons we can also takeaway from this book is from Tsar Nicholas II. He made a mistake by not listening to his people and not doing anything to help them. This teaches us to listen to others, and help them in times of need. Treat others as you would like to be treated, right? This is still a valuable lesson today because if a population isn't given the things they need to survive, how do you think they'll react? Not well, and for all we know that could lead to war. Wars in this day and age could be much more dangerous, and on a nuclear scale, potentially killing many. To prevent all this, we must learn from the Tsar's mistake.
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This book is about Grand Duchess Anastasia and her impostor. The two views frequently switch throughout the whole book. Anna Anderson, Anastasia's impostor, could be described as devious, sneaky and all together manipulative. Early in Anna's life she lost everything, therefore propelling her to lie and act the part of Anastasia. She convinced many, even Gleb Botkin, a boy who grew up with the real Anastasia. The secret to Anna's convincing story was that we, as readers or empathetic humans, wanted to believe that Anastasia survived that horrible fate that she did not end up escaping. Anastasia's perspective focuses primarily on the last 18 months of her life. Anastasia watches her father, Tsar Nicholas II, step down from the throne and saw Alexander Kerensky take over. Her life changed. She was now a prisoner, not royalty. She was moved to one prison to another. Citizens wanted to kill her and her family for everything they had not done for them, such as letting the citizens starve. Then the Bolsheviks took over. Soon after, the Romanov family was brutally murdered.
Present-day America. In the last few years, we had a presidential election. Yes, Trump vs Clinton. Trump won this election, but some people had a theory as to why. People thought the election may have been rigged. But by whom? By Russia of course. The very same Russia where Duchess Anastasia was born. So why does America blame Russia? The answer goes all the way back to the early 20th century when Tsar Nicholas II was overthrown. Tsar Nicholas II had to give up the throne to Alexander Kerensky. Kerensky handed it to Lenin and the Bolsheviks. Then, the USSR(Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) was created in 1922. For basically the rest of the 20th century, the USSR was a power country. And they were America's #1 enemy, all due to the whole Communism vs Capitalism/Democracy issue. There was a war going on. The Cold War. No battles ever happened. So, yes, history still affects us today. History makes us believe things that are just simply not true. Like how Anna might be Anastasia. Or that the election might have been rigged. The story of the Romanovs takes place in Russia, early 20th century. I Was Anastasia, the book that I am currently studying, tells the story of how the royal family was overthrown and murdered. Question is, why? What historical events led up to this? The Russian Revolution, the Tsar abdicated the throne for both him and his descendents because the citizens of Russia rose against the empire. The royal family (The Romanov’s) were held as prisoners, and were assassinated later by a group of individuals called Bolsheviks. Months after that, the USSR is created. In this book, I Was Anastasia, there are two perspectives. Anastasia Romanov and Anna Anderson. Anastasia’s perspective seems to match up with history. Currently in the book her father, Tsar Nicholas II just abdicated the throne, her and her family aren’t royal anymore, they’re prisoners. Alexander Kerensky is now the leader of Russia, soon to be USSR. But for Anna Anderson, her perspective currently is taking place throughout the 1950’s to the late 1960’s. Historically, Anna Anderson had many trials so that she could be legally recognized as Duchess Anastasia Romanov. Of course, in the early 2000’s Anna Anderson was proved wrong because of DNA tests and the discovery of two more Romanov bodies. The reason for the Russian Revolution started because of the unfair treatment of the people. The people in Russia were tired with the royal family. While the Romanovs had riches and were spoiled, Russian citizens had nothing and they were barely living. A lot of citizens had no jobs and many more were food insecure. And the people felt as if the Tsar was doing nothing to help them. Understandably, this created a rift between the leaders and the emperor. In Anastasia’s perspective, she’s angry that the soldiers are here and have taken her family prisoners. But she also watches her little brother, Alexey’s reaction to the news that their father has abdicated the throne. She can see that Alexey is spoiled, for he thinks the people are being unreasonable and he wants the throne back. I think Anastasia is unsure of what to think about the whole matter. I can recognize that she is disapproving of Alexey’s entitlement, but I know she also loves her family and hates to see them as weak and vulnerable as they are at this moment in history. You can tell how much she's struggling with trying to keep her family intact at this time in need. In this long story, you meet many characters. The people that both Anastasia and Anna Anderson met seem to have been real people. For instance, Anna’s husband, Jack Manahan was a real person. In Anastasia’s perspective, she sees Alexander Kerensky a lot, who was a real figure in Russia during that time. It’s fascinating how many people were involved with this Russian tale. The Romanov Family, Anastasia has her arm wrapped around Alexey, her little brother of who she's very fond of. In the book she describes herself as his "guardian".Elderly Depression Essay There is a big problem within the elderly community. That problem is depression; specifically depression within nursing homes/assisted living communities. This is mainly a problem caused by factors such as loneliness and “poor quality of life”(National Institute of Health 2017). Currently, depression affects 49% of elderly in nursing homes (CDC 2014). This is a substantially higher percentage than the other percentages of elderly depression in day centers, hospice and etc. Why are we interested in this issue? We are interested in this issue because we find that it is important to take care of people who are depressed, but we find it especially necessary to take care of the depressed elderly. Also we think it is important to help others and we think others should as well. We feel personally compelled to pursue this issue because we have experienced depression around us in our family and friends. This really influences us to do something to help towards the issue. Other people should feel compelled to care about this issue because the elderly are very important. Also the elderly deserve to be happy after such a long life; they do not deserve to be depressed. Depression is a serious topic that many people aren't aware of, especially depression among the elderly. Many people may think it is not as important because they are old or that they have lived through everything, but they still have a life to live. Depression among the elderly is common but it's not really known. The elderly often times develop symptoms of depression due to the deaths of their loved ones, medical problems, or just any changes major or not. Depression manly affects the elderly because of any medications they use and or diseases they may have. Depression is common due to the fact that they are ageing. Depression affects 20% of Americans older than 65 year of age (Platt 2018). This is important; it might not look like a lot but it’s still a pretty big percentage of the population. All of the diseases/ health problems they may have might lead them to frustration and eventually depression. Elderly depression is a major problem amongst sixty year-old and older patients in nursing homes and hospitals. They can develop serious mental issues and disabilities. These may affect their mental condition and social activities(healthline 2017). The elderly may feel sad or not normal, but they shouldn't be depressed. Their depression is often from their genes as well as physical and psychological problems(healthline 2017). Depression becomes worse as the mind ages. Many people have tried to fix and eliminate signs and symptoms of elderly depression(PCM 2006). People try things such as pills and medicine to mainly limit symptoms. Some hospitals have even done surgery procedures to fix the mental illness(PMC 2006). Many elderly try to seek psychological help and or counselor to help with depression. Nursing homes also try to stay upbeat and interact with the elderly and entertain them to help improve their living(PMC 2006). Many things that people do with the elderly is to have get them lots of exercise and also establish new hobbies as well as family visits and family time(PMC 2006). There are many things people have done to improve elderly depression. What can I do? I can go volunteer with my acquaintances, at a nursing home. We would love to enjoy long conversations with the elderly, or play games with them. We would love to just volunteer wherever they may need support. We’ve called (The Morningside of Raleigh) a retirement home and they would be happy with us volunteering! The service day is prospectively on June 6th. The preferred amount of students to go volunteer at Morningside is 15-20 students. The students and their parents would have to fill out Wake County’s permission slips, those are the only requirements of Morningside of Raleigh. We would take a bus, it’s a six minute ride, round trip. We need volunteers who will be respectful, quiet, patient, and volunteers who are less hyper. We have to remember that these citizens need assistance but some students may not work well with elders. They would need to be productive, to participate with activities we do. Also, they would have to help brainstorm fun games, recreation or pastimes. If you had to decide which students were to go to the elderly home, who would fit the requirements/preferred persona for the job? Our final goal is to help the elderly. We want to bring a little joy into their lives. We know that living in an elderly home may have a dreary effect on someone’s life. They may become depressed, lonely, and/or bored. Hopefully, when we volunteer, we’ll play games and have fun with them, which will hopefully brighten up their day. Works Cited Diefenbach, Gretchen and Goethe, John. “Clinical Interventions for Late-Life Anxious Depression”. National Center for Biotechnology Information. March 2006. 26 Jan.2018<https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2682453/ > Hurley,Katie. ”Depression in the elderly.” psycom. 2 November 2017. 25 January 2018<https://www.psycom.net/depression.central.elderly.html> Kavael, Linda et. all. “Associations between physical function and depression in nursing home residents with mild and moderate dementia: a cross-sectional study”. National Center for Biotechnology Information. 20 Jul.2017. 22 Jan.2018 <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5541615/> Krans, Brian. “ Geriatric Depression (Depression in Older Adults)”. Healthline. 22 Jun.2017. 24Jan.2018 <https://www.healthline.com/health/depression/elderly#Overview1> Platt,Kelly. ”Depression in older adults.” thagroup. 9 January 2014. 24 January 2018<http://www.thagroup.org/depression-older-adults/> Rome, Vincent. “Percentage of Users* of Long-Term Care Services with a Diagnosis of Depression,† by Provider Type — National Study of Long-Term Care Providers, United States, 2011 and 2012”. Center for disease control . 31 Jan.2014. 29 Jan.2018 <https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6304a7.htm> Secretary, The Morningside of Raleigh. Personal Interview. 25 January 2018. Essay written by Piper Baucom, Rachel Smith, Dylan Causey, and Lupita Morales-Vazquez. This photo is labeled for noncommercial reuse, saved from Google.
In 2017, North Carolina ranked 43rd in per-pupil spending out of all 50 states in America. The average teacher wage is $9,000 less than national average. Also, there have been signs of racial inequity in North Carolina’s education system. This is major problem. Not only does it make North Carolina look terrible, but it makes our future terrible. “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today,” said Malcolm X. Education IS the passport to the future, for everyone in our community, including those apart of different races. It’s important that everyone has a chance of having a good home, job, or life in general. Education is the key to success. Why am I personally interested in this issue? My fellow classmates, neighbors, and not to mention my friends. If they’re treated unfairly, or have a greater chance of being treated unequally just because of their skin color, well, that’s a major problem that needs to be recognized. During the 2015-2016 school year, students of color were 7.8 times more likely to be suspended than white pupils. That was just in Wake County. If students are missing school, lacking education, they may not get jobs, jobs that in our society need to be fulfilled. They could put a strain on our economy, and it would also affect those not receiving the education. They could feel unimportant, like dead weight on our society causing them to lash out at others. This could potentially cause crime rates to rise. You should care. If you don’t care about the inequity that students face, then care about what it may do to our economy or future generations. With all the problems that our world faces today, such as: global warming, cancer and other diseases, you’d think that we’d need more scientists, doctors, outside-of-the-box thinkers, and educated people in general. We need education, it is our support system as a successful society. How can we help prevent educational injustice? Raising awareness is a wonderful way to do this. Whether you’re a teacher, student, parent or just a concerned citizen you can find NC’s public schools contact information at this website: http://www.ncpublicschools.org/contact-us/. You could write them a letter/email expressing your concern. You could write a letter to your closest school’s administration. If you see an act of this unfair treatment to another acquaintance, don’t be afraid to tell a responsible teacher/adult. Spread the word so that we can all have an equal education! Citations:
Have you ever caught yourself staring at women in magazines, wanting to look like them? Or watching professional athletes and comparing yourselves to them? I have, and I wish I didn’t. I believe that society’s standards shouldn’t affect who we are, we are beautiful just the way we look. Not just girls and women, not just boys and men, everyone. No matter your shape, size, color, personality, we’re all human.
I got acne when I was in fourth grade, making me stand out from the normal Elementary school standards. Everyone knows that you’re not supposed to get acne until middle school! At least, that’s what society’s standards tell us. It got so horrible, I received different suggestions for acne treatment almost every single day. It made my life absolutely miserable, it lowered my self-esteem constantly. Even my closest friends made negative comments on my complexion. That year, I acted out, harming both my friends and family as well as myself. Society’s standards had a big impact on this. On top of my acne, I always got teased on my outfits, especially in sixth grade. I was still wearing clothing from Gymboree; a clothing store meant for toddlers and young children. Other kids were wearing what we wear today, brands like Nike. This was a whole new world to me and I was getting swept up with all the middle school stereotypes. I was obsessed with getting an iPhone, Uggs and Simply Southern shirts. I never realized how much influence society’s standards had over me and until I realized how negative my life was in sixth grade, and I didn’t change. Thankfully, in seventh grade, I realized the error of my ways. I looked back at how my life had been in fourth and sixth grade and learned not to care what others think about my personal appearance. One day, one of my friends brought up another perspective of how society’s standards affects her life. I’ve always counted myself as an affable person and I’ve never been judged for being non-social. On the other hand, my friend is an introvert and hates being social and interacting with people. It made me realize that society expects you to be outgoing, to constantly talk to people. Society’s expectations don’t just judge your body image, but your personality as well! In conclusion, I believe that society’s standards can come in all different forms, harming you and how you perceive yourself. This isn’t true, you’re beautiful inside and out, no matter what anyone tells you. Remember, even when you’re feeling sad or depressed about who you are as a person, there is always someone out there feeling the exact same way as you! Believe in yourself, and keep living life to the fullest! |
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