Thankful For My Classmates

Around this time every year, people often take more time to reflect and think about what aspects in their lives that we appreciate the most. Thanksgiving is a time to share thanks for what you have in your life. I'm grateful for the family that has remained so reliable in my life, for the old friends that have basically become my second family, and new friends that have continuously introduced themselves into my life. In my English class, I am most thankful for my classmates that sit around me, including Josh, Max, Kyle, and Sally. I am thankful for Josh because in addition to the other 5 classes we share together, having English class together has allowed us to become more familiar with each other as friends. We're able to ask each other urgent questions we might have concerning the other classes that we share together. I am thankful for Max for accompanying me every day to the second period study hall that we have together during passing periods. Because I didn't know Max before this year, I'm glad that English class brought us together to become friends. Although I have known Kyle for quite a while, I'm thankful for him because we were able to become much closer as friends this year. He's a good listener and we're able to understand each other's problems. I'm additionally thankful for Sally because she's able to guide our discussions very well and offer interesting input during our group work.

A Principle We Should Keep

In Cormac McCarthy's The Road, we see that a key principle that the man and the boy are keen on keeping is never resorting to cannibalism no matter how desperate their situation gets. We also see that this principle isn't followed by some that the man and the boy encountered in The Road. The man and the boy is keeping this principle because cannibalism is the last straw that strips away a person's humanity. In The Road's post-apocalyptic world where hope is gone and death always surrounds them, the boy and the man aren't going to allow themselves to stoop to the level cannibals, in order to keep their humanity intact.
I think that in our world, a principle that we should keep is to not harm any other person, unless the purpose is for self-defense. I believe that no matter how far into the future we get, people shouldn't harm others solely for the purpose of harming them. There are also instances where the reason for hurting another person is for revenge because that person had hurt them in the same way, but I don't think that revenge solves anything. Harming another person will only cause more trouble and won't relieve the pain that they had felt. When we hear about people intentionally hurting others, I think that the two most common reasons for their behavior is either for self-defense or because they wanted to instigate revenge on someone else. Revenge only allows people to take their anger out on another and when they do, they aren't making the situation better in any way. Revenge never fixes the situation, and often only makes things worse. I see self-defense as being the only acceptable excuse, if any, for intentionally harming other people.