Scott-Maxwell, F. (1979). The measure of my days. New York: Penguin Books. The Measure of My Days is an autobiography by Florida Scott-Maxwell, which she had written in her eighties. The book explores the feeling and experience of one 's later years: when one feels both cut off from the past and out of step with the present; when the body starts to give up but the mind becomes more passionate than ever. The book offers a wide vision of the issues that we go throughout our lives: the struggle to achieve goodness; how to maintain individuality in a mass society; and how to emerge out of suffering, loss, and limitation and so on. The book is an important contribution to the literature of aging, and of living. Scott-Maxwell’s book is compelling. …show more content…
To be sure, there are some weaknesses in the book. The book is a collection of ideas that the author had jotted down so, the contain in the book are not related to each other which make difficult for the reader to grasp what the author want to say. There is no proper beginning and proper ending in the book which makes the book a bit incomplete. Nevertheless the book provides a valuable and absorbing window into aging. Although, the author discusses more about dependence, disability, loneliness, ageism, it is the thing most of the old people face. The author discusses the change old individual face, which is similar to the theory of Eric Erikson. The authors say that by time immortality does not matter which can be interpreted as being ready to die. The books territory is not just old people, ageing or ageism. The book also talks about some of the most disturbing conflicts of human nature, the need for differentiation as against equality, the recognition of the evil forces in our nature and her insights are challenging and illuminating. The vision that emerges from her accumulated experience of life makes this a remarkable document that speaks to all
(7.22) In eliminating the aging process, science has destroyed a very basic element of the human experience. Mustapha comments that old age is dangerous for the community – not because of physical
According to Shaffer (2009), Erikson believed that human beings face eight major crises, or conflicts, during the course of their lives. Each conflict has its own time for emerging, as dictated by both biological maturation and the social demands that developing people experience at particular points in life (p.42). Every age someone deals with tells a story in their lifetime. There are eight stages in the Erikson’s stages.
In regards to immortality, Todd May argues that it would be an undesirable experience. He argues that immortality would eventually cause everyone to be the same because everyone would have the time to experience the same things. In this paper, I will show that May’s argument is invalid, and that immortality would not cause everyone to become the same person. To begin, May comes to this conclusion after reading “The Immortal” by Jorge Luis Borges.
Personally, I found the book a little difficult and strenuous to read at times. However, it was also incredibly interesting and the information that she unveiled was more than enough to keep wanting to read on. The weaknesses could be resolved by changing the writing style, however, I think this is more of a personal preference than a suggestion, because if the language was changed to something more ‘simple’, it would be quite basic. Plus, it is more of an educational piece that would be hard to write without this type of jargon. I also respect the author’s choices in writing so I wouldn’t really want her to change that!
This article journal is from: The Gift of Years by Joan Chittister. In the past, we often hear of people who wanted their name to be remembered throughout history. Whether it be a Roman gladiator, a foreign ruler, or a philosopher, many just wanted their name to be known for all of time. They believed that they left a legacy if their names went down in history. One of the most painful things is that there are graves of unknown soldiers or unclaimed bodies (Chittister 215).
Aging is a phenomena not only of the body, but of the mind as well. It is situational in practice, giving each journey into adulthood its own “thumbprint”. One’s trials and tribulations gain emotional weight as they are encountered, but the weight one holds at certain periods of time can differ according to their background. The novels Flight, The Joy Luck Club, and The Glass Castle; however, enlighten the possibility of resembling another’s venture into maturity, despite distinct differences in general conditions. Together, these three novels endeavor into their protagonists’ personalities, and they thematically portray coming-of-age transformation.
With the undeniable truth, everyone must age and grow older. Although this is a natural process of life, not everyone is accepting of this. At this age, being an older adult you face difficulties such as aging, sexuality, relationship dynamics and having to face reality that you are not in your prime as you once were. Heart attacks, strokes, and other ailments are examples of this. However, just as there younger counterparts they still able to do somethings they were able to do in their earlier stages.
Life is the span between the birth and death of a living species, especially a human being. The average lifespan of a human being today, is about seventy-one years. Full of ups and downs, life is too short to stumble upon the negative aspects and remain stuck. The blessings and successes should be some of the main focal points, which will provide happiness if life is lived in the moment. In the book Our Town, it reveals the stages of two families’ lives and how quickly it progresses.
We see a form of defiance to what can be viewed as the greatest loss in aging; that of our individuality and uniqueness in character and
This paper describes and analyzes a life review interview with an older adult. The purpose of this paper is to discuss, record and reflect on an older adult’s life in order to evaluate them on the last stage of Erik Erickson’s theory of psychosocial development; integrity versus despair. This paper will also focus on the elements of a life review as well as the reflections of the interview on the part of the author. JC is a seventy-seven year old white male who lives by himself in New York City. He was born in London, England, and was an only child.
Theories of late adulthood development are quite diverse in later adulthood than at any other age. They include self-theory, identity theory and stratification theory. The self-theory tries to explain the core self and search to maintain one’s integrity and identity. The older adults tend to integrate and incorporate their various experiences with their vision and mission for their respective community (Berger, 2008). Also, the older people tend to feel that their attitude, personalities and beliefs have remained in a stable state over their lives even as they acknowledge that physical changes have taken place in their bodies.
The life span of an individual goes through developmental stages in life, from conception to death. The majority of the stages we pass are biological, socio-economical and psychological birth rights. This essay will focus on the two stages, drawn from the eight stages of Erikson Theory, namely: Trust vs Mistrust and Generativity vs Stagnation. The essay will further discuss authoritative parenting and attachment styles. The eight stages which a healthy person should undergo from infancy to late adulthood, are built on the success of mastering the previous stage.
In the book The Ageless Self (1986), author Sharon Kaufman explains how older people create a connection of self by unfolding the sense of their lives which is discovered over the life evaluation process. They preserve a logic of self and of constant uniqueness throughout their lifetime and, therefore, can "be themselves" in old age. In order to accomplish self-integrity, they assimilate and accept different incidents of their lifetime into what Kaufman calls themes. These themes are produced by people as a means by which they interpret and evaluate their life experiences. Themes are logistic and helpful indicators which attach and assimilate diverse experiences and build and sustain stability.
Late Adulthood is the stage of the human life cycle where an individual nears the end of their life. The life expectancy in the United States has slowly increased over the years therefore allowed many to further analyze the physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development during late adulthood. The stage of late adulthood has been emphasized by ageism and the stereotypical "old" person but, will be further educated by the normative development of the life cycle of late adulthood. For the “old” experience dramatic changes in their development as they face loss, death, and illness.
However in spite of this, Ben demonstrates our third class topic of positive successful aging. Ben offers a perfect example of how aging well can still have a positive effect on his own life, as well as that of others. Ben appears to proceed through his life experiences with an