Get Happy, an article written by Walter Mosley is mainly based upon the idea that the government needs to become more involved in our lives in order to create true happiness within the country. Mosley uses multiple literary devices throughout his piece, such as rhetorical questions, repetition, and similes, all of which effectively contribute to the theme of the article, and help create a clear purpose. Mosley uses multiple types of literary devices in order to help get his point across, one being rhetorical questions. These are special types of questions that are not meant to be answered, but rather used to make a reader think about the side being argued.
Arguably, the happier an individual is, the better the quality of their life, and the better off they are. But despite this, there are people who will even argue that lower levels of happiness are the best because you maintain the ability to progress in life and your motivation is still present. Although many people will only see two sides to this argument, there is a totally different view that provides the optimal quality of life and the most beneficial outcome in the big picture; and that is moderate happiness. Cliff Oxford’s essay “High Performance Happy” evaluates the effect that an individual’s happiness has on their beneficiality to society and how you should always strive to be the happiest you can be. Oxford’s main point is that
Happiness plays an important and necessary role in the lives of people around the world. In America, happiness has been engrained in our national consciousness since Thomas Jefferson penned these famous words in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (Jefferson). Since then, Americans have been engaged in that act: pursuing happiness. The problem however, as Ray Bradbury demonstrates in his novel Fahrenheit 451, is that those things which make us happy initially may eventually lead to our downfall. By examining Guy Montag, the protagonist
Lyubomisky explains that happiness is determined through three major sources; genetics determines a great majority of an individuals set happiness level at approximately fifty percent of it. Ten percent is based on income, social status, and location of living. Finally fouty percent of a person’s response through actions and activities that individuals choose to engage in are what determine an individual’s happiness. This chart stresses to the audience that money does not guarantee happiness by any means. However, the fiml fails to explain how the specialist, Sonja Lyubomisky was able to form such a chart through her reaserach on
The fact that happiness is a state of well-being pursued by humans since the beginning of humanity is not new. Since the ancient Greek philosophers, happiness has always been a goal for people. However, the definition of happiness is still subjective and controversial as Mark Kingwell, an award-winning social critic, essayist, and professor of philosophy at the University of Toronto, presents in his article “In pursuit of Happiness." The author begins to build his credibility by calling everyday facts and emotions, also by citing philosophers, researchers, and other authors. Using the sources effectively in a persuasive piece, Kingwell demonstrates, through examples and science researches, the difficulty in defining happiness, which can result in unhappiness.
In "A Balanced Psychology and a Full Life" (by Martin E.P. Seligman, Acacia C. Parks, and Tracy Steen) the three pillars of happiness are outlined. These three constituents of happiness are positive emotion,
Happiness is one of the six main emotions that humans experience during their lifetime. Certain people experience other feelings more than others like a child is happier and less stressed than an adult would be. Fear, anger, and sadness are all seen as negative feelings, and people usually want to avoid accepting any of these emotions because of the distress they cause. Being happy can improve one’s lifestyle tremendously. Happiness helps to build healthy relationships and be optimistic about the future, but sadness and fear also help one’s state of mind.
Not many achieve happiness in their lifetime. Either they do not live long enough to witness it or they are not prepared for what their happiness is. Happiness is very subjective. Each person’s version of happiness is different. This version of happiness is universal.
Happiness comes in many forms and every person in this world has the chance to feel it. According to Martin E.P. Seligman and Ed Royzman authors of “Happiness: The Three Traditional Theories”, happiness is acquired when a person utilizes all three traditional theories; Hedonism Theory, Desire Theory, and Objective List Theory. The Hedonism Theory believes happiness is acquired when a person maximizes pleasure and minimizes pain (Seligman and Royzman). The Desire Theory believes that happiness is achieved when a person gets what he or she wants. The Objective List Theory believes happiness is reached when a person achieves certain things of worthwhile pursuits" (Seligman and Royzman).
Happiness The poem Happiness by Jane Kenyon is a thirty-one line, free verse poem. In other words, a free verse is poetry that does not rhyme or have a regular meter. The poem Happiness explains how no matter where people are in life or what they’re going through, they will get through the rough patch in their life. Jane Kenyon explain that happiness is not physically but emotionally felt.
People miss the fact that happiness comes from within. In an attempt to find joy – we must also be cautious about over excessive desire to acquire material objects and wealth. There is a delicate balance that must be reached between the pursuit of happiness, satisfaction, and contentment. While there are many conditions that fulfill ones emotional wellbeing, happiness and how we acquired it, depends upon the
Martin Seligman’s Positive Psychology Fun versus Philanthropy reflective essay Introduction: In this reflective essay, a number of aspects of happiness and well-being, as well as questions relating to Martin Seligman’s task. Firstly, an explanations of the doctrine will be examined. Then, the relation between fun and the philanthropy will be discussed. To sum up, the question whether happiness is everything.
(1991) indicates that the balance between negative and positive feelings is a good indicator of happiness. This suggests the measurement of objective happiness by means of individual balance of positive and negative experiences. Other studies revealed that purely measuring positive emotions, strong implications could be made about the individual happiness level; they can be seen as markers and sources of happiness (Diener, 2005). This is the reason why Seligman only used positive emotions in the PERMA model. Having a valued and worth filling positive life also strongly depends on positive emotions, (Fredrickson, 2001) due to the high correlation of life satisfaction and SWB (Michalos, et al., 2009).
Basically, Seligman says human beings desire to flourish; in addition to wanting happiness, they desire to be good at something, to have fulfilling relationships, and to have meaning in their lives (Flourish, page 16). Seligman’s theory strives to influence individuals and increase their psychological well-being. His positive psychology offers a unique view on mental health through focusing on individual strengths. The goal of positive psychology is to assist individuals in creating meaningful lives through the promotion of positive emotions, individual character strengths, as well as, happiness, as key components to optimal mental health. So happiness to Seligman is an important component and essential but it is not the ultimate end as Aristotle views
A collection of philosophical, religious, psychological and biological approaches had attempted to define happiness and analyze its connections. Researchers have found that about 50% of people happiness depends on our genes, based on studies of identical twins, whose happiness was 50% correlated even when growing up in different houses. About 10% to 15% is a result of various measurable life circumstances variables, such as socioeconomic status, marital status, health, income, and others. The remaining 40% is a combination of intentional factors and the results of actions that individuals deliberately engage in to become happier. Studies have also found that most of us are born with a fixed “set point” of happiness that we fall in throughout our lives.
