Category: Tuesdays with Morrie

The theme of heroism is one of the most frequent issues, discussed in numerous literary works. Each author tries to present his/her own vision of hero, endow this hero with the best qualities, and make him/her useful to other people. A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, an American Slave, and Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom are the three works from different times, which help me create my own understanding of the word hero and realize that this hero can be found inside of any human being and may be significant to many other people around.

Nowadays, people hear such word as hero very often. You are my hero!  a girl says to her boyfriend, whos just saved her from a huge dog. He is a real hero  a wife thinks about his husband, whos just repaired the roof. This boy will be a real hero  a grandmother demonstrates her admiration of the boy, whos just helped her cross the road. To my mind, people just do not pay much attention to a real meaning of this word, fling and use it in accordance with their emotions and feelings.

This is why, in order to remember and understand a true meaning of heroism, it is better to address to literature and find out how professional writers describe real heroes. On the one hand, it is impossible to believe that works by Robert Bolt, Frederick Douglas, and Mitch Albom have something in common. One of them lived in the middle of the 19^th century, another is from the 1900s, and the last one is still alive and work in Detroit.

However, on the other hand, all these stories are based on real events, the authors introduce real heroes, who take really important and courageous steps in their lives, and these stories are not about some unbelievable human qualities or world disasters  each of these stories presents ordinary people within ordinary conditions, and explains how their attitudes to life and the desire to be better made them real heroes for many people around.

The main hero from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas , an American Slave got a wonderful chance to comprehend the pathway from slavery to freedom at the time, he did not really expected it (Douglas, 39). A real hero should understand the sense of freedom, and it is possible only in case of being enslaved and then getting the cherished freedom.

And in order to achieve this freedom, it is crucially important to control own desires and evaluate the situations from different perspectives, like another hero of selfhood from A Man for All Seasons, Sir Thomas More. The main purpose of More was do prepare myself for, higher things (Bolt, 22).

To my mind, these heroes are connected by one purpose  to be ready to do great things and help the others. As for helping other people, this very quality is also inherent Morrie Schwartz from Mitch Alboms Tuesdays with Morrie. The teacher demonstrates his unbelievable courage in spite of the fact that he is already aware of his death, and this painful and frustrating process reminds the hero about soon end. He cares about his students, tries to teach them the best qualities, in order to provide them with a chance to improve their own lives and their attitude to this world.

Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live (Albom, 104). In this case, the meaning of the word dying may be interpreted in different ways and compared to the ideas of other heroes under consideration: if you were not enslaved, you could not appreciate freedom; if you could not comprehend own desires, you could not explain them to the others; if you did not die, you could not enjoy this life and live.

In general, these three characters have one feature in common  they want to be ready to take great steps in order to help other people to achieve success, and, at the same time, not to forget about personal self-improvement even being bound by unfair realities of this world.

Works Cited

Albom, Mitch. Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Lifes Greatest Lesson. Broadway, 2002.

Bolt, Robert. A Man for All Seasons: A Play of Sir Thomas More. Oxford: Heinemann Educational Publishers, 1996.

Douglas, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, an American Slave. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.

Introduction

Nowadays, a lot of people are chasing their dreams. There is nothing wrong with it, except for the fact that they are paying the price with their lives, giving up on their close ones and things that might be the true meaning of their lives. Mitch is a perfect example of an individual who got lost into materialistic stuff and forgot what his true values were. He eventually decides to meet his teacher, Morrie, when he finds out that the latter is going to die soon (Albom 18).

All of Morries lessons deliver a superior memo that each person should discard prevalent cultural values, and, as a replacement for them, develop his or her own. For Morrie, popular culture is a tyrant that is the reason for the human community to grieve. Morrie himself has escaped this cultural despotism all for creating his own culture based on love and acceptance. He develops his individual culture as a rebellion against the greediness, ferocity, and triviality popularized by media, which has discolored the values promoted by popular culture. Morrie inspires Mitch to free himself of this immoral, tyrannical culture in support of his own, and when he does that he starts to reconsider his life and re-experience contentment.

Analysis

One of the most profound messages elaborated by Morrie is that we are all waves in a boundless ocean, but we should not be afraid of crashing into the shore. Instead, we should embrace our inner self and focus on understanding that we are a part of the ocean as a whole and not just a little helpless wave. Another beautiful idea developed by Morrie establishes that people bury themselves in work, money, and ambition, but they never stand back and ask themselves if that was what they wanted. People get lost in routine and have a hard time coming back, thats why Morrie cries out to Mitch, knowing he is afraid of showing or receiving love and worries about mistaken things that, in fact, are not that important.

The most important message delivered by Morrie is a lovely story about an imaginary bird. You put it on your shoulder and ask it every day whether your day has come and you can die peacefully. Every other day you ask yourself if you are the person you want to be. The moral of the story is that if we accept the fact that we can die at any time, we will lead our lives differently. If you have a bird on your shoulder, you will not put off the things closest to your heart. If you have found meaning in your life, you dont want to go back, because you are eager to go forward. Morrie questions the importance of spirituality and the ability of a person to love and be loved. He, in reality, sees the meaning of life in love:

On condition that we can love each other, and reminisce about the feeling of love we had, we can pass away without ever actually passing away. All the love you gave still exists. All the reminiscences are still out there. You live on in the hearts of every person you have affected and encouraged while you were here (Albom 174).

It is all about the sense of warmth you get when you remember your loved ones (Wolfe 36). Just like Wolfe, Morrie relies on empathy and compassion in each aspect of his life, praising the humanity and ability to love in an individual. He proves to Mitch that spiritual values are more important than materialistic stuff, and it is never too late to understand it.

The implementation of Morries values in our day to day living seems to be nearly impossible. We are affected by the fast life and a different set of values, imposed on us by the media and surroundings (Findlay 342). Society learned to be misanthropic and cynical. The virtue is ridiculed by society and is considered to be a manifestation of the softness of the character. The nowadays meaning of life turned out to be a commercialized attempt to sell us distorted values wrapped in a bright cover.

The probability of old values revival is rather small, but if you gather like-minded people and help others to believe that we are not lost yet, the chance for a comeback still remains. A quiet and hasteless meeting seems to be the best means of discussing the issue and finding out other peoples opinions on the topic. Such conversations would help understand how people feel about it and what they are craving to be changed or, at least, brought to the attention of the majority. Any online discussions would not do justice to the issue, exposing it to the attacks of those, whose opinion differs radically from what is proposed.

Conclusion

To sum up, the author agrees with Morrie and accepts his set of values. The meaning of life is to be in harmony with yourself. This can only be achieved by learning to love yourself and those who surround you. By showing your love, you leave a mark in the lives of others and live on even after death.

Works Cited

Albom, Mitch. Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man and Lifes Greatest Lesson. New York: Random House Large Print, 2010. Print.

Findlay, J. N. Values and Intentions: A Study in Value-Theory and Philosophy of Mind. London: Allen & Unwin, 2014. Print.

Wolfe, Thomas. Of Time and the River; A Legend of Mans Hunger in His Youth. New York: C. Scribners Sons, 1935. Print.

Tuesdays with Morrie is a true-life narrative about Mitch Albom and his friendship with his adviser and professor, Morrie Schwartz, in the last few months before passing away. The description that Albom gives about Morries incredible ideas and fight for continued existence has motivated many readers. Besides being a professor, Morrie had remarkable skills in writing and motivational speaking before his health deteriorated and deterred him from proceeding with his passion. Alboms narration is full of vital lessons that one can learn in his or her life.

Mitch Albom discovered that his professor had been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). From then, Albom was by Morries side each Tuesday for six months. He spent each of these days learning important lessons that he could get nowhere else.

Albom had developed the tradition of visiting Morrie with the hope of getting support on his thesis paper. He went back to Morrie with the same anticipation but ended up getting essential skills from Morries deathbed. As a community, we are supposed to visit the old and the sick, not as a show of pity, but as a golden chance to learn from their past rich experiences. Those who have been privileged to reach this state ought to be enthusiastic to pass their knowledge to the upcoming philosophers.

Despite the constant changes in humankind, life has to go on. In this situation, a major conversion of self is only possible when one perceives that death is inevitable. People who have experienced the reality of death are capable of fully comprehending the significance of life in this world. Morrie always said, Learn how to die, and you will learn how to live (83). The certainty of the mystery of this life is properly fathomed in one realizing that this life is short-lived.

Morrie told Albom that & when you most need it, neither money nor power will give you the feeling youre looking for& (125). This is one of the key concepts that has influenced my life while reading this book. Neither money nor power is capable of making one happy in this life. Many of us spend our whole lives desperately hunting for peace of mind, material needs, or unfulfilled love relationships. Morrie teaches us to be contented with whatever we have and live within our means.

He smiled,&because if youve found meaning in your life&you want to go forward&youre always battling against getting older&it will happen anyhow. (118). Here Morrie is advising his long time student to live his life to the fullest. These words, as expressed by him, make more sense to me than if they were to be expressed by my father. At his deathbed, Morrie critically reflects on his experiences in life, he encourages me to develop a trust for his enlightened advice.

Morrie teaches Albom about the notion that his culture depicts and the way none of us should deem as appropriate what the culture entails. Its the same for women not being thin& It is just what our culture would have you believe. Dont believe it (155).

Regardless of his deteriorating health, Morrie did not give up lecturing Albom. If we could emulate Morrie in suffering long for the good of others, our world would now be a more pleasant place to live in. Tuesdays with Morrie is a lesson for us all that illustrates the beauty of living a life well.

Work Cited

Albom, Mitch. Tuesdays with Morrie. New York : Random House, 1997. Print.

Tuesdays with Morrie is a true-life narrative about Mitch Albom and his friendship with his adviser and professor, Morrie Schwartz, in the last few months before passing away. The description that Albom gives about Morries incredible ideas and fight for continued existence has motivated many readers. Besides being a professor, Morrie had remarkable skills in writing and motivational speaking before his health deteriorated and deterred him from proceeding with his passion. Alboms narration is full of vital lessons that one can learn in his or her life.

Mitch Albom discovered that his professor had been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). From then, Albom was by Morries side each Tuesday for six months. He spent each of these days learning important lessons that he could get nowhere else.

Albom had developed the tradition of visiting Morrie with the hope of getting support on his thesis paper. He went back to Morrie with the same anticipation but ended up getting essential skills from Morries deathbed. As a community, we are supposed to visit the old and the sick, not as a show of pity, but as a golden chance to learn from their past rich experiences. Those who have been privileged to reach this state ought to be enthusiastic to pass their knowledge to the upcoming philosophers.

Despite the constant changes in humankind, life has to go on. In this situation, a major conversion of self is only possible when one perceives that death is inevitable. People who have experienced the reality of death are capable of fully comprehending the significance of life in this world. Morrie always said, Learn how to die, and you will learn how to live (83). The certainty of the mystery of this life is properly fathomed in one realizing that this life is short-lived.

Morrie told Albom that & when you most need it, neither money nor power will give you the feeling youre looking for& (125). This is one of the key concepts that has influenced my life while reading this book. Neither money nor power is capable of making one happy in this life. Many of us spend our whole lives desperately hunting for peace of mind, material needs, or unfulfilled love relationships. Morrie teaches us to be contented with whatever we have and live within our means.

He smiled,&because if youve found meaning in your life&you want to go forward&youre always battling against getting older&it will happen anyhow. (118). Here Morrie is advising his long time student to live his life to the fullest. These words, as expressed by him, make more sense to me than if they were to be expressed by my father. At his deathbed, Morrie critically reflects on his experiences in life, he encourages me to develop a trust for his enlightened advice.

Morrie teaches Albom about the notion that his culture depicts and the way none of us should deem as appropriate what the culture entails. Its the same for women not being thin& It is just what our culture would have you believe. Dont believe it (155).

Regardless of his deteriorating health, Morrie did not give up lecturing Albom. If we could emulate Morrie in suffering long for the good of others, our world would now be a more pleasant place to live in. Tuesdays with Morrie is a lesson for us all that illustrates the beauty of living a life well.

Work Cited

Albom, Mitch. Tuesdays with Morrie. New York : Random House, 1997. Print.

Have you ever wondered what is ALS and how it affects the human brain. ALS is a terminal disease that means the person who has ALS will die. Many famous people have suffered and died from ALS, but Morrie Schwartz may have been the most influential surfers of all.

ALS is a progressive neurological disease that causes the neurons that control voluntary muscles to degenerate (Lewis, Tanya). ALS has been spreading throughout the world for many years now. ALS was first found in 1869 by French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot, but it wasn’t until 1939 that Lou Gehrig brought national and international attention to the disease (“About ALS”). ALS is a disease that destroys nerve cells and causes disability. Doctors usually don’t know why ALS occurs. Some cases are inherited. (“Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis”). The average life expectancy of a person with ALS is two to five years from the time of diagnosis. However, it varies greatly: Over 50 percent of people with ALS live more than three years (Stibich”). Instead of crying that you have the disease you should spend your life with your friends and family like Morrie Schwartz. He started to teach other students about life and how to live it.

There are many famous people who have contracted ALS. ALS is commonly known as ‘Lou Gehrig’s disease,’ named after the famous New York Yankees baseball player who was forced to retire after developing the disease in 1939 ALS. Stephen Hawking also contracted ALS his discoveries made him famous because with ALS also affects brains. He still made discoveries with the terrible disease. The other thing that made him famous was that Stephen Hawking fascinated astrophysicists with his otherworldly theories. But he also blew the minds of medical experts by living with ALS for 55 years (Rossman, Sean). Four years after Morrie Schwartz succumbed to Lou Gehrig’s disease, Morrie is teaching more students than ever — millions all over the world. And his class is still growing. (Salter, Chuck “Work, and Life”).Out of many famous people Morrie Schwartz became well known after he contracted ALS.

“Tuesdays with Morrie” has brought change to many people’s life, written by Mitch Albom, that chronicles Albom’s conversations with his mentor Morrie Schwartz, a sociology professor at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. After Morris contracted the disease he started to teach more students about life. He also taught Mitch about life and gave the lesson on death too, “Dying is only one thing to be upset about; living an unhappy life is something else,” is one of those lessons. There is also a movie on it called “Tuesdays with Morrie.” Tuesdays with Morrie book was translated over 42 languages, it has transformed millions of lives all over the world. Tuesdays have become an international sensation with over 14 million copies sold, it has transformed millions of lives all over the world. (“MITCH ALBOM CELEBRATES 20). Except for Morris’s book he also talked about life and death, he gave really meaningful aphorism for example “When you’re in bed you’re dead.” and “Love each other, or perish” etc. Those aphorisms and the book about Morrie have changed the lives of many people all around the world.

ALS is a terminal disease that means you are going to die with it no matter what you do to cure it. So, instead of crying that you are going to die to spend some time with your friends and family and enjoy life while you can. Same as Morrie Schwartz he started to teach more students than ever and about and how to live it.

The novel Tuesdays with Morrie, by Mitch Albom, and the film Collateral Beauty (2016), directed by David Frankel, explore themes of life lessons, death and acceptance, yet are presented to an audience differently to portray a message beneath those themes. Tuesdays with Morrie, a non-fiction biography, follows Professor Morrie Schwartz and his journey with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS disease). Albom, the narrator of the story, reflects on Morrie Schwartz’ classes in college. He realises he did not fulfil his promise of keeping in contact with Schwartz after graduation and when his professor appears on television, discussing his recently diagnosed illness, Albom decides to visit him. Together, in the final stages of Morrie’s life, Albom and Morrie connect again as he shares his final thoughts on love, marriage, family, success and life. Similarly, the events in Collateral Beauty also focus on death and learning about life through grief. The American drama film follows a man who copes with his daughter’s death by writing letters to death, love and time. The protagonist Howard (Will Smith) was a successful advertising executive until his daughter passes away. The loss sends Howard into clinical depression; barely interacting, eating or sleeping. Desperate to help, his friends hire actors to present themselves as death, time and love and respond to his letters. Over time, Howard’s attitude towards life shifts as he begins to accept the grief and feelings he is dealing with. Although one text follows an elderly man who is experiencing his final stages of life and the other shows a middle-aged man grieving the loss of his young daughter, both present similar messages regarding life, acceptance and death.

The narrator of a story can have a large influence on the tone and the perspective of a story. Albom chose to narrate the story of his relationship with Morrie Schwartz and share the important lessons that Morrie shared with him in his final stages so that readers could connect to Morrie and his journey. Comparatively, Collateral Beauty displays Howard’s journey with accepting the death of his daughter to show readers the importance of recognising the beauty when it seems impossible. For readers who may be battling a terminal illness or facing similar hardships, Morrie’s journey and faith in life itself can provide peace. Howard’s journey can show readers that no matter what they may face, there is always beauty and with strength, love and time it is always possible to accept one’s emotions and live a fulfilling life. Like Tuesdays with Morrie, the messages portrayed in Collateral Beauty imply the importance of life itself.

The most prevalent theme from both the novel and film is death. While Tuesdays with Morrie focuses on accepting death and learning about life whilst facing death, Collateral Beauty focuses on how a person deals with the death of a loved one and the importance of gratitude towards life and accepting one’s grief and emotions to allow healing. Often, authors who explore the theme of death try to create a negative mood of sadness, loss and grief. However, Albom has demonstrated Morrie’s positivity during his illness despite being incapable of caring for himself and becoming dependant on his loved ones. The life lessons that Morrie shares with Albom on acceptance, family and happiness bring a hopeful and beautiful light to the story. Comparatively, Frankel looks at death from a different perspective, portraying the negative results of losing someone to a terminal illness. Howard’s life dramatically changes after losing his young daughter and the mood that Frankel portrays through the film reflects how her death affects him.

Acceptance is a large part of both storylines, which links to the theme of death. Equally, Albom and Frankel show, through the journey of their protagonists, the importance of acceptance. In Tuesdays with Morrie, Albom demonstrates the importance of acceptance through Morrie’s journey with his illness and how “…it was a most incredible feeling. The sensation of accepting what was happening, being at peace.’ (Albom, p.15) Acceptance, and not dwelling on the pain or sadness he felt, allows him to make the most of the last few months of his life and help others learn about life. Morrie’s acceptance is displayed during the dialogue of an interview with television show host Ted Koppel, ‘…when all this started, I asked myself, ‘Am I going to withdraw from the world, like most people do, or am I going to live?’ I decided I’m going to live—or at least try to live—the way I want, with dignity, with courage, with humour, with composure.’ (Albom, p.33) Because Morrie had the courage to accept his illness, Albom was able to learn important life lessons that would positively impact his life. Although the protagonist of Collateral Beauty is not facing death, accepting his daughter’s death was a large part of improving his quality of life. Similarly, Collateral Beauty also demonstrates the people around the protagonist learning about life through the protagonist’s experience. Howard’s friends and work colleagues Whit (Edward Norton), Claire (Kate Winslet) and Simon (Michael Pena) each connect to the different actors due to different challenges they are currently facing in life. For example, Whit works closely with Amy (Kiera Knightley), and as he attempts to help Howard, he learns some important lessons that relate to his recent divorce. Alike how Albom learns some vital life lessons from Morrie when he is trying to support him, so do Howard’s friends when they try to help him.

Symbolism and motifs are present throughout both texts to emphasise the themes of love, death, life and time. In Tuesdays with Morrie, a clear symbol is Morrie’s hibiscus flower and the natural world which symbolizes Morrie’s journey. Comparatively, Collateral Beauty utilises the way that the different characters of love, death and time are dressed to emphasise what they represent. For example, love, represented by Amy, wears a red jacket and a long flowing dress with red detailing. As red is often associated with love, this stylistic choice emphasises to the viewer that Amy represents love. Morrie stresses throughout the novel the importance of realising and accepting the natural cycle of life if one hopes to live a fulfilling life. Living a fulfilled life is also mentioned in Collateral Beauty as the name itself suggests that beauty seems impossible to see when there is so much pain. Like the film, Albom tries to emphasise how Morrie still found beauty in his painful journey with ALS through nature. There is a pink hibiscus plant in Morrie’s home sat “by a window in his study where he could watch” as it “shed its pink flowers.” The plant symbolises Morrie’s life as it goes through its natural cycle. The different characters that represent love, death and time in Collateral Beauty also symbolise elements of life that are natural and inevitable. Time is dressed in streetwear as he is always travelling on his skateboard. ‘Time’s’ skateboard symbolises that time is always moving and cannot be stopped, like the natural cycle of life. As Morrie’s body begins to deteriorate as a result of his illness, Albom indicates that the hibiscus begins to wither. When Morrie becomes dependant on his loved ones, the petals of the flower begin to wither and fall off which symbolises Morrie’s weakness. When the last leaves of the flower fall, Morrie passes away as a result of his illness. Death is represented through the elderly actor Bridgette (Helen Mirren) in Collateral Beauty, rather than a physical object such as the hibiscus flower in the novel. Bridgette’s characterisation shows that she is humble, peaceful and elegant. The author of Tuesdays with Morrie would have considered the hibiscus of high importance as Morrie had a love for nature and even when he could not leave home, he sat by the open window with the hibiscus beside it. Although there is sadness in the “death” of the hibiscus – that is connected to the sadness of Morrie’s death – the hibiscus is part of a cycle, that will relive again. Similarly, Frankel styled each character to symbolise the inevitable cycle of life. Albom utilises the hibiscus not only to share Morrie’s love for nature with readers but also show that life will always continue in its natural cycle. Frankel also shows readers that there are elements of life that will always remain and continue through the characters of love, death and time.

Imagery is a major element of any novel or film as it creates the base for the language and dialogue. This is highly important as there are no pictures in the novel and therefore, the story relies on the imagery that the words create. Comparatively, as Collateral Beauty is a film, the director can utilise a variety of camera techniques, mise en scene and other cinematography to create an on-screen image for viewers to see. The difference between the text and the film is that the novel allows a reader’s imagination to create elements of the story for themselves whereas the film displays the way that everything is. Both the text and the film, however, have utilised different techniques to indicate that the narrator is having a flashback. The author and director include flashbacks to provide backstory and give readers more of an insight into the events leading up to the present time. In Tuesdays with Morrie, the sections written in italics are flashbacks from when Albom was still studying at college. They create an image of the strong bond that Albom and Morrie shared during college. Similarly, the flashbacks in Collateral Beauty show the beautiful relationship that Howard shared with his daughter. Flashbacks of time spent in the hospital, near the time of his daughter’s death, also inform readers of what had happened.

Other useful techniques that Albom uses to create imagery are metaphoric language and personification. Albom includes a story about the ocean that Morrie tells him during one of their classes. Morrie says, “The first wave says, ‘You don’t understand! We’re all going to crash! All of us waves are going to be nothing!… The second wave says, ‘No, you don’t understand. You’re not a wave, you’re part of the ocean.’” (Albom, p. 179-180) This story is a metaphor for Morrie’s life, the waves crashing onto the shore representing Morrie’s impending death and Morrie, fearful of death but comforted by the thought that he will never truly be gone. Albom uses metaphor to allow readers to develop a deeper understanding of how Morrie feels about his illness and death itself. Comparatively, for Collateral Beauty, the director had many visual resources available to enhance the imagery. The camera angles used throughout the film emphasise the emotions of the characters and help to portray an image of how they are feeling. One example of this is when ‘time’ approaches Howard for the second time. A close-up camera angle has been used to better display the anger, confusion and hurt on Howard’s face as they argue in the street. This angle also makes the scene more personal, drawing viewers in. Similarly, in Tuesdays with Morrie, personification is used to make certain phrases more personal. As Morrie begins to explain the story of the ‘little wave’, he refers to the wave as a male and assigning the wave human-like qualities. Morrie says that the wave is “enjoying the wind and fresh air…” (Albom, p.179) and can speak. Like the way the camera angles in Collateral Beauty allow a scene to become more personal, the use personification in the novel achieves a similar purpose.

Both Albom and Frankel utilise a range of techniques to demonstrate the importance of love and acceptance when faced with hardships. Although they follow the stories of two different lives, they both present important life lessons around death, acceptance, and relationships. These texts provide a sense of hope and belonging to individuals who have experienced similar traumatic events. Tuesdays with Morrie and Collateral Beauty follow two tragic stories yet bring life lessons and beauty when it seems impossible to see.

Have you ever thought of death as an opportunity to live? Tuesdays With Morrie is a unique piece of work that obtains a deep explanation on the meaning of life. In Mitch Albom’s nonfiction novel Tuesdays with Morrie, Morrie Schwartz was diagnosed with a terminal illness. Morrie is diagnosed Lou Gehrig’s disease, also known as ALS. ALS is a disease that melts your body from well in Morrie’s case, the legs up. As the disease progresses it kills more of Morrie’s body as the days go on, but the lessons he learns continually seems to grow. Both the book and the movie will leave you with a completely different outlook on life and death.

Mitchell David ‘Mitch’ Albom (born May 23, 1958) among many other titles is best known for being a best selling author. 35 million copies of his books have been sold worldwide which have also achieved a national recognition for sports writing in the earlier part of his career. He is best known for the inspirational stories and themes that are displayed in his books, plays and films.

Another distinctive feature in Mitch Albom’s writing style, is revealed by an analysis of Tuesdays with Morrie. Albom uses a generous amount of figurative languages, metaphors and similes. Mitch Albom has a very particular language style that makes his novels unique. Albom mostly writes his novels in a past-to-present-back to -past type of author. In this novel, and in the other books of Albom’s that I’ve read, for example the Five People You Meet in Heaven he usually starts the stories from the past, then skips right to the present, then back to the past and so-on.

In between all of Albom’s work, ‘Tuesdays with Morrie’ can be one of the most relevant stories that uses his unique language style. The language is simple and natural, and has the effect of directness, clarity and freshness. This is because Albom always manages to choose words that are more concrete, specific, and more commonly found as casual and conversational. The short sentences he uses are loaded with the tension, that he notices in throughout life. In the circumstance that he does not use a simple and short sentence, he connects the different parts of the sentence in a straightforward way. Example is below:

“I was in demand. I stopped renting. I started buying. I bought a house on a hill. I bought cars.” In Morrie’s task of portraying actual people, Mitch Albom uses his dialogue as a very efficient device.

“Have you ever seen my program?” Morrie shrugged. “Twice, I think.” “Twice? That’s all?” “Don’t feel bad. I’ve only seen ‘Oprah’ once.” “Well, the two times you saw my show, what did you think?”

In the examples I gave above we notice that these additions as “he said” have very often been expunged and the words are extremely common which makes his speeches “come to the reader” as if he were listening. Mitch Albom has caught the closeness of dialogue pretty accurately and has made the economical speech connotative. But it is good to note that Albom’s style seems so natural as it is

The novel is written as a simple, easy to read style, there are no literary illusions that take the reader away from the reality. Throughout this book are real life lessons, lessons that will make one a better person, lessons that would help us throughout real life and how to appreciate the time we have with the people we love. People now a days take everything and anything for granted and we need to learn to live every day to the fullest. This book will help to open one’s eyes about life. The tone of this novel is extremely intimate, and the format contributes himself and also to the readers involvement. Mitch and Morrie reveal themselves in simple dialogue and the reader quickly gets to know them as friends. N j , j ,k , , , , , , , , , , , , ,, , ,, , , , , , , , , ,

Mitch Albom’s Tuesday’s with Morrie is a true story told mainly in a first-person narrative by Albom. Mitch Albom is the author and two of the main characters throughout the story. Albom composed the plot so that it is actually straightforward and has very little confusion and also made sure that he didn’t use a lot of complicated historical references. He tends to include flashbacks from his college years from when he was a student of Morrie’s. He does this to give enough background on one of his slightly naïve and less materialistic self, so the readers can have a clear conception of the person he has become in the following sixteen years. He also does this to emphasize Morrie’s loving and compassionate values that he has always tried to express through his teachings.

Some of the many techniques that are used by Mitch Albom are flashbacks, narrative structure, repetition, symbolism, and foreshadowing are only some of the techniques used by Mitch Albom to show the main themes in the novel which are love and death, which also leads the story into acceptance through integrity and separation. Repetition is a very important technique that is used to help characterize the characters of Morrie and Mitch. Mitch refers to Morrie as “Coach” because he views him as a “teacher of life”. Coach is used repeatedly throughout the text that helps to illustrate the impact that Morrie has on Mitch’s life and what he learns from him through the remainder of his life.

“Find someone to share your heart, give to your community, be at peace with yourself, try to be as human as you can be.” (p. 34)

“The culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves. And you must be strong enough to say if the culture doesn’t work, don’t buy it.” (p.42)

“…the big things—how we think, what we value—those you must

choose yourself. You can’t let anyone–or any society—determine those for you.” (p.155)

Some of Morrie’s very important lessons to Mitch is to make sure that the idea of one’s own culture is helpful and essential to the happiness and development of a person. However, it comes off as if Morrie is distracted and has no idea as to how he can create a culture of his very own. He becomes so accustomed to falling in the trap of our own current values and social norms that Morrie actually comes off as empty and useless. How, exactly, is someone supposed to create their own? Mitch understands later in the story how Morrie created his own culture and also that he learned to keep friends and family,, dancing, and books, and after he comes back from his trip to London, he realizes that he needs to create his very own culture or else he will wither away in to a life that has made him bitter and greedy.

Mitch’s slow conversion of his character goes from a man who is driven by money to a man who is driven by love. It is clear that when he decides not to buy a cell phone on his second trip to visit Morrie that this is the first step towards creating his own loving, accepting, and forgiving culture. Morrie’s self-created culture enables him to feel gratitude for his slow painful death, which, superficially, seems odd and outrageous.

Ultimately Tuesdays with Morrie portrays the following characteristics: In terms of its Linguistic and Stylistic Categories, Mitch Albom’s word choice was not overly complicated, and it is a bit low on linguistic difficulty. He rarely uses advanced vocabulary and the writing was simple. In terms of the Grammatical Category, more than half of the sentences used are statement and question. Meanwhile, there were also complex sentences and parentheses that produces doubt and creates confusion to the readers.

The figurative languages observe in the novel are simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, paradox, irony, symbolism, rhetorical question and of course, a lot of aphorisms. When it comes to the Language Style, Mitch Albom is a past-present-past type of author. He often uses short sentences that are powerfully loaded with thoughts. In terms of Forming his language style, Mitch Albom has formed a writing style that relates so much to his own experiences. The Influence of the Language style is that it is incredibly moving and emotional. This is philosophical in nature, and it teaches how to embrace life.

The style of ‘Tuesdays with Morrie’ the tone is intensely personal, Albom wrote the plot very straightforward with little ambiguity. Narrative structure, foreshadowing and repetition, and flashbacks are only some of the techniques Albom uses to present the main theme of the text. The chapters are not numbered; they all have titles. Also, most of the chapters have an aside at the end.

Who cares? This is what we call style. A style that makes a novel that has sold over 14 million copies and has been translated into 41 languages. A style that makes a great book and makes it a style of his own.

Work cited

1. Albom, M. (1997). Tuesdays with Morrie: an old man, a young man, and life’s greatest lesson” ‎Doubleday Blindpig Books UT, U.S.A.
2. Fish SE (1970). ‘Literature in the reader: Affective Stylistics’. New Literary History. John Hopkins University Press, 2(1): 123-162.
3. Leech, G. and Short, M. (2001). Style in Fiction: A Linguistic Introduction to English Fictional Prose Foreign Language Beijing: Teaching and Research Press.
4. Mitch Albom Bio | Mitchalbom.com.’ Welcome to Mitch Albom. 2008. .
5. Halliday, Michael. (1971). Linguistic Function and Literary Style: An Inquiry into the Language of William Golding’s The Inheritors, in S. Chatman, ed. Literary Style: A Symposium. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Pres
6. SparkNotes Editors. (n.d.). SparkNotes on Tuesdays with Morrie. Retrieved September 27, 2015, from http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/morrie/

“All right, it’s simply worry, I don’t ought to let it management Pine Tree State. I see it for what it’s.” Same for loneliness: you forsaking, let the tears flow, feel it completely—but eventually be able to say, “All right, that was my moment with loneliness. I’m not petrified of feeling lonely, however currently I’m getting to place that loneliness aside and apprehend that there square measure different emotions within the world, and I’m going to experience them as well.”

When I started reading this booked it really caught my attention.This book is a true story, it was written by Mitch Albom, the story starts in the spring of 1979 when he was a college student in Brendeis University. There he met a professor named Morrie Schwartz who teaches social psychology course.

Morrie becomes Mitch’s Professor and friend, that one person in life you have endless admiration for and turn to for knowledge and advice. At Mitch’s graduation he introduces Morrie to his parents. “You have a awfully special boy here,” says Morrie. Mitch promises he’ll stay in touch, but doesn’t.

Fifteen years later Morrie is stricken with an incurable illness called Lou Gehrig’s disease. Mitch had settled in Detroit and become a successful sports journalist. Although he made a lot of money and has a lot of material things, he was not happy.

The Meaning of Life

In 1995, Morrie is interviewed by Ted Koppel on ABC’s Nightline, and Mitch sees him on TV. He decides to reconnect with Morrie.

He travels to Morrie’s home. After not seeing Morrie for 16 years Mitch freezes; he has no words while Morrie hugs him. “My old friend,” whispers Morrie. “You’ve come back at last.”

They start talking and Morrie tells him, “You know I’m dying. Shall I tell you what it’s like?” After that Mitch begins visiting Morrie every Tuesday. They decide these talks should be held like a class although Mitch is the only student. The subject is “The Meaning of Life.” As Mitch later writes, “Although no final exam was given, you were expected to produce one long paper on what was learned.” The paper is the book.

Lessons About Life

The chapter about the first Tuesday is titled “We Talk About the World.” While talking, Mitch notices a stack of newspapers in Morrie’s kitchen that had already been read. “Do you bother keeping up with the news?” Mitch asks.

“Do you think that’s strange? Do you suppose as a result of I’m dying, I shouldn’t care what happens in this world?” He goes on to say that now that he’s suffering he feels other people’s suffering “as if it were my own.”

Another reason I like this book so much is that like Morrie, I’m philosophical. I love to think about the world and everything around us. I also like the expression “Everything happens for a reason.” I think it is mostly true. I feel confident most of the time, and I’m starting to understand failure is part of the process of being successful. You just have to keep trying.

Some of the other aspects of life they discuss are “Feeling Sorry For Yourself,” “Regrets,” “Death,”

“Family,” “Emotions,” and “Forgiveness.”

My favorite topic is “Death” because as soon as Morrie learns he is sick, until the end, he doesn’t hold back. He keeps moving forward. What struck me the most about him is that he wasn’t afraid. Morrie says to Mitch, “Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.” That’s a meaningful quote to me because I believe he’s saying once you lose the fear of death you can make every second count when you’re alive. “I want to die serenely, peaceful, no witness.” Unlike Morrie I believe it would be easier to be asleep when I’m dying. He wanted to be conscious and alone.

Love’s Power

In the chapter on family, Morrie points out how material possessions, money, and fame can’t replace your loved ones. Morrie mentions a quote “Love each other or perish” from the poet W.H. Auden which I think is true. Knowing that you have people in your life who are there to protect you is more powerful than anything else. I believe this was the worldview he explored as a social psychologist; rather than focusing on money and power, we should focus on love, family, and respect. I think this conversation in particular had one of the bigger impacts on Mitch, who was consumed with money and his career before the two started their talks.

In the last “class,” they say good-bye. Many parts of this book are moving, but this one was hard to read, especially on an early train ride when I was in a quiet mood. It was sad. It felt so real, I read the book twice. The second time, I had to skip over the chapter when he dies to avoid tears.

In the book’s conclusion, Mitch is reflective and writes, “If my old professor Morrie Schwartz taught me anything at all, it was this: there is no such thing as ‘too late’ in life.” In fact, Mitch reconnects with a brother he had lost bit with; he even dedicates the book to him.

I got so much from learning Morrie’s perspective. In the center of the book there’s a quote by American historian Henry Adams: “A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.” Someday I hope to meet a Morrie of my own, somebody with experience who can help me walk through my life challenges, and who I would look up to as a teacher.

Tuesdays with Morrie, a film I entered with high expectations. After viewing a star rating of 4.5 is my final verdict for this very emotional and powerful film. Tuesdays with Morrie is a Biography, in the film Mitch a sports journalist struggling with his life meets back up with his old college professor who has only a short time left on this earth. Mitch Albom had that second chance. He rediscovered Morrie in the last months of the older man’s life. Knowing he was dying of ALS – or motor neuron disease – Mitch visited Morrie in his study every Tuesday, just as they used to back in college. Their rekindled relationship turned into one final ‘class’: lessons in how to live.

Morrie guides Mitch in his teaching that are laid out in the form of his stories, Exploring the questions of Who am I and why am I here. Morrie is Mitch’s favorite professor from his University, although Morrie now suffers from ALS, a disease that ravages his body, but allows him to be awake and alive while crippling him form the inside. He starts to teach it to Mitch, instructing him on ‘The Meaning of Life,’. After a childhood in which affection was missing, he thrives on physical contact. He has a passion for dancing and music, He does not suffocate his emotions, but shares them openly, and rejects the popular cultural norms in favour of creating his own system of beliefs. Mitch portrays him as a man of ultimate wisdom. Mitch Morrie’s former student. After having abandoned his dreams of becoming a famous musician, he is driven by his desire for financial success and wealth. He has been working himself nearly to death, and suddenly finds himself out of a job when the staff at the newspaper he writes for decides to strike. Each Tuesday, he learns from Morrie, his that he needs to reassess his life, and to value love over money, and happiness over success.

Some themes shown in Tuesdays with Morrie include Choices, Friendships and happiness. Choices refer to how Morrie’s whole premise in his teachings is that life is a choice and that choice is yours to make. The choices made in the world dictate whether it currently is a good or bad place. The next is Friendship, as it would be it is rather obvious that the overall theme of the film is friendship. Although, the deeper meaning behind friendship is that this friendship is one of true connection and power. It also highlights the self-actualization needed to be a truly good friend. Finally Happiness, Tuesdays with Morrie focuses on what makes people happy and how happiness can be spread through many things and each other.

Tuesdays with Morrie’ has unquestionably changed my view on life. Morrie Schwartz was an educator and an instructor until the end. Indeed, even after death, Mitch Albom’s book has enlivened and illuminated individuals around the globe. In the book, the exercises of life given by Morrie are told. In his last minutes, Morrie was ‘in the middle of’ the hole among life and passing, subsequently ready to illuminate the perusers profitable and critical things they should ‘pack’.

Life these days has been convoluted. I have gained from the book that so as to live in amicability and stay away from pointless clash, we should figure out how to convey and settle. It’s ideal to have an inspirational frame of mind, and can turn what may regularly be seen as a negative circumstance, into a benefit.

Culture has made a lot of ‘rules’ that a large portion of us pursue, in any case, this arrangement of guidelines probably won’t be the best, as the greater part of them are most conceited. I have gained from ‘Tuesdays with Morrie’ that if the way of life does not suit you, simply overlook it. Live the manner in which you need, the way that fulfills you.

In the book, Morrie had additionally induced that we ought not let self-centeredness expend you, however focus on the beneficial things throughout your life, supposing that you don’t, you may dismiss what is imperative and what isn’t.

‘Satisfaction can be found, even in the darkest of times, in the event that one just makes sure to turn on the light.’

At the point when Morrie was kicking the bucket, he didn’t concentrate on the way that he was passing on, yet centered around the general population around him, in this manner he recollected the critical things throughout everyday life, connections. Connections between companions, understudies and family gives you support. In the event that it was not for them, we would not have the protected ground that we remain on today.

Truth be told, there is no establishment, no protected ground, whereupon individuals may stand today on the off chance that it isn’t the family. On the off chance that you don’t have the help and love and minding and worry that you get from a family, you don’t have much by any means. Love is so remarkably critical. ‘Cherish one another or die.’ Family is no pretty much love, it is tied in with realizing that there is somebody looking out for you, and nothing can ever give you that, not cash or notoriety.

He had likewise disclosed to us that occasionally we should confide in others. In some cases, you can’t accept what you see, yet what you feel. Also, on the off chance that you are consistently going to have other individuals trust you, you should feel that you can confide in them, as well – notwithstanding when you’re uninformed.

Notwithstanding when you’re falling.

Morrie rambled about death in the book. He said that when we are looking at death without flinching, we take a gander at life from a better place, a more advantageous spot, a progressively reasonable spot; it seems as though some magical consistent focus comes. Culture does not urge you to think whether ‘consider the possibility that this is your last day on earth’ until you are going to kick the bucket. We get enveloped with boastful things, profession, family, cash, and materialistic things – we’re associated with trillions of little acts just to continue onward. This is the reason we don’t glance back at lives, and think whether we are carrying on with a real existence we need. If we somehow managed to pass on today, would we kick the bucket in harmony, realizing that we have lived without bounds?

As I would like to think, when we figure out how beyond words, figure out how to live. Mitch had said that possibly demise is an extraordinary equalizer, the huge thing that can at last make outsiders shed a tear for each other. This is on the grounds that adoration is fundamental for one to really live, and when we are on death’s entryway, we figure out how to cherish things we have constantly underestimated. The most vital thing in life is to figure out how to give out affection, and to give it a chance to come it. Morrie had rehashed underlined that ‘Adoration is the main sane act’.

Everybody realizes that they are going to kick the bucket, yet no one trusts it. It we did, we would do things another way. The better methodology for death is to acknowledge that you are going to kick the bucket, and be set up for it whenever. Along these lines, one would be progressively associated with life. You ought to inquire as to whether today is the day, would be prepared, have you done all you needed to do, and in the event that you are the individual you need to be.

We need to acknowledge things around us, things, for example, daylight, trees and how they change with the seasons, how the breeze blows. We don’t see how crucial and the amount we depend on straightforward things like that, however when you can’t go out and experience these things, a major piece of us feels missing. At the point when Morrie realized that his time was nearly up, maybe he was seeing these out of the blue. For what reason do we hold up until our last minutes before we figure out how to acknowledge nature and different things in life that we depend on so much, yet take so little notice of it?

Taking everything into account, ‘Tuesdays with Morrie’ has given me another view on life. He has featured the critical things throughout everyday life, and in this way make me venture back and take a gander at my life, and inquire as to whether I am happy with my life, on the off chance that I’ve done every one of the things I need to do. I have been roused and contacted by Morrie’s activities in his last minutes, and I seek to do likewise.