Preview

Breaking Night 2014

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
382 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Breaking Night 2014
Product of Determination

Many times in life, before a goal can be reached, there will be many obstacles to face. To continue towards that goal in spite if these difficulties, is perseverance. In the biography Breaking Night by Liz Murray, the main character Liz doesn’t give up when faced with obstacles thrown at her from things like culture, family, and society. Liz expresses perseverance by continuing towards her future objective in spite of hardships. While growing up, Liz’s parents had and caused many severe financial problems. Liz and her sister were often left without things like food and medical care. Being mature for her age, Liz tries to find a way to make money by attempting to find a job. She goes to countless shops trying to find some sort of work but is turned down because of her age. Despite her continuous failure she keeps on trying. One day Liz discovers that she can make money by pumping peoples gas for tips. Although she is continuously chased away by annoyed gas station workers, she continues to try to get the money she needs to survive. The fact that Liz goes after the things she needs and doesn’t just quit shows strong perseverance. Liz is eventually taken from her home and after a while is placed in the care of her mother and her boyfriend at their apartment. After a short time living there Liz runs away and spends a large part of her life homeless. After a long time Liz gets the motivation to go back to high school, which shed left originally. After finding a school that will accept she sets goals that entail that she works harder than she ever has before. Liz needs to quickly finish high school with nothing short of perfect grades. Even though the goal is far from her reach, Liz works hard everyday. Liz spends most of her time in school, joining many clubs, studying on staircases of apartment buildings and sleeping wherever she’s welcome. Even with a vey difficult to reach goal, Liz stuck it out and did every thing she could showing her

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Case Study: Sarah

    • 494 Words
    • 2 Pages

    As Sarah grew older, she began to understand the struggle her parents went through to ensure she had a fair chance at living the American dream. Grateful for her parents, she tried and helped with as much as she could, while maintaining good grades in school. As soon as Sarah turned 16, she began to look for a part-time job so that she was able to provide for her family. Throughout High School, Sarah was forced to sacrifice having a social life so that she was able to work in her free time bussing tables at a local Italian restaurant.…

    • 494 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    From what she says Donna is facing a lot of problems. Primary problems include her grades, getting her property stolen, and being emotionally sick. Donna is also debating on her major. She has several classes that she isn’t doing well in and the way she scheduled some aren’t working for her. Her laptop was stolen while she was at the library, so she wont be able to write papers for the English class, which she’s struggling in. In addition, she’s homesick and lonely; she has started taking long naps and staying in her dorm more and now she’s debating whether she wants to drop out. She needs to figure out what is best for her; rather to stay in school or go to one closer to home. In addition, she needs to figure out her choices: giving up or…

    • 492 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Have you ever faced adversity? Adversity is everywhere in life but you can overcome it. Life has all sorts of hard spots but if you keep trying you will get out of those ruts of life. there is many different types of adversity such as trying and trying but failing at something over in over but you have to keep trying according to "The man in the arena" Theodore Roosevelt "who strives valiantly; who errs, who does actually strive to do good deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotion;who spend himself worthy of cause; who at the best knows in the end triumph of high achievements , and who at the worst, if he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat" another example is in the poem by Langston Hughes mother to son "life for me ain't been no crystal stair its had tacks in it,and splinters,and boards torn up,and places with no carpet on the floor,bare. But all the time ,i'se been climbin' on....." you are the master of your fate and the captain of your soul according to William Ernest Henley in the poem…

    • 699 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In life when it comes to hard times, perseverance is key. Without perseverance, people in a…

    • 729 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    New changes require much perseverance to get used to them. In the novel The Call of the Wild, a dog named Buck is forced from doing something he is used to, to doing something completely different. In contrast, my dad chose to switch his job to a new one and Buck was forced to change his normal lifestyle. Although Buck and my dad got into their situations differently, they both had to persevere to get used to the new changes. Everyone has to persevere to get used to new changes and struggles, no matter the situation.…

    • 869 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    An unknown author once said, “Whenever you find yourself doubting how far you can go, just remember how far you have come. Remember everything you have faced, all the battles you have won, and all the fears you have overcome.” This author demonstrates precisely what it means to persevere. Perseverance was an early Native American value and many people still consider this value to be critical today. Quitting was despised by Native Americans and still is by people currently.…

    • 438 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Liz Murray Homeless

    • 495 Words
    • 2 Pages

    After watching the film, Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story, I realized that if you try, you can do whatever you put your mind to. I believe that although the movie was sad it was very inspiring. Liz Murray was the product of a bad environment. Her parents were drug addicts and she felt like she single handedly had to hold her family together. She decided she was better off at home taking care of her mother who was legally blind, schizophrenic and a drug addict, and so she decided she did not want to go to school. At 16, after the death of her mother and becoming homeless, she decided it was time to do something for herself. She enrolled herself in school and succeeded beyond expectations.…

    • 495 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Growing up Graham decided that she was just one of those people who didn’t have the “Stick-to-it gene” and found herself dropping out of school during her second year in college. Her first experiences with quitting gave her a rush, so much so that she decided to turn her back against everything and run away from it all. Her adventures would take her around the globe doing odd jobs and eventually quitting to find something else she desires. She was stuck in a situation where she lived in one place but dreamt of another. But the turning point in her life of habitual quitting came with the birth of her son. Although her son came as a beacon or wakeup call that she needs some stability in her life, and moving from place to place is no way to raise a child, she still feels the urge to quit but finds ways to suppress that urge.…

    • 963 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    But when we do not give up, at the end of the tunnel, there is always light, and it only benefits us. Sometimes we are put in tough situations our self, for example, a student may be doing badly on his/her tests and assignments, but instead of deciding to just drop out of school, if he or she has perseverance and persistence, he/she will continue to study harder, focus in class more, and ask for extra help. Eventually their hard work will pay off, and the student will start to accomplish higher grades on his/her tests and…

    • 809 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Homeless to Harvard

    • 295 Words
    • 2 Pages

    4. Liz’s family lived in poverty. Her family’s largest contributing factor to her mother and fathers behavior was their addiction to substances and the fact that you can’t get a well-paying job without drug testing. They did not have the skills or education to get better jobs. Poor parenting and substance abuse only family life made chances for success worse.…

    • 295 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Homeless to Harvard

    • 1337 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Liz Murray faced many obstacles growing up in an unprivileged home with addicted parents who cared for nothing but to cure their addition. Her parents were so strung out on drugs that they didn’t know the survival of both their daughters. Both Liz and her sister were neglected. At this point Liz was on her own. Liz grows up caring for her mother that is suffering from AIDS and who takes drugs to cope with the pain. She spends every cent on drugs while her children are starving and eating out of dumpsters. She doesn’t care as long as she has her drugs because she can’t live without them, and still, even though she acts that way all the time, her daughters, especially Liz, love her. Living in abandoned apartments and eating out of dumpsters, Liz does her best to stay alive and on occasion, go to school. Her apartment is a dismal and dirty place. Drugs were ever present. It would be common for her to go into the kitchen and see her parents shooting drugs into their veins. When they were done, there were blood spots all along the walls from where they had missed the veins. Her parents were so desperate for a fix they would sell anything they could for a few extra dollars. Liz once woke up and found…

    • 1337 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Some people argue that perseverance does not make you successful but you won't go anywhere without it. They say it's just pursuing a higher goal with failure like setbacks. Others say it's a mindset developing an ability to deal with setbacks. They're not wrong in any sense at all, and they are logical, because if they can pursue a high goal they will get set backs along the way. But what happens if they hit a dead end, they hit a fork in the road then what? How would they get through it? They fight through it, and a good example of this is Jimmy Butler.…

    • 702 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Breaking Night

    • 664 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Liz Murray had a rough life but overcame many obstacles to better herself. She went through being poor and living in poverty, watching her parent’s abuse drugs and wanting a better life. Liz was a very determined girl and knew she would someday succeed. She was very mature young in which she had to be. Most young kids can’t take care of themselves yet alone their parents but she had the drive and motivation for this task. Going through all the hardships and staying positive is remarkable in the situations she was put in.…

    • 664 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sociology of Organization

    • 1700 Words
    • 5 Pages

    A girl, in her late grade school, was left alone at an apartment with no one to depend on. She prepares everything in the morning before going to school, manages her allowance for the whole week, watches over her needs and cleans her home after a long tiring school day. This girl takes care of herself. As she enters her high school, she does the same. She learned how to be dependent, and she did survive.…

    • 1700 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lizelle is the bread-winner of her family she has two brothers and two sisters who somehow depends on her for education. One day she got really mad on how she was being pressured by her siblings and finally reached to the point wherein she said hurtful things. "Our parents should not gave birth to all of you if they were just going to pass their responsibilities to me!" Her parents tried to talk to her on why they needed help but Lizelle just keeps on packing her things. She decided to leave their house and live on her own. Lizelle wanted so much to be independent because she believes that being independent is so much fun, there would be no barriers between curfew and parties, she can do whatever she wants and explore wherever she wants. Lizelle was enjoying in her first few days of being independent however she was already abusing her freedom and eventually got fired from her work because of being irresponsible and slacking off. She has a small amount of money and was really troubled on how to keep things on shape again but she was surprised that everyday there's always a meal being delivered to her when she was feeling hungry and tired. A new clothes were being delivered and Lizelle wears it when she applies in a job. An inspirational book was delivered to her and it makes her being inspired everyday. She tried to ask the delivery man if he knows who was the one who delivered those things but the delivery man simply said he doesn't know. The delivery items were continuing then she finally reached her goal, shebecame successful and rich. She was so proud that she achieved so much when her parents are not with her. One day she planned on visiting her family to boast of how she was living her life without them but she was surprised that her parents are overly happy. "Are you really happy that I leave this house?" Lizelle asked while making her tears not to fall and show some weaknesses. "No, Honey" her Father said Lizelle was really hurt on why her parents didn't…

    • 487 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays