Sympathy vs Empathy
English RA
Mrs. Renfroe
September 16, 2013
Life is beautiful and yet life is not a bed full of roses. Empathy is the understanding what others are feeling because you have experienced it yourself or can put yourself in their shoes. Sympathy is acknowledging another person’s emotional hardships and providing comfort and assurance. Sympathy and empathy are both similar in a way because they both have to deal with feelings. The movie Precious is about an innocent girl who is physically, emotionally, and verbally abused. She learns that life is not picture perfect, and she never gives up no matter what she is faced with. While watching the movie Precious, I can only sympathize with when Precious is being is physically abused and when she is homeless, but I can empathize with her when she faces verbal abuses and looks up to her teacher.
I can sympathize when Precious is getting raped and when her mother beats her, because I do not know what that is like. I can only imagine how desperate she must have felt, when her dad was on top of her and feeling his breath on her body. I can picture, in my head, how hurt and confused she must feel from her mother beating on her every day, for no reason at all. My parents are not perfect, by any means, but I know how much they love me, and I know they could never do something like that to me.
In the movie, Precious, she becomes homeless with her newborn baby, after getting into a physical fight with her mother. I can sympathize with that, because I have never been homeless before. In my family, I would always have a place to stay, food in my stomach, and clothes on my back. I would never go without anything, because my family is so caring and unbelieveably giving. I can imagine how scared and how worried she must have felt for her child and for herself.
In the movie, Precious, she faced a lot of verbal abuse by her mother. Every day when Precious would get home from school, Precious’s mother would degrade her and talk down
Mrs. Renfroe
September 16, 2013
Life is beautiful and yet life is not a bed full of roses. Empathy is the understanding what others are feeling because you have experienced it yourself or can put yourself in their shoes. Sympathy is acknowledging another person’s emotional hardships and providing comfort and assurance. Sympathy and empathy are both similar in a way because they both have to deal with feelings. The movie Precious is about an innocent girl who is physically, emotionally, and verbally abused. She learns that life is not picture perfect, and she never gives up no matter what she is faced with. While watching the movie Precious, I can only sympathize with when Precious is being is physically abused and when she is homeless, but I can empathize with her when she faces verbal abuses and looks up to her teacher.
I can sympathize when Precious is getting raped and when her mother beats her, because I do not know what that is like. I can only imagine how desperate she must have felt, when her dad was on top of her and feeling his breath on her body. I can picture, in my head, how hurt and confused she must feel from her mother beating on her every day, for no reason at all. My parents are not perfect, by any means, but I know how much they love me, and I know they could never do something like that to me.
In the movie, Precious, she becomes homeless with her newborn baby, after getting into a physical fight with her mother. I can sympathize with that, because I have never been homeless before. In my family, I would always have a place to stay, food in my stomach, and clothes on my back. I would never go without anything, because my family is so caring and unbelieveably giving. I can imagine how scared and how worried she must have felt for her child and for herself.
In the movie, Precious, she faced a lot of verbal abuse by her mother. Every day when Precious would get home from school, Precious’s mother would degrade her and talk down