Chapter.2
2.1 READ CAREFULLY AND ANSWER THE QUESTIONS GIVEN THE END OF THE PASSAGE:
The most successful among us may occasionally become overwhelmed by problems relating to money, family, parenting, illness, stress, or any of the innumerable challenges we all face from time to time. People from all walks of life have faced and eventually overcome every sort of problem. And not only overcome great odds and just survive, but have thrived.
Did you know that Barrack Obama had suffered a crushing defeat in elections just 8 years before being elected president? Or that Albert Einstein couldn’t find a teaching job? Or that billionaire Ross Perot got this start by borrowing $1,000 from his wife? These are just a few of the examples of the many humble beginnings that eventually led to stunning success.
Here is one such profile - divided into 3 sections; The Fall, The Rise and The Comeback, describing how he found his way from tragedy to triumph. The conclusion features an insightful analysis of the ways that you can apply the lesson to your own life.
What do these comebacks prove? That no matter what your problem or background, where you’re from or the mistakes you’ve made, it’s possible to stage a comeback, even when things seem hopeless. Half the battle is realizing that it can be done; the other half is the specific strategy you need to employ. By giving 100 very diverse examples of great comebacks, we prove that a comeback is always possible, and provide many specific examples how you can move from tragedy to triumph.
ANDRE AGASSI (B. 1970)
2.2 American Tennis Player
The Fall:
1997—Andre Agassi stared at the small heap of crystal meth powder (highly addictive and very harmful central nervous system stimulant – a drug) his friend “Slim” had just poured on the coffee table. He leaned over and snorted, then slipped back into his chair and felt “a moment of regret, followed by a vast sadness.” Just two years earlier, Agassi had been the top tennis player in the world, reaching the rank of number one after a decade as a professional, during which time he had won Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, and the Australian Open as well as numerous lesser tournaments. During the early 1990s, he helped the United States win three Davis Cup titles, and he took the gold medal in men’s singles at the 1996 Olympics, held in Atlanta. In addition to his success on the court, Agassi was the closest thing his sport had to a rock star; he stood out to fans—and advertisers—with his flashy, charismatic personality, his colourful outfits, and his long, flowing hair. By the end of 1996, however, Agassi’s success began to fade. He suffered early-round losses in the U.S. and Australian Opens, and an old wrist injury resurfaced, limiting the number of matches he would play in 1997. He continued to use crystal meth throughout the year and eventually failed a drug test, but he evaded punishment by claiming that he had accidentally consumed an alcoholic drink. His world ranking slipped to number 141, and he no longer felt a love for the game. It seemed as though Agassi’s once-bright career was fading fast.
The Rise:
1999—Andre Agassi could barely keep his composure as he addressed the crowd in Paris, where he had just won his first French Open title. “I never dreamed I’d ever be back here after so many years, I’m so proud,” said Agassi, his voice shaking. “I’ll never forget this, I’ll never forget this. I’m very blessed.” Agassi began the tournament, ranked thirteenth in the world and had made a surprising run to the final match, where he defeated Andre Medvedev—a victory that was itself a remarkable comeback, as Agassi had been down two sets to none in the five-set match before storming back to take the title. With the win, Agassi completed one of the most remarkable comebacks in tennis history, and he became only the secondmen’s player ever to have won all four of the major tournaments (Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, the French Open, and the Australian Open) since Rod Laver did so in 1969. Agassi went on to win Wimbledon once more and take another two Australian Open titles, returning several times to the number-one spot in the next few years while remaining in the Top 10 for the rest of his career.
The-comeback:
Years later, Agassi described the failed drug test as a wake-up call. He realized that “My name, my career, everything was now on the line. Whatever I had achieved, whatever I had worked for might soon mean nothing.” He stopped using crystal meth shortly afterwards and put himself on an intense training treatment. With his ranking so low, Agassi was unable to play in some of the major tournaments and had to work his way back up by appearing in the so-called “Challenger Series,” which is to professional tennis what the minor leagues are to professional baseball. He carried his own bags and no longer received VIP treatment at tournaments. Along with younger, unknown hopefuls, the former top player in the world had to struggle up from square one. Agassi took it all in stride, however, and did not allow himself to think he deserved an easier path because he had already won the top prizes in his sport. He was no longer a superstar, but the humbling experience taught him to appreciate what he’d achieved—and what he’d lost—and it encouraged his competitive fire. He focused on improving himself one day at a time, and before long he was back, better than ever
As a branch of linguistics which observes how sounds form patterns, phonology is often conducted on certain communities speech production. Phonological rules can be figured out through the observation of sound changes, such as in assimilation and dissimilation. Studies on those two matters are commonly found in linguistic analyses. What is interesting in studying linguistics, to be particular in phonology, is the type of data to analyze. Instead of observing speech production by certain communities, phonology is also applicable in comprehending literary work, particularly poetry. Poetry is known for its unique language patterns, as defined by Leech (1969:4) that ―poetic language may violate or deviate from the generally observed rules of the language in many different ways‖. This present paper is intended to present phonological features in poetry analysis: supra-segmental features (rhyme and meter) and segmental features (assonance, consonance, and alliteration). The choice of certain sound patterns in a poem reflects the poet‘s intention in choosing such construction. Therefore, meaning interpretation which is based on the linguistic analyses can be attained, which is in line with Leech‘s statement that the significance of a piece of language can be used to figure out meanings in reference to literature (1969: 40). Keywords: phonology, stylistics, poetry
The paper intends to give a stylistic analysis of the poem ‘If’ by Rudyard Kipling on three fundamental levels: phonological, morphological, and pragmatical. The poem has been a source of inspiration for disheartened youth, and is a linguistic marvel because of its unique structure and style. The poem is written in a form of paternal advice to the poet’s son. The poet has employed several literary devices and techniques in the poem that have been stylistically analyzed. The findings of the study would help the readers in understanding the core principles and concepts of Stylistics that have been aesthetically employed by the poet in the poem ‘If’
Introduction Stylistics is a branch of Applied Linguistics, and can be simply defined as the study of style in a text, and since style can be assumed in different ways, so there are several stylistic approaches to analyze a text; and this variety in Stylistics is due to the major influences of other branches of Linguistics and Literary Criticism (Katie, 1989) [4]. Initially, in Stylistics, only literary texts were analyzed, but around 1960s, the field of Stylistics was expanded, and non-literary texts started to be analyzed as well. In A Dictionary of Stylistics, Katie Wales (1989) [4] writes that the goal of Stylistics is simply to describe how a text is styled; but not simply to describe its formal features for their own sake, but to show their functional importance in the interpretation of the text, or to highlight their literary effects in the linguistic arena. The stylistic analysis provides the reader with a scientific and objective commentary on the linguistic features of a literary as well as non-literary text based on a concrete and quantifiable data processed in a systematic way. In this paper, the poem ‘If’ by Rudyard Kipling has been stylistically analyzed on three fundamental levels: phonological level, morphological level, and pragmatical level. ‘If’ is a poem about hope and determination grounded on the principles of Victorian-era Stoicism. It was first published in 1910 in Reward and Fairies, a collection of Kipling’s poems and short stories. In his biography, ‘Something of Myself’, Kipling has said that while writing this poem, he was inspired by Leander Starr Jameson. The poem is filled with immense motivation and ultimate inspiration that tells us how to deal with different and difficult circumstances in our life. Moreover, the poet constructs a whole philosophy of how to achieve our goa wisdom within these motivational words that seems tap into a core within the reader, expanding virtue and knowledge. True words are often softly spoken and the gentleness and confidence which meet the reader in the lines of the poem come across both reverent and admirable. The obvious humanity which Kipling breached within the whole poem stirs within the reader thoughts of a higher nature than the pettiness that surrounds daily life, it is just a shame that most people don't act upon the meaning carried within the Kipling's verse, for then we could truly ask "what if?"
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