Dear Miss Breed: The Diary Of A Young Girl

Jeanne was aware and scared at the time but overcame her fear living at a camp for almost four years of her life. The living situation for the Japanese families was horrendous, but Jeanne’s story was captivating and caused me to hope for the end to interment camps.

The dust storms, the communal mess halls, and the open latrines are culturally insensitive examples of Japanese Americans at Manzanar. First, the living environment in the internment camps is harsh. Dust and sand cover the entire bare floor. They envelop the people’s entire mattress, clothes, furniture, and so on. The dust is so bad that Jeanne’s mother has to exclaim: “We can’t live like this. Animals live like this” (26). Next, with the birth of the communal mess halls, the internees stop eating as a family. Jeanne’s mother has to bring food to Granny in the barrack. Jeanne and her siblings begin eating with their friends, or they try other mess halls for better food. The Jeanne’s family “after three years of mess hall living, collapsed as an integrated unit” (37). Lastly, the foul latrines without partition make the living condition in the internment camps not only unclean, but lack of privacy at least a person should have. Like most of the people there, the using of latrines is a humiliation for Jeanne’s mother and she “just learned to endure: shikata ga nai, this cannot be helped” (33).

But was it for the best or for the worst ? The girl had much insight and could cope with almost anything, a 10 year old with a family and a home, a smart young lady who was unimpeachable, given the options to make her own decision she did so. While she did have her insecurities she would put them aside, and the contempt feeling went away. While in the kitchen, the girl walks in and drinks her water, knowing it was time for her piano lessons, she sits ¨Do i have to? {the woman thought for a moment} No, she said, only if you want to. Tell me i have to.¨[pg.16] When the girl wants her mother to tell her what to do, this symbolizes both the relationship they have and how the girl is still a child that wants reinsurance and is still dependent on her. Though during the time they were in the internment camp many things had changed her. The girl had became both reckless and careless, making impulsive decisions without thinking of the after effects or consequences. When she was in the internment camp, the girl became irresponsible and stop caring about everything “ In the morning she did not return until long after dark. She was always in a rush now...she ate all her meals with her friends. Never with the boy and his mother. She smoked cigarettes.[pg.92]” When the

Can being optimistic improve someone’s health? Yes, that’s why the best way people can respond to conflict is by having a positive attitude. Having a bright outlook can not only improve a person’s health but it can save their life and possibly others, just like in Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl and Miss. Breed because these people inspired others and stayed optimistic.

According to Dictionary.com, the definition of optimism is “A disposition or tendency to look on the more favorable side of events or conditions and to expect the most favorable outcome.” Looking on the more favorable side can help in the most difficult times. Having a positive attitude is the best response to conflict, especially in time of war. Optimists such as Winston Churchill and Anne Frank kept hope for a better future throughout World War II.

Showing a positive attitude can make dealing with a conflict much easier. An example of this would be Anne Frank during world war 2 when she kept a journal. In her writings she refers her journal as “Kitty” as if she were writing to a friend and keeps her writing formal. Anne Frank also writes in light and happy tone writing things like “ It's more like being on vacation in some strange pension” in paragraph 18 and “It looks much more cheerful” in paragraph 19 when she is hiding in a damp lopsided building.This shows even though Anne is in a terrible position she remains positive, thinking only about the good. As a

“A positive attitude brings strength, energy, motivation, and initiative” (Quotes Guru). Having a positive attitude is the best response to conflict, especially in the time of war. For example, in the stories Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl and Dear Miss Breed: True Stories of the Japanese American Incarceration During World War II and a Librarian Who Made a Difference, both Anne Frank and Miss Breed had a positive attitude for such a horrible situation. In the story Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl Anne tells us, the audience, how her family dealt with the situation that they were in. In Dear Miss Breed: True Stories of the Japanese American Incarceration During World War II and a Librarian Who Made a Difference showed what situations the Japanese Americans had to go through and how horrible their living habits were.

Some people argue that happiness helps make good decisions because happy people strive for the best result. David states, “[Positive emotions] help build vital social, physical, and cognitive resources that lead to positive outcomes and affiliations” (124). David points out that with the right amount of positivity, people make good judgments. The author acknowledges that happiness can have benefits, but she states that too much happiness could hurt human development because the mind does not consider the consequences of an action. Julie Norem, a psychology professor, points out, “’If you’re a pessimist who really thinks through in detail what might go wrong, that’s a strategy that’s likely to work very well for you’” (qtd. in Wallis). She explains

You feel happy when you are optimistic. This can result in you feeling more energetic, give you brighter eyes, and bring you success and happiness. You also walk with more confidence and have a stronger voice. Also, your positivity can spread to others, however, any negativity can also spread. Some ways to be positive are to not allow what other people say about you get to you. Other ways are to smile more, try to only visualize positive things, use positive words when talking to people, and don’t give up. (Sasson, The Power of Positive Thinking, Paragraphs 1, 14, 22, 23, 24, 25, and 27) These are great examples of why you would want to be optimistic and respond to conflict with positivity.

Anne Frank was a perfect example on how a positive attitude is much better than a negative one. She states, “I don’t think I will ever feel at home in this house, but it doesn’t mean I hate it. It’s more like being on vacation in some strange pension.”(Frank, entry July 11, 1942, paragraph: 18) She mentions she doesn’t like the house, but she remains positive and says it’s like being on vacation. Anne also says,” I was able to plaster the wall with pictures. It looks much more cheerful.”(Frank, entry July 11, 1942, paragraph: 19 ) She

In this Ted Talk cognitive neuroscientist Tali Sharot shared with us the concept of optimism bias and the research that she has been doing on the very topic. She spoke about it as being an illusion. Her description of optimism bias is that we tend to think we will have more positive things happen in our life than bad one. We overestimate the good and underestimate the bad. Optimism bias is something that people throughout the world experience from young to old people. She gave marriage as an example of this kind of bias and stated that forty percent of people that get married will get a divorce but people who just got married will say that there it is unlikely they will end up divorcing. Despite the facts people

In the same way that hope has colored the past, optimism and positive thinking has the ability to affect present situations. When enduring struggles or facing fears, hope can provide feelings of comfort. It can be used as a coping mechanism. Maya Angelou relates a tone of satisfaction when she weighs the conditions of her life

Being optimistic is the main principle for most people. We may often hear the statement about “be an optimist, not a pessimist!” shouted by people. Sometimes you do it for yourself too. When facing such a failure or problem, this will not only help to relieve your heart. Being optimistic will help someone to be healthy in physical and mental. An optimist will find the best way in any circumstance and hope for every good thing can come to him/her. You may have gone through thousands of hard times. However, if you are a born optimist then you will not care of anything destructing you.

All types of personality traits have the possibility to have harmful effects on your mind or body, but there are also the benefits that come with most traits. Being optimistic may appear to be an ideal personality trait to most, but having a pessimistic point of view can often be beneficial in many different cases. One example is a long-term study which consisted of 1,528 subjects and lasted over eight decades. This study resulted in proof that the ones who died soonest into the study were actually the ones who were identified as the most optimistic when they were children. Dr. Leslie Martin, who was a co-author on the book about this specific study, stated that, "We were really curious

Optimistic and pessimistic attitudes constantly affect the outcome of people's lives. In my life, I try to keep an optimistic attitude about the things I do because I know it will help lead me to more desirable ends. There have been many situations in which optimism has helped me through difficult times. Two areas in particular have provided me optimistic experiences: athletics