Northington 1 James Northington Professor Brown English 1101 2 October 2013 The Last Lecture Randy Pauschs The

Last Lecture, makes it clear in this novel that the purpose is to live each day to the fullest, as if today were your last day on this Earth. This novel is significant because readers get the opportunity to go through Pauschs life his struggles, his dreams, his love for his family, and even his finals days on this Earth. The three quotes that really got my attention in both The Last Lecture and Diane Sawyers one hour special documentary on Randy Pauschs last very few months were, We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand, You have to decide early if you are a Tigger or an Eeyore... never, ever underestimate the value of having fun, and Brick walls are there to separate us from the people who dont really want to achieve their childhood dream. In comparison to other non-fiction novels, The Last Lecture takes the cake; this novel is different from other non-fiction novels because it is heart-felt and extremely visual, making you feel like you knew him on a personal level. By the end of the novel, you are just heartbroken because you wanted Pausch to beat pancreatic cancer, but he will not succeed. An inspirational quote in Pauschs novel states, We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand (Pausch 17); and what that means to me is that Pausch is stating in the most humblest way that although he may have the terminally ill pancreatic cancer,

Northington 2 it will not affect his every day up-tempo morale. The way that this man, who is fully aware that his life will cease to exist in a matter of three to six months, composes this this inspirational work of art coming out of his mouth really spoke to me. It makes me think that I need to reevaluate myself and my lifestyle if I am not living life to the fullest like this fighter Randy Pausch. Randy Pausch is one of the most inspirational speakers I have ever had the privilege of hearing. When Diane Sawyer had an hour special about Pauschs struggles, he said something so memorable in his final and most definitely epic last lecture. That memorable quote states, "You have to decide early if you are a Tigger or an Eeyore... never, ever underestimate the value of having fun" (180). Pausch uses his imagination from his eternal livelihood of being a child, and uses a metaphor to further understand his thought process on whether you are an optimistic or a pessimist. Is the glass half full, or half empty? Any normal person would be upset and extremely depressed about being terminally ill with the life-poisoning pancreatic cancer, but not Randy. He has left a legacy and a story that will go down in history as the epitome of how he proves that he lives life to his outmost fullest. A third quote in Pauschs Last Lecture will live on forever in my heart; he uses such a strong metaphor that makes you really think about your life. The quote states, Brick walls are there to separate us from the people who dont really want to achieve their childhood dreams (79). Brick walls are there for reasons. Brick walls let us show our dedication. Essentially, Pausch is saying that brick walls are there for a reason. You can acknowledge that there is a brick wall in your way of achieving childhood dreams and climb over such obstacle, or give up it is the easier path to take. The metaphorical brick wall does not have to be a literal wall; the brick wall can be made of flesh. Pauschs brick wall was his sweetheart, Jai (pronounced

Northington 3 Jay). He and his beloved wife have three little ones at home. His brick wall is that he does not want to leave the burden on Jais shoulders. His life will be taken by this nasty cancer, and will leave Jai a widow with three little. It is nothing against how great of a person or father he was, they were just too young and compute that their father has passed and they will not remember who their daddy was. Randy does not want to leave that burden on Jai, but he is trying his best to climb the fleshy brick wall obstacle. I truly enjoyed reading such a heartfelt and inspirational novel. The three words that describe this novel and Pauschs journey would be heartfelt, inspirational, and upbeat. Basing my paragraphs off of the three selected words, I chose a quote for each paragraph and word. I felt that these three words and quotes really stood out to me throughout reading this novel. After reading this novel, I wish I could go back on some things that I have been through in the past, but Pausch insists that you must not worry about the day before you, only to live as if today was your last day; live your life to the fullest. They are inspirational, making me feel a sense of a go-getter attitude, that I must conquer my obstacle, my brick wall; and being upbeat. Having the capability to keep calm and maintain being upbeat, even though you literally have an hourglass with oldfashioned sand slowly but surely spilling out to your lifes end. Being strong enough to surpass the obvious that you have only a few more months to be on this Earth with your wife and little children. Life will try and make you a pessimist, like Eeyore; or you could do what Pausch did in a heroic manner, which is be as optimistic as possible, like Tigger.