Belonging

Sample Intro for Belonging essay

Due to the complex and abstract nature of the concept of belonging, a true sense of belonging can
be found in different circumstances for different people. As each individual has their own desires,
needs and values, they find their place in the world and a genuine sense of belonging in various
avenues. Many individuals find the strongest sense of belonging through relationships, due to the
fact that by nature these connections fulfill the human need for social interaction and enrich the lives
of the persons involved. Conversely, relationships which do not fit the conventional model of this
kind of connection and thus result in negative outcomes for individuals can ultimately lead to a true
sense of not belonging and its related notions of isolation and disaffection. Instead, these individuals
may attain the same sense that they truly belong outside relationships, though their connections to
other ideas such as place and culture, or within themselves. Shakespeares As You Like It and
Khyenstse Norbus Travellers and Magicians are two texts in which an exploration of belonging and
its different meanings for individuals ultimately leads to a deeper understanding of the complexity of
the concept of belonging and thus that individuals can find a true sense of belonging in a great range
of places, not limited to relationships.
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Short Story
The plots main focus should be around character development
This character development should show processes/ideas/issues related to belonging






Examples
PRISON
To the guards! the men around the table lifted their glasses, grinning to each other as they leaned
back in their wide chairs. The meal was much appreciated by the guards, who having forced the
prisoners to eat their watery stew, now felt like kings. As the bell rang, bouncing through the passage
of the small rooms, Mark and four others pushed their chairs back and stood together, ready for their
next shift. Give prisoner 310 a bit of a push! Yelled one of the guards at the table, hes being a pain,
barricaded the door of his cell with his bed today. Mark nodded, pulling his eyes as he filed into the
hall behind the other uniformed men.
Once inside, with the door locked, they checked each cell. Each room was small with two narrow beds
filling most of the space. Sitting or lying on each bed was a man clothed in a thin white smock. 310
lay under his square blanket, his bare feet hanging off the edge of the mattress. Mark hit the bars on
310s cell with his baton, breaking the humid hush that had settled over the rooms and causing him to
sit up. The skin on his face was pale and strained and with no natural light his eyes looked like shallow
pools, murky and still. Mark hit the door again and again, the stinging sound growing louder until it
reverberated through each of the rooms as if the building was shaking causing yells of complaint from
the prisoners. Mark looked to the other guards, smiling behind their matching glasses. Tom, the guard
closest to him motioned for Mark to pause and cleared his throat, You can blame 310 for the noise
his voice was loud but unsteady Repeat! 310 is a bad prisoner. The prisoners waited in silent
defiance. Tom walked towards the cell next to 310s followed by the other guards. The silence in the
cells making the sound of their thick boots scuffing the ground unnaturally loud. Grinning to each
other they all began to hit each prisoners door, the sound joining into a shuddering thunder. Mark felt
their power as they moved together, each strike of the baton becoming stronger and faster like a
train, each wheel spinning with more force, pulling the train from the station and sending it with
momentum as it races down the tracks. In these rooms, together, they had control.
When they stopped, Tom reiterated his demand. This time his voice was low and firm. Repeat my
words. 310 is a bad prisoner, 310 is a bad prisoner. Two voices joined his and then another and
another. 310 is a bad prisoner. 310 is a bad prisoner. 310 is a bad prisoner. As the chant picked up
the guards stood back from the doors, moving back to their chairs on the opposite side of the narrow
hall. Tom sat upright on his chair, tugging his uniform straight as he watched 310 from a distance, his
hands over his ears, his face pulled even tighter with dread. We did that well said Mark as he lowed
himself to the chair beside Tom, Well have a good laugh to share with the others.
Three hours into the shift, a key turned in the lock and the professor entered the hall. He walked to
the center of the room, pulling back the blind that had been tied close for the last four days.
Students, we are ending the experiment early. Tom stared out of the window, shocked by the sunny
courtyard outside, filled with students moving from class to class.
Four days earlier, Professor Zimbardo stood in a classroom with twelve students, half the number he
had selected for the experiment. The twenty-four young men were considered the most emotionally
stable and normal of the many more they had tested. In just a moment the Professor explained I will
show you where the mock prison has been set up. In this place, your new identity is to be a guard. I
will give you your uniforms he motioned to a pile of clothes, boots, sunglasses and batons It is your
job to control your prison. In those rooms you will have superior food and sleeping arrangements than
the prisoners. Together you can create in the prisoners a sense of fear to some degree. Theyll have
no freedom of action, they can do nothing, say nothing without the guards permission. They will be
divided into cells, locked behind bars, you will move freely in the prison and act together as one unit.
The men sat still, glancing uneasily at those around them, unsure if they had the authority or desire to
fulfill this role. The Professor opened the door, Come let me show you your prison.
An hour after the Professor ended the experiment all twelve prisoners emerged from storage rooms at
Stanford University, their faces pallid and eyes blinking in the sunlight, pulled unexpectedly from a life
that had consumed them in just days. With them were the guards. The prison was gone. Tom walked
home alone, blending in with the crowds of students as they left for the weekend. His mother
answered the door when he knocked, her eyebrows raised. I thought you werent back for a week at
least? Tom stepped inside the house kicking of his sneakers.
They finished it early.
Oh, no! Did you get paid for the two weeks?
Yeah they paid us the full amount anyway.
Thats great luck! Well go and clean up Tommy, and then we will have dinner Her smile wasnt
returned by Tom. Actually, dear, would you mind going and bringing the bins in first?
No, I wont get the bins Tom pushed past his stunned mother, feeling his frustration growing like a
hot cloud within him. He wanted to be back with the guards; the keys to each of the cells strapped to
his uniform and striding through the dark halls with the other men. He climbed the stairs, his
frustration swirled around his chest, winding itself around him like a serpent around its prey. He was
so much more than this, if only they knew what he was in his territory, with the power of the pack
around him. Now he was alone, the tendrils wrapping tighter around him. Trapped. Unlike the
prisoners who emerged from their prison, there were no keys to unlock this cell. The tendrils closed
tighter and harder, pushing the blood from his face.
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english/