About Yosemite Valley, Glacier Point Trail

This painting is entitled “Yosemite Valley, Glacier Point Trail”. The artist is Albert Bierstadt. He was an American born in Germany in 1830. Generally, the painting shows the beautiful Yosemite Valley and the peaceful and happy life of local people. What I see in this picture is the author’s love of natural scenes, which inspires future and hope. In the top of it, a warm and shining sun covered nearly one third of the whole picture. Colored in light yellow, the sunshine spreads everywhere. In the middle of the picture, one blue river winds and leads to the far distance. The high Rocky Mountains stand along the river. All of these elements make a beautiful and amazing scene. No matter according to the coverage or the place where light shines on, the main topic of this painting is about this gorgeous view. This shows the author’s love of natural scenes. In the bottom left side of the picture, there is one path on the mountain. There are three people resting. They dress in traditional early nineteenth century garb. Watching the distance, they are happily chatting. Maybe they are celebrating the great natural scenes or talking about the anecdotes in their life. Above them, there is a man saying hello to these three people. Along the path, there are high and green trees standing and pointing up. This aspect of the painting illustrates the happy and peaceful life of local people. This picture is painted after the construction of the railway crossing the country, which disturbs the original natural scene of Yosemite Valley. And this painting shows the scenes before the railway construction. Although it’s a sad problem, but according to the color and light of this picture, the painting is still positive. So the painter maybe want to express the belief in future, and his love of nature. In conclusion, this painting conveys the author’s love of natural scenes. And according to the happiness of people and light yellow color, it also shows the author’s hope of future.

Suffering makes people sad, but also makes people more independent. But will people enjoy the independence gained from suffering. Here are two examples from two essays about suffering and independence. Jeanette, from The Glass Castle, and Jerry, from A Mother in Manville, both suffer a lot and are unusually independent for their age. Jeanette is the character and author of The Glass Castle. She grew up in a poor family without enough care from parents. Her mother took no responsibility of taking care of children. There are many facts proving Jeanette’s independence. First of all, she cooked for herself when she was only three-year-old. The book describes a lot about how she cooked, such like she need a chair to stand on and she need to work a lot to fill up the pot. All the description shows Jeanette’s independence. Furthermore, she lived alone in the hospital without care from parents after serious burn and felt very happy. Only independent children can live in hospital without parents. At last, she finally grew up with little help from her parents and gained a decent life. This is also a strong evidence for independence. Jerry is the character of A Mother in Manville. He is an orphan. His mother had left him when he was 4-year-old and he had an imaginary mother when he met the author. After suffering a lot, Jerry became independent too. In the story, he came alone and chops woods very well in the author’s cabin. Moreover, he took care of the narrator’s dogs when she was away. It’s not common for a child to take care of others. At last, he sneaked out at night and made it to the author’s home. All of the former evidence show the independence of Jerry. So, both of them suffer a lot during their life while become quite independent. From the Jeanette’s story, the suffering makes her stronger and more independent, while giving her a sad childhood. From Jerry’s story, suffering also comes with independence in this 4-year-old boy’s life. Sometimes, people don’t have control over their life, so just concentrate on the lucky side. Even if you suffer a lot, it’s good to become more independent.

“What a beautiful scene! It almost takes my breath away.”, Emily says with excitement. Dressed in skirts exquisitely made, Emily is always the centre of the group. She lives in the castle nearby, and the favorite amusement she likes is to watch this gorgeous view, which amazes her every time. Right beside her, there are two gentlemen who both have stars in their eyes when they watch Emily’s beautiful face. “Yeah, this is the best place to see the whole scene of Yosemite Valley.”, they said, “but what you are seeing now may disappear in a few months. The government will build the railroad through the valley.” Right in front of them is the Yosemite Valley. The sun just rises, spreading warm sunshine all over the valley. One blue river winds and leads to the distance in the bottom of valley, glinting in the sun. Along the river stand towering mountains. All of them make a gorgeous scene. “Howdy!”, one man riding down the mountain yells, “Are you celebrating the beautiful scene?”. “Yeah, and we also talked about the incoming railway. Hoping it won’t ruin this place.”, John yelled back. The riding man has already come close to them and thought for a while. “You never worry about the things you can’t control. Let’s just enjoy what we have today.”, he said. Watching the distance, Emily smiles secretly and nods her head a little. But John caught all the process of Emily’s smile. Suddenly, he doesn’t like this riding man. To avoid too much such wise words, he begins to celebrate the scenes around them. “Look at these green giant trees, I can hardly see the top of them.”. “It seems that they have been there from the very beginning of the world”, Emily agreed. The riding man senses some strange atmosphere and said goodbye to the three people.

Watching the white ceiling and hearing the alarm clock ringing, I have tried to force myself out of bed for two hours, but failed. My mind is in a whirl with all the noise inside my head. I can’t gather any energy to make myself do anything right now. There are so many different voices shouting in my mind. All of them make some sense. One week ago, I was sitting in the office of one of the world’s biggest international electronic companies, and I had just finished my work and was wondering if I should have asked for more work. I had come here as a research intern to improve myself. I had competed with lots of classmates to gain this opportunity and I needed to take this chance to learn as much as possible. But now, I am lying in the bed, doing nothing. I don’t even go to work, let alone try to improve myself. What’s the definition of success? I keep asking myself. The Spanish guy said success is more happiness than sadness. He thought that happiness in life is most important thing. The Japanese guy suggested that success is changing the world. He believed that accomplishing something “meaningful” in life is success. They all have their definition of success, which also act as their goal in life. But what about mine? I was told by parents and teachers to chase the best grades, the best universities and the best jobs. They obviously think that earning lots of money or getting a good job is success. But I have never thought this. I just followed their instructions. I don’t know where I am heading or why I’m working hard. I just work hard because of parents’ and teachers’ instructions. I don’t have any plan and control over my life, I realize. I need to realize my own values and take control of my life. I ask myself about the definition of success again and again. Many ideas present themselves but I eliminate them one by one. Do I really want money? Money itself definitely will not satisfy me. It’s the things money can do that attracts me. So as long as it’s enough, money is no longer important. Is being respected by others important? Being respected does make me happy, but it seems that I can live without it. Happiness and changing the world doesn’t interest me. After considering and rejecting many ideas, only one desire survives and floats to the surface. I treasure the feeling of people around me, especially my family. I want them to be happy. I want them to live a life they want. Watching them happy will make me pleased. That’s my own definition of success.