Module #12 Discussion

11/16/2013

Krissy Venosdale flickr.com

Ambition is a quality that is revered in life. Someone with low ambitions is looked up on as a loser of sorts. However, someone with high ambitions and personal drive is said to be motivated, successful, happy, etc.

Is this is always the case? How is this different for Macbeth? How has ambition played a part in your life so far? Where in modern society might you see ambition as a negative?

There are many questions posed above. Be sure that your response is well-organized, clear, and comprehensive. This is a larger issue, and I expect more substance (or "meat") to your response.

You will need to respond to one (1) peer's posting this week.

Cristina

11/16/2013 01:35:31 pm

People who are motivated are not always happy because they may not reach their goals and this will upset them. There are some people who try very hard in school and want to do well but their best is not always enough. Some do succeed and where they end up could be very hard work that might not make them happy. A boy I work with wants to go to Princeton University and he is currently taking 4 AP courses. He has a huge homework load and at the moment he is not very happy. He maintains a 4.0 GPA and I believe he will go far. He wishes to be a doctor. We all know that doctors work extremely hard and their work is mentally,physically and emotionally taxing. Though they get satisfaction from help people,they may not be happy because they are over worked and may be depressed from dealing with sick patients. Macbeth's ambitions do not lead him down a good road. Yes he is motivated,but he is motivated for all of the wrong reasons. He is selfish and power hungry. His motivation is to become king and to do this he must kill Duncan. Murder is never okay,I do not care if the person deserves it,killing is against nature and is not what God intended. If your ambitions are to be something great,like a king, then you must achieve this in an honest way. Some of my ambitions are to help children with special need survive in society. I have been called mama Cristina by most of my friends because I like to take care of people and help them through their problems like a mother would. I feel that everyone should be cared for and treated equal no matter what. So far the only way I have worked toward this is by helping my friends. Other than that my ambitions have helped me progress in my swimming career and in my education. I set goals for swimming and in practice I pushed myself to the limits to reach those goals. Unfortunately my body does not agree with the sport any longer. In school I promised myself that I would get honor roll until I graduated. I made sure that I double checked everything and studied for tests. I have maintained honor roll so far. Ambition can be found every where in the world. Negative ambitions can be seen in tragedies like 911. The ambition of the Muslims was to terrorize Americans. They do not accept our ways and thought that highjacking planes and crashing them into important landmarks would do something to us. Another example is people who rob banks have ambitions to be rich and see no other way to do so. There are so many examples of negative ambitions. It is quite a shame that people can't take their ambitions and motivation to good use.

Tori

11/18/2013 05:34:02 am

I believe that just because someone may have a lower ambition doesn't mean that they are frowned upon, or a loser and or that if you have higher ambitions you are always happy. That is definitely far from the actual case. Just as Cristina said, people may try very hard for something and never achieve their personal goals. They have a high ambition for wanting to do something good but if they don't achieve their goals then are they really satisfied? Many people don't have high ambitions on everything. Usually the higher peoples ambitions are has to do with the interest something. In Macbeth, he has high ambitions for wanting to be King. However, he is extremely selfish for doing what he did. When he killed Duncan he was showing how extremely selfish he could be to take away something that someone had just because he wanted it. Macbeth feels guilty after he has done the deed but murder should have never been committed in the first place. If Macbeth wanted to be king that badly there was certainly another way of handling the situation however his high ambitions got the best of him. In my life I have set high ambitions for cheerleading. There is always something new that you can learn in that sport and every time I would achieve one goal I would set another. Ways that ambition can be negative in our world is that much like Macbeth. There is way too many tragedies in our world today. These are all caused by peoples ambitions getting the best of them. Killing oneself is never the answer, there are different ways around everything. For example the people who shoot up elementary schools. Why is that ever necessary? They have such low ambitions to do such a thing and how does it benefit them? They murder young children and get sent to prison for however long. People don't realize all the ways around things. So having high and low ambitions can be a positive and negative thing.

Cristina

11/18/2013 09:58:11 am

It is a terrible thing that even having high ambitions can be negative because the intent is good most of the time. I was sick to my stomach when I heard about the Newtown Shooting. The first thing that came into my head was "What was that guy doing with his life?" When I think of the word ambition,I always think of positive things but that is wrong. I like that you make goals for yourself in cheerleading. Life is always easier when you set positive goals for yourself. Also, I agree that people are not losers just because they do not have high ambitions for themselves,I think of it more as always preparing for the worst.

Steven

11/18/2013 10:39:37 am

A person who is ambitious is always motivated to move toward doing something, but there are points in their life where there are going to be parts when they are not happy. Success is something that doesn't come easy and therefore a person will not always be happy, but those who are not motivated enough to go through the rough times aren't motivated enough. These three words have can all be grouped together as a branch of the word ambition, but they are not always characteristics of a person at the same time. Steve Jobs wasn't always the happiest when he was on his come up, but we see that eventually things worked out. Even at some of his most successful points he's been quoted as not being the happiest person. A fictitious character where this has been seen is Macbeth who has been both motivated and successful. We've seen him want to kill King Duncan and then complete the task for power. To this point, we haven't seen him be necessarily happy. Because of my previous observations, I am going to predict that in the future we will see Macbeth become happy at some point. Ambition in my life has been something that I have taken very seriously. Like many others, my life has had its bad times and its good. I am a firm believer that all of this will help me reach my goal in life to be known worldwide as one of the most successful business men to ever live. On a less serious note, "Ambition, an album and song by Wale, have been two of my favorite pieces of music. The pieces put in perspective what it means to be ambitious and have helped me gather an idea of what I want in my life. In today's society, it is hard for me to think of a place where ambition is a negative thing. There is the obvious that can be stated such as murder, child abduction or other terrible things such as those, but aside from those ambition is something that I see as a key characteristic in the world.

Tori

11/19/2013 04:14:13 am

I definitely agree with you where you mentioned that success doesn't come easily. You're exactly right that if a person isn't motivated enough that they wont get through the rougher times. If people have high ambitions to get through something they most likely will or will be close to succeeding. I like how you predicted that Macbeth will become happy at some point but my question is will he ever get over his guilt towards killing King Duncan? If he isn't completely over that fact he most likely won't be able to be completely happy.

Logan

11/19/2013 09:03:40 am

I believe that it is often the case that people without ambition are not as successful. I wouldn't say always because there are exceptions to every rule, but for the most part I agree. For Macbeth, he has no ambition of taking over for Duncan. Personally, I feel that it is important to have goals. I always look toward the final product in order to make myself work harder. For me, it can be sometimes hard to get motivated to do schoolwork, so thinking about it from a preparatory standpoint helps me get through it. Ambition can be negative when it gets in the way of ethics and morals. In a lot of business careers ambition can blind people. For example, many CEOs of businesses have had to do wrong to their coworkers in order to get a promotion over them. In conclusion, although ambition is a good thing, it can get in the way of what truly matters. It is one's own responsibility to control his or her actions and keep a clear conscience.

Samantha

11/20/2013 12:24:10 pm

I agree with this statement you made, "...it is often the case that people without ambition are not as successful." Ambition is (here I go with my dictionary definition) a strong desire to do or to achieve something, typically requiring determination and hard work. Without this strong desire, how would one get any work done if they do not have motivation to do so? Macbeth does have a little bit of ambition of taking the throne, but fulfilling his ambition did not include killing Duncan. I believe ambition goes awry when it is misused. For example, doing whatever it takes to come out on top.

Sam

11/21/2013 06:43:46 am

I totally agree with your first statement regarding ambition and success. I hadn't really thought about it, but the majority of successful people I know are very ambitious. The leaders, CEO's, medical students, and all of the other successful people I've seen are extremely ambitious. Google, for example, always has very ambitious ideas, like computer glasses and wireless internet via hot air balloon, that they pursue, and that's why they are so successful. Because of that, I also agree that ambition is important to being successful. At the same time, ambition does not always lead to success.

Christine

11/22/2013 11:54:02 am

I agree with what you said about the connection between ambition and success. It is extremely important to have goals in place to guide you on the path to a bright future. It can be difficult for me to get motivated as well, and I found that goals are very helpful to get me up and going. I really like the example you used about taking ambition too far. It is important to be yourself no matter what, and letting ambition blind you can happen to even the best of us.

Jess

11/22/2013 03:48:13 pm

I can agree with you that people without ambition may seem to be not as successful but to me what determines success? Is it money, careers, degree of education, family, happiness? To me, I believe success is one who is able to say they are happy and one who has made good relationships with others. Someone who can impact other people's lives to me is more successful than someone who cannot. You are right it is important to have goals, just as I have my own and I'm sure pretty much everyone does. I mean, I can't imagine anyone who doesn't have at least one goal. Whether it's even to just make it through the day. Everyone's always accomplishing something. I live everyday as an accomplishment and enjoy every moment. I believe that is the best way to be.

Sam

11/19/2013 09:42:55 am

I believe someone with low ambition is not necessarily a loser but might not be passionate about something. This is true for a lot of people, but it does not make them losers. It just means they don't have interests that translate well into a profession or hobby. Macbeth wasn't very ambitious when it came to taking the throne from Duncan, but he was fine where he was at before. So far in life, ambition hasn't played much of a role. I don't really have any ambitions that make me want to do anything except to further my education. In society today, ambition is often seen as greed. One who's already better off than most might strive for more money or a higher position. Then, ambition becomes a negative.

Steven

11/22/2013 03:11:10 am

For a person who is always pointing out grammar mistakes I feel as though there are a ton in yours. Aside from that, I don't get a full feeling of your post due to its lack of information that is presented; it is not very "meaty." Other than that I think that some of the points that you make are absurd. You state that, "...ambition is often seen as greed." Ambition is nothing but wanting to better yourself as a person: greed is defined as the intense and selfish desire for something. In most cases (which wouldn't mean often), we see that a person with ambitions has one ultimate goal that goes along with the work that we see. These goals can range from making a sporting team to winning the Super Bowl (also showing that ambitions aren't always "selfish").

Mrs. Erdman link

12/6/2013 12:21:11 am

Bravo, Steven, for bantering back with Sam about his post. You are correct in the fact that he has grammar errors--as do all of you. Remember that people are taken more seriously when there are fewer mistakes. In addition, good grammar skills help a writer to be clear and concise.
Finally, when I put the words "meaty" in a prompt, Steven is correct that Sam's is a bit short. Remember that analysis and reflection require deeper thought and explanation. How do things connect? Why is this the case? By using grammar concepts, such as subordinate clauses, phrases, adverbs, and adjectives, writers are able to provide more "meat" when it comes to online discussions.

Samantha

11/19/2013 09:48:38 am

A person's success comes from the goals that they set. There are times when a person will not always be happy while reaching these goals but their motivation will be what pushes them through the given task. Macbeth is seen as having the ambition of killing Duncan which he is not thrilled about. The audience sees Macbeth complete the task and is too worried about what could happen next to be happy. My life is full of goals that I wish to obtain. In order to get a job in the speech and language pathology field which I wish to enter, I need a masters degree. However, I do not wish to stop just there; I envision myself working hard to achieve the ultimate goal of getting a Doctorate. Negative ambitions are just as imminent as those positive; people are always plotting to do something to ruin someone or something. A girl could start a rumor to hurt another girl or a criminal can frame another person for a crime that they committed. Regardless of the scenario, the goal is to see someone else fail. To me, this is something that is considered a negative ambition.

Christine

11/21/2013 03:26:24 pm

It is great that you have a plan for your future. Some people would kill for just that. I know you well enough to know that if you want something, you will work hard enough to get it. With that being said, I am excited to hear from you years from now and you telling me all of the things you were able to accomplish. I know you can get a Doctorate. I really liked the examples you used for negative ambitions, it took me a while to think of what to write for that part.

Jess

11/20/2013 08:56:20 am

I agree that ambition is revered in life but I don't believe one who isn't as ambitious as another is considered to be more of a loser. Some are just at an age in life where they can just settle down and be content with the way it is. Some people just like to sit back and enjoy what they have, while others may always be shooting for their next goal. I, personally, consider myself an ambitious person because I am always dreaming to be bigger and better. Sometimes it can be a flaw I find in myself because I am never satisfied and I am a perfectionist. So no, I would not say that someone with ambition is always more happy, successful, and motivated just from personal experience, knowing I don't always get things in on time and I am not always on top of things as I would like to be. Macbeth, in another standpoint, takes his ambitious goals to be king too far. He does whatever it takes to get there and by this it means killing King Duncan. Although, for me, my ambition isn't always 100 percent there, I can see how far I've come and progressed through the years. Finding out I got accepted to my first college was one of the goals I had just accomplished because of all of my hard work and dedication throughout high school. This has played a huge role in my life because without that ambition I had I would not have gotten accepted. Now that I've achieved getting into Rutgers, I can now move onto my other goals of getting into the other schools I have and will apply to. In society, ambition can be negative in a way, like I said that people can become never satisfied and ungrateful. We have to appreciate our natural talents and accept the fact that we don't have to compete to be the best at everything. Ambitions can become something that weigh people down and linger on people. Ambitions cause stress and anxiety. If we set our hopes too high sometimes the only outcome can be disappointment.

Christine

11/21/2013 03:21:17 pm

A person's ambition and motivation is the key to their success. Most people will not put forth the effort and risk of doing something if there is not a reward in it for them in the long run. Ambition is what keeps people from giving up. In some cases, yes some people without ambition manage to be successful; however, I truly believe that a person cannot be successful without ambition. This differs for Macbeth because even though his ambitions were to be king, he was not happy that he had to kill King Duncan in order to be king. His ambitions were heightened when his wife, Lady Macbeth, kept calling him a coward. Macbeth had no real intention in replacing Duncan, it wasn't until his wife pushed him into thinking it would be for the best.
Ambition has definitely played a huge role in my life. When I want something, I will stop at nothing to get it. Unfortunately, sometimes I believe my ambitions are misguided. For example, all my life I wanted to be a model. (weird right?) I remember auditioning for so many different agencies and when finding a mother agency, I worked so hard to maintain my appearance and my body. After working hard and putting forth a lot of effort, I finally got an audition for fashion week in New York... and I got it. I wanted something and I stopped at nothing to get it. Unfortunately, along the way I did loose site of what was truly important, and that was maintaining my health and my education. I feel like since I am very unfortunate because I don't know what I want to be when I grow up, I don't really have a strong ambition which really leads to my laziness. This leads me into how sometimes ambitions have a negative effect on today's modern society. I for example, stopped at nothing to get to my goals and my dreams, and those goals and dreams came with a price. Also, some teens have misguided ambitions. For example, some teen's ambitions are to fit in and to be what society considers a "typical teenager." Most teens are not developed enough to think past the superficial things. These ambitions can lead to underage drinking and drug usage, which can also lead to car accidents, serious injury, and sometimes even deaths. It's sad to say that even the smartest kids who do the most for their school get caught up in these negative ambitions, but it is reality. Ambitions can be such a positive thing, but only when paired with a positive goal.

Logan

11/22/2013 12:31:49 pm

I completely agree with you that a person's ambition is the key to success. Without the drive and the want to do something, most likely the task will not be accomplished well or sometimes not at all. I enjoyed it when you engaged on the fact that some people without ambition manage to be successful. With that being said, I think for the most part, these people are born into wealth and success to begin with. Without ambition these people will eventually dwindle into nothingness because they did not work hard for anything they acquired. Moving on, I took a great pleasure in reading your personal experiences with your past ambitions and their positive and negative effects they had on you. Christine, you are perfect just the way you are, don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise. Also, I loved how blatantly honest you were about some of the teenagers in our society. Believe it or not they are among us, and most likely the misguided ones are the ones you least expect them to be. All in all, I very much enjoyed your post this week. Great job, keep it up.

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Module #12 Discussion

Mrs. Erdman

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