ENGL 1301: Analysis of Resilience, Overcoming Adversity and Success

This essay, written for ENGL 1301, delves into the concept of resilience as a highly desirable quality, examining how individuals overcome adversity and achieve success. The essay highlights the lives of Hellen Keller, who triumphed over deafness and blindness to become a renowned activist, and Tyler Perry, who overcame a difficult childhood to build an entertainment empire. Through these examples, the essay emphasizes the importance of willpower, an optimistic approach, and unwavering faith in the face of challenges. It contrasts Keller's supported upbringing with Perry's struggles, ultimately concluding that resilience allows individuals to rise above their circumstances and achieve great things, providing inspiration for readers to develop their own resilience. The essay is well-researched, citing credible sources to support its claims, and offers a comprehensive analysis of the topic.

Michael Cabrera
ENGL 1301
4/25/18
Resilience and Resilient People
Resilience is one of the most desirable qualities that people seek to possess. Today,
people who exhibit resilience in their lifetime are recognizable and commended. Primarily, it
refers to an outstanding quality that allows an individual to be knocked down by life but rise
above the challenge and overcome it. The process of resilience among humans is ordinary and
not extraordinary. For this reason, every individual can exhibit some form of resilience during
the course of their life. Today, noteworthy individuals that have exhibited resilience include
Tyler Perry and Hellen Keller. Both individuals have demonstrated a strong will to overcome
adversities during their lifetime and rose above the challenges to achieve great things.
Today, Hellen Keller is remembered as one of the most resilient people of all times.
Faced with adversity at an early age, Keller rose above all obstacles to achieve great throughout
her career. Keller lost her sense of hearing and sight at the tender age of 6 months and had to
cope with life without these senses (Hellen Keller). Throughout her childhood, she struggled to
develop a form of communication through the help of her educator Annie Sullivan. As an adult,
Keller rose above her disabilities and became an active social activist that advocated for the
improvement of the welfare of blind people. Her accomplishments defeating her physical
hindrances have been made apparent a number of times, for instance her tenacity and strength
earned her a bachelor degree making her the first blind person in the history to achieve so.
Throughout her life she has fought against many odds not only for her personal achievements but

also to eradicate social evils and uphold the working class heroes contemporary of her times. Her
lifelong history of excellence in every sphere of her life irrespective of the odds not only shows
her optimism and resilience but an individual with strong willpower to whom political, social
and physical restricting factors are nothing but a mere parts of life which need to be triumphed
over.
Likewise, Tyler Perry is recognized today for his resilience and ability to overcome
challenges in life to build an entertainment empire. It is worth noting that Perry had a difficult
childhood experience and suffered brutal physical abuse from his father. His father was a violent
man, something that caused Perry to contemplate committing suicide at some point (Tyler
Perry). He dropped out of school but later earned a GED and worked odd jobs before discovering
his passion. He was inspired by an Oprah Winfrey show centering round a woman who rose
from a life of being black American, inflicted with early pregnancy, poverty and abuse who
showed the sheer strength of human willpower and began writing, directing and starring in his
films. Perry Even though his first productions were not successful, he made several attempts
until his work became recognized. Perry’s faith in life like Oprah enabled him to overcome the
abuses, mental scars and his love for writing aimed him to transform his life for the better
towards the end.
Indeed, both Hellen Keller and Tyler Perry exhibit a strong sense of resilience in their
lives. For Keller is exemplary for the remarkable life she led and stands as a powerful example of
how resilience can allow a person to overcome hard times. She triumphed over difficult
conditions with a great deal of persistence and as a result became respected as a world-renowned
activist (Hellen Keller). Likewise, Perry overcame the hardships of his abusive childhood

through hard work, persistence and determination to become one of America’s bestselling
author, playwright, film actor and Filmmaker. However one aspect of Perry’s life that
differentiates from from Keller is the fact that Keller received is family support and love, and
their constant mentoring of Heller to nurture her abilities.
All factors taken into consideration, resilience is an important and desirable quality
among people. Usually, such people do not allow failure and adversity to overcome them but
instead rise about their challenges to achieve great things. Both Hellen Keller and Tyler Perry
have demonstrated strong will and resilience in their lives. In the same way, people can
overcome their personal odds by developing an optimistic approach towards life, willpower and
by absolute faith even in failure that would help them emerge victorious.

Refrences
“Helen Keller.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 27 Feb. 2018,
www.biography.com/people/helen-keller-9361967.
“Tyler Perry.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 8 Sept. 2017,
www.biography.com/people/tyler-perry-361274.