Doxey 1
Liam Doxey
Mrs. Vigliotti
College English
1 August 2014
Summer Reading Assignment What ideas and emotions would you spread to others if you knew that it would be your last chance? Randy Pausch spoke about achieving his childhood dreams in his final lecture and encouraged his students to lead their lives in an efficient and optimistic way so that they would be able to achieve their dreams more readily. In his book, The Last Lecture, Pausch explores key points in his life through a series of anecdotes. Within these anecdotes Pausch discusses many themes such as courage, optimism and achieving one’s dreams all in order to live life to the fullest. Courage I a theme that appears frequently in The Last Lecture. It took a great deal of courage for Pausch to continue living his life to the fullest even though he knew that he would die in a matter of months. Instead of locking himself away in sadness and depression he continues on as a professor and enlightens others. Pausch’s wife, Jai, also has a lot of courage and she supports him as a loving wife and caretaker even in his last days. “Jai had always been my cheerleader. When I was enthusiastic, so was she. ‘Call me selfish,’ Jai told me. ‘But I want all of you. Any time you’ll spend working on this lecture is lost time, because it’s time away from the kids and from me.’”(Pausch 11) There are many instances that Pausch discusses that…show more content… I decided I would calmly tell her everything that was happening. I’d give her the truth.” (Pausch 94) Giving honest feedback and being able to take other’s criticism are other examples that Pausch discusses that require