HAPPINESS: A CLASSIFICATION ESSAY

Everybody dreams of a happy and fulfilling life, and commonsense dictates that they leave no stone unturned in their efforts to achieve it. The first step in this endeavor is determining one’s path in life. Having determined it, they pursue it with determination and end up leading happy and satisfying lives. The path in question could be closer to home; alternatively, it could involve work and the business world; it could also involve serving the greater good.

Some people seek happiness in family life, in marriage and children. Their joy comes from a love match and children whose concerns are lovingly dealt with. The close bonds within a family and the love, compassion, empathy and sympathy that is constant in a happy home bring a deeper joy leading to an inner peace that is hard to rival. Watching the children grow up and helping them with any difficulties they encounter provide great happiness. Spouses age together having made their way along their chosen path hand in hand. Looking back come old age, they see what they have achieved during a life well spent.

Not everyone is built for family life; some like to spread their wings and explore. The narrow confines of their hometowns are claustrophobic. Such people often find happiness in a chosen vocation, a job that they devote all their energies and every waking hour to. People who have not just got any old job but have truly found their vocation are to be envied because their single minded pursuit of their goals brings them great joy on many different levels. Like family life and unlike drugs or alcohol, this joy is not temporary; it is permanent and ever changing. There is always something new round the corner; a new challenge that needs to be overcome, which in turn leads to more happiness. Such people find it very difficult to ever let go and retire preferring to end their lives on the job.

There is yet another group of people who turn outwards in their search for happiness. Their fulfillment comes from a mission that they have taken on and pursue single mindedly. Such people as Pope Francis, the secretary general of Amnesty international, Mother Theresa and the like seek happiness in helping others: they seek to alleviate poverty and disease, end human trafficking and slavery and all forms of human rights violations for example. Still others are on a mission to save the planet and protect endangered species; The Sea Shepherds are an example for such groups and their mission is to fight illegal waling. Missions require a single minded focus to the exclusion of all else and bring great joy to the people who have found their “mission” in life.

In conclusion, there seems to be a close correlation between a single minded devotion to a cause, a field of work or a life style and happiness. Those who are lucky enough to determine what exactly they can fully devote themselves to are destined to lead happy lives. Those who waft around from pillar to post are doomed to waste a wonderful opportunity to experience great joy and fulfillment. 

RESTAURANTS

Eating is one of the pleasures of life and is not just satisfaction of a physical need. Dinner tables bring families, friends and even strangers together and help build bridges. Therefore, there are many rituals involved in eating, and different countries have their own cuisine. People often eat at home or at friends’ and relatives houses but sometimes, on special occasions, they go out to eat. Their destination is a restraunt. Restraunts vary according to quality, specialty and size.

Restraunts can be classified according to quality, which is often expressed with stars. A five star restraunt has the best possible chef – probably with a Michelin star – a well stocked kitchen and lots of staff. The service is faultless, the cutlery, glassware, crockery and linen are beautiful. The waiters are experienced and well dressed. There is one downside to this superb eating experience: the price. This kind of quality comes at a price, which the visitor must be prepared to pay. An example of a five star restraunt would be the Ritz in London.

Restraunts can be classified according to cuisine as well. Some restraunts have an international menu while others will only serve food from a particular area.  Italian restraunts serve pasta, risotto and pizzas while Chinese restraunts only serve Chinese food. Examples of such restraunts would be The Chinese restraunt in Etiler and the Italian restraunt in Taksim. Some restraunts on the other hand, only specialize in a certain kind of food and limit their menus to that. Examples to the latter would be vegetarian restraunts or sea food restraunts.  To sum up, all these restraunts are highly specialized and appeal to a smaller group of people.

Restraunts can also be categorized with respect to size. Some are huge, like Borsa in Beyoğlu, others only have a dozen or so tables like Zencefil. The size is not always an indication of price or quality. Some small restraunts serve wonderful food at reasonable prices but others don’t. Whereas some large restraunts opperate like canteens, others serve delicious food. For example, Konyalı at The Topkapı Museum is big but the quality is wonderful. Borsa, on the other hand, is an average restraunt.

In conclusion, eating out with friends and family is and always has been one of the pleasures of life. This trend will continue in the future. Due to the purpose of restraunts, there will be few changes in the experience.

TYPES OF RESIDENCE

People have always needed shelter from the elements, and a place where they could rest, eat and sleep together with family and relatives. Initially these shelters were caves, tents and primitive huts but later, with the development of architecture, some wonderful structures were built to house people and give them a place to call home. These structures or residences vary greatly in the modern world and can be classified according to purpose, ownership and structure.

Residences vary in terms of purpose because while some provide temporary accommodation, others provide more permanent accommodation. In the modern world, travel has become much easier and people are constantly hopping on planes and travelling halfway across the world in a matter of hours. These trips may involve business or pleasure but whatever the purpose, the traveler needs temporary accommodation in the form of a hotel, motel, holiday resort or hostel when he reaches his destination. His stay at this temporary residence will depend on the duration of his trip. The presence of hotels and the like all over the world has made it much easier for people to visit far off places, get to know new people and learn about different cultures.

Residences vary in terms of ownership as well: some are state owned and others are privately owned. State owned residences are constructed in welfare states like the UK and the USA for instance to provide accommodation for the poor and disadvantaged. Called public housing, these residences are constructed in the form of big complexes and are given out to the neediest. Top of the list are single mothers, the elderly and those with disabilities. Public housing has been widely criticized for being hot beds of crime and for promoting the gang culture but they are impossible to do without as well. Privately owned property on the other hand comprises flats or houses purchased by private individuals. Individuals acquire houses or flats either to live in themselves or to rent out as a source of income. In short, whether they are in government housing, rented accommodation or their own place, everyone gets somewhere to call home.

Residences aren’t all constructed in the same way: some are single storey, some are high rises or anything in between; some are stone structures, others are made of wood or synthetic material. Whereas in the past, single, two or three storey houses with gardens were more common, in the modern world, big apartment complexes are more widely seen thanks to the population explosion in the last couple of centuries. Lack of space has pushed buildings up in order to make more efficient use of space. The building materials vary greatly as well: while the carcasses of most homes in the past were wood, today they are steal; whereas most houses were built using natural materials like stone and wood in the past, today bricks and mortar are the building materials of choice. Whatever material is used, the houses or flats are built to last and provide a permanent residence for families and individuals.

To sum up, a residence could be a house or a flat, a hotel or a holiday resort, rented or privately owned and built using a variety of material. The ultimate purpose of all forms of housing, however, remains the same: to provide warmth, comfort and shelter. A second purpose of residences is to enable communities to live together in close proximity, form bonds, cooperate, socialize and work together. In this respect, they are of paramount importance.

CINEMA AUDIENCES

    Watching a film is a favorite pastime, as films take us to other worlds and away from our own problems. For this reason, the film industry is one of the biggest sectors and film corporations are among the giants of the global market. Although almost everyone likes to watch movies, movie lovers vary greatly in terms of their preferences and expectations.

      One category of film viewers is thrill seekers. They like to feel the rush of adrenalin, hear their hearts beating and have their breath taken away while watching a film. This experience is the best way for such people to feel alive in their free time and to escape from the realities of their lives. Thrillers with lots of action, high tech sound effects and loud scenes of murder or escape are perfect films for these adrenaline junkies. Recently, more and more thrillers in 3D are being produced to provide an even greater experience of adventure and excitement. Fantastic films like The Lord of the Rings are a good example. Serial killers, underground gangs and people with supernatural skills, detectives, intelligence service people, victims etc are the characters of  films that thrill seekers are quite fond of.

       There is another group of viewers who don’t watch films in order to experience breathless moments or adrenaline, they seek to expand their general knowledge and feel their horizions get wider as they are watching a film. They like to watch documentaries about politics, nature or different cultures. These people are generally curious people who have many questions in their minds about history, the universe or life in general. After a hard day at work, spending their evening at home exploring the depths of the universe in a documentary on the universe or traveling to an important point in history and learning about social and political events gives them indescribable joy. This kind of viewer also enjoys biographies about important people in history, politics or science. They are mostly also keen readers with intellectual curiosity.

    Viewers can also be categorized according to age. Children, for example, enjoy cartoons and animations with princesses and fairy tale characters. In cartoons, there is always a hero that overcomes a challange with the help of friends and also by being good people with a strong sense of ethics. Animations don’t only appeal to children, they actually attract people of all ages. Most of the animation makers aim to make them films for families to watch together and have fun together as a family. That’s why, certain jokes and references are there for adults, parents or grandparents. Young people, on the other hand, enjoy thrillers most. Of course, this is just a generalization and there may be teenagers who enjoy documentaries or biographies. On the other hand, adults and older adults mostly enjoy dramas and historical films which make them reflect on the meaning of life, the challanges of life, lessons others learn from life, and in general, leave the cinema having learned more or reflected on life.

    In conclusion, people’s film preferences seem to be influenced by their personality, their inclination or age. However, sometimes, just one film may change one’s preference all together, like one very good documentary may open a habitual thrill seeker to the whole new world of documentaries or biographies. Or a friend may introduce you to a new genre. The film industry is here to stay and continue to develop more and more films of different kinds and appeal to all kinds of audience.

BOOKS CLASSIFIED

Books  are forms of recorded information and of course, books haven’t been the same throughout history. In the ancient world, there were cave drawings. In 3^rd millennium BC, people wrote information on tablets. The ancient Egyptians used papyrus to write documents. The Chinese invented paper and developed printing. Johannes Gutenberg introduced printing to Europe around 1440. It caused the number of books to increase and book prices to drop. Printing is much more developed and today we can read books on/ via tablets and e-book readers. Today, we have many kinds of books and we can get books easily. However, books may be classified in numerous ways.

Firstly, books may be classified according to how they are presented to the public. There are two ways to present books to the public: printed and non-printed books. Printed books maybe paperback or hardcover but it depends on the choice of a publisher. If a publisher chooses a paperback, it will be cheaper than a hardcover version. However, if a  publisher chooses to print a hardcover version ,the book will become attractive and it may increase sales . The other type of book is non-printed books and their popularity is growing increasingly. There are two types of non-printed book: e-books and audio books. With the invention of tablets and readers, e-books began to be read. People can read their books on tablets or readers when traveling without carrying them. Audio books are very useful for blind people. They can read these books by listening without any effort. In short, books have become more varied.

Secondly, books may be classified according to content. We can classify books as fiction and non-fiction. Novels, short stories, poetry, etc. are read for the purpose of intellectual development by everyone. These books affect our imagination, emotions, and intelligence. Lots of people pick up best sellers at airports, before long train journeys or when heading for a seaside vacation because best sellers are easy to read. These books don’t rack people’s brain. The other type of book is non-fiction books which may be text books, academic books, biographies , etc. Researchers, students and academics go for them because these books include objective information.

In conclusion, books have a great impact on human beings. The Shape of books has changed throughout history and it is so hard to estimate what kind of books will exist in the future. However, I think the most important thing is not how we read a book, it is what we read.