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Visual Literacy
The misconception of selflessness sometimes comes from the lack of ability for self-love due to unpleasant circumstances. In the song Prayer of the Refugee by Rise Against, the band speaks out for all the immigrants and refugees that flee to the United States in hopes of a better life and the harsh reality they face. "Before we packed our bags, and left all this behind us in the dust. We had a place that we could call home, and a life no one could touch...We are the angry and the desperate, the hungry, and the cold. We are the ones who kept quiet, and always did what we were told." (Rise Against). Immigrant and Refugee parents are always viewed as selfless and praised for the sacrifices they make in order to better the lives of their children; however people often overlook that this "selflessness" is something they chose to do; they are forced into a life of constant work just to provide for their family, if they hadn't chose this path, the only other path left for them would be death. The music video is presented with constant crosscuts of the band singing in a store called the All American Home Center, and close ups of people, even children of color working in sweatshops and at converter belts; a direct contrast of the goods provided at the store, clean, and organized, to the dirty, tired and overworked laborers. Showing the part of society people usually overlook and ignore, they know that it exists, but no one wants to think about it enough to step out and make a difference.  Toward the end of the video, the pan shot shows the band smashing the merchandises sold at the store in to pieces in slow motion, a deep focus shot of the broken pieces falling off the once organized shelves; he pieces eventually spell out the words "FAIR TRADE" at the end of the video. This scene suggests that the lowest parts of society are the building blocks of the country, without them, the country would just crumble to pieces; emphasizing the importance of the fair treatment to the very people that are building what keeps the country running for everyone. The stereotype of the selfless immigrant is only a delusion created by the consumers of the products to help ease their conscious, refugees and immigrants crave a better life and they have no choice but to live and work through horrible conditions to achieve their dreams.

Ceremony
Some people try to justify the fear of death because the fear of being labeled as a coward is much greater, some people would rather die. In the novel Ceremony by Leslie Silko, when Harley was beaten and tortured to death by Emo, Tayo had the choice to fight for Harley which would result in absolute death or flee the scene.  “The screwdriver was slippery in his hands. It nauseated him to see Harley’s body jerky and twitching in the sagging barbed wire, with hands and knives so greedy for human flesh.” (Silko 252). Tayo knew that if he had tried to stand up and fight for Harley as well as himself, he would die. His fear of death was justified by not giving into evil and ending the cycle of the evil that exists within; although the human nature of his actions were to preserve his own life. The concept of cowardice has existed for as long as the concept of courage has, it is look down upon and people fear to be known as a coward more than they fear death. "The American history of cowardice starts in the French and Indian War with a preacher saying, 'These French and Indians are killing our countrymen, and you people in Virginia are too cowardly to do anything about it.' His sermon, “The Curse of Cowardice,” got a bunch of people to join a company, and they marched on Fort Duquesne [in modern Pittsburgh] and the French scurried. But the British authorities did not think much of the colonial soldiers and thought them cowardly come the 1770s, when the colonists start to rebel." (Walsh). This fear of being a coward has caused much unnecessary deaths and violence throughout the course of history; people didn't fight and die at battle because they were patriotic and cared for their country more than themselves, they fought to protect their name against cowardice. Today, the view of cowardice is shifting, changing from a forbidden label to a human trait people don't like to admit to.  "Much of the book is about how the term has become less applicable to war, because we know more about human psychology, and we rightly attribute failures in battle to things like post-traumatic stress disorder. The world would be a better place if some people worried less about being cowardly."(Walsh). Walsh explains that "the word and the idea behind it are essential to promoting ethical behavior." While in an ideal world, courage is always better and cowardice; however the ideal world does not exist. The world is a place where humans with human emotions exist, these emotions driven people to behave in ways they otherwise wouldn't. Courage sometimes isn't a term for bravery, but simply a term for the fear of cowardice.

Seven Pounds
Sometimes self-sacrifice must be made in order to achieve self-forgiveness. In 7 Pounds by director Gabriele Muccino, this concept is presented beautifully and tragically. Film has always been an outlet for pain but also a place of comfort and healing. "Idea of seeing ourselves in the art we watch and we make." (Seven Views on Seven Pounds).  Muccino explains the founding idea of art in it's purest form,  the power to heal oneself and the ones who recognize it. Will Smith's character Tim Thomas commits suicide in order to give his heart, literally, to his love interest in the film, Emily. The scene is a series of crosscuts, jumping from current time and flashbacks to the car accident Tim caused that killed his fiancee and six other people, showing the audience that he isn't really dying here, that he died with his fiancee in the crash, his soul is dead. For his body to be left alive he is left to suffer and live only in the pain and blame of the death of seven people. The accident is presented with cut-in cut-away shots, showing the chaotic close ups of the accident emphasizing the disarray of the crash for the people involved in contrast to the longer shot showing the crash from a distance in slow motion in an almost peaceful way, suggesting the grasp of death slowly but surely approaching the people involved. The suicide scene itself holds the same contrast of life and death, chaos and peace. Tim is surrounded by the color blue, a color of death yet calmness, an ariel shot shows him laying in the tub in an God's eye view, ready to meet his fate of death. He pulls the bucket holding the boxed jellyfish in to the tub, the underwater close up shot of the jellyfish is elegant, peaceful, yet deadly. Tim seizes and grabs on to the shower curtains and begins to kick and groan in pain as soon as the jellyfish wraps itself around his right wrist, the same hand that he was texting with in which cause the car crash, indicating once again his fate to meet death in order to be at peace with the pain he caused. To give out his organs and lose his own life to help others, he is helping himself in that he is able to forgive himself and be free from the suffering and guilt that would otherwise stay with him forever.

Culture and Communication
People criticize or praise to reenforce and build their own belief systems. Thanks to the internet, people are able to voice out their opinions on a much larger and global scale. "'I think it's a great place for young people to market themselves,' she said of social networks like Instagram and Vine. 'It's also a super fast way to get your name out.'" (D'Alessio). Today is a day and age where there's so much information out that people just want to find a place for themselves in this world to belong, to feel secure, and to make a name of themselves; social media and mass communication does exactly this. Everyday people are presented with new information and project information out that may be new to some, and people won't always see eye to eye on these issues. "With millions of people on social media sites it is much easier to attract attention than traditional advertising.....I think it’s awesome that these girls at such a young age are already so social media savvy and are already branding themselves in a positive way. Besides, why is showing skin so bad? It's called fashion, people dress to express, not impress." (Anna King).  Positive comments like this one by Anna focused more on seizing the opportunities social media offers that may benefit oneself or even companies for advertise, and the art form of fashion to express one's own ideals and creativity. More negative comments however, focus mainly on the amount of skin the teen's were showing and criticism toward the generation as a whole. "It makes me sad to see such extremely provocative and overtly sexual photos of teenage girls. Especially the one who is 16. What is wrong with young girls who are so starved for attention?" (Lori Wells Mang). People crave attention by nature, humans want to be love and noticed, social media presents a whole new terrace for people to receive love and attention, some even from strangers. Older people are quicker to judge in situations like this not because they're oh-so worried about what these girls are wearing, but more about their own children raised in a society with new technology and platforms that they don't quite understand. They worry for the sake of their own daughters that they maybe overly sexualized, without realizing that nudity doesn't not equal sexuality, by viewing the way the girls dress as provocative,  the ones criticizing are the one sexualizing them. Praise or judgment, everyone has their opinions, it is what make people who they are; and by voicing out these opinions to others, people establish a view that is unique to themselves.

Empathic Civilization

Empathy comes from what one sees of the self within another. Upon reading the article and seeing the pictures of women who are victims of domestic violence in India, the viewer is not only in shock, but also feels great empathy toward these women. "What happens when a woman turns down a man’s proposal? As far as most of us know and romantic comedies go, it just really sucks for the man.
But in many parts of the world, where forced and arranged marriages are commonplace, saying 'no' either isn’t an option or comes with horrific consequences." (Ryot). The author presents this article by putting the readers in these women's shoes, comparing the situation to what the reader is familiar to, and the horrifying reality that women in India has to face; creating an increased empathic emotion to draw attention from the readers. In the Empathic Civilization, it shows how in order for one to feel empathy towards others, one must have a clear sense and value of oneself. ""Selfhood goes together with empathic development, increasing selfhood, increasing empathic development. " (Empathic Civilization). For one to be selfless, one is also apathetic. The logic behind empathy is that upon seeing the unfortunate of another, one feels the unfortunate emotions as if it happened to him or herself. Without compassion for oneself, he or her cannot show compassion for another. Empathy is built on the founding base of self-love, self-worth, and the value of life itself. "So if you think about the times that we've empathized with each other our fellow creatures it's always because we felt their struggle, we had the depth and empathy and the celebration of life. And we show solidarity with our compassion." (Empathic Civilization).  To feel is to love, whether the love is received by oneself or another, the projection of love is what keeps humans connected; and when one shows love even during times of struggle, is because they know what it is like to be without love. Empathy is about being aware that one should to do things in a certain way, because they would hope for others to do the same for them in the same situation.