Sean+Smith+Comparison+Essay

 I put this comparison and contrast essay on my portfolio to show people the differences, but also the similarities between the young and old. So many times similarities are overlooked on subjects, and I wanted to show how if you look hard enough, everything has some sort of similarity. I also posted this because I enjoyed writing this piece.  Young and Old // “[|The soul is born old but grows young. That is the comedy of life. And the body is born young and grows old. That is life's tragedy.]” -[|Oscar Wilde] // Life is full of twists and turns that change a person. While these stages of life create differences throughout unlike age groups, they also overlap and some stages are similar to others. The space between young and old seems vast, but only by looking past the words can you see the comparison between the times. The elderly physical appearance is obviously much different from that of a young child. Elderly have weathered wrinkled faces that seem emotionless. Their cheeks droop low with overhanging skin, and their hair thins to a white transparent cover. The old skin becomes rough, and liver spots emerge from their foreheads. Their eyes lose their brightness. Instead of looking forward to new experiences they simply remember the past. The young, on the other hand, have tight, smooth skin. Their body glows with a new energy, bright and full of life. Their curious eyes wonder constantly, and they anxiously await their questions to be answered. They live to see the future. While the young and the old may look different, they both have physical needs that are similar. At the extremes of the two phases of life, both become dependent on others. They need others to feed them, bathe them, and keep them company because they are unable to do these tasks by themselves. Often times both chapters of time are in hospitals and are in need of medical care. Babies are wrapped in blankets with a nurse cuddles them while senior citizens are hooked up to machines that regulate their bodies. Drooling, uncontrollable bladders, and a need for lots of sleep are common in both stages of life. These life times in particular are exceptionally fragile bits of life that dangle within the balance. Time is the main variant between young and old. Mature adults have been able to experience life to its full extent. They can have their regrets, their victories, their loses, friends, and events that have occurred over years. They have been through the battlefield of life and returned with battered bodies and souls younger than ever before. Infancy hasn’t experience life. They are completely unaware of the hardships and amazing events that will take place in their life time. They haven’t been put to the test whether they can survive in the hard world we live in. The youth is known for its naive view of the world, but is the elderly so different? The world changes faster than people can adjust, so elderly become confused and cannot handle the innovations mankind has invented. While the elderly is known for its wisdom, new challenges cannot always use past examples. The two stages of life hit a crossroad of intelligence. As the youth astuteness begins to increase and the elderly cleverness begins to decline, both periods of life have equal abilities.