Hope, Essay Example

The word hope is one of the English words that have varying meaning depending on the nature of their usage. Hope is assigned different meanings in different contexts (nature and place of usage). The general definition of the word hope is that it is a feeling that there will be positive occurrence of event(s) in the life of an individual. Hope also characterizes the feeling that the desires of an individual will be fulfilled. Other definitions of the word hope indicate it to be something that expectation is build on. All the above are the definition of the word hope being used as a noun. When used as a verb, hope expresses desire or trust in something happening. In such usage, hope represents expectation of an individual. When also used as verb, it is synonymous with optimism. Other synonyms of the word hope include expectancy, prospect, expect, desire and also ambition. The antonyms of hope include despair disbelief and pessimism.

As already mentioned, hope acquires different meanings depending on their contextual occurrence or usage. Not only does hope acquire different meanings depending on their contextual usage in sentential construction, it also acquires different meanings when used by different individuals in the society. A good example is the attachment of different value to the word hope by different religions. In religions it can be defined as the belief in the existence of supernatural beings and forces that are capable of changing the way things happen. Religious people can be said to hope that whatever they belief in holds something worth waiting. In the religious context therefore, hope has acquired the meaning of expectation. A good example of how hope has different meaning depending on the context is in the case of religion like Christianity.

In Christianity hope is used to express what the believers see as the truth in religion. Having hope therefore is considered a great virtue in Christianity. It is also considered a gift from God and therefore is free from physical manipulation. This is in sharp contrast to what psychology think of hope. In psychology hope is considered the cure of pessimism. This is through individuals having pessimistic thoughts being encouraged to think positively to as to influence their actions. Today there also many calls and emphasis on the importance of positive thinking in life in relation to achievement one’s goals and ambitions in life which is gateway to personal happiness. This shows that hope can be manipulated in psychology because what can be expected in life can be conditioned through the change of what one thinks about. Other religions (cults) also convince their members to use hope as a means of acquiring some things in life despite the conditions that seem to make it hard for such things to come by. A good example is the existence of cults that encourage members not to seek medical attention whenever they are sick because of the hope that supernatural powers will intervene and they will recover (Manen 123)

In language, the use of the word hope brings different meaning depending on their context of occurrence and how they have been used. For example, the word hope can be used in a sentence construction as a noun, verb, adjective or adverb. When used as a noun in a sentence, it expresses a longing or a dream of something by an individual. For example in a sentence like my hope is that I will qualify for the Olympics this season. Hope here has been used to express the wishes and longing of the speaker of the utterance. Also when used as a noun hope can show prospective affections. For example hope in the sentence below shows the assumption of the speaker on the prospected emotions of the audience I hope you trust me.

Other different explanation of the use of hope in a sentence which conditions the meaning of hope is when it is used as a verb in a sentence. When used as a verb in a sentence construction, hope expresses meaning equal to trust or confide. For example in the sentence I hoped that you were honest.

In some situations, hope is associated with denial of reality. In such cases individuals are aware of the situation that they are in and also know the consequences of such situations but they still hope for different outcome. A good example is the case of patients suffering from terminal illnesses who still hope that they will recover one day. The slight difference between hope and denial is that people in self denial do not accept that they are living with the condition and therefore hope they will recover soon. On the hand hopeful individuals accept that they have the life threatening condition but still feel that they will not die as is always the case with people with such conditions.

From the above discussion, it can be concluded that hope is a feeling of expectancy and longing. It has different meanings depending on how they are used and also where it has been used.

Work Cited

Manen, Max Van.  Researching lived experience: human science for an action sensitive pedagogy: SUNY series in philosophy of education. New York: SUNY Press, 1990.