The Life of Mikhail Gorbachev

Kelsey Murray World History 26 February 2013 Nick Williamson The Life of Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Gorbachev’s life began much like many children in the small village of Privolnoye. His parents were peasant farmers but when the collectivization program took action, Gorbachev’s father went to work for the government. Only ten years old when the Nazis invaded the Soviet Union, Gorbachev experienced his father being drafted into the Soviet military. After four torturous years in the military, Gorbachev’s father survived. Mikhail Gorbachev was known as a hard worker, excellent student and did his best to help support his family.His interest in politics lead him to join the Komsomol. Gorbachev wanted to exceed in everything he did. He decided to apply to the prestigious Moscow State University to further his education. After being accepted he decided to study law in order to better his speaking and debating skills, which would help in his political career. While in co llege he met Raisa Titoenko and fell in love. The two married in 1953 and four years later had their first and only daughter whose name was Irina. The start to Gorbachev’s political career began with the promotion into the Communist Party.He eventually received the highest position, first secretary. National politics is what he was striving for and at age 47 he obtained the position as the youngest member of the Politburo. Gorbachev had lots of experienced behind the scene working with General Secretary Yuri Andropov and felt that he was ready to achieve the title, General Secretary. After failing once he tried again and became the leader of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev had a strong belief that the Soviet economy needed reforms. He did something many citizens never saw coming. He allowed and encouraged citizens o freely voice their opinions. He also allowed Soviet citizens to travel, cracked down on alcohol abuse, and pushed for the use of computers and technology. He’s most impressive movement was the deal he made between the Soviet Union and the United States. The two countries competed with each other over who could produce the largest cache of nuclear weapons. He met with Regan and agreed to stop making nuclear weapons, to end the arms race. Gorbachev did many good things for the Soviet Union and was even awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990 but yet many citizens disliked Gorbachev having ower and continued to be critical towards him. Did the citizens have a reason to be critical? The answer is yes. Gorbachev’s reforms did not help the Soviet Union’s economy but actually weakened it. This caused many countries to abandon Communism and many republics within the Soviet Union demanded independence. All the pressure from the failing economy proved too much for Gorbachev and he resigned as president of the Soviet Union on December 25, 1991. (Rosenberg) Works Cited Rosenberg, Jennifer. â€Å"Mikhail Gorbachev. † About. com. 26 February 2013. http://history1900s. about. com/od/people/p/gorbachev. htm

How Useful Is It as Evidence for an Historian Studying

To an historian studying the outbreak of the Kappa Putsch this Is a useful factor to take Into consideration; this source shows us the troubles of Germany, about the factors, which lead people to have an uprising. It is understandable when reading an extract that they had to act out, as they were feeling betrayed and angry at Germany. We can see that they the nation was feeling this way, as in the extract it is quoted that, â€Å"The Reich and the nation are in grave danger. † Moreover, â€Å"people are only dimly aware of the approaching disaster.Prices are rolling unchecked. Hardship Is growing. Starvation threatens. † I know that Because of the demonstrable of the armed forces, there were nearly 200 paramilitary units around Germany by 1919. In 1920, about 12,000 members of the Fireworks marched on Berlin and seized the main buildings of the capital virtually unopposed, where they installed a new government. The German army did not provide any resistance to this Puts ch. In spite of requests from Bert to put down the rebellious forces, the army was not prepared to become involved with either side.We can see that the people lost faith In the government as With terrible speed, we are approaching the complete collapse of the state and of law and order. â€Å"And† The present government is incapable of overcoming the danger. â€Å"This was the pushing mint which made the people get involved, they now know without their input Germany as they know it will only get worse. However, in this new government, strikes were banned but the people carried on as their beliefs and motives suppressed the at hand and the opportunity must be grasped.There is no other way but a government of action, the new government will ruthlessly suppress strikes and sabotage. † Moreover † striking is treason to the nation and the Fatherland. † back up these points I have made. It is useful to know that even though the prices were raising that â€Å"Eve ryone should go peacefully about his work. Everyone willing to work is assured of our firm protection â€Å"people stood up for what they believed in and strike regardless of this point.Overall, I believe this is a very useful source for a historian studying the outbreak of the Kappa Putsch of 1920, due to the use of literacy devices used it shows the way in which the German politicians presented their ideas and how they shared their opinions on this topic. (b) Using all the sources, and your own knowledge, assess to what extent the Kappa Putsch and other political uprisings represented the greatest threat to the Whimper Republic in the period 1919-1923. 5] Taking all of the sources into consideration, it is useful as we get a left wing response, a right wing response and an impartial response with the benefit of hindsight, therefore we can get a moderate opinion of the situation. From my own knowledge in the early years of the Whimper Republic, there were many political threats fr om left and right towards the new Government. The Separatists had extreme left wing political views (Communist) this group split from the SSP in frustration and anger at the Spud's role within the Government.The leaders of this Communist Party were Karl Libertines and Rosa Luxemburg. On January 1st 1919, the members of the Separatists movement rose up in an attempted revolution. The group's leaders initially made this move. The new Government acted promptly and were certainly not stymied with their actions to bring this revolution to an end, As the two main leaders were killed whilst in police custody, The fret-corps (a paramilitary group consisting of former Servicemen) broke down this â€Å"revolution† with force.This issue is acknowledged in source c – â€Å"The Whimper Republic faced its first threat, the communist-inspired Separatists rising. Another well known historian to back my points up is Broacher who states; – â€Å"Contends that the occasion fear of revolution from the left by the early Whimper government, led to their overlooking the much more likely threat posed by the right. We can SE that the Kappa putsch was the first attempt from the right wing extremists, to take control of the constitutional government. (They did this because they favored the restoration of some somewhat authoritarian, dictatorial regime).The Kappa Putsch was led by Wolfgang Kappa The right wing extremists wanted the army to regain its numbers of men in a dictatorial regime. This was not possible because in the signed treaty of Versailles there was an agreement that the army must be cut and no more people could Join the army. The events occurred as followed 1920 about 12,000 members of the Fret-corps (in support of the Kappa putsch) marched to Berlin this is where they seized the main buildings of the capital with ease and no force was set up against them in these buildings was where they installed a new government.The German army did not it he told the German army to put down the rebellious forces, the army was not prepared to become involved with either side. This is also due to the support it had from the army as many significant officers chose to support it the army-followed suit (General Ludwig and General Oldenburg. Ludwig had major involvement and he orchestrated an uprising in Berlin on March 13th. Army troops were sympathetic to the uprising, they took control of Berlin, and Ludwig proclaimed right wing government.The putsch soon ended because SSP members of the government had called for a general strike, which soon paralyses the capital and quickly spread to the rest of the country. (The morale within Germany is strong here as they stuck together o end what was wrong â€Å"Kappa Putsch†) The rebels had little support in Berlin and in Germany elsewhere. It soon became clear that the Army couldn't of been taken for granted, there was no universal support for the Whimper government also the government had limited means of dealings with uprisings of this nature and politicians were not necessarily safe in Berlin this shows a near end to the Kappa Putsch.After four days of this political uprising and after putting Berlin on a stand still, with no/little support it was clear that Wolfgang Kappa and his government gained no real authority and they fled the city. There is evidence of this in sources b and c : â€Å"A military putsch has started. The mercenaries, who were afraid that their Fireworks regiments would be disbanded, have attempted to overthrow the Republic and establish a dictatorial government with Kappa and General von L;twits at its head. † And in 1920, came a second attempt to overthrow the Republic, this time by the right wing Kappa Putsch. It is stated in source C that A brief period of relative calm followed, only to be disrupted in 1923 by hyperinflation that threatened economic chaos and undermined the government's reputation. The Communists were overcautious during th e mass protests of 1923 and acted too late in the â€Å"German October† of 1923†³ this is a big threat to Germany both politically and economically as well as destroying even more of the remaining morale. The hyperinflation crisis increased support for the more extremist parties such as the Nazis would use the hyperinflation crisis to portray their beliefs on how a country should be run.This was very threatening towards the Whimper republic/government propaganda against the government damaged it and lost supporters. The next political uprising to occur was the Munich putsch, which took place from 8-9 November 1923. As the economy floundered and the government struggled to cope with the turmoil, a group of Right Wing politicians in Bavaria planned to take this opportunity to overthrow the government. This event is iconic as it was the first event that Hitler is introduced. However, The Nazis were far too weak on their own to stage any kind of political takeover.It was the need for allies, which led Hitler into negotiations with the right wing Government leaders Kara, Kisser and Lows who had planned this uprising to commence. The Munich Putsch took place from 8-9 November 1923. Reasons behind their rebellious behavior were the developing crisis in Germany in 1923. Due to the Franco-Belgian occupation of the Rue as they took payment in kind, passive resistance, hyperinflation and â€Å"The German October,† Kara and Lows blamed most the republican regime with a â€Å"March on Berlin† from Munich.They lacked faith in this political stunt/ uprising and therefore, they decided to abandon the plan but Hitler wanted to proceed with the Nazis they took control of a large rally, which Kara was addressing in one of Eunuch's beer halls and declared a â€Å"national revolution. Under pressure from the Nazis and Hitler Kara and Lows appeared to co-operate, but General Sect, the chief of the Army Command who was suspicious of Hitler, used his powers to command the armed forces to resist the putsch.The police were notified and the police and a gun battle followed informed the army about this uprising on the day of the putsch the Nazis marched on but were met. In this putsch inn this putsch 16 Nazi supporters were killed and the uprising was easily suppressed. Most of the Nazi leadership were arrested and then put on trial for reason; leading sympathizers including General Ultrasound was also arrested. The consequences of the Munich putsch were probably of the more significance than the uprising it's self.At Hitter's trial, he was given special treatment as was allowed to make long speeches to explain his reasons. Hitler is well known for many terrible things but I believe the most dangerous is his talking skill; Hitler has an orator characteristic therefore, he can easily convince people. This skill transformed him from a little known politician into a champion of the right wing. This is mentioned in source c. Finally, in Novem ber 1923, came another right-wing assault, the Munich Putsch led by Doll Hitler.The Whimper Republic survived because the extremist forces of both Left and Right failed to attract much support and were both divided and disorganized. † Using all the sources, and my own knowledge, I have assessed to what extent the Kappa Putsch and other political uprisings represented the greatest threat to the Whimper Republic in the period 1919-1923, it is clear to see that this was not the best time for the Whimper Republic as they faced a lot of opposition from the angered and betrayed Germans

Bloodlines Chapter Thirteen

I answered and found Eddie on the other end of the line. â€Å"I’m downstairs,† he said. â€Å"Ready to practice some self-defense before it gets too hot.† â€Å"You’re going to have to do it without me,† I said. I had a feeling Eddie was taking his promise to Clarence about training us very seriously. I felt no such obligation. â€Å"I’ve got a ton of homework to do. That, and I’m sure Ms. Terwilliger’s going to make me do a coffee run today.† â€Å"Well, then send Jill down,† said Eddie. I glanced over to the cocoon of blankets on her bed. â€Å"That might be easier said than done.† Surprisingly, she managed to rouse herself enough to brush her teeth, take aspirin for a headache, and throw on some workout clothes. She bid me farewell, and I promised to check on them later. Not long after that, Ms. Terwilliger called with her coffee demand, and I prepared myself for another day of trying to fit in my own work with hers. I drove over to Spencer’s and didn’t even notice Trey until I was standing right in front of him. â€Å"Ms. Terwilliger’s?† he asked, pointing to the caramel sauce cappuccino. â€Å"Huh?† I looked up. Trey was my cashier. â€Å"You work here?† He nodded. â€Å"Gotta make spending money somehow.† I handed him some cash, noting that he’d charged me half price. â€Å"Don’t take this the wrong way, but you don’t look so great,† I told him. He looked tired and worn out around the edges. Closer inspection showed bruises and cuts as well. â€Å"Yeah, well, I had kind of a rough day yesterday.† I hesitated. That was a leading comment, but there was no one in line behind me. â€Å"What happened?† I asked, knowing it was expected. Trey scowled. â€Å"That asshole Greg Slade wreaked havoc in football tryouts yesterday. I mean, the results aren’t up yet, but it’s pretty obvious he’s going to get quarterback. He was like a machine, just plowing guys over.† He extended his left hand, which had some bandage-wrapped fingers. â€Å"He stepped on my hand too.† I winced, remembering Slade’s out-of-control athleticism in PE. The politics of high school football and who was quarterback weren’t that important to me. True, I felt sorry for Trey, but it was the source behind the tattoos that intrigued me. Keith’s warnings about not causing trouble rang back to me, but I was unable to stop myself. â€Å"I know about the tattoos,† I said. â€Å"Julia and Kristin told me about them. And I get now why you were suspicious of mine – but it’s not what you think. Really.† â€Å"That’s not what I’ve heard. Most people think you’re just saying that because you don’t want to tell where you got it.† I was a little taken aback by that. I was pretty sure Julia and Kristin had believed me. Were they actually spreading around the opposite? â€Å"I had no idea.† He shrugged, a small smile on his lips. â€Å"Don’t worry. I believe you. There’s something kind of naively charming about you. You don’t seem like the cheating type.† â€Å"Hey,† I scolded. â€Å"I’m not naive.† â€Å"It was a compliment.† â€Å"How long have these tattoos been around?† I asked, deciding it was best to move in. â€Å"I heard since last year.† He handed me my coffee, thinking. â€Å"Yeah, but it was the end of last year. School year, I mean.† â€Å"And they come from a placed called Nevermore?† â€Å"As far as I know.† Trey eyed me suspiciously. â€Å"Why?† â€Å"Just curious,† I said sweetly. A couple of college kids dressed like rich hobos got in line behind me and regarded us impatiently. â€Å"Can we get some service here?† Trey gave them a stiff smile and then rolled his eyes at me as I moved away. â€Å"See you around, Melbourne.† I headed back to Amberwood and delivered Ms. Terwilliger’s coffee. I wasn’t in the mood to stay leashed to her all day, so I asked if I could go elsewhere if I kept my cell phone handy. She agreed. The library had too much activity and – ironically – noise for me today. I wanted the solitude of my room. As I was cutting across the lawn to catch the shuttle, I spotted some familiar figures behind a cluster of trees. I changed direction and found Jill and Eddie squaring off in a small clearing. Micah sat cross-legged on the ground, watching avidly. He waved at me as I approached. â€Å"I didn’t realize your brother was a kung-fu master,† he remarked. â€Å"It’s not kung fu,† said Eddie gruffly, never taking his eyes off Jill. â€Å"Same difference,† said Micah. â€Å"It’s still pretty badass.† Eddie feinted, like he was going to strike at Jill’s side. She responded fairly quickly with a block, though not quite fast enough to match him. Had he been serious, he would have hit her. Still, he seemed pleased with her response time. â€Å"Good. That would deflect part of a hit, though you’d still feel it. Best is if you can duck and dodge altogether, but that takes a little more work.† Jill nodded obediently. â€Å"When can we work on that?† Eddie regarded her with pride. That expression softened after a few moments of study. â€Å"Not today. Too much sun.† Jill started to protest and then stopped herself. She had that worn-out-from-the-light look again and was sweating heavily. She glanced up at the sky for a moment, as though begging it to give us some cloud cover. It remained unresponsive, so she nodded at Eddie. â€Å"All right. But we’re doing this tomorrow at the same time? Or earlier maybe. Or maybe tonight! Could we do both? Practice tonight when the sun’s going down and then again in the morning? Would you mind?† Eddie grinned, amused at her enthusiasm. â€Å"Whatever you want.† Smiling back, Jill sat down beside me, getting into as much shade as possible. Eddie regarded me expectantly. â€Å"What?† I asked. â€Å"Aren’t you supposed to learn to throw a punch?† I scoffed. â€Å"No. When would I ever need to do that?† Jill nudged me. â€Å"Do it, Sydney!† Reluctantly, I allowed Eddie to give me a quick lesson on throwing a punch without injuring my hand in the process. I barely paid attention and felt like I was mostly providing entertainment for the others. When Eddie finished with me, Micah asked, â€Å"Hey, would you mind showing me some ninja moves too?† â€Å"They have nothing to do with ninjas,† protested Eddie, still smiling. â€Å"Come on up.† Micah leapt to his feet, and Eddie walked him through some rudimentary steps. More than anything, it seemed like Eddie was sizing up Micah and his capabilities. After a while, Eddie grew comfortable and let Micah practice some offensive moves to get rid of an attacker. â€Å"Hey,† protested Jill when Eddie landed a kick on Micah. Micah shrugged it off in a guy kind of way. â€Å"No fair. You wouldn’t hit me when we were practicing.† Eddie was caught off guard enough that Micah actually got a hit in. Eddie gave him a look of grudging respect and then said to Jill, â€Å"That was different.† â€Å"Because I’m a girl?† she demanded. â€Å"You never held back with Rose.† â€Å"Who’s Rose?† asked Micah. â€Å"Another friend,† explained Eddie. To Jill, he said: â€Å"And Rose has had years more experience than you.† â€Å"She’s had more than Micah too. You were going easy on me.† Eddie flushed and kept his eyes on Micah. â€Å"Was not,† he said. â€Å"Were too,† she muttered. As the boys sparred again, she said quietly to me, â€Å"How am I ever going to learn if he’s afraid of breaking me?† I watched the guys, analyzing what I knew of Eddie so far. â€Å"I think it’s more complicated than that. I think he also just believes you shouldn’t have to take the risk – that if he’s doing a good enough job, you shouldn’t have to defend yourself.† â€Å"He’s doing a great job. You should have seen him at the attack.† Her face got that haunted look it did whenever the attack that had driven her into hiding was mentioned. â€Å"But I still need to learn.† She lowered her voice even more. â€Å"I really want to learn to use my magic to fight too, not that I’ll get much practice in this desert.† I shuddered, recalling her display from the night before. â€Å"There’ll be time,† I said vaguely. I stood up, saying I had to go get some work done. Micah asked Eddie and Jill if they wanted to get lunch. Eddie said yes immediately. Jill looked to me for help. â€Å"It’s just lunch,† said Eddie meaningfully. I knew he still thought Micah was harmless. I didn’t know, but after seeing how infatuated Jill was with Lee, I figured Micah would have to make some pretty aggressive moves to get anywhere. â€Å"I’m sure it’s fine,† I said. Jill looked relieved, and the group headed off. I spent the day finishing off that miserable book for Ms. Terwilliger. I still thought having to copy the archaic spells and rituals verbatim was a waste of time. The only point I could see for it was that if she ever did need to reference them for her research, she would have an easy computer file to check and not risk damage to the ancient book. It was evening by the time I finished that and my other homework. Jill still wasn’t back, and I decided to use the opportunity to check on something that had been bothering me. Earlier in the day, Jill had mentioned Eddie defending her in the attack. I’d felt from the beginning that there was something strange about that initial attack, something that they weren’t telling me. So, I logged onto the Alchemists’ network and pulled up everything we had on the Moroi rebels. Naturally, it was all documented. We had to keep track of important events among the Moroi, and this ranked pretty high. Somehow, the Alchemists had gotten pictures of the Moroi Court, with protesters lined up outside one of the administrative buildings. Dhampir guardians were easy to pick out as they mingled and kept order. To my surprise, I recognized Dimitri Belikov – Rose’s boyfriend – among those doing crowd control. He was easy to spot since he was almost always taller than everyone around him. Dhampirs look very human, and even I could admit that he was pretty good-looking. There was a rugged handsomeness to him, and even in a still photograph, I could see a fierceness as he watched the crowd. Other protest pictures confirmed what I knew. By far, most people supported the young queen. Those against her were a minority – but a loud and dangerous one. A video from a human news show in Denver showed two Moroi guys nearly getting in a bar fight. They were shouting about queens and justice, most of which wouldn’t make sense to a human observer. What made this video special was that the guy who’d filmed it – some random human with a cell phone camera – claimed he’d seen fangs on both men in the argument. The videographer had submitted his recording claiming he’d witnessed a vampire fight, but no one gave it much credibility. It was too grainy for anything to show up. Still, it was a reminder of what could happen if the Moroi situation spun out of control. A status check showed me that Queen Vasilisa was indeed trying to get a law passed so that her rule was no longer dependent on there being at least one other person in her royal family. Alchemist experts guessed it would take three months, which was about what Rose had said. The number loomed in my head like a ticking time bomb. We needed to keep Jill safe for three months. And for three months, Vasilisa’s enemies would be trying harder than ever to get to Jill. If Jill died, Vasilisa’s rule would end – along with her attempts to fix the system. Yet none of this was what had really driven me to research. I wanted to know about Jill’s initial attack, the one that no one talked about. What I found wasn’t much help. No Alchemists had been there at the time, of course, so our information was based on what Moroi sources had reported. All we knew was that â€Å"the queen’s sister had been viciously and severely attacked – but had made a full recovery.† From what I’d observed, that was certainly true. Jill showed no signs of injury, and the attack had occurred a week before she came to Palm Springs. Was that enough time to heal from a â€Å"vicious and severe† attack? And was an attack like that enough to make her wake screaming? I didn’t know but still couldn’t shake my suspicions. When Jill came home later, she was in such a good mood that I couldn’t bear to interrogate her. I also remembered too late that I’d meant to research the case of Clarence’s niece and her bizarre death by throat-slitting. Jill’s situation had distracted me. I let the matter go and called it an early night. Tomorrow, I thought drowsily. I’ll do it all tomorrow. Tomorrow came much more quickly than I expected. I was woken out of a heavy sleep by someone shaking me, and for a split second, the old nightmare was there, the one about Alchemists carrying me away in the night. Recognizing Jill, I just barely stopped myself from screaming. â€Å"Hey, hey,† I scolded. There was light outside, but it was purplish. Barely after sunrise. â€Å"What’s going on? What’s the matter?† Jill looked at me, face grim and eyes wide with fear. â€Å"It’s Adrian. You have to rescue him.† Bloodlines Chapter Thirteen I answered and found Eddie on the other end of the line. â€Å"I’m downstairs,† he said. â€Å"Ready to practice some self-defense before it gets too hot.† â€Å"You’re going to have to do it without me,† I said. I had a feeling Eddie was taking his promise to Clarence about training us very seriously. I felt no such obligation. â€Å"I’ve got a ton of homework to do. That, and I’m sure Ms. Terwilliger’s going to make me do a coffee run today.† â€Å"Well, then send Jill down,† said Eddie. I glanced over to the cocoon of blankets on her bed. â€Å"That might be easier said than done.† Surprisingly, she managed to rouse herself enough to brush her teeth, take aspirin for a headache, and throw on some workout clothes. She bid me farewell, and I promised to check on them later. Not long after that, Ms. Terwilliger called with her coffee demand, and I prepared myself for another day of trying to fit in my own work with hers. I drove over to Spencer’s and didn’t even notice Trey until I was standing right in front of him. â€Å"Ms. Terwilliger’s?† he asked, pointing to the caramel sauce cappuccino. â€Å"Huh?† I looked up. Trey was my cashier. â€Å"You work here?† He nodded. â€Å"Gotta make spending money somehow.† I handed him some cash, noting that he’d charged me half price. â€Å"Don’t take this the wrong way, but you don’t look so great,† I told him. He looked tired and worn out around the edges. Closer inspection showed bruises and cuts as well. â€Å"Yeah, well, I had kind of a rough day yesterday.† I hesitated. That was a leading comment, but there was no one in line behind me. â€Å"What happened?† I asked, knowing it was expected. Trey scowled. â€Å"That asshole Greg Slade wreaked havoc in football tryouts yesterday. I mean, the results aren’t up yet, but it’s pretty obvious he’s going to get quarterback. He was like a machine, just plowing guys over.† He extended his left hand, which had some bandage-wrapped fingers. â€Å"He stepped on my hand too.† I winced, remembering Slade’s out-of-control athleticism in PE. The politics of high school football and who was quarterback weren’t that important to me. True, I felt sorry for Trey, but it was the source behind the tattoos that intrigued me. Keith’s warnings about not causing trouble rang back to me, but I was unable to stop myself. â€Å"I know about the tattoos,† I said. â€Å"Julia and Kristin told me about them. And I get now why you were suspicious of mine – but it’s not what you think. Really.† â€Å"That’s not what I’ve heard. Most people think you’re just saying that because you don’t want to tell where you got it.† I was a little taken aback by that. I was pretty sure Julia and Kristin had believed me. Were they actually spreading around the opposite? â€Å"I had no idea.† He shrugged, a small smile on his lips. â€Å"Don’t worry. I believe you. There’s something kind of naively charming about you. You don’t seem like the cheating type.† â€Å"Hey,† I scolded. â€Å"I’m not naive.† â€Å"It was a compliment.† â€Å"How long have these tattoos been around?† I asked, deciding it was best to move in. â€Å"I heard since last year.† He handed me my coffee, thinking. â€Å"Yeah, but it was the end of last year. School year, I mean.† â€Å"And they come from a placed called Nevermore?† â€Å"As far as I know.† Trey eyed me suspiciously. â€Å"Why?† â€Å"Just curious,† I said sweetly. A couple of college kids dressed like rich hobos got in line behind me and regarded us impatiently. â€Å"Can we get some service here?† Trey gave them a stiff smile and then rolled his eyes at me as I moved away. â€Å"See you around, Melbourne.† I headed back to Amberwood and delivered Ms. Terwilliger’s coffee. I wasn’t in the mood to stay leashed to her all day, so I asked if I could go elsewhere if I kept my cell phone handy. She agreed. The library had too much activity and – ironically – noise for me today. I wanted the solitude of my room. As I was cutting across the lawn to catch the shuttle, I spotted some familiar figures behind a cluster of trees. I changed direction and found Jill and Eddie squaring off in a small clearing. Micah sat cross-legged on the ground, watching avidly. He waved at me as I approached. â€Å"I didn’t realize your brother was a kung-fu master,† he remarked. â€Å"It’s not kung fu,† said Eddie gruffly, never taking his eyes off Jill. â€Å"Same difference,† said Micah. â€Å"It’s still pretty badass.† Eddie feinted, like he was going to strike at Jill’s side. She responded fairly quickly with a block, though not quite fast enough to match him. Had he been serious, he would have hit her. Still, he seemed pleased with her response time. â€Å"Good. That would deflect part of a hit, though you’d still feel it. Best is if you can duck and dodge altogether, but that takes a little more work.† Jill nodded obediently. â€Å"When can we work on that?† Eddie regarded her with pride. That expression softened after a few moments of study. â€Å"Not today. Too much sun.† Jill started to protest and then stopped herself. She had that worn-out-from-the-light look again and was sweating heavily. She glanced up at the sky for a moment, as though begging it to give us some cloud cover. It remained unresponsive, so she nodded at Eddie. â€Å"All right. But we’re doing this tomorrow at the same time? Or earlier maybe. Or maybe tonight! Could we do both? Practice tonight when the sun’s going down and then again in the morning? Would you mind?† Eddie grinned, amused at her enthusiasm. â€Å"Whatever you want.† Smiling back, Jill sat down beside me, getting into as much shade as possible. Eddie regarded me expectantly. â€Å"What?† I asked. â€Å"Aren’t you supposed to learn to throw a punch?† I scoffed. â€Å"No. When would I ever need to do that?† Jill nudged me. â€Å"Do it, Sydney!† Reluctantly, I allowed Eddie to give me a quick lesson on throwing a punch without injuring my hand in the process. I barely paid attention and felt like I was mostly providing entertainment for the others. When Eddie finished with me, Micah asked, â€Å"Hey, would you mind showing me some ninja moves too?† â€Å"They have nothing to do with ninjas,† protested Eddie, still smiling. â€Å"Come on up.† Micah leapt to his feet, and Eddie walked him through some rudimentary steps. More than anything, it seemed like Eddie was sizing up Micah and his capabilities. After a while, Eddie grew comfortable and let Micah practice some offensive moves to get rid of an attacker. â€Å"Hey,† protested Jill when Eddie landed a kick on Micah. Micah shrugged it off in a guy kind of way. â€Å"No fair. You wouldn’t hit me when we were practicing.† Eddie was caught off guard enough that Micah actually got a hit in. Eddie gave him a look of grudging respect and then said to Jill, â€Å"That was different.† â€Å"Because I’m a girl?† she demanded. â€Å"You never held back with Rose.† â€Å"Who’s Rose?† asked Micah. â€Å"Another friend,† explained Eddie. To Jill, he said: â€Å"And Rose has had years more experience than you.† â€Å"She’s had more than Micah too. You were going easy on me.† Eddie flushed and kept his eyes on Micah. â€Å"Was not,† he said. â€Å"Were too,† she muttered. As the boys sparred again, she said quietly to me, â€Å"How am I ever going to learn if he’s afraid of breaking me?† I watched the guys, analyzing what I knew of Eddie so far. â€Å"I think it’s more complicated than that. I think he also just believes you shouldn’t have to take the risk – that if he’s doing a good enough job, you shouldn’t have to defend yourself.† â€Å"He’s doing a great job. You should have seen him at the attack.† Her face got that haunted look it did whenever the attack that had driven her into hiding was mentioned. â€Å"But I still need to learn.† She lowered her voice even more. â€Å"I really want to learn to use my magic to fight too, not that I’ll get much practice in this desert.† I shuddered, recalling her display from the night before. â€Å"There’ll be time,† I said vaguely. I stood up, saying I had to go get some work done. Micah asked Eddie and Jill if they wanted to get lunch. Eddie said yes immediately. Jill looked to me for help. â€Å"It’s just lunch,† said Eddie meaningfully. I knew he still thought Micah was harmless. I didn’t know, but after seeing how infatuated Jill was with Lee, I figured Micah would have to make some pretty aggressive moves to get anywhere. â€Å"I’m sure it’s fine,† I said. Jill looked relieved, and the group headed off. I spent the day finishing off that miserable book for Ms. Terwilliger. I still thought having to copy the archaic spells and rituals verbatim was a waste of time. The only point I could see for it was that if she ever did need to reference them for her research, she would have an easy computer file to check and not risk damage to the ancient book. It was evening by the time I finished that and my other homework. Jill still wasn’t back, and I decided to use the opportunity to check on something that had been bothering me. Earlier in the day, Jill had mentioned Eddie defending her in the attack. I’d felt from the beginning that there was something strange about that initial attack, something that they weren’t telling me. So, I logged onto the Alchemists’ network and pulled up everything we had on the Moroi rebels. Naturally, it was all documented. We had to keep track of important events among the Moroi, and this ranked pretty high. Somehow, the Alchemists had gotten pictures of the Moroi Court, with protesters lined up outside one of the administrative buildings. Dhampir guardians were easy to pick out as they mingled and kept order. To my surprise, I recognized Dimitri Belikov – Rose’s boyfriend – among those doing crowd control. He was easy to spot since he was almost always taller than everyone around him. Dhampirs look very human, and even I could admit that he was pretty good-looking. There was a rugged handsomeness to him, and even in a still photograph, I could see a fierceness as he watched the crowd. Other protest pictures confirmed what I knew. By far, most people supported the young queen. Those against her were a minority – but a loud and dangerous one. A video from a human news show in Denver showed two Moroi guys nearly getting in a bar fight. They were shouting about queens and justice, most of which wouldn’t make sense to a human observer. What made this video special was that the guy who’d filmed it – some random human with a cell phone camera – claimed he’d seen fangs on both men in the argument. The videographer had submitted his recording claiming he’d witnessed a vampire fight, but no one gave it much credibility. It was too grainy for anything to show up. Still, it was a reminder of what could happen if the Moroi situation spun out of control. A status check showed me that Queen Vasilisa was indeed trying to get a law passed so that her rule was no longer dependent on there being at least one other person in her royal family. Alchemist experts guessed it would take three months, which was about what Rose had said. The number loomed in my head like a ticking time bomb. We needed to keep Jill safe for three months. And for three months, Vasilisa’s enemies would be trying harder than ever to get to Jill. If Jill died, Vasilisa’s rule would end – along with her attempts to fix the system. Yet none of this was what had really driven me to research. I wanted to know about Jill’s initial attack, the one that no one talked about. What I found wasn’t much help. No Alchemists had been there at the time, of course, so our information was based on what Moroi sources had reported. All we knew was that â€Å"the queen’s sister had been viciously and severely attacked – but had made a full recovery.† From what I’d observed, that was certainly true. Jill showed no signs of injury, and the attack had occurred a week before she came to Palm Springs. Was that enough time to heal from a â€Å"vicious and severe† attack? And was an attack like that enough to make her wake screaming? I didn’t know but still couldn’t shake my suspicions. When Jill came home later, she was in such a good mood that I couldn’t bear to interrogate her. I also remembered too late that I’d meant to research the case of Clarence’s niece and her bizarre death by throat-slitting. Jill’s situation had distracted me. I let the matter go and called it an early night. Tomorrow, I thought drowsily. I’ll do it all tomorrow. Tomorrow came much more quickly than I expected. I was woken out of a heavy sleep by someone shaking me, and for a split second, the old nightmare was there, the one about Alchemists carrying me away in the night. Recognizing Jill, I just barely stopped myself from screaming. â€Å"Hey, hey,† I scolded. There was light outside, but it was purplish. Barely after sunrise. â€Å"What’s going on? What’s the matter?† Jill looked at me, face grim and eyes wide with fear. â€Å"It’s Adrian. You have to rescue him.†

Employment Law Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Employment Law - Coursework Example Under the Pregnant Workers Directive, a woman who has worked for 26 weeks is entitled to maternity leave and pay. The Maternity and Parental leave Regulations (MPLR) 1999 grants to the woman a compulsory leave of for 2 weeks after which she is entitled to 6 weeks paid leave at 90% ordinary salary. The 6 weeks are followed by 20 weeks leave paid at a rate of  £123.06 per week which is similar to sick pay. In total, she is entitled to 26 weeks maternity leave with pay after which she can apply for additional unpaid leave provided she informs the employer in writing 15 weeks before the date of the expected birth. The line manager has, therefore, no right to refuse Nadia to attend antenatal appointments during working hours and 26 weeks maternity leave. On return, she should go back to her job and if she is dismissed then that amounts to unfair dismissal. Though the company is experiencing reduced profits, the proper procedures for declaring workers redundant should be followed otherwise it would be considered as discrimination on the basis of gender which is prohibited under the Equality Act 2010. The case of Simpson v Endsleigh Insurance Services Ltd, although not ruled in favor of Simpson, shows that under regulation 10 of MPLR 1999, a woman who becomes redundant during maternity leave is entitled to be offered alternative vacancy in the organization or with an associated employer. Endsleigh closed down branches and Simpson was invited to apply for a vacancy in a new place while she was on leave but she declined. EAT held that she was not dismissed unfairly. What is more, Nadia has the righ t to request for flexible working time under section 80f of the Employment Act 1996.10 This is to enable her to take care of the child. One can be declared redundant if the employer ceases to operate the business or the skills required to carry out duties are obsolete thus no longer required for the business. If Gemma cannot provide justification for declaring Nadia redundant when she returns, then it is unwarranted and discriminatory. There should also have been consultations with trade unions and worker councils before decisions for redundancies are achieved and the right procedures followed to select those to go but not based on personal reasons such as pregnancy.11 If redundancy is genuine, she is entitled to redundancy pay since she has worked for the company for three years. This also depends on her age. For age 21-40 redundancy pay is calculated as 1 week’s pay for each year worked and those above 40yrs get 11/2 week pay for each complete year.12 However, she

The Marketing Strategies of Mall of America Coursework

The Marketing Strategies of Mall of America - Coursework Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that the target markets for the Mall of America comprised of locals and visitors. Different marketing strategies will be used so as to reach these target markets. The locals include the local families and population residing near the Mall of America. The local target market can be placing the product in strategic positions where the people can easily access. Close range marketing can be used using technologies, such as Wifi and Bluetooth for the customers at close proximity. About promotion, the enterprise can use advertising as its core source of increasing local consumer awareness. Mainly, it can post numerous advertisements both in print and electronic media. Price is the main competing factor in business. The business can use discount and allowance pricing. The firm can provide allowances and discounts on their basic price so as to reward the consumers’ specific response. On the other hand, the visitors include tourists from the Up per Midwest, across the nation, and from other nations. The products and services being offered at the Mall of America can be posted on the internet so as to reach a wider global audience. The other strategy which the Mall of America can use to reach the visitors include telemarketing. The clients can be convinced via mobile phones to come and visit Mall of America. The venture may also use promotional pricing as a strategy to attract national and international visitors. The promotional pricing will assist the Mall of America to attract more customers in a very short time. The other strategy which the firm can use is diversity marketing since visitors come from diverse backgrounds.

Aristotles Nicomachean Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Aristotles Nicomachean Ethics - Essay Example Base and corrupt thoughts are not friendly, thus an individual does not feel that way within themselves. Since corrupt people think all others are like themselves, or seek out other corrupt people, they are not friendly with others as well as themselves. Finally, corrupt people think that harmful practices are normal. A prostitute thinks that selling sex is normal. Thieves think stealing is alright. If these practices are morally acceptable to an individual, then when these actions are done to them it is assumed to be normal. Thus a base person is no friend to themselves. A true friend will stop harmful actions, but the corrupt person does not know right and wrong. True friends help one another out. If a person is corrupt, the goal is to only help oneself. It is abnormal not to help another for healthy individuals, but normal for corrupt people. How people treat others is what becomes acceptable for them. Even morally bankrupt individuals have a compass telling them right from wrong. This compass in corrupt individuals affirms negative behavior. The negative behavior is normal to these people. If they could treat themselves better, treating other people better would not be a problem. That is what Aristotle was trying to

Treatment paper on Freuds Psychosexual Development Essay

Treatment paper on Freuds Psychosexual Development - Essay Example According to Freud (1996: 128), good treatments are the ones that are scientifically proven to be effective in treating psychological or mental diseases. In line with the importance of scientific-based psychoanalysis as well as the personal interaction with other people, Freud developed the psychoanalytic theory by applying his knowledge on physiology and neurology. This theory contributed a lot in the study of psychoanalysis. (Freud, 1996: 187) Eventually, Freud published the book entitled ‘The Interpretation of Dreams’ wherein the author outlines the theory of mind in 1899. The author also published ‘The Psychopathology of Everyday Life as well as the ‘Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality’. Although psychoanalysis is considered as a better quality treatment by a lot of psychoanalysts in treating mental disorders and the unconscious mental process, there is a growing conflict with regards to the point-of-views of psychoanalysis and psychiatry in terms of the importance of emotions in the overall well-being of a person. Among the most commonly known theory of Freud includes the study of the unconscious mind and defense mechanism aside from the typical concept of id, ego, and super ego. The study of the unconscious mind; which refers to the part of a person’s life wherein he / she is unaware of; is normally used in the study of psychiatry. The theory behind id, ego and super ego contributes a lot in understanding the rationale behind the human defense or adaptive mechanisms. Basically, the id which resides in the human unconscious mind operates the pleasure principle that sends immediate desire for pleasure and gratification to the brain; whereas the ego operates the reality principle as well as being responsible in balancing the gratification demands of the id in relation to the limitations of both the social and physical

Economic assisgnment Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Economic assisgnment - Assignment Example Geometrically, this effect is demonstrated by a shift of demand curve for bananas from Latin American market. Since the supply of agricultural product is inelastic, a gradual increase in the demand of bananas causes excess demand or shortage of bananas. It means that many buyers with will and the purchasing power are chancing few bananas2. The equilibrium price increases but more proportional than the increase in the quantity supplied. Increase in quantity demanded and increased propane users have led to a boost in the demand for propane in the USA market. Since the supply is inelastic, this change in the USA market for propane causes a shift in the demand curve. It led to a shortage in the market, which encourage the supplier to skyrocket the price of propane to take the advantage in the market. Foreign goods become attractive to the US consumers, and they ought to import thereby decreasing the demand for propane in the US market. The equilibrium price decreases and equilibrium price will then decrease. In retrospect, propane and farm crops are complementary goods. When the price of propane increases, the price of farm crops also increases. The price of propane and reduced quantity of propane are among the non-price factors that affect the price of farm crops in the market. It causes a shortage since less will be produced and shift of the supply curve upward. The equilibrium price rises and equilibrium price decreases. According to Arthurs Okun’s theory, a three-percentage increase in economic growth causes a one-percentage decrease in unemployment. Mathematically, the data above is consistent3. On the other hand, Phillips explained that unemployment is inversely related to inflation. The figure above exemplifies this correlation since as the unemployment decreases from 10.0% in 2003 to 9.5% in 2006, inflation increases from 0.8% to 1.4% respectively. To this end, Okun’s theory

Your pick of this week's news Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Your pick of this week's news - Assignment Example Donor nations particularly face challenges while dealing with the receptive but discriminating nations on the grounds of sexual orientation. The main idea of the article is that with the growth in the acceptance of gay rights globally, donor nations and organizations are facing more challenges in establishing the limits to which they can extend help to the nations that impose ban on homosexuality. The author has given enough factual material to support the ideas e.g. latest estimates of the UN, and quotations of important figures. The author appears to have obtained information through review of literature and latest news. The reportage is true and balanced because it is based on facts. The author has identified the dilemma donor nations are caught in as they feel pressurized to stop aid to the discriminating nations to take their stand for gay rights on one hand, and to continue aid for the health and social wellbeing of these nations on the cost of gay right

Compare and contrast any two theories of social disorder in Essay

Compare and contrast any two theories of social disorder in contemporary UK society - Essay Example ve been advanced by social scientists such as Buchanan and Monderman to explain social order and they include; the modernist approach and flexible approach (Taylor et al. 2009). Social disorder is the direct opposite of social order. In other words, it is, as noted earlier, a situation such as an act or a process that the society considers disruptive of its normal way of life. Social disorder is usually in contravention of the normal beliefs in a society and it usually attracts attention and calls of actions to counter it. Taylor et al. (2009) gives an example of the Dangerous Dog Act of 1991 that was passed by the United Kingdom’s parliament in reaction to several incidents of severe injuries inflicted by aggressive dogs mostly on children. The social order, which is the normal way life in the United Kingdom is that dogs live with people in that society in a friendly way without biting. But when the same dogs turn against their masters, then the normal way of life is disrupted and this is the social disorder. This prompts the government to act by passing a law that aims at preventing such future acts that amount to social disorder. From the above example, social disorder is an undesirable situation. This is a direct opposite of social order. For these reasons, the latter is acceptable by the society as compared to the former. Contemporary United Kingdom considers various behaviours as disorderly and they include drunkenness, violence, littering, sale and use of illegal drugs, use of threatening behaviour, crimes, shouting in public, hooting in a quiet residential area at night, just to mention but a few. These disorderly behaviours are indicative of social disorder and a clear indication that social disorder is not necessarily what other people do not entertain. To explain social disorder, various social scientists have come up with various theories such as moral panic, policing the crisis and media effects research approaches. The foregoing discussion

Learning Communities Essay Example for Free

Learning Communities Essay Concorde Career Institute Orlando has been an educational institution for over 25 years. This organization provides fast-track, health-related programs in various fields. As with any educational institution, proprietary or not, there are many employees-all part of many different departments. Concorde Orlando has developed of a learning community to some extent, but the findings presented in Assignment Two support a need for further development in many areas. Concorde has committed itself to providing online and in-person training in order to continue to connect members of its current learning community. This training usually covers a variety of different objectives and the training is usually provided by outside companies. By utilizing outside agencies to provide training materials, the needs of the organization and its employees are not being evaluated nor met. A more personalized training, tailored to specific and immediate needs is a must. Stronger leadership and a more cohesive working milieu are also imperative. Concorde’s major concerns should be focused upon its communication and teamwork approach but, there are many more areas of that require attention. A cohesive, functional learning environment takes dedication and time. Once those areas are better executed, it can begin to build upon the foundation it has begun to lay. Concorde Career Institution, as a corporation, makes statements that it supports a mature learning environment. The mission statement seems to promote an idealistic working atmosphere that fosters independent thinking, creativity, and a teamwork approach to education. Reality has proven to be different. A motivated and strong team leader should be put into place-one that can appreciate the benefits of a well-built and maturely developed learning community. Concorde Orlando provides a yearly employee evaluation. This valuation is meant to appraise employee performance, acknowledge strengths and identify weaknesses. The employee evaluates himself, and then subsequently, so does his/her immediate supervisor. Depending on the evaluation’s results, it may produce an action plan. This action plan recognizes areas that need to be improved on, provides a strategy by which to improve them and a date in which a reevaluation should take place. Concorde does not necessarily discuss findings in employee performance evaluations with the employees; therefore organizational expectations are not known. This causes confusion and ambiguity. Many organizations have begun to favor consultants when evaluating employee performance. This can assure independent and neutral employee performance feedback. There is research that supports consulting as a strategy for improving teachers implementation of classroom interventions. † Results have supported that internal consultants are able to assess and briefly increase teachers treatment integrity with performance feedback† (Sanetti, et. al, 2013). There is a call, however, for organizations to realize that being proactive instead of reactive is a more logical approach when it comes to employee performance. According to a 2012 Global Workforce Study,† a survey of 32,000 employees across 30 countries, calls for employers to focus on engagement. The report defines such engagement as the intensity of employees connection to their organization based on three factors: the extent of their discretionary effort committed to achieving work goals, an environment that supports productivity in multiple ways, and a work experience that promotes well-being† (TD, 2013). This of course will improve overall employee performance and benefits the organization as a whole. The â€Å"group think† theory suggests that people from similar areas of work and backgrounds have ideas that are familiar are accepted without examination, while those that are unfamiliar are rejected without open consideration (Martin, 2006). Groups affected by group think do not tolerate opinions that do not coincide with their own. A learning community can be especially susceptible to group think when its community members are similar in background, shielded from outside opinions, and when there are no clear rules for decision making. At Concorde, group thinking does not habitually exist. Concorde does consider the input of the community, holding biannual meetings in which area affiliates give their input on school progress, its students and offers suggestions for change. This organization seems to value the input and opinions of others. Community members can feel included when they participate in creating the future direction of their learning community. They will make better decisions when they respect social, environmental and economic needs. When a shared vision is used to devise goals that guide local leadership, the community is well on its way to creating a better, sustainable place for the community (Grunkemeyer and Moss, 2010). Shared visions are an important characteristic of any successful learning community. Concorde Orlando is no exception to this fact. This organization has a clear set of goals to accomplish, and department leaders do communicate these company visions with employees. There does not seem to be a comprehensible plan in place, however, as to how to achieve them. Often times, multiple meetings are held in order to impart the company vision community members. Because we live in a world that is constantly changing and moving, organizations are challenged with conditions that seem to change at the speed of light. Often times, initiatives are poorly planned and executed. These errors can cause crippling effects within an organization. More and more, organizations have come to depend on teamwork. According to Ofoegbu, O. , et. l (2012) â€Å"Teamwork may be an appropriate managerial approach to reducing politics by increasing employees understanding and control, particularly in organizations whose strategic objectives call for employees to work in teams. † Most modern organizations have realized the value and benefits of teamwork and Concorde Orlando is no exception. Most projects are completed by teams. Most issues are resolved through the input of various community members. Many community outreach activities are also organized and carried out by teams. With enrollments being the number one company goal, Concorde Orlando heavily relies on teamwork in order to achieve this. Unfortunately, inappropriate team leaders are often chosen, resulting in poorly executed plans. This can cause major project delays and â€Å"do-over’s†. Dennis J. Elrod (2012), states that â€Å"Great leaders are always learning, whether its from those above them in the hierarchy, their peers, or those they lead. They also dont let opportunities to improve pass them by, so it pays to always be on the lookout for things that may improve your leadership style. There are many different types of leaders and many different types of leadership styles. Leaders not only concern themselves with the organizational goals, but also about the people who are involved in the process. Autocratic and hierarchical models of leadership dominated many businesses and organizations for years. The workplace environment changes from generation to generation. Today, community members are no longer content to go to work in complete obscurity. Employees want to feel significant, stimulated and challenged. Being an effective leader builds a sense of belonging within its learning community. Effective leaders not only increase employee retention, but also improve employee efficiency. Employees are more willing to follow efficient leaders than non-effective individuals. Choosing the right leader is the difference between success and failure. A great team leader needs to understand the organization’s goals and be able to understand what drivers are needed in order to motivate the team members. It is the leader’s job to ensure that great ideas are smartly implemented. The team leader must be able to sell his vision, the organization’s goals and the rewards reaped from the fruits of their labor. He must be able determine which team member could execute what parts of the project, resolve conflicts, and encourage each team member’s creativity and input. Concorde Orlando has a long standing history of ineffective leadership and a very high turn-over rate. During the last year, there have been several personnel changes in the Campus President, Academic Dean and program director positions. This instability and low employee retention ratio in its leadership roles have compromised Concorde Orlando’s credibility with the student body, its employees and the community. Concorde Career Institute has not been a pioneer in the field of communication. Issues are slow to be resolved, meetings are full of redundant material and there is a general fear of communicating with administrators for fear of retaliation. Great communication starts with listening and observing, and this organization has not trained its leaders to do that. Training is requisite in order to learn how to effectively communicate with others in a work environment. Currently, there is no communication training available at Concorde. The same communication methods that have been in place for years are still practiced today. Reevaluation of these methods is needed in order to have more successful communication within its learning community. Internet access provides opportunities for classrooms throughout the world to communicate and collaborate in real time. In the same way, members of the learning community can experience these open new ways of thinking. â€Å"A compendium of organizations and businesses is dedicated to encouraging an emphasis on skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, computer and technology skills, communication, and self-direction skills in US schools and schools worldwide. The educational challenges of the 21st century open up possibilities that, until now, have been beyond imagination† (Roth, 2010). Concorde does utilize different methods of training its employees in order to maximize learning potential. What seems to have been most successful within this learning community is peer leadership. â€Å"Peer leadership contributes to the success of collaborative group learning† (Popejoy and Asala, 2013). Group learning allows all members to be actively involved. When community members are involved in learning processes with their peers, they are more likely to feel comfortable. Concorde Orlando supports and encourages all types of learning models, therefore increases the chance of successful outcomes. Concorde Career Institute-Orlando could be classified as being well on its way to developing a mature learning community. Though this learning community is fraught with quite a few weaknesses, it also has an impressive set of strengths. As long as someone has the initiative and fortitude to move this community forward, Concorde Orlando can prove to be a great success.

An Analysis Of Boys and Girls

An Analysis Of Boys and Girls According to R. W. Connell when sex role theory provided the main framework, there was a fairly straightforward account of how people acquired gender. Babies were, from the start, identified as either female or male and put in pink and blue baby clothes respectively. Blue babies were expected to behave differently from pink babies rougher and tougher, more demanding and vigorous. In time they were given toy guns, footballs and construction sets. The pink babies, by contrast, were expected to be more passive and compliant, also prettier. As they grew older they were dressed in frilly clothes, given dolls and make-up kits, told to take care of their appearance and be polite and agreeable (94). This type of gender practice can be seen in Alice Munros story Boys and Girls. This is a story about a young girls resistance to womanhood in a society infested with gender roles and stereotypes. Munro makes the point that gender stereotyping, relationships, and a loss of innocence play an impor tant, and often controversial role in the growing and passing into adulthood for many young children. This story takes place in the 1940s on a fox farm outside of Jubilee. During this time, women are viewed as second class citizens, but the narrator is not going to accept this position without a fight. Alice Munro creates an unnamed and therefore undignified, female protagonist and thus she proposes that the narrator is without identity or the prospect of power. Unlike the girl, the young brother Laird is named a name that means lord and implies that he, by virtue of his gender alone, is invested with identity and is to become a master. This stereotyping in names alone seems to represent that gender does play an extreme role in the initiation of young children into adults. R. W. Connell claims that the socialization model recognizes just one direction of learning towards the sex role norms. It is difficult, in such a framework, to understand the changes of direction that often appear in a young persons life, coming apparently from nowhere. Such changes can be seen in the story. Growing up, the young girl loves to help her father outside with the foxes, rather than to aid her mother with dreary and peculiarly depressing work in the kitchen. In this escape from her predestined responsibilities, the narrator looks upon her mothers assigned tasks to be endless, while she views the work of her father as ritualistically important. This view illustrates her happy childhood, filled with dreams and fantasy. Her contrast between the work of her father and the chores of her mother, symbolizes an arising struggle between what the narrator is expected to do and what she wants to do. Work done by her father is viewed as being real, while that done by her mother is considered boring. Conflicting views of what is fun and what is expected lead the narrator to her initiation into adulthood. The protagonist in the story begins to realize societys views of her when her father introduces her to a salesman, while she is working outside, as his new hired hand. She is almost pleased until the salesman replies I thought it was only a girl. Even her grandmother bombards her with commands, Girls keep their knees together when they sit down. And Girls dont slam doors like that. The worst is when she asks a question and her grandmother answers Thats none of a girls business. Even after that, she continues to slam doors and sit awkwardly because she feels that it keeps her free. In other words, she is not ready to accept and claim her gender identity a tendency that disturbs her mother and it is at this time, that the mother, good intentionally shackles her daughter to her correct place in the world to prepare her for stereotypes later on in life. However, after talking with her mother, the narrator realises that she has to become a girl; A girl was not, as I had supposed, simply what I was; it was what I had to become. Here, the narrator realises that there is no escape from the predetermined duties that go along with the passage of a child into being a girl and a girl into a woman. Boys and Girls by Alice Munro highlights and emphasises the theme of initiation. The story depicts initiation as a rite of passage according to gender stereotypes and a loss of innocence. Conformity plays a vital role in determining the outcome of the narrators passage into adulthood. Throughout the story, the narrator is confronted with conflicting thoughts and ideas regarding her initiation into adulthood. Ultimately, she wishes to work with her father, and stay a tomboy, but through a conflict with her mother and grandmother, she comes to realise that she is expected, like the women before her, to adopt the gender stereotype which comes with her growing and passing into adulthood. Similarly, her younger brother, Laird, is also initiated, but into manhood, something he yearns for. In conclusion, Munros story illustrates the struggles between the dreams and reality of the rite of passage and initiation, based on gender stereotypes society has placed on men and women.

Development of Reality TV Genre

Development of Reality TV Genre How are reality TV shows constructed and how do they challenge ideas about the television audience? Everyone has to have come across a reality television show, at least once while watching television, since the genre has become one of the most popular genres of television programming in our contemporary society and keeps on becoming more and more enjoyed by people worldwide. Ever since this, considerably new, television genre has appeared a lot of changes in the ways of entertainment, television programme constructions and audience studies have been noticed. That is why several studies have been contacted around the genre, in order to better identify and explain it, in relation to the audience and other media theories. The views around it between scholars though, are divided, between the ones who support the genre and ‘others who consider it to be voyeuristic, cheap, sensational television’ (Hill, 2005). Regardless of the two opinions, the reality genre becoming one of the most discussed subjects in media studies is a fact and in this essay I will try, based on several academics’ research, to identify what the reality genre is, how it was developed through the years, from what programmes it has originated, which subgenres it has produced and how those subgenres influence the television programme production today and finally, how the reality genre’s concepts challenge several ideas about the audience reception, taking into consideration the latter’s point of view. It is undeniable that television has a big impact on the ways people spend their free time and each genre of television programmes has its own impact on audiences and society, with probably the reality genre being the most controversial one. Due to several studies around and different opinions about the genre there is no specific definition about it. It is generally thought to be the genre which documents unscripted, real-life situations of ordinary people (Hill, 2005). The genre is more focused on drama and entertainment contexts rather than simply educating the audience, since it usually encompasses unscripted dramas, games, tasks and just about any competitions that make it more fun to watch. Reality television genre first appeared during the 1950’s as a new form of factual television and social record for post-war observers, based on Allen Fund’s work in 1947, which was a reality television series called Candid Camera focused on hidden cameras that filmed ordinary people facing unusual situations (similar to the latter Just for Laughs: Gags). Even though some people viewed this technique as an invasion of privacy, others viewed it as a ‘valuable educational visual record’ (Murray and Ouellette, 2004) and thus the genre continued to develop. The growth of tabloid journalism, documentary television and popular entertainment during the 1980s, influenced the reality genre even more, resulting in new hybrid programming, developing reality television as we know it today (Hill, 2005). Studies around reality television have become an important concept in media research, since the ways in which the genre works influence new types of audience gratifications, as well as media effects, due to the way they are constructed. Usually, reality television shows are directed by segment producers or story editors, who assemble storyboards and shooting scripts to make the shows happen. Since these people are not acknowledged by the Writers Guild of America as normal writers, they cost less than what a drama writer would cost (Hill, 2005). Additionally, since no actors or sets are required for reality shows to be made, the cost of production is much cheaper than the majority of other television genres, which explains why they are so famous and massively produced. In order for a reality show to be produced and eventually successful though, certain aspects need to be taken into consideration. People tend to get easily bored of a television programme and can easily switch off their television or change to another channel. In order to keep them interested, reality shows need to have highly marketable concepts and subjects to gain their audience’s attention. Catchy titles that provoke conversations and smart catch-phrases, which tell you exactly what to expect to watch but at the same time intrigue your curiosity and imagination, are usual characteristics of such shows. Reality television shows also need to provide exactly what their name suggests, ‘reality’. Focusing more on storylines containing elements of competition, potential for conflict, tasks, winning prizes, reality show producers aim to capture real-life situations about ordinary people, exactly how they happen in front of the camera. Usually, in every reality show there is a host who or a voiceover that explains to the audience what is going on, who they are watching and what they will be doing during the show. In order to convince the audience that what they are watching is real and unscripted, they attempt to stimulate real life situations and reactions from the people who participate in the shows and by surveillance with cameras, they make the private life visible to everyone. The idea of non-actors or professionals participating in each show and the non-scripted presentation of events make reality programmes an unpredictable source of entertainment for the audience and the idea is enhanced by the fact that people feel like they are active participants in these situations, removing them somehow from being a passive audience. One of our era’s most popular reality show has been the singing competition series Idols (also known as Superstar), which first aired in the UK in 2001. Equipped with all the basic reality show elements, such as mass auditioning of ordinary, non-famous people, audience participation with people voting their favourite artists from home, unscripted dialogs and reactions by the participants, as well as the judging panel, live per formances, backstage drama and marketable concepts, the show has come across huge success worldwide. The main purpose of the programme is to discover the ‘idol’ in each of its series, with that idol being the most talented singer who competes in the show. Auditions are held and the judges choose the participants, who eventually compete with each other during live performances and the winner is announced after only two singers are left in the show and the one with the most votes, from the audience and the judges, wins a money prize and a recording contract. Even though the reality formats share some common elements, the genre in general is made up of various diverse and distinctive subgenres that resulted from the mixture and hybridization of other prior, original programmes and it is this hybridization of successful genres that gives reality television its strong market values. Influenced by genres such as soap opera, documentary, sports or competition shows, reality genre is a very broad category and therefore it is quite hard to understand reality television ‘without considering its place within the context of other types of audio-visual documentation’ (Hill, 2005). As a result, there are several subgenres of reality television programmes such as, docu-dramas, game shows, dating-based competitions, self-improvement /makeover shows, hidden camera shows or talk shows. Docu-soaps or ‘fly-on-the-wall’ documentaries are the combination of the traditional observational documentary television with soap opera and they create a fictional setting to represent a series of events, with cameras set up to follow unscripted situations as they happen. The film crew is not seen or acknowledged by the reality stars and contrawise to traditional documentaries, which are often limited to one episode, docu-soaps span as a series of episodes, edited and scripted to follow normal people’s lives. A British example of a docu-soap, is the ‘fly-on-the-wall’ documentary series called Airport, which was aired between 1996 and 2008, based at the London Heathrow Airport. The series followed the daily activities of passengers and staff of the airport. The dramatic behind the scenes plot and some memorable recurring characters, gave the show its docu-soaps feel. Make over shows such as Extreme Makeover, feature real people who present their own situations and life stories to explain why they are in need of a self-transformation. Extreme Makeover aired between 2002 and 2007 in the USA, with people volunteering to receive complete makeovers, including plastic surgery, exercise programmes, hairdressing and wardrobe renovation by beauty ‘experts’. Screened in three major parts; before, during and after the makeover shows like that focus on beauty and outer appearance in order to enhance people’s self-esteem. Also, the elements of surprise by the family members, who cannot see their relative until the end of their transformation, enhance the audience’s curiosity and excitement. Another successful reality television subgenre is the talk show genre, with programmes such as The Oprah Winfrey Show or Dr. Phill. Shows like that feature a host who interviews guests or discusses a chosen topic using the studio as a platform to inspire, educate or entertain the audience, usually offering people, who watch fro m their homes, the chance to call and express their opinions about the topics discussed live. Probably though, the most popular subgenre of reality programmes is the game show genre, with shows such as Survivor and Big Brother, which have had huge success worldwide over the years. With Survivor featuring isolated contestants in the wildness who compete against each other for money and other prizes and Big Brother, featuring a group of people known as ‘housemates’, living together in a specially constructed house, isolated from the outside world and competing with each other, facing weekly evictions in order to win a cash prize, both shows are based on competition and elimination concepts. Each episode of each show has the contestants faced against certain tasks, building up suspense and ensuring that the audience will watch until the very end to see the final result. With the participants being under 24 hour surveillance and all their actions observed, the audience can relate to them and decide who they like and who they do not. Generally, reality television is one of the most popular television genres and with all its subgenres falls under the category of factual television, which documents non-fiction television programming and actual real life events. The fact that reality shows create a mixture of information and entertainment concepts for their audience is generally known as infotainment and is also another factor of the genre’s worldwide success (Hill, 2005). Apart from the ways reality television works though, it is also important to identify its success taking into consideration the audience’s point of view and how this genre challenges specific ideas about it. In the past, television asked only that people would sit back and relax, as scripted dramas, sitcoms or documentaries supplied passive entertainment and education. Reality television on the other hand, offers audience participation and shortens the distance between television celebrities and viewers. It is no wonder then that ‘one of the reasons the reality genre has been so powerful in the television market, is that it appeals to younger adults in particular’ (Hill, 2005). The reason is that people enjoy watching the elements of drama and competition of reality shows, since they can easily get attached to some of the characters, relate to them and feel part of their actions. They like to know what goes on behind closed doors, they find it intriguing and reali ty shows give them the chance to satisfy their curiosity. Also, reality shows reflect a freedom of speech that was not there before, since people can now comment about what they do and do not like about a show or a character and also change the outcome of a show with their votes. But no matter how much viewers enjoy the various reality formats, they are also distrustful of the authenticity, precisely because they know that the people’s stories are presented to them in an entertaining manner, and because of that they are sceptical about how staged and scripted those stories are. There have also been several critiques and arguments about the reality genre and most of them are focused around the ‘reality’ of it, since the ways in which these shows reflect reality are questionable. The detractors of the genre claim that the reality of it is inaccurate, since the dialogs or situations presented are staged and scripted by the producers, or even the choosing of the participants in each show is done specifically, in order for certain participants to have high chances of engaging into conflict with each other. Also, producers can attempt to stimulate several events to present them as real, with various formats or editing techniques, which can create different degrees of ‘reality’ (Hill, 2005). For example, the way particular environments, related to each show, are unreal, because of how they are specifically constructed by the producers for the needs of the show or how the day by day activities, tasks or competitions that participants face are also controlled by the production team (e.g. the large house of Big Brother, or the tasks of the Survivor participants). Other critiques focus around how certain shows, like The X-Factor: Auditions for example, depend on humiliating and exploiting participants that might not be as talented or suitable to be on television, in order to increase the ratings of the show, or depend on the show’s voyeuristic elements, such as performances of intimate elements in public, in order to satisfy some viewers’ needs to observe other people’s lives (Bagdasarov et al. 2010). Also, some shows rely on stereotypes along with humiliation of participants, resulting to more criticism about them. A famous incident of people judging someone on their appearance instead of their talent is Susan Boyle’s audition (YouTube) for the reality programme Britain’s Got Talent in 2009. By the time she had set food on the stage, the audience, as well as the judges, were expecting her to have no talent and make a fool of herself, because of her modest introduction on the stage and her age. But after she started singing and proved to be extremely talented, everyone was applauding in shock. Stereotyping is a usual element of reality shows and many people criticize the genre for having a negative cultural impact, since such notions and ideas are easily spread and absorbed by society, especially if they come from the most popular television shows. Additionally, based on Blumler and Katz’s (1974) uses and gratifications approach, the audience is active and able to select the media content that, based on their gratifications, will satisfy their needs. Therefore, their viewing motives can help the television programme producers predict activity (Godlewski and Perse, 2010). Also, reality television seems to fulfil the alleged, by the uses and gratifications approach, audience needs, which are surveillance, personal relationships, personal identity and escapism. That way they provide a type of show suitable for everyone’s taste. Based on the aforementioned research though, how real can reality television formats be considered and what does the genre’s huge success show about how the audience responds to it? If people enjoy watching reality television programmes then they are also aware of how they can be edited to appear real and authentic to them, when in fact they are not. They are able to identify what they perceive to be good and bad programming and they are not usually watching reality shows to educate themselves about several subjects or understand more about the world. On the contrary, people watch reality shows to entertain themselves, to relax after a tiring day, to laugh and to feel intrigued and excited. They know that the more ‘real’ and entertaining a show appears to them, the less real and authentic they believe it to be (Hill, 2005), therefore they observe the participants of these shows in order to witness how people handle awkward situations and social dilemmas in front o f cameras. All things considered, it is undeniable that the reality television genre is still one of the most popular genres today and even if audiences are aware of the genre’s illusion of reality, it still has a big appeal on them because it amuses them and because of its entertaining and relaxing concepts. For a short period of time, people can feel like a part of the show, a little closer to being the celebrities and the stars of television. Therefore, scripted or not, real or not, the reality genre will continue to be successful and as television programmes continue to develop and allow more interaction between the programmes and their audiences, it is very important that research around the interactive forms of reality television, which encourage increased audience activity, continue to be contacted. BIBLIOGRAPHY Godlewski, Lisa R., and Elizabeth M. Perse. Audience Activity And Reality Television: Identification, Online Activity, And Satisfaction. Communication Quarterly 58.2 (1976): 148-169. Hall, Alice. Viewers Perceptions Of Reality Programs. Communication Quarterly 54.2 (1976): 191-211. Hill, Annette. Reality TV: Audiences And Popular Factual Television. London: Routledge, 2005. Murray, Susan, and Laurie Ouellette. Reality TV. New York: New York University Press, 2004. YouTube,. Susan Boyle Audition HD FULL. N.p., 2015. Web. 08 May 2015.

Evaluation of Writing :: Education Educational Writer Writing Essays

Evaluation of Writing Works Cited Missing "We need to recognize that composition is probably going to remain the stepchild of rather unwilling English departments, that research in teaching and learning to write will continue to scrape by on the edges of several disciplines, and that few of those who will teach writing in American schools and universities will get much training or background as part of their regular education." -E. White (Teaching and Assessing Writing) In retrospect, I fail to remember consistent writing practices or writing assignments in English class (or otherwise) as a student in middle or secondary school. Luckily my love for and skill at creative and critical writing was encouraged by my parents and has remained at the heart of what I have chosen to pursue as a career. However, students whose writing is not only discouraged but is not treated fairly and properly in terms of evaluation have few options: to begin to regard writing as frivolous and unimportant; to remain underdeveloped in the areas of mechanics let alone harnessing of creativity and stylistic technique. Evaluation, as does actual instruction of writing, remains underdeveloped as well. Tension lingers between teachers who either are intimidated by evaluation processes or reject too rigidly structured models and the necessary aspect of not only teaching students how to write but teaching writing as a process which, in the end, requires assessment. Ultimately what has been absent in the past and is lacking still is agreed upon (by teachers, administrators, and test practitioners) theory and practice of sound writing programs and evaluation measures. Two major components, whose relationships fuel the tension that inhibits a consensus, are the contrasts between holistic and analytic approaches to evaluation and hence writing as process or a mix of isolated skills. It is with interest that I research what has historically been found to work and not work with regards to practical and purposeful evaluation procedures that, in and of themselves, should reflect thoroughness but also serve as an integral component of good writing. The Whole Picture versus Isolated Elements Surely on opposite ends of the English education spectrum are the camps who advocate subjectivity and overall quality of writing and those who approach writing with analytic reductionism. Holistic proponents value writing in terms of its ultimate expression while reductionists believe that the whole is merely a sum of its parts (White, 18). Holistic assessment contradicts the notions of not only evaluating writing as a series of independent skills but also multiple choice testing as a means of determining writing ability (testing which requires the labeling of sentence components).

The Concept of Corruption in the Western Societies Essay -- gift giving

Introduction This paper will go over public corruption and how it is viewed and the obstacles that develop from it. It will show that in western parts of the world corruption is not accepted but in other parts of the country it is. This paper well go over what I agree with and do not agree with about corruption. It will also show how some gift giving traditions by some officials to be used to take advantage of their countries people. Corruption means different things to different people it could be somebody paying someone to move their police application ahead of people before them. It could mean that a contractor giving a code inspector tickets to a play that had been sold out for weeks. It could be someone giving money to the person in charge of government contracts. Corruption can be many things not just government officials getting money to benefit them self’s. The Webster’s Dictionary defined it as the inducement of wrong by an improper or unlawful means, as the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. (Mariam- Webster online Dictionary (2009). When most people think of corruption they think of bribery, Nepotism, fraud, embezzlement. Bribery most of the time is the police officer taking money for a ticket or to look the other way during a crime. Nepotism is normally a public official allowing his relative or neighbor to do something that he would cite someone else for. Fraud is like someone g etting money from the government for food while working and lying about it. Embezzlement is when someone takes money or any property from a government or business. There can be different types of corruption between political and administrative corruption. The administrative type of corruption has to do with polices such as someone gett... ...corrupt because of the big benefit to change their lives by money or gifts and the thought that they will not be caught. They also believe if they are caught they will not get a very hard penalty for the crime. There are counties that believe in gift giving and receiving monies as a sign of showing respect and honor to them. In our county we see it as gift giving is a miss use of an officials trust that the people empowered them with. It also shows their doing this for their own personal benefit. The public will not accept this from any official in any office with in the city, state or the federal government. It could take years for these government to build trust back with the people they serve. Works Cited Delattre, E. (2011). Character and Cops: Ethics in Policing [VitalSouce bookshelf version]. Retrieved from http://online.vitalsource.com/books/9780844772264

Inner Happiness in Hemingways The Old Man and the Sea Essay

Inner Happiness in Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Hemingway's view of human nature was that happiness was rare and was found within a man and not in his outside circumstances or surroundings.   Hemingway illustrates this in three ways.   First, he portrays the human nature of Santiago, the main character, as being one of humility and compassion, full of strength and pride.   He is shown not as a gleefully happy man, but one who meets life with a serene, quiet resilience.   Second, Santiago's fellow villagers are shown as shallow and materialistic, with a narrow view of life compared to his.   Their focus on appearances is in sharp contrast to Santiago's focus on intrinsic values.   Third, it will be shown that his rare brand of happiness comes from within.    Poignant circumstances surrounded the composition of this novel, which bring out many of the above points. It is widely recognized that Hemingway was possessed of a turbulent personality and suffered from emotional depression.   This was despite the fact that he enjoyed much critical acclaim.   The Old Man and the Sea was written after a ten-year hiatus of public and critical approval. This period saw much of his work receive negative criticism in literary and journalistic circles.   This affected Hemingway adversely and very deeply (Carey 9).   Therefore, Hemingway's personal battle with seeming failure in his life's work and society's attendant criticism parallel Santiago's stoic resolve in the face of his neighbors' disdain.   The author's struggles symbolically match those of Santiago and set the stage for the writing of this novel.    The acclaim generated by this book was due largely to the author's   " complex knotting of spiritual and phys... ... Gardiner, Patrick. Schopenhauer. Middlesex, England: Penguin , 1963.   Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1995. Hutchins, Robert Maynard, ed. Great Books of the Western World. 54 vols. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1952. Vol. 1.   Plato. The Dialogues of Plato. Trans. Benjamin Jowett. Great Books of the Western World. 54 vols. Chicago:Encyclopaedia Britannica 1952. Vol. 7. Schopenhauer, Arthur. Counsels and Maxims. Trans. T. Bailey Saunders. Amherst, New York:Prometheus Books, 1995.     - - -.   On the Basis of Morality. Trans. E.F.J. Payne. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill.   1965.     - - -. The Wisdom of Life. Trans. T. Bailey Saunders. Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books, 1995.   Waggonner, Eric. "Inside the Current: A Taoist Reading of The Old Man and the Sea" Hemingway Review Spring 1998.     

How to Write a Descriptive Essay Essay

Edited by Nicole Eakin, Ben Rubenstein, Flickety, Kyrie Alazen and 28 others The key to writing the perfect descriptive essay is creating a vivid image in your reader’s mind using the five senses. Here are some steps to help you create a strong descriptive essay. Edit Steps Method 1 of 3: Prewriting for your Essay Pick a topic. Descriptive essays generally focus on a person, a place, an event, or a thing. Writers convey an idea about their topic by describing the topic for the reader in a ‘show, not tell’ manner. Showing and not telling means that you paint a picture for your reader. For example, instead of saying, â€Å"There were trees near the lake† you could say, â€Å"The lake stared through the trees, a wide grey eye trapped in a perpetual state of weeping.† Create a thesis statement. A thesis statement is the idea that governs the whole essay. It states the purpose of the paper and governs all of the information that is in the paper.[2] An example of a descriptive thesis statement is: My backyard is like a jungle. This thesis statement does not mean that your backyard is literally a jungle, but that the different aspects of your backyard make it seem like a jungle. Draw five columns on a piece of paper with each column labeled one of the five senses. These include taste, touch, sight, sound, and smell. This list will help you keep your thoughts straight when describing your essay. Using your five senses, write down sensations and feelings you associate with your topic. Review your list and choose the most dominant details to write about. These details should be the items that best support your thesis and are the most interesting. These details will be made into your body paragraphs. Create an outline that lists what each paragraph of your essay is going to  discuss. Typically, middle and high schoolers writing descriptive essays will be asked to write a 5 paragraph essay.College level students and above have more free-reign regarding how long to make their essays. 5 paragraph essays are structured to include an introductory paragraph that includes a thesis statement, three body paragraphs proving your thesis statement, and a concluding paragraph that summarizes what you have said in the rest of your essay. Method 2 of 3: Writing your essay Structure your essay in a way that makes sense for your topic. If you are writing about an event, give your paragraphs a chronological order. If you are writing about a place or thing, try ordering your paragraphs so that they go from general to specific.[6] Example: First paragraph: The things you notice when you look at a house from the outside. Second paragraph: The sights, sounds, smells, tastes, feelings etc. that you experience when you are inside the house. Third paragraph: A description of your favorite section of the house. Write your introductory paragraph. The introductory paragraph establishes the main ideas of the essay and sets the tone. This paragraph should include an introduction to your topic followed by your thesis statement. Create a topic sentence at the beginning of each body paragraph. This sentence lets your reader know what the paragraph is going to be about. It should be clear and concise. Each topic sentence should relate back to the thesis statement. Example: Thesis statement: My backyard is like a jungle that I love to explore. Topic Sentence: When I climb a tree in my backyard, I feel like I am climbing a tall jungle tree. Write your body paragraphs based on your topic sentences. Body paragraphs are where you get to prove that your thesis is true. Always keep in my mind that everything you write in your body paragraph should relate to your topic sentence and your thesis.[7] Example: The trees in my backyard are filled with the music of birds. Emeralds leaves sway in sun-filled breeze. Provide sensory details that support your thesis. Use literary tools like descriptive adjectives, similes, metaphors and personification. Smells (â€Å"The scent of the newly opened rose danced sweetly upon the wind.†) Sounds (â€Å"When she laughed, a wild array of exotic birds burst from within her; it was pretty to look at but there was a lot of squawking involved.†) Sights (â€Å"The beach curved into a smile above a flowing blue beard that sometimes grew too high and was then shaved away.†) Taste (â€Å"The sugar plum filled my mouth with memories of Christmas mornings long past.†) Touch (â€Å"The ferns brushed like a whisper against my skin.†) Write your conclusion. Your conclusion should summarize everything you have written in your essay. It should also restate your thesis. It is important to have a well-written conclusion because it is the last thing the reader will read, and will stay in his or her mind the longest. Method 3 of 3: Finalizing your essay Take a break from working after you have finished writing. Stepping away from your writing helps you to clear your head. You will be able to look at your essay the way your reader would look at it once you have taken a break from working on it. Read your essay with the reader in mind. Ask yourself: Does the essay unfold in a way that helps the reader understand the subject? Are any of the paragraphs more confusing than descriptive? Does the word choice and figurative language convey what you are trying to express about the topic? Are there enough details to give the reader a complete picture? Do the details in the essay help the reader understand what the topic means to the writer? Read your essay out loud. By reading out loud, you can more easily locate sections of the essay that might be awkward or confusing. Get someone else to read your essay. Does it make sense to them? Do they think you should add or delete anything? Proofread your essay for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. Delete  cliches. Tips Use all of the senses in a descriptive essay. Don’t use nondescript adjectives like â€Å"nice†. Use a thesaurus and get some new and interesting words, like â€Å"effervescent.† Try not to use the word â€Å"I† in your sentences. Descriptive Essays Summary: The Modes of Discourse—Exposition, Description, Narration, Argumentation (EDNA)—are common paper assignments you may encounter in your writing classes. Although these genres have been criticized by some composition scholars, the Purdue OWL recognizes the wide spread use of these approaches and students’ need to understand and produce them. What is a descriptive essay? The descriptive essay is a genre of essay that asks the student to describe something—object, person, place, experience, emotion, situation, etc. This genre encourages the student’s ability to create a written account of a particular experience. What is more, this genre allows for a great deal of artistic freedom (the goal of which is to paint an image that is vivid and moving in the mind of the reader). One might benefit from keeping in mind this simple maxim: If the reader is unable to clearly form an impression of the thing that you are describing, try, try again! Here are some guidelines for writing a descriptive essay. Take time to brainstorm If your instructor asks you to describe your favorite food, make sure that you jot down some ideas before you begin describing it. For instance, if you choose pizza, you might start by writing down a few words: sauce, cheese, crust, pepperoni, sausage, spices, hot, melted, etc. Once you have written down some words, you can begin by compiling descriptive lists for each one. Use clear and concise language. This means that words are chosen carefully, particularly for their relevancy in relation to that which you are intending to describe. Choose vivid  language. Why use horse when you can choose stallion? Why not use tempestuous instead of violent? Or why not miserly in place of cheap? Such choices form a firmer image in the mind of the reader and often times offer nuanced meanings that serve better one’s purpose. Use your senses! Remember, if you are describing something, you need to be appealing to the senses of the reader. Explain how the thing smelled, felt, sounded, tasted, or looked. Embellish the moment with senses. What were you thinking?! If you can describe emotions or feelings related to your topic, you will connect with the reader on a deeper level. Many have felt crushing loss in their lives, or ecstatic joy, or mild complacency. Tap into this emotional reservoir in order to achieve your full descriptive potential. Leave the reader with a clear impression. One of your goals is to evoke a strong sense of familiarity and appreciation in the reader. If your reader can walk away from the essay craving the very pizza you just described, you are on your way to writing effective descriptive essays. Be organized! It is easy to fall into an incoherent rambling of emotions and senses when writing a descriptive essay. However, you must strive to present an organized and logical description if the reader is to come away from the essay with a cogent sense of what it is you are attempting to describe. ï » ¿How to Write a Descriptive Essay Essay Descriptive essays are often subjective tasks. The first issue at hand is to make sure you know what type of paper you are writing. The descriptive essay is often creative, personal, or simply artistic. Discuss the assignment with your professor or teacher before you begin. Even though your descriptive essay is more personal than a standard five-paragraph or compare-contrast essay, there is still quite a bit of homework to be done. Here is a list of important rules to follow as your write this essay. 1. Understand the concept; 2. Do your research; 3. Outline the paper; 4. Write the paper; 5. Re-write the paper; 6. Edit (outside editors). Descriptive essays rely on their nominal stature. It is more important to use imagery and metaphorical language than scientific data. Descriptive essays are not mathematic entries, nor are they always factual. They are opinions. Consequently, you can try to write and describe anything you desire. You simply have to do it well. As horrible as that sounds, your professors and teachers will tell you the same thing. Here are some tips to remember when writing your descriptive essay: 1. Actually describe something; 2. Use concrete and abstract images; 3. Use concrete and abstract ideas; 4. Do not go overboard with adjectives and adverbs; 5. Do not go overboard with similes and metaphors; 6. Give it to someone else to see if your essay actually describes something. While it may seem rather vague initially, sometimes a descriptive essay can be the most liberating and pleasurable essay to write. You are just writing something as you see it. If you can prove and describe an idea or image in language, then you have accomplished your task. Documentation and hard research are not always necessary components (although they may be). What is a Descriptive Essay? http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/685/03/ The descriptive essay is a genre of essay that asks the student to describe an object, person, place, experience, emotion, situation, etc. This genre encourages the student’s ability to create a written account of a particular experience. What is more, this genre allows for a great deal of artistic freedom (the goal of which is to paint an image that is vivid and moving in the mind of the reader). One might benefit from keeping in mind this simple maxim: If the reader is unable to clearly form an impression of the thing that you are describing, try, try again! Here are some guidelines for writing a descriptive essay: Take time to brainstorm If your instructor asks you to describe your favorite food, make sure that you jot down some ideas before you begin describing it. For instance, if you choose pizza, you might start by writing down a few words: sauce, cheese, crust, pepperoni, sausage, spices, hot, melted, etc. Once you have written down some words, you can begin by compiling descriptive lists for each one. Use clear and concise language. This means that words are chosen carefully, particularly for their relevancy in relation to that which you are intending to describe. Choose vivid language. Why use ‘horse’ when you can choose ‘stallion’? Why not use ‘tempestuous’ instead of ‘violent’? Or why not ‘miserly’ in place of ‘cheap’? Such choices form a firmer image in the mind of the reader and often times offer nuanced meanings that serve better one’s purpose. Use your senses! Remember, if you are describing something, you need to be appealing to the senses of the reader. Explain how the thing smelled, felt, sounded, tasted, or looked. Embellish the moment with senses. What were you thinking?! If you can describe emotions or feelings related to your topic, you will connect with the reader on a deeper level. Many have felt crushing loss in their lives, or ecstatic joy, or mild complacency. Tap into this emotional reservoir in order to achieve your full descriptive potential. Leave the  reader with a clear impression. One of your goals is to evoke a strong sense of familiarity and appreciation in the reader. If your reader can walk away from the essay craving the very pizza you just described, you are on your way to writing effective descriptive essays. Be organized! It is easy to fall into an incoherent rambling of emotions and senses when writing a descriptive essay. However, you must strive to present an organized and logical description if the reader is to come away from the essay with a cogent sense of what it is you are attempting to describe. How to Write a Descriptive Essay by WriteExpress Staff Writers http://www.writeexpress.com/descriptive-essay.html More than many other types of essays, descriptive essays strive to create a deeply involved and vivid experience for the reader. Great descriptive essays achieve this affect not through facts and statistics but by using detailed observations and descriptions. What do you want to describe? As you get started on your descriptive essay, it’s important for you to identify exactly what you want to describe. Often, a descriptive essay will focus on portraying one of the following: a person a place a memory an experience an object Ultimately, whatever you can perceive or experience can be the focus of your descriptive writing. Why are you writing your descriptive essay? It’s a great creative exercise to sit down and simply describe what you observe. However, when writing a descriptive essay, you often have a particular reason for writing your description. Getting in touch with this reason can help you focus your description and imbue your language with a particular perspective or emotion. Example: Imagine that you want to write a  descriptive essay about your grandfather. You’ve chosen to write about your grandfather’s physical appearance and the way that he interacts with people. However, rather than providing a general description of these aspects, you want to convey your admiration for his strength and kindness. This is your reason for writing the descriptive essay. To achieve this, you might focus one of your paragraphs on describing the roughness of his hands, roughness resulting from the labor of his work throughout his life, but you might also describe how he would hold your hands so gently with his rough hands when having a conversation with you or when taking a walk. How should you write your description? If there’s one thing you should remember as you write your descriptive essay, it’s the famous saying: show don’t tell. But what’s the difference between showing and telling? Consider these two simple examples: 1. I grew tired after dinner. 2. As I leaned back and rested my head against the top of the chair, my eyelids began to feel heavy, and the edges of the empty plate in front of me blurred with the white tablecloth. The first sentence tells readers that you grew tired after dinner. The second sentence shows readers that you grew tired. The most effective descriptive essays are loaded with such showing because they enable readers to imagine or experience something for themselves. As you write your descriptive essay, the best way to create a vivid experience for your readers is to focus on the five senses. sight sound smell touch taste When you focus your descriptions on the senses, you provide vivid and specific details that show your readers rather than tell your readers what you are describing. Quick Tips for Writing Your Descriptive Essay Writing a descriptive essay can be a rich and rewarding experience, but it can also feel a bit complicated. It’s helpful, therefore, to keep a quick checklist of the essential questions to keep in mind as you plan, draft, and revise your essay. Planning your descriptive essay: What or who do you want to describe? What is your reason for writing your description? What are the particular qualities that you want to focus on? Drafting your descriptive essay: What sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures are important for developing your description? Which details can you include to ensure that your readers gain a vivid impression imbued with your emotion or perspective? Revising your descriptive essay: Have you provided enough details and descriptions to enable your readers to gain a complete and vivid perception? Have you left out any minor but important details? Have you used words that convey your emotion or perspective? Are there any unnecessary details in your description? Does each paragraph of your essay focus on one aspect of your description? Are you paragraphs ordered in the most effective way?