Essay on Follow Your Dreams - 1914 Words

Dreams are aspirations that reflect a human’s wants and desires in life. They are a fundamental element that drives human beings to achieve the impossible. Dreams have the ability to motivate oneself to set goals and ideals for the future. Each person in some part of their life has had desires that they would like to accomplish. Without these desires, there is nothing to motivate one’s actions and attitude. However, most people believe that satisfaction only exists once a dream is achieved. Louisa Alcott, an inspirational novelist in the 1880’s once stated â€Å"Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead. † In this†¦show more content†¦This is displayed in the following quote â€Å"Its furnishings are typical and undistinguished their primary feature now is that they have clearly had to accommodate the living of too ma ny people for too many years - and they are tired†¦ † This quote reveals the harsh conditions of these apartments, the younger’s home being one of them. They were often described as old, dirty unsafe and overcrowded. The fact that the narrator describes the furniture as worn out confirms that the Younger’s are a large and poor family. The narrator also mentions that they are tired of their surroundings and of accommodating so many people in such a small area. This displays the family’s discontentment with the surrounding area, and their need to move to a different estate. In addition, the condition of the apartment addresses the long period of time the Younger’s has inhabited the apartment. This is revealed in the following quote â€Å"Weariness has, in fact, won in this room. Everything has been polished, washed, sat on, used, scrubbed too often. All pretenses but living itself have long since vanished from the very atmosphere of this room. † The use of physical features of the apartment establishes its significance in the Younger’s lives. In fact it was originally Mama’s temporary stand-in for her dream house. It is seen as a place of unity, where the family is able to bond with oneShow MoreRelatedSpeech: Follow Your Dreams Essay445 Words   |  2 PagesSpeech: Follow Your Dreams Opens with Impact: â€Å"There is no strife, no prejudice, no national conflict in outer space as yet†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (John F. Kennedy Speech) Clear Preview: Dreams are important for all people. They give us a sense of hope and motivation to achieve after something that we feel would be impossible. Connects with Audience: Dreams is what keeps peopleRead More Graduation Speech: Follow Your Dreams Essay568 Words   |  3 Pagesdreaming that he could be with them. Each time the eagle would let his dreams be known, he was told that it couldnt be done. That is what the eagle learned to believe. The eagle, after time, stopped dreaming and continued to live his life as a chicken. Finally, after a long life as a chicken, the eagle passed away. The moral of the story: You become what you believe you are; so if you ever dream to become an eagle follow your dreams, not the words of a chicken. I believe that this story holds theRead MoreEssay about â€Å"Sonny’s Blues â€Å" - Follow Your Dreams915 Words   |  4 Pagesand difficulties of trying to fit into the white society. Sonny and the narrator find different means in dealing with their racism.Eventhough, both brothers take different routes in their lives, and they feel at the end be true to yourself, Follow your Dreams! Sonny tries to escape racism with his music, but his brother feels he needs a better means in providing for himself (99).He tries to get his point across to James ‘he replies that there’s no way not to suffer isn’t better thanRead MorePersonal Essay : Feelings In The Air1063 Words   |  5 Pagesglistening with joy. From the slamming of your body on the wooden boards and your eyes flashing open trying to figure out what happened while youre pulling yourself off the ground analyzing where your team is. The referee blowing the whistle your legs shaking as you take your first foul shot. Where I am from the number of baskets isn’t the most important but the effort. The vibration in your ears as the buzzer rings ending the quarter. As you drag your wearing body up the stairs to the loft duringRead MoreTheme : Follow Your Dreams, And Never Give Up1457 Words   |  6 Pages Arielle Theme: Follow your dreams, and never give up â€Å"School is so boring† i said to myself. I wish i could go out to the beach again and help the baby turtles out to sea again. That is the only thing that makes me happy. Not my friends, not my family, not even books, and I love books. â€Å"Arielle† my teacher called my name. â€Å"Yes† I said. â€Å"Please stop daydreaming and listen to what I m saying, you have been failing this class so you should be listening or you won t be able to get into collegeRead MoreEssay on The Last Lecture1064 Words   |  5 Pageschild hood dreams, I admit, it wouldn’t be very impressive. I never wanted to be a firefighter or a policeman. I never had the urge to be a millionaire, and I never even thought of being a G.I Joe or Army Man. If you could see my list, you would see only two words scribbled down in that chicken scratch hand writing of mine. But only one of those words would follow me out of that first grade class room and stick with me to this present day. By now, curiosity must be coursing through your veins, justRead MoreRandy Pauschs Last Lecture Essay1011 Words   |  5 PagesPausch’s Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams You would think a man dying of cancer would not be so happy and willing to spend the last few months of his life giving a lecture. But, Randy Pausch, who has 10 tumors in his liver, does not want people to pity him for having cancer. Rather, he wants to teach people how to follow their childhood dreams. Looking at the seven elements of communication we see how he is so effective in his last lecture. The lecture has affected me personallyRead MoreThe Last Lecture By Randy Pausch862 Words   |  4 PagesLast Lecture, Randy Pausch teaches his recipe for a happy and successful life. His main ingredient to this is working toward and achieving your childhood dreams. Pausch gives several examples of wisdom he has used to guide his life throughout the book. All of the advice he gives comes from the experiences he has had while working toward his various childhood dreams. The name The Last Lecture comes from the actual last lecture Pausch gave at his alma mater, Carnegie Mellon. He was asked to give theRead MoreA Lecture Series For Students1424 Words   |  6 Pagesliving out dreams. Starting with his youth, he showed how his own dreams came to fruition. Randy also went on to show how he was privileged enough to help others achieve their dreams, also. He highlighted lessons he learned along the way and offered advice to students on how to live life to the fullest. He also highlighted people who helped him achieve his dreams. He spoke about how much his parents meant to him and how wonderful they were. They encouraged him to research and to dream. They alsoRead MoreThe Worth Of A Book By Randy Pausch And Jeffrey Zaslow1116 Words   |  5 Pagesaway from it (James Bryce). If measured by the rule of the quote, The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch and Jeffrey Zaslow has tremendous worth. Randy Pausch, a professor dying from pancreatic cancer, gave his last lecture titled â€Å"Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams† at Carnegie Mellon in 2007. In the book, he reflects upon the lessons of his life experiences mentioned in the lecture. The lessons addressed ways to lead a fulfilled life. At first, his experiences seemed to be entertaining stories from his

The Problem Of Youth Unemployment - 1391 Words

The objective of this paper is to use the triangle model of social analysis to further analyze the issue of youth unemployment. After having a group discussion we have come to a conclusion that this model will allow us to get a deep understanding of the impact that social institutions have on our dominant ideologies and how they are framed through the influence of different institutions. Youth unemployment is an extremely important issue in today’s society and time because over the past decade, youth unemployment has been rapidly increasing and is starting to become a serious, economic and social problem for Canada and other industrialized countries. Since the 2008 financial crisis and the recession that followed in 2009 there has been a high unemployment rate among the youth. Canada’s unemployment rate is sitting at an all high time of 11.8%. (TD Economics) The unemployment rate specifically for youth aged 15 to 24 years old has climbed approximately 24.4%. (TD Economi cs) The impact of youth unemployment is long lasting and can harm an individual’s career opportunities. Economists have conducted a research which determines that the period of unemployment in an individual’s life will negatively impact them in the future because they will earn lower wages. For example, if you are a college or university graduate in Canada who is in a recession the unemployment rate will rise by about 5%, that implies a loss in earnings of about 9% annually. (TD Economics) If the socialShow MoreRelatedEssay on The Problem of Youth Unemployment1834 Words   |  8 Pageskey to how we define ourselves and to our sense of self-worth. In the UK the unemployment rate stands at 6.9% now and from the figures 19.1% are between ages 16-24. Almost one in five young people unable to find a job. Youth employment has become a long-term problem in the UK, with over a quarter of million young people have been looking for work for a year or more (Mirza-Davies 2014). A nd increase of youth unemployment slow down the speed of UK economic recovery, although the financial crisis ofRead MoreThe Problem Of High Youth Unemployment3121 Words   |  13 PagesIntroduction Securing and obtaining jobs has become extremely difficult for young Americans between the ages of 18-25. Youth unemployment rates have been in the double-digits for the past seven consecutive years. This problem comes with many underlying factors that will be addressed briefly in the future paragraphs; such as the stray from past historical patterns. For example, the lower percentage rates of home buying among millennials. The term millennials describes people who are born afterRead MoreProblem Statement : Youth Unemployment, Livelihood Insecurity And Social Protection1506 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction: problem statement – Youth Unemployment, Livelihood insecurity and Social Protection in Ghana In the past 20 years Ghana has experienced a considerably rapid economic growth of Ghana, majority of the people in the Northern region are still suffering from severe poverty. (World Bank). In spite of the economic growth in Ghana, 68.8% of the Northern region is still poor. The Northern Region of Ghana (Upper West, Upper East and the Northern region) has lost over 500,000 of its populationRead MorePromoting Youth Employment For Sustainable Development1587 Words   |  7 PagesSocial Council) Agenda: Promoting Youth Employment for Sustainable Development Name: Suejung Chee 1. Introduction Youth employment has grown in prominence on national and global development agendas. It has now become a problem countries worldwide regardless of their stage of socio-economic development are facing. Studies have shown the rising rate of unemployment, as it was recorded in 2012 that 197 million people around the world are unemployed. In 2013 the unemployment rate was estimated at 12.6%Read MoreYouth Unemployment And Its Effects On The Economy990 Words   |  4 PagesSchuberth Mr. Kyle Burkett Level 9 Reading Writing 22 February 2017 Youth in Unemployment in Saudi Arabia Unemployment is a phenomenon that occur in any country across globe. It considers as very essential topic because its effects on the country. The unemployment rate is one of the most prominent issues discussed today by politicians, news commentators, and economists. Therefore, higher unemployment rate between youth could affect the economy, politics, and other factors. Many countriesRead MoreUnemployment : Unemployment And Unemployment1573 Words   |  7 PagesINTRODUCTION What is unemployment? Unemployment happens when a man who is effectively looking for employment is not able to find some kind of employment. Unemployment is regularly utilised as a measure of the economy’s wellbeing. The most regularly referred to gauge of unemployment is the unemployment rate. This is the quantity of unemployed persons divided by the quantity of individuals in the work force. The unemployed are those individuals capable, accessible and willing to work at the goingRead MoreThe Impact Of Youth Unemployment On The Society992 Words   |  4 PagesThe Impact of Youth Unemployment in the Society One of the most important stage of development in an individual’s life is the days of their youth. At this stage, the society expects much from the individual, and also determines the achievement such a person has reached. However, due to the high expectation, the youths are yet to actualize their potentials. This paper compares the problem of youth unemployment and the impacts it has on the economy as proffered by â€Å"Can Generation Xers Be Trained?†Read MoreYouth Unemployment And Its Impact On The Australian Youth Economy Essay1256 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction Youth unemployment has been a constant problem in Australia for decades. In Treasurer Scott Morrison and the Coalition’s 2016-17 budget, a new plan focusing on helping young people join the workforce aims to drastically lower the youth unemployment rate over the next few years: the ‘Youth Jobs PaTH Program’. The $752 million dollar program aims to help up to 120,000 vulnerable young people over the next four years (Budget 2016-17, Queensland Government). However, there is a concernRead MoreAn Analysis of South African Economy1746 Words   |  7 Pageslegitimacy. However, the growth and unemployment challenge facing South Africa is significant one. Investment rates are currently low, furthermore the legacy of apartheid is evident in the persistent distortions in all factor markets: for labour, as evident in the scale and persistence of unemployment and inadequate investment in human capital; for capital, in the low savings/investment rates (Lewis, 2012). The current challenge that the country faces relates to the problem areas of growth, jobs, and povertyRead MoreUmemployment Conditions in Pakistan1514 Words   |  6 Pagesindividuals actively seeking jobs remain unhired. Unemployment is expressed as a percentage of the total available work force. The level of unemployment varies with economic conditions and other circumstances. Unemployment describes the state of a worker who is able and willing to take work but cannot find it. As indicated by the unemployment rate and other yardsticks, unemployment is an important measure of the economys strength. A high unemployment rate generally indicates an economy in recession

The Many Faces of American Identity Free Essays

Since the Civil War, America’s identity and the identity of its citizens has gone through multiple transitions, each building upon or rejecting the ideas and principles of those issues which had come before. From the racial segregation and discrimination of African Americans from the time of Reconstruction through the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, the plight of the poor and the politically disenfranchised, the struggle for equal rights for women and homosexuals, and the post-Cold War issues of globalization and economic viability in a changing world, the concept of what it means to be American has adapted to both the successes and failures of each. At the basis of each of these struggles is the idea that at periods throughout American history each of these groups have felt the need to be heard and represented, having been marginalized by social and political injustices and ideologies that at each turn represented a hypocrisy over the basic tenets of freedom and liberty. We will write a custom essay sample on The Many Faces of American Identity or any similar topic only for you Order Now Unrepresented and kept outside of the political process and the mainstream social identity, these groups have sought to alternately belong to a concept of the American identity and to redefine it. In examining each of these developments, from Jacob Riis 1890 expose of the New York City slums to the new freedoms and challenges of the post-Cold War America of presidents Clinton and G. W. Bush, I will illustrate how each social and political revelation combine to create an American identity that is uncertain of its future while carrying an awareness of its past. Jacob Riis 1890 book How The Other Half Live gave the average, middle-class American room for pause. In his description of the slums and challenges faced by the economically and socially handicapped masses of New York City, show an underbelly to the American dream. The poverty and inequality that pervade the plight of the tenement dweller, both black and white, is at odds with the ideals of freedom. In particular, Riis makes a case for African-Americans who having recently been emancipated had fled the institutionalized racism of the South to come work and live in New York. However, they have escaped one kind of bondage, clearly and legally defined, to be forced into a socially ambiguous but no less prevalent form of degradation and discrimination. But even as Riis decries the struggle of the newly arrived blacks, who based upon their skin color alone are placed at the bottom of the social ladder, his own views speak of a different kind of discrimination. While at once condemning the landlords who profit by courting black tenants due to the ability to charge more money, Riis explanation of the character of blacks is simplistic and demeaning, likening them more to children than adults equal in every respect to their white counterparts, â€Å"If his emotions are not very deeply rooted, they are at least sincere while they last, and until the tempter gets the upper hand again†(Riis, p. 155). He also expresses a desire to maintain a level of segregation, calling the mixing of races on Thompson Street where the â€Å"this co-mingling of the utterly depraved of both sexes, white and black, on such ground, there can be no greater abomination† (p. 156). Despite the shortcomings of his viewpoint, influenced by the historical relationship of whites and blacks in the U. S. , Riis nevertheless realizes that blacks are being pushed away from the very equality promised to them as citizens, as Americans. Additionally, the poor native New Yorkers and immigrants who people the tenements, share a similar burden. Reduced by economic and social circumstance to merely subsist on the scraps of a society which has turned a blind eye to them, the â€Å"pauper† is in a position devoid of hope, He is as hopeless as his own poverty† (Riis, 1890, p. 246). Immigrants such as the Irish fared no better in Riis opinion, being particular vulnerable to the moral deterioration of slum life being the â€Å"soonest and most thoroughly† (Riis, 1890, p. 249) corrupted. The kind of separation between economic and racial portions of society, as well as the defense of one while the other remains degraded, is a common thread that runs throughout the changes of the last century in America’s identity. The 1896 Supreme Court ruling in the case of Plessy vs. Ferguson legalized this type of segregation with the â€Å"separate but equal† predecent, providing a constitutional basis for Jim Crow laws to flourish and plant deeper roots in the American South. Though struck down over a half a century later by the Court’s decision in Brown vs. Board of Education, the realization of equality as American citizens regardless of race, religion, sexuality, gender, or economic status proved to not be so easy. While in 1881 Chester Arthur hoped to assimilate the Native American population into the broader scope of white society through re-education and removal of tribal affiliation and heritage, no such policy was established in regard to African Americans. As with the struggle for women’s and gay rights, the struggle for African American equality culminated within the community itself. The refusal of Southern lawmakers to rise out of the era of racism and embrace a new concept of American, as non-white and white side-by-side, created a necessity to action. As Martin Luther King Jr. ’s 1962 â€Å"Letter From a Birmingham Jail† attempted to explain this need to the black power structure which both supported and chastised him for his actions in Birmingham and across the South, â€Å"â€Å"unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the city’s white power structure left the Negro community no alternative. † More importantly, King understood the concept of the â€Å"mutuality† of the American community, whether it be black or white, male or female, which was picked up again by the youth culture that grew to embody a sense of change and challenge, as embodied in the Port Huron Statement. King noted in 1962 that, â€Å"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. † There is truth still in that statement, as well as in the ideals placement within other struggles for equality. It is a concept that not only did the student protesters understood but was an equal basis for Betty Friedan’s Feminine Mystique and the rise of the feminist movement and later the push for gay rights and better federal programs to combat the AIDS crisis. Like the inequalities of the previous century, the poverty described by Riis and the racism inherent to the continued racial discrimination, the gender and sexuality issue that has come to a head over the past fifty years have effectively acted to undermine the idealized definition of American while also harming the fabric of society. Disenfranchised people are left to stagnate rather than grow and instead of reasoned change it boils over in emotion and uncertainty. The women in Friedan’s Feminine Mystique cannot name the hypocrisy of the country’s national values and the gender roles programmed into their psyche and are bowed under an enemy they cannot see. The hypocrisy of American identity has not evaporated but instead become more difficult to understand and identify; to be American has built upon the ideals established by King and Friedan, whose spirit of questioning and rebellion have become part of what it is to be American even as new and more complex cracks have appeared in the facade of such a delicate but no less no dream of freedom and liberty. Both President Bill Clinton and George W. Bush illustrate this new era of a globalized identity with in their respective inaugurations. Each faced challenges during their presidencies, differing on a wide-array of social and political issues. However, on the cusp of their first term they express the optimism and unfailing double-blindness of a nation which tries to steer its hope to the future while alternately cowering against and celebrating its past. Constantly aware of our differences, America has attempted to celebrate this difference even as we continue to marginalize along the lines of race, religion, politics, social status, and gender. It is a cycle of self-hate and self-love that has become as much a part of the American identity as the mythological concept of the American dream. Bibliography Arthur, C. (1881). Indian Policy Reform. PBS. Retrieved 30 April 2010 from http://www. pbs. org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/seven/indpol. htm. Brown vs. Board. (1954). Find Law. Retrieved 30 April 2010 from http://caselaw. lp. findlaw. com/scripts/getcase. pl? court=USvol=347invol=483. Friedan, B. (1962). Feminine Mystique. H-Net. Retrieved 1 May 2010 from http://www. h-net. org/~hst203/documents/friedan1. html. King, M. L. Jr. (1963). Letter From a Birmingham Jail. The Martin Luther King Jr. Research Education Institute. Retrieved 1 May 2010 from http://mlk-kpp01. stanford. edu/kingweb/popular_requests/frequentdocs/birmingham. pdf. Plessy vs. Ferguson. (1896). Find Law. Retrieved 30 April 2010 from http://caselaw. lp. findlaw. com/scripts/getcase. pl? court=USvol=163invol=537. Riis, J. (1890). How The Other Half Lives. New York: Charles Schribner Sons. Google Books. Retrieved 1 May 2010 from http://books. google. com/books? id=zhcv_oA5dwgCdq=How+the+Other+Half+Livessource=gbs_navlinks_s. How to cite The Many Faces of American Identity, Papers

English Paper Joy Luck Club free essay sample

A Look at the Concept of Double-Life Amy Tan’s  The Joy Luck Club  is a narrative mosaic made up of the lives of four Chinese women and their Chinese American daughters. Because of its structure, the book can only loosely be called a novel. It is composed of sixteen stories and four vignettes, but like many novels, it has central characters who develop through the course of the plot. The daughters struggle with the complexities of modern life, including identity crises and troubled relationships, while the mothers reflect on past actions that were dictated by culture and circumstance. The lives of the older women are bound together through their similar situations as immigrants and their monthly mah-jongg games at Joy Luck Club meetings. Each of the stories is a first-person narration by one of the Joy Luck Club’s three mothers or four daughters. Each narrator tells two stories about her own life, except for Jing-mei (June) Woo, who stands in for her deceased mother, telling a total of four stories. The tales are arranged in four groups, with a vignette preceding each group. The first group is told by mothers (plus June), the second and third groups by daughters, and the fourth by mothers. Jing-mei’s final story, in which she learns her mother’s history, concludes the book. â€Å"The Joy Luck Club† is the title of both the novel and this story. Author Amy Tan introduces and explains the concept of â€Å"joy luck† by showing two different Joy Luck Clubs in action. The first Joy Luck Club, in Kweilin, shielded the women’s spirits against the harsh living conditions and constant threat of war. Suyuan had dreamed of visiting Kweilin, a place of great natural beauty, where she thought she would be perfectly happy. Instead, she and the other refugees lived with bad food, disease, overcrowding, and uncertainty. To combat their fear, the women played mah jong once a week. â€Å"Each week we could hope to be lucky. That hope was our only joy. And that’s how we came to call our little parties Joy Luck† (Tan 25). The second Joy Luck Club, in San Francisco, offered hope to women with a common bond. Jing-mei says: â€Å"My mother could sense that the women of these families also had unspeakable tragedies they had left behind in China and hopes they couldn’t begin to express in their fragile English†(Tan 20). The second Joy Luck Club becomes an investment group and social gathering by the time Jing-mei is an adult, and the women have formed strong friendships. â€Å"Joy luck† then becomes a concept the women would like to pass on to their American-born daughters, who do not understand the tragedies their mothers experienced. The mothers are afraid they will have â€Å"grandchildren born without any connecting hope passed from generation to generation† (Tan 31). Accordingly, Tan uses the device of the Joy Luck Club meeting to introduce the mothers and the daughters. She offers initial insight into the mothers’ characters by giving Suyuan’s opinion of them and develops the characters of Jing-mei (June) and Suyuan. The conversation about black sesame-seed soup in the first few paragraphs reveals that Jing-mei understands some Chinese, but imperfectly. Her statement, â€Å"I can never remember things I didn’t understand in the first place,† begins the development of two conflicts. In the first, Jing-mei struggles with understanding her Chinese heritage. Not until the final pages does she come to terms with it. The second conflict, overcoming language problems, affects all the characters to greater and lesser degrees. Later in the story, Jing-mei states she felt as though â€Å"my mother and I spoke two different languages, which we did. I talked to her in English, she answered back in Chinese† (Tan 23). Mothers and daughters struggle with their imperfect understandings of one another, seeking reconciliation. In addition to this, this story also introduces a continuing motif, the idea of seeking balance. Suyuan’s criticism runs along the lines of â€Å"Something was always missing. Something always needed improving. Something was not in balance† (Tan 31). Auntie Lindo explains that Jing-mei will take her mother’s place at mah jong because without her the women are â€Å"like a table with three legs, no balance† (Tan 33). These are minor examples of what will be a significant concept in the novel. Surely, in  The Joy Luck Club, Tan intermingles the thematic treatment of intercultural conflict with that of intergenerational conflict. The mothers who immigrated to the United States from China still have very strong cultural ties to their old home and want to raise their children in the traditional Chinese way. Their Chinese American daughters, however, feel that they are trapped in the conflict between traditional Chinese culture and mainstream American society, between their aspirations for individual freedom and their sense of familial and social obligations, and between their false and their true identities. Paradoxically, the conflict is both frustrating and constructive. The daughters are eventually led to conclude that they must embrace what they cannot culturally reject, and that they are as American as they are Chinese. Thus, The Joy Luck Club  highlights the influence of culture on gender roles. The Chinese mothers in the book, all born in the 1910’s, grew up in a hierarchical society in which a woman’s worth was measured by her husband’s status and his family’s wealth. When they were young, the women were taught to repress their own desires so that they would learn to preserve the family honor and obey their husbands. The difficulties in marriage encountered by Lindo and Ying-ying as well as by An-mei’s mother emphasize how few options were open to women in a tightly structured society in which their economic security and social standing were completely dependent on men. Consequently, when the mothers immigrate to the United States, they want their daughters to retain their Chinese character but take advantage of the more flexible roles offered to women by American culture. The postwar baby-boomer daughters, however, are overwhelmed by having too many choices available. They struggle to balance multiple roles as career women, wives or girlfriends, and daughters. The materialistic focus of American culture makes it difficult for the daughters to internalize their mothers’ values, particularly the self-sacrifice, determination, and family integrity that traditional Chinese culture stresses. In addition to gender roles, mother-daughter relationships are an important focus of the book. Mothers are shown to have profound influence over their daughters’ development, yet their influence is constrained by the surrounding culture. As girls, the Chinese women wanted to be like their mothers, whereas the American-born daughters are estranged from their mothers. This contrast is consistent with a difference between cultures: Americans expect their children to rebel against parental authority, while the Chinese promote obedience and conformity. The daughters in  The Joy Luck Club  think that their mothers are odd because they speak broken English and miss the subtleties of American culture pertaining to dress and social behavior. They also tend to see their mothers as pushy. Waverly and June rebel against their mothers’ expectations without understanding that Lindo and Suyuan are trying to give their daughters the opportunities that they never had themselves. As adults, Waverly and June struggle with the conflicting desires of pleasing their mothers and developing their own individuality. Because they perceive their mothers’ guidance as criticism, they are slow to understand the depth of their mothers’ love and sacrifice for them. Indeed, Peter Tavernise in â€Å"Fasting of the Heart: Mother-Tradition and Sacred Systems in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club† asserts that â€Å"just as in the Confucian ritual system, very little of the mother-tradition in the text is told explicitly from mother to daughter: ritual actions are supposed to be observed, absorbed, read, and understood in order to be transformed, preserved and handed down in turn. † All in all, despite such generational and cultural gaps, the author suggests that daughters resemble their mothers in character as well as in appearance.

”The Death of Ivan Illyich” by Leo Tolstoy Essay Sample free essay sample

Leo Tolstoy’sThe Death of Ivan Illyichis one of those short narratives that are capable of impacting the readers so much so that their position of life undergoes a drastic alteration. Everyone can place with the characters and the simple. limpid manner of narrative makes it a really effectual piece of fiction. Few other short narratives have this far making effects and effects on the manner the readers look at life. The subject of the narrative is closely related to the fact that the narrative was written after Leo Tolstoy became profoundly spiritual and is a fictional vehicle for Tolstoy to propagate his spiritual beliefs and doctrine. The narrative confirms that the moral values of brotherly love. generousness and unselfishness are extremely of import if one wishes to take a fulfilling life. The subject of the narrative is hence the fact that if people wish to decease contented. they must recognize that following the right way in life is the lone solution. We will write a custom essay sample on †The Death of Ivan Illyich† by Leo Tolstoy Essay Sample or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The values imbibed in childhood are frequently forgotten as adult male moves to adulthood ; this is what we must guard against if on the deathbed. we wish to look back at life satisfactorily. The cardinal character and chief supporter is Ivan Illyich. He is the blue blood who leads his life harmonizing to what is expected of him in the high profile society. All major determinations of his life are taken merely because he wishes to keep his position and standing in the society. ( â€Å"Neither as a male child nor as a adult male was he a toady. but from early young person was by nature attracted to people of high station as a fly is drawn to the visible radiation. absorbing their ways and positions of life and set uping friendly dealingss with them†) His moral values are left far behind in his pursuit for the elusive sense of belonging to the high blue society. ( â€Å"†¦when subsequently on he saw that such actions were done by people of good place and that they did non see them as incorrect† ) He lives a shoal. disgruntled life and spends all his energies on geting mercenary ownerships that will assist him keep his position. Similarly. other major char acters- his married woman Praskovya and Peter. besides are caught up in this web of philistinism. ( â€Å"She knew how much could be got out of the authorities in effect of her husband’s decease. but wanted to happen out whether she could non perchance pull out something more† ) They all lead an unreal life and there is no contentment in their lives because they have condemned all that they should keep beloved and embraced all that they should eschew. On the other manus. the world of life is represented by the nurse Gerasim. Although hapless. Gerasim realizes what life should really intend. He entirely is capable of demoing humanist emotions of commiseration and compassion towards the ailment Ivan. Gerasim is besides the lone 1 who can come to footings with decease as a world of life and is therefore stoic in the calamity of Ivan’s decease (â€Å"It’sGod will. We shall all come to it some twenty-four hours. †) . He shows Ivan the true significance of life with love for all. understanding for all and existent. solid. loving relationships. In his last yearss. Ivan learns through Gerasim the existent manner of taking life that would be fulfilling and that would do a adult male happy at bosom. Even though Ivan learns to populate while gazing at decease. it is however a religious experience for him to recognize how incorrect he had been all his life. The hurting of his decease is lessened at the realisation that his moral values were ever present ; merely they had become hibernating in the heat of the universe. Merely as he is about to decease. Ivan realizes the true significance of life and therefore his last minute before decease is filled with a sense of satisfaction. fulfilment and therefore utmost joy. Through Ivan we learn that the Oklahoman we realize the true significance of life. the happier we will be. It took Ivan an full life-time to larn to populate. His experiences are chronicled in this short narrative and are for everyone to read and larn.

Bush a bad leader essays

Bush a bad leader essays One time while at a nightclub I ended up going home with a girl it just so happens that I ended up drinking too much and snorting way too much yayo. So were at my house and the clothes are coming off and it just so happens that I couldn't get an errection due to all the yayo I had snorted. Just like how this was embarrassing to me and it was just the girl and I. If it was that embarrassing for me, imagine how embarrassing it would be for somebody in public life. Our president was a cocaine addict and the world knows about it so how can our president be a good leader if he was and probably still is a cocaine addict. One reason why Bush isn't a good leader is because of his decision-making. He decided to send our troops into one of the most hostile cities in Iraq. So far about one thousand and sixty five U.S soldiers have been killed in Iraq, former NFL superstar Pat Tillman was killed in Iraq. Thousands more have been injured in this war and several have been beheaded, and it just so happens most of the men that have been beheaded have been Americans. With all of these killings happening bush still hasn't brought our troops back home. We have already done what we needed to do in Iraq and he insists on staying there in Iraq. Bush has also made dumb decisions by helping out the wealthy people more than the middle class and lower class. This past yr. he gave the healthy class of people 89 billion dollars to a class that is only one percent of America. President Bush is also trying to privatize social security, which will not be good on the middle class of America. He is not trying to fix it at al l he's not even trying to raise the age for social security. Not only is Bush a bad decision maker he is also against homosexuals getting married. Now why wouldn't you let a gay couple get married when it's their decision on which they want to marry. If the U.S is a free country then why can't a gay c ...

Error types of NNs and the role of L1 in SLA Essay

Error types of NNs and the role of L1 in SLA - Essay Example This research wouldn’t be possible without your participation and I am incredibly grateful for your help. Thanks to Dr.Maggie for helping us in preparing, editing and general guidance through the research and process. The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it brings together the various theories and views and the research findings in the rules and functions in the second language learning (SLL), second, it shows the importance of the first language in learning second language. SLA as the name suggests is the study of second language acquisition. This definition has being refined by Dulay, Burt & Krashen (1982, pp10) SLA is â€Å"the process of learning another language after the basic of the first have been acquired, starting at about five years of age and thereafter†. In order to define the error types it is first important to know what NNS is. A Non-Native Speaker (NNS) is a person who is learning a language other than his own. Any NNS belonging to any language can learn a foreign language’s rules and laws of grammar and spelling. But he/she cannot learn the idioms, expressions and word pairings of the language because they cannot be described by the rules or laws of the foreign language or they might require the memorization of special-case rules. Regardless of the knowledge acquired by NNS of the grammatical rules, NNS continue to make a number of language errors. These are the error types of NNS. These errors include (Park et.al. 2008): Apart from the errors types of L1, there is a significant role played by L1 in acquiring L2 in SLA. According to Krashen (1982) when he talked about the role of first language L1 in second language acquisition SLA that â€Å"the only major source of syntactic errors in adult second language performance was the performers first language†. Some of the errors that arise are related to the interlingual errors. It occurs when the NNS’s L1 habits such as patterns or rules prevent the NNS

Midterm paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 1

Midterm paper - Essay Example One of the alternatives that have emerged is the concept of palliative care in which the patient is sedated, often to the point of unconsciousness, so that their last days are without the pain and the knowledge of their undignified state. Palliative care is not the level of dignity that people deserve and the right to die should be given where palliative care is nothing more than a less politically charged substitute. Background One of the things that slip away very quickly when faced with illness is the right to direct one’s own life. The first thing becomes the choices about the future and the way in which one will live within that future. As doctors, family members, and eventually hospital staff begin to make the decisions about how, what and when one will do things, an individual slips into the role of ‘the patient’, no longer able to function without instructions and care. The right to choose death over a continuation of indignity, pain, and eventual harsh tr eatment of the body has become an issue through which many different opinions have emerged. Euthanasia is illegal in all fifty states, with the exception of Oregon and Washington where it is legal for physicians to prescribe, but not administer, drugs that will lead to death in the case of terminal situations.1 The right to choose death over pain and the indignities of a prolonged illness that is terminal is denied, leaving people to languish in their final days. Dignity in death is not a new issue. In the 1970s one of the solutions that emerged was the development of hospice care. Hospice care has an emphasis and spiritual and comfort, the individual does within that type of care not wanting aggressive medical care (McKenna & Feingold, 2010). The choice within the hospice environment is death through natural and dignified means to the extent that it is possible. Hospice care is most often done in the home, people given the opportunity to pass in their own beds or at the least in a space that is comfortable and filled with memories. The average length of care for hospice is 26 days, with the end clearly near. This unfortunate late arrival, however, fails to allow for the full use of hospice that might have prolonged the peaceful experience of passing into death.2 Hospice care, however, is not always a good option and an intermediate form of providing some dignity with death is that of palliative care. Under palliative care, the patient is given high levels of pain killers although the loss of consciousness is not the intended result. This gives the patient the opportunity to interact with their families, creating a more healing environment even when the restoration of health is unlikely. Often, though, it will lead to an unconscious state, relieving pain and keeping the sedated through the end of their time. The high level of pain reducing medications are maintained until the patient dies, giving the end of their days relief from either pain and often from the conscious knowledge of their physical state. Palliative care offers a solution to the problem of how the end of life comes to a patient in a great deal of pain and living in an undignified set of circumstances. The American Medical Association The American Medi

Major Art Styles of the 18th and 19th Centuries Essay

Major Art Styles of the 18th and 19th Centuries - Essay Example "Cupid a Captive', as with most Rococo paintings, appeals to our sense of escapism with the offer of a playful romp with delicate indulgence. In the late 18th century artists began to remove the fanciful trappings of Rococo and saw a return to a more formal style of painting referred to as Neoclassicism. In Jacques-Louis David's "Oath of the Horatii", we are presented with a more hardened subject with brighter colors and more contrast. Neoclassicism is typified by straight lines, confidence in the mechanical structure, and a willingness to elevate its subjects to the standards of high ideals. David's painting depicts classic subjects in conflict, yet posed in its portrayal of balance and symmetry that is indicative of the Neoclassic period. Art from this period is often a reflection of allegiance to authority as mirrored from the society that produced it. The early 19th century was highlighted by the Romantic style of art. It embraced the notion of a relaxed state guided by feelings of romance and love. The "Entombment of Atala" painted by Girodet-Trioson, shows the more personal viewpoint of emotions as it appeals to our sense of love and tragedy. The romantic treatment given this painting shows in the artists use of natural lighting on subjects that are struggling against their own helplessness.

Comparing National and Personal Security

Comparing National and Personal Security Why national security is more important than personal security. What if national security was gone tomorrow? Some people would automatically assume the worst.Although we wouldnt be invaded by another country   in a month or be any more likely to be attacked as a country,the people of America would be in a great deal of danger. When a natural disaster strikes a populated area,the first people to respond are firefighters,paramedics,and police officers.Even in the event of the area being completely leveled,they still have to keep order and keep the civilians safe.Without them,most people who are stranded or in need would never be found or die,although many times civilians help in search and rescue.Its obvious that American emergency services plays the defining role of how many people survive a natural disaster,and are employes of the government,even if their pay comes from taxpayers.Besides wanting to help its people,the only reason the United States   government would have to send help to civilians after a disaster is national security,which is the belief that the government and parliaments should protect its people through various means and powers. Of all the powers Congress has,the most they have has to do is with national security,like investigations and declaring war,so its apparent that national security is important to the United States government.But with great power comes great responsibility.A natural reaction to the United States government protecting its people from crisis is going too far. Luckily,there are limitations to what they can do.For example,the 4th amendment stops the government or government workers from searching your body,belongings,home or other possessions without reasonable cause or a warrant from a judge and the 5th allows the right to remain silent.Even in cases like executive order 9066 (japanese american civilians   locked up after Pearl Harbor) or Guantanamo Bay (prisoners tortured after and for information on 9/11) where personal rights were crushed under a boot of national security,it was all in an attempt to keep the people safe.Yes,the 2 two events above were horrible and should have n ever happened,but the intents were still good. In 1915,german submarines sunk a United States ship,leading Congress to declare war on Germany,showing a successful national security response as Germany had killed Americans and were a threat to the nation.Similarly,after the attack on Pearl Harbor Congress once again declared war in a response to a threat to national security.When 9/11 occurred many inactive veterans would step back on the battlefield since the attack on the Trade Towers was a national crisis,falling under a national security matter.If the government had not reacted in the way they did,there would have been many more attacks like the ones above. Not every occasion where national security overtakes personal rights is bad. When a shooter and his wife were killed after killing 14 people in San Bernardino, the FBI recovered an Iphone from one of the bodies.When they demanded Apple, the famous company that makes the phones, to help them crack the phone by making a back door,they said no. If they did help,they could have potentially saved lives, but there personal right to say no prevented that, stopping the FBI from doing their jobs because the phone could have helped they find more shooters/information. Many people are also skeptical of national security because of how secret and over powered they think it is. But this isnt necessarily the case. No matter if everyone in the world saw and recorded someone blowing up a building,the terrorist would still have to right to a trial in the United States and someone would have to prove, without a reasonable doubt, that he did in fact blow up the building, according to the 5th amendment of the United States constitution. And to make it even harder for national security,due to the same amendment, the terrorist wont have to testify against himself/herself, so all the evidence must come from someone/something else.Much criticism of national security comes from the secrecy and the reluctance of the United States government to release information to the public.Although it is only right for a countrys people to fully   know of the problems plaguing national security,many times the secrecy is absolutely necessary.It is to ensure that Unied S tates methods and analysis of receiving and decoding information are not revealed to other nations.For example,on July 17 1950, at the peak of United States fear Julius Rosenberg was arrested for allegedly passing Russian secrets to Russia.About a month later his wife was arrested as well.They He worked for the United States Army Signal Corps and was an engineer, making him seem ordinary.During their trial however, a majority of the evidence presented was weak and didnt seem to be nearly enough to send them to the electric chair for the crimes they seemed to not have done.But nearly forty years after the trial,evidence that was classified at the time was released to the public,revealing that the United States had been listening in on Russian transmissions and Julius Rosenberg (wifes role still unknown) had indeed been giving Atomic secrets to Russia.If   the United States government had released the information during the trial to the public to appeal to their personal right to know if the Rosenbergs were actually guilty or not,the Russians would have known that they were being listened in to and the United States would have lost any future oppertunities to gather any infromation.It is also important to note that the Rosenbergs have avoided death by admitting to their espionage. Even with some of the necessary secrecy, National security still isnt as secret as most people think it to be.In the United States,about one point four million people have access to top secret information.Although this sounds scary, contradictory to public assumption, top secret is not the highest level of secret information.There are multiple levels of sensitive information clearance higher than top secret including sensitive compartment information and special access programs. In the end, national security is more important than personal rights because without it, the government would have little reason to help its people and would most likely end up working for itself instead of their people. References Constitute. Constitute, Constitute Project, www.constituteproject.org/constitution/United_States_of_America_1992. Executive Order 9066. Britannica School, Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica, 9 Feb. 2009. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Executive-Order-9066/473853?opensearch=executive%20order%209066. Accessed 15 Feb. 2017. Okita, Dwight. In Response to Executive Order 9066: All Americans of Japanese Descent Must Report to Relocation Centers. Breaking Silence: An Anthology of Contemporary Asian-American Poets, edited by Joseph Bruchac, Greenfield Review Press, 1983, p. 211. LitFinder, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=LITFsw=wu=j020902v=2.1id=GALE%7CLTF0000508187WKit=rasid=0c318a462d4449dbc9f55f57ba1a9a13. Accessed 15 Feb. 2017 The Powers of Congress. Ushistory.org, Independence Hall Association, www.ushistory.org/gov/6a.asp.

LAB REPORT :: essays research papers

Maury Matos  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1/14/02 AIM: Find out the mode of inheritance from crossing brown big eyed male and little eyed female, and to find out the fenotype and genotype of offspring. I took the F1 data and crossed it with another group to find the F2 data. Hypothesis: I think that the red eyes have dominant traits over brown eyes, and big eyes have dominant traits over little eyes. I got to this hypothesis because the F1 data proves that red big eyes are dominant because the offspring have big red eyes then the traits of red eyes and big eyes had to be homozygous dominant. Materials: 1. Flies 2. Vials 3. Fly food 4. Ether 5. Q-tip 6. Microscope Procedure: 1. Gather Materials. 2. Take empty vial and place all the flies in empty vial. 3. Put ether in vial to put them to sleep. 4. When they are asleep put them under a microscope to observe them. Data: Male  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Female Brown big eyes - 0  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Brown big eyes - 0 Brown little eyes - 0  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Brown little eyes - 0 Red big eyes - 134  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Red big eyes - 122 Red little eyes - 0  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Red little eyes - 0   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  AB  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ab  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  aB  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ab ab  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  aAbB  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  aAbb  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  aabB  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  aabb (prediction) Male  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Female Brown eyeless – 12.5%  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Brown eyeless – 12.5% Brown big eyes – 12.5%  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Brown big eyes – 12.5% Red big eyes – 12.5%  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Red big eyes – 12.5% Red eyeless – 12.5 %  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Red eyeless – 12.5% (outcome) Male  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Female Brown eyeless - 35  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Brown big eyes - 33 Brown big eyes - 29  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Brown eyeless - 25 Red big eyes - 32  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Red big eyes - 26 Red eyeless - 32  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Red eyeless - 28 Conclusion: My hypothesis was correct, because I crossed the F1 data and came with the outcome. I guessed that red eyes and big eyes had dominant traits. When flies are crossed they gotta have their parents genes and in this case the parents genes.

A Gathering Of Old Men: Importance Of Standing Up For Oneself

â€Å"If you fell down yesterday, stand up today†. This quote by H. G. Wells is seen in the novel A Gathering of Old Men. The novel, taking place in the 1970s, was in a time in which African-Americans still suffered heavy discrimination. After years of taking this abuse, when an incident comes in which a white man lays dead at the hands of a black man, which would eventually call for a lynching, the discriminated unite. They show that despite their tortured past, they still possess their bravery, power, and pride.This dramatic novel by Ernest J. Gaines, A Gathering of Old Men, written in a critical tone employs the use of characterization, flashbacks, and symbolism to express the theme that there comes a time one must stand up for him or herself. In the book, a character named Mathu is one who does not falter in up keeping his pride. From the very beginning, he never let anyone insult him because of his African-American heritage. He always stands up for himself, even facing a white man, and never faltered, even when he was sent to jail.Because of this attitude, Mathu was respected even by some white men like Mapes who â€Å"knowed Mathu had never backed down from anybody, either. Maybe that’s why he liked him† (Gaines 84). Mathu was like a strong rock, the attempts of others at making him submit were but pebbles against his overpowering pride and dignity. A character that Mathu attempted to instill some lessons on becoming a man was Charlie. Charlie, despite his mild character was a large man towering at 6feet 7inches and weighing 275 pounds.Beau Boutan, Charlie’s boss and some others often ridiculed him with names like â€Å"Big Charlie† and â€Å"nigger boy† because of his mild character (Gaines 187). Charlie however, after observing Mathu’s strong pride and refusal to let anyone step over that pride, eventually gained some courage to stand up for himself. After he killed Beau and ran away, he came back and was ready to atone for his deed. Gaines used this event in the novel to show that even though people might be insulted and beat down, they can still gain enough courage to stand up for themselves.When Charlie did stand up for himself, and became, in his eyes, a man, that eventually led to his death. Gaines’s killing off of Charlie after he started standing up for himself was alluding to the idea that when people make a stand, they must be careful not to overdo it, like Charlie did, or there might be unfavorable results. Another character of interest is Candy. Candy is the owner of the place in which all the men gather, and the organizer of the gathering. At first, Candy seems to be genuinely worried about the people in Marshall, saying â€Å"’No I won’t let them harm my people’†¦ ‘I will protect my people.’† (Gaines 19).However, as the story progresses Gaines shows that Candy’s motives may not have been as good-natured as firs tly suggested. It’s eventually revealed she does not care much for the other men gathered in Mathu’s yard, but only for Mathu himself. While she showed little emotion when the other men were called up to Mapes and hit, she was quick to react when Mathu was called. Gaines also showed Candy’s true nature in the event when Clatoo wanted to talk to the men inside Mathu’s house, without Candy.At this point, Candy threatened to have all the men who followed Clatoo kicked out of the Marshall place, their only home. Gaines portrayed Candy in this way to show in this time, the idea of oppressing people still existed in the minds of even those who seemed good-natured. Finally, Gaines creates a complex character out of Mapes. Mapes is a character who experiences a change during the story. When he first arrives at the site of Beau’s death, and the gathering of the old men, he acts with the same mindset of the Cajuns in that time.His first response to the scene is violence. He attempts to gain information from the old men by hitting them. Eventually, when he realizes violence will produce no results, he lets them tell their stories. The prominent change in Mapes is shown at the time Luke Will and his crew arrive with the intent of hanging Beau’s killer. Mapes attempts to protect Charlie and the rest of the men, saying â€Å"’Go home, Luke Will’† after Luke Will demanded he hands Charlie over to him (Gaines 195).When Luke Will ignored Mapes and started a shoot out between his crew and the old men, Mapes resigned control of the situation to the old men and Charlie. Gaines used this to show that the mindset of people can change for the better. In the instance that Mapes trusted the old men and Charlie with the situation, he recognized them not as people of a lesser racer, but respectable and trustable men, showing that old men’s attempt at standing for themselves was able to change a man.Gaines also employs the use of flashbacks in the novel. The main role the flashbacks play is to show the hardships and discrimination the African-Americans faced in that time. When Uncle Billy, one of the old men who gathered to finally stand up for himself after many years, was asked by Mapes the sheriff his reason for killing Beau, as all the old men claimed to have killed Beau, he recalled an event that happened years before. â€Å"’What they did to my boy’†¦ ‘The way they beat him.They beat him till they beat him crazy†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ã¢â‚¬  (Gaines 80). Gaines introduced this flashback to show the brutality suffered by the blacks at that time, and that it spared no one, not even a child. Another flashback was by Johnny Paul, who remembered back to a time when they had all lived as a community, till Beau and his tractor came to plow it all up. Johnny Paul was referring to this time when he confused Mapes by saying â€Å"’But you still don’t see. Yes, sir, wh at you see is the weeds, but you don’t see what we don’t see. ’† (Gaines 89).Johnny Paul was talking about how the weeds and rotting houses had replaced what was once a place of happiness, and brotherhood among the black families living there. Gaines uses this flashback to show what was taken from the African-Americans in the novel, to better explain their need to stand up for themselves. Tucker, one of the old men, goes into a flashback of his own. He remembers a time his brother and two mules, beat a white man and a tractor. The white man and his friends however said Tucker’s brother had cheated, and beat him with canes.Gaines adds this flashback to portray the obvious distinction between whites and blacks in that time. African-Americans were thought to be less of people than the Cajuns, so for this lesser person, Tucker’s brother Silas, to beat the supposedly superior white man was unthinkable. Like Tucker said, â€Å"’†¦and b ecause he didn’t lose like a nigger is supposed to lose, they beat him’† (Gaines 97). In that situation a scared Tucker didn’t stand up for his brother, and they beat him to his death.Gaines uses this flashback to show the results of the old men being walked over by the Cajuns, and doing nothing about it. Gable also reminisces about his unfortunate past. He remembers the Cajuns sentencing his sixteen year old son to the electric chair, â€Å"on the word of a poor white trash† (Gaines 101). He remembers the indifference the Cajuns displayed in killing his son, watching his death, and leaving as though it was a â€Å"card game† (102). Through this flashback, Gaines shows again how the cruelty of the Cajuns didn’t spare any ages.He also shows how little the word of a black man counted over that of a white man or woman. When his son was being sent to electric chair, Gable couldn’t do anything but beg the Cajuns. Gaines then ties thi s back to the importance of the men standing up to their tormentors, hinting such events could possibly have been avoided if they had stood up to their oppressors. Finally, Gaines utilizes symbolism in his novel to express the theme. Throughout the novel, a constant symbol that repeatedly came up was the tractor.The tractor was what Beau Boutan was riding when he came after Charlie. The tractor was also what drove many of the African-Americans on the plantation out of work and away from their homes. Finally, the tractor was what the Cajun, Felix Boutan, rode when he was beat by Tucker’s brother, Silas, which led to Silas being beat to death. The tractor symbolizes one of the main tortures of the African-American community in Marshall. It drove them out of work, drove them out of their homes, and eventually led to their death, in the case of Charlie and Silas.Gaines added the tractor and all it symbolized to be another motivator to the old men to make a stand. Another symbol w as the shotguns that the old men had. The shotguns’ empty shells in the beginning symbolized the weakness and ineffectiveness the old men had at the start of the story. In letting themselves to be walked over, and offering no resistance, they were as useless as the shotguns with empty shells they held in their hands. However, as the story progressed, when it came time to fight, the men had fully loaded shells and were ready for war.This symbolizes the change they went through. From being old useless men with no impact, they were able to make a difference, and have an impact. By standing up for themselves, they displayed their power and pride, which eventually even affected Luke Will, who â€Å"looked worried, real worried† when he realized their conviction (Gaines 205). Concluding, with the use of characterization, flashbacks, and symbolism, Ernest J. Gaines expressed the theme that there comes a time one must stand up for him or herself throughout the book.This theme was expressed through the characters Mathu, who always stood up for himself, Charlie, who learned to, and Candy and Mapes who were characters that were a motivator to the old men standing up for themselves. Gaines used the flashbacks to better portray the importance of the African-Americans in the area standing up for themselves, and he used symbolism to show one of the major torments of the people, and the change the old men went through. By standing up for themselves, the old men not only displayed their power and pride, but also seized hold of their future for themselves and their generations to come. A Gathering of Old Men: Importance of standing up for oneself â€Å"If you fell down yesterday, stand up today†. This quote by H. G. Wells is seen in the novel A Gathering of Old Men. The novel, taking place in the 1970s, was in a time in which African-Americans still suffered heavy discrimination. After years of taking this abuse, when an incident comes in which a white man lays dead at the hands of a black man, which would eventually call for a lynching, the discriminated unite. They show that despite their tortured past, they still possess their bravery, power, and pride.This dramatic novel by Ernest J. Gaines, A Gathering of Old Men, written in a critical tone employs the use of characterization, flashbacks, and symbolism to express the theme that there comes a time one must stand up for him or herself. In the book, a character named Mathu is one who does not falter in up keeping his pride. From the very beginning, he never let anyone insult him because of his African-American heritage. He always stands up for himself, even facing a white man, and never faltered, even when he was sent to jail.Because of this attitude, Mathu was respected even by some white men like Mapes who â€Å"knowed Mathu had never backed down from anybody, either. Maybe that’s why he liked him† (Gaines 84). Mathu was like a strong rock, the attempts of others at making him submit were but pebbles against his overpowering pride and dignity. A character that Mathu attempted to instill some lessons on becoming a man was Charlie. Charlie, despite his mild character was a large man towering at 6feet 7inches and weighing 275 pounds.Beau Boutan, Charlie’s boss and some others often ridiculed him with names like â€Å"Big Charlie† and â€Å"nigger boy† because of his mild character (Gaines 187). Charlie however, after observing Mathu’s strong pride and refusal to let anyone step over that pride, eventually gained some courage to stand up for himself. After he killed Beau and ran away, he came back and was ready to atone for his deed. Gaines used this event in the novel to show that even though people might be insulted and beat down, they can still gain enough courage to stand up for themselves.When Charlie did stand up for himself, and became, in his eyes, a man, that eventually led to his death. Gaines’s killing off of Charlie after he started standing up for himself was alluding to the idea that when people make a stand, they must be careful not to overdo it, like Charlie did, or there might be unfavorable results. Another character of interest is Candy. Candy is the owner of the place in which all the men gather, and the organizer of the gathering. At first, Candy seems to be genuinely worried about the people in Marshall, saying â€Å"’No I won’t let them harm my people’†¦ ‘I will protect my people.’† (Gaines 19).However, as the story progresses Gaines shows that Candy’s motives may not have been as good-natured as firs tly suggested. It’s eventually revealed she does not care much for the other men gathered in Mathu’s yard, but only for Mathu himself. While she showed little emotion when the other men were called up to Mapes and hit, she was quick to react when Mathu was called. Gaines also showed Candy’s true nature in the event when Clatoo wanted to talk to the men inside Mathu’s house, without Candy.At this point, Candy threatened to have all the men who followed Clatoo kicked out of the Marshall place, their only home. Gaines portrayed Candy in this way to show in this time, the idea of oppressing people still existed in the minds of even those who seemed good-natured. Finally, Gaines creates a complex character out of Mapes. Mapes is a character who experiences a change during the story. When he first arrives at the site of Beau’s death, and the gathering of the old men, he acts with the same mindset of the Cajuns in that time.His first response to the scene is violence. He attempts to gain information from the old men by hitting them. Eventually, when he realizes violence will produce no results, he lets them tell their stories. The prominent change in Mapes is shown at the time Luke Will and his crew arrive with the intent of hanging Beau’s killer. Mapes attempts to protect Charlie and the rest of the men, saying â€Å"’Go home, Luke Will’† after Luke Will demanded he hands Charlie over to him (Gaines 195).When Luke Will ignored Mapes and started a shoot out between his crew and the old men, Mapes resigned control of the situation to the old men and Charlie. Gaines used this to show that the mindset of people can change for the better. In the instance that Mapes trusted the old men and Charlie with the situation, he recognized them not as people of a lesser racer, but respectable and trustable men, showing that old men’s attempt at standing for themselves was able to change a man.Gaines also employs the use of flashbacks in the novel. The main role the flashbacks play is to show the hardships and discrimination the African-Americans faced in that time. When Uncle Billy, one of the old men who gathered to finally stand up for himself after many years, was asked by Mapes the sheriff his reason for killing Beau, as all the old men claimed to have killed Beau, he recalled an event that happened years before. â€Å"’What they did to my boy’†¦ ‘The way they beat him.They beat him till they beat him crazy†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ã¢â‚¬  (Gaines 80). Gaines introduced this flashback to show the brutality suffered by the blacks at that time, and that it spared no one, not even a child. Another flashback was by Johnny Paul, who remembered back to a time when they had all lived as a community, till Beau and his tractor came to plow it all up. Johnny Paul was referring to this time when he confused Mapes by saying â€Å"’But you still don’t see. Yes, sir, wh at you see is the weeds, but you don’t see what we don’t see. ’† (Gaines 89).Johnny Paul was talking about how the weeds and rotting houses had replaced what was once a place of happiness, and brotherhood among the black families living there. Gaines uses this flashback to show what was taken from the African-Americans in the novel, to better explain their need to stand up for themselves. Tucker, one of the old men, goes into a flashback of his own. He remembers a time his brother and two mules, beat a white man and a tractor. The white man and his friends however said Tucker’s brother had cheated, and beat him with canes.Gaines adds this flashback to portray the obvious distinction between whites and blacks in that time. African-Americans were thought to be less of people than the Cajuns, so for this lesser person, Tucker’s brother Silas, to beat the supposedly superior white man was unthinkable. Like Tucker said, â€Å"’†¦and b ecause he didn’t lose like a nigger is supposed to lose, they beat him’† (Gaines 97). In that situation a scared Tucker didn’t stand up for his brother, and they beat him to his death.Gaines uses this flashback to show the results of the old men being walked over by the Cajuns, and doing nothing about it. Gable also reminisces about his unfortunate past. He remembers the Cajuns sentencing his sixteen year old son to the electric chair, â€Å"on the word of a poor white trash† (Gaines 101). He remembers the indifference the Cajuns displayed in killing his son, watching his death, and leaving as though it was a â€Å"card game† (102). Through this flashback, Gaines shows again how the cruelty of the Cajuns didn’t spare any ages.He also shows how little the word of a black man counted over that of a white man or woman. When his son was being sent to electric chair, Gable couldn’t do anything but beg the Cajuns. Gaines then ties thi s back to the importance of the men standing up to their tormentors, hinting such events could possibly have been avoided if they had stood up to their oppressors. Finally, Gaines utilizes symbolism in his novel to express the theme. Throughout the novel, a constant symbol that repeatedly came up was the tractor.The tractor was what Beau Boutan was riding when he came after Charlie. The tractor was also what drove many of the African-Americans on the plantation out of work and away from their homes. Finally, the tractor was what the Cajun, Felix Boutan, rode when he was beat by Tucker’s brother, Silas, which led to Silas being beat to death. The tractor symbolizes one of the main tortures of the African-American community in Marshall. It drove them out of work, drove them out of their homes, and eventually led to their death, in the case of Charlie and Silas.Gaines added the tractor and all it symbolized to be another motivator to the old men to make a stand. Another symbol w as the shotguns that the old men had. The shotguns’ empty shells in the beginning symbolized the weakness and ineffectiveness the old men had at the start of the story. In letting themselves to be walked over, and offering no resistance, they were as useless as the shotguns with empty shells they held in their hands. However, as the story progressed, when it came time to fight, the men had fully loaded shells and were ready for war.This symbolizes the change they went through. From being old useless men with no impact, they were able to make a difference, and have an impact. By standing up for themselves, they displayed their power and pride, which eventually even affected Luke Will, who â€Å"looked worried, real worried† when he realized their conviction (Gaines 205). Concluding, with the use of characterization, flashbacks, and symbolism, Ernest J. Gaines expressed the theme that there comes a time one must stand up for him or herself throughout the book.This theme was expressed through the characters Mathu, who always stood up for himself, Charlie, who learned to, and Candy and Mapes who were characters that were a motivator to the old men standing up for themselves. Gaines used the flashbacks to better portray the importance of the African-Americans in the area standing up for themselves, and he used symbolism to show one of the major torments of the people, and the change the old men went through. By standing up for themselves, the old men not only displayed their power and pride, but also seized hold of their future for themselves and their generations to come.

The Role of Sea Power in International Trade

The Role of Sea Power in International Trade Introduction The ability of one country to influence another economically, politically, and militarily has in the past heavily depended on sea power as the other part of the soldiers and the army were not strategic. In this essay, it will then be important to analyze the interactions of trade and naval power1.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Role of Sea Power in International Trade specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More To discuss how sea power was used to influence national strategies, economists have been using various economic models such as the gravity model of trade and the comparative advantage which controls the geographic, economic, and political factors. Theoretically and in the real sense, military conflicts among warring countries are expected to reduce trade through the established embargoes and disruptions. However, in contrast to the expectations of many, sometimes warring between two nations may not infl uence international trade if the countries have very minimal global reach (Penubarti Ward, 2000). Seapower The historical influence that the marines or the navy has had on international trade and the complications in comparing measures of sea power has been issues of discussion in the past. The links between sea power and trade have been an issue and how navy in the past has influenced maritime trade. As we focus on the warring nations, we shall therefore focus on how power projections2 have affected international trade in the past. The strategies used on the other hand were designed in such a way that they could connect the trading links between the country and her allies and also to her neutral countries. In doing so, this reduced the level of both military and civil goods available to support any of the enemy’s endeavors. The navies were also doing this in order to protect their own trade in a bid to boost trade between their countries and her allies. One of the most know n forms of economic combat that has been used by the navy is the strategy of guerre de course. This strategy is usually aimed at raiding and destroying the commerce systems of the enemy country.Advertising Looking for essay on history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More It is a more preferred strategy by nations which feel inferior and whose own trade and commerce felt threatened by a more powerful navy. Instances where this technique has been used includes the fledging of the US navy against the British early in the year 1862, the French also did the same against the British in the 19th and 20th centuries and the Germans against the allied powers during the two world wars3. The use of these techniques was in contrast to the expected history where the navies used to fight for show of power. in this case, the navy was fighting in order to make the trade immobile. In this case, by limiting the other country’s expor t would increase your exports to another country (Bartholomees, 2008). Major forces which were encouraging the use of this technique particularly by the French on the British were its dependence on international food supplies. The navies viewed that may be by inducing food shortages; social and labor unrests would arise in England thus weakening the military in the long run. Technological changes also influenced the decisions to engage in commerce raiding. With the creation and the introduction of torpedo boats and submarines in the navy, this made the guerre de course even more easy and effective. The typical aim of these attacks was to reduce the enemy’s ability to effectively carry out military operations. Among commercial blockades, those intended to starve or weaken the enemy’s population by reducing the importation of food and other necessities have traditionally received the most attention (Rahman, 2007 p. 6). In the past, it has been seen as a function of the n avy to protect an entire trading system. In return, the desire to increase the naval strength has sometimes been exaggerated every so often even forcing countries to change their policies. With policy makers feeling that their countries need more protection, this has led to the escalation of the naval budgets. For example, before the First World War, the British viewed that the Germany navy was not mostly aimed at protecting their own commerce but to destroy that of England. As a result, many policy makers in England felt that a complete command in the sea was the first requirement before the country could completely venture into commerce.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Role of Sea Power in International Trade specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Other naval actions which have hurt international trade, though most of the times at low levels, in the past include: The use of gun boat diplomacy4, flag display and the frequent policing on frequent waters. Most of the times these actions do not include anything more than showing the fleet but the show to intimidate or threaten serves the purpose. For example Ahmed (2007) gives the example of how the US maintained an Asiatic squadron5 of ships in the Far East during the past two centuries as they sought to advance and improve their commercial interests. As a result, their trade with China improved while destroying the trade relationship between Japan and China due to the military influence exerted by the Americans. Conclusion Navies or Seapower in general serves many functions with the interference of international trade being one of them. In the past, as we have seen, seapower has been used as an instrument in influencing trade and military operations: thus intertwining both commercial and naval interests where countries have used their sea power to influence the activities of others as well as enacting policies which seek to strengthen their mari ne power if they feel threatened. Bibliography of notes Measure of economic and naval power influence The power projections include use of guerrede course (war of race) strategies, blockades, embargoes and other less explicit forms of economic warfare Ahmed S. Rahman, 2007. Fighting the Forces of Gravity Seapower and Maritime Trade between the 18th and 20th Centuries Gunboat diplomacy for refers to the pursuit of some foreign policy objective through the use or threat of limited naval force A squadron is a military flight can simply be describes as a unit of military organization. Reference List Bartholomees, J. Boone. Eds. â€Å"U.S. Army War College Guide To National Security Issues† Volume I: Theory Of War And Strategy. 3rd Edition. (2008). Web. Penubarti, Mohan., and Ward, Michael. â€Å"Commerce and Democracy,† Center for Statistics and the Social Sciences Working Paper No. 6, University of Washington. (2000). Web.Advertising Looking for essay on history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Rahman, Ahmed. â€Å"Fighting the Forces of Gravity† Seapower and Maritime Trade between the 18th and 20th Centuries. (2007). Web. Footnotes 1 Measure of economic and naval power influence 2 The power projections include use of guerrede course ( war of race) strategies, blockades , embargoes and other less explicit forms of economic warfare 3 Ahmed S. Rahman, 2007. Fighting the Forces of Gravity Seapower and Maritime Trade between the 18th and 20th Centuries 4 Gunboat diplomacy refers to the pursuit of some foreign policy objective through the use or threat of limited naval force 5 A squadron is a military flight can simply be describes as a unit of military organization.

How to Write a Book in 2019 A Proven Guide From a Best Seller

How to Write a Book in 2019 A Proven Guide From a Best Seller How to Write a Book: Everything You Need to Know in 20 Steps So you want to write a book. Becoming an author can change your life- not to mention give you the ability to impact thousands, even millions, of people. However, writing a book is no cakewalk. As a 21-time New York Times bestselling author, I can tell you: It’s far easier to quit than to finish. When you run out of ideas, when your own message bores you, or when you become overwhelmed by the sheer scope of the task, you’re going to be tempted to give up. But what if you knew exactly: Where to start What each step entails How to overcome fear, procrastination, and writer’s block And how to keep from feeling overwhelmed? You can do this- and more quickly than you might think, because these days you have access to more writing tools than ever. The key is to follow a proven, straightforward, step-by-step plan. My goal here is to offer you that plan. I’ve used the techniques I outline below to write more than 190 books (including the Left Behind series) over the past 40 years. Yes, I realize averaging over four books per year is more than you may have thought humanly possible. But trust me- with a reliable blueprint, you can get unstuck and finish your book. This is my personal approach to how to write a book. I’m confident you’ll find something here that can change the game for you. So, let’s jump in. How to Write a Book From Start to Finish in 20 Steps Establish your writing space. Assemble your writing tools. Break the project into small pieces. Settle on your BIG idea. Construct your outline. Set a firm writing schedule. Establish a sacred deadline. Embrace procrastination (really!). Eliminate distractions. Conduct your research. Start calling yourself a writer. Think reader-first. Find your writing voice. Write a compelling opener. Fill your story with conflict and tension. Turn off your internal editor while writing the first draft. Persevere through The Marathon of the Middle. Write a resounding ending. Become a ferocious self-editor. Find a mentor. Want to download this 20-step guide so you can read it whenever you wish? Click here. Part One: Before You Begin You’ll never regret- in fact, you’ll thank yourself later- for investing the time necessary to prepare for such a monumental task. You wouldn’t set out to cut down a huge grove of trees with just an axe. You’d need a chain saw, perhaps more than one. Something to keep them sharp. Enough fuel to keep them running. You get the picture. Don’t shortcut this foundational part of the process. 1. Establish your writing space. To write your book, you don’t need a sanctuary. In fact, I started my career on my couch facing a typewriter perched on a plank of wood suspended by two kitchen chairs. What were you saying about your setup again?We do what we have to do. And those early days on that sagging couch were among the most productive of my career. Naturally, the nicer and more comfortable and private you can make your writing lair (I call mine my cave), the better. (If you dedicate a room solely to your writing, you can even write off a portion of your home mortgage, taxes, and insurance proportionate to that space.) Real writers can write anywhere. Some write in restaurants and coffee shops. My first fulltime job was at a newspaper where 40 of us clacked away on manual typewriters in one big room- no cubicles, no partitions, conversations hollered over the din, most of my colleagues smoking, teletype machines clattering. Cut your writing teeth in an environment like that, and anywhere else seems glorious. 2. Assemble your writing tools. In the newspaper business there was no time to handwrite our stuff and then type it for the layout guys. So I have always written at a keyboard. Most authors do, though some handwrite their first drafts and then keyboard them onto a computer or pay someone to do that. No publisher I know would even consider a typewritten manuscript, let alone one submitted in handwriting. The publishing industry runs on Microsoft Word, so you’ll need to submit Word document files. Whether you prefer a Mac or a PC, both will produce the kinds of files you need. And if you’re looking for a musclebound electronic organizing system, you can’t do better than Scrivener. It works well on both PCs and Macs, and it nicely interacts with Word files. Just remember, Scrivener has a steep learning curve, so familiarize yourself with it before you start writing. Scrivener users know that taking the time to learn the basics is well worth it. So, what else do you need? If you are one who handwrites your first drafts, don’t scrimp on paper, pencils, or erasers. Don’t shortchange yourself on a computer either. Even if someone else is keyboarding for you, you’ll need a computer for research and for communicating with potential agents, editors, publishers. Get the best computer you can afford, the latest, the one with the most capacity and speed. Try to imagine everything you’re going to need in addition to your desk or table, so you can equip yourself in advance and don’t have to keep interrupting your work to find things like: Staplers Paper clips Rulers Pencil holders Pencil sharpeners Note pads Printing paper Paperweight Tape dispensers Cork or bulletin boards Clocks Bookends Reference works Space heaters Fans Lamps Beverage mugs Napkins Tissues You name it Last, but most crucial, get the best, most ergonomic chair you can afford. If I were to start my career again with that typewriter on a plank, I would not sit on that couch. I’d grab another straight-backed kitchen chair or something similar and be proactive about my posture and maintaining a healthy spine. There’s nothing worse than trying to be creative and immerse yourself in writing while you’re in agony. The chair I work in today cost more than my first car! If you’ve never used some of the items I listed above and can’t imagine needing them, fine. But make a list of everything you know you’ll need so when the actual writing begins, you’re already equipped. As you grow as a writer and actually start making money at it, you can keep upgrading your writing space. Where I work now is light years from where I started. But the point is, I didn’t wait to start writing until I could have a great spot in which to do it. Part Two: How to Start Writing a Book 3. Break the project into small pieces. Writing a book feels like a colossal project, because it is! But your manuscript will be made up of many small parts. An old adage says that the way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. Try to get your mind off your book as a 400-or-so-page monstrosity. It can’t be written all at once any more than that proverbial elephant could be eaten in a single sitting. See your book for what it is: a manuscript made up of sentences, paragraphs, pages. Those pages will begin to add up, and though after a week you may have barely accumulated double digits, a few months down the road you’ll be into your second hundred pages. So keep it simple. Start by distilling your big book idea from a page or so to a single sentence- your premise. The more specific that one-sentence premise, the more it will keep you focused while you’re writing. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Before you can turn your big idea into one sentence, which can then be expanded to an outline, you have to settle on exactly what that big idea is. 4. Settle on your BIG idea. To be book-worthy, your idea has to be killer. You need to write something about which you’re passionate, something that gets you up in the morning, draws you to the keyboard, and keeps you there. It should excite not only you, but also anyone you tell about it. I can’t overstate the importance of this. If you’ve tried and failed to finish your book before- maybe more than once- it could be that the basic premise was flawed. Maybe it was worth a blog post or an article but couldn’t carry an entire book. Think The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, or How to Win Friends and Influence People. The market is crowded, the competition fierce. There’s no more room for run-of-the-mill ideas. Your premise alone should make readers salivate. Go for the big concept book. How do you know you’ve got a winner? Does it have legs? In other words, does it stay in your mind, growing and developing every time you think of it? Run it past loved ones and others you trust. Does it raise eyebrows? Elicit Wows? Or does it result in awkward silences? The right concept simply works, and you’ll know it when you land on it. Most importantly, your idea must capture you in such a way that you’re compelled to write it. Otherwise you’ll lose interest halfway through and never finish. 5. Construct your outline. Want to download this 20-step guide so you can read it whenever you wish? Click here. Starting your writing without a clear vision of where you’re going will usually end in disaster. Even if you’re writing fiction and consider yourself a Pantser* as opposed to an Outliner, you need at least a basic structure. [*Those of us who write by the seat of our pants and, as Stephen King advises, put interesting characters in difficult situations and write to find out what happens] You don’t have to call it an outline if that offends your sensibilities. But fashion some sort of a directional document that provides structure and also serves as a safety net. If you get out on that Pantser highwire and lose your balance, you’ll thank me for advising you to have this in place. Now if you’re writing a nonfiction book, there’s no substitute for an outline. Potential agents or publishers require this in your proposal. They want to know where you’re going, and they want to know that you know. What do you want your reader to learn from your book, and how will you ensure they learn it? Fiction or nonfiction, if you commonly lose interest in your book somewhere in what I call the Marathon of the Middle, you likely didn’t start with enough exciting ideas. That’s why and outline (or a basic framework) is essential. Don’t even start writing until you’re confident your structure will hold up through the end. You may recognize this novel structure illustration. Did you know it holds up- with only slight adaptations- for nonfiction books too? It’s self-explanatory for novelists; they list their plot twists and developments and arrange them in an order that best serves to increase tension. What separates great nonfiction from mediocre? The same structure! Arrange your points and evidence in the same way so you’re setting your reader up for a huge payoff, and then make sure you deliver. If your nonfiction book is a memoir, an autobiography, or a biography, structure it like a novel and you can’t go wrong. But even if it’s a straightforward how-to book, stay as close to this structure as possible, and you’ll see your manuscript come alive. Make promises early, triggering your reader to anticipate fresh ideas, secrets, inside information, something major that will make him thrilled with the finished product. While you may not have as much action or dialogueor character development as your novelist counterpart, your crises and tension can come from showing where people have failed before and how you’re going to ensure your reader will succeed. You can even make the how-to project look impossible until you pay off that setup with your unique solution. Keep your outline to a single page for now. But make sure every major point is represented, so you’ll always know where you’re going. And don’t worry if you’ve forgotten the basics of classic outlining or have never felt comfortable with the concept. Your outline must serve you. If that means Roman numerals and capital and lowercase letters and then Arabic numerals, you can certainly fashion it that way. But if you just want a list of sentences that synopsize your idea, that’s fine too. Simply start with your working title, then your premise, then- for fiction, list all the major scenes that fit into the rough structure above. For nonfiction, try to come up with chapter titles and a sentence or two of what each chapter will cover. Once you have your one-page outline, remember it is a fluid document meant to serve you and your book. Expand it, change it, play with it as you see fit- even during the writing process. 6.Set a firm writing schedule. Ideally, you want to schedule at least six hours per week to write. That may consist of three sessions of two hours each, two sessions of three hours, or six one-hour sessions- whatever works for you. I recommend a regular pattern (same times, same days) that can most easily become a habit. But if that’s impossible, just make sure you carve out at least six hours so you can see real progress. Having trouble finding the time to write a book? News flash- you won’t find the time. You have to make it. I used the phrase carve out above for a reason. That’s what it takes. Something in your calendar will likely have to be sacrificed in the interest of writing time. Make sure it’s not your family- they should always be your top priority. Never sacrifice your family on the altar of your writing career. But beyond that, the truth is that we all find time for what we really want to do. Many writers insist they have no time to write, but they always seem to catch the latest Netflix original series, or go to the next big Hollywood feature. They enjoy concerts, parties, ball games, whatever. How important is it to you to finally write your book? What will you cut from your calendar each week to ensure you give it the time it deserves? A favorite TV show? An hour of sleep per night? (Be careful with this one; rest is crucial to a writer.) A movie? A concert? A party? Successful writers make time to write. When writing becomes a habit, you’ll be on your way. 7. Establish a sacred deadline. Without deadlines, I rarely get anything done. I need that motivation. Admittedly, my deadlines are now established in my contracts from publishers. If you’re writing your first book, you probably don’t have a contract yet. To ensure you finish your book, set your own deadline- then consider it sacred. Tell your spouse or loved one or trusted friend. Ask that they hold you accountable. Now determine- and enter in your calendar- the number of pages you need to produce per writing session to meet your deadline. If it proves unrealistic, change the deadline now. If you have no idea how many pages or words you typically produce per session, you may have to experiment before you finalize those figures. Say you want to finish a 400-page manuscript by this time next year. Divide 400 by 50 weeks (accounting for two off-weeks), and you get eight pages per week. Divide that by your typical number of writing sessions per week and you’ll know how many pages you should finish per session. Now is the time to adjust these numbers,while setting your deadline and determining your pages per session. Maybe you’d rather schedule four off weeks over the next year. Or you know your book will be unusually long. Change the numbers to make it realistic and doable, and then lock it in. Remember, your deadline is sacred. 8. Embrace procrastination (really!). You read that right. Don’t fight it; embrace it. You wouldn’t guess it from my 190+ published books, but I’m the king of procrastinators. Surprised? Don’t be. So many authors are procrastinators that I’ve come to wonder if it’s a prerequisite. The secret is to accept it and, in fact, schedule it. I quit fretting and losing sleep over procrastinating when I realized it was inevitable and predictable, and also that it was productive. Sound like rationalization? Maybe it was at first. But I learned that while I’m putting off the writing, my subconscious is working on my book. It’s a part of the process. When you do start writing again, you’ll enjoy the surprises your subconscious reveals to you. So, knowing procrastination is coming, book it on your calendar. Take it into account when you’re determining your page quotas. If you have to go back in and increase the number of pages you need to produce per session, do that (I still do it all the time). But- and here’s the key- you must never let things get to where that number of pages per day exceeds your capacity. It’s one thing to ratchet up your output from two pages per session to three. But if you let it get out of hand, you’ve violated the sacredness of your deadline. How can I procrastinate and still meet more than 190 deadlines? Because I keep the deadlines sacred. 9. Eliminate distractions to stay focused. Are you as easily distracted as I am? Have you found yourself writing a sentence and then checking your email? Writing another and checking Facebook? Getting caught up in the come-ons for pictures of the 10 Sea Monsters You Wouldn’t Believe Actually Exist? Then you just have to check out that precious video from a talk show where the dad surprises the family by returning from the war. That leads to more and more of the same. Once I’m in, my writing is forgotten, and all of a sudden the day has gotten away from me. The answer to these insidious timewasters? Look into these apps that allow you to block your email, social media, browsers, game apps, whatever you wish during the hours you want to write. Some carry a modest fee, others are free. Freedom app. FocusWriter StayFocusd WriteRoom 10. Conduct your research. Yes, research is a vital part of the process, whether you’re writing fiction or nonfiction. Fiction means more than just making up a story. Your details and logic and technical and historical details must be right for your novel to be believable. And for nonfiction, even if you’re writing about a subject in which you’re an expert- as I’m doing here- you’ll be surprised how ensuring you get all the facts right will polish your finished product. In fact, you’d be surprised at how many times I’ve researched a fact or two while writing this blog post alone. The last thing you want is even a small mistake due to your lack of proper research. Regardless the detail, trust me, you’ll hear from readers about it. Your credibility as an author and an expert hinges on creating trust with your reader. That dissolves in a hurry if you commit an error. My favorite research resources are: World Almanacs: These alone list almost everything you need for accurate prose: facts, data, government information, and more. For my novels, I often use these to come up with ethnically accurate character names. TheMerriam-Webster Thesaurus: The online version is great, because it’s lightning fast. You couldn’t turn the pages of a hard copy as quickly as you can get where you want to onscreen. One caution: Never let it be obvious you’ve consulted a thesaurus. You’re not looking for the exotic word that jumps off the page. You’re looking for that common word that’s on the tip of your tongue. WorldAtlas.com: Here you’ll find nearly limitless information about any continent, country, region, city, town, or village. Names, monetary units, weather patterns, tourism info, and even facts you wouldn’t have thought to search for. I get ideas when I’m digging here, for both my novels and my nonfiction books. 11. Start calling yourself a writer. Want to download this 20-step guide so you can read it whenever you wish? Click here. Your inner voice may tell you, â€Å"You’re no writer and you never will be. What do you think you’re doing, trying to write a book? That may be why you’ve stalled at writing your book in the past. But if you’re working at writing, studying writing, practicing writing, that makes you a writer. Don’t wait till you reach some artificial level of accomplishment before calling yourself a writer. A cop in uniform and on duty is a cop whether he’s actively enforced the law yet or not. A carpenter is a carpenter whether he’s ever built a house. Self-identify as a writer now and you’ll silence that inner critic- who, of course, is really you. Talk back to yourself if you must. It may sound silly, but acknowledging yourself as a writer can give you the confidence to keep going and finish your book. Are you a writer? Say so. Part Three: The Writing Itself 12. Think reader-first. This is so important that that you should write it on a sticky note and affix it to your monitor so you’re reminded of it every time you write. Every decision you make about your manuscript must be run through this filter. Not you-first, not book-first, not editor-, agent-, or publisher-first. Certainly not your inner circle- or critics-first. Reader-first, last, and always. If every decision is based on the idea of reader-first, all those others benefit anyway. When fans tell me they were moved by one of my books, I think back to this adage and am grateful I maintained that posture during the writing. Does a scene bore you? If you’re thinking reader-first, it gets overhauled or deleted. Where to go, what to say, what to write next? Decide based on the reader as your priority. Whatever your gut tells you your reader would prefer, that’s your answer. Whatever will intrigue him, move him, keep him reading, those are your marching orders. So, naturally, you need to know your reader. Rough age? General interests? Loves? Hates? Attention span? When in doubt, look in the mirror. The surest way to please your reader is to please yourself. Write what you would want to read and trust there is a broad readership out there that agrees. 13. Find your writing voice. Discovering your voice is nowhere near as complicated as some make it out to be. You can find yours by answering these quick questions: What’s the coolest thing that ever happened to you? Who’s the most important person you told about it? What did you sound like when you did? That’s your writing voice. It should read the way you sound at your most engaged. That’s all there is to it. If you write fiction and the narrator of your book isn’t you, go through the three-question exercise on the narrator’s behalf- and you’ll quickly master the voice. Here’s a blog I posted that’ll walk you through the process. 14. Write a compelling opener. If you’re stuck because of the pressure of crafting the perfect opening line, you’re not alone. And neither is your angst misplaced. This is not something you should put off and come back to once you’ve started on the rest of the first chapter. Oh, it can still change if the story dictates that. But settling on a good one will really get you off and running. It’s unlikely you’ll write a more important sentence than your first one, whether you’re writing fiction or nonfiction. Make sure you’re thrilled with it and then watch how your confidence- and momentum- soars. Most great first lines fall into one of these categories: Surprising Fiction: â€Å"It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.† - George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four Nonfiction: â€Å"By the time Eustace Conway was seven years old, he could throw a knife accurately enough to nail a chipmunk to a tree.† - Elizabeth Gilbert, The Last American Man Dramatic Statement Fiction: â€Å"They shoot the white girl first.† - Toni Morrison, Paradise Nonfiction: â€Å"I was five years old the first time I ever set foot in prison.† - Jimmy Santiago Baca, A Place to Stand Philosophical Fiction: â€Å"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.† - Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina Nonfiction: â€Å"It’s not about you.† - Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life Poetic Fiction: â€Å"When I finally caught up with Abraham Trahearne, he was drinking beer with an alcoholic bulldog named Fireball Roberts in a ramshackle joint just outside of Sonoma, California, drinking the heart right out of a fine spring afternoon. - James Crumley, The Last Good Kiss Nonfiction: â€Å"The village of Holcomb stands on the high wheat plains of western Kansas, a lonesome area that other Kansans call ‘out there.’† - Truman Capote, In Cold Blood Great opening lines from other classics may give you ideas for yours. Heres a list of famous openers. 15. Fill your story with conflict and tension. Your reader craves conflict, and yes, this applies to nonfiction readers as well. In a novel, if everything is going well and everyone is agreeing, your reader will soon lose interest and find something else to do- like watch paint dry. Are two of your characters talking at the dinner table? Have one say something that makes the other storm out. Some deep-seeded rift in their relationship has surfaced. Is it just a misunderstanding that has snowballed into an injustice? Thrust people into conflict with each other. That’ll keep your reader’s attention. Certain nonfiction genres won’t lend themselves to that kind of conflict, of course, but you can still inject tension by setting up your reader for a payoff in later chapters. Check out some of the current bestselling nonfiction works to see how writers accomplish this. Somehow they keep you turning those pages, even in a simple how-to title. Tension is the secret sauce that will propel your reader through to the end. And sometimes that’s as simple as implying something to come. 16. Turn off your internal editor while writing the first draft. Many of us are perfectionists and find it hard to get a first draft written- fiction or nonfiction- without feeling compelled to make every sentence exactly the way we want it. That voice in your head that questions every word, every phrase, every sentence, and makes you worry you’re being redundant or have allowed cliches to creep in- well, that’s just your editor alter ego. He or she needs to be told to shut up. This is not easy. Deep as I am into a long career, I still have to remind myself of this every writing day. I cannot be both creator and editor at the same time. That slows me to a crawl, and my first draft of even one brief chapter could take days. Our job when writing that first draft is to get down the story or the message or the teaching- depending on your genre. It helps me to view that rough draft as a slab of meat I will carve tomorrow. I can’t both produce that hunk and trim it at the same time. A cliche, a redundancy, a hackneyed phrase comes tumbling out of my keyboard, and I start wondering whether I’ve forgotten to engage the reader’s senses or aimed for his emotions. That’s when I have to chastise myself and say, â€Å"No! Don’t worry about that now! First thing tomorrow you get to tear this thing up and put it back together again to your heart’s content!† Imagine yourself wearing different hats for different tasks, if that helps- whatever works to keep you rolling on that rough draft. You don’t need to show it to your worst enemy or even your dearest love. This chore is about creating. Don’t let anything slow you down. Some like to write their entire first draft before attacking the revision. As I say, whatever works. Doing it that way would make me worry I’ve missed something major early that will cause a complete rewrite when I discover it months later. I alternate creating and revising. The first thing I do every morning is a heavy edit and rewrite of whatever I wrote the day before. If that’s ten pages, so be it. I put my perfectionist hat on and grab my paring knife and trim that slab of meat until I’m happy with every word. Then I switch hats, tell Perfectionist Me to take the rest of the day off, and I start producing rough pages again. So, for me, when I’ve finished the entire first draft, it’s actually a second draft because I have already revised and polished it in chunks every day. THEN I go back through the entire manuscript one more time, scouring it for anything I missed or omitted, being sure to engage the reader’s senses and heart, and making sure the whole thing holds together. I do not submit anything I’m not entirely thrilled with. I know there’s still an editing process it will will go through at the publisher, but my goal is to make my manuscript the absolute best I can before they see it. Compartmentalize your writing vs. your revising and you’ll find that frees you to create much more quickly. 17. Persevere through The Marathon of the Middle. Most who fail at writing a book tell me they give up somewhere in what I like to call The Marathon of the Middle. That’s a particularly rough stretch for novelists who have a great concept, a stunning opener, and they can’t wait to get to the dramatic ending. But they bail when they realize they don’t have enough cool stuff to fill the middle. They start padding, trying to add scenes just for the sake of bulk, but they’re soon bored and know readers will be too. This actually happens to nonfiction writers too. The solution there is in the outlining stage, being sure your middle points and chapters are every bit as valuable and magnetic as the first and last. If you strategize the progression of your points or steps in a process- depending on nonfiction genre- you should be able to eliminate the strain in the middle chapters. For novelists, know that every book becomes a challenge a few chapters in. The shine wears off, keeping the pace and tension gets harder, and it’s easy to run out of steam. But that’s not the time to quit. Force yourself back to your structure, come up with a subplot if necessary, but do whatever you need to so your reader stays engaged. Fiction writer or nonfiction author, The Marathon of the Middle is when you must remember why you started this journey in the first place. It isn’t just that you want to be an author. You have something to say. You want to reach the masses with your message. Yes, it’s hard. It still is for me- every time. But don’t panic or do anything rash, like surrendering. Embrace the challenge of the middle as part of the process. If it were easy, anyone could do it. 18. Write a resounding ending. Want to download this 20-step guide so you can read it whenever you wish? Click here. This is just as important for your nonfiction book as your novel. It may not be as dramatic or emotional, but it could be- especially if you’re writing a memoir. But even a how-to or self-help book needs to close with a resounding thud, the way a Broadway theater curtain meets the floor. How do you ensure your ending doesn’t fizzle? Don’t rush it. Give readers the payoff they’ve been promised. They’ve invested in you and your book the whole way. Take the time to make it satisfying. Never settle for close enough just because you’re eager to be finished. Wait till you’re thrilled with every word, and keep revising until you are. If it’s unpredictable, it had better be fair and logical so your reader doesn’t feel cheated. You want him to be delighted with the surprise, not tricked. If you have multiple ideas for how your book should end, go for the heart rather than the head, even in nonfiction. Readers most remember what moves them. Part Four: All Writing Is Rewriting 19. Become a ferocious self-editor. Agents and editors can tell within the first two pages whether your manuscript is worthy of further consideration. That sounds unfair, and maybe it is. But it’s also reality, so we writers need to face it. How can they often decide that quickly on something you’ve devoted months, maybe years, to? Because they can almost immediately envision how much editing would be required to make those first couple of pages publishable. If they decide the investment wouldn’t make economic sense for a 300-400-page manuscript, end of story. Your best bet to keep an agent or editor reading your manuscript? You must become a ferocious self-editor. That means: Omit needless words Choose the simple word over one that requires a dictionary Avoid subtle redundancies, like â€Å"He thought in his mind†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Where else would someone think?) Avoid hedging verbs like almost frowned, sort of jumped, etc. Generally remove the word that- use it only when absolutely necessary for clarity Give the reader credit and resist the urge to explain, as in, â€Å"She walked through the open door.† (Did we need to be told it was open?) Avoid too much stage direction (what every character is doing with every limb and digit) Avoid excessive adjectives Show, don’t tell And many more For my full list and how to use them, click here. (It’s free.) When do you know you’re finished revising? When you’ve gone from making your writing better to merely making it different. That’s not always easy to determine, but it’s what makes you an author. And Finally, the Quickest Way to Succeed 20. Find a mentor. Get help from someone who’s been where you want to be. Imagine engaging a mentor who can help you sidestep all the amateur pitfalls and shave years of painful trial-and-error off your learning curve. Just make sure it’s someone who really knows the writing and publishing world. Many masquerade as mentors and coaches but have never really succeeded themselves. Look for someone widely-published who knows how to work with agents, editors, and publishers. There are many helpful mentors online. I teach writers through this free site, as well as in my members-only Writers Guild. Want to save this definitive guide to read later?Click here or below to download a handy PDF version: Struggling with knowing how to write a book? Tell me in the comments and feel free to ask questions.