...I try to draw an analogy with the process of reading application essays. The bad. Ninety percent of the applications I read contain what I call McEssays - usually five-paragraph essays that consist primarily of abstractions and unsupported generalization. They are technically correct in that they are organized and have the correct sentence structure and spelling, but they are boring. Sort of like a Big Mac. I have nothing against Big Macs, but the one I eat in Charlottesville is not going to be fundamentally different from the one I eat in Paris, Peoria or Palm Springs. I am not going to rave about the quality of a particular Big Mac. The same can be said about the generic essay. If an essay starts out: "I have been a member of the band and it has taught me leadership, perseverance and hard work," I can almost recite the rest of the essay without reading it. Each of the three middle paragraphs gives a bit of support to an abstraction, and the final paragraph restates what has already been said. A McEssay is not wrong, but it is not going to be a positive factor in the admission decision. It will not allow a student to stand out. A student who uses vague abstractions poured into a preset form will end up being interpreted as a vague series of abstractions. A student who uses cliché becomes, in effect, a cliché. If we are what we eat, we are also what we write. Not only does a preset form lead to a generic essay, so does a generic approach to what is perceived as the right topic...
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...I try to draw an analogy with the process of reading application essays. The bad. Ninety percent of the applications I read contain what I call McEssays - usually five-paragraph essays that consist primarily of abstractions and unsupported generalization. They are technically correct in that they are organized and have the correct sentence structure and spelling, but they are boring. Sort of like a Big Mac. I have nothing against Big Macs, but the one I eat in Charlottesville is not going to be fundamentally different from the one I eat in Paris, Peoria or Palm Springs. I am not going to rave about the quality of a particular Big Mac. The same can be said about the generic essay. If an essay starts out: "I have been a member of the band and it has taught me leadership, perseverance and hard work," I can almost recite the rest of the essay without reading it. Each of the three middle paragraphs gives a bit of support to an abstraction, and the final paragraph restates what has already been said. A McEssay is not wrong, but it is not going to be a positive factor in the admission decision. It will not allow a student to stand out. A student who uses vague abstractions poured into a preset form will end up being interpreted as a vague series of abstractions. A student who uses cliché becomes, in effect, a cliché. If we are what we eat, we are also what we write. Not only does a preset form lead to a generic essay, so does a generic approach to what is perceived as the right topic...
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...1) How do you interpret the title? It suggests that it’s probably letters from a son to his dad. 2) Why does Baldwin divide the essay into three sections? What is the purpose of each? It outlines Baldwin’s journey in becoming a writer. The first part focuses on the black person as an artist and on his or her image within the cultural view. The second group of the of essays is on the social political aspects of society at the time. The last section has four essays about the feelings and attitudes of Americans in Paris in the 1940’s and 1950’s. 3) How does Baldwin make the parallel stories about his father’s life and death and about racism in the United States intersect? Find specific passages and analyze them carefully. Baldwin says, “I imagine that one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once the hate is gone, that they will be forced to deal with pain.” This is about his hate towards his father and also how people hate others with racism. 4) What parallels exist between Baldwin's bitterness and his father's bitterness? Baldwin's hatred for his father and for white people? Baldwin was affected by his father’s hate which eventually grew on him too. He held it in and it worsened as time went on. This gave him a hateful personality, and was projected on white people. 5) How did the death of Baldwin’s father change his thinking about how he would deal with the racism? Baldwin experienced racism, prejudices and riots after moving to New Jersey...
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...Traditional Barriers(The Lottery) Jamaria Erykah Bryant Reading Essay October 3, 2014 Richland Middle School 1 Traditional Barriers Tradition during the time period of my story(The Lottery) consisted of the men and there son o sixteen having more authority than the women. During this time the village was stuck on tradition ways that ultimately held them back and separated them from other villages. There were se traditional beliefs that was practiced. The men who were consider head of house was only all pick from the lottery box, they only believed in using the same lottery box, and the lottery whic sacrifice would be held every year at the same time and place. One way to prove they were stuck on tradition would be the value the black box held to the Even though the black box grew shabier as each year passed, it was no longer black, splintere and faded but they refused to use another even after it was mention by the younger people in th But at the advise of the older men in the village they broke down the box and rebuilded it us original wood. The first settlers of the village built the box by wood when they first decided to lottery and because of that change was not an options. The first settlers would put wood chip box for the village people to pick, but as the village grew so would the number of wood chips. got to the point where the wood chips would not fit and only for that reason the elders agreed to paper but not without a debate on how...
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...Wideman`s younger brother, Robby, who is a black sheep of the family. Wideman uses three voices tell his brother`s sad story to explain what caused Robby “went bad”. The three voices are his brother Robby, his mother and himself. Wideman has many purposes for telling the story of Robby. First of all he is trying to understand him. He tries to learn his terms. In other words tries to comprehend why his brother is very different. While he does, this he can also reflect and learn a lot about himself. Wideman has many struggles in accomplishing all of this. He is trying to tell the story of his brother from a neutral perspective. He believes if he only tells it from his point of view, he could not tell a true Robby’s story. It is very hard for him to hear his brother story without listening to himself. This struggle can be seen in this essay, “The hardest habit to break, since it was the habit of a lifetime, would be listening to Xu 2 myself listen to him. That habit would destroy any chance of seeing my brother on his terms; and seeing him in his terms, learning his terms, seemed the whole point of learning his story” (672) Because of this Wideman has to use different views to show the true story of his brother Robby includes the voices and stories of others` opinions. The story begins with the death of Robby's friend Garth. Roby went mad...
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...STaCS Submission Front Sheet | | | |STUDENT/ REG No | | |33267992 | | | | | |PROGRAMME | | |NAME & YEAR | | |BA Social Work 2013/2014 | | | | | |MODULE CODE: | | |SW51020A | | | | ...
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...completes the statement or answers the question. Critical Reading Identify the letter of the choice that best answers the question. ____ 1. After he is wounded in Scene i, Mercutio says to Romeo, “Why the devil came you between us? I was hurt under your arm.” Which of the following is the best paraphrase of Mercutio's words? a. I am so badly wounded that I feel I will die. b. Why did you interfere? Your arm allowed him to stab me. c. Why has the devil caused me bad fortune? d. Your arm could not save me, Romeo. ____ 2. When Benvolio announces Mercutio's death, Romeo replies, “This day's black fate on moe days doth depend; / This but begins the woe others must end.” Which of the following best describes Romeo's emotional reaction to Mercutio's death? a. shame and sympathy for Tybalt b. grief and fear of the future c. guilt and regret d. relief and optimism that all will end well ____ 3. After Tybalt's death, the Prince sentences Romeo to which of the following punishments? a. death b. banishment c. imprisonment for life d. the loss of his noble title ____ 4. At the beginning of Act III, Scene ii, Juliet is alone in Capulet's orchard. She delivers a long speech in which she eagerly anticipates Romeo's arrival at nightfall. Which of the following correctly describes this speech? a. aside b. monologue c. metaphor d. soliloquy ____ 5. In Act III, Scene iii, when Romeo learns about the Prince's decree, which of the following best expresses...
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...A Gap of Sky She was only nineteen, only living, and if that was sometimes a little extreme, well, how should life be lived? (L. 98-99) In the Short Story “A Gap of Sky”, by Anna Hope, we meet a nineteen-year old girl whose name is Ellie. She wakes up after a day with party and drugs. She is a regular girl who lives in London and studies at a university. We follow her through her day were she thinks back on last night and the essay she have to write for the next day. If she doesn’t handle in the essay they will reconsider her on the course she is taking. The themes in this short story are freedom, drugs and responsibility. Her life is a mess and she can’t really see it herself. She lives her life as wants too. She goes to parties and gets drunk and takes some coke and K and hangs out with her friends, were they go somewhere and get really high, so they will forget everything. And everyone laughing, everyone pissing themselves like it was the funniest thing ever. (L. 24-25) .She has ended up with some bruises from the party last night rets her swollen cheek against her palm. (l. 3). She is not feeling well after the abstinence from the drugs she has token last night. Ellie’s language is very filthy because she swear a lot Fuuuuuuck… she shoots up from the under the duvet, scrabbles for her phone, finds it beside her pillow. 16:29. Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit. (l. 12-13). She is not responsible person because she has brought herself in that situation that she might be...
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...in her taking drugs, especially coke. We don’t really follow Ellie for a long time but on her journey for printer ink, she is still able to go through a big range of emotions; fear of death, joy, rebelliousness, dejectedness, freedom and so on. After reading the first few lines, we get a pretty good idea about what Ellie is like. The description of her walking up with swollen cheeks and peeing in the sink gives us a good picture that Ellie is living on the edge where nothing matters anymore. It is clear to us that she isn’t living a very healthy life. Her wealth is terrible; her chest hurts and she has inflammation of her eyes. “She sits on the bed, brings her legs up under her chin, rummages for what she can remember from the night before”. This tells us that she had been very affected by alcohol and drugs, since she remembers nothing but glimpses. It also appears that this is something she does often, almost every night. Ellie is a very unfocused and diffuse person who often gets distracted by meaningless things in her surroundings not involving her actual purpose. She doesn’t think ahead of the present, she isn’t thinking about her future, because she cannot cope with the fact that she doesn’t have one. In the beginning the least thing Ellie wants to do, is to write that essay. But after a walk in the...
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...The Allegory of Good Government by Ambrogio Lorenzetti is one of the very few secular pieces of artwork from the 14th century Italy. It’s secular nature makes for a compelling analysis alone; however, it also reveals great political, cultural and social progressions of 14th century Siena. I argue that Lorenzetti’s Allegory of Good Government was a profound, and perhaps even revolutionary, piece considering the time and the subject matter of his fresco. I will begin by providing a detailed description and analysis of the fresco in its entirety and an examination of Ambrogio’s artistic style used in the fresco. The Allegory of Good Government is located in Palazzo Pubblica in Siena and is one piece of a series frescoes depicting the good and bad government in the city and country of Siena. The foreground of the painting depicts the citizens of Siena and above them on a stage you can see figures that each represent aspects of good government. This fresco in particular is strategically placed on the wall that catches the most light in the Palazzo Pubblica personifying the concept of good government. It consists of three panels depicting modern Siena under good government in both urban and rural settings. I will elaborate on specific characters in the painting, as well as heavy symbolism that reflect justice, power, wisdom and features of good government. Ambrogio employs a very naturalistic style to his work. The Allegory of Good Government is obviously set in Ambrogio’s modern...
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...young adults, Heroin is an addictive drug that destroys the human body, and can kill chronic users. The topics to be discussed in this essay are: What is Heroin, the bad effects Heroin has on the body, and what Heroin can lead to. What is Heroin? According to The Partnership (2011), “Heroin is a depressant that affects the brains pleasure systems and interferes with the brains ability to perceive pain” (Pg. 1). Research has shown that Heroin is an addictive drug imitated from the drug called Morphine. The Partnership (2011) indicates that Heroin is created from the Opium Poppy plant. The way Heroin is created is by the seeds from the Opium Poppy, which are crushed until it forms the powder substance. This powder substance is known to be called Morphine. According to Stop Heroin (2008-2012) the Opium Poppy plant are grown in numerous places. Here are just a few examples of where the Opium is grown, Southern America, Afghanistan, China, and Eastern Europe. Heroin is a powdery substance that will look white, brown, or black depending on what it is mixed with and where it came from. Pure Heroin makes the powder substance white, meaning no mixture of other chemicals have been added. Brown Heroin gets its color from other toxins, chemicals, poisons, and drugs that are combined into a mixture with Heroin. Heroin that is black is called black tar, which is a substance that is sticky. No matter what the color is of Heroin, the drug still is and always...
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...punish".[83] Freud suggests that Hamlet's apparent "distaste for sexuality"—articulated in his "nunnery" conversation with Ophelia—accords with this interpretation.[85][86] John Barrymore's long-running 1922 performance in New York was characterized as "revolutionary in its use of Freudian psychology; in keeping with the post World War I rebellion against everything Victorian, he eschewed the genteel, idealized 'Sweet Prince' of 19th-century tradition, imbuing his character with danger and sexuality."[87] Beginning in 1910, with the publication of "The Oedipus-Complex as An Explanation of Hamlet's Mystery: A Study in Motive,"[88] Ernest Jones—a psychoanalyst and Freud's biographer—developed Freud's ideas into a series of essays that culminated in...
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...Compare and contrast essay – Frank Earley and Albert Smith In the Frank Earley letter, it is clearly shown to the audience that the English soldiers are fighting with the last sense of hope they have as they have been fighting the war a lot longer compared to the Americans, which is shown in the Albert Smith letter. The audience have a real sense of empathy as Frank Earley admits to ‘how close death is to us’ which shows a feeling of near defeat in the morale of the soldiers. However, in the Albert Smith letter, the feeling of defeat and lowness of morale is non-existent as Albert writes to his little brother ‘ready to come home after the war but not before’ highlighting to the audience that he isn’t exhausted by the war yet and wants to continue fighting, showing that the Americans haven’t been in the war long and so haven’t experienced what the English have. Following on from this, the use of semantic field in the Albert Smith letter denotes a feeling of how bad the conditions were for the Americans, ‘wettest’ ‘muddiest’ ‘raining’ ‘wire entanglements’ ‘up to my waist in mud’. This evokes a feeling of empathy from the audience as we usually complain about the weather and these men dealt with it night and day whilst fighting for us and their own lives. Furthermore, in the Albert Smith letter, the war is described as ‘slaughter’ which is a very optimistic view to take compared to the Frank Earley letter where he describes his friend being killed ‘in a moment’ and that it was...
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...LITR201Literature: A Reflection of Life Phase 1 Individual Project Short Stories Prof. Lambert Colorado Technical University Gayla Burow Comparison Contrast Essay of Short Stories This paper is to analysis two short stories “A Good Man is hard to find” and “Love in LA”. Both of these stories have some common similarities, however, seem to be different eras in time. It seems that both were summer when the stories took place, both mention too of course be on a highway at some point in the stories. In both of the stories, there are accidents, one being much harsher than the other, one being a fender bender the other left the family bleeding with broken bones. I felt that most of the characters seemed to be very selfish with only thoughts of themselves. The setting for Love in La is Jake daydreaming about a better car than the one he owns and is why he hits the other character in the stories in the first place. The setting in “A Good Man is Hard” to find, takes place in Georgia mostly told through the grandmother's eyes. It seems she wants to go to Tennessee and her son wanted to go to Florida. She did not get her way even with all the whining about the misfits on the loose. After the cat causes a car crash the family comes across the Misfits, and the grandmother seems to use her faith to save herself and her family from death Characters Jake seems to be a very lazy self-centered nature, he is most defiantly a protagonist in this story. Jake is a dishonest man and does not want...
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...Gun Control is when you keep firearms plus guns away from people. Many people think that gun control is right because they think keeping people away from guns will reduce the amount of deaths each year. They also think that guns cause many of the deaths that had been committed each year. Also when ever people hear the word gun, the thoughts are of violence and negativity. Many people, myself included think gun control is wrong because we know that it is not necessary, since we know that guns were not involved in many of the deaths caused each year. While many other people disagree and think it is good because of the safety for people. In this essay I will tell you why gun control is unnecessary and why there shouldn?t be any gun control at all. There have been many gun control laws established throughout the U.S., but they vary from state to state. For example, in Colorado you can purchase any type of gun: handgun, machine gun, shotgun, rifle, automatic rifle, etc. at the age of 18, while in other places you would need a hunting license.1 I think this is unfair because when I?m at the age of 18 I would want to buy a gun, but I can?t because I?m living in California and another 18 year old could in Colorado. Also, another example is that in some states, they allow citizens to carry concealed weapons, while in other states citizens can?t. I don?t think this is fair at all because I think they should make laws that suits the whole U.S., and not make different laws in different...
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