Animal Cruelty Persuasive Speech - 962 Words

Did you know that under the Criminal Code of Canada under Section 445.1(1) any person who willfully causes or as owner permits unnecessary pain, suffering or injury to an animal is held accountable. You should listen to my speech because it will explain to you why you should stand up against animal cruelty. I will try to persuade you with logic and you can make up your mind after listening. I believe we should side against animal cruelty because animals suffer serious bodily harm from the abuse, animals cannot defend themselves and people who commit animal cruelty usually commit acts of violence against humans. We should stop this so we can stop people from accepting and ignoring these atrocities as part of our culture. First of all,†¦show more content†¦30% of children who see violence of the domestic kind display violence against the pets that they own. This statistic shows that if children are willing to attack animals than they are clearly physically superior to the animals that are abused. These animals cannot defend themselves like paralyzed people cannot defend themselves against able humans. It is a true cruelty and you should stand against it. Third, abuse to animals is linked to criminal activities. Robert K Ressler, who has developed many profiles for serial killers for the FBI said, â€Å"Murderers ... very often start out by killing and torturing animals as kids,† (Ressler, Animal Abuse and Human Abuse: Partners in Crime). This is true as a lot of serial killers’ experiment on their animals first. For example, Albert deSalvo, also known as the Boston strangler, killed 13 women. When he was a child he used to shoot dogs and cats which he had trapped with arrows. A serial killer named Jeffrey Dahmer used to impale cats, dogs and frogs’ heads onto sticks. Dennis Rader, the BTK killer from Kansas, was found to have hanged a cat as well as a dog during his youth. Lee Boyd Malvo, a teenager who shot 10 people through the use of a rifle, was suspected of killing many cats with a slingshot at the age of 14. InShow MoreRelatedPersuasive Speech On Animal Cruelty1014 Words   |  5 Pagesemployee if the animals are happy to be here; which makes you think, are these animals really all that happy about being adopted? Some of the dogs at the store are cheerful and high spirited with their tails wagging, bright eyes, and playful personality; while some of the dogs are miserable and lethargic, with no wagging tails, droopy eyes, and no interest in humans what so ever. Many dogs, and not just dogs, suffer from several dreadful things that humans do to them, which can cause the animal to have aRead MorePersuasive Speech About Animal Cruelty1409 Words   |  6 Pageshorrify and heartbreaking? People say they love animals but that’s false. Something that animal lovers don’t know is that 56 billion farmed animals are killed every year by humans and 200 million animals are reported killed by hunters in the United States every year. Treating animals for their fur and bones is not g ood for them and us. There meat can cause cancer, using their belongings is depressing and there should be more compassionate for them. I see animals as humans because they can feel happinessRead MoreGeorge Orwell s Novel, Animal Farm881 Words   |  4 Pagesnovel, Animal Farm: 1945. Persuasive proses will be discussed with the use of linguistic features such as lexical cohesion, metaphor, hyperbole, mood, pronouns, quoted speech, polarity and tense. This will be based on the persuasion and the creation of an alliance, focussing on the freedom and concern of similar parties. The entire extract has made use of quoted speech using scare quotes, drawing attention to the speaker’s ideas and message of freedom and a possible rebellion. The quoted speech is directedRead MoreWe Like It1884 Words   |  8 PagesMy persuasive speech will be on the topic of Animal Testing. Animal testing is the testing and experimentation of products on animals to test the safety levels and reactions. I chose to select this topic, because it really bothers me that animal testing is still allowed today. I have pets, and all my friends have pets and its just something I could never imagine them going through. I will need to find information concerning the laws on animal testing, the different types of animal testingRead MoreInformative Speech : Product Testing On Animals785 Words   |  4 PagesTYPE OF SPEECH: Persuasive Speech Topic: Product testing on animals Purpose Statement: Keep from testing cosmetics on animals. Thesis Statement: Animals are forced to try products. From forced eating to wearing l oreal makeup. Organizational Pattern: Problem- Solution --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Introduction Attention Getter (Capture): Have you ever wished for a rabbit or a guinea pig? Motivate: Most of theRead MorePersuasive Speech For Teenagers Who Are Considering Becoming Vegan1349 Words   |  6 PagesJackson PORTER English Persuasive Speech Statement of Intent: I am writing a persuasive speech for teenagers who are considering becoming vegan. This would be presented at schools and could also be formed into some sort of video to go online. My contentions are that eating a strictly vegan diet can cause an insufficient intake of essential nutrients as well as that eating only vegetables can create an extremely high demand for plant products in turn killing thousands of small animals. I am going to challengeRead MorePersuasive Speech : Factory Farming822 Words   |  4 PagesSample Persuasive Speech Outline Topic: Factory Farming Organizational Pattern: Monroe’s Motivated Sequence Specific Purpose: To persuade the audience that factory farms are dangerous and abusive and therefore need to be banned. Primary Audience Outcome: I the want the audience to join or support national organizations that protest against factory farms. Thesis Statement: The U.S. government should ban factory farms and require the meat industry to raise animals in their natural environmentsRead MoreCelebrating Independence Day1146 Words   |  5 Pageswitness of cruelty at the hands of his owners, therefore he had strong hatred toward slavery in the United States. After escaping from slavery to be a free man in 1838, he published several autobiographies and became an outspoken advocate for the abolitionist movement. One of the most recognized speeches of Frederick Douglass - â€Å"What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?† - was held on the nations 76th anniversary. By revealing unfairness and injustice of racism throughout this speech, Douglass,Read MoreIncidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl Essay1513 Words   |  7 PagesIn 1841, he began to participate in the abolitionist movement. Frederick Douglass rose to fame after publishing ‘The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass’, a slave narrative which reco unted his experiences as a slave. A slave narrative is persuasive non-fiction that is written in the first person. Its intention is to enlighten the audience on the terrors of slavery and spur immediate action against it. Slave narratives were targeted at the Northerners because they were more sympathetic towardsRead MoreGeorge Orwell s Animal Farm1376 Words   |  6 PagesGeorge Orwell or Eric Blair, the author of â€Å"Animal Farm†, was a man who was best known for his journalism, writing, and political insights. He was able to bind all the corruption caused by the Russian Revolution, Stalinism, and Communism in an allegorical book, â€Å"Animal Farm.† In his book, he symbolized all the leaders and significant people involved in the Russian Revolution from Karl Marx to Tsar Nicholas II to Hitler, in the setting of a rebellion of animals towards humans. In Orwell’s allegory, there

Medical Errors And Health Care - 1581 Words

Medical Errors Going forward we can expect our health care cost to rise upward to 7 percent in the near future. Out of pocket spending will also raise from things like $850 to $1400 a year per family. This continuation will have to be addressed by each CEO’s and Health care management to ensure lessons learned are correct and shifted to ensure a positive change and growth. With that being said, another area of concern will be training and staffing quality employees. This will always be a concern for management and Human resource department. The institute of Medicine issued reports reflecting this concern and how the market and business would have to adjust their mindset and strategic thinking to ensure all needs are met. With†¦show more content†¦By not revealing a medical error to the patient, the health care specialist prominently puts their own agenda first over the patients’ needs and moral right to know. The courage to show integrity and to do the right thing is a trai t that all health care workers must possess in order to do no harm to the patient. For the physician to choose not to ask justly and hide the mal practice shows that the physician does not practice nonmaleficence. This leaves the patient worried about the prognosis of their treatment. As well as, if medical errors are reported it can be a teaching tool on how to prevent in the future and protect other patients. This also extends beyond the hospital campus and into long time care and hospice care as well. The cost and quality of care has seen major changes and the decline of quality care have dipped in recent years. Applying these medical error reports to the latest quality assurance reports will assist management and hospital leaders to make better decisions, keep the patient needs, and care as the drive for success. To conclude, justice is usually a value that all physicians should comply with, it can actually help build patient relationship trust therefore creating stronger bon ds and a better network. Reconstructing the ER The emergency departments see thousands of patients a year. In today’s societies, most emergency cases are due to the fact of the growing chronically illShow MoreRelatedMedical Errors And Health Care1343 Words   |  6 Pagesquality of the system of medical care. Regardless of this fact, many issues suggest that when it comes to assuring high quality for everyone. Not all is well since the current health care system is a top economic and social problem to the Americans (Health Care Problems, 2015). Many issues such as medical errors, quality of care, that can impact a health care organization (hospitals, clinics, and physicians). One of those issues is the medical errors. The medical errors occur when a hospital or doctorRead MoreHealth Care For Medical Errors804 Words   |  4 Pagesconcerns about the large number of preventable errors that continue to occur in our current system (Sachs, 2015). Between 210,000 and 400,000 deaths happen yearly due to m edical errors in addition to approximately 4,000,000 to 8,000,000 errors that cause serious harm. It is clear that high costs are not providing excelling results. As our current system continues to shift in this value-based direction, we will likely see even further changes in how and where care and treatments are provided (Phillips, 2015)Read MoreMedical Errors And Health Care2161 Words   |  9 Pagesmillions of people enter some type of health care facility seeking medical treatment. They go to these places because they trust the physicians, nurses, and all other medical personnel are there to provide them with adequate, quality care with hopes that they will be discharged in a healthier state. Inadvertently, each day millions of people entering these facilities and experiencing more complications than expected due to some type of medical error. Medical errors are becoming more and more frequentRead MoreMedical Errors And Health Care2169 Words   |  9 Pagesmillions of people enter some type of health care facility seeking medical treatment. They go to these places because they trust the physicians, nurses, and all other medical personnel are there to provide them with adequate, quality care with hopes that they will be discharged in a healthier state. Inadvertently, each day millions of people entering these facilities and experiencing more complications than expected due to some type of medical error. Medical errors are becoming more and more frequentRead MoreMedical Errors And Its Impact On Health Care1393 Words   |  6 PagesThe United States Health Care System currently has a unique quantity of the different types of medical care that the system offers. Regardless of this fact, many issues arise when it comes to assuring high quality care for everyone. Not all is well since the current health care system is a top economic and social problem for Americans (Health Care Problems, 2015). Many issues such as medical errors, quality of care, and other i ssues can impact the health care organization such as hospitals, clinicsRead MorePolicy History : Medical Errors1034 Words   |  5 PagesPolicy History Medical errors in the United States has been an intense topic of interest for politicians, researchers, and the general public alike for a number of years now. Concern about medical errors grew in the US following the release of â€Å"To ERR is Human: Building a safer Health System† report issued by the Institute of Medicine (IOM). This apprehension most noticeably started during the Clinton administration; IOM released their groundbreaking report in 1999 during the Clinton administrationRead MoreMedical Error1170 Words   |  5 PagesMedical Error: What the Public Should Know â€Å"For all of its strengths, our health care system still is plagued by avoidable errors.† -President Bill Clinton The issue of medical error is recognized as a very serious U.S. healthcare concern in terms of avoidable patient death and injury, achieving efficacious treatment, and in controlling the costs. The prevention of medical errors may seem to be a relatively simple task and with recent awareness, some improvements have been accomplished.Read MoreCurrent Health Care Issues Essay examples1651 Words   |  7 PagesCurrent Health Care Issues HCS - 545 11/19/2012 Organizational Responsibility amp; Current Health Care Issues In todays modern world with plenty of technology, it is hard to believe that we cannot figure out how to reduce Medical errors. The issue of medical error is not new in health care organizations. It has been in spot light since 1990s, when government did research on sudden increase in number of death in the hospitals. According to Lester, H., amp; Tritter, J. (2001), Medical errorRead MoreIntroduction and Evaluation in Healthcare843 Words   |  3 PagesIntroduction and Evaluation In medicine, our knowledge of errors has been derived mainly from research of adverse occasions in hospital surroundings. Researchers record the incidence of adverse occasions in between 2.9% and 3.7% of most hospitalizations. Even though research workers disagree around the precise reason for adverse occasions, they often report avoidable clinical errors which happen throughout diagnosis as well as treatment supervision, especially throughout medication purchasingRead MoreProblems Associated With Medical Residence And Students1197 Words   |  5 PagesMedical residence and students are also familiar with shift work. These individuals may even exhibit more severe symptoms of fatigue than nurses and physicians. The average resident works roughly 90 hours a week. They also work shifts known as heavy call rotations. These heavy call rotations consist of residents being on call two to three days a week with, one 24 hours day off out of a 7-day period. Within this rotation they are requ ired to experience both day and night shifts (Lockley, Barger 10-12)

Exploring Christianity and Paganism in the Anglo-Saxon Society free essay sample

The foundation of religion is the utter conviction that one’s religion is the absolute truth. Having such utter confidence that one’s religion is such, one becomes morally bound with a duty to share this truth with as many people as they can. A bard in the eleventh century, in the ingenious combination of entertainment and preaching, delivers the story of Beowulf, where an honorable hero battles manifestations of evil itself. At the crossroads of paganism and Christianity, the characters in Beowulf and the Anglo-Saxon people alike faced the essential blending of two religious lifestyles in several life-affecting scenarios into one semi-coherent religious viewpoint. In the epic poem, Beowulf, the ideals of Christianity dominate over those of paganism through the shift of pagan values to praises of God, the biblical allusions, and the role Beowulf plays as a Christ-like figure, proving the author’s bias and demonstrating the nature of the Anglo-Saxon time period. To embellish this theme, it is necessary to acknowledge the unique dichotomy that exists in the epic tale between vastly different religious viewpoints. The author exemplifies this relationship constantly throughout the poem mainly in the mention of pagan values. Among these is the heroic value of fame. Beowulf himself boldly proclaims, â€Å"he who can earn it should fight / For the glory of his name; fame after death / Is the noblest of goals† (1387-89). Essentially, Beowulf emboldens the other characters with a reminder of a traditional value: that legacy is the only reward that a good soldier may hope to achieve. This value is one example among many of the contrast that exists between pagan and Christian principles in the poem and in the Anglo-Saxon society. Namely, Christianity holds that eternal life waits for the deceased soul, not merely a legacy, a burden that bards in the coming ages must sing into remembrance. In spite of that, this contrast epitomizes the balance t hat the Anglo-Saxons may have attained. Essentially, that narration proves that the two religions may peacefully coexist. While the values differ widely, the Anglo-Saxon society seemed to approach the issue of religion with ambiguity and ambivalence. To elaborate this enigmatic coupling, one might safely infer that a new religion, mixed of the two of these was born. The narrator notes, â€Å"But God’s dread loom / Was woven  with defeat for the monster, good fortune / For the Geats† (696-98). This statement serves several purposes to the advancement of the plot and the role of religion in the Anglo-Saxon era. Principally, it underscores the connection of pagan imagery, such as the woven loom for fate, to a Christian context. Fate becomes the jurisdiction of God. Also, it creates a moral battle between good and evil, central to any religious belief system. Put together, this connection accentuates the transitional sentiment of such a religion. More clearly, the author couples these religiously different entities together in order to facilitate the arrival and cultivation of Christianity into the Anglo-Saxon culture. Perhaps this transition is necessary for the acceptance of Christianity into a largely polytheistic and pagan-based society. Moreover, from this quotation the reader may notice a direct use of foreshadowing for the eve nts to follow. In this case, the reference to God’s weaving of fate suggests a favorable outcome against Grendel, a monstrous antagonist, for Beowulf and his clan. The author of this piece allows his views on the subject of religion to permeate through this epic poem to a large degree. While he acknowledges that these pagan ideals carry significance, it seems he holds contempt for the peoples of an age not much younger than this one who are not yet exposed to the views of Christianity. He states, â€Å"And sometimes they sacrificed to the old stone gods, / Made heathen vows, hoping for Hell’s / Support† (175-77). While one may learn from the accounts of each religion in this poem, the author is noticeably Christian in his interpretation of the heroic story of Beowulf. From this perspective of Beowulf’s adventures and the references to both forms of religion, one can gather that the Anglo-Saxon time period reflects similar values. Hence, in the poem, there is a definite transferal of pagan values to Christian dominion. In the face of this juxtaposition of religious values, the poem takes on a greater Christian theme than pagan through the scriptural and doctrinal allusions explicitly stated. To explain, the author utilizes two main types of explicit allusion. The first, the more vague approach, occurs when the author acknowledges God’s domain of humanity. Dutifully, the author mentions, â€Å"Then and now / man must lie in their Maker’s holy / Hands, moved only as He wills: / Our hearts must seek out that will† (1057-60). This  quotation outlines a recurring theme of the influence of Christian doctrine in the poem. It becomes difficult to apply this theme of Christian dominance to the Anglo-Saxon society as a whole, however, because the author of the tale, clearly Christian, caters to an audience with likely greater acceptance of Christianity than the characters in the time period the work represents. While this allusion calls upon the power of God, the second example of specifically mentioned allusion is a direct reference to the biblical story of Cain and Abel. Beowulf, taking the role as a soldier of God, marks the death of Grendel with an assertion that God had â€Å"branded him with a murderer’s mark† (1264). Declaring the antagonists in this poem as descendants of the race of Cain, the author demonstrates his point rather clearly that they are enemies of not only Beowulf, but the establishment of Christianity itself. Interestingly, Beowulf is quick to lay judgment on Unferth, too, for the crime of killing siblings. The Christian influence provides the background upon which the author reveals greater points. Here, Christian allusion is the vehicle by which the author may emphasize his avid support for Christianity as a whole. In this manner, Christian allusion dominates the majority of the poem. In addition the explicit elucidation of Christianity in allusion, the author also treats the subject of religion implicitly using symbolism. Foremost of the symbolism in the poem, Beowulf emerges as a Christ-like figure. Beowulf’s battles bear a strong resemblance to the crucifixion of Christ. Essentially, the narrator outlines the symbolism of the battle with Grendel when he states, â€Å"And through the might of a single man / They would win† (698-99). Like Christ, Beowulf must face a task that will benefit all who follow him even though he must accomplish this alone. When Grendel attacks Beowulf, the narrator says, â€Å"that prince / Remembered God’s grace and strength He’d given him / And relied on the Lord for all the help, / The comfort and support he would need† (1268-72). The battle with Grendel, then, is innately similar to the suffering of Jesus, also a prince; though when Beowulf conquers Grendel, he receives great praise. In contrast to that praise, when Christ conquered death, he did not welcome glory, but instead sacrificed his own life. To truly symbolize the crucifixion, a study of the fight with the dragon is necessary. The dragon, a seemingly unstoppable  force of evil for Herot and an enemy to God, confronts Beowulf as boldly as Beowulf confronts it. Beowulf battles with all his might, but the narrator ultimately comments, â€Å"That noble prince / Would end his days on earth soon †¦ but would take the dragon with him† (2341-44). This final battle portrays the concession of Beowulf’s own life for the people he means to save. This quality is very similar to Christ. Beowulf seems to accept the duty of his woven fate in the same manner as Christ’s acceptance. If Beowulf were to have a flaw though, since he is but human, it may very well be his pride and need for fame. Quickly approaching death, Beowulf casts himself into deep sorrow. The narrator says, â€Å"he has accused himself of breaking God’s law, of bringing / The Almighty’s anger down on his people† (2328-30). His worry may be unwarranted, but the guilt is incredibly important to the idea that Beowulf, even as a Christ-like protagonist is flawed. His redeeming factor lies in his acceptance of blame. No man is without fault, but Beowulf is certainly not without a degree of wisdom when he accepts the blame. Therefore, the implicit allusion of Beowulf as Christ shows the Christianity of the Anglo-Saxon time period and the inflection of the Christian author towards his Christian audience. Thus, through the mix of pagan and Christian values, the allusions, and the Christ-like symbolism, Beowulf portrays a Christian-dominated Anglo-Saxon society and a biased narrator. While heroes in history have come and gone, Beowulf may rightly take his place among the greatest. He succeeds to immortalize a legacy, a feat that countless people have dedicated their whole lives to accomplish without nearly as much success. Whether it is by the work of God or of gods, history smiles on the legacy of heroes like Beowulf. Perhaps a literary hero is truly timeless even in the face of drastic worldly change.

John Milton Essays (770 words) - Literature, Poetry, Sonnets

John Milton John Milton: On his blindness John Milton was born in 1608 to a Puritan family. During his service to the Commonwealth, in 1652, Milton became blind and it became necessary for others to share in his labors. His blindness occasioned one of the most moving of his sonnets, On his blindness, written in 1655. It records his fear that he will never be able to use his God-given gift for poetry again. Yet God may demand an accounting of his righteousness. And his entry into Heaven will depend upon how well he has used the gifts that God gave him. The sonnet ends with Milton's acceptance of the fact that what God wants of him is obedience and resignation. He can then serve God even if he cannot write poetry, for they also serve who only stand and wait. The most effective of the personal sonnets is #19, usually called On his blindness. This allusion to his blindness is the first of many in his poetry. When I consider how my light is spent When I judge how my ability to see has been taken away Ere half my days in this dark world and wide, After I have only lived half of my life And that one talent which is death to hide Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent This is based on the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30) in which the unprofitable servant was punished for burying, not using, the talent his master had given him. Milton is pondering whether he will be punished for not using his ability that is useless and will weigh down his final judgment. To serve therewith my maker, and present My true account, lest He returning chide, Milton cannot serve God by using his ability to see and now he must face God in his ?true account? of being blind. And if God was to reprimand Milton because he has not served God well he will say the following: ?Doth God exact day-labor, light denied I fondly ask. But patience, to prevent That murmur, soon replies, ?God doth not need Either man's work or his on gifts. Who best bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. Milton wonders, now that blindness has fallen upon him before half his working life is spent, whether God will still expect him to use his talent. Milton now says that with patience his murmur of spite against God, ?Doth God will be avoided. And patience replies: God does not need men to serve Him nor to serenade Him, whoever carry His burdens without complaint, serve him finest. The term ?mild yoke? is a double-entendre. The ?Yoke? blindness as the burden, is not so bad a punishment. Proof that the punishment of loss of sight was not as bad as conceived was that Milton, while blind, continued to accomplish what most people who are privileged to see cannot do, to write to well-known epic poems: Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained. The second meaning is that one should bear God's burdens (yoke) in a mild manner and not complain of the suffering and serve God as best as one is able. His state Is kingly: thousands at his bidding speed, And post o'er land and ocean without rest; They also serve who only stand and wait.? God is kingly and omnipotent. Thousands serve Him at His beckoning. Milton is answered with the idea that there are angels of contemplation as well as of action; similarly, some men may serve God best who humbly accept His decrees, waiting in faith on His will. Patience replies that while God does not really need Either man's work or his own gift, He wants obedience and resignation. Thousands of angels serve Him, but men also serve who only stand and wait. There are many scriptural passages that Milton may have had in mind, such as ?Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him (Psalm 37:7). This poem appeals to me because Milton says that at first he was concerned that he would not be admitted into heaven because he did not serve God, but later he concludes that one may go to heaven through faith in God. I can apply this to my own life and serve God with the abilities that

How to Write a Great College Essay, Step-by-Step

How to Write a Great College Essay, Step-by-Step SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Writing your personal statement for your college application is an undeniably overwhelming project. Your essay is your big shot to show colleges who you are - it’s totally reasonable to get stressed out. But don’t let that stress paralyze you. This guide will walk you through each step of the essay writing process to help you understand exactly what you need to do to write the best possible personal statement. I'm alsogoing to follow an imaginary student named Eva as she plans and writes her college essay, from her initial organization and brainstorming to her final edits. By the end of this article, you'll have all the toolsyou need to createa fantastic, effective college essay. So how do you writea goodcollege essay? The processstarts with finding the best possibletopic, which means understanding what the prompt is asking for and taking the time to brainstorm a variety of options. Next, you'll determinehow to create an interesting essay that shows off your unique perspective and write multiple drafts in order to hone your structureand language. Onceyour writing is as effective and engaging as possible, you'll do a final sweep to make sure everything is correct. This guide coversthe following steps: Organizing Brainstorming Picking a topic Making a plan Writing a draft Editing your draft Finalizing your draft Repeating the process Feature Image: John O'Nolan/Flickr Step 1: Get Organized The first step in how to write a college essay is figuring out what you actually need to do. Although many schools are now on the Common App, some very popular colleges, including University of Texas and University of California,still have their own applications and writing requirements. Even for Common App schools, you may need to write a supplemental essay or provide short answers to questions. Before you get started, you shouldknow exactly what essays you need to write. Having this information allows you to plan the best approach to each essay and helps you cut down on work by determining whetheryou can use an essay for more than one prompt. Start Early Writing good college essays involves a lot of work: you need dozens of hours to get just one personal statement properly polished, and that's before you even start to consider any supplemental essays. In order to make sure you have plenty of time to brainstorm, write, and edit your essay (or essays), I recommend starting at least two months before your first deadline. The last thing you want is to end up with a low-quality essay you aren't proud of because you ran out of time and had to submit something unfinished. Determine What You Need to Do As I touched on above, each college has its own essay requirements, so you'll need to go through and determine what exactly you need to submit for each school. This process issimpleif you’re only using the Common App, since you can easily view therequirements for each school under the "My Colleges" tab. Watch out, though, because some schools have a dedicated "Writing Supplement" section, while others (even those that want a full essay) will put their prompts inthe "Questions" section. It gets trickier if you’re applying to any schools that aren't onthe Common App. You'll need to look up the essay requirements for each college - what's required should be clear on the application itself, or you can look under the "how to apply" section of the school's website. Once you've determined the requirements for each school, I recommend making yourself a chartwith the school name, word limit, and application deadline on one side andthe prompt or prompts you need to respond to on the other. That way you'll be able to see exactly what you need to do and when you need to do it by. Decide Where to Start If you have one essay that's due earlier than the others, start there. Otherwise, start with the essay for your top choice school. I would also recommend starting with alonger personal statement beforemoving on to shorter supplementary essays, since the 500 - 700 word essays tend to take quite a bit longer than 100 - 250 word short responses. The brainstorming you do for the long essay may help you come up with ideas you like for the shorter ones as well. Also considerwhether some of the prompts are similar enough that you could submitthe same essay to multiple schools. Doing so can save you some time and let you focus on a few really great essays rather than a lot of mediocre ones. However,don't reuse essays for dissimilar or very school-specific prompts, especially â€Å"why us† essays. If a college asks you to write aboutwhy you're excited to go there, admissions officers want to see evidence that you're genuinely interested. Reusing an essay about another school and swapping out thenames isthe fastest way to prove you aren't. Example: Eva's College List Eva is applying early to Emory University and regular decision to University of Washington, UCLA, and Reed College. Emory and Reed both use the Common App. College Essay Prompt University of Washington December 1st 600 words Discuss how your family’s experience or cultural history enriched you or presented you with opportunities or challenges in pursuing your educational goals. OR Tell us a story from your life, describing an experience that either demonstrates your character or helped to shape it. University of Washington December 1st 300 words The University of Washington seeks to create a community of students richly diverse in cultural backgrounds, experiences, and viewpoints. How would you contribute to this community? OR Describe an experience of cultural difference or insensitivity you have had or observed. What did you learn from it? UCLA November 30 1,000 words total Describe the world you come from - for example, your family, community or school - and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations. AND Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud and how does it relate to the person you are? Common App November 1 650 words 1. Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. 2. The lessons we take from failure can be fundamental to later success. Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience? 3. Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again? 4. Describe a problem you’ve solved or a problem you’d like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma-anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution. 5. Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family. Emory University 500 words November 1 Last August, Susan Grant, chief nurse executive for Emory Healthcare, said this of Emory’s choice to treat patients with Ebola: "We can either let our actions be guided by misunderstandings, fear and self-interest, or we can lead by knowledge, science and compassion. We can fear, or we can care." Consider her idea of doing what is in the public interest despite potential cost. Please discuss an example in your life or the life of another that's come to your attention. OR In the spirit of Emory's tradition of courageous inquiry, what question do you want to help answer and why? Reed College Jan 1 200-500 words For one week at the end of January, Reed students upend the traditional classroom hierarchy and teach classes about any topic they love, academic or otherwise. This week is known as Paideia after the Greek term signifying â€Å"education† – the complete education of mind, body and spirit. What would you teach that would contribute to the Reed community? Even though she's only applying to four schools, Eva has a lot to do: two essays for UW, two for the UC application, and one for the Common App, plus the supplements for Reed and Emory. Manystudents will have fewer requirements to complete, but those who are applying to very selective schools or a number of schools on different applications will have as many or even more responses to write. Since Eva's first deadline isearly decision forEmory, she’ll start by writing the Common App essay, and then work on the Emory supplement. (For the purposes of this post, we’ll focus on the Common App essay.) Colored paper clips: functionaland fun! (At least if you love organization.) Step 2: Brainstorm Next up in how to write a college essay: brainstorming essay ideas. There are tons ofways to come up with ideas for your essay topic: I've outlined three below. I recommend trying all of themand compilinga list of possible topics, then narrowing it down to the very best one or, if you're writing multiple essays, ones. Keep in mind as you brainstorm that there’s no best college essay topic, just the best topic for you. Don’t feel obligated to write about something because you think you should - those types of essays tend to be boring and uninspired. Similarly, don't simply write about the first idea that crosses your mindbecause you don't want to bother trying to think of something more interesting. Take the timeto come up with a topic you’re really excited about and that you can write about in detail. Want to write the perfect college application essay? Get professional help from PrepScholar. Your dedicated PrepScholar Admissions counselor will craft your perfect college essay, from the ground up. We'll learn your background and interests, brainstorm essay topics, and walk you through the essay drafting process, step-by-step. At the end, you'll have a unique essay that you'll proudly submit to your top choice colleges. Don't leave your college application to chance. Find out more about PrepScholar Admissions now: Analyze the Prompts One way to find possibletopics is to think deeply aboutthe college's essay prompt. What are they asking you for? Break them downand analyze every angle. Does the question include more than one part? Are there multiple tasks you need to complete? What do you think the admissions officers are hoping to learn about you? In cases where you have more than one choice of prompt, does one especially appeal to you? Why? Let's dissectone of the University of Washington prompts as an example: "Discuss how your family’s experience or cultural history enriched you or presented you with opportunities or challenges in pursuing your educational goals." This question is basically asking how your family affected your education, but it offers a number of possible angles. You can talk about the effects of either your family life (likeyour relationship with your parents or what your household was like growing up) or your cultural history (like your Jewish faith or your Venezuelan heritage). You can also choose between focusing on positive or negative effects of your family or culture.No matter what however, the readersdefinitely want to hear about your educational goals (i.e. what you hope to get out of college) and how they're related to your personal experience. As you try to think of answers for a prompt, imagine about what you would say if you were asked the question by a friend or during a get-to-know-you icebreaker. After all, admissions officers are basically just people who you want to get to knowyou. The essay questions can make a great jumping off point, but don’t feel married to them. Most prompts are general enough that you can come up with an idea and then fit it to the question. Consider Important Experiences, Events, and Ideas in Your Life What experience, talent, interest or other quirk do you have that you might want to share with colleges? In other words, what makes you you?Possible topicsinclude hobbies, extracurriculars, intellectual interests, jobs, significant one-time events, pieces of family history, or anything else that has shaped your perspective on life. Unexpected or slightly unusual topics are often the best: your passionate love of Korean dramas or your yearly family road trip to an important historical site. You want your essayto add something to your application, so if you’re an All-American soccer player and want to write about the role soccer has played in your life, you’ll have a higher bar to clear. Of course if you have a more serious part of your personal history - the death of a parent, serious illness, or challenging upbringing - you can write about that. But make sure you feel comfortable sharing details of the experience with the admissions committee and that you can separate yourself from it enough to take constructive criticism on your essay. What do you see when you look in the mirror? Think About How You See Yourself The last brainstorming method is to consider whether there are particular personality traits you want to highlight. This approach can feel rather silly, but it can also be very effective. If you were trying to sell yourself to an employer, or maybe even a potential date, how would you do it? Try to think about specific qualities that make you stand out.What are some situations in which you exhibited this trait? Example: Eva's Ideas Looking at the Common App prompts, Eva wasn’t immediately drawn to any of them, but after a bit of consideration she thought it might be nice to write about her love of literature for the first one, which asks about something "so meaningful your application would be incomplete without it." Alternatively, she liked the specificity of the failure prompt and thought she might write about a bad job interview she had had. In terms of important events, Eva’s parents got divorced when she was three andshe’s been going back and forth between their houses for as long as she can remember, so that’s a big part of her personal story. She’s also played piano for all four years of high school, although she's not particularlygood. As for personal traits, Eva is really proud of her curiosity - if she doesn’t know something, she immediately looks it up, and often ends up discovering new topics she’s interested in. It’s a trait that’s definitely come in handy as a reporter for her school paper. Step 3: Narrow Down Your List Now you have a list of potential topics, but probably no idea where to start. The next step is to go through your ideas and determinewhich onewill make for the strongest essay. You'll thenbegin thinking about how best to approach it. What to Look For in a College Essay Topic There's no single answer to the question of what makes a great college essay topic, but there are somekey factors you should keep in mind. The best essaysare focused, detailed, revealing and insightful, and finding the righttopic is vitalto writing a killer essay with all of those qualities. As you go through your ideas, be discriminating - really think about how each topic could work as an essay. Butdon’t be too hard on yourself; even if an ideamay not work exactly the way you first thought, there may be another way to approach it. Pay attention to whatyou're really excited about and look for ways to make those ideas work. Once you have a bunch of "idea"s, you have to decide which one really stands out. Does ItMatter to You? If you don’t care about your topic, it will be hard to convince your readers to care about it either. You can't write a revealing essay about yourself unless you write about a topic that is truly important to you. But don’t confuse important to you withimportantto the world:a college essay is not a persuasive argument. The point is to givethe reader a sense of who you are, not to make a political or intellectual point. The essay needs to be personal. Similarly, a lot of students feel like they have to write about a major life event or their most impressive achievement. But the purposeof a personal statement isn't to serve as a resume or a brag sheet - there are plenty of other places in the application for you to list that information. Many of the best essays areabout something small because your approach to acommon experience generallyreveals a lot about your perspective on the world. Mostly, your topic needs to have had a genuine effect on your outlook, whether it taught you something about yourself or significantly shifted your view on something else. Does It Tell the Reader Something Different About You? Your essay should add something to your application that isn’t obvious elsewhere. Again, there are sections for all of your extracurriculars and awards; the point of the essay is to reveal something more personal that isn't clear just from numbers and lists. You also want to make sure that if you're sending more than one essay to a school - like a Common App personal statement and a school-specific supplement - the two essays take on different topics. Is ItSpecific? Your essay should ultimately have a very narrow focus. 650 words may seem like a lot, but you can fill it up very quickly. This means you either need to have a very specific topic from the beginning or find a specific aspect of a broader topic to focus on. If you try to take on a verybroad topic, you’ll end up with a bunch of general statements and boring lists of your accomplishments. Instead, you want to find a short anecdote or single idea to explore in depth. Can You DiscussIt in Detail? A vague essay is a boring essay - specific details are what imbueyour essay with yourpersonality. For example, if I tell my friend that I hada great dessert yesterday, she probably won't be that interested. But if I explainthat I ate an amazing piece of peach raspberry pie with flaky, buttery crust and filling that was both sweet and tart, she will probablydemand to know where I obtainedit (at least she will if she appreciates the joys of pie). She'll also learn more about me: I love pie and I analyzedeserts with great seriousness. Given the importance of details, writing about something that happened a long time ago or that you don’t remember well isn't usually a wisechoice. If you can't describe something in depth, it will be challenging to write a compelling essay about it. You also shouldn't pick a topic you aren't actually comfortable talking about. Some students are excited to write essays about very personal topics, like their mother's bipolar disorder or their family's financial struggles, but others dislike sharing details about these kinds of experiences. If you're a member of the latter group, that's totally okay, just don't write about one of these sensitive topics. Still, don’t worry that every single detail has to be perfectly correct. Definitely don’t make anything up, but if you remember a wall as green and it was really blue, your readers won'tnotice or care. You don't have to know exactly how many dewdrops there were on the leaf. Can It Be Related to the Prompt? As long as you’re talking about yourself, there are very few ideas that you can’t tie back to one of the Common App prompts. But if you’re applying to a school with its own more specific prompt, or working on supplemental essays, making sure to address the question will be a greater concern. Want to write the perfect college application essay? Get professional help from PrepScholar. Your dedicated PrepScholar Admissions counselor will craft your perfect college essay, from the ground up. We'll learn your background and interests, brainstorm essay topics, and walk you through the essay drafting process, step-by-step. At the end, you'll have a unique essay that you'll proudly submit to your top choice colleges. Don't leave your college application to chance. Find out more about PrepScholar Admissions now: Deciding on a Topic Once you've gone through the questions above, you should have good sense of what you want to write about. Hopefully, it's also gotten you started thinking about how you can best approach that topic, but we'll cover how to plan your essaymore fully in the next step. If after going through the narrowing process, you’ve eliminated all your topics, first look back over them: are you being too hard on yourself? Are there any that you really like, but just aren’t totally sure what angle to take on? If so, try looking at the next section and seeing if you can’t find a different way to approach it. If you just don't have an idea you're happy with, that’s okay! Give yourself a week to think about it. Sometimes you’ll end up having a genius idea in the car on the way to school or while studying for your U.S. history test. Otherwise, try the brainstorming process again when you’ve had a break. If, on the other hand, you have more than oneidea you really like, consider whether any of themcan be used for other essays you need to write. Example: Picking Eva's Topic After brainstorming, Eva has a list of five possible topics: Love of books Failed job interview Piano Parents’ divorce Reporting Eva immediately rules out writing about playing piano, because it sounds super boring to her and it’s not something she is particularly passionate about. She also decides not to write about splitting time between her parents because she just isn’t comfortable sharing her feelings about it with an admissions committee. She feels more positive about the other three, so she decides to think about them for a couple of days. She ends up ruling out the job interview because she just can’t come up with that many details she could include. She's excited about both of her last two ideas, but sees issues with both of them: the books idea is very broad and the reporting idea doesn’t seem to apply to any of the prompts. Then she realizes that she can address the solving a problem prompt by talking about a time she was trying to research a story about the closing of a local movie theater, so she decides to go with that topic. Step 4: Figure Out Your Approach You’ve decided on a topic, but now you need to turn that topic into an essay. To do so, you need to determine what specifically you’re focusing on and how you’ll structure your essay. If you’re struggling or uncertain, try taking a look at some examples of successful college essays.It can be helpful to dissect how other personal statementsare structured to get ideas for your own, but don't fall into the trap of trying to copy someone else's approach. Youressayis your story - never forget that. Let's go through the key steps that will help you turn a great topic into a great essay. Choose a Focal Point As I touched on above, the narrower your focus, the easier it will be to write a unique, engaging personal statement.The simplestway to restrict the scope of your essayis to recount an anecdote, i.e. a short personal story that illustrates your larger point. For example, say a student was planning to write about her Outward Bound trip in Yosemite. If she tries to tell the entire story of hertrip, heressay will either be far too long or very vague. Instead, she decidesto focus in on a specific incident that exemplifies what mattered to her about the experience: her failed attempt to climb Half Dome. She described the moment she decided to turn back without reaching the top in detail, while touching on other parts of the climb and trip where appropriate. This approach lets her create a dramatic arc in just 600 words, while fully answering the question posed in the prompt (Common App prompt 2). Of course, concentratingon an anecdote isn't the only way to narrow your focus. Depending on your topic, it might make more sense to build your essay around an especially meaningful object, relationship, or idea. Another approachour example student from above could take to the same general topic would be to write about her attempts to keep her hiking boots from giving her blisters (in response to Common App prompt 4). Rather than discussing a single incident, she could tell the story of her trip through her ongoing struggle with the boots: the different fixes she tried, her less and less squeamish reactions to the blisters, the solution she finally found. A structure like this one can be trickier than the more straightforward anecdote approach, but it can also make for an engaging and different essay. When deciding what part of your topic to focus on, try to find whatever it is about the topic that is most meaningful and uniqueto you. Once you've figured that part out, it will guide how you structure the essay. To be fair, even trying to climb Half Dome takes some serious guts. Decide What You Want to Show About Yourself Remember that the point of the college essay isn’t just to tell a story, it’s to show something about yourself. It's vital that you have a specific point you want to make about what kind of person you are, what kind of college student you’d make, or what the experience you’re describing taught you. Since the papers you write for school are mostly analytical, you probably aren't used to writing about your own feelings. As such, it can be easy to neglect the reflection part of the personal statement in favor of just telling a story.Yet explaining what the event or idea you discuss meant to you is the most important essay - knowing how you want to tie your experiences back to yourpersonal growth from the beginning will help you make sure to include it. Develop a Structure It’s not enough to just know what you want to write about - you also need to have a sense of how you’re going to write about it. You could have the most exciting topic of all time, but without a clear structure your essay will end up as incomprehensible gibberish that doesn't tell the reader anything meaningful about your personality. There are a lot of different possible essay structures, but a simple and effective one is the compressed narrative, which builds on aspecific anecdote (like the Half Dome example above): Start in the middle of the action. Don't spend a lot of time at the beginning of your essay outlining background info - it doesn't tend to draw the reader in and you usually need less of it than you think you do. Instead start right where your story starts to get interesting. (I'll go into how to craft an intriguingopenerin more depth below.) Briefly explain what the situation is. Now thatyou've gotthe reader's attention, go back and explain anything they need to know about how you got into this situation. Don't feel compelled to fit everything in - only include the background details that are necessary to either understand what happened or illuminate your feelings about the situation in some way. Finish the story. Once you've clarified exactly what's going on, explain how you resolved the conflict or concluded the experience. Explain what you learned. The last step is to tie everything together and bring home the main point of your story: how this experience affected you. The key to this type of structure is to create narrative tension - you want your reader to be wondering what happens next. A second approach is the thematic structure, which is based on returning to a key idea or object again and again (like the boots example above): Establish the focus.If you're going to structure your essay around a single theme or object, you need to begin the essay byintroducing that key thing. You can do sowith a relevant anecdote or a detailed description. Touch on 3 - 5 timesthe focus was important.The body of your essay will consist of stringing together a few important momentsrelated to the topic. Make sure to use sensory details to bring the reader into those points in time and keep her engagedin the essay. Also remember to elucidate why these moments were important to you. Revisit the main idea.At the end, you want to tie everything together by revisiting the main idea or object and showing how your relationship to it hasshaped or affected you. Ideally, you'll also hint at how this thing will be important to you going forward. To make this structure work you need a veryspecific focus. Your love of travel, for example, is much too broad - you would need to hone in on a specific aspect of that interest, like how travelinghas taught you to adapt to event the most unusual situations. Whatever you do, don't use this structure to create a glorified resume or brag sheet. However you structure your essay, you want to make sure that it clearly lays out both the events or ideas you’re describing and establishes the stakes (i.e. what it all means for you). Many students become so focused on telling astory or recounting details that they forget to explain what it all meant to them. Your essay has to be built step-by-step, just like this building. Example: Eva's Essay Plan For her essay, Eva decides to use the compressed narrative structure to tell the story of how she tried and failed to report on the closing of a historic movie theater: Open with the part of her story where she finally gave up after calling the theater and city hall a dozen times. Explain that although she started researchingthe story out of journalistic curiosity, it was important to her because she'd grown up going to movies at that theater. Recount how defeated she felt when she couldn't get ahold of anyone, and then even more so when she saw a story about the theater's closingin the local paper. Describer her decisionto write an op-ed instead and interviewother students about what the theater meant to them. Finish by explaining that although she wasn't able to get the story (or stop the destruction of the theater), she learned that sometimes the emotional angle can be just as interesting as the investigative one. Step 5: Write a FirstDraft The key to writing your first draft is not to worry about whether it’s any good - just get something on paper and go from there. You will have to rewrite, so trying to get everything perfect is both frustrating and futile. Everyone has their own writing process. Maybe you feel more comfortable sitting down and writing the whole draft from beginning to end in one go. Maybe you jump around, writing a little bit here and a little there. It’s okay to have sections you know won’t work or to skip over things you think you’ll need to include later. Whatever your approach, there are a few tips everyone can benefit from. Don't Aim for Perfection I mentioned this idea above, but I can't emphasize it enough: no one writes a perfect first draft. Extensive editing and rewriting is vital to crafting an effective personal statement. Don’t get too attached to any part of yourdraft, because you may needto change anything (or everything) about your essay later. Also keep in mind that, at this point in the process, the goal is just to get your ideas down. Wonky phrasings and misplaced commas can easily be fixed when you edit, so don't worry about them as you write. Instead, focus on including lots of specific details and emphasizing how your topic has affected you, since these aspects are vital to a compelling essay. Want to write the perfect college application essay? Get professional help from PrepScholar. Your dedicated PrepScholar Admissions counselor will craft your perfect college essay, from the ground up. We'll learn your background and interests, brainstorm essay topics, and walk you through the essay drafting process, step-by-step. At the end, you'll have a unique essay that you'll proudly submit to your top choice colleges. Don't leave your college application to chance. Find out more about PrepScholar Admissions now: Write an EngagingIntroduction One part of the essay you do want to pay special attention to is the introduction. Your intro is your essay’s first impression: you only get one. It's much harder to regain your reader's attention onceyou've lost it, so you want to draw the reader in with an immediately engaging hook that sets up a compelling story. There are two possible approaches I would recommend. The â€Å"In Media Res† Opening You’ll probably recognize this term if you studied The Odyssey: it basically means that the story starts in the middle of the action, rather than at the beginning. A good intro of this type makes the reader wonder both how you got to the point you’re starting at and where you'll go from there. These openers provide a solid, intriguing beginningfor narrative essays (though they can certainly for thematic structures as well). But how do you craft one? Try to determine the most interesting point in your story and startthere. If you're not sure where that is, try writing out the entire story and then crossing out each sentence in order until you get to one that immediatelygrabs your attention. Let's look at some examples from real students' college essays: "Bottom of the ninth, two outs, the Red Sox down by four. We needed a miracle." Daniel J Shinnick, Connecticut College "I strode in front of 400 frenzied eighth graders with my arm slung over my Fender Stratocaster guitar - it actually belonged to my mother - and launched into the first few chords of Nirvana's 'Lithium.'" Anonymous, University of Virginia Both of these introsthrow the reader right intothe middle of the action. In the first, the game is already mostly over, and as we later find out, his sister is undergoing brain surgery the next day. The immediacy of this intro ("We need a miracle") gives a sense of high stakes, even though we don't know what the real topicis yet. In the second, the author jumps rightinto the action: theperformance. You can imagine how much less exciting it would be ifthe essay opened with an explanation of what the event was and why the author was performing. The Specific Generalization Sounds like an oxymoron, right? This type of intro sets up what the essay is going to talk about in a slightly unexpected way. These area bit trickier than the "in media res" variety, but theycan work really well for the right essay - generally one with a thematic structure. The key to this type of intro is detail. Contrary to what you may have learned in elementary school, sweeping statements don't make very strong hooks. If you want to start your essay with a more overalldescription of what you'll be discussing, you still need to make it specific and unique enough to stand out. Once again, let's look at some examples from real students' essays: â€Å"Pushed against the left wall in my room is a curious piece of furniture.† Neha, Johns Hopkins University â€Å"My name is Brontà «, and if you ask me, I’ll tell you my favorite book is Jane Eyre. This may or may not be a coincidence.† Brontà «, Johns Hopkins University Both of these intros set up the general topic of the essay (the first writer's bookshelf and and the second'slove ofJane Eyre) in an intriguing way.The first intro works because itmixes specific descriptions ("pushed against the left wall in my room") with more general commentary ("a curious piece of furniture"). The second draws the reader in by adopting a conversational and irreverent tone with asides like "if you ask me" and "This may or may not be a coincidence." I wouldn't recommend this intro - it's a bitof a cliche. Don't Worry Too Much About the Length When you start writing, don't worry about your essay'slength. Instead, focus on trying to include all of the details you can think of about your topic, which will make it easier to decide what you really need to include when you edit. However, if your first draft is more than twicethe word limitand you don't have a clear idea of what needs to be cut out, you may need to reconsider your focus - your topic is likely too broad. You may also need to reconsider your topic or approach if you find yourself struggling to fill space, since this usually indicates a topic that lacks a specific focus. Eva's First Paragraph I dialed the phone number for the fourth time that week. "Hello? This is Eva Smith, and I'm a reporter with Tiny Town High's newspaperThe Falcon.I was hoping to ask you some questions about - " I heard the distinctive click of the person on the other end of the line hanging up, followed by dial tone. I was about ready to give up: I'd been trying to get the skinny on whether the Atlas Theater was actually closing to make way for a big AMC multiplex or if it was just a rumor for weeks, but no one would return my calls. Step 6: Edit Aggressively No one writes a perfect first draft. No matter how much you might want to be done after writing a first draft - you musttake the time to edit. Thinkingcritically aboutyour essay and rewriting as needed is a vital part of writing a great college essay. Before you start editing, put your essay aside for a week or so. It will be easier to approach it objectively if you haven’t seen it in a while. Then, take an initial pass to identify any big picture issues with your essay. Once you've fixed those, ask for feedback from other readers - they'll often notice gaps in logic that don't appear to you, because you're automatically filling in your intimate knowledge of the situation. Finally, take another, more detailed look at your essay to fine tune the language. I've explained each of these steps in more depth below. First Editing Pass You should start the editing process by looking foranystructural or thematic issues with your essay. If you see sentences that don’t make sense or glaring typos of course fix them, but at this point, you’re really focused on the major issues since those require the most extensive rewrites. You don’t want to get your sentences beautifully structured only to realize you need to remove the entire paragraph. This phase is really about honing your structure and your voice. As you read through your essay, think about whether it effectively draws the reader along, engages him with specific details, and shows why the topicmatters to you. Try asking yourself the following questions: Does the intro make you want to read more? Is the progression of events and/or ideas clear? Does the essay show something specific about you? What is it and can you clearly identify it in the essay? Are there places where you could replace vague statements with more specific ones? Do you have too many irrelevant or uninteresting details clogging up the narrative? Is it too long? What can you cut out or condense without losing any important ideas or details? Give yourself credit for what you’ve done well, but don’t hesitate to change things that aren’t working. It can be tempting to hang on to what you've already written - you tookthe time and thought to craft it in the first place, so it can be hard to let it go. Taking this approach is doing yourself a disservice, however. No matter how much work you put into a paragraph or much you like a phrase, if they aren't adding to your essay, they need to be cut or altered. If there’s a really big structural problem, or the topic is just not working, you may have to chuck this draft out and start from scratch. Don't panic! I know starting over is frustrating, but it’s often the best way to fix major issues. Unfortunately, some problems can't be fixed with whiteout. Consulting Other Readers Once you’ve fixed the problems you found on the first pass and have a second (or third) draft you’re basically happy with, ask some other people to read it. Check with people whose judgment you trust: parents, teachers, and friends can all be great resources, but how helpful someone willbedepends on the individual and how willing you are to take criticism from her. Also, keep in mind that many people, even teachers, may not be familiar with what colleges look for in an essay. Your mom, for example, may have never written a personal statement, and even if she did, it was most likely decades ago.Give your readersa sense of what you’d like them to read for, or print out the questions I listed above and include them at the end of your essay. Second Pass After incorporating any helpful feedback you got from others, you should now have a nearly complete draft with a clear arc. At this point you want to look for issues with word choice and sentence structure: Are there parts that seem stilted or overly formal? Do you have any vague or boring descriptors that could be replaced with something more interesting and specific? Are there any obvious redundancies or repetitiveness? Have you misused any words? Are your sentences of varied length and structure? A good way to check for weirdness in language is to read the essay out loud. Ifsomething sounds weird when you say it, it will almost certainlyseem offwhen someone else reads it. Example: Editing Eva's First Paragraph In general, Eva feels like her first paragraph isn't as engaging as it could be and doesn't introduce the main point of the essay that well: although it sets up the narrative, it doesn't show off her personality that well.She decides to break itdown sentence by sentence: I dialed the phone number for the fourth time that week. Problem: For a hook, this sentence is a little too expository. It doesn't add any real excitement or important information (other than that this call isn't the first, which can be incorporate elsewhere. Solution: Cut this sentence and start with the line of dialogue. "Hello? This is Eva Smith, and I'm a reporter with Tiny Town High's newspaperThe Falcon.I was hoping to ask you some questions about - " Problem: No major issues with this sentence. It's engaging and sets the scene effectively. Solution: None needed, but Eva does tweak it slightly to include the fact that this call wasn't her first. I heard the distinctive click of the person on the other end of the line hanging up, followed by dial tone. Problem:This is a long-winded way of making a point that's not that important. Solution: Replace it with a shorter, more evocative description: "Click. Bzzzzzzz. Whoever was on the other end of the line had hung up." I was about ready to give up: I'd been trying to get the skinny on whether the Atlas Theater was actually closing to make way for a big AMC multiplex or if it was just a rumor for weeks, but no one would return my calls. Problem: This sentence is kind of long. Some of the phrases ("about ready to give up," "get the skinny") are cliche. Solution: Eva decides to try to stick more closely to her own perspective: "I'd heard rumors that Atlas Theater was going to be replaced with an AMC multiplex, and I was worried." She also puts a paragraph break before this sentence to emphasize that she's now movingon tothe background info rather than describing her call. There's a real Atlas Theater. Apparently it's haunted! Step 7: Double Check Everything Once you have a final draft, give yourself another week and then go through your essay again. Read it carefully to make sure nothing seems off and there are no obvious typos or errors. Confirm that you are at or under the word limit. Then, go over the essayagain, line by line, checking every word to make sure that it’s correct. Double check common errors that spell check may not catch, like mixing up affect and effect or misplacing commas. Finally, have two other readers check it as well. Oftentimes a fresh set of eyes will catch an issue you've glossed over simply because you've been looking at the essay for so long. Give your readersinstructions to only look for typos and errors, since you don't want to be making any major content changes at this point in the process. Thislevel of thoroughness may seem like overkill, but it's worth taking the time to ensure that you don't have any errors. The last thing you want is for an admissions officer to be put off by a typo or error. Example: Eva's Final Draft (Paragraphs 1 and 2) "Hello? This is Eva Smith again. I'm a reporter with Tiny Town High's newspaperThe Falcon, andI was hoping to ask you some questions about - "Click. Bzzzzzzz. Whoever was on the other end of the line had hung up. I'd heard rumors that the historic Atlas Theater was going to be replaced with an AMC multiplex, and I was worried. I'd grown up with the Atlas: my dad taking me to see every Pixar movie on opening night and buying me Red Vines to keep me distracted during the sad parts. Unfortunately my personal history with the place didn't seem to carry much weight with anyone official, and my calls to both the theater and city hall had thus far gone unanswered. Once you've finished the final check, you’re done, and ready to submit! There's one last step, however. Step 8: Do It All Again Remember back in step one, when we talked about making a chart to keep track of all the different essays you need to write? Well, now you need to go back tothat list and determine which essays you still need to write. Keep in mind your deadlines and don't forget that some schools may require more than one essay or ask for short paragraphs in addition to the main personal statement. Reusing Essays In some cases, you may be able to reuse the essay you've already written for other prompts. You can use the same essay fortwo prompts if: both of them are asking the same basic question (e.g. "how do you interact with people who are different from you?" or "what was an important experience and why?"), or one prompt is relatively specific and the other is very general (e.g. "tell us about how your family shaped your education" and "tell us something about your background"),and neither asks about your interest in a specific school or program. If you choose to reuse an essay you wrote for a different prompt, make sure that it addressesevery part of question and that it fits the word limit. If you have to tweak a few things or cut out 50-odd words, it will probably still work. But if the essay would require major changes to fit the criteria, you're probably better off starting from scratch (even if you use the same basic topic). Crafting Supplemental Essays The key to keep in mind in when brainstorming for supplemental essays is that you want them to add something new to your application. You shouldn't write about the same topic you used for your personal statement, although it's okay to talk about something similar, as long as you adopt a clearlydifferent angle. For example, if you're planning to be pre-med in college and your main essay is about how volunteering at the hospital taught you not to judge people on their appearance, you might write your secondary essay on your intellectual interest in biology (which could touch on your volunteering). There's some overlap, but the two topics are clearly distinct. And now, you're really, truly, finally done. Congrats! What's Next? Now that you know how to write a college essay, we have a lot more specific resources for you to excel. Are youworking on the Common App essay? Read our breakdown of the Common App prompts and our guide to picking the best prompt for you. Ormaybe you're interested in the University of California? Check out our complete guide to the UC personal statements. In case you haven't finished the rest of the application process,take a look atour guides to asking for recommendations, writing about extracurriculars, andresearching colleges. Finally, if you're planning to take the SAT or ACT one last time, try out some of our famous test prep guides, like "How to Get a Perfect Score on the SAT" and "15 Key ACT Test Day Tips." Want to improve your SAT score by 160points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Technological Determinism in the Matrix essays

Technological Determinism in the Matrix essays Technological Determinism in The Matrix Technological Determinism, a theory developed by Marshall McLuhan, is the belief that inventions in technology, especially communication inventions, has invariably caused cultural change. He believed that specific changes in modes of communication shaped human existence. The Matrix, a 1999 film by Andy and Larry Wachowski, does an excellent job of outlining the ideas behind McLuhans theory. The Matrix is about a computer hacker named Thomas Anderson, who goes by the alias, Neo, who with the help of a band of freed rebels, discovers that the life that he has known to be real is nothing more than the Matrix, computer-generated dream world created by humanitys own invention, cyber-intelligence. The purpose of this facade is to blind humans while their life essences are transformed into energy to feed the Matrixs campaign of domination of the real world. The central concept behind The Matrix is that the world humans believe they live in is in actuality, not the real world. Humans are controlled and influenced by forces they do not easily see. As Morpheus, one of the freed rebels and a main character in the movie, states that the Matrix is the world they have pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth. This idea in the movie is very reflective of McLuhans claim that channels of communication are the primary cause of cultural change. Family life, careers, schools, friendships, health care, recreation, religious activities, are all in someway affected by communication technology. McLuhan feels that humans are blinded by such technologies and begin to lose a sense of the real world, much like the humans in the Matrix who are lost in their fantasy facade that the cyber-intelligence has created for them. In the film, the humans are so locked in the false consciousness of the Matrix, that they completely forget ...

Lives and Path of Development of Johann Sebastian Bach and Pyotr Essay

Lives and Path of Development of Johann Sebastian Bach and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Essay Example According to the research findings, it can, therefore, be said that if we carefully study lives and path of development of musicians, we will find that they not only have incorporated the elements of musical mastermind in their works but at the same time one of the main reasons that their works have survived the onslaught of time that they have incorporated their respective philosophies of life in their works. This is, perhaps, the most important reason that as we listen to their compositions we receive a unique boost to live as well as aspire for the enlightened future. In this context, it will not be much irrelevant if we focus over the development of two musicians to their musical maturity, it will be easy for us to understand that how they have developed as a genius and how they have inspired the tradition of musical maturity from a global perspective with their genius. Johann Sebastian Bach is one of the most influential figures in the history of world music and the tradition of baroque music was greatly influenced by the musical mastermind of this great genius. Albert Schweitzer, while evaluating over the appeal of Bach, has commented, â€Å"We argue about absolute music, tone-painting, programme music and tone-language as about actual fundamental problems, and think it a matter for historians only that tendencies toward tone-painting, programme music, or avowed musical narration were noticeable in Italian, German and French music as early as the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. However, primitive the pictorial and poetic music of the two or three generations before Bach may have been, in respect of their means and possibilities of expression, we can see   in it the same instincts and pretensions as in the most modern and most subtilized programme music of a Liszt or a Strauss.†