How to do Close Reading and Improve Your Writing

Close reading is a term used to describe how you ought to be using your sources. The most important element of close reading is questioning; it is imperative that you actively engage the text in order to develop your own ideas to use as arguments.If at all possible, make your close reading your second reading of the source. If youve read it once already, you will have a basic understanding of the text, and you can focus on a more intensive questioning.Use highlighters   Take note of any and all points of interest in the text. If youve got a thesis in mind already, use several different colors of highlighter, each for information relevant to a separate prong of your argument. This will make your life much easier when you go back to integrate your sources, particularly if youve got an extensive amount of text to cover.Look for patterns   Be aware of recurring techniques-both literary and rhetorical-which the author uses to illustrate a concept. Specific sorts of imagery, allusion, or dialogue, which seem to be similar or related inevitably, reveal a larger intention that can be made into an argument.Ask questions   In expository work, continually ask yourself  Is this true? What evidence supports this statement? Can other conclusions be drawn from the facts of this text?  By deciding whether or not you agree with the arguments of your source, youll begin to crystallize more subtle arguments of your own. In literature, question the authors purpose in using particular narrative structures.  Why is this metaphor used? What does the comparison signify? Why do we learn this particular piece of information in such a manner? Why is the setting dwelled on so much in this passage? What is the relationship between setting and character?  Write these questions in the margins as you go along.Get down to the details   One of the most sophisticated close reading techniques you can incorporate into your work is an analysis of the multiple connotations of a speci fic word. Be aware of every single word the author uses. When you find one of particular interest, literally look it up in the dictionary and consider how each and every definition might be applied to the text. Even if the author uses it with one literal definition in mind, see if the connotations of the other definitions can be applied to your idea  (This is particularly true of Shakespeare).Consider the source in relation to other texts   If something in the work reminds you of something else youve read, theres quite possibly a good reason why. Consider how your source is a response to or a continuation of other texts. Always be on the look out for Christ symbolism and Greek mythological allusions; both are fairly easy to spot and can be effectively analyzed in support of a particular interpretation.

Free Essays on Theodore Roosevelt

The first president to push for conservation was Theodore Roosevelt. With the assassination of President McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, not quite 43, became the youngest President in the Nation's history. He brought new excitement and power to the Presidency, as he led Congress and the American public toward progressive reforms and a strong foreign policy.(pg1) He took the view that the President as a "steward of the people" should take whatever action necessary for the public good unless expressly forbidden by law or the Constitution." I did not usurp power," he wrote, "but I did greatly broaden the use of executive power."(pg1) Some of Theodore Roosevelt's most effective achievements were in conservation. He added enormously to the national forests in the West, reserved lands for public use, and fostered great irrigation projects.(pg1) From the Teddy Roosevelt Autobiography While I had lived in the West I had come to realize the vital need of irrigation to the country, and I had been both amused and irritated by the attitude of Eastern men who obtained from Congress grants of National money to develop harbors and yet fought the use of the Nation's power to develop the irrigation work of the West. Major John Wesley Powell, the explorer of the Grand Caà ±on, and Director of the Geological Survey, was the first man who fought for irrigation, and he lived to see the Reclamation Act passed and construction actually begun. Mr. F. H. Newell, the present Director of the Reclamation Service, began his work as an assistant hydraulic engineer under Major Powell; and, unlike Powell, he appreciated the need of saving the forests and the soil as well as the need of irrigation. Between Powell and Newell came, as Director of the Geological Survey, Charles D. Walcott, who, after the Reclamation Act was passed, by his force, per tinacity, and tact, succeeded in putting the act into effect in the best possible manner. Senator Francis G.... Free Essays on Theodore Roosevelt Free Essays on Theodore Roosevelt The next essay, by Gail Bederman, is an astonishing account of Theodore Roosevelt’s rise to fame in the 1890’s. In this account, she tells of Roosevelt’s political beginnings as a State assemblyman of New York. Her account starts with his presence in the assembly seen as an effeminate man. He was mocked by his peers incessantly. They called him names such as ‘Jane-Dandy’ and ‘Punkin-Lily’, and even comparing him with the likes of a known homosexual, Oscar Wilde. Roosevelt knew his Political career was in great jeopardy of being diffused before it even began. Knowing something about his history, he quit the senate and traveled west after his mother and wife both passed away on the same day. Bederman seems to paint a slightly different tale of TR needing to make this change for his political life. Spending five years in the western wilderness not only gave him the ‘manliness’ he was looking for but the basis for his political ideology. That of a strong but civilized white man. Using an 1899 speech to coin his phrase ‘The Strenuous Life’, Roosevelt laid down his plan as he saw it for the American man. Using the philosophy of human evolution as his argument that the dominant species will overcome. His ideals of American virilty and manhood were mandatory if America the nation was to hold its own in the world. As he saw it, our fight against the savage Indians of the west was our calling to world dominance. To be over civilized, peaceful, and lenient was now something to be ashamed of. It was effeminate and a way to lose control of our destiny. If we became luxury-loving or lost our virile zest, someone else, a manlier race, would then step in and become the power of the world. He explained his imperialism this way. A man working for his family and country were not enough. This virile manhood required us to do work outside our nation, just like a man goes outside the home to work everyday. The opportunities of the time,... Free Essays on Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt At the time of Roosevelt’s presidency the U.S. was a country rapidly coming into its own with Roosevelt as a president whom not only kept up, but pushed it even faster. Both on the domestic and international front Roosevelt aggressively expanded the power of presidency, the federal government and our nation. It was in the business area in which Roosevelt most aggressively expanded the power of federal government. The government passed few business regulations and in general left business to do as they saw fit. Roosevelt was the first who thought it was the duty of the federal government to make sure that they were responding to public’s needs. Because of this he actively regulated business by enforcing the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and pushing new regulatory legislation through congress. Roosevelt also worked to pass two events that marked the turning point of legislation, the Pure Food and Drug act and Meat Inspection bill. These laws were intended to protect consumers against those in the food industry, especially meat packing. Meat packers used rotten and diseased meat processed in unsanitary conditions and put labels on cans that had little or no relationship to its actual content. This problem Roosevelt personally experienced. Roosevelt’s greatest ally in this struggle against the meat packers was the novel â€Å"The Jungle† by Upton Sinclair. International affairs were marked by the same aggression as domestic affairs. The U.S. was already under the Monroe Doctrine, but it was Roosevelt who added the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine. This confirmed the restriction on European activities in the Western Hemisphere, but added the idea that when a country in the Western Hemisphere did not behave, such as paying off their debts to European countries the U.S. Had a responsibility to discipline them. Roosevelt’s extensive control over the Western Hemisphere especially the Caribbean was direc... Free Essays on Theodore Roosevelt The first president to push for conservation was Theodore Roosevelt. With the assassination of President McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, not quite 43, became the youngest President in the Nation's history. He brought new excitement and power to the Presidency, as he led Congress and the American public toward progressive reforms and a strong foreign policy.(pg1) He took the view that the President as a "steward of the people" should take whatever action necessary for the public good unless expressly forbidden by law or the Constitution." I did not usurp power," he wrote, "but I did greatly broaden the use of executive power."(pg1) Some of Theodore Roosevelt's most effective achievements were in conservation. He added enormously to the national forests in the West, reserved lands for public use, and fostered great irrigation projects.(pg1) From the Teddy Roosevelt Autobiography While I had lived in the West I had come to realize the vital need of irrigation to the country, and I had been both amused and irritated by the attitude of Eastern men who obtained from Congress grants of National money to develop harbors and yet fought the use of the Nation's power to develop the irrigation work of the West. Major John Wesley Powell, the explorer of the Grand Caà ±on, and Director of the Geological Survey, was the first man who fought for irrigation, and he lived to see the Reclamation Act passed and construction actually begun. Mr. F. H. Newell, the present Director of the Reclamation Service, began his work as an assistant hydraulic engineer under Major Powell; and, unlike Powell, he appreciated the need of saving the forests and the soil as well as the need of irrigation. Between Powell and Newell came, as Director of the Geological Survey, Charles D. Walcott, who, after the Reclamation Act was passed, by his force, per tinacity, and tact, succeeded in putting the act into effect in the best possible manner. Senator Francis G....

Screening report Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Screening report - Movie Review Example As Sirk intended All that Heaven Allows to be a critic of the conventional American values, the movie successfully resorts to the exploitation of appropriate angles of vision, to accentuate this theme. The movie typically opens up with a high-angle shot of a cold and aloof church spire in New England, thereby making the values symbolized by it that governed the lives of the people inhabiting that town look petty, insignificant and flimsy. The other theme that the director intended to accentuate was the literal and thematic asphyxiation of Cary, by the dominant social norms and values. Metty successfully managed to visually develop this theme by resorting to placing frames within frames. Many a times the main character Cary is shown to be positioned within frames, as behind the windowpanes or the foreboding reflection of Cary in the television set, symbolizing and pointing towards her metaphorical and actual

Critique of Academic Journal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Critique of Academic Journal - Essay Example However, this diversity's gradual move into the normal corporate field has brought with it a few negative outcomes (Kelan 2009). It makes it harder to deal with instances of subtle discrimination against women (Calas and Smircich 2006). This diversity simply eliminates the more obvious types of gender discrimination while allowing the attitudes that support such practices to go unchallenged (Gill 2007). For instance, women are usually exempted from the networking that takes place among the men in the workplace, as well as from working on with the business’s most prominent lawyers (Nentwich 2006). When women are confronted with such situations in an era that has actually had laws passed to support their functioning in the workplace, they are likely to think that they are the ones who are either too arrogant, or cold, and thus are not easy to approach for workplace friendships (Johns, Schmader and Martens 2005). They are not likely to suppose that the reason for their being left out of things is because they are women (Crump, Logan and McIlroy 2007). Critique Gender fatigue is constructive because it alerts the society that even with the existing laws and regulations that encourage women to work; women are still not treated in the same way as men in the workplace (Lewis 2006). For instance, in a recent research conducted in a business environment, it was established that male workers ignore what might appear to be gender discrimination because they equate their calmness in such instances with showing tolerance or acceptance (Bailyn 2003). Female workers, on the other hand, feel that if they work harder, they will be able to change the minds of sexist employers (Blau, Brinton and Grusky 2006). In such cases, it can be pointed out that ‘gender fatigue’ is an appropriate explanation for such pusillanimous behavior on the part of workers (Ely, Meyerson and Davidson 2006).   Elizabeth Kelan’s article on gender fatigue appears to bring up a n authentic problem that might actually be one of the reasons contributing to the continuing inequality that women experience in the workplace. The fact that her survey participants indicated that they had heard of cases of discrimination showed that such cases still exist even in an era in which many people feel that the goals of women being permanently accepted in the workplace have been sufficiently addressed. The fact that the workers being surveyed mentioned that instances of gender discrimination usually happen in singular episodes and not as a whole also contributes toward the ‘gender fatigue’ theory. If the incidences of discrimination against women happened in bulk, the opposition would have been more vocal. However, instances where some women are discriminated against and not others are not as visible and can cause doubts to arise when reported.    On the other hand, gender fatigue the article by Elisabeth Kelan on gender fatigue states that the workers that she used in her study were not only convinced that their companies were gender neutral, and were examined on merit. These contributors also quoted statistics on sexism from the previous one or two decades. This means that the situation may have changed in the last few years; and that if gender inequalities still exist, the

President Ronald Reagan Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

President Ronald Reagan - Term Paper Example One such example of a nation with rich history of leaders is the United States. In the modern society of the United States, the president is viewed as the greatest leader of the country. The US has had its share of its own leaders, from the first presidents and community heads, to today’s president, Barrack Obama. One of these leaders of the American nation who served as a president is Ronald Reagan. He has numerous contributions during his term, but one must objectively assess these contributions, so as to fully appreciate whether these contributions and achievements had any real impact or effect. In relation, this paper will then look into the said contributions and achievements of a US president, specifically Ronal Reagan. This paper will first present an overall look at the president’s biography, especially focusing on Reagan’s term as the president of the United States. Afterwards, this paper will then present a critical appraisal of the president’s c ontribution to the country, using the different criteria provided by different secondary literatures and resources. In here, different ratings or appraisals will be given to the president and his performance, based on the said literatures. In addition, after different individual grades, an overall grade or evaluation of former president Ronald Reagan will be presented. More importantly, this paper will attempt to prove that President Ronald Reagan can be given a grade of A-, based on his achievements and accomplishments, also including numerous issues, controversies, and problems that arose during his reign as president. Biography and Overview of President’s Administration Ronald Wilson Reagan was born on the 6th of February in 1911, in a second floor apartment in Tampico, Illinois, where his parents resided at the time. The young Reagan was then raised in Dixon, and he received his education at Eureka College, graduating with a degree of Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Eco nomics.1 After he graduated, Reagan first went into the entertainment sector, wherein he served as a radio broadcaster in Iowa. He then moved to Los Angeles in 1937, where his career in the entertainment sector soared as he found roles for acting in films, and then television shows.2 Some of Reagan’s most notable films include Bedtime for Bonzo, Kings Row, All American, and numerous others. In the later years of his career as an actor, Reagan found himself serving as the president of the Screen Actors Guild. Later, he also became the spokesman for the company General Electric (GE), where history saw to the earlier beginnings of his political career.3 Reagan was originally a member and follower of the Democratic Party, but by the late 1950s, his positions started shifting rightward and by 1962, he transferred to the Republican Party. His most notable move to the political arena was seen when, after delivering a stirring speech in 1964 supporting the presidential candidacy of t hen candidate Barry Goldwater, his leadership potentials were noticed and then brought to the limelight. With this acknowledgement of his potentials, Reagan was then persuaded to run for the governorship. Two years later, he won the said California governorship, a position he won again in 1970.4 In 1968, he ran for presidential nomination as candidate for the Republican Party, but he lost, and again in 1976, he ran for the same nomination for presidential candidacy but was defeated. Finally, in 1980, he won the said

Investigation into Stress Capacity

Investigation into Stress Capacity This physics experiment was conducted to investigate stress capacity or known as tensile strength. We had to determine the relationship between the force applied on an object and the extension of the elastic material. The link between the force applied and the extension of the spring is governed by Hookes Law. To establish this connection, we need to measure the relationship between the force applied and the extension. We did this by adding a series of masses, which builds the force on the spring (The Professor, 2016). Hookes Law: When an elastic object is stretched, the expanded length is called extension. The extension of the elastic object is directly proportional to the force applied to it also known as F=kx. F is Force and expressed in Newtons (N). k is the spring constant expressed in newtons per metre (N/m) x is the extension expressed in metres (m). (BBC Bitesize, 2016) A force causes an object to undergo changes, forces that are unbalanced change speed, shape or direction. Gravitational forces are only in effect if there are two or more masses while friction opposes motion (BBC Bitesize,2017). Forces that affected this experiment are: Gravitational Force, Applied Force, Tensional Force. Gravitational Force: A force of attraction between all objects, it depends on the masses of the object and the distance between them. The larger object, the stronger the gravitational force. Applied Force: A force when an object is being pushed or pulled by another object. Applied forces causes an object to undergo changes in acceleration, velocity and direction. The force equation is F=ma. Tensional Force: It is a force that is transmitted through a string, cable, elastic band, rope or a wire. Tensional force is directed along the length of the object when it is pulled by forces from opposite ends. The relationship between stress and strain is known as the stress-strain curve. It is different for each material and is found by recording the amount of deformation at distinct intervals of tensile or compressive loading. Strain is relative change in shape or size of an object due to externally applied forces. This means it becomes dimensionless and has no units. Stress is the internal force (per unit area) associated with strain. It is predicted that the two materials will show different conclusions. I believe that the silicon tube has higher capability of holding larger masses. It depends on the length and thickness of the material. The prediction is that the silicon tube will have the highest stress capacity and wont have a long extension while the elastic band will stretch the furthest but wons have much stress capacity. Equipment Retort Stand Clamp 1 Metre Ruler Mass Hanger Silicon Tube Elastic Band 50g and 100g Masses Notebook and Pen Procedure Setup Retort stand and clamp. To start with, place the material/object on without any stress. Measure the weight of the mass hanger. Measure the length of the material/object. Place mass on it and measure the length to figure out extension Record results on table Repeat step 5, three times for each weight to allow results to be reliable then find average. Keep repeating step 5,6,7 until enough data has been recorded for each material Milan Abraham Elastic Band Mass (kg) Force Original Length 1st Extension 2nd Extension 3rd Extension Average 0 0 14.9 0.061 0.60N 14.9 +1.1 (16) +0.9 (15.8) +1 (15.9) +1 (15.9) 0.161 1.58N 14.9 +1.5 (16.4) +1.4 (16.3) +1.5 (16.4) +1.5 (16.4) 0.261 2.56N 14.9 +1.8 (16.7) +1.7 (16.6) +1.9 (16.8) +1.8 (16.7) 0.361 3.54N 14.9 +2.1 (17) +2 (16.9) +2.2 (17.1) +2.1 (17) 0.461 4.52N 14.9 +2.4 (17.3) +2.3 (17.2) +2.6 (17.5) +2.4 (17.3) 0.561 5.50N 14.9 +2.9 (17.8) +2.9 (17.8) +2.7 (17.6) +2.8 (17.7) Milan Abraham Silicon Tube Mass (kg) Force Original Length 1st Extension 2nd Extension 3rd Extension Average 0 0 72.2 0.061 0.60N 72.2 +2.3 (74.5) +2.3 (74.5) +2.8 (75) +2.5 (74.7) 0.161 1.58N 72.2 +4.3 (76.5) +4.3 (76.5) +4.3 (76.5) +4.3 (76.5) 0.261 2.56N 72.2 +5.3 (77.5) +6.3 (78.5) +5.8 (78) +5.8 (78) 0.361 3.54N 72.2 +7.8 (80) +7.8 (80) +8.3 (80.5) +8 (80.2) 0.461 4.52N 72.2 +8.8 (81) +8.3 (80.5) +8.8 (81) +8.6 (80.8) 0.561 5.50N 72.2 +10.3 (82.5) +9.8 (82) +9.8 (82) +10 (82.2) 0.98 1.4 0.7 The Elastic band and Silicon tube was hung vertically with a mass hanger to the end of the material. Masses from 61g to 561g were added. The length of the elastic band was measured once it was at rest. In this structure, certain forces were in effect. Gravitational force directed the hanging masses downwards. The Applied Force in this case is the masses pushes the elastic material downwards with gravity supporting it.   Restoring Force directs the elastic material upwards, in the opposite direction of displacement. Tension is directed through each material pulling each end. Using Newtons Law the spring constant was calculated for each material. F=ma was transferred into W=mg to calculate gravity. To find the spring constant for the elastic band, mass was turned into dynes. Gravity times mass= dynes. 9836.07 times 0.561 = 5518.04 dynes. Then it is dynes divided by extension(cm) which is 5518.07 divided by 2.8 = 1970.74 dynes/cm which is 1.97N/m. The spring constant for the silicon t ube was which is 0.55N/m. The intercept for the best fit straight line is close to the origin and is also consistent with Hookes Law. To minimise errors, we should have viewed the ruler from specific angles to make sure it was vertical. The scale should be viewed at eye level to avoid parallax error. There were some issues with the retort stand so some equipment was not fit for the experiment and were faulty. In some instances, we needed to make sure that when the person was adding mass, he didnt stretch the material while he was doing it so the results could be accurate. We reduced the decimal places to two so that results could be easy to substitute while being accurate. The hypothesis was predicted to be that the elastic band while have a longer extension than the silicon tube and the silicon tube would be stronger than the elastic band. The prediction wasnt correct as from results it says that silicon tube had a bigger extension which was a surprising result as the material was much thicker. The elastic band had the best result because it showed results that were somewhat predicted and accurate. Through this experiment investigated stress capacity, Hookes Law and certain forces which have influenced the experiment. The hypothesis wasnt as predicted. For this experiment, we determine the spring constant and Youngs Module, we had to interpret the behaviour of two different materials. The results will be analysed to determine what is happening to the materials physically and which one is more capable of the masses. The two types of materials used for this experiment were an elastic band and a tube of silicon rubber.

Birth Order Essay -- essays research papers

Sigmeund Freud was the first psychotherapist to say: "a child's position in the sequence of brother and sisters is of very great significance for one course of his later life" (Richardson 12). One's birth order position (whether born first, second, last, etc.), one's sex (male or female), and the sex of one's siblings affects the kind of person one becomes. People often say they can't understand "how people from the same family can be so different". What they do not realize is that each sibling is born into a different family. Each new child needs to create a unique identity separate from the others. However this new identity is created within the context of those who are already there. The people in a family change in many ways between the birth of each new child. Many variables impact on each sibling. These include the physical circumstances in which a family finds itself, (ie. location, income, residents), the emotional stability of the family, (ie. well adjus ted parents, parental experience, settled career), and lastly the state in which they find themselves, (ie. decade, wartime, country). These variables mean that each child will be treated differently by parents and siblings and this is done usually unintentionally. One must remember that birth order does not determine the basic values of a person or the person's value to society. It affects social interactions more than attitudes and ethnical stances. Your birth order and sex determines in a large part how other people in your family react to you and treat you which in turn influences what you think about yourself and how you react to and treat others inside and outside the family. Your birth order and gender affect primarily your social behaviour and how you relate to other people in your life. They affect the way you relate to your spouse, your friends and the skills you bring to parenting. Birth affects what kind of a spouse you will be because of how you grew up. "It is useful to know that something as simple as birth order can account for major conflicts in a relationship and that neither person is to 'blame'" (Richardson 17). When one understands, for example, that an oldest brother of brothers and an oldest sister of sisters are bound to have conflicts over who is in charge, they can stop blaming each... ...table position is that of the only child which usually takes on the role of a firstborn and then some. Hence, an only child is often referred to as the "Super First Born". "It is a scientific fact proven time and again that your position in your family shapes your approach to life" (Leman 9). Your birth order and sex determines a large part how other people in your family react to you and treat you which in turn influences what you think about yourself and how you react to and treat others inside and outside the family. It should also be noted that birth order not only affects reactions and behaviour. One's birth order affects a plethora of things which include one's IQ, consumption of cigarettes, alcohol and drugs, depression and mental illness, and creativity. (Ernst i - v) The topic birth order has proven to be very interesting and educational. It is amazing and fun to know more about yourself and your siblings through the order in which we were all born. O ne can only wonder how much one's life is out of one's control by virtue of being born first, middle or last. Does birth order really determine who one is or will become or do other factors come into play?