Hot Essay Info » buy essay

Response Essay

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:05:10 +0000

Thesis
A thesis might be about some trends in the use of images in the work or about parallels with the author’s own life.
Body
The body of the response essay is a careful working through of the work in question, examining all relevant aspects of it. Usually there is too much to work with so you need to focus your work on a limited number of points.
Some of the ways you read through a work of literature include
* identify literary devices such as simile, metaphor, image, alliteration, assonance, onomatopoiea and others and show how they help to convey the overall meaning of the work.
* find themes which are addressed in various parts of the work and show how they contribute to the overall meaning.
* find the roots of words such as the Greek or Latin roots or archaic usage and show how the writer has used these deeper meanings to add layers of complexity to his work.
* relate aspects of the work to the author’s own life or experience.
Conclusion
All you have to do is state that the bulk of your evidence supports your thesis. If there are any major arguments against your thesis, you can take one more shot at them.
What is the maker looking for?
A new analysis of an old work might be a good start. Find subtle points, which support your argument, which you haven’t seen, presented in other essays. A creative thesis is a good start, but beware of trying to make a work of art say something, which the author couldn’t have possibly intended. (There’s a whole bunch of critical theory around this,but unless you are working on a graduate level essay, just stick to things relevant to the author.)

Literature Essay

admin — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:04:56 +0000

* Introduction: Be Brief; give some suggestion of the direction you intend to take in your essay. Indicate the aspects of the book you intend to deal with.
* Paragraphing: In your plan you should identify very clearly around six distinct points you intend to make and the specific parts of the text that you intend to examine in some detail. When writing your essay you should devote one or two paragraphs to each point. Try to make smooth links between paragraphs.
* Evidence: When you make a point - you must prove it. Just as a lawyer in court must produce evidence to support his case, so you must produce evidence to prove the comments you make about characters, relationships, themes, style etc. When you make a point, refer to the text. give an example to support what you say. Better still, use a quote.
*
Quotes: Remember to lay out quotes correctly. Start a new line and indent like this:
“quote quote quote quote quote quote quote quote quote quote quote quote quote quote quote quote quote quote quote quote quote quote quote quote quote quote quote”
Remember to introduce the quote with a colon and use quotation marks. It is important to lay out quotes correctly because it shows you are professional about what you are doing. Keep them short - no more than three or four lines each.
* Selection: Avoid the trap of just re-telling the story. The important thing is to be selective in the way you use the text. Only refer to those parts of the book that help you to answer the question.
* Answer the question: it sounds obvious, but it’s so easy to forget the question and go off at a tangent. When you have finished a paragraph read it through and ask yourself. “How does this contribute to answering the question?” If it doesn’t, change it so that it does address the question directly.
* Conclusion: At the end, try to draw all the strands of your various points together. This should be the part of your essay, which answers the question most directly and forcefully.
* Style: Keep it formal. Try to avoid making it chatty. If you imagine you are a lawyer in court trying to prove your point of view about a book, that might help to set the right tone.
* Be creative: Remember you do not have to agree with other people’s points of view about literature. If your ideas are original or different, so long as you develop them clearly, use evidence intelligently and argue persuasively, your point of view will be respected. We want literature to touch you personally and it will often affect different people in different ways. Be creative.
Checklist after writing your essay
Have you:
1. Put the full title of the question and the date at the top?
2. Written in cleat paragraphs?
3. Produced evidence to prove all your points?
4. Used at least five quotes?
5. Answered the question?
Novel essay
Theme, plot, setting, characters, style; fair divisions for any essay. Order and emphasis will depend on bias of question.
If the question is about theme, talk about it in the introduction, then discuss, one per paragraph, how the other aspects contribute to it, and conclude by talking about the success or otherwise of the author in communicating his/her theme.
Drama essay
Theme, plot, setting, characters, technique.
If the question is about technique, talk about how it affects the others-one per paragraph.
Poetry essay
Theme, style, technique (include such aspects as alliteration, assonance, versification, rhyme, rhythm, where appropriate).
THE TITLES OF PLAYS, NOVELS, MAGAZINES, NEWSPAPERS, JOURNALS (things that can stand by themselves) are underlined or italicized. Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie and Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye don’t seem to have much in common at first. If you’re using a word processor or you have a fancy typewriter, use italics, but do not use both underlines and italics. (Some instructors have adopted rules about using italics that go back to a time when italics on a word processor could be hard to read, so you should ask your instructor if you can use italics. Underlines are always correct.) The titles of poems, short stories, and articles (things that do not generally stand by themselves) require quotation marks.
Tools of the Trade: Subjects and Verbs
Whenever possible, use strong subjects and active constructions, rather than weak verbal nouns or abstractions and weak passive or linking verbs: instead of “Petruchio’s denial of Kate of her basic necessities would seem cruel and harsh…,” try “By denying Kate the basic necessities of life, Petruchio appears cruel and harsh–but he says that he is just putting on an act.” Don’t forget that words and even phrases can serve as strong sentence subjects: “Petruchio’s ‘I’ll buckler thee against a million’ injects an unexpectedly chivalric note, especially since it follows hard on the heels of his seemingly un-gentlemanly behavior.” And remember–use regular quotation marks unless you’re quoting material that contains a quotation itself.
In General, Avoid the Swamp of Published Criticism
Do not try to sift through the many hundreds of pounds of critical inquiry about the scene or the play. I am most interested in what you bring to the plays, not the ways in which you try to spew back your versions of what “experts” have written to get tenure or score points with other tweed-jacketed types. Honest confusion and honest mistaking are part of the learning process, so don’t try to seek out some other “authority” for your proof.

Expository Essay

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:04:50 +0000

The purpose of an expository essay is to present, completely and fairly, other people’s views or to report about an event or a situation. Expository writing, or exposition, presents a subject in detail, apart from criticism, argument, or development; i.e., the writer elucidates a subject by analyzing it. Such writing is discourse designed to convey information or explain what is difficult to understand. Exposition usually proceeds by the orderly analysis of parts and the use of familiar illustrations or analogies.
Such an analysis requires
1. reading with understanding the ideas developed in an article by clearly stating another’s thesis, outlining the facts used by the author to support that thesis, and the “values” underlying the ideas
2. putting what is read into a larger context by relating another’s article or book to other work in the field
3. clearly and effectively communicating this information to a defined audience. In other words, you must write clearly and fully enough for your readers to know how you have arrived at your analyses and conclusions. They should never have to guess what you mean; give your readers everything they need to know to follow your reasoning
This practice is not “just for students.” Accurate analysis is a fundamental professional activity in almost all careers. Like any other fundamental skill, it must be constantly practiced in order to maintain and improve it. Other goals, such as learning “time management” and note-taking, are also developed by this activity.
Do not be afraid to revise your essay! In fact, you will probably want to change it at least once; this is called “thinking through a ‘problem’” or “learning.”
The revisions will consist of the following:
1. finding the precise words to express your thoughts
2. correcting typographical, spelling, and grammatical errors
3. making sure that your paragraphs are “tight” and sequenced properly
4. making sure that the transition (”segue”) from one major topic to another makes sense
Expository essays also have a distinct format.
The thesis statement must be defined and narrow enough to be supported within the essay.
* Each supporting paragraph must have a distinct controlling topic and all other sentences must factually relate directly to it. The transition words or phrases are important as they help the reader follow along and reinforce the logic.
* Finally, the conclusion paragraph should originally restate the thesis and the main supporting ideas. Finish with the statement that reinforces your position in a meaningful and memorable way.
* Never introduce new material in the conclusion.

Comparison Essay

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:04:39 +0000

To write a comparison or contrast essay that is easy to follow, first decide what the similarities or differences are by writing lists on scrap paper. Which are more significant, the similarities or the differences? Plan to discuss the less significant first, followed by the more significant. It is much easier to discuss ONLY the similarities or ONLY the differences, but you can also do both.
Then for organizing your essay, choose one of the plans described below whichever best fits your list. Finally, and this is important, what main point (thesis) might you make in the essay about the two people/things being compared? Do not begin writing until you have a point that the similarities or differences you want to use help to prove. Your point should help shape the rest of what you say: For example, if you see that one of your similarities or differences is unrelated to the point, throw it out and think of one that is related. Or revise your point. Be sure this main point is clearly and prominently expressed somewhere in the essay.
Plan A: Use Plan A if you have many small similarities and/or differences. After your introduction, say everything you want to say about the first work or character, and then go on in the second half of the essay to say everything about the second work or character, comparing or contrasting each item in the second with the same item in the first. In this format, all the comparing or contrasting, except for the statement of your main point, which you may want to put in the beginning, goes on in the SECOND HALF of the piece.
Plan B: Use Plan B if you have only a few, larger similarities or differences. After your introduction, in the next paragraph discuss one similarity or difference in BOTH works or characters, and then move on in the next paragraph to the second similarity or difference in both, then the third, and so forth, until you’re done. If you are doing both similarities and differences, juggle them on scrap paper so that in each part you put the less important first (”X and Y are both alike in their social positions . . .”), followed by the more important (”but X is much more aware of the dangers of his position than is Y”). In this format, the comparing or contrasting goes on in EACH of the middle parts.
The following outline may be helpful; however, do not be limited by it.
1. Intro. with thesis
2. 1st similarity
1. 1st work
2. 2nd work
3. 2nd similarity
1. 1st work
2. 2nd work
4. 1st difference
1. 1st work
2. 2nd work
5. 2nd difference
1. 1st work
2. 2nd work

Argumentative Essay

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:04:31 +0000

The function of an argumentative essay is to show that your assertion (opinion, theory, hypothesis) about some phenomenon or phenomena is correct or more truthful than others’. The art of argumentation is not an easy skill to acquire. Many people might think that if one simply has an opinion, one can argue it successfully, and these folks are always surprised when others don’t agree with them because their logic seems so correct. Argumentative writing is the act of forming reasons, making inductions, drawing conclusions, and applying them to the case in discussion; the operation of inferring propositions, not known or admitted as true, from facts or principles known, admitted, or proved to be true. It clearly explains the process of your reasoning from the known or assumed to the unknown. Without doing this you do not have an argument, you have only an assertion, an essay that is just your unsubstantiated opinion.
Notice that you do not have to completely prove your point; you only have to convince reasonable readers that your argument or position has merit; i.e., that it is somehow more accurate and complete than competing arguments.
Argumentative essays are often organized in the following manner:
1. They begin with a statement of your assertion, its timeliness, significance, and relevance in relation to some phenomenon.
2. They review critically the literature about that phenomenon.
3. They illustrate how your assertion is “better” (simpler or more explanatory) than others, including improved (i.e., more reliable or valid) methods that you used to accumulate the data (case) to be explained.
Finally revise and edit, and be sure to apply the critical process to your argument to be certain you have not committed any errors in reasoning or integrated any fallacies for which you would criticize some other writer.
Additionally, you will want to find out how your readers will object to your argument. Will they say that you have used imprecise concepts? Have you erred in collecting data? Your argument is only as strong as the objections to it. If you cannot refute or discount an objection, then you need to rethink and revise your position.

Admission Essay

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:04:28 +0000

Essays are used to learn more about your reasons for applying to the course, university or company and your ability to benefit from and contribute to it. Your answers will let you state your case more fully than other sections of the application, and provide the evaluator with better insight about you and how you differ from the other applicants. In marginal cases, the essays are used to decide whether an applicant will be selected. The purpose of the admissions essay is to convey a sense of your unique character to the admissions committee. The essay also demonstrates your writing skills as well as your ability to organize your thoughts coherently.
Sample essay topics
There are hundreds of possible topics that you can be asked to write an essay on. Given below are some of the more common ones.
1. What events, activities or achievements have contributed to your own self-development?
2. Describe a situation in which you had significant responsibility and what you learned from it.
3. Describe your strengths and weaknesses in two areas: setting and achieving goals, and working with other people.
4. Your career aspirations and factors leading you to apply to this course at this time. Describe a challenge to which you have successfully responded. What did you learn about yourself as you responded to this challenge? Describe a challenge you anticipate facing in any aspect of college life. On the basis of what you learned from your earlier response, how do you expect to deal with this challenge?
5. Describe and evaluate one experience that significantly influenced your academic interests. The experience might be a high school course, a job, a relationship, or an extracurricular activity. Be sure to explain how this experience led to your setting the goals you now have for yourself, and why you think the academic program for which you are applying will help you to reach those goals.
6. Describe your educational, personal or career goals.
7. Role Model - If you could meet/be/have dinner with anyone in history, who would it be and why?
8. Past Experience - Describe an event that has had a great impact on you and why?
9. What was your most important activity/course in high school and why?
10. Forecast important issues in the next decade, century - nationally, globally.
11. Why do you want to study at this university?
12. Tell us something about yourself, your most important activities?
13. How would your room, computer or car describe you?
List all your activities for the past four years. Include school activities; awards, honors, and offices held; community services; jobs; and travel. Record major travel experiences. Note your strongest impressions and how they affected you. If you loved the Grand Canyon, for example, write down three specific reasons why, aside from the grandeur and beauty that everyone loves. Describe an accomplishment that you had to struggle to achieve. Include what it was, how you tackled it, and how it changed you.
Think of one or two sayings that you’ve heard again and again around your house since childhood. How have they shaped your life? What personality traits do you value most in yourself? Choose a few and jot down examples of how each has helped you. Think of things that other people often say about you. Write about whether or not you agree with their assessments and how they make you feel.
Brainstorm “top ten” lists in a few selected categories: favorite books, plays, movies, sports, eras in history, famous people, etc. Review your list to see which items stand out and describe what they’ve added to your life. Describe “regular people” who have motivated you in different ways throughout your life. It could be someone you only met once, a third-grade teacher, or a family member or friend.
Starting your essay
The most common topic–particularly if only one essay is required–is the first, “tell us about yourself.” Since this kind of essay has no specific focus, applicants sometimes have trouble deciding which part of their lives to write about. Beware of the chronological list of events that produces dull reading. Remember, also, to accent the positive rather than the negative side of an experience. If you write about the effect of a death, divorce, or illness on your life, tell about but don’t dwell on your bad luck and disappointments.
Instead, emphasize what you have learned from the experience, and how coping with adversity has strengthened you as an individual.
1. Tie yourself to the college: Why are you interested in attending, and what can the institution do for you? Be specific. Go beyond “XYZ College will best allow me to realize my academic potential.
2. Read the directions carefully and follow them to the letter. In other words, if the essay is supposed to be 500 words or less, don’t submit 1000 words.
3. Consider the unique features of the institution, e.g., a liberal arts college will be impressed with the variety of academic and personal interests you might have, while an art institute would be most interested in your creative abilities.
4. Be positive, upbeat and avoid the negatives, e.g. I am applying to your school because I won’t be required to take physical education or a foreign language.
5. Emphasize what you have learned, e.g. provide more than a narration when recounting an experience.
6. Write about something you know, something only you could write.
7. Make certain you understand the question or the topic. Your essay should answer the question or speak directly to the given topic.
8. List all ideas. Be creative. Brainstorm without censoring.
9. Sort through ideas and prioritize. You cannot tell them everything, Be selective.
10. Choose information and ideas which are not reflected in other parts of your application. This is your chance to supplement your application with information you want them to know.
11. Be persuasive in showing the reader you are deserving of admission. Remember your audience.

What makes a good essay?

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:03:53 +0000

Read the topic and sample essay, then study the comments. Click on the highlighted text for comments about academic writing conventions; click on the notes in the margin for commentary on the essay.
comment
Essay topic:
“Birth rates are falling in developed countries. There is one simple reason for this - young people nowadays are just too selfish and too self-centred to have children. And this is particularly true of women”. To what extent do you agree with this view? Support your argument with relevant readings and evidence.
Sample essay
Close box
Using “I” - first person pronouns
Notice how the student uses “I” in his essay:
The best explanation, I believe, is…. And in the previous sentence, another first person pronoun is used: My argument is that …
Some students have the impression that they are not allowed to use these words in their written work. But in fact they can often be found in academic writing. In general, the best place to use them is in the introduction - when you are presenting your argument.
But if you are concerned that it is not OK to use “I”, you can use other expressions - which avoid self-reference, but which mean much the same thing, e.g. This essay will argue that … Remember though, that the really important issue is not the words you use to present your argument - but that your essay actually has a clear argument.
commentCountries in the developed world have seen a big shift in attitudes to population growth. Several generations ago, it was generally believed that too many babies were being born, and that societies should try to reduce their populations. Nowadays, however, the concern is the reverse - that birthrates are falling too low and that urgent action is needed to encourage people to have more children. But what are the causes of this trend? And how much are the attitudes and lifestyles of young people to blame? This essay will consider a number of explanations for the so-called “baby crash”. commentMy argument will be that to hold young people responsible is neither valid nor helpful. The best explanation, I believe, is to be found in the condition of increased economic insecurity faced by the young.
Close box
Paragraphs
Try to keep your paragraphs a reasonable length. (Most paragraphs in this essay are around 7-8 sentences long.)
Close box
Citation 1 (Chesnais, 1998)
Citations are used to indicate the source of the ideas you have used in your essay. Note that there are two main citation systems:
1. the author-date system (also known as Harvard);
2. the footnote system (also known as Oxford).
In this essay, the author-date system has been used. (Always check which system is required in each of your subjects.)
Close box
Citation 2 (Ichimura and Ogawa, 2000)
Citations can be set out in a number of ways. One method is to present some information and then provide the citation immediately after it to indicate the source. These are known as ‘information-prominent’ citations eg:
Japan now has a birthrate of only about 1.3, and Hong Kong’s has fallen to below 1.0 (Ichimura and Ogawa, 2000).
Other formats are considered further on.
comment The birth rate has fallen dramatically in many parts of the world. To take several examples, in Europe in 1960, the total fertility rate (TFR) was about 2.6 births per female, but in 1996 it had fallen to 1.4 (Chesnais, 1998). In many Asian countries, similar declines have been experienced. Japan now has a birthrate of only about 1.3, and Hong Kong’s has fallen to below 1.0 (Ichimura and Ogawa, 2000). A TFR of below 2.0 means that a country’s population is not replaced, and thus there is a net population decline. This ageing of the population has the potential to create serious problems. Fewer children being born means that in the long term, a smaller proportion of the populace will be economically productive, whilst a larger proportion will be old and economically dependent - in the form of pension, health care and other social services. Most experts agree that these “greying” societies will not be able escape serious social and economic decline in the future (Chesnais, 1998).
Close box
Citation 3 Masahiro Yamada (cited in Ashby, 2000)
This citation means that the student is dealing with the ideas of Yamada, but actually read about them in Ashby’s text. Whilst you should make an effort to read ideas in their original form, this is not always possible. In such cases, use the ‘cited in’ format.
Close box
Reporting expressions
When you are summarising the ideas of a writer, you need to use reporting expressions like the ones used here:
He [Yamada] uses the term …
According to Yamada,…
… he says …etc.
commentSo what are the causes of this trend and what can be done to stop it? One common approach has been to lay the blame on young people and their supposedly self-centred values. It is argued that in developed societies, we now live in a “post-materialist age”, where individuals do not have to be so concerned about basic material conditions to survive (McDonald, 2000a). Thus people, especially the young, have become more focussed on the values of self-realisation and the satisfaction of personal preferences, at the expense of traditional values like raising a family. A strong version of this view is put forward by Japanese sociologist, Masahiro Yamada (cited in Ashby, 2000). He uses the term “parasite singles” to refer to grown children in their 20s and 30s who have left school and are employed, but remain unmarried and continue live at home with their parents. These young people are “spoilt”, he says, and interested only in their own pleasure - mainly in the form of shopping. According to Yamada, it is this focus on self, more than any other factor, that is responsible for Japan’s languishing birth rate (Ashby, 2000). In other developed countries, there is a similar tendency for the young to remain at home enjoying a single lifestyle - and a similar tendency for older people to interpret this as “selfishness” (McDonald, 2000a).
Close box
“Scare quotes”
You use these to distance yourself from certain language. eg. when you are using an informal expression, or a term used by others that you don’t necessarily agree with.
Close box
Careful language (it seems that….)
In this paragraph, the student wants to reject the view in the topic - that young people’s selfishness is to blame for the declining birthrate. Notice how he does this in a careful way, by using expressions like:
Findings like this suggest that …
It seems then that …
Being careful about the way you express your claims is a distinctive feature of academic style.
commentBut is it reasonable to attribute the baby crash to the “pleasure-seeking” values of the young? The problem with this view is that whenever young people are surveyed about their attitudes to family, not only do they say they want to have children, they also express preferences for family sizes that are, on average, above the replacement level (McDonald, 2000a). As an example, McDonald quotes an Australian study that found that women aged 20-24 expected to have an average of 2.33 children in their lifetime. Findings like this suggest that the values of the young are not at all incompatible with the idea of having a family. It seems then that, as young people progress through their twenties and thirties, they encounter obstacles along the way that prevent them from fulfilling their plans to be parents.
commentSome conservative thinkers believe the main “obstacle” is the changed role and status of women (eg. Norton, 2003). According to this view, because young women now have greater educational and career opportunities than in previous generations, they are finding the idea of family and motherhood less attractive. Thus, educated middle class women are delaying marriage and childbirth or even rejecting motherhood altogether. It is claimed that women’s improved status - which may be a good thing in itself - has had the unfortunate consequence of threatening population stability.
Close box
“Quoting”
When you quote an author (like Chesnais here) you need to use quotation marks, and indicate the exact page number in the citation.
Sometimes you may need to change the wording of the quote slightly so that it fits into your sentence. If you need to add/change any words, use [ ]; if you need to delete words, use … (Whilst it is OK to change the wording of a quote, you must never change its sense.)
Close box
Italics - for emphasis
Use italics when you want to emphasise a word. (When you do this in a quote, you need to indicate that it is your emphasis.)
commentBut there are several problems with this argument. For one, the lowest TFRs in Europe are found in Spain and Italy (around 1.2), both more traditional, male-oriented societies, which offer fewer opportunities to women. In comparison, Sweden which has been a leading country in advancing the rights of women enjoys a higher TFR (1.6 in 1996) - even though it is still below replacement. Chesnais (1998: p. 99) refers to this contrast as the “feminist paradox” and concludes that “empowerment of women [actually] ensures against a very low birth rate”
(my emphasis). Another problem with trying to link improved education levels for women to low birth rates is that fertility in developed countries seems to be declining across all education and class levels. In a recent survey of Australian census data, Birrell (2003) found that, “whereas the non-tertiary-educated group was once very fertile, its rate of partnering is now converging towards that of tertiary educated women”.
We can summarise the discussion to this point as follows:
Close box
Dot points
It’s OK to use dot points in an essay (or numbered points here), but use them very sparingly.
1. Young people today, in spite of what’s said about their values, still express a desire to have children. However, few end up having as many as they say they would like.
2. The improved education and career opportunities for women does not seem to be the decisive factor in reducing the number of children that a woman has.
commentThese conclusions suggest that there must be something else involved. Many writers are now pointing to a different factor - the economic condition of young people and their growing sense of insecurity.
Close box
Citation 4 Peter McDonald (2000a) … discusses
Notice how in some citations the author can be part of the sentence: Peter McDonald (2000a) … discusses some of the things etc. This is known as an ‘author-prominent’ citation and is very common in academic writing. Notice the use of reporting verbs in this citation type (”discusses”).
Close box
Titles
Use ‘inverted commas’ for the title of an article. Use italics for the title of a book
Close box
More reporting expressions
Notice some of the other reporting expressions used in the student’s summary of Peter McDonald’s ideas:
… what McDonald calls…
… McDonald suggests …
… McDonald points to …
… which he thinks…
Peter McDonald (2000a) in his article ‘Low fertility in Australia: Evidence, causes and policy responses’ discusses some of the things that a couple will consider when they are thinking of having a child. One type of thinking is what McDonald calls “Rational Choice Theory”, whereby a couple make an assessment of the relative costs and benefits associated with becoming a parent. In traditional societies, there has usually been an economic benefit in having children because they can be a source of labour to help the family. In developed societies, however, children now constitute an economic cost, and so, it is argued, the benefits are more of a psychological kind - for example, enjoying the status of being a parent, having baby who will be fun and will grow up to love you, having offspring who will carry on the family name etc. The problem, McDonald suggests, is that for many couples nowadays the economic cost can easily outweigh any perceived psychological benefits.
Close box
Indenting of paragraphs
It’s very important to make it clear to your reader when one paragraph ends and a new one begins. In this paragraph (#9), there is some potential for confusion. Notice how the student has used indenting to make this clear.
comment McDonald (2000b) discusses another type of decision-making - “Risk Aversion Theory” - which he says is also unfavourable to the birth rate. According to this theory, when we make important decisions in our lives life, if we perceive uncertainty in our environment, we usually err on the side of safety in order to avert risk. McDonald points to a rise in economic uncertainty which he thinks has steered a lot of young people away from life-changing decisions like marriage and parenthood:
Close box
“Quoting” 2 - longer quotes
Quotes of more than one sentence in length should be separated from the main text. Notice how these are indented and are in a slightly smaller font. Again you should indicate the page number
Jobs are no longer lifetime jobs. There is a strong economic cycle of booms and busts. Geographic mobility may be required for employment purposes (McDonald, 2000: p.15).
Birrell (2003) focuses on increased economic uncertainty for men. Referring to the situation in Australia, he discusses men’s reluctance to form families in terms of perceived costs and risks:
Many men are poor - in 2001, 42 per cent of men aged 25-44 earnt less than $32,000 a year. Only two-thirds of men in this age group were in full-time work. Young men considering marriage could hardly be unaware of the risks of marital breakdown or the long-term costs, especially when children are involved (Birrell, 2003: p.12).
And Yuji Genda (2000) in Japan, responding to Yamada’s analysis of “parasite singles”, argues that the failure of young Japanese to leave home and start families is not due to self-indulgence, but is an understandable response to increasingly difficult economic circumstances. Genda (2000) notes that it is the young who have had to bear the brunt of the decade long restructuring of the Japanese economy, with youth unemployment hovering around 10% and a marked reduction in secure full-time jobs for the young.
Young people around the world seem to have an increasing perception of economic uncertainty and contemplate something their parents would have found impossible - a decline in living standards over their lifetime. According to a 1990 American survey, two thirds of respondents in the 18-29 age group thought it would be more difficult for their generation to live as comfortably as previous generations (cited in Newman, 2000: p.505). Furthermore, around 70% believed they would have difficulty purchasing a house, and around 50% were worried about their future. Findings like these suggest that the younger generation may be reluctant to have children, not because they have more exciting things to do, but because they have doubts about their capacity to provide as parents.
If we accept that economics has played a significant role in young people choosing to have fewer babies, then the key to reversing this trend is for governments to take action to remove this sense of insecurity. A number of policy approaches have been suggested. Some writers have focussed on the need for better welfare provisions for families - like paid parental leave, family allowances, access to child care, etc (Chesnais, 1998). Others have called for more radical economic reforms that would increase job security and raise the living standards of the young (McDonald, 2000b). It is hard to know what remedies are needed. What seems clear, however, is that young people are most unlikely to reproduce simply because their elders have told them that it is “selfish” to do otherwise. Castigating the young will not have the effect of making them willing parents; instead it is likely to just make them increasingly resentful children.

How to Write an Essay: 10 Easy Steps

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:03:45 +0000

Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.
– Gene Fowler
Why is writing an essay so frustrating?
Learning how to write an essay can be a maddening, exasperating process, but it doesn’t have to be. If you know the steps and understand what to do, writing can be easy and even fun.
This site, “How To Write an Essay: 10 Easy Steps,” offers a ten-step process that teaches students how to write an essay. Links to the writing steps are found on the left, and additional writing resources are located across the top.
Learning how to write an essay doesn’t have to involve so much trial and error.
steps to writing an essay
Brief Overview of the 10 Essay Writing Steps
Below are brief summaries of each of the ten steps to writing an essay. Select the links for more info on any particular step, or use the blue navigation bar on the left to proceed through the writing steps. How To Write an Essay can be viewed sequentially, as if going through ten sequential steps in an essay writing process, or can be explored by individual topic.
1. Research: Begin the essay writing process by researching your topic, making yourself an expert. Utilize the internet, the academic databases, and the library. Take notes and immerse yourself in the words of great thinkers.
2. Analysis: Now that you have a good knowledge base, start analyzing the arguments of the essays you’re reading. Clearly define the claims, write out the reasons, the evidence. Look for weaknesses of logic, and also strengths. Learning how to write an essay begins by learning how to analyze essays written by others.
3. Brainstorming: Your essay will require insight of your own, genuine essay-writing brilliance. Ask yourself a dozen questions and answer them. Meditate with a pen in your hand. Take walks and think and think until you come up with original insights to write about.
4. Thesis: Pick your best idea and pin it down in a clear assertion that you can write your entire essay around. Your thesis is your main point, summed up in a concise sentence that lets the reader know where you’re going, and why. It’s practically impossible to write a good essay without a clear thesis.
5. Outline: Sketch out your essay before straightway writing it out. Use one-line sentences to describe paragraphs, and bullet points to describe what each paragraph will contain. Play with the essay’s order. Map out the structure of your argument, and make sure each paragraph is unified.
6. Introduction: Now sit down and write the essay. The introduction should grab the reader’s attention, set up the issue, and lead in to your thesis. Your intro is merely a buildup of the issue, a stage of bringing your reader into the essay’s argument.
(Note: The title and first paragraph are probably the most important elements in your essay. This is an essay-writing point that doesn’t always sink in within the context of the classroom. In the first paragraph you either hook the reader’s interest or lose it. Of course your teacher, who’s getting paid to teach you how to write an essay, will read the essay you’ve written regardless, but in the real world, readers make up their minds about whether or not to read your essay by glancing at the title alone.)
7. Paragraphs: Each individual paragraph should be focused on a single idea that supports your thesis. Begin paragraphs with topic sentences, support assertions with evidence, and expound your ideas in the clearest, most sensible way you can. Speak to your reader as if he or she were sitting in front of you. In other words, instead of writing the essay, try talking the essay.
8. Conclusion: Gracefully exit your essay by making a quick wrap-up sentence, and then end on some memorable thought, perhaps a quotation, or an interesting twist of logic, or some call to action. Is there something you want the reader to walk away and do? Let him or her know exactly what.
9. MLA Style: Format your essay according to the correct guidelines for citation. All borrowed ideas and quotations should be correctly cited in the body of your text, followed up with a Works Cited (references) page listing the details of your sources.
10. Language: You’re not done writing your essay until you’ve polished your language by correcting the grammar, making sentences flow, incoporating rhythm, emphasis, adjusting the formality, giving it a level-headed tone, and making other intuitive edits. Proofread until it reads just how you want it to sound. Writing an essay can be tedious, but you don’t want to bungle the hours of conceptual work you’ve put into writing your essay by leaving a few slippy misppallings and pourly wordedd phrazies..
You’re done. Great job. Now move over Ernest Hemingway - a new writer is coming of age! (Of course Hemingway was a fiction writer, not an essay writer, but he probably knew how to write an essay just as well.)
My Promise: The Rest of This Site Will Really Teach You How To Write an Essay
For half a dozen years I’ve read thousands of college essays and taught students how to write essays, do research, analyze arguments, and so on. I wrote this site in the most basic, practical way possible and made the instruction crystal clear for students and instructors to follow. If you carefully follow the ten steps for writing an essay as outlined on this site - honestly and carefully follow them - you’ll learn how to write an essay that is more organized, insightful, and appealing. And you’ll probably get an A.
Now it’s time to really begin. C’mon, it will be fun. I promise to walk you through each step of your writing journey.

How to write a research paper

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:03:38 +0000

A research paper is different than the other types of essays because it discusses a subject in depth. It also must have sources that can back up the evidence that you present and are credible. This type of paper demands more time of the writer and makes it necessary to use either the library or refereed sources on line that will satisfy the subject matter. Learning how to write a research paper can be an invaluable tool for the person who wants to further their education, or inform their professional colleagues of advances in their discipline. Essay writing is a great skill to have and we will help you enhance that skill.
There are several steps that are imminently necessary before you begin to write. This is the research portion of the paper. If this is done correctly then the paper will be very easy to complete. First choose a subject (if one has not been chosen for you already) that holds some level of interest for you. It is difficult to write an involved paper on a subject that you already dislike. Next choose an aspect of that subject that is broad, but specific enough so that you can cover the topic sufficiently and it also gives you enough room to write.
The next thing to do is to begin conducting the research and organizing it in a way that makes sense to you. This means that you need to gather a few sources and then catalogue them. Some people like to do this all on a computer, some like to use different note cards for every reference, and others like to use a notebook. Whatever method is the most comfortable for you, make sure that you have a listing for every source that you are going to use. This way you have all of the resource information so you can add it to a reference page later on.
After you have gathered a fair amount of sources (usually three or four is enough to start) you can begin writing the paper. There are many different styles that can be used formally, or your teacher may outline a specific way that they want the paper completed. Make sure that you follow the style guide directly. When you write the introduction to your paper, try to use it to grab the readers attention. The introduction should not only inform the reader about the topic but , also, make the reader aware of what is coming next.
The body of the paper gives the context of your research. Consult the style guide to make sure that you are citing sources properly. Next have a conclusion that summarizes the paper and tells the reader what they have just read. Most research papers also have either a reference page or bibliography. These are the same thing and just tell the reader where you got your sources.
The final part of any paper is a well-rounded conclusion. Following is what must be included for any research paper to be considered properly finished.
* 1).Restate the initial theme. It should not be done with exactly the same wording, but it should include the basics of what the paper regarded.
* 2).State where a person could go for further reading. This will allow the interested party a more complete look at the subject.
* 3).Since a research paper cannot fully discuss a subject, discuss what further research could be conducted.
* 4).Finally, make sure that you look at the paper with a critical eye and discuss the positives and negatives of your research and other research that has been conducted.
The steps listed above do not have to appear in the conclusion in any particular order, but all of these elements need to be there. Now you know how to write a research paper that will blow your professor away.

Self-Evaluation of Essays

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:03:35 +0000

You may be accustomed to having your writing evaluated by teachers. The odd abbreviations (”AGR,” “REF,” “AWK!”), the comments in the margins, the grade at the end of the paper–these are all methods used by instructors to identify what they see as the strengths and weaknesses of your work. Such evaluations can be helpful, but they are no substitute for a thoughtful self-evaluation.
As the writer, you can evaluate the whole process of composing a paper, from coming up with a topic to editing the final draft. Your instructor, on the other hand, often can evaluate only the final product.
A good self-evaluation is neither a defense nor an apology. Rather, it is a way of becoming more aware of what you go through when you write and of what troubles (if any) that you regularly run into. Writing a brief self-evaluation each time you have completed a writing project will make you more aware of your strengths as a writer and help you to see more clearly what skills you need to work on.
Finally, if you decide to share your self-evaluations with a writing instructor or tutor, your comments can guide your teachers as well. By seeing where you are having problems, they may be able to offer more helpful advice when they come to evaluate your work.
So after you finish your next composition, try writing a concise self-evaluation. The following four questions should help to get you started, but feel free to add comments not covered by these questions.
1. What part of writing this paper took the most time?
Perhaps you had trouble finding a topic or expressing a particular idea. Maybe you agonized over a single word or phrase. Be specific when you answer this question.
2. What is the most significant difference between your first draft and this final version?
Explain if you changed your approach to the subject, if you reorganized the paper in any significant way, or if you added or deleted any major details.
3. What do you think is the best part of your paper?
Explain why a particular sentence, paragraph, or idea pleases you.
4. What part of this paper could still be improved?
Again, be specific. There may be a troublesome sentence in the paper or an idea that isn’t expressed as clearly as you would like it to be.