The Flea and The Sun Rising Essay -- Literary Analysis, John Donne

The metaphysical era in poetry started in the 17th century when a number of poets extended the content of their poems to a more elaborate one which investigated the principles of nature and thought. John Donne was part of this literary movement and he explored the themes of love, death, and religion to such an extent, that he instilled his own beliefs and theories into his poems. His earlier works, such as The Flea and The Sunne Rising, exhibit his sexist views of women as he wrote more about the physical pleasures of being in a relationship with women. However, John Donne displays maturity and adulthood in his later works, The Canonization and A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning, in which his attitude transcends to a more grown up one. The content of his earlier works focused on pursuing women for his sexual desires, which contrasts heavily with his latter work. John Donne’s desire for physical pleasure subsides and he seeks to gain an emotional bond with women, as expressed in his later poetry. The two poems The Flea and The Sunne Rising capture John Donne’s primary motive to get in bed with women. Donne wrote these poems at an early age, and at that time he was seeking nothing more than a sexual relationship. His poetry depicted clearly how sexist he was at the time and how he used to perceive women as a medium of pleasure. The content of his early poems express an immature and desperate image of Donne, who is dominated by his fixation on the sensuality of women. In The Flea, Donne shows his desperation to have sex by addressing a flea that has sucked the blood of both him and the woman he is persuading. It is quite awkward how the poet uses this obscure image of the flea as a symbol of love and sex to convince the woman that... ...) This is one of the most important claims that Donne makes because he indirectly inducts himself and Anne into the canon of saints, thus making them sacred. The poem ends with Donne calling upon all those who have suffered from similar criticisms; this further dignifies Donne as a saint-like figure. Therefore, both of Donne’s latter poems expose the transformation that Donne acquires when he meets Anne. His sexist attitude and views transcend to a more spiritual and emotional one. John Donne’s early works viewed women as tools for sexual pleasure, as seen in The Flea and The Sunne Rising. He was very sexist and objectified women as sexual beings. However, when he meets Anne, his work becomes more concentrated on the spiritual and emotional aspects of love. He views Anne as an equal and considers his experiences with her to be more romantic in a non-sensual way.

Reflection of Team Work

The team project determined to be an excellent example of teamwork. Teamwork is essential in any type of career, and by doing team projects while still in school will continue to help me prepare for my future. The John Deere Dealership Program that I helped work on proved to be a success. Not only did the team learn how to work as a team; the team is leaving something at this university that will help students in the future. I feel that if this program is implemented, many students can benefit from this internship experience. I just wish that this program had been implemented four years ago so my colleagues or I might have had a chance to participate in this program. The project itself turned out to be a great learning experience for every member of my team, including myself. A student’s school and work schedule is tough enough to work out, but when there are four different schedules to work around one must collaborate with the other three to work out meeting times. The team I participated with worked out meeting times the best we could. I believe that this is an experience that each member should remember in the future, especially when we have to form meetings with colleagues in our career. While working on this team project conflict arose, and we had to overcome these conflicts. Conflicts are a big part of any team because of the amount of people working as a team. Conflicts are bound to arise, and each person must realize that their idea is not always right. I believe that knowing ahead of time that conflicts will arise that team should run a lot smoother. Communication is also a key to a successful team. If a person is reluctant to communicate with the rest of the team, his of her ideas will not be expressed in a completed project. I feel that in small teams like we had, it helps a backward person become involved due to the small amount of people in the group. I believe that every person’s opinion is important in running a team, and I will try to get every person’s input before a final decision is made. The presentations that each team gave in front of the class proved to be a good experience for every member of each group. Some people are more comfortable than others in public speaking, but through the presentations, a backward speaker gets experience in speaking in front of people. I believe that experience is the only way to become comfortable speaking in front of eople. Overall, I have thoroughly enjoyed this project. Each step of completion from the ground up was a great experience. I enjoy seeing our finished product, and enjoy people liking what our finished product looks like. I think all the hard work and conflicts pay off when I see a completed project. It has been a great team building experience for me, and I feel that the completion of this team project will help me in future team oriented projects.

What is the impact of the Lord of the Rings on New Zealand’s Tourism industry?

Introduction During a more relaxed PBL session in a prior module, the tutor presented a safety instructional video from Air New Zealand to the group. In this video the actors were all dressed up as figures from the famous Lord of the Rings movies. Ever since, the author of this proposal confronted himself with the question how exactly New Zealand's tourism industry is influenced by the aforementioned phenomenon. There already has been quite some research on the movie induced tourism of New Zealand. However, whether it brings lasting economy growth to New Zealand's tourism industry, is an issue barely covered.Thus, this assignment will attempt to answer the question: What is the impact of the Lord of the Rings on New Zealand's Tourism industry from the release in 2001 till the year 2016? First, the paper will begin with defining what film induced tourism is and why it is an option for New Zealand's tourism industry. This is done to create a basic understanding of the subject. After th at the question will be answered how â€Å"The Lord of the Rings† is used for marketing purposes and the degree of dependency on this marketing form.In return that will lead to the third item of this paper, the customer satisfaction level of movie tourists. This is also relevant for evaluating the efficiency of the marketing efforts. Lastly the impact of movie-induced tourism on New Zealand's economy will be discussed. That is necessary to predict future developments and the fortitude of the impact on industry. Body Before the impacts of film-induced tourism on New Zealand can be discussed, an understanding of what Film-induced tourism is and why it exists has to be  provided.The origins of the modern tourism form lie in the late 18th century. Ever since the eras of romanticism and storm and stress, fictional stories and characters influenced the being and desires of its consumers. As common knowledge, the novel â€Å"The Sorrows of Young Werther†, for instance, resu lted in a phenomenon referred to as â€Å"Werther-fever† . The audience celebrated the hero of the novel by dressing up identical to the main character; reading circles were found and festivals with Werther themes were held.However, the most remarkable of all events associated with the Werther-fever were the journeys to Switzerland, undertaken by many enthusiasts of the Goethe novel. Readers felt the need to experience the described scenery of the Swiss alps in person. This occurrence is transferable to the fantasy literature success, The Lord of the Rings. The fantasy novel caused fan clubs, fan art and some even learned the languages used by certain characters in the books. Despite the popularity of the trilogy, written by J. R. R.Tolkien, the relevance of the novel for New Zealand would have been of no significance, if the movie industry had not made the decision to produce a movie series transferring the story from paper on to the screen. In addition Tolkien is not direct ly connected to the country. Director Peter Jackson, a New Zealander himself, brought the production to his native land. Once the audience was confronted with the movies, showing New Zealand's' landscapes as breathtaking scenery of â€Å"Middle Earth†, the bases for film-induced tourism was laid.In 2004, The third part of the series, â€Å"The Return of the King†, won 11 Oscars, exposing the landscapes of New Zealand to approximately 200 million viewers worldwide. (Carl, Kindon & Smith 2007) Following the logic of the aforementioned matter, movie-induced tourism simply is on-location tourism that relates to a successful movie. Thus, the term can be widened to film-induced tourism, taking television, DVD and other mediums into account. (Beeton 2005)Nonetheless, film induced tourism is not restricted to only one form. There are two main forms: On-Location tourism and Off-Location tourism.On-location tourism includes all activities that are related directly to the film lo cation. Therefore it can have different characteristics. As portrayed by Sue Beeton, movie tourism can be the main reason to travel to a certain destination. Nevertheless, the participation in movie related tourism activities can also only be one of various events during a holiday. The same applies to off-location tourism which ,in contrast to on-location tourism, covers all film touristic activities not related to the film location, such as studio theme parks or studio tours.  (Beeton 2005)Since it is now established what film induced tourism is and why it works for New Zealand, it is necessary to determine the degree of influence of The Lord of the Rings on destination marketing. The Importance of the movies to not only the tourism industry but the country as a whole becomes obvious when reckoning that already in 2001, when the first movie was released, a â€Å"Minister of the Rings† was announced, by the government to optimize the profits gained from the movies to nation in a holistic approach.Therefore, the minister not only managed the film-induced tourism related issues but also in terms of the film industry and connected employment. (Beeton 2005) Though this may seem to be a drastic measure on first sight, it quickly becomes evidence of wise foresight. In Forbes online magazine Gregg Anderson, general manager of western long haul markets for Tourism New Zealand, stated: â€Å"We’ve seen a 50% increase in arrivals to New Zealand since Lord of the Rings† (Pinchefsky 2012) This increase is the result of various promotion efforts that include official government initiatives as well.During the time period of 2001 to 2004, more than 20 million $NZ were spent on promotion related to the trilogy. The destination marketing, of public and private entities was executed on all four levels: National, local, individual and media. Activities ranged from releasing themed stamps, setting up Lord of the rings tourism websites, renaming street names (Gandalf street),over specialized guidebooks, to reports on world premiers. After Pinchefsky, even â€Å"†¦ New Zealand Custom Service currently stamps visitor’s passports with a â€Å"Welcome to Middle Earth† stamp.† (Pinchefsky 2012)Another key player giving in to the trend towards film based marketing is Air New Zealand. The air carrier uses safety instructional videos with a Lord of the rings theme. Further, in 2004 several air craft's were painted with characters and scenes from the movies and the pilots welcomed passenger in Wellington with: â€Å"Welcome to Middle Earth†. Overall film induced marketing was a successful approach to increase the exposure of New Zealand as a tourism destination.According to Tourism New Zealand, New Zealand's national tourism board, 87 percent of potential customers considering a trip  to the country were familiar with the fact, that the trilogy was filmed in New Zealand. In contrast to that, in the year 2004, tourists who came to the destination primarily motivated to participate in film induced tourism, only made up one percent of all travelers entering the country. Though one percent does not appear to be a significant number, it translates into NZ$32. 8milion of tourist spending. Six percent acknowledged the movies to be one of their main reasons for traveling to New Zealand. (Tourism New Zealand n. d. ) As a result, that means 94% of the tourists posses a secondary or no interest in New Zealand's film tourism.The conclusion deriving from that circumstance is essential. Despite using Jackson's movies for a broad range of promotional tools, the tourism industry is not solely relying on them. This can be demonstrated with the following example: Approximately 30 percent of New Zealand's territory consists of protected parks with hiking trails in most of them. The responsible institution for the parks is the Department of Conservation. It solely promotes the protected area for common purp oses such as hiking or walking. Thus â€Å"The Lord of the Rings† is consciously excluded in promotional activities to protect the environment.Simultaneously this helps remaining the image of the country being a destination for outdoor adventure travel. (Beeton 2005 p. 82) In addition, Tourism New Zealand promotes the destination with the slogan: â€Å"100% pure New Zealand†, emphasizing on natural beauty and cultural heritage. After having established that New Zealand's tourism industry can and actively promotes its offerings to tourists around the globe, the efficiency of the practiced movie brand marketing has to be determined. This can be achieved by regarding the site sacralization as an indicator for the effectiveness of using Tolkien's fantasy story for promotion purposes.The site sacralization theory classically describes four phases; naming, framing and elevation, mechanical reproduction and social reproduction. ( MacCannell 1999) Since the lord of the ring si tes are not naturally developed but a product of transitioning fictional places and items to reality, the theory has to be adjusted. The naming is already given through the story itself. Further, the second phase of framing and elevation is completed. Tourist attractions such as â€Å"Hobbiton† stand out being staged as a meaningful subject of its own.In case of the mechanical reproduction, meaning that the attraction is  materialized and sold as for example a souvenir, it has to be understood, that there is also merchandize not related to New Zealand. The Lord of the Rings is a brand producing figures, cosplay and much more. Since the film locations and set are part of the merchandize product, the mechanical reproduction of many film-induced tourism sites mixes with the Lord of the Rings brand. The consequence is a blur of the boundary between fictional place and real tourism attraction. Therefore the last phase, social reproduction, is only reached partly. The nature of t he final phase is that it lets the attraction identify itself as the destination.In other words, the attraction is noticed as identical to the destination. The consequence is, that tourists visit a tourism simply for the attraction, not the destination including the site. The positive aspect of that condition is the large exposure of the attraction to potential visitors. New Zealand's destination marketing managed to benefit from the incompleteness of the social reproduction in two ways. Firstly, those who identify the tourism sites, and therefore New Zealand as a whole, with the scenes of â€Å"The Lord of the Rings† will directly react to promotion measures embracing fan culture.Secondly, for all others the movies will act as an ambassador for the country as destination itself with its natural beauty. Therefore, using destination marketing based on the movie is highly sufficient, as long as the trilogy is present in the heads of the people. This will not be an issue for the next two decades, as the prequel to the Lord of the Rings, â€Å"The Hobbit†, premiered in early 2013. The Hobbit will be a trilogy as well. As any business in the tertiary sector might agree with, maintaining customers is more efficient then attracting new ones. Thus customer satisfaction is an elementary aspect to every business.For New Zealand's film-induced tourism that raises the question of how tourists experience sites and whether they are satisfied. The difficulty lies in the fact that most backdrops used for the movies have been edited and the tourists experience of the attraction interferes with the experience of the watching the movie. In return that might cause dissatisfaction, if the imagined experience differs significantly from the actual experience. (Carl, Kindon & Smith 2007) Karl, Kindon and Smith analyzed three tours specialized in activities related to â€Å"The Lord of the Rings†. Those tours included film sets and pure scenery used for backdrops. The conclusion drawn was that the vast majority of the tourists was satisfied with the experience. In most cases expectations were met or even exceeded. Further, it was argued, that success and satisfaction level for activities, connected to scenery only, depend heavily on the performance of the tour guides presenting the attraction. Therefore, the quality of the products offered by New Zealand's film-induced tourism is difficult to evaluate. On a macro level â€Å"The Lord of the Rings†, is absolutely suited for film induced tourism. There are three qualities a film has to posses in order to be successfully used for film tourism.Those are: uniqueness, status and timely significance. The trilogy inherits all three qualities. It is a unique film experience on the verge of becoming an all time classic. Moreover, it has a high status as a movie setting new standards to its time and winning 11 Oscars. Lastly the movie was shot to a time where the aftermath of the 11th September a ttacks led to a war against terror. The story of the trilogy contains similar elements of good versus evil, which made it almost a metaphor for the historical developments at the time. The result was â€Å"The Lord of the Rings† as a part of pop culture.The intermediary result from the aforementioned issues lead to the conclusion, that Tourists participating in film-induced tourism related to Jacksons movies, are majorly satisfies with the provided experience. This is also conditioned by the quality of the trilogy itself. To be able to indicate the impact the movies had on the economy in the past and what the future might look like, economic statistics have to be critically reviewed. An intricacy is the limited amount of film-induced tourism data available. Hence it will be attempted to draw conclusions from the existing general tourism data.Last year, tourism generated a direct contribution to New Zealand's' GDP of $6. 2 billion, or 3. 3 percent of the total GDP. (Statistics New Zealand 2012) As already stated before, one percent of the tourists in 2004 named The Lord of the rings as the main reason to have chosen New Zealand's as travel destination. Another six percent named it to be one of their main reasons. Thus it could be assumed that those six percent directly are responsible for the same percentage of the tourism GDP equaling $370 million. The tourism industry provides 6. 2 percent of the national employment. (Statistics New Zealand 2012)That makes  tourism the second biggest industry after dairy, which demonstrates the importance of the sector to the country. The annual tourism expenditures can be used to indicate the immediate influence of the trilogy on the industry. Especially the expenditure of international tourists increased explicitly, c, one year after the premier of the final part of the trilogy. Though the higher expenditure is not necessarily combined with film tourism attractions, the great exposure of the destinations scenery in the movies, obviously had an effect on the higher expenditure, which is also related to the higher amount of travelers.The number of international visitors rose from approximately 1. 800. 000 in the millennium year to more than 2. 370. 000 in the year 2005. ( TRADING ECONOMICS n. d. ) For the future, the Ministry of Tourism forecasted 3. 12 million visitor annually by 2016. This forecast appears to be reasonable as the prequel to The lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, premiered in November 2012, with two more episodes to come. This is likely to cause an increase in brand exposure and therefore another growth in tourist arrivals similar to the development of the time frame 2001-2005.Taking the above mentioned numbers and statistics into account, it can be concluded, that film-induced tourism has a positive impact on the entire economy of New Zealand, though the precise details are difficult to attain, due to lack of research and data in the field. Most likely, this trend will be continu ed during the next decade.Conclusion Having demonstrated the issues related to the question :†What is the impact of the Lord of the Rings on New Zealand's Tourism industry from the release in 2001 till the year 2016?†, the following conclusion can be drawn: Film-induced tourism contains on-location and of-location activities related to successful films or movies. It's origins lie in the literature tourism of the late 18th century, during the eras of romanticism and storm and stress. Further, The Lord of the Rings as opportunity for New Zealand's tourism industry was not relevant before the countries scenery was chosen for the trilogy's backdrop. Moreover, the Tourism board of New Zealand, Tourism New Zealand, and private businesses fully embraced the Lord of the Rings as marketing opportunity.Hence, the film-induced destination marketing of  public and private entities was executed on all four levels: National, local, individual and media. The usage of Jacksons movies for promotion purposes was a success, considering that 87 percent of all people considering New Zealand as a destination, were familiar with the fact that the country served as film location. Further, the country is not solely relying on film-induced marketing as it benefits from the only partly reached fourth phase of the site sacralization process. As it is an essential element for long lasting customer relationships customer satisfaction is a significant issue.The majority of travelers participating in film tourism related activities was satisfied. In general expectations were met or even exceeded, depending on the degree of imagined experience influenced by the movies. That is why tour guides contribute a considerably to customer satisfaction. Lastly the impact of film-induced tourism on the overall economy is not completely researched. Never the less it represents about 6% of the tourism GDP. In addition the visitor numbers and tourism expenditure has increased drastically duri ng the time The Lord of the Rings ran in theaters.International tourism spending rose from $6,398 million in 2001 to $8,619 million in 2005. For 2016 the amount of visitors was forecasted to 3,2 million. As a result it is most likely that film induced tourism will be growing similar to the growth between 2001-2005. This is supported by the prequel â€Å"The Hobbit† that premiered November 2012. Taking all the aforementioned data into account, it can be stated that â€Å"The Lord of the Rings† and its prequel will have a lasting positive effect on New Zealand's Tourism economy, for at least, the next decade.

Buying Local Organic Foods and the Environment Essay Example

Buying Local Organic Foods and the Environment Essay Example Buying Local Organic Foods and the Environment Paper Buying Local Organic Foods and the Environment Paper Does Buying Local Organic Grown Foods Help the Environment? Does Buying Local Organic Grown Foods Help the Environment? Buying locally grown organic foods helps us have a cleaner and healthier environment. Getting local organic foods rather than conventional foods reduces the carbon footprint that conventional foods bring about. This means that your food travels a lot less distance than other foods would. It has been said, that on average, a fresh food item travels about 1,500 miles just to get to our plate. That is just one item; imagine how many miles it takes for a whole plate of food. When we buy these foods we support local organic farmers; this means that we support local businesses. Over time this greatly benefits our environment, especially since a majority of local organic farmers don’t use harmful pesticides. Today’s pesticides have been designed to kill living organisms; this is why the persistent ones can be very harmful to the environment and our health. These pesticides can even contaminate our food, air, and water. In addition, synthetic fertilizers require large amounts of fossil fuel to produce. They can even contribute to air quality, such as acid rain when pesticides evaporate, and soil degradation. Local organic grown foods typically have a lot less or even no pesticides compared to conventional foods. As a last resort, organic farmers may apply certain botanical or other non-synthetic pesticides, such as rotenone and pyrethrins which are both from plants (Parnes). This leads to many great influences to the environment, such as without the use of harmful pesticides, plants are able to reach their full potential and have a higher natural nutrient level. Some people even find that organic foods have a higher potential of tasting much better and lasting longer than conventional foods. The most important foods to buy organic have been termed, The Dirty Dozen. The Dirty Dozen consists of fruits and vegetables that are more fragile and more prone to bugs and rotting, therefore they require more pesticides when grown commercially. When they are grown and bought organically, they are a lot cleaner and healthier. The Dirty Dozen are comprised of apples, celery, strawberries, peaches, spinach, sweet bell peppers, potatoes, blueberries, ettuce, cherries, and kale and collard greens (Shapley). Since most of these foods are seasonal here in Minnesota, we have to get them from somewhere else. In addition, seasonal food tastes better when you haven’t had it during the offseason. Now of course that may be an opinion but think about it, are strawberries just as good in the winter as they are in the summer? Do we still buy a lot of sweet corn in the winter? There really aren’t a lot of people that buy these foods during the winter because they just aren’t as good then. If we were to treat the least preferable offseason foods like this, we could reduce our neediness on them and therefore we can reduce the amount of gas that it would take to get the food here. This would lead to a reduction in carbon emissions and in effect we would lessen our carbon footprint. Also, without pesticides the soil and nearby bodies of water are much healthier. The runoffs of the farms are cleaner and the ground water is a great deal healthier without the use of pesticides. When pesticides run off into a little stream, that stream may run into a river, which would then run into a bigger body of water such as a lake or ocean. This may not seem so bad since it’s just a little bit in a big system of water, but if it is happening all over and multiple times then there’s a big problem. By supporting local organic growers and reducing our dependency on commercial growers, we can reduce the amount of pesticides that get into our water systems. This concludes that there would be fewer pollutants in the water and soil, which would amount to a healthier environment. Most local organic farms take much better care of their land than commercial farmers do. In a commercial farm, soil degradation happens a lot, this is because industrial farms disregard the need for balance. They will often use the land continuously or as many times as they can before the soil has enough time to recuperate. With this happening and the use of pesticides, erosion is a great deal more likely to happen at commercial farms. Another worthy reason to buy local organic foods is that most of these farmers are better to their animals than commercial farmers are to theirs. They tend to treat their animals as animals and not just another moneymaking machine. The animals aren’t in a cramped space like commercial animals are, they get to roam more often and have a healthier life-schedule. Take cows for an example: their life schedule would include a specific time when they eat, certain times they are outside or inside, and when they are to be milked for the day. Local organic farmers are less likely to give their cows growth hormones or other enhancers. One of the main reasons is because when a cow is fed enhancers and or growth hormones the cow doesn’t live as long. Cows tend to live to be seven years old, but with enhancers they live to only about five years. It has been proven that seven-year cows produce the same amount of milk as five-year cows that have been given enhancers and or hormones. A large number of local organic farmers also feed their animals better, healthier food so that the animals can grow up to be healthier. However, commercial farmers almost always give their animals a great deal of antibiotics. When animals are given large amounts of various antibiotics, this leads to the development of dangerous antibiotic-resistant infections. Local organic farmers tend to rely more on natural measures to maintain their animal’s health. Having naturally healthy animals leads to healthier produce and a healthier environment. When we support local organic farms, they are able to thrive and keep more green spaces closer to home. In many areas, they help stop the spread of urban sprawl (Watson). Buying their food helps lessen our dependence on gas, since the food tends to travel less to get to the store or a nearby roadside stand. With buying these local organic foods and reducing our need on conventional foods we would decrease our dependence on gas, soil degradation, and the amount of pesticides in our water, soil, and air. Buying locally organic grown foods may not be in everyone’s budget, but every little bit helps. If a person were to buy at least one of these food items regularly, over time that would help out the environment since you are helping local people out and you are promoting a healthier environment. By going to a local organic farmers market or to a local store that sells these foods, you are reducing the amount of gas that would be needed to get that food to your area. If food is grown locally, it does not need to be shipped as far. But, why are local organic grown foods so expensive you ask? According to Robin Brett Parnes, the organic food supply is limited as compared to demand; production costs for organic foods are usually higher because of greater labor input and because farmers don’t produce enough of a single product to lower the overall cost. Also, there’s a range of other factors that aren’t captured in the price of conventional food such as higher standards for animal welfare and environmental enhancement and protection (Parnes). When talking about the environment these higher prices are worth it, especially at this time when we need to start improving our environment. With all of this in mind, buying local organically grown food would help the environment even if you can afford just one item, because every little bit helps. : How Does Eating Locally Grown Food Help the Environment?. About. com Environmental Issues. N. p. ,. d. Web. http://environment. about. com/od/greenlivingdesign/a/locally_grown. htm. Parnes, Robin Brett. How Organic Food Works . HowStuffWorks. HowStuffWorks, Inc, n. d. Web. 1 Oct 2011. http://science. howstuffworks. com/environmental/green-science/organic-food6. tm. Shapley, Dan. The New Dirty Dozen: 12 Foods to Eat Organic. The Daily Green. N. p. , n. d. Web. thedailygreen. com/healthy-eating/eat-safe/Dirty-Dozen-Foods#fbIndex1. Watson, Molly . Eight Reasons to Eat Local Foods. About. com Local Foods. N. p. , n. d. Web. http://localfoods. about. com/od/finduselocalfoods/tp/5-Reasons-to-Eat-Local-Foods. htm. What is Local. Sustainable Table serving up healty food choices. N. p. , January 2009. Web. sustainabletable. org /issues/eatlocal/.

An Introduction to Academic Writing

An Introduction to Academic Writing Students, professors, and researchers in every discipline use academic writing to convey ideas, make arguments, and engage in scholarly conversation. Academic writing is characterized by evidence-based arguments, precise word choice,  logical organization, and an impersonal tone. Though sometimes thought of as long-winded or inaccessible, strong academic writing is quite the opposite: It informs, analyzes, and persuades in a straightforward manner and enables the reader to engage critically in a scholarly dialogue. Examples of Academic Writing   Academic  writing is, of course, any formal written work produced in an academic setting. While academic writing comes in many forms, the following are some of the most common. Literary analysis: A literary analysis essay examines, evaluates, and makes an argument about a literary work. As its name suggests, a literary analysis essay goes beyond mere summarization. It requires careful close reading of one or multiple texts and often focuses on a specific characteristic, theme, or motif. Research paper: A research paper uses outside information to support a thesis or make an argument. Research papers are written in all disciplines and may be evaluative, analytical, or critical in nature. Common research sources include data, primary sources (e.g., historical records), and secondary sources (e.g., peer-reviewed scholarly articles). Writing a research paper involves synthesizing this external information with your own ideas. Dissertation: A dissertation (or thesis) is a document submitted at the conclusion of a Ph.D. program. The dissertation is a book-length summarization of the doctoral candidate’s research. Academic papers may be done as a part of a class, in a program of study, or for publication in an academic journal or scholarly book of articles around a theme, by different authors. Characteristics of Academic Writing Most academic disciplines employ their own stylistic conventions. However, all academic writing shares certain characteristics. Clear and limited focus. The focus of an academic paper- the argument or research question- is established early by the thesis statement. Every paragraph and sentence of the paper connects back to that primary focus. While the paper may include background or contextual information, all content serves the purpose of supporting the thesis statement.Logical structure. All academic writing follows a logical, straightforward structure. In its simplest form, academic writing includes an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. The introduction provides background information, lays out the scope and direction of the essay, and states the thesis. The body paragraphs support the thesis statement, with each body paragraph elaborating on one supporting point. The conclusion refers back to the thesis, summarizes the main points, and highlights the implications of the paper’s findings. Each sentence and paragraph logically connects to the next in order to present a clear argument.E vidence-based arguments. Academic writing requires well-informed arguments. Statements must be supported by evidence, whether from scholarly sources (as in a research paper), results of a study or experiment, or quotations from a primary text (as in a literary analysis essay). The use of evidence gives credibility to an argument. Impersonal tone. The goal of academic writing is to convey a logical argument from an objective standpoint. Academic writing avoids emotional, inflammatory, or otherwise biased language. Whether you personally agree or disagree with an idea, it must be presented accurately and objectively in your paper. Most published papers also have abstracts: brief summaries of the most important points of the paper. Abstracts appear in academic database search results so that readers can quickly determine whether the paper is pertinent to their own research. The Importance of Thesis Statements Let’s say you’ve just finished an analytical essay for your literature class. If a peer or professor asks you what the essay is about- what the point of the essay is- you should be able to respond clearly and concisely in a single sentence. That single sentence is your thesis statement. The thesis statement, found at the end of the first paragraph, is a one-sentence encapsulation of your essay’s main idea. It presents an overarching argument and may also identify the main support points for the argument. In essence, the thesis statement is a road map, telling the reader where the paper is going and how it will get there. The thesis statement plays an important role in the writing process. Once you’ve written a thesis statement, you’ve established a clear focus for your paper. Frequently referring back to that thesis statement will prevent you from straying off-topic during the drafting phase. Of course, the thesis statement can (and should) be revised to reflect changes in the content or direction of the paper. Its ultimate goal, after all, is to capture the main ideas of your paper with clarity and specificity. Common Mistakes to Avoid Academic writers from every field face similar challenges during the writing process. You can improve your own academic writing by avoiding these common mistakes. Wordiness. The goal of academic writing is to convey complex ideas in a clear, concise  manner. Don’t muddy the meaning of your argument by using confusing language. If you find yourself writing a sentence over 25 words long, try to divide it into two or three separate sentences for improved readability.A vague or missing thesis statement. The thesis statement is the single most important sentence in any academic paper. Your thesis statement must be clear, and each body paragraph needs to tie into that thesis.Informal language. Academic writing is formal in tone and should not include slang, idioms, or conversational language.Description without analysis. Do not simply repeat the ideas or arguments from your source materials. Rather, analyze those arguments and explain how they relate to your point.  Not citing sources. Keep track of your source materials throughout the research and writing process. Cite them consistently using one style manual (MLA, APA, or Chicago Manual of Style, depending on the guidelines given to you at the outset of the project). Any ideas that are not your own need to be cited, whether theyre paraphrased or quoted directly, to avoid plagiarism.

The professional nurse Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The professional nurse - Essay Example ing are responsible for taking strategic decisions about the practice of nursing and they have to develop new practices in the light of new research findings (May & Veitch, 1998). The officials of Board are also blessed with the authority of hold trails against unethical and deficient practices. However, Professional Nursing Organization has to train new recruits according to changing needs and requirements of the field which are passed by the Board of Nursing and other organizations like it (Functional Differences in PNO and Board of Nursing). Secondly, conditions imposed by Ethical Code of Nursing works in order to generally benefit the staff but it limits me from showing too much compassion towards patients because they may seek intimate relations (Williams, 2001). However, in some cases, I literally know that I can do more but I have to refrain myself from overindulgence. Thirdly, Ethical Code helps me in terms of saving my character from staining and I am trained to circumvent s exual advances of patients by limiting my services to fulfillment of minimal professional duties. Nurses are there to help the ill irrespective of their race, gender and economic situation and they have to show compassion to an acceptable degree as well (Read, Adiibokah, & Nyame, 2009). On the other hand, they are supposed to work in order to improve the quality of life of the patients by keeping them in a lively environment and they should encourage them to spend their time in healthy activities. Need Theory had influenced my pattern of work and I have been an optimistic person in the direction of my work in early days. However, as I grew in my experience then, I became more and more convinced that I shall render minimal medical aid to sick and encourage them to take charge of their recovery process (Sullivan, Menapace, & White, 2001). Human Caring Theory in my personal view is conveying one and the same thing as Need Theory because we cannot make one well if he or she is not hopeful

Professionalism in Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Professionalism in Practice - Essay Example Therefore, taking up a teaching profession is not by chance in most cases. Most practicing teachers believe that to become a teacher is a ‘calling,’ where one just feels indebted to take up a socially responsible profession that would help shape the society in a positive and generally accepted way. Thus according to Howard Sharron (1987), by virtue of being a teacher, one would have committed him/herself to answer the calling of helping others gain knowledge. In most cases, it is out of love of doing good things that would promote peace and tranquility in the society. Basically, one main reason for an individual to decide to take up the teaching profession is the need to instill good morals and values in pupils so as to create a habitable environment comprising of knowledgeable people who use the power of reasoning in conducting themselves in their daily lives. Instilling discipline among children is one of the core tenets of teaching as this would contribute towards the development of a generation that can distinguish between what is wrong and good. This would be the stepping stone of creating a crime free environment as in most cases people are redeemed by education from behaving in a rogue manner. Haim Ginott, (1972:9), sums it all when he says, â€Å"school is a perfect preparation for the world.† Another reason of becoming a teacher is the commitment to be part and parcel of developing the educational background of pupils hence improving the country’s literacy rate. A country that has got a higher literacy rate stands better chances of economic development and growth because educated people are enlightened in most of the things hence they are able to make informed decisions that would benefit them. 2. A teacher in every school is expected to uphold some values that define the profession. First and foremost, a teacher has a great responsibility of molding the values of children since they spend a great