Foundation of Western Civilization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Foundation of Western Civilization - Essay Example The earlier Greeks could come up with a question about the nature of the world and look for an answer that was entirely independent on the supernatural powers this set the pace for the then intellectual revolution. They question the origin of the world and by so doing ignited what is now science and also ignited philosophy. The great leadership with morals in the west had foundation in the people of antique, in those early days the Hebrews introduced some ideas, their god was very powerful and could destroy whenever he wants however he was open to persuasion and subject to good morals he will however destroy those who stray from the moral standard within the society. This was borrowed to today with leaders always having to pass the moral test if they have to be elected. The Jewish religion had also impact on the west. Their God was neither superhuman nor like human beings but of high stature in comparison to human beings. They brought in righteousness into western culture, they believed that god is a righteous god and he is just and fair to forgive, if one repents the sins he will be forgiven. The prophets tell people to be righteous so that they can be saved from the punishment from God. This Jews religion and tradition brought morality to the west that is still the mode up to today. These believe in Gods power and righteousness is still part of the western culture and heritage. In Jews religion we are the children of God and this brought a different view of mankind as being children of God. The Greeks started thinking and not attributing everything to gods, they start curing diseases and reasoned that they were caused by natural causes and not curses or being from gods. From that foundation research and development in medical fields kicked off. The Greeks became to say that laws are made by humans and not from gods they start to make laws that helped control human beings and keep them within the

Position Paper Outline & References Page due Essay Example for Free

Position Paper Outline References Page due Essay After you have read your assigned reading for this week, choose a topic that has at least two clear points of view that can each be defended in an academic and verifiable manner. It is best to check with your professor to make sure your topic is appropriate. Once you have decided on your topic and the point of view you want to build upon, write an outline for your position essay. While the final draft of this paper is not due until the end of Week 8, you will submit an outline and references page to your professor this week. Please note that you will also be required to submit a draft to your professor in Week 6 and to our peer review in Week 7. Refer to this weeks lecture for detailed requirements and guidelines on how to write an outline for a position essay. Successful Outline Requirements: Follow the sample format in this week’s lecture to create an outline appropriate in scope for a 5-page persuasive paper (in addition to the title page and reference page) with no less than 3 academic sources included. NOTE: please avoid topics that are focused on religious, moral, or overly emotional debates. You must clearly state your topic (which should be debatable in nature), draft an introduction paragraph, with a complete and persuasive thesis statement, and outline three main points that you will discuss in your paper, followed by two sub-points for each main point. Remember to include both viewpoints/sides of the topic. A possible conclusion paragraph should also be drafted. Outlines should not exceed one page, unless discussed and approved with your professor. Provide APA references for three academic sources that you plan to use to support your position. Be typed and submitted as a Microsoft Word 2010 document (.docx), double-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman font After reading â€Å"TV Watching: The Top Environmental Hazard for Children† by Todd Huffman, note your initial reactions to the essay. In one paragraph, record your strongest reaction to the essay and explain why you think you may have reacted that way. From what perspective are you reacting, that of a parent or that of a child? What factors outside of the essay might have influenced your reaction? Your assignment this week is to write a draft of your rhetorical analysis. First, read this weeks lecture. Then go to the search engine of your choice and search for this phrase: vintage ads. Include the quotation marks to search for exactly that phrase. Tell us about the ad you chose: name the product and the year the ad was published. Remember that the goal of advertising is to make you spend your money on products and services. Does the ad motivate you to buy the product or service? How does the ad use ethos, pathos, or logos to make you desire the product? †¢Ethos relies on the credibility or the authority of the ad itself (Im not a doctor, but I play one on TV.); †¢Pathos is an appeal to your emotions (Coke adds life.); †¢Logos is an appeal to your intellect (Ads that show great gas mileage numbers for a car appeal to your intelligence—they imply that you have the brains to buy the most efficient vehicle.). What elements create ethos, pathos, or logos in the ad that you chose? Discuss 2-3 elements that work to create the rhetorical appeal (ethos, logos, pathos) that you detect. Some elements you might analyze are †¢ The use of colors †¢ The appearance of people in the ad or their expressions †¢ The way the product is photographed or displayed †¢ Words used in the ad Here is some advice. In your discussion: 1) Avoid summarizing the ad—lets not look at the ad and describe it. Keep in mind that this is not a description paper. 2) Avoid talking about your experience with the product or service depicted in the ad. Keep in mind that this is not a testimonial paper. Make sure that you are writing about how the ad makes you want to spend your money on a product or service. Ethos, pathos, logos By working on this now, you will write material that you can use in your draft to turn in this week.

henry clays american system Essays -- essays research papers

Henry Clay’s American System 1832 Background: Following the War of 1812, Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, and John Quincy Adams helped form a new political agenda, which promised to meet the needs of America. It was a new nationalist United States. Henry Clay's "American System" was a neofederalist program of a national bank, a tariff to promote and protect industry’s, and financial improvements. Parties Involved: Henry Clays started as lawyer In Richmond, Virginia. In 1797 he quickly acquired a reputation and a lucrative income from his law practice. At the age of twenty-two, he was elected to a constitutional convention in Kentucky; at twenty-nine, while yet under the age limit of the United States Constitution, he was appointed to an unexpired term during 1806 and 1807 in the ... henry clays american system Essays -- essays research papers Henry Clay’s American System 1832 Background: Following the War of 1812, Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, and John Quincy Adams helped form a new political agenda, which promised to meet the needs of America. It was a new nationalist United States. Henry Clay's "American System" was a neofederalist program of a national bank, a tariff to promote and protect industry’s, and financial improvements. Parties Involved: Henry Clays started as lawyer In Richmond, Virginia. In 1797 he quickly acquired a reputation and a lucrative income from his law practice. At the age of twenty-two, he was elected to a constitutional convention in Kentucky; at twenty-nine, while yet under the age limit of the United States Constitution, he was appointed to an unexpired term during 1806 and 1807 in the ...

Part Three Chapter VI

VI Things denied, things untold, things hidden and disguised. The muddy River Orr gushed over the wreckage of the stolen computer, thrown from the old stone bridge at midnight. Simon limped to work on his fractured toe and told everyone that he had slipped on the garden path. Ruth pressed ice to her bruises and concealed them inexpertly with an old tube of foundation; Andrew's lip scabbed over, like Dane Tully's, and Paul had another nosebleed on the bus and had to go straight to the nurse on arrival at school. Shirley Mollison, who had been shopping in Yarvil, did not answer Ruth's repeated telephone calls until late afternoon, by which time Ruth's sons had arrived home from school. Andrew listened to the one-sided conversation from the stairs outside the sitting room. He knew that Ruth was trying to take care of the problem before Simon came home, because Simon was more than capable of seizing the receiver from her and shouting and swearing at her friend. ‘†¦ just silly lies,' she was saying brightly, ‘but we'd be very grateful if you could remove it, Shirley.' He scowled and the cut on his fat lip threatened to burst open again. He hated hearing his mother asking the woman for a favour. In that moment he was irrationally annoyed that the post had not been taken down already; then he remembered that he had written it, that he had caused everything: his mother's battered face, his own cut lip and the atmosphere of dread that pervaded the house at the prospect of Simon's return. ‘I do understand you've got a lot of things on †¦' Ruth was saying cravenly, ‘but you can see how this might do Simon damage, if people believe †¦' ‘Yes.' Ruth sounded tired. ‘She's going to take those things about Dad off the site so, hopefully, that'll be the end of it.' Andrew knew his mother to be intelligent, and much handier around the house than his ham-fisted father. She was capable of earning her own living. ‘Why didn't she take the post down straight away, if you're friends?' he asked, following her into the kitchen. For the first time in his life, his pity for Ruth was mingled with a feeling of frustration that amounted to anger. ‘She's been busy,' snapped Ruth. One of her eyes was bloodshot from Simon's punch. ‘Did you tell her she could be in trouble for leaving defamatory stuff on there, if she moderates the boards? We did that stuff in comput – ‘ ‘I've told you, she's taking it down, Andrew,' said Ruth angrily. She was not frightened of showing temper to her sons. Was it because they did not hit her, or for some other reason? Andrew knew that her face must ache as badly as his own. ‘So who d'you reckon wrote that stuff about Dad?' he asked her recklessly. She turned a face of fury upon him. ‘I don't know,' she said, ‘but whoever they are, it was a despicable, cowardly thing to do. Everyone's got something they'd like to hide. How would it be if Dad put some of the things he knows about other people on the internet? But he wouldn't do it.' ‘That'd be against his moral code, would it?' said Andrew. ‘You don't know your father as well as you think you do!' shouted Ruth with tears in her eyes. ‘Get out – go and do your homework – I don't care – just get out!' Yet the deletion of the post could not remove it from the consciousness of those who were passionately interested in the forthcoming contest for Barry's seat. Parminder Jawanda had copied the message about Simon Price onto her computer, and kept opening it, subjecting each sentence to the scrutiny of a forensic scientist examining fibres on a corpse, searching for traces of Howard Mollison's literary DNA. He would have done all he could to disguise his distinctive phraseology, but she was sure that she recognized his pomposity in ‘Mr Price is certainly no stranger to keeping down costs', and in ‘the benefit of his many useful contacts'. ‘Minda, you don't know Simon Price,' said Tessa Wall. She and Colin were having supper with the Jawandas in the Old Vicarage kitchen, and Parminder had started on the subject of the post almost the moment they had crossed the threshold. ‘He's a very unpleasant man and he could have upset any number of people. I honestly don't think it's Howard Mollison. I can't see him doing anything so obvious.' ‘Don't kid yourself, Tessa,' said Parminder. ‘Howard will do anything to make sure Miles is elected. You watch. He'll go for Colin next.' Tessa saw Colin's knuckles whiten on his fork handle, and wished that Parminder would think before she spoke. She, of anyone, knew what Colin was like; she prescribed his Prozac. Vikram was sitting at the end of the table in silence. His beautiful face fell naturally into a slightly sardonic smile. Tessa had always been intimidated by the surgeon, as she was by all very good-looking men. Although Parminder was one of Tessa's best friends, she barely knew Vikram, who worked long hours and involved himself much less in Pagford matters than his wife. ‘I told you about the agenda, didn't I?' Parminder rattled on. ‘For the next meeting? He's proposing a motion on the Fields, for us to pass to the Yarvil committee doing the boundary review, and a resolution on forcing the drug clinic out of their building. He's trying to rush it all through, while Barry's seat's empty.' She kept leaving the table to fetch things, opening more cupboard doors than was necessary, distracted and unfocused. Twice she forgot why she had got up, and sat down again, empty-handed. Vikram watched her, everywhere she moved, from beneath his thick eyelashes. ‘I rang Howard last night,' Parminder said, ‘and I told him we ought to wait until we're back up to the full complement of councillors before we vote on such big issues. He laughed; he says we can't wait. Yarvil wants to hear our views, he said, with the boundary review coming up. What he's really scared of is that Colin's going to win Barry's seat, because it won't be so easy to foist it all on us then. I've emailed everyone I think will vote with us, to see if they can't put pressure on him to delay the votes, for one meeting †¦ ‘†The Ghost of Barry Fairbrother†,' Parminder added breathlessly. ‘The bastard. He's not using Barry's death to beat him. Not if I can help it.' Tessa thought she saw Vikram's lips twitch. Old Pagford, led by Howard Mollison, generally forgave Vikram the crimes that it could not forget in his wife: brownness, cleverness and affluence (all of which, to Shirley Mollison's nostrils, had the whiff of a gloat). It was, Tessa thought, grossly unfair: Parminder worked hard at every aspect of her Pagford life: school ftes and sponsored bakes, the local surgery and the Parish Council, and her reward was implacable dislike from the Pagford old guard; Vikram, who rarely joined or participated in anything, was fawned upon, flattered and spoken of with proprietary approval. ‘Mollison's a megalomaniac,' Parminder said, pushing food nervously around her plate. ‘A bully and a megalomaniac.' Vikram laid down his knife and fork and sat back in his chair. ‘So why,' he asked, ‘is he happy being chair of the Parish Council? Why hasn't he tried to get on the District Council?' ‘Because he thinks that Pagford is the epicentre of the universe,' snapped Parminder. ‘You don't understand: he wouldn't swap being chair of Pagford Parish Council for being Prime Minister. Anyway, he doesn't need to be on the council in Yarvil; he's already got Aubrey Fawley there, pushing through the big agenda. All revved up for the boundary review. They're working together.' Parminder felt Barry's absence like a ghost at the table. He would have explained it all to Vikram and made him laugh in the process; Barry had been a superb mimic of Howard's speech patterns, of his rolling, waddling walk, of his sudden gastrointestinal interruptions. ‘I keep telling her, she's letting herself get too stressed,' Vikram told Tessa, who was appalled to find herself blushing slightly, with his dark eyes upon her. ‘You know about this stupid complaint – the old woman with emphysema?' ‘Yes, Tessa knows. Everyone knows. Do we have to discuss it at the dinner table?' snapped Parminder, and she jumped to her feet and began clearing the plates. Tessa tried to help, but Parminder told her crossly to stay where she was. Vikram gave Tessa a small smile of solidarity that made her stomach flutter. She could not help remembering, as Parminder clattered around the table, that Vikram and Parminder had had an arranged marriage. (‘It's only an introduction through the family,' Parminder had told her, in the early days of their friendship, defensive and annoyed at something she had seen in Tessa's face. ‘Nobody makes you marry, you know.' But she had spoken, at other times, of the immense pressure from her mother to take a husband. ‘All Sikh parents want their kids married. It's an obsession,' Parminder said bitterly.) Colin saw his plate snatched away without regret. The nausea churning in his stomach was even worse than when he and Tessa had arrived. He might have been encased in a thick glass bubble, so separate did he feel from his three dining companions. It was a sensation with which he was only too familiar, that of walking in a giant sphere of worry, enclosed by it, watching his own terrors roll by, obscuring the outside world. Tessa was no help: she was being deliberately cool and unsympathetic about his campaign for Barry's seat. The whole point of this supper was so that Colin could consult Parminder on the little leaflets he had produced, advertising his candidacy. Tessa was refusing to get involved, blocking discussion of the fear that was slowly engulfing him. She was refusing him an outlet. Trying to emulate her coolness, pretending that he was not, after all, caving under self-imposed pressure, he had not told her about the telephone call from the Yarvil and District Gazette that he had received at school that day. The journalist on the end of the line had wanted to talk about Krystal Weedon. Had he touched her? Colin had told the woman that the school could not possibly discuss a pupil and that Krystal must be approached through her parents. ‘I've already talked to Krystal,' said the voice on the end of the line. ‘I only wanted to get your – ‘ But he had put the receiver down, and terror had blotted out everything. Why did they want to talk about Krystal? Why had they called him? Had he done something? Had he touched her? Had she complained? The psychologist had taught him not to try and confirm or disprove the content of such thoughts. He was supposed to acknowledge their existence, then carry on as normal, but it was like trying not to scratch the worst itch you had ever known. The public unveiling of Simon Price's dirty secrets on the council website had stunned him: the terror of exposure, which had dominated so much of Colin's life, now wore a face, its features those of an ageing cherub, with a demonic brain seething beneath a deerstalker on tight grey curls, behind bulging inquisitive eyes. He kept remembering Barry's tales of the delicatessen owner's formidable strategic brain, and of the intricate web of alliances that bound the sixteen members of Pagford Parish Council. Colin had often imagined how he would find out that the game was up: a guarded article in the paper; faces turned away from him when he entered Mollison and Lowe's; the headmistress calling him into her office for a quiet word. He had visualized his downfall a thousand times: his shame exposed and hung around his neck like a leper's bell, so that no concealment would be possible, ever again. He would be sacked. He might end up in prison. ‘Colin,' Tessa prompted quietly; Vikram was offering him wine. She knew what was going on inside that big domed forehead; not the specifics, but the theme of his anxiety had been constant for years. She knew that Colin could not help it; it was the way he was made. Many years before, she had read, and recognized as true, the words of W. B. Yeats: ‘A pity beyond all telling is hid at the heart of love.' She had smiled over the poem, and stroked the page, because she had known both that she loved Colin, and that compassion formed a huge part of her love. Sometimes, though, her patience wore thin. Sometimes she wanted a little concern and reassurance too. Colin had erupted into a predictable panic when she had told him that she had received a firm diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes, but once she had convinced him that she was not in imminent danger of dying, she had been taken aback by how quickly he dropped the subject, how completely he reimmersed himself in his election plans. (That morning, at breakfast, she had tested her blood sugar with the glucometer for the first time, then taken out the prefilled needle and inserted it into her own belly. It had hurt much more than when deft Parminder did it. Fats had seized his cereal bowl and swung round in his chair away from her, sloshing milk over the table, the sleeve of his school shirt and onto the kitchen floor. Colin had let out an inchoate shout of annoyance as Fats spat his mouthful of cornflakes back into his bowl, and demanded of his mother, ‘Have you got to do that at the bloody table?' ‘Don't be so damn rude and disgusting!' shouted Colin. ‘Sit up properly! Wipe up that mess! How dare you speak to your mother like that? Apologize!' Tessa withdrew the needle too fast; she had made herself bleed. ‘I'm sorry that you shooting up at breakfast makes me want to puke, Tess,' said Fats from under the table, where he was wiping the floor with a bit of kitchen roll. ‘Your mother isn't â€Å"shooting up†, she's got a medical condition!' shouted Colin. ‘And don't call her â€Å"Tess†!' ‘I know you don't like needles, Stu,' said Tessa, but her eyes were stinging; she had hurt herself, and felt shaken and angry with both of them, feelings that were still with her this evening.) Tessa wondered why Parminder did not appreciate Vikram's concern. Colin never noticed when she was stressed. Perhaps, Tessa thought angrily, there's something in this arranged marriage business †¦ my mother certainly wouldn't have chosen Colin for me †¦ Parminder was shoving bowls of cut fruit across the table for pudding. Tessa wondered a little resentfully what she would have offered a guest who was not diabetic, and comforted herself with the thought of a bar of chocolate lying at home in the fridge. Parminder, who had talked five times as much as anybody else all through supper, had started ranting about her daughter, Sukhvinder. She had already told Tessa on the telephone about the girl's betrayal; she went through it all again at the table. ‘Waitressing with Howard Mollison. I don't, I really don't know what she's thinking. But Vikram – ‘ ‘They don't think, Minda,' Colin proclaimed, breaking his long silence. ‘That's teenagers. They don't care. They're all the same.' ‘Colin, what rubbish,' snapped Tessa. ‘They aren't all the same at all. We'd be delighted if Stu went and got himself a Saturday job – not that there's the remotest chance of that.' ‘ – but Vikram doesn't mind,' Parminder pressed on, ignoring the interruption. ‘He can't see anything wrong with it, can you?' Vikram answered easily: ‘It's work experience. She probably won't make university; there's no shame in it. It's not for everyone. I can see Jolly married early, quite happy.' ‘Waitressing †¦' ‘Well, they can't all be academic, can they?' ‘No, she certainly isn't academic,' said Parminder, who was almost quivering with anger and tension. ‘Her marks are absolutely atrocious – no aspiration, no ambition – waitressing – â€Å"let's face it, I'm not going to get into uni† – no, you certainly won't, with that attitude – with Howard Mollison †¦ oh, he must have absolutely loved it – my daughter going cap in hand for a job. What was she thinking – what was she thinking?' ‘You wouldn't like it if Stu took a job with someone like Mollison,' Colin told Tessa. ‘I wouldn't care,' said Tessa. ‘I'd be thrilled he was showing any kind of work ethic. As far as I can tell, all he seems to care about is computer games and – ‘ But Colin did not know that Stuart smoked; she broke off, and Colin said, ‘Actually, this would be exactly the kind of thing Stuart would do. Insinuate himself with somebody he knew we didn't like, to get at us. He'd love that.' ‘For goodness sake, Colin, Sukhvinder isn't trying to get at Minda,' said Tessa. ‘So you think I'm being unreasonable?' Parminder shot at Tessa. ‘No, no,' said Tessa, appalled at how quickly they had been sucked into the family row. ‘I'm just saying, there aren't many places for kids to work in Pagford, are there?' ‘And why does she need to work at all?' said Parminder, raising her hands in a gesture of furious exasperation. ‘Don't we give her enough money?' ‘Money you earn yourself is always different, you know that,' said Tessa. Tessa's chair faced a wall that was covered in photographs of the Jawanda children. She had sat here often, and had counted how many appearances each child made: Jaswant, eighteen; Rajpal, nineteen; and Sukhvinder, nine. There was only one photograph on the wall celebrating Sukhvinder's individual achievements: the picture of the Winterdown rowing team on the day that they had beaten St Anne's. Barry had given all the parents an enlarged copy of this picture, in which Sukhvinder and Krystal Weedon were in the middle of the line of eight, with their arms around each other's shoulders, beaming and jumping up and down so that they were both slightly blurred. Barry, she thought, would have helped Parminder see things the right way. He had been a bridge between mother and daughter, both of whom had adored him. Not for the first time, Tessa wondered how much difference it made that she had not given birth to her son. Did she find it easier to accept him as a separate individual than if he had been made from her flesh and blood? Her glucose-heavy, tainted blood †¦ Fats had recently stopped calling her ‘Mum'. She had to pretend not to care, because it made Colin so angry; but every time Fats said ‘Tessa' it was like a needle jab to her heart. The four of them finished their cold fruit in silence.

Comparative Essay The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Essay

Any movie based upon a piece of literature can make or break its source of inspiration. Some movies do no mercy toward the book, while some exceed the quality of the novel. The movie, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, directed by Norman Mc Lean, was a much better piece of work than the short story, â€Å"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,† written by James Thuber, because the video had a satisfying conclusion, more action, and a much more developed and advanced plot. The conclusion of the story left you unsatisfied and discontent because it didn’t really tell you what happens to the protagonist; it just ends, while the movie ends with Walter, the protagonist, finding love. Walter also overcomes his low self-esteem towards his boss and says, â€Å"The smartest thing you ever did was hire me!† He goes further in saying that all his boss does is make money of his ideas. The confidence Walter shows at the end of the movie gets him to a higher a position at work. In addition, the movie also leaves you feeling satisfied because the bad guys, the antagonists, are caught and put in prison. Therefore the movie had a more rewarding conclusion than the short story’s inconclusive ending. The movie had much more action, partly because it was more developed, interesting and exciting. The plot involved more than just Walter going to the store to pick up some items for his wife, as in the story. The movie included bad guys chasing Walter throughout the movie because he accidentally took possession of a precious notebook. In addition, it also incorporated Walter committing death-defying feats such as falling out of, and climbing through sky-high building windows, and tiptoeing along the edge of these buildings. Action was also added through the extra daydreams Walter  experienced during the movie, such as the shoot-out near the end of the movie and the Mississippi gambler. Moreover, action was added with Walter running from the bad guys while setting up various booby traps, consequently getting caught in them himself. This caused skepticism in the audience’s faith of Walter’s defeat of the bad guys, but in the end Walter pulled through. As a result of thes e qualities in the movie, action was added, while the short story was dry and exclusive of action. A well-developed plot must have some sort of love interest, action, and a climax, and humor can help. The story did not include these fundamentals. On the other hand, the movie stuck Walter in a very awkward position, which advanced the plot tremendously. Walter’s mother chose Walter’s fiancà ©, whom he did not have feelings for. Then he met Virginia Mayo, the woman of his dreams, with whom he fell in love and ended up marring by the end of the movie. The short story didn’t have a plot; it was just a series of thoughts and daydreams with no climax, conclusion or real development of setting. There was nothing to the book; it just explained a day in the life of Walter Mitty, compared to the movie which involved Walter overcoming chases through windows and through warehouses, his nasty boss, and his over protective, bossy mother. The movie also had a lot of humor in Walter’s clumsy attics, such as when he was running from the bad guy and knocked over the water dispenser, when he broke the window after slamming it behind him, and when he fell through the window in the office during the business meeting. Another example would be when he set up the booby traps for the bad guys and then ended up setting them off himself! With all of these modifications to the short story, the movie’s plot was much more enhanced and developed. The movie, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, was a more enhanced composition than the story because the movie had a much more fulfilling conclusion, more action and a more complex and advanced plot. The quality of the movie, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, far exceeded that of the short story upon which it was based.

The Chinese New Year essays

The Chinese New Year essays Whizzzzzzzzzz...BANG! Yes, its that time of year again. A time where streets are lit up with bright flamboyant lights, sounds of crackling fireworks can be heard a mile away, smells of freshly baked moon cakes play with our nostrils, and the laughter of jovial people fill the air. No, its not Christmas, New Years Eve, Thanksgiving, or Labor Day. Its the Chinese New Year! This is a time where all worries and sorrows are left behind and the only rule is to be merry and celebrate. Each year represents a different animal of the Chinese Zodiac and this New Year is the year of the horse. Why is the Chinese New Year so awesome? Three reasons: 1) It tells of an amazing origin of the Chinese culture, 2) It is when Chinese cooking and cuisine goes all out, and 3) We celebrate it with our own style and flare. Chinese New Year one of the most amazing holidays known to man and thats a fact. When we celebrate the Chinese New Year, we are celebrating Chinas rich, fascinating, and prosperous history and culture. Back in the days of the Dynasties, the year revolved around the lunar cycle and when the new year came, the emperors would hold gargantuan feasts in honor of the gods who would in turn bring forth a new year filled with prosperity, fortune, and happiness. Each of the lesser peoples would have their own parties and invite their families and friends. Once gathered around the table, many dishes would be brought out and together they would dine. After the feast, the families would have moon cakes in honor of the gods and bring good luck into their future. Then at night, a festive and jovial parade would tread across town where reenactments of legendary stories would be shown. Also, dragons and lions would line the streets and dance about while fireworks filled the night sky with their multitudes of color and thunderous drums of sound scared away the evil spiri ts. It wa...

A Quiz About Compressing Accordion Sentences

A Quiz About Compressing Accordion Sentences A Quiz About Compressing Accordion Sentences A Quiz About Compressing Accordion Sentences By Mark Nichol Brisk, lively writing requires attending to phrasing that slows readers down and or trips them up. Be vigilant about finding ways to make sentences less wordy and more direct. Firm up these five flabby sentences, and compare your revisions with mine: 1. â€Å"The kit includes a set of five food containers, and they are dishwasher safe.† Insert the key information in the second clause of this sentence as a phrasal adjective preceding the subject: â€Å"The kit includes a set of five dishwasher-safe food containers.† 2. â€Å"In 1995, he published a book called Bowling Alone, which introduced the term ‘social capital’ into our nation’s vocabulary.† Shift the focus from the author’s act of publishing the book to the result of the publication by deleting compacting the phrase â€Å"he published a book called† to â€Å"his book,† then delete the comma and which: â€Å"In 1995, his book Bowling Alone introduced the term ‘social capital’ into our nation’s vocabulary.† (Use this solution cautiously, as such a shift in focus may cause the passage to veer from fidelity to the author’s intent.) 3. â€Å"The film was commissioned by the US Treasury Department, and it was troubled from the beginning.† When a sentence includes more than one form of the verb phrase â€Å"to be† is, was, were, and the like discover a way to eliminate at least one of them; in this case, alter what follows was in the first clause to a subordinate clause, and jettison the conjunction: â€Å"The film, commissioned by the U.S. Treasury Department, was troubled from the beginning.† (Look for opportunities in such cases to replace not one but both â€Å"to be† verbs, which are inferior in impact to more vivid verbs doing so may encourage you to be more specific, too: â€Å"The film, commissioned by the U.S. Treasury Department, suffered from bureaucratic interference from the beginning.†) 4. â€Å"Smith is president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, and frequently represents evangelicals in the media.† This sentence is improved in the same fashion as the previous one, with the additional improvement of replacing the verbose â€Å"part of the whole† construction with a â€Å"whole’s part† revision: â€Å"Smith, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, frequently represents evangelicals in the media.† (Take care, however, that this more concentrated restructuring is not more ponderous than the original phrasing.) 5. â€Å"My cousin, who is employed as an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, claims that a scenario similar to that one could occur if the circumstances were right.† Delete the redundant indicators that the writer’s cousin is a person (who) and is employed at the place of employment, and tighten the rest of the sentence by converting phrases that contain an adjective and follow a noun into adjectives preceding the nouns and modifying them on their own: â€Å"My cousin, an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, claims that a similar scenario could occur under the right circumstances.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Handy Expressions About HandsHow to Pronounce MobileAdverbs and Hyphens