5film review Movie Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

5film - Movie Review Example Griffin Mill time and again talks about the set movie formulas that go into the making of blockbusters. However, the reflective strain in the movie extends much beyond the formula theory to eke out varied other standard activities and promotional ploys which make a hit movie. The other hackneyed element of the film production that varied characters in the movie tend to unify on is the power commanded by the big stars. Throughout the movie almost 60 recognizable film celebrities walk through the movie, thereby evoking much smiles and ridicule as to the star power and the way it minimizes the artistic and creative aspects of the much followed world of cinema. The Player as a movie relies on the film history and the works and attributes of an array of filmmakers and actors to frame them in a very different context that is not only wryly funny, but also ekes out the standard, set and generalized in the world of cinema. The ideationally hegemonic and trivialized aspect of the Hollywood well seeps out of the dialogues stated by varied actors. Many of the times it is Hollywood that is the topic of choice delved upon by an array of actors who emphatically convey the standard Hollywood jokes and peculiarities and present Hollywood as an industrial churner of ente rtainment, rather than being a creative

African American History Essay Example for Free

African American History Essay Introduction The America that was there after the conclusion of the civil war is nothing like the America we recognize presently. Significant events have occurred since 1865 that have shaped our understanding of what America is today. Major industrialization and urbanization, equal rights for all citizens and the two major world wars that have shaped our understanding of what America is today. While, there are numerous events that have shaped America, there are few events that have served as markers of change for the entire society, particularly for the African Americans. From 1619 to 1865, a significant number of African American immigrated to the United States as slaves. Ever since the arrival of the first African Americans in Point Comfort, currently known as Fort Monroe in Hampton, the African American community has made significant strides in the community. However, the major event that occasioned this strikes transpired in 1865: the abolishment of slavery. This marked as a single major event that catapulted the African American society to where it is today. This article will examine the history of African American from 1865 to today. In 1865, the civil war between the north and south, or civil war as it is known came to an end. This was a time of great upheaval in the American society. The entire American society was attempting to integrate, and become part of the union. The south had agreed to integrate and become part f the union (Feagin, 2014). The South had consented to join the union. In the same year, President Lincoln was assassinated. The conclusion of the Civil War occasioned the beginning of the period of reconstruction. This period was characterized by upheaval, and the AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY SINCE 1865 3 country attempted to reintegrate itself, and also integrate the southern. This was a period of new beginning for the entire nation (Gates, 2012). The Constitution 13th amendment was ratified, abolishing slavery in the United States of America. This phase is edged in history as one of the most imperative event in the African Americans history (Feagin, 2014). During the era of reconstruction, which lasted from 1865 to 1876, significant events occurred that shaped the lives of African Americans. The African Americans begun the process of reintegration, and they found themselves with a system that they were not used to. This period was not just a period of reintegration for the white people, but rather for the entire nation (Feagin, 2014). During this time, it was particularly challenging to the African Americans because they were attempting to integrate to a society that was heavily biased against them. During the reconstruction period, there was little political and social agreement, especially over the issues of who should be permitted to vote (Gates, 2012). There were disagreements as to whether confederates, ex-slaves or those slaves that fought during the war should be allowed to vote. The death of President Lincoln and the establishment of new administration under President Andrew Johnson made the process of reintegration more complex for African Americans (Feagin, 2014). In 1866, legislation known as the Black Codes was overwhelmingly passed by every white legislator of the former confederate States. The black codes greatly hampered the ability of African Americans to be reintegrated into the society (Gates, 2012). During that same year, the Congress passed the Civil rights act, which conferred citizenship rights to all African Americans, and giving those equal rights and liberties as to those of the white-American people (Feagin, 2014). The 14th amendment was ratified, in 1868, which defined citizenship for the African Americans, and also which overturned the Dred Scot decision (Gates, 2012). The 14th amendment strengthened the civil and legal rights of the African Americans, elucidating among other things, AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY SINCE 1865 4 that no state in the union shall deprive any African Americans their due process in law and the equal protections provided in the law (Feagin, 2014). The 14th amendment ensured, to some extent that the African Americans civil rights were protected. The 14th Amendment reversed the United States Supreme Court ruling in Dred Scott v. Sanford, which ruled that African Americans were not truly United States citizens (Feagin, 2014). The 14th amendment had several profound impacts on the lives of African Americans. First off, the amendment integrated African Americans into the society, by overruling the previous ruling that African Americans were not truly American citizens (Gates, 2012). Secondly, the 14th amendment prohibited the national and state governments from depriving any person, including African Americans, liberty, life and property without due regard and process as established in law. By guarding the civil liberties and rights of African Americans, the law inflicted a penalty, which entailed the loss of electoral votes and the loss of congressional seats, on states that dispossessed African Americans of their voting rights. Thirdly, the 14th amendment guaranteed all Americans, regardless of their racial affiliations protection under the law (Feagin, 2014). This clause serves an essential foundation for the decision to repeal the ruling in Brown v. Board of Education that overturned segregation. The 15th amendment was ratified in 1870, which gave African Americans voting rights. As the third and final amendment to be ratified in the reconstruction period, the 15th amendment forbids the national and state governments from refusing a citizen the voting rights based on that citizens color, race or servitude (Feagin, 2014). The adoption of the 15th amendments was greeted with extensive celebrations in African American communities and other abolitionist societies. The sense among African Americans is that their rights had been offered protected and secured. The adoption of the 15th Amendment completed a series of civil change, and it was one of the most significant events African American historical events. The 15th amendment meant AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY SINCE 1865 5 that the African American communities did not require the protection they were being offered by the government (Feagin, 2014). Towards the end of the reconstruction era, the south recognized that it would no longer be conceivable to hold on the perspective of recreating itself out of the North. In spite of this, there was still lingering tensions between the North and South (Feagin, 2014). Although equal rights were granted to African Americans, they did not fully enjoy them. While African Americans enjoyed expanded freedoms, it would not be till nearly a hundred years later, during the Civil rights movement that the entire fruits of reconstruction would be seen. The period of reconstruction ended in 1877, during which, a deal was struck with Democratic leaders from the south, to make Rutherford B. Hayes the U. S president, in exchange for the withdrawal of federal troops from the south, and which stops the efforts to protect the Civil liberties of African Americans. In the period after the reconstruction era, rapid industrialization followed. During this period, African Americans on the south started escaping to the North to run away from oppression (Gates, 2012). In 1879, thousands of African Americans moved to the north. In the industrialization period, rapid industrialization and development ensued in big cities in the United States. Construction of railroads spread across the country. Railroads encouraged the growth and expansion of cities (Gates, 2012). Many Africa Americans migrated to the cities to work in the processing and production companies. In 1881, Tennessee ratified the first of the Jim Crow segregation rules, which segregated stated railroads. Over the next 15 years, similar laws were passed throughout the southern States. The segregation laws caused African Americans to migrate to the northern States (Gates, 2012). The Jim Crow segregation laws conferred a separate but equal status to all African Americans. In practice, the separation led to circumstances for African Americans that were second-rate to those offered to white Americans. AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY SINCE 1865 6 systematizing several of economic, educational and socials disadvantages. The southern states had De jure while de facto applied in the northern states (Feagin, 2014). The Jim Crow segregation laws inflicted segregation in housing, which was imposed by covenants, job discrimination, and loan lending discrimination in banks, and also African Americans were also discriminated in labor unions (Gates, 2012). During the industrialization era, companies came up across various cities. African Americans were increasingly becoming urbanized, and left their farms and homesteads, and moved to big cities to get jobs. In 1887, the standing Lincoln statue was unveiled at Augustus Saint gardens in Chicago (Feagin, 2014). The Plessey v. Ferguson case was a milestone ruling in the United States. The Supreme Court of the United States ruled that Jim Crows separate but equal segregation policies to be legal, and begin being implemented. These laws barred African Americans from equal access in all public facilities. The 1900s marked the rise of civil rights movement across the United States. In 1954, the court in Brown v. Board of education case, ruled that segregation in education facilities to be unconstitutional and this measure strike down segregation in education facilities (Feagin, 2014). In 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested in Montgomery Alabama, for refusing to give up her seat to a white man. Her defiance offered the start of a momentum to the civil rights movement that spread across the United States. She was not the first black person to refuse to wake up for a white person, but by the time of her action, there was growing resentment and anger in the African American society for being treated as second-class citizens. Word went around about Montgomery mistreatment and arrest (Feagin, 2014). The Womens Political Council resolved to protest Rosa Park’s ill-treatment by arranging a bus boycott to start on the day of Parks’ trial, December 5th. Martin Luther King Jr. and the African American community established an association, the MIA (Montgomery Improvement Association) to carry on boycotting until the AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY SINCE 1865 7 Jim Crow segregation laws were altered (Feagin, 2014). The key objective was to stop segregation in the public transport system and other sections of the society, and also to employ African-American drivers in Montgomery. The public unrest ensured for 382 days, costing the Montgomery bus company he sums of money, however the city declined to give in (Feagin, 2014). The Montgomery protest leaders filed a national lawsuit in opposition to the city’s segregation rules, claiming that Montgomery desecrated the 14th Amendment. In 1956, a national court stated that the Montgomery segregation rules were unlawful, but lawyers for Montgomery County appealed. On November 3rd, 1956 the Supreme Court ruled that the segregation laws in Montgomery were illegal. During the protest, the Montgomery authorities made many arrests (Feagin, 2014). At one time, the police detained a group of African Americans waiting for carpool pick-ups. A court jury acknowledged the boycott unlawful, and 115 protest leaders were detained. In 1957, Martin Luther King, Jr. established the Southern Christian Leadership conference, which served as the forefront engine of the civil rights movement. The conference served as the main council for organizing civil rights protests across United States. The civil right movements were against discrimination of any kind and the fair treatment of all people, regardless of their color across United States. The civil right movement characterized main campaigns and protests of civil resistance (Feagin, 2014). The civil rights movements lasted between 1955 and 1968. The civil rights movements were characterized by civil disobedience and non-violent protests. In 1964, the civil rights act was ratified, and it prohibited all acts of discrimination. In 1965, The Voting Rights Act was ratified, and it outlaws the carried out in the South to disenfranchise black voters. In 1967, the first African American senator, Edward W. Brooke, was elected, and he served for two terms (Feagin, 2014). Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Tennessee, which was one of the sad moments in African American AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY SINCE 1865 8 history. The election of Barack Obama served as a significant milestone for United States, particularly the African American community. President Barack Obama was elected the first African-American president, in 2008. President’s Barack Obama’s election served as one of the most significant milestone for the African Americans community (Feagin, 2014). A racial divide that was there between the African Americans and white Americans was erased, and it was erased for all eternity. President Barack Obama was elected for a second term in office, which signaled the apparent rise of the African American community to the top (Feagin, 2014). In his second term in office, President Barack Obama has shown that there are things that seem more possible for the African Americans, than they were in his first term. He has made African Americans realize that they can achieve anything if they want to, and made their expectations realistic. Conclusion From the shackles of slavery in the 1800s, the African American community has risen to take full advantage of their civil liberties and freedoms. For over 300 years, African Americans fought for their civil rights and freedom. The African Americans struggles have been a major issue in each juncture of United States history. In 1776, when slave-holders were revolting in opposition to the menace of British abolitionism, the African Americans formed part of the American Revolution. During the civil war, the African Americans were also part of the struggles. African Americans have endured as much as any other community and have fought for the rights and liberties of all people in the community. From the attainment of freedom, and the struggle to get equal rights and civil liberties, the election of Barack Obama as the first African- American President, the African American community can gladly say that the racial divide between the Blacks and white Americans has been completely erased. AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY SINCE 1865 9 References Feagin, J. R. (2014). Racist America: Roots, current realities, and future reparations. London: Routledge. Gates, H. L. (2012). The Oxford Handbook of African American Citizenship, 1865-present. London, UK: Oxford University Press.

The History Of Why Bother?

The History Of Why Bother? The Temperatures are rising, carbon emissions are increasing, ice caps are melting at a faster rate than most scientists expected and planet earth is experiencing ecological and environmental issues due to global warming. Earth as we know it might change drastically in the next couple of decades and it is our responsibility to preserve the environment and preserve earth. Michael Pollans Why Bother opens the readers eyes in a powerful manor to global warming and related environmental issues. Pollan uses rhetorical strategies such as current and past events, logos and pathos to persuade the reader to bother(218) and start thinking of the environment as an issue that involves all of the people. Pollan approaches the reader from different standing points as he addresses each counter argument and gives the reasons of why people should bother. Pollan argues that despite the fact that our plant is at risk because of carbon emissions, we(the people) have not done anything to stop it. It is this passive attitude, Pollan argues, that prevents us from helping our planet. Michael Pollen quotes Wendell Berry saying that the deep standing problem behind all the other problems of industrial civilization is specialization(87). It is this specialization that causes people to play only one role in society and that they cannot expand to other field which they are not familiar with. In other words, people do not waste their time on environmental issues because they do not believe that it is their job to do so. The author urges the reader to liberate from the cheap-energy mind (120) and for once try to make a difference in the world. Pollan suggests that the best way of being green is to plant a garden. Although Pollan suggests many other ways of being green in his article such as purchasing a hybrid car, walking to work, or even changin g your light bulbs to candescent type like Al Gore suggested in An Inconvenient Truth, none of these ideas will reduce [peoples] sense of dependence (182) or reduce carbon footprint as much as a garden would! Pollan hopes that a persons decision of being green would influence another person which in turn would create a huge chain reaction. Pollan effectively uses examples of current and past events throughout the article to show the reader how big the problem is. He uses Al Gores An Inconvenient Truth which is a familiar documentary to most readers to support his argument and to give the reader a hint about what his article is going to be about. Pollan makes a connection with the reader when he describes his own feeling about the documentary when saying Al Gore scared the hell out of me, constructing an utterly convincing case that the very survival of life on earth as we know it is threatened by climate change.(4) Pollan also references the analysis of Wendell Berry, a Kentucky farmer and writer, to support his argument of the peoples dependency for solutions on specialists. He points to the people who fund and support environmental organizations while polluting the environment in their everyday life. Pollan notes that the people will not change and think about the environment unless they overcome the double personali ties in their believes and behaviors. All this comes down to the moral prospective of each person and his inner consciousness to identify clearly what is wrong around him with regard to the impact on the environment. Pollan uses logos in a powerful manor to convince the reader of adopting a green life-style. He tries to influence the reader by presenting the scientists projections about global warming that seemed dire a decade ago to have been unduly optimistic.(48) as the melting of the ice caps are occurring at a faster rate than expected. Pollan effectively uses a set of words to describe the boost of the rate of change to the melting down of the ice caps such as terrifying, threatening and scary to influence the reader and think more seriously about global warming. Pollan then ends with a question to keep the reader thinking about global warming, he says have you looked into the eyes of a climate scientist recently? They look really scared.(53) Another strategy which Pollan excels is the use of pathos to convey his point and to reinforce and strengthen his argument. Pollan engages with the reader in a set of counter arguments of why not to bother throughout his article. He presents many questions that are common and familiar to the reader such as the evil twin(15) that lives halfway around the world and is eager to replace every last pound of CO2 [a person] is struggling no longer to emit.(18) This way, Pollan makes a connection between the reader and himself in a manner that ties the reader to his analytical thoughts. Pollan addresses each question throughout his article until he reaches to a conclusion of why to bother.(218) Pollan states that thinking about the environment and at least planting a garden have sweeter reasons(218) than just benefiting the environment. These reasons consist of healing the split between what you think and what you do(219) and re-engaging with neighbors. These reasons might influence other pe ople to follow the same path in dealing with environment and create a chain reaction that grows to outside of ones community. Michael Pollans Why Bother opens the readers eyes in a powerful manor to global warming and related environmental crises. He uses many rhetorical strategies to convey his argument such as past and current event, logos and pathos to persuade the reader to bother(218) and start thinking of global warming and related environmental issues as a serious matter that involves all of the people. Pollan approaches the reader from different standing points as he addresses each counter argument and gives the reasons of why to bother.(218)

Chromosome replication Essay example -- essays research papers

Precise chromosomal DNA replication during S phase of the cell cycle is a crucial factor in the proper maintenance of the genome from generation to generation. The current â€Å"once-per-cell-cycle† model of eukaryotic chromosome duplication describes a highly coordinated process by which temporally regulated replicon clusters are sequentially activated and subsequently united to form two semi-conserved copies of the genome. Replicon clusters, or replication domains, are comprised of individual replication units that are synchronously activated at predetermined points during S phase. Bi-directional replication within each replicon is initiated at periodic AT-rich origins along each chromosome. Origins are not characterized by any specific nucleotide sequence, but rather the spatial arrangement of origin replication complexes (ORCs). Given the duration of the S phase and replication fork rate, adjacent origins must be appropriately spaced to ensure the complete replication of each replicon. Chromatin arrangement by the nuclear matrix may be the underpinning factor responsible for ORC positioning. The six subunit ORC binds to origins of replication in an ATP-dependent manner during late telophase and early G1. In yeast, each replication domain simply contains a single ORC binding site. However, more complex origins are characterized by an initiation zone where DNA synthesis may begin at numerous locations. A single round of DNA synthesis at each activated origin is achieved by â€Å"lic...

Dancing at Lughnasa

In the time ‘Dancing at Lughnasa’ was set Gerry and Chris’s relationship would have been extremely unorthodox and would have circulated a lot of town gossip. Having a child out of wedlock was extremely shocking and making the decision to then keep Michael even more so. In 1936 women had very few rights and with the shock of Michael being born only the towns respect for their brother, a missionary, kept them from being societal lepers. Friel presents the relationship between Gerry and Chris by using stage directions to show the true feelings between them and how their relationship is sustained.Having Gerry and Chris talking in the garden while the four other sisters are inside listening intently shows how little privacy the two have in their relationship. When Gerry first arrives Chris appears extremely cold and offhand in front of him using one word answers ‘Chris: Hello, Gerry†¦ yes†¦yes. ’ All of this gives the impression that she has very little time for him and doesn’t particularly care about him. However Friel’s staging shows the audience that she really does care because we see her reaction before Gerry comes on stage.Friel portrays her as standing stock still in shock then, when coming to her senses, rushing around panicking, ‘adroitly adjusts her hair and clothes. ’ It is the panic before the extract that shows her much Chris truly does care about Gerry and also about how little the sisters have in their lives due to the their scramble to make themselves presentable.This highlights how Gerry is a key romantic figure in the play because even though all the while the sisters are saying ‘Kate: He won’t stay the night here’ and ‘Rose: I hate him!’ they still all end up crowding around the window to listen in and watch, suggesting that though disapproving they still half wish to be in Chris’s shoes. The social constraints of the situation lead them t o wanting Gerry out of the families lives, but still the desire is there through the constant comments. These comments are key to the suggestion of an invasion of privacy, ‘Maggie: you should see the way she’s looking at him†¦Kate: they’re not still talking are they?’Friel is trying to show how hard it must be for Gerry and Chris to live in such an enclosed area where everyone knows everyone’s business, thus exploring a theme of romance, or lack of romance. This is continued throughout the extract, the fact that Gerry never visits ‘Chris: 13 months’ making the relationship seem very one sided – Chris remembering the last visit to the day while Gerry can’t remember the month. Gerry proposes to Chris at the very end of the extract and this gives a sign that maybe he does care about her.Even though Chris turns him down there is still the slight remembrance of this moment throughout the rest of the play, leading to the au diences opinion that maybe Gerry does truly care for Chris despite leaving her alone with child. However through Michael’s narrative closer to the end of the play in the second act we find out that Gerry already had ‘a wife and three grown children’, Friel choosing to leave this revelation till the end to produce a far more dramatic climax to their relationship. It is then that the audience realises that Gerry never intended to marry Chris and only offered in the knowledge that she would refuse.This all gives the impression that there is never any real closeness or intimacy for the two of them and the whole summer of happiness before, ‘suddenly he takes her in his arms and dance. ’ was a lie. A large influence on Friel when writing ‘Dancing at Lughnasa’ was the changing role of women in society. Thatcher had just been Prime Minister and women’s rights were becoming much more accepted in the 1990’s, perhaps why Friel chose t o make this such a large part of the play. Set in 1936 the Mundy sisters would not have been at all accepted by society with Chris having Michael out of wedlock and then deciding to keep him.Changing attitudes within society would have influenced Friel’s interpretation of Chris and Gerry’s relationship. Friel depicted this family as an example of what is yet to come, the sisters supported Chris throughout and after her pregnancy even though it went against societies beliefs, thus inflicting Chris’s embarrassment upon themselves as well yet still sticking together as a family. Friel emphasizes that women should have the right to do as they please through the disruption of outside influences.At the beginning of the play the sisters are happy in their little bubble making jokes about the outside world ‘Maggie: steady on girl, today its lipstick; tomorrow it’s the gin bottle’ although never participating in it. It’s when they begin to allo w others into their circle that things begin to go down hill for them. Before Gerry’s arrival they were all dancing and laughing but his arrival marked a change for them all, Friel perhaps suggesting that women don’t need the influences of men and all they bring with them is destruction.Danny Bradley and Rose are another example of this, the death of Rose’s defenceless white rooster is symbolic of mans predatory nature and the violence of this act implies violence between Rose and Bradley. Therefore Friel is portraying women as stronger without the male interference, Chris and Gerry’s relationship is used to highlight this as it is obvious to the audience that Chris would have been better off without Gerry in the first place but it is this continued procrastinating relationship that truly destroys her.The audience views Chris and Gerry’s relationship with trepidation throughout the play due to Friel’s depiction of him as a stereotypical woma niser. Kate calls him a ‘Loafer! Wastrel! ’ but conveniently neglects to mention the obvious charisma he has. In a short few minutes of conversation he has turned Chris from cold and unwelcoming ‘Chris: Thirteen months. ’ To one who is warm and laughing and allows Gerry to ‘dance her lightly, elegantly across the garden. ’ The audience views this exchange with surprise having heard only very negative things about Gerry from the sisters; the easy acceptance from Chris confuses them.The audience’s mistrust of Gerry’s character increases after the small discussion of Agnes between the two. Having already seen Agnes’s rigid, almost forced disinterest in Gerry, and then to have Gerry asking specifically after her Friel creates a slight unease for the audience, suggesting that something may have between the two of them. This leads to the audience beginning to see the cracks in the family’s foundations with Gerry seemingly at the centre of this. Friel enforces this idea of him being a womaniser later in act 2 when he begins to flirt with Agnes ‘Gerry: Dance with me Agnes.’ and then kisses her forehead, all of this watched by Chris.The audience begins to really mistrust Gerry at this point as it is obvious that he is the cause of conflict between the family they have come to love. The audience is seeing men in a bad light which relates to the feelings at the time it was being performed when the term ‘glass ceiling’ was coming into existence, women in the workplace being oppressed by men and now, in the play, them to being oppressed in relationships. There is the feeling that men can get away with any sort of misdemeanour by just walking away, leaving, whereas women i.e.Chris, are always left with the result – a baby. Gerry’s carrying on represents this stereotypical male so that when the audience discovers that Gerry in fact has ‘a wife and three grown chil dren’ it comes as no surprise. In conclusion, Friel presents Gerry and Chris’s relationship as something parallel to that of a pre 1990’s relationship. He wants to suggest to the audience that women no need longer depend on men by showing how much better off the Mundy sisters were before the arrival of Gerry and the conflict he brought within the family.Although the influences on Friel were all about the empowerment of women, he presents Gerry and Chris’s relationship with Gerry as the dominant figure, putting the play in the context of its setting and to show how the male dominance was a cause of the family breaking down. Through his presentation of the relationship he is evoking the idea that there are more possibilities available to an empowered women rather than a dominated one.

Examples of How Not to Begin an Essay

Examples of How Not to Begin an Essay When was the last time you ran across a really good hooker? Thats Stephen Kings term for a particularly enticing opening sentence in a story or essay- a knock-you-dead first line that compels you to keep reading. In Great Hookers I Have Known, King says that an effective hooker-sentence offers readers the pleasure of instant gratification (Secret Windows, 2000). The opposite of a hooker might be called a chaser- a bore-you-to-death introduction that drives readers away. At best, a chaser may hint at delayed gratification. More often it provides little more than an excuse to stop reading. Examples of the Worst Kinds of Essay Opening Lines Here are 10 examples of such boring or baffling opening lines- chasers that youll want to avoid when composing your own essays. The examples are in italics, and the explanations are in bold. According to my dictionary . . . Avoid leads [or ledes] that quote Websters- the Jim Belushi of openings, according to Annie Edison in Community. It accomplishes nothing, but everyone keeps on using it. When you gave us this assignment to describe in detail a place you know well, my first thought was to write about my bedroom closet. . . .As a general rule, avoid openings that comment on the writing assignment itself. One dark and stormy night, the ghost of General Oglethorpe grabbed me by the goolies and hurled me down the castle stairs. . . .Dont strain too hard to shock or amaze, especially if you cant maintain that level of excitement. Sometimes youve got to stick your neck out on a limb and keep your nose to the grindstone. . . .Avoid clichà ©s and mixed metaphors. In this essay, after giving the subject a lot of thought, I am going to write about . . ..Skip the announcements. Life is like a box of chocolates, my Mama used to say, quoting Forrest Gump. . . .Dont get too c ute. Your mama has terrible opinions on essay writing . . .Dont get belligerent. Framed fantastically against the expansive cerulean sky was a soaring wedge of gossiping, gabbling geese, a shimmering cocaine-colored V haloed in sunlight and dusted with the durable dreams of earthbound warriors . . ..Avoid excessive alliteration, needless modifiers, and Rogets Thesaurus. Wikipedia says . . . Challenge questionable facts and steer clear of dubious sources. It is a melancholy object to those who walk through this great town or travel in the country, when they see the streets, the roads, and cabin doors, crowded with beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or six children, all in rags and importuning every passenger for an alms.* . . .No matter what else you do, never plagiarize. * This is the opening sentence of Jonathan Swifts satirical essay A Modest Proposal.Now its time to take a more positive approach. For examples of fresh and compelling opening lines- that is, some truly good hookers- see these two articles: How to Begin an Essay: 13 Engaging Strategies With ExamplesWhack at Your Reader at Once: Eight Great Opening Lines

When in Doubt, Leave Scare Quotes Out

When in Doubt, Leave Scare Quotes Out When in Doubt, Leave Scare Quotes Out When in Doubt, Leave Scare Quotes Out By Mark Nichol When quotation marks are employed to suggest the irony or dubious validity of a word or phrase, or the writer’s remove from credit or blame for its use, they are called scare quotes. However, other uses- to introduce a new or unfamiliar term, to signal that a term is not being used in its traditional or literal sense, or to provide emphasis- are usually heavy-handed and seldom aid in clarity of composition. The sentences below, accompanied by discussions and revisions, provide examples of extraneous use of scare quotes. 1. Next, we will discuss the so-called â€Å"high-impact, low-likelihood† risks. The phrase so-called serves the same function as scare quotes, so using both in a sentence is redundant: â€Å"Next, we will discuss the so-called high-impact, low-likelihood risks.† However, be just as cautious in the use of so-called as in employment of scare quotes; the term is rarely useful and therefore unlikely to be necessary. In this case, it would be better to identify who characterizes the risks that way (â€Å"Next, we will discuss what John Smith calls high-impact, low-likelihood risks†), to use passive construction to soften the introduction by writing something like â€Å"Next, we will discuss what are called high-impact, low-likelihood risks,† or to omit any qualification at all: â€Å"Next, we will discuss the high-impact, low-likelihood risks.† 2. Risk management should be an embedded process that ultimately becomes part of the company’s â€Å"DNA.† Here, DNA is being used figuratively to refer to something that is a fundamental part of an organization, but the fact that it is not being employed literally does not justify scare quotes; the metaphorical use is clear: â€Å"Risk management should be an embedded process that ultimately becomes part of the company’s DNA.† 3. It is imperative to understand â€Å"what to do† as well as â€Å"what not to do.† Although the phrases â€Å"what to do† and â€Å"what not to do† are being presented as categorical concepts conceivably spoken or written as part of an effort to inform, this usage does not merit any emphasis: â€Å"It is imperative to understand what to do as well as what not to do.† 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 Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:The Yiddish Handbook: 40 Words You Should KnowFive Spelling Rules for "Silent Final E"Supervise vs. Monitor