Saturday, December 28, 2019

Voice of Democracy - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 2 Words: 704 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2019/02/15 Category Politics Essay Level High school Tags: Democracy Essay Did you like this example? You may think that your vote doesn’t matter; that speaking up for what you believe in would be like throwing a pebble in an ocean. It may make a small splash, but it wouldnt affect the direction of the waves. But one voice joined together with others can create a tremendous change. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Voice of Democracy" essay for you Create order One vote can be the deciding factor in a race. In Virginia, Republican David Yancey won reelection in his state house district by having his name drawn out of a bowl. After a recount and a court decision, he and his opponent Democrat Shelly Simonds were tied. Their names were written down and placed in identical containers to be drawn out of a bowl, with Yancey emerging the winner. This could have all been avoided if simply one more person had voted. One vote was the difference between the the Virginia House of Delegates being equally divided between Democrats and Republicans, or having a Republican majority. Voting turnout directly correlates with age as the highest is 60+ followed by 45-59, then 30-44, and finally 18-29. Of those who do vote, it is shown that millennials tend to vote overwhelmingly Democratic compared to older generations, who are more equally split. Millennials make up thirty percent of the voting population but only approximately half actually turned out to the 2016 election. With all of the demand for change on so many issues like sexual assault, gun violence, and equal rights issues, those who support such causes need to use their vote to try to make those changes. Research has shown that if more people voted than the laws would be what was best for the majority and not for the specific demographics that are the current voters. It has also been said that the campaigns would change to appeal to the majority which could bring about great change in our laws and society at large. It may be difficult, if not impossible, to find a candidate who aligns with one’svie ws perfectly, but there is always a choice that is at least slightly better than the others. There are so many ways to enact change. You could protest or become a spokesperson and spread your messages and ideas to others that may not have heard it or understood it. You could do this in many ways. There are people who speak out just for the issues they believe in and have gained fame and notoriety around those issues like Emma Gonzalez, a survivor of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, who started speaking out against gun violence after the tragedy and is now well known and has had interviews with Ellen DeGeneres and Jimmy Kimmel as well as many other popular news sites. Others like actors and singers speak out about issues they believe in because they already have a following. However this can have negative effects as they could get backlash and lose fans. This has caused many famous people to stay silent on their opinions on many of these topics. There is a lot of talk currently about the midterm elections. There was quite a bit of public outrage over Brett Kavanaugh being confirmed as a Supreme Court Justice. He has been accused of sexual assault, which brought up many debates on false accusations, believing the victim and other such normally taboo subjects. His confirmation sparked a movement called ‘Blue Wave’. Celebrities and online influencers who have before remained neutral and not spoken up about politics are now speaking up urging people to vote Democrat in the coming election. We don’t yet know how much of an effect this so-called â€Å"Blue Wave† will have on the election. It’s a complicated issue and it is hard to predict the outcome. Regardless of whether you vote Democrat or Republican, you still need to vote. If you want change or if you want things to stay completely the same, what you think has no effect on the outcome unless you cast your ballot and make that little bit of d ifference that can end up being a lot. Because the truth is, every vote matters. If everyone decided to stay home thinking, ‘What is one vote going to change?’, then nothing would ever change.

Thursday, December 26, 2019

Immigration Of The United States Essay - 2005 Words

In the United States, when â€Å"illegal immigrants† are mentioned, the first thing that would come to most people’s mind is the word â€Å"Hispanic†, due to Mexico and the United States’ geographic proximity. However, in spite of the country often being referred to as a â€Å"melting pot†, few Americans ever think of where the rest of the people in the States originally came from. For this particular reason, this paper will be contributing to the understanding of immigration to the United States, specifically of illegal immigrants, mainly from the Fujian province in China. Brief History: The earliest immigrants settled in the United States throughout the 1500s and were mainly from European settlers. Not until the 1840s, and the California Gold Rush, were Chinese immigrants first introduced into the workforce in the United States as miners; but at this time, Chinese immigrants were few in numbers. Not until the 1860s, when the building of the Trans-Continental Railroad, did the number start to increase. When Chinese immigrants started to plunger into the country, this ultimately led to the Chinese Exclusion Act, which was the first law to restrict Chinese immigration and later led to many other laws to restrict immigration not just from China, but also immigrants from other countries. For the past centuries Chinese emigrants have mostly been from the Guangdong and, to a lesser extent, the Fujian provinces, and mainly targeted the Southeast Asian countries. During that time, many of theShow MoreRelatedImmigration And The United States986 Words   |  4 PagesImmigration in the United States continues to increase rapidly year by year. According to an analysis of monthly Census Bureau data by the Center for Immigration Studies, the immigration population in the United States, both legal and illegal, hit a record of 42.1 million in the second quarter of this year, an increase of 1.7 million since the same quarter of 2014 (CIS.org). Clearly, Immigrants make up a large part of the population in the United States, and for most immigrants, migrating to theRead MoreImmigration Of The United States1399 Words   |  6 Pages Michelle Faed English 126 Immigration in the United States The United States of America, being a country established by immigrants, is known all over the world as the land of great opportunities. People from all walks of life travelled across the globe, taking a chance to find a better life for them and their family. Over the years, the population of immigrants has grown immensely, resulting in the currently controversial issue of illegal immigration. Illegal immigrants are the people whoRead MoreImmigration And The United States965 Words   |  4 Pages Immigration is a highly controversial and big problem in the United States today. â€Å"While some characterize our immigration crisis as solely an issue of the 11 to 12 million unauthorized immigrants living in this country, our problems extend beyond the number of undocumented people to a broader range of issues. The lack of a comprehensive federal solution has created a slew of lopsided, enforcement-only initiatives that have cost the country billions of dollars while failing to end un authorizedRead MoreImmigration On The United States1302 Words   |  6 PagesImmigration Rights in the U.S. Immigration has occurred in the U.S. for for many years. Some say it’s the foundation of our country. America is the country where people leave their own country to live. People would leave due to mistreatment, hunger issues or job opportunities. America is known for starting over or accomplishing dreams, so immigrants travel over to follow those dreams. People emigrate from one country to another for a variety of complex reasons. Some are forced to move, due to conflictRead MoreThe Immigration Of The United States1711 Words   |  7 PagesThe vast majority of people living in the United States are descendants of immigrants, and yet majority of them are against them. It is quickly forgotten that America was built on immigrants that wanted a new life. A life free from harsh government, and the freedom from forced religion. The original settlers were immigrants that stole this land; immigrants continued to come for years. It is not a newly constructed concept that immigrants have always been a problem, ask any Native American. One usedRead MoreImmigration Of The United States1064 Words   |  5 Pages Camarota (2007, p.1), director of the Immigration Studies Center, reports there are 1.6 million documented and undocumented migrants take up residence in the United States every year. Camarota goes on to say that the immigrants occupy one-eighth of the total population who settled in the U.S. The flood of aliens, to a significant degree, hinders the development of the United States. Therefore, the issues which relate to immigration must not be neglected, and the government should keep the numberRead MoreImmigration And The United States Essay1377 Words   |  6 Pages Immigration has been a large conversation topic for such a long time in our country. We have worked on policies for immigration, and have made changes to them throughout the duration of our country’s existence. This topic is always worth mentioning and important, but has become a bigger topic once again due to presidential elections and the conversations being had about immigration from said elections. It is not necessarily easily seen if the concern with immigration is who is here legally or limitingRead MoreImmigration Of The United States1565 Words   |  7 PagesA native of Mexico, Gonzalez came to the United States using a visa, to visit family members and in 1994, police convicted Gonzalez of the abduction and rape of a Waukegan, Illinois woman. During his conviction his attorney, Vanessa Potkin, addressed that at twenty years old, Gonzalez spoke very little English, had no criminal record, and yet the police wanted to pin the crime on him. Twenty years later, DNA from the crime cleared him of both charges, and Gonzalez is now threatened with deportationRead MoreImmigration : The United States1087 Words   |  5 PagesThe United States is a popular and powerful which many people admire. It is very true that the country prospect and is more enrich. O pening the border might improve the economy or can impact the job market for American citizens. It is the jobs of American citizens to be given more to this illegal immigrant. I believe the U.S. borders should remain closed. While it is clear that opening the borders can have benefits, I believe it is more important to keep jobs available for Americans. In my opinionRead MoreThe Immigration Of The United States1632 Words   |  7 PagesFrench and European to settle in the New World. Since the colonial era, America has seen a wave of immigrants migrate in search of freedom and equality. Is this the same immigration today? Nearly 11.6 million immigrants from Mexico reside in the U.S. Today Immigration has a significant impact on many aspects of life in the United States, from the workforce and the classroom to communities across the country. Not all immigrants come to America legally whether as naturalized citizens, legal permanent residents

Friday, December 20, 2019

How My Writing Has Improved - 1515 Words

After this semester of English 102, at Bristol Community College I feel that I have gained the skill to articulate what I want to convey to the reader in many ways. I don’t just look at grammatical error, but instead I look for ways to make my sentences more effective and concise. Nevertheless, I hope that this strategy will continue to help me improve my writing even further on in the future. My strong points as a reader have also definitely improved after reading the poems and stories we experienced this semester. Writing has been an important form of expression for me. I find myself to be very soft spoken and speaking verbally is usually difficult for me because I can’t always seem to find the right words to say. I feel that I am more expressive and have more control over what I want to say. While this semester progressed toward its end, I have learned new writing skills and gradually learned how to engage with audiences. This skill was very useful in meeting my course goals in English 102. I believe that I have grown at organization and careful stream my thoughts as well. Before I would just begin writing my papers without any plans or organization, along with no definite idea of where I would be going with the assignments, but throughout this course I’ve learned that you should base your paper around your thesis statement. Another skill I took from this class was to value my classmate’s responses, from their reactions made me much more aware that my main ideasShow MoreRelatedHow My Writing Has Improved Greatly Improved After Taking English 103928 Words   |  4 Pagesterm â€Å"writing†, they don’t really associate this with a single course that they have taken in high school or college. Rather, most people view â€Å"writing† as a process that evolves as we become capable of thinking in more abstract manners. The effectiveness of our writing is determined by our ability to think abstractly as well as how confident we are in our composition abilities. If we are lacking either of these two qualities, then the quality of our writing will suffer. I feel as if my writing hasRead MoreMy First Adventure Into The College Life854 Words   |  4 Pagesat CLC was to be my first adventure into the college life. Like many others writing is not one of my strong academic attributes. In highschool I was enrolled to t ake Composition 1 and 2, but I was scared of the rigour involved, so I did not end up taking those courses. I really never thought about continuing my education into college, but now that I have writing has become one of my main priorities. I plan on taking Composition 2 in the fall and am excited to expand my writing skills. ThroughoutRead MoreMy Writing Process Works For Me970 Words   |  4 PagesThe first semester of W131 has given me the chance to become more familiar with my strengths and weaknesses in my writing process. One of the main things I contribute to my progression in writing is practice and revision. W131 has given me the resources I need to become an effective writer by pushing me to think deeper about what writing process works best for me. To find what writing process works for me, I have experimented with different writing techniques along with alternative reading techniquesRead MoreMy Writing, Peer Editing, And Analyzing Readings899 Words   |  4 PagesThr oughout the English 101 course, I believe I have thoroughly improved in my writing, peer editing, and analyzing readings, along with annotating my thoughts, misunderstandings, and difficulties. I believe I have especially improved on my thesis statements, providing the basis for my essays. My thesis statements have went from being plain and uninteresting to being more detailed, clear, and concise. This enabled me to produced better written essays that are rich in detail, rhetorical statementsRead MoreMy Writing Skills Improved Over The Last Semester950 Words   |  4 Pages My Writing Skills have improved Over the Last Semester While attending writing class, I learned about the 4 steps in writing, bases for revising, organizing, and connecting specific information, and I also learned about the different types of essays such as descriptive, narrative, process, cause and effect and argumentative essay. I have been a student at Milwaukee Area Technical College for 1 semester, and over the course of my enrollment I have grown and learned more that I knew prior to attendingRead MoreWhat I Learned From My Writing905 Words   |  4 Pageshave created trends in my writing. My approach to writing, point of view, and writing styles are similar in all of my papers. I have taken the skills I learned from my previous experiences of writing and improved them in this class. My liberal ideas that have been embedded in my writing since high school are shown and reflected in multiple projects that I’ve completed. Many of my grammatical errors began to stick out and I have since learned how to correct them. English 11 00 has helped me to correctRead MorePortfolio Writing Review And Reflection893 Words   |  4 PagesPortfolio Writing Review and Reflection When I started this class, I never thought I was a â€Å"good† writer. Ironically, after this class, I have learned how to be an organized writer and the term â€Å"good† is extremely unclear and subjective. From the short stories and questions to the individual essays, each assignment helped me practice and develop my writing skills. Overall, I think my writing has improved and the process of writing, something I often over looked, has immensely helped my writing. My literacyRead MoreReflection Paper1317 Words   |  6 Pagescame to writing. I used to struggle with forming my thoughts into writing, let alone a paper. I was never confident with what I wrote. My writing had no greater purpose other than the assignment. My writing process included: writing my paper, proofreading it, and turning it in. Once the paper left my hands, it also left my mind. Throughout this course we worked with others, visited the writing lab, wrote critiques, and we were able to revise our papers. I believe that all of this is has caused meRead MoreTransition Into The New Material And Learning Experience866 Words   |  4 Pagesfeelings. It was tough work, and a lot of it but in the long run I truly believe I have such stronger writing skills. The hard work paid off and has significantly benefitted me. On the first day of class I said, â€Å"I hope I can gain the knowledge to write a strong, solid, long essay. I hope a I can learn to transition into the new materi al and learning experience.† I believe I completed these goals. I wrote my longest essay in this class and I’m proud that I accomplished that. I would never know what toRead MoreReflection About My Writing Process925 Words   |  4 Pages My writing process have improved thank you to my English 100 level class at Arizona Western College. I feel more confident with my writing style. At the beginning of the class I was very confused with the writing process and the steps to make an essay. I had a difficult time developing an outline and putting together my ideas, so I was not able to write an essay with a good structure. In addition, my grammar was not the best, and some of my sentences were incomplete. During the class period I learned

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Volunteering With The Boys And Girls Club Of America

In todays society there are many things that people can be involved in. One is volunteering. Local organizations around my community are always looking for people to come in and help volunteer with the young and the old. A local Boys and Girls club is one that I volunteer at when ever I get a chance to. Volunteering with the Boys and Girls Club has allowed me to help the boys and girls to have a safe place to come learn and grow while having fun. It is a place where young people can come and know someone cares about them. Volunteering makes a difference in the lives of boys and girls in the community. (Volunteer1) Volunteering with the Boys Girls Club has taught me more about the organization, what a volunteer does, and what I can learn from volunteering. In 1860 the Boys and Girls Club of America has its beginning with three women in Hartford, Conn. : Mary Goodwin, Alice Goodwin, and Elizabeth Hammersley founded it. A cause was born. (OurHistory1) The initial start of the club was just intended for boys and over time the girls in the community became apart of the cause and then in 1990 the name was changed into the Boys and Girls Club. This organization is non-profit, and all of the proceeds are raised to enable all young people, especially who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, carrying, responsible citizens. (MissionStatement1) In every community, boys and girls are left to find their own recreation and companionship in the streets. AnShow MoreRelatedSingle Parents Club : A Non Profit Organization Aimed At Providing Child Care987 Words   |  4 PagesSingle Parents Club (SPC) is a non-profit organization aimed at providing child care services for low income single parents. Single Parents Club recognizes that single parents often face multiple barriers while trying to successfully enter the workforce. Often time’s challenges such as a lack of affordable child care make it difficult for individuals to successfully enter into the workplace. The mission of this organization is to provide affordable child care will help ease a single parents burdenRead MoreThe Boys Girls Clubs Of Indianapolis1574 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction This analysis will help determine what specific areas of the Boys Girls Clubs of Indianapolis is strong and doing efficiently, as well as what areas need more improvement, while also giving suggestions on how to improve those areas. I have critically analyzed the mission statement, official website, the lack of volunteers, donations and funds. Below you will find the critical analysis results and suggestions. Critical Analysis Mission Statement According to Miller and Dess, missionRead More The Importance of Volunteering: College Students Should Do Community Service Before Graduating1313 Words   |  6 PagesCollege students should be required to complete a year of community service/volunteer work before they can graduate, in order to create mature and caring adults and versatile future leaders. By mandating all College students across the United States of America to add another year to their studies and use this year for community service/volunteer work only, we will be able to increase their knowledge of community need, civic responsibility, and allow them the opportunity to gain experience and skills applicableRead MoreMy Path Into Speech Pathology972 Words   |  4 Pages During high school volunteering at Columbus Regional Healthcare System led me to my path into Speech-Language Pathology. Since high school I was accepted into the Speech Pathology program and I apply to the graduate program this semeste r. Vidant Medical Center would be a wonder service-learning site to gain valuable career experiences. I would have the opportunity to incorporate my knowledge from previous classes with hands on experience with patients and staff members. Vidant MedicalRead MoreRecreation Management : Recreation And Fitness Programs1228 Words   |  5 Pagesled to recreation playing as a role for a change in our communities. The role has been the impetus for the development of many recreation providers from municipalities to nonprofits such as the YMCA, YWCA, Boy Scouts of America, Girl Scouts of the USA, and the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. There are also for-profit agencies such as fitness centers, camps, and etc., to designed and provide positive outcomes. Recreation workers plan activities for people and groups by being the type working forRead MoreMentoring At Risk Youth : Higher Risks Youth Need Mentoring1187 Words   |  5 Pagesis like showing someone the way to life. More and more, mentoring programs are being asked to serve high-risk youth. Mentoring programs for high-risk youth are growing across the United States. In Portland, there are: The Boys and Girls Cubs, Big Brother Big Sister, Girls Inc., Human Solutions, Impact Northwest, and Open Meadow just to name a few. Most of the programs are different, but all emphasize the relationship between a high-risk youth and a person who cares about them. Mentoring high-riskRead MoreEquality in College Population675 Words   |  3 Pagesnot only have on my personal worldview but also that of other people in my community. Courses and seminars such as the Student Intercultural Dialogues Course or Ethnic Fest Celebration, Multicultural Conference On Race Ethnicity, Race Gender In America or National Conference on Race Ethnicity were all abundant with self-identity exploration, sensitivity training and diversity relation discussions, ultimately building my professional knowledge-base and capacity to excel as an advisor for studentsRead MoreOprah Winfrey : The Biggest Adventure You Can Take1486 Words   |  6 Pagesshe pursued her dreams of being on television. Oprah Winfrey has had a huge impact on society by overcoming her troubled childhood , creating a media empire and give billions of dollars to various charities. These charities include opening an all-girls school in Africa. Born January 29, 1954 on a farm in Kosciusko, Mississippi, to 20 year-old Vernon Winfrey and 18 year-old Vernita Lee. Her parents, who were not in love considered Oprah to be an utter mistake. Winfrey’s father was in the serviceRead MoreA Problem That Exists In Today’S Society Is Obesity. David1264 Words   |  6 Pagessleeping patterns, little to no exercise, as well as multiple health problems including type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, among other things(Haslam, Satter, and Lean, 2006). Obesity affects one in five children and out of the population in America obese childre n make up 15%, meaning obesity of children and adolescents has doubled since the mid-1980s. Children who have this health problem are more prone to heart, joint, bone, and lung problems. They also sometimes suffer from mental and emotionalRead MoreMy Best Friend Moving Away1840 Words   |  8 Pagesthe Annandale’s boys and girls club. This organization allowed me to grow relationships with other kids and make new friends that lived outside of my neighborhood. What I believe would have helped me during this time was getting a pet, volunteering, spending more time with my parents, and attending after school programs. My parents refused to buy me a pet, but I believe that would have helped me feel less lonely because I would have had someone to play with. Additionally, volunteering would had let

Thursday, December 12, 2019

American Civil War Essay Example For Students

American Civil War Essay The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the events surrounding the end of the American Civil War. This war was a war of epic proportion. Never before and not since have so many Americans died in battle. The American Civil War was truly tragic in terms of human life. In this document, I will speak mainly around those involved on the battlefield in the closing days of the conflict. Also, reference will be made to the leading men behind the Union and Confederate forces. The war was beginning to end by January of 1865. By then, Federal (Federal was another name given to the Union Army) armies were spread hroughout the Confederacy and the Confederate Army had shrunk extremely in size. In the year before, the North had lost an enormous amount of lives, but had more than enough to lose in comparison to the South. General Grant became known as the Butcher (Grant, Ulysses S. , Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, New York: Charles L. Webster Co. ,1894) and many wanted to see him removed. But Lincoln stood firm with his General, and the war continued. This paper will follow the happenings and events between the winter of 1864-65 and the surrender of The Confederate States of America. All of his will most certainly illustrate that April 9, 1865 was indeed the end of a tragedy. CUTTING OFF THE SOUTH In September of 1864, General William T. Sherman and his army cleared the city of Atlanta of its civilian population then rested ever so briefly. It was from there that General Sherman and his army began its famous march to the sea. The march covered a distance of 400 miles and was 60 miles wide on the way. For 32 days no news of him reached the North. He had cut himself off from his base of supplies, and his men lived on what ever they could get from the country through which they passed. On their route, the army destroyed anything and everything that they could not use but was presumed usable to the enemy. In view of this destruction, it is understandable that Sherman quoted war is hell (Sherman, William T. , Memoirs of General William T. Sherman. Westport, Conn. :Greenwood Press, 1972). Finally, on December 20, Shermans men reached the city of Savannah and from there Sherman telegraphed to President Lincoln: I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah, with 150 heavy guns and plenty of ammunition, and also about 25,000 bales of cotton (Sherman, William T. , Memoirs of General William T. Sherman. Westport, Conn. :Greenwood Press, 1972). Grant had decided that the only way to win and finish the war would be to crunch with numbers. He knew that the Federal forces held more than a modest advantage in terms of men and supplies. This in mind, Grant directed Sherman to turn around now and start heading back toward Virginia. He immediately started making preparations to provide assistance to Sherman on the journey. General John M. Schofield and his men were to detach from the Army of the Cumberland, which had just embarrassingly defeated the Confederates at Nashville, and proceed toward North Carolina. His final destination was to be Goldsboro, which was roughly half the distance between Savannah and Richmond. This is where he and his 20,000 troops would meet Sherman and his 50,000 troops. Sherman began the move north in mid-January of 1865. The only hope of Confederate resistance would be supplied by General P. G. T. Beauregard. He was scraping together an army with every resource he could lay his hands on, but at best would only be able to muster about 30,000 men. This by obvious mathematics would be no challenge to the combined forces of Schofield and Sherman, let alone Sherman. Shermans plan was to march through South Carolina all the while confusing the enemy. His men would march in two ranks: One would travel northwest to give the impression of a press against Augusta and the other would march northeast toward Charleston. However the one true objective would be Columbia. Shermans force arrived in Columbia on February 16. The city was burned to the ground and great controversy was to arise. The Confederates claimed that Shermans men set the fires deliberately, systematically, and atrociously. However, Sherman claimed that the fires were burning when hey arrived. The fires had been set to cotton bales by Confederate Calvary to prevent the Federal Army from getting them and the high winds quickly spread the fire. The controversy would be short lived as no proof would ever be presented. So with Columbia, Charleston, and Augusta all fallen, Sherman would continue his drive north toward Goldsboro. On the way, his progress would be stalled not by the Confederate army but by runaway slaves. The slaves were attaching themselves to the Union columns and by the time the force entered North Carolina, they numbered in the housands (Barrett, John G. , Shermans March through the Carolinas. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1956). But Shermans force pushed on and finally met up with Schofield in Goldsboro on March 23rd. Darkness At Noon EssayDudley Mann to Robert Toombs, May 21, 1861, in JamesD. Richardson, comp., A Compilation of the Messages andPapers of the Confederacy, 2 vols. (Nashville, 1906), II, 37. 5 1 History

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Developmental Profile Essay Sample free essay sample

This paper will sum up the physical alterations that occur in kids and the factors. The paper will besides depict the cognitive alterations that occur in childhood. such as job resolution and judgement and specific illustrations will be given. The major mileposts in societal development that take topographic point in childhood will be discussed every bit good ; this includes peer relationships. male/female differences. and household influences. Emotional development in childhood will be talked about every bit good. This will include information on self-understanding/self-concept. emotional intelligence and ordinance. Physical Changes That Occur In Children and Factors In early childhood the growing of the organic structure starts to decelerate down. normally kids start to derive about five lbs in a twelvemonth and they grow around three inches taller in the twelvemonth. Usually their balance and organic structure position better. most of the clip boys weigh more than misss do because they are made more masculine. We will write a custom essay sample on Developmental Profile Essay Sample or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The first alteration that kids normally go through from babyhood to early childhood is skeletal alteration â€Å"Between ages 2 and 6. about 45 new epiphyses. or growing centres in which gristle hardens into bone. emerge in assorted parts of the skeleton. X raies of these growing centres enable physicians to gauge children’s skeletal age. or progress toward physical maturity† ( Berk. 2010 ) . By the age of three old ages old to five old ages of age kids have developed a vocabulary of three-hundred to one 1000 words. Normally by the terminal of preschool twelvemonth kids start to lose their babe dentitions. but it all depends on their genetic sciences. An illustration would be if a miss was in front of a male child in growing. so the miss would lose their dentitions foremost. Genes influence the children’s growing by commanding the production of endocrines. The growing endocrine ( GH ) is critical for the development of the organic structure tissues except for the genitalias and the nervous system. By age five kids normally have good control over a pencil. crayons and scissors. Motor achievements like jumping and equilibrating on one pes. Around five to eight old ages of age physical growing starts to decelerate down. organic structure proportions and motor accomplishments become more honed. Factors that influence these alterations are the environment that they are about. genetic sciences ( parent’s cistrons ) . Cognitive Change in Childhood Childhood is non merely memorable for astonishing growing but besides for mental development ( cognitive ) . Cognitive abilities include: job work outing. memory. logical thinking. and believing continues all through childhood. At age zero to one twelvemonth of age the illustration of knowledge would be to look straight at an grownup in the face. happen concealed object. and originate familiar gestures. Normally around the age of one to two old ages the kid indicates the wants and demands. point to organic structure parts. follow simple way. â€Å"At age two twelvemonth to three old ages the kid should be able to fit image to image. fit colour and simple forms. give age† ( Melroy. 2004 ) . At three to four twelvemonth of age they can give full name. function count to three. declaim riming. Four to five old ages of age should be able to place antonyms. name colour. function count to ten. complete five piece mystifiers. Age five to six should be able to function count to one 100. name Numberss. name forms. give phone figure. and place some missive sounds. If would be impossible speaking about cognitive alterations and non speak about the work of psychologist Jean Piaget. Jean Piaget theory. which is about utilizing imaginativeness and drama moving. I have found out from my girl from an early age she would play act and early on she would separate material like the miss doll is ( ma ) . male child doll is ( daddy ) leting them to move things out and utilize their imaginativeness you are allowing the childs to utilize their cognitive accomplishments and when they use them their accomplishments better it is fundamentally the more you use this accomplishment the kids accompli shments will better. Major Milestones in Social Development

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

All the Pretty Horses free essay sample

All the Pretty Horses, the setting is used to represent the main characters transformation over time from one terrain to another. The limitedness of the Texan terrain scattered with barbed wire restrictions identifies the restlessness that motivates John Grady’s brevity in the region at the beginning of the novel. Meanwhile, the Mexican wilderness that John Grady Cole’s sets out for comes to epitomize how the vast territory of fenceless space shapes his experiences as they outline his true character. The result is recognition of the parallel between open terrain and his character, each one exemplifying one another and in the end explains the enlightenment he struggles for. Right out of the gate McCarthy shines light on the theme of personal constraint contingent on the landscape. John Grady is introduced in the beginning of the novel on his ranch in Texas preparing for his grandfather’s funeral. Right away the reader is informed of his feelings of being trapped and contained. The opening sentence of the novel offers intuition into this: â€Å"The candleflame and the image of the candleflame caught in the pierglass twisted and righted when he entered the hall and again when he shut the door† (McCarthy 3). The symbolism here is that of a character whose energy and aspirations for western lifestyle are being confined to a location that is changing and slowly vanishing. He therefore remains â€Å"caught,† with limited opportunity to participate in the way of life he hopes for. This fact is ultimately disheartening, particularly for a character that is symbolized as a flame that burns with exuberance. However, at the same time he struggles, â€Å"twist[ing] and right[ing]† himself to be free to chase his ambitions. John Grady’s contempt and restlessness stem from the hardships of his family. The Cole family made their name in cattle ranching for almost a century, but is now facing a financial crisis due to an increase of industrialization. The problem is made even more difficult with the death of John Grady’s grandfather and the waning health of his father, who seems to suffer from emphysema. Grady’s mother at the same time pursues life as an actress and holds no affections for the ranch she inherits and plans to sell the unprofitable plot. Grady consults a Franklin a lawyer who explains to a befuddled John Grady, â€Å"If it was a payin proposition that’d be one thing. But it aint† (McCarthy 17). His mothers’ indifference to the welfare of the family ranch certainly disappointments him, however he too soon chooses to forsake the place he has called home for sixteen years. Even though John Grady is most content in a rural setting and on the family ranch, it opens his eyes to the mortality of the place; the death of his grandfather corresponds with the subsequent death of his agrarian way of life. The ranching lifestyle and the attractions it had were creeping toward a mechanized extinction. This threat is most clearly grasped by John Grady when he steps outside and watches a train pass: â€Å"It came boring out of the east like some ribald satellite of the coming sun howling and bellowing in the distance and the long light of the headlamp running through the tangled mesquite brakes and creating out of the night the endless fenceline down the dead straight right of way and sucking it back again wire and post mile on mile into the darkness† (McCarthy 4). The train symbolizes something tremendously modern invading his home, from the more populated and developed east. McCarthy portrays the train as an unstoppable foreign force imposing its self on an old way of life. The event cements the death of the place for John Grady. He concludes that trying to gain possession of the ranch and confronting the juggernaut of modernism is beyond his abilities and he stands no chance. John Grady and Rawlins decision to explore the untamed expanse to south of their birthplace brings a succession of experiences that transform John Grady and forms a recognizable coming of age tale. The core of this coming of age narrative moves along and mirrors the advancement of setting. When John Grady and his friend Jimmy Rawlins first depart for Mexico they ride an idyllic stretch in which they encounter no problems or violence. They partake on this romantic journey to Mexico flawlessly, which conforms exactly to their expectations. â€Å"They rode out on the round dais of the earth . . . which carried their figures and bore them up into the swarming stars so that they rode not under but among them . . . ike young thieves in a glowing orchard, loosely jacketed against the cold and ten thousand worlds for the choosing† (McCarthy 30). Their aim is to act like the men who fill their idealized imaginings, men not of leisure but of serious purpose, perseverance, and models of healthy masculinity with the world at their fingertips. Little did they know the Mexican landscape they trekked across would become unforgiving and gradually more demanding. These changes can be associated as learning experiences typically linked to a coming of age story. A storm begins to build up that literally and iguratively rains on their idyllic beginning and is a prelude for what is to come. That night John Grady and Rawlins become heavily intoxicated for what seemed like their first time, their subsequent sickness is described against a significantly in a much less ideal place. â€Å"By dark the storm had slacked and the rain had almost ceased. They pulled the wet saddles off the horses and hobbled them and walked off in separate directions†¦clutching their knees vomiting. In the gray twilight those retchings seemed to echo like the calls of some rude provisional species loosed upon that waste† (McCarthy 71). The once placid, tranquil backdrop that had once given the boys limitless options was now a â€Å"waste† occupied by a â€Å"rude provisional species. † The deterioration of the landscape from uncompromising to contemptuous is noted and the theme that the setting is independent, but that it is a key element affecting the protagonist’s experiences. After finding work for a Mexican ranch hand the boys briefly feel stable and out of a state of transiency. However, after some time passes Mexican guards whisk the boys away after they are being charged with having ties to a murder committed by their old riding buddy Jimmy Blevins. After a few days at Ecantada they are put on a truck over to Saltillo Prison. Upon their arrival they are greeted with hostility from the inmates and forced to live in vastly unfavorable conditions. â€Å"They slept in iron bunks chained to the walls on thin trocheros or mattress pads that were greasy, vile, infested. In the morning they climbed down the four flights of steel ladders into the yard and stood among the prisoners for the morning list† (McCarthy 182). Once again the setting defines the peril that has fallen upon them down an ever steeper slope. he shared sites at which the renderings of the landscape occur. Among the three of the aforementioned examples, the one that displays positive emotion takes place in a calm, tranquil arena; when John Grady and Rawlins set off on their odyssey into the vast southern aridness, their morale is high, which can be directly traced to the imagery used to describe their surroundings. With no immediate experiences with the severe re alities of a country and culture so different from their own, they boys see no reason not to continue and pursue their dreams. In contrast, the boys’ first encounter with hardship comes at a time of great inebriation. Vomiting along the road and hearing the painful heaves of their disillusionment echo in the mountains. Similarly, their plight in the Saltillo presents a rude awakening forcing them to fight to stay alive daily. In the end, John Grady makes amends with the idea that initially drove him out of Texas in the first place. What was once an opportunity for adventure has now become painful, and ironically his restlessness for home that balances his initial restlessness for escape. By the time he has commenced his final ride, from Encantada to Texas, John Grady is identified only by a grim weariness that is dutifully mirrored by the landscape: â€Å"There was just the stillness and the silence and the sound of the horses breathing and the sound of their hooves clopping in the dark† (McCarthy 286). The notion of the heroic trek has been stripped of its enchantments, its hard realities laid bare, and John Grady’s environment has traced ably and faithfully the trajectory of his disillusionment. Lying riverside with the journey still young, the boys assess a map as their horses graze. It is an oilcompany roadmap, inconveniently specific and untuned to their needs, yet neither of them is disturbed. To the south of the Rio Grande lies only an expanse of uncharted white, malleable and untested, a challenge in the pure fact of its virgin blankness. At novel’s end, they might perceive the map as irrelevant, bounded and square—hardly representative of the Earth and its infinite curve on which any fixed cardinal direction becomes its opposite. But here, cavalierly â€Å"stretched out in the shade of a stand of blackwillow,† it espouses only one truth.

Monday, December 2, 2019

New Lost Generation free essay sample

In this text, The New Lost Generation, James Baldwin describes living in the post-war generation. During these times, the streets were filled with hatred, pain, and anger. Baldwin starts of his text by narrating the friendship between him and his best friend. A man, who was once sought to be an achiever of glorious advancements, later went down a path full of emptiness and heartbreaks leading to the taking of his own life. Many different fears began to quarrel inside Baldwin as time went on.He began to fear that a great amount of animosity and anger would boil over, leading Baldwin down a path with no return. The fear of ending up another body in the Hudson River also began to fright him. However, most of all: the fear of humanity losing control and common morals and beliefs. â€Å"If all visions of human nature are to be distrusted, and all hopes, what about love? † (39). We will write a custom essay sample on New Lost Generation or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Feeling abandoned by many people around him, be begins the journey of searching for who he really is as an individual.In a time of â€Å"terrifying personal anarchy† Baldwin must overlook his different experiences that made him who he is today. Baldwin states, â€Å"we have been raised to believe in formulas† (39). In a world structured in this manner, it is difficult to strive. It is up to you to determine your future. Ultimately, this lead to Baldwin’s relocation in France; this was an escape from America’s madness. He mentions how it is easy for American expatriates to live extraordinarily in their new adopted country. In fact many citizens are not even able to tell the vast differences between whom is foreign or not.As Baldwin looks back on his journey of life, he elaborates on the idea of how public approval is much harder to achieve in America than in a foreign place. It is ironic because being American you would think that it would be harder to accomplish this in France because he is foreign, however, it is quite the opposite due to the raging racism and anger overflowing in New York along with other parts of America. â€Å"But rare indeed is the American artist who achieved this without first becoming a wanderer, and then upon his return to his own country, the loneliest and most blackly distrusted of men.

Thursday, November 28, 2019

BCS vs. Playoff

BCS vs. Playoff Free Online Research Papers BCS vs. Playoff? When you take a look at the NCAA division one college sports across the country you notice they all have a similarity. Sports such as basketball, baseball, lacrosse, soccer, field hockey, ice hockey, boxing, and even swimming all obtain this similarity. That would be that no matter how long the regular season is or how each sport is played their playoff format is the same. Now not all the playoffs are exactly the same nor does the same amount of teams make the playoffs for each sport, but the champion will all be crowned in the same way. The playoffs are started off with each team gets seated from best to worst. Some sports put the teams into brackets; this is usually common in the larger tournaments such as basketball and baseball. The best team gets matched up versus the worst team in the tournament and the remaining teams are matched up accordingly based on the teams left. Then from there it is single elimination where the winner moves on and the losers’ season is over. Th is continues until there are only two teams left that will compete in the championship. Winner of this game is crowned national champion of their respected sport as they were the last team remaining in their playoff. All these sports never have any controvery about how their postseason is run. Now you may have noticed that I left one major sport out of this group. It was no mistake because football is not run this way, thus the major controversy of the college football postseason. The word playoff does not exist in division one NCAA college football. They run what is called the BCS system. BCS stands for bowl championship series where the best teams in college football are ranked from best to worst based on computer systems calculations of many combinations such as national ranking, strength of schedule, and quality wins. It ranks the top 20 teams in college football so the best of the best can be separated from the rest and the common fan can see who is in contention for the BCS. Now the top ten teams make the BCS but it is not always the top ten teams in the BCS. Some conferences have automatic bids into the BCS meaning the champion of this conference will make the BCS now matter what their BCS ranking is. The only catch is you have to have more wins than loses to be in the BCS. The conferences that have these automatic bids are: ACC, Big East, Big 10, Big 12, PAC 10, and the SEC. That alone is six out of the ten team’s right there. That only leaves four at large bids for teams that did not win their conferences. Now don’t forget there are mid major conferences that don’t get automatic bids that still can make the BCS, but it is very hard for that to happen. Out of these ten teams that get selected to the BCS by the committee they compete in one of five games. Of those five games, four of them are bowl games such as: the Fiesta Bowl in Phoenix, the Orange Bowl in Miami, the Rose Bowl in Las Angeles, and the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. The top two teams in the nation compete in what is called the BCS National Championship. It is played in one of the four cities mentioned above (it alternates every four years between each host). Now the winners of those BCS bowl games don’t get anything special or move on to another round of games to be played. They just get that win and crowned champion of that specific bowl. The winner of the National Championship is crowned the champ for the football season. That’s it, just win one game and you’re the champion. No playoff or nothing, just on postseason game. Now to me that doesn’t make much sense. Since only ten teams make the BCS, the rest of the college football teams that advance into the postseason compete in bowl games. Now their importance is not as significant as the BCS, but pride for their respected school is always at battle here. There are currently 34 bowl games that are not included in the BCS, but this could always increase in the future because the committee is always in favor of increasing the amount of teams that advance to the postseason. To qualify for a bowl game you only have to win six games. Once you win six games in your regular season you are eligible for the postseason. Now more teams qualify for the bowl games than the sixty eight teams are best. So the best teams are picked based on matchups, locations, and which respected conference the team resides in. You cannot play a team you played in the regular season in a bowl game and you cannot play a team within your conference in a bowl game. Bowl games are just like the BCS in the way that there is no t another round after you win that, your season ends on that win. You are playing to be crowned the champion of a specific bowl game, rather than for the right to the National Champion. It has been like this in college football since the 1800’s and since 1960 when the BCS was added. Their seems to be no signs of change anytime soon, but the arguments are at a true peak and maybe in the future this system of postseason will be abolished and a playoff will actually exist in the world of college football. I think that everyone realizes that college football is rich in tradition and everyone respects that. However, this is modern America where most people want it their way and want things to change in what they believe is right. If you ask around most people will agree that a playoff is more than necessary for college football Why would a change to a playoff make sense? I know it would make it similar to every other college sport postseason that are run successfully. Other than that what are the advantages to making this drastic change? Well not only would the playoff be good for the fans it would be good for the teams as well. Instead of one game to win for basically pride, teams would be competing at the chance to be a National Champion. Due to this the competitiveness in these games increase because the players will actually see there is something worth playing and winning for. Currently the playoffs and the Bowl games are played almost a month after the regular season is over. Now that is about four weeks of extra practice for these teams to play one meaningless game. If a playoff were added to college football you could start the tournament the following week preceding the end of the season and get right to business. So once teams lose they are done and they don’t have to waste a month of prac tice for nothing. Though the playoff will create more games for the players and some people think it will be too much for their young bodies to handle, but if you think about it they will be playing these games over the weeks where they would be practicing so the amount of time actually playing football will be the same. Instead there will be a game at the end of those weeks, and fewer teams will be competing this late in the year. In fact the champion will be crowned around the same time it is now so the amount of work on the kids will not be too much. Players today are nothing what they were like backing in the 1800’s and even the 1960’s for that matter. Due to technology and the modern day weight room’s athletes have been able to become bigger, stronger, and faster than ever before. They love to compete and will do whatever it takes to win, players never want the season to end, the competiveness runs throughout their blood and is left on the field of game day . When deciding on whether or not the playoff should be added to college football, you can use other college sports as a reference to compare with. Take college basketball for instance, some would say that the NCAA March Madness is the most successful and entertaining playoff in all of sports (including professional sports). The reason it is so exciting is because every team in the tournament has an equal chance to win the championship. No matter where you start in the tournament the champion has to win six games in a row to win the big dance. As well as this, there are so many upsets in the March Madness. An upset is when the team that was not expected to win or supposed to win actually beats the team that is far superior to them. Teams of lower ranks that make big runs in the tournament are called Cinderella teams. Everyone roots for the Cinderella teams and when their playing everyone is watching them. A good example of a Cinderella team is the 1985 Villanova Wildcats. In 1985 the Villanova Wildcats were an eight seed in the March Madness tournament out of a possible sixteen. So this team was average at best and no one expected to do anything, win one game at most. They won their first game 51-49 over the nine seed Dayton. A two point victory over a team very similar to their abilities. Nothing to get excited about and in the second round game they had to play the number one seed Michigan Wolverines. Michigan was heavily favored to beat Villanova and some would say they were favored to win the entire tournament. Villanova shocked the world when they beat Michigan 59-55 and advanced to the sweet sixteen. Their next game was no easy task as Villanova played the five seed Maryland Terrapins. Villanova came out on top with another close victory of 46-43. Then in the regional finals Villanova was set to face the very talented two seed, the North Carolina Tar Heels. Villanova shocked the world with a stunning performance on their way to a 56-44 victory. Never in do ubt this Cinderella story continued to ride their hot streak. By the final four everyone wanted Villanova to win the whole thing, but still not one actually thought it would happen. After beating another two seed in Memphis State 52-45 in the final four, Villanova was going to the finals. Waiting for them there was the number one team in the nation, a team nobody could beat, the Georgetown Hoyas. With Patrick Ewing leading the way for the Hoyas no one was giving Villanova a chance. It was time for this Cinderella team’s fairy tale to end. The championship was a brutal and physical game. A fight to the finish, basically a blood war out on the court. Then Georgetown made possibly the biggest mistake in the history of college basketball. Their starting point guard was looking for someone to pass to and and turned and literally passed it to a wide open Villanova player who took it for a layup and Villanova won the championship 66-64. It was the perfect fairy tale ending for the C inderella story team of a lifetime. Possibly the most magical NCAA March Madness tournament ever, and college football would never know what it’s like to have this feeling. Without the playoff football will never expierence this type of magic that is still being talked about 25 years after the event happened. Nothing can compare to this. Football can never have Cinderella’s such as Villanova because the playoff system doesn’t exist. The smaller and not as skilled schools never get the chance to compete for a championship because the rankings never think they’re as good as the powerhouses because they don’t play the competition the bigger schools play. An example of when the BCS was wrong was in 2007 when the heavily favored Oklahoma Sooners faced the Boise State Broncos in the Fiesta Bowl. Before the season started Oklahoma was ranked in the top five of the country and was a National Champion contender. They lost a couple games early due to injury, but finished the season real strong and won the Big 12 outright to earn the automatic bid into Fiesta Bowl. Now Boise State was not expected to compete for a National Championship at the beginning of the season but they pulled off an undefeated regular season and went 12-0. Many people thought this was due to an easy schedule and no real compet ition was ever played. Boise earned one of the four at large bids and was matched up with Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. Almost everyone thought this was a mistake and that Boise State did not belong in the BCS. Boise State was out to prove everyone wrong and boy did they ever do that. Boise State got out to a fast start and was up 14-0 fast and before you knew it they were winning 21-10 at halftime. Boise State continued to roll after the break and scored another touchdown to be up 28-10. Oklahoma finally showed up and started to look like a team with something to prove. Maybe they took Boise State to light at first, but they’re not about to let this game slip away. Oklahoma scored two strait touchdowns and a field goal to tie the game up at 28-28 with one minute and 30 seconds left. Then Boise State did the unthinkable and threw an interception to Oklahoma which they returned for a touchdown, and now with basically one minute left in the game Boise State was winning 35-28. Ev eryone thought it was just Boise State crumbling like they were supposed to and Oklahoma was going to win. Then probably the best play in the history of college football happened. Boise State completed a 15 yard pass and looked like all was over, then all of a sudden the receiver laterals the ball to another Boise State player bolting down the sideline for a touchdown. The old hook and ladder play and just like that this game was going into overtime. Oklahoma scored a touchdown first in overtime and then Boise State matched that with one of their own, but instead of going for the tie Boise State goes for the win and the two point conversion. With more tricks up their sleeve Boise State successfully runs the Statue of Liberty play for the two points and wins the game 45-44. The best game ever played in the history of the BCS. Boise State shocked the world just as Villanova did 22 years before this. However, it was too bad that this team never had the chance to compete for a champions hip. In the BCS teams do get to prove themselves and make a name for them, but they never get to compete for any type of championship. Sure they win the specific bowl game, but what does that matter. If you’re not from a BCS major conference and you don’t compete in a conference championship you’re never going to compete in the BCS National Championship game. In a tournament teams get to prove themselves time and time again and the potential two best teams won’t just always play each other in the title game. That’s another point to bring across right there. Who is to say that the two teams picked for the National Championship are in fact the two best teams? It is not for certain because it is just a bunch of sports writers with their own opinon and the computer system. Are we really going to leave the decision to decide who battles it out at the end for a national championship with a computer? The only thing they truly know about the teams is the number s that were put into their program. They can’t actually watch the games or physically know how the teams play. They are solely based on numbers and who should mathematically play for the championship. Last time I checked this was not mathematics class, this was college football, I know the athletes are students first but this is taking that a little too extreme. These weaker and smaller teams will never be able to prove themselves until a playoff is added in to the college football postseason. Aside from the weaker teams that are actually good, the smaller schools that are bad have zero percent chance to actually compete for a national championship. In basketball due to the fact the winner of each conference tournament championship goes to the tournament, no matter how bad your season is you still have the possibility to make the playoffs. In football if you lose one game you’re almost automatically eliminated from the National Champion contention, and if you lose more games then you win then your season is over. Though it is true that those teams do not deserve to make the postseason, but at least in basketball there is still the possibility of this actually happening. As stated early in football there is zero percent chance of any small school that is off an average or subpar record to compete for a national championship or yet alone even get invited to participate in a bowl game. The major controversy of the college football season is the postseason or better known as the BCS. The format of just a one game postseason is absurd and not a true champion is crowned. Without a playoff with tournament style elimination no real team can truly call themselves the champion. Problems of you don’t know if the two best teams were picked, the smaller schools don’t get the chance to compete in the championship game, no Cinderella magic will ever occur, and over half of the teams don’t’ even have a chance to make the championship game before the season even starts. Now this doesn’t fair to me and something must be done. The playoff will resolve all of these conflicts and a fairer, exciting, and enjoyable college football postseason would be created. NCCA Davison one athletics all have a playoff to crown a champion, except for football. Let’s get football the join with the rest of the country and experience the magic that everyone i s talking about. Research Papers on BCS vs. PlayoffTrailblazing by Eric AndersonThe Hockey GameThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationResearch Process Part OneHip-Hop is ArtRiordan Manufacturing Production PlanThe Project Managment Office SystemMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductLifes What IfsIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in Capital

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Assess the reasons that contributed to the downfall of the French Monarchy in August 1792 Essay Example

Assess the reasons that contributed to the downfall of the French Monarchy in August 1792 Essay Example Assess the reasons that contributed to the downfall of the French Monarchy in August 1792 Paper Assess the reasons that contributed to the downfall of the French Monarchy in August 1792 Paper Essay Topic: History Light in August August 1792 saw the demolition of the French armies at war with Austria, which precipitated the eventual downfall of Louis XVI. This essay will assess the major factors that contributed to this downfall, both in the short term and the long run. I am including what I consider to be the three main causes of the downfall of the French Monarchy. These are; firstly, the long run effects of how spiralling debt damaged the French economy and caused extreme social division. Also I will assess the decision made by the Monarchy as to why to go to war (both in Austria and USA), and how this heightened social tension and debt problems. Finally, I will also explain how the actions of the Monarchy himself can be assessed, and to what extent they contributed to his downfall. It would be wrong to place the downfall of the Monarchy on one single factor, and inevitably all the factors I have mentioned contributed significantly in some way. However, I will attempt to make a judgement as to which of the issues contributed the most in the downfall of King Louis XVI. Debt was a serious problem existing in France during Louis reign. A number of ill advised financial manoeuvres further desiccated the already financially damaged government. The countrys prolonged involvement in the Seven Years War (1756-63) drained the treasury, as did their perhaps avoidable involvement in the American War of Independence 1775-83, which they involved themselves in primarily as a means of getting back at the British. France was successful in both wars and had little to show for it apart from a dangerously damaged economy. But at this stage it could perhaps be considered that if money was spent wisely, then France could achieve a slow recovery. However, It was not only expenses on avoidable wars that was to blame for Frances growing situation of extreme debt. The upper social classes of French Ancien Regime society joined the King in living excessively extravagant lifestyles. Mammoth costs were associated just with the upkeep of Louis Palace in Versailles, and the Queen, Marie Antionette was renowned for spending huge some of money on sustaining her lavish lifestyle. The extravagant lifestyles that were lived by the rich in France, outlined the absolute social division that was the Ancien Regime. This flamboyant, excessive spending by the nobility, not only further damaged debt problems in France, but it also brought along a hatred to the tax exempt rich from those who were struggling to get by. I think that social division is very closely linked with the monetary and fiscal problems that France were witnessing at the time, eventually leading to the French being forced to declare bankruptcy. I think this because it was the absolute contrasts of lifestyle between classes in society that led to extreme inequality in France, perhaps angering those who were less well off, and those who were not exempt from taxation, a burden that only the lower estates had to pay. Louis decisions to go to war in America and to spend needed money on living an over-the-top lifestyle were just two of the aspects that contributed to the downfall of the Monarchy. Altogether, Louis decisions that he made as a monarch were not necessarily wise ones, and although the French revolution can be seen by some as rather an unavoidable situation, inevitably, in my opinion the monarch did little to help with matters. As a person, it has been said that Louis suffered from clinical depression. The effects of this syndrome are known to include a lack of motivation, as well as apathetic behaviour. Louis certainly showed some of these aspects with the decisions that he made during his reign and it would explain his indecisiveness over making critical decisions, usually turning to his Austrian Wife, Marie Antionette. For instance we get an insight of Louis indecisiveness as a monarch in such instances as The Constitution of the Clergy in July 1790. Here we saw Louis accept to the oath that the Clergy were told to take, and then go back on his decision upon the Popes rejection of the idea. I dont think that Louis was quite capable of making decisions for himself, and rather relied on other to help him. When he did make decisions for himself, they were usually of a foolish, childish nature. For instance, Louis tried to escape the country with his family during his flight to Varenne on June 20th 1791, disguised as Russian aristocrats, naturally he was stopped after being recognised from his face on a coin. This escape attempt not only outlined the King as being foolish but it also considerably weakened the kings position and lowered his regard in the eyes of the French people. Beforehand, although he had little real power remaining (largely due to the August Decrees (4th August 1789)), he at least still had the faith of his country. The kings attempt to run away, however, made it clear to sceptics that he was willing to turn his back on the constitution and his position as a constitutional monarchy at any moment. The more radical revolutionaries, who had never wanted a constitutional monarchy, trusted the king even less after his attempted escape. The more moderate revolutionaries, who once were loyal supporters of the constitutional monarchy, found themselves in a difficult situation to defend the monarch, when he was abandoning his responsibilities. Therefore, although Louis legally still retained some power after being returned to Paris, it was clear that his days were numbered. This brings me to my next point that Louis himself was perhaps not suited to the role of the monarch. In my opinion, it is a weak perception that absolutism can possibly work to run a country with the prestige and size of France effectively. Louis was not elected for his talents as a leader, but rather that he was seen as more of a chosen one by god. He inherited the throne, and with that he also inherited absolute power. In a country such as France at the time, with the Ancien Regime society that was adopted, it would be near impossible in my opinion to satisfy the needs of the majority of society. Louis was set a difficult task, but I also think that his inability to make decisions for himself, and thus managing to anger almost every social group in society, he did not make matters easy for himself by any means. After all it was not just the poor that decided to revolt against the system, in fact I would say that they played a limited role. Of course there were aspects that helped heighten anger in the lower sections of the third estate, such as rising food prices, disadvantageous feudal contracts, and general mistreatment at the hands of the aristocracy. But for all of the hardships that they endured, it wasnt the peasants who jump-started the Revolution. Rather, it was the wealthy commoners the bourgeoisie who objected most vocally to the sub par treatment they were receiving. The bourgeoisie were generally hardworking, educated men who were well versed in the enlightened thought of the time. Although many of the wealthier members of the bourgeoisie had more money than some of the French nobles, they lacked elite titles and thus were subjected to the same treatment and taxation as even the poorest peasants. It was the bourgeoisie that would really act as a driving force for the Revolution, and once they started to act, the peasants were soon to follow. The final factor that I consider to have contributed predominantly to the downfall of the monarchy in 1792 was the war with Austria on 20th April 1792. The decision to go to war with Austria was again, a foolish decision made by the King, and would inevitably result in his downfall. The fact that the king decided to go to war with the knowledge that the French would lose was careless, Louis wanted to do this as he thought that it would kill off the revolutionaries (who would be fighting in the war). The war with Austria essentially outlines all of the problems that the constitutional monarchy faced up to this point. France could not possibly afford, to lose another war surely they already were in a state of economic wreck. Even if they won the war, the amount of funding that would have had to be spent on providing a military strong enough to defeat the Austro-Prussian army that they faced would be too much for France to handle. Louis knew this and knew the outcome of the war before it had even started. This I feel shows Louis cowardice and inability to make effective decisions for himself, the fact that he was willing to send all these soldiers (whilst revolutionaries) to their deathbeds, illustrates another example of where Louis tries to take an easy way out of a difficult situation, as we saw in the flight to Varennes. Furthermore, although he knew what the outcome of the war was going to be in the first place, he made sure of it by allowing Marie Antionette to send the Austrians the French battle plans. The French, naturally, were demolished in the battle, and the only reason that they were not completely defeated was that the Austrian soldiers were ill prepared. The radical revolutionaries were so influential amongst the public in France that they would have been easily able to provide Louis and Marie Antionette as scapegoats for the loss. After all, Louis was not a particularly popular person amongst the public at the time. Effectively I think that the war, whilst perhaps not being the dominant factor as to why the monarchy was to fall in 1792, certainly acted as a final straw. It was to be the last mistake of France under the constitutional monarchy, and Louis was to pay for it. It could be argued that possibly the war was unavoidable, as the declaration of Pillnitz August 27th 1791, surely sparked revolutionary extremists such as Jacques Brissot to go to war (although Brissot wanted the King to remain in power). But Louis rash decisions throughout his reign, his reluctance to reform, as well as the economic ruin that he had left France in throughout, made him an easy target to blame for French loss. I dont think that Louis as a person was suited to the role of the King of France, and I will again make the point that I do not feel that Absolute Monarchy can work under any circumstances, and if it was to be effective it would require a Monarch with great leadership qualities, immense charisma, and good knowledge of what to do in difficult situations. In my opinion, Louis was not charismatic (certainly towards the end of his reign), he did not have great leadership qualities, we see this as he sends his men to their deathbeds, and by no means in my opinion is he effective in difficult situations. Therefore, critics may argue that he was placed an impossible task, I feel that even if the task were possible, as a person Louis was not the man needed to fulfil it by any means. Therefore, I will finally conclude by saying that I feel that Louis decisions, his personality and character, are the main issues that should be raised when discussing why exactly the monarchy witnessed a downfall in August 1792. The other reasons I have mentioned are also very significant, but perhaps could have been more successfully avoided, had the King been more able to make good decisions for the good of the whole nation, and been more wise with his money.

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Where to Find the Best DBQ Examples

Where to Find the Best DBQ Examples SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips One of the best ways to prepare for the DBQ (the "document-based question" on the AP European History, AP US History, and AP World History exams) is to look over sample questions and example essays.Doing this will help you to get a sense of what makes a good (and what makes a bad) DBQ response. That said, not all DBQ essay examples are created equal. I’ll briefly cover what makes a good DBQ example and then provide a list of example essays by course. Lastly, I’ll give you some helpful tips on how to best use sample essays in your own preparation process. What's a Good DBQ Example? Without a doubt, the best sample resources come from the College Board.This is because they are the ones who design and administer the AP exams. This means the following: Any DBQ essay example that the College Board provides will include a real DBQ prompt All samples are real student responses from previous years, so you know they were written under the same conditions you'll have when you write your DBQ- in other words, they're authentic! They not only have scores but also explanations of each essay's score,in accordance with the rubric Each prompt includes several sample essays with a variety of scores Some DBQ examples outside those available from the College Board might be worth looking at, particularly if they highlight how a particular essay could be improved. In general, though, a superior example will do the following: Include the prompt and documents:It will be much easier for you to see how the information from the documents is integrated into the essay if you can actually look at the documents themselves! Have a score:Seems simple, but you'd be surprised how many DBQ examples out there in the uncharted internet don't have one. Without a real, official score, it's hard to gauge how trustworthy a sample actually is. With that in mind, I have compiled lists, organized by exam, of high-quality example DBQs below. Don't spend all your study time sharpening your pencil. Every DBQ Example Essay You Could Ever Need, by Exam Here are your example essays! We'll start with AP US History, then move to AP European History, and finally wrap up with AP World History. AP US History: Official College Board Examples Because of the test redesign in 2015, there are right now only four official College Board sets of sample essays that use the current rubric: 2018 Free-Response Questions| Sample DBQ Responses 2018 2017 Free-Response Questions| Sample DBQ Responses 2017 2016 Free-Response Questions| Sample DBQ Responses 2016 2015 Free-Response Questions| Sample DBQ Responses 2015 If you want additional sample question sets, you canlook at older College Board US History DBQ example response sets.To look at these, click "Free-Response Questions" for a given year. For the corresponding DBQ examples and scoring guidelines, click "Sample Responses Q1." Note that these examples use the old rubric (which is integrated into the Scoring Guidelines for a given free-response section). General comments on the quality of the essay, outside information, and document analysis still apply, but the score is on a 9-point scale instead of the current 7-point scale, and some of the particulars will be different. Older DBQs had up to 12 documents, while the current format has six to seven documents. If you do look at older DBQ examples, I recommend using the current rubric (as of 2017)to re-grade the essays in the sample according to the 7-point scale. I'll also give more advice on how to use all these samples in your prep later on. Mr. Bald Eagle is an AP US History DBQ grader in his spare time. AP European History: Official College Board Examples Unfortunately, there aren't as many sample resources for the AP Euro DBQ compared to the other AP history tests because 2016 was the first year the AP Euro test was administered in the new format. This means there are only three sets of official samples graded with the current 7-point rubric: 2018 Free-Response Questions|Sample DBQ Responses 2018 2017 Free-Response Questions|Sample DBQ Responses 2017 2016 Free-Response Questions|Sample DBQ Responses 2016 The rest of the existing available samples were graded in the old 9-point format instead of the 7-point format implemented in 2016. In the old format there were6 "core" points and 3 additional points possible. The old rubric is integrated with the sample responses for each question, but I'll highlight some key differences between the old and current formats: With the old format, you were given a brief "historical background" section before the documents There were more documents- up to 12- but the current format has six to seven There was an emphasis on "grouping" the documents that is not present in the current rubric There was also explicit emphasis on correctly interpreting the documents that is not found in the current rubric While the essential components of the DBQ are still the same between the two test formats,you should definitely refer to the current rubricif you decide to look at any old AP European History samples. You might find ituseful to look at old essays and score them in accordance with the current rubric. Here are the old sample DBQ questions and essays, organized by year: 2015 Free-Response Questions|Sample DBQ Responses 2015 2014 Free-Response Questions|Sample DBQ Responses 2014 2013 Free-Response Questions|Sample DBQ Responses 2013 2012 Free-Response Questions|Sample DBQ Responses 2012 2011 Free-Response Questions|Sample DBQ Responses 2011 You can get samples in the old format all the way back to 2000 from the College Board. (Click "Free -Response Questions" for the questions and "Sample Response Q1" for the samples.) Consider how you might integrate this castle into the DBQ that is your life. AP World History: Official College Board Examples The World History AP exam transitioned to a new format to more resemble AP US History and AP European History for the 2017 test. This means that there are only two past exams available that use the current DBQ format: 2018 Free-Response Questions|Sample DBQ Responses 2018 2017 Free-Response Questions|Sample DBQ Responses 2017 In the old format there were7 "core" points and 2 additional points possible. The old rubric is integrated with the sample responses for each question, but I’ll highlight some key differences between the old and current formats: There were more documents- up to 10- but the current format has six to seven There was an emphasis on "grouping" the documents on the old rubric that is not present in the current rubric There was also explicit emphasis on correctly interpreting the documents that is not found in the current rubric In the old rubric, you needed to identify one additional document that would aid in your analysis; the new rubric does not have this requirement The essential components of the DBQ are still the same between the two formats, although you should definitely look at the current rubricif you study with any old AP World History questions and samples.You might find ituseful to look at the old essays and score them according to the current rubric. Here are old AP World History questions and DBQ sample responses, organized by year: 2016 Free-Response Questions|Sample DBQ Responses 2016 2015 Free-Response Questions|Sample DBQ Responses 2015 2014 Free-Response Questions|Sample DBQ Responses 2014 2013 Free-Response Questions|Sample DBQ Responses 2013 2012 Free-Response Questions|Sample DBQ Responses 2012 Don't worry, the old format isn't as old as this guy right here. How Should I Use DBQ Examples to Prepare? Now that you have all these examples, what should you do with them?In this section, I'll give you some tips on how to use example DBQs in your own prep, including when to start using them and how many you should plan to review. What Should I Do With These DBQs? Officialsample essay sets are a great way to testhow well you understand the rubric. This is why I recommendthat you grade a sample setearly on in your study process- maybe even before you've written a practice DBQ. Then, when you compare the scores you gave to the official scores and scoring notes given to the samples, you'll have a better idea of what parts of the rubric you don't really understand.If there are points you are consistently awarding differently than the graders, you’ll know those are skills you'll need to work on. Keep giving points for the thesis and then finding out the sample didn't get those points? This tells you to work more on your thesis skills. Not giving points for historical context and then finding out the AP grader gave full credit? You need to work on recognizing what constitutes historical context according to the AP. Check out mytips on building specific rubric-based skills in my guide on how to write a DBQ. Once you've worked on some of those rubric skills you're weaker in, such as evaluating a good thesis or identifying document groups, grade another sample set.This way, you can see how your ability to grade the essays like an AP grader improves over time! Obviously, grading sample exams is a much more difficult processif you're looking at examples in an old format (e.g., AP European History or AP World History samples). The old scores as awarded by the College Board will be helpful in establishing a ballpark- obviously a 9is still going to be a good essay using the current 7-point scale- but there may be some modest differences in grades between the two scales. (Maybe that perfect 9is now a 6out of 7due to rubric changes.) For practice grading with old samples, you might want to pull out two copies of the current rubric, recruit a trusted study buddy or academic advisor (or even two study buddies!), and have each of you re-grade the samples. You can then discuss any major differences in the grades each of you awarded. Having multiple sets of eyes will help you see if the scores you're giving are reasonable, since you won’t have an official 7-point College Board score for comparison. How Many Example DBQs Should I Be Using? The answer to this question depends on your study plans. If it's six months before the exam and you plan on transforming yourself into a hard diamond of DBQ excellence, you might do practice grading on a sample set every few weeks to a month to check your progress to being able to think like an AP grader. In this case, you would probably use six to nine official sample sets. If, on the other hand, the exam is in a month and you are just trying to get in some skill-polishing, you might do a sample set every week to 10 days. It makes sense to check your skills more often when you have less time to study because you want to be sure that you are focusing your time on the skills that need the most work. For a short time frame, expect to use somewhere in the range of three to four range official sample sets. Either way, you should be integrating your sample essay grading with skills practice and doing some practice DBQ writing of your own. Toward the end of your study time, you could even integrate DBQ writing practice with sample grading. Read and complete a timed prompt and then grade the sample set for that prompt, including yours! The other essays will help give you a sense of what score your essay might have received that year and any areas you might have overlooked. There's no one-size-fits-all approach to using sample sets, but in general they are a useful tool formaking sure you have a good idea what the DBQ graders will be looking for when you write your own DBQ. Hey, where can we find a good DBQ around here? Closing Thoughts: Example DBQs for AP History Tests Example DBQ essays are a valuable resource in your arsenal of study strategies for the AP history exams. Grading samples carefullywill help you get a sense of your own blind spots so you'll know what skills to focus on in your prep. That said, sample essays will be most useful when integrated with your own targeted skills prep. Grading 100 sample essays won't help you if you aren't practicing your skills; rather, you'll just keep making the same mistakes over and over again. Make sure you aren't using sample essays toavoid writing practice DBQs either- you'll want to do at least a couple, even if you only have a month to practice. And there you have it, folks. With this list of DBQ examples and tips on how to use them, you are all prepared to integrate samples into your study strategy! What's Next? Still not sure what a DBQ is? Check out my explanation of the DBQto learn the basics. Want tips on how to really dig in and study for AP history tests?We've got a complete how-to guide on preparing and writing the DBQ. If you're still studying for AP World History, check out ourtop AP World History study guide,or get more practice tests from our complete list. Want more study material for AP US History? Look into this article on the best notes to use for studying from one of our experts. Also, read our review of the best AP US History textbooks! Want to improve your SAT score by 160points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Top 10 Grammar and Spelling Errors from 2010!

Top 10 Grammar and Spelling Errors from 2010! In the past year as The Essay Expert, I’ve seen a lot of grammar and spelling errors. Here are some of the most common. Lets toast to learning something new in 2011! 10.   Lose vs. Loose. You lose your keys or your mind. Your belt might be loose, or you might let loose on the weekends. Click here for more: Common Spelling Mistakes:   Lose vs. Loose 9.   Lead vs. Led. A common resume mistake is to write â€Å"Lead† as a past tense verb. â€Å"Led† is the past tense of â€Å"lead.† If your position was in the past, start your bullet with â€Å"Led† (a great past tense power verb!) 8. Who vs. that. People are â€Å"who†; things are â€Å"that.† Don’t say, â€Å"I know a guy that can fix your car.† Say, â€Å"I know a guy who can fix your car.† 7.   I vs. Me. Don’t say â€Å"My dad really loves my sister and I.† You wouldn’t say â€Å"My dad loves I†; you would say â€Å"My dad loves me.† So why would you change â€Å"me† to â€Å"I† just because he loves your sister too? The correct sentence would be â€Å"My dad really loves my sister and me.† For more examples, see Common Grammatical Errors:   Between You and Me. 6.   Then vs. Than. â€Å"Then† relates to time. When? Then (it rhymes)! â€Å"I got up, then made my coffee.† â€Å"Than† is a comparison word. â€Å"This paper is longer than it’s supposed to be.† 5.   Affect vs. Effect. â€Å"Affect† is most often used as a verb:   â€Å"How did his words affect you?† â€Å"Effect† is most often used as a noun: â€Å"What effect did his words have on you?† There are limited exceptions to each of these generalities. â€Å"Affect† can mean someone’s countenance or attitude: â€Å"His pompous affect repelled us.† And â€Å"effect† can be a verb if used to mean â€Å"implement†: â€Å"His goal was to effect change in the legal system.† If you go with â€Å"affect = verb, effect = noun,† you’ll be right 99% of the time. 4. Periods and commas placed outside quotation marks. In the U.S., commas and periods always go INSIDE the quotation marks. In many other countries, they only go inside when they are part of the quotation. I even see people putting periods and commas outside the quotation marks when they are part of the quotation! That last one I don’t understand. Here’s my article on the topic, The Quandary of Quotation Marks. 3.   Comma splices. An example of a comma splice is â€Å"Last year I got great grades, I even won an award.† In this sentence, you need to replace the comma with a period or semicolon to correct it, or add an â€Å"and† after the comma. For my article on this aspect of using commas and semicolons, click here:   How to Use Commas and Semicolons. 2.   Apostrophes used to make plurals. The plural of brother is brothers. The plural of Smith is Smiths. When making a plural out of a noun or proper noun, there is no need for an apostrophe! Brother’s is the possessive of brother, e.g. â€Å"I covet my brother’s car.† Smith’s is the possessive of Smith, e.g., â€Å"Mr. Smith’s house is painted purple.† I talk about this issue a bit more in Why It’s Important to Write Right in the Legal Profession. 1. Its vs. It’s.   This one is the hands-down winner! Today I even saw, on a blog, â€Å"Would apple sell its’ products for $10?† The rule: It’s means it is and the apostrophe creates a contraction, just as in can’t or don’t. Its is the possessive of it and does NOT take an apostrophe. And its is not a word. It’s simple! My article on this topic is located here: Common Spelling and Grammar Errors: It’s vs. Its My great hope is that this list will be different for 2011. Can you help make it happen? Category:UncategorizedBy Brenda BernsteinDecember 27, 2010 18 Comments Roy Daniel DSilva says: December 28, 2010 at 9:18 am I am the guy who runs the site that says Its product for $10. Believe me I had to retype twice to get the wrong spelling now that you pointed it out! Goes to show that being lazy is as much as a crime as being uneducated! Log in to Reply The Essay Expert says: December 28, 2010 at 9:31 am Roy, Im thrilled that you commented here. Thank you for reading and for learning! Log in to Reply Rosanne Dingli says: December 28, 2010 at 9:23 am These, Brenda, are my all-time bug-bears. My clients make them all the time. When I was teaching primary school, I would slip in information like this to the students, who loved Little details, at the end of some lessons. And I didnt even teach English. I like how you say led is a strong verb. I might use it in next weeks blog look out for it. Log in to Reply The Essay Expert says: December 28, 2010 at 9:32 am Rosanne, perhaps the two of us can work together to change next years list 🙂 Log in to Reply Diane Kern says: December 28, 2010 at 8:22 pm Now I know why am so confused about (). I am American and my Mom was Welsh. My spelling and grammar are half and half. Ha,ha,ha Diane Log in to Reply Hajra says: December 29, 2010 at 2:26 am Hey, Loved the compilation. My personal experience has been to do with whose and whos! I dont know why many end up making these mistakes, there is a spell check and grammar option available in almost all writing applications Isnt it so? Looking forward to reading more of your stuff! Log in to Reply The Essay Expert says: December 29, 2010 at 8:36 am Thank you Hajra! Unfortunately spelling and grammar checks often highlight things that are actually correct. Some people might just not pay that much attention. For our readers, whose is an interrogative pronoun or relative pronoun: Whose life is it anyway? or I know a guy whose toes cant wiggle (dont ask where I came up with that one). Whos is the contraction of who is: Whos that guy with the weird toes? or I know a guy whos a lion tamer. If you cant insert who is and have the sentence make sense, use whose. Log in to Reply madhur says: December 29, 2010 at 9:29 am Nice one..these are pretty common mistakes.good to see it compiled in one place Log in to Reply The Essay Expert says: January 3, 2011 at 10:37 am Diana you are absolutely correct about the proper way to write dates. We say July 4th, 2011, but we write July 4, 2011. More and more errors are being made in many areas, not just this one! Log in to Reply Andy says: January 8, 2011 at 1:33 am Ummm, why are the words say and write in quotation marks? Arent you emphasizing them, and not quoting someone? You are confusing me. Log in to Reply The Essay Expert says: January 8, 2011 at 1:36 am Hi Andy, I think youre responding to one of my replies to a comment? I actually put stars around those words for emphasis, but maybe they are showing up on your computer as quotation marks? My apologies! Now that I am aware of the issue I will use italics instead for emphasis! Log in to Reply The Essay Expert says: January 4, 2011 at 9:28 pm Thanks Cameron. What a great trick! And Im so thrilled to have a 10th grader reading my blog! Log in to Reply The Essay Expert says: January 10, 2011 at 10:26 pm Staff can actually be singular or plural. See Rule #15 in the following article from Grammarbook.com There are other words that can also be treated as singular or plural, such as committee, family, and team. Log in to Reply The Essay Expert says: January 11, 2011 at 10:49 pm Thanks again for your comment Kplan. I like this explanation from Wiki Answers which encourages avoidance of the issue: Staff, for all intents and purposes, is singular. There is one staff. Definition 5.e. in Merriam-Websters entry allows for use as plural, however, the preferred use is singular. Think of staff as the sum total of the parts. (As the pie is made up of the slices.) PREFERRED: Fifteen members of the staff attended the meeting. AVOID: Fifteen staff attended the meeting. In addition, most publications that follow Associated Press guidelines will use only the singular. When in doubt, avoid the word. Recraft the sentence using a different word, like employees, or workers. Read more: https://wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_the_word_staff_singular_or_plural#ixzz1An0WXWmb Log in to Reply Rose-Anne Raies says: February 5, 2011 at 10:50 am An excellent and much needed article in todays world. Unfortunately, there is not enough attention paid to proper grammar and punctuation and spelling too. My parents were sticklers for this and the skills they taught, along with my teachers, have served me well in the legal community and in writing for clients. Thanks for handy Top 10. It is a pet peeve of mine when people use words like its vs. its and whos vs. whose incorrectly. Every once in a while I still have to go back to the basics on words that cause trouble like affect and effect too. Well done! Log in to Reply The Essay Expert says: February 5, 2011 at 11:50 am Thank you Rose-Anne. I do what I can! Its amazing how much people love to learn about these things, yet make so many errors. Log in to Reply The Essay Expert says: July 18, 2011 at 11:36 am LOL I know what you mean! I cant seem to resist correcting even the people closest to me. Log in to Reply The Essay Expert says: October 20, 2011 at 5:03 am Thanks Leal I will definitely consider these for 2011 along with definitely vs. definately! Log in to Reply