The Persuasive Essay Guide

Reflective Essay Image - Fe Ilya

What is the easiest essay to write?  A persuasive essay?  An argumentative essay?  A persuasive essay is challenging as it requires the ability to persuade the audience without alienating all readers.  And the argumentative essay requires a balanced view of the topic when arguing for and against.  The title of the easiest essay to write then goes to a third essay type – the reflective essay.

A reflective essay as its name suggests,  focuses on reflection and gentle consideration of the topic.  This is a form of essay writing in which you put down your thoughts. It is quite a flexible form of writing, but there are some general rules that you should stick to. You will have a general layout for your essay, which includes an introduction, a main body and a conclusion. An interesting aspect of reflective essay writing is that you and your reader may benefit by what you reflect on.

Your reflective essay may discuss a course taught at college. Your teacher will read whatever you put down. This can be advantageous to you as well as your teacher because you can express your positive and negative thoughts about what you have learned and the manner in which it was taught. In your essay, some of your thoughts may include your descriptions of what you enjoyed in a course along with descriptions of your teacher’s teaching style. You can also include the parts that you did not find interesting. Your teacher will take note of this area. Perhaps some solution could be achieved through this, as your teacher might work to make a less interesting area of a course more stimulating in future. Therefore, future students of the same course will benefit from what you write.

Reflective essay writing is something that you will do throughout your education. If you happen to become a teacher, you will need to write many more essays. This is because reflective essay writing is an important self-assessment tool for students as well as teachers. Through this form of writing you come to know a lot more about how much you have gained through your course work.

When you get down to writing your essay, there are few points you need to keep in mind. You should remember that your introduction is used for describing or explaining the background of your course. You also need to mention your role in the course you describe, along with the reasons you had for selecting it. If your essay is based on a project you have worked on, you need to mention your goals for further developing the project.

In your reflective essay body paragraphs, you will need to describe the process you used for working on your project. You need to describe this process from its starting point to the end stages. Your essay should reveal detail about strong and weak points in your coursework or project. You also need to share your positive and negative experiences, as well as your feelings about working with others.

For concluding your essay, there are few important points you need to consider. You need to determine whether or not you have achieved your goals. You also need to think about what you would like to change in your course work or project. Maybe you will not benefit from this change, but other students will have a chance to do so. In your conclusion, you should think about the expertise you have gained and how you would apply it in your professional life.

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Eye Catching Headlines by gtrwndr87

What is the most important feature in an online article on a web page, or even a college essay for that matter?

It’s the title.

A title is like a flashing neon sign.  They have to grab attention.  Think about it – in the digital age there is so much information competing for attention.  Your article does not get special preference – it has to compete just as hard to be read.

When asked this question, author Steve Gillman said that digital article titles have to do more than those in the print world. In a print magazine, you just need to catch the attention of the reader. The title doesn’t really even have to tell the reader what the article is about, since the magazine it is in will be on a specific subject area. Readers know that if it is in a fishing magazine it about a fishing-related topic.

In an online article, on the other hand, the title has to tell the potential reader what the article is about. He may see nothing but the title in the search engine results, and if he doesn’t know what it’s about, he’s likely to just click on the next link. Online article titles have to be found in the search engines as well, meaning they have to have keywords in them that people are looking for. Of course, just like print articles, they should also catch the reader’s attention.

My Best Article Titles

Sometimes you can do all three of these things pretty well in one article. An example is my article titled “Cheap Homes In Nice Towns.” You know what the article is about, it is okay as an attention grabber (not great), and “cheap homes” is a keyword that many people search for each month. At one of the article directories I have submitted it to, it has been read over 17,000 times – more than double the traffic of any of the other 550 articles I have there (many have been read only a couple hundred times).

However, in checking the number of times my various articles have been viewed at this directory, I have often been surprised – enough so to remind me that “rules” are only guidelines. For example, two of the most-read articles I have there are “Remove Permanent Marker From Carpet,” and “How To Get Candle Wax Out Of Carpet” (about 6,000 times each).

These are not attention-grabbing titles, but they are also not topics covered well on the Internet. Obviously there is something to be said for utilitarian articles with good keywords that are not too competitive. Add easy-to-compete-for keywords to the list of things to try for in an article title.

In the top five for visits are the article titles, “Really Cheap Plane Tickets,” (6,400) and “Cheap International Plane Tickets” (10,050). A promise of a way to save money seems to be a good bet. My article “Worry – Five Ways To Eliminate It,” has been viewed 3,300 times, but it is fairly new, making it the most views per month by far. I suppose worry is a common enough problem that people need a solution to.

Article titles that promise to help with a problem work, then. So do those that promise to teach the reader something new, and those that are directly targeting the keywords they are searching. What else can make for a good article title?

- Ask a question: “Do You Make This Writing Mistake?”

- Tell them they can do something: “You Can Write A Better Title Today”

- Promise some value: “Ten Ways You Can Make More Money”

- Use the words “how to”: “How To Overcome Writer’s Block”

- Involve them with a story: “You Quit Your Job – Now What?”

Watch the reports (at the article directories and on your web sites) and try to learn from them. Of course those statistics for “views” I mention above only tell me how many times people started to read my articles. Did they finish the articles? Did they then click through to my web sites? There is more to good online writing than good article titles.

Contributing author – Source.   Image shown under creative commons share alike licence – Source.

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Exam strategies by PurplePick

I use to hate exams.  And I did quite a few of them with two degrees from separate universities.  Don’t get me wrong.  I loved learning and still do.  But I hated exams.  I failed to see (and still do) how 2 or 3 hours of writing could determine my understanding of a topic.  I have messy slow writing (oh, my precious keyboard, I worship thee).  That made my exams 10% harder even before someone said ‘turnover your paper and start’.

I use to think that exams were a test of how well I could cram useless facts into my brain long enough to regurgitate them on paper.  Of course, these set of facts had to be quickly replaced by the next set of facts for another exam.  And I am not the only one to share that conclusion.  Steve Gillman wrote on his site that exams area a dreadful experience for every student. But essay exams are even more petrifying, terrifying, and nerve-racking. Unlike an objective test, essay exams are not checking to see if you have learned certain pieces of information, they ask for your understanding of the main concepts, ideas, and theories of the course presented in a smoothly written form. Quite an annoying combination.

And since essay exams are more demanding than the rest of exams you sit in your student’s life, they call for greater preparation. Here are some tips that will help you pass your essay type exams with flying colours.

1. Writing Identifications

Usually essay exams comprise of two tasks: writing the identification of a term and composing an essay. In both cases you must present your own knowledge on the topic and present it in correct and plain English.

Identifications are short essays that give precise definitions on the name or a term in a single paragraph of between three to five sentences. Make sure that your identifications have:

1. the names of the individuals involved in events;
2. their notable accomplishments;
3. a precise identification of the time frame for the identification;
4. the appropriate geographic reference relating to the term;
5. historical significance of the term identification.

With these features your identifications will be fully-developed, precise and smooth.

2. Taking the Essay Type Exam

When writing an essay type exam, it is advised to follow the set procedure of essay writing. It will help you organise your thoughts, tune for essay writing, and write a well-structured and well-thought essay.

So, first, look through the list of the questions you will need to answer in your essay. It is often advised to start with questions you can do readily. As you read, make tentative choices of the questions you will answer, and jot down the ideas that cross your mind.

Do not worry, if you don’t have a definite answer on some question. Focus on what you do know about the question, not on what you don’t. Postpone the question you feel dubious about, and the answer will come all by itself when you expect it the least.

Secondly, make sure you understand what you are asked to do in your essay. Try looking closely at what the question is directing you to do, and try to understand the sort of writing that is required. For example, “analyse” suggests summarising fully with detail in accordance with the selected focus, considering composing parts of the idea and their interrelationships.

Along with “analysing”, you may be asked to classify, define, discuss, illustrate, outline, etc. Be sure you know definitions of these words by heart. Otherwise, you may become flustered, lose concentration, and even go blank.

Once you have chosen the topic and know how to take your stand, write down at least three supporting sentences you are going to build your essay around. Make sure they are followed by convincing supporting evidence in form of quotations, facts and figures you came across in the course.

When writing essay answers, you should favour a direct, concise, and precise writing style. Do not waste time trying to compose a graceful lead paragraph, instead, get to the point quickly and directly. State what you intend to discuss and develop those ideas with well-chosen examples.

Finally, your conclusion paragraph should embrace no more than three sentences, in which you restate your thesis statement and summarise your essay and supporting evidence.

3. Other Hints for Your Essay Type Exam

Other than knowing the general principals of essay writing during the essay type exams, you also need to know some tricks in order to stay focused on the essay during the whole exam. Here they are:

• Keep track of time! Allow a set time period for each question, but keep in mind that a question worth 50% of the grade should probably take 50% of the allotted time;
• Take all the time you are allotted! Do not walk out of the exam room if you still have time on your hands. Instead, reread, rethink your answers. Use every advantage you are given!
• Don’t pad your answer with irrelevancies and repetitions just to fill up space. Within the time available, write comprehensive and specific answers.
• Ft is also advised to double-space. This way you will leave room for additions, and strike through errors or changes with one straight line
• Remember to keep things as clean as possible, for you never know what will earn you partial credit.

You may be sure that with these tips in mind you will know how to write an essay that: 1) demonstrates your knowledge of the subject; 2) has a theme clearly stated in the beginning; 3) recognises the central issue of the question; 4) has specific examples; 5) is not vague.  Moreover, these tips will help you turn scaring essay exams into stress-free and enjoyable process.

Contributing author – Source.  Image shown under creative commons share alike licence – Source.

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In this video, Laura Minnigerode takes us through how to write a fiction book.  Writing a fiction book will be determined by what book you want to write.

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Globalization image by Steve Cadman

Today’s sample essay comes from Lloyd Johns is on globalization.  This is certainly a current social topic, especially in the field of finance.  For recent evidence of this, you only have to look as far as the credit crunch.  What started as families in the US over extending themselves to buy a house ended up in a worldwide recession.  Everything fell countless small banks (and a few large ones) in the US through to almost the country of Iceland going bankrupt.

_________

Every day we hear it on the news, read it in the papers, overhear people talking about it and in every single instance the word globalization seems to have a different meaning. So, what is globalization?

At political and economic level, globalization is the process of denationalization of markets, politics and legal systems, it is the rise of global economy. Many international organizations, governmental institutions and the whole academic world discuss the consequences of this political and economic restructuring on local economies, human welfare and environment. It is one of the most important features of present world.

At a business level, the process of globalization is when companies decide to take part in the emerging global economy and establish themselves in foreign markets. They adapt their products or services to the linguistic and cultural requirements of different nations. Then, they might take advantage of the Internet revolution and establish a virtual presence on the international marketplace. More and more companies do their business online. E-commerce has changed traditional business practices by providing direct international access to information and products.

Some scientists agree that globalization has also cultural and ecological connotations, and that it is not only political or economic phenomenon. It means that countries all over the world become interdependent in many possible ways. There is probably no area of human activities left that is not affected by globalization. We listen to the same music, eat the same food, wear the same clothes, and decide ecological and war and peace issues together.

But I think that the core sense of globalization is economic. In recent years more and more economic activity in the world seems to be taking place between people who live in different countries (rather than in the same country). It takes different forms, like international trade, growth of import and export, foreign investments, foreign loans and bonds, and many others. Economic globalization has different consequences on businesses all over the world and influences almost every other sphere of human life. Globalization has potential benefits on the one hand, and costs or risks on the other. Globalization increases economic development and reduces poverty. More essays on globalisation. Globalization makes us vulnerable to changes all over the world. For example the huge market or foreign goods in the United States creates jobs overseas and keeps foreign workers employed. Similarly, the health of the U.S. economy depends on how well American products sell in foreign countries.

Seven of the world’s leading industrial nations meet annually at a “Group of Seven” summit to coordinate policies for worldwide economic issues.

Each one of us is now more fully involved in a global economic system than were our parents or grandparents. There are probably no industries left that have much “natural protection” from international competition. Globalization in its core sense is the expansion of cross-border economic ties. Geographical distance does not matter any more.

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Writing Ideas by WM Jas

How do you get started writing your first story?  Writing even just a short story is very different from any college essay.  In an essay,  you were given a topic.  And if you were not given a topic you were at least given some guidelines such as ‘write a 1000 word persuasive essay on a current environmental issue’.  But ideas for a book?  Not only do you have to think about plots and characters, you also have to think how the whole story will flow.

Kate Jask from forhonor.com says that the problem is not really that hard.  Kate says you can get ideas from virtually any common and ordinary situation. Get out of your house to see real people and the real world and ideas will come from the most random places. Be sure to jot down these ideas so as not to forget them. Furthermore, be thinking about what kind of a story you want to write so that you can slant your descriptions in that direction.

1.  First, simply describe a normal scene you witnessed in a store:

The man put the socks down, took the girl by the hand and walked out.

2. Now, change the sentence. Make it involve more of the senses. Play around with how different words can completely change the mood of the situation. Use adjectives and adverbs:

The man forcefully threw his purchase at the Target clerk, grabbed the 5-year-old girl roughly by the arm and jerked her toward the door.

3.  Add another sentence or three to more completely describe what happened next, or its results. Use adjectives so you more fully portray the characters. Vary your sentence length – sometimes long, sometimes short.  Change the event.  It’s fiction. Be creative:

She continued screaming at the top of her lungs all the way out. The hem of the girl’s tattered Sunday dress soaked up the bright red blood dripping from her broken lip. The man pushed his long brown hair roughly from his eyes, wiped his calloused hand on his dirt-stained pants, and dragged her resisting, squirming form into the rusty 1980′s Ford.

4.  Add some dialogue, some quotes and conflict. Add a twist so that what the reader first thought is changed a little:

“Shut up. Shut up. Do you hear me!” he yelled as he buckled her seatbelt and tried ineffectually to wipe her face gently with a tissue. “Don’t you ever do that again! I saw you put candy in your pocket. We don’t do that, ever. That’s stealing, and I will pay for whatever we need. No child of mine will ever steal anything, ever.”

Here, we have him buckling her seatbelt and gently wiping her face. Those are not the actions of an uncaring father. You have now grabbed the reader’s attention so he or she wants to know more. Things are too interesting and too confusing for the reader to stop now.

Use proper grammar in the dialogue to show he is educated, and use poor grammar to show lack of education, or, perhaps, low intelligence or even frustration level. How people say things is very revealing about them, their ideas, their moods, etc.

5. Expand the descriptions of what’s going on around the scene. Describe what others are saying in the store. Use dialogue for their conversation:

The clerk stood still staring at the candy the man had pulled from little Megan’s pocket. Jonathan was a proud father and always talked about how he could take care of his family.

“Did you see that?” the older man said in a disapproving tone as he plunked his shampoo and potato chips on the counter. “People like that shouldn’t have kids.”

Marie shook her head and commented, “I have never seen him get that angry before. Maybe I should have my manager call the police. But I don’t want to get him in trouble. He is usually so kind, and I’ve seen him a lot over the last two years, him and his handicapped son. You know, the one who’s different.”

Now you have a great beginning for your story. It’s your turn to keep writing.

Contributing author – Source.  Image shown under creative commons share alike licence – Source.

How do I get started writing

my story? Where do I get ideas for my creative fiction writing?

Get ideas from virtually any common, ordinary situation. Get out of your house to see real people and the real world and ideas will come from the most random places. Be sure to jot down these ideas so as not to forget them. Furthermore, be thinking about what kind of a story you want to write so that you can slant your descriptions in that direction.

1. First, simply DESCRIBE A NORMAL SCENE you witnessed in a store:

The man put the socks down, took the girl by the hand and walked out.

2. Now, CHANGE the sentence. Make it involve more of the senses. Play around with how different words can completely change the mood of the situation. Use adjectives and adverbs:

The man forcefully threw his purchase at the Target clerk, grabbed the 5-year-old girl roughly by the arm and jerked her toward the door.

3. ADD ANOTHER SENTENCE or three to more completely describe what happened next, or its results. Use adjectives so you more fully portray the characters. Vary your sentence length�sometimes long, sometimes short. CHANGE the event. It’s fiction. Be creative:

She continued screaming at the top of her lungs all the way out. The hem of the girl’s tattered Sunday dress soaked up the bright red blood dripping from her broken lip. The man pushed his long brown hair roughly from his eyes, wiped his calloused hand on his dirt-stained pants, and dragged her resisting, squirming form into the rusty 1980′s Ford.

4. ADD SOME DIALOGUE, SOME QUOTES and CONFLICT. Add a TWIST so that what the reader first thought is changed a little:

“Shut up. Shut up. Do you hear me!” he yelled as he buckled her seatbelt and tried ineffectually to wipe her face gently with a tissue. “Don’t you ever do that again! I saw you put candy in your pocket. We don’t do that, ever. That’s stealing, and I will pay for whatever we need. No child of mine will ever steal anything, ever.”

Here, we have him buckling her seatbelt and gently wiping her face. Those are not the actions of an uncaring father. You have now grabbed the reader’s attention so he or she wants to know more. Things are too interesting and too confusing for the reader to stop now.

Use proper grammar in the dialogue to show he is educated, and use poor grammar to show lack of education, or, perhaps, low intelligence or even frustration level. How people say things is very revealing about them, their ideas, their moods, etc.

 

5. EXPAND THE DESCRIPTIONS of what’s going on AROUND THIS SCENE. Describe what others are saying in the store. Use dialogue for their conversation:

The clerk stood still staring at the candy the man had pulled from little Megan’s pocket. Jonathan was a proud father and always talked about how he could take care of his family.

“Did you see that?” the older man said in a disapproving tone as he plunked his shampoo and potato chips on the counter. “People like that shouldn’t have kids.”

Marie shook her head and commented, “I have never seen him get that angry before. Maybe I should have my manager call the police. But I don’t want to get him in trouble. He is usually so kind, and I’ve seen him a lot over the last two years, him and his handicapped son. You know, the one who’s different.”

Now you have a great beginning for your story. It’s your turn to keep writing. Read more great articles on writing at www.forhonor.com/articles.html

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Grab Your Readers by Yoshimai

Whether it is a short essay or an epic novel, there is one goal that is critical to an author.  You must grab and hold your reader’s attention.  An audience is unforgiving in this decade.  They are use to instant gratification and a short attention span.  And it is not hard to see why.  Technology such as twitter means that breaking news spreads almost instantly.

The bad news is that your penmanship has to move with the times and grab your audience immediately.  Fail to create an impact in the introduction to your essay or that first chapter of a book, and it is quickly put down and forgotten.

What does it take to grab your readers?  Caterina Christakos says the purpose of creating a story is to create a  world that will draw the reader away from their own. In order to do this one must create suspense, drama and mystery. Your reader must absolutely need to get from page to page, to find
out what happens.

There are several simple techniques to get your story going and draw the reader in. Here are just a few:

1. Start in the middle of a problem – A lover’s quarrel, a murder, a personal dilemma.
2. Start with an unusual environment – Alice in Wonderland, the beginning of the final frontier, a journey to a new world.
3. Start with action – A gun has just been fired, a woman is deciding whether to jump, a hospital ER.
4. Start with a feeling – The soft silk slid across her skin, as she finally slid into his bed. Hot coals burned his
   stomach as the bullet tore through him. The rich velvety feel of chocolate on her tongue was the
   perfect end to a dreadful day.

Don’t spend the first day bogged down on details, unless they are absolutely crucial to understanding your story. Even then, save descriptions for later in your story, if you can.  Get the reader hooked first, then you can describe the rich  incandescence of his eyes or the exact color of her house. Remember your story should be like life, fast paced, even at a standstill, and utterly surprising.

Contributing Author – Source.  Image shown under creative commons share alike – Source.

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Article Writing by Mannobhai

For any student of writing nearing graduation, the question that often comes to mind is what job you will get after graduation.  If you have good literacy skills, one career to consider is as an article writer.  Many publications in both the print media and online continually look for quality writers.  You may end up as a staff member or as a freelancer – regardless, there is always work for a talented writer.

Writing your first paid article can be really challenging, after all people are paying to read your work.  But with practice and determination, this task will get easier overtime.  Here’s how you can jump-start your article writing:

1. Establish your reasons. Why do you want to write articles? Write down the reasons why you’re writing your articles in a piece of paper and post it in front of your computer or where you can easily see it each time you’re writing your articles. You will need to do this as your objectives will keep you going and will help you not to get off tracked in the long run.

2. Define your audience. Who are the people who’ll read your articles? Are they coming from US or from Middle East and Asia? What language are they using? Are you writing for men or women or both? What is their age bracket? What put them in a position of needing your expertise in your chosen niche? Research your target audience thoroughly. The more information you gather about these people, the better.

3. Learn the ropes of creating killer, punchy titles. What makes a certain title very effective? Based on experience, you can get more people to pay attention to your articles if your titles are very descriptive (they must summarize your content) and benefit-driven (tell your readers what’s in it for them). It would also help if you keep them short and if you make them sound very smart.

4. Know how to impress your readers. What can you possibly do to leave your readers 100% satisfied? Well, you must offer them with information that they can use in reaching their dreams or in improving the quality of their lives. It would also dramatically help if you make your articles easy to understand and enjoyable to read.

5. Keep your readers interested. As a writer, you obviously would want your audience to read your articles until the end. This can happen if you know how to hold their attention. I suggest that you use the inverted pyramid technique. Also, ensure that each of your paragraphs is worthwhile. They must each contain compelling information that will wow your readers.

6. Use keywords. Aside from focusing on giving your readers with great content and great reading experience, you also need to focus on making your copies search engine-friendly. This is something that you need to do so your target audience will easily find your articles online. Perform a keyword research and use popular terms together with their synonyms on your articles.

7. Make your articles readable. Your audience will surely be enticed to read your articles until the end if they’re easy on the eyes. Break them down into several short segments. Use very short paragraphs that contain no more than 5 sentences. Also, use subheadings and tell your readers ahead of time what your next paragraph is all about.

8. Be confident. Sound like somebody who’s an authority in your chosen niche when writing your articles. You must be 100% sure on the information that you’re giving out and you must deliver the information you have with strong conviction. You will need to do this if you don’t want your readers to doubt your credibility and expertise.

9. Stick with facts. Although exaggerating things can initially help you capture the attention of your target audience, this will not help you build a great reputation in the online arena. So, stick with truth and do not resort to blatant lies.

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Writer's Journey by Francesco Rachello

What does it take to be a writer?  Obviously it will take a love of literacy, the ability to tell a good story and an expressive mind.  But how many of us have started down this path of being a writer to stop just a few chapters into that epic first book.  Even worse, you might be thinking “I will get back to it when I sort out what to write next”.    Many good stories are laying on shelves right now covering dust as long forgotten projects.  So if you are thinking about writing a book, I have some life experience from a guest author to share -

Early in our married life I confided to Mary Patricia (my wife) that one day in the future, I wanted to be a writer. Years came and went and I never really had either the time or the burning passion to write. Then retirement came. My lovely wife said, well your time has come: become a writer!

Having had a career as a concert pianist, Mary Patricia gave me the best piece of advice: “Just like a concert pianist, a writer must practice. You remember how I used to practice five or six hours a day? Well-practice from now on. You must write every day.”

Who would read my stuff, I asked. “Start a blog,” was the answer I gave myself.

I did. But unsatisfied with just writing a blog, I also decided to start writing a novel. And soon enough I finished my long mystery entitled The Poison Pill.

So what is next? Okay, I followed with a deluge of essays and short stories.

In one site alone, my stories called “Mary Patricia and I” more than one hundred thousand readers have been entertained with my writing. This is something that really massages my ego. I love the fact that I have an audience. I love the e-mail I get. Even the stern criticism I get is welcome. Nothing can motivate a writer than the certainty that real people are reading your material and enjoying it.

A friend of mine who is about my age, told me that he wanted to start writing; that he had a million ideas and experiences just waiting to be penned. That was 4 years ago. To today he hasn’t written one single line. So I asked him,

“Why haven’t you written anything?”

“Well, I got ideas, but I don’t know where to start,” was his answer.

“Let me show you my formula,” I added.

And for the next two hours or so I shared with him, how it is that I am so prolific.

“Where do you get your ideas for your stories and articles from?” My stock answer is from my daily activities, which include really humdrum, mundane acts that everyone performs.

My first act in the morning is to make a fresh pot of coffee. As I do this chore I find myself thinking about a myriad things that have happened in the past, things that I will handle during the day, or things that I may contemplate doing in the future. This is an enjoyable task. Since no one is around to engage me in conversation or disrupt my thinking, I withdraw and walk freely around the many chambers of my mind.

While Socrates had demon that would talk to him and forbid him to do certain things, I also have my demons; but these little creatures instead of forbidding me prompt me to action.

It may seem weird to some people, but sometimes I hear whispers or see figures, shapes, forms, and profiles of beings that are begging for attention. Just this morning Bill Gates and Warren Buffet popped out of the blue -maybe, I am not so sure- and I was curious as to why these two characters would occupy my mind. Doing a little backtracking I realized that the previous night I had been reading a book of essays and letters by Seneca, the Stoic philosopher who was forced to commit suicide by the vicious Caligula.

The above mentioned trio then gave me the idea for an article on why some people pursue not happiness but wealth and power. While the coffee percolates, I take a little walk to Tal Bagels (my local deli) where I buy croissants, elephant ears, or any other coffee roll. When I return I have my breakfast, watch “Morning Joe” and read the newspapers. By the time I go to my computer, the 500-word article on Bill Gates, Warrant Buffet, and Seneca practically writes itself.

At noon I take a long walk from: 30 minutes west and 30 minutes east. This is a daily routine. During my meanderings I observe people, traffic, activities out on the street. I don’t make a deliberate effort to focus or try to remember anything. I simply observe.

When something catches my attention, I will record the incident or event in one of my three basic directories:

• Raw materials
• Work-in-process
• Finished goods

As my ideas take shape I move them from directory to directory. In the “Works-in-process” directory I keep some basic folders:

• Short stories
• Essays and articles
• Novels
• Accounting and business

My ‘Short stories’ folder contains numerous files with ideas for stories. For example: at the moment I have these files: Confessions: Tolstoy, Rousseau, and Augustine; the Weekend guest; Lies I Will Tell at my College Reunion; My Favorite Lovable Villains; Was Gregor Samsa a Vermin or a Republican? Was Xanthippe (Socrates’ wife) Rich? Etc.

“But why list them all when you can make your own list,” I told my friend.

“Wow! That’s organization. I’ve been so scattered,” he said, his eyes saddened.

So, within the next few minutes I finished telling him my secrets. “When I complete an article or story, I move the file to a different directory:-the ‘Finished Goods,’ folder.”

To be prolific a writer has to be well organized, for the distractions are many. Having outlined my directories and files doesn’t mean that they form a system. They work for me because I am also an accountant, and that is how accountants keep books.

And when one has to make hard choices about our precious time, guess what prevails? If you answer is: the activity that requires least effort-I will agree. Last night I had plans to put a good dent in my novel, but the World Series beckoned.

“How about them Yankees!” my friend exclaimed. “I really don’t have much discipline to stick to a daily schedule-but I now see I must,” he added.

“I’ll just share one more thought,” I said, “then we’ll leave it alone.”

And I proceeded to tell my friend about my favorite author Anthony Trollope: “Trollope wrote 47 novels, 16 other books among which we find travelogues and serious commentaries on Cesar and Cicero. Trollope discovered that ‘A small daily task, if it be really daily, will beat the labours of a spasmodic Hercules.’ And never did he deviate from his allotted daily writing. This quotation is taped on top of my computer to remind me to do my own small daily task, faithfully.”

“Incredible! I’ve read some of his novels. And they are huge volumes! This is really a revelation; I suppose writing something everyday will eventually grow into serious number of pages. I like that. “

“Trollope did all writing while holding a full time job at the post office.”

“Thanks for the tips. I got to run and write at least 200 words–right now!”

I wondered whether that was just a spasm or the beginning of a lifetime of writing?

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Bath by Alun Salt

What is an analytical essay?  Put simply, it is when the author analyzes the subject at hand.  The purpose here is to identify the issues at hand and analyze the effect that have on the question at hand.  It is a balanced approached – it is there to explore all facets of an issue.

So what can you write an analytical essay about?   This is the fun bit – just about anything.  You can tackle any subject that interests you.  In this example, Marc reviews one of his favorite poem-stories, the “Wife Of Bath”.

Every time I read Chaucer’s “The Wife of Bath,” (prologue and tale), I come with a different conclusion as to what the good wife did actually want or aspire to in life. I won’t comment on what the author meant to convey; I will leave this to the end. In this last reading I want to comment on Dame Alice’s motivation in telling us her tale.

Within a few verses the Wife tells us that her story will be about her personal experiences and marriages-all five of them:

That marriage is a misery and a woe;
For let me say, if I may make so bold,
My lords, since I was but twelve years old,
Thanks be to God Eternal evermore,
Five husbands have I had the church door;

As I read the poem-story, nothing to me is more pleasing than to visualize the woman’s visage:

Yes, I’m gap-toothed; it suits me well I feel,
It is the print of Venus and seal,
So help me God I was a lusty one
Fair, young, and well-to-do, and full of fun!

Isn’t this the picture of a feisty character? Not only is she young, fair, rich, full of fun, but also well-to-do. And if we add an appropriate dress we can complete the picture: “And always wore my gayest scarlet dress.”

Under no circumstance should we interpret Dame Alice as an early feminist as we understand the term today: someone who advocates the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes. Of course the feminist movement has spawned many other more radical stances, but the core belief will suffice: feminists want equality.

Yet, throughout the prologue we see that the Wife doesn’t really want equality but woman’s supremacy. Today she could be called sexist.

In the same manner, in the actual tale, the queen sends the offending knight in a quest to find the answer to the questions of the ages: “What is the thing that women most desire?” To save his life, the knight must return with the right answer in a twelvemonth and a day’s time. And the correct answer he submits turns out to be that what women most desire is the supremacy of woman over man:

‘A woman wants the self-same sovereignty
Over her husband as over her lover,
And master him; he must not be above her …’

When novelist Alice Walker coined the term ‘Womanist prose’ she meant to highlight the plight of the African American woman, whose condition was different from the constraints suffered by white feminists. Womanism has of late come to mean a benign sisterhood free from ill will to men.

But the Wife of Bath if full of ill will towards her five husbands. Womanism isn’t applicable here, for not only is she jealous, but she is also vindictive and cruel:

I told you how it filled my heart with spite
To see another woman his delight,

By God on earth I was his purgatory.

How many were the ways I tortured him,

And when she buries her fourth husband, at the very same funeral, she flirts with Johnny -the handsome former Oxford student- and wins him to become her fifth husband. And just like she did with the previous husbands, she strips them of their manhood, house, land, and wealth.

Unsatisfied, ribald, and lascivious, Dame Alice seeks pleasure in and outside marriage. In this light we can say that the neofeminist paradigm fits her well: “love me for my body-not my mind.” This man-hungry model (neofeminism) fits her well since throughout her narrative she alludes to her strong sexual proclivities. To short circuit censorship and to avoid vulgar language, the Wife refers to sex in a variety of ways: “Silly instrument,” “In wifehood I will use my instrument,” “My husband, he shall have it eve and morrow,” “And was unable to deny in truth, My chamber of Venus to a likely youth,” and my favorite stanza:

‘What ails you, man, to grumble so and groan?
Just that you want my what-not all your own?
Why, take it all, man, take it every bit!
St. Peter, what a love you have for it!
For if I were to sell my belle chose,
I could go walking fresher than a rose;

Given that in the end we can see that she is half deaf (from a beating), that she is a battered wife, and who despite the violence inflicted to her by her five husbands she only makes fun of her situation in life, one can assume that she suffers from low self-esteem.

To all this, what was Chaucer’s agenda?  On first impression it seems that Chaucer is actually using the character of a picturesque woman to prove that women can be lethal to men. On a deeper level one can say that by exposing the husband’s abusive behavior, which in those years was common, he could bring about social change.
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