My Jedi Powers free essay sample

The quality I find most impressive about myself is my mindfulness. Mindfulness is awareness of ones senses, thoughts, and any other brain activity. Mindfulness can be improved through practices such as Yoga, Tai Chi, and meditation. These activities are all becoming more and more prevalent in America, and with research into brain activity growing every day some say we are starting to truly adopt the concept, but mindfulness is still not an ordinary attribute to find in a Westerner. Regardless, I find myself more mindful and mentally pliable than most everyone I know, which in turn gives me more control over my emotions, thoughts, and ultimately the world around me. Im basically a Jedi. My drive to control my mind began when my dad died plunging me into a deep depression and lethargy, which lasted several months. I decided to attend a Tai Chi class after reading an article claiming that cultivating Chi could give a person more energy. We will write a custom essay sample on My Jedi Powers or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Three weeks into the class, I first felt a tingling in my fingertips, and from then on out I was hooked on Chi. I sought other similar classes and began a regular meditation practice that I continue to this day. At first I thought the effects of my practices were strictly physical (more energy, more chi, greater flexibility), but soon I found myself growing calmer and able to handle greater stress with little trouble. I began reading more about the Eastern arts, and found that all these things are connected through mindfulness. I learned that all these practices I had found were all centered around the theme of paying attention to ones thoughts and actions. For example, when in yoga, one puts their whole focus into their body, in order to stretch or balance further. Similarly, when meditating one puts their focus on a thought in order to maintain it longer. Now, two years later, I am able to sit in silent meditation for an hour and not a single thought will arise If I deem it so. When one practices mindfulness, they learn to focus their thoughts onto whatever they choose, whether it be silence, homework, a relationship, or creating solutions to complex problems. Regardless of what I put my mind to, I am able to focus with incredible potency, and Ive only been practicing for two years. My next objective is choosing the correct things to focus on. If I can master that, I will become truly limitless- Jedi style.

USING GRANTS FOR OTHERS AS WELL AS SELF

USING GRANTS FOR OTHERS AS WELL AS SELF A significant part of my income over the years came from grants, either ones I’ve written or projects I’ve been a part of. I’ve learned a few things about writing them, what grant committees look for and how to search out appropriate grants. I’ve also had proposals rejected. The competition, especially for grants in the creative arts, can be stiff, and sometimes there isn’t enough money to fund every project. The first major grant I won was a California artist-in-residency grant. For three years, it provided enough income for me to teach creative writing in a continuation school while allowing time for my own writing. I also wrote a Healthy Start grant for the school. It was accepted and they received $100,000 to set up an onsite nursery and offer healthy living classes for teen parents, a gratifying experience to see under-privileged students receive help to finish high school. I also spent seven years going into California state prisons teaching poetry and creative writing to inmates as part of the William James arts-in-corrections project. They were some of the best students I’ve ever worked with. I’ve written grants for organizations and arts groups, which have supported workshops and readings. A number of smaller grants allowed me time for writing that I might not have otherwise been able to. This past year, I received what, for me, was the creme de la creme. In March, 2011, I was awarded a Fulbright for a writing project, â€Å"The Language of Place† and spent six months in northeastern India on a creative writing project about environment. As part of it, I began a blog, Cloud and Mountain, which I have continued to maintain since returning to the U.S. The most important step of preparing a proposal is to study the organization and successful grants. Ask a granting agency to send you copies of grant proposals they’ve funded. Some make samples available online. This gives you a chance to see what types of projects have succeeded, but more importantly, you get an idea of the tone and language preferred. Some other tips: Keep your proposal within the stated limits. If it says proposals should be three to five pages, don’t send in two pages, don’t send in six. Keep your objective narrow and realistic. People who read proposals have a keen eye for projects that promise too much. Make your language positive. Focus on what you can do and show how your past experience will help you achieve your objectives with this grant. Do a very careful proofreading! Spelling or grammatical errors are a sure way to get your grant rejected. Even if you have a dynamite proposal, if the writing is sloppy it suggests you don’t care enough about it to bother with basic mechanics. An equally important step is to state how your project can benefit others. The Fulbright is a diplomacy program, so they seek projects that will contribute to a cross-cultural exchange with a host country. However, all grants will likely have a service component. Don’t just think about what you want to get out of your project, but what is its place in the bigger world? Will you be offering something that goes beyond yourself? In fact, this is not a bad philosophy for life! Here are few links that might be helpful: Getting a Fulbright Scholarship in Creative Writing Funds for Writers National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Arts Writers:The Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant Foundation Fulbright International Exchange of Scholars Grant Seekers Cafe:a blog with a lot of good information on applying for grants Grant Seekers Guide: This site from Penn State Extension has some good articles on applying for grants and information for both Pennsylvania and nation-wide funding sources

How to Write an Interesting Biography

How to Write an Interesting Biography A biography is a written account of the series of events that make up a persons life. Some of those events are going to be pretty boring, so youll need to try to make your account as interesting as possible! Every student will write a biography at some point, but the level of detail and sophistication will differ. A fourth grade biography will be much different from a middle school-level biography or a high school or college-level biography. However, each biography will include the basic details. The first information you should gather in your research will include biographical details and facts. You must use a trustworthy resource to ensure that your information is accurate. Using research note cards, collect the following data, carefully recording the source for each piece of information: Including Basic Details Date and place of birth and deathFamily informationLifetime accomplishmentsMajor events of lifeEffects/impact on society, historical significance While this information is necessary to your project, these dry facts, on their own, dont really make a very good biography. Once youve found these basics, youll want to dig a little deeper. You choose a certain person because you think he or she is interesting, so you certainly dont want to burden your paper with an inventory of boring facts. Your goal is to impress your reader! Start off with great first sentence. Its a good idea to begin with a really interesting statement, a little-known fact, or really intriguing event. You should avoid starting out with a standard but boring line like: Meriwether Lewis was born in Virginia in 1774. Instead, try starting with something like this: Late one afternoon in October, 1809, Meriwether Lewis arrived at a small log cabin nestled deep in the Tennessee Mountains. By sunrise on the following day, he was dead, having suffered gunshot wounds to the head and chest. Youll have to make sure your beginning is motivating, but it should also be relevant. The next sentence or two should lead into your thesis statement, or main message of your biography. It was a tragic end to a life that had so deeply affected the course of history in the United States. Meriwether Lewis, a driven and often tormented soul, led an expedition of discovery that expanded a young nations economic potential, increased its scientific understanding, and enhanced its worldwide reputation. Now that youve created an impressive beginning, youll want to continue the flow. Find more intriguing details about the man and his work, and weave them into the composition. Examples of Interesting Details: Some people believed that Lewis and Clark would encounter elephants in the western wilderness, having misunderstood the wooly mammoth bones discovered in the United States.The expedition resulted in the discovery and description of 122 new animal species and subspecies.Lewis was a hypochondriac.His death is still an unsolved mystery, although it was ruled a suicide. You can find interesting facts by consulting diverse sources. Fill the body of your biography with material that gives insight into your subjects personality. For instance, in a biography about Meriwether Lewis, you would ask what traits or events motivated him to embark on such a monumental exercise. Questions to Consider in Your Biography: Was there something in your subjects childhood that shaped his/her personality?Was there a personality trait that drove him/her to succeed or impeded his progress?What adjectives would you use to describe him/her?What were some turning points in this life?What was his/her impact on history? Be sure to use transitional phrases and words to link your paragraphs and make your composition paragraphs flow. It is normal for good writers to re-arrange their sentences to create a better paper. The final paragraph will summarize your main points and re-assert your main claim about your subject. It should point out your main points, re-name the person youre writing about, but it should not repeat specific examples. As always, proofread your paper and check for errors. Create a bibliography and title page according to your teachers instructions. Consult a style guide for proper documentation.

The Role and Development of Mathematics in Western Technology Essay

The Role and Development of Mathematics in Western Technology - Essay Example The current paper, basing on the James Burke’s views (Burke, â€Å"The Day the Universe Changed†), examines the influence of mathematical inventions, particularly perspective geometry, on the development of the society during the Renaissance. Manuel Chrysoloras, Byzantine scholar, was invited to present the Greek culture to the Florentines start the course of Greek in the local university in the end of the 14th century (Burke 67). Money ran Florence during that time. The place was full of commercials of different kind: accountants, merchants, bureaucrats. However, there was no aristocracy in Florence. Everyone who had power or position in the town had bought it out of his profits. Florence was dynamic republican â€Å"capitalist† company town. The same year Chrysoloras arrived, the Medici had started an international bank to lend the Florentine cash with double interest rate. They had branches all over Europe. They were successful in this activity due to their se cret weapon â€Å"double-entry bookkeeping† (Burke 61). There was no place the money could not get the possessor, but up. The problem was that there was no â€Å"up†. James Burke had in mind the material luxury, â€Å"the touch of class† that, first of all, had to be manifested in town’s architecture and dà ©cor.... Reading the Latin pre-Christian texts of poetry, rhetoric, history, and civics the Florentines began to understand that humans could live in human way without heavenly help. Hence originates the desire of the 15th century Florentines to imitate Latin style, particularly Roman remarkable architectural solutions to make their home look as fine as ancient Rome. However, they could not do all that architectural constructions like ancient triumph arches, giant columns, and domed ceilings. The abilities of the post-medieval mathematics and geometry were limited to estimate the architectural solutions. There was a sharp need in some mathematical innovations (Burke, â€Å"The Day the Universe Changed†). Before we discuss the invention of perspective geometry in the Western world, Arabic scholar Alhazen has to be mentioned. In the end of the 10th century, he was the first to explain accurately the process of visual perception and showed that the eye perceives the light reflected from t he object. Alhazen developed a complete theory of vision that was called â€Å"perspective† in the Middle Ages (Struik 72). Though, he did not use his ideas in practice, his theory received a wide recognition in Europe, where his ideas rocked the Renaissance scholars. The first precise formulation of the law of the perspective geometry is attributed to Brunelleschi. Nearly 1424, he realized that on the flatness all parallel lines strive to a single vanishing point. This mathematical principle was inspired by Paolo Toscanelli who had scrupulously studied the Alhazen works and gridded Ptolemy’s Atlas. In this respect, using an arsenal of mathematical theories to build a proper perspective, he painted on wooden panel St. John’s baptistery of Florence. To emphasize the accuracy of his

Global Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Global Economics - Essay Example This paper talks about two big concepts of the global economics which are Inflation and Economy of Scales. There are various reasons which may lead to increase in costs. The first reason includes the rising costs of imported raw materials possibly caused by inflation in nations that heavily rely on exports of these products. Also, a fall in value of a country’s currency in the foreign exchange markets increases the price of imported inputs of that country. The second is the rising costs of labor; this is caused by an increase in wages which exceed and enhancement in productivity. Labor intensive firms are largely affected by this cause. Firms may not be able to absorb higher wage expenditures; thus, they pass the costs to customers. As a result, the wage inflation increases the price inflation. Thirdly, the imposition of higher indirect taxes by the government. An example is the increase in the excise duty rate, VAT, standard rate or fuel duties. These taxes are charged on manufacturers who, depending on the supply for their commodities and price elasticity of demand, may decide to pass on the tax burden onto consumers. In marketing economies of scale, a bigger firm may spread its marketing and advertising budget over a great output. It may also buy its raw materials in bulk at discounted prices. In financial economies of scale, financial markets frequently consider bigger firms to be more creditworthy than smaller firms. This enables these firms to access credit facilities at favorable rates.

Sociological Theories on Crime and Deviance

Sociological Theories on Crime and Deviance Sociologists investigate the effects of society on criminal and deviant behaviour and seek to understand individuals and their situations. They do this by gathering and utilizing information on age, gender, social class, race and ethnicity. Crime is specifically associated with behaviors that break the formal written laws of any given society; for example, British law states that seatbelts must be worn whilst driving a car. Deviance describes behaviors which infringe cultural norms and values but do not violate any written law; for instance, lying is considered by most individuals as wrong but is not against the law, unless while under oath in a court of law. As individuals even if we disagree with them we are required to abide by societies norms, values and laws. It is useful to think of deviance as a wide category of which crime is smaller part (sociology in perspective, p583) Individuals construct and learn how to fit into society through socialization within our cultures. Correct behavior, or norms and values, are learned through interaction with our family, peers and institutions, such as the education system. Norms are socially acceptable ways of behaving in any given situation, such as knowing we should be quiet in libraries. Values are the fundamental beliefs which underpin a community or society and provide the general principles for human behavior, such as the belief that stealing is wrong; as in the case of stealing, values often become laws. These norms and values and therefore behaviours considered deviant vary widely throughout history, societies, communities and cultures. For example, while one family may overlook belching at the dinner table another may be disgusted by such behavior. Moreover in Chinese culture belching during dinner is considered good manners and a sign of appreciation of the meal, Kwintessential [online]. Therefore, how behavior is regarded depends on the perspective of the people concerned. According to Becker from the perspective of Labelling Theory, no actions are by nature criminal or deviant but instead depends on the norms created by any given society. Therefore, deviance is only deviance if labelled as such through the process of interaction in which meaning is established (Sociology in perspective, pg 604). An example of this idea of labeling is public nudity; overall it is not wrong to be nude but society imposes strict rules on nudity in public places. If brave enough to go nude in publ ic you can be certain that the reactions of others would support this theory. In contrast some tribal communities such as those found in South America and Africa still dress in very little and would react little to public nudity. The idea that killing is wrong, as a fundamental human value, is a good example of how relative our belief systems are. Throughout history cultures such as the Aztecs carried out human sacrifice for their religious beliefs mnsu.edu [on line] and the religious sacrifice of animals still happens in some tribal communities today. Norms and values can become distorted and individuals may resort to stealing or even killing if there is a breakdown of norms, values or regulations. This breakdown of values shows in such cases as mercy killings and assisted suicides; individuals experience feelings of turmoil over their fundamental values and beliefs. There is much debate on the subject of assisted suicide being made legal in Britain, as is the case in countries such as Switzerland and the Netherlands, ask.com [online]. Also stealing is considered wrong by most individuals but again these values are easily distorted, as in the case of hurricane Katrina, Wikipedia [online]. Individuals, who had never stolen, were doing so because they were not able to attain essentials such as food and water, and it was not clear if the normal rules applied. Emile Durkheim, the Emile Durkheim Archive [online] investigated this breakdown and lack of social and moral norms and defined the term anomie. Individuals can deviate involuntarily as well as deliberately; for instance, those suffering from disorders such as Tourettes syndrome have little control over what might be considered deviant language. Whereas someone that steals a car attains their label of deviant through their own deliberate actions Subcultures are often regarded as deviant, for example, Mormon communities live relatively peacefully within wider society yet are often assigned as deviants. In contrast, subcultures such as criminal gangs are less compatible with wider society and cause social disharmony, therefore they attain their deviant label through deliberate actions. These subcultures have their own sets of norms and values to which they abide, these may not conform to the views of wider society but they are perfectly acceptable within their own cultures. Furthermore, individuals may be considered deviant because of their beliefs or sexuality. It could be argued than most religions consider their own beliefs as right and others as wrong. Homosexuality is considered to be deviant by some religions, cultures and individuals but not by others. Until the early 20th century the Siwans of North America expected all normal males to engage in homosexual intercourse, moreover they considered those that refused to be peculiar. In contrast the Rwalar Bedouins considered homosexuality as so abnormal that they put the participants to death. Functionalists argue that we need deviance to bring about social change; for example, suffragettes of the late 19th Century went to prison for their beliefs and helped to bring about womans right to vote. In some societies today such as Saudi Arabia women still do not have voting rights, wiki answers [online]. The plight of the suffragettes could also be used to emphasize a fundamental issue raised by Marxists which is, crime is the product of inadequate social conditions (Sociology in Perspective pg 608) The study of crime and sociology together seeks to understand why some individuals turn to crime and how society as a whole can prevent it. There are many types of crime which fall under three broad categories. The more physical crimes such as mugging and assault fall under Blue-collar crimes. Evidence shows that these types of crimes are most likely to be carried out by the lower or working classes; whereas white-collar crimes such as fraud and embezzlement are most likely to be carried out by the more affluent. Lastly, victimless crimes are crimes that are against the law, but no victim is seen to exist, such as Prostitution. Sociologist use statistics to obtain evidence that enables them to determine social trends such as those discussed above. Statistics can help to identify high crime areas which in turn may be used to help authorities such as the police service to reduce such crime. Lastly statistics are used to compile information for the public, such as advice on taking precautions against crime. However it is generally agreed that crime statistics are seriously flawed and it has been argued that they reveal more about the process and recording of crime than the extent of crime itself; the way police record incidents sometimes changes and so distorts information. The main difficulty is that statistics are derived from only reported crimes, British Crime Surveys show that only around 30% of crime is reported to the police (Sociology pg 181) therefore most crime goes unreported giving a unrealistic view of crime rates. There are many reasons that these crimes may go unreported, for example, people may not report crimes that they deem private or shameful such as domestic abuse. Sometimes a lack of faith in the police may prevent individuals from reporting crime. Also, some crimes go unnoticed, such as stealing from the workplace or drug dealing. Some crimes are more likely to be reported than others, which further distorts crime figures. Lastly, it has been argued that the poli ces own discretion on where to police, who to arrest and which category a crime fits can distort crime statistics. Consequently, statistics are difficult to interpret and questions should always be asked as to what they tell us and what other information should be considered when trying to extract valid information. Subsequently sociologists use other information to analyse the amount of crime in society. Self report studies involve confidential questionnaires that invite a sample of respondents to voluntarily record whether or not they have committed any of a list of offences in a particular time period. Those in favor of self-report studies would argue that they are a good method of determining the social characteristics of criminals but critics suggest they may be unreliable due to the participants exaggerating their answers or not admitting to committing criminal acts. Also the data may be biased as criminals may be less likely to answer questionnaires which may distort the information. It is argued that Crime Surveys or Victim Surveys provide a more accurate measurement of the level of crime in society, because they include hidden crime such as crimes that have not been reported to, or recorded by the police. Also their method of gathering data is consistent and is unaffected by changes in reporting or recording practices that can often hinder police statistics. Critics argue that Crime surveys still underestimate crime levels do to arbitrarily capping the number of crimes one can be victimized by in a given year; this capping can produce an unrealistic measurement in such cases as repeated domestic abuse. Crime surveys are also criticized for excluding under sixteens and those that live in communal establishments, such as nursing homes and university halls of residence. Lastly crime surveys fail to record crimes against victimless crimes such as drug trafficking, crimes against commercial premises or vehicles and because they are victim surveys murder and manslaug hter. Understanding crime and deviance is important as lower crime rates have positive effects on society; for example property values improve and money saved in the police or prison services could be made available for other social projects such as the education system.

Evaluative Essay on fast food restaurants Essay

Walking into some fast food restaurants can be exciting. As soon as you walk in you start to smell their prize winning food, you can feel the heat that is coming from the grills that they use to make your favorite fast foods. You can see the whole restaurant just with one look, there is always people ready to help you order your meal and fast service. That’s the quality’s every fast food restaurant should have and Burger King has all those. Burger King has many competitions from McDonalds to any other small business fast food restaurants, but I can’t seem to like any other fast food restaurant than Burger King. Other fast food restaurants might taste good but still not as good as Burger King grilled whoppers. Many fast food restaurants have their own phrase of words that they like to use like Burger King has â€Å"Have it your way† and McDonalds has â€Å"i’m lovin’ it† first McDonalds phrase word is already spelled incorrectly and doesn’t make sense. Burger Kings â€Å"Have it your way† is true because you can have it your way when you order a whopper you can pick what you want on it. Not many fast food restaurants grill their hamburgers, but Burger King does. Each Whopper you buy has the grill marks on the meet you can’t find that in any other fast food restaurants, nothing in Burger Kings is micro waved everything is grilled and cooked. In McDonalds they microwave their food so you get a saggy hamburger that breaks up when you bite on it so instead of having food in your mouth you have it all over the table. When you order something from Burger Kings menu and you look at the picture on the menu you actually do get what you see on the menu and the size of the whopper that you see is really the way it does look when you get it. Not like McDonalds has a picture of a big hamburger but you actually get a small hamburger that doesn’t fill you up at all. If you like grilled whoppers Burger King is the choice for you, because you can â€Å"Have it your way†. From grilled whoppers to good tasting french fries and onion rings that have their own special sauce, that’s Burger king for you. If you decide to go with â€Å"i’m lovin’ it† that’s your choice because  there is really nothing to love.