Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Consumer Marketing Research Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Shopper Marketing Research Plan - Essay Example Fundamentally, Reed Elsevier has four divisions that serve a worldwide market for proficient data. This permits the organization to give data and administrations to the expert market as researchers, scholastics, legal counselors, educators, specialists, medical caretakers and a scope of corporate experts (Elsevier 2006). Abilities are esteemed profoundly at Reed Elsevier (2006) as a major aspect of key procedure to expand on center capabilities. The organization has kept up effective improvement of innovation and conveys through online procedures. Aptitudes depend intensely on the organization's capacity to put resources into new innovation and convey items adequately and effectively to the expert data showcase. Reed Elsevier's staff is expansive, remembering masters for assorted worldwide data advertises just as ongoing acquisition of average data distributers and business data analysts. Reed Elsevier places a solid accentuation on their common qualities all through the staff as emp owering advancement, item improvement, and natural (instead of top-down) the executives and development. The organization's style is to work as a worldwide association with a master dynamic approach that shares assets, data and cost reserve funds with a gathering and group situated spotlight on conveying a proficient and feasible item. Reed's item is data and data innovation. ... Reed Elsevier places a solid accentuation on their common qualities all through the staff as empowering advancement, item improvement, and natural (instead of top-down) the executives and development. The organization's style is to work as a worldwide association with an expert dynamic approach that shares assets, data and cost reserve funds with a gathering and group situated spotlight on conveying an effective and reasonable item. Reed's item is data and data innovation. This is a solid product offering, and Reed Elsevier gives an effective, effectively open item through their online applications that isn't subject to the client's physical area, yet is internationally available. Item advancement is solid. Reed Elsevier has a strong online nearness just as persistent help from the customary distributing market (particularly as brand acknowledgment for Harcourt division). Moreover, advancement is done through public statements and expert meetings. Reed can advance on various levels as online, official statements, informal, and brand acknowledgment. Costs at Reed Elsevier are difficult to recognize in light of the fact that there are different divisions, data necessities, and expert needs that make varieties in costs. Client and Competition Market Analysis Simba Information shows the market arriving at about fifty-five billion dollars in the 2002 US advertise, worldwide data on the expert data deals showcase was inaccessible at the hour of this report (Simba 1999). Patterns in data buys, especially in instruction, business and clinical data markets increment every year (Simba 1999). Clients incorporate Science and Medical, Legal, Education and Business experts. Client relationship the executives is profoundly

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Effect of the Motivation Techniques for Workers and Application

Question: Examine about theEffect of the Motivation Techniques for Workers and Application. Answer: Presentation The audited article talks about the impact of inspiration strategies utilized by administrators to build efficiency of their laborers. The outcomes depend on an examination, which is done on 229 representatives working in weaving and texture passing on industrial facilities. The investigation is completed in Cerkezkoy Organized Industrial Site. An applicable proposition articulation that can be gotten from this article is that inspiration strategies applied by a supervisor affects worker proficiency and efficiency and this might be subject to different segment factors (Guclu Guney 2013). In light of the theory articulation, the article has different qualities and shortcomings. One of the qualities is that a genuine investigation is done to decide the impacts of inspiration on laborers, instead of simply putting together it with respect to suspicions. Through the investigation, different ends can be drawn, as it is obvious that inspiration of workers is additionally controlled by different factors separated from the sort of methods that are utilized by the business (Lazaroiu, 2015). Sexual orientation, level of training, salary, conjugal status and professional training are factors, which can impact how workers feel about certain inspiration methods. Another quality is that inspiration factors are evaluated in term s of whether they are financial, psychosocial or hierarchical and administrative. This helps with giving a more extensive perspective on what sort of components spur representatives most and lead to an expansion in their proficiency and efficiency. The shor tcoming of the article is that the investigation is restricted to a weaving and coloring manufacturing plant, which may give a constrained point of view of inspiration because of the idea of work and kind of aptitudes expected to complete the work (Cunningham 2016). The investigation would have included various kinds of ventures with the goal that the variables, which impact inspiration, can be progressively decisive regarding whether they are comparative or somewhat unique dependent on industry. Significance of Motivation Inspiration is a key factor that impacts how representatives in an association perform thus administrators ought to guarantee they utilize the privilege persuasive strategies. Inspiration is significant as the capacity of any worker to work and their wiliness influence their productivity. Inspiration makes capacity by furnishing a worker with the important preparing and abilities required in playing out the undertaking. It additionally makes the readiness expected to accomplish work (Dobre 2013). All these lead to proficiency of a worker, which is then reflected in the exhibition of an office or an association. In an association, a few representatives have negative perspectives, which are given to their partners thus prompting lackluster showing and absence of effectiveness. Inspiration is key in such circumstances as it empowers associations to make uplifting perspectives among the workforce. Uplifting mentalities lead to improved collaboration thus by and large effectiveness and ex traordinary authoritative execution. An association that has workers who are not roused continually experiences high representative turnover (Gupta Shaw 2014). This is on the grounds that representatives continue searching for greener fields with the goal that they can leave. Work is extraordinarily influenced in such associations as there are consistent deficiencies and it prompts workaholic behavior of different representatives. This prompts disgruntlement among the workforce. Such associations invest a great deal of energy and cash in selecting representatives and preparing. This wastage must be cleared if the association takes a gander at inspiration and manners by which it can hold its workforce through various methods (Korzynski 2013). Propelled representatives work for significant stretches in organizations henceforth the issue of high turnover is dispensed with. Such representatives are additionally regularly ready to take on additional undertakings henceforth a ton complete s and productivity is augmented in the association, prompting more prominent yield levels (Asim 2013). Truancy is likewise decreased in such organizations. Representatives anticipate going to work and non-appearance cases are negligible. Associations are continually changing because of natural components. Powerful change the executives can just happen where workers are persuaded. Workers who are not persuaded don't grasp change and rather look to disappoint the board endeavors when another change is to be executed. Inspiration prompts workers taking change activities emphatically and turning out to be change champions (Pandey 2014). Change happens easily in such situations, as representatives become the key drivers for change endeavors. The fundamental point of inspiration is to guarantee that representatives work energetically and affectionately. This must be accomplished if director tune in to workers and concoct methods that will positively affect the representatives. Administrators can utilize various methods to persuade workers so they get most extreme productivity. They should assemble trust with their workers. Trust is two along these lines as directors trust representatives to perform successfully; their workers additionally expect that their eventual benefits be paid special mind to by their chiefs (Mathew Johnson 2015). The administrator along these lines needs to guarantee that trust is assembled and this must be done through compelling correspondence. Transparency must be empowered among administrators and workers. Criticism ought to be a two way process. Chiefs ought to have the option to give legit input to their representatives whether its positive or negative. Similarly, administrators ought to be av ailable to input from their representatives. Open correspondence prompts positive workplaces and propelled representatives. This enormously improves cooperation as representatives impart well and are happy to work with one another. In such conditions, worker complaints and proposals are tuned in to thus; it gets simpler for directors to apply the important inspiration methods. Administrators ought to likewise ensure that they give work that is significant and testing to their representatives. At the point when staff feel that, the work that they do is significant it has an incredible effect in an association (Baba 2017). Most representatives simply need to feel that they are a piece of the association and that their jobs are perceived. Representatives for the most part need to feel a feeling of accomplishment, duty, delight and acknowledgment. Workers are additionally well on the way to accomplish when there is a chance of professional success in front of them. Directors ought to in this manner give openings where workers can develop and pick up abilities from different offices. Representatives get persuaded when they realize that their difficult work will be reimbursed by an advancement or a brilliant future as far as headway in their vocations. It is along these lines significant that chiefs train representatives continually and give a workplace where there is freeness and decency as far as profession development. Legitimacy of Thesis Statement of Article The Thesis articulation of the article is pleasant in light of the fact that inspiration factors utilized by chiefs do impact proficiency and efficiency. Nonetheless, segment factors don't really impact the kind of inspiration utilized. The examination done on the Cerkezkoy Industrial Site means that the segment that impacts inspiration most is training. Individuals who are increasingly instructed will in general have more grounded assessment and are quicker on the sort of inspiration, which is utilized. Individuals who are less taught will in general glance at monetary inspirational factors more as their fundamental point is to get pay to continue their requirements (Kaur 2013). The examination additionally isolates the persuasive needs into financial, psychosocial and hierarchical, which mirrors the kinds of inspiration, which chiefs can use to persuade their workers so they accomplish productivity. Financial elements incorporate utilizing factors including cash to spur workers and these can be rewards, pay rises or money related prizes. This rouses representatives to work proficiently as they realize that by the day's end they will profit by different impetuses. Hierarchical and administrative inspirations are extraordinary and incorporate factors inside the organization, which can be utilized in inspiration (Mason 2017). The association can utilize group working to construct confidence and improve collaboration in the organization henceforth prompting a positive situation, which will prompt representatives feeling, persuaded. Representatives can likewise be permitted to learn abilities in various divisions with the goal that they are all-adjusted. This pr ompts inspiration, as they will feel that the association thinks about them enough to do work revolution. Administrators can likewise guarantee that they are liable for representatives under them and continually prepare and remember them. Thusly, representatives feel that their administrators really care and are roused to work more enthusiastically as they realize that their endeavors are perceived. Psychosocial inspiration incorporates factors, which bid to the mental side of a worker. Representatives need to feel acknowledged and perceived at the work place. Such motivating forces incorporate supervisors having programs like representative of the work plans where various representatives are perceived dependent on their work and endeavors. Solid rivalries can likewise be set up and the most gainful representatives remunerated. This prompts inspiration as everybody endeavors to accomplish the prize. End In general, the article gives us that inspiration is a key factor that can bring out representative abilities and aptitudes. When workers are roused, they give a valiant effort to perform and through this, administrators can distinguish the qualities of their representatives. This prompts worker aptitudes being boosted thus prompting proficiency. Through this, associations can be proficient in forms henceforth prompting in general achievement that reflects in the reality. It is in this manner significant that chiefs utilize different strategies to persuade workers with the goal that they accomplish greatest advantage. References Asim, M., 2013. Effect of inspiration on worker execution with impact of preparing: explicit to training area of Pakistan.I

Thursday, August 6, 2020

14 Reminders That Youre More Awesome Than You Know

14 Reminders That Youre More Awesome Than You Know No one is immune to feeling down and small sometimes. Responsible villains for this condition are feelings of fear, discouragement, doubt, and lack of self-confidence.You may feel youre worthless. You can think you dont deserve anything good, and that you are responsible for all the bad things happening around you.Furthermore, you are convinced that you deserve those bad things because you are not good enough. Everyone who thinks like that is so wrong!Yet, they are having an emotional breakdown and it is not easy for them to think rationally.You need to tell yourself that no matter what is happening to you and around you, you deserve happiness. You need to believe that you are worthy of anything you want in order to get it.You need to KNOW that you are strong enough to endure everything life puts you through and that way, youll be strong enough to face the obstacles in your path… and even stronger when the troubles are over!Yes, in order to succeed its sometimes necessary to be a b it rough on yourself, but you should note that self-discipline can bear a striking resemblance to putting yourself down.Once youve mastered discipline, you will need to relearn how to take care of yourself because, lets face it, if you dont do it, no one else will.If you are feeling down or have lost faith in yourself, you should carefully read this article. It is meant to remind you how awesome you are.1. YOU ARE UNIQUEYou might not think of yourself as someone unique. You may have the same generic name, same job, car and suit as everyone else and you might have lost yourself in all that rubble.Stop and think about it for a while!You are not your name, nor your car, your job or your suitOut of billions of stars existing in billions of galaxies, out of seven billion people living on this planet, you are one and only. You have your own, unique genetic structure. Your thumbprint is yours alone. Your voice is yours alone. Your thoughts are yours alone let alone your feelings!You are un ique and special all the way through so make it count!Theres no one out there in the whole world who thinks exactly the same as you do, except for the thought that we all think the same.Every individual, no matter how brainwashed he/she is, interprets reality in his/her unique way and from a somewhat unique perspective.Think about this article for instance. No matter how many people read it, all have gone through different sets of experiences in their lives and these words will spark different associations for every single individual that reads them.Your memories, your experiences, and your associations are yours and yours alone. You have your own inner reality that corresponds to this one.Think about it when you close your eyes and fall asleep, does anyone dream the same dream that you do? Hardly2. YOU ARE A CREATOR EVEN IF YOU DONT KNOW ITYou heard it right! You are a creator which means youre creative and what are creative people? They are original and authentic.And what exactly is my creation, you might wonder. Your life so far.Until now youve made a set of different choices in life and you combined possibilities to make them actualize in a way that no one else has done before you.You chose how to go through your life. In a way, you created your own narrative. every time you made a decision.Even what youre doing now, telling yourself that you are this or that is creating a narrative. Its creating a role for you to play and that role starts the chain of events.Everyone does the same for themselves, but everyone does it differently.Its not that different from dreaming. You take some elements of your previous experiences (which are yours and yours alone) and you combine them with your anticipation.You combine them with your fears, hopes and thoughts about what could be. In other words imagination.A mind is a powerful tool so use it to send some affirmations your way. You are more awesome than you think. 3. YOU ARE THE UNIVERSEWhen you look at the sky and the stars, you think the universe is something upon, beyond, far far awayBut the truth is you’re not just an observer of the universe. You are part of it just like stars and planets are.You exist on a planet which is a part of one of billion star systems in billions of galaxies. Doesn’t that seem like you are part of the universe as well?Whats more, new researches confirm that we are literally created from stardust. A few decades ago it sounded like a line of a poem, but today firm science is standing behind this statement.Planetary scientist, Dr. Ashley King explains that almost all the elements in the human body were formed in stars over billions of years.Also, astrophysicist Karel Schrijver and Iris Schrijver, a pathologist, say that our bodies are made of remains of stars and explosions in the galaxies.According to this, every human being is made of stardust. So not that you’re only a part of the universe, you are the universe and the universe is as awesome as it gets, right?T hat can only mean one thing You are awesome!4. YOU ARE WORTHYYou ask yourself: Who am I to be gorgeous, brilliant, talented, marvelous You give up on your dreams because you think you cant relate to those shiny happy people on the red carpets out there.You give up on becoming a singer just because you dont hear yourself singing like Beyonce or Andrea Bocelli.You dont even try writing because your sentences are far under J.K. Rowlings.You even give up on sending a message to that beautiful girl you met last night just because you think theres no chance that someone like her may fall for someone you. Stop it!Heres what you need to do: look for that thing that youre good at. Perhaps its drawing, singing, writing, dancing, speaking, thinking, imagining, laughing, making others laugh, making one hell of a tea or whateverIt can really be anything because anyone excels in something. Devote yourself to that thing no matter how trivial it may seem to you.You will discover that no one else d oes it quite as you do and that difference is exactly what makes you awesome.Rarity holds value so never forget that!5. ENOUGH IS ENOUGHMotivational speeches often use the phrase You are enough.This phrase may sometimes confuse people. The phrase doesnt mean someone measures you. It doesnt suggest you should measure yourself, either. There is no such thing as a human-meter.Also, it doesnt mean you dont need anybody. You do! A human being is a social being. It doesnt mean you dont have to make goals and achievements, as you are already enough.It means you are enough to live your life the way you want to.Having someone to add to your value is great, but you dont NEED anyone to do it. You dont depend on it.You dont need anyone so you can achieve your goals. You dont need anybody to be yourself. You are enough to be whatever you want, to do whatever makes you happy and fulfilled. You are enough just as you are.6. THINK OF ALL THE POTENTIALActually, dont just think about it. Take a penci l and write all the things you could do right now. Write down even those trivial simple things that anyone can do.Start from the somewhat neutral stuff.For example, you could take a walk, gaze through the window, try and guess peoples names based on the way they look, have a meal, spit it out, throw the trash out, talk to your neighbour, watch a movie or binge the whole season of that TV show that everyones talking about.Then include some bad stuff too. For example, you could steal something, be rude to your neighbor, yell at someone or break a window.Then some good stuff as well. You could be kind to your neighbor and make him/her feel good about himself/herself. You can help someone out there or make someone laugh or at least smile.See, when you think of it, thats power the ability to influence people and events. You have that ability and that itself is as awesome as it gets, not to mention the ability to choose how you will use your abilities.You can decide about the way things will roll and thats so cool.So why do you sometimes forget that? One of the largest obstacles to success in your life is when you give your power away.For example, you can do the thing with the list and then perhaps do something from that list and you can also choose to procrastinate the moment away.People can waste lots of their time playing a victim. For example, someone hurts you, and you suffer and think about it for ages.You have lost precious time and life energy doing so. There is an important reference to remember: we cant choose what will happen to us, but we can choose how to respond to it.As Victor Frankl said, there is a space between stimulus and response and our power is in that space. In that response lies our growth and our freedom.So, choose wisely how youll respond to stimuli because you are the only one who can take away your power.You can do anything you set your mind to the quote everyone hears billions of times. Some think thats true, some think its a myth. We ll, both are right. A lot of it is in your head.Try setting goals grounded in real life though. For example, you are determined to get in that excellent college.You study hard, you give your best, and in the end, you dont get accepted. Will you quit? No, of course not!Youll never be an achiever if you give up, youll be a quitter that way. Thats not how you achieve your goals. Thats not setting your mind to something.If you truly set your mind to something, theres nothing in the world that can stop you. You will try again and again until you succeed because thats what great people do.Remember what Hanry Ford said: Whether you think you can, or think you cant you are right.Now think about everything youve achieved in your life and give yourself some credit.Maybe make another list.If you didnt achieve anything, well thats something to be congratulated on as well how in the world did you manage to do it?7. ITS ALL IN YOUR HEADAs you can see, all of your powers lie within you, in your h ead and your soul. Whether you go for something or you give up, that comes from your mindset.If you think positively, youll see new opportunities, lessons instead of mistakes.On the other hand, if you let negative thoughts overcome, youll see missed opportunities, all the mistakes you made in the past, you wont be able to see all the beauty of life.Tina Seeling has vividly described how your head controls your life.She had to describe the same scene from two perspectives one from the viewpoint of a person that feels happiness and love, and the second one from the point of a person full of sadness and grief.That simple task discovered two completely different pictures of the world depending on your emotional state.Simply put, if you are peaceful, youll see a brighter world, than if you are depressed when youll see greyness and all the imperfections of the world.The ability to choose is awesome, dont you think?8. AVERAGE IS THE NEW GREATMaybe you dont have silky long hair, big blue e yes, full lips or straight-edged nose. Maybe you crave another 3 inches in height and your abs arent that great.Maybe you see an ugly duckling when you look in the mirror. So whats awesome about that? Everything!(Under) Averages the new beautiful and ordinarys the new authentic!Nowadays, the media plays a huge role in the way people see beauty. They dictate what is beautiful and what is weird, whats original and whats the standardBut people are slowly starting to see through the whole matrix.First of all, rarity creates value. If everyone is 7ft tall with great abs, blue eyes and wonderful hair, that becomes the average and creates aesthetic inflation.If you do look like that, good for you, but theres nothing awesome in the battle you fight in your life because its not much of the battle, right? You just fit the pattern.Now, all the misfits out there are where the story gets awesome.Physical beauty is temporary, but the beauty you nurture within you remains forever. The skills you d evelop to compensate for not fitting the pattern makes you who you are.If one is beautiful on the outside but does not reflect inner beauty, one becomes less attractive physically. On the other hand, if one is kind, friendly, polite, sparkly, that affects his outer look, and the one appears more attractive.After all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Dont let anyone make you think youre not beautiful, because you are. The most beautiful people are the ones who love themselves just the way they are and beautiful is awesome.9. YOU HAVE THE POWER OF A SMILENow, everyone has that. It doesnt make me more awesome than others, you might think and you are right to think it!Fist of all, it doesnt have to make you more awesome than others. It doesnt even have to make you more awesome than you are, it only has to make you more awesome than you think you are.Furthermore, all of us have the power, but only a few people use it consciously.Have you ever seen an ugly smile or a smile that made you feel bad? Ok, you, you might have seen the other one, but only in psychopaths in movies and hopefully youre not one of those.The point is that you dont need to have perfect teeth to have a perfect smile. You dont even have to have an occasion, reason or a cause to smile. You can smile for the sake of smiling. You can smile to defy everything that tends to make you frown.Another great thing is that it will inspire strength and positive feelings in others so the flow will spread. You have the power to create a ripple or a wave. How cool is that?A simple smile can break the ice in uncomfortable social occasions and protect you from negative energy. Smiling can literally improve your mood and fool your brain into being happy.Heres how it works. A smile is a natural reaction to the state of happiness, but it works vice versa too. If you simulate the reaction, you can trick your brain into thinking that there must be a cause for that reaction. Thats when all the happy hormones start r ushing.Also, its not just the mouth that smiles. When you smile, your eyes are sparkling, and theres nothing comparable to that impression. Smile with your whole being, with your energy.Youll brighten someone elses day, besides yours and the very power to do so surely makes you more awesome than you thought you were.10. GIVING VALUE TO WHAT YOU DODoesnt matter who you are, you can provide value. Everyone has his/her own purpose in the whole of society.Sometimes it’s easy to lose sight of why you are important.But at any time you should know that theres no replacement for you in someone elses life. The part you play may prove to be priceless.No matter how small you are, you are an important addition to humanity and a part of a larger whole. Thus, you have the power to influence that whole and that is worth everything!You have the power to give the most valuable gift you possess yourself, and it is the most incredible thing you are contributing to the world.Of course, dont forget y our family and friends who love you and cant imagine their lives without you in it so dont devote or sacrifice yourself in vain.11. YOU ARE ALIVEJust a short reminder of how lucky you are to be born and to live in this world. You are alive and capable of creating and doing, dont waste your time and opportunities.Youre here and youre reading this which means you are successfully going through another day. Whether the day is good or not, you are surviving. You are surviving despite having to pay the bills, the work you hate, despite your horrible love life, terrible social life You are making it through and youre only getting stronger.Thats more than many people have can say for themselves.12. YOUR QUIRKY HABITS ARE COOLMost of the people have little things they do that make them weird in some way.Some of them can be cute, as well. Quirky habits dont necessarily mean something bad, it simply means you have an eccentric or unconventional trait.Embrace the little quirks you have and cel ebrate them. They are one of the reasons why you are so awesome. They make you adorable and loveable.These habits can tell something about a person who possesses them. For example, quirky habits you possess can reveal how smart you are.If you have a messy desk, you stay up late, swear, like cold showers, doodle, daydream, talk back to others, it can mean that youre more intelligent and intelligence is awesome, right?13. YOU ARE PERFECTLY IMPERFECTLets face it you are not perfect. But guess what? Nobody else is perfect either. Being imperfect doesnt mean youre not awesome. Whining about not being perfect does though.Everyone has flaws and it is completely all right to be flawed. People are not expected to reach perfection.Its enough to strive towards reaching it, however, dont make it your obsession because it can be exhausting and unnecessary.14. MISTAKES CAN BE COOLYou are allowed to make mistakes. Every human being has done something he/she looks at as dumb or humiliating. These are mistakes, not life sentences. You are supposed to learn from your bad experiences.Think of your mistakes as a tool that can help you learn and grow, not as something that pulls you down and makes you less valuable. It’s not easy, but you have to run through your bad days and try to keep a positive attitude.Hopefully, you are a bit more aware of your awesomeness at this point in the article then you were at the beginning.You might have realized how amazing you are and how amazing everyone can be, only if they well, realize it. Acknowledging this, you can help someone understand the same and that in itself is awesome. Youd feel even better then, wouldnt you?Hopefully, youll remember all of this when you get down again. You can read some of it from time to time, to prevent your self-awareness from going low, or to boost it.You are a living creature, and no one expects you to be confident all the time.You are allowed to lose it sometimes. Losing it can be cool so stay awesome and get even more awesome with these tips:

Saturday, May 23, 2020

President Theodore Roosevelt Biography 26th President

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) served as Americas 26th president. He was known as a trust buster and progressive politician. His fascinating life included serving as a Rough Rider during the Spanish American War. When he decided to run for reelection, he created his own third party nicknamed the Bull Moose Party.   Theodore Roosevelts Childhood and Education Born on October 27, 1858, in New York City, Roosevelt grew up very sickly with asthma and other illnesses. As he grew up, he exercised and boxed to try and build up his constitution. His family was wealthy traveling to Europe and Egypt in his youth. He received his earliest education from his aunt along with a series of other tutors before entering Harvard in 1876. Upon graduation, he went to Columbia Law School. He stayed there one year before dropping out to begin his political life. Family Ties Roosevelt was the son of Theodore Roosevelt, Sr., who was a wealthy merchant, and Martha Mittie Bulloch, a southerner from Georgia who was  sympathetic to the Confederate cause. He had two sisters and a brother. He had two wives. He married his first wife,  Alice Hathaway Lee, on  October 27, 1880. She was the  daughter of a banker. She died at the age of 22. His second wife was named Edith Kermit Carow. She grew up next door to Theodore. They married on  December 2, 1886. Roosevelt had one daughter named  Alice by his first wife. She would get married in the White House while he was president. He had four sons and one daughter by his second wife. Theodore Roosevelts Career Before the Presidency In 1882, Roosevelt became the youngest member of the New York State Assembly. In 1884 he moved to the Dakota territory and worked as a cattle rancher. From 1889-1895, Roosevelt was a U.S. Civil Service Commissioner. He was President of the New York City Police Board from 1895-97 and then Assistant Secretary of the Navy (1897-98). He resigned to join the military. He was elected Governor of New York (1898-1900) and Vice President from March-September 1901 when he succeeded to the presidency. Military Service Roosevelt joined the U.S. Volunteer Cavalry Regiment which became known as the Rough Riders to fight in the Spanish-American War. He served from May-September, 1898 and quickly rose to colonel. On July 1, he and the Rough Riders had a major victory at San Juan charging up Kettle Hill. He was part of the occupying force of Santiago. Becoming the President Roosevelt became president on September 14, 1901, when President McKinley died after being shot on September 6, 1901. He was the youngest man to ever become president at the age of 42. In 1904, he was the obvious choice for the Republican nomination. Charles W. Fairbanks was his vice presidential nominee. He was opposed by Democrat Alton B. Parker. Both candidates agreed about the major issues and the campaign became one of personality. Roosevelt easily won with 336 out of 476 electoral votes. Events and Accomplishments of Theodore Roosevelt’s Presidency President Roosevelt served through most of the first decade of the 1900s. He was determined to build a canal across Panama. America aided Panama in gaining independence from Colombia. The U.S. then created a treaty with the newly independent Panama to gain the canal zone in exchange for $10 million-plus annual payments. The Monroe Doctrine is one of the keystones of American foreign policy. It says that the western hemisphere is off-limits to foreign encroachment. Roosevelt added the Roosevelt Corollary to the Doctrine. This stated that it was the responsibility of America to intervene with force if necessary in Latin America to enforce the Monroe Doctrine. This was part of what became known as Big Stick Diplomacy. From 1904-05, the Russo-Japanese War occurred. Roosevelt was the mediator of peace between the two countries. Due to this, he won the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize. While in office, Roosevelt was known for his progressive policies. One of his nicknames was Trust Buster because his administration used existing antitrust laws to fight against corruption in the railroad, oil, and other industries. His policies concerning trusts and labor reform were part of what he called the Square Deal. Upton Sinclair wrote about the disgusting and unsanitary practices of the meat packing industry in his novel The Jungle. This resulted in the Meat Inspection and the Pure Food and Drug Acts in 1906. These laws required the government to inspect meat and protect consumers from food and drugs that might be dangerous. Roosevelt was well-known for his conservation efforts. He was known as the Great Conservationist. During his time in office, over 125 million acres in national forests were set aside under public protection. He also established the first national wildlife refuge. In 1907, Roosevelt made an agreement with Japan known as the Gentlemans Agreement whereby Japan agreed to slow the immigration of laborers to America and in exchange, the U.S. would not pass a law like the Chinese Exclusion Act. Post-Presidential Period Roosevelt did not run in 1908 and retired to Oyster Bay, New York. He went on a safari to Africa where he collected specimens for the Smithsonian Institute. Even though he promised not to run again, he sought the Republican nomination in 1912. When he lost, he formed the  Bull Moose Party. His presence caused the vote to be split allowing  Woodrow Wilson  to win. Roosevelt was shot in 1912 by a would-be assassin but was not seriously injured. He died on January 6, 1919, of a coronary embolism. Historical Significance Roosevelt was a fiery individualist who embodied the American culture of the early 1900s. His conservationism and willingness to take on big business are examples of why he is considered to be one of the better presidents. His progressive policies set the stage for important reforms of the 20th century.

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

She Snoops to Conquer - Case Analysis Business Ethics Essay

Employee privacy is a very controversial topic. The first issue at hand is whether or not the employer in Case 9.3 has the right to invade her employees’ privacy. It can be argued that employers don’t have the right to invade their employees’ privacy. It is one thing for an employer to monitor their employees in the workplace to make sure they are not doing something that will affect the company’s profits, but it is a much more egregious issue for the employer to go beyond his or her interest to invade his or her employees’ privacy when they are not working. The Washington State Constitution Article I, Section 7 states that â€Å"no person shall be disturbed in his private affairs.† Essentially, privacy is widely acknowledged to be a†¦show more content†¦Fanuchi’s actions were illegal because they violated RCW 9.73.030, which states that it is unlawful for any individual to intercept, record, or divulge private communicatio n by use of any electronic devise unless they have express consent of all parties. RCW 9.73.030. Furthermore, on page 356 of the text book there is a case about â€Å"two male employees of Boston Sheraton Hotel who were secretly videotaped changing clothes in the locker room during a hunt for a drug dealer; they weren’t suspects, just bystanders.† Similarly, in the present case, the employee’s privacy was invaded when the employer discovered, by microphone, that the employee was selling drugs. Our privacy would have been wrongfully invaded if we were Fanuchi’s employees. As stated on page 348, â€Å"we seek to preserve and protect a sphere in which we can choose to think and act for ourselves, free from the illegitimate influence of our employers and other,† and if we can’t do that in the break room then where would we be able to do it? The book states on page 377, â€Å"the microphones contributed nothing to the apprehension of the thief.† The only purpose that the microphones held was to invade all of the employees’ p rivacy. If Fanuchi would have obtained consent from the employees, this would not be an issue of the invasion of privacy. The employees in Case 9.3 would have had control and a choice as to what to say or not to say depending on what they wanted their employer toShow MoreRelatedStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 Pages vi BRIEF CONTENTS 4 The Organization System 16 Organizational Culture 511 17 Human Resource Policies and Practices 543 18 Organizational Change and Stress Management 577 Appendix A Research in Organizational Behavior Comprehensive Cases Indexes Glindex 637 663 616 623 Contents Preface xxii 1 1 Introduction What Is Organizational Behavior? 3 The Importance of Interpersonal Skills 4 What Managers Do 5 Management Functions 6 †¢ Management Roles 6 †¢ ManagementRead MoreLogical Reasoning189930 Words   |  760 Pages......................................................................................... 488 The Scientific Method ........................................................................................................................ 490 Some Case Studies ............................................................................................................................. 491 Review of Major Points .....................................................................................

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

If Only I Could Go Back Free Essays

It was around 9:00 pm and the atmosphere was charged. The roads were blocked and the police were to be found on every corner. A search was in place, I was the suspect. We will write a custom essay sample on If Only I Could Go Back or any similar topic only for you Order Now My clothes were stained with blood, not my blood but Eve’s blood. My face was covered with dirt as though I had taken a dip in a pigsty. Suddenly just behind me I heard a booming sound â€Å"Freeze, don’t move†, but I was too faint to synchronize with a response. Red and blue lines were flashing before my guilty eyes, it was the police. They had found me; I was handcuffed on the spot and thrown into the back of a van like a captured animal thrown into his cage. I was read out my rights â€Å"You have the right to remain silent, anything you say or do can be used against you in a court of law†. That was it, I had been on the run for 4 consecutive days. My stomach lunched with hunger, my body desperately urged for rest but worst of all I was ruined. I was filled with intense regret. Although a sense of denial ran through my head, my conscience overcame the effect and I knew what I had done was wrong. â€Å"Too late now† I thought to myself. As I neared the place of my judgment with the last bit of strength in me I shouted aloud â€Å"God Forgive Me†. Time seemed to crawl as freedom raced its way out of my life. I was utterly left to rot. Fear and regret was all I could think of. My sense of fear was so strong, that I began to cry. My emotions overpowered me once again and the more I thought of the crime I had committed the more I continued to cry. I then arrived at the police station where I saw my father standing with only one expression on his face, ‘SHOCK’. As a police officer informed my father of my actions I saw a tear form in his eyes, a tear filled with shame and disappointment. The sight of my father’s face scared me all the more. A vision of an empty, lonely future came alive at the back of my head, the past 18 years of my life flashed past me so fast like a video cassette put on super forward. I then heard a rough thick voice say â€Å"Why my son, why did you beat Eve to death?† It was my father who by now had understood precisely what had happened. He was a man who went through a lot of rough times himself. I was silent. The cause of my actions was due to my family problems. The agony, the loneliness of my parents being divorced and not having a father and a mother at the same time made me feel empty. My family was very dear to me, as a ‘real family’ was all I wanted. Ever since I was a child I’ve been brought up by a single parent and always wished to have my parents back together. I longed all my life to know how a real family life was, but I was deprived of that. I did not want my father to pity me hence; I kept the reason to myself. I am a man now and should be responsible for my actions. It was because of Eve who simultaneously insulted my family and made fun of the fact that my parents were divorced. â€Å"Your parents don’t love you that was why they left you† was one of the many hurtful things she said. At first I tried to ignore it but the truth penetrated its way into me and anger was all that was left in me. The blood in my veins boiled making me all the angrier where at one point I burst and took all my anger out on her. Punch after punch, kick after kick. This is when my emotions took over me at first. Everything happened so fast, and by the time it was all over and saw Eve’s helpless body lying horizontally opposite to me, I was shocked but most of all scared. This was the first time I had actually seen someone die before my own eyes, and to worsen things it was me who had â€Å"murdered† her. I acted like a robot controlled by the truth and my emotions. Then the fear of death took over me and for the first few minutes I froze at a standstill but the thought of what I had done scared me so much that I began to run as fast as I could to hide myself from what I had done. Now my life is ruined. I feel like a total failure. Till this very day each moment I sit in my jail cell, I feel helpless and hungry and regret what I had done and just wish if I can take back what had happened. The thought, the whole thing just keeps running through my mind making me feel so wrong and so bad. â€Å"Oh! If I could only go back in time!† How to cite If Only I Could Go Back, Papers

Friday, May 1, 2020

Exploratory Investigation of Integrated Contingency

Question: Discuss about the Exploratory Investigation of Integrated Contingency. Answer: Introduction Strategic Management is a field involving dynamic capabilities of the organization coupled with formation as well as implementation of major goals(Stacey, 2007). Strategies are generally made at the top level by senior level managers and leaders considering various resources, liabilities along with presence of internal and external conditions of the company. Strategic management involves studying of all analysis of internal and external conditions prevailing within the industry and then forming suitable strategies or plans which can be implemented accordingly. Strategies provide an overall direction to the company thereby encompassing the goals and objectives of the organization. These plans, policies as well as procedures formed for the organization are developed in accordance with resources and capabilities of the same. There are numerous models and theories that are developed in the field in order that organizations can formulate suitable strategies of their own. Ellen E. Chaffee (1985) have devised three explicit literature that categorizes strategies in three distinct groups as Model I, Linear Strategy, Model II, Adaptive Strategy and Model III Interpretive Strategy(Eden, 2013). Linear strategy approach of strategy is focused on planning which emphasizes on achievement of goals. This model of strategic management is based on Chandlers definition of strategy, which encompasses strategic direction in order to guide organizations in order that they are able to achieve goals. This approach to strategic management is more focused on competitive strategies such that organization can achieve leadership position. In Adaptive strategic approach the notion of incrementalism is coherent. In this case strategies are formed in accordance to developing a viable match amongst the risks and opportunities that an organization is exposed to from its external environment(Hitt, 2012). Here, organizational strategy is aligned to consumer preferences hence are altered frequently. In case of an Interpretive Strategy, a cognitive map of the external environment helps managers link external threats to organizational opportunities. Though these models of strategy are not mutually exc lusive yet, shortcoming of linear model involves persistence on long term planning. As primary aim of forming strategies is to extend capabilities of organizations, such long term planning might not render effectiveness. The scope of this report identifies various approaches to Strategic Management by stakeholder approach, dynamic capabilities and sustainable approach, viability and limitations for the same(Ansoff, 2007). Different approaches to Strategic Management Strategies are developed and designed by organizations to extend their capabilities which emerge as core competency in the market. Such establishing of capabilities entail development of competitive advantage for the company(Hill et al., n.d.). While selecting an approach to strategic management choice, organizational leaders evaluate a number of factors. While an approach might not be mutually exclusive from another, but selecting an appropriate approach for the organizational lets develop a focus and draws attention thereupon. Hence, for every organization while selecting and in adopting a strategy it becomes pertinent to diagnose the primary or the important aspect for their organization. Amongst three different approaches, stakeholder approach, dynamic capabilities approach and sustainable approach while each aspect remains integral factor for organization it becomes pertinent to diagnose each ones viability, suitability and adaptability to the situation such that appropriate res ults can be obtained(Chesbrough, 2007). Stakeholder approach Stakeholder approach or theory towards strategic management was identified way back by R. Edward Freeman(Freeman, 2010). The majority focus of this approach is on stakeholders, internal and external in nature. Stakeholders consist of individuals who have active interests and participate in the business of the organization. Internal stakeholders include those internal to the organization, as management, leaders, employees, shareholders, staffs, workers and so on. They take active role and play an integral part in decision making as well as routine functioning for the organization. External stakeholder includes stakeholders who are outside the organization as customers, suppliers, vendors, distributors, government, rating agencies, other agencies and so on. External stakeholders do not take active part in the business but are involved in day to day functioning for the same(Furrer, 2008). In stakeholder approach it is recommended that an organization considers its stakeholders perspectives while forming or adopting a suitable strategy for itself. Stakeholders especially those who are shareholders of the company are owners and have vested interests in the functioning of the business. In this theory it is identified that a company needs to put stakeholders needs as a priority and it is their fiduciary responsibility. Stressing on the need of the stakeholders will help organizations increase the value for their organization overall(Cadez, 2008). The scope of this theory argues that stakeholders affect capacities of a business to perform, hence they needs to be given adequate importance. Further stakeholders view for strategy lets an organization integrate resource based view along with market based approach along with socio-political levels. Stakeholders approach is extremely important as it stresses on the stakeholders thinking as well as their strategic contribution in functioning of the organization. This approach has gained immense importance in corporate social responsibility approach of the organization as well(Klein, 2009). In Stakeholder approach to Strategic Management an organization is likely to stretch its capabilities as well as resources in order to gain significant profits for its shareholders. This approach might be at the cost of the putting tremendous pressures on resources. Dynamic capabilities This approach to strategic management was devised by David Teece, Amy Shuen and Gary Pisano(1997)(Teece, 2009). The theory stresses on the concept of resource base of the organization in order that they are able to build, integrate internal capabilities to match external threats and opportunities. These capabilities of the organization help to cope with dynamic changing environment. There are various capabilities of every organization that acts as core competency for them and extends their competitive advantage in the market. The term dynamic capabilities relate to the idea of operational efficiency for the organization, such operational capabilities need to rapidly transform and respond to the changing environmental needs by operational effectiveness as well as resources. The central idea around this concept was adopted by Amy Shuen, wherein it was assumed that competencies within organizations create short-term competitive advantage which can be transformed into long-term advantage s for the organization(Schot, 2008)(Johnson, 2013). Dynamic Capabilities Approach stresses its focus on capabilities within an organization. In such an instance there might be loss at a certain point incurring for the organization, in order to dynamically rearrange its resources to suit capabilities and meet needs. Sustainable approach Increasingly growing concern regarding various impacts and effects created organizations are becoming the central idea of their business leadership. Business leaders around the world in order to develop their sustainability are rapidly transforming their business and adopting norms that depict a positive branding for the organization. There are three aspects of sustainability namely, environment, future generations needs and economy(Ambrosini, 2009). An organization adopting this feature of sustainability approach develops strategies to thrive by maintaining the three aspects. Strategies are formed such that organizations are able to attend to scarce resource depletion, reduce wastages, reduce carbon footprints and other environmental impact along with creating a positive effect on the community or society in which it is operational(Kaplan, 2007). Strategies designed in accordance to these procedures entail that they adopt sustainable practices in each and every aspect of organizatio nal procedures. Sustainability approach maintains ability for creating future sustainable generations on this planet. An organization adopting sustainable approach will generally tend to source its raw materials in a responsible manner from a replenishable source. Further it will try and reduce wastages or recycle them, avoiding unnecessary energy wastages or environmental impacts(Thompson, 2010). It will also try and create positive impact on the society or community in which it is present by way of giving back much more than it takes. Sustainable management practices are generally adopted in all spheres of environmental and sociological impact. In this technique an organization is not regarded as an entity formed for the sole purpose of reaping profits or for the sake of earning returns for its shareholders or owners. This approach covers a broader aspect that entails creating a wider impact in the minds of all stakeholders especially on customers(Holcomb, 2007). Customers have been found to be mo re inclined towards a responsible organization that adopts sustainable practices and policies compared to an organization that does not. Organizations that adopt this procedure and responsibilities often adopt sustainable practices in their marketing as well, and its central promotional strategy revolves around this concept. Thus, strategy for these type of organizations are formed by considering impacts from its various endeavors from manufacturing, to distribution, to marketing and so on(Wheelen Hunger, 2011). Sustainability approach touches every sphere of strategy formation for the organization that adopts and pertains to this approach. According to Sustainability Approach, an organization puts immense pressure on creating a sustainable impact by its various actions. In this case stakeholders objectives or allocating of dynamic capabilities become secondary factors considering this approach. Conclusions Strategic management entails adoption of various approaches and concepts that are used and applied across businesses. Each of the three approaches in strategic management stakeholders approach, dynamic capabilities and sustainability approach are viable in their own respect. While they cannot act as mutually exclusive they are found to often overlap with each other. In stakeholders approach it is assumed that organization will follow and form strategies that are in interests of all its stakeholders, easier said than applied. Various stakeholders of the organization can have various different prerogatives and objectives as well as vision for the organization. Hence, while similar objectives as growth and development, technological adaptation objectives might clash and be similar, other objectives especially employee leaves and other perspectives might clash. Thus, in order that this strategy is viable, organization needs to adopt and apply strategies that arise from popular perspectiv es avoiding those that might have a long-term negative impact on the organization. The possible benefit of this approach is active participation and motivation for various business stakeholders, especially internal ones. This strategy generally has minimum number of implementation issue as against other approaches as this type of strategy is generally designed from the organization by considering various stakeholders views. Dynamic capabilities approach is high viable and organization does need to rearrange their resources and capabilities such that they are able to adapt to changing times for the organization. Sustainability approach is increasingly getting prominence in multiple organizations and its highly viable. Information in regards to various impacts created by various different actions of the organization is raising curiosity amongst customers, who are concerned regarding the purchases that they make. Thus, it is viable as well as profitable for businesses to adopt and apply approaches of sustainable nature. Limitations Each approach has their own limitations along with their own benefits. While Stakeholder approach might be beneficial to the stakeholders, especially internal ones it might not act in the interests of the capabilities the organization possesses. One major limitation of this approach is in its underestimating of other factors of the organization especially in regards to capabilities. While Stakeholders Approach is a traditional approach and focuses on owners of the organization, hence it becomes the primary responsibility of such organizations to deliver profits to these owners. Thus, while delivering profits other aspects of the organization that might be crucial for the functioning of the same might get overlooked. Dynamic capabilities approach stresses immense importance on existing capabilities of the firm and hence overlooks the aspects of organizational capability expansion. While forming strategy according to this approach an organization might actually lag behind its competitors in rearranging its capabilities. Further this theory is incompetent in markets where sustainability or stakeholders as customers plays a central role. Sustainability approach to strategic management is a contemporary approach and is now getting adopted in various organizations. This aspect often burdens the organization with excessive costs that barely have any impact on profitability. Though this is a long ranged approach organizations adopting this strategy might be initially at a loss for various changes and processes that it needs to incorporate. Thus, it can be drawn from the above approaches and concepts that strategic management is a process and approach for which needs to be integrated such that organization is able to establish itself as a leader. The core aim of adopting strategic management concepts, theories and processes is that the organization can advance its competitive advantage by expanding core capabilities of the firm. Reference Lists Ambrosini, V. and Bowman, C., 2009. What are dynamic capabilities and are they a useful construct in strategic management?.International journal of management reviews,11(1), pp.29-49. Ansoff, H., 2007.Strategic management. Springer. Cadez, S. and Guilding, C., 2008. An exploratory investigation of an integrated contingency model of strategic management accounting.Accounting, organizations and society,33(7), pp.836-863. Chesbrough, H.W. and Appleyard, M.M., 2007. Open innovation and strategy.California management review,50(1), pp.57-76. Eden, C. and Ackermann, F., 2013.Making strategy: The journey of strategic management. Sage. Freeman, R.E., 2010.Strategic management: A stakeholder approach. Cambridge University Press Furrer, O., Thomas, H. and Goussevskaia, A., 2008. The structure and evolution of the strategic management field: A content analysis of 26 years of strategic management research.International Journal of Management Reviews,10(1), pp.1-23. Hill, C.W., Jones, G.R. and Schilling, M.A., 2014.Strategic management: theory: an integrated approach. Cengage Learning. Hitt, M.A., Ireland, R.D. and Hoskisson, R.E., 2012.Strategic management cases: competitiveness and globalization. Cengage Learning. Johnson, G., Scholes, K. and Whittington, R., 2008.Exploring corporate strategy: text cases. Pearson Education. Holcomb, T.R. and Hitt, M.A., 2007. Toward a model of strategic outsourcing.Journal of operations management,25(2), pp.464-481. Kaplan, R.S. and Norton, D.P., 2007. Using the balanced scorecard as a strategic management system.Harvard business review,85(7-8), pp.150-+. Klein, D.A., 2009.The strategic management of intellectual capital. Routledge. Schot, J. and Geels, F.W., 2008. Strategic niche management and sustainable innovation journeys: theory, findings, research agenda, and policy.Technology analysis strategic management,20(5), pp.537-554. Stacey, R.D., 2007.Strategic management and organisational dynamics: The challenge of complexity to ways of thinking about organisations. Pearson education. Teece, D.J., 2009.Dynamic capabilities and strategic management: Organizing for innovation and growth. Oxford University Press on Demand. Thompson, J.L. and Martin, F., 2010.Strategic management: awareness change. Cengage Learning EMEA. Wheelen, T.L. and Hunger, J.D., 2011.Concepts in strategic management and business policy. Pearson Education India.

Saturday, March 21, 2020

Ek Ruka Hua Essay Example

Ek Ruka Hua Essay Power of CommunicationEk Ruka Hua Faisla ?Elegance of language may not be in the power of all of us; but simplicity and straightforwardness are. Write much as you would speak; speak as you think. If with your inferior,speak no coarser than usual; if with your superiors, no finer. Be what you say; and, within therules of prudence, say what you are.? The Power of Communication comes from knowing the right questions to ask and practicinggood listening skills. The secret weapon of power negotiators is being skilled in askingquestions. Why? One of the reasons is that questions get the communication going andencourages the other party to talk, to share information with you. And what you are always,always looking for is information, particularly something you do not know. Even when youthink you know the answers, get in the habit of asking questions; at the least, it will confirmyour knowledge. And if you have somehow missed asking the really right question, theanswer you need will likely come out the more the other party is forced to talk and you aretalking less. The 80s was a period of experimental films and serious cinema. Movies were made not forcommercial success and some of the best films were churned out during this period, which areremembered and appreciated even today. One such film is Ek Ruka Hua Faisla. Inspired fromthe English flick Twelve Angry Men (1957), Ek Ruka Hua Faisla is a rare remake which is betterthan the original! Sometimes in life your professions reflect on your personalities. And more often more thanprofession communication may represent your Personality. We will write a custom essay sample on Ek Ruka Hua specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Ek Ruka Hua specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Ek Ruka Hua specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer In this movie we observe theentire decision making process and way the people communicate with each other, whereeach individual had different perception and different behavior in particular situation. theirpersonal opinion leads them to one wrong decision first but later on with just one leading,convincing, neutral and practical individual, they were able to think on the other side of thecase and finally they reached to right conclusion. There are twelve male members of a jury who have gathered together in an enclosed room todeliberate on charges of murder against a young boy accused of killing his father. The caseagainst the boy looks irrefutable and indomitable, as there is a witness in the form of an oldman who claims to have heard the incident and another woman who claims to have seen theactual act of stabbing. Plus there is the murder weapon a knife that was found at the crimescene, seemingly implicating the boy without any fragment of doubt. But all is not what itseems like. All the jury members, except one, are convinced that the boy is guilty of the crime and thetask before them is to reach a unanimous decision to expedite the case. But there is only onejury member who is not completely convinced about the case and he starts the deliberations,in which all the members have to participate to reach a common conclusionAN OVERVIEW Twelve jurors common people with their usual daily problems, emotional swings and theirregular habit to stick to what is obvious are selected to judge a case where very strongevidences are available against the accused. Everything was transparent and vividly clear. The case was supposed to end with common opinion against the accused within no time. Butone person was against this common judgment and this is the point where story builds up. This one person make other eleven to change their decision. The movie opens in the first state of Group Development, the opening period. This is thetime when people in small groups will small talk, introduce themselves, and begin to learn alittle about one another. During this stage in the movie, jurors discuss the view, old buildings,hot weather colds, and some even share what they do for a living. And this is the stage whenthe group dynamics start showing, and how in the heat of discussion, the true feelings startshowing through. Peoples biases, bigotry, temper, all start showing through. Gradually, wecome to know the communication skills of each and every jury member in the room beingopened. Eventually we see the missing links, the loopholes in the vital clues, andtestimonies, and eventually persuade all except Pankaj Kapoor. Pankaj is not so easilypersuaded because his son has left him, and he has a bias against youth, but eventually he isalso persuaded with more m. Members involved in the conflict want to create and maintainstability. However, they also want to move forward which requires change. Conflict then existsas the individuals struggle between creating both at the same time. This struggle is seen inthe film as the jury members struggle between their desire for stability and their desire forchange. Initially, it is seen that all the jury members except one have a guilty verdict. The factthat one member, KK Raina, has a not guilty verdict is an initial source of conflict. For theremaining jury members, their focus is not on understanding why Mr. Davis is saying notguilty. Instead, they want him to agree with them and choose a guilty verdict. In doing so, theyare trying to achieve stability, since if KK Raina says not guilty, there will be no conflict. KEY TAKEAWAYS y Transistion from Communication to Conflict Management y Situational Understanding with all possible Permutations and Combinations y Team Dynamics for a Decision making process REVIEWS OF THE MOVIE: ?A masterful work of debate and dialogue; of shifting momentum and the ideal of sticking toyour scruples in the face of antagonistic groupthink? ?This is a film where tension comes from personality conflict, dialogue and body language, notaction.? one is so consumed by the brilliance of the script and the acting that it doesnt matter whatthe jurors names are? CONCLUSION: The issues in the movie are addressed to the Indian audiences and in Indian setting, withIndian characters and in Hindi language. Even after a quarter of a century later the movie stirsyou with its treatment of topics because the issues of caste, class, materialism, loopholes injudicial process a nd of course human prejudices and judgement still plague us. So this movie ? Ek Ruka Hua Faisla? is a very good example of the power of communication .

Thursday, March 5, 2020

How to Write a Great College Essay, Step-by-Step

How to Write a Great College Essay, Step-by-Step SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Writing your personal statement for your college application is an undeniably overwhelming project. Your essay is your big shot to show colleges who you are - it’s totally reasonable to get stressed out. But don’t let that stress paralyze you. This guide will walk you through each step of the essay writing process to help you understand exactly what you need to do to write the best possible personal statement. I'm alsogoing to follow an imaginary student named Eva as she plans and writes her college essay, from her initial organization and brainstorming to her final edits. By the end of this article, you'll have all the toolsyou need to createa fantastic, effective college essay. So how do you writea goodcollege essay? The processstarts with finding the best possibletopic, which means understanding what the prompt is asking for and taking the time to brainstorm a variety of options. Next, you'll determinehow to create an interesting essay that shows off your unique perspective and write multiple drafts in order to hone your structureand language. Onceyour writing is as effective and engaging as possible, you'll do a final sweep to make sure everything is correct. This guide coversthe following steps: Organizing Brainstorming Picking a topic Making a plan Writing a draft Editing your draft Finalizing your draft Repeating the process Feature Image: John O'Nolan/Flickr Step 1: Get Organized The first step in how to write a college essay is figuring out what you actually need to do. Although many schools are now on the Common App, some very popular colleges, including University of Texas and University of California,still have their own applications and writing requirements. Even for Common App schools, you may need to write a supplemental essay or provide short answers to questions. Before you get started, you shouldknow exactly what essays you need to write. Having this information allows you to plan the best approach to each essay and helps you cut down on work by determining whetheryou can use an essay for more than one prompt. Start Early Writing good college essays involves a lot of work: you need dozens of hours to get just one personal statement properly polished, and that's before you even start to consider any supplemental essays. In order to make sure you have plenty of time to brainstorm, write, and edit your essay (or essays), I recommend starting at least two months before your first deadline. The last thing you want is to end up with a low-quality essay you aren't proud of because you ran out of time and had to submit something unfinished. Determine What You Need to Do As I touched on above, each college has its own essay requirements, so you'll need to go through and determine what exactly you need to submit for each school. This process issimpleif you’re only using the Common App, since you can easily view therequirements for each school under the "My Colleges" tab. Watch out, though, because some schools have a dedicated "Writing Supplement" section, while others (even those that want a full essay) will put their prompts inthe "Questions" section. It gets trickier if you’re applying to any schools that aren't onthe Common App. You'll need to look up the essay requirements for each college - what's required should be clear on the application itself, or you can look under the "how to apply" section of the school's website. Once you've determined the requirements for each school, I recommend making yourself a chartwith the school name, word limit, and application deadline on one side andthe prompt or prompts you need to respond to on the other. That way you'll be able to see exactly what you need to do and when you need to do it by. Decide Where to Start If you have one essay that's due earlier than the others, start there. Otherwise, start with the essay for your top choice school. I would also recommend starting with alonger personal statement beforemoving on to shorter supplementary essays, since the 500 - 700 word essays tend to take quite a bit longer than 100 - 250 word short responses. The brainstorming you do for the long essay may help you come up with ideas you like for the shorter ones as well. Also considerwhether some of the prompts are similar enough that you could submitthe same essay to multiple schools. Doing so can save you some time and let you focus on a few really great essays rather than a lot of mediocre ones. However,don't reuse essays for dissimilar or very school-specific prompts, especially â€Å"why us† essays. If a college asks you to write aboutwhy you're excited to go there, admissions officers want to see evidence that you're genuinely interested. Reusing an essay about another school and swapping out thenames isthe fastest way to prove you aren't. Example: Eva's College List Eva is applying early to Emory University and regular decision to University of Washington, UCLA, and Reed College. Emory and Reed both use the Common App. College Essay Prompt University of Washington December 1st 600 words Discuss how your family’s experience or cultural history enriched you or presented you with opportunities or challenges in pursuing your educational goals. OR Tell us a story from your life, describing an experience that either demonstrates your character or helped to shape it. University of Washington December 1st 300 words The University of Washington seeks to create a community of students richly diverse in cultural backgrounds, experiences, and viewpoints. How would you contribute to this community? OR Describe an experience of cultural difference or insensitivity you have had or observed. What did you learn from it? UCLA November 30 1,000 words total Describe the world you come from - for example, your family, community or school - and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations. AND Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud and how does it relate to the person you are? Common App November 1 650 words 1. Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. 2. The lessons we take from failure can be fundamental to later success. Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience? 3. Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again? 4. Describe a problem you’ve solved or a problem you’d like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma-anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution. 5. Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family. Emory University 500 words November 1 Last August, Susan Grant, chief nurse executive for Emory Healthcare, said this of Emory’s choice to treat patients with Ebola: "We can either let our actions be guided by misunderstandings, fear and self-interest, or we can lead by knowledge, science and compassion. We can fear, or we can care." Consider her idea of doing what is in the public interest despite potential cost. Please discuss an example in your life or the life of another that's come to your attention. OR In the spirit of Emory's tradition of courageous inquiry, what question do you want to help answer and why? Reed College Jan 1 200-500 words For one week at the end of January, Reed students upend the traditional classroom hierarchy and teach classes about any topic they love, academic or otherwise. This week is known as Paideia after the Greek term signifying â€Å"education† – the complete education of mind, body and spirit. What would you teach that would contribute to the Reed community? Even though she's only applying to four schools, Eva has a lot to do: two essays for UW, two for the UC application, and one for the Common App, plus the supplements for Reed and Emory. Manystudents will have fewer requirements to complete, but those who are applying to very selective schools or a number of schools on different applications will have as many or even more responses to write. Since Eva's first deadline isearly decision forEmory, she’ll start by writing the Common App essay, and then work on the Emory supplement. (For the purposes of this post, we’ll focus on the Common App essay.) Colored paper clips: functionaland fun! (At least if you love organization.) Step 2: Brainstorm Next up in how to write a college essay: brainstorming essay ideas. There are tons ofways to come up with ideas for your essay topic: I've outlined three below. I recommend trying all of themand compilinga list of possible topics, then narrowing it down to the very best one or, if you're writing multiple essays, ones. Keep in mind as you brainstorm that there’s no best college essay topic, just the best topic for you. Don’t feel obligated to write about something because you think you should - those types of essays tend to be boring and uninspired. Similarly, don't simply write about the first idea that crosses your mindbecause you don't want to bother trying to think of something more interesting. Take the timeto come up with a topic you’re really excited about and that you can write about in detail. Want to write the perfect college application essay? Get professional help from PrepScholar. Your dedicated PrepScholar Admissions counselor will craft your perfect college essay, from the ground up. We'll learn your background and interests, brainstorm essay topics, and walk you through the essay drafting process, step-by-step. At the end, you'll have a unique essay that you'll proudly submit to your top choice colleges. Don't leave your college application to chance. Find out more about PrepScholar Admissions now: Analyze the Prompts One way to find possibletopics is to think deeply aboutthe college's essay prompt. What are they asking you for? Break them downand analyze every angle. Does the question include more than one part? Are there multiple tasks you need to complete? What do you think the admissions officers are hoping to learn about you? In cases where you have more than one choice of prompt, does one especially appeal to you? Why? Let's dissectone of the University of Washington prompts as an example: "Discuss how your family’s experience or cultural history enriched you or presented you with opportunities or challenges in pursuing your educational goals." This question is basically asking how your family affected your education, but it offers a number of possible angles. You can talk about the effects of either your family life (likeyour relationship with your parents or what your household was like growing up) or your cultural history (like your Jewish faith or your Venezuelan heritage). You can also choose between focusing on positive or negative effects of your family or culture.No matter what however, the readersdefinitely want to hear about your educational goals (i.e. what you hope to get out of college) and how they're related to your personal experience. As you try to think of answers for a prompt, imagine about what you would say if you were asked the question by a friend or during a get-to-know-you icebreaker. After all, admissions officers are basically just people who you want to get to knowyou. The essay questions can make a great jumping off point, but don’t feel married to them. Most prompts are general enough that you can come up with an idea and then fit it to the question. Consider Important Experiences, Events, and Ideas in Your Life What experience, talent, interest or other quirk do you have that you might want to share with colleges? In other words, what makes you you?Possible topicsinclude hobbies, extracurriculars, intellectual interests, jobs, significant one-time events, pieces of family history, or anything else that has shaped your perspective on life. Unexpected or slightly unusual topics are often the best: your passionate love of Korean dramas or your yearly family road trip to an important historical site. You want your essayto add something to your application, so if you’re an All-American soccer player and want to write about the role soccer has played in your life, you’ll have a higher bar to clear. Of course if you have a more serious part of your personal history - the death of a parent, serious illness, or challenging upbringing - you can write about that. But make sure you feel comfortable sharing details of the experience with the admissions committee and that you can separate yourself from it enough to take constructive criticism on your essay. What do you see when you look in the mirror? Think About How You See Yourself The last brainstorming method is to consider whether there are particular personality traits you want to highlight. This approach can feel rather silly, but it can also be very effective. If you were trying to sell yourself to an employer, or maybe even a potential date, how would you do it? Try to think about specific qualities that make you stand out.What are some situations in which you exhibited this trait? Example: Eva's Ideas Looking at the Common App prompts, Eva wasn’t immediately drawn to any of them, but after a bit of consideration she thought it might be nice to write about her love of literature for the first one, which asks about something "so meaningful your application would be incomplete without it." Alternatively, she liked the specificity of the failure prompt and thought she might write about a bad job interview she had had. In terms of important events, Eva’s parents got divorced when she was three andshe’s been going back and forth between their houses for as long as she can remember, so that’s a big part of her personal story. She’s also played piano for all four years of high school, although she's not particularlygood. As for personal traits, Eva is really proud of her curiosity - if she doesn’t know something, she immediately looks it up, and often ends up discovering new topics she’s interested in. It’s a trait that’s definitely come in handy as a reporter for her school paper. Step 3: Narrow Down Your List Now you have a list of potential topics, but probably no idea where to start. The next step is to go through your ideas and determinewhich onewill make for the strongest essay. You'll thenbegin thinking about how best to approach it. What to Look For in a College Essay Topic There's no single answer to the question of what makes a great college essay topic, but there are somekey factors you should keep in mind. The best essaysare focused, detailed, revealing and insightful, and finding the righttopic is vitalto writing a killer essay with all of those qualities. As you go through your ideas, be discriminating - really think about how each topic could work as an essay. Butdon’t be too hard on yourself; even if an ideamay not work exactly the way you first thought, there may be another way to approach it. Pay attention to whatyou're really excited about and look for ways to make those ideas work. Once you have a bunch of "idea"s, you have to decide which one really stands out. Does ItMatter to You? If you don’t care about your topic, it will be hard to convince your readers to care about it either. You can't write a revealing essay about yourself unless you write about a topic that is truly important to you. But don’t confuse important to you withimportantto the world:a college essay is not a persuasive argument. The point is to givethe reader a sense of who you are, not to make a political or intellectual point. The essay needs to be personal. Similarly, a lot of students feel like they have to write about a major life event or their most impressive achievement. But the purposeof a personal statement isn't to serve as a resume or a brag sheet - there are plenty of other places in the application for you to list that information. Many of the best essays areabout something small because your approach to acommon experience generallyreveals a lot about your perspective on the world. Mostly, your topic needs to have had a genuine effect on your outlook, whether it taught you something about yourself or significantly shifted your view on something else. Does It Tell the Reader Something Different About You? Your essay should add something to your application that isn’t obvious elsewhere. Again, there are sections for all of your extracurriculars and awards; the point of the essay is to reveal something more personal that isn't clear just from numbers and lists. You also want to make sure that if you're sending more than one essay to a school - like a Common App personal statement and a school-specific supplement - the two essays take on different topics. Is ItSpecific? Your essay should ultimately have a very narrow focus. 650 words may seem like a lot, but you can fill it up very quickly. This means you either need to have a very specific topic from the beginning or find a specific aspect of a broader topic to focus on. If you try to take on a verybroad topic, you’ll end up with a bunch of general statements and boring lists of your accomplishments. Instead, you want to find a short anecdote or single idea to explore in depth. Can You DiscussIt in Detail? A vague essay is a boring essay - specific details are what imbueyour essay with yourpersonality. For example, if I tell my friend that I hada great dessert yesterday, she probably won't be that interested. But if I explainthat I ate an amazing piece of peach raspberry pie with flaky, buttery crust and filling that was both sweet and tart, she will probablydemand to know where I obtainedit (at least she will if she appreciates the joys of pie). She'll also learn more about me: I love pie and I analyzedeserts with great seriousness. Given the importance of details, writing about something that happened a long time ago or that you don’t remember well isn't usually a wisechoice. If you can't describe something in depth, it will be challenging to write a compelling essay about it. You also shouldn't pick a topic you aren't actually comfortable talking about. Some students are excited to write essays about very personal topics, like their mother's bipolar disorder or their family's financial struggles, but others dislike sharing details about these kinds of experiences. If you're a member of the latter group, that's totally okay, just don't write about one of these sensitive topics. Still, don’t worry that every single detail has to be perfectly correct. Definitely don’t make anything up, but if you remember a wall as green and it was really blue, your readers won'tnotice or care. You don't have to know exactly how many dewdrops there were on the leaf. Can It Be Related to the Prompt? As long as you’re talking about yourself, there are very few ideas that you can’t tie back to one of the Common App prompts. But if you’re applying to a school with its own more specific prompt, or working on supplemental essays, making sure to address the question will be a greater concern. Want to write the perfect college application essay? Get professional help from PrepScholar. Your dedicated PrepScholar Admissions counselor will craft your perfect college essay, from the ground up. We'll learn your background and interests, brainstorm essay topics, and walk you through the essay drafting process, step-by-step. At the end, you'll have a unique essay that you'll proudly submit to your top choice colleges. Don't leave your college application to chance. Find out more about PrepScholar Admissions now: Deciding on a Topic Once you've gone through the questions above, you should have good sense of what you want to write about. Hopefully, it's also gotten you started thinking about how you can best approach that topic, but we'll cover how to plan your essaymore fully in the next step. If after going through the narrowing process, you’ve eliminated all your topics, first look back over them: are you being too hard on yourself? Are there any that you really like, but just aren’t totally sure what angle to take on? If so, try looking at the next section and seeing if you can’t find a different way to approach it. If you just don't have an idea you're happy with, that’s okay! Give yourself a week to think about it. Sometimes you’ll end up having a genius idea in the car on the way to school or while studying for your U.S. history test. Otherwise, try the brainstorming process again when you’ve had a break. If, on the other hand, you have more than oneidea you really like, consider whether any of themcan be used for other essays you need to write. Example: Picking Eva's Topic After brainstorming, Eva has a list of five possible topics: Love of books Failed job interview Piano Parents’ divorce Reporting Eva immediately rules out writing about playing piano, because it sounds super boring to her and it’s not something she is particularly passionate about. She also decides not to write about splitting time between her parents because she just isn’t comfortable sharing her feelings about it with an admissions committee. She feels more positive about the other three, so she decides to think about them for a couple of days. She ends up ruling out the job interview because she just can’t come up with that many details she could include. She's excited about both of her last two ideas, but sees issues with both of them: the books idea is very broad and the reporting idea doesn’t seem to apply to any of the prompts. Then she realizes that she can address the solving a problem prompt by talking about a time she was trying to research a story about the closing of a local movie theater, so she decides to go with that topic. Step 4: Figure Out Your Approach You’ve decided on a topic, but now you need to turn that topic into an essay. To do so, you need to determine what specifically you’re focusing on and how you’ll structure your essay. If you’re struggling or uncertain, try taking a look at some examples of successful college essays.It can be helpful to dissect how other personal statementsare structured to get ideas for your own, but don't fall into the trap of trying to copy someone else's approach. Youressayis your story - never forget that. Let's go through the key steps that will help you turn a great topic into a great essay. Choose a Focal Point As I touched on above, the narrower your focus, the easier it will be to write a unique, engaging personal statement.The simplestway to restrict the scope of your essayis to recount an anecdote, i.e. a short personal story that illustrates your larger point. For example, say a student was planning to write about her Outward Bound trip in Yosemite. If she tries to tell the entire story of hertrip, heressay will either be far too long or very vague. Instead, she decidesto focus in on a specific incident that exemplifies what mattered to her about the experience: her failed attempt to climb Half Dome. She described the moment she decided to turn back without reaching the top in detail, while touching on other parts of the climb and trip where appropriate. This approach lets her create a dramatic arc in just 600 words, while fully answering the question posed in the prompt (Common App prompt 2). Of course, concentratingon an anecdote isn't the only way to narrow your focus. Depending on your topic, it might make more sense to build your essay around an especially meaningful object, relationship, or idea. Another approachour example student from above could take to the same general topic would be to write about her attempts to keep her hiking boots from giving her blisters (in response to Common App prompt 4). Rather than discussing a single incident, she could tell the story of her trip through her ongoing struggle with the boots: the different fixes she tried, her less and less squeamish reactions to the blisters, the solution she finally found. A structure like this one can be trickier than the more straightforward anecdote approach, but it can also make for an engaging and different essay. When deciding what part of your topic to focus on, try to find whatever it is about the topic that is most meaningful and uniqueto you. Once you've figured that part out, it will guide how you structure the essay. To be fair, even trying to climb Half Dome takes some serious guts. Decide What You Want to Show About Yourself Remember that the point of the college essay isn’t just to tell a story, it’s to show something about yourself. It's vital that you have a specific point you want to make about what kind of person you are, what kind of college student you’d make, or what the experience you’re describing taught you. Since the papers you write for school are mostly analytical, you probably aren't used to writing about your own feelings. As such, it can be easy to neglect the reflection part of the personal statement in favor of just telling a story.Yet explaining what the event or idea you discuss meant to you is the most important essay - knowing how you want to tie your experiences back to yourpersonal growth from the beginning will help you make sure to include it. Develop a Structure It’s not enough to just know what you want to write about - you also need to have a sense of how you’re going to write about it. You could have the most exciting topic of all time, but without a clear structure your essay will end up as incomprehensible gibberish that doesn't tell the reader anything meaningful about your personality. There are a lot of different possible essay structures, but a simple and effective one is the compressed narrative, which builds on aspecific anecdote (like the Half Dome example above): Start in the middle of the action. Don't spend a lot of time at the beginning of your essay outlining background info - it doesn't tend to draw the reader in and you usually need less of it than you think you do. Instead start right where your story starts to get interesting. (I'll go into how to craft an intriguingopenerin more depth below.) Briefly explain what the situation is. Now thatyou've gotthe reader's attention, go back and explain anything they need to know about how you got into this situation. Don't feel compelled to fit everything in - only include the background details that are necessary to either understand what happened or illuminate your feelings about the situation in some way. Finish the story. Once you've clarified exactly what's going on, explain how you resolved the conflict or concluded the experience. Explain what you learned. The last step is to tie everything together and bring home the main point of your story: how this experience affected you. The key to this type of structure is to create narrative tension - you want your reader to be wondering what happens next. A second approach is the thematic structure, which is based on returning to a key idea or object again and again (like the boots example above): Establish the focus.If you're going to structure your essay around a single theme or object, you need to begin the essay byintroducing that key thing. You can do sowith a relevant anecdote or a detailed description. Touch on 3 - 5 timesthe focus was important.The body of your essay will consist of stringing together a few important momentsrelated to the topic. Make sure to use sensory details to bring the reader into those points in time and keep her engagedin the essay. Also remember to elucidate why these moments were important to you. Revisit the main idea.At the end, you want to tie everything together by revisiting the main idea or object and showing how your relationship to it hasshaped or affected you. Ideally, you'll also hint at how this thing will be important to you going forward. To make this structure work you need a veryspecific focus. Your love of travel, for example, is much too broad - you would need to hone in on a specific aspect of that interest, like how travelinghas taught you to adapt to event the most unusual situations. Whatever you do, don't use this structure to create a glorified resume or brag sheet. However you structure your essay, you want to make sure that it clearly lays out both the events or ideas you’re describing and establishes the stakes (i.e. what it all means for you). Many students become so focused on telling astory or recounting details that they forget to explain what it all meant to them. Your essay has to be built step-by-step, just like this building. Example: Eva's Essay Plan For her essay, Eva decides to use the compressed narrative structure to tell the story of how she tried and failed to report on the closing of a historic movie theater: Open with the part of her story where she finally gave up after calling the theater and city hall a dozen times. Explain that although she started researchingthe story out of journalistic curiosity, it was important to her because she'd grown up going to movies at that theater. Recount how defeated she felt when she couldn't get ahold of anyone, and then even more so when she saw a story about the theater's closingin the local paper. Describer her decisionto write an op-ed instead and interviewother students about what the theater meant to them. Finish by explaining that although she wasn't able to get the story (or stop the destruction of the theater), she learned that sometimes the emotional angle can be just as interesting as the investigative one. Step 5: Write a FirstDraft The key to writing your first draft is not to worry about whether it’s any good - just get something on paper and go from there. You will have to rewrite, so trying to get everything perfect is both frustrating and futile. Everyone has their own writing process. Maybe you feel more comfortable sitting down and writing the whole draft from beginning to end in one go. Maybe you jump around, writing a little bit here and a little there. It’s okay to have sections you know won’t work or to skip over things you think you’ll need to include later. Whatever your approach, there are a few tips everyone can benefit from. Don't Aim for Perfection I mentioned this idea above, but I can't emphasize it enough: no one writes a perfect first draft. Extensive editing and rewriting is vital to crafting an effective personal statement. Don’t get too attached to any part of yourdraft, because you may needto change anything (or everything) about your essay later. Also keep in mind that, at this point in the process, the goal is just to get your ideas down. Wonky phrasings and misplaced commas can easily be fixed when you edit, so don't worry about them as you write. Instead, focus on including lots of specific details and emphasizing how your topic has affected you, since these aspects are vital to a compelling essay. Want to write the perfect college application essay? Get professional help from PrepScholar. Your dedicated PrepScholar Admissions counselor will craft your perfect college essay, from the ground up. We'll learn your background and interests, brainstorm essay topics, and walk you through the essay drafting process, step-by-step. At the end, you'll have a unique essay that you'll proudly submit to your top choice colleges. Don't leave your college application to chance. Find out more about PrepScholar Admissions now: Write an EngagingIntroduction One part of the essay you do want to pay special attention to is the introduction. Your intro is your essay’s first impression: you only get one. It's much harder to regain your reader's attention onceyou've lost it, so you want to draw the reader in with an immediately engaging hook that sets up a compelling story. There are two possible approaches I would recommend. The â€Å"In Media Res† Opening You’ll probably recognize this term if you studied The Odyssey: it basically means that the story starts in the middle of the action, rather than at the beginning. A good intro of this type makes the reader wonder both how you got to the point you’re starting at and where you'll go from there. These openers provide a solid, intriguing beginningfor narrative essays (though they can certainly for thematic structures as well). But how do you craft one? Try to determine the most interesting point in your story and startthere. If you're not sure where that is, try writing out the entire story and then crossing out each sentence in order until you get to one that immediatelygrabs your attention. Let's look at some examples from real students' college essays: "Bottom of the ninth, two outs, the Red Sox down by four. We needed a miracle." Daniel J Shinnick, Connecticut College "I strode in front of 400 frenzied eighth graders with my arm slung over my Fender Stratocaster guitar - it actually belonged to my mother - and launched into the first few chords of Nirvana's 'Lithium.'" Anonymous, University of Virginia Both of these introsthrow the reader right intothe middle of the action. In the first, the game is already mostly over, and as we later find out, his sister is undergoing brain surgery the next day. The immediacy of this intro ("We need a miracle") gives a sense of high stakes, even though we don't know what the real topicis yet. In the second, the author jumps rightinto the action: theperformance. You can imagine how much less exciting it would be ifthe essay opened with an explanation of what the event was and why the author was performing. The Specific Generalization Sounds like an oxymoron, right? This type of intro sets up what the essay is going to talk about in a slightly unexpected way. These area bit trickier than the "in media res" variety, but theycan work really well for the right essay - generally one with a thematic structure. The key to this type of intro is detail. Contrary to what you may have learned in elementary school, sweeping statements don't make very strong hooks. If you want to start your essay with a more overalldescription of what you'll be discussing, you still need to make it specific and unique enough to stand out. Once again, let's look at some examples from real students' essays: â€Å"Pushed against the left wall in my room is a curious piece of furniture.† Neha, Johns Hopkins University â€Å"My name is Brontà «, and if you ask me, I’ll tell you my favorite book is Jane Eyre. This may or may not be a coincidence.† Brontà «, Johns Hopkins University Both of these intros set up the general topic of the essay (the first writer's bookshelf and and the second'slove ofJane Eyre) in an intriguing way.The first intro works because itmixes specific descriptions ("pushed against the left wall in my room") with more general commentary ("a curious piece of furniture"). The second draws the reader in by adopting a conversational and irreverent tone with asides like "if you ask me" and "This may or may not be a coincidence." I wouldn't recommend this intro - it's a bitof a cliche. Don't Worry Too Much About the Length When you start writing, don't worry about your essay'slength. Instead, focus on trying to include all of the details you can think of about your topic, which will make it easier to decide what you really need to include when you edit. However, if your first draft is more than twicethe word limitand you don't have a clear idea of what needs to be cut out, you may need to reconsider your focus - your topic is likely too broad. You may also need to reconsider your topic or approach if you find yourself struggling to fill space, since this usually indicates a topic that lacks a specific focus. Eva's First Paragraph I dialed the phone number for the fourth time that week. "Hello? This is Eva Smith, and I'm a reporter with Tiny Town High's newspaperThe Falcon.I was hoping to ask you some questions about - " I heard the distinctive click of the person on the other end of the line hanging up, followed by dial tone. I was about ready to give up: I'd been trying to get the skinny on whether the Atlas Theater was actually closing to make way for a big AMC multiplex or if it was just a rumor for weeks, but no one would return my calls. Step 6: Edit Aggressively No one writes a perfect first draft. No matter how much you might want to be done after writing a first draft - you musttake the time to edit. Thinkingcritically aboutyour essay and rewriting as needed is a vital part of writing a great college essay. Before you start editing, put your essay aside for a week or so. It will be easier to approach it objectively if you haven’t seen it in a while. Then, take an initial pass to identify any big picture issues with your essay. Once you've fixed those, ask for feedback from other readers - they'll often notice gaps in logic that don't appear to you, because you're automatically filling in your intimate knowledge of the situation. Finally, take another, more detailed look at your essay to fine tune the language. I've explained each of these steps in more depth below. First Editing Pass You should start the editing process by looking foranystructural or thematic issues with your essay. If you see sentences that don’t make sense or glaring typos of course fix them, but at this point, you’re really focused on the major issues since those require the most extensive rewrites. You don’t want to get your sentences beautifully structured only to realize you need to remove the entire paragraph. This phase is really about honing your structure and your voice. As you read through your essay, think about whether it effectively draws the reader along, engages him with specific details, and shows why the topicmatters to you. Try asking yourself the following questions: Does the intro make you want to read more? Is the progression of events and/or ideas clear? Does the essay show something specific about you? What is it and can you clearly identify it in the essay? Are there places where you could replace vague statements with more specific ones? Do you have too many irrelevant or uninteresting details clogging up the narrative? Is it too long? What can you cut out or condense without losing any important ideas or details? Give yourself credit for what you’ve done well, but don’t hesitate to change things that aren’t working. It can be tempting to hang on to what you've already written - you tookthe time and thought to craft it in the first place, so it can be hard to let it go. Taking this approach is doing yourself a disservice, however. No matter how much work you put into a paragraph or much you like a phrase, if they aren't adding to your essay, they need to be cut or altered. If there’s a really big structural problem, or the topic is just not working, you may have to chuck this draft out and start from scratch. Don't panic! I know starting over is frustrating, but it’s often the best way to fix major issues. Unfortunately, some problems can't be fixed with whiteout. Consulting Other Readers Once you’ve fixed the problems you found on the first pass and have a second (or third) draft you’re basically happy with, ask some other people to read it. Check with people whose judgment you trust: parents, teachers, and friends can all be great resources, but how helpful someone willbedepends on the individual and how willing you are to take criticism from her. Also, keep in mind that many people, even teachers, may not be familiar with what colleges look for in an essay. Your mom, for example, may have never written a personal statement, and even if she did, it was most likely decades ago.Give your readersa sense of what you’d like them to read for, or print out the questions I listed above and include them at the end of your essay. Second Pass After incorporating any helpful feedback you got from others, you should now have a nearly complete draft with a clear arc. At this point you want to look for issues with word choice and sentence structure: Are there parts that seem stilted or overly formal? Do you have any vague or boring descriptors that could be replaced with something more interesting and specific? Are there any obvious redundancies or repetitiveness? Have you misused any words? Are your sentences of varied length and structure? A good way to check for weirdness in language is to read the essay out loud. Ifsomething sounds weird when you say it, it will almost certainlyseem offwhen someone else reads it. Example: Editing Eva's First Paragraph In general, Eva feels like her first paragraph isn't as engaging as it could be and doesn't introduce the main point of the essay that well: although it sets up the narrative, it doesn't show off her personality that well.She decides to break itdown sentence by sentence: I dialed the phone number for the fourth time that week. Problem: For a hook, this sentence is a little too expository. It doesn't add any real excitement or important information (other than that this call isn't the first, which can be incorporate elsewhere. Solution: Cut this sentence and start with the line of dialogue. "Hello? This is Eva Smith, and I'm a reporter with Tiny Town High's newspaperThe Falcon.I was hoping to ask you some questions about - " Problem: No major issues with this sentence. It's engaging and sets the scene effectively. Solution: None needed, but Eva does tweak it slightly to include the fact that this call wasn't her first. I heard the distinctive click of the person on the other end of the line hanging up, followed by dial tone. Problem:This is a long-winded way of making a point that's not that important. Solution: Replace it with a shorter, more evocative description: "Click. Bzzzzzzz. Whoever was on the other end of the line had hung up." I was about ready to give up: I'd been trying to get the skinny on whether the Atlas Theater was actually closing to make way for a big AMC multiplex or if it was just a rumor for weeks, but no one would return my calls. Problem: This sentence is kind of long. Some of the phrases ("about ready to give up," "get the skinny") are cliche. Solution: Eva decides to try to stick more closely to her own perspective: "I'd heard rumors that Atlas Theater was going to be replaced with an AMC multiplex, and I was worried." She also puts a paragraph break before this sentence to emphasize that she's now movingon tothe background info rather than describing her call. There's a real Atlas Theater. Apparently it's haunted! Step 7: Double Check Everything Once you have a final draft, give yourself another week and then go through your essay again. Read it carefully to make sure nothing seems off and there are no obvious typos or errors. Confirm that you are at or under the word limit. Then, go over the essayagain, line by line, checking every word to make sure that it’s correct. Double check common errors that spell check may not catch, like mixing up affect and effect or misplacing commas. Finally, have two other readers check it as well. Oftentimes a fresh set of eyes will catch an issue you've glossed over simply because you've been looking at the essay for so long. Give your readersinstructions to only look for typos and errors, since you don't want to be making any major content changes at this point in the process. Thislevel of thoroughness may seem like overkill, but it's worth taking the time to ensure that you don't have any errors. The last thing you want is for an admissions officer to be put off by a typo or error. Example: Eva's Final Draft (Paragraphs 1 and 2) "Hello? This is Eva Smith again. I'm a reporter with Tiny Town High's newspaperThe Falcon, andI was hoping to ask you some questions about - "Click. Bzzzzzzz. Whoever was on the other end of the line had hung up. I'd heard rumors that the historic Atlas Theater was going to be replaced with an AMC multiplex, and I was worried. I'd grown up with the Atlas: my dad taking me to see every Pixar movie on opening night and buying me Red Vines to keep me distracted during the sad parts. Unfortunately my personal history with the place didn't seem to carry much weight with anyone official, and my calls to both the theater and city hall had thus far gone unanswered. Once you've finished the final check, you’re done, and ready to submit! There's one last step, however. Step 8: Do It All Again Remember back in step one, when we talked about making a chart to keep track of all the different essays you need to write? Well, now you need to go back tothat list and determine which essays you still need to write. Keep in mind your deadlines and don't forget that some schools may require more than one essay or ask for short paragraphs in addition to the main personal statement. Reusing Essays In some cases, you may be able to reuse the essay you've already written for other prompts. You can use the same essay fortwo prompts if: both of them are asking the same basic question (e.g. "how do you interact with people who are different from you?" or "what was an important experience and why?"), or one prompt is relatively specific and the other is very general (e.g. "tell us about how your family shaped your education" and "tell us something about your background"),and neither asks about your interest in a specific school or program. If you choose to reuse an essay you wrote for a different prompt, make sure that it addressesevery part of question and that it fits the word limit. If you have to tweak a few things or cut out 50-odd words, it will probably still work. But if the essay would require major changes to fit the criteria, you're probably better off starting from scratch (even if you use the same basic topic). Crafting Supplemental Essays The key to keep in mind in when brainstorming for supplemental essays is that you want them to add something new to your application. You shouldn't write about the same topic you used for your personal statement, although it's okay to talk about something similar, as long as you adopt a clearlydifferent angle. For example, if you're planning to be pre-med in college and your main essay is about how volunteering at the hospital taught you not to judge people on their appearance, you might write your secondary essay on your intellectual interest in biology (which could touch on your volunteering). There's some overlap, but the two topics are clearly distinct. And now, you're really, truly, finally done. Congrats! What's Next? Now that you know how to write a college essay, we have a lot more specific resources for you to excel. Are youworking on the Common App essay? Read our breakdown of the Common App prompts and our guide to picking the best prompt for you. Ormaybe you're interested in the University of California? Check out our complete guide to the UC personal statements. In case you haven't finished the rest of the application process,take a look atour guides to asking for recommendations, writing about extracurriculars, andresearching colleges. Finally, if you're planning to take the SAT or ACT one last time, try out some of our famous test prep guides, like "How to Get a Perfect Score on the SAT" and "15 Key ACT Test Day Tips." 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: