This essay is about avoiding the stress and confusion of a disjointed autobiography. I hope you like it! :-)
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While Mark Twain is remembered today as being one of the funniest, wittiest, and greatest writers of the 19th century, not all his works were well organized, and easy to read. Especially not his autobiography! Some of the events are out of order, and the facts don't always agree with one another. There are a few things I can do now to prevent this from happening to me when I write my autobiography.
First things first -- keep good notes! This is obviously something Twain didn't do. If I keep notes about what happens in my day-to-day life, such as in a journal, then I won't have such a problem with facts not agreeing. They will all be written down so that I won't get confused on the details. Second, date these notes! Putting dates on the top of each entry will help me remember when things happened. Twenty or thirty years from now, I probably won't remember what happened yesterday. Writing a journal entry about it, and then dating it, will help me remember when events happened. Third, don't leave others out. Don't just write down what happens in your life, but also some things that happen in your friend's or your close family's lives. The important people around you are just that -- important. When you're older, you'll want to not only remember the experiences you had, but who you shared them with.
So, those are the three things. 1) Keep good notes. 2) Keep track of dates. 3) Remember the people around you. If I follow these three rules, I should have little or no problem writing my autobiography.
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Did you enjoy this essay? Leave a comment below and let me know what you think!
Friday, January 31, 2014
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Water in Abundance, Water in Scarcity
This is an essay comparing and contrasting the desert and aquatic biomes. Enjoy!
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The desert and aquatic biomes are two of the most well known, and well researched biomes on Earth. We have the typical facts, like the desert doesn't have much water, but the aquatic regions do. Also, there's not much life in the desert biome -- it's too hot, but the aquatic biome, however, has some of the most population diversity in the world. These are just common, everyday knowledge...but below the surface, these two biomes may offer a few surprises.
The desert biome makes up 1/5 of the world's surface. This is much smaller than the aquatic biome, which takes up 3/4 of the Earth's surface. The most common type of desert is the hot and dry desert. Unlike its name states, it's not always scorching. In reality, it can sometimes dip down below -18 C in the winter months. However, in the summer, the daytime temperature can reach 49 C. In contrast, the aquatic biome's temperatures don't vary quite so dramatically. For ponds and lakes, the temperature usually only ranges from 0 C to 22 C. The ocean's temperatures vary a little more, but usually they don't go colder than 3 C.
The plant and animal life in the aquatic regions of the world is colorful, diverse, and fascinating. On the edge of the ocean, one can find crabs, clams, mussels, and jelly fish as the main animals, and coral, seaweed, and algae are really the only plants you'll find. (The waves keep other plants from establishing their roots.) Further out, many species of fish, whales, dolphins, sharks, and other animals can be found in abundance. Seaweed becomes the largest plant species out in the deeper parts of the ocean. The desert, however, is not abundant in life. Rather, only cacti, scrub, and low ground-hugging plants can be found here. Animal life is scarce too -- only a few species of reptiles and birds can fare very well out in the hot sun.
While they are very different, both biomes are important for human life. Cacti provides a source of food for the natives that are in and around the desert, and fishing the oceans is a major industry world wide. Be it hot and dry, or cool and wet, the world is full of diverse landscapes.
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Hope you liked it. Please leave your thoughts in the comment section below. :-)
--RPCStudent1414
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The desert and aquatic biomes are two of the most well known, and well researched biomes on Earth. We have the typical facts, like the desert doesn't have much water, but the aquatic regions do. Also, there's not much life in the desert biome -- it's too hot, but the aquatic biome, however, has some of the most population diversity in the world. These are just common, everyday knowledge...but below the surface, these two biomes may offer a few surprises.
The desert biome makes up 1/5 of the world's surface. This is much smaller than the aquatic biome, which takes up 3/4 of the Earth's surface. The most common type of desert is the hot and dry desert. Unlike its name states, it's not always scorching. In reality, it can sometimes dip down below -18 C in the winter months. However, in the summer, the daytime temperature can reach 49 C. In contrast, the aquatic biome's temperatures don't vary quite so dramatically. For ponds and lakes, the temperature usually only ranges from 0 C to 22 C. The ocean's temperatures vary a little more, but usually they don't go colder than 3 C.
The plant and animal life in the aquatic regions of the world is colorful, diverse, and fascinating. On the edge of the ocean, one can find crabs, clams, mussels, and jelly fish as the main animals, and coral, seaweed, and algae are really the only plants you'll find. (The waves keep other plants from establishing their roots.) Further out, many species of fish, whales, dolphins, sharks, and other animals can be found in abundance. Seaweed becomes the largest plant species out in the deeper parts of the ocean. The desert, however, is not abundant in life. Rather, only cacti, scrub, and low ground-hugging plants can be found here. Animal life is scarce too -- only a few species of reptiles and birds can fare very well out in the hot sun.
While they are very different, both biomes are important for human life. Cacti provides a source of food for the natives that are in and around the desert, and fishing the oceans is a major industry world wide. Be it hot and dry, or cool and wet, the world is full of diverse landscapes.
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Hope you liked it. Please leave your thoughts in the comment section below. :-)
--RPCStudent1414
Friday, January 24, 2014
Why Was Plunkitt So Open About How He Made His Money?
This is an essay for my English 1 course. Enjoy! :-)
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In the autobiography of George Washington Plunkitt, Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, not much attempt is make to conceal the way that Plunkitt made his money. He calls it, 'honest graft', but I think most people would call it, 'typical politician'. (He would get inside information on where city projects were going to take place, and would go and buy up all the land and property around the area up. The city project would cause the property value up, so Plunkitt could sell the houses for more than he paid, and make a buck.)
I would attribute the utter 'openness' not to Plunkitt, but instead to Riordan, the man who helped him write the autobiography. I think it was probably a stab at Plunkitt, by Riordan. (Riordan was a reformer...and Plunkitt did not like reformers. However, the reformers were the book's intended audience.) I think it would be funny to the reformers, and also a bit of ammunition, to have Plunkitt's primary source of revenue so blatantly stated. Also, if people found out, which they did, once the book was published, that Plunkitt was making his money in this way, they would stop voting for him. And they did! The very next election, Plunkitt lost to a well-educated reformer.
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In the autobiography of George Washington Plunkitt, Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, not much attempt is make to conceal the way that Plunkitt made his money. He calls it, 'honest graft', but I think most people would call it, 'typical politician'. (He would get inside information on where city projects were going to take place, and would go and buy up all the land and property around the area up. The city project would cause the property value up, so Plunkitt could sell the houses for more than he paid, and make a buck.)
I would attribute the utter 'openness' not to Plunkitt, but instead to Riordan, the man who helped him write the autobiography. I think it was probably a stab at Plunkitt, by Riordan. (Riordan was a reformer...and Plunkitt did not like reformers. However, the reformers were the book's intended audience.) I think it would be funny to the reformers, and also a bit of ammunition, to have Plunkitt's primary source of revenue so blatantly stated. Also, if people found out, which they did, once the book was published, that Plunkitt was making his money in this way, they would stop voting for him. And they did! The very next election, Plunkitt lost to a well-educated reformer.
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Friday, January 17, 2014
How Serious was Plunkitt about Patriotism's Connection to Obtaining a Job After Tammany Won an Election?
This is an essay for my English 1 course. Before you read this essay, it is important that you note that George W. Plunkitt was a New York politician around 1913.
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George Washington Plunkitt had several very strong beliefs in the way of New York City Tammany Ticket Politics. One of these was that Civil Service Reform. Civil Service said that people could no longer just go in and get a job in Tammany Hall once Tammany was elected. They had to pass rigorous tests, that had nothing to do with politics. Plunkitt said that this would ruin a man's patriotism. He said that they would go to Tammany Hall filled with pride and patriotism, ready to get a good job to serve his party, only to find out that he has to pass a very tough test. Of course, the man has no college education where with to pass this test, and so he leaves Tammany Hall angry, and all his patriotism has been lost. He told a story about a man named Rafferty. He said that Rafferty fell upon the curse of Civil Service, couldn't get a job, and turned against his country. Several years later, in the Spanish - American war, he was found dead on the battlefield with a Spanish uniform on. Plunkitt said that this would keep happening as long as Civil Service remained in effect. Plunkitt said that Civil Service would ruin patriotism, ruin politics, and ruin New York City.
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So what did you think? Leave a comment below.
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George Washington Plunkitt had several very strong beliefs in the way of New York City Tammany Ticket Politics. One of these was that Civil Service Reform. Civil Service said that people could no longer just go in and get a job in Tammany Hall once Tammany was elected. They had to pass rigorous tests, that had nothing to do with politics. Plunkitt said that this would ruin a man's patriotism. He said that they would go to Tammany Hall filled with pride and patriotism, ready to get a good job to serve his party, only to find out that he has to pass a very tough test. Of course, the man has no college education where with to pass this test, and so he leaves Tammany Hall angry, and all his patriotism has been lost. He told a story about a man named Rafferty. He said that Rafferty fell upon the curse of Civil Service, couldn't get a job, and turned against his country. Several years later, in the Spanish - American war, he was found dead on the battlefield with a Spanish uniform on. Plunkitt said that this would keep happening as long as Civil Service remained in effect. Plunkitt said that Civil Service would ruin patriotism, ruin politics, and ruin New York City.
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So what did you think? Leave a comment below.
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