Graduation Speech -- Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

There's a recurring question that often presents itself at different points in our lives. We ask it to ourselves in private and are asked by others at any given time. It comes from those we are yet to know well and from those who can see us with their eyes closed. It goes to the tune of, "What do you want to do someday?" or "What do you want to be?" and it rarely comes with a monosyllabic reply. The routine "I don't know," or shrug are devoted companions of this question, though every now and then an individual can focus the future before his or her eyes and give it a name. For the rest of us, the specifics may still be hazy. I can say with certainty that my response to this questions is consistently inarticulate. I do take solace, however, in the fact that it would be difficult for anyone to form a sentence when countless possible futures crash into their heads and rain down indecision and excited apprehension. "What do you want to be when you grow up?" is difficult to answer for many reasons. It is not challenging simply because of all the choices we have, but also because it f...

Love in “A Midsummer Nights Dream” Essay

In Shakespeare’s â€Å"a Midsummer Nights Dream† love is shown in many different ways. During the play there are many different sub-stories and extra plots that it is easy for Shakespeare to add many different ideas, these sub-stories in the play are the story of Pyrimus & Thisbee and also the story of the Fairy King and Queen Oberon and Titania. With these added plots in place Shakespeare adds the themes of deceit, magic and confusion. In Act 1 Scene 1 parental love is shown when Hermia’s father Egeus tries to get his daughter to marry Demetrius who he believes is much better for Hermia than her true love Lysander. Egeus believes he is protecting his daughter by attempting to force her to marry Demetrius but is actually going against his daughters wishes as she wants to marry Lysander, Egeus then presents her with an ultimatum which makes her choose to marry Demetrius of live a Celibate life in the church and it is at this point in the play that Hermia and Lysander choose to runaway. This is a good example of parental love going terribly wrong as Egeus loses control over his daughter when she deceives him by running away with the man her father disapproves of her marrying, this also starts of the plot of the confused lovers. Shakespeare portrays the confusion between Hermia, Lysander, Helena and Demetrius by using the fairies and the ideas of dreams and magic so the reader cannot tell what is reality and what is fantasy. It is at this point in the play when the fairies are brought into the play as the mischievous ‘Puck’ causes mayhem between the four Athenians. The confusion is caused when Oberon sees Helena constantly doting over Demetrius despite Demetrius’s love for Hermia, he then sends Puck to fetch a magical flower to put on the eyes of Demetrius so that he would wake and set eyes on Helena and fall in love with her, but this all goes wrong when he places the flower on Lysander’s eyes and he is woken by Helena, consequently falling in love with Helena and snubbing Hermia. The confusion thickens further as Puck then also applies the magical flower to Demetrius and he also falls in love with Helena and results in Lysander and Demetrius fighting over Helena. This keeps the r eaders interest because of the sudden role reversal between Hermia and Helena. The Confused Lovers is written into the play well into the play very well and effectively and by portraying it using fantasy and  magic Shakespeare is able to add another dimension to the play. By bringing magic into the play Shakespeare introduces the deceitful element to the love and also a higher level magical degree. The story of Oberon and Titania is one of Male Dominance, Jealousy and Conflict. Titania and Oberon are king and queen of the fairies and there relationship affects the goings on of nature. Titania’s part in the play is highly unpredictable as she shows love for 3 different characters; these characters are Oberon, Nick Bottom, and The changeling child. These are three different types of love, her love for Oberon seems forced and full of conflict, her love for Nick Bottom is due to the same magic as used on the confused lovers and her love for the Changeling Child is out of care and consideration as she has rescued it. The changeling child sparks the argument between Oberon and Titania and this leads to Titania’s abrupt love for Nick Bottom. This is planned by Oberon as revenge for Titania not giving him the changeling child as a servant. Titania’s love for Bottom is only due to magic and many other aspects, one of these aspects is Titania’s love of being in love and the love for bottom is very wrong. It is wrong as he is an innocent victim of Oberon and Puck’s trouble making and cannot do anything to stop what has happened and Titania takes advantage of this using her beauty and the luxurious treatment he gives him to get what she wants while he believes it is a dream, we realise this as he isn’t sure where he is or what happened to him. There is love between Hermia and Lysander and also Demetrius and Helena either side of the confusion when the four venture into the forest. The love between Lysander and Hermia is very true and exists from Lysander to Hermia and vice versa. This is displayed very early on in the play when Lysander refuses to give up on Hermia when her father demands she marry Demetrius and also when Hermia is willing to run away from a life of spoils and riches just to be with Lysander. This love is still the same at the end as neither Hermia nor Lysander have any memory of what happened due to magic yet again. On the other hand the love between Demetrius & Helena is forever changing up until the end of the play, at the start Helena’s love for Demetrius is doting and obsessive but Demetrius returns none of this love. This is well  shown when they are in the forest and Helena says â€Å"the more thy object me the more I dote on you† she continues to make comments like this even when Demetrius continually rejects her, it is obvious he dislikes Helena as he makes comments such as â€Å"I love thee not, therefore pursue me not† this makes it obvious to Helena that Demetrius dislikes her but she still pursues him right up until the end of the play when he finally falls in love with her. Although once more this love is only due to the magical works of Puck. The problems between Hermia and her father are resolved when the four now unconfused lovers are found by Theseus and Egeus in the forest, Theseus then heard of there love for each other and declared â€Å"fair lovers you are fortunately met† and all happiness is achieved. The four lovers have no memory of the events that have happened and think it is all a dream but it is actually reality. Shakespeare uses a variation of techniques and themes to portray love in â€Å"A Midsummer Nights Dream†. Many are successful but the sub plot of Pyramus and Thisbee is unsuccessful as it does not play a major part in the play and the reader knows that the happenings of the play are not reality but with the other themes the reader does not know whether the happenings were reality or not. The other themes are successful because of the fact that there is no differentiating between reality and dreams, I think Shakespeare is successful in portraying love in the play and I also believe that his extensive use of various themes is a key to this success.

A Parenthetical Puzzle

A Parenthetical Puzzle A Parenthetical Puzzle A Parenthetical Puzzle By Mark Nichol Writers sometimes trip themselves up when they try to introduce a parenthetical element in a sentence without ensuring that the main clause of the sentence remains grammatically coherent. Here’s a troublesome example of this type of error, with a discussion of possible revisions. In the sentence â€Å"Smith was one of, if not the first, female members of the organization,† the writer is attempting to communicate two related ideas too early in the syntactical structure: Smith was one of the first female members of the organization, and she may have been the first female member of the organization. The preceding sentence is a possible revision, but the two thoughts can be expressed more concisely. To untangle the original sentence, revise it so that if the parenthetical element what is positioned between the commas (or a pair of parentheses or dashes) is deleted, what remains stands as a coherent sentence. The sentence without the parenthesis, â€Å"Smith was one of female members of the organization,† is not grammatically sound, because â€Å"the first† is expected to bear the responsibility of serving both points of the sentence. With the parenthesis, â€Å"female members† is expected to apply both to â€Å"one of† and â€Å"the first,† but the phrases are not parallel in structure. How about aligning the two points by using â€Å"the first† in each phrase? â€Å"Smith was one of the first, if not the first, female members of the organization† is closer to correct, but the parenthetical phrase still doesn’t agree with â€Å"female members.† (I’ve also seen constructions like â€Å"Smith was one of the, if not the, first female members of the organization.† The sentence is valid if the parenthesis is deleted, but the full sentence, again, is not parallel in structure.) Let’s try moving the phrase â€Å"female members† before the parenthesis: â€Å"Smith was one of the first female members, if not the first, of the organization.† That’s better, but it still reads awkwardly. How about moving â€Å"of the organization† before the parenthetical, too? (â€Å"Smith was one of the first female members of the organization, if not the first.†) The parenthetical is no longer a parenthetical it’s just a truncated phrase tacked onto the end of the main clause that implies the wording â€Å"if not the first female member of the organization† but the grammatical architecture is now sound. Sometimes, as in this case, a sentence is flawed in form it just won’t support a parenthetical element and must be restructured. This post analyzes three similarly impaired sentences. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:25 Subordinating ConjunctionsTop 11 Writing Apps for iOS (iPhone and iPad)Forming the Comparative of One-syllable Adjectives

Bullying Among Teenagers Essays

Bullying Among Teenagers Essays Bullying Among Teenagers Essay Bullying Among Teenagers Essay Essay Topic: Cyber Bullying Bullying has gone on for so long, and it is not just children bullying other children to the point they want to take measures into their own hands. Teachers and staff at school whom children should be able to go through for help is also bullying, sadly these people know they can get away with it so they aren’t stopping the violence before it’s too late, therefore kids are taking actions into their own hand and causing violence by shooting innocent students and staff just to try and get their points across. Bullying statistics: (www. pascack. k12. nj. us/bullyingstatistics. htm) 46% of males and 26% of females reported they had been in physical fights. When children are bullied at school they generally use violence as the retaliation because they know that is going to be one thing that they are in control over rather than just trying to get the bullies to stop what they are doing when the child goes to the adult they are usually told â€Å"we will keep an eye on the situation†. Bullying isn’t just stopping with kids it is also happening with adults, and what I mean by this is when children go to the adults because they are being bullied they are expecting the adult to take charge and take action about the situation that is at hand, however in many more cases the teacher, parents, or staff member is getting together with the other bullying child’s parents and wanting to take action, however when the kids find out what happened then the bullying does go farther and the child is made fun of even more. There were over 20 reported deaths between the year 2005-2006 of not only students but also adults that were killed or committed suicide as the result of a student that was the victim of school bullying (www. schoolsecurity. org). These are not just happening in one area or state they are happening everywhere kids are being made fun of because of what color their skin is, or what kind of clothes they wear, because they wear glasses, what kind of house they live in. Bullies use whatever leverage they can possibly think of, they aren’t thinking about the fact that it hurts more than just the person they are using as the target, and since bullies know that, they feed off things like this and makes them feel more of the power. So many people always use the term â€Å"profile†, they will use really bad stereo types to judge other students, teacher, staff members, and sadly other family members, they will say the person looks â€Å"Goth†, or they will look at the â€Å"science nerd†, or even the â€Å"book worm†, as people that may cause harm to other people. Generally the first thought is that person isn’t involved in sports, and other â€Å"jock and preppy† things involved with the school, or with the local community, however the kid who is from the â€Å"church† home is always the last one to even be thought about, because he/she is such a good kid and would never do anything like that. However sadly kids that you would think would be the last to ever commit a crime like that and do harm to other people are generally the most guilty, maybe of not actually performing the crime, but generally of planning and rearranging the crime. www. msnbc. msn. com) (www. makeadifferencefor kids. org/cyberbullying. html) Cyber bullying is something that happens online and through general text message, there are things like: Email, Instant Messages, Text Messages or IM, Social Networking sites, web pages, blogs, Chat Rooms, and Interactive game sites Unfortunately cyber bullying can be done anywhere, anytime, by anyone 24 hours a d ay, seven days a week, and 365 days a year. Generally the only way to stop a cyber bully is not to feed into their game, do not try to confront them by trying to make friends about what is going on, but to honestly block them away from anything that has to do with you, whether it’s deleting them from a social site and blocking them so they aren’t able to get to you, and if it comes down to messaging then save all your messages that are threatening and get a restraining order or no contact order, show them you mean business, and that you are not going to back down, because they are trying to hit your weakest point and make you feel like you can’t do anything to defend yourself. Put yourself in complete control and do not give up. That is the last thing a bully wants to see is someone standing up to them and defending them self. Approximately 30% of teens in the U. S. (over 5. 7 million) are generally to be involved either as the bully or the target of the bully or both, in recent surveys students in grade 6th-10th, 13% reported bullying others, 11% were the target of the bully, 6% said not only were they bullied but they also bullied others. More frequently school bullying occurs among boys rather than girls in most cases boys are likely to be hit, slapped or even pushed. Teenage girls are usually the target of rumors and sexual comments. Teen bullying can lead both male and females to feel anxious, tense, and afraid to go anywhere or do anything and gets to the point they are afraid to answer their own phone. When a child is bullied this can affect how they perform at school by affecting their grades and their concentration. Particularly teen boys who bully are more likely to commit other serious crimes such as vandalism, shoplifting, truancy, and drug use in their adulthood. They are four times more likely than non0bullies to be convicted of crimes by 24 years of age. The top five states to live in for students are bullied the most by other students and staff members are: California, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Washington. According to the Baltimore Sun, approximately 3. 4 students drop out in an average year(2007-2008) because of cyber bullying this is just not happening on computers, this is also going on through text messages, kids are being threatened to get beat up if they do not do someone’s homework, or give them their lunch money. (americaschoice. rg) Unfortunately school bullying is never going to come to an absolute end, we will always have the children that are always going to think they are better than other kids, students that are always going to have the unsecure parts of their life where they think bullying other students whether it be in person, through someone else or through cyber bullying, which is becoming very regula r in a lot of school because of cell phones and instant messaging systems, no matter how hard parents and other school officials try this is going to an ongoing problem, that someone people hope it does eventually finally come to an end, but not likely.

U.S. President William McKinley - Fast Facts

U.S. President William McKinley - Fast Facts William McKinley (1843 - 1901) served as Americas twenty-fifth president. During his time in office, America fought in the Spanish-American War and annexed Hawaii. McKinley was assassinated near the start of his second term.   Here is a quick list of fast facts for William McKinley. For more in depth information, you can also read the William McKinley Biography Birth: January 29, 1843 Death: September 14, 1901 Term of Office: March 4, 1897-September 14, 1901 Number of Terms Elected: 2 Terms; Was assassinated soon after being elected to his second term. First Lady: Ida Saxton William McKinley Quote: We need Hawaii just as much and a good deal more than we did California. It is manifest destiny.Additional William McKinley Quotes Major Events While in Office: Spanish-American War (1898)Annexation of Hawaii (1898)Open Door Policy/Boxer Rebellion (1899-1900)Gold Standard Act (1900) States Entering Union While in Office: None Related William McKinley Resources: These additional resources on William McKinley can provide you with further information about the president and his times. William McKinley BiographyTake a more in depth look at the twenty-fifth president of the United States through this biography. Youll learn about his childhood, family, early career, and the major events of his administration. Spanish-American WarThis brief conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States arose out of Spanish policies in Cuba. However, many claim that yellow journalism was at least partially to blame with their pro-rebel sentiments and the way they dealt with the sinking of the Maine. Tecumsehs CurseEvery president between William Henry Harrison and John F. Kennedy who has been elected in a year ending with a zero has been assassinated or died while in office. This is called Tecumsehs Curse. Territories of the United StatesHere is a chart presenting the territories of the United States, their capitals, and the years they were acquired. Chart of Presidents and Vice PresidentsThis informative chart gives quick reference information on the presidents, vice-presidents, their terms of office, and their political parties. Other Presidential Fast Facts: Grover ClevelandTheodore RooseveltList of American Presidents

US Foreign Policy and Nuclear Proliferation Research Paper

US Foreign Policy and Nuclear Proliferation - Research Paper Example An examination of the US foreign policy in modern times highlights the significant role of nuclear weapons. The reason is that nuclear weapons constitute an important part in the achievement of the United States foreign policy and defense policy goals. There are two arguments that rationalize this. First, is that nuclear weapons are seen as valuable instruments of statecraft and the foundation of global stability by serving as a deterrent to a wide range of threats. Secondly, the American Cold War policy still has its imprint on modern foreign policy particularly in regard to the emphasis on the importance of being ready to deliver a quick and massive attack against opposing nuclear forces. According to a Harvard Nuclear Study Group: [The United States] wants from them many of the same things it wants from its conventional military forces. The basic goal is to protect the security of the United States and its allies from attack or coercion by a hostile power. Nuclear weapons should serve that primary purpose. (Carnesale & the Harvard Nuclear Security Group 134) During the Cold War nuclear weapons is at the center of the American security strategies. The US, as part of this strategy, developed large, diverse and dispersed nuclear forces that were maintained at high alert levels. The officially stated rationales for these forces were to deter the Soviet Union from attacking the United States and its allies with either conventional or nuclear weapons. The disintegration of the Soviet Union after the Cold War changed the nuclear policy due to three fundamental factors: 1) the likelihood of all-out war between the United States and Russia has drastically diminished; 2) the increase in regional conflicts no longer calls for nuclear deterrence; and, 3) the conventional forces are sufficient to deal with potential adversaries. (National Academy of Sciences 16-18) And

Business plan; financial section Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Business plan; financial section - Essay Example In approximation, the occupancy expenses add up to $100,000. These expenses are expected to increase as the business grows. However, the company will purchase its own premises as soon as it can. The estimated fixed assets by the receipt master are $200,000. This is because they are not expected to be very many in the business’ first year of operation. These few assets will just be enough to keep the business operating before it makes enough profit to fund its other assets (Friend and Stefan 38). The growth expenses add up to $2.5 million but there is no debt incurred by he receipt master. The growth expenses are expected to increase as the business progresses. Due to the uncertainties that come with the beginning of a new business, the miscellaneous expenses add up to $100,000. However, these expenses are expected to amount to a smaller amount that this due to the extensive research and precise calculations done prior to the actual planning. The figures have been put to the higher side of the probability or the