The Implications of the Israel/ Palestine Conflict Essay...

I decided to write about this issue not because of personal firsthand experience but due to my best friend’s experience. I didn’t have any idea whatsoever about the Israel-Palestinian issue, in fact I was clueless about all the ciaos in the media about the war. I came to knew about this issue when in my junior year of high school I met my Arab friend, she was such a fun person to be around. Every time I asked about where she was from she just said Palestine and I would ask her â€Å"Is that even a country†. Later I came to know that Israel and Palestine were same. Until then I used to only know about a place called Israel from bible where I read â€Å"Israel to be god’s house†. To further quench my curiosity I asked her, â€Å"If Palestine†¦show more content†¦and the Zionist state, he also said this: â€Å"Put yourself in the shoes. Look at the world through their eyes. It is not fair that a Palestinian child cannot grow up in a state of their own. Living their entire lives with the presence of a foreign army that controls the movements not just of those young people but their parents, their grandparents, every single day. It’s not just when settler violence against Palestinians goes unpunished. It’s not right to prevent Palestinians from farming their lands; or restricting a student’s ability to move around the west bank; or displace Palestinian families from their homes. Neither occupation nor expulsion is the answer†. The summary for this article said that, President knows exactly what injustices Palestinians are subjected to, but he and congress are under enormous pressure from lobby organizations like AIPAC to uphold the status quo. It further proved that it takes a social movement to demand an end to injustice, not one sympathetic politician. Does the U.S. military help Israel in Israel/Palestine conflict? The answer is yes it does. The U.S. provides Israel $8.5 million in military aid each day, while it gives the Palestinian’s $0 in military aid. Why is this issue even relevant to be discussed? Is this issue going to affect America in near future? The answer is yes, it can affect AmericaShow MoreRelatedConflict Between Israel And Palestine1045 Words   |  5 PagesThe big question we ask ourselves today is, will Israel and Palestine ever agree to stop fighting? The conflict between Israel and Palestine has been traced all the way back to 1948 through 2005 in The Israel Palestine Land Settlement Problem, written by Charles Rowley and Jennis Taylor. However, this conflict did not end in 2005. This article was written in 2006, so anything within the last 10 years is not included. The conflict between the two counties still continues to this day and still remainsRead MoreHistorical Conflict Between Palestine And Israel1176 Words   |  5 Pagesdiplomatic future did not prevail. The peace process between Palestine and Israel failed due to the assassinat ion of Yitzhak Rabin, subsequent to the handshake signalling the agreement. The continuity of this conflict initially caused by sovereignty and ultranationalism, has resulted in a current inability for both Palestine and Israel to come to terms with an agreeable, nonviolent, two state solution. The historical conflict between Palestine and Israel, the significance of the handshake, reactions, Rabin’sRead MoreIsrael has a Failed State Index Score Due to the West Bank Essay1022 Words   |  5 PagesIsrael According to the US-based Failed States Index (FSI), Israel ranks number 67 and is in greater danger of becoming a failed state than the likes of Congo, Cuba and Jordan. Despite Israel’s booming economy, high life expectancy and low unemployment, part of the explanation for its low FSI ranking is the West Bank. According to the Fund for Peace’s methodology, Israel/West Bank is considered one entity when determining its Failed States Index score. The issues Israel/ West Bank scored highestRead MoreThe Arab Israeli Conflict : The Palestine1533 Words   |  7 PagesThe Arab-Israeli Conflict has roots from centuries ago. Zionists sought to reestablish the Land of Israel in the area of Palestine The conflict is a result of the Zionist movement, declaration of the Israeli state, and the invasion of Arab nations into Israel. Entering the war, the Arab nations are more superior militarily, and a shift in strength is seen as Israel emerges with the passage of time as a force to be reckoned with. The historical implications of this conflict are directly tied to theRead MoreUnintended Consequences - Israel from Palestine1356 Words   |  6 Pagesfacing, and it cannot be stressed enough that Israel was a quite distant thought, if ever considered at all. Before deciding on the Partition of Palestine, the United Nations considered factors as diverse as politics and social implications; however, the devastating Holocaust was a blow to Israel’s immigrant population and Zionist support; in fact, the creation of Israel sparked new problems for international relations. Background The land of Palestine, which lies along the Eastern Coast of the MediterraneanRead More British Diplomacy in Palestine Essay1000 Words   |  4 PagesI believe that British diplomacy in Palestine was consistently indecisive and hypocritical but at the same time the British wanted to keep their hands in Palestine’s economy and goods. The reasoning behind this statement is because of the events that played out during the Hussein-McMahon correspondence, the Sykes-Picot agreement, and the Balfour declaration. First, the Hussein-McMahon correspondence was a long-drawn-out exchange of letters between the Sharif of Mecca Hussein bin Ali and BritishRead MoreArab – Israeli Wars Have Dominated The Middle East For1302 Words   |  6 Pagesover 30 years ever since Israel became an independent state. Starting with the first Arab – Israeli war in 1948 to the most recent war, the Yom Kippur war in 1973, and possible wars and conflicts in the future. In order to better predict future confrontations it is important, for us as a military, to understand the implications and consequences of these wars. To understand the rise in tensions between Israel and the Arab world we must go back to the beginning when Israel first became a state.Read MoreConstructivism: Social Theory of International Politics by Alexander Wendt1057 Words   |  5 Pagesare brought up (Lupton, 1999). Middle East Conflicts The conflicts in the Middle East have played crucial role both in the emergence and development of Al Qaeda. The three conflicts, i.e. ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict, the 1991 Gulf War and the 2003 invasion of Iraq have provided grievances for Al Qaeda on which Al Qaeda justifies its terrorist attacks on the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Iraq. The following section briefly discusses Arab-Israeli conflict at first before discussing the 1991 Gulf WarRead MoreSocial Movements Of Palestine And Palestine1580 Words   |  7 Pages In the 1990s there began a significant shift in social movements in Israel and Palestine. The history of this region has been marked by violence, inequality, and oppression for a long time. The complicated relationships between the two main powers in this area have developed over time and a variety of groups on both sides of the conflict have reacted with by calling for peace. The first intifada had a huge impact on who had the ablity to voice their concerns to fight th e injustices occurring inRead MoreIth Reference to One Major International Conflict, Analyse and Assess the Geographical Impacts of Conflicts on the Area1899 Words   |  8 PagesWith reference to one major international conflict, analyse and assess the geographical impacts of conflicts on the area (40) A conflict is a disagreement caused by the actual or perceived opposition of needs, values and interests between people; which can vary in intensity from political non-violent activity, to direct action and violence. When a conflict is created an extensive list of geographical impacts follow, including social, political, environmental or even international impacts. For

Relationship Between Savings and Investment in the Nigerian Economy Free Essays

Introduction Interests in the study of economic growth and development have been on the increase especially since the middle of the present century. Economic growth results in the expansion of a country’s production possibility curve such that the potential output of the country is increased beyond the previous levels. Thus growth is often defined in terms of a sustained increase in the real per capita income of a country. We will write a custom essay sample on Relationship Between Savings and Investment in the Nigerian Economy or any similar topic only for you Order Now Simon Kuznets in (Todaro, 1885), defined a country’s economic growth as â€Å"a long term rise in the capacity to supply increasingly diverse economic goods to its population, this growing capacity based on advanced technology and the institutional and ideological adjustments that it demands†. Growth is therefore measurable and objective. It describes expansion in capital, in the labour force, in output, income, consumption e. t. c. It should be noted that economic growth is sometimes used interchangeably with economic development. A distinction of the two was however made by (Jhingan, 1976) where he defined economic development as the ‘non-quantifiable measure of the growing economy† i. e. the economic, social and other changes that lead to growth such as changes in techniques of production, social attitudes and institutions e. t. c. No matter the distinction what is important in the words of (Iyoha, 1996) is that there is no development without growth. One point that must be mentioned however is that in practice, economic growth is used to describe the process of growth in advanced industrialized countries while economic development is used to describe the dynamics of growth in low income non-industrialized countries. This position is buttressed by (Romer, 2001), where he posited that over the past few centuries, standard of living in industrialized countries has reached levels almost unimaginable to their ancestors. He affirmed that although comparisons are difficult, the best available evidence suggests that average real income today in the United States and Western Europe are between 10 and 30 times larger than a century ago, and between 50 and 300 times larger than two centuries ago. Following from the above, Kuznets identified six characteristics of modern economic growth. These are:  ¦ High rate of growth of per capita output and population.  ¦ High rate of increase in total factor productivity, especially labour. High rate of structural transformation of the economy.  ¦ High rate of social and ideological transformation.  ¦ Outward expansion of the developed economies i. e. the ability to reach out to the rest of the world for raw materials and markets.  ¦ The international flow of men, goods and capita. It then follows that for all these to be achieved especially for a developing economy like Nigeria some economic variables within the context of the features of the Nigerian econ omy must be marked upon to achieve these status mentioned above. Statement of research problem So many blurred visions about the projection of Nigerian economy have been seen by the operators of the Nigerian economy. In the days of Abacha administration between 1993 and 1997, it was vision 2010 as led by former Head of State, Ernest Shonekan. 2010 is around the corner and nothing seems to have changed the last 15years. Another journey is being embarked upon by Yaradua and his economic team. The mission of making Nigeria one of the biggest 20 economies in the world by 2020, vision 2020-20. Whether this is achievable or not is best left for debate for scholars of economics. But if one must follow the position of Robert Solow (1956), the Ramsey-Cass-Koopman model (1928, 1965, 1965) and the Diamond model (1965), achieving the above is a function of thorough understanding of production function of a given economy. Nigeria like most countries is blessed with abundant human and natural resources, yet the economy is still groping with problems. Evidence is palpable that apart from income from sales of crude oil, the nation is close to zero in terms of technological advancement. The reason for this is no other than that the much needed investment to motivate technological advancement and industrialization is not forthcoming. The position of the government immediately after independence to embark upon import substitution as an industrialization strategy did not equally help matter. If investment is a catalyst for industrialization and hence economic growth, investment is made possible by another catalyst in savings. Over the years, there has not been any synergy between savings and investment in Nigeria. This problem is because of little emphasis partakers in the running of the economy are giving financial intermediation. It is in a country like Nigeria where the borrowers reign supreme at the expense of the lender. The deposit rates to the supplier of funds from the surplus units are not only meager but pittance, while the lending rates collected from the users of fund in the deficit unit is astronomical. So it is the issue of cutting the depositors with knife’s edge while cutting the borrower with razor’s edge. Savings is not encouraged while investment is discouraged. Economic activities slowed down, productivity neglected while economic growth in the real sense of it is stagnant. How to cite Relationship Between Savings and Investment in the Nigerian Economy, Papers

Pantheon Essay Thesis Example For Students

Pantheon Essay Thesis Introduction I chose to report on the pantheon because Ive seen pictures and I am also very fascinated by all the Roman monuments. I looked all around the internet and libraries. The Pantheon was very hard to find information about. It was very challenging but I found enough information to complete this report. This famous building stands in the business district of Romemuch as it was built some 18 centuries ago. Amazingly, it has withstood the ravages of both the elements and war permitting a firsthand view of a unique product constructed by Roman hands. Now, it is exposed to acid rain and fumes from passing automobiles and overshadowed by buildings of inferior taste; but, with trust in the future, the Pantheon will survive. Unrecognized, the design of this ancient concrete building reveals unparalleled features not encountered in modern design standards. Recent studies reveal several major cracks in the dome, but it still functions unimpaired. This condition will surely excite the curiosity of our structural engineers. The building was built entirely without steel reinforcing rods to resist tensile cracking, so necessary in concrete members, and for this concrete dome with a long span to last centuries is incredible. Today, no engineer would dare build this structure without steel rods! Modern codes of engineering practice would not permit such mischief. No investor with knowledge of concrete design would provide the funding. Additional constraints when attempting to build a structure as large as the Pantheon will be discussed later, but briefly they include the use of inadequate hand tools and unsafe lifting devices. I believe we can learn from this activity. Workers can build from a plan and can successfully use their proven practices only if construction quality controls are maintained. History tells us that the Pantheon is a Greek word meaning to honor all Gods (particularly the Olympian divinities). It is ironic that our building has existed throughout m any wars while being dedicated to all Gods; one can readily perceive this to be a temple for our one God. And, the Church has claimed this holy structure as a resting place for its most famous Popes, so we continue to honor its magnificent divinity. The first incarnation of this ancient temple was built by Agrippa, the son-in-law of the Roman Emperor Augustus, about 27 B.C. Today, above the entrance carved in stone are the words M. AGRIPPA L. F. COS. TERTIUM FECIT which is translated, Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, in his third consulate, made it. Indeed, it is worth mentioning that Agrippas engineering talents were used in building the famous Pont de Gard aqueduct in France. As with many cities, tragedy in the form of large fires such as those of 60, 64, 79, 100 and 110 A.D. seemed to strike Rome. Originally, many Roman buildings contained travertine (limestone rock) which easily cracked in fires. The first Pantheon was severely damaged and required replacement except for some part s of the lower porch section and foundation. The Pantheon was rebuilt by the Emperor Hadrian during the period 118 to 128 A.D. (a time given by Ward-Perkins).2 But the Ward-Perkinss period is disputed by, Lugli who said the building was started sometime after 123 A.D. and was finished by Emperor Pius about 140 A.D.3 However, most of the bricks were made and placed in the Pantheon in 123 A.D., a date that the maker stamped on his bricks. This was discovered in 1892 by the French archaeologist, George Chedanne. It appears the construction of the rotunda walls took a period of 4 to 5 years, and the dome required a like period because of its height and the meager tools the Romans used. This long construction period was fortunate as it gave this pozzolan concrete ample time to cure and gain strength. Was the second temple like the first? Yes, the fundamental principle of the old Roman religion required that the temples be rebuilt without changes in original form. Tradition required that the main entrance face north, and thus the whole building was oriented on the north-south axis of the building. A description of its structural features is separated into the configuration, foundation ring, circular walls, and dome to more clearly define various components. How these pieces are unique in view of todays design requirements will be discussed shortly. Body The Pantheon is one of the great spiritual buildings of the world. It was built as a Roman temple and later consecrated as a Catholic Church. Its monumental porch originally faced a rectangular colonnaded temple courtyard and now enfronts the smaller Piazza della Rotonda. Through great bronze doors, one enters one great circular room. The interior volume is a cylinder above which rises the hemispherical dome. Opposite the door is a recessed semicircular apse, and on each side re three additional recesses, alternately rectangular and semicircular, separated from the space under the dome by paired monolithic columns. T he only natural light enters through an unglazed oculus at the center of the dome and through the bronze doors to the portico. As the sun moves, striking patterns of light illuminate the walls and floors of porphyry, granite and yellow marbles. Inside the Pantheon The building design is one of a large round shape very much like a large barrel with a dome covering the top. There is a light-well in the center of the dome. Layers of beautiful thin brickwork cover the outside, round walls. Small access holes appear occasionally in the wall which were used during construction to frame interior voids. The main entrance is thoroughly impressive: double bronze doors 21 feet high (6.4 meters), a lasting and fitting contribution from their metal smiths. These doors are protected by a high, broad porch, made with 16 well arranged granite columns supporting a gable styled roof. The beams in the roof structure of the porch are wooden. They were substituted for bronze members stripped-out by thos e in later years needing metal for their canons. Professional Roman surveyors located the inlaid marble floor to conform with a convex contour which drained away the rain from the oculus for these hundreds of years. In the following descriptions, some general dimensions are given to indicate the magnitude of this undertaking by the Romans. The rotunda has a rather awesome inner diameter of 142.4 feet (43.4 m), made mostly of concrete. Comparatively speaking, this distance represents about one half the length of our football field. And from the floor to the top of the opening in the dome is the same distance. As a matter of fact, we could think of the design of this building as one that could contain a theoretical ball some 143 feet in diameter. The design is not entirely unusual because there are other Roman buildings which have a similar configuration, but the size is unusual. Other buildings such as the Temple of Mercury (71 feet/21.5 m diameter) at Baiae and Domitian Nympheaum at Albano (51 feet/15.6 m diameter) have domes of this type. The Pantheon still has the longest span constructed before the 19th Century. To provide details on this complex configuration, the following figures show the building with its two-ring foundation, voids in the walls, and the step-ring and coffer arrangement in the dome. Foundation The Pantheon was built on marshy, unstable earth which gave a serious supporting problem to its builders. The Jutland Archaeological Society described in detail various aspects of the ring foundation; they found it rested on a bed of bluish colored river clay.8 This condition invited disaster, and in the final construction phase, the foundation cracked at the two ends of the North-South axis. If one section of a building settles slightly faster and lower than an adjacent section, very large bending stresses are initiated at a point between these two sections which can crack the concrete. And uneven settling was the problem given to the builders. Th e present-day engineering solution to this type of foundation problem is to drive piles through the clay to bedrock so the building will be firmly supported all the way around. The Roman builders chose a different approach. They built a second ring to hold the first ring from cracking further and to give the clay more area to support the structure. It worked because the building has lasted over 1800 years. In addition to keeping the crack from extending, the builders placed buttress walls on the south side opposite the massive porch. This acted as a clampng device; and although the structural projection appears to be an additional room, it only serves the purpose of being part of the clamp. These rings are made of pozzolan concrete consisting of travertine pieces in layers held together by a mortar of lime and pozzolan. This will be discussed later in this work. Interestingly enough, the Jutland Societys investigation showed the foundation material had become rock hard,11 a case we might expect when we study the chemistry of pozzolanic reaction under these conditions. How It Stands up The challenge of determining stresses within various sections of the Pantheon has always excited both architects and engineers who are interested in the building. Technical design people recognized that the long 143 foot span of the ancient dome could have critical stress concentrations leading to a catastrophic failure of the structure, but this has not happened. Nothing in life seems perfect, and this is the case with the Pantheon. The dome and walls have cracked. Concrete cracks under excessive tensile stress as viewed in a hoop condition. A. Terenzio, an Italian superintendent of monuments, documented cracking in the walls and dome duringhis inspection of the Pantheon in 1930. Terenzio identifies fractures `reaching from the base of the rotunda to the summit of the dome that he thought were brought about by differential settlement from uneven loading of the wall, particularly near the entrance of the rotunda in the principal niche. Rather than finding vertical differential settlement, we have observed only traces of lateral opening across the cracks corresponding to the effect of hoop tension. Terenzio believed cracking occurred shortly after construction because of dated brick repairs. The Mark and Hutchinson study showed that meridional cracking in the dome was in the lower half extending up to about 57 degrees from the horizontal on the spring line. An earlier stress analysis of this dome by Cowan theoretically placed this point at 37 degrees 36. This is the point where hoop stresses in the dome change from tension to compression presenting a point of weakness within the unreinforced concrete dome. This theoretical point is in reasonable agreement with the actual end of meridional cracking. The Mark and Hutchinson study located the cracks as occurring generally at the openings within the upper cylindrical wall which increased local tensile hoop stres ses. In addition to dome, Terenzio mentioned that cracks in the walls extended upward from 24.6 feet (7.5 m) above the floor. The cracking pattern of the concrete in the Pantheon provides an unique stress configuration acting in the dome and walls. Mark and Hutchinson describe this picture as one in which the major internal forces in the cracked dome are only in the meridional direction, and this region serves as a series of arches which bears a common compression keystone in the form of the uncracked upper dome. The cracked walls serve as a series of independent piers to support these arches. Perhaps as insurance against som future dislocation, should we add a steel band around a step-ring? Although the building has survived centuries, this valuable, cracked landmark of Roman history should be protected against future earthquakes at a small cost. Conclusion As you can tell the Pantheon was a great structure created by the Romans. I believe it has played a great role in Greek histor y. Even though this building is unpopular to many people, but this report proves that it is one of the greatest and most historical man made creation. BibliographyEncarta 95 Encyclopedia H. W. Cowan, The Master Builders. John Wiley and Son, New York, 1977 Http://www.broyan/sor/index.pa-pr/Pantheon.html- Programmer: Jack M. Loudel BibliographyIntroduction I chose to report on the pantheon because Ive seen pictures and I am also very fascinated by all the Roman monuments. I looked all around the internet and libraries. The Pantheon was very hard to find information about. It was very challenging but I found enough information to complete this report. This famous building stands in the business district of Romemuch as it was built some 18 centuries ago. Amazingly, it has withstood the ravages of both the elements and war permitting a firsthand view of a unique product constructed by Roman hands. Now, it is exposed to acid rain and fumes from passing automobiles and overshadowed by buil dings of inferior taste; but, with trust in the future, the Pantheon will survive. Unrecognized, the design of this ancient concrete building reveals unparalleled features not encountered in modern design standards. Recent studies reveal several major cracks in the dome, but it still functions unimpaired. This condition will surely excite the curiosity of our structural engineers. The building was built entirely without steel reinforcing rods to resist tensile cracking, so necessary in concrete members, and for this concrete dome with a long span to last centuries is incredible. Today, no engineer would dare build this structure without steel rods! Modern codes of engineering practice would not permit such mischief. No investor with knowledge of concrete design would provide the funding. Additional constraints when attempting to build a structure as large as the Pantheon will be discussed later, but briefly they include the use of inadequate hand tools and unsafe lifting devices. I believe we can learn from this activity. Workers can build from a plan and can successfully use their proven practices only if construction quality controls are maintained. History tells us that the Pantheon is a Greek word meaning to honor all Gods (particularly the Olympian divinities). It is ironic that our building has existed throughout many wars while being dedicated to all Gods; one can readily perceive this to be a temple for our one God. And, the Church has claimed this holy structure as a resting place for its most famous Popes, so we continue to honor its magnificent divinity. The first incarnation of this ancient temple was built by Agrippa, the son-in-law of the Roman Emperor Augustus, about 27 B.C. Today, above the entrance carved in stone are the words M. AGRIPPA L. F. COS. TERTIUM FECIT which is translated, Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, in his third consulate, made it. Indeed, it is worth mentioning that Agrippas engineering talents were used in building the famous Pont de Gard aqueduct in France. As with many cities, tragedy in the form of large fires such as those of 60, 64, 79, 100 and 110 A.D. seemed to strike Rome. Originally, many Roman buildings contained travertine (limestone rock) which easily cracked in fires. The first Pantheon was severely damaged and required replacement except for some parts of the lower porch section and foundation. The Pantheon was rebuilt by the Emperor Hadrian during the period 118 to 128 A.D. (a time given by Ward-Perkins).2 But the Ward-Perkinss period is disputed by, Lugli who said the building was started sometime after 123 A.D. and was finished by Emperor Pius about 140 A.D.3 However, most of the bricks were made and placed in the Pantheon in 123 A.D., a date that the maker stamped on his bricks. This was discovered in 1892 by the French archaeologist, George Chedanne. It appears the construction of the rotunda walls took a period of 4 to 5 years, and the dome required a like period because of its height and the meager tools the Romans used. This long construction period was fortunate as it gave this pozzolan concrete ample time to cure and gain strength. Was the second temple like the first? Yes, the fundamental principle of the old Roman religion required that the temples be rebuilt without changes in original form. Tradition required that the main entrance face north, and thus the whole building was oriented on the north-south axis of the building. A description of its structural features is separated into the configuration, foundation ring, circular walls, and dome to more clearly define various components. How these pieces are unique in view of todays design requirements will be discussed shortly. Body The Pantheon is one of the great spiritual buildings of the world. It was built as a Roman temple and later consecrated as a Catholic Church. Its monumental porch originally faced a rectangular colonnaded temple courtyard and now enfronts the smaller Piazza della Rotonda. Throug h great bronze doors, one enters one great circular room. The interior volume is a cylinder above which rises the hemispherical dome. Opposite the door is a recessed semicircular apse, and on each side re three additional recesses, alternately rectangular and semicircular, separated from the space under the dome by paired monolithic columns. The only natural light enters through an unglazed oculus at the center of the dome and through the bronze doors to the portico. As the sun moves, striking patterns of light illuminate the walls and floors of porphyry, granite and yellow marbles. Inside the Pantheon The building design is one of a large round shape very much like a large barrel with a dome covering the top. There is a light-well in the center of the dome. Layers of beautiful thin brickwork cover the outside, round walls. Small access holes appear occasionally in the wall which were used during construction to frame interior voids. The main entrance is thoroughly impressive: doubl e bronze doors 21 feet high (6.4 meters), a lasting and fitting contribution from their metal smiths. These doors are protected by a high, broad porch, made with 16 well arranged granite columns supporting a gable styled roof. The beams in the roof structure of the porch are wooden. They were substituted for bronze members stripped-out by those in later years needing metal for their canons. Professional Roman surveyors located the inlaid marble floor to conform with a convex contour which drained away the rain from the oculus for these hundreds of years. In the following descriptions, some general dimensions are given to indicate the magnitude of this undertaking by the Romans. The rotunda has a rather awesome inner diameter of 142.4 feet (43.4 m), made mostly of concrete. Comparatively speaking, this distance represents about one half the length of our football field. And from the floor to the top of the opening in the dome is the same distance. As a matter of fact, we could think of the design of this building as one that could contain a theoretical ball some 143 feet in diameter. The design is not entirely unusual because there are other Roman buildings which have a similar configuration, but the size is unusual. Other buildings such as the Temple of Mercury (71 feet/21.5 m diameter) at Baiae and Domitian Nympheaum at Albano (51 feet/15.6 m diameter) have domes of this type. The Pantheon still has the longest span constructed before the 19th Century. To provide details on this complex configuration, the following figures show the building with its two-ring foundation, voids in the walls, and the step-ring and coffer arrangement in the dome. Foundation The Pantheon was built on marshy, unstable earth which gave a serious supporting problem to its builders. The Jutland Archaeological Society described in detail various aspects of the ring foundation; they found it rested on a bed of bluish colored river clay.8 This condition invited disaster, and in the final construction phase, the foundation cracked at the two ends of the North-South axis. If one section of a building settles slightly faster and lower than an adjacent section, very large bending stresses are initiated at a point between these two sections which can crack the concrete. And uneven settling was the problem given to the builders. The present-day engineering solution to this type of foundation problem is to drive piles through the clay to bedrock so the building will be firmly supported all the way around. The Roman builders chose a different approach. They built a second ring to hold the first ring from cracking further and to give the clay more area to support the structure. It worked because the building has lasted over 1800 years. In addition to keeping the crack from extending, the builders placed buttress walls on the south side opposite the massive porch. This acted as a clampng device; and although the structural projection appears to be an additional room, it only serves the purpose of being part of the clamp. These rings are made of pozzolan concrete consisting of travertine pieces in layers held together by a mortar of lime and pozzolan. This will be discussed later in this work. Interestingly enough, the Jutland Societys investigation showed the foundation material had become rock hard,11 a case we might expect when we study the chemistry of pozzolanic reaction under these conditions. How It Stands up The challenge of determining stresses within various sections of the Pantheon has always excited both architects and engineers who are interested in the building. Technical design people recognized that the long 143 foot span of the ancient dome could have critical stress concentrations leading to a catastrophic failure of the structure, but this has not happened. Nothing in life seems perfect, and this is the case with the Pantheon. The dome and walls have cracked. Concrete cracks under excessive tensile stress as viewed in a hoop condition . A. Terenzio, an Italian superintendent of monuments, documented cracking in the walls and dome duringhis inspection of the Pantheon in 1930. Terenzio identifies fractures `reaching from the base of the rotunda to the summit of the dome that he thought were brought about by differential settlement from uneven loading of the wall, particularly near the entrance of the rotunda in the principal niche. Rather than finding vertical differential settlement, we have observed only traces of lateral opening across the cracks corresponding to the effect of hoop tension. Terenzio believed cracking occurred shortly after construction because of dated brick repairs. The Mark and Hutchinson study showed that meridional cracking in the dome was in the lower half extending up to about 57 degrees from the horizontal on the spring line. An earlier stress analysis of this dome by Cowan theoretically placed this point at 37 degrees 36. This is the point where hoop stresses in the dome change from tens ion to compression presenting a point of weakness within the unreinforced concrete dome. This theoretical point is in reasonable agreement with the actual end of meridional cracking. The Mark and Hutchinson study located the cracks as occurring generally at the openings within the upper cylindrical wall which increased local tensile hoop stresses. In addition to dome, Terenzio mentioned that cracks in the walls extended upward from 24.6 feet (7.5 m) above the floor. The cracking pattern of the concrete in the Pantheon provides an unique stress configuration acting in the dome and walls. Mark and Hutchinson describe this picture as one in which the major internal forces in the cracked dome are only in the meridional direction, and this region serves as a series of arches which bears a common compression keystone in the form of the uncracked upper dome. The cracked walls serve as a series of independent piers to support these arches. Perhaps as insurance against som future dislocation , should we add a steel band around a step-ring? Although the building has survived centuries, this valuable, cracked landmark of Roman history should be protected against future earthquakes at a small cost. Conclusion As you can tell the Pantheon was a great structure created by the Romans. I believe it has played a great role in Greek history. Even though this building is unpopular to many people, but this report proves that it is one of the greatest and most historical man made creation. BibliographyEncarta 95 Encyclopedia H. W. Cowan, The Master Builders. John Wiley and Son, New York, 1977 Http://www.broyan/sor/index.pa-pr/Pantheon.html- Programmer: Jack M. Loudel sample letter Essay

Scandinavian Airlines free essay sample

With the anticipation of increased emissions charges and taxes in the European industry, the company could have positive financial implications with the minimized risk of future operational limitations from the combination of international, federal, regional and local legislation. The Director of Aircraft and Engine Analysis could argue against the purchase of the green engines on the basis of cost and uncertainty of raised emissions regulations. The total cost of purchasing the green engines was estimated at kr 12 billion or 1. 14 billion US dollars. The director was also unable to produce figures on the economic payback of the purchase and use of the green engines. To support the argument of uncertainty, The regulatory structure of the industry made it hard to make any clear predictions on the anticipated increase in emissions charges and taxes. b. From the perspective of the SAS Management Team, two arguments for purchasing the green engines include; staying true with their commit ment to environment policy and avoiding the potential emissions cap at certain airports. We will write a custom essay sample on Scandinavian Airlines or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The environmental commitment policy that SAS values as a company will be appreciated by the environmentally conscious culture in Scandinavia. To avoid the potential emissions cap would mean SAS could avoid the financial disaster that included a fleet of planes that possibly could be grounded at the company’s main hub. The SAS Management Team could argue against the purchase of the green engines on the basis that the costs of the technology used would be significant, and unanticipated complications could add even more costs. The green engine has never before been installed on the 737 so technological hurdles had to be overcome with expensive research and development. The unanticipated complications are an inevitable with new technology. The only long-term research available is the actual use of the engine day after day, year after year. Internal and external influences: a. Three internal forces at SAS that could have influenced the firm’s decision to purchase the green engines were their objectives, capabilities, and culture. SAS had a corporate identity as the leader in environmental commitment and the objectives were to maintain the identity with decisions of environmentally positive actions. The capabilities were there to make purchasing the green engines. The resources were available along with the finances as well. The culture of the company was socially influenced by the increasingly environmentally conscious shareholders. The strongest internal force influencing the decision to purchase the green engines was the culture factor because of its influence on shareholders. A deep set of environmental values and beliefs embedded the culture of the shareholders. If SAS shied away from decisions the involved saving the environment, then shareholders could make decisions that would not help the business side of SAS and could eventually lose customers and therefore lose business. b. Three external environmental forces that could have influenced the SAS’s decision included industry, laws, and regulations. The industry was becoming more efficient and SAS was heading in the same direction. The laws in Scandinavia were becoming tighter and more restricting. The regulations of most organizations and airports were cracking down on noise and Co2 out put and SAS had to stay a step ahead to be profitable. Of these external influences, regulations were the most influential because of the potential to be grounded if there was a regulation the SAS did not fall under. If that did happen, SAS could potentially not recover and become bankrupt. Recommendations: a. While some of the long term benefits of environmentally responsible investments for a corporation are social responsibility, shareholders happiness, and regulation following, corporations should make these investments even if they don’t have a short term payoff because short gains now for big gains later always pays off better. The company should think of it as an investment into the possibility of business. The odds suggest that SAS will have a better chance of being profitable down the road rather than a cost cut now. b. The SAS management team should approve of the purchase of the green engines because the long-term gains from using the green engines outweigh the short-term price cuts of a normal jet engine. If you take everything in consideration, from the social culture to the regulation implications that could limit the airline industry, the decision is easy. The culture of the company must stay consistent and should not deceive its share holders of its mission and objectives as an industry leader in environment responsibility. Another benefit to think about is the first to act on this type of technological breakthrough.

A Purposeless Pilgrimage The Canterbury Tales Religion Essay Example

A Purposeless Pilgrimage The Canterbury Tales Religion Essay Example A Purposeless Pilgrimage The Canterbury Tales Religion Essay A Purposeless Pilgrimage The Canterbury Tales Religion Essay Essay Topic: The Canterbury Tales The Canterbury Tales is a aggregation of narratives told by the characters within the narrative, written by Geoffrey Chaucer. He wrote with a strong sentiment which he uses to do a blazing statement about the Roman Catholic Church. His sentiment is that people within the church, including the leaders can be populating hypocritical lives. It reflects the thought that the characters in The Canterbury Tales were on a purposeless, spiritually nonmeaningful pilgrims journey. This piece straight addressed the spiritual issues of the common Englishman. Chaucer was non the merely 1 to reflect visible radiation on the spiritual lip service, but he allowed even those of lower standing to go knowing with the publication of The Canterbury Tales. The most interesting development of Chaucer s thought is that history agreed with his desire for alteration in the church. The Canterbury Tales altered the standing of the Roman Catholic Church by showing to the common adult male that corruptness existed within the normally accepted church. A A A A A Chaucer created The Canterbury Tales, a narrative of a pilgrims journey to Canterbury Cathedral in which each of the characters tell narratives with ethical motives. Chaucer began the prologue from the position of the chief character. The unidentified character was on his manner to Canterbury Cathedral when he crossed waies with a big group headed in the same way. He joined their group of 29, and he enlightened the reader to the visual aspects and personalities of his new familiarities ( Eds, 95. 19-27 ) . Chaucer reached a new crowd with The Canterbury Tales in the manner that common people could associate. Each character had a calling, partner and household ; aspirations, motivations, and a repute. Although Chaucer neer completed his initial programs for The Canterbury Tales, he wrote the prologue and 24 narratives ( Eds 90 ) . Prentice Hall Literature claims, irrespective of the technically uncomplete work, the narratives, stand together as a complete work, ( 90 ) . Th is verse form used the pilgrims and their narratives to foster the underlining message. The Canterbury Tales is a literary work which showed the prominence of faith in Chaucer s clip. At this clip in England, Catholicism was the most prevailing signifier of Christianity. Church leaders held great strength ; their influence was singular. Singman and McClean venture so far as to state, Bing a portion of medieval England was in fact the same as being portion of the church. All Christians in Western Europe were capable to the religious authorization of the Pope ( the Catholic Church was the lone officially accepted church in Western Europe, although there were other churches elsewhere, ) ( 26 ) . Another big spiritual influence was the encouragement of monasticism. Kung wrote, In the interfering church ideal position, the mediaeval universe was a universe dominated by priests, nuns, monastics, and their ideal of continency, ( 105 ) . Church, spiritualty, and faith were reasonably big facets of the England before The Canterbury Tales. The Canterbury Tales altered the standing of the Roman Catholic Church. Hidden truths can be found through the characters and the narratives of the pilgrims. Despite the fact that The Canterbury Tales is fiction, these people represented Englishmen of this clip. Chaucer explained to the readers who they are and where they have come from. Many times he described with honest qualities, yet the unfortunate, black qualities outweighed the positive. Anthony of Taize said, Chaucer, no uncertainty, more or less realized that he was better equipped to stand for fallen nature than effectual grace. That would assist explicate why critics use the word idealized to measure up Parson and Ploughman portrayals. Still, he surely knew a thing or two about the possible options to the primrose way. The church could no longer be viewed the same due to the truths of the pilgrims. To observe the troubled motivations of the pilgrims journey, Chaucer used illustrations of people who were expected to understand the significance of the pilgrims journey. The Nun or Prioress was the first noteworthy character. She earned the place of nobility and was a really refined and civilized adult female. This nun, Madam Eglantyne was said to be greatly sentimental and sort, every bit good as have oning a watchband with supplication beads and singing a day-to-day supplication ( 122-166 ) . Interestingly, she made her spiritual act of prayer really public ; frequently times that is non necessary. In Matthew 6:5 it says, And when you pray, do non be like the dissemblers, for they love to pray standing in the temples and on the street corners to be seen by work forces. I tell you the truth, they have received their wages in full, ( The Treasure Study Bible 1324 ) . Verse six and seven continue on to state supplication should frequently be private and personal. Although praying in populace is non incorrect, the motivations of the Nun are questionable. Her supplications seem to hold been merely out of responsibility. Swisher claims, [ The ] Prioress is more worldly than spiritual, ( 39 ) . She gave the visual aspect of being religious, yet she does look to be more concerned with etiquette. Her focal point may hold been on proper life and etiquette, but the Nun surely would non be considered corrupt in comparing to her fellow religious blue bloods, the Monk and the Friar. Sing the Monk, Chaucer wrote, The Rule of St. Benet or St. Maur/ As old and rigorous he tended to disregard ; /He let travel by the things of yesterday/ And took the modern s universe s more broad manner, ( 177-180 ) . This monastic surely did non hold the desire to oppose the ways of the universe. He enjoyed nutrient, and hunting and he spared no disbursal, ( 196 ) . The Monk presented the dissatisfactory world of the devout spiritual figures. In The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer allowed the reader to cognize the Friar is a adult male who should non be trusted. The Friar, named Hubert, was an openly spiritual adult male ( 279 ) . He was a member of all four of the cloistered orders, yet he lived merely the manner he wanted. Chaucer wrote, For he was qualified to hear confessions, / Or so he said, with more than priestly scope ; / He had a particular licence from the Pope, ( 223-224 ) . Chaucer so suggested, Therefore alternatively of crying or supplication / One should give Ag for a hapless Friar s attention, ( 235-236 ) . In lines 245-250, Chaucer described his relationship with barmaids and the nearby tap houses. He wrote, For in so high as a adult male as he/ It was non suiting with the dignity/ Of his place. He embraced worldly populating. Worldly populating wholly contradicts the construct of being a mendicant. He rebuked those with a pinpoint in their oculus, disregarding the board in his ain ( Matthew 7:3, The Tre asure Study Bible 1326 ) . The stanzas continue entering all of the secular activities in which he was involved. He abused his power, took advantage of the vulnerable, and participated in an immoral life style. On the other manus for the first clip in the full prologue, the reader feels grasp for one of the pilgrims. He was a holy-minded adult male, ( 487 ) who Chaucer declared genuinely knew Christ s Gospel and would prophesy it, ( 491 ) . The Parson was persevering, low, and led by following God s Word himself. Chaucer neer claimed such respectable things of the other 28 pilgrims. This ideal pilgrim represented the hope for the Roman Catholic Church when everything else was falling apart. The echt life of the Parson pointed out that non all of the church was in the incorrect. The Parson represented the staying pureness. His lifestyle picks were about straight opposite of the many other pilgrims. One noteworthy difference was his utmost altruism. Chaucer wrote, He much disliked extorting tithe or fee, unlike the Pardoner. He helped fellow Christians in demand ; he was merely a call off ( 495-504 ) .Chaucer was really clear about his standing with the Parson. I think there neer was a better priest. / He sought no gaudery or glorification in his dealing, / No scrupulosity had spiced his feelings./ Christ and His Twelve Apostles and their lore/ He taught, but followed it himself before, ( 534-536 ) . True Christianity was surely non prevailing in the message in The Canterbury Tales. Excluding the Parson, the bulk of its characters contradicted the belief of pureness and godliness. Chaucer saved the most utmost character descriptions for last ; the Pardoner was one of the strongest illustrations of a corrupt spiritual character in The Canterbury Tales. The Pardoner sold relics of no value and of no significance to the fleeceable Christians by his convicting vocals and discourses. John Wellford says, He is hence a fourteenth century English version of the snake-oil salesman. He took advantage of the ignorant and deceived folds into passing in hard-earned money for bogus keepsakes. The most atrocious thought the Pardoner presented is the sarcasm in his discourses and his life style. He lived his life cognizing right and making incorrect. The Pardoner was a adult male who led his life radically in contradiction to his supposed beliefs. The Pardoner s moral in his narrative was Radix malorum est cupiditas. The moral means Greed is the root of all evil, in Latin ( Chaucer line 8, 142 ) . His intent in stating the narrative was to harvest the benefits of those merely desiring forgiveness and a relationship with God. The Pardoner wanted touchable benefits. He stated, But allow me briefly do my purpose field ; I preach for nil but for greed of addition, ( 41-42 ) . Redemption of his hearers was wholly undistinguished to him ( 23 ) . With the Pardoner, Chaucer provided a solid illustration of what the pilgrims should non be. Chaucer s Canterbury Tales changed the manner people viewed the Catholic Church. He chose to compose a fictional narrative, yet his purposes are still clear. One can non misinterpret a section from The Canterbury Tales prologue. Chaucer wrote, For if a priest be foul in whom we trust / No admiration that a common adult male should corrode ; / And dishonor it is to see-let priests take stock-/ A soiled shepherd and a snowy flock. / The true illustration that a priest should give / Is one of cleanness, how the sheep should populate, ( 511-515 ) . Chaucer needed the common adult male to see the lip service and dual criterions of the Roman Catholic Church in the 13th century. Handily, as history shows, reform was shortly on its manner ( Collinson ) . Elton declared, The Church was full of failings and maltreatments ; reforms had been talked about for a really long clip, ( 105 ) . The Canterbury Tales assisted in readying for what is known as The Reformation of the 14th century. The Roman Catholic Church was put on the topographic point, uncovering the demand for reform. The Canterbury Tales emphasized the real properties of the Roman Catholic Church in Chaucer s age. Chaucer s piece of literature created quite the break in the typical position of accepting the church. He used the pilgrims going to Canterbury Cathedral to talk on the religious position of the state and church. There was a really clear message of lip service in the bulk of the pilgrims who claim Christianity in the narrative. Looking from a Biblical position, their philosophy does non hold with their actions. The Canterbury Tales strengthened the desire for pureness within the church.

How to Write a Book in 2019 A Proven Guide From a Best Seller

How to Write a Book in 2019 A Proven Guide From a Best Seller How to Write a Book: Everything You Need to Know in 20 Steps So you want to write a book. Becoming an author can change your life- not to mention give you the ability to impact thousands, even millions, of people. However, writing a book is no cakewalk. As a 21-time New York Times bestselling author, I can tell you: It’s far easier to quit than to finish. When you run out of ideas, when your own message bores you, or when you become overwhelmed by the sheer scope of the task, you’re going to be tempted to give up. But what if you knew exactly: Where to start What each step entails How to overcome fear, procrastination, and writer’s block And how to keep from feeling overwhelmed? You can do this- and more quickly than you might think, because these days you have access to more writing tools than ever. The key is to follow a proven, straightforward, step-by-step plan. My goal here is to offer you that plan. I’ve used the techniques I outline below to write more than 190 books (including the Left Behind series) over the past 40 years. Yes, I realize averaging over four books per year is more than you may have thought humanly possible. But trust me- with a reliable blueprint, you can get unstuck and finish your book. This is my personal approach to how to write a book. I’m confident you’ll find something here that can change the game for you. So, let’s jump in. How to Write a Book From Start to Finish in 20 Steps Establish your writing space. Assemble your writing tools. Break the project into small pieces. Settle on your BIG idea. Construct your outline. Set a firm writing schedule. Establish a sacred deadline. Embrace procrastination (really!). Eliminate distractions. Conduct your research. Start calling yourself a writer. Think reader-first. Find your writing voice. Write a compelling opener. Fill your story with conflict and tension. Turn off your internal editor while writing the first draft. Persevere through The Marathon of the Middle. Write a resounding ending. Become a ferocious self-editor. Find a mentor. Want to download this 20-step guide so you can read it whenever you wish? Click here. Part One: Before You Begin You’ll never regret- in fact, you’ll thank yourself later- for investing the time necessary to prepare for such a monumental task. You wouldn’t set out to cut down a huge grove of trees with just an axe. You’d need a chain saw, perhaps more than one. Something to keep them sharp. Enough fuel to keep them running. You get the picture. Don’t shortcut this foundational part of the process. 1. Establish your writing space. To write your book, you don’t need a sanctuary. In fact, I started my career on my couch facing a typewriter perched on a plank of wood suspended by two kitchen chairs. What were you saying about your setup again?We do what we have to do. And those early days on that sagging couch were among the most productive of my career. Naturally, the nicer and more comfortable and private you can make your writing lair (I call mine my cave), the better. (If you dedicate a room solely to your writing, you can even write off a portion of your home mortgage, taxes, and insurance proportionate to that space.) Real writers can write anywhere. Some write in restaurants and coffee shops. My first fulltime job was at a newspaper where 40 of us clacked away on manual typewriters in one big room- no cubicles, no partitions, conversations hollered over the din, most of my colleagues smoking, teletype machines clattering. Cut your writing teeth in an environment like that, and anywhere else seems glorious. 2. Assemble your writing tools. In the newspaper business there was no time to handwrite our stuff and then type it for the layout guys. So I have always written at a keyboard. Most authors do, though some handwrite their first drafts and then keyboard them onto a computer or pay someone to do that. No publisher I know would even consider a typewritten manuscript, let alone one submitted in handwriting. The publishing industry runs on Microsoft Word, so you’ll need to submit Word document files. Whether you prefer a Mac or a PC, both will produce the kinds of files you need. And if you’re looking for a musclebound electronic organizing system, you can’t do better than Scrivener. It works well on both PCs and Macs, and it nicely interacts with Word files. Just remember, Scrivener has a steep learning curve, so familiarize yourself with it before you start writing. Scrivener users know that taking the time to learn the basics is well worth it. So, what else do you need? If you are one who handwrites your first drafts, don’t scrimp on paper, pencils, or erasers. Don’t shortchange yourself on a computer either. Even if someone else is keyboarding for you, you’ll need a computer for research and for communicating with potential agents, editors, publishers. Get the best computer you can afford, the latest, the one with the most capacity and speed. Try to imagine everything you’re going to need in addition to your desk or table, so you can equip yourself in advance and don’t have to keep interrupting your work to find things like: Staplers Paper clips Rulers Pencil holders Pencil sharpeners Note pads Printing paper Paperweight Tape dispensers Cork or bulletin boards Clocks Bookends Reference works Space heaters Fans Lamps Beverage mugs Napkins Tissues You name it Last, but most crucial, get the best, most ergonomic chair you can afford. If I were to start my career again with that typewriter on a plank, I would not sit on that couch. I’d grab another straight-backed kitchen chair or something similar and be proactive about my posture and maintaining a healthy spine. There’s nothing worse than trying to be creative and immerse yourself in writing while you’re in agony. The chair I work in today cost more than my first car! If you’ve never used some of the items I listed above and can’t imagine needing them, fine. But make a list of everything you know you’ll need so when the actual writing begins, you’re already equipped. As you grow as a writer and actually start making money at it, you can keep upgrading your writing space. Where I work now is light years from where I started. But the point is, I didn’t wait to start writing until I could have a great spot in which to do it. Part Two: How to Start Writing a Book 3. Break the project into small pieces. Writing a book feels like a colossal project, because it is! But your manuscript will be made up of many small parts. An old adage says that the way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. Try to get your mind off your book as a 400-or-so-page monstrosity. It can’t be written all at once any more than that proverbial elephant could be eaten in a single sitting. See your book for what it is: a manuscript made up of sentences, paragraphs, pages. Those pages will begin to add up, and though after a week you may have barely accumulated double digits, a few months down the road you’ll be into your second hundred pages. So keep it simple. Start by distilling your big book idea from a page or so to a single sentence- your premise. The more specific that one-sentence premise, the more it will keep you focused while you’re writing. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Before you can turn your big idea into one sentence, which can then be expanded to an outline, you have to settle on exactly what that big idea is. 4. Settle on your BIG idea. To be book-worthy, your idea has to be killer. You need to write something about which you’re passionate, something that gets you up in the morning, draws you to the keyboard, and keeps you there. It should excite not only you, but also anyone you tell about it. I can’t overstate the importance of this. If you’ve tried and failed to finish your book before- maybe more than once- it could be that the basic premise was flawed. Maybe it was worth a blog post or an article but couldn’t carry an entire book. Think The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, or How to Win Friends and Influence People. The market is crowded, the competition fierce. There’s no more room for run-of-the-mill ideas. Your premise alone should make readers salivate. Go for the big concept book. How do you know you’ve got a winner? Does it have legs? In other words, does it stay in your mind, growing and developing every time you think of it? Run it past loved ones and others you trust. Does it raise eyebrows? Elicit Wows? Or does it result in awkward silences? The right concept simply works, and you’ll know it when you land on it. Most importantly, your idea must capture you in such a way that you’re compelled to write it. Otherwise you’ll lose interest halfway through and never finish. 5. Construct your outline. Want to download this 20-step guide so you can read it whenever you wish? Click here. Starting your writing without a clear vision of where you’re going will usually end in disaster. Even if you’re writing fiction and consider yourself a Pantser* as opposed to an Outliner, you need at least a basic structure. [*Those of us who write by the seat of our pants and, as Stephen King advises, put interesting characters in difficult situations and write to find out what happens] You don’t have to call it an outline if that offends your sensibilities. But fashion some sort of a directional document that provides structure and also serves as a safety net. If you get out on that Pantser highwire and lose your balance, you’ll thank me for advising you to have this in place. Now if you’re writing a nonfiction book, there’s no substitute for an outline. Potential agents or publishers require this in your proposal. They want to know where you’re going, and they want to know that you know. What do you want your reader to learn from your book, and how will you ensure they learn it? Fiction or nonfiction, if you commonly lose interest in your book somewhere in what I call the Marathon of the Middle, you likely didn’t start with enough exciting ideas. That’s why and outline (or a basic framework) is essential. Don’t even start writing until you’re confident your structure will hold up through the end. You may recognize this novel structure illustration. Did you know it holds up- with only slight adaptations- for nonfiction books too? It’s self-explanatory for novelists; they list their plot twists and developments and arrange them in an order that best serves to increase tension. What separates great nonfiction from mediocre? The same structure! Arrange your points and evidence in the same way so you’re setting your reader up for a huge payoff, and then make sure you deliver. If your nonfiction book is a memoir, an autobiography, or a biography, structure it like a novel and you can’t go wrong. But even if it’s a straightforward how-to book, stay as close to this structure as possible, and you’ll see your manuscript come alive. Make promises early, triggering your reader to anticipate fresh ideas, secrets, inside information, something major that will make him thrilled with the finished product. While you may not have as much action or dialogueor character development as your novelist counterpart, your crises and tension can come from showing where people have failed before and how you’re going to ensure your reader will succeed. You can even make the how-to project look impossible until you pay off that setup with your unique solution. Keep your outline to a single page for now. But make sure every major point is represented, so you’ll always know where you’re going. And don’t worry if you’ve forgotten the basics of classic outlining or have never felt comfortable with the concept. Your outline must serve you. If that means Roman numerals and capital and lowercase letters and then Arabic numerals, you can certainly fashion it that way. But if you just want a list of sentences that synopsize your idea, that’s fine too. Simply start with your working title, then your premise, then- for fiction, list all the major scenes that fit into the rough structure above. For nonfiction, try to come up with chapter titles and a sentence or two of what each chapter will cover. Once you have your one-page outline, remember it is a fluid document meant to serve you and your book. Expand it, change it, play with it as you see fit- even during the writing process. 6.Set a firm writing schedule. Ideally, you want to schedule at least six hours per week to write. That may consist of three sessions of two hours each, two sessions of three hours, or six one-hour sessions- whatever works for you. I recommend a regular pattern (same times, same days) that can most easily become a habit. But if that’s impossible, just make sure you carve out at least six hours so you can see real progress. Having trouble finding the time to write a book? News flash- you won’t find the time. You have to make it. I used the phrase carve out above for a reason. That’s what it takes. Something in your calendar will likely have to be sacrificed in the interest of writing time. Make sure it’s not your family- they should always be your top priority. Never sacrifice your family on the altar of your writing career. But beyond that, the truth is that we all find time for what we really want to do. Many writers insist they have no time to write, but they always seem to catch the latest Netflix original series, or go to the next big Hollywood feature. They enjoy concerts, parties, ball games, whatever. How important is it to you to finally write your book? What will you cut from your calendar each week to ensure you give it the time it deserves? A favorite TV show? An hour of sleep per night? (Be careful with this one; rest is crucial to a writer.) A movie? A concert? A party? Successful writers make time to write. When writing becomes a habit, you’ll be on your way. 7. Establish a sacred deadline. Without deadlines, I rarely get anything done. I need that motivation. Admittedly, my deadlines are now established in my contracts from publishers. If you’re writing your first book, you probably don’t have a contract yet. To ensure you finish your book, set your own deadline- then consider it sacred. Tell your spouse or loved one or trusted friend. Ask that they hold you accountable. Now determine- and enter in your calendar- the number of pages you need to produce per writing session to meet your deadline. If it proves unrealistic, change the deadline now. If you have no idea how many pages or words you typically produce per session, you may have to experiment before you finalize those figures. Say you want to finish a 400-page manuscript by this time next year. Divide 400 by 50 weeks (accounting for two off-weeks), and you get eight pages per week. Divide that by your typical number of writing sessions per week and you’ll know how many pages you should finish per session. Now is the time to adjust these numbers,while setting your deadline and determining your pages per session. Maybe you’d rather schedule four off weeks over the next year. Or you know your book will be unusually long. Change the numbers to make it realistic and doable, and then lock it in. Remember, your deadline is sacred. 8. Embrace procrastination (really!). You read that right. Don’t fight it; embrace it. You wouldn’t guess it from my 190+ published books, but I’m the king of procrastinators. Surprised? Don’t be. So many authors are procrastinators that I’ve come to wonder if it’s a prerequisite. The secret is to accept it and, in fact, schedule it. I quit fretting and losing sleep over procrastinating when I realized it was inevitable and predictable, and also that it was productive. Sound like rationalization? Maybe it was at first. But I learned that while I’m putting off the writing, my subconscious is working on my book. It’s a part of the process. When you do start writing again, you’ll enjoy the surprises your subconscious reveals to you. So, knowing procrastination is coming, book it on your calendar. Take it into account when you’re determining your page quotas. If you have to go back in and increase the number of pages you need to produce per session, do that (I still do it all the time). But- and here’s the key- you must never let things get to where that number of pages per day exceeds your capacity. It’s one thing to ratchet up your output from two pages per session to three. But if you let it get out of hand, you’ve violated the sacredness of your deadline. How can I procrastinate and still meet more than 190 deadlines? Because I keep the deadlines sacred. 9. Eliminate distractions to stay focused. Are you as easily distracted as I am? Have you found yourself writing a sentence and then checking your email? Writing another and checking Facebook? Getting caught up in the come-ons for pictures of the 10 Sea Monsters You Wouldn’t Believe Actually Exist? Then you just have to check out that precious video from a talk show where the dad surprises the family by returning from the war. That leads to more and more of the same. Once I’m in, my writing is forgotten, and all of a sudden the day has gotten away from me. The answer to these insidious timewasters? Look into these apps that allow you to block your email, social media, browsers, game apps, whatever you wish during the hours you want to write. Some carry a modest fee, others are free. Freedom app. FocusWriter StayFocusd WriteRoom 10. Conduct your research. Yes, research is a vital part of the process, whether you’re writing fiction or nonfiction. Fiction means more than just making up a story. Your details and logic and technical and historical details must be right for your novel to be believable. And for nonfiction, even if you’re writing about a subject in which you’re an expert- as I’m doing here- you’ll be surprised how ensuring you get all the facts right will polish your finished product. In fact, you’d be surprised at how many times I’ve researched a fact or two while writing this blog post alone. The last thing you want is even a small mistake due to your lack of proper research. Regardless the detail, trust me, you’ll hear from readers about it. Your credibility as an author and an expert hinges on creating trust with your reader. That dissolves in a hurry if you commit an error. My favorite research resources are: World Almanacs: These alone list almost everything you need for accurate prose: facts, data, government information, and more. For my novels, I often use these to come up with ethnically accurate character names. TheMerriam-Webster Thesaurus: The online version is great, because it’s lightning fast. You couldn’t turn the pages of a hard copy as quickly as you can get where you want to onscreen. One caution: Never let it be obvious you’ve consulted a thesaurus. You’re not looking for the exotic word that jumps off the page. You’re looking for that common word that’s on the tip of your tongue. WorldAtlas.com: Here you’ll find nearly limitless information about any continent, country, region, city, town, or village. Names, monetary units, weather patterns, tourism info, and even facts you wouldn’t have thought to search for. I get ideas when I’m digging here, for both my novels and my nonfiction books. 11. Start calling yourself a writer. Want to download this 20-step guide so you can read it whenever you wish? Click here. Your inner voice may tell you, â€Å"You’re no writer and you never will be. What do you think you’re doing, trying to write a book? That may be why you’ve stalled at writing your book in the past. But if you’re working at writing, studying writing, practicing writing, that makes you a writer. Don’t wait till you reach some artificial level of accomplishment before calling yourself a writer. A cop in uniform and on duty is a cop whether he’s actively enforced the law yet or not. A carpenter is a carpenter whether he’s ever built a house. Self-identify as a writer now and you’ll silence that inner critic- who, of course, is really you. Talk back to yourself if you must. It may sound silly, but acknowledging yourself as a writer can give you the confidence to keep going and finish your book. Are you a writer? Say so. Part Three: The Writing Itself 12. Think reader-first. This is so important that that you should write it on a sticky note and affix it to your monitor so you’re reminded of it every time you write. Every decision you make about your manuscript must be run through this filter. Not you-first, not book-first, not editor-, agent-, or publisher-first. Certainly not your inner circle- or critics-first. Reader-first, last, and always. If every decision is based on the idea of reader-first, all those others benefit anyway. When fans tell me they were moved by one of my books, I think back to this adage and am grateful I maintained that posture during the writing. Does a scene bore you? If you’re thinking reader-first, it gets overhauled or deleted. Where to go, what to say, what to write next? Decide based on the reader as your priority. Whatever your gut tells you your reader would prefer, that’s your answer. Whatever will intrigue him, move him, keep him reading, those are your marching orders. So, naturally, you need to know your reader. Rough age? General interests? Loves? Hates? Attention span? When in doubt, look in the mirror. The surest way to please your reader is to please yourself. Write what you would want to read and trust there is a broad readership out there that agrees. 13. Find your writing voice. Discovering your voice is nowhere near as complicated as some make it out to be. You can find yours by answering these quick questions: What’s the coolest thing that ever happened to you? Who’s the most important person you told about it? What did you sound like when you did? That’s your writing voice. It should read the way you sound at your most engaged. That’s all there is to it. If you write fiction and the narrator of your book isn’t you, go through the three-question exercise on the narrator’s behalf- and you’ll quickly master the voice. Here’s a blog I posted that’ll walk you through the process. 14. Write a compelling opener. If you’re stuck because of the pressure of crafting the perfect opening line, you’re not alone. And neither is your angst misplaced. This is not something you should put off and come back to once you’ve started on the rest of the first chapter. Oh, it can still change if the story dictates that. But settling on a good one will really get you off and running. It’s unlikely you’ll write a more important sentence than your first one, whether you’re writing fiction or nonfiction. Make sure you’re thrilled with it and then watch how your confidence- and momentum- soars. Most great first lines fall into one of these categories: Surprising Fiction: â€Å"It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.† - George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four Nonfiction: â€Å"By the time Eustace Conway was seven years old, he could throw a knife accurately enough to nail a chipmunk to a tree.† - Elizabeth Gilbert, The Last American Man Dramatic Statement Fiction: â€Å"They shoot the white girl first.† - Toni Morrison, Paradise Nonfiction: â€Å"I was five years old the first time I ever set foot in prison.† - Jimmy Santiago Baca, A Place to Stand Philosophical Fiction: â€Å"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.† - Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina Nonfiction: â€Å"It’s not about you.† - Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life Poetic Fiction: â€Å"When I finally caught up with Abraham Trahearne, he was drinking beer with an alcoholic bulldog named Fireball Roberts in a ramshackle joint just outside of Sonoma, California, drinking the heart right out of a fine spring afternoon. - James Crumley, The Last Good Kiss Nonfiction: â€Å"The village of Holcomb stands on the high wheat plains of western Kansas, a lonesome area that other Kansans call ‘out there.’† - Truman Capote, In Cold Blood Great opening lines from other classics may give you ideas for yours. Heres a list of famous openers. 15. Fill your story with conflict and tension. Your reader craves conflict, and yes, this applies to nonfiction readers as well. In a novel, if everything is going well and everyone is agreeing, your reader will soon lose interest and find something else to do- like watch paint dry. Are two of your characters talking at the dinner table? Have one say something that makes the other storm out. Some deep-seeded rift in their relationship has surfaced. Is it just a misunderstanding that has snowballed into an injustice? Thrust people into conflict with each other. That’ll keep your reader’s attention. Certain nonfiction genres won’t lend themselves to that kind of conflict, of course, but you can still inject tension by setting up your reader for a payoff in later chapters. Check out some of the current bestselling nonfiction works to see how writers accomplish this. Somehow they keep you turning those pages, even in a simple how-to title. Tension is the secret sauce that will propel your reader through to the end. And sometimes that’s as simple as implying something to come. 16. Turn off your internal editor while writing the first draft. Many of us are perfectionists and find it hard to get a first draft written- fiction or nonfiction- without feeling compelled to make every sentence exactly the way we want it. That voice in your head that questions every word, every phrase, every sentence, and makes you worry you’re being redundant or have allowed cliches to creep in- well, that’s just your editor alter ego. He or she needs to be told to shut up. This is not easy. Deep as I am into a long career, I still have to remind myself of this every writing day. I cannot be both creator and editor at the same time. That slows me to a crawl, and my first draft of even one brief chapter could take days. Our job when writing that first draft is to get down the story or the message or the teaching- depending on your genre. It helps me to view that rough draft as a slab of meat I will carve tomorrow. I can’t both produce that hunk and trim it at the same time. A cliche, a redundancy, a hackneyed phrase comes tumbling out of my keyboard, and I start wondering whether I’ve forgotten to engage the reader’s senses or aimed for his emotions. That’s when I have to chastise myself and say, â€Å"No! Don’t worry about that now! First thing tomorrow you get to tear this thing up and put it back together again to your heart’s content!† Imagine yourself wearing different hats for different tasks, if that helps- whatever works to keep you rolling on that rough draft. You don’t need to show it to your worst enemy or even your dearest love. This chore is about creating. Don’t let anything slow you down. Some like to write their entire first draft before attacking the revision. As I say, whatever works. Doing it that way would make me worry I’ve missed something major early that will cause a complete rewrite when I discover it months later. I alternate creating and revising. The first thing I do every morning is a heavy edit and rewrite of whatever I wrote the day before. If that’s ten pages, so be it. I put my perfectionist hat on and grab my paring knife and trim that slab of meat until I’m happy with every word. Then I switch hats, tell Perfectionist Me to take the rest of the day off, and I start producing rough pages again. So, for me, when I’ve finished the entire first draft, it’s actually a second draft because I have already revised and polished it in chunks every day. THEN I go back through the entire manuscript one more time, scouring it for anything I missed or omitted, being sure to engage the reader’s senses and heart, and making sure the whole thing holds together. I do not submit anything I’m not entirely thrilled with. I know there’s still an editing process it will will go through at the publisher, but my goal is to make my manuscript the absolute best I can before they see it. Compartmentalize your writing vs. your revising and you’ll find that frees you to create much more quickly. 17. Persevere through The Marathon of the Middle. Most who fail at writing a book tell me they give up somewhere in what I like to call The Marathon of the Middle. That’s a particularly rough stretch for novelists who have a great concept, a stunning opener, and they can’t wait to get to the dramatic ending. But they bail when they realize they don’t have enough cool stuff to fill the middle. They start padding, trying to add scenes just for the sake of bulk, but they’re soon bored and know readers will be too. This actually happens to nonfiction writers too. The solution there is in the outlining stage, being sure your middle points and chapters are every bit as valuable and magnetic as the first and last. If you strategize the progression of your points or steps in a process- depending on nonfiction genre- you should be able to eliminate the strain in the middle chapters. For novelists, know that every book becomes a challenge a few chapters in. The shine wears off, keeping the pace and tension gets harder, and it’s easy to run out of steam. But that’s not the time to quit. Force yourself back to your structure, come up with a subplot if necessary, but do whatever you need to so your reader stays engaged. Fiction writer or nonfiction author, The Marathon of the Middle is when you must remember why you started this journey in the first place. It isn’t just that you want to be an author. You have something to say. You want to reach the masses with your message. Yes, it’s hard. It still is for me- every time. But don’t panic or do anything rash, like surrendering. Embrace the challenge of the middle as part of the process. If it were easy, anyone could do it. 18. Write a resounding ending. Want to download this 20-step guide so you can read it whenever you wish? Click here. This is just as important for your nonfiction book as your novel. It may not be as dramatic or emotional, but it could be- especially if you’re writing a memoir. But even a how-to or self-help book needs to close with a resounding thud, the way a Broadway theater curtain meets the floor. How do you ensure your ending doesn’t fizzle? Don’t rush it. Give readers the payoff they’ve been promised. They’ve invested in you and your book the whole way. Take the time to make it satisfying. Never settle for close enough just because you’re eager to be finished. Wait till you’re thrilled with every word, and keep revising until you are. If it’s unpredictable, it had better be fair and logical so your reader doesn’t feel cheated. You want him to be delighted with the surprise, not tricked. If you have multiple ideas for how your book should end, go for the heart rather than the head, even in nonfiction. Readers most remember what moves them. Part Four: All Writing Is Rewriting 19. Become a ferocious self-editor. Agents and editors can tell within the first two pages whether your manuscript is worthy of further consideration. That sounds unfair, and maybe it is. But it’s also reality, so we writers need to face it. How can they often decide that quickly on something you’ve devoted months, maybe years, to? Because they can almost immediately envision how much editing would be required to make those first couple of pages publishable. If they decide the investment wouldn’t make economic sense for a 300-400-page manuscript, end of story. Your best bet to keep an agent or editor reading your manuscript? You must become a ferocious self-editor. That means: Omit needless words Choose the simple word over one that requires a dictionary Avoid subtle redundancies, like â€Å"He thought in his mind†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Where else would someone think?) Avoid hedging verbs like almost frowned, sort of jumped, etc. Generally remove the word that- use it only when absolutely necessary for clarity Give the reader credit and resist the urge to explain, as in, â€Å"She walked through the open door.† (Did we need to be told it was open?) Avoid too much stage direction (what every character is doing with every limb and digit) Avoid excessive adjectives Show, don’t tell And many more For my full list and how to use them, click here. (It’s free.) When do you know you’re finished revising? When you’ve gone from making your writing better to merely making it different. That’s not always easy to determine, but it’s what makes you an author. And Finally, the Quickest Way to Succeed 20. Find a mentor. Get help from someone who’s been where you want to be. Imagine engaging a mentor who can help you sidestep all the amateur pitfalls and shave years of painful trial-and-error off your learning curve. Just make sure it’s someone who really knows the writing and publishing world. Many masquerade as mentors and coaches but have never really succeeded themselves. Look for someone widely-published who knows how to work with agents, editors, and publishers. There are many helpful mentors online. I teach writers through this free site, as well as in my members-only Writers Guild. Want to save this definitive guide to read later?Click here or below to download a handy PDF version: Struggling with knowing how to write a book? Tell me in the comments and feel free to ask questions.

Role of IT Managers in Organizations Term Paper

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