Complete Guide Writing a Strong Letter of Recommendation

Complete Guide Writing a Strong Letter of Recommendation SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips As an English teacher and college counselor working with high school students, I've had the privilege and responsibility of writing letters of recommendation. Starting out, I had a strong urge to help, but no clear sense of what exactly should go into a reference letter. If they all speak to students' impressive qualities and accomplishments, what makes some letters stand out among the rest? To answer this question, I researched recommendation letters from both sides of the college process, drawing on the advice of high school counselors and teachers and the perspective of college admissions officers. I also read dozens of recommendation letters, from the ones that admissions committees loved to the ones that were cast aside as mediocre, useless, or straight up negative about a student. This article compiles the most important lessons I learned through this research and my own work supporting students through the college process. Read on for a discussion ofwhat exactly needs to go into the kind of rec letter that effectively advocates for a student and boosts her admissions chances. First, let's take a deeper look at what purpose recommendation letters serve when they arrive before an admissions committee. The Goal: What's the Purpose of Letters of Recommendation? Admissions officers put a lot of weight on recommendation letters. Especially in selective admissions, when thousands of qualified students are competing for a limited number of spots, reference letters can go a long way toward differentiating one student from another. According to Harvard dean of admissions William Fitzsimmons, recommendation letters are "extremely important" and are read "with great care" (often projected onto large screens in front of the whole committee!). So what are all these carefully reading admissions officers looking for? Two main features. The first is an insightful, in-depth story of the student that reveals both her academic skills and personal qualities. As a teacher, you're in a great position to comment on a student's intellectual curiosity, creativity, and attitude towards learning. Additionally, you can speak to a student's admirable personal qualities, like her sense of integrity, compassion, and leadership skills, to name a few. This in-depth look gives an admissions committee a holistic view of your student beyond the grades and clubs listed on their application. It helps the student come to life. The second main feature that admissions committees typically look for is a student's potential to contribute positively to the college community, as well as to succeed after graduation. In your recommendation, you can state your confidence about a student's success on campus and future achievement. Certain qualities are especially impressive to admissions officers and hint at success in college, though this might vary somewhat by individual. Some of these qualities include love of learning, academic commitment, communication skills, commitment to mastery of a specific skill or area, and leadership capacity. Since these personal qualities may not be apparent on the rest of the application (apart from the student's own personal essay), the letters of recommendation can go a long way toward describing a student's best traits. Plus, they show that a student has teachers who are motivated to advocate for her. Of course, hopefully no one would agree to recommend a student and then write bad, sabotaging things in the recommendation letter. It's generally safe to assume that all recommenders want to support students in continuing their education. But mediocre letters can often be just as bad as ones that are outright critical, and merely "good letters" pale in comparison to excellent ones. So what must go into a letter of recommendation to make it particularly strong and effective? How to Write a Strong Letter of Recommendation The strongest letters of recommendation take time and thought to craft. They're individualized to each student and are thoughtfully revised for word choice and flow of ideas. First and foremost, what content is essential for a strong letter of recommendation? Include Key Content Perhaps the best way to describe what a letter of rec should include is to start out by describing what it shouldn't include. A rec letter should not simply be a restatement of a student's grades, clubs, and awards. All of these facts and figures should already be stated on the student's application. The most ineffective rec letters just repeat a student's resume. Admissions officers are hoping for deep insights into a student's character, rather than a list of data points that could apply to any number of students. This is not to say that recommenders shouldn't mention what a student has achieved or been involved in, but they shouldn't feel compelled to list every single accomplishment. Instead, writers can point to a specific involvement or story that demonstrates something meaningful about the student. For instance, you might be writing about Michael, whose powerful commitment to equality and education led him to establish a Gay-Straight Alliance at the school. In this way, you're discussing something a student has done to illuminate something significant and admirable about his character and motivations. Speaking about his establishment of the GSA is more illustrative than simply stating that he's committed to equality and social justice. So if reiterating the student's grades and activities (ie, resume points) shouldn't go into the rec letter, what should? MIT offers an insightful breakdown of the questions its admissions officers would like answers to in a letter. These questions are a useful guide for recommenders writing to any college. What is the context of your relationship with the applicant? Has the student demonstrated a willingness to take intellectual risks and go beyond the normal classroom experience? Does the applicant have any unusual competence, talent, or leadership abilities? What motivates this person? What excites him/her? How does the applicant interact with teachers? With peers? Describe his/her personality and social skills. What will you remember most about this person? Has the applicant ever experienced disappointment or failure? If so, how did he/she react? Are there any unusual family or community circumstances of which we should be aware? Source: MIT Admissions A recommender doesn't necessarily have to answer all of these questions, but they're great starting points for brainstorming. They shift the focus from what a student does to what a student is like, in terms of her intellectual curiosity, specific skills or talents, passions, and personality. Some other impressive qualities include communication skills, resourcefulness, and innovative problem-solving. Admissions committees often also look for demonstrated leadership and the ability to collaborate with others in an interactive and diverse environment. Beyond these personal qualities, letter writers might speak to unusual circumstances or challenges that the student has faced or survived. These can be especially meaningful to explain a dip in academic performance or to show how a student has overcome hardship. I would advise getting the student's permission before including personal family information, just to make sure she's comfortable with you sharing it. Finally, a recommender may want to demonstrate her own familiarity with the school to which the student is applying. If the school is particularly competitive, then you might express your confidence in the student's ability to thrive in an academically rigorous environment. If you're an alum of the school, then you can believably assert your confidence that the student would be a strong cultural fit. The strongest recommendation letters give insight into a student's intellectual orientation, motivations, and personal qualities. As a writer, how can you rave about your student in a sincere, genuine, and convincing way? One of the best ways to accomplish this is to focus your recommendation on the student's best assets. Highlight your student's most important strengths. Highlight the Most Important Themes Just as you don't have to feel compelled to repeat every grade, club, and award on the student's resume, you also don't have to speak about every quality that makes the student great. In fact, well-rounded students aren't necessarily what the most competitive schools are looking for. While selective schools look for academic excellence in most subjects, what they really appreciate is a student's singular commitment to a specific and distinct area. Developing a "big spike" in a certain area shows passion, dedication, and the ability to sustain long-term focus. As PrepScholar co-founder and Harvard alum Allen Cheng writes, top colleges are looking for students who are going to change the world. They're expecting deep achievement, and the best predictor of that is deep achievement in high school. Therefore admissions committees are especially impressed by a "huge spike" in science, writing, athletics, or whatever your commitment might be. Of course, not all or even the majority of students are applying to Ivy League schools, but the takeaway message still applies. Recommendation letters don't have to present the student as well-rounded and good at everything they do. Instead, they can paint a specific picture and highlight the qualities that are most important to understanding who the student is and what drives her actions. Some letters may highlight that a student is a top scholar, while others may speak to a student's leadership skills. Some may focus in on the student's passion for volunteer work, or her talent in acting, art, music, or athletics. For students with extensive international experience, recommenders may rave about their multicultural, global perspective or unusual maturity and sophistication. Other students may have had to overcome hardships in their life, and the recommender could speak to their resilience and strength as a survivor. As mentioned above, I would suggest discussing this kind of content with the student to make sure she's comfortable sharing it with admissions commitees.All in all, a recommender can brainstorm a list of the student's best assets (with the aid of the student's resume and "brag sheet"), and zero in on the most important themes. What if the student hasn't demonstrated interest in a particular area, but you're excited to see her further explore her interests in college? In this case, you could write earnestly about the student's room to grow and the potential you see in her. At the same time, be careful with this kind of wording, as it may suggest different things to different admissions officers. If you really feel not able or qualified to provide the student with a recommendation that will help her admission chances, then you shouldrespectfully decline or suggest someone else better able to write her letter. Once you've chosen the most important themes to highlight about a student, you can think about specific stories, experiences, or observations that demonstrate those strengths. The best recommendation letters "show," rather than just "tell." Bring your letter to life with meaningful stories and examples. Give Specific Examples Which sentence paints a better picture in the mind of the reader? a) Kate is a strong writer. b) Due to Kate's superlative writing and analytical skills, I'll be using her year-long thesis on representations of gender inJane Eyre as an example of the highest quality work to students in my future AP English classes. The second uses more powerful words, but more importantly it gives a specific example, thereby proving that Kate has strong writing skills. It explains the grounds on which the teacher draws her conclusion that Kate is a good writer. It additionally suggests that Kate can sustain focus in a long-term project and impressed the teacher so much that her thesis became a model for future students. The best recommendation letters support their praise of a student with specific anecdotes and observations. These stories accomplish a few things. One, they support the writer's claims. Rather than just listing adjectives, the writer backs up her description with examples. Secondly, they make the letter more interesting and help the student come to life in the eyes of admissions officers. Officers may be up all night reading through applications. The last thing they want is a generic, boring recommendation letter that blends into all the others. Interesting stories make both the letter and the student pop. Finally, the use of specific stories proves that the recommender is, in fact, qualified to assess the student. The best letters come from teachers who know a student well. Sharing anecdotes and observations prove that you've gotten to know the student thoroughly and your evaluation of her is trustworthy and reliable. In addition to sharing examples, you should take the time to be intentional with your word choice. Consider which phrases and adjectives will present the clearest and strongest endorsement of the student. Dance, words, dance! Use Powerful Words As with any piece of writing, the best recommendation letters are eloquent, clear, and don't fall into the trap of cliches. Calling someone a go-getter with a heart of gold who leaves no stone unturned and is a friend to all may elicit a yawn or eye roll from the admissions officer. Often finding just the right word happens in the revision stage. Check if you wrote interesting when creative or innovative would work better. Keep an eye out for nice when you meant to dive into a student's unique empathy or compassion for others. Perhaps you wrote hard worker when intellectual risk-taker would more accurately describe the student. Some words and phrases that can be used to described a student's academic strengths includeinsightful, analytical, curious, observant, innovative, or mastery of a specific subject area.Others that fall more in the arena of personal and professional strengths includemature, flexible, generous, empathetic, leader, versatile, ethical, motivated, ambitious, resourceful, and strong communication skills. Admissions officers have read hundreds, if not thousands, of recommendation letters, and they're used to reading between the lines. Be intentional with your wording so you don't accidentally communicate something negative about the student. For instance, a phrase like "leads by example" or "excels at working independently" could indicate that the student keeps to herself and has trouble working with others. While it's more important to be authentic and not worry too much about what an admissions officer may or may not think, this mindset can help you be purposeful with what you say and how you say it in your letter. You can also keep an eye out for sounding over the top with your phrase. While the best letters rave about their students, they have the examples to back up their praise. Simply listing superlative adjectives could come off as overblown and insincere. A second technique that may impress admissions officers is the use of a high ranking. Rank the Student Highly, When Appropriate Consider these ranking statements: Carla is the most talented and driven math student I have taught in my twenty years at High School High. James is one of the top three students I have ever had the pleasure of teaching. An impressive ranking, like the two above, certainly communicates a strong vote of confidence in a student, especially if it comes from a teacher with hundreds of students to compare her recommendee to. If your student is applying to a selective or Ivy League school, then a powerful ranking can go a long way toward testifying to a student's outstanding achievement and qualities. On the other hand, a ranking like "above average" or "relatively strong effort compared to her peers" may do more harm than good. If you can genuinely provide a statement of high ranking, then you can help the student by including it. If not, then it's probably advisable to leave that kind of statement out of your letter. Apart from a statement of ranking, there are a few other key components to include in your letter of recommendation. While you can be creative and customize your letters to each student, there are a few essential pieces of information that you should include in all your letters. Include all essential elements. State All Essential Information There are a few necessary pieces of information to include in all recommendation letters that I touched on briefly at the beginning of this article. The first is an explicit statement of who you're recommending. If you can customize your letter for each college, all the better. Second, you should state who you are, your position at the school, and the contexts in which you've gotten to know the applicant. If you've gotten to know the student both in class for a year and as editor of the school newspaper, then this shows you've taught and supervised her in different contexts and are especially qualified to evaluate her. Admissions officers usually prefer recommendations from junior year teachers, as they had the student recently and for a whole year. A senior year teacher probably doesn't know the student very well yet, and sophomore and freshman year was too far in the past. Exceptions to this general rule include having the student for more than one year or supervising her in other capacities, like clubs or sports. You can begin the letter with a creative or catchy hook, or a more straightforward statement of endorsement, as long as you include these key components in the introduction. Here are a few examples. It is my great pleasure to provide this recommendation for Kate, who I enjoyed teaching and getting to know as her th grade AP U.S. History teacher. I have known Joe since 2012 in my position as Lincoln High School's Biology teacher. I am delighted to write this recommendation for Rosa, whom I have known for two years as her Psychology teacher and academic advisor. Please accept this letter as my enthusiastic endorsement of Chris, the top student in my th grade AP Chemistry class. After introducing the student, your relationship with her, and your statement of recommendation, you can go on to provide your evaluation, while keeping in mind the above mentioned suggestions, like focusing on important themes and using specific stories, powerful language, and a statement of ranking. If you want to balance out your recommendation by presenting a weakness, I would suggest doing so in a mild way, perhaps with an explanation of how that weakness could be turned into a strength. In your letter's conclusion, it's a good idea to restate your support for the student, while also talking about how you envision the student being successful at college. Admissions officers want to build a strong, dynamic, and diverse class with a range of abilities and interests. By attesting to the student's potential for future success and contributions at campus, you can reassure admissions officers that she is a student they want at their school. Finally, you can conclude your letter with your contact information and an invitation to call or email you with any further questions. Use an official letterhead, and welcome them to get in touch for any further discussion of the student. To sum up, let's go over the do's and don't's of writing recommendation letters for students applying to college. Key Points to Remember Do: Include key content, like who you're recommending, who you are, how you know the student, and what makes you qualified to evaluate her. Be enthusiastic in your recommendation, discussing both a student's academic ability and potential and her character and personality. Highlight a few key qualities that you think are essential for admissions officers to understand who the student is and what she can accomplish. Use specific stories, examples, and anecdotes to support your evaluation. Be intentional in your word choice, making sure to powerful words and phrases and to avoid cliches. Provide a high and impressive ranking, when applicable. Conclude with a strong statement of support, vision of the student's future success, and invitation to the admissions committee to follow up with you if need be. Don't: Simply repeat resume points or quantitative data that are already listed on other parts of the application. Cast too wide a net and end up saying very little, because you tried to say too much. List adjectives without having examples to back them up. Use generic, bland, unenthusiastic language or cliche statements. Use similar letters for more than one student, especially if the students are applying to the same schools (the same admissions officers will see this!) Agree to provide a letter of recommendation unless you can honestly recommend a student. Finally, not all students develop strong connections with their teachers, perhaps because they have trouble participating in class or their school has a large teacher to student ratio. To help you write your recommendation, students may provide a "brag sheet," where they talk about their goals and what's important to them, as well as a resume. If you need more information or time to talk to the student, it can help to meet with her and have a conversation or two. I always found the easiest letters to write were for students who were open and eager to share their plans and personality. If you feel you haven't gotten to know a student as well as you need to to write a compelling and insightful letter, then it may help to elicit her thoughts and feelings, as well as make time to get to know her better. As long as you have the raw materials, in terms of a good relationship, stories, and observations, then you can use these suggestions and examples to craft a thoughtful, customized letter of recommendation that will help her get into college. As you write, remember your mission: to differentiate the student as a unique and impressive candidate, to shed light on both her intellectual and personal qualities, and to give admissions officers a holistic view of the person that will show up on campus in next year's class. What's Next? One of the most helpful resources for me as I wrote recommendation letters for students were examples of great and bad letters. Check back soon for our articles with great letters, bad letters, and a suggested recommendation letter template. While recommendation letters are important for all schools, they must be especially outstanding to help a student get into the Ivy League. Check out our complete guide to Harvard recommendation letters (coming soon). Want to improve your SAT score by 240 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Macbeth Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Macbeth - Research Paper Example the everlasting value of it, as all these elements combined with ill ambition, craving for high political position, becoming enormously rich in a dishonest way, etc., characterize modern societies in our time. Mac Bethad mac Findlaich or Macbeth for short in English was a Scottish king (1040-1057) who ruled successfully and wisely after killing his predecessor Duncan (1034-1040), who on the other hand was a weak and terrible leader. Macbeth was killed in 1057 in a battle led at Lumphanan in Aberdeenshire on 15th August against Malcolm, Duncan’s rightful heir to the throne. The events that took place shortly before Duncan’s murder and until Macbeth’s defeat were described in Shakespeare’s play â€Å"Macbeth† written sometime between 1604 and 1606. (â€Å"Mala Enciklopedija Prosveta† Belgrade, 1970, vol.2, p.15). Having a broad knowledge of Raphael Holinshed’s â€Å"Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland† (1587), Shakespeare apparently used it as a main source for writing this play. According to Holinshed, Duncan, the king of Scotland was a young and incapable ruler, but Shakespeare deliberately depicted him as an old and almost saint person in order to darken Macbeth’s crime even more than it actually was. Shakespeare used this chronicle to write a tragedy, not a historic play. George Buchanan’s â€Å"History of Scotland in Twenty Books† (2 volumes, 1733) written originally in Latin could have been another source for some scenes in the play. There are also things which must have been products of Shakespeare’s fantasy (the scene with the banquet and the appearance of Banquo’s ghost or Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking). Some critics even claim certain scenes were influenced by the Roman history, and some give credit to the legends Shakes peare knew so well. Yet, whatever the sources, â€Å"there is no doubt that the tragic status of Macbeth would be far weaker, were it not for the facts given in the Holinshed’s chronicle that Duncan was weak,

The Professional Engineer and Micro-Electronics Essay

The Professional Engineer and Micro-Electronics - Essay Example This report is a comprehensive assessment of the work of professional engineer, who abides in a challenging work environment and has to incorporate with several legal and ethical obligations. The objective in this report is to investigate that how professional engineers work for sustainability, and what methods and programs they use to address complexity in their work environment. The Professional Engineering Tool Flow and Process Diagrams In the engineering practice, it has been noted that complexity lies in each of the engineering process. It could be a manufacturing process, process of design, or process of inventory that involves complexity. To understand complexity of a particular process, the professional engineer uses the tool of process diagram which is also called as flow diagram or process chart in engineering terms. This tool provides schematic representation of a process. Process diagram actually gives the whole picture of the process (the inside and outside of a process) ongoing in engineering. Mostly, chemical manufacturers, automotive firms, and electrical firms use this apprehensive tool to analyze the critical and problematic areas of a process. To condition a process, this tool is wide in its application. The Case of a Low-Capacity Manufacturer It is a noted fact that manufacturers try their best to improve and condition their manufacturing processes. ... rategic analysis tool such as the process diagram, which highlights the corrupt areas of a process, giving a reason to readjust or remove those areas (Carlo & Arleo, 2013). The literature brings the case of an apparel manufacturer which re-designs its production system and production facility by means of using process diagram tool. The process diagram assists and guides the manufacturer in different stages. It assists first in terms of reflecting on how the process is going and how possibly it can be modified or improved (Carlo & Arleo, 2013). The process diagram labels the schematic flow of the process that involves stages of blowing, basting, steeping, drying, dying and finishing altogether for producing a felt hat. These are stages that require readjustment and reformation as asserted by the manufacturer (Egelston, 2012). Using the process flow diagram, the manufacturer displays the AEIOUX sequence of its process. The areas which are absolutely necessary A, especially important E, important I, ordinary O, unimportant U, and undesirable X are highlighted using the analytical tool of process diagram (Carlo & Arleo, 2013). Using the process flow diagram, the manufacturer is able to take important decisions like which areas can be removed or can be brought to readjustment after the analysis has been made. The manufacturer improves the quality of its process by deploying the comprehensive analysis tool- the process flow diagram. Actually, the diagram has provided the algorithm to the manufacturer to improve and condition its whole production system (Carlo & Arleo, 2013). Process Flow Diagram of Felt Hat Manufacturing (Carlo & Arleo, 2013) The consequences led by the effective analysis tool (the process diagram) is that cost has got reduced and waste which was earlier

Abortion Should Be Made Illegal Essay Example for Free

Abortion Should Be Made Illegal Essay Abortion is a huge issue that most Americans have their own opinion of. It is also a touchy subject where there is no right or wrong answer; it is all a matter of personal opinion. Ones opinion could be from believing abortion should be legal, and that a woman should be able to control what happens with their body. Ones opinion could also believe abortion should be illegal, and that if a woman can take the responsibility of having sex then she should be able to have the responsibility of having a child. Going through with an abortion has got to be the most painful, excruciating thing to go through, not only physically, but mentally. Abortion is murder, when you take the life of a being, whether it is in the whom or not, it is still murder. The day a child is conceived is the day it is living. Abortion is serious, and something I disagree with strongly. I have been researching this topic for over three months now, and the information I found is incredible and mind blowing. I have learned a lot from researching this topic and hope to further someone else’s knowledge about this very important issue. Abortion, in more than one way, is wrong, and throughout this report I plan to show my audience why this is what I believe. See more: Analysis of Starbucks coffee company employees essay Abortion is a huge issue throughout America. It is something people have different opinions about. Some people think abortion should be legal and that a woman should be able to choose what goes on with her body and that it is no one else’s business but her own. Then there are some people who believe abortion should be illegal, like me for example. I believe abortion should be illegal, I think women abuse this action, and don’t realize the consequences until it is too late. As it states in Brian Wilson’s Article Outlawing Abortion, â€Å"Abortion has taken the lives of more than 40 million babies since 1973. That’s 40 million lives taken because women are abusing this horrible issue. I believe we as a country should really try to make enough pro-life groups to show women what could happen, and what mentally happens, and physically. In Brian Wilson’s Article Outlawing Abortion, it states that â€Å"Abortion should be outlawed, but until it is, pro-lifers should work to change the hearts of women seeking an end to their pregnancies. † I agree one hundred percent with this statement, I believe that pro-lifers should take the time and try and change the hearts of women. I believe women should really be educated in the entire subject, women should know what they are going to go through, both physically, and mentally. The physical part of the entire abortion is the process itself. There are a couple different ways a doctor can surgically remove the fetus from a woman. The most popular way to remove a fetus is when the doctor dilates the women’s cervix, while he or she scrapes the uterine lining. Another process is a woman could take certain types of medication to terminate the pregnancy, but that is not as affective as a doctor surgically removing the fetus. So the process itself is painful, and traumatizing, if that is just the physical part of an abortion you can only imagine what the mental part is like. When a woman is thinking about getting an abortion they have to think of everything before they decide to go through with it. The act itself of an abortion really is not that big of a deal, it’s a rather simple procedure that in itself causes little anguish. The big issue that women are concerned about is living with themselves knowing that they ended the development of their unborn child, that as they sit looking back at the procedure there could have been a child sitting next to them. Women that go through with an abortion struggle through the emotional pain that an abortion causes. One of the most faulty arguments against abortions is that is causes serious depression and trauma to the mother. Some women even suffer from post traumatic stress disorder. A lot of women feel regret and sorrow after going through with the procedure, statistics show that women suffer major trauma when going through that. I think there should be doctors in every abortion clinic that does what the Article by Lynn-nore Chittom, and Heather Newton, Pro-Life Activists Need to Push the Anti-Abortion Agenda, do. Doctors in South Dakota were required to inform women seeking abortions that they will be â€Å"terminating the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being. † Every women should be informed this, maybe it will make them step back and think about their next decision because that one decision could completely change there life forever. Many women after going through with an abortion feel sadness, guilt, anxiety, numbness, and shame. It’s not unusual for post-abortive women to experience all of those feelings plus much more, for example, women go through motional, spiritual, psychological, and physical side-effects for decades after their abortions. Abortion is a deadly and dangerous procedure. In every abortion the life of an innocent, unborn baby is ended, and its mother faces potentially life-long emotional consequences as a result of that decision. Abortion may be legal in the United States, but it is not the preferred choice. With proper education, women seeking abortions can come to understand their decision-making power and be persuaded to make a better choice. Abortion is becoming more and more common between younger girls. Girls need to be educated on this issue before the age gets extremely low. The fact that our country had to make it a law that minors can’t get an abortion without parental consent means girls are getting abortions way too young. This major issue is affecting girls of all ages, it should not be abused as much as it is. Women should be educated on the procedure, and the mental issues that come with the procedure. They say that a sonogram is what makes women change their minds about getting an abortion because the sound of a heart beat shows women there really is something living inside them and that shows them also that you would be terminating something that could one day be their pride and joy. Abortion is a major issue and should be stopped. Abortion should be illegal, I believe abortion should be banned completely. It is murder in one way or another. Someone could get two counts of murder for killing a pregnant woman but women are â€Å"murdering† their baby each and every day. How can someone go into work each and every day just knowing they are going to terminate someone’s unborn child? It has to be stopped and we need more pro-lifers to show women what it does to our bodies and how if affects us. Women don’t realize how traumatizing it really is until it is too late. Women need to be informed, and educated about the procedure and the guilt afterwards. The guilt itself eats women away, knowing they terminated something that could be their happiness one day. The issue of women not being ready for the responsibility, or just not wanting a child to begin with needs to stop. Some women need to take responsibility of their actions, and deal with what they started. Even if the woman is incapable of keeping a kid, they should at least give it up for adoption, if they do not want the responsibility they should also give him/her up for adoption. There are women who are completely unable to have kids and would be more than happy to take in a baby if only women would let their babies have the gift of life. A child is considered alive the minute it is conceived, abortion is usually done during the first trimester, but there have been some cases that it is done later. Abortion is still, and probably always will be a big issue. Women should not be allowed to get an abortion, no matter what. Women need to stop thinking about themselves and put their unborn babies’ life before there own. Everyone should be given the right to live, and no one should be able to hold that much power in their hands. All in all abortion is wrong, and just not something I could ever go through with nor would I ever think about going through with it. Abortion is almost like the easy way out of your mistakes, sometimes people need to own up and take up for their mistakes.

The Slaughter of the English Language Essay -- Collapse of the English

In George Orwell’s essay â€Å"Politics of the English Language†, Orwell argues that the English language is in ruins. What is to blame for the collapse of the English language? The answer simply lies within technology. Technology in many ways has a adverse effect on the English language. Young kids are now allowed to carry cell phones with texting being their main source of communication. Often times these kids butcher the English language through their text messages. They use improper grammar and often times do not punctuate at all. Technology such as texting, facebook and instant messaging work hand in had in the destruction of the English language. Technology has not made people more efficient, but rather has made them lazy. Text messaging is a technology that contributes to the great decline of the English language. The English language is often butchered through the use of text messaging. In Orwell’s essay, he states â€Å"An effect can become a cause, reinforcing the original cause and producing the same effect in an intensified form† (446). Main stream society is too lazy to correct any grammar and punctuation in a text message, leading to the assumption that it is not important, after all it is only a text message. Thus, this shows the English language is in decline, when society is to lazy to take a few extra second to correct spelling and punctuation errors . One would not be able to write the same way in an academic essay as they would in a text message. If one would do so, that student would receive an F. No English teacher, or for that matter any teacher, would be thrilled nor impressed reading an essay filled with these common texting erors. Another way society is contributing to the deterioration of the English language... ...ine because of technological advances. As Orwell states in his essay â€Å"Modern English, especially written English, is full of bad habits which spread by imitation and which can be avoided if one is willing to take the necessary trouble. If one gets rid of these habits one can think more clearly† (446). These bad habit are speaking in text speak instead of proper English. In past centuries we have fought great battles, now we unite against new enemy, the enemy of improper English. Works Cited Brockenbrough, Martha. â€Å"Does IM Make U Dum.† The Concious Reader.Ed. Caroline Shrobes, Michael Shrugrue, Marc DiPaolo, Christian J. Matuschek. Longman: Boston, 2006.148-151. Print. Orwell, George. â€Å"Politics and the English Language.† The Concious Reader. Ed. Caroline Shrobes, Michael Shrugrue, Marc DiPaolo, Christian J. Matuschek. Longman: Boston, 2006. 445-447. Print.

Genocide in Rwanda: International Response

In the course of a hundred days in 1994, over 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutu were killed in the Rwandan genocide. It was the fastest, most efficient killing spree of the twentieth century. My thesis is that the international community utterly failed to prevent and stop this atrocity. I will focus on numerous interconnected aspects that led to international inaction and also on the main actors, Belgium, the United Nations Secretariat, the United States and France, that knew that there was genocide underway in Rwanda – therefore, they had a responsibility to prevent and stop the genocide, but lacked political will.This led to inaction at the level of the Security Council (SC), where member states fixated on the ongoing civil war rather than discussing the genocide, which would have required them to act under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948, article 5)1. Finally, it will be shown that this international letdown had dreadful conseque nces for the United Nations Assistance Mission For Rwanda (UNAMIR), which, with neither adequate resources nor mandate, became an eyewitness to the extermination.SUMMARYThe article focuses on the course of the events in the civil war in Rwanda, parallel with the decisions made by the honourable diplomats in the forum for international community, the UN. In 1990, the Tutsi-dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) invaded Rwanda from their exile in Uganda, setting off a civil war with the Hutu-dominated Government of Rwanda. The international community did not pay a lot of attention to the systematic discrimination and violation of human rights in the country, since the government was generally quite stable.Three years later, this conflict was seen as a good opportunity for international community (the UN) to reestablish its reputation after a failed intervention in Somalia. They believed that the conflict will be solved successfully, since after almost two years of fighting, the RPF a nd three opposition parties pursued to negotiate a peace agreement. This would become known as the Arusha Accords, signed in August 1993. UNAMIR was sent to Rwanda to help the implementation of the Accords, with Romeo Dallaire as its commander.The UN, at that time, faced escalating costs for peacekeeping operations, so they granted a reduction of force sent there, on request of the US, Belgium and the UK. During the years before the beginning of the genocide, Hutu Power (Hutu extremist, anti-Tutsi movement) began systematically distributing weapons and spreading propaganda about Tutsi via the Radio et Television Libres des Milles Collines (RTLM). The genocide would be systematic, planned, and had nothing to do with ancient warfare or tribal inclinations. By 1994, tensions were high.On January 11th, Commander Dallaire sent a fax to the UN headquarters in New York, warning of a massive slaughter being prepared in Rwanda. Also, the reports from intelligence agents were always present d uring this period, so the representatives of Belgium, France and the US were very well informed about the situation rising. â€Å"In January, an analyst of the US Central Intelligence Agency knew enough to predict that as many as half a million persons might die in case of renewed conflict and, in February, Belgian authorities already feared genocide† (Des Forges 1999, 20). The UN Secretariat is the United Nations’ bureaucratic arm.As such, it passes on vital information to decision-making bodies such as the SC. The Secretariat and the Secretary General, however, have come under considerable criticism for failing to pass on information before and during the Rwandan genocide. Despite ample information about the genocide, staff spoke in terms of a â€Å"civil war† and the need to obtain a ceasefire. As a result, non-permanent members in the SC, who rely on the Secretariat for information, did not come to see the killings as genocide and they misjudged the gravity of the crisis. Instead of strengthening the mission, the SC only made some small changes in the mandate.On April 6 1994, Rwandan President Habyarimana’s plane was shot down and he was killed. Almost immediately, there was a nationwide call to arms from Hutu Power to begin the slaughter of Rwandan Tutsi. Spread over the propaganda radio station, the message was clear: it was time for the Tutsi in Rwanda to be wiped out. As a consequence of either lack of information or lack of political will to intervene, the policymakers described the conflict as â€Å"tribal killings†, â€Å"tribal resentments†, rather than genocide. There was also an inadequate understanding of the conflict.Foreign observers treated the genocide as a collateral damage of war, rather than an ethnic cleanse, which should be attacked directly. Diplomats addressed the problem in the usual way, by promoting dialogue between both sides and tried to maintain the posture of neutrality. If foreign troo ps have been sent, this would have signalled that the interim government was illegitimate in the eyes of the international community. In the mid-April, after two weeks of killings, the SC (mostly on the initiative of Belgium, the US and the UK) withdrew most of the UN troops from UNAMIR – from 2500 to only 270 soldiers.Discussion about the new peacekeeping force continued until mid-May, mostly because of the slowness of bureaucracies, since participating nations tried to get more from the situation and give the least possible. â€Å"What was extraordinary was that such behaviour continued to be acceptable in the context of genocide, by then openly acknowledged by national and international leaders† (Des Forges 1999, 24). International leaders had available means other than armed force, which could influence the conflict but decided not to use them. During the first weeks even simple actions, with almost no expense, could have saved thousands.Major donors of aid to Rwan da did not ever threaten to withhold the financial assistance from a government guilty of genocide. Radio RTLM was communicating orders for the implementation of killings, naming persons to be killed and revealing areas for future attacks through the entire course of genocide. The broadcast stations could have been interrupted without military action. They discussed the idea shortly in the SC, but dropped it soon, because the traditional American commitment to freedom of speech, which was more important than disrupting the voice of genocide.Third cost-free action that could be done was imposing an embargo on arms to Rwanda, which only happened on May 17th, after almost two months of killing. The potential effect of these actions would also be weakened by continued French support of the interim government. Two weeks after the start of the massacres, governments refused to admit Rwandan delegation sent to justify the genocide – with exception of France. The Rwandan representati ves were greeted in Paris at the highest levels and France officials offered help to genocidal government, on a condition to end bad publicity about the slaughter.France also helped to flee some of the perpetrators of the genocide later. When the Rwandan representatives came to the meeting of the SC, most members failed to condemn the slaughter clearly. But there were also actors that did criticize the decisions made by the SC. The Organization of African Unity, government of Tanzania, Human Rights Watch, The International Federation for Human Rights and the International Committee of the Red Cross all stepped up their efforts to demand action from national governments and the UN.When the non-permanent members of the SC began to doubt the interpretations of the crisis as presented by the secretariat, changes started to happen. The ambassador of the Czech Republic organized a meeting with representatives of the Human Rights Watch, where he discussed the problem and informed himself. He said â€Å"The issue of Rwanda is not a national priority for the Czech Republic, but as a human being, I cannot sit here and do nothing† (Des Forges 1999, 494). The ambassador of New Zealand (in that time the president of the SC), threatened to open session for public and that way forced all the states to compromise and draft a statement.The diplomats from Czech Republic, New Zealand, Spain and Argentina took the initiative to insist on the measures to halt the genocide and were persistent in pushing for action in Rwanda (ibidem). 3ANALYSIS In the case of Rwanda, the international response to the crisis consists of various complex factors, mentioned above. A misguided view of African conflicts, the bureaucratic nature of the United Nations and peacekeeping fatigue in general are just some of them.Every state that was in a position to decide differently has its own reasons for being inactive – most of them are influenced by their national interests or maybe even bet ter, a lack of a national interest in that region. Unfortunately for the people of Rwanda, their country did not â€Å"qualify† for a peacekeeping operation that would bring the actual peace. To support my thesis further, I would like to point out some of the matters that seem to present the international community that knew and ignored what was happening and consecutively failed to prevent and stop the genocide.Firstly, there was plenty of intelligence to support the likelihood of the genocide. One sample was the â€Å"Dallaire fax†. Dellaire’s claims were discharged because he was new to operating in Africa and assumingly, not enough experienced in that field. Secondly, during the actual events media coverage in the Western World delivered considerable proof of genocide. In the United States, the Washington Post and New York Times had front page reporting about the events in Kigali for a two week period. The evidence proves that the UN and US officials claim o f non-awareness, was completely baseless.The main actors Belgium, the US and France had sufficient information on what was going on and the quick and effective evacuation of foreign nationals show that they also had the capacity to intervene (Barnett 1997). Another failure amongst the international community was by the hesitant use of the word ‘genocide’ instead they described the ongoing conflict as ‘civil war’ or ‘acts of genocide’, despite evidence to the contrary. Such statements would imply that the United Nations would be legally bound to intervene in accordance with the Genocide Convention of 1948.Another demonstration of international let-down was the departure of the UN troops. Romeo Dallaire sent a request for additional peacekeepers, however, the request was denied by the UN because the United States opposed the notion. To further frustrate the circumstances, the bodies of ten Belgium militias were found which led to withdrawal of al l Belgium peace corps. After this event, General Dallaire was left with 270 peace keepers for the whole country – most of them unarmed and only allowed to shoot in self-defence (Putterbaugh 2010).All in all, this means that Rwanda was really abandoned by the international community. What interest me the most, is that the UN decided to send troops in after the Arusha Accords. It seems that public and the media, had an ill opinion about the UN missions, because of the loss of the US soldiers on the mission in Somalia a year before. So the civil war became a good opportunity to reinstate good name of the UN occurred. They did not do this because of their moral responsibility to protect and safeguard peace; they did it because of their reputation. Doesn’t that cast even a bigger shadow over the institution as a whole?There should be a mechanism introduced, which would help to prevent situations like genocide in Rwanda – when human lives are at risk, this should be a national interest of every country, of every institution or organization. But in the case of Rwanda, there was a complete opposite – when first victims fell, when the potential danger presented itself – they recalled troops back home. Another mechanism is obviously not working in the system of the UN; Dallaire had many opportunities to confiscate the arms, to help the civilians – but he could not because he did not have the required authorization.A lot could have been done if the countries knew more about the situation and the possibilities which could have been seized, without much expenses and force. At the same time, Yugoslavia was falling apart. The US had a big role in that conflict, where it presented itself as a major peacemaker; and Rwanda was not getting the attention it should (Barnett 1997). Another thing that I find appalling is the arms trade that was happening at that time. Belgium, Israel, France, the UK, Netherlands and Egypt were the main distr ibuters of weapons to Rwanda.These were forces that equipped the genocidal government of Rwanda for the killings and they set example of what will happen if small arms and light weapons are sold to a country with ethnic, religious or nationalistic frictions. In modern wars light weapons are responsible for most of the killings of civilians and combatants, since they are used more often than heavy artillery in human rights violations of international law. Yet the international community continues to ignore trade in those weapons, or they even trade themselves.Trade with these arms has helped to undermine peacekeeping efforts and allowed local troops to challenge UN militias (Goose and Smyth 1994). There would be another positive effect of the embargo on trading arms – the international community would expel Rwandan government from their circle, which would stigmatize it. Hutu supporters would not follow a government that would not be legitimate in the international society and could not make business within this society. 4CONCLUSION After one hundred days of unimaginable violence and hatred, the RPF prevailed and declared a ceasefire.RPF tried and created mass graves for almost million bodies spread across the country. An effort to rebuild their country and to appoint a new government was made by both, Hutu and Tutsi leaders. This tragedy could have been prevented. The death of a million people in the Rwandan genocide of 1994 must be viewed as an abysmal failure on the part of the international community to respond to a humanitarian crisis of proportions rarely seen. Therefore, I can confirm my thesis – various and complex factors, explained in this essay, influenced main actors and impaired the functioning of the SC to the point of inaction.They had the means and especially a responsibility to protect civilians, prevent a genocide, but lacked political will, because of their national interests. Did we learn anything from this experience? The slog an â€Å"never again† which was coined immediately in the aftermath of the Holocaust in the twentieth century, still poses challenges to the world community – it was a promise that genocide would be prevented and stopped. But the West abandoned Rwanda and it continues to abandon Dafur, Democratic Republic of Congo, Syria and many other countries.The task of genocide prevention can be accomplished only through the mutual cooperation of countries around the world and one can only hope that an awareness of this will go some way toward preventing unnecessary reluctance to intervene in similar conflicts in the future. 5GLOSSARY OF TERMS GENOCIDE [dn?s?jd] – iztrebljenje skupnosti 1. The deliberate killing of people who belong to a particular racial, political, or cultural group. 2. Deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, religious, political, or ethnic group. 3.â€Å"The Rwandans who organized and executed the genocide must bear full responsibility for it . † 4. Synonym: slaughter; hypernym: kill; hyponym: ethnic genocide. EMBARGO [?mb?rgo] – prepoved uvoza 1. A government order that limits trade in some way. 2. An official ban on trade or other commercial activity with a particular country. 3. â€Å"Imposing an embargo on arms to Rwanda would have been another effective, cost-free way of indicating international condemnation of the interim government, but this measure, first raised in the Security Council at the end of April, was implemented only on May 17.†4. Synonym: prohibition; hypernym: trade barrier; hyponym: arms embargo. PEACEKEEPING [pes-?ke-pi?] – vzdrzevanje miru 1. The preserving of peace. 2. International enforcement and supervision of a truce between hostile states or communities. 3. â€Å"Faced with escalating costs for peacekeeping operations, the UN staff and members wanted not just success, but success at low cost. † 4. Synonym: mediation, pacification; hypernym: operation; hyponym : peacekeeping mission. CEASE-FIRE [?ses-?fi(-?)r] – ustavitev ognja 1. A temporary stopping of fighting.2. An agreement to stop fighting a war for a period of time so that a permanent agreement can be made to end the war. 3. â€Å"Accustomed to dealing with wars, not with genocides, diplomats addressed the familiar part of the problem in the usual way, by promoting a dialogue between the belligerents and seeking a cease-fire. † 4. Synonym: armistice; hypernym: peace; hyponym: long-lasting cease-fire. WARFARE [w?rf?r] – vojno stanje 1. Activity that is done as part of a struggle between competing groups, companies, etc. 2. A lack of agreement or harmony 3.â€Å"A leading columnist for the New York Times even managed to put the new and the old cliches in the same sentence, referring to a â€Å"failed state† and to a â€Å"centuries-old history of tribal warfare. † 4. Synonym: conflict; hypernym: action; hyponym: tribal warfare. Unknown words 1. amm unition [cmjunis?n] the objects (such as bullets and shells) that are shot from weapons – strelivo 2. belligerent [belidz?r?nt] angry and aggressive : feeling or showing readiness to fight – bojevit 3. cadaver [k?deiv?] a dead body – truplo 4. calamitous [k?lc?mit?s] causing great harm or suffering – nesrecen, razdejalen5.  inept [inept] lacking skill or ability – nesmiseln, nespodoben 6. inertia [in:si?] lack of movement or activity especially when movement or activity is wanted or needed – lenivost, lenoba 7. interim [int?rim] intended to last, continue, or serve for a limited time – zacasen 8. paucity [p?:siti] a small amount of something : an amount that is less than what is needed or wanted – malenkost, majhno stevilo 9. purport [p:p?t] the main or general meaning of something – smisel, pomen, smoter10. reconnaissance [rik*?nis?ns] military activity in which soldiers, airplanes, etc.  , are sent to find out info rmation about an enemy – poizvedovanje 11. to balk [b:k] to show unwillingness to accept, do, engage in, or agree to – preprecevati, ovirati 12. to condemn [k?ndem] to say in a strong and definite way that someone or something is bad or wrong – obsoditi 13. to deteriorate [diti?ri?reit] to become worse or of less value – poslabsati se 14. to rebuff [ribf] to refuse (something, such as an offer or suggestion) in a rude way – odbiti, odkloniti 15. to shun [s?n] to avoid (someone or something)DEBATE PREVIEWI will focus our debate on four discussable questions – each one of them related to the international response to the Rwandan genocide.Firstly, in my seminar I presented the role of France as a Rwandan government's number-one supplier of weapons. Does this fact alone make France more culpable for the genocide than the rest of the international community? How should responsibility be allocated for what happened, both inside and outside Rwanda? How has the international community, in particular Belgium, France, the United States, and the UN, faced up to the question of responsibility and blame in the years since the genocide? Secondly, the UN authorized the troops as the â€Å"peace-keepers,† not â€Å"peace-makers.†By UN mandate, UN troops were permitted to use their weapons only in self-defense. If the generals had disobeyed orders and authorized their troops to fire on fighters who were killing masses in front of their eyes, would they have done the right thing? Next, I mentioned that various factors contributed to the inactivity of the international community, such as the disastrous U. S. humanitarian intervention in Somalia in 1993, less than a year before, which ended with the U. S. helicopter shot down and the bodies of U. S. soldiers dragged through the streets of Mogadishu.Does this justify the U. S. and the UN's refusal to intervene? Can we risk our own citizen's lives in order to save foreign and can we risk the reputation of an intergovernmental institution, which possibly could never be restored again in order to help – even if that means that some major countries may not want to cooperate at all in the future? Finally, I will also encourage a debate over possible solutions for halting genocide and violation of human rights – when and how should the governments act, who should contribute the resources etc.

Essay on The Awakening - 1358 Words

To this present day, women throughout America would be drastically different and would withhold fewer rights if it were not for women in the nineteenth and twentieth century like the characters Madame Ratignolle, Edna Pontellier, and Mademoiselle Reisz in the novel The Awakening, by Kate Chopin. They shaped America into a place where freedom and equality for women is possible. Although the three women were different, they all contributed to different aspects of the feminist movement. Each character represents a distinct type of woman that strongly relates to the progressive stages of the great feminist movement in America. The female character, Madame Ratignolle, simply represents a true woman, who is everything that the society†¦show more content†¦She saw how Madame was so motherly and domestic, which made her analyze her own personality and past and become someone new. Instead of liking to visit the Ratignolles, she despised it because of the way Ad#232;le acted in her household. Edna could not stand to see anyone this way, which gave her power to change her life. This led her to her next passionate relationship with a woman: Mademoiselle Reisz. Mademoiselle Reisz characterizes a new woman and a rebellious kind of woman, who contradicts societys demands. She is merely the opposite of Madame Ratignolle, the character that represented a true woman. Mademoiselle has radical beliefs, like many women did in the feminist movement of America. She did not act according to the social code, but instead, she lived alone with no husband and no children. Her looks were perceived as unattractive and unpleasant to others (Chopin 106). Edna simply loved the way Mademoiselle could play the piano and she couldnt help but cry every single time because it seemed to have, in a way, elevated her inner soul. Mademoiselle introduced Edna for the first time to a new world of womanhood and influenced her to become an artist. 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