Surviving Infancy in the Middle Ages

Surviving Infancy in the Middle Ages When we think about daily life in the Middle Ages, we cannot ignore the death rate that, compared to that of modern times, was horrendously high. This was particularly true for children, who have always been more susceptible to disease than adults. Some might be tempted to see this high rate of mortality as indicative of either an inability of parents to provide proper care for their children or a lack of interest in their welfare. As we shall see, neither supposition is supported by the facts. Life for the Infant Folklore has it that the medieval child spent his first year or so wrapped in swaddling, stuck in a cradle, and virtually ignored. This raises the question of how thick-skinned the average medieval parent had to be in order to disregard the persistent cries of hungry, wet and lonely babies. The reality of medieval infant care is a trifle more complex. Swaddling In cultures such as England in the High Middle Ages, babies were often swaddled, theoretically to help their arms and legs grow straight. Swaddling involved wrapping the infant in linen strips with his legs together and his arms close to his body. This, of course, immobilized him and made him much easier to keep out of trouble. But infants were not swaddled continuously. They were changed regularly and released from their bonds to crawl around. The swaddling might come off altogether when the child was old enough to sit up on his own. Furthermore, swaddling was not necessarily the norm in all medieval cultures. Gerald of Wales remarked that Irish children were never swaddled, and seemed to grow strong and handsome just the same. Whether swaddled or not, the infant probably spent much of its time in the cradle when it was home. Busy peasant mothers might tie unswaddled babies into the cradle, allowing them to move within it but keeping them from crawling into trouble. But mothers often carried their babies about in their arms on their errands outside the home. Infants were even to be found near their parents as they labored in the fields at the busiest harvest times, on the ground or secured in a tree. Babies who were not swaddled were very often simply naked or wrapped in blankets against the cold. They may have been clad in simple gowns. There is little evidence for any other clothing, and since the child would quickly outgrow anything sewn especially for it, a variety of baby clothing was not an economic feasibility in poorer homes. Feeding An infants mother was ordinarily its primary caregiver, particularly in poorer families. Other family members might assist, but the mother usually fed the child since she was physically equipped for it. Peasants didnt often have the luxury of hiring a full-time nurse, although if the mother died or was too ill to nurse the baby herself, a wet nurse could often be found. Even in households that could afford to hire a wet nurse, it was not unknown for mothers to nurse their children themselves, which was a practice encouraged by the Church. Medieval parents sometimes found alternatives to breastfeeding their children, but there is no evidence that this was a common occurrence. Rather, families resorted to such ingenuity when the mother was dead or too ill to breastfeed, and when no wet nurse could be found. Alternate methods of feeding the child included soaking bread in milk for the child to ingest, soaking a rag in milk for the child to suckle, or pouring milk into his mouth from a horn. All were more difficult for a mother than simply putting a child to her breast, and it would appear that- in less affluent homes- if a mother could nurse her child, she did. However, among the nobility and wealthier town folk, wet nurses were quite common and frequently stayed on once the infant was weaned to care for him through his early childhood years. This presents the picture of a medieval yuppie syndrome, where parents lose touch with their offspring in favor of banquets, tourneys, and court intrigue, and someone else raises their child. This may indeed have been the case in some families, but parents could and did take an active interest in the welfare and daily activities of their children. They were also known to take great care in choosing the nurse and treated her well for the ultimate benefit of the child. Tenderness Whether a child received its food and care from its own mother or a nurse, it is difficult to make a case for a lack of tenderness between the two. Today, mothers report that nursing their children is a highly satisfying emotional experience. It seems unreasonable to assume that only modern mothers feel a biological bond that in more likelihood has occurred for thousands of years. It was observed that a nurse took the place of the mother in many respects, and this included providing affection to the baby in her charge. Bartholomaeus Anglicus described the activities nurses commonly performed: consoling children when they fell or were sick, bathing and anointing them, singing them to sleep, even chewing meat for them. Evidently, there is no reason to assume the average medieval child suffered for lack of affection, even if there was a reason to believe his fragile life would not last a year. Child Mortality Death came in many guises for the littlest members of medieval society. With the invention of the microscope centuries in the future, there was no understanding of germs as the cause of disease. There were also no antibiotics or vaccines. Diseases that a shot or a tablet can eradicate today claimed all too many young lives in the Middle Ages. If for whatever reason a baby could not be nursed, his chances of contracting illness increased; this was due to the unsanitary methods devised for getting food into him and the lack of beneficial breast milk to help him fight disease. Children succumbed to other dangers. In cultures that practiced swaddling infants or tying them into a cradle to keep them out of trouble, babies were known to die in fires when they were so confined. Parents were warned not to sleep with their infant children for fear of overlaying and smothering them. Once a child attained mobility, danger from accidents increased. Adventurous toddlers fell down wells and into ponds and streams, tumbled down stairs or into fires, and even crawled out into the street to be crushed by a passing cart. Unexpected accidents could befall even the most carefully watched toddler if the mother or nurse was distracted for only a few minutes; it was impossible, after all, to baby-proof the medieval household. Peasant mothers who had their hands full with myriad daily chores were sometimes unable to keep a constant watch on their offspring, and it was not unknown for them to leave their infants or toddlers unattended. Court records illustrate that this practice was not very common and met with disapproval in the community at large,  but negligence was not a crime with which distraught parents were charged when they had lost a child. Faced with a lack of accurate statistics, any figures representing mortality rates can only be estimates. It is true that for some medieval villages, surviving court records provide data concerning the number of children who died in accidents or under suspicious circumstances in a given time. However, since birth records were private, the number of children who survived is unavailable, and without a total, an accurate percentage cannot be determined. The highest  estimated  percentage I have encountered is a 50% death rate, although 30% is the more common figure. These figures include the high number of infants who died within days after birth from little-understood and wholly unpreventable illnesses that modern science has thankfully overcome. It has been proposed that in a society with a high child mortality rate, parents made no emotional investment in their children. This assumption is belied by the accounts of devastated mothers being counseled by priests to have courage and faith upon losing a child. One mother is said to have gone insane when her child died.  Affection and attachment were obviously present, at least among some members of medieval society. Furthermore, it strikes  a false  note to imbue the medieval parent with a deliberate calculation of his childs chances of survival. How much did a farmer and his wife think about survival rates when they held their gurgling baby in their arms? A hopeful mother and father can pray that, with luck or fate or the favor of God, their child would be one of at least half of the children born that year who would grow and thrive. There is also an assumption that the high death rate is due in part to infanticide. This is another misconception that should be addressed.   Infanticide The notion that infanticide was rampant in the  Middle Ages  has been used to bolster the equally erroneous concept that medieval families had no affection for their children. A dark and dreadful picture has been painted of thousands of unwanted  babies  suffering horrible fates at the hands of remorseless and cold-hearted parents. There is absolutely no evidence to support such carnage. That infanticide did exist is true; alas, it still takes place today. But the attitudes toward its practice are really the question, as is its frequency. To understand infanticide in the Middle Ages, it is important to examine its history in European society. In the  Roman Empire  and among some Barbarian tribes, infanticide was an accepted  practice. A newborn would be placed before its father; if he picked the child up, it would be considered a member of the family and its life would begin. However, if the family was on the edge of starvation, if the child was deformed, or if the father had any other reasons not to accept it, the infant would be abandoned to die of exposure, with rescue a real, if not always likely, possibility. Perhaps the most significant aspect of this procedure is that life for the child began  once it was accepted.  If the child was not accepted, it was essentially treated as if it had never been born. In non-Judeo-Christian societies, the immortal soul (if individuals were considered to  possess  one) was not necessarily considered to reside in a child from the moment of its conception. Therefore, infanticide was not regarded as murder. Whatever we might think today of this custom, the people of these ancient societies had what they considered to be sound reasons for performing infanticide. The fact that infants were occasionally abandoned or killed at birth apparently did not interfere with the ability of parents and siblings to love and cherish a newborn once it had been accepted as part of the family. In the fourth century, Christianity became the official religion of the Empire, and many Barbarian tribes had begun to convert, as well. Under the influence of the Christian Church, which saw the practice as a sin, Western European attitudes towards infanticide began to change. More and more children were baptized shortly after birth, giving the child an identity and a place in the community, and making the prospect of deliberately killing him an altogether different matter. This does not mean that infanticide was eradicated overnight throughout Europe. But, as was often the case with Christian influence, over time ethical outlooks altered, and the idea of killing an unwanted infant was more commonly viewed as horrific. As with most aspects of western culture, the Middle Ages served as a transition period between ancient societies and that of the modern world. Without hard  data, it is difficult to say just how quickly society and family attitudes towards infanticide changed in any given geographical area or among any particular cultural group. But change they did, as can be seen from the fact that infanticide was against the law in Christian European communities. Furthermore, by the late Middle  Ages,  the concept of infanticide was distasteful enough that the false accusation of the act was regarded as a salacious slander. While infanticide did persist, there is no evidence to support widespread, let alone rampant, practice. In Barbara Hanawalts examination of more than 4,000 homicide cases from medieval English court records, she found only three cases of infanticide.  While there may have been (and probably were) secret pregnancies and clandestine infant deaths, we have no evidence available to judge their frequency. We cannot assume they  never  happened, but we also cannot assume they happened on a regular basis. What is known is that no folkloric rationalization exists to justify the  practice and that folk tales dealing with the subject were cautionary in nature, with tragic consequences befalling characters that killed their babies. It seems fairly reasonable to conclude that medieval  society, on the whole, regarded infanticide as a horrible act. The killing of unwanted infants  was, therefore, the exception, not the rule, and cannot be regarded as evidence of widespread indifference towards children from their parents. Sources Gies, Frances, and Gies, Joseph, Marriage and the Family in the Middle Ages (Harper Row, 1987). Hanawalt, Barbara, The Ties that Bound: Peasant Families in Medieval England (Oxford University Press, 1986). Hanawalt, Barbara,  Growing Up in Medieval London  (Oxford University Press, 1993).

Climate and Air Pollution Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Climate and Air Pollution - Assignment Example The government should introduce tax incentives for companies that adopt the green energy (Dornbusch 62). There should steeper penalties for countries that pollute the environment like oil and gas exploration companies. The Government can open up its market for products produced organically and using green energy. The strategy will encourage companies to shift to green energy to access the market. The strategies will influence the economies differently. Green energy creates jobs encouraging employment of more people (McNamee 108). The trade incentive will encourage more good to be produced to meet the large market demand. Educating the public is crucial. Once people are educated on the importance of green energy, there will be inventions that are beneficial to the economy (Petersons 120). Once green energy is fully adopted effects of global warming will reduce and the money used to tackle disasters channeled

A global perspective on Philadelphia Community Based Organizations Essay

A global perspective on Philadelphia Community Based Organizations - Essay Example des safe, engaging and fun learning experiences to help children and youth develop their social, emotional, physical, cultural and academic skills† - Debbie Stabenow. â€Å"Afterschool is the time when young people discover their interests and strengths hat often lead to decisions they will make as adults. This program will truly impact the lives of this young people with profound and positive long- term benefits.† – Gina Warner; Executive Director Partnership for Youth Development. In most of the schools, the ringing of the 3 p.m. normally marks the end of school day activities for many students. This means that they can go home and play and the same time do whatever they please. The students end up engaging in activities that are not productive since they have no one to guide them. The parents who would have guided them are busy the same time either at work or pursuing further studies. In turn, this had led to the children going through a series of poor performance. The pupils also don’t have the time to develop their potential in terms of creativity (Old Pine Community Centre). The Old Pine Community Centre Afterschool Program plays the role of ensuring that the students done waste their time. This is through the provision of the essential services like the supervised and safe environment. It also provides healthy meals and snacks, academic enriching activities and supportive and caring mentors for the students. The children are also taken through exercises which ensure that they are healthy. These activities are provided to the children and family that need most the support. The services are also offered in a cost effective manner compared to the gains that the children get. The program provides the children with the clubs that enable them to interact and share their interests. The services offered are done through qualified personnel such as the counselor or the teachers. This ensures that the services are of quality and addresses the issues

How Can You Classify Welfare States Politics Essay

How Can You Classify Welfare States Politics Essay Introduction: As I have found it so difficult to structure this essay and formulate a strong line of argument, which would be outlined here, I will limit the introduction to some of my thoughts surrounding issues which may have an effect on the discussion. What authors mean by the term welfare state varies from each classification attempt. This results in different classifications which within the boundaries the author has set can be very convincing. Different measures and types of analysis are used creating different outcomes, different levels, and different understandings of welfare states. Some focus more on expenditure than others, definitions may be broader or narrower. As Cochrane points out à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦a loose working definition is required to make comparison possible in the first place (1993) but there is not an overwhelming consensus about what constitutes the welfare state. This is one reason why there is so much controversy surrounding classification, as writers disagree about what the welfare state consists of, and thus use different types of evidence according to their particular view on what makes up the welfare state. However, classifying welfare states helps makes useful generalisations which can enrich our understanding of a complex and important subject. Main body: Early attempts to classify the welfare state of the advanced world did so largely according to expenditure. Wilensky (1975) analyses differences in the levels of government spending, using this criteria to distinguish the leaders from the laggards. Cutright (1965) also bases his differentiation of welfare states primarily on expenditure specifically on social insurance provision. Bonoli (1997) makes the point that This approach, by concentrating exclusively on the levels of expenditure completely neglects other dimensions of welfare provision. Esping-Anderson (1990), in his ground-breaking work The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism makes the point that within expenditure based classifications that all spending counts equally. Of course the level of money a government assigns to its welfare provision is very important in classifying states but the way in which it is spent can have implications for the provision and leads to large differences between welfare states, even if expenditure levels appear similar. Firstly in countries such as Austria, governments à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦spend a large share on benefits to privileged civil servants which, Esping-Anderson points out, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦is normally not what we would consider a commitment to social citizenship and solidarity. Furthermore, expenditure analysis has tended to neglect for instance whether benefits are means tested or universal. Expenditure can be misleading in other ways too, Esping-Andersen uses the example of Britain under Thatcher, where total expenditure grew, but that it was mainly a function of very high unemployment. Castles and Mitchell (1992) concur; ceteris paribus, an identical input of expenditure will lead to quite different observed levels of poverty and inequality, depending on the distribution of incomes prior to income maintenance expenditures and taxes. Most recent classifications agree that expenditure alone is inadequate criterion to classify welfare states. Esping-Andersen has been praised for highlighting this problem (Bonoli, Pierson Castles) The way in which money is spent is crucially important as is the rights the welfare state grants its citizens. But more than this required, according to Esping-Andersen, who argues further that welfare states can not merely be understood in terms of rights granted. We must also take into account how state activities are interlocked with the markets and the familys role in social provision. Esping-Andersens understanding of the welfare state is thus broader than many other authors in their attempts at classification. This is a major strength as it attempts to include many activities carried out by governments that have implications for the standard of living of its citizens. Esping-Andersen focuses on the notion of decommodifying the impact of diverse systems of social rights (Pierson and Castles). Decommodification is defined as the degree to which individuals or families can uphold a socially acceptable standard of living independently of market participation (Esping-Andersen 1990). As well as firmly moving the emphasis away from expenditure as the sole tool of analysis, Esping-Andersen has been praised for suggesting that the welfare state is about more than just services and transfers (Pierson and Castles 2000). Esping-Andersens three proposed welfare regimes, the liberal, social-democratic and corporatist or conservative are argued convincingly and well supported. The analysis goes beyond merely the descriptive, and attempts to provide common development of the welfare states within each regime type, largely around class and power issues. This strengthens the common characteristics identified by Esping-Andersen in todays welfare states. However, Esping-Andersen has been criticised on a number of grounds. A good classification must result in the welfare states of the advanced world being classified. That is to say, they must fit into the categories proposed, meeting the necessary criteria to be associated with a particular welfare regime of type. Esping-Andersen admits that none of the regimes he identifies can be found in a perfect or pure form. Still, even if we ignore this inevitable consequence of classification, (all welfare states are unique), further objections to Esping-Andersen remain concerning welfare states comfortably fitting into the regimes. A major problem with the three regime types is that Japan cannot be comfortably incorporated, as it possesses features of all three types, and yet it is without doubt part of the advanced world. Esping-Andersen admits this, as Japans level of expenditure is relatively low, similar to the liberal classification, but that unemployment rates are typically low too, more similar to those found in social-democratic regimes. Elements of the conservative/corporatist model may be found too, due to Japans reliance on non-state forms of support from the family and the firm for example. The failure to incorporate Japan into his analysis is clearly an unsuccessful aspect of Esping-Andersens classification attempt. Many alternative classifications have been proposed in response to Esping-Andersens The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism, which highlight other deficiencies and problems with the work. Abrahamson (1991) and Leibfried (2000) both point to the difficulty of including various Southern European States into Esping-Andersens three regimes and argue for a 4th world, the rudimentary or Latin rim. According to Leibfried the Southern countries of Europeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦seem to constitute a welfare state regime of their own. Countries such as Spain, Portugal and Greece would come under this banner, more easily described as rudimentary and similar to each other than grouped with liberal, social-democratic or conservative welfare states, as they display very different characteristics. Castles and Mitchell (1992), however, use different techniques to establish an alternative 4th world, which they term radical. They base a classification of countries such as Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom as radical because these nations equality outcomes are much more favourable than other states which Esping-Andersen describes as liberal. The above countries, according to Castles and Mitchells analysis, do more for increasing equality among their people than the Netherlands does, which according to his [Esping-Andersens] classification is a socialist, high decommodification system. Many criticisms of Esping-Andersen are the basis for new models, adding or adjusting his three worlds. But other criticisms have been launched too, which also apply to those studies stemming from Esping-Andersens three worlds. Allan Cochrane makes the point that the most striking absences from the statistical approaches and indeed (except in asides) from Esping-Andersens regimes are those relating to gender. He notes how the decommodification of labour is tarnished as a tool for classification because of failing to fully consider gender issues, many of which find no expression in aggregate statistics. (Of course this criticism also applies to most other statistics used to support classification attempts.) For instance Esping-Andersen fails to acknowledge the extent to which womens involvement in that sphere is a necessary basis for the commodification of labour. (Cochrane). Peter Taylor-Gooby developed this point arguing that analysis must include both uncommodified care work in th e home and the position of women in the formal labour market and that this will mean different struggles will develop in the various regime types in response to current pressures on the welfare states. Consequently a classification neglecting to investigate these angles will result in presenting welfare states as very different to their true nature. Many have argued that classifying welfare states without understanding issues such as this that they face greatly reduces their value. (Langan Ostner 1991, Dominelli 1991) Both Bonoli, Kemeny, and Castle Mitchell argue that whilst Esping-Andersen criticises over reliance on expenditure as a basis for classification, and that this is a valid and important claim, he is in some ways also guilty of this fault. Each of the three regimes is heavily contaminated by expenditure considerations. Kemeny notes that e-as classification does not make a complete break with the traditional quantification approach. Bonoli maintains that e-a still ends up with a classification overly based on the quantity of welfare provided by individual states. Instead of using spending to measure welfare states he measures decommodification and Bonoli argues that a consequence of this quantitative approach is a failure to reflect the substantial differences which exist in the way welfare is delivered. Other attempts at classification have placed their emphasis on how welfare states have administered welfare provision rather than how much they have spent in doing so. In Bonolis article Classifying Welfare States; A Two Dimensional Approach he notes that Ferrera (1993) and traditional French approaches to welfare state classification (commonly known as the Beveridgean and Bismarckian types) examine the ways in which provision is made, moving away from the quantitative how much approach. Ferrera openly sets out to break with the quantification approach and the French models are considered independent of the quantity of welfare it provides. Ferrera focuses on one aspect of welfare provision the coverage of welfare protection schemes, mainly distinguishing between universal and occupational schemes. Briefly, Bismarckian social policy is concerned with income maintenance for employees, whereas Beveridgean social policy aims at the prevention of poverty (Bonoli). Bonoli, however, highlights that although Ferreras classification is able to account for differences in the way in which welfare is delivered more competently than Esping-Andersen, its obvious weakness is the fact that it now fails to take into account the quantitative dimension of state welfare. Aside from the fact that knowing how much government spends on the ways on which they administer welfare as a useful element in distinguishing welfare states there are other problems. For instance, as with (ironically) some expenditure only analyses, the Bismarckian /Beveridgean approaches do not distinguish between universal and means tested benefits, a distinction which has very important connotations for welfare provision. A major point in Bonolis article is that welfare state classification requires a comprehensive two-dimensional approach considering both expenditure and the way in which that money is spent, as well as other methods such as policy measures. That is to say how welfare is administered. These vital two dimensions are found in some form in Esping-Andersens three worlds, but Bonoli argues this is not adequate, as the two dimensions are limited only to decommodification rather than to the whole analysis. Bonoli attempt at classifying welfare states takes the Beveridgean/Bismarckian approach but adds a new twist differentiating not only the two from each other but also distinguishing between higher spending and lower spending within the regime types. This addresses more fully the issue of two dimensions of analysis. Although Bonolis point that these two dimensions of analysis are required to understand the welfare state, it seems quite simplistic to imply that there are only two hows- the Beveridgean and Bismarckian. Esping-Andersens three regime types appear more convincing generally although Bonoli makes a useful methodological point. Many rival classifications to Esping-Andersens stem form his work, and similar methodology is sometimes used. However, differences in methodology are also common, perhaps due to different understandings of what constitutes the welfare state. Ferreras understanding, it could be argued, is rather narrow, solely concentrating on social protection schemes. It is difficult, apart from in very broad terms to talk in detail about the variations in methodology (although ideally this is what I would like to have done). Conclusion issues, not a comprehensive summing up. The failure to fit Japan into Esping-Andersens three worlds clearly reduces the success of the classification which in many other ways came as a crucial addition to the study of welfare states. But this is an excellent way of examining whether a classification attempt is successful in its main objective that has to allow all welfare states in the advanced world to be comfortable in the classification groups. However, this is very difficult to assess in many of the other cases. Different authors use different ways of formulating classifications, and their methodology leads to different conclusions. Therefore, often the countries discussed do fit generally well into the regimes proposed. But because the criteria for classification varies so much between authors, and because, for instance, Japans relevant statistics are not available to me, it is difficult to know whether all the advanced countries do indeed fit snugly into all the different regimes presented. One could argue however, that most of the authors discussed do succeed in creating classifications which manage to incorporate all the countries they have analysed according to the particular way they have chosen to analyse them, this is largely inevitable! Esping-Andersen has admitted that Japan is a large exception to the rule, but the absence of Japan form the discussion by other authors could also be seen as some sort of failure. Functionalism classification of welfare states is pointless, the fact they exist is the main point? It is also important to remember that although welfare states show enduring characteristics and tendencies that remain over the years, that they are not static, unchanging entities. As such, classification may only really be able to group states according to their past trends and present characteristics, and arguably welfare states could ultimately change regimes depending on government policies. For instance, it could be said that the influence of globalisation may alter welfare states make-up, and make certain classifications void or in need of adjustment.

How to Write a Descriptive Essay Essay

Edited by Nicole Eakin, Ben Rubenstein, Flickety, Kyrie Alazen and 28 others The key to writing the perfect descriptive essay is creating a vivid image in your reader’s mind using the five senses. Here are some steps to help you create a strong descriptive essay. Edit Steps Method 1 of 3: Prewriting for your Essay Pick a topic. Descriptive essays generally focus on a person, a place, an event, or a thing. Writers convey an idea about their topic by describing the topic for the reader in a ‘show, not tell’ manner. Showing and not telling means that you paint a picture for your reader. For example, instead of saying, â€Å"There were trees near the lake† you could say, â€Å"The lake stared through the trees, a wide grey eye trapped in a perpetual state of weeping.† Create a thesis statement. A thesis statement is the idea that governs the whole essay. It states the purpose of the paper and governs all of the information that is in the paper.[2] An example of a descriptive thesis statement is: My backyard is like a jungle. This thesis statement does not mean that your backyard is literally a jungle, but that the different aspects of your backyard make it seem like a jungle. Draw five columns on a piece of paper with each column labeled one of the five senses. These include taste, touch, sight, sound, and smell. This list will help you keep your thoughts straight when describing your essay. Using your five senses, write down sensations and feelings you associate with your topic. Review your list and choose the most dominant details to write about. These details should be the items that best support your thesis and are the most interesting. These details will be made into your body paragraphs. Create an outline that lists what each paragraph of your essay is going to  discuss. Typically, middle and high schoolers writing descriptive essays will be asked to write a 5 paragraph essay.College level students and above have more free-reign regarding how long to make their essays. 5 paragraph essays are structured to include an introductory paragraph that includes a thesis statement, three body paragraphs proving your thesis statement, and a concluding paragraph that summarizes what you have said in the rest of your essay. Method 2 of 3: Writing your essay Structure your essay in a way that makes sense for your topic. If you are writing about an event, give your paragraphs a chronological order. If you are writing about a place or thing, try ordering your paragraphs so that they go from general to specific.[6] Example: First paragraph: The things you notice when you look at a house from the outside. Second paragraph: The sights, sounds, smells, tastes, feelings etc. that you experience when you are inside the house. Third paragraph: A description of your favorite section of the house. Write your introductory paragraph. The introductory paragraph establishes the main ideas of the essay and sets the tone. This paragraph should include an introduction to your topic followed by your thesis statement. Create a topic sentence at the beginning of each body paragraph. This sentence lets your reader know what the paragraph is going to be about. It should be clear and concise. Each topic sentence should relate back to the thesis statement. Example: Thesis statement: My backyard is like a jungle that I love to explore. Topic Sentence: When I climb a tree in my backyard, I feel like I am climbing a tall jungle tree. Write your body paragraphs based on your topic sentences. Body paragraphs are where you get to prove that your thesis is true. Always keep in my mind that everything you write in your body paragraph should relate to your topic sentence and your thesis.[7] Example: The trees in my backyard are filled with the music of birds. Emeralds leaves sway in sun-filled breeze. Provide sensory details that support your thesis. Use literary tools like descriptive adjectives, similes, metaphors and personification. Smells (â€Å"The scent of the newly opened rose danced sweetly upon the wind.†) Sounds (â€Å"When she laughed, a wild array of exotic birds burst from within her; it was pretty to look at but there was a lot of squawking involved.†) Sights (â€Å"The beach curved into a smile above a flowing blue beard that sometimes grew too high and was then shaved away.†) Taste (â€Å"The sugar plum filled my mouth with memories of Christmas mornings long past.†) Touch (â€Å"The ferns brushed like a whisper against my skin.†) Write your conclusion. Your conclusion should summarize everything you have written in your essay. It should also restate your thesis. It is important to have a well-written conclusion because it is the last thing the reader will read, and will stay in his or her mind the longest. Method 3 of 3: Finalizing your essay Take a break from working after you have finished writing. Stepping away from your writing helps you to clear your head. You will be able to look at your essay the way your reader would look at it once you have taken a break from working on it. Read your essay with the reader in mind. Ask yourself: Does the essay unfold in a way that helps the reader understand the subject? Are any of the paragraphs more confusing than descriptive? Does the word choice and figurative language convey what you are trying to express about the topic? Are there enough details to give the reader a complete picture? Do the details in the essay help the reader understand what the topic means to the writer? Read your essay out loud. By reading out loud, you can more easily locate sections of the essay that might be awkward or confusing. Get someone else to read your essay. Does it make sense to them? Do they think you should add or delete anything? Proofread your essay for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. Delete  cliches. Tips Use all of the senses in a descriptive essay. Don’t use nondescript adjectives like â€Å"nice†. Use a thesaurus and get some new and interesting words, like â€Å"effervescent.† Try not to use the word â€Å"I† in your sentences. Descriptive Essays Summary: The Modes of Discourse—Exposition, Description, Narration, Argumentation (EDNA)—are common paper assignments you may encounter in your writing classes. Although these genres have been criticized by some composition scholars, the Purdue OWL recognizes the wide spread use of these approaches and students’ need to understand and produce them. What is a descriptive essay? The descriptive essay is a genre of essay that asks the student to describe something—object, person, place, experience, emotion, situation, etc. This genre encourages the student’s ability to create a written account of a particular experience. What is more, this genre allows for a great deal of artistic freedom (the goal of which is to paint an image that is vivid and moving in the mind of the reader). One might benefit from keeping in mind this simple maxim: If the reader is unable to clearly form an impression of the thing that you are describing, try, try again! Here are some guidelines for writing a descriptive essay. Take time to brainstorm If your instructor asks you to describe your favorite food, make sure that you jot down some ideas before you begin describing it. For instance, if you choose pizza, you might start by writing down a few words: sauce, cheese, crust, pepperoni, sausage, spices, hot, melted, etc. Once you have written down some words, you can begin by compiling descriptive lists for each one. Use clear and concise language. This means that words are chosen carefully, particularly for their relevancy in relation to that which you are intending to describe. Choose vivid  language. Why use horse when you can choose stallion? Why not use tempestuous instead of violent? Or why not miserly in place of cheap? Such choices form a firmer image in the mind of the reader and often times offer nuanced meanings that serve better one’s purpose. Use your senses! Remember, if you are describing something, you need to be appealing to the senses of the reader. Explain how the thing smelled, felt, sounded, tasted, or looked. Embellish the moment with senses. What were you thinking?! If you can describe emotions or feelings related to your topic, you will connect with the reader on a deeper level. Many have felt crushing loss in their lives, or ecstatic joy, or mild complacency. Tap into this emotional reservoir in order to achieve your full descriptive potential. Leave the reader with a clear impression. One of your goals is to evoke a strong sense of familiarity and appreciation in the reader. If your reader can walk away from the essay craving the very pizza you just described, you are on your way to writing effective descriptive essays. Be organized! It is easy to fall into an incoherent rambling of emotions and senses when writing a descriptive essay. However, you must strive to present an organized and logical description if the reader is to come away from the essay with a cogent sense of what it is you are attempting to describe. ï » ¿How to Write a Descriptive Essay Essay Descriptive essays are often subjective tasks. The first issue at hand is to make sure you know what type of paper you are writing. The descriptive essay is often creative, personal, or simply artistic. Discuss the assignment with your professor or teacher before you begin. Even though your descriptive essay is more personal than a standard five-paragraph or compare-contrast essay, there is still quite a bit of homework to be done. Here is a list of important rules to follow as your write this essay. 1. Understand the concept; 2. Do your research; 3. Outline the paper; 4. Write the paper; 5. Re-write the paper; 6. Edit (outside editors). Descriptive essays rely on their nominal stature. It is more important to use imagery and metaphorical language than scientific data. Descriptive essays are not mathematic entries, nor are they always factual. They are opinions. Consequently, you can try to write and describe anything you desire. You simply have to do it well. As horrible as that sounds, your professors and teachers will tell you the same thing. Here are some tips to remember when writing your descriptive essay: 1. Actually describe something; 2. Use concrete and abstract images; 3. Use concrete and abstract ideas; 4. Do not go overboard with adjectives and adverbs; 5. Do not go overboard with similes and metaphors; 6. Give it to someone else to see if your essay actually describes something. While it may seem rather vague initially, sometimes a descriptive essay can be the most liberating and pleasurable essay to write. You are just writing something as you see it. If you can prove and describe an idea or image in language, then you have accomplished your task. Documentation and hard research are not always necessary components (although they may be). What is a Descriptive Essay? http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/685/03/ The descriptive essay is a genre of essay that asks the student to describe an object, person, place, experience, emotion, situation, etc. This genre encourages the student’s ability to create a written account of a particular experience. What is more, this genre allows for a great deal of artistic freedom (the goal of which is to paint an image that is vivid and moving in the mind of the reader). One might benefit from keeping in mind this simple maxim: If the reader is unable to clearly form an impression of the thing that you are describing, try, try again! Here are some guidelines for writing a descriptive essay: Take time to brainstorm If your instructor asks you to describe your favorite food, make sure that you jot down some ideas before you begin describing it. For instance, if you choose pizza, you might start by writing down a few words: sauce, cheese, crust, pepperoni, sausage, spices, hot, melted, etc. Once you have written down some words, you can begin by compiling descriptive lists for each one. Use clear and concise language. This means that words are chosen carefully, particularly for their relevancy in relation to that which you are intending to describe. Choose vivid language. Why use ‘horse’ when you can choose ‘stallion’? Why not use ‘tempestuous’ instead of ‘violent’? Or why not ‘miserly’ in place of ‘cheap’? Such choices form a firmer image in the mind of the reader and often times offer nuanced meanings that serve better one’s purpose. Use your senses! Remember, if you are describing something, you need to be appealing to the senses of the reader. Explain how the thing smelled, felt, sounded, tasted, or looked. Embellish the moment with senses. What were you thinking?! If you can describe emotions or feelings related to your topic, you will connect with the reader on a deeper level. Many have felt crushing loss in their lives, or ecstatic joy, or mild complacency. Tap into this emotional reservoir in order to achieve your full descriptive potential. Leave the  reader with a clear impression. One of your goals is to evoke a strong sense of familiarity and appreciation in the reader. If your reader can walk away from the essay craving the very pizza you just described, you are on your way to writing effective descriptive essays. Be organized! It is easy to fall into an incoherent rambling of emotions and senses when writing a descriptive essay. However, you must strive to present an organized and logical description if the reader is to come away from the essay with a cogent sense of what it is you are attempting to describe. How to Write a Descriptive Essay by WriteExpress Staff Writers http://www.writeexpress.com/descriptive-essay.html More than many other types of essays, descriptive essays strive to create a deeply involved and vivid experience for the reader. Great descriptive essays achieve this affect not through facts and statistics but by using detailed observations and descriptions. What do you want to describe? As you get started on your descriptive essay, it’s important for you to identify exactly what you want to describe. Often, a descriptive essay will focus on portraying one of the following: a person a place a memory an experience an object Ultimately, whatever you can perceive or experience can be the focus of your descriptive writing. Why are you writing your descriptive essay? It’s a great creative exercise to sit down and simply describe what you observe. However, when writing a descriptive essay, you often have a particular reason for writing your description. Getting in touch with this reason can help you focus your description and imbue your language with a particular perspective or emotion. Example: Imagine that you want to write a  descriptive essay about your grandfather. You’ve chosen to write about your grandfather’s physical appearance and the way that he interacts with people. However, rather than providing a general description of these aspects, you want to convey your admiration for his strength and kindness. This is your reason for writing the descriptive essay. To achieve this, you might focus one of your paragraphs on describing the roughness of his hands, roughness resulting from the labor of his work throughout his life, but you might also describe how he would hold your hands so gently with his rough hands when having a conversation with you or when taking a walk. How should you write your description? If there’s one thing you should remember as you write your descriptive essay, it’s the famous saying: show don’t tell. But what’s the difference between showing and telling? Consider these two simple examples: 1. I grew tired after dinner. 2. As I leaned back and rested my head against the top of the chair, my eyelids began to feel heavy, and the edges of the empty plate in front of me blurred with the white tablecloth. The first sentence tells readers that you grew tired after dinner. The second sentence shows readers that you grew tired. The most effective descriptive essays are loaded with such showing because they enable readers to imagine or experience something for themselves. As you write your descriptive essay, the best way to create a vivid experience for your readers is to focus on the five senses. sight sound smell touch taste When you focus your descriptions on the senses, you provide vivid and specific details that show your readers rather than tell your readers what you are describing. Quick Tips for Writing Your Descriptive Essay Writing a descriptive essay can be a rich and rewarding experience, but it can also feel a bit complicated. It’s helpful, therefore, to keep a quick checklist of the essential questions to keep in mind as you plan, draft, and revise your essay. Planning your descriptive essay: What or who do you want to describe? What is your reason for writing your description? What are the particular qualities that you want to focus on? Drafting your descriptive essay: What sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures are important for developing your description? Which details can you include to ensure that your readers gain a vivid impression imbued with your emotion or perspective? Revising your descriptive essay: Have you provided enough details and descriptions to enable your readers to gain a complete and vivid perception? Have you left out any minor but important details? Have you used words that convey your emotion or perspective? Are there any unnecessary details in your description? Does each paragraph of your essay focus on one aspect of your description? Are you paragraphs ordered in the most effective way?

Drug Abuse A Public Health Crisis Of Major Proportions

Drug abuse has become a public health crisis of major proportions. It sabotages physical and psychological health. This sometimes leading to chronic illness and sometimes even death. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), â€Å"An estimated twenty million Americans aged twelve or older used an illegal drug in the past thirty days.† The most commonly used and abused drugs today are marijuana, cocaine, meth, and heroin. Drugs are chemicals and while each drug may produce a different physical effect, all substances that are being abused share one common thing. They take over the normal function of the brain and they change the way the brain responds to issues of self control, emotion, motivation, judgment, learning, and†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"By 1920, 14 states had adopted some form of prohibition.†, according to the book, Drugs Through The Ages. In the 1960s marijuana use became more popular than before. By 2007, 19.7 percent of hi gh school students nationwide smoked pot during a one-month period. TYPES OF DRUGS Marijuana is the most commonly abused drug in the United States. When you use marijuana, usually by smoking, it acts as a central system stimulate. Marijuana speeds up heart rate and raises blood pressure. At the same time, it can dull memory, which makes it harder to remember things and concentrate. Cocaine is also another commonly abused drug. Cocaine is usually snorted as a powder. It is a very addictive stimulate and very powerful. Users get an exhilarated feeling when they ingest cocaine, that is why most people tend to abuse this drug a lot. That feeling tends to last 30-45 minutes. Cocaine tightens blood vessels and speeds up the heart. Those cardiovascular effects are the main reason for cocaine-related deaths. The third most commonly abused drug is heroin. Heroin acts on the body’s central nervous system by stimulating the brain’s â€Å"reward center†, which controls pleasurable feelings. However, sometimes it can cause some of the brainâ €™s critical functions, like breathing, to slow down or completely stop working. Usually heroin is commonly injected, so people who use it are also at risk for HIV and hepatitis, because they can be transmitted through needles that are shared. HOW TO

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