Your Personal Blog Guide How to Start a Personal Blog on WordPress

Theres plenty of space on the internet for everybody. People love to share ideas, give shape to their thoughts, and maybe even reach a global audience. How to put yourself on the path to achieve all of that? For once, what if you start a personal blog? Blogs are super-effective for a couple of reasons. Chief of them is that 77% of internet users read blogs, so your audience is already out there. Moreover, creating a personal WordPress blog isnt hard to do, so why not try doing it yourself?In this post, we will lead you through all the steps you need to take in order to start a personal blog that is effective, cheap, good-looking, and on a path to success. This is your ultimate guide to a personal WordPress blog, and all the resources you need to make it happen. WordPress.orgWordPress.comDoesnt come with any hosting. However you can get a good one with a free domain included for only $2.95/month using this link.You get  free hosting, but WordPress.com limits you  to 3GB of space u nless you upgrade to a paid plan.You need a custom subdomain, for which you have to pay an additional price.Gives you a free subdomain with the format yourblog.wordpress.com, but you need to upgrade to a paid plan if you want a custom domain.When it comes to security, you need to take care of your site alone via plugins, but youre in control of everything.Security is not your job, you get basic security and backup services automatically.You can install any plugins/tools and design your site any way you want, no limitations at all.You cant install any third-party plugins whatsoever. The themes also come in a limited number, with limited customization options.You have full control over every aspect of your site.You do not have any control over your sites design, performance, or functionality. You can only use whats provided by WordPress.com package by default.Check out the full comparison between WordPress.org and WordPress.com here.In a nutshell, if you want to have full control of y our website, and want to make sure that it stays with you long term, WordPress.org is the better choice here. But dont actually go to the WordPress.org website to get started with the platform. Heres what you do instead:The technical setup when starting a personal WordPress blogLets talk about the actual process of building a personal blog. The very first step in creating a personal blog is hosting. Since there are loads of good hosting companies out there, each providing diverse and attractive packs of features, I imagine its kind of hard for you to pick the one that fits your blog the best.If you want to start a personal blog, heres an overview first, and then well get into the details below:Sign up for  web hosting (I recommend Bluehost).Choose a hosting plan.Pick a  domain name for your personal blog. Domain Wheel  will get you started if youre running out of ideas.Complete your hosting registration.Make sure WordPress was installed during the hosting account setup.Log in and write your first blog post.Since you only need it for a personal purpose, a cheap plan will be the perfect match for you. Here are two good options:Bluehost is the cheapest shared hosting service for WordPress, and probably the most efficient in terms of price/features. It provides support for 1 site and comes with a free domain. All for only $2.95 per month if you use this link.SiteGround is also one of the most popular and cheapest WordPress hosting options. For only $3.95 a month, you get support for your blogs performance and 10GB of disk space. Apart from that, the plan can handle up to 10,000 visits monthly.Now, the best part with either of these hosts is that they will get WordPress installed for you or youll be able to install it from your user panel. Thats why you dont need to go to the WordPress.org website. All the installation happens via your web host.The only thing you need to do is go to your host of choice, click the sign-up button and then go through the proced ure. Youll be taken by the hand through the process.When youre signing up with a host, youll also get a chance to pick a domain name for your site.Domain names are how visitors will identify and access your website. For example, our domain is  themeisle.com.Once youve signed up for a hosting plan, youll still need to set up WordPress. How this process works will depend on the host you selected. Some, such as Bluehost, give you a working instance of WordPress right out the gate, or provide you with a one-click installation option during signup. All you have to do is fill out some basic information, such as your sites name, your admin username, and so on.What if your host doesn't install WordPress for you?If your host requires you to set up WordPress on your own, youll probably do so using the cPanel installer. First, youll need to access your panel using the login information you chose while signing up for your hosting plan. Once youre in, youll find yourself looking at a page much like this one:CPanel is packed with options, which can make it look intimidating. Fortunately, there are plenty of guides available on  how to set up WordPress using cPanel. If you run into any problems along the way, you can always check out your hosting services documentation, or contact their support team to get help.Go to topWhat elements make up an effective personal WordPress blogIf youre the kind of person who likes to write, having your own blog can be a great outlet. You can create content about whatever you want, whenever you want, and share your thoughts with your friends, network, and complete strangers. If youre feeling entrepreneurial, you can even use your personal blog to network in your field by writing about the latest developments and your own insights.Once you start a personal blog, you will be able to include whatever features and information you think are necessary. However, there are a few elements all the best personal blogs have in common, such as:A focus on blog posts. Unlike static WordPress websites, you want your blog posts to take center stage.Some personal information about yourself, to personalize your content and help your audience make a connection.Links to your social media profiles and general contact information, for visitors who want to follow you or get in touch.A carefully chosen blog post format, to make each entry highly readable and engaging.Fortunately, all four of these elements are straightforward and easy to achieve. That means you probably dont need to use a fancy premium theme or seek out complex features. Instead, you can opt for a free alternative thats better for your budget.Go to topWhich theme/design to get?We talked about how to make your personal blog run smoothly on the backend, but now lets discuss a bit about its design, which is hugely important for those who read your blog. First of all, it has to be intuitive and make it easy for people to read your site, as well as provide a friendly and organiz ed navigation structure. No matter how great your posts are, if the way you present them is hard to follow and annoys people every time they try to navigate to your blog, then its all in vain.To add a beautiful and intuitive theme to your personal WordPress blog is actually very simple, it only takes a few quick steps. The more difficult part is to decide on one single theme because WordPress has tons out here: free, good-looking, feature-rich, of all kinds, and for all purposes.Once youve entered your dashboard, look for the tab called  Appearance. Click on it, and then choose the  Themes  option. This will show you all the themes that WordPress comes pre-installed with:These themes are free, decent starter options for a personal WordPress blog. However, youll probably want to use a theme thats a bit less basic and more customizable, such as our own Hestia:This particular theme is based on material design guidelines, which results in a very modern look. Plus, it has everythin g you need to include the vital elements we talked about earlier (such as contact information and a personal bio). To set it up, you just need to follow a few simple instructions (which also apply to other WordPress themes).Go to topGreat tools to improve your personal blogging experienceAside from choosing  hosting and a theme, which are mandatory, you have tons of optional tools built to work with WordPress, ease your blogging activity, and increase your productivity. Some can be used directly online and others  will require installation on your dashboard, but all of them are very intuitive and make your writing more pleasant.JetpackJetpack is a great multifaceted plugin for anyone who wants to start a personal blog. It automates social media posting by sharing every new blog entry on your social channels. Also, the plugin creates beautiful photo galleries that you can include in your posts and can help you by providing various site stats right in your admin dashboard.Heres ou r guide on how to get started with Jetpack. Jetpack by WordPress.comAuthor(s): Automattic 78%Ratings 145,415,907Downloads WP 5.1+Requires More info jetpack.7.8.zipCurrent Version: 7.8Last Updated: October 1, 2019 78%Ratings 145,415,907Downloads WP 5.1+Requires WordPress.org Plugin Page Jetpack by WordPress.com Revive Old PostWith Revive Old Post, you can automate your social media posting process so you dont have to manually share every entry.Once you configure the plugin, it does everything for you. It will post alone continuously until you stop it. This way you save a lot of time, which you can use for writing. Revive Old Posts Auto Post to Social MediaAuthor(s): revive.social 78%Ratings 1,969,075Downloads WP 3.5+Requires More info tweet-old-post.zipCurrent Version: 8.4.4Last Updated: October 3, 2019 78%Ratings 1,969,075Downloads WP 3.5+Requires WordPress.org Plugin Page Revive Old Posts Auto Post to Social Media Blog Topics GeneratorThis is a nice on line tool created by Hubspot that generates content ideas based on the keywords youre interested in. You write three keywords that you think are relevant to what you want to talk about and the tool returns five related headlines.Heres an additional guide of ours on how to come up with good blog post ideas.BuzzSumoAnother great free tool that lets you know about which topics are popular. Enter a topic into its search box before starting to work on it and BuzzSumo will analyze what content works best for that given topic.  With this tool, you can also find out whats the most successful content published by a specific blog: enter its URL and you get a list of the most shared posts.GrammarlyInstall the Grammarly extension in your web browser and then start writing your post in WordPress. The tool will mark nearly every mistake in your work. So make sure you check your grammar before you hit Publish. A great helper tool for anyone whos planning to start a personal blog.MyStock.PhotosFo r every blog post, you need pictures. While you can always use some of your own pictures, most of the time you will use free images from the internet. MyStock.Photos is ThemeIsles photo collection providing awesome high-quality images that you can use anywhere you want. All are free, so use them as much as youd like!Yoast SEOYoast SEO is a free WordPress plugin that takes care of your SEO optimization.It gives you indications on what adjustments to make on every single post so that your post can rank higher in Google. Yoast SEOAuthor(s): Team Yoast 98%Ratings 200,063,756Downloads WP 4.9+Requires More info wordpress-seo.12.3.zipCurrent Version: 12.3Last Updated: October 15, 2019 98%Ratings 200,063,756Downloads WP 4.9+Requires WordPress.org Plugin Page Yoast SEO Go to topTime to write your first postOnce youve chosen your free WordPress theme and have it installed and activated, all thats left is to start writing your first blog post. To do that, look for the  Posts â †’ Add New  option in your dashboard. This will bring you to the WordPress editor:Here, you can set a title for your post, write about whatever you want, and insert images and other media. When youre done, you can save your work as a draft or publish it right away – its all up to you now!Go to topIs a personal WordPress blog a big commitment? How often should you post?Theres no hard and fast rule here. After all, thats why its called a personal blog.You dont have to face rules and deadlines, but you should still try to post at least once a week if possible  (youll find plenty of counter-examples, though).Of course, it depends on what you use the blog for. If you just use it to put your thoughts on paper (screen), then you should write every time a great topic comes up to your mind. If you use it for talking about hobbies and want to grow a community around it, then you should try to post constantly at least weekly.For example, even in the WordPress space, you can fin d a variety of posting schedules. On one end, you have Tom McFarlin who posts daily.While on the other end, you have someone like Brian Krogsgard who publishes every few months.Go to topA personal blog can help you professionallyLike I said before, even if you start a personal blog about your hobbies, for instance, this can help you shape your thoughts and  connect with other people who love the same things you do.But another important reason why you should have a personal WordPress blog is professional exposure. You might not create your blog solely for that purpose, but it can be a nice unintended side effect.For instance, if youre sending a resume to a company, a link to some relevant content written, collected, and researched by yourself can get you extra credit. You can even get job offers thanks to your blog!A personal WordPress blog can sometimes help you in your career too because it helps you build your  personal brand.According to a survey by Domain.me:61% of the surve y respondents admitted that they have received a job offer because of their blog.79% said their blog is either very important or important for their personal brand.When you are online in so many places and have accounts on various platforms and social media channels, its hard not to get things mixed up for both your friends and potential employers. Nowadays, employers tend to check all the online references that lead to you before inviting you to an interview or hiring you.According to CareerBuilder, 40% to 60% of hiring managers use social media to analyze and get an overall opinion about potential employees. If theyre searching for you online like that, theres a good chance theyll stumble across your personal blog.In short, a good personal blog can help you make a good first impression and boost your chances of finding new opportunities. Potential employers are likely to  find your personal blog, making it a good place to boost your job-worthiness in their eyes. While unintended at first, those are some serious positive business consequences from personal blogging.Go to topWrapping upIn the end, instead of being just a reader of other peoples opinions and stories, you can create your own content and share it with the world. All your discoveries, all your thoughts, your daily stories all can lead to something great. And apart from inserting yourself in nice communities of people who share the same hobbies and interests as you, a personal blog can also lead  to improved professional opportunities.So, how do you start a personal blog? Heres a recap:Pick a platform between WordPress.org and WordPress.com. We recommend the first one because you will have full control over your site.Choose the right WordPress hosting. For a personal blog, you dont need the biggest fish out here.  Cheap WordPress hosting is fine.Choose a beautiful theme. Theres a handful of nice free WordPress blogging themes that you can choose from. Install, try, customize. You can play wi th their design so you can see which one matches your site the most.Go ahead and install efficient and free-of-charge tools and plugins that will make your blogging easier and more fun.Write your first blog postThink about the range of topics you would like to tackle. If you dont know yet and just want to write random stuff, thats also a start. A blog is a way to express yourself.Try to create a personal calendar or a notebook in which to set deadlines on writing. You dont have to post daily, once a week is enough. The key is consistency.I hope this has been helpful! Do you have any questions about how to start a personal blog on WordPress? Lets talk about them in the comments section below! * This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and then purchase the product, well receive a small fee. No worries though, youll still pay the standard amount so theres no cost on your part.

The Great Depression Essays

The Great Depression Essays The Great Depression Paper The Great Depression Paper The Great Depression: The Extensive Effects The 1920s was a time of roaring prosperity. Even mid-October of 1929, the average middle-class American saw an â€Å"illimitable vista of prosperity† (Dixon 1). The thought of poverty was close to an end; in 1928, President Herbert Hoover stated, â€Å"We have not yet reached the goal, but given a chance to go forward with the policies of the last eight years, and we shall soon with the help of God be within sight of the day when poverty will be banished from the nation† (Dixon 1). The prescience of the end of poverty became known as the American Dream; however, this foresight was shortly lived. On Tuesday, March 26, 1929, the Hoover Administration saw the largest stock market crash of their administration to that date. Several months later brought Black Monday, the largest stock market crash in American history and the cardinal cause of the Great Depression. The Great Depression is one of the single most important events in the financial history of the United States and the world; the effects of and leading to the Great Depression lasted for several years. The Great Depression was an economic deficit with worldwide effects that began with the stock market crash of October 1929; the most profound effect of the Great Depression was the highest rate of unemployment in American history: banks, factories, and stores closed, leaving millions of Americans jobless with no money. Without money, many Americans had to rely on either the government or donations from charities to be obtain food; as the depression continued, however, the Roosevelt administration created government agencies to aid in supplying Americans with food, relieving the effects of the Great Depression, preventing a catastrophic event like it from occurring again (Great Depression). The group of people most affected by the Great Depression and the events it instigated were the American stockholders; thousands of stockholders lost large sums of money due to the rapid decrease of stock values caused by the crash of Black Monday. Although this was a huge loss, predicting it was impossible; from 1925 to 1929, the average stock price of a common stock on the New York Stock Exchange more than doubled, causing many people to make large investments in the stock market in hope of making large profits. Even people who had no prior knowledge of the stock market or how it worked attempted to invest in anticipation of profits. Economists, such as Irving Fisher, assured stockholders that they were â€Å"dwelling on a permanently high plateau of prosperity (Dixon 1)†. This, along with the assurance of many other reporters and professionals, cause the popularity of being a stockholder to skyrocket: in 1920, there were only 29,609 stockholders; a mere ten years later, there were 70,950. Stockholders’ ignorance of how the stock market worked soon turned against the thousands of investors in America and spread throughout the rest of the United States, halting economic flow (Dixon 2). The Depression had a remarkable effect on the United States; however, the United States was not the only place to feel the consequences of the Great Depression: Canada was also profoundly affected (The Global Effects of the Great Depression 1). Previously, Canada’s economy relied on the export of grain and other raw materials. The people who exported these goods suffered huge losses after other countries increased tariffs on imported products. Following the closing of many Canadian companies, the unemployment rate in Canada rose from three percent in 1929 to twenty-three percent in 1933 (Great Depression). Other governments were affected by the Depression as well. As the Depression was at its zenith in 1933, the only country hit as hard as the United States was Germany (Garraty 182). Approximately six million individuals in Germany were left unemployed. Many aspects of German life led to these despondent times. Most prominent were the reparations Germany was still paying from World War I. Chaos arose in Germany after the war, causing hyperinflation in 1923; Germany was just recovering when the stock market crash hit (Effects on Germany 1). Another factor in the economic downturn was the German government. Germany suffered a series of poor leaders; the chancellors of 1932, as Herbert Hoover said, were unable to deal with the effects of the deepening Depression. On January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler became the chancellor of Germany (Garraty 183). The leadership of Hitler, one of the key figures in the relief of the Great Depression both in Germany and worldwide, marked the foundation of the collapse of the Great Depression. The actions beginning in 1933 aimed at relieving the Great Depression in the United States and Germany had a major influence on other nations, particularly Great Britain (Garraty 214). Great Britain, unlike the United States, had a moribund economy prior to the stock market crash of October 1929 (Smitha 27); however, the British economy did not suffer a morbid crash, as did the economies of the United States and Germany (Effects on the United Kingdom 1). Britain did, however, suffer declines in both imports and exports during the Depression. In comparison to other thriving nations during the time of the Great Depression, the United Kingdom remained in a fairly stable economic condition (Effects on the United Kingdom 2). Unlike Great Britain, the Great Depression hit many other countries in Europe immeasurably. One of these unlucky countries was France, the last major nation of at that point in time to feel the effects of the Great Depression; the reason for the delayed impact on France was the undervaluation of the French Franc (Effects on France 1). France, as Great Britain, was impacted by the efforts of the United States to relieve the Depression (Garraty 214). Finally, in 1932, the Depression brutally found its way to France: the number of tourists dropped and exports of perfume fell, as did those of wine, food, and other items (Smitha 23). Even though the Depression hit France late, it came violently. Unemployment rose fifteen percent and industrial production dropped twenty-five percent from their levels in 1929. In hope of a change, Andre Tardieu was elected to run a new French government in 1932; he gained his popularity by aiming his campaign towards the threat of communism (Smitha 24). Like many other countries, France eventually overcame the Depression through involvement in World War II, which created jobs and caused money to begin circulating once again. The Great Depression also hit Italy, with its highly regarded corporate-fascist government led by Mussolini. The public saw the erratic policy changes Mussolini made as genius; however, these changes did not benefit the economy. Even though Italy’s contribution to world manufacturing was down almost three percent, it rose from the depression in 1934 (Smitha 26). The United States, like all countries, eventually emerged from the deficits of the Great Depression. At the forefront of this recovery was World War II: it increased manufacturing and created millions of jobs. In addition, aiding in the recovery were government agencies, such as the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA); the TVA was created in May 1933 to supervise the development of a 640,000 square mile area in the Tennessee Valley (Smitha 36). The Tennessee Valley was a region in which sharecroppers and farmers were malnourished and soils were useless for growing agricultural products. The TVA planned to help this region and restore a large amount of agricultural production to the United States (Smitha 36). Although there were many other agencies, such as the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), and the Public Works Administration (WPA), most of them followed in the footsteps of the TVA: they were aimed at creating jobs while simultaneously either beautifying the United States or boosting the economy (Great Depression). The Great Depression heavily affected the United States and the world as a whole for several years. The Depression has taught governments around the world how to deal with economic problems in hope that it will not happen again. As Wecter Dixon stated, the stock market could be very profitable: If a man saves $15 a week, and invests in good common stocks, and allows the dividends and rights to accumulate, at the end of twenty years he will have at least $80,000 and an income from investments of around $400 a month. He will be rich. And because income can do that, I am firm in my belief that anyone can not only be rich, but ought to be rich (4). However, the stock market crash of October 1929 and the ensuing depression alerted stockholders to how volatile being involved in the stock market without knowledge could be. Even in the current recession, many world leaders are influenced by measures taken to end the Great Depression to revive economic conditions. Due to its tremendous effects in the United States and throughout the world, the Great Depression is known in history as a narrow escape from the downfall of the world economy. Hopefully, one day the world economy will be as rich and prosperous as the roaring 1920s, and America and the rest of the orld will be chasing the â€Å"American Dream† once again, barring another unforeseen event such as the Great Depression. Dixon, Wecter. The Age of the Great Depression, 1929-1941. New York: Macmillian, 1952. Effects on France. 12 April 2009 thegreatdepression. co. uk/effects-on-france/. Effects on Germany. 12 April 2009 thegreatdepression. co. uk/effects-on-germany/. E ffects on the United Kingdom. 12 April 2009 thegreatdepression. co. uk/effects-on-the- united-kingdom/. Garraty, John A. The Great Depression: An Inquiry into the Cause, Course, and Consequences of the Ninteen-Thirties as Seen by Contemporaries and in the Light of History. 1st Edition. Orlando: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Publishers, 1986. Great Depression. World Book Encyclopedia 2001: 338-43. Smitha, Frank E. The Great Depression, to 1935. 1998-2005. 11 April 2009 fsmitha. com/h2/ch15wd. html. The Global Effects of the Great Depression. 20 March 2008. 11 April 2009 http://recessionhistory. info/the-global-effects-of-the-great-depression/.

Estimating and Production Decision Making Essay

Estimating and Production Decision Making - Essay Example To get that output, we multiply the mean output per operative week with the size of the gang and efficiency of that gang. For example: For Gang no 1; Mean output per operative week is 0.16, by multiplying this with the size of the gang say 6 and the efficiency of the gang (100%) we get the output per week as 0.16 X 6 X 100% = 0.96. We have calculated the size of the other gangs in the similar way, (assuming output per week of each gang nearer to 0.96, because we have found that cost efficiency is maximum for gang size of 6). The size of the gang thus found is given in red color. .. The size of the gang thus found is given in red color. Gang Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Mean output per operative week 0.16 0.21 0.16 0.16 0.12 0.12 0.26 0.16 0.11 0.16 Cost per operative week 320 320 335 300 320 320 335 320 315 315 Overheads per Gang week 210 210 215 200 210 210 215 210 205 205 Size of the gang 6 5 6 6 11 11 4 6 12 6 2. Starting of work of any particular gang We have ensured that the preceding gang has completed more than one unit in the week prior to the week we have started the new gang. 3. We have also ensured that after starting a gang, the preceding acitivity is completed at any stage. Working calculations are in excel

Science Fiction, Technology, and Our Modern World Essay - 5

Science Fiction, Technology, and Our Modern World - Essay Example It is strange when Monica describes her feelings for her three-year-old son, David, and she say that she had tried to love him in vain. It is sad that her love for him is questionable. Rationally speaking, mothers have endless and immeasurable love for their children, a fact that is unrepresented in Monica-David case leaving us with many unanswered questions about Monica’s motherhood. Brian Aldiss tells us that Monica is lonely, and he never mentioned whether she had friends or family for companionship (Arthur 443). At the end of page one, the writer reaffirms that she remained lonely. Monica seeks help from Teddy, another robot toy to try to comprehend why she is unable to communicate with David, not to mention companionship. David on the other hand questions Teddy whether his mother loves him and wonder whether he is truly real. He tries to write letters to explain his feelings about his mother and the inner conflicts he battles with, but all his letters remain incomplete (Arthur 445). Henry in his Company discusses the future development of artificial forms and bio-electric beings. He discusses the new Artificial Intelligence under construction that would finally solve the problems of humanity relating to loneliness and isolation. Monica also discovers David’s incomplete letters whose content depict lines about love and jealousy contempt for Teddy, whom Monica seems to bond with perfectly than David. The letters puzzle her, and when Henry arrives, she shares this with him that the Ministry of Population has selected their family to give birth to a child. Eventually, we discover that David is not a human child but an artificial human designed to ease Monica’s loneliness and replace a real child’s position. Monica privately tells her husband that David has a verbal malfunctioning and must be taken back immediately to the factory (Arthur 450). Brian Aldiss concludes his story with David thinking of love and warmth of his

Debussys Petit Suite Essay Example for Free

Debussys Petit Suite Essay Claude Debussy (1862-1918) was one of the most important composers of his time and is considered the founder of the impressionist movement, essentially a one-person revolution. Born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Debussy was the eldest of five children of a crockery shop owner and a seamstress. Despite early dreams of becoming a virtuoso pianist, Debussy found greater success working as a composer, producing his first works as a teenager. His first piano work was written at age 18, and within a few years, he was composing symphonies, cantatas and operas. The origin of the his impressionistic music stemmed from the Impressionistic art of compatriots- Monet, Renoir, Manet, and others, with the tendency to hint at an idea rather than state boldly, to feature color and atmosphere over Germanic clarity. The piano remained his main instrument and he ultimately became best known for his mature works for the instrument. His piano music is distinctive for its luminous tonal colors and often evoke an other-wordly and ethereal sense. This is a result of his skillful use of parallel chords, treatments of layers of refined sound, unresolved harmonies, unusual pedal effects, free modulatory procedures, and full exploitation of the piano’s resources. Debussy was only 24 years old when he began working on the 4-hand Petite Suite. The charming 4-movement suite was written about the same time as his two Arabesques for piano, conjuring a similar sense of lightness and delicacy, as well as conveying the same immediate charm. The work was originally conceived for piano, but was later re-scored for full orchestras. The reworking of Petite Suite for orchestra was accomplished not by Debussy himself, but by Henri Boesser, a slightly younger French composer who was noted for his orchestration skills. In its original form for piano, Petite Suite was first performed on February 2, 1889 by Debussy in collaboration with the pianist-publisher Jacques Durand. Transcriptions for string quartet, flute solo, saxophone solos, and other instrumentations have been written and performed. This works has a simple lyricism that contrasts with much of the composers music from the late 1880s Like the paintings of the Impressionists, most of Debussy’s music including the Petite Suite is inspired by the outdoors, suggesting moods and giving glimpses of nature. For Debussy, music always began where words and sight left off. The first movements of Debussy’s Petite Suite of 1889 are drawn from two poems of Verlaine’s 1869 volume Fà ªtes galantes. The poems evoke the era of 18th-century aristocrats on country outings, the world depicted in the fanciful paintings of Fragonard and Watteau. En Bateau is one of the composer’s â€Å"water pieces’ presenting a delicate theme reminiscent of Faure rippling accompaniment. It suggests revelers in a boat have their minds on romantic trysts as they sail at dusk on a dark lake. Debussy’s music captures perfectly a mood of water-borne serenity and languor, opening with a kind of musical sigh that made the Petite Suite immediately popular with a wide audience. The next movement, entitled Cortge, Procession conveys the idea that boat revelers are playfully making their way along a promenade to retire from the boat ride. The third movement Menuet, triple metered dance, and fourth, Ballet although not set to a particular poem articulate broadly the nostalgia and the sparkle held in balance throughout the poems of Fà ªtes galantes. The final movement is an energetic, festive dance movement with the title Ballet.

Bush and the Patriot Act: Declaring War on Our Rights? Essay -- Septem

Bush and the Patriot Act: Declaring War on Our Rights?      Ã‚     When I decided to write this essay, I knew without hesitation that I would write about Washington's response to the terrorist attacks that struck New York and Washington. I did not realize how difficult such an undertaking would be, as I find myself in a somewhat an uncomfortable position. Forcing myself to confront the issues at hand means deciding which freedoms are acceptable casualties in this war and for whom.   To allow Attorney General Ashcroft to lead us into a new era of American justice that resembles McCarthyism or the internment of Japanese-Americans a half-century ago would be regrettable.      I do not mean to imply that the US response should be weak; to the contrary, I support an expansion of this effort into Iraq. I've always had a passion for government, ours in particular. The difficulty comes from choosing how to defend that government, as it is our secular and modern way of life that is under attack. And though quoting ancient Greek is clichà ©, I find the rule of law to be reassuringly passion-free and just. My support for the ACLU stretches back ten years, which is considerable as I am only twenty years old. I also strongly support strengthening our law enforcement and intelligence agencies. The inability of the FBI, CIA, Justice Department, INS or NSC to detect the terrorist attacks before they were executed was grossly delinquent; to borrow a phrase from The New York Times' Maureen Dowd. This breach in intelligence is even more shocking when the amount of money poured into national security annually is considered. That we need added protections in this time of national crisis is indisputable. However, the manner in which we defend our wa... ...et military tribunals] at my finger tips.viii" The White House's justification has been a mere declaration that the principles of law on rules of evidence are impracticable. This sort of explanation is hardly adequate. The Bushies' policies seem to be reverting to their "trust us" mantra. Congress needs to get the government back in check. Few congressmen have yet to challenge any legislation tied to terrorism for fear of political consequences. I predict, however, that the political consequences suffered will be far greater for those who remain too afraid to speak out against the President, than for those who defend the Constitution.    Sources    i (Segev, NYTimes) ii (ACLU report) iii (NYTimes 10/26, B1). iv (Levy, WSJ, 11/27). v   (NYTimes). vi (NYTimes 11/18. A1). vii (NYTimes 12/1, A1). viii (NYTimes 11/28, A25).     

Interview with an Asian American Woman

Interview with an Asian American Woman The Long Journey Towards The American Dream The Vietnam War ended in 1975, which caused many Vietnamese people to be driven out of their homes and immigrate to America, seeking a safe life away from the affects of war and political turmoil (Ojeda-Kimbrough Lecture June 7, 2012). My family was a part of these refugees searching for a way out. I interviewed my mother, Huong Carter who was born and raised in Vietnam and came to the U. S. with the second wave of immigrants after the war had ended.The second wave of immigrants, including my family, could not speak English very well and traveled by boat, which was one of the most dangerous ways of travel during this time (Ojeda-Kimbrough Lecture June 7, 2012). With the threat of pirates, theft, illness, and drowning, my family faced these dangers in order to gain their freedom. Analysis of interview My mother felt frustrated throughout the interview, trying to get her point across but maybe couldnâ₠¬â„¢t find the right words.She wanted to make sure that I knew everything that happened was because of how brave my grandfather had been to leave absolutely everything he had worked his whole life for behind just to keep my mother and her siblings safe and provide a brighter and safer future for them. I was trying to focus on how she felt during these times, and how she felt about being Asian in a predominantly White culture in America. The issues that we had learned in lectures did come up, but she didn’t want to focus on that.She wanted to focus on how hard her father had worked, and how hard each of them had to work, in school and in their jobs so that they could succeed in America where they had freedom and were safe from war. They saw coming to America as a great escape from the dangers of the political turmoil in Vietnam and worked hard every single day to obtain better jobs, more money, and a decent and safe future for their children. The interview gave me a better ins ight of how the â€Å"boat people† traveled and what kinds of dangers they faced, as well as the challenges faced absorbing life in America without fully understanding the language and culture.Early Life For some people, life was easy and comfortable in Vietnam. Huong was brought up in a wealthy family with four other siblings and had a maid and a chauffeur. As kids they didn’t have to do too much to help around the house and usually got what they wanted. Her father was a business man, and owned his own business. They lived in a big house an hour outside of Saigon in South Vietnam. Huong and her four siblings went to a nice public school in the area, and attended private lessons in Math and English. However the war brought on hardships for everyone.The effects of the war and the bombings happening all around where Huong’s family lived made her father decide it was time to leave. With it being much safer to live in the city, Saigon was their first choice, and the whole family made the move into Saigon. The Long Journey to America After the war, the communists took over Vietnam. In my mother’s words they â€Å"brain washed† children into believing in their way of communist life. The government started recruiting children to test out the mine fields from the war for any remaining mines.Huong’s oldest sibling ended up on this list, and it was at this time when their father decided it was time to leave Vietnam. He did not believe in the communist theory and wanted his children to grow up in a safe, free environment. Of course he knew that this meant he would have to give up everything he had worked for in Vietnam, and he knew the difficulties involved in moving to America, but after the communists won the war, their normal way of living was over. Huong’s family started their travels to America with the second wave of immigrants or the â€Å"boat people† (Ojeda-Kimbrough Lecture June 7, 2012).Her father had dec ided to give up everything they had in Vietnam to move to a safer place for his family, and most of all he wanted freedom. The proper legal papers were signed and their cousins in Georgia, USA who had immigrated earlier were their sponsors. They gave all of their money to guarantee space on the boat that would take them to America, and they had to pay with gold bars. The money used was just passage out of Vietnam; they had no idea where they were headed to. They were also told that it was a passenger ship, but it was in fact a freight ship.The government had lied and misled them, took all of their money in gold bars to only send them as far as Hong Kong. The boat ride was long and treacherous. Luckily my mother’s family had paid to get onto one of the bigger boats, meaning it was less likely that they would be attacked by pirates on their journey. What they did endure was extremely cramped conditions and rough seas. For freight ship that could have held maybe 1000 people, 300 0 people were squeezed onto this ship. Their journey to Hong Kong took about one month. During this time, people would commit suicide, die from sickness, or starve.The captain of the ship ordered people to toss over their only possessions and the food they had brought in fear of capsizing the boat during storms. After this, some people would try and steal food from their neighbors. When the boat reached Hong Kong, the government there wanted to send them back to Vietnam. They were not supposed to be there, and they surely didn’t want to take them in. After a month of consideration and more waiting on the boat for the passengers, a camp was set up by the harbor for these thousands of passengers after their long travel on the sea.In this camp, my mother and her family would stay in Hong Kong for an additional 8 months before going to America. For her family of seven, they were given one bunk bed to share. Conditions at the camp were as cramped as on the ship, and very dirty. Th e refugees would be given rice and water every day for food, which they had to line up for. However, they were allowed to get small jobs outside of the camp, so my mother, all of her siblings and her parents would get these jobs so that their family could save enough money to buy a little extra food. After doing even more legal work and consulting with their relatives and sponsors in the U.S. , my mother and the rest of her family all finally got to leave Hong Kong, straight for America. The American Dream My mother arrived in Georgia, USA in 1979, at age 17. She left all her friends and family in Vietnam and the comforts of their old home. She was always so excited to go to America because everyone would talk about this rich land and when they finally got here, it was very overwhelming. At first she was confused. What my mother found in America was not what she expected. There was a lot more poverty and not at all like she had dreamed.Here they were immediately put into high school . Her father held back his children in school to allow them to catch up and make up for the year they had missed. He did this, so that his children would also have a chance to catch up on their English language skills, and do well in school. Their education was a priority and he wanted them to do their best. The language was the hardest part of coming to America, everything was new and unfamiliar. They only stayed in Georgia for two months before my grandfather contacted some of his old neighbors from Vietnam who were now living in California.He didn’t like the weather in Georgia and felt California would probably be a better fit for him. So after only a few months, my mother finally got to California. The children were put back into high school immediately; however times were tough for my mother and her siblings. Their high school consisted of mostly white American, Hispanic and African American children. Her English was not very good at this point, so it was hard communicat ing with other kids, and socializing. Everywhere she went, she had a dictionary with her. She took beginners English class, where it consisted mostly of Hispanics.This class she felt was the nicest because she was with other kids who, like herself, could not speak the main language very well, and had difficulties expressing themselves. Luckily my grandfather’s old neighbor had a daughter, Phuong, attending the same high school, who became friends with my mother and her siblings. Phuong helped make them to make friends and understand American society and culture a little easier. Phuong had been in California much longer than my mother, having come over with the first wave of immigrants. Her English was much better, and she already had a small close group of friends.Huong didn’t have a long high school career, and she often felt isolated, and alienated from other kids. She would be ignored because they knew that she didn’t speak English very well and didn’t want to bother. She was the only Asian besides her siblings and always felt different from everyone else. Going into stores, the clerks would follow her around because they thought she would steal something. Huong felt cheated from having a real high school experience. She never got to go to prom or buy a year book because their family didn’t have enough money.She also felt she didn’t accomplish as much as she could have with her grades due to the language barrier, even when she would spend most of her time studying instead of making friends. However, she still obtained A’s and B’s through her hard work and perseverance, but was disappointed as she always had straight A’s in Vietnam. So she never felt like she was achieving as much as she potentially could. She was too busy trying to understand what everything was. College Getting into college was Huong’s and her sibling’s first priority.Most of the children actually got scholarships , and financial aid to help finance their college funds. Even though, Huong was actually embarrassed to ask for financial aid and have welfare and food stamps, it was the only way to attend college, and further her education. By this point in their lives, college was much easier because they understood the English language a lot better and there were more Asians in college than there were in high school. My mother got a job in the Financial Aid office at her college to help support her family.Her family was still struggling to make ends meet, so everyone had to work. Huong felt frustrated sometimes with her life, she wanted to accomplish as much as she could, but also had to help pay the bills for her family and work. Life was easy in Vietnam with their maids and chauffeurs, and here they had to work hard for everything they had. They lived in a small apartment and took the bus to school because they couldn’t afford a car. Everyone in the family had part time jobs, and would work and study hard every day to help better their careers and education.My mother felt she would study even harder than everyone else because of the language barrier. She had no time to party or date, or to buy nice things, because their lives only consisted of work and studying. Towards the end of her college life, my mother was hired as a data entry clerk with a local Real Estate company. She always felt like she was being treated nice, but maybe not necessarily equally. Management would yell at Huong for mistakes that were not her fault. She was never trained for the job, and was expected to do things that she needed training for.She felt that she wasn’t given any respect what so ever, and had to try her hardest to learn from her mistakes when they were yelling at her. Despite the disrespect and the yelling, she managed to earn a promotion to Assistant Controller with a raise from all her hard work. Huong didn’t have a lot of friends in the work place, but was alwa ys nice to everyone and tried to get to know each colleague. When my mother met my father Jeff in college, things became easier for her. Jeff was from England, and also immigrated to California. He came from a poor family, and also had to work hard to provide for his family and help pay the bills.With all of the things they had in common, Huong felt like she could relate to someone else, and he helped her understand more about American society. He would help her with her homework and her English. With this, life became much easier for Huong, because she understood a lot more about the American way of life. With the extra help, she had more time to go out, have fun and do things that Americans do, like going to the movies, dancing, and eating out. Life Now After being here for 33 years my mother is comfortable with life in America. She never got to go back and visit Vietnam yet, but she wants to when life isn’t so busy.She still misses the food, the culture, and her family in Vietnam, but not only is she living easily, her parents and all of her siblings are also living comfortably in California now. Her parents have a small house in Garden Grove, the center of the Vietnamese community, where they have retired next to other Vietnamese people. She realizes now just how much her father had given up when bringing his family to America, but she knows it had to be done, for their safety and their freedom. She is more than grateful of her father’s decisions, because she got to live in a free country and become a citizen.The main thing is they got to come to a country where there is no war. Her entire family still keeps close to each other by calling one another often, even the relatives still in Vietnam, and they have many family gatherings throughout the year for holidays, birthdays, and also to celebrate Vietnamese traditions. They keep up with their culture, and how they prepare their food, and when they are all together they still primarily speak th e Vietnamese language. Their old customs and traditions are important to everyone in the family.