ESSAY CEMETERY

Who doesn't wish he could write like Mark Twain? No one is probably the answer, if only for the purpose of getting through our B.A. unscathed. Experts before me have gathered some writing tips from the 19th century master of American wit, and I will now try to explore briefly the wisdom behind some of his recommendations. The tips in Twain's words I copied from a list at about.com .  Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please . This suggestion is very pertinent to us when writing our seminar papers, because of the quantity of information we have to process. First, make sure you understand the argument that your secondary source is making. After you have understood exactly what the author tries to say, you may – elegantly of course – utilize their words in a way that suits your argument. Use the right word, not its second cousin . If you are uncertain whether the word that comes to mind is the exact right word, take some time to use the thesaurus. ...

Can morals embedded in a work of literature influence our real-life behavior? The question becomes more complex when the work in question is fictional, with imaginary characters navigating imaginary dilemmas. When a work is set in a hypothetical future in a world governed by laws vastly different than our own, its links to our own reality become even further obscured. Philip K. Dick's 1967 science fiction novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? presents a future in which Earth has been ravaged by nuclear warfare. Earth is populated by humans and androids, artificially constructed biological humanoid beings. Some androids kill their owners for a chance at a life of freedom. These are sought and killed by bounty hunters like protagonist Rick Deckard.  The parallels to our own reality are quite transparent. The maltreatment in the novels of androids mirrors sexist and racist attitudes in recent Western history. Throughout the novel Rick grows to feel empathy toward these beings wi...

Themes Attempt at objectivity (Mock) pleasure at being chosen Celebrity culture Fascination and intimidation by celebrities or educated people Everyone's going to Europe ·        Tourism is like home away from home When it rained the passengers had to stay in the house, of course—or at least the cabins ·        Writing is important part of travel but gets tedious some twenty or thirty gentlemen and ladies sat them down under the swaying lamps and for two or three hours wrote diligently in their journals. Alas! that journals so voluminously begun should come to so lame and impotent a conclusion as most of them did! I doubt if there is a single pilgrim of all that host but can show a hundred fair pages of journal concerning the first twenty days' voyaging in the Quaker City, and I am morally certain that not ten of the party can show twenty pages of journal for the succeeding twenty thousand miles o...

Chapter I Twain, in America, signs on to a steamer expedition to the Holy Land and many other locations. He shows mock excitement and mock intimidation at the celebrities that are to be on board. Chapter II Everyone seems to be going to Europe. The journey begins, and they spend the first few days miserable stranded on the ship in the port in a storm. Chapter III They finally embark on the voyage. The sea is rough and half the passengers are seasick. They amuse themselves with half-rate music. Chapter IV Quaker City's passengers are becoming accustomed to life aboard ship. They play games and low-key sports and dance. Many passengers start keeping a journal, an attempt which they soon abandon. They have a mock trial and pray and find other amusements. Chapter V After ten days, they reach the Azores islands, a Portuguese colony in the Atlantic. They let local guides lead them ashore and are followed around by unclean beggar locals. Blucher invites...