A Homegrown Writing Retreat

A Homegrown Writing Retreat Ah, the writers retreat! A four-star hotel with room service, or maybe just an idyllic cabin in the woods, with meals delivered on tippy-toe so as not to disturb the Muse. What you couldnt get done in such an environment – provided you can afford the fees and travel costs, and make it past the waiting list. If you cant, dont despair. For the last six years my writers group has held three or four retreats a year: spring, summer, fall and sometimes also winter. Its simple, inexpensive, and very, very effective. Most of us who attend the retreats write daily, and professionally. The retreats allow us to kick-start a new project or make major progress on an existing one. Heres what you need for your own retreat: ==At least three writers committed to showing up all three days. Four, five or six reduces the work per person. More than that would probably be unwieldy. ==A space big enough for everyone to write in, with facilities for meals. Ours is the living room in the home of two of our writers. You might also be able to use a church hall or some other community space that has a kitchen. ==A meal plan. Ours is done a week ahead so everyone knows what meals theyll be responsible for. Meals are scheduled: breakfast 8 a.m., lunch 1 p.m., supper 6 p.m. Theyre also simple, and as much as possible, made ahead. The person responsible for the next meal cleans up from the last one, which means you know where you put the cheese grater or the big spoon. We try to keep breakfast and lunch self-serve, and gather for conversation and readings at dinner. ==A project, and whatever research materials, notes or so on you require, plus your writing tools of choice. We list food sensitivities and dislikes on the meal plan. We also ban television, movies, radio, phone calls and music except with headphones. Visitors are discouraged, and any conversation has to be away from the writing area. Alcohol comes out only in moderation with dinner, where we read aloud from the days work and cheer each other on. Three of us are hard-core and attend every day of every retreat. Three or four others regularly show up for a day or two (with a meal and cleanup). The work is minimal – at worst, one meal and one cleanup per day. Its not unusual to have a day on which youre not responsible for any kitchen work. As for cost, I live fifteen miles from the retreat location and usually do two meals and provide some snacks (fruit, nuts or biscotti, plus dark chocolate). My total costs for the weekend are $60-$80 in gas and food. If my friends guest room is available, its less than that. Results? They can be amazing. I regularly get two weeks worth of writing done in three days. Ive polished a manuscript for publication, written 80 percent of a non-fiction book and ploughed through more pages than I can remember. My colleagues have had similar results. While its my daily writing practice that keeps me productive and sharp, the retreats help me remember that there are others out there sharing this creative life. I come out of a retreat refreshed and re- committed. The camaraderie eases the usual loneliness of the writers work, the feedback warms the heart. And the production doesnt hurt, either.

Definition and Examples of Primary Sources in Research

Definition and Examples of Primary Sources in Research In research  activities,  a primary source refers to information collected firsthand from such sources as historical documents, literary texts, artistic works, experiments, surveys, and interviews. It is also called primary data and is very different than a secondary source. The Library of Congress defines primary sources as actual records that have survived from the past, such as letters, photographs, or articles of clothing, in contrast to secondary sources, which are accounts of the past created by people writing about events sometime after they happened   Examples of Primary Sources [Primary sources] provide the raw data that you use first to test the working hypothesis and then as evidence to support your claim. In history, for example, primary sources include documents from the period or person you are studying, objects, maps, even clothing; in literature or philosophy, your main primary source is usually the text you are studying, and your data are the words on the page. In such fields, you can rarely write a research paper without using primary sources. (Wayne C. Booth et al. The Craft of Research. University of Chicago Press, 2008) Chief Characteristics The chief characteristics of  primary sources are: (1) being present during the experience, event or time and (2) consequently being close in time with the data. This does not mean that data from  primary sources are  always the best data. . . . Data from human sources are subject to many types of distortion because of such factors as selective recall, selective perceptions, and purposeful or nonpurposeful omission or addition of information. Thus data from primary sources are not necessarily accurate data even though they come from firsthand sources. (Natalie L. Sproull,  Handbook of Research Methods: A Guide for Practitioners and Students in the Social Sciences, 2nd ed. Scarecrow Press, 2002) Methods of Collecting Primary Data If the information you need is unavailable or hasnt yet been gathered, youll have to gather it yourself. Four basic methods of collecting primary data are field research, content analysis, survey research, and experiments. Other methods of gathering primary data include historical research, analysis of existing statistics, . . . and various forms of direct observation. (H. Dan OHair et al. Business Communication: A Framework for Success. South-Western, 2001) Secondary Sources and Their Bibliographies By identifying basic facts, such as year of construction, secondary sources can point the researcher to the  best primary sources, such as the right tax books. In addition, a careful reading of the bibliography in a secondary source can reveal important sources the researcher might otherwise have missed. (Alison Hoagland and Gray Fitzsimmons, History.  Recording Historic Structures, 2nd. ed., edited by John A. Burns. Wiley, 2004) Original Sources The distinction also needs to be made between primary and original sources. It is by no means always necessary, and all too often it is not possible, to deal only with original sources. Printed copies of original sources, provided they have been undertaken with scrupulous care (such as the published letters of the Founding Fathers), are usually an acceptable substitute for their handwritten originals. (E. J. Monaghan and D. K. Hartman, Undertaking Historical Research in Literacy, in Handbook of Reading Research, ed. by P. D. Pearson et al. Erlbaum, 2000) Finding and Accessing Primary Sources This one is entirely dependent on the assignment given and your local resources; but when included, always emphasize quality.  . . . Keep in mind that there are many institutions such as the Library of Congress that make primary source material freely available on the Web.  (Joel D. Kitchens, Librarians, Historians, and New Opportunities for Discourse. ABC-CLIO, 2012)

Exotica and feminisim Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Exotica and feminisim - Essay Example All the feminist authors and activists are of the view that such type of films showing women mere in supporting roles, as well as exhibiting their body parts as sign of men’s entertainment, are not only humiliating, but also prove the women folk as the lesser creatures or worthless stratum of society, which contain inferior status than men. Before embarking upon the above-described film in details, it would be appropriate to define feminist perspective: Social groups have not only been divided into different classes in respect of socio-economic status and different occupations and professions, but also distribution of the individuals of a society is based on age, ethnicity, race, region, religion and gender too. Social inequalities are found in all fields of life and in all the institutions and organizations existing in a society. In this pretext the Feminist perspective theory came into existence. The idea of division of labor on the basis of gender gave birth to feminism. It was a strong voice against the inequalities between men and women in respect of social status, division of power as well as work and gender discrimination. â€Å"Feminism is†, Macionis submits, â€Å"the advocacy of social equality for women and men, in opposition to patriarchy and sexism. The first wave of feminism in the United States-began in the 1840s as women opposed to slavery drew parallels between the suppression of African Americans and the o ppression of women.† (2007:353) The theory aimed at seeking equal status for women in every field of human life, where no one could treat them as inferior community on the basis of gender discrimination. The theorists who brought the significance of women’s participation in the social construction programs to the limelight were declared as rebels in the beginning, and then liberals and Marxists subsequently. With the passage of

Northern Rock PLC Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Northern Rock PLC - Essay Example In this way the government, representing the taxpayers, may recoup its investment and the bank may be returned to the private sector. A bank that shows consistent profit is attractive to potential buyers. To do this its financial strategy must continue its plans of further restructuring its business model. It must reduce its capital costs base by better cost management. And while pursuing and adjusting to medium term growth, Northern Rock must focus on innovation and new markets, and continue to build on transparent and open communication with its stake-holders. Discussion Today, under Government ownership, Northern Rock Plc has kept together some 70 branches over which it must wield a steady hand toward corporate profit in the interest of its stakeholders, the taxpayers, and its depositors. Since its black day of 17 September 2007, when depositors were shown on worldwide TV queuing in long lines outside the bank to make their withdrawals, the bank has went through several stages of restructuring. The initial one was the takeover by the government. Throughout these restructuring processes, the bank has sought to rebuild a substantial market for its mortgage loans, a market that is different from the business plan that the bank had pursued before 2008. Previous to 2008 and after Northern Rock became public in 1997, the bank soon embarked on a risky business plan that was coupled to a flawed bank regulatory system. Since 1997 Northern Rock was regulated by the newly created Financial Services Authority (FSA). The FSA did not share any information it had with the Treasury or with the Bank of England who was responsible for monetary policy. Both the FSA and the Bank of England were slow to step in and stop Northern Rock’s demise. The FSA had, in June 2007, instead allowed Northern Rock to decrease its amount of required on-hand capital. This action exemplified the regulatory system that allowed the bank to overextend itself in the speculative mortgage deriva tive market. But even today the bank as a retail and savings bank must rebuild its image and processes in the same waters of financial risk. During the period of the default, Northern Rock’s business plan was based on securitizing mortgages in the short-term wholesale market to support its long-term longs. It was packaging multiple mortgage loans and selling them as bonds to investors. This business model had depended on stability in the mortgage securities market and the confidence of those who traded in the debt packages. When the housing prices begin to show full scale plummeting from speculated highs, lenders stopped extending rollover loans to Northern Rock and they eventually took their money from the bank. In August 2007 credit froze up in the bank liquidity market and Northern Rock could no longer sell bonds over the face of a broad liquidity freeze. It could not make any new loans. On August 13, 2007, the bank requested emergency funding from the Bank of England. It was only after the Chancellor of the Exchequer guaranteed all deposits at the bank in later September did the resulting bank run stop. The present Northern Rock Plc was created from The Northern Rock Transfer Order which on 1 January 2010 restructured the bank into two banks, Northern Rock Plc, the savings bank with new mortgages, and the Northern Rock Asset Management Plc (NRAM) (NRP, 2011). The latter took over the "toxic" mortgage assets and is concentrating in mortgage loans. North Rock Plc began its

Types of Advertising Essay Example for Free

Types of Advertising Essay

abuse :: essays research papers

There are many different forms of abuse and many people do not realize. Verbal abuse is the use of words to attack, hurt or injure someone, or to gain power and control over them, or to persuade someone to believe something that is untrue and harmful. Abuse does not just occur with men to women, though this paper is going to focus on it. Abuse is about control and the fear of losing it. The abuser may fear not being â€Å"good enough† and or meeting others expectations. He/she may attempt to make their victim feel and believe similar things about him/her self. Abusers exploit, lie, insult, demean, ignore (the "silent treatment"), manipulate, and control. There are a million ways to abuse, directly and indirectly. There are many different forms of abuse and some are when your partner shows rejection, isolation, degrading. These are a few different types of abuse and when used in an extreme situation are they types of abuse. Many people will show some of these characteristics yet when someone is showing more than one and are in an extreme situation is when the acts become abuse. Emotional abuse has much in common with verbal abuse in that it is an attempt to hurt attack or control the victim. The emotional abuser often uses verbal abuse to hurt the victim, but can use other means as well. Emotional abuse often accompanies other forms of abuse such as physical abuse and verbal abuse. Individuals who hold the least power and resources in society are most often emotionally abused. This type of abuse has the potential to leave behind many significant hidden scars for the victim. Victims of physical abuse feel emotional abuse is more sever and debilitating than physical abuse. Out comes of emotional abuse may be manifested in a number of ways such as poor self esteem, social withdrawal, insecurity, substance abuse and difficulty forming positive attachments with others. Emotional abuse can be difficult to pin down because there are no physical signs to look for. Sure, people yell at each other, express anger, and call each other names sometimes, and expressing anger can sometimes be healthy.

Introduction to business Essay

A business function is the different jobs that people do or the different departments that form the basis of an organisations structure. The six business functions are Human Resources, Marketing, research and development, production, finance and administration. Human Resources deal with many different aspects of a business. They deal with recruitment, Job descriptions, dismissals, redundancy etc. They also have a policy-making role; they have to create company policies to create security for people and places within the organisation. Human Resources look after the people at work, they need to motivate them and also look after their needs. Human Resources have to help the MD to develop their roles and roles of other employees within the company. One of Human Resources roles is to bargain and negotiate – they act as a go-between between different groups with different interests, they also liase with the trade unions. Human Resources also have an administrative role, for example they are responsible for paying wages and supervising and implementing health and safety laws. They also educate and develop the workforce – they decide on whether or not any of the employees need training. The Marketing function is responsible for finding out what the customer needs and wants and then satisfying these needs and wants in the most cost effective manner. Sales is sometimes combined with marketing, sales has a different role to marketing though, for example sales has to make the customer think they want what the company makes or offers as a service whereas marketing has to get the company to produce what the customer wants. In order to find out the customers needs and wants they have to carry out primary research such as observations, questionnaires etc along with analysing secondary data. The Marketing department works closely with the production department because the research marketing do will show production what the customer wants, how they want it, where they want it and when. Marketing are also responsible for advertising, packaging, promotion, distribution and pricing. If a company wants to expand and grow a research and development department is essential because research and development furthers the company’s aims by improving processes and by researching new ideas, processes and products. If a company does nothing to improve processes or seek ideas then it is highly unlikely that they shall become/remain successful. If a company is having problems they need to have a research department because some of the work this function carries out can help them to understand what is going wrong. Companies usually set aside available capital in for a ‘research budget’ because it can cost a lot of money. The Administration function basically deals with every single piece of paper work. Some people may see the admin role as petty and this is strictly untrue. Organisations, especially the larger ones depend on their administration department. Administration handles consumer enquiries, communicating messages and producing documents for the company that are accurate. All companies would have an office manager and whereas Human Resources are responsible for deciding if the staff need training the office manager for organising the training, they would advise different departments on the most effective office layout, equipment, working practices and staff development. They analyse admin practices to see if there is any way they could be made better. They provide and maintain communications for the company; this would be phones, mail, Internet and also report and provide statistics on company activities. Overall ensuring a good standard of work. The Finance department is mainly responsible for monitoring the cash flow (monitoring income/revenue and monitoring expenditure) this is represented in a final balance sheet, sources and uses of funds are displayed in a P&L account. The chief accountant is responsible for supervising this department. There are two different types of accounting within a finance department – Financial accounting and management accounting. A financial accountant would keep records of all financial events to provide financial summaries on what has happened (Pay wages and keep day to day records) whereas a management accountant would provide the managers with figures to help them make their own decisions, for example costing and pricing decisions, they would also produce budgets. There are also subsections within the finance department; these include a cashiers department, which deals mainly with cash transactions, and a wages department, which are responsible for supervising the pay roll i.e. calculating and paying staff wages. The production function includes many different sections to help it run properly, Production and planning set standards and targets for each section of production. They monitor the goods or services that are being produced to make sure it is of the right quantity and quality, a comparator then compares what has been produced to what should have so that they can see if production is running smoothly and effectively. The purchasing dept have to provide the materials and equipment needed to make the product/service so that they can keep the production process working in order, the stores dept stock all tools, raw materials and equipment that is needed and finally there is the design and technical support dept who are responsible for researching improvements on existing products and also researching new ones. A technical department would give advice on working practices in order for them to estimate production costs.