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Book Review: Essays and Essay Writing by William M. Tanner
Title: Essays and Essay Writing: Based on Atlantic Monthly Models Editor: William M. Tanner Published: Boston: The Atlantic Monthly Press, 1918. Pages-307. This is embarrassing. I just recently bought this book at a used book store. I put it in my stack to read, my current stack to read that is. There have been many stacks that went unread and then eventually became assimilated into the ever-growing collection that is my home library. I had just finished reading one of the books in my “new” stack when I looked at this book and the spine. It seemed very familiar to me. Had I purchased this book before? Did another copy lurk on my shelves somewhere? I went exploring. Not only did I find another copy, I found two. I now have three copies of this book and I have never read it. Well, time to fix that! I will have to read it, see if it is any good, and then give a couple copies away to someone whom I think will enjoy it. That, my friends, is how this book came to be next in my review list. What is an essay? Tanner explains it is difficult to understand…
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Dust in the Wind
Can you sleep with yourself at night? What have you done during the day that may give you pause at night? Have you given it your best shot during the time you have? Have you done what you think is the right thing to do? Did you help anyone today? Did you cheer someone up? Did you let someone know they’re not alone? Or, that there are other people who feel the same way they do? What have you done today that is worth remembering? Have you made something that is worth keeping around after you are gone? Whether it is artistic, or handy, or just thought –provoking, what have you done? If you haven’t done anything, why not? Don’t you think you should? What would you like to do? It doesn’t need to be mind-blowing does it? Couldn’t it just be something fun? Or just a small thing to entertain people? Will anyone remember you? If so, what for? What about your family? What memories will you leave for them? “And When I Die” by Laura Nyro… “And when I die, and when I’m gone, there’re be one child born in this world to carry on.”
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Writers Prompt: Where Will It Lead
speculative fiction idea: current events as of Aug 29,2013: preface 1.) Syria gassing of men, women, and children…U.S. blames Syrian government, but there is a question of whether the rebels may have done it and claimed the government did it just to get the U.S. involved. Russia and China are vetoing the UN Security Council action vote on the matter, while waiting for more information from the inspectors. 2.) The U.S. still has unemployment problems, or rather, underemployment problems. With a pay rate of $8.15/hr, fast food and other low wage workers are complaining they can’t pay their bills. If full time employment is assumed, this is $16300/yr which is comparable to what an adjunct professor/instructor at a public college makes in a year ($18000), but considerably less than the lowest that full time faculty makes ($50000). The fast food workers would like to be paid $15/hr or $30000/yr. Mind you this is a no/little skill job compared to a 6-8 year college degree position. (Although one must ask how many fast food employees have liberal arts degrees.) Most may think that these two events are unrelated. However, the preponderance of un-under-employed workers in the U.S. may lead to a…
