Category: Being a Writer

Vanishing Educational Traditions

Career aspects are being changed by influencers more frequently in these past few decades. Hands-on occupations are not as appreciated as they had been in previous eras. College degrees are more enforced by educational mentors than ever. Since higher educational ranks have been encouraged for young adults for so long, vocational and technological careers have decreased. These “dirty” jobs have a major impact on our society. The increase in College degrees has made it more difficult for those with a degree to get hired into the workforce right out of college. Most teachings today are over STEM-related courses instead of liberal arts. They provide young adults with the image that college is the only way to succeed in life. The articles “Why I Teach Plato To Plumbers” and “Dirty Jobs, Good Pay”, provide information on how educational traditions are vanishing.

In “Why I Teach Plato To Plumbers”, the author addresses the importance of studying liberal arts in every educational aspect. He addresses the fact that humanities have lost their way. Throughout this article, he argues that the loss of humanity is not just the problem. He thinks that not only humanities are disappearing, but liberal arts are also losing their value as well. The author believes the goal of education is based on economics and technological aspects. He also believes that math, science, and economics is the most important concept of liberal arts. Schools are starting to emphasize skills in STEM, rather than hands-on skills that do not require a degree. The author claims that “the problem facing humanities, in my view, isn’t just about humanities.” In his view, the main goal of education is founded on technological and economic advancement power.

The author confronts the deterioration of appreciation for blue-collar jobs in the article “Dirty Jobs, Good Pay.” Steven Malanga describes the importance of reviving the American work ethic throughout the article. People in this day and age are afraid to get their hands dirty, even when desperate for a job. Vocational training and technical training are being promoted because of the lack of people in these careers. Parents, educators, and mentors are teaching young adults that the only way to succeed is by going to college to get a degree. The author also talks about how the challenge also includes teaching traditional values. In early American times, educators promoted work ethics to mold students into “productive, hard-laboring adult citizens, and nineteenth-century schoolbooks embodied that spirit.” The shift of emphasis on work ethic in the 1950s changed to emphasizing college readiness. Today, many people with bachelor’s degrees struggle to find jobs. Those who have vocational and technological training, join the workforce after they receive their certifications.

Career aspects are being changed by influencers more and more in today’s world. Dirty work is not as appreciated as it used to be. College degrees are more enforced by educational mentors than ever. Since degrees have been pushed on young adults for so long, vocational and technological careers have decreased. These “dirty” jobs have a huge impact on our society. The increase in degrees has made it more difficult for those with a degree to get into the workforce after they graduate. Most teachings are over STEM-related courses instead of liberal arts.

Writer’s Memo

In this essay I used organization by cause and effect, paraphrasing to provide a concise summary, and used quotes to help emphasize the purpose of the article. First, I organized the summaries by revealing the impact on society today, and how the impact has affected the careers and people entering the workforce. The organization helped to keep a flow of ideas within the summary. I chose to organize my summaries this way to deeply portray the meaning and effectiveness of society’s image of success. I also included the concept of the articles in my summaries by describing the purpose of the author’s concerns about the issues being confronted. By doing this I could effectively present a clarification of why traditional teachings are vanishing, and what could happen if we don’t help solve this problem.

Paraphrasing was also a huge part of the writing of my essay. This method aided in a precise, straight-to-the-point summary. Paraphrasing was used to portray what the author was saying without copying word for word. It also helped me to contextualize and describe the problems being explained, the contributors to the problem at stake, and some ways these problems can be realistically solved in today’s society. This method encouraged the development of the understanding of the article, the purpose, and the concerns of the controversy.

The use of quotes helped to focus attention on the motives of the articles. The Quotes gave the summary a point of view straight from the author. They made it easier to prove a concise understanding of the problems being contextualized. The summary is more supported by contextual evidence because it portrays the apprehension of the author. Since both of the writers had similar problems, the quotes help to differentiate each scenario. The extracts from the articles gave summary support from the author’s point of view on the issue.

Works Cited

1. Malanga, Steven, et al. “Dirty Jobs, Good Pay.” City Journal, 17 June 2019, www.city-journal.org/html/dirty-jobs-good-pay-15830.html.
2. Samuelson, Scott. “Why I Teach Plato to Plumbers.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 30 May 2018, www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/04/plato-to-plumbers/361373/.

At the end of World War II, William Faulkner gave a speech after accepting a Nobel prize, his bold use of language portrays that a writer’s duty is to admonish the delusions that hinder our ability to perceive the world honestly. Two books that give an account of nostalgia, An American Childhood by Annie Dillard and The Road from Coorain by Jill Ker Conway, portray a writer’s duty a people about the good and evils of nostalgia.

The significance of childhood rests in the adult recollection of familiarity and security that is felt when revisiting the things that were enjoyed during childhood. Dillard displays a nostalgia for the people around her through a tragic light, her friend’s father was an artist as a child, but became an architect because it is “not proper to become a painter.” The word “proper” feels so callous that the reader remembers the sting of disappointment and feels sorry for the architect. Exchanging the passions and dreams for a respectable adult life doesn’t seem like a fair trade-off, but for some, the best part of childhood is a family.

Conway suffered the loss of her family’s wealth, and unity, the lowest point in her childhood was when her father died and she lost faith in “benign provinces.” The wording she used gives the reader a sense of dread because it means that she lost her faith in God, this scarred her so much that it changed the way she saw life. She was firm in her choice to write about what was happy about her childhood while acknowledging that intense heartbreak and sadness are facts of life.

These authors learn from the past, they don’t fear the future or become overly attached to their childhoods. They appreciate the desire to step back into the role of the child, but instead, they direct these motivations into the hope that they will find something. Nostalgia has rooted itself in today’s culture. It seems that there is a new sequel to an old movie coming out every year, and rampant criticism is being thrown at the present simply because it isn’t the past. Though, is it really a sin to indulge in the familiarity and joy that is associated with childhood? It used to be. Homesickness was taken to a new meaning during the 30 Years War when Swiss soldiers became debilitated with feelings of longing for their mountainous homes, some had to withdraw from the army. A writer’s duty is to form a social cohesion that can connect generations together, and appreciation of the past can cause new ideas to form.

What is the controversy? The controversy is a disagreement in opinion relating to events. It is meant to not only bring awareness but also to allow others to voice their opinions. This becomes a problem because it is hard for people to agree or disagree. Dave Chappell is infamous for being the focal point of controversy. Not because he does not agree with society but because he brings light to the current events that may not be the best conversation starters. Most would say even jokes about sensitive topics in an offensive matter but, that raises the question of; whether it is really offensive or does society just find it hard to accept the raw truth. Are Americans so used to sugaring things that when it is unfiltered, they sing a bit? In the Chappell Netflix comedy series ‘Sticks and Stones,’ he jokingly addresses tough topics such as decimating minorities through police brutality, cultural and sexual discrimination within the LGBTQ community, and the drug epidemic difference between African Americans and Caucasians. The series shows that the comedians use everyday events like comedy as an opportunity to shed light on the brutal reality amongst different cultures and communities.

Dave Chappell’s comedy series crystalize its subject matter through his epic choice of words. The comedian uses naked words, including obscene utterances, to communicate with his audience. His words allude to a profound sense of humor, even when addressing the gravest of concerns. In addressing culture and sexual discrimination in the LBGTQ society, the comedian uses each letter of ‘LBGTQ’ to discuss his issues surrounding the group which the acronym signifies (Chappell n.p). He tries to convey his disappointment over a discussion with a representative from Standards and Practice, regarding his show as it uses the gay term ‘faggot’ (Chappell n.p). As he addresses the realities of the community, the comedian further states that its discussion is an ‘unwritten and spoken rule of the show business’ pointing out that the societal debate on the LGBTQ community is kind of offensive and cannot be an open one (Chappell n.p). He further implies that it is not open for discussion and that people should not upset the controversial community.

His idea presentation is also one that the audience can identify with as it involves the incorporation of controversies in daily life. For instance, his discussion of transracism and transgender is through narrating the analogy of a car ride (Chappell n.p). It is worth noting that the driver of the car in the discussion is gay, who states that he is knowledgeable regarding discrimination as he paved the path. As a response to the driver’s statement, Dave claims that the famed racism in which some individuals from the LGBTQ group continually point to other ethnicities. It is consistent in particular with the black queers, who are the lesser minority and have a kinship (Chappell n.p). Inside the stated car are other riders of white descent, comprising of the entire LBBTQ society.

Moreover, Chappell states that the blacks suppose that their queerness is more notable than their race and affiliated grapple in the U.S.A. The comedian is careful to note that the LGBTQ community is not coherent as there is nothing that ties the individuals together in society. As a result, LGBTQ is nothing but separate movements that fall under the categorization. While cementing the drug crisis, he refers to it as a concern for a diverse population who deals in drugs, implying it affects African Americans and Caucasians differently(Chappell). In his presentation, he explicitly talks about the absolute distinction betwixt crack and opioid scourge. He, for example, states that ‘This opioid crisis is a crisis,’ emphasizing how serious the social concern is (Chappell n.p). Also, the comedian implies that he witnesses the disaster on an everyday basis and gets concerned that the issue destroys lives and tears apart families.

Further, the comedian states, ‘Sadly, you know what it reminds me of seeing it? It reminds me of us. These white folks look like us during the crack epidemic’ (Bogues n.p). Chappell use of words such as epidemics, crisis, and sadly exposes the seriousness of the problem with substance use. His funny way of illustrating an encounter with a woman intoxicated by a heroine presents the realities of the desperation among drug users, irrespective of their race.

Withal, Dave Chappell appears to empathize with the whites for the struggle by saying, ‘Hang in their whites! Just say, no!’ (n.p). He further questions how hard it is for them to quit. The subject under discussion is serious and sensible, but the involvement of the whites in a ‘minority crisis’ is indeed controversial. In an equal measure, the comedian considers opioids intake by the whites as wild as he can perceive how they could have discerned the blacks go through the crack affliction (Bogues n.p). It is funny how Chappell incorporates a sense of humor after emphasizing with the whites as he, in the end, remarks ‘…because I don’t care either (n.p).

Through considering how the comedian presents his thoughts, it is evident that he picks precise words to convey his thoughts, all of which are controversial, and lessens the gravity of the subject matter by invoking a sense of humor. Also, the comedian’s tone and body language, facial expressions, stage movements, and hand gestures help him capture the scope of his subject matter all through the show. For example, as Chappell imitates Homer Simpson’s tone, he feebly sways his arms while saying, ‘Uh, duh. Hey! Durr! If you do anything wrong in your life, duh!’ (n.p).

The film brings out different reactions as some find it simplifying rather than complicating the broader discourse, and it is neither typecast nor derogatory. On the other hand, others find it convoluting a larger conversation, yet others perceive it as stereotypical and insulting. Throughout the film, Chappell tries to advance the limits of what he knows offends his audience, and the audience feels the impact. One can point out that after the comedian cracks a joke, the audience takes time before deciding how to react. In addition to that, his jokes evoke considerable tension in some scenes.

An instance is when Chappell discusses the Michael Jackson defilement film and sums up, ‘…that is how gross the documentary was (n.p).’ Notably, the audience takes a longer time than ‘normal’ to react. The reaction is also mixed up with some awed while others laugh.

From the reaction, it is evident that some individuals perceive the subject matter from a pure perspective, while others take it as offensive. The atypical uneasiness might be from the comedian’s criticism of Michael Jackson deepening more than a standard jest. However, the tension melts away when Chappell discusses a wrongdoer whose deeds are without controversy to deserve the labeling as illicit (Gordon 1). Also, the audience agrees with him as he explains non-controversial persons, such as the wealthy white, which happens less than expected. Instead, the comedian devotes much of his stage time, as if he has a particular purpose, discussing the LGBTQ community, ‘bitches and punks’ (Gordon 1). The extended discussion of the category in the comedian’s performance attributed to the concerns’ effect from the patriarchy to Chappell alludes.

Also, Chappell’s film proves that he is unapologetic for what he says since, after cracking some nasty joke, he says, ‘And if you’re at home watching this shit on Netflix, remember, Bitch, you clicked on my face (Chappell n.p).’ The statement alludes to the fact that by viewing the film online, then one should have known what to expect from him. Chappell’s courage to present clear ideas to his audience from his perspective could source from realizing the protection of his speech by the law. The American constitution protects his statement under the ‘First Amendment’ protects his speech (United States Courts n.p). Despite the negative impacts the film might evoke on different people, it remains lawful as he tries to communicate a controversial message through the use of offensive words and phrases.

Critics observe that making fun of the LBTQ community is undemanding and must have been so uncreative for Chappell to focus on the group in his film. Also, other than offending individuals who affiliate with the group fail to push any comic or political territories. As an outcome, Chappell’s creation of ‘Sticks and Stones’ means that the comedian is nothing but clichéd and indolent (Braswell 1). In a similar vein, when Chappell jokes about celebrity defilers and those with failed dreams, and the LGBTQ community, it is apparent that he does not fit into any of the categories. Detractors presuppose that his efforts to discuss the categories’ insiders make him more of an insider as well (Braswell 1). While censuring anyone, critics point out that it’s best to first decide if one is on or against the group under scrutiny.

Throughout the show, the comedian takes a considerable length of time to discuss the LGBTQ society, to the point the subject matter felt over-represented. It is irritating to see the comedian single out every alphabet of the acronym and offer his humor-coated truths. Observers think that the scene portrayed the comedian as lazier than the other sections of the presentation (Braswell 1). Withal, the scenes describe him as resentful and irritated after discovering that he could not pitch his sense of humor in a vacuum. Others attest that they have seen the comedian perform better jokes, in his previous work.

From the instance, the comedian implies that in his second impression, he betrays his anxieties regarding community groups that determine the country’s atmosphere. His thoughts on the different topics he discusses point out aspects with which he finds compassion. Chappell’s choice of words while talking about his friends is, to some extent, offensive. For instance, by stating his friend, Kelvin Hart is a few tweets to perfection and Louis C. K was as well a companion up to the example of his demise, sourcing from the greasy self-gratification mishap (Giorgis 1). Other comedians present the realities of Michael Jackson’s molestation accusations. However, Dave Chappell further complicates the controversy by stating that he does not share the comedian’s supposition. In as much as the comedian tries to offer his thoughts humorously, it would be demeaning for the two referenced to realize how Chappell thinks of them.

‘Stones and Sticks’ also offends the audience in the scene where Chappell discusses Michael Jackson’s defilement by indicating that he could also partake in pedophilia. He goes to the lengths of claiming he would defile Macaulay Culkin, and his use of obscene words proves him unapologetic (Giorgis 1). Similarly, it is disrespectful of the comedian to assert that when he heard of Chris Brown’s aggressive behavior towards Rihanna, his first thoughts were what misdoing Rihanna committed (Giorgis 1). Judging from such comments Chappell makes, the viewers could find the comedian as one who does not uphold any moral standards despite his attempts to tie the ideas to comedy.

Chappell’s film provokes the audience to hold a pessimistic perspective in their thinking of him. For instance, by first wondering what wrong Rihanna committed to earning her Chris Brown’s assault in 2009, he appears as one who thinks of females as triggers of their intimate victimization. In a similar vein, by claiming he would as well defile children, just like his C.K. and Michael Jackson, his audience thinks of him as horrible. In their minds, he qualifies as a purposed pedophile, and is presented with a chance; would commit the crime against Macaulay Culkin.

Moreover, by advocating that everyone deserves to have a gun license in an attempt to achieve exemplary gun control in the U.S., Chappell sends a message of embracing gun violence. In a typical society, not all adults qualify for the licenses, therefore, permitting all to have guns in possession would create a hyper-violent community, which Chappell does not seem to mind. The overall film leaves the audience with the notion that Chappell directs his disposition outbursts to his presentation (Giorgis 1). He sounds as if he intends to acquire all the control, stardom, and profits in the American comedy industry for himself, and the acquisition should be unquestionable.

In brief, Dave Chappell’s comedy film ‘Sticks and Stones communicate agreeably controversial thematic concerns. In his movie, Chappell addresses matters such as culture and sexual discrimination in the LGBTQ community and the distinction betwixt African Americans and the Caucasian drug abuse crisis. His techniques of using comedy are outstanding and non-complex as the comedian uses everyday activities to deliver his thoughts. His ideas, without the humor elements, are hard to swallow by accepting them as Chappell presents them. A substantial number of individuals embrace his ideas while an equal amount of persons disagree with his perspective. His choice of words and non-verbal cues enhance how he sheds light on his themes. However, the firm widens the conversation on the subject matter, yet other people feel that his ideas are disrespectful. Towards the end of the film, the audience has a pessimistic image of him in their minds since his ideas prove him non-ethical, and a few share in his thoughts.

Works Cited

1. Bogues, Austin. ‘Crack Vs. Heroin: Drug Humor Underscores Difference in Views On Crack, Opioid Epidemics’. App, 2019, https://www.app.com/in-depth/news/local/communitychange/2019/12/02/crack-vs-heroin-drug-humor-underscores-differences/4196672002/.
2. Braswell, Sean. ‘Has Dave Chappelle Finally Gone Too Far? | O.Z.Y.’. OZY, 2019, https://www.ozy.com/news-and-politics/has-dave-chappelle-finally-gone-too-far/96545/.
3. Chappell, Dave. ‘Stones and Sticks.’ YouTube, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XS5vp-kx7KY. Accessed 29 Feb 2020.
4. Giorgis, Hannah. ‘The Fear in Dave Chappelle’s New Special.’ The Atlantic, 2019, https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2019/08/dave-chappelle-doubles-down-sticks-and-stones/596947/. Accessed 19 Feb 2019.
5. Gordon, Max. ‘Sticks and Stones Will Break Your Bones: On Patriarchy, Cancel Culture and Dave Chappelle.’ Medium, 2019, https://medium.com/@maxgordon19/sticks-and-stones-will-break-your-bones-on-patriarchy-cancel-culture-and-dave-chappelle-193fb7449747. Accessed 29 Feb 2020.
6. United States Courts. ‘What Does Free Speech Mean?’. United States Courts, 2020, https://www.uscourts.gov/about-federal-courts/educational-resources/about-educational-outreach/activity-resources/what-does. Accessed 29 Feb 2020.

Do you know the features of Gothic literature and who are Gothic writers? The origin of Gothic literature is Gothic architecture which is a kind of medieval architecture of several significant cathedrals and churches built by the style in Britain and France they emphasize verticality and light, height suggests aspiration to heaven, and the buildings represent the universe in microcosm and the geometrical nature of the construction is the image of an orderly universe. The features of Gothic architecture are pointed arches, gargoyles, flying buttresses, ribbed vaults, and large stained-glass windows. Gothic literature originated in Germany and was popular in the 18th and 19th centuries when these medieval constructions were ugly, obsolete, dirty, dreadful, and to some extent destroyed; therefore, the common features of Gothic literature are castles and haunted buildings, emphasizing the presence of evil and ghosts, spirits, and other supernatural elements. mansions in Gothic are isolated and cursed locations exposed to a lake, which is a large size for inhabitants with passages and secret rooms. The Gothic genre is dark, and mysterious, often containing elements of terror, horror, and the bizarre. Common themes of the Gothic include confinement and isolation. Gothic vocabularies describe pain, gloom, mystery, and horror. The language used to describe these typically Gothic settings is always vivid, appealing to our senses and drawing us into an unknown world. Edgar Allan Poe is regarded as a Gothic writer because he applies some of these features in his tales. In “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Fall of the House of Usher” the way of describing characters, the way of the horror genre, and the way of using vocabulary ensure us that Poe is a Gothic writer.

The main characters of Poe’s tales usually suffer from depression or a kind of mental disease like melancholy or paranoid schizophrenia. Sometimes similar to Poe, they are sensitive men, poets, musicians, or painters. They are damned by forces beyond their control. In “The Fall of the House of Usher” the main character is Roderick Usher who suffers from “excessive nervous agitation”, his complexion is cadaverous, his eyes are unusually bright and he avoids food, light, and sound except in their mildest forms. The narrator is the Usher boyhood friend and he is controlling the consciousness of the tale. He is the representative of the larger world of humanity and has been drawn into the weird world of the mansion. The reader enters that world with him at the beginning of the story and leaves it at the end. So the readers must accept his judgment of the story’s actions and the characters. To him, Roderick Usher is both fascinating and frightening. He stays with his friend and tries to help him but never comprehends his engagement with supernatural speculation. He continues to the end to play down the horror in which he is involved, and when the usher points out the luminous mist outside the mansion, he tries to explain it as an electrical phenomenon. He does not want to relate the strange events to the forces beyond the analysis of reason. He is not imaginative and the readers measure his sanity against the madness of usher. Usher is not an ordinary man. His personality is not attractive but the focus of the story is on what he has committed to, what he is suffering from, and his surroundings. Similar to other Poe heroes, he adapted to the world beyond the understanding of the common people. For him, this world is much more real than that of everyday life. That is the world of spirit, that is understood by the sensitive man. Usher is a poet, a musician, and a painter. He is too sensitive to beauty. He uses his intuition and sensibility which are superior to reason. He is a predictor and seer but neurotic and is dominated by an unmanly fear. The evil atmosphere that emerged from the mansion and the surrounding bog destroyed him. Madeline Usher is Roderick’s sister and is seen twice in the story. Once she passes like a ghost through the room in which Roderick and his friend are reading and at the end of the story, she falls on her brother horribly. She is suffering from the family curse the same as his brother. She is the negative character we do not see her in-depth and she suffers from a strange malady that is the result of the gaseous exhalation of fungi and vegetation. Some critics believe that the description of Roderick Usher is a self-portrait of Poe at the age of thirty and when he was feeling he was damned by forces beyond his control. At the end of the tale, Madeline’s death is the other feature of Gothic literature that describes murders, death, or crimes. In “The Tell-Tale Heart” Poe uses his main character as a first-person narrator, an unnamed character, to heighten suspense and draw readers into the character’s situation. he revolves the plot around a raving individual who insists that he is sane, murders an old man because of his “vulture eye”. As the narrator sees the old man’s ‘evil eye’ wide open on the eighth night, he decided to open the lantern. the narrator hears the old man’s heart beating, which gets louder and louder. This increases the narrator’s anxiety to the point where the narrator decides to strike. He dismembers the body and conceals the pieces under the floorboards and ensures the concealment of all signs of the crime. the old man’s scream causes a neighbor to report to the police but he claims that the scream heard was the narrator’s own in a nightmare and that that the man is absent in the country. Then police chairs are placed on the very spot where the body is concealed. Then the narrator feels uncomfortable and notices a ringing in his ears. As the ringing grows louder, the narrator concludes that it is the heartbeat of the old man coming from under the floorboards. The sound increases steadily to the narrator, though the officers do not seem to hear it. Terrified by the violent beating of the heart and convinced that the officers are aware not only of the heartbeat but also of the narrator’s guilt. the narrator breaks down and confesses. The narrator tells them to tear up the floorboards to reveal the remains of the old man’s body. “The Tell-Tale Heart” uses an unreliable narrator. The execution of the crime was evidence of his sanity, revealing his monomania and paranoia. The narrator is assumed to be a male but no pronounces are used to clarify one way or the other. The story is driven not by the narrator’s insistence upon his/her “innocence” but by his/ her insistence on his/her sanity (self-destructive). His/ her denial of insanity is based on his/her systematic actions and his/her precision, as he/she provides a rational explanation for irrational behavior. There is a lack of motive and despite this he /she says, the idea of murder “haunted me day and night”. It is difficult to understand the narrator’s emotions about the blue- eye man because of the contradiction. It is also possible that the narrator suffers from paranoid schizophrenia. He /she experiences auditory hallucinations that are from his/her own head. The relationship between the old man and the narrator is ambiguous. Their names, occupations, and places of residence are not given, contrasting with the strict attention to detail in the plot. The narrator may be a servant of the old man or his child. The vulture eye of the old man symbolizes parental surveillance. The murder of the eye is a removal of conscience. In “The Fall of the House of Usher” the narrator claims to suffer from hypersensitivity. The old man may represent a rational mind, while the narrator may stand for the imaginative.

Edgar Allan Poe is talented to provoke fear or terror in readers, usually through something demonic. In “The Fall of the House of Usher” on a dull, dark, and soundless day, the narrator visits Roderick Usher, his boyhood friend. The house of Usher looks out upon a “black and lurid tarn” and is surrounded by decaying vegetation. The image of the house is reflected in the water and it seems there is an atmosphere peculiar to the whole area, “a pestilent and mystic vapor, dull, sluggish, faintly discernible, and leaden-hued.” Before entering the mansion, the narrator notices that its entire front is covered by minute fungi. A valet leads him through intricate passages to the rooms of Roderick Usher. The narrator notices that Usher has greatly changed and realizes that he cannot cheer him who has entered purposefully into a world of strange spiritual reality. Roderick is a musician and painter. One of his poems, titled “The Haunted Palace” speaks of evil things which overthrow a kingdom of wisdom and light. The lady Madeline dies, and at Usher’s request his friend helps him to enter the coffin in a vault in the basement of the mansion. they open the coffin for a last look and notice “a faint blush on the bosom and the face”, a characteristic that a narrator tells us of death due to catalepsies. In the days following, the interment of his sister, Roderick ignores his ordinary occupations and wanders through the house aimlessly. at times he appears to be listening in profound attention to some sound that only he can hear. On a stormy night, the narrator is unable to sleep and Usher comes to his room in a distraught condition. it points to a window and perceives that “a faintly luminous and distinctly visible gaseous exhalation” hangs about the mansion. The narrator attempts to relieve the hypersensitivity of his friend and reads to him but is interrupted by a knock at the door. Usher cries out that it is his sister at the door, whom he knows they had put living in the tomb. The lady Madeline enters, bloody and emaciated, and falls upon her brother who dies of fright as they collapse to the floor. The narrator rushes from the mansion and he is riding away there is a sound “like the voice of a thousand glasses of water” and the house of Usher sinks below the tarn. In “The Tell-Tale Heart” Poe utilizes various elements commonly found in horror stories to depict how a deranged murderer kills a helpless old man in the middle of the night and proceeds to dismember his body before eventually confessing his crime to authorities after experiencing overwhelming guilt. By making the mentally-unstable murderer, the narrator of the story, Poe gives the readers access into the mind of a madman, who continually attempts to prove his own sanity as he recounts his horrifying tale. Poe uses some Gothic elements that contribute to the horror story genre, such as the ominous, threatening mood, the old man’s evil eye, the brutal crime, the nightmare setting, and present elements of fear throughout the story. Similar to many horror stories, the readers experience suspense and mystery as the narrator waits to attack the old man on the eighth night. Every time the narrator goes into the room to look at the man, he always describes the room as being “pitch black”. Even he takes extra precautions so as not to give off any light in the room. When he goes into the room, he takes a lantern with him but keeps it covered. The only time the lantern gets to shine is when the speaker wants to look at the man’s face. In the end, when he pulls the boards from the floor to reveal the old man’s hacked body, he says he did it because the old man’s heart kept on beating and the sound was getting to him. Poe creates a creepy, scary mood through the narrator’s denial of madness and the description of the old man’s eye.

Gothic is described as barbaric, rude, and unenlightened. Edgar Allan Poe was fluent in several languages and had a very large vocabulary. Poe uses some fairy obscure words that you may not be familiar with. He usually incorporates many types of literary devices to grab the attention of his readers and to establish a chilling and mysterious effect. He uses alliteration, inversion, and rhythm which are suitable for the horror story. In the first sentence of “The Fall of the House of Usher”, the narrator tells us that the day on which he travels is “dull, dark, and soundless”, that is the use of alliteration. Especially in his poetry, Poe uses alliteration to achieve an extraordinary rhythm. He uses the reversal of the ordinary order of words in a sentence, inversion, to suggest formality and stateliness, and draw attention to what he is saying. He writes “I know not how it was “, not “I do not know”. Poe’s style of writing is more rhythmic than that of other fiction writers. He writes, for example: “It was thus that he spoke of the object of my visit, of his earnest desire to seem, and of the solace he expected me to afford him.” In “The Fall of the House of Usher” we are told that Roderick and his friend read together Directorium /inquisitorial of Eymeric de Gironne, the Belphegor of Machiavelli, and the manual of a forgotten church, the Vigiliae Mortuorum Seeundum Chorum Ecclesiae Maguntinae. The titles are mysterious and supernatural. Machiavelli is associated with evil. Also, the inquisition shows ghastly torture. The technique of using exotic names and titles evokes an atmosphere of horror. In Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” readers have the opportunity to listen to the thought of an insane criminal who kills an innocent person for an outrageous reason, his strange-looking eye. Some of the literary devices that Poe uses in his classic short story “The Tell-Tale Heart” include symbolism, simile, point of view, and imagery. In “The Tell-Tale Heart”, he mentions two main symbols: the old man’s eye and the beating heart. The narrator is obsessed with the old man’s eye and anytime he looks at it, becomes cold and fearful. Eventually, this eye derives the narrator to kill him. So the eye is a symbol of evil. The second symbol is the beating heart, which is the narrator’s conscience. The narrator hears the loudly beating heart of the dead man after killing him. As a result, the loud noise causes the man to feel guilty and pull up the floorboards, and confesses to his crimes. Another literary term he uses in “The Tell-Tale Heart” is the simile. When the narrator enters the old man’s room on the eighth night, he mentions that it is “black as pitch” and uncovers his lantern slightly so that he can see. After that, “a simple dim ray, like the thread of the spider, shot from out the crevice and fell full upon the vulture eye.” The use of simile is accomplished very professionally by Poe. “The Tell-Tale Heart” is told from the narrator’s perspective, that is, it is told through the first person point of view. The first-person point of view is very important because it allows readers to see into the mind of Poe’s unreliable narrator. Poe uses unreliable narrator for several reasons: to cast doubt create complex characters, build mood, and add uncertainty and mystery. the other artistic way of using words is by applying the repetition of words that adds to the suspense and creates a terrifying mood. The narrator repeats words as he views the old man to increase the tension and create fear within the reader. The repetition of certain words makes a mood of fear and terror in the minds of readers. For example, the narrator says “so I opened it you cannot imagine how stealthily- stealthily” or “and then, when my head was well in the room, I undid the lantern cautiously-oh, so cautiously- cautiously (for the hinges creaked).

Edgar Allan Poe is one of the best-known American writers for his horrific plot and dark themes. He is a Gothic writer because of the way of describing characters, the way of using the horrific plot and dark theme, and the way of using vocabulary. Poe is also referred to as the originator of the detective story and his tales of horror and imagination have fascinated readers for generations.

How to become a thriving freelance writer? I get a whole lot of emails from personalities asking me how to develop freelance writing quality as a profession as they doubt that they are not from a major city. I always tell them that, at least today, your location in the world doesn’t matter much, because the actions to be taken to become a freelance writer are the same around the globe.

It’s a super cool way to earn extra income and make a better living from it compared to a 9 to 5 job. So, I thought of writing an article that can help beginner and new freelance writers to jumpstart and get their businesses going.

As I have started my journey as a freelance writer, the most irritating thing I’ve noticed is that many people are trying to give wrong advice – like you need very formal and professional training to become an online writer. You don’t need any degree or a certificate to become an online freelance writer.

Bloggers are tons in the world. The stay-at-home, doing their perfect business of just writing good and informative articles, creating a good network with other bloggers, businesses, and writers, and earning a decent or very high income, which might not be possible through their day-to-day 9-to-5 job.

There are many examples of people quitting their ‘so-called’ safe and secure job just to follow their passion for freelance writing without having any professional experience in writing. Their incomes are now almost 5X or at least twice what they were earning from the ‘so-called’ safe and secure but boring day job. Even I do the same.

It’s been almost 4 years since I started my freelance writing business. My career as a freelance writer started with lots of mistakes. I ended up making contacts to find content writing jobs. Back then, I thought that content writing is just another name for casual writing like stories, personal blogs, general topics, etc.

But as I started going deep and kept learning things without getting discouraged, I found so much interesting going on within the layers of business and professional promotions. It was a whole new world in itself.

My first income was through a post written for a classified website. It was near $3.47, as per today’s calculations. That moment was very confusing. It was a joyful moment because I earned my first dollar online which opened the doors of many possibilities in the coming future, but the feeling of lac was clear in that income. I found that I was not a perfect writer because, on the referral of that one article, no one was ready to give me the work I was seeking for.

I decided to learn the skills needed and upgrade myself because the potential was high but if I was not enough capable, the freelancing writer’s future (for me) was dark.

I found the influencers (influencers in the real sense of their work, not just on social media) and grouped with them. Somehow, I wrote many articles and was lucky enough to get high-paying customers and the future is not dark anymore.

OK, I hopped over the important stage of struggle, but I’ll bust it for you in a bit.

With a determined resolution, a firm motive, and a lot of hard work I am now qualified to have freelance writing jobs from home! If you also want the same for yourself, here are the important steps on how to become a Successful Freelance Writer.

When I began freelance writing, I did a lot of studies on how other freelance writers write. I found some great freelance writers, read their blogs, looked at their websites, and learned as much as I could about this business.

At that time, I was not having any idea about how the freelancing business worked or what kind of jobs are available to freelance writers. I sometimes emailed or even called freelance writers and asked silly questions like how to apply proper headings.

Become Natural with the Writing Crafts and Tools Required. Now, you can start freelance writing from scratch. This is certainly true, but if you aspire for a more solid possibility of succeeding, it’s reasonably good to acquire a few art and crafts and how to use the required tools properly and efficiently. Some very necessary skills for a freelance writer are:

Required Crafts/Skills

Organization Craft – Management

You need to keep track of all your schemes, billing data, customer data, offerings posted, and content calendar for your blog, and seldom for your client’s blog. You’ll also need to improve your writing routine to organize your articles or blog posts.

What are the measures to accumulate analysis for your articles? How do you draft your blog post? Having conformity in point for your plans is key to improving your business. You don’t want to make a blunder or omit doing something important. For me, I have a few journals to note down content concepts for my blogs and a task list of what needs to be done immediately.

Blogging Craft

I essentially write blog posts or digital marketing kinds of stuff – like a hook post or for a lead magnet. Firstly, when I started, I had no hint of how to blog. I read various blog posts but never looked at the structure the writers were following. It wasn’t until I started my blog that I considered subheadings and utilizing the white space as the plus point.

Writing for online readers is different than writing a session paper for your college professor. You need to know how to fascinate a reader with just your title and the coping introduction. You also need to back up your assertions and facts with legitimate references. And you need to incorporate subheadings and lists, and above all, you should provide actionable advice which is immediately applicable.

Content Marketing Craft

Content marketing is one of the most important aspects when we talk about the online content creation business. A beginner freelance writer requires to understand clearly what content marketing is. This expects learning how a business uses the content to sell its products or services.

They may use a lead magnet, case studies, income proofs, customer reviews, literal white papers, and an email list to aid them to obtain leads that can essentially convert into a long-term customer. Knowing this marketing policy, you mature a freelance writer, it can help you settle on writing schemes like white paper writing for corporations, which are scored more valuable than general or personal blogs.

Confidence Craft

Being confident is unmistakably a craft successful people know very well. Putting yourself beyond the unknown and seeking to settle directly on the writing jobs is hard. You’ll get discarded, or disappointed, or you may have a client who will blow you out of the water. To be a successful freelance writer you truly need good confidence and don’t be afraid of pitching sales. That’s ok if you do not possess that confidence right away at the start but it is required that you exert important actions.

This surely means that you have to apply to jobs even if you are not that qualified for it or you shall send a sales pitch that is not at all perfect. You need to do this as an exercise and practice from which you will gradually learn how to manage important aspects. Simply watching YouTube videos, enrolling in various courses, or reading a ton of blog articles won’t help you a lot in the long term until you don’t take action and practice alone. So, taking appropriate actions is very much important.

Do not fall into the trap of overthinking as it slowly leads you to sink into the ‘Analysis-Paralysis’ state which is, most of the time, very hard to suppress or overcome. Now that you have gone through the basic crafts and skills necessitated, you also need to know the importance and the use of the basic business tools.

Statement of purpose

‘Kinney the cupboard’ is a story about England’s finest cupboard who was born on 16th April 1973. A famous carpenter named John Makaly`s last Masterpiece was a story cooked in the middle of 9th grade English class. This was highly inspired by ‘Beauty and the Beast’ the cupboard which was sort of Bella’s best friend. The writer in me then felt like the cupboard character was not given enough storyline and screen time, and also because I somewhat sympathized with the character.

Similar to this was ‘Bunsen Burner Burned’ another badly put-together story about my pre-university chemistry lab. The moment I entered that 60-year-old lab, a pungent smell hit my nostrils, pulling my soul out of my body, but weirdly the lab gave a Harry potter vibe which was absolute fiction material. Sadly out of 72 students, only 43 survived.

However, Whenever, Wherever you look, there are stories everywhere. There’s a story about riding a bicycle, there’s a story about climbing the mountains, and there’s a story behind all the stories in the journal resting on my table.

While reading the books from Wattpad, comfortably under my sheets I have traveled to places I could never imagine going to. That is the boundless power stories contain, from books, sitcoms, mangas, and dramas, to real-life down-to-earth stories, once you’ve read, listened, and seen them you can not undo or unsee them.

How powerful and blessed must be one’s vision to give birth to such stories? To me, a superhero is a human who has the capability of doing this.

When children around my age were busy reading ‘chota been, my mind couldn`t stop staring at the lonely book on the corner shelf of my high school library, it wanted to devour the book and gulp it, a whole stack of ‘Jiddu Krishnamurthi’s books were sitting idle and my hands couldn`t resist themself from grabbing those books.

They contained information about life and education. About the system of education. He described how the system of education was such a disaster. That child was not given the right amount of knowledge, the knowledge to love in this real life. This life is filled with failure, they are just given a syllabus that they need to follow and it doesn’t help them in real life. And that made me think harder about the system of education that I’m learning, 8 subjects cannot define my entire life, children should at least be given the opportunity to identify their likes and their dislikes. What if they cannot lead their life with this educational system? And all this happened because of just one book. And after that book, there was no going back. And since then I have always wanted to live in these stories, create them, read them, edit them, narrate them or just simply be a part of creating them.

I chose BCA for my undergraduate program, being a BCA student I think I got hints of exposure to humanities. During my 1st year, I had English as one of the core languages and the lectures were teaching both Master’s and Bachelor students, the library was open for all, these two factors played a major role in building my motivation for linking my past experience into forming goals for my future. I took up all kinds of seminars, debates, and essay competitions. Sat with MA students and wrote scripts for dramas, and speeches. Participated in intercollege fests ‘Paper presentation’ and tried technical writing. My English lectures always pushed me to write, they even asked me to submit my articles to college magazines. And soon a friend of mine who was working on building websites asked me to write Articles for his website.

There is not a single site I have not tried writing in, I`ve written in miracle, Wattpad, WordPress, tumbler, and other random websites, and even ended up enlisting myself in a creative writing course, to improve and learn different methods and skills writing. And because of this, I was asked to write content for other websites. Freelance content writing became a thing, and with every new content, I could see my writing improve. But I lacked proper guidance, every time a new writing style had to be applied my time was invested in researching the content material and more in understanding and learning that method of writing, and this gave me an insight into how much I still need to learn and Masters in English would help me gain that.

The sole purpose of opting for a Master of Arts in English literature is to link me and put my stories into the world, may it be Articles written about mental health, social fears, self-love, or fiction about nonliving characters, pouring life into them. English as a language was more preferable for me to express my thoughts than my own tongue. My English teacher from 9th grade did a wonderful job crafting me from being a simple narrator to becoming somewhat of a writer. And even the Drama teacher has shared my script-writing skills. And because of this, I know how important it is to have the right people to teach you the right things.

I understand that English as a Masters course is not just about stories, it’s about how well you curate them, the vocabulary you use, a good grasp of grammar but most importantly what you understand from that story, how well was it written, and the difference between how the reader thinks and the writer reads. And this is something I would want to experience with other writers by being alongside them, this is something I have somewhat missed in life, ‘The writer’s perspective’, people around me were mostly thinkers from the reader’s perspective, My desire to work, learn alongside another writer, narrator lead me to pursue Master in English.

The reason why I’m applying for the Manipal Centre of Humanities is that they have an excellent system of education, throughout my life, I have seemed to get this kind of education, it’s not just about the course, the course is amazing( single studies, film, and literature, gender studies) it’s also about the ambiance that Manipal offers, a free will to write, 1:1 student-teacher ratio and the faculty, I went in and checked most of their works and I might have fallen in love with the language ‘English’ all over again, their work, their academic background, the thought that these people will be mentoring me, brings joy to my stomach.

One of the Lectures ‘ketaki Chowkhani’ her area of expertise stated gender studies, media, society and representation, education, single studies, identity, and society. A curiosity was built and I checked an article in which she and many other women spoke about the lockdown and being single. This article had interesting aspects about women which made me want to know more and learn more about the subject, it is rare to find such subjects being taught in colleges. The University of Chicago Press journals published an article about ‘The Urgent Need for a Singles Studies Discipline’ where Bella DePaulo writes People who approach their scholarship from a single’s perspective have a different way of seeing the world, a different set of questions to pose and a fresh way of analyzing and understanding the relevant issue. Knowing how much one has struggled to bring this discipline into the system of education wants me to dive deeper into the Study.

Attending Manipal would be more than a dream for me. Its commitment to Student-teacher connects with my tendency to write Stories, the program offers innovative and challenging courses on Indian Literature, Modern International Literature, as well as emerging areas such as Film Studies and Gender Studies. I especially appreciate their third-semester plans as they give six credits for the Academic Portfolio which includes participation in various cultural events and their Student community called ‘Chaicopy’ the Instagram page is something I’ve been following for a while now.

What I hope to achieve at Manipal is an overall writing experience, yes, but also the camaraderie with my fellow writers. Good guidance from the teachers that mentorship will stick with me for the rest of my life. To be able to write a wonderful thesis on Mental health, self-care, and Multiple chemical sensitivity and do thorough research on these crucial aspects of life and continue that with me. MCH’s thesis has gone on to be published as monographs, in academic presses, in public media, as well as fiction, non-fiction, and so on. My goal is to write one such thesis which will reach that destination. I can meet the high expectations of Manipal if given the opportunity.

What I’m looking forward to, after my master, is to work as a proper, professional writer whose research works bring out different perspectives towards life.

Content writing is something I’ve been doing and if I grow a little better that would be great. I have been wanting to write a novel whose chapters I’ve scribbled in my diary. And somewhere in the journey, I would want to finish that. Publishing house has been a dream job ever since 7th grade. And working in publishing would fulfill my goal of becoming an understanding writer and writing. If being able to achieve one of these things would mean I have received the guidance I was seeking from Manipal

And with Manipal, I can achieve these goals.

Writing is a skill that not only entails getting a set word count but requires a combination of skills that keep a writer afloat all-round the seasons. A writer should get the best possible results with regard to quality and before the set deadlines. Comprehensive research comes in handy since the clients show appreciation for it by increasing the pay, giving more tasks, and increasing the number of referrals to their friends and colleagues. Understanding the different styles required in the broad field also serves as a plus for the writer since one handles many different orders for different clients.

Academic assignment research and writing is the most complex form of writing. Since academic writing is formal writing, it requires strict adherence to the set guidelines. It is also a broad field where each subcategory has its specific rules. For beginners, they should try out a few of the different styles before settling on the one they are most comfortable in. The pay a writer receives is dependent on various aspects with the major ones being the technicality of the field that they handle and the experience they have acquired all through the years. A writer who is experienced enough is in a position to handle complex assignments, and they have higher bargaining power. Technical units also pay better due to their complexity and the lower number of writers who are qualified to handle such tasks.

Consistency in the writing industry has been seen to improve the writer’s legacy. A writer who intends to depend on writing as a source of income is advised to invest their time in research and writing. Daily writing greatly improves the styles that one uses in their writing, while improved research broadens the view and ideas that the writer can write on. Blogs have provided a perfect platform where writers who are gifted and are in a position to consistently write about general and specific issues can post their views. When the blogs attract some traffic, then there is increased search engine optimization and affiliate companies can use your platform for advertising their products and services to your readers who are their potential clients.

Planning is the other important skill that any prolific writer should possess. The planning should begin from the learning where the writer is to have attained some specific skillset within a particular time frame. Every writer looks forward to having some growth in the writing industry, which is determined by how much output one can give to the clients and the income that they also receive from their writing skills. Writers are to set attainable goals that they should strive to achieve. Failure to plan has, in most cases, led to not meeting the set goals. Handling orders will need a plan on when to begin, end, and submit the tasks. Failure to meet the set guidelines results in heavy penalties and loss of clients, which is not the best result for any writer.

Writing is a demanding endeavor that calls for a lot of sacrifice and determination. Whether a writer is taking the work as full-time or part-time while having a full-time job, commitment is seen to be of great essence. Dedication of time and attention in the different styles of writing contributes greatly to the growth of the writer where they are in a position to handle more complex assignments when called upon. Investing more time and practice assists the writer to improve in their research methods, as well as the speed they spend in completing the assigned tasks.

A conducive environment for writing is encouraged. Productivity has been proven to increase when the writer does their job in distraction-free areas. The distraction may be in the form of noise, the lighting, or even not having peace of mind, which reduces the focus on the tasks ahead. The light should be regulated so that it is neither too much nor too low. The writer should use furniture that they are comfortable working on without strain. The Internet can also be switched off for writers who get distracted and get to surf on other sites other than the research material. Although distraction may be seen to vary from one individual to another, a writer should settle on what suits them for optimum concentration and productivity.

In conclusion, every writer who intends to attain optimum growth in the writing industry and get ranked with higher search engine optimization on online platforms should ensure they acquire the best skills to make them the best. Since different styles require different skill sets, a writer is expected to learn what works for them and what does not. Learning, which has been described as a never-ending knowledge acquisition process, should be enhanced to help the writer knowledgeable. The acquired knowledge should help the writer remain afloat during the low season. Majoring in particular genres of writing helps one make more, but having more than one skill at your fingertips ensures that you work on any work that is available at the moment. Whatever a writer decides to take up, they should have the passion and give it all their focus.