Creating a Nonfiction Book Proposal

Creating a Nonfiction Book Proposal For millennia, the human race relied on oral tradition to pass on history, mythology, and religion on to the next generation. With the revolutionary advent of the written language, the human race merely began to write down what had been delivered for generations, in speeches. Therefore, it seems intuitive to this writer, having a strong background in public speaking, that the same guidelines that govern good public speaking also govern good nonfiction writing.There are as many approaches to writing nonfiction as there are nonfiction writers. As the adage goes, there is more than one way to skin a cat. What is presented here may not be the best way for you, but it has worked for me, and it will be appealing to anyone with a background in public speaking.In order for a book to be considered nonfiction, it is assumed that at least the author believes that the content he is setting forth is historically or empirically true. In the case of a book on the Mayan calendar, for example, the au thor himself does not need to believe in the religion or astrological processes of the Mayan people. He does, however, have to be convinced that he is giving a true representation of their beliefs.This means that nonfiction writing is very much like persuasive speaking. Some are polemic in nature, attacking another established position. Others are more akin to apologetics. I use the word apologetics in the academic sense and not in its common usage. An apologia is a formal argument or defense of something, such as a position or a system.Although your topic may not seem as volatile as a public debate, you were, no doubt, drawn to it because there is some degree of controversy to it. There is nothing wrong with that. In fact, controversial topics get better traction. If it were a settled matter, you would not be writing the book and others would not bother to read it.A novelist often desires to leave readers wandering, to leave questions unanswered for as long as they dare string the reader along. When one writes a novel, they dont want to answer the readers questions until the reader has had time to ponder them awhile. When approaching nonfiction as you would a persuasive speech, you want to be much more deliberate. Slight cliffhangers are acceptable, but you want to lead your reader from point to point with as few lose ends as possible. You want to answer those questions for them so that they can move with you to your deeper line of reasoning. In fact, you may wish to preempt many of their questions; ask them in your book before they think of the question, so that they can see how you have cross examined yourself. This will help your reader trust your line of reasoning better.If your nonfiction is narrative in nature, then your outline is the chronology of events. If your book will be topical in nature, this type of outline could prove very valuable to you. What follows here is a typical outline for a persuasive speech, and how you can use it to start organizi ng your book.TopicThis is the easy part. Most writers have a few of these kicking around in their head at any given time.PurposeYour purpose may never appear in print, as such, in your book, but you need to know what it is. You need to have the mission of your book at the forefront of your mind at all times.Thesis StatementYour thesis statement is a concise description of the work you are setting down to write. Can you sum up the message of your book in one, or no more than two, sentences? If not, you need to further refine your message.IntroductionIn public speaking, one would need something to first get the attention of their audience. The same is true of your book. Some use an ice breaker, such as a humorous or anecdotal story that segues nicely into their theme. Others use a more aggressive approach. They will start with a very shocking or controversial statement to create an intentional tension. Either of these tools will serve your introduction well.Your books Introduction mig ht include one or multiple chapters. In the first chapter, you could do as I have just described and get the attention of your reader with some anecdotal story or some shocking proclamation. In the second chapter, you could tie that opening attention-grabber to your readers in some way. In the third, lay out your purpose and thesis. Of course, all of this could be in your opening chapter, depending on how concise you want to be.One note of caution: Many modern readers are not sitting down for long periods of time but rather read books in bite-sized chunks. This means that many readers will find many smaller chapters more appealing than fewer longer chapters. A writer must, as a public speaker must, always keep their audience in mind as they craft their outline.BodyIf you look closely at your main points, you will see that they have a progression of logic to them. In other words, one would need to be addressed before another. Some points will have to build upon the strength of others .While each of your arguments may serve as individual chapters, once you have supported them with research, you can organize them in related groups and organize those groups in a logical order.If you are looking to add weight to your work, ask yourself whether you have considered giving to each of your points a reason, an example, and an application. Not all of your points will merit such care, but considering them for each point will ensure you are being thorough.ConclusionYou can signal that you are wrapping things up by putting different points from the body of your work together to come up with a third point. This is called a syllogism: Fact A plus fact B produces a third dependent fact, Fact C.This is also the time to summarize your objective, perhaps more assertively, more boldly than you did in the introduction. It will also be necessary to apply abstract or lofty ideas from your work to your readers daily life or encapsulating them in more common language that they can take with them, from your book. Finally, depending on the genre you are writing in, it may be appropriate to challenge your reader to take action or to make a decision based upon what you have conveyed.Ordering Your IdeasYou can begin organizing your nonfiction book right now, as you are reading this article.Take a piece of paper and write down your purpose and thesis. Next, begin writing points down as they come to you. Your subject is likely a topic about which you are passionate, or you wouldnt be writing a book about it; so these points should come readily to you with just a little reflection.If you write them down on paper with a pen, after you are done, read over the page a few times. You will begin to notice that many of your points, arguments, and supporting statements are related. Begin to organize those by highlighting or using a numbering system. After this is done, you will have narrowed your points down under umbrella categories. Points that are outliers, or do not fit under any of the primary themes, should likely be dismissed.If pen and paper never factor into your writing process, you can do this on your computer screen. It makes ordering the ideas as easy as Cut and Paste. As good as this sounds, many find the brainstorming session is more creative when they are physically writing the ideas down.If you have done that, you are ready to create an outline for your nonfiction book.  Plug your organized ideas into your outlines Introduction, Body, and Conclusion and then get writing.

Plutonium Bomb Essays - Plutonium Bomb, Free Essays, Term Papers

Plutonium Bomb Essays - Plutonium Bomb, Free Essays, Term Papers Plutonium Bomb /\ / \ | : ||: : | | : ||: : | | : ||: : | | : ||: : | | : ||: : | | : ||: : | | : ||: : | | : ||: : | | : ||: : | | : ||: : | | : ||: : | | :______||:_____________________________: | |/_______||/______________________________\| \ ~\ | : |:| / \ |\ | : |:| / \ | \ | :__________|:| / \ |:_\ | :__________\:| / \ |___\ |______________| / \ | \ |~ \ / \|_______\|_________________\_/ |_____________________________| / \ / \ / \ / _______________ \ / ___/ \___ \ /____ __/ \__ ____\ [3]_______________________________ \ ___| / __/ \ \__ \ / / \/ \ \ / / ___________ \ \ / / __/___________\__ \ \ ./ /__ ___ /=================\ ___ __\ \. [4]-> ___||___|====|[[[[[|||||||]]]]]|====|___||___

Teaching all Standards Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 9000 words - 1

Teaching all Standards - Thesis Example When developing a vision within a specific scholastic environment a large body of theoretical work and research indicates the importance of the school principle bringing together diverse viewpoints together under the auspices of a unified vision. In considering the means of accomplishing this task one of the first elements that must be developed is the nature and type of my own beliefs and motivations. In terms of establishing these beliefs I recognize that the important element is to think with the end in mind. In approaching the scholastic vision from this top-down constructivist approach it’s possible to establish the intended vision and then establish a variety of goals and avenues the scholastic environment can work towards achieving. The next step must be to consider the current scholastic environment and work towards developing a means of uniting these leaders and professionals in a cooperative and functional setting. In these regards, Fiore notes that, The relationship s among and between school stakeholders and how those relationships contribute to the overall purpose of schooling must be considered as the mission statement is crafted. Leaders are people who understand the interdependence of people. It is up to the leader, particularly in light of ISLLC Standard 1, to lead other toward the creation of a common purpose for schooling (Fiore, pg. 25) In these regards, the school environment becomes the primary area of focus, as the administrator must balance the end-goal with the current scholastic environment in order to establish and meet the desired vision. Indeed, I recognize that the nature of the current scholastic environment is an important consideration when establishing my overriding vision. Finally, it’s argued that after working towards uniting the professional community, the administrator must consider the â€Å"historical nature of the specific school† (Kowalski, pg. 209). This will be another major step taken in achievin g the scholastic vision. In terms of Kern County Elementary School one of the most pivotal aspects of developing a meaningful vision will be a thorough understanding of the school’s scholastic achievement levels. While this detailed information is not regularly available to the public, it is essential in developing a cohesive and proactive vision on a number of grounds. While community interaction and involvement are critical areas of school and student development, the scholastic environment is ultimately a place of academic learning. In these regards, upon assuming control of the school the first step that would be taken would be taking a large-scale overhaul of educational deficiencies, as well as areas of achievement. One of the realities of school administration is the understanding of county, city, and state standards. In large part funding and recognition are attached to the school’s successful adherence to these scholastic standards, as this allows for a cohesi ve educational community that can extend even to the national level. The next step will then be to develop a cohesive vision that will target these deficiencies and nurture these scholastic strengths. In accomplishing this goal a multi-tiered approach will be developed that targets all grade levels. Grade wide meetings will be called wherein the teachers of these specific grades will be informed of the areas of scholastic

Position Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Position Analysis - Essay Example In addition, when children get access to guns, it is dangerous in that during their playtime, and they might end up killing others thinking that they are just playing Gun control is ineffective in reducing crime. Research has countless times revealed through their historical, econometric, and criminological studies that gun control does not reduce crime, yet the advocates of gun control fail to recognize these results. Instances of youth brutality utilizing weapons were pointedly expanding. This exploration presumed that between 1985-1998 instances of youth brutality expanded by 154%. Weapon control by age is very important since people in this age tend to be very violent and aggressive. This is attributed to early onset of forceful youth practices and poor child rearing as a percentage of the explanations behind expanded youth wrongdoings. Specifically, the events of the Aurora, Colorado Theater shooting alongside the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre have galvanized public opinion on both sides of the issue (Agresti and Reid, n.p). The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution sought to convey individual gun rights to the citizen. Although the law has long been interpreted to mean just this, the fact of the matter is that when one reads the Second Amendment from a literalist perspective. It is quite clear that the Second Amendment is speaking to the needs of the states and individual regions of the newly formed United States to form a militia as a means of protecting the Republic. In such a way, the Second Amendment can and should be interpreted as little more than admission from the Federal government that it promises not to infringe upon the rights of the militias (National Guard and Army Reserves) to maintain a stock of weaponry for the purpose of defense and securing the borders of the new nation. This particular argument hinges upon interpretation of

Leadership in Julius Caesar Essay Example for Free

Leadership in Julius Caesar Essay In Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, Cassius is shown as the leader of the conspirators. Brutus, as chose by Cassius, becomes a secondary leader in the plan to eliminate Caesar. Cassius and Brutus portray specific leadership qualities in very different ways. Brutus shows he is a more sufficient leader by his bravery, integrity and selflessness. Cassius’ lack of bravery is matched up to that of Brutus at the time of their deaths during the Battle of Philippi in the fifth act. Just before Cassius’ death, he says to Pindarus, â€Å"O, coward that I am, to live so long, / To see my best friend ta’en before my face!† â€Å"Stand not to answer: Here, take though the hilts; / And, when my face is cover’d, as ‘tis now, / Guide thou the sword.† (V.III.2536-2537, 2546-2548) Cassius believes Brutus to be dead and assumes this means the end of the battle; the outcome not in his favor. Cassius has his servant, Pindarus, kill him rather than having the courage to kill himself. On the other hand, Brutus, hearing that Cassius has died, admits that they, the conspirators, have been defeated. Brutus bravely kills himself by his own doing rather than to someone else do it for him. â€Å"Hold then my sword, and turn away thy face, / While I do run upon it. Wilt thou, Strato?† (V.IV.2728-2729) Brutus had shown more bravery than Cassius by having his own death carried out by himself. Brutus also has a greater integrity than Cassius, shown by Brutus’ intentions for the conspirators. Brutus tells Cassius, â€Å"We all stand up against the spirit of Caesar, / And in the spirit of men there is no blood.† (II.I.787-788) Brutus is explaining to Cassius that the point should not to be to kill Caesar, as Cassius wants, but to kill what Caesar stands for. Brutus says, â€Å"Let us be sacrificers, not butchers.†(II.I.786) It can be assumed that Brutus wants to kill Caesar with honor; that he wants to be seen as someone fighting for a cause, not j ust a murderer. Brutus shows higher respect toward Caesar as a person, which displays a greater integrity. Brutus is a more selfless person than Cassius and has a greater passion for Rome plus its people. At Caesars funeral, Brutus tells the plebeians, â€Å"If then that friend demands / Why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer: / Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved / Rome more. Had you rather Caesar were living and / Die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live / All free men?† (III.II.1552-1558) Brutus’ intentions were really to help the people of  Rome, rather than Cassius who secretly wanted the crown for himself. The people of Rome did not want a dictator so Brutus’ plan was to create a republic. Cassius, though, did not actually care for helping the people of Rome, he was only after the power that Caesar had. He says. â€Å"That part of Tyranny that I do bear / I can shake off at pleasure.† (I.III.525-526) Here, Cassius is saying he can’t bear the fact of someone having more power than him. Cassius implies he’d rather kill himself than be beneath Caesar. Cassius would have been miserable if Caesar became king and became a tyrant. Brutus proved himself as a more selfless person by the way he cared for the people. Cassius was set at such a high place of being a leader, but Brutus proved he was better fit for the title. Brutus displayed leadership qualities such as bravery, integrity and selflessness that Cassius lacked. Brutus had the ability to become a leader of Rome, where he could do what was right for the people rather than gain more power for himself.

A Whale of a Passion for Psychology :: Graduate Admissions Essays

A Whale of a Passion for Psychology    A beluga whale helped me first realize my true academic passion. I spent my high school summers and weekends volunteering at the New York Aquarium, first in the education department, and later in the training department. It was there, through casual and research-oriented observations of cetaceans, that I began to wonder about animal and human minds. I later had the opportunity to participate in an observational research project, helping to record data on the behaviors of new whale calves and mothers. My informal and formal observations fed my interest in the phylogenetic and ontogenetic bases of cognition and language. As a psychology student at [my school], I had numerous opportunities to research and observe human psychology, both in and out of the classroom. As a sophomore, along with a professor and fellow students in a seminar class, I helped design and run a study on categorization and user's intentions. Later that year we presented our findings at the annual American Psycholog ical Society meeting. In that same year I also assisted a professor in conducting a study on the effects of familiar and unfamiliar music on reading comprehension. I spent the summer following my sophomore year (1997) as a research assistant in the [my school] Psychology Department, funded by a grant from the Howard Hughes Foundation. I collaborated with a professor, a fellow undergraduate student, and a visiting high school student to research, design, and run a study on attitudes towards germs and illness. This included conducting an extensive literature review, specifying research questions, and designing questionnaires that would help us effectively answer our research questions. In addition to strengthening my research abilities, this experience gave me the invaluable opportunity to interact with fellow researchers as a student, a peer, and a mentor. My extracurricular research experience during my sophomore and junior years of college gave me the tools to independently develop and carry out research projects. During my senior year at [my school], I completed a long term library-based research project on the evolution of the human linguistic ability. As a person who tends to look at the big picture when conducting research, this project was the perfect opportunity for me to integrate research from numerous fields and subfields in order to answer a psychologically based question.       Through the study of anthropology, paleoneurology, neuropsychology, linguistics, and psycholinguistics, I explored theories debating the neurological and behavioral bases for language evolution. A Whale of a Passion for Psychology :: Graduate Admissions Essays A Whale of a Passion for Psychology    A beluga whale helped me first realize my true academic passion. I spent my high school summers and weekends volunteering at the New York Aquarium, first in the education department, and later in the training department. It was there, through casual and research-oriented observations of cetaceans, that I began to wonder about animal and human minds. I later had the opportunity to participate in an observational research project, helping to record data on the behaviors of new whale calves and mothers. My informal and formal observations fed my interest in the phylogenetic and ontogenetic bases of cognition and language. As a psychology student at [my school], I had numerous opportunities to research and observe human psychology, both in and out of the classroom. As a sophomore, along with a professor and fellow students in a seminar class, I helped design and run a study on categorization and user's intentions. Later that year we presented our findings at the annual American Psycholog ical Society meeting. In that same year I also assisted a professor in conducting a study on the effects of familiar and unfamiliar music on reading comprehension. I spent the summer following my sophomore year (1997) as a research assistant in the [my school] Psychology Department, funded by a grant from the Howard Hughes Foundation. I collaborated with a professor, a fellow undergraduate student, and a visiting high school student to research, design, and run a study on attitudes towards germs and illness. This included conducting an extensive literature review, specifying research questions, and designing questionnaires that would help us effectively answer our research questions. In addition to strengthening my research abilities, this experience gave me the invaluable opportunity to interact with fellow researchers as a student, a peer, and a mentor. My extracurricular research experience during my sophomore and junior years of college gave me the tools to independently develop and carry out research projects. During my senior year at [my school], I completed a long term library-based research project on the evolution of the human linguistic ability. As a person who tends to look at the big picture when conducting research, this project was the perfect opportunity for me to integrate research from numerous fields and subfields in order to answer a psychologically based question.       Through the study of anthropology, paleoneurology, neuropsychology, linguistics, and psycholinguistics, I explored theories debating the neurological and behavioral bases for language evolution.

Correctional Facility

Andrea J. Paige January 30th, 2013 1. What is the biggest problem facing correctional facility today? The biggest problem that correctional facilities are facing is prison overcrowding. This is because most court officials have the thought that locking people up and throwing the key away is the best solutions to the problem of crime, when in fact it’s really not better for society because crime still rises in fact it is better for political court officials. They know this is not helping but if it gets them voted for because society thinks it’s safer then lock them up and throw the key way.What should the primary goal of corrections be? The primary goal of corrections should be to rehabilitate the offender. If rehabilitation is successfully done it would help the offender to become a productive member of society after they are released from prison. These things would have to take place from the moment they arrive at the prison like drug treatment, vocational training, an d therapeutic counseling to try and find the source of the offenders’ issues. 2. Describe restorative justice and its pros and cons.Restorative justice is justice that tends to the needs of the victim as well as the offender and also the community that is involved instead of punishing the offending party. The victim takes part in this process to encourage the offender to take responsibility of their actions by attempting to repair the damage that has been done. The pros to restorative justice is that it is considered fair and also the offender may experience how the victim felt at the time of the incident. The cons are how you measure the crime or the needed punishment and how does one judge what the appropriate punishment is. . 3. What is the most effective management style for a prison? Fully explain and give examples. The autocratic management style shows to be the best for the prison system because why does the inmate need to be able to help set rules inside of the prison nor do the employees. There needs to be set rules for everyone to follow inside of the prison because with too many people controlling the rules at some point some things will be out of order. 4. How has the changing legal context influenced the growing problems of mentally disordered offenders in corrections?There have been some recent changes in the way the law is carried out that makes it more difficult to send mentally ill offenders to non-correctional programs. A lot of patients who were housed in hospital are now doing time in prisons because of an increase of these types of offenders being caught with drugs so the mentally ill drug user are experiencing harsher sentences. 5. In planning and designing reentry programs what steps are to be taken? Fully explain The target for each of the reentry facilities will be different according to the needs of the local community.Inmates will be moderate to a high risk to recidivate. The incentive to participating in the reentry program w ill be only with the possibility of gaining employment prior to release, participating in the various treatment programs, family reunification and working with a caseworker and also some of these services will also be needed: Reentry Planning Teams, Urban Location for SCRF, Availability of Wrap-A-Around Services, Availability of Employment, County’s Mental Health, Public Health and Social Services Departments