Writing Nonfiction

All of us are authors, and all of us have a book already written within us that needs to come out.

I believe that fiction is the easiest to write because none of what you write can, or needs to be verified and you are only limited by your imagination. On the other hand nonfiction requires verification of facts and the book usually has references to the material that you have used. These facts can come from the documentation of others or your own. But the material is usually taken as truth or fact and supported by the documents you have used.

Then there is the Grey area that I write about… Philosophy! Philosophy always appears as truth and it is always controversial because in truth, truth is an illusion. My truth is not yours, and yours is not someone else's.

Philosophy can always be argued from one's point of view and it is nonfiction from that observation. From the position of the other it may be fantasy or imagination.

In truth, philosophically speaking, fiction and nonfiction are the same, as both come from the imagination and are subject to one's interpretation and the ability to manifest one's thoughts into physical symbols that are observable by others.

The wonderful thing about fiction is that the events become probabilities in physical form at some level of consciousness and are nonfiction. If I think of a lying under a palm tree on a white sandy beach on a tropical ocean one early sunny morning, that thought becomes your thought and the probability exists that either one of us can experience it. It becomes a probability and only then needs to be experienced. All thoughts are the beginnings of any probability whether it is a sandy beach or Aliens attacking the earth.

The distinction between fiction and nonfiction is determined by our ability to allow our imaginations to accept them.

The Bible and other Holy texts are considered to be nonfiction, and yet they are the texts that are the least likely to be verified. The pages in these texts where written by many different authors, sometimes hundreds of years after the facts, if they did in fact occur, and the stories were selected for inclusion by people and organizations with an agenda. Many of the stories in the Bible were created to demonstrate aspects of morality and social behavior. Many stories have been left out deliberately.

We generally accept these books as historical facts because we were told to, even though critical thinking and reason suggests otherwise. Facts, truth and imagination have been blended into foggy images that transcend humanities ability to distinguish the difference, fueled by fear and ignorance. What is fiction, what is not?

We look to an imaginary future and go back into the past to create it. Or we go back into the past to create a future book. The book the waits within you, is the future waiting to be created, it is already present in the moment and although it is nonfiction, it will be judged by others in the future as either.

Humanity has agreed at some level of consciousness to accept things as truth, or "nonfiction," if it is within the realm of possibility or if there is a strong human desire, want or need to believe it.

We as a people had a strong desire to fly to the moon and have done it, (maybe). We as a people have strong desires to create new technology and we do it, and we believe in technology because we can see it working. These areas are not that Grey, because we want to believe. Predictions that we have made hundreds or thousands of years ago are now observable in our experience and easy to accept. Most believe that technology can achieve anything, from creating a sailing ship that moves past the abyss waiting at the edge of the earth, to the space ship that flies through it.

It is the same imagination that creates physical objects or technology, which creates philosophy about who and what we are.

There is a strong desire within humanity, or need to believe and accept that there is more to us than what we can see, taste, smell, feel or hear. We have moved away from our ability to experience the soul and the mind as other parts of ourselves. We consider these aspects of self as fictional or beyond reach and best left to the imagination of philosophers, priests and other self appointed experts. Most of us experience these aspects only when we read about them or attend presentations or Sunday services, as they are brought to our attention.

As one moves away from the philosophy of others and accepts their own truth as real and valid, then we are better able to accept all experiences, philosophies, and truths as truth. All probabilities and possibilities are valid and experienced at some level of consciousness. All fiction is nonfiction in the greater truth, and they are simply human or physical conventions.

I write my Nonfiction, Fictional articles early Sunday morning before I go for breakfast. In the course of the two hours that it takes me to write a 1600 word article like this, I have my shower, get dressed, wash the dishes, take out the garbage and several other chores.

I do not give any thought to what I write about, and it just flows out of me naturally. When I sit down to the keyboard and monitor, my mind is blank and the harder I try to write something, the less the results. Most often I do not know what I am going to write about before I start. I close my eyes for a few moments and try not to think about anything.

I accepted long ago that what I have to say or write about is valid, it has purpose and meaning. No matter how farfetched the words or thought, I try not to interfere and just let it come out. The fear of being crazy, stupid or uninformed left me long ago once I allowed the words to come out. This article is philosophical (nonfiction) but it comes from a fictional thought process that I used to think was mine, it is not!

I encourage all those that come to me for guidance to just sit down and let it all out, no matter how outrageous, how unintelligent or gifted it may seem. No one has to read it, it doesn't have to be published, and you can tear it up when you are finished. By sitting down and starting to write, you will develop a process that works for you, you will be totally amazed at what you have locked inside. When I do read some of my stuff, I wonder, "Wow," was that me, that's not bad! Did I write that?

If you have visited my web site at klienwachter.com and read my articles you will remember that I have said many times I write for myself first and that is my truth. I do not have a need for others to read my words. I have however come to terms with my ego that wishes to be recognized as an author. I speak from the spiritual part of myself that is not physical and I agreed with my ego to allow it the freedom to publish and print these articles. We have made peace and the ego understands that recognition my not come and that it is a probability that may or may not be experienced. On this we agree.

Spirit makes itself known or physically experienced through the words that are recorded for the benefit of the ego.

You have something to say, and your thoughts need to be expressed in the physical world and it is done in an infinite number of ways. Writing is just one way. But do not back down because you believe your writing is not valid or important. Also realize that it may not be accepted by others and know that it doesn't really matter.

Write for yourself first and set your imagination free. Nonfiction is fiction finding expression and recognition in the physical world. It has no meaning except for the meaning given it by those who read the words.

Books For Publish

The procedure of production and distribution of books or other forms of literature for the public is called publishing. In some instances, the author is his own publisher. He makes his literature then finds means of media for it to be disseminated to viewers.

A book is known as a collection or a set of blank, written, illustrated, or printed sheets which are made and produced with paper and/or different materials. These materials are fastened and compiled as one in order to form a hinge in one side. In a book, a leaf is the single sheet, while its both sides are known as its page. When a book is produced through an electronic format, this type of book is called the e-book.

Books also pertain to literary works. In information science and libraries, a book is known as a monograph, where in, this is vital in order for it to be differentiated from periodicals like journals, magazines, and newspapers. Written works as well as books are called literature. In a novel, a book can be compartmentalized into different sections like Book One, Book Two, Book Three, and so on and so forth.

A book lover is called with many terms such as a philobiblist, a bibliophile, or a bibliophilist, or in layman’s term, a bookworm. You can also buy books in a bookshop or bookstore. To borrow a book, you can just head on to libraries near you.

The usual book structure or parts include the following:

Front cover: soft cover (paperback) or hardbound; the one that connects the front and the rear cover is called a spine which is similar to a hinge
Front endpaper
Flyleaf
Front matter
Frontispiece
Title page
Copyright page
Table of contents
List of figures
List of tables
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Foreword
Preface
Introduction
Body: the main contents or texts where the pages are found. These pages have page number and are often separated into sequential chapters. Appendix
Glossary
Index
Notes
Bibliography
Colophon
Flyleaf
Rear endpaper
Rear cover

The procedure of production and distribution of literature or other information for the public is called publishing. In some instances, the author is his own publisher. He makes his literature then finds means of media so that it can be disseminated to its viewers.

There are stages in publishing a book. These stages would include the following:

• Development
• Acquisition
• Copyediting
• Graphic design
• Production (Printing or Electronic)
• Marketing
• Distribution

The following are the steps on how to get your book to be published. These are:

Step One

Look for a professional editor for the work or literature that you have done. With this procedure, you are ensured that the book that you have made is polished and refined prior to giving to the publisher or agent.

Step Two

Look for an agent who would represent you and your work. A good agent will present your literature to publishers and guide you on the process of publishing. Know the agent’s experience, expected commission, interests, and recent sales before making a commitment.

Step Three

Give your query letter to various publishers whom you think would like your book best. The letter that you will send will give the description of the book that you have made and provide your reasons why it is worth publishing. Given that the publisher would look the idea of your book, they will forward a proposal to you.

Step Four

Provide the interested editors or publishers with your book proposal. Included in your book proposal is a 10 to 12 page sample, your reason for making the book as well as the author’s information. For nonfictional authors, they may send a proposal before completing their book. For fictional writers, a completed manuscript is expected during query.

Step Five

Wait for the response of the editor or publishers. If the book that you have made is accepted, you’d get a monetary offer. But if not, a rejection letter will be sent out to you, together with the reason why it cannot be published.

Step Six

Keep sending query letters to publishers until you receive an offer from your publisher. The key here is to study the responses of the editors and intertwine it in your work until you find a publisher who would take interest in your work.

Here is a list of known Book Publishers:

eBookMall Publishing Center
Abingdon Press
Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
Accent on Living
Ace Science Fiction
Adams Media Corporation
Addison-Wesley Longman, Inc.
African American Images
The Alban Institute
Almar Press
American Counseling Association
American Press
Amherst Media
The Amwell Press
Anchorage Press, Inc.
Andrews and McMeel
Arden Press, Inc.
Asian Humanities Press
Astro Communican Scvices, Inc.
Autonomedia
Aztex Corp.
Bantman Doubleday Dell
Barron's Educational Series, Inc.
Barbour and Company, Inc.
Barron's Educational Series, Inc.
Beacon Press
Bear and Co., Inc.
Behrman House Inc.
Black Heron Press
Blackbirch Press, Inc.
Bloomberg Press
Blue Poppy Press
Blue Star Productions
Borgo Press
Boyds Mills Press
Brassey's, Inc.
Brevet Press., Inc.
The Bureau For At-Risk Youth
Business McGraw-Hill
Butterworth-Heinman
C Q Press
Caddo Gap Press
Cambridge Educational
Cambridge University Press
The Caxton Printers, Ltd.
Catbird Press
Center Press
Chatham Press
Chicago Review Press
Church Growth Institute
Circlet Press, Inc.
Citadel Press
Clarkson Potter
Coffee House Press
Country Sport Press
Champion Press
Computer Science Press
Confluence Press, Inc.
Consumer Press
Copper Canyon Press
CottonWood Press, Inc.
Counterpoint
The Crossing Press
Dance Horizons
Dancing Jester Press
Darlington Productions, Inc.
Delacorte Press
The Denali Press
Devyn Press
Discipleship Resources
Dimi Press
Doubleday
Down Home Press
Duke Press
Dutton
E.M. Press, Inc.
Eakin Press/Sunbelt Media, Inc.
Eastland Press
The Ecco Press
The Education Center, Inc.
Epicenter Press
Faber & Faber, Inc.
Facts on File, Inc.
Fairview Press
Fawcett Juniper
Fjord Press
Focal Press
Foghorn Press
Four Walls Eight Windows
The Free Press
Friends United Press
The Globe Pequot Press, Inc.
The Graduate Group
Green Bark Press
GreenHaven Press, Inc.
Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
Gryphon House, Inc
Half Halt Press, Inc.
The Harvard Common Press
Herald Press
Holiday House
Home Education Press
Jist Works, Inc.
Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Knowledge, Ideas & Trends, Inc.
Lake View Press
The Learning Works, Inc.
Libraries Unlimited
Living the Good News
The McGraw-Hill Companies
Media Bridge
Mercury House, Inc.
New Hope
New Leaf Press, Inc.
Nodin Press
W.W. North Co., Inc.
Nova Press
Oak Knoll Press
Octameron Associates
Orchises Press
Ortho Information Services
Osborne/McGraw-Hill
Our Sunday Visitor, Inc.
The Overlook Press
Owl Creek Press
Oxford University Press
Paper Chase Press
Pippin Press
Planners Press
Planning/Communications
Popular Culture Ink
Receipt Press
Price Stern Sloan, Inc.
The Putnam Berkley Group
QED Press
Random House, Inc.
Routledge, Inc.
SAS Institute, Inc.
Scholastic, Inc.
Serendipity Systems
Sergeant Kirkland's
Slack, Inc.
The Smith
Social Science Education Consortium
SoundPrints
The Speech Bin, Inc.
Spinsters Ink
Swan-Raven & Co.
Swedenborg Foundatin
Sybex, Inc.
Systems Co. Inc.
Texas State Historical Association
Transportation Trails
TSR, Inc.
Charles Tuttle Co.
Univelt, Inc.
VGM Career Horizons
Verso
Walker and Co.
Warner Aspect
Franklin Watts, Inc.
Samuel Weiser, Inc.
White Cliffs Media, Inc.
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Wild Flower Press
Little Aspect

Sine there are many book publishers, the harder task is usually getting one to approve to your book. Thus, if you will heed criticisms and put it to good use, then add patience, you will soon be able to get your book published and hopefully released to the public.

Accredited Online College And University Programs

It is not unusual to grow indifferent toward your job. Lack of stimulating work, low pay, and limited growth potential within an organization are all excellent reasons to seek out a way to make a change. The best way to realize your full potential is to receive a college education. One of the best, and most convenient, ways to achieve this is by receiving a college education online. This innovative and exciting method of professional development is an ideal option if you are looking for a promotion, or if you are looking for a new career entirely. An education through an accredited online college or University program is your ticket to professional success.

There are many advantages of choosing to receive your education through an accredited online college or university. Studying for a college education online allows you to achieve your educational and professional goals at your own pace, whether you want to get a 2-year Associate’s degree, a 4-year Bachelor’s degree, or take an accelerated course program to receive a professional certificate. There is no need to live near or commute to a college when all classes can be attended and all work submitted online. Attending school online is a great option for those who might have uncertainties about going to college as an older student or returning after many years. Studying for a college education online can be an easy way to ease into the routine of class work and projects, and can reduce the stress of feeling the need to fit in with younger students. Further, course availability is often convenient for those who work full time or care for a family. Often, colleges offer evening and weekend classes.

There is an online college education available for just about every professional and academic discipline out there. Fields of study include Business, Social Sciences, Humanities, Education, Nursing, Liberal Arts, Fine Arts, and various Healthcare programs. These are but a few of the subjects in which you can earn a college education by choosing an online program. Many online programs are delivered through colleges and Universities accredited by the U.S. Department of Education. Accreditation is an important credential to look for when choosing an online program if you have prior college credits you wish to transfer. Accredited institutions are also more readily recognized and accepted by employers and professional organizations.

You might be concerned about affording an education through an accredited online college or University. You have options. Often, financial aid is available to students in the form of grants, loans, even scholarships. Also, many employers are willing to pay for part or all of an employee’s tuition and fees. Investing in an employee’s future reaps benefits for everyone involved.

The misconception of receiving your education from an accredited online college or University is that the experience might not be as enriching or legitimate as attending campus-based courses at a traditional college or University. This just isn’t the case. Programs offered online present the same opportunities for group work, independent study, and interpersonal communications as their traditional counterparts. While it is true that being an online student requires a certain amount of self-discipline and organization, receiving your college education online will probably help to facilitate the learning process as well as develop your time management and self-motivation skills. With the prevalence of the Internet and advancements such as teleconferencing in both education and the business world today, it is possible to come away from the experience not only with a college education and your dream career, but also with greater knowledge and comfort with technology. Receiving your education through an accredited online college or University is a valuable, convenient, and flexible way to broaden your career opportunities, and have the career you have always dreamt about.

Research Paper

A research paper is a means of presenting your findings on a selected topic. It is a synchronization of the investigations you have made and your thoughts and ideas on the topic you are researching. If you love writing, then nothing can be more satisfying than producing a research paper. The whole process of collecting information, documenting and organizing the facts and conclusions and finally presenting them with one’s own interpretations enhances the academic skills of the person who is writing the research paper.

For writing the research paper, investigating the facts is the most time taking part. The research should be detailed and encompass a variety of sources like books, journals, websites etc. Getting information on how to write a research paper is easy. There are many books and websites that have been dedicated to this genre of writing. Once you have decided on the topic, try to find all possible information from different sources. Different kinds of sources provide authenticity to your research paper.

Research paper’s introduction should be a statement of the most important fact or idea around which you plan to write the whole paper. Present other facts and findings in the paragraphs that follow. Always remember to write different ideas or facts in separate paragraphs. Since a research paper is full of facts and figures, arranging information systematically makes the paper more sensible.

In the research paper the concluding paragraph is of utmost importance because this is the portion where you can interpret your findings and make an inference of all the information gathered. Since a research paper encompasses what others have stated or found, the conclusion gives you an opportunity to put forward your own assumptions.

In research paper, other’s findings are cited quite often. Therefore there are different citation styles that are compulsory to follow. If the person who has written the research paper fails to cite the sources properly he might even be blamed of plagiarism. You can choose from any of the following styles to write the paper:
• APA
• AMA
• Chicago
• MLA
• Turabian

In writing research papers APA style is generally used for writing for subjects like social sciences, education, psychology, etc. The AMA style is more for subjects like biological sciences, health and medicine. Chicago style is more popular in magazines, books, newspapers etc. The MLA style is appropriate for subjects like humanities, arts and literature. The Turabian style is mostly used by the college students to write their research papers in almost all the subjects.

For writing a research paper you can go through numerous web pages to gather information about the style of writing you choose to write or have been instructed to write. However the best option would be to go through the complete hardcopy style manuals, which are available in all the good libraries. These manuals provide a much wider variety of citation styles of research papers.

Research writing is an excellent way of discovering unknown facts. When compared to the readers it is the research writer who benefits the most.

Digital Humanities

The Digital Humanities, also known as Humanities Computing, is a field of study, research, teaching, and invention concerned with the intersection of computing and the disciplines of the humanities. It is methodological by nature and interdisciplinary in scope. It involves investigation, analysis, synthesis and presentation of knowledge using computational media. It studies how these media affect the disciplines in which they are used, and what these disciplines have to contribute to our knowledge of computing. Academic departments of the digital humanities typically include technical practitioners as well as traditionally trained scholars with experience or expertise in digital media. Such departments tend to be heavily involved in collaborative research projects with colleagues in other departments.

The interdisciplinary position of the digital humanities is comparable to that of comparative literature in relation to literary studies. It involves experts in both research and teaching; in all of the traditional arts and humanities disciplines (history, philosophy, linguistics, literature, art, archaeology, and music of many cultures, for example); specialists in electronic publication and computational analysis, in project design and visualisation, in data archiving and retrieval.

Romanticization and rejection of the humanities

Implicit in many of these arguments supporting the humanities are the makings of arguments against public support of the humanities. Joseph Carroll asserts that we live in a changing world, a world in which "cultural capital" is being replaced with "scientific literacy" and in which the romantic notion of a Renaissance humanities scholar is obsolete. Such arguments appeal to judgments and anxieties about the essential uselessness of the humanities, especially in an age when it is seemingly vitally important for scholars of literature, history and the arts to engage in "collaborative work with experimental scientists" or even to simply make "intelligent use of the findings from empirical science." The notion that 'in today's day and age,' with its focus on the ideals of efficiency and practical utility, scholars of the humanities are becoming obsolete was perhaps summed up most powerfully in a remark that has been attributed to the artificial intelligence specialist Marvin Minsky: “With all the money that we are throwing away on humanities and art - give me that money and I will build you a better student."

Minsky's faith in the superiority of technical knowledge and his reduction of the humanities scholar of today to an obsolete relic of the past supported by the tax dollars of romantics fondly recalling the days of the G.I. Bill echoes arguments put forth by scholars and cultural commentators that call themselves "post-humanists" or "transhumanists." The idea is that current trends in the scientific understanding of human beings are calling the basic category of "the human" into question. Examples of these trends are assertions by cognitive scientists that the mind is simply a computing device, by geneticists that that human beings are no more than ephemeral husks used by self-propagating genes (or even memes, according to some postmodern linguists), or by bioengineers who claim that one day it may be both possible and desirable to create human-animal hybrids. Rather than engage with old-style humanist scholarship, transhumanists in particular tend to be more concerned with testing and altering the limits of our mental and phsyical capacities in fields such as cognitive science and bioengineering in order to transcend the essentially bodily limitations that have bounded humanity.

Stanford Humanities Center

The Stanford Humanities Center is an institution of advanced humanities research located at Stanford University, Stanford, CA, U.S.A. Founded in 1980, it is an integral part of Stanford’s internationally renowned research community, bringing together scholars from across disciplinary boundaries to work on projects that advance understanding of human experience.

History

The Stanford Humanities Center was founded in 1980 to spearhead new initiatives in humanities research at Stanford, as the result of one of former Stanford President Donald Kennedy's first acts in office. The Humanities Center's early goals remain central to its mission. These include: providing state-of-the-art research and writing facilities for humanities scholars; initiating studies that examine the nature and function of the humanities; focusing on interdisciplinary issues; and contributing to the intellectual life of the Stanford community as a whole through lectures, seminars, conferences, and research workshops.

In 1980, Ian Watt was named first director, and by 1982-83 the Humanities Center had welcomed its first thirteen fellows. Since then, it has undergone several notable changes, including the introduction of the research workshops by Director Keith Baker in 1995. To accommodate the continuing expansion of the Stanford Humanities Center, it moved in September 2001 from the Mariposa and Rogers Houses and the Annex — originally private residences — to the newly vacated Bowman House (which had been home to the Alumni Association), where it remains today. To supplement the fellowships already offered to high-level scholars, the Center introduced undergraduate research assistant fellowships in the same year to provide resources for advanced humanities students. The Center’s Humanities Archive Lab, a computer lab that offers easy access to the tools necessary to produce digital content, opened in 2004, in accordance with the increasing emphasis on the digital humanities.

Medical humanities

Medical humanities is an interdisciplinary field of medicine which includes the humanities (literature, philosophy, ethics, history and religion), social scienceanthropology, cultural studies, psychology, sociology), and the arts (literature, theater, film, and visual arts) and their application to medical education and practice.

The humanities and arts provide insight into the human condition, suffering, personhood, our responsibility to each other, and offer a historical perspective on medical practice. Attention to literature and the arts helps to develop and nurture skills of observation, analysis, empathy, and self-reflection -- skills that are essential for humane medical care. The social sciences help us to understand how bioscience and medicine take place within cultural and social contexts and how culture interacts with the individual experience of illness and the way medicine is practiced.

Humanities today

Many American colleges and universities believe in the notion of a broad "liberal arts education", which requires all college students to study the humanities in addition to their specific area of study. Prominent proponents of liberal arts in the United States have included Mortimer J. Adler^[15] and E.D. Hirsch.

The 1980 United States Rockefeller Commission on the Humanities described the humanities in its report, The Humanities in American Life:

Through the humanities we reflect on the fundamental question: What does it mean to be human? The humanities offer clues but never a complete answer. They reveal how people have tried to make moral, spiritual, and intellectual sense of a world in which irrationality, despair, loneliness, and death are as conspicuous as birth, friendship, hope, and reason.

Criticism of the traditional humanities/liberal arts degree program has been leveled by many that see them as both expensive and relatively "useless" in the modern American job market, where several years of specialized study is required in many/most job fields. This is in direct contrast to the early 20th century when approximately 3% to 6% of the public at large had a university degree, and having one was a direct path to a professional life.

History of the humanities

In the West, the study of the humanities can be traced to ancient Greece, as the basis of a broad education for citizens. During Roman times, the concept of the seven liberal arts evolved, involving grammar, rhetoric and logic (the trivium), along with arithmetic, geometry, astronomia and music (the quadrivium).^[13] These subjects formed the bulk of medieval education, with the emphasis being on the humanities as skills or "ways of doing."

A major shift occurred during the Renaissance, when the humanities began to be regarded as subjects to be studied rather than practised, with a corresponding shift away from the traditional fields into areas such as literature and history. In the 20th century, this view was in turn challenged by the postmodernist movement, which sought to redefine the humanities in more egalitarian terms suitable for a democratic society.

Philosophy

Philosophy is generally the study of problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, justification, truth, justice, right and wrong, beauty, validity, mind, and language. Undoubtedly, many other disciplines study such things. However, philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing these issues by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on reasoned argument, rather than experiments (for example).

The etymology of the term "philosophy" is ancient Greek meaning love of wisdom. According to Immanuel Kant, "Ancient Greek philosophy was divided into three sciences: physics, ethics, and logic". Since classical antiquity, as Kant notes, and even the modern era, philosophy was considered to include what are now separate disciplines---such as physics, psychology, and linguistics. Since the rise of such disciplines, however, the main fields of philosophy have remained to be logic, ethics, metaphysics, and epistemology. Most of these fields deal with more normative or evaluative issues---issues about what we ought to do or what is good. Thus, the central questions of philosophy are often framed in such ways as: "What should one believe?" or "What is the right thing to do?" And, while distinct disciplines are nonetheless disciplines in their own right, many of the problems studied overlap with philosophy. For example, linguistics studies language, including semantics (or meaning). However, philosophers and linguists both study meaning. Their approaches to that issue are simply different, yet both aim at acquiring knowledge about the meanings of words and other linguistic phenomena.

Performing arts

The performing arts differ from the plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artist's own body, face, and presence as a medium, and the latter uses materials such as clay, metal, or paint, which can be molded or transformed to create some art object. Performing arts include acrobatics, busking, comedy, dance, magic, music, opera, film, juggling, marching arts, such as brass bands, and theatre.

Artists who participate in these arts in front of an audience are called performers, including actors, comedians, dancers, musicians, and singers. Performing arts are also supported by workers in related fields, such as songwriting and stagecraft. Performers often adapt their appearance, such as with costumes and stage makeup, etc. There is also a specialized form of fine art in which the artists perform their work live to an audience. This is called Performance art. Most performance art also involves some form of plastic art, perhaps in the creation of props. Dance was often referred to as a plastic art during the Modern dance era.

Humanities Law

Law in common parlance, means a rule which (unlike a rule of ethics) is capable of enforcement through institutions. The study of law crosses the boundaries between the social sciences and humanities, depending on one's view of research into its objectives and effects. Law is not always enforceable, especially in the international relations context. It has been defined as a "system of rules", as an "interpretive concept" to achieve justice, as an "authority" to mediate people's interests, and even as "the command of a sovereign, backed by the threat of a sanction". However one likes to think of law, it is a completely central social institution. Legal policy incorporates the practical manifestation of thinking from almost every social science and humanity. Laws are politics, because politicians create them. Law is philosophy, because moral and ethical persuasions shape their ideas. Law tells many of history's stories, because statutes, case law and codifications build up over time. And law is economics, because any rule about contract, tort, property law, labour law, company law and many more can have long lasting effects on the distribution of wealth. The noun law derives from the late Old English lagu, meaning something laid down or fixed and the adjective legal comes from the Latin word lex.

Humanities fields

Classics

The classics, in the Western academic tradition, refer to cultures of classical antiquity, namely the Ancient Greek and Roman cultures. Classical study was formerly considered one of the cornerstones of the humanities, but the classics declined in importance during the 20th century. Nevertheless, the influence of classical ideas in humanities such as philosophy and literature remain strong.

History

History is systematically collected information about the past. When used as the name of a field of study, history refers to the study and interpretation of the record of humans, families, and societies. Knowledge of history is often said to encompass both knowledge of past events and historical thinking skills.

Traditionally, the study of history has been considered a part of the humanities. However, in modern academia, history is increasingly classified as a social science, especially when chronology is the focus.

Languages

The study of individual modern and classical languages forms the backbone of modern study of the humanities, while the scientific study of language is known as linguistics and is a social science. Since many areas of the humanities such as literature, history and philosophy are based on language, changes in language can have a profound effect on the other humanities. Literature, covering a variety of uses of language including prose forms (such as the novel), poetry and drama, also lies at the heart of the modern humanities curriculum. College-level programs in a foreign language usually include study of important works of the literature in that language, as well as the language itself

Humanities

The humanities are academic disciplines which study the human condition, using methods that are largely analytic, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural and social sciences.

Examples of the disciplines related to humanities are ancient and modern languages, literature, history, philosophy, religion, visual and performing arts (including music). Additional subjects sometimes included in the humanities are anthropology, area studies, communications and cultural studies, although these are often regarded as social sciences. Scholars working in the humanities are sometimes described as "humanists". However, that term also describes the philosophical position of humanism, which some "antihumanist" scholars in the humanities reject.

Where There Is a Metaphor

A metaphor is a figure of speech that describes one thing, concept, or action in terms of another one. A metaphor interacts with language intimately, creating relationships between things and ideas not recognized before. When a metaphor is the exact opposite of what it describes, it is called a collusion or a collision.

Although a metaphor is quite like a simile, it does not use words of resemblance such as "like" or "as" when it describes something.

Metaphors are either plain or implied. “A whirlwind of ideas” is a plain metaphor. “The numbers rained on him,” “His smile sinned when he looked at her,” and “Jane knifed my wound” are implied metaphors. Implied metaphors are cherished by poets and writers more than the plain ones. Since they are usually made with verbs, they bring life and excitement to an expression. Yet, plain or implied, all metaphors can be overused or abused like other good things.

At the beginning, when I tried to write poetry, I had a run-in with metaphors, only because I loved metaphors a lot. I thought they worked wonders, and since I believed metaphors were my strength, I used them too often and too indiscriminately.

Imagine a Christmas tree with decorations building up to a single shining star, which has a beautiful meaning in its fundamental nature. Well, my Christmas tree had many stars all around it with all of them fighting with that star on top for brightness, so much so that my poems became disorientated in a traffic jam of metaphors.

I stopped my romp with metaphors when a wonderful teacher pointed out to me, ever so gently, what I had been doing. I will forever be grateful to her as long as I use metaphors. She told me to use one master metaphor, and if I felt like adding extras, I should make the additional metaphors work under that one master.

Now, I go with her formula especially in a short poems; one central metaphor with all the other less significant ones building up to it. In other words, for each Christmas tree there needs be only one very bright star on top.

With a metaphor one can express an idea more pointedly and more delicately than one can express by using a roomful of adjectives and adverbs. For example, an amateur could be saying this:

"When he moved the position of his cap, it was visible that his head was covered by white hair, which was holy, sacred, saintly, distinct, untainted, not dirtied, much adored, spiritually aristocratic, and shining brightly with a circular light."

Here is how a great poet has said it with a metaphor so eloquently.

“And white the unpigmented
Halo of his hair
When he shifted his cap:”
from Night Game by Robert Pinsky

Let us look at the word metaphor. Meta means across, phor means carry something like a ferry. So, a metaphor must “carry across” a meaning by using a physical image which stands for an abstract thought.

The poet Jane Yolen--in an interview--said:
"In Greece the word metafora is a kind of moving van and so as you drive around, you see trucks with METAFORA on the side. They are shifting a lot of stuff under the watchful eye of the stone-draped ladies of the Parthenon. There's a poem there."

Jane Yolen was so right. Where there is a good metaphor that is wisely used, there is a poem there.

Receive An Education And Training Online

It is not unusual for a person to grow apathetic toward his or her current job. Lack of stimulating work, low pay, and limited growth potential within an organization are all excellent reasons to seek out a way to make a change. One of the best, and easiest, ways to achieve this is to explore furthering your education and training online. This innovative and exciting method of personal and professional improvement has the benefit of allowing you to enhance your career opportunities by either earning a degree or by taking advantage of continuing education options. This is also an ideal option for you if you want to change your career entirely. Education and training can be sought online without interfering with work and family commitments.

In order to get that promotion you’ve been working so hard for, it’s often necessary to further your education and training. Doing so online allows you do achieve your full career potential at your own pace, without interfering with work. In many professions, such as pharmacy, it’s often required to stay up to date with new technologies and pertinent information. A convenient way to do this is to take your continuing education courses online. Some employers are even willing to pay for a portion or all tuition and fees. After all, investing money in their employees can provide long-term benefits for employers.

There are many advantages of choosing an online education and training facility if you wish to further your education and training. There is no need to live near or commute to a school or training facility when all classes can be attended and all coursework submitted online. Attending school online is a great option for those who might have misgivings about going to college as an older student or returning after many years. Furthering your education and training at an online school can make it easier to ease into the routine of class work and projects, an can reduce the stress of feeling the need to fit in with younger college students. Further, the course availability is often convenient for those who work full time and/or care for a family. Frequently, institutions offer evening and weekend sections of courses. It is also very appealing to “go to school” from the comforts of home.

The type of education and training available online is seemingly limitless. The entire spectrum of college degrees is available to a student, including Associate’s, Bachelor’s, and PhD degrees, as well as professional certificates. These degrees are available in many different fields, including Business, Social Sciences, Humanities, Mathematics, Liberal Arts, Fine Arts, and Healthcare programs. In addition to college diplomas, continuing education for professionals is available in many areas, including Healthcare programs, Business, and Information Technology.

Affording to further your education and training online is no different from doing so in a traditional face-to-face institution. Often, financial aid is available to students in the form of grants, loans, and scholarships. It is important to check with the individual institution of interest for requirements and guidelines. Also, many employers may be willing to pay for part or all of an employee’s continuing education. Investing in an employee’s future is also investing in the employer’s future.

The misconception of continuing your education and training online is that the experience might not be as enriching or legitimate as attending face-to-face classes at a traditional college or training facility. Programs offered online present the same opportunities for group work, independent study, and interpersonal communications as their traditional counterparts. In fact, continuing your education online might help to facilitate the learning process as well as develop time management and self-motivation skills. With the prevalence of the Internet and advancements such as teleconferencing in both education and the business world today, it is possible to come away from the experience not only with a degree, but also with greater knowledge and comfort with technology. Continuing your education and training online is a valuable, convenient, and flexible way to broaden your career opportunities.

Rural Relocation – Considerations and Adjustments

So you’re thinking about going country? It’s time to abandon the frenzy of city life, drop the ‘G’ from the end of your verbs and trade your Gucci for goats. You long to be in a place where business is done on a handshake, where your backyard is bountiful and where folks welcome you with warm apple pie and a smile. You want the simple life.

Over 1.6 million people moved to rural communities during the first five years of this decade. Several stayed. This migration continues – reinforced by dozens of national and regional periodicals presenting sanitized ‘country chic’ to millions of armchair rednecks. Having read a myriad of books and magazines about goin’ county, you are convinced it is for you. Why not?

Editorials immerse you with prose of serenity found. You are infatuated by the ideal of carvin’ your own nitch in the wilderness, collectin’ the morning eggs and whittlin’ on the porch swing each evening. Throughout the country, gentlemen greet women with the tip of a hat and a polite, “Howdy Mam.” You long to raise your children in a community where graciousness abounds while folks commune with nature in perfect harmony. With each flip of the page of County Cool Magazine you feel your stress level dip.

Before you lapse completely into a coma, bear a few things in mind. Full-page glossies of family reunions held beneath towering, shabby-chic barns make for better magazine copy than centerfolds of locals trying to avoid making eye contact with your U-Haul. Stylized black and whites of cowboys branding in the parched mid-day sun sell better than snapshots of the Mayor’s dead horses being left to rot all summer long, directly in the center of town. Furthermore, triumphant tales of battling the elements flow better than ancient country septic lines. No one knows why the media doesn’t ‘glam-up’ peeing in your barn. It must just be a fickle public.

Fickle indeed. I for one moved my son from our life long home in San Diego to my birth state of South Dakota three times before it stuck. Each time I recoiled in under a year. Best friends, scores of humanities, the Pacific surf and Thai food are a lot to give up at one time. Harder still was the shattering of my rose colored glasses.

The secret to a successful relocation is knowing what to honestly expect so you can laugh cathartically when the inevitable bizarre scenarios emerge. Sudden disillusionment is rarely a knee-slapper. Nonetheless, once adjusted, country life is closer to Nirvana than most get here on Earth. Thus, while everyone else pumps pure country sunshine straight up your knickers, I consider it my obligation to provide balance to the Universe.

Almost daily I question my reasons for living in the hinterland. For these moments of apprehension, I maintain lists in my mind. My lists remind me both what drove me out of California and why I cannot abandon country life. A hardy dose of big city burn out definitely came into play. For starters, I realized I was so sick of commuting I‘d rather endure seven months per year in an icebox with no sunlight than sit in another traffic jam. With that thought alone I was ready to pull up my roots. I also decided to move.

In fact, developing a loathing of the Urban Jungle was vital to my eventual ‘success’ in relocating. In retrospect, my twig was definitely about to snap. Of course, so many city folk run around with fully bent twigs, we never realize the contorted conditions of our existence. That many people living in close proximity, under the confines of excessive regulations, is the proverbial pressure cooker.

Urbanites and recent country converts wondering if your view on life may be intensely contorted are welcome refer to my lists. They provide perspective. For example: Signs of how ‘screwed-up’ you may be would include the following.

You’re having your morning coffee, a cow walks through the front yard. You don’t own a cow. You freak out, hit 911 and sue the Meat Packers of America.

You believe shoes matching your nail polish is in any way a daily priority.

You don’t recognize that it is morally bankrupt to apply for a permit from a homeowners association to put out a lawn ornament.

You carry more electronic gadgets on your person than Radio Shack inventories.

You drive to work past ‘that same old group of homeless people.’

You smile and say, “Hi,” to strangers only because you know it screws with their minds.

Your horse board expenses equal the Gross National Product of Guatemala

You’re convinced you are invisible and need two years of plastic surgery just so city gentlemen won’t let the C-Store door spring back in your face.

You pitch a fit when your favorite salad bar serves cheese made with non-vegetarian rennet, then drive the kids to Burgers Burgers Burgers.

Your children spend more time in the TV den than in treetops and you think that’s acceptable.

You get a building permit and three estimates to hang a painting.

Any chimes ringing? If so, remove yourself form Urbania immediately! Your twig is at maximum contortion! Give the country three years and you will stay. Transition is difficult, but once your up-tight attitude is vanquished, your twig unbends. These are the indicators you are settling in to the ‘Simple Life.’

You’re having your morning coffee. A cow walks through the front yard. You don’t own a cow. You sit down and drink your coffee.

Shoes’ matching each other is low on the list of daily priorities.

Your outhouse is not just a chic lawn ornament.

You save getting the chickens drunk for when you have houseguests.

You have no idea where your cell phone went, but the Border Collie is wearing your pager.

You drive to work past ‘that same old herd of buffalo’.

Your bird feeder expenses are equivalent to the Gross National Product of Canada.

Elk mounts ordain the walls of your favorite salad bar.

Your children spend more time in the their tree house than in school.

Yes, these are definitely telltale signs, you have lost that city pace. Although you can never voluntarily raise your stress level back to match city slickers, you have not lost yourself completely. Search the little places. Vestiges of your past will appear. These are the traits of an American Hybrid.

While having your morning cappuccino, a cow walks through the front yard. You don’t own a cow. You toss it a biscotti.

You can’t decide whether to paint the walls of the outhouse in a contemporary or impressionistic motif.

You use the word motif in the same sentence with outhouse.

You actually make homemade preserves – wild chokecherries with a boisterous zinfandel you picked up in Napa last season.

Mascara before milking.

You winter in the gulf of Siam. You summer in bib overalls.

You smile and say, “Hi,” to strangers only because you know it screws with their minds.

You could never shoot a deer, but you can dress that sucker out in under two hours.

You fence in a sarong and thongs. (This one gets the neighbors talking.)

You frequently run to town for Hawaiian Tofu and Goat Chow.

You have a different pair of hiking boots for every occasion.

Egyptian cotton sheets and a commissioned replica of Picasso’s Woman with Three Breasts enclose the baby chickens being reared in your bedroom closet.

It’s true, every day more and more of us are getting too screwed up to ever return to the city. Still, for all our differences country folk and city slickers posses one commonality. Neither group thinks twice about the US Government’s Food Pyramid. I guess we have to start somewhere.

Poverty in America Humanities

Poverty in America: Over 35 million living below the poverty line

The problem of poverty in America comes as a surprise. How can a wealthy nation experience poverty? Though the rate of poverty is lower in a developed nation like America than in Africa, the problem of poverty is real. Inner-cities and rural communities in America are all affected by poverty.

In 2004 the American government defined poverty as a family of four living with an income below $18,810. However, consider the costs in America of housing, utilities, transportation, food, health care, and child care. Even this income seems too small.

The effects of poverty in America are many. Poor nutrition leads to poor health. Poor health makes study and work difficult. Poor education and an inability to work effects income. These problems must be considered alongside other issues: the problem of racism, discrimination against communities, and unequal access to education.

With over thirty-five million living below the poverty line in America, poverty looms as one of the nation's biggeset problems. It requires huge effort and imagination to begin solving the problem. At its heart, solving the problem of poverty is about the creative cultivation of the talents and dreams of all Americans.

Access to education must be equal for all. Those prospering must bear the burdens of those in need. Everyone must be helped to avoid despair and to hope for change. Everyone must recognize the offensiveness of poverty in a nation like America.

Some organizations have already begun work against poverty in America. The Catholic Campaign for Human Development seeks to transform America into a more caring nation where poverty is an offense against all. The Clemente Course is an education programme for the underpriveleged in America -- it offers a humanities education to those unable to attend University on their own.

These organizations can help you begin to explore the problem of poverty in America and to contribute to a solution.

Grants For Single Mothers

If you are a single mom and struggling to get by, you are not alone. Whether you are going through a divorce or the father is absent most single mother face the burden of supporting themselves and their children all on one income.

• Only fifteen percent of women going through a divorce are awarded any form of court-ordered spousal support.
• Thirty-four percent of those women never receive what is due to them.
• Less than half of the women who claim child support ever receive the full amount.
• Within the first year of divorce a women’s average standard of living falls forty-five percent while a man’s will grow fifteen percent.

What are grants?

A grant is an award of financial assistance. The primary purpose of a grant is to transport a thing of value from a Federal agency to a recipient to carry out a public purpose of support or incentive authorized by a law of the United States. A grant is distinguished for a contact, which is then used to acquire property or services for the Federal government's direct use or benefit.

Grants are associated by company, state, local or tribal government, research institution or academia, not-for-profit, or any other kind of institution.

Grants for single mother can be found on one of the 900 grant programs offered by the 26 Federal grant-making agencies. These programs fall into 21 broad categories defined by the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance. Agencies may fall under multiple grant categories. Below is a list of categories where grants for single mother may be found:

• Agriculture
• Arts
• Business and Commerce
• Community Development
• Consumer Protection
• Disaster Prevention and Relief
• Education
• Employment, Labor, and Training
• Energy
• Environmental Quality
• Food and Nutrition
• Health
• Housing
• Humanities
• Information and Statistics
• Law, Justice, and Legal Services
• Natural Resources
• Regional Development
• Science and Technology
• Social Services and Income Security
• Transportation

If you are a single mother seeking help with funding for your higher education you should consider exploring financial aid options such as contacting your financial aid office where you attend school. Ask about:

• Direct financial assistance from your college
• Federal and state subsidized grants
• Work-study programs
• Support from alumni, local clubs, or religious groups,
• Corporate-sponsored scholarships or tuition-aid programs for employees or for children of employees

Who can apply for grants?

If you are a citizen of the United States or a U.S. territory, or are a foreign national who has lived in the United States or a U.S. territory for at least three years immediately preceding an application, you are eligible to apply for a grant.

How do I prepare an application?

Each grant program has special instructions and program guidelines on how to properly prepare an application. Make sure to review these carefully before beginning your application for any important information about the focus of the program, eligibility requirements, and the types of funding available.

Applying for a grant is a great way for single mother in debt to get out of debt and stay out.