Thursday, November 28, 2019

Gulivers Travels Essays - Gullivers Travels, Houyhnhnm,

Gulivers Travels Gulliver's Travels Author Info Swift was dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin when his novel came out. Since in this book he wrote about and often harpooned-prominent political figures, he published the book anonymously. While most readers were trying like mad to find out who the author was. Swift's close friends had fun keeping the secret. Londonwas stunned with thoughts about the author's identity, as well as those of some of his characters. Swift's dying years were a torment. He suffered awful bouts of dizziness, nausea, deafness, and mental incapacity. In fact, Swift's harshest critics tried to discredit the Travels on the grounds that the author was mad when he wrote it. But he wasn't. The Travels were published in 1726- and Part IV, which raised the most controversy, was written before Part III- and Swift didn't enter a mental institution until 1742. He died in 1745. The Plot Gulliver's Travels is the story about Lemuel Gulliver as he travels to the strange lands of Lilliput, Brobdingnag, the kingdom of Laputa, and the land of the Houyhnhnms. In Lilliput people are six inches high, and Gulliver, in comparison, is a giant, or a Man-Mountain, as the little people call him. Gulliver becomes involved with the domestic problems of the Lilliputian government. The government made to deal with Gulliver. The document outlines the terms of his freedom. One of these terms is that Gulliver must help the Lilliputians in their war against Blefuscu . Gulliver steels the enemy's fleet and takes it across the harbor back to Lilliput. For a short time he's a hero. But Gulliver intervenes in the peace talks, and gets a more profitable treaty for the Blefuscudians than they would have had gotten. After that it's downhill for Gulliver. When he pee's onto a fire at the palace and there by saves the royal chambers, he is put on trial for disobeying a law prohibiting public urination. This and some other charges against Gulliver result in a conviction of high treason, punishable by blinding. Gulliver doesn't feel like having that done so he escapes to Blefuscu. Part II, which takes place in the land of Brobdingnag. This time Gulliver is extremely small compared to the giant Brobdingnagians. After a short time as a working freak. Gulliver is rescued by the king and queen and lives a life of comfort. He spends much of his time learning the language and talking with the king about life in England. The king turns out to be as a fair, merciful ruler and a very sympathetic and humane man. Gulliver, in comparison seems petty, vindictive, and cruel like the Lilliputians. One day while on an walk with the king and queen, Gulliver's box/house is kidnapped by a bird with him inside and dropped in the sea, and is then recovered by an English ship. Gulliver stays in England a while with his family then goes back to sea. In Part III, where Gulliver goes to the flying island of Laputa and some of its colonies nearby. His first stop is Laputa, where the people have one eye turned inward and one eye turned up to the sky. They're thinking always of their own thoughts (inward) and of other issues like mathematics, astronomy and music (upward). They're so focused they need flappers to hit them self's on the ear to let them know someone is talking to them. The Laputans are so distracted from everyday life that they're barely aware of their wives. Because the Laputans are bossy rulers of their colonies, and because they pay little attention to Gulliver, he gets sick of them and goes on to the island of Balnibarbi. There Gulliver becomes friendly with Count Munodi, who is the only one on the island who lives in a nice well-built house and whose lands yield crops. The other people engaged in scientific research and do everything according to the most sophisticated way possible. Therefore their houses are in ruins and their land are the same way. Gulliver visits the Academy of the Projectors to learn more about them, and witnesses a series of totally useless, wasteful experiments. In Luggnagg Gulliver meets the Struldbrugs, a race of people who are immortal.

Sunday, November 24, 2019

How to Write a Book Blurb that Sells (with Examples)

How to Write a Book Blurb that Sells (with Examples) How to Write a Book Blurb: A Guide for Novelists Last updated: 09/12/2018Creating a book blurb, while still technically writing, is closer to a science than an art. The blurb that appears on the back cover of your book, and on your Amazon page, will either:Work by convincing readers to take a chance on it, orFail to engage your target readers.In that sense, a good blurb is anything but subjective. In this post, three publishing editors have shared their secret behind writing the best blurb for your novel.What is a blurb?A blurb is a short description of a book that is written for promotional purposes. Traditionally, it would be found on the inside back cover of a hardback. As paperback publishing developed, readers began seeing the blurb appearing on the back cover. Generally, 150-200 words are more than enough for a full blurb.In the modern publishing landscape, where more books are being purchased online than in bricks and mortar stores, you are more likely to encounter blurbs on the product page of Amazon or any other digital re tailer. Sometimes, you will hear them referred to as ‘book descriptions.’ So now that we have our basic definition out of the way, let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work.How to write a book blurb in 4 stepsâ€Å"The opening of your blurb has to be incredibly precise and dynamic,† says editor Rebecca Heyman. â€Å"For a lot of first-time authors, I think there's an instinct to make sure readers understand everything that happened in the book’s universe before the beginning of the actual story. That's generally a mistake.†So if it shouldn’t set the stage for a reader who’s about to dive into your book, what should your blurb do?Without further ado, here's how to write a blurb in 4 steps. Read this: "How to write a novel's blurb in 4 steps" 1. Introduce your main character(s)At its core, novels are a storytelling medium, and that means your blurb has to be about characters. Consciously or not, readers check out the synopsis to see whether they want to spend time with your main characters. They don’t need to know their entire backstory, though - just enough to understand how they figure into the story’s primary conflict...2. Set the stage for your primary conflictThe primary conflict is what drives your story. It’s Harry Potter doing battle against Voldemort and his minions, FBI Agent Clarice Starling negotiating with Hannibal Lecter, or Captain Ahab’s obsessive vendetta against a whale. Without a real-world conflict, you don’t have a story readers can sink their teeth into. This blurb is a lot shorter than the previous examples. It’s a perfect introduction to the hard-boiled, no-nonsense narration style of the books. The short sentences and sardonic interjections (â€Å"Not much of a welcome† and â€Å"not a chance in hell†) might read like clichà ©s, but they capture a traditional hero in the Bogart mold.Also, the blurb gives us a sense of the setting. There’s no reason the reader should be aware of Margrave, but its repetition and context let us know that this is not a friendly town. Without having to spell it out, we can tell that Jack Reacher is about to encounter some small-minded locals.Of course, there are plenty of books to draw inspiration from. Just reach up on to your bookshelf and pull down your favorite book - see how they go about establishing characters, stakes, and conflict.As you’ve hopefully seen, your blurb is one of your book's biggest sales influencers, and it demands as much, if not more, attent ion than any other part of your marketing plan. The time and effort you put into refining and testing your blurb is money in the bank.What are some of the best book blurbs you’ve seen on an Amazon page or on a back cover? Share them in the comments below and tell us why you like them.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Personal Assessment of Management Skills Assignment - 1

Personal Assessment of Management Skills - Assignment Example The areas that I scored the highest were in the motivation segment and the solving problems creatively. These two areas showed that I love coming up with solutions for a specific problem. I also love motivating others by giving them advice and counselling them when the need arises. Two areas that showed that I needed improvement were gaining power and influence and building effective team and teamwork. It is important that I learn how to positively influence other employees to lead them in an effective manner. I should develop better skills in building teamwork with my colleagues. This is because teamwork is a significant aspect for any organization. After noting down my personal scores, I also noted down the scores of my associates. These are people who know me well enough to be in a position to rate and assess my management skills. From the results, I was able to determine the areas that showed the greatest variance between my personal assessment and the assessment of my associates. The areas that showed the greatest variance are motivating others and empowering and delegating. There are reasons that can explain the great variance in these two areas. In motivating others, my associates may have considered the instances where despite my efforts, I may not effectively motivate others as they expected of me. In empowering and delegating, my associates could have also overlooked the small acts of motivation I make to people without necessarily having to talk about