Monty python and the Holy Grail Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Monty python and the Holy Grail - Essay Example The main idea brought out by Blythe and Sweet is that the best way to understand and think of the swimmer is through the quest for the Holy Grail. The whole essay is mostly concentrated on relating The Swimmer to the Holy Grail. This idea is driven by the act of Neddy being helped by the old wise man, but not paying attention to his assistance, and the way he refuses to comprehend his inspiration and quest. On the other hand, the knights behave in a completely opposite manner from Neddy. These factors are what links Neddy to the Grail quest. The authors show how the Swimmer can be a story about a certain myth, and at the same time go through a critical examination and linking the Swimmer to the quest of the Holy Grail. In Cheever’s story, the lifestyle portrayed is hedonistic and sybaritic, involving a lot of drinking and partying. The cup is viewed as the Grail symbol, and here, it’s used for selfish enjoyment. Cheever uses a language that makes him Grail hero when int roducing his protagonist. Neddy Merrill has the feeling that he is a man with a destiny. Cheever insists that Neddy is a unique figure because of his youth slenderness and he has the physical ability to dive headfirst into the pool, displaying his swimming skills. He also has a wife, daughters and a mistress, which makes him a grail hero. As a Grail hero, Neddy begins his quest, but because he is drunk, he believes he can get to his home by water. His quest was a selfish one since he was doing everything just for himself.

Fashion Costume Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Fashion Costume - Essay Example This essay mainly focuses on describing terminology and types of clothes and fashion directions, that developed in fashion industry. Author suggests, that fashion is the holding style or tradition, as in dress or in their action or it is also defined as the latest and most valued style in clothes and in their behaviour. To some people, fashion is a form of art but to others fashion is nearly a religion but for most people it is way of using clothes. You can use fashion to carry yourself and also to describe your personality. In this essay various constituents of fashion are described, such as colour of clothes, lengthes, types of neckline and sleeves and different materials. For example, colours are necessary for our life because they make us feel brighter and fresh. Also this essay focuses on designers, who play a great role in telling other people and introducing fashion which is in. Media is the main source to introduce new fashions among common people. A few hypotheses and theories of fashion are described, for example a theory, that describes that wealth is necessary for maintaining clothin. Well-dressed person never wants to engage himself/herself in manual labour is the other example of such hypothese. There are some names that occupy a great position in fashion world (as fashion industry is related to the film or drama industry) such as: Howard Pyle, James Laver, Frankenstein, Pam cook, James Cameron, Edith Head, Jane Gaines, and Grace Kelly. Their influence on developing fashion costume is described in this essay.

The Successes And Failures Of The Obama Presidency Politics Essay

The Successes And Failures Of The Obama Presidency Politics Essay President Obama is seen as a successful President according to the website Politifact.com, out of the 502 promises he made during the 2008 election campaign he has so far kept 134, compromised on 41, broken 40, stalled on 69 and still has 220 in the works. He may, therefore, be seen to be a successful President. However, this was not reflected in the mid-term elections where the Democrats lost a considerable number of seats within the Senate and lost their majority within the House. In this essay I will assess the successes and failures of the Obama presidency against what he promised during his election campaign of 2008 and during his subsequent State of the Union address. I will also judge some of his successes and failures by reference to opinion polls from various news outlets, particularly whether the public approved of his handling of certain situations such as unemployment and the BP oil disaster. I will first assess his domestic successes and failures then his foreign policy successes and failures, while assessing what it means to his presidency specifically and the American political system. President Obama knew when he came into office that his first priority was to fix the economy after the recession of 2008-2009. He introduced the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 which provided a stimulus to the country; it was split into three parts at a cost of $787 billion. One-third in tax cuts and tax credits to help overcome the hardships of the recession, such as an increase in food stamp benefits and unemployment benefits; one-third on the infrastructure of the country, which included projects on transport and highway and bridge construction and repair. Finally, one-third on state stabilization to stop the states cutting essential services that the public need, such as teachers.  [2]  President Obama also bailed out the car industry, specifically Chrysler and GM, at a cost of $17.4 billion.  [3]  The necessity to save the car industry was evident as it could have led to a double dip recession. GM alone employed 300,000 workers within the United States, an d if it was to fall into insolvent administration it would have had a large impact on the economy. President Obama also initiated Cash for Clunkers scheme in which owners of cars could trade them in for more fuel efficient cars. This was very popular as the initial $1 billion in subsidies for this program was supposed to last for 90 days but actually only lasted for 9.  [4]  He also brought in measures to help nine million homeowners facing foreclosure on their homes and who could not afford to repay their mortgages. The purpose was to offer mortgage companies subsidies and incentives to help troubled home owners.  [5]   Obama also brought in regulation to control the banks after they started making profits again. He stated: We are not going to let Wall Street take the money and run  [6]  and imposed conditions before the banks could escape George W Bushs Troubled Asset Relief Programme (TARP) in which money was given to the banks in total costing $700 billion.  [7]  Even though the stimulus was intended to create jobs, they were not planned to be created until 2010-2011. In 2009 unemployment was 10% of the workforce and as of March 2011 the unemployment rate still hovers around the 10% mark.  [8]   Overall Obama has kept most of his promises regarding the economy, with very few promises broken.  [9]  However, in a poll of how he handled the economy his approval rating is only at 45% (January 2011) with 54% disapproving.  [10]  This shows that the public thinks he is handling the economy quite badly. Critics have pointed out that he has done well on the economy with Nouriel Roubini in an article in the Financial Times pointing out that he has inherited the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and that the stimulus did the right thing early and avoided another depression  [11]  Without the stimulus Jonathan Alter makes the point that 8.5 million workers would have lost their jobs. He has done well in regulating the banks and TARP with the loans with added interest that were made having now been paid back. The figures are seen as impressive as instead of $700 billion being owed to the Government, the Government is owed just under $100 billion. The Clash for Clunkers programme is estimated to have saved 120,000 jobs.  [12]  The auto industry has also been greatly improved creating 55,000 new jobs and GM paying back its bailout money five years ahead of schedule.  [13]  Obama recalls that It wasnt an easy callà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦But we decided that while providing additional assistance was a risk, the far greater risk to families and communities across our country was to do nothing.    I knew this wasnt a popular decision. But it was the right one.  [14]   The way he dealt with the housing crisis was seen to go not quite so smoothly as of the 9 million homeowners the plan hoped to assist, only 3 million were actually helped. This was due to the fact that the legislation was directed at people who the Obama administration saw as having a good reason to stay in their homes; these people often worked full time and had received sub prime mortgages. The legislation helped stop house prices falling by the predicted 20% and instead increased them by 5% although house prices are still of considerable concern to the US economy.  [15]   Where Obama has failed is in job creation. It is at its worst since 1982. Newt Gingrich of the Republican Party commented If were still at 9 or 10 percent unemployment in 2012, this is a one term president no matter how articulate he is. The unemployment rate is furthermore one of the factors why the Democrats failed in the mid-term elections losing control of the House.  [16]  As Alter states, for Obama even to be considered a success he must bring down unemployment.  [17]  Obama has been able to pass all of his economic legislation quite easily due to his previous super majorities within the House and the Senate after the election of 2008. However, as he has now reached the mid-terms and the Republican party have a majority hold within the House, he will have a much difficult time as the Republican party are likely to resist his legislative proposals. This is becoming apparent in the differences in Congress over this years budget proposals and points to the difficulty when any president is faced with his party being in a minority within Congress. One of Obamas major pledges was to reform the ailing healthcare system, as it would greatly increase the countrys debt. Healthcare spending has grown to such an extent that it is predicted to rise from one-sixth of GDP in 2009 to one-third in 2035, and by 2080 nearly half of U.S. GDP would be spent on healthcare according to the Congressional Budget Office.  [18]  Healthcare premiums had also doubled and the numbers of uninsured Americans would surpass 50 million. Families have told of being bankrupted by paying for the medical care, and of the bad treatment from insurance companies.  [19]  Obama and a Democrat Congress implemented a healthcare plan which contained new federal regulation of insurance, help for states on Medicaid, an increase in the affordability of healthcare and higher fees on employers who do not provide insurance.  [20]  This was met with fierce opposition from some on the right of the political spectrum such that no Republican congressmen voted for it , mainly encouraged by those from the extreme right of the political spectrum, such as the Tea Party movement. The healthcare plan was seen as a success as it was one of Obamas key campaign promises to ensure that some sort of healthcare plan became law, and he again mentioned in his 2010 State of the Union Address that he wanted to implement some healthcare reform.  [21]  He got his wish with the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. Although seen as a success in that he got the Democratic Congress to pass the necessary legislation, it proved unpopular with the public with one poll giving 38% approving of the healthcare plan and 53% opposing it.  [22]  However, different news organisations reported different numbers at separate times. President Obama had to rely on his presidential powers of persuasion and bargaining to get this legislation through Congress, as he influenced Senators, House members and even tried unsuccessfully to get Republicans on his side. At various times he tried to influence public opinion that such legislation was necessary. The legislation is also subject to numerous court challenges with Judge Roger Vinson in the Federal District of Pensalcola, Florida ruling that the whole legislation was void, not just the provisions for compulsory insurance.  [23]  It is likely that the Supreme Court will eventually be called upon to rule on the legislation. The importance of a president leading on controversial legislation and using all of his powers of persuasion to carry Congress and the public with him is demonstrated by the healthcare legislation. President Obamas other domestic policy initiatives include bringing in legislation on the repeal of dont ask dont tell, which stops the military from infringing on the rights of homosexual citizens if they choose to join the military; his education reforms which gave the power to close poor performing schools (which Bill Gates rated him a A for); and the equal pay legislation which promises equal pay for jobs that have equal standing. Obamas biggest domestic disaster came with the BP oil spill. Obama could be said to have handled the BP oil spill poorly as he was slow to respond and criticised for not being more emotive on the issue, saying in an interview that This is not a theatre.  [24]  Polls at the time showed a low approval rating of just 41%.  [25]  Nevertheless once the issue was resolved, it was quickly forgotten about by the media and the Government. President Obamas foreign policy is one of both successes and failures. One of Obamas main campaign promises was to withdraw from Iraq which he successfully completed on the 31 August 2010 with only a handful of troops staying in Iraq to advise Iraqi forces.  [26]  Afghanistan was the most controversial foreign policy decision during his presidency with Dick Cheney accusing him of dithering. Obama after much deliberation sent 30,000 more troops into Afghanistan with the decision to withdraw some troops in summer 2011. The President of Afghanistan accepted cash bribes from Iran which caused embarrassment to the Obama administration and General McChrystal and his staff criticised the Commander in Chief in a magazine article, calling him unimpressive and uncomfortable and intimidated. He was dismissed and replaced by General David Petraeus. Obama has made positive steps to improve U.S.-Russia relations which saw a dispute with the Bush administration over the missile defence system i n Eastern Europe which Russia strongly opposed. Obama scrapped this idea and began talks with the Russians and these resulted in good levels of cooperation with Russia over issues such as Iran and North Korea, and the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) which was approved by the Senate and became effective on the 5 February 2011.  [27]  28He made the aid funding to Pakistan conditional on its controlling terrorist activities. Obama has been successful in banning torture as an interrogation technique. He has been criticised from the right as being slow in supporting the Iranian uprisings in 2009. However, he was said to have exercised restraint on the issue as he did not want the Iranian government claiming that it was an American sponsored uprising.  [29]  Again he was criticised over his handling of the popular uprisings for democracy in 2011 in the Arab nations, such as Egypt and Tunisia, with Christopher Hitchens calling the slow response to these uprisings as a dithering responseà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦[which has] been both cynical and naive.  [30]  The same too could be said about Obamas response to the Libyan rebellion. However, it is clear that Obama wanted a multilateral response, particularly from the Arab League, and UN approval before rushing into another war.  [31]   Obama has tried to enhance relations with other countries, unsuccessfully in the case of Iran and North Korea, but successfully with Europe, China and more particularly with Russia. His meeting with the Russian President in June, 2010 at the White House was said to mark the highest point of Russian-U.S. relations since Bill Clinton went to Moscow to mark Victory Day.  [32]   Obama is said to be badly at odds with Israel with the Financial Times stating: Mr. Obama initially played tough with Mr. Netanyahu but then backed downSettlement expansion puts out of reach an agreement on borders The US veto at the UN badly damaged Mr. Obamas credibility. The resolution, after all, reflected the White Houses own stated position..Mr. Obama must choose between prevarication and the chance to sustain US influence in the worlds most troubled and strategically vital region.  [33]   His biggest failures to date are Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay. Obama acknowledges that progress in Afghanistan is limited and fragile although there has been success in resisting the Taliban and Al-Qaida.  [34]  It is still unpopular with the American public with just 31% of the American public thinking Afghanistan is worth fighting for.  [35]  Obamas most problematic issue comes with Guantanamo Bay with the website Politifact.com listing it as a broken promise. Congress and the President remaining at odds over where to put the prisoners due to the refusal of Congress to allow detainees to be imprisoned within the United States . On the 7 March 2011 Obama signed an executive order making a number of changes to his policies, with a number of news outlets noting that it is an acknowledgement that he could not keep his campaign promise of closing Guantanamo Bay.  [36]   President Obama has overall seen far more successes than failures during his Presidency although he has yet to convince the American people. Although this could all change with the losses during the mid-term elections as he will find it a lot harder to pass his legislation. His recent reforms are under threat from the Republicans, such as Healthcare and environmental legislation which they want to scrap.  [37]  The President has been nicknamed no drama Obama but as the Financial Times states this is often perceived as him having a sense of aloofness and on the national and international stage a sense of unwillingness to lead.  [38]  At the end of last week 64 senators, 32 Republican and 32 democrats, asked the President to lead on a comprehensive plan to deal with fiscal policy. As the Financial Times points out in a leader, Mr Obama should be embarrassed that the Senate finds it necessary to ask him to do his job.  [39]  The importance of a president providing leadership is again emphasised. His priorities should be to deal with the issues facing Afghanistan, the US debt burden and the unemployment crisis, because as Newt Gingrich stated he will have a hard time becoming re-elected in 2012 if he does not solve these issues. These issues will no doubt have to be grappled with by any president elected in 2012.

Investigating for Cations and Anions :: Papers

Investigating for Cations and Anions In this experiment I will investigate what cations and anions are present in various compounds. This will include carrying out a qualitative analysis, because I need to find out what type of cations and anions are there and not quantitative analysis, which includes finding out how much of each element there is. Safety Points:  · Wear glasses  · Wear gloves  · Do not mix more than two solutions  · Only mix the solutions listed by the teacher  · Handle the chemicals with extreme care  · Put the chemical solutions into a test-tube which is resting on a test-tube holder  · Follow school lab safety procedures. Materials:  · Various chemicals.  · Test tubes.  · Boiling tubes.  · Pipettes.  · Test tube holder.  · Bench mat. Method  · I first copied the chemical solutions listed.  · I put on some gloves and safety glasses.  · I got a test-tube holder and placed five test-tubes in it. Cations  · I added the test solutions Copper Chloride to the test-tube.  · To this I added a few drops of Sodium Hydroxide solution. After the few drops a pale blue precipitate of Copper Hydroxide appeared that indicated the presence of Cu ions.  · I then added the test solution Iron Chloride to the second test-tube.  · To this I added a few drops of Sodium Hydroxide.  · After that a brown precipitate of Iron Hydroxide appeared that indicated the presence of Fe ions.  · To the 3rd test-tube, I added the solution Sodium Hydrogen Carbonate and added Dilute Sodium Hydroxide.  · I quickly covered the test-tube with a delivery tube and put the end of it into another test-tube with limewater.  · The limewater turned a cloudy/milky colour which indicated that there was CO present. Anions  · In the 4th test-tube, I poured the solution Copper Chloride into the test-tube.

Discuss the reasons for the global distribution of heart disease Essay

â€Å"h The nature of Coronary Heart Disease. What is it? â€Å"h The Global distribution of Coronary Heart Disease. â€Å"h The likely causes for this – include diet, smoking, lack of exercise as a minimum. For the heart to function properly, your heart needs a steady supply of oxygen from the blood, which flows through the coronary arteries, to the heart muscle. Coronary heart disease is a term used to describe the condition when the supply is blocked by fatty deposits or a thrombosis. The arteries become blocked due to a build up of fatty material in the lining. This causes the artery to become narrower, then the heart must pump harder to force the blood through. This causes the blood pressure to rise. There are three classifications of Coronary heart disease. If the coronary arteries become partly blocked, the person may experience chest pains brought on by exertion, which desist when resting again. This form of coronary heart disease is known as angina pectoris. The pain is caused by the shortage of blood to the heart muscles. With this form of coronary heart disease there is no death of the muscle tissue. If the arteries become completely blocked by a thrombus, this will cause a myocardial infarction, more commonly known as a heart attack. During a heart attack the lack of oxygen being pumped to the heart causes the heart muscle to die, and can also be fatal. Although many people survive with immediate medical attention. The other type of coronary heart disease is heart failure. This is the blockage of the main coronary artery, which leads to the gradual damage of the heart muscles. When this occurs, the heart will become weaker and weaker  until it eventually stops pumping blood around the body efficiently. Coronary heart disease was unknown before the 20th century. The main reason for this is most probably because the majority of people died of something else before they could die of coronary heart disease. Usually some kind of infectious disease. Coronary Heart Disease is more prominent in developed countries. The main reasons for this are stress, bad diets, lack of exercise, smoking and drinking. In developed countries we are more used to taking the bus or using a car rather than walking or cycling to where we want to get to. With increasing obesity we are also getting an increase of coronary heart disease. The distribution across the United Kingdom varies. For example, the people in the UK most likely to get coronary heart disease are those in the north west of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Manual workers are at a higher risk than those who have desk jobs are. South Asians in the UK are more likely get coronary heart disease than any other ethnic group. Men are also at greater risk than women are. The most common way for coronary heart disease start is when the coronary arteries become blocked by a build up of fatty deposits, known as cholesterol. The deposits form plaques in the lining of the artery, which narrows the arteries. Also making them less elastic. The narrowing of the arteries is called arteriosclerosis. This occurs when the lining is damaged, most likely due to high blood pressure. These breaks are taken over by phagocytes. These growth factors that stimulate the growth of smooth muscle cells. Cholesterol is a fatty substance made from the saturated fat that you eat. It is essential for cells to stay healthy. Lipoproteins carry cholesterol through the body, in the blood stream. Low-density lipoproteins (LDL) take cholesterol from the liver, and take it to the cells, and high-density lipoproteins (HDL) carry excess cholesterol back to the liver. Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol is the one that tends to build up on the walls of the arteries. If your level of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol is too high, the high-density lipoproteins will not be able to remove the cholesterol sufficiently and you will be at risk of developing coronary heart disease. Thrombosis (blood clots) can also cause the coronary arteries to narrow, putting you at risk of heart attack. Coronary thrombosis occurs when blood turns from a liquid form to a solid form, creating a clot in one of the coronary arteries and stopping blood supply from getting to the heart muscle. Coronary thrombosis usually occurs at the site of existing arteriosclerosis. Agerisk increase with age. Although coronary heart disease can begin in early life Sexmales at a much higher risk than women (women protected by oestrogen until menopause, but will still be protected if they have HRT) Weightbeing overweight or obese will increase your chances Diethigh intake of animal (saturated) fats means high risk of coronary heart disease. Blood cholesterolhigh blood cholesterol levels results in high risk of coronary heart disease. High blood pressurehigh blood pressure causes higher risk of coronary heart disease. Smokingcombines with the other factors. Most common factor. Multiplies risk of getting coronary heart disease. Exercisemore exercise reduces the risk of coronary heart disease. Hereditysome families are at higher risk than others are Diabetesdiabetics have higher risk Alcoholexcessive drinking causes high blood pressure, increase risk of atheroslerosis. Moderate intake can be protective. Social classheart disease more likely to occur among manual workers The way to prevent getting coronary heart disease is to limit your intake of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and to keep you intake of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol high. Ways you can do this include: â€Å"h Reducing the amount of food we eat containing saturated fat, as the body turns this fat into low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. â€Å"h Avoiding excessive intake of egg yolks, most meats, such as pork, lamb, beef and veal, also butter, full fat milk and cream cheeses. â€Å"h Eating more pea, lentils, beans, and oats will also help to lower cholesterol as they contain fibre. â€Å"h Eat more vegetables, pulses, cereals, and fruit. â€Å"h Higher intake of anti-oxidant vitamins, such as vitamins C and E. These vitamins can prevent saturated fat being converted into cholesterol by your body. â€Å"h Nuts, like Brazil nuts are rich in selenium. This protects the body from tissue damage, like that damage causes by a myocardial infarction â€Å"h Exercising is also very important. As well as being able to control your weight, also has been proven to increase the body’s levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Which in its turn keeps your low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels down. Walking and swimming are two of the  best forms of exercise. â€Å"h Eat more oily fish like kippers, pilchards, trout, herring, sardines, mackerel and salmon. These fish contain oils that can lessen the risk of thrombosis. â€Å"h If you are a smoker, the most important thing to do to reduce your risk of coronary heart disease is to stop smoking. Smoking is the major cause of coronary thrombosis in people under 50 years old Bibliography www.who.int/ncd/cvd www.who.int/whosid/ www.nhsdirect.nhs.ukhttp://nhlbisupport.com/chd1/chdexp.htm

How to Write a Research Paper Essay

â€Å"This should be sent to a journal† â€Å"Very good work, but I’m not sure why Alan Bundy hasn’t written this? † Anonymous review: â€Å"Clearly the author fails to understands Walsh’s previous work on this topic† †¢ 1st Lesson †¢ Don’t lose heart †¢ Even if you do everything right, reviewing is imperfect Good papers will be rejected But try to learn from your knock-backs! †¢ †¢ Why you? †¢ Academic career †¢ Publish or perish †¢ Have an impact †¢ †¢ Communicate your results Many have not had the impact they deserve for being bad writers †¢ Writing is fun! Outline †¢ How to get your paper rejected. There are many traps even experienced researchers make Myself very much included †¢ †¢ Hints about how to write a paper †¢ Writing is a craft not a science! How to be rejected †¢ Submit over-length †¢ Blind man: send in 7 pages even though the instructions clearly say 5 Once they see quality of work, they’ll be pleased you sent in more material †¢ How to be rejected Submit over-length †¢ †¢ Diplomatic immunity: put extra 2 pages in appendix Appendices clearly don’t count Similarly, bibliography doesn’t count †¢ †¢ How to be rejected †¢ Submit over-length †¢ LaTeX hacker: †¢ †¢ †¢ change from 11 to 9 point font squeeze inter-line space †¦ †¢ No one will ever notice How to be rejected †¢ Submit late †¢ †¢ †¢ Deadlines are meant for everyone else Review schedules have plenty of slack Your paper is worth the wait! How to be rejected †¢ You don’t have room for space wasters like: †¢ Motivation, Background, Related work †¢ Why do review forms always have these on them anyway? How to be rejected †¢ Annoy reader/reviewer †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Proof is trivial, when it isn’t Prove the trivial Fail to cite their work Only cite yourself How to be rejected †¢ Annoy reader/reviewer †¢ Don’t bother to spell check †¢ What do computers know about spelling anyway? Use all the old cliches †¢ â€Å"There has been a lot of interest recently in global constraints. † How to be rejected †¢ Annoy reader/reviewer †¢ Be pompous, boring, †¦ †¢ This is science not literature guys, who said it should be fun? †¢ Be overly formal †¢ Theorems and formulas add weight How to be rejected †¢ Annoy reader/reviewer †¢ Make them really work †¢ After all, these are dif? cult concepts and it took you some time †¦ †¢ Ignore reviews †¢ Just keep sending paper in, eventually it will be accepted How to write a paper †¢ Hints about how to write †¢ †¢ †¢ Preparation Writing itself Ethics Preparation. Read, read, read! †¢ To learn how to write, read a lot †¢ I spend over 20% of my time reading †¢ 1 day/week in library Read, Read, Read †¢ Related literature †¢ †¢ †¢ So you can cite it So you don’t re-invent wheels So you know what others think are important research questions Read, Read, Read †¢ Other conference/journal papers where you intend to publish †¢ †¢ So you learn the â€Å"house† style So you can place your work within the bigger picture So you learn how to ask good questions †¢ Read, Read, Read †¢ Any sort of literature †¢ Magazines, novels, biographies, †¦ †¢ Writing is a skill, learn from others †¢ I read approx one novel/week as a way of trying to learn how to write And I have the luxury of writing in my own language! †¢ Review, Review, Review †¢ Review as much as you can †¢ †¢ †¢ So you see good/bad writing So you see the newest results (but see ethics) So you ask yourself good questions †¢ What is the contribution here? What are the weaknesses? †¦ Write, Write, Write †¢ The best preparation to writing is to write †¢ †¢ Writing gets easier the more you do it Writing is easier if you’ve drafted much of what you already need Writing is the best way to organize your thoughts Writing is a good way to record what you have done. †¢ †¢ Writing †¢ Work out the timetable †¢ †¢ †¢ Rushed papers frequently rejected Late papers are almost always rejected If you always write to deadlines, writing will seem more painful than it is Writing †¢ Work out the message †¢ You should be able to convey this in one sentence †¢ â€Å"We propose a new global constraint, provide a ? ltering algorithm and show it useful on some standard benchmarks† Writing †¢ Work out the message †¢ You should be able to convey this in one sentence †¢ â€Å"We identify an important class of symmetry, and show how to break it† †¢ Write to the message! Writing †¢ Distribute the work †¢ †¢ Play to your strengths If you have a native speaker, have them write intro/conclusion †¦ †¢ Write to length †¢ Brutally cut papers are frequently rejected Writing †¢ †¢ Structure paper before you write it I write template for paper with sections and subsection headings ? rst †¢ Intro, Background, Theoretical results, Empirical results, Related work, Conclusions Writing †¢ †¢ Start where you are most happy Often write from the middle outwards †¢ Theoretical results, Experiments, †¦ , Conclusions, Introduction, Abstract Writing †¢ †¢ Rule of Three Say everything 3 times! †¢ †¢ †¢ Introduce idea (introduction) Develop idea (body of paper) Summarize result (conclusions) †¢ But don’t copy verbatim the same text! Title †¢ Make it meaningful and brief †¢ †¢ Don’t make a joke Remember someone reading reference needs to be able to work out likely contents Good: the TSP phase transition Bad: Easy Problems are sometimes Hard †¢ †¢ Abstract †¢ Executive summary †¢ Try for one sentence or so on: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Motivation Method Key result Conclusions Introduction †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ What is the problem? Why is it interesting? What are your contributions? What is the outline of what you will show? Introduction. †¢ Lure the reader in a with a good ? rst sentence †¢ Bad: There has been a lot of work recently on phase transition behaviour†¦ Good: Global constraints are central to the success of constraint programming†¦ †¢ Background †¢ Often need to set scene †¢ †¢ †¢ De? ne formalism Get reader up to speed Identify research problem Body of Paper †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Derive theoretical results Propose new algorithm Describe system engineered †¦ Results †¢ Bullet proof paper †¢ Theoretical results †¢ Experiments only provide a limited view †¢ Experimental results †¢ Theory doesn’t show if results are useful in practice. Related work †¢ Has many purposes †¢ †¢ †¢ You give proper credit to prior work You are not re-inventing wheel You can compare what you do with what has been done before Conclusions †¢ †¢ Remind reader of what you have done Place work in wider context †¢ â€Å"What general lessons might be learnt from this study? † †¢ Flag all the exciting open research directions Acknowledgements †¢ Thank all who have helped you †¢ Provided code, data sets, †¦ †¢ Thank ? nancial sponsors Writing †¢ Keep it simple! †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Active, not passive Present, not past or future Long words Short sentences Writing †¢ Avoid temptation to include every result you have †¢ †¢ †¢ Paper needs to be coherent Paper needs to be understandable Many papers are rejected for having too many results! Ethics of Writing †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Authorship Citation Submission Publication Authorship †¢ Who should be an author? †¢ Anyone who has made a signi? cant contribution May not have written any text! Always err on the side of caution †¢ †¢ Authorship †¢ Who should be an author? †¢ †¢ †¢ Ask! You’ll be surprised how often people refuse You can be sure they’ll not work with you again if they feel they should be Authorship †¢ Should my advisor be an author? In ? rst few years of thesis, probably yes .. Once you graduate, you should (be able to) write papers on your own Again, ask! †¢ Citation †¢ Cite all relevant work †¢ †¢ †¢ Reviews always ask about Related Work You’ll want them to cite you It’s central to the scienti? c method †¢ We stand on the shoulders of others Citation †¢ Do I cite myself for a blind review? †¢ †¢ †¢ Yes! You must credit all previous work Either cite [Author, 2004] Or write â€Å"As Walsh has shown previously [Walsh 2004] †¦ † Submission †¢ Can I submit to multiple conferences? †¢ What’s the deal with the disclaimer (†This paper is not under review ..†)? †¢ Can I submit to a journal immediately? †¢ †¢ No hard and fast rules My rule, once reviews are back and paper is effectively in press †¦ Publication †¢ Can I publish my conference paper as it is in a journal? †¢ Probably not, even though conference is not archival Most journals ask you to extend conference paper substantially †¢ †¢ Proofs, more experiments, †¦ Final words †¢ It takes time to learn how to write †¢ Don’t be put off if at ? rst your have papers rejected All of us have papers rejected †¢ †¢ Spend time learning how to write †¢ It will be worth the investment.