Exploratory Essay Definition and Examples

An exploratory essay is a short work of nonfiction in which a writer works through a problem or examines an idea or experience, without necessarily attempting to back up a claim or support a thesis. In the tradition of the Essays of Montaigne (1533-1592), an exploratory essay tends to be speculative, ruminative, and digressive. William Zeiger has characterized the exploratory essay as open: [I]t is easy to see that expository composition—writing whose great virtue is to confine the reader to a single, unambiguous line of thought—is closed, in the sense of permitting, ideally, only one valid interpretation. An exploratory essay, on the other hand, is an open work of nonfiction prose. It cultivates ambiguity and complexity to allow more than one reading or response to the work. (The Exploratory Essay: Enfranchising the Spririt of Enquiry in College Composition. College English, 1985) Examples of Exploratory Essays Here are some exploratory essays by famous authors: The Battle of the Ants, by Henry David ThoreauHow It Feels to Be Colored Me, by Zora Neale HurstonNaturalization, by Charles Dudley WarnerNew Years Eve, by Charles LambStreet Haunting: A London Adventure, by Virginia Woolf Examples and Observations: The expository essay tries to prove all of its contentions, while the exploratory essay prefers to probe connections. Exploring links between personal life, cultural patterns, and the natural world, this essay leaves space for readers to reflect on their own experience, and invites them into a conversation...(James J. Farrell, The Nature of College. Milkweed, 2010)I have in mind a student writing whose model is Montaigne or Byron or DeQuincey or Kenneth Burke or Tom Wolfe...The writing is informed by associational thinking, a repertory of harlequin changes, by the resolution that resolution itself is anathema. This writer writes to see what happens.(William A. Covino, The Art of Wondering: A Revisionist Return to the History of Rhetoric. Boynton/Cook, 1988) Montaigne on the Origin of the Essays Recently I retired to my estates, determined to devote myself as far as I could to spending what little life I have left quietly and privately; it seemed to me then that the greatest favour I could do for my mind was to leave it in total idleness, caring for itself, concerned only with itself, calmly thinking of itself. I hoped it could do that more easily from then on since with the passage of time it had grown mature and put on weight.But I find— Variam semper dant otia mentis[Idleness always produces fickle changes of mind]* —that, on the contrary, it bolted off like a runaway horse, taking far more trouble over itself than it ever did over anyone else; it gives birth to so many chimeras and fantastic monstrosities, one after another, without order or fitness, that, so as to contemplate at my ease their oddness and their strangeness, I began to keep a record of them, hoping in time to make my mind ashamed of itself.(Michel de Montaigne, On Idleness. The Complete Essays, trans. by M.A. Screech. Penguin, 1991) *Note: Montaignes terms are the technical ones of melancholy madness. Characteristics of the Exploratory Essay In the quotation from Montaigne [above], we have several of the characteristics of the exploratory essay: First, it is personal in subject matter, finding its topic in a subject that is of deep interest to the writer. Second, it is personal in approach, revealing aspects of the writer as the subject at hand illuminates them. The justification for this personal approach rests in part on the assumption that all people are similar; Montaigne implies that, if we look honestly and deeply into any person, we will find truths appropriate to all people. Each of us is humankind in miniature. Third, notice the extended use of figurative language (in this case the simile comparing his mind to a runaway horse). Such language is also characteristic of the exploratory essay.(Steven M. Strang, Writing Exploratory Essays: From Personal to Persuasive. McGraw-Hill, 1995)

The Music Of Duke Ellington - 898 Words

I attended the Jazz Ensembles Concert, The Music of Duke Ellington, on Wednesday, September 30, 2015 at the Griffin Concert Hall, University Center for the Arts. I was not really sure what to expect since I had never experienced Jazz in a concert hall setting, however, I believe I am still able to make an informed and unbiased review. Not only was this my first Jazz concert, but it was also my first time visiting the University Center for the Arts. I was greeted immediately and with a very welcoming attitude by staff that was willing to guide me in the right direction when locating the entrance to the Griffin Concert Hall. I felt for such a professional environment I should have been paying a lot of money to be enjoying a show at this facility. Proceeding into the concert hall I observed a nearly every seat full with people of all ages. I sat rather close to the stage so I could get a good look and really observe facial expressions and demeanor of the personnel. After peaking though my program to better understand what to expect throughout the concert, I realized there were going to be two performances with 2 different ensembles as well as directors. Promptly at 7:30 pm, the band of Jazz Ensemble II came out, gathered their places on stage, and began to play â€Å"Things Ain’t What They Used to Be† by Mercer Ellington. I immediately recognized the stereotypical jazz setup such as the primary melodic instruments: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, as well as the piano, bass andShow MoreRelatedDuke Ellington: the Music, Politics, and His Story4342 Words   |  18 PagesDuke Ellington: The Music, Politics, and his Story Duke Ellington was a musical and political genius; he was â€Å"America’s only original musical mind.† He was not only a performer, but a composer. He learned the craft of composing by observing others instead of disciplined study. One important factor of Ellington’s music was its relation to black heritage and African American history. His symphony â€Å"Black, Brown, and Beige† displayed the African American struggle in America. Not only did EllingtonRead MoreDuke Ellington Essay746 Words   |  3 PagesDuke Elington Duke Ellington was an American jazz bandleader, composer, and pianist. He is thought of as one the greatest figures in jazz. The French government honored him with their highest award, the Legion of Honor, while the government of the United States awarded him with the highest civil honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He played for the royalty and for the common people and by the end of his fifty-year career, he had played over 20,000 performances worldwide. HeRead MoreEssay On Duke Ellington1506 Words   |  7 PagesDuke Ellington: 1899-1974 Edward â€Å"Duke† Kennedy Ellington was born April 29, 1899 in Washington, D.C. Duke Ellington was born into a typical family with average income and growing up, the future musician was home-schooled by his parents. His father James Edward Ellington and mother Daisy Kennedy Ellington were both pianist. His father played operatic arias while parlor songs were his mother’s first choice. It is an interesting fact that Duke is not actually Ellington’s name, but it is only hisRead MoreDuke Ellington Essay1260 Words   |  6 PagesDuke Ellington Duke Ellingtons pre-eminence in jazz is not only because of the very high aesthetic standard of his output and not simply due to his remarkable abilities as a pianist, composer and bandleader, but also to the fact that he has extended the boundaries of jazz more than any other musician, without abandoning the true essence of the music. Perhaps no other American musician left such a massive and challenging legacy in composition and performance. Edward Kennedy Duke EllingtonRead MoreDuke Ellington Essay1129 Words   |  5 PagesDuke Ellington The Harlem Renaissance was an era full of life, excitement, and activity. The world in all aspects was in gradual recovery from the depression. The world of music was expanding, sharing it’s enthusiasm throughout the world. The evolution of jazz aroused the curiosity of the nation. As Blacks received their freedom, they were able to express themselves as talented individuals. Certain blacks contributed immensely to the era of jazz, for example, Duke Ellington. Ellington enteredRead MoreEssay on A Portrait Of Duke Ellington By Tracy Frech1748 Words   |  7 PagesPortrait of Duke Ellington By Tracy Frech Duke Ellington is considered to be one of the greatest figures in the history of American music. Edward Kennedy quot;Dukequot; Ellington was born in Washington D.C. on April 29, 1899. His parents were James Edward and Daisy Kennedy Ellington. They raised Duke as an only child, until his sister, Ruth, was born when Duke was sixteen years old. Duke, even as a teenager, had a great talent for music. In the beginning of his musical life, Duke began to takeRead MoreAlvin Ailey And The Civil Rights Movement1233 Words   |  5 Pageschoreographer, dancer, and activist whose work focused on the narrative of the African American during the Great Depression and the Civil Rights Movement. Informed and inspired by black church services, gospel music, and everything spiritual, the collaborations between him and Duke Ellington come as no surprise. Ellington’s career also focused on depicting â€Å"the character and mood and feeling of [his] people†, except he executed this artistry through musicianship in composing, conducting, songwritingRead MoreMHL 145 Chapter 6 Essay725 Words   |  3 Pagesï » ¿ 1. Describe the ways in which swing music and popular culture were interrelated during the time known as the swing era. There were many ways in which swing music and popular culture were interrelated during the time known as the swing era. Jazz became the cornerstone of popular culture during the period known as the swing era. The swing era influenced clothing styles, retail marketing, fashion, dance, and even language. Swing fans had their own clothing style and built a social phenomenon aroundRead MoreThe Most Influential African American Composers Of The Twentieth Century976 Words   |  4 PagesEdward Kennedy â€Å"Duke† Ellington Duke Ellington is considered to be one of the most influential African-American composers of the twentieth century. He was a composer, bandleader, songwriter, and a musician.   Duke Ellington was born in Washington D.C on April 29, 1899 and died on May 24, 1974 in New York, New York. Often times,   Duke’s music was called â€Å"American Music† because it was for America, later his music was placed under the category of Jazz. After his death, Duke’s musical reputation wasRead More Duke Ellington: An American Legacy Essays1818 Words   |  8 Pages Duke Ellington: An American Legacy nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Where would music be had it not been for the men that stepped before him. The Motzarts and Beethovens, who wrote the music that today is known as the classics. These men were naturals in their own right, but these people wrote their music in the 17th and 18th century. Many people dont realize all of the changes that music had to go through between that period of music and the present day. One such musician stands alone at the top

History of Early New York Immigration Free Essays

Immigration is an event that has been occurring in New York since 1624 when the Dutch West India Company assembled thirty families from Holland to established a settlement that became known as New Netherland. Many immigrants came to our nation looking for opportunities that their country could not provide for them. The prospect of political and religious liberty, as well as opportunities for economic advancements brought millions of immigrants to America. We will write a custom essay sample on History of Early New York Immigration or any similar topic only for you Order Now Through the years, immigration has played a key role in the New York†s economic, political and social development in both positive and negative ways. During the colonial era most immigrants came from northern European countries. Their numbers declined with the onset of the Revolutionary War during the 1770†³s, but immigration picked up strongly again during the 1840s and 1850s. Between 1840 and 1860, the New York received its first great wave of immigrants. In Europe as a whole, famine, poor harvests, rising populations and political unrest caused an estimated five million people to leave their homelands each year. In Ireland, blight attacked the potato crop, and upwards of 750,000 people starved to death. Many of the survivors emigrated. The failure of the German Confederation†s Revolution of 1848-49 led many of its people to emigrate. Many settled in New York City, where the population increased from 200,000 residents in 1830 to 515,000 in 1850. By 1860, New York was home to over one million residents. More than half of the city†s population at that time were immigrants and their American-born children. The masses of immigrants were overwhelming. By 1887, it became obvious that Castle Garden (immigrant receiving station) was too small to process the large numbers of immigrants pouring into the New York. The Castle Garden was so small that criminals were simply hanging out at the receiving station to rob the immigrants inside, instead of waiting for them to get on the streets. Thus, the government built Ellis Island in 1892 and immigrants continued pouring in. The number of immigrants was so great that by 1910 immigrants and their families composed over half the total population of New York. During Industrialization many â€Å"new† immigrants on their way out of Southern and Eastern Europe due to over population and religious persecution. Approximately 25 million arrived between 1866 and 1915. While earlier immigrants had come mainly from northern European countries such as England, Germany, and the Scandinavian countries, by the 1880s most â€Å"new† immigrants were arriving from southern and eastern countries such as Italy, Poland, and Russia. More than a million immigrants arrived in each of the years 1905, 1907, and 1910, some fleeing the â€Å"pogroms† (organized massacres) taking place in Eastern Europe, and others seeking a life that they could never have within the borders of their poverty-stricken countries. These later immigrants, arriving from southern and eastern Europe, were Czechs, Poles, Ukrainians, Serbs, Slovaks and Russian, as well as Italians, Greeks, Hungarians, and Rumanians. Approximately ten percent of them were Jews fleeing the repressive policies of Czarist Russia under Alexander III, although Roman and Orthodox Catholics were among the arrivals. The tremendous industrial growth of the late nineteenth century created an unprecedented demand for workers. The construction of canals and railroads required an enormous force of unskilled laborers. Hence, practically all the â€Å"new† immigrants found jobs in transportation, mining, and manufacturing. Without this supply of labor, New York â€Å"s industrial expansion could not have taken place. A few exceptional immigrants rose to positions of wealth and power. But for the great mass of immigrants, success meant something much more limited. It meant better wages, money in the bank, ownership of a home, and a brighter future for their children. Even though immigrants helped to make the Industrial Revolution possible they faced opposition in economics and politics. The response to these newcomers was unfriendly and inhospitable. The Americans who saw their job security challenged by immigrants that were willing to work longer hours for lower wages did not welcome. The new comers did not have the same culture as the first immigrants that had come from Northern and Western Europe. Most lacked skills and very few spoke English, some could not read or write in any language. The Slavic and Polish (excluding Jewish) immigrants groups were viewed as unskilled, illiterate, and transient and were seen as a bigger threat to New York institutions than the other European ethnic groups. They were not ambitious people, tended to keep to themselves, and were opposed to the American idea of materialism. Many of the Slavs and Poles distrusted New York public schools; they withdrew their children from school and encouraged them to seek training in a trade, thus allowing a high rate of dropouts. Likewise, Italians were discriminated against because they also provided cheap labor and, naturally of a clannish nature, tended to move and settle as a group in Italian communities where they only worked with fellow countrymen and did not learn the ways of urban life. Americans thought that Italians did not assimilate into the American culture well since they held on their old-country traditions and cultures so strongly. Assimilation was important to the Americans because they were fearful of the change that came with other cultures, not to mention their resentment towards the new languages already replacing English in several parts of the cities. The Italians also brought the Mafia, which although in Italy enforced justice, came under the control of criminals in New York, and became known for racketeering, blackmail, and extortion. The immigrants were blamed for creating disorder and violence in the cities, and in general, were thought to be â€Å"birds of passage† who would use the American economy to make their fortunes, then return to their native land taking American dollars. The ever-growing influx of immigrants disturbed many native-born Americans who were annoyed by the newcomers† appearance and way of life. They expected these people, no matter what their place of origin, to conform to Anglo-Saxon patterns of behavior and to cherish the institutions of America. These anti-immigrant, natives, sentiments, and the hatred and prejudice toward these immigrants led to the passing of immigration laws that greatly restricted the flow of immigration . The first restrictive law prevented immigration of lunatics, criminals, polygamists, people with diseases, and those likely to be public charges. In August of 1882, the first federal immigration law was adopted. This law put a head tax on all immigrant passengers. Laws from notes. Many American believed that these immigration restrictions were necessary to keep the New York city from deteriorating. The population living in cities of over 30,000 increased from ten percent of the total in 1860 to more than twenty-five percent of the total US population by 1900. The pressure of the tremendous inflow of immigrants quickly outstripped the ability of the New York†s established institutions to cope with them. Already poor in the Old Country, for the most part, they arrived in America penniless and made their homes in the growing tenements of America†s major cities, like New York. The severe strain on the housing situation coupled with discriminatory practices eventually led to the creation of ghettos. Women and children were often sent to work to contribute to the survival of the family, old-world views that eventually led to wholesale exploitation of child labor. Poverty on a never-before-seen scale became the norm in America†s urban centers. Perplexed, poor, and lacking knowledge of the American lifestyle, these immigrants were used as a low-paid labor force for dirty jobs that nobody else wanted and felt the harshness of Industrialism the most. They did not know their bosses, class animosity often divided management and labor, and their interests and wants were of little concern to the corporations. Because these people did not have the proper education, many of them remained unskilled or semi-unskilled throughout their lives. Although many could not attain the work skills they needed, they gained many other things. By the early 1900†³s, ninety percent of those who could not speak English learned to do so in less than ten years after they arrived, and only a third was still illiterate. Despite their many hardships, the new immigrants were determined to make it in the New World. For example, the Slavs† ability to take the worst jobs and stick with them enabled them to become one of the top two ethnic groups representing employees of America†s leading industries . It was the clashing of old-world views with those of new-world ideas that forced compromises that helped to advance social and political thoughts. The cities would not have grown without people to provide cheap labor in the factories, and it was the willingness to provide a cheap source of labor and to work the most difficult and menial jobs that helped enable the United Stated to make the economic gains that she made. The stamina and perseverance of the immigrants made America and industrial giant and the world economic power it is today Even though immigrants helped to make the Industrial Revolution possible they faced opposition in economics and politics. Although New York benefited from immigration they tended to regard the newcomers as competitors for their jobs. This is understandable not only because of fluctuations of the economy, which caused unemployment but because immigrants were often used as strike. The â€Å"new† immigrants that came to America that could read, write, speak, and understand English were lated by many political supports. Those people feared that if an immigrant were gain power in politics that they might try to incorporate their old customs and traditions in politics. Many Americans even opposed the idea of allowing immigrants the right to vote. Even after immigrants were to become Americanized, political supports fought to keep immigrants from participating in politics. How to cite History of Early New York Immigration, Essay examples

Business Communication Skills Sales and Marketing

Question: Discuss about theBusiness Communication Skillsfor Sales and Marketing. Answer: Cespedes, F. V. Bova, T., 2015. What sales people need to know about the new B2B landscape. Harvard Bussiness review. Cespedes and Bova urge in their articles that organizations need to embrace and adopt new changes which are emerging in the sales and marketing field. Specifically, they are talking about business to business sales (B2B). Firms participating in selling should know that selling process is more centered on the customer than the buyer (Cespedes Bova, 2015). Therefore, it is their role to ensure that all the selling models they design incorporate the modern elements which are cropping up in the market. They outline that the AIDA model which B2B firms employ together with CRM systems to analyze the marketing and selling strategies do not adequately address the dynamism that exists in the market. Their argument is based on Gartner research, which they say indicates a very different modern purchasing reality. According to Cespedes and Bova, the Gartner research shows that buyer no longer move sequentially through a funnel when making a purchase decision, but they work through four parallel streams. The activities involved in this streams are exploring, evaluating, engaging and experiencing. Therefore, it vital for B2B companies to understand where their customers are and how to interact with them appropriately at the different stream levels. They go forth to offer suggestions on how a firm can align their operations with these new changes. Firstly, they suggest that it is vital for a B2B business to recognize that, regardless of the path that the clients take, the sales force is of the uttermost importance. This is because the customers prefer to interact with people who will aid them reach an effective buying decision. However, they warn that despite the advancements in technology and the popularity of social media, the latter have insignificant effects on the buying habits of the clients. Therefore, B2b firms are advised not to prioritize the social media platform in engaging their customers. Cespedes and Bova further point out that, across all the buying streams the buyers emphasized on the relevance of their interactions with sellers in meeting their organization needs. Secondly, they suggest that buying is a continuous and dynamic process. This implies that changes are inevitable in this sphere. For instance, they note that customers no longer rely on references made by the sellers but prefer to obtain such information from their fellow buyers through community websites. Furthermore, they cite the role of merchant websites in influencing purchasing decisions. Hence they call for close coordination between the sales and marketing departments in B2B business. Finally, they suggest that there no given selling methodology that can address all the buyers needs. This is because aligning buying and selling is a process which is impacted upon by variable factors. Recommendations Cespedes and Bova's article challenges those in B2B business to consider integrating changes which are occurring in their environment into their selling strategies. Failure to do so will render their measures ineffective since they will not address the needs of buyers sufficiently. Rather than being carried away with the idea of social media, B2B business should concentrate on strengthening their sales force.