Essay writing basics

At first, writing an essay may appear to be an intimidating task; nevertheless, gaining an understanding of the fundamentals will help you approach it with confidence. To keep in mind, the following are some important points:

Understanding of the Prompt

Read the essay prompt or question with great attention and make sure you understand it. Figure out the most important aspects or requirements.

Create an Outline

Creating an outline for your essay is the second step you should take before beginning to write it. The organization of your thoughts and the establishment of a coherent structure for your essay will both be facilitated by this.

Introduction

Begin your essay with an interesting introduction that gives a thesis statement, which is a condensed synopsis of the primary point or argument that you will be presenting in your essay.

Body Paragraphs

The body of your essay should be composed of numerous paragraphs, each of which should present a separate point that substantiates your thesis statement.

Every paragraph should begin with a topic sentence that presents the primary idea that will be discussed in the paragraph. In order to back up your claims, you should provide proof, examples, and logic.

Transition Words

Words and phrases that serve as transitions should be utilized in order to create a seamless connection between your thoughts and paragraphs. This contributes to the logical flow of your article.

Conclusion

Include a powerful conclusion at the end of your essay that restates your thesis statement in a different way and highlights the important points you have made throughout the essay. Keep in mind that the conclusion should not contain any new information.

Revision and Editing

After you have finished writing your essay, you should go back and review it to ensure that it is clear, coherent, and correct. In addition to ensuring that your thoughts are articulated in a way that is understandable, check for grammar and spelling problems.

Cite Sources

If you are going to use sources in your essay, you need to make sure that you mention them correctly in accordance with the citation style that is required (for example, APA or MLA).

Feedback

In order to enhance the quality of your essay, it is advisable to solicit input from other individuals, such as professors, peers, or writing tutors, if it is feasible to do so.

Practice

Just like any other skill, the ability to write essays becomes better with practice. Continue to write and look for opportunities to improve your writing skills throughout the day.

Providing you adhere to these fundamentals, you will be able to compose an essay that is well-structured, cohesive, and successfully communicates your thoughts.

What Was the First Banned Book in History?

Because the act of restricting or suppressing literature spans numerous cultures and millennia, and our records from ancient civilizations are not always full, identifying the “first” banned book in history can be a bit of a challenge.

This is because the act of prohibiting or suppressing literature dates back to ancient times. Nevertheless, the following are some early examples:

“The Analects” by Confucius

From “The Analects” written by Confucius: Around the year 213 BCE, during the Qin Dynasty in China, Emperor Qin Shi Huang issued an edict that led to the destruction of a great number of books and records, particularly those that were seen to be a threat to his authority.

The works of Confucius were a part of this collection. The objective was to bring together different schools of thought and philosophies in order to bolster the Emperor’s rule.

The Works of Sappho

The Works of Sappho” Another early example is the lyrical poet Sappho of Lesbos, who lived around 630 BCE and 570 BCE respectively.

Her works, many of which glorified love and beauty, particularly between women, were eventually destroyed by early Christian authorities, and only fragments of her writings have survived to the present day.

The Bible

The Bible Throughout the years, numerous authorities and groups have tried to suppress various versions or translations of the Bible by either outright banning them or attempting to do so.

For example, in the 13th century, certain portions of the Talmud were judged to be inappropriate and burned in Paris.

Even if these are just a few illustrations, it is crucial to have an understanding that the idea of “banning” a book has shown itself in a variety of ways throughout history and in a variety of civilizations.

Sometimes it involves governmental proclamations and destruction, while other times it could be a more passive kind of suppression, such as by not reproducing or spreading a work. Suppression can take several forms.

Why Do People Believe the Earth Is Flat?

Even though the overwhelming majority of scientific research points in the opposite direction, there are still some people who hold the belief that the Earth is flat. A few of the causes are as follows:

Misunderstanding of Scientific Principles

It’s possible that some people don’t fully comprehend or aren’t familiar with the fundamental scientific principles that are associated with the form of the Earth.

This includes having a solid grasp of gravity, the spinning of the Earth, and space travel.

Skepticism and Mistrust of Authorities and Institutions

There is a growing trend of skepticism and mistrust toward authorities and institutions, such as the government and academic institutions.

Some people are under the impression that these organizations are participants in a vast plot to conceal the “truth.”

They may see their belief in a flat Earth as a kind of defiance or doubt directed on the established authority figures in their society.

Confirmation bias and echo chambers

With the advent of the internet, it is easy to discover material that supports any belief, regardless of how accurate the information may or may not be according to scientific standards.

If a person is leaning toward the belief that the Earth is flat, they can find a wealth of resources online that appear to support this claim and help them solidify their position.

These echo chambers serve to reaffirm their opinions and make individuals more resistant to evidence that runs counter to their assumptions.

Cognitive Dissonance

Cognitive dissonance is the mental discomfort experienced by a person who maintains two or more conflicting ideas, values, or perceptions at the same time.

In other words, cognitive dissonance occurs when a person’s views, values, or perceptions are in direct opposition to one another.

Some people choose to alleviate this discomfort by rejecting the widely held concept that the Earth is spherical in order to identify themselves with an alternate belief system. Others choose to affirm that the Earth is flat.

Religious or Cultural Beliefs

Beliefs Derived From Religion Or Other Cultures There are those who subscribe to the literal interpretations of particular religious or ancient writings which characterize the Earth as being flat.

In these situations, religious or cultural views may be given more weight than the general opinion of the scientific community.

Misinterpretation of Sensory Experience

The curvature of the Earth is not something that people can immediately sense in their day-to-day lives since it is not there to be perceived.

We move about as though we are walking on a flat surface, which can give the impression that the horizon is also level. Because of this, some people develop the naive empirical notion that the surface of the Earth is flat.

Conspiracy Theory Culture

Believing in conspiracy theories can provide a sense of excitement and a sense of belonging to a community.

Having the mindset that you are one of the select few who are in possession of “the truth” might give one a feeling of superiority or exclusivity.

It is essential to keep in mind that the idea that the Earth is flat is held by a minority of people. The great majority of scientists agree that the Earth is an oblate spheroid, which means that it is round but somewhat flattened at its poles and slightly bulging at its equator. This hypothesis is supported by actual facts and observations.

13 Reasons Why Your Child Doesn’t Listen

It can be frustrating to try to figure out why your child doesn’t listen, but doing so is an essential part of successfully managing parenthood. Here are thirteen possible explanations for why your child could not be listening to you:

1. Age and Development

Have a natural interest in discovering new things and are frequently engrossed in their own world of discovery and education. It’s possible that they haven’t reached the level of concentration and self-control required to listen attentively yet.

2. Distractions

It doesn’t matter if it’s a toy, a pet, a television show, or an interesting sight; children are readily sidetracked by their immediate environment.

3. Lack of Understanding

It’s possible that children, depending on their age and how well they’ve developed their language skills, won’t fully grasp what is being requested of them.

4. Overwhelmed

Is the feeling that some children have when they are confronted with an excessive amount of knowledge all at once. It’s possible that the instructions need to be simplified or divided up into a number of smaller phases.

5. Needs Are Not Met

If a youngster is hungry, weary, or not feeling well, they are likely to have a decreased ability to pay attention to what is being said to them.

6. Testing Boundaries

Children frequently put limitations to the test in an effort to gain independence and better comprehend the norms of the environment in which they live. It’s a natural step in the progression of their growth.

7. A lack of interest

 Just like adults, children are more prone to zone out when they aren’t interested in what is being spoken to them. This is a common reason for youngsters to tune out.

8. Too Many Rules

Children may have difficulty remembering and comprehending all of the rules if there are a great number of them or if those rules are subject to frequent change.

9. Attention Seeking

If someone does something that elicits a strong emotion from you, they may intentionally fail to listen to you as a tactic to grab your attention.

10. Emotional Upset

When children are agitated, anxious, or stressed, their ability to listen and follow directions often drops. This is because children’s brains are wired differently in these states.

11. Lack of Consistency

 A failure to maintain consistency in the application of rules and the consequences for breaking them makes it more likely that children will not take the rules and consequences seriously.

12. Lack of Relevance

The child may not perceive a reason to listen to instructions if they do not believe the instructions are relevant or significant to the activity that they are now engaged in or the interests that they have.

13. No Active Engagement

Children, especially younger children, learn best when they are actively engaged in what they are doing. They may get disengaged if they are not offered the opportunity to take part in the conversations or activities that are taking on.

If you have an understanding of these causes, it will be easier for you to devise tactics that will help your child improve their listening abilities. However, if you have persistent worries about your child’s capacity to listen or respond, it may be beneficial for you to contact a pediatrician or a child development specialist in order to rule out the possibility of your child having hearing problems or developmental abnormalities.

Communicating with Kindness: Small Steps, Big Impact

It is impossible to stress the importance of simply and kindly interacting with one another. Understanding, empathy, and deeper relationships between people can all be cultivated via the use of kindness in communication, which has the power to generate a good and caring atmosphere.

The simple power of talking with compassion may be broken down into the following key aspects:

Establishing Trust and Rapport

When we communicate with compassion, we make it possible for others to freely express themselves in a secure environment. This is the first step in establishing trust and rapport. This helps to create trust and rapport, which in turn encourages open and honest communication.

Promoting Empathy and Understanding

When we communicate with kindness to one another, we are better able to empathize with and comprehend the viewpoints and emotions of others. It enables us to look past our differences and locate areas in which we share a common ground.

Decreasing the Likelihood of Conflicts and Misunderstandings

Being kind to one another in communication decreases the likelihood of disagreements and confusion. It lessens the likelihood that others may become hostile or defensive as a result of the situation.

Providing Support for Emotional Well-Being

Saying or doing something nice for another person might make their day better and improve their spirits. A healthy emotional state and a feeling of belonging can both be enhanced through effective communication.

Encouraging beneficial Behavior

When we communicate with kindness, we not only foster a culture of respect and compassion, but we also encourage others to engage in beneficial behaviors.

Increasing the likelihood of receiving kindness in return Kindness spreads like a virus. When we communicate with kindness toward others, it frequently inspires a reciprocal response from them; this creates a positive circle of compassion among those with whom we interact.

Communication that is kind enhances connections, whether they are personal, professional, or social in nature. This is true whether the context is personal, professional, or social. It helps to cultivate a sense of caring and respect for one another.

Conquering Obstacles

When confronted with difficult circumstances or when engaged in conflict, kindness may be a powerful tool in overcoming obstacles and facilitating meaningful talks.

Motivating Active Listening Through Kind Communication Active listening, which makes others feel valued and appreciated, is a component of kind communication.

Cultivating a healthy Culture

Whether in families, businesses, or communities courteous communication leads to a healthy and supportive culture, and this is true in all of these settings.

It is essential to keep in mind that practicing kindness in communication does not imply avoiding unpleasant conversations or sugarcoating concerns. Rather, it means actively engaging in those dialogues with an open mind and heart. Even while discussing difficult subjects, it is important to maintain respect, consideration, and sympathy for all involved.

One conversation at a time, we may make the world a more harmonious and compassionate place by recognizing the basic power that lies inside the act of communicating with kindness. The act of being kind doesn’t cost us anything, yet it has the ability to have a substantial and good impact on the lives of others who are in our immediate vicinity.

Improving Family Function Through Love

A persistent effort and a dedication to cultivating a positive and nurturing atmosphere are required in order to improve the functioning of the family through the power of love.

Maintaining loving connections is beneficial to one’s mental health. The quality of a marriage has been shown to protect against major psychological issues, such as depression, and to improve both social and occupational functioning. When one member of the family is feeling unhappy, the other members of the family should be the ones they turn to for care and comfort.

The following are some methods that can be utilized to foster love and enhance the relationships within your family:

Cultivate open communication

Encourage everyone in the family to talk freely about how they are feeling and what they are thinking. Establish a welcoming environment in which everyone may speak freely and be valued. Listening with attention and responding with empathy are two essential components of successful communication.

Invest in meaningful time with one another.

Set aside time on a consistent basis for activities and bonding with your family. Make sure everyone’s interests and timetables are taken into consideration when planning pleasant activities. It might be anything as straightforward as eating meals as a family, going on walks, playing games, or indulging in pastimes that are enjoyed jointly.

Demonstrate your sense of appreciation and thanks.

Demonstrate gratitude for one another’s efforts and successes by publicly recognizing them. Honor the achievements of each member of the family and inspire them to continue to develop. Maintain a consistent attitude of thankfulness toward one another for the love and support you receive from each other.

Learn to forgive others and find peaceful solutions to conflicts.

It is crucial for any relationship to address conflict in a way that is caring and healthy. Conflict is unavoidable in any relationship. In the event that there is a disagreement, it is important to promote open dialogue and provide everyone the opportunity to voice their views and concerns. Instead of retaining animosity, teach and demonstrate forgiveness, as well as the necessity of finding solutions to problems.

Encourage the development of the individual

Foster each member’s personal growth and support their individual efforts to realize their objectives and ambitions. Show that you are interested in their talents, hobbies, and accomplishments. Establish a culture that places a premium on education and individual progress.

Encourage compassion as well as comprehension.

Encourage members of your family to comprehend one another’s points of view and develop empathy for one another. In order to foster compassion and kindness, encourage them to put themselves in the position of the other person.

Establish rites and customs in your household.

Create rituals or customs within your family that will always be remembered fondly by everyone. This may involve activities such as commemorating birthdays, holidays, or even developing one-of-a-kind family traditions that serve to bring the family closer together and foster feelings of love.

Practice self-care

Encourage every member of the family to make taking care of themselves a top priority. When people take care of themselves on all fronts—physically, psychologically, and emotionally—they are in a better position to make a meaningful contribution to the unit of the family they belong to.

Clearly define both the boundaries and the expectations

Keeping a healthy family dynamic requires setting clear limits and expectations for each member of the household. In order to ensure that everyone’s requirements are met, you should encourage open communication regarding the rules, duties, and behavior.

When in doubt, seek the assistance of a professional

Do not be reluctant to get help from a trained expert if you and your family are dealing with severe obstacles or difficulties. Therapists or counselors that specialize in working with families can offer direction and support to help families work through difficult problems and improve their overall functioning.

It is important to keep in mind that strengthening the functioning of the family through love is a process that is ongoing and takes patience, understanding, and consistent effort from all members of the family.

Discipline for Enhancing Mental Well-being

The term mental well-being refers to both how we feel (our emotions and our level of life satisfaction) and how we operate (our connections with others, our level of personal control, the meaning we derive from our lives, and our level of autonomy). It is something that affects people of all ages, and everyone might experience either positive or negative mental wellness at any given time.

People are considered to be in a state of mental health when they are able to deal with the pressures of everyday life, achieve their potential, do well in school and the workplace, and make positive contributions to the communities in which they live.

One of the most significant aspects that may actually make a difference to a person’s mental health is their level of self-discipline. Because of this,

Establishing consistent routines as best practices

You may offer your life structure and stability by developing and adhering to regular routines, which is made possible with the assistance of discipline. This will allow you to give your life structure and stability.

The development of routines results in the creation of a sense of predictability and control, both of which are good in the alleviation of stress and anxiety.

It is good to establish a regular pattern that includes time for activities like resting, working out, learning, and taking care of oneself. This promotes balance and helps one keep a healthy mental state.

Achieving goals

One of the most important aspects of self-discipline is determining one’s goals and making a firm commitment to acting in a manner that would enable one to achieve those aims.

By working on increasing your discipline, you may increase the likelihood that you will be able to maintain your ability to remain focused, motivated, and dedicated to the accomplishment of your goals.

Because they increase a person’s perception of their own value, having a feeling of purpose and achieving one’s goals can help one maintain a positive attitude.

Management and regulation of one’s emotions

The practice of disciplining someone requires a significant amount of self-control as well as the capacity to reign in one’s desires.

When you have greater self-control and are better able to regulate your emotions, you will be in a better position to make conscious choices, which is especially important when dealing with challenging situations.

This can lead to better emotional stability, resilience, and the ability to deal with stress in a more productive manner if it is done consistently.

Forming healthy habits into a way of life as a habit

With the help of discipline, you may be able to cultivate and maintain more easily the kinds of healthy behaviors that are advantageous to your mental well-being.

This might entail engaging in routines such as engaging in regular physical exercise, consuming a diet that is balanced, having a sufficient amount of sleep, learning and practicing ways of relaxation, participating in hobbies, and creating good relationships.

If you indulge in these behaviors on a consistent basis, it is possible that they will have a substantial adverse influence not just on your mental health but also on your overall well-being.

Time management

A person’s level of self-control and discipline is intrinsically linked to their ability to effectively manage their time.

By practicing discipline, which is setting priorities for your job and arranging your time in an appropriate manner, you may minimize the feelings of being overwhelmed and boost your sense of productivity and control.

This has the ability to relieve stress and contribute to a lifestyle that is more balanced and satisfying for its participants.

Conclusion

It is important to exercise self-discipline, but it is much more important to maintain a healthy balance in one’s attitude and to refrain from being unduly critical of oneself. Exhibiting times of adaptation and compassion toward oneself is not indicative of a lack of strength.

Actively seeking self-discipline while being conscious of one’s individual requirements and restrictions is one way to promote a positive attitude and make good contributions to one’s overall mental well-being. This is one way that can help one foster a healthy attitude and make positive contributions to one’s overall mental well-being.

The 20 Most Useful Websites on the Internet

The most helpful websites on the Internet that will improve your intelligence, boost your productivity, and assist you in the acquisition of new abilities.

The following is a list of the most beneficial websites on the internet that will help you learn new skills, become more productive, and become smarter overall. These highly helpful websites offer a solution to at least one issue in an effective manner.

  1. The search engine that has the greatest number of users at the moment is Google. You may access their website at www.google.com.
  2. The website YouTube (www.youtube.com) allows users to upload and share videos while also providing access to a wide range of other information.
  3. The open-content, web-based encyclopedia Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org), which can be accessed for free and has articles on a wide variety of topics.
  4. The website www.khanacademy.org is where you may access Khan Academy, an online learning platform that offers educational resources as well as courses.
  5. Bartleby is an online platform that provides users with access to a large selection of online courses that are provided by educational establishments and colleges.
  6. The website www.duolingo.com is where you can find Duolingo, a platform that allows users to learn languages via the use of interactive games and activities.
  7. Medium, which can be found online at www.medium.com, is a website that gives users the opportunity to read and write articles on a wide range of topics.
  8. Go to the website TED (www.ted.com) to see thought-provoking talks and presentations made by experts in a wide variety of fields.
  9. Evernote is an application that may be used for both personal and business purposes to take notes and organize information. Evernote can be found online at the address www.evernote.com.
  10. Trello is a solution for collaborative project management that assists in the organization of activities and workflows. You can get it through the website www.trello.com.
  11. Dropbox is a platform for cloud storage and file sharing that can be accessed at www.dropbox.com. Dropbox allows users to upload, download, and share files.
  12. Canva is a tool for graphic design that can be accessed at www.canva.com. It is utilized for the creation of graphics, presentations, and photos for usage on social media platforms.
  13. The Internet Movie Database (IMDb; website address: www.imdb.com) is a database that includes information about renowned people as well as movies and television shows.
  14. If you would rather conduct your shopping online, you could check out Amazon at www.amazon.com. They have a wide variety of products available.
  15. Yelp, which can be accessed online at www.yelp.com, is a website that allows users to post evaluations of local businesses and services as well as provide recommendations.
  16. If you go to the website www.genius.com, you will find a database called Genius that contains song lyrics and music commentary.
  17. A computational knowledge engine that responds to queries by offering answers and solutions can be accessed online at www.wolframalpha.com. This website is where you can access Wolfram Alpha.
  18. SparkNotes, which can be found online at www.sparknotes.com, is a useful resource that provides study aids and other materials for a wide range of topics, including poetry and prose.
  19. Goodreads is a website that enables users to discover new books, write reviews of those books, and share those reviews with other people who enjoy reading. The address of the website is http://www.goodreads.com.
  20. Adobe Creative Cloud is a collection of creative tools that can be accessed at www.adobe.com/creativecloud.html. These tools can be used for a variety of creative endeavors, including creating, editing images and movies, and other creative endeavors.

These websites include a wide variety of subjects, ranging from creative undertakings and forms of entertainment to educational issues and methods of achieving one’s goals.

Conditional Logic in Google Documents

Conditional logic in Google Documents, which includes features like as conditional formatting and custom formulas, gives you the ability to automate certain activities or apply particular formatting based on the presence or absence of predefined circumstances. Although Google Docs does not have built-in support for conditional logic as Google Sheets does, you can still create conditional formatting by using a combination of tools such as custom formulae and table formatting options. This is in contrast to Google Sheets, which does have built-in support for conditional logic.

In order to demonstrate how you might apply conditional formatting in a Google Document, consider the following example:

  1. Open your Google Document.
  2. Either create a table or locate the table that already exists in the document that you want to conditionally format.
  3. Select the table cells to which you wish to apply the formatting and then click the Format button.
  4. In the main menu, navigate to the “Table” option, then pick “Table properties.”
  5. In the “Table properties” dialog box, travel to the “Cell background color” area and click there.
  6. To open the color palette, click the paint bucket icon that is located next to the “Background color” option.
  7. At this point, it will be necessary for you to make use of a custom formula in order to set the conditions for formatting. You are able to utilize simple formulas in Google Docs to evaluate the values of cells and apply formatting based on the results of the evaluation.
  8. In the field labeled “custom formula,” type a formula that, when evaluated, will either return true or false. For instance, if you want to apply a certain format to cells in which the value is higher than 10, you could use the formula ‘=IF(A1>10, true, false)’ to do so. This formula evaluates if the value of A1 is larger than 10 or not.
  9. After you have input the formula, you may apply the conditional formatting by clicking the “Apply” button.

It is important to keep in mind that the conditional formatting feature in Google Docs is more limited than the conditional formatting feature in Google Sheets, and its primary focus is on the colors of the cell backgrounds. You can experiment with other choices such as text formatting or adding icons to cells by making use of special characters; but, the level of flexibility offered by these options is significantly less.

If you require more advanced conditional logic or automation, you may want to think about utilizing Google Sheets or other tools like Google Apps Script, which gives more extensive scripting capabilities to alter and format data in Google Documents. If you are interested in learning more about these tools, you can find more information here.

Top 5 Benefits of Technology Based Education

The lifestyles of 21st-century humans are changing quickly as a result of technology. In the sphere of education, the role of technology has become increasingly important, and its effects are being felt much more broadly.

Technology-based learning has improved and augmented traditional classroom-based teaching in addition to transforming online learning. As everyone is aware, classrooms now appear very different from how they did ten years ago.

A typical illustration of this transition is the substitution of whiteboards for chalkboards in modern classrooms. It is disputed whether technology in education has benefits or drawbacks, but there is no denying that learning has become more individualised and participatory.

The Pew Research Centre found that 92% of educators said they use the internet frequently to get information, tools, and materials.

Personalised Pace

Each learner processes information in a different way and at a different rate. During online education, students have more time to reflect and process material at their own pace.

This further empowers students to work with assurance and to get rid of any potential flaws in their learning process. It gives teachers the chance to concentrate on each student individually and give them uninterrupted undivided attention.

Flexibility

The notion of flexibility is one of online learning’s finest benefits. Both teachers and students have complete control and accountability over their learning and instruction because to flexibility learning.

They can also set the timing according to their schedules and particular needs. Some students, for instance, can learn better in the evening, but conventional educational institutions limit them by only providing daytime courses.

These students can analyse their learning and modify the course to fit their unique schedules and talents thanks to technology-based learning.

Enhances Teamwork

Teachers have seen that when kids use technology in the classroom, they tend to support one another more. Similar to this, when students are required to work on tasks or projects in small groups, technologically savvy students frequently assist their less experienced peers.

Additionally, kids are exposed to a variety of viewpoints, and these group activities ultimately lead to a quick transfer of information from one student to another.

Improved Interactivity

With the aid of smartphones, tablets, and computers, students may now learn more actively and effectively. Students can now more enthusiastically engage with a subject or teaching unit with the help of videos, stimuli, and digital texts. Additionally, this causes pupils to make an attempt to learn more about a subject that fascinates them, which may help them discover their skills.

Cost-Effective

The use of technology in education has made materials like books and other types of study material more widely available. This further results in lower tuition costs and less dependence on and expense for books. E-books have also made life simpler for low-income households because they allow pupils to obtain the same level of education without any compromises.

Conclusion

A teacher can improve their interactions with students and coworkers by using technology. In a classroom, incorporating technology into the lesson plan and using it to further one’s knowledge can have a big impact. Therefore, it is certain that technology will continue to advance, and it is important for both instructors and students to change the way they teach in order to keep up.