English Essay

Our Second Amendment, stating that the People have an inherent right to bear arms, is the practical bulwark against a tyrannical government. Thus, it is arguably the most important part of the Bill of Rights, for without it Americans have no way to ensure that the government respects any of our other rights. The last several years have seen the federal government and certain states mount increasingly aggressive attacks against the Second Amendment. And with Justice Antonin Scalia's seat on the Supreme Court waiting to be filled, the upcoming presidential election promises to be a referendum...

Part of John Muir's appeal to modern audiences is that he not only explored the American West and wrote about its beauties but also fought for their preservation. His successes dot the landscape and are evident in all the natural features that bear his name: forests, lakes, trails, and glaciers. Here collected are some of Muir's finest wilderness essays, ranging in subject matter from Alaska to Yellowstone, from Oregon to the High Sierra.

Ideas Have ConsequencesThese essays are inspired by and related to the theological thriller novel, Cruel Logic: The Philosopher Killer.≤/p The essays explore the crisis of Western Civilization vs. the woke Left, Christian apologetics and Christian deconstruction, the origins of wokeness and its war on reality, ethics and the moral argument for the existence of God. Chapters include: Could You Defend Your Beliefs If Your Life Depended On It? The Tragedy of Evangelical Christian Deconstruction America’s Cultural Revolution of Woke Violence The Problem of Evil and the Existence of God A ...

Stand-up comedian, actress, and host Michelle Buteau reflects on growing up Caribbean, Catholic, and thick in New Jersey, going to college in Miami (where everyone smells like pineapple), her many friendship and dating disasters, working as a newsroom editor during 9/11, getting started in stand-up opening for male strippers, marrying into her husband’s Dutch family, IVF and surrogacy, motherhood, chosen family, and what it feels like to have a full heart, tight jeans, and stardom finally in her grasp.

Are you thinking about getting sober but unsure whether it is the right decision for you? Have you recently quit drinking and found the experience more challenging than you expected? Do you know someone with a drinking problem and want to better understand what they are going through? If you answered yes to any of these questions, this book is for you. Exploring Sobriety is a collection of 50 essays about addiction and recovery. These essays cover a wide variety of topics related to sobriety, including tools to resist cravings, thoughts on how quitting alcohol can change lives, and even ...

Remarkably relevant, beautifully written, and filled with wit and wisdom, these three essays by Bertrand Russell allow the listener to test the concepts of the good life, morality, the existence of God, Christianity, and human nature. "What I Believe" was used prominently in the 1940 New York court proceedings in which Russell was judicially declared "unfit" to teach philosophy at City College of New York. "Why I Am Not a Christian" concludes that churches throughout history have retarded progress and states that we should instead "look to our own efforts here below to make this world a fit place to live in." Finally, "A Free Man's Worship", perhaps the most famous single essay written by Russell, considers whether humans operate from free will.

Over the last decade, author and activist Astra Taylor has helped shift the national conversation on topics including technology, inequality, indebtedness, and democracy. The essays collected here reveal the range and depth of her thinking, with Taylor tackling the rising popularity of socialism, the problem of automation, the politics of listening, the possibility of rights for the natural and nonhuman world, the future of the university, the temporal challenge of climate catastrophe, and more.

William Gaddis published only four novels during his lifetime, but with those works, he earned himself a reputation as one of America's greatest novelists, the heir to Joyce and Nabokov. Less well-known is Gaddis' body of perceptive critical writings. Presented here is a wide range of Gaddis' original essays.

Blending literature and memoir, Ann Patchett, author of State of Wonder and Bel Canto examines her deepest commitments: to writing, family, friends, dogs, books, and her husband in This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage. Together, these essays, previously published in The Atlantic, Harper, Vogue, and The Washington Post, form a resonant portrait of a life lived with loyalty and with love.

David Sedaris's beloved holiday collection is new again with six more pieces, including a never before published story. Along with such favorites as the diaries of a Macy's elf and the annals of two very competitive families, are Sedaris's tales of tardy trick-or-treaters ("Us and Them"); the difficulties of explaining the Easter Bunny to the French ("Jesus Shaves"); and what to do when you've been locked out in a snowstorm ("Let It Snow").

Lane Moore is a rare performer who is as impressive onstage - whether hosting her iconic show Tinder Live or being the enigmatic front woman of It Was Romance - as she is on the page, as both a former writer for The Onion and an award-winning sex and relationships editor for Cosmopolitan. But her story has had its obstacles, including being her own parent, living in her car as a teenager, and moving to New York City to pursue her dreams. Through it all, she looked to movies, TV, and music as the family and support systems she never had.

From one of our most iconic and influential writers, the award-winning author of The Year of Magical Thinking: a timeless collection of mostly early pieces that reveal what would become Joan Didion's subjects, including the press, politics, California robber barons, women, and her own self-doubt. With a forward by Hilton Als, these 12 pieces from 1968 to 2000, never before gathered together, offer an illuminating glimpse into the mind and process of a legendary figure.

At once a powerful evocation of his early life in Harlem and a disturbing examination of the consequences of racial injustice to both the individual and the body politic, James Baldwin galvanized the nation in the early days of the civil rights movement with this eloquent manifesto. The Fire Next Time stands as one of the essential works of our literature.

Gore Vidal’s reputation as America’s finest essayist is an enduring one. This collection, chosen by the author from 40 years of work, contains about two-thirds of what he published in various magazines and journals. He has divided the essays into three categories, or states. State of the art covers literature, including novelists and critics, bestsellers, pieces on Henry James, Oscar Wilde, Suetonius, Nabakov, and Montaigne (a previosly uncollected essay from 1992).

Finally, a genuine shortcut to writing a great personal statement or statement of purpose (SOP)! In this easy-to-read and entertaining text, filled with valuable tips and techniques, the author guides you methodically through each step of his innovative and time-saving system. Daniel K. Berman is a Harvard graduate, former college teacher and PhD, with more than 30 years of admissions coaching experience. Dozens of five-star reviews on sites such as Yelp and Google testify to the success of his easy-to-understand, time-tested methodology. Fast-track your way to a compelling personal ...

Fifteen years ago, Robert Fulghum published a simple credo that became the phenomenal #1 New York Times bestseller All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. Now, seven million copies later, Fulghum returns to the book that was embraced around the world.

Smart, humorous, and strikingly original essays by one of “America’s most bracing thinkers on race, gender, and capitalism of our time.” (Rebecca Traister) In these eight piercing explorations on beauty, media, money, and more, Tressie McMillan Cottom - award-winning professor and acclaimed author of Lower Ed - embraces her venerated role as a purveyor of wit, wisdom, and Black Twitter snark about all that is right and much that is wrong with this thing we call society.

No one can offer you a cut-and-dried definition of poetry, but its main feature – in contrast to prose – is its emphasis on form. Poetic form is a kind of structure, in which the words of the poem are set. This analogy isn’t perfect, but it’s more useful than you might imagine at first. Important examples of formal elements in poetry are metre, rhyme and the visual structure of the poem. Features like these work together to produce the situation in which ‘form enacts content’. This means that the form is just as important as the content in determining the meaning of the poem, ...

First published in 1979, Joan Didion's The White Album records indelibly the upheavals and aftermaths of the 1960s. Examining key events, figures, and trends of the era—including Charles Manson, the Black Panthers, and the shopping mall—through the lens of her own spiritual confusion, Joan Didion helped to define mass culture as we now understand it. Written with a commanding sureness of tone and linguistic precision, The White Album is a central text of American reportage and a classic of American autobiography.

Jia Tolentino is a peerless voice of her generation, tackling the conflicts, contradictions, and sea changes that define us and our time. Now, in this dazzling collection of nine entirely original essays, written with a rare combination of give and sharpness, wit and fearlessness, she delves into the forces that warp our vision, demonstrating an unparalleled stylistic potency and critical dexterity.