Christmas - 8th Grade Expository Example Essay Example for Free

Christmas 8th Grade Expository Example Essay â€Å"City sidewalks, busy sidewalks dressed in holiday style†¦ In the air, there’s a feeling of Christmas†¦Ã¢â‚¬  My favorite holiday has always been Christmas. I love everything about it! One of the best things about Christmastime is that we get such a long time off from school. In addition to that, my family flies back home to Pennsylvania in December, so we always get to see snow. We also spend time with family and friends playing games and exchanging gifts, which is always a lot of fun. Of all the holidays, I think Christmas is the best! Towards the end of December, we all really need a break, and Christmas Break comes at just the right time, lasting just over two weeks! It’s so nice to have off from school at a time when there’s great holiday music on the radio and great sales in all the stores. Not to mention the fantastic foods filling my plate as I go to all the holiday get-togethers. I don’t like too many gatherings, though, sometimes I just like to rest. I try to spend most of my time on the long break relaxing and enjoying family. Speaking of family, I get to fly back home to Pennsylvania over Christmas Break to visit my relatives. It is always snowy in Pennsylvania in December, so that’s an exciting part our vacation for my sister and me. We go to my cousins’ house and ride four wheelers in the snow, pulling inner tubes behind them. Our parents usually get some great videos of us playing in the snow. Last year we stayed outside so long in a snowstorm, that our hair was caked with snow by the time we came in! It looked like we had white dreadlocks! It is always so fun having adventures with my cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents back home in Pennsylvania. In addition to all of our snowy adventures, we also spend lots of time indoors with famil y and friends playing games and exchanging gifts. My grandma buys tons of little gifts – mostly candy and dollar store items, but a few nice things, too – that she wraps up and uses as prizes in a game that the whole family plays. There are about twenty of us sitting around her long dining room table, and we roll dice for about two minutes. Whenever anyone rolls doubles, they get to take a present. When all the presents are gone, but there’s still time on the clock, you get to steal someone else’s present! It’s kind of hard to explain, but it’s the most fun our family has at the holidays. Spending time with all of my family over Christmas Break is a great time that is very special to me†¦and getting little gifts is an added bonus! Just like most people I know, I think Christmas is the best holiday ever! Having such a long time off from school is a much-needed break in the middle of the school year. Because the break is so long, my family can fit in time to fly back home to Pennsylvania to have some fun playing in the snow. The fun continues indoors with family games and gifts, always a highlight of the vacation. This vacation is something I look forward to all year round. Christmas brings me so much happiness†¦just like those Silver Bells. â€Å"Ring-a-ling†¦.Hear them ring†¦ Soon it will be Christmas Day.†

ophelia :: essays research papers

Hurricane Ophelia was downgraded to a tropical storm again Monday as the indecisive weather system moved slowly off the coast, its outer bands of rain not quite reaching land. Despite Ophelia’s waxing and waning strength and slow progress, residents’ attention had been focused by the devastation caused elsewhere by Hurricane Katrina. That was on the mind of Steve King as he grudgingly skipped a football game on television to move his sea kayak out of harm’s way. â€Å"They keep saying this storm is two or three days out,† he said. â€Å"I think we’re all waiting for something to happen.† Ophelia’s sustained wind speed slowed Monday morning to about 70 mph, 4 mph below the threshold for a hurricane, but it had the potential to regain hurricane strength over the next day or so, the National Hurricane Center said. A tropical storm warning and a hurricane watch were in effect from Cape Lookout south to Edisto Beach, S.C. Some calls for evacuations With the storm’s path uncertain, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford called for a voluntary evacuation Monday of oceanfront and riverside areas in his state’s northeastern corner. â€Å"This is a serious storm that’s got the potential to do a lot of damage and put lives in jeopardy if we don’t take it seriously,† Sanford said. In North Carolina, Gov. Mike Easley on Sunday ordered 200 National Guard soldiers to report to staging centers in the eastern part of the state. The governor also ordered a mandatory evacuation of nonresidents from fragile Ocracoke Island on the Outer Banks, reachable only by ferry. At Wrightsville Beach, lifeguards ordered swimmers out of the surf Sunday. â€Å"They are saying they don’t want anyone to even touch the water,† said Kathy Carroll, 37, of Wilmington. â€Å"Now I know how a flounder feels. I was getting tossed all over the place.† Despite the warnings, there were no long lines at Roberts Grocery in Wrightsville Beach, where customers bought chips and beer — not bottled water and batteries. â€Å"Usually, they are buying all the bread and milk,† said store manager Teresa Hines. â€Å"Some of the regulars have told me they have their hammers and nails ready just in case.† With a history of destructive storms, New Hanover County has a well-rehearsed disaster plan. But Katrina, which was a powerful Category 4 hurricane before it made landfall in Louisiana and Mississippi, was on residents’ minds even though Ophelia was only Category 1 and had been waxing and waning in strength.

Explanations of crime deviance Essay

The right realist perspective on crime is mainly associated with the American sociologist W.J Wilson. This perspective became very influential on home office policy-making during the conservatives period in office. The right realist approach assumes that human beings are naturally selfish, individualistic and greedy. Therefore ther are ‘naturally inclined’ to further their interest, even if this means comitting crime. They also believe the origins of crime are misunderstood, that is policies aimed at tackling crime by removing social and economic inequalities. Wilson noted that the Great Depression in the USA did not result in a rise in crime. Another right realist explanation is that the welfare state has undermined our sense of obligation to support each other, andthat community controls, i.e. informal controls imposed by neighbours, family and peer groups are breaking down. Right realists stress that attempts to explain the causes of crime should be abandoned and that sociologists should instead focus on finding practical solutions to slow the growth of crime. This developed the control theory. Hirschi argues that crime is opportunistic and anyone would commit crime if the situation was right and there was little chance of being caught. He says that sociologists should not focus on whypeople commit crime but why more people do not. He maintains that most people are rational in their choices and that there are controls that operate to make most people keep their actions within the bounds of the law. They are, Attachment- commitment to family relationships which could be threatened by criminal acts, Commitment- years of education, building a career, buying a home and aquiring a good reputation, all this could be lost by commiting crime, Involvement- some people are activley involved in community life as volunteers, parentgovernors for schools etc. all this would be jepordized by criminal behaviour. Right realists believe the way to control crime is to take practical measures to make sure the cost of crime outweighs the benefits. Left realists such as Lea and Young attempt to explain street crime in urban areas. Theirvictim survey of inner-city Islington showed that working class, black peopleand especially elderly women, had a realistic fear of street crime. Lea and Young argue that despite evidence of police racism, criminal statistics are largely correct as working classes and Afro-Caribbean’s do commit the most crime. They agreed thatwhite-collar and crimes go largely undetected and under punished, they do not point out however that they do not have the same negative impact on society as crimes such as mugging or burglary.Lea and Young maintain the reason why working class and Afro-Caribbean people commit crime is to do with feelings of ‘relative deprivation,’ such as comparing themselves to middle class or white youth with regard to life chances, living standards and income. Such groups feel frustrated with their lack of power. Negative treatment by the police and authorities leave groups feeling hostile and resentful, consequnently they are marginalized. Some mayform subcultures to help copewith the statusfrustration and marginalization. Hughes notes that left realists should be valued for the challenge they posed to radical criminology’s thinking on the issues of intra-class and intra-ethnic crimes. Left realism has drawn attention to the brutalising effects of street crimes in the inner-city and the fact that some theories of crime have romanticised offenders, it has highlighted the effects of crime for victims, a group neglected by most theories of crime. It realistically acknowledges that the police amplify the presence of some groups in the criminal statistics through the use of stop and search, but points out that policing is quite rightly focusing on those groups most likley to commit crime. There is no emperical evidence to support the view that young working class or black criminals interpret their realities in the way described by Lea and Young. Research on the motives of offenders is required. Lea and Young do not really explain why the majority of working class and Afro-Caribbean youth do not turn to crime. Left realism only focuses on collective or subcultural criminal responses and does not explain crimes such as burglary, which are  commited by individuals rather than gangs. It focuses exclusivley on street crime and ignores other serious crimes such as fraud and it fails to account for oppurtunistic crime commited by adults.

the way the media influence our lives Essays - 1338 Words

Are we influenced by the media, if yes how much? Sociologist and Psychologist contemplate that question often. The media has been accused of causing violent behavior, negative racial stereotyping and negative body perceptions mostly among young girls. No one can deny that the media has an effect on society, but is the media just giving society what he or she wants? Has the media taken away our ability to think for ourselves critically? We are constantly feed information from the newspapers, television news and weekly news magazines most of us believing without question because we believe the source credible. â€Å"In 1989 while jogging in central park a women was brutally attacked raped and beaten.† I remember the incident well because it was†¦show more content†¦Simpson case, stated â€Å" the zealous media, from East Coast Establishment newspapers to supermarket tabloids to reality television programs, produce such a distorted picture of a accused before they come to trial that no impartial jury can be selected.† Reporter Saltzman wrote an article in U.S.A today magazine to answer the criticism. He wrote, â€Å" All the media do is throw out great gobs of information, some important, some trivial, some in bad taste, some unnecessary, some vital.† If all the media did was to report such information there wouldn’t be so many fingers pointing at them. The media today is accused of everything from racial stereotyping to perpetuating violence. Yes the media should just inform, but people with all our bias and life experience write the news and report the news. People with all of our secret angers and frustrations own the newspapers and news stations and people have the last word in what will be reported and how it is reported. With that in mind be aware that bias, life experience, secret angers and frustrations are also being reported. Society believes what they read in black and white sometimes without question. Society trust in what is being said to them by the familiar face on the 5 O’clock and the 11 O’clock news. When we read of a violent crime in the newspapers while on our way to work. When we hear of a violent crime being reported to us while setting in front of our television set. We want to believe the suspectShow MoreRelatedThe Way the Media Influence Our Lives1365 Words   |  6 PagesAre we influenced by the media, if yes how much? Sociologist and Psychologist contemplate that question often. The media has been accused of causing violent behavior, negative racial stereotyping and negative body percept ions mostly among young girls. No one can deny that the media has an effect on society, but is the media just giving society what he or she wants? Has the media taken away our ability to think for ourselves critically? We are constantly feed information from the newspapersRead MoreMedia s Influence On Society1256 Words   |  6 PagesThe media are full of countless things, they have completely changed the world we live in and are now a part of our everyday lives (Bookman, 64). With television, radio, newspapers, books, etc†¦ working their way into our everyday lives it is almost impossible to live without the media. Along with it being persuasive, informative and a great source for entertainment, it also has a large binding influence on societies all over the world. Media aspects are radically reshaping the world (Marina 240)Read MoreMedia s Influence On Society1269 Words   |  6 Pages The media is full of countless things, it has completely changed the world and is now a part of our everyday lives (Bookman, 64). With television, radio, newspapers, books, etc†¦ working their way into our everyday lives it is impossible to live without the media today. Along with it being persuasive, informational and a great source for entertainment it also has a large binding influence on societies all over the world. Media aspects are radically reshaping the world (Marina 240) and though someRead MoreObesity : The Disease Of The 21st Century947 Words   |  4 Pagesmany factors in today’s society that contribute to this growing epidemic including media, technology and demographics. 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Printed materials, television, sound recordings, internet, and radio all fall under the umbrella of the big bad – or seemingly bad word – media. Is media bad? How is it controlled? And where does this all stem from†¦? These are some of the major concerns parents are faced with in raising children in today’s times. Although mostRead MoreMass Media and Popular Culture1367 Words   |  6 PagesHow has mass media a created a relationship among popular culture, mass media and different forms of dissemination? Mass media is any form of communication used to reach a large group of people. There are different types of media; examples of media are magazines, movies, television, books, recording devices, radio and the internet. As time goes on, new and improved technology is developed in the mass media industry for communicating and entertainment purposes. As mass media continues to grow andRead More Media and Society Essay519 Words   |  3 Pages Media and Society Does society influence media or does media influence society? In a modern world, dependent on continuous communication this is a very important question. If the world were not dependent on communication over large distances, schooling on a mass basis would not be possible or necessary. Most knowledge in traditional cultures was local knowledge, (Geertz 1983) traditions that were passed on through a local community, a very slow and long drawn outRead MoreEssay studying media1100 Words   |  5 Pagesworld, beyond our immediate experience, comes to us through the media. Media studies gives us the tools to respond thoughtfully and critically to media content, and recognise media productions as deliberate constructions rather than windows on reality. The ‘mediated’ society in which we live, is heavily shaped by the transfer of information. Many of our values, our ideas, and our knowledge of the world come from beyond our individual daily or immediate experience, usually via the media. They play