Research Paper “You have to work hard to get to the top of your game. I think every writer has doubts! I still do all the time” said Rick Riordan. Riordan relates to this quote because he work hard to come up with stories for his son. Riordan is best known for his Greek Mythology. After taking a look at the life work of Rick Riordan, it is apparent that this writer deserves recognition as a profound American author. Riordan’s life was filled with creativity. Rick Riordan went to Alamo Heights High School ("Biography."). He was kind of shy but wrote and drew a lot. He was the school newspaper editor ("Biography."). Riordan had a lot of good ideas for the newspaper. As a young adult he wrote a few short stories. Unfortunately they were not published
The Beatles, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, professional hockey players, and solo violinists all have one thing in common. Malcolm Gladwell, author of “Outliers”, is able to effectively link these different parties together though his “10,000 Hour Rule”. Gladwell states that, “practice isn’t the thing you do once you’re good. It’s the thing that makes you good” (42). Using rhetorical devices, Gladwell effectively conveys how overall success can be spotted by historical, recurring patterns or events. Malcolm Gladwell has supported himself as a reputable author as well. Using supported statistics, easily illustrated patterns, and well known examples, Gladwell fulfills the logos appeal. Also, due to his very successful works “The Boiling Point” and “Blink”, Gladwell shows his credibility as an author. Gladwell’s main purpose is to teach his audience the pattern of success, and why some people did or did not succeed. This audience is consisted of those who want to succeed, and want to create as many possibilities to reach their goal. Their main values are gaining success for themselves. Another possible audience is a group who enjoys statistics and patterns. These patterns show that around 10,000 of practice in an activity, the person becomes very proficient in that activity. Citing the Beatles, Bill Joy, and Bill Gates as his examples, Gladwell shows that practice can make perfect. Malcolm Gladwell states that to reach a level of expertise, one must practice that activity for 10,000 hours. Using rhetorical devices, tone, and logos, Gladwell efficiently supports his claim of the 10,000 hour rule.
Roberts was born in 1905 to a working class family in a Salford slum. He took a position as an engineering apprentice following his completion of school. Following his apprenticeship, he was unemployed for three years, utilizing this time to study languages. After becoming a teacher, Roberts wrote many award winning stories, plays, and scripts. Roberts became a farmer for sixteen years before beginning a career teaching in prisons. Roberts...
As a child, Ray Bradbury loved to read fantasy novels. Inspired by his favorite writers, he longed to become a fantasy writer himself. Bradbury lived during the Great Depression with very little money, therefore he could not put himself through school. Instead, Bradbury went to the library every other day for ten years. During this time, he realized that he wanted to pursue his dream of becoming a writer. To get money, Bradbury started publishing his works in a newspaper. Because he wanted practice, he used several pseudonyms to make it look like he had several authors publishing their stories in his newspaper, but in fact, it was written entirely by Bradbury himself. “Bradbury uses [his] stories not only to entertain, but to cause readers to think about their own lives” (Clark, Tracy). He focused more on the message of his story than the popularity of it. “When ask...
I like the way the author, Rick Riordan, made mythology come to life in “The Blood of Olympus”. The book brings an interesting spin on Greek and Roman mythology. Besides the mythology, I really like the character Percy, who used to be the main character in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. I also personally enjoyed how well written the book was. Altogether, I liked the mythology, Percy, and the well written story that the author Rick has created.
Volgar, Christopher. The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers. Studio City: Michael Wiese Productions, 2007.
As one of America’s greatest writers, Ernest Hemmingway recounted his personal life experiences to create his novels. Hemmingway lead an interesting life, filled with romance, travel, and adventure. It was this lifestyle that provided him with much of the material that he used to write his greatest novels. Writing was more of a story telling exercise for Hemmingway, because he had firsthand experience at most of what he wrote about. Hemmingway was also influenced by many of the people he met throughout his life, including women, authors, and news journalists.
Schein, Seth L. The Mortal Hero: An Introduction to Homer's Iliad. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984.
“In my estimation a good book first must contain little or no trace of the author unless the author himself is a character. That is, when I read the book I should not feel that someone is telling me the story but t...
The Greeks believed that the earth was formed before any of the gods appeared. The gods, as the Greeks knew them, all originated with Father Heaven, and Mother Earth. Father Heaven was known as Uranus, and Mother Earth, as Gaea. Uranus and Gaea raised many children. Amoung them were the Cyclopes, the Titans, and the Hecatoncheires, or the
They had similar beliefs, but also immeasurable differences. It was composed of many meaningful gods and goddesses that all played a part in the everyday life of the average Roman and Greek person of that time.
Schein, Seth L. The Mortal Hero: An Introduction to Homer's Iliad. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984.
The Greeks were very strong in their polytheistic beliefs. Polytheism is when someone believes in more than one god. In the Greeks case, there were an unbelievable amount but there were 12 main Olympian Gods. There are also plenty of minor gods that are still important in their lives. The Greek gods impacted the lives of the Greeks through their religion and beliefs. Many people don’t know the story behind the gods and how they came into “existence”. That is what you will learn from this report.
Vogler, Christopher. The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers. 3rd Ed. Studio City: Michael Wiese Productions, 2007.
Homer is credited for writing epics that generate source materials for the modern world. The Iliad and the Odyssey by Homer are captivating stories with fascinating heroic characters. The Homer stories share with classical mythology typical recurrent motifs. The two Homer epic poems focus on the Trojan War, and its result. The epic poems contain the Greek mythology featuring the Greek gods, goddesses, mythological creatures, and the Greek heroes, and heroines. In addition, the principal motifs typical of classical mythological hero stories are; the dominance of fate, evil fighting against the gods, and death. In both the classic mythology, and he modern fiction hero stories, the heroes always have a helper in their expedition, but ultimately, they have to stand alone, face the darkness, and conquer it in order to become victorious.
Throughout studying many myths, I came up with many new observations. Many questions came into my mind about these myths. Greek mythology takes us back to a time when people had a connection with nature and when nature played a major role in people’s lives. The religious beliefs of the people who wrote the myths are found in the background of these myths; however, they are not to be read like religious texts. The myths try to offer explanations of “how”, which makes us think deeply about the purpose of these myths and the questions they draw to our minds. According to the myths we studied in class, the world created the gods, not the other way around. The gods were always created in the image of man, which shows how much men were important in their society. Furthermore, many of these Greek myths show us the difference between the views of the Greek then and our view towards many aspects of the society, including nature. Monsters appear in Greek myths and have different representations and roles. Greek mythology reflects a view of the Greeks towards the world and how certain aspects of their lives are similar and different to modern society.