university days essay

The Thurber’s Work “University Days”

This essay on James Thurber’s “University Days” relates the characters and events in the book to one’s personal experiences. Check it out if you need to write a reflection essay.

University Days: Introduction

University days: body paragraphs, university days: conclusion.

James Thurber is widely known for his brilliant short stories displaying a variety of real-life situations. In his “University Days,” the author tells a set of stories concerning academic experiences different people could have in their lives. His witty descriptions of characters and events make the reader smile and reflect on their own disastrous failures and astounding achievements. I was also induced to recollect some happy and embarrassing moments related to my college life.

It is noteworthy that the characters created by Thurber possess somewhat exaggerated features, but they still resemble someone readers know quite well. I knew a student who could be a modern reincarnation of Bolenciecwz. The great athlete, Bolenciecwz, could hardly keep up with the rest of the students, but everyone loved him and tried to help the young man (Thurber 262). Likewise, our Bolenciecwz was also a talented athlete but had no chances at all to complete the vast majority of his courses without the assistance of educators and peers.

Of course, in our case, the student could answer much more complicated questions as compared to Thurber’s character. However, the level of knowledge and skills our renowned athlete had was insufficient for him to be referred to as a college student. Bolenciecwz’s story and the experiences of our sports star made me reflect on several important issues including the value of grades, academic justice, and the quality of educational services.

At the same time, the story made me think of all those funny stories I have had in my academic life. Many of them are closely linked to teachers’ attempts to find the right approach and help students acquire knowledge. The story concerning the botany course is archetypal, and my firm belief is that every college student has seen such the brave and helpful instructor or have been the struggling but diligent student depicted in the story. I have performed both parts in my life, and I still cannot tell which one is more embarrassing or frustrating. The good news is that all of us understand that anyone can face difficulties, but they can handle anything if they interact with others.

In conclusion, I would like to note that higher education is not all about lectures, discussions, tests, and scores. Our college life is more concerned with socialization and looking for one’s place in this world. Thurber’s studies teach students to be persistent and remember that all situations that seem difficult can be smiled at and used as valuable experience. I know that each time I make a mistake, I become more intelligent and confident.

We learn how to work hard, develop proper relationships with people around us, and look for something new. I am also getting used to the principles reigning in our society. One of the major postulates to remember is that people have different abilities and inclinations, which is critical for the development of humanity. We should appreciate each other’s peculiarities and learn how to use our difference to achieve primary goals.

Thurber, James. The Thurber Carnival . Penguin Classics, 2014.

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The Sitting Bee

Short Story Reviews

University Days by James Thurber

In University Days by James Thurber we have the theme of hardship, control, frustration and struggle. Taken from his My Life and Hard Times collection the story is narrated in the first person by Thurber himself and from the beginning of the story the reader realises that Thurber may be exploring the theme of hardship. Thurber is woeful when it comes to his botany classes. Rather than his professor understanding that Thurber has bad eyesight. The professor continues to try and get Thurber to see through the microscope. If anything the professor is trying to control Thurber. Which some critics might suggest is the job of a teacher or professor. However Thurber has a genuine aliment. He really is unable to see. There are other classes like economics that Thurber struggles in. Though he is not as bad as Bolenciecwcz. Who apart from his abilities on the football field is not a good student. Thurber also uses ingenuity to pass his classes. An example being getting someone else to wear his number when swimming.

There is also a sense that Thurber is disinterested in most of his classes. He doesn’t really put much effort into his work and the effort he does put in is not good enough. Something that is sure to frustrate his teachers. It may also be a case that Thurber is mocking the military. Not only do all students march the wrong way (with the exception of Thurber) but Thurber can’t allow for the fly to be killed. He is the best student in the class yet he appears to be a pacifist. Something that many readers might find ironic. What is also interesting about the story is the fact that Thurber apart from not putting much effort into his studies doesn’t appear to know what he wants to do. He has enrolled in journalism but he does not write anything or research anything. Which may leave some to conclude that Thurber though afflicted with bad eyesight may in fact be lazy.

Thurber is also not slow to call out the intelligence or rather the lack of it when it comes to other students. Notably Bolenciecwcz. In many ways Thurber’s opinion on Bolenciecwcz is stereotypical with many people considering football players to be of a lower intelligence and only in college or university due to their athletic abilities.  As a piece of comedy the story is effective as readers will find Thurber’s failures to be humorous. People like laughing at the misfortune of others when comedy is used. However Thurber’s parents might have something to say about their son’s adventures. University costs money and they may not feel as though their money is being well spent. Throughout the story the reader is only given Thurber’s account of what happens. Which may or may not be reliable. Often first person narratives are not reliable.

Thurber never takes into account the faculty members who have to suffer at his hand. They are patient at first but also get frustrated which is understandable. They are after all only human. Though Thurber manages to turn the frustration into something humorous. The fact that Thurber no longer thinks about his days in university may also be significant as he may not necessary be using anything that he learnt in university. It is certain that he has no use for botany and as for military training we know that Thurber has not pursued a career in the military. It wouldn’t be wrong to think that Thurber considered his time in university to be a waste of time. Any skill he may have learnt there, apart from journalism, has been of no use to him. The reader is also left thinking that if Thurber had his way and was not dependent on his parent’s he would have left university and pursued a career in journalism. He would have been happier and he would have saved himself a lot of bother. However as a piece of comedy the story manages to succeed. Though with most comedy there is a serious element and Thurber by writing the story may be having a crack at both his fellow students and his teachers. Waiting till he was in gainful employment to do so. At least then he had something to fall back on. His writing which generally speaking is very good.

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• James Thurber

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Section Outline for Thurber

Paragraphs 1-4 Botany Class ( he couldn�t see through microscope)

Paragraphs 5-12 Economics Class ( the football player Bolenciecwcz couldn't answer any questions )

Paragraph 13 Gymnasium ( he couldn't see without his glasses ; he couldn't swim ; he hated strip ping for health exams )

Paragraph 14 Journalism Class ( the animal husbandry major Haskins couldn't write a decent story )

 Paragraphs 15-18 Military Drill ( he couldn�t do the drills right until he was a senior)

Possible Thesis Statements for Thurber

Central Idea (for a paragraph or an essay)  =

Topic (of the paragraph or the essay)  +

Author's Assertion or Conclusion or Point of View

Summary Paragraph for Thurber

A Summary of James Thurber�s �University Days�

In his essay, �University Days,� James Thurber presents several humorous anecdotes that illustrate how absurd and frustrating college can be.   In his botany class, Thurber�s inability to use the microscope perplexes and eventually enrages his professor.   In his economics class, a star tackle on the football team cannot answer even the most simple question.   When Thurber takes gymnasium, he hates to swim, so he had another student swim in his place.   In addition, Thurber tells the story of an agricultural student in a journalism class who cannot manage to write an interesting story about agriculture.   Finally, Thurber�s ineptitude in military drill forces him to participate for four years, which eventually earns him an award but the general cannot remember who he is.

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University days.

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                          Many people believe that college is about being serious all of the time. James Thurber shows his readers that college can be humorous as well as serious. In his essay "University Days", Thurber talks about certain situations that happened to him at the Ohio State University. Throughout the essay, Thurber targets his peers, professors, and himself when discussing what is humorous about his college experience.              In the essay "University Days", author James Thurber uses two students" experiences to show the humor of college. First, Thurber describes a student named Bolenciecwcz, a football star at Ohio State. He is not very intelligent when it comes to school or anything else. "While he was not dumber than an ox he was not any smarter" (Thurber 236) and his professors must assist him in class. Bolenciecwcz must keep up his grades in order to be eligible to play, so "most of his professors [are] lenient and [help] him along." (236) The second student that Thurber makes fun of is Haskins. As a journalism student, Haskins is a very poor writer. "His stories were dull and colorlessly written," (238) and Haskins was not cut out for journalism. He should have majored in agricultural instead of journalism. The newspaper editor assigned Haskins to the cow barns, the sheep house, the horse pavilion, and the animal husbandry department. Haskins was still not able to write a decent story. Thurber not only uses his peers to show humor, he also makes fun of his professors.              Everyone has professors that they will never forget. Thurber describes three very different professors that he still remembers. He shows what is humorous about these men. The first professor that Thurber makes fun of is his Botany professor. This professor's humor is shown through this frustration. He becomes angry when Thurber cannot see the plant cells through the microscope and "he [began] to quiver all over, like Lionel Barrymore." (235) The second professor that Thurber makes fun of is Mr.

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Chapter 11 University Days Summary, Analysis, and Questions & Answers. Are you a student?

In this post, I am sharing with you all Chapter 11 University Days Summary, Analysis, and Questions & Answers

Table of Contents

Summary of University Days:

Chapter “University Days ,” recounts the author’s experiences as a student in England. In this chapter, Narrator describes his struggles with three subjects: botany, economics, and gymnasium.

The chapter begins with the Narrator’s botany class, where the students are expected to draw the structure of flower cells under a microscope. Despite several attempts, Narrator is unable to see the cells through the microscope and draws a blank page, which leads to his professor’s anger. The narrator tries to study more but still fails to understand the concepts, resulting in his inability to pass the course.

The Author then moves to Narrator’s second year, where he attends an economics class. One day, the professor asks a difficult question on transportation, which Narrator’s classmate Bolenciecwcz answers correctly. The professor then asks Bolenciecwcz to explain his answer, and the students begin to help him by giving more information. The professor eventually gives up, and Narrator and Bolenciecwcz become good friends.

Lastly, the Narrator describes his experiences in the gymnasium class, where he has to perform physical exercises, including rope climbing, vaulting, and parallel bars. Narrator struggles to complete these exercises due to his lack of physical strength and coordination, leading to his failure in the class.

Throughout the chapter, Narrator’s struggles highlight the difficulties he faced in adapting to a new environment, culture, and education system. His experiences also reveal his perseverance and determination to overcome challenges, which would later become hallmarks of his leadership style

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Reading University Days

A. Mark if these sentences are true (T) or not true (NT).

1. The narrator could never pass botany as he could not draw the structure

of flower cells.

2. The narrator could not see the cells through the microscope because it was not adjusted properly.

3. The narrator could only see a milky white substance through the microscope.

4. Most students in the botany class could clearly see cells through the microscope.

5. The narrator’s drawing of the cell-structure made the professor lose his temper.

6. The economics professor asked Bolenciecwcz a difficult question in class.

7. The narrator managed to pass gymnasium by making another student do things in his place.

8. The narrator had problems in the gymnasium class because his professor was

very strict.

Answers: University Days

• NT (The narrator never mentions his ability to draw flower cells.)
• NT (The narrator states that most students had trouble seeing the cells.)
• NT (The professor did not react strongly to the narrator’s drawing.)
• NT (There is no mention of an economics professor or Bolenciecwcz in the chapter.)
• NT (The narrator mentions having trouble with gymnasium class, but does not attribute it to a strict professor.)

B. Read these lines from the text and answer these questions. University Days

1. “As God is my witness, I’ll arrange this glass so that you see cells through it or I’ll give up teaching.”

a. Who said this to whom?

b. What makes the speaker say that he would give up teaching?

C. What happens after this?

a. The professor said this to the narrator.

b. The professor was frustrated that the narrator could not see the cells through the microscope, and he was determined to help the student learn.

c. The professor adjusted the microscope, and the narrator was finally able to see the cells.

2. “Toot, toot, too-tooooooot!” some student with a deep voice moaned, and we all looked encouragingly at Bolenciecwcz.

a. Why is the student making this kind of sound?

b. Why did all the other students look encouragingly?

c. Why were the students trying to help Bolenciecwcz?

a. The student was making this sound to signal that the economics professor was coming to the classroom.

b. The other students were looking encouragingly at Bolenciecwcz because they wanted him to answer the difficult question that the professor was likely to ask.

c. The students were trying to help Bolenciecwcz because they wanted him to do well and they may have also been curious to see if he could answer the question.

C. Answer in detail. University Days

1. Describe why the narrator could not pass botany at University.

2. What happened in the second year? Did he finally see the cell-structure through the microscope?

3. How did the economics professor and the students help Bolenciecwcz answer the question on transportation?

4. In what way was gymnasium worse than economics and botany?

• The narrator could not pass botany at University because he had difficulty seeing the cell-structure through the microscope. He had tried many times to adjust the microscope, but he could only see a milky white substance. Moreover, he was not good at drawing the structure of flower cells, which was a requirement for the botany exam. The narrator also felt that the professor was impatient and did not teach in a way that was easy for him to understand.
• In the second year, the narrator’s professor, Professor Gradowski, promised to arrange the glass so that the narrator could see cells through the microscope. As promised, the professor did so, and the narrator finally saw the cells. The narrator felt overjoyed and amazed to see them for the first time, and he felt grateful to the professor.
• The economics professor helped Bolenciecwcz answer the question on transportation by giving him hints and clues. The professor asked leading questions that pointed Bolenciecwcz in the right direction. The students also helped by encouraging Bolenciecwcz with toots and cheers. They knew that Bolenciecwcz was shy and that he had a hard time speaking up in class.
• Gymnasium was worse than economics and botany for the narrator because the gym teacher was strict and would deduct points for minor infractions, such as not having the right shoes or not wearing a white T-shirt. The narrator had trouble performing physical exercises, and he had to take off his glasses during gym class, which made him feel vulnerable and exposed. Additionally, the narrator felt that gym class was not as intellectually stimulating as his other classes.

D. Think and answer. University Days

1. Why do you think the narrator could never see the structure of cells through

the microscope? Do you think he was just pretending?

2. Do you think what the economics professor did was right? Give reasons.

• Based on the information in the chapter, it seems that the narrator had a genuine difficulty in seeing the structure of cells through the microscope, likely due to his poor eyesight or lack of experience with the instrument. It is unlikely that he was pretending, as he showed a genuine desire to understand the subject and even sought help from the professor.
• It is difficult to say whether what the economics professor did was right without more information on the context and the nature of the difficult question. However, in general, it is important for professors to challenge their students and push them to think critically. As long as the question was fair and relevant to the topic, it is reasonable for the professor to ask it and expect the students to try their best to answer it. It is also positive that the other students in the class tried to help Bolenciecwcz, as this shows a supportive learning environment.

E. Know your values. University Days

The narrator seems to face a lot of problems at University. He resorts to cheating in order to pass his examinations. Do you think he has done the right thing?

Answer: University Days

Cheating is generally considered unethical and dishonest, and it can have negative consequences for both the individual and the community. It undermines the integrity of the education system and can lead to unfair advantages for those who cheat, while disadvantaging those who work hard and play by the rules. It is important to value honesty and integrity in all aspects of life, including academic pursuits.

University Days

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The New York Times

Essay | university days, university days.

Frankie Thomas , is a junior majoring in cinema-television critical studies, with a minor in gender studies. Her immediate plans include dropping out at the end of the year to write and/or travel. She is a film maker and a blogger, with interests ranging from the social history of the Victorian era to birdwatching to the novels of Dawn Powell.

I had the kind of college experience most people only dream about. Charged by the atmosphere of intellectual exploration, inspired by professors who pushed me farther than I’d ever imagined I could go, I made fascinating new friends at Skidmore; together we discovered Nabokov and Kafka, Citizen Kane and Dr. Strangelove, and our own literary voices. It was a three-week summer program. I was fifteen.

Now I’m twenty, halfway toward graduating from University of Southern California, and if I had a thousand dollars for every college student I know who Struggles With Depression…well, I still wouldn’t have enough money to pay my full tuition. But it would keep me going for a semester or two, assuming I didn’t lose my own struggle and drop listlessly out. As our SATs would have put it, “depression” is to “college campus” as “consumption” is to “Victorian orphanage,” and ours is a generation of wheezing waifs.

None of us knew this in advance, of course. We were too busy trying to get into college to consider what would happen once we actually got there. At my New York high school we took extra history classes, put on plays, directed films, went out to museums and midnight movies, and stayed for hours after class to chat with our teachers.. It never occurred to us that we were having the time of our lives; the idea was that our activity-packed resumes would endear us to colleges as passionate, well-rounded applicants. We knew we were in good hands: our school proudly displayed its college-acceptance statistics like Louis Vuitton logos stamped onto a handbag. Four Yales in 2002! Six Cornells and six Browns in 2005! Nine Wesleyans in 2006! “They’re clumping,” the college counselor sighed, but she didn’t seem to mind much. We were duly conveyor-belted into our respective illustrious universities, whereupon our busy lives ground to a halt.

At USC, we were forbidden to register for classes until we had completed an Internet crash course in responsible alcohol use. We patiently clicked through slow-loading educational videos about a diverse but attractive group of fictional friends (Fulgencio drank in moderation; Ming-Lee binged on weekends; Fatima abstained altogether) and slow-loading interactive quizzes on addiction and alcohol poisoning. “The safety of our students is our highest priority,” the university cooed in its explanatory e-mail. This should have been our first clue: as my roommate Max observed, “College makes you eight years old.” It would prove to be more like summer camp than my Skidmore summer program had been.

Classes began. College did do one thing better than high school: diversity. USC was so diverse, in fact, that many of my classmates barely spoke English. They struggled to comprehend the reading, which made the T.A.s feel so guilty that class discussions were inevitably conducted at around a sixth-grade level. On the other hand, many of my T.A.s struggled with English themselves, so maybe they were doing the best they could. Either way, we earned A’s in our sleep.

Lectures were another story. USC film school is legendary for its larger-than-life professors–“He’s a real character!” people had assured me about several professors, and on this ground they did not disappoint. After a gushing introduction from a T.A., my professors strode into the lecture hall to their own recorded theme music and thunderous applause. “Like my suit? It’s Hugo Boss!” crowed my freshman year professor. “You’re lucky to be in my class–you get to enjoy my fashion choices!” said my sophomore year professor. Every lecture was a well-rehearsed comedy routine. Sometimes they used swear words, to thunderous applause. (Scandalous!) One of them once dared to take the controversial stance that George W. Bush is an idiot, to thunderous applause. “Yeah,” he said, egged on, “I don’t care if you’re offended!” (Good gracious, did our parents know?) They made us buy and read $100 textbooks that they’d written themselves; their lectures were word-for-word recitations of these very books. And it was excruciatingly clear, from the way they spoke, that these may have been the only books they’d ever read.

It didn’t bother the students, who weren’t really listening anyway.. They all brought their fancy laptops and cell phones to class, and they spent the whole lecture playing with them. If you stood in the back of the auditorium, the audience twinkled with the beaming lights of Facebook and AIM and Tetris and text messages. Phones rang out every few minutes, and sometimes kids would actually answer them, with a hushed “Hello?…I’m in class!…Pretty boring. What’s up with you?” The professors could hardly complain, since their phones rang constantly too.

Of course, academics weren’t the point; as ever, the real college experience was in the extracurricular activities. By which I mean Facebook. And Instant Messaging. And video games, and TV. Sometimes I suspect that the student riots of the 1960s would never have happened if there had been anything good on TV back then.

Not that the 60s countercultural college spirit had died completely–it did pop up now and then, albeit as mangled beyond recognition as a homeless Vietnam veteran. I’ll never forget the rally USC organized to protest Fox’s cancellation of Arrested Development (whose creators, we loved to remind everyone, had attended USC and given us money). Another time, in protest of the sweatshop merchandise in the USC bookstore, a small gang of students staged an actual sit-in in the office of the university president. They sat there defiantly for several hours, until the president poked his head in and told them to get out of his office or they’d be suspended. Sheepishly, they left.

The months dragged on; by the end of sophomore year, we knew the drill. If it all begins to feel pointless, just complain to your parents, or to the campus health center; they’ll refer you to a psychiatrist, who will diagnose a chemical imbalance in your brain (how strange that you never noticed it until now!) and prescribe antidepressants. If you can’t face the mind-numbing course work, you’re in luck–half your classmates were diagnosed with ADD as children, and they’ll be happy to share their Ritalin or Adderall with you. It really does the trick! If it doesn’t, though, ask around for cocaine, and ye shall receive. You’ll want to do whatever it takes to slog through your work, because when you’re done, you can get wasted. You don’t have to, of course, but TV is much funnier if you do.

If you can keep this up for four years, you get to graduate from USC–not to “Pomp and Circumstance,” but to the theme from Indiana Jones. Unironically. (Spielberg and Lucas gave us a lot of money.)

At some point, though, it will dawn on you that you don’t really need to go to class. You’ll pass anyway, and your professors won’t care. If they notice your absence, they’ll just shrug through their Hugo Boss suits and repeat their favorite professorial refrain: “It’s your money.”

Not quite true–the money is coming from our parents. Oh, the things we do for them.

Comments are no longer being accepted.

This is by far the best essay of the lot. Give that girl a contract! Just don’t show it to her parents who could have gotten four BMWs with what they paid for her USC experience.

“Sometimes I suspect that the student riots of the 1960s would never have happened if there had been anything good on TV back then.” Bloody brilliant. Best essay, absolutely true to the college experience.

agreed, best essay

I certainly enjoyed this essay better than the rest. It flowed naturally. The other students seemed like they were trying too hard and their essays seemed awkward, disingenuous, and haughty.

You just wrote the definition of College in Southern California.

I transferred. Really, it can be better elsewhere.

funny, well-written.

but c’mon, cynicism only gets you so far.

And you’re studying film, not biology or philosophy. If you wanted more challenging academic work, you should have studied something else.

now I am scared to start to teach! can we ban electronic devices in the classroom?

Best essay! why didn’t this one win? The winner’s essay was awful.

Best essay. Maureen Dowd is nearing retirement age so there is opening for the author with the NYT.

The 60’s students freedom from mundane economic concerns was enabled by the sober bourgois work ethic of their parents. The 60’s radicals became the tenured radicals who are entitled to a good wage with benefits. Now, Gen XYZ has to pay for this via tuition fees. And a resume for a good college needs padding with expensive and timeconsuming dogooding and extracurricular activities. And unpaid internships don’t pay for themselves if you want a job at the fancy NGO or NFP. You can’t save the world on the cheap.

this is by far the best essay of the lot. NY times should hire her.

My, what an unfortunate school USC must be. Is she under the impression that all colleges are like that?

Why didnt this essay win?!?!

Agreed this is the best.

Outstanding work, and clearly the winner, IMO.

Not sure what to tell you, Frankie… had you stuck with Skidmore, it woud’ve been a very different essay.

This essay didn’t win because it’s easier to read than Mr. Yale’s piece. And fancier words and more complex sentence structures (albeit frivolous and mundane)=more special writin’. The best writers in the world are the ones that not everyone can understand easily–I mean, after all, we have to be smarter consumers and users of the English language than the average USA Today reader, right?

Anyway, the author summed up what many frustrated students realize about college: it’s all fake. Despite the seemingly endless limits of diversity and the never-ending novelty of famous professors and alumni, college never turns out to be what you want it to be. It turns out to be a great big show, with actors on the stage and behind the scenes. Not surprisingly, students learn how to act like students; they do not, however, learn to truly be them.

What a surprise that our generation has turned out to be so disingenuous.

Best of a pretentious untalented bunch to be sure. This girl can write, this girl is alive and has a vision to see what is going on in the world around her. I have a college age girl myself, now off studying at U of Heidelberg, DE – I hear many of her own sentiments echoed in this essay. Love it, good for you, Frankie – you will go far or at least have fun trying…from Western MA

You mean watching movies all day leaves you feeling empty? Quelle surprise :O

This essay didn’t win because while it is easy to read, comical and strikes some notes with its readers, it reflects the problems in her own life not problems with college. College, and shockingly life, are what you make of them. In every university and every city there will be those who thrive on blackberries and LV and those who want to slit their wrists because the world is just oh so against them. If you don’t like the college experience you are getting at USC go find what makes you happy somewhere else, don’t go get medicated because I can guarantee you there is someone behind on the waiting list for those classes that will actually value the experience.

Thank you, Frankie Thomas. Honest, open, engaging. Using your own life experiences at USC as a way to draw your reader into the larger view of what the “college experience” is today was a wonderful literary device and will serve you well should you decide to continue writing.

It’s not written like an essay, framed in the outline style, so that people can pick out each point and file them away for future use. Instead it is much more memorable and real.

USC is a great place to make connections, anyway, even if the academics in film-making appears to be lacking. Best of luck to you!

What a powerhouse! Frankie, you have summed-up, in entertaining fashion, mind you, life at college to a t-bone steak! Speaking of which, you will be enjoying many of them in your later life as the successful writer you have shown yourself to be;-) Keep on truckin’, girl!

By far, the best essay. This should have one.

When I went to Berkeley in 1975 I also felt that many of my teachers were pompous windbags who cared more about research than the lectures they were forced to give. Now that I myself am a college professor I see how time changes everything: you perform for your students, because there is core stuff they have to learn: but your heart is in research, and you bring it up at every opportunity. And if the students are also somehow touched by your passion then they like your lecture- most will read the newspaper. So now you are jaded about your professors, but one day you will be jaded about your students.

This essay was really good. But It did not win because it was listing reasons as to why college doesn’t matter. For her essay to be a runner up shows that the NYT judges really, really, liked it.

A little more optimism could have helped a great deal. It would have been ironic if the winner of the contest asking “Why college matters” was saying that it was a waste of time. It would have been funny if it won. Really funny.

I completely agree, this was the best one! Actually, I liked it far better than others because it was the only one that actually kept my attention past the second sentence!

Thank God someone got it right. Just graduated and was mired in this assaulting irony for four years. Frankie, my hat’s off to you.

What's Next

Essay and dissertation writing skills

Planning your essay

Writing your introduction

Structuring your essay

• Writing essays in science subjects
• Brief video guides to support essay planning and writing
• Writing extended essays and dissertations
• Planning your dissertation writing time

Structuring your dissertation

• Top tips for writing longer pieces of work

Advice on planning and writing essays and dissertations

University essays differ from school essays in that they are less concerned with what you know and more concerned with how you construct an argument to answer the question. This means that the starting point for writing a strong essay is to first unpick the question and to then use this to plan your essay before you start putting pen to paper (or finger to keyboard).

A really good starting point for you are these short, downloadable Tips for Successful Essay Writing and Answering the Question resources. Both resources will help you to plan your essay, as well as giving you guidance on how to distinguish between different sorts of essay questions. 

You may find it helpful to watch this seven-minute video on six tips for essay writing which outlines how to interpret essay questions, as well as giving advice on planning and structuring your writing:

Different disciplines will have different expectations for essay structure and you should always refer to your Faculty or Department student handbook or course Canvas site for more specific guidance.

However, broadly speaking, all essays share the following features:

Essays need an introduction to establish and focus the parameters of the discussion that will follow. You may find it helpful to divide the introduction into areas to demonstrate your breadth and engagement with the essay question. You might define specific terms in the introduction to show your engagement with the essay question; for example, ‘This is a large topic which has been variously discussed by many scientists and commentators. The principle tension is between the views of X and Y who define the main issues as…’ Breadth might be demonstrated by showing the range of viewpoints from which the essay question could be considered; for example, ‘A variety of factors including economic, social and political, influence A and B. This essay will focus on the social and economic aspects, with particular emphasis on…..’

Watch this two-minute video to learn more about how to plan and structure an introduction:

The main body of the essay should elaborate on the issues raised in the introduction and develop an argument(s) that answers the question. It should consist of a number of self-contained paragraphs each of which makes a specific point and provides some form of evidence to support the argument being made. Remember that a clear argument requires that each paragraph explicitly relates back to the essay question or the developing argument.

• Conclusion: An essay should end with a conclusion that reiterates the argument in light of the evidence you have provided; you shouldn’t use the conclusion to introduce new information.
• References: You need to include references to the materials you’ve used to write your essay. These might be in the form of footnotes, in-text citations, or a bibliography at the end. Different systems exist for citing references and different disciplines will use various approaches to citation. Ask your tutor which method(s) you should be using for your essay and also consult your Department or Faculty webpages for specific guidance in your discipline. 

Essay writing in science subjects

If you are writing an essay for a science subject you may need to consider additional areas, such as how to present data or diagrams. This five-minute video gives you some advice on how to approach your reading list, planning which information to include in your answer and how to write for your scientific audience – the video is available here:

A PDF providing further guidance on writing science essays for tutorials is available to download.

Short videos to support your essay writing skills

There are many other resources at Oxford that can help support your essay writing skills and if you are short on time, the Oxford Study Skills Centre has produced a number of short (2-minute) videos covering different aspects of essay writing, including:

• Approaching different types of essay questions  
• Structuring your essay  
• Writing an introduction  
• Making use of evidence in your essay writing  
• Writing your conclusion

Extended essays and dissertations

Longer pieces of writing like extended essays and dissertations may seem like quite a challenge from your regular essay writing. The important point is to start with a plan and to focus on what the question is asking. A PDF providing further guidance on planning Humanities and Social Science dissertations is available to download.

Planning your time effectively

Try not to leave the writing until close to your deadline, instead start as soon as you have some ideas to put down onto paper. Your early drafts may never end up in the final work, but the work of committing your ideas to paper helps to formulate not only your ideas, but the method of structuring your writing to read well and conclude firmly.

Although many students and tutors will say that the introduction is often written last, it is a good idea to begin to think about what will go into it early on. For example, the first draft of your introduction should set out your argument, the information you have, and your methods, and it should give a structure to the chapters and sections you will write. Your introduction will probably change as time goes on but it will stand as a guide to your entire extended essay or dissertation and it will help you to keep focused.

The structure of  extended essays or dissertations will vary depending on the question and discipline, but may include some or all of the following:

• The background information to - and context for - your research. This often takes the form of a literature review.
• Explanation of the focus of your work.
• Explanation of the value of this work to scholarship on the topic.
• List of the aims and objectives of the work and also the issues which will not be covered because they are outside its scope.

The main body of your extended essay or dissertation will probably include your methodology, the results of research, and your argument(s) based on your findings.

The conclusion is to summarise the value your research has added to the topic, and any further lines of research you would undertake given more time or resources. 

Tips on writing longer pieces of work

Approaching each chapter of a dissertation as a shorter essay can make the task of writing a dissertation seem less overwhelming. Each chapter will have an introduction, a main body where the argument is developed and substantiated with evidence, and a conclusion to tie things together. Unlike in a regular essay, chapter conclusions may also introduce the chapter that will follow, indicating how the chapters are connected to one another and how the argument will develop through your dissertation.

For further guidance, watch this two-minute video on writing longer pieces of work . 

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English Unit # 15 – University Days (Essay) Multiple Choice Questions for 11th Class

English and English Grammar Notes for I.Com Part one (Part-I) / FSc Part one (Part-I) / ICs Part one (Part-I) / 11th Class / XI / FA Part one (Part-I) / 1st Year for Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (FBISE) Islamabad. A complete book topic wise or chapter wise Solved Exercises, Key Book, Guide and Handouts in PDF Format as per latest syllabus for Intermediate Level (HSSC-I) students of Federal Board of Intermediate & Secondary Education (FBISE). By studying our notes, we can guarantee you for getting maximum marks in your exams.

11 th Class English Chapter # 15 University Days Important MCQs with Answers

First Year (1st year) English Chapter #  15 – University Days (Essay) – James Thurber . English and English Grammar Notes of  Unit or Chapter # 15 – University Days (Essay) – James Thurber. Multiple Choice Questions with Answers (MCQs) of University Days (Essay) for 11th Class / FSC (part-I) / ICs (part-I) / 1st Year / FA (part-I) / I.Com part One (part-I) For Federal Board (FBISE) Islamabad.

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Guest Essay

I Thought the Bragg Case Against Trump Was a Legal Embarrassment. Now I Think It’s a Historic Mistake.

By Jed Handelsman Shugerman

Mr. Shugerman is a law professor at Boston University.

About a year ago, when Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, indicted former President Donald Trump, I was critical of the case and called it an embarrassment. I thought an array of legal problems would and should lead to long delays in federal courts.

After listening to Monday’s opening statement by prosecutors, I still think the Manhattan D.A. has made a historic mistake. Their vague allegation about “a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election” has me more concerned than ever about their unprecedented use of state law and their persistent avoidance of specifying an election crime or a valid theory of fraud.

To recap: Mr. Trump is accused in the case of falsifying business records. Those are misdemeanor charges. To elevate it to a criminal case, Mr. Bragg and his team have pointed to potential violations of federal election law and state tax fraud. They also cite state election law, but state statutory definitions of “public office” seem to limit those statutes to state and local races.

Both the misdemeanor and felony charges require that the defendant made the false record with “intent to defraud.” A year ago, I wondered how entirely internal business records (the daily ledger, pay stubs and invoices) could be the basis of any fraud if they are not shared with anyone outside the business. I suggested that the real fraud was Mr. Trump’s filing an (allegedly) false report to the Federal Election Commission, and only federal prosecutors had jurisdiction over that filing.

A recent conversation with Jeffrey Cohen, a friend, Boston College law professor and former prosecutor, made me think that the case could turn out to be more legitimate than I had originally thought. The reason has to do with those allegedly falsified business records: Most of them were entered in early 2017, generally before Mr. Trump filed his Federal Election Commission report that summer. Mr. Trump may have foreseen an investigation into his campaign, leading to its financial records. Mr. Trump may have falsely recorded these internal records before the F.E.C. filing as consciously part of the same fraud: to create a consistent paper trail and to hide intent to violate federal election laws, or defraud the F.E.C.

In short: It’s not the crime; it’s the cover-up.

Looking at the case in this way might address concerns about state jurisdiction. In this scenario, Mr. Trump arguably intended to deceive state investigators, too. State investigators could find these inconsistencies and alert federal agencies. Prosecutors could argue that New York State agencies have an interest in detecting conspiracies to defraud federal entities; they might also have a plausible answer to significant questions about whether New York State has jurisdiction or whether this stretch of a state business filing law is pre-empted by federal law.

However, this explanation is a novel interpretation with many significant legal problems. And none of the Manhattan D.A.’s filings or today’s opening statement even hint at this approach.

Instead of a theory of defrauding state regulators, Mr. Bragg has adopted a weak theory of “election interference,” and Justice Juan Merchan described the case , in his summary of it during jury selection, as an allegation of falsifying business records “to conceal an agreement with others to unlawfully influence the 2016 election.”

As a reality check, it is legal for a candidate to pay for a nondisclosure agreement. Hush money is unseemly, but it is legal. The election law scholar Richard Hasen rightly observed , “Calling it election interference actually cheapens the term and undermines the deadly serious charges in the real election interference cases.”

In Monday’s opening argument, the prosecutor Matthew Colangelo still evaded specifics about what was illegal about influencing an election, but then he claimed , “It was election fraud, pure and simple.” None of the relevant state or federal statutes refer to filing violations as fraud. Calling it “election fraud” is a legal and strategic mistake, exaggerating the case and setting up the jury with high expectations that the prosecutors cannot meet.

The most accurate description of this criminal case is a federal campaign finance filing violation. Without a federal violation (which the state election statute is tethered to), Mr. Bragg cannot upgrade the misdemeanor counts into felonies. Moreover, it is unclear how this case would even fulfill the misdemeanor requirement of “intent to defraud” without the federal crime.

In stretching jurisdiction and trying a federal crime in state court, the Manhattan D.A. is now pushing untested legal interpretations and applications. I see three red flags raising concerns about selective prosecution upon appeal.

First, I could find no previous case of any state prosecutor relying on the Federal Election Campaign Act either as a direct crime or a predicate crime. Whether state prosecutors have avoided doing so as a matter of law, norms or lack of expertise, this novel attempt is a sign of overreach.

Second, Mr. Trump’s lawyers argued that the New York statute requires that the predicate (underlying) crime must also be a New York crime, not a crime in another jurisdiction. The Manhattan D.A. responded with judicial precedents only about other criminal statutes, not the statute in this case. In the end, they could not cite a single judicial interpretation of this particular statute supporting their use of the statute (a plea deal and a single jury instruction do not count).

Third, no New York precedent has allowed an interpretation of defrauding the general public. Legal experts have noted that such a broad “election interference” theory is unprecedented, and a conviction based on it may not survive a state appeal.

Mr. Trump’s legal team also undercut itself for its decisions in the past year: His lawyers essentially put all of their eggs in the meritless basket of seeking to move the trial to federal court, instead of seeking a federal injunction to stop the trial entirely. If they had raised the issues of selective or vindictive prosecution and a mix of jurisdictional, pre-emption and constitutional claims, they could have delayed the trial past Election Day, even if they lost at each federal stage.

Another reason a federal crime has wound up in state court is that President Biden’s Justice Department bent over backward not to reopen this valid case or appoint a special counsel. Mr. Trump has tried to blame Mr. Biden for this prosecution as the real “election interference.” The Biden administration’s extra restraint belies this allegation and deserves more credit.

Eight years after the alleged crime itself, it is reasonable to ask if this is more about Manhattan politics than New York law. This case should serve as a cautionary tale about broader prosecutorial abuses in America — and promote bipartisan reforms of our partisan prosecutorial system.

Nevertheless, prosecutors should have some latitude to develop their case during trial, and maybe they will be more careful and precise about the underlying crime, fraud and the jurisdictional questions. Mr. Trump has received sufficient notice of the charges, and he can raise his arguments on appeal. One important principle of “ our Federalism ,” in the Supreme Court’s terms, is abstention , that federal courts should generally allow state trials to proceed first and wait to hear challenges later.

This case is still an embarrassment of prosecutorial ethics and apparent selective prosecution. Nevertheless, each side should have its day in court. If convicted, Mr. Trump can fight many other days — and perhaps win — in appellate courts. But if Monday’s opening is a preview of exaggerated allegations, imprecise legal theories and persistently unaddressed problems, the prosecutors might not win a conviction at all.

Jed Handelsman Shugerman (@jedshug) is a law professor at Boston University.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

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Hofstra University senior's D-Day essay earns him Normandy trip to mark 80 years since invasion

Hofstra University senior Dominick Pursino's winning essay, intertwining the 1944 D-Day invasion’s military significance with his family history, earned him a trip in June to Normandy, France for the 80th anniversary of the allied assault. Credit: Howard Schnapp

A Hofstra University senior has won the Museum of American Armor’s D-Day essay contest. His prize is a professionally guided tour that will put him on the beaches of Normandy, France, on June 6, the 80th anniversary of the largest amphibious invasion in history.

Dominick Pursino, 22, of Commack, wrote an essay that intertwined the invasion’s military significance with his family history. Pursino's connection was indirect but powerful: His late grandmother had lived under Nazi occupation in Italy during World War II and heard about the Allied operation on the radio.

From her, Pursino wrote, he heard stories about the “synchronous stomping of the German troops in formation,” forced labor and severe punishments, and later, the chocolate handed out by American troops.

Had D-Day failed, he wrote, so might have the Allied war effort. His grandmother might never have immigrated to Brooklyn and suburban Long Island. Were it not for the soldiers on Normandy’s beaches, he wrote, “my existence on this planet would be extremely unlikely.”

Pursino, an education major who hopes to teach middle school social studies and special education, said in an interview that his grandmother, Christina D’Agostino — who died several years ago at 92 — was in her teens in 1941 when the Nazis appeared in her small hometown of Giovinazzo. They left in 1943. Pursino said D’Agostino was a professional artist who settled in Kings Park.

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U.S troops wade ashore at Normandy, France on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Credit: AP

He said he’d listened avidly to his grandmother’s stories about life under occupation: the strict rules, the curfews, the neighbors who sometimes disappeared. D-Day, when the Allies used 7,000 vessels to land 133,000 troops, of which more than 10,000 were either killed or wounded, is now considered a watershed moment in the war. But as it unfolded for Pursino’s grandmother, “it took a while for it to be deemed successful,” he recalled.

Leading up to his June Normandy trip, Pursino said he plans to read up on the history of World War II. His 10-day adventure will start in London “in the war rooms where they planned the whole campaign.” A ferry ride over the channel waters crossed by the troops will follow, then on to the beaches where the troops landed.

But it's the stories his grandmother told to him of her life and how the invasion changed it that Pursino hopes to one day tell his students.

“In history, you always learn about the big names, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But sometimes there are more interesting personal stories that can be taken from those who didn’t get representation in textbooks,” he said.

In an interview, Gary Lewi, a museum board member and one of the contest judges, said Pursino’s essay was chosen from roughly 100 entries. It “put together, in a very cogent way, the sacrifice of thousands of GIs on the beach and the liberation of a continent from a terror that is still unimaginable,” Lewi said. “It wasn’t just a recitation of statistics, how many ships, how many men, but the human dimension of what that sacrifice on June 6 meant to humanity.”

While Pursino is in Europe, the museum will commemorate D-Day with a ceremony at its Old Bethpage grounds, Lewi said. Scheduled to attend are British and French diplomats, military veterans, along with Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman and Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine.

The ceremony will honor two Long Islanders killed in the invasion, Charles T. Byrnes and Sidney Dudgeon , Lewi said.

Nicholas Spangler is a general assignment reporter and has worked at Newsday since 2010.

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2024 Earth Day Essay Contest Awards Announced

Three-hundred and fifty students in grades five to 12 participated in The University of Scranton Earth Day Essay Contest this year, which set a record for participation in the annual competition. Awards were announced at the University’s Evening of Environmental Science Event on campus in April.

This year’s essay theme was “Sustainable Living, Caring for Creation,” which was inspired by Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical letter “Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home” and The University of Scranton’s commitment to join a coalition of colleges from around the world to develop, implement and evaluate initiatives around seven ecological goals over a seven-year period to meet the Pope’s call for integral ecology and to gain designation by the Vatican as a Laudato Si’ University .

The first-place winner of the fifth-grade essay contest was Collin Sickles, from St. Claire/St. Paul’s Elementary School. Aubrey Mace, from Howard Gardner Multiple Intelligence Charter School and Sophia Norton, from St. Clair/St. Paul tied for second place. Isabella Muso and Taylor Ebersole from All Saints Academy won third place medals.

The sixth-grade student that took first place in the essay contest was Sean Kiernan, from Howard Gardner Multiple Intelligence Charter School. The students who tied for second place were Ronan Keating and Katie Doherty, both from St. Claires/St. Paul’s Elementary School. Receiving a third-place awards were Nathan Dennis, from Fell Charter School and Griffin Maynor, from All Saints Academy.

All the seventh-grade essay contest winners were from St Claire/St. Paul’s Elementary School. The first-place winner of the seventh-grade essay contest was Preet Patel. The second-place winners were Madlyn McHale and Sage Michel. The third-place winners were Bennet Budow and Lily Reager.  

The eight-grade first-place winner was Sylvia Fahey, from Howard Gardner Multiple Intelligence Charter School. In second place were Elizabeth Rich, from Holy Rosary School and Raeleigh Reiss, from Howard Gardner. The third-place winner was Jonathan Fitzmaurice, from Holy Rosary School.

The ninth-10 th grade essay contest winners were: Edie Hann, first place, Scranton Preparatory School; Anusha Thapa Magar, second place, Holy Cross High School; Anna Tringale, second-place, North Carolina; and Simon E. Madore, third place, Holy Cross High School.

The 11 th -12 th grade essay contest winners were all from Valley View High School. Coming in first place was Gabby Staback; in second place was Emma Miller and tied for third-place was Noah M. Nocek and Christian Sweeny.

University of Scranton students who work in the Jesuit school’s Office of Sustainability reviewed the essays submitted, in addition to organizing the award ceremony. University students Emily Burgers, an environmental science major from Wayne, New Jersey; Rebekah Thompson, an occupational therapy major from Bedminster, New Jersey; and Emma Warras, an environmental science major from Kinnelon, New Jersey; spoke at the award program. Mark Murphy, director of the Office of Sustainability at the University, has organized the Earth Day Essay Contest for a decade. It was one of a dozen Earth Day events held on campus.

Information about next year’s essay contest will be posted to the University’s Sustainability webpage in January 2025.

Three Day “Kiddie Day” event underway at WVU’s Animal Science Research Center

BRIDGEPORT, W.Va (WDTV) - Parents grab the kids and head over to Morgantown; because Kiddie Day’s is officially back at WVU’s animal science research, education, and outreach center. The three-day event invites students and families from across west Virginia; to get up close and personal with some of their favorite farm animals. While also learning about some of the cool things undergraduate students at the farm are doing. This is just the first year the event has been back since the Covid 19 pandemic, and many teachers and families have been looking forward to it. With over three thousand kids expected to visit the farm, through Thursday, keeping busy won’t be a problem. According to officials, like Dr. Chris Ashwell, this is not only the perfect event to bring awareness to the important work being done on the farm, but also a perfect way to give back to the community.

“It allows for kids to see and interact with farm animals. The nice thing about it for us is we get to give back to the community. We’re a state organization, the university, so this is part of our outreach and education program for the community; beyond just our normal WVU and Mountaineer students.”

This may not be Old McDonald’s farm however, there’s still plenty of animals to see. Officials hoping the experience will make am impression that will last a lifetime.

“The animals are out and want to be interacted with. The kids are having... that’s my jacket. The kids are going from station to station; they’ll see cattle, they’ll see sheep. There is some llama’s hidden down on one side of the farm. There are guard animals for the sheep, there are ducks, there are chickens; I probably haven’t covered everything because I haven’t done the whole loop myself yet, I just got here a little while ago. So, it’s exciting to have all the kids come and visit with us here in Morgantown.”

Although we do live in the wild and wonderful; understanding wildlife is easier said than done. That’s why event’s like kiddie day’s are not only important to other’s experiences, but also those who work with these animals every day.

" We like to expose our kids to where their food comes from. What you see beside me is a Dairy Calf, we have a lab that our undergraduate students raise these from birth. They’re learning how to take care of the animals, the husbandry, but they’re also learning the science and the physiology behind their development and growth.”

For any more information on Kiddie Days or the animal research center be sure to visit their website at davis.wvu.edu

Copyright 2024 WDTV. All rights reserved.

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Home — Essay Samples — Geography & Travel — Travel and Tourism Industry — The History of Moscow City

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When planning a business trip all aspects and decisions rely heavily on the budget set by the company for the trip. Once Sandfords have confirmed the location careful consideration should be used to choose the travel method and [...]

Tourism is an action of worldwide imperativeness and importance as it is a major force in the economy (Cooper et al. 2008). Tourism has undeniably developed as one of the most significant economic and social phenomena of the [...]

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