Thursday, April 21, 2011

Thesis Rev II

Well, this submission is later than it should be, sorry, but here it is:

I propose that, through increased research using the currently accepted techniques of creation and implementation of AI, the forever daunting task of creating AI will finally be made possible.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Thesis Rev I

I propose that, through increased research, the difficulties that lie in both the theoretical and the physical aspects of Artificial Intelligence can be cracked.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

A Turn for the Better

OLD PARAGRAPH:

This also, has a possible short term disadvantage, as the amount of houses being created will one day come to a halt. However, after installation of the cameras, there is a necessity to monitor and be alert of the material being recorded within the cameras. So, a government funded section must be created within the security department which will monitor these cameras and take notes upon interactions so that the numbers may be matched against the tax reports when filed to the government. Initially, those 1500 workers who are also being taken from the economy's pay roll may also have an initial job as the installations begin.

NEW PARAGRAPH:

However this technique has a shortcoming due to a limit upon the number of households. In argument to this, there will be a necessity to monitor the material. Thus, a government funded program must be created within the security department to monitor these devices. It then goes without saying that a large number will be able to be employed in order to monitor and track the household's skin ship.

In addition to the proposed future job opportunities, a current job market will begin to flourish as the installations begin and management of the system is required. There are currently approximately 1500 workers who will be ousted from their current jobs due to this budget cut, and as such they may find work quickly within this new field.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

A Modest Post

Jonathan Swift's proposal essay, "A Modest Proposal," is without a doubt one of the most flagrant disregards for human compassion that I've ever laid my eyes on and actually taken the time to read. However, technically speaking, his alternative to feed the populace and create a new job market for an economy seems as if it might actually work.

Structurally he lays out the problem very specifically, giving visuals of the masses of vagabond children following the beggar women. After defining the problem, he continues to give details that will make his proposal seem even more reasonable, by considering the uselessness of children. Afterwards, he "humbly propose[s his] own thoughts" to the audience. He begins by creating a simple paragraph explaining the solution and a small bit of its viability. Afterwards, his elaboration continues into making it seem more viable until you get the idea of the possibility of this being a solution. Afterwards he lists out his main focus points in a very straightforward way as to reiterate much of the viability and logistics of the solution. Finally he wraps up the piece by referring to how severe the problem is and how "obviously" the solution will work to solve the problem.

His evidence manages to highly support the truth of the problem as well as his solution. While the data and numbers outright seem to only point at aiding the solution, giving numbers about families and marketing, it also has a strong second meaning that tells the tale of the state of Ireland at the time. While he mentions the massive amounts of families, it in turn gives rise to the numbers of people who need help and are not receiving it through the government. Without a doubt, satirical data seems as if it would be hard to gather, considering you need something that can tell the numbers to support two things at once, both the inward problem and the outward solution.

His supporting points are laid out to give an excellent viability to enacting the solution. His main points are laid out very straightforwardly at one point, as he lists them in order. His first point takes a hit towards the religion at the time, while also trying to make the reader see the religious success. His second, third, and fourth points all tend to point out the state of the citizens of Ireland and the poor shabby lives they lead that would actually somehow make this solution a viable option. His fifth point is a bit hard to understand, but it seems like it may be taking a crack at the upper class who would enjoy the finer recipes on how to eat the delicacies.

The piece is effective in that it explains a viable solution to fix a severe problem. The piece works because it does its real job by explaining the state of the problem and what the people are feeling. Perhaps they wouldn't feel like eating babies, but that's the point. While it's obvious that they wouldn't eat babies, at least I hope it was..., the real problem is well laid out and explained through the solution. His apparent tone, in which he so matter-of-factly states that they should eat babies, really shows his lack of care for the current solutions being; or maybe better stated, not being; enacted. His tone mocks the government for being unable to find a solution better than his own and expects that the government should enact his plan because apparently they are unable to come up with a viable solution on their own.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

3 Blind Mice

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/03/20/pennsylvania.school.testing/index.html?hpt=T2

This article begins as a story concerning a woman in state college who refuses to allow her children to take the PSSA's. The issue concerns that the tests do nothing good for schools and should not exist at all. However, the article also points out the other side of the issue concerning the international plight, when children are being outclasses in every subject worldwide. The article also hints at no child left behind, but it doesn't fortitude itself with that information so I believe it isn't the focus of the piece. Personally, though, I dislike the no child left behind policy as well as the results that the test cause. No child left behind is not a very good policy, concerning schools with a higher special education tend to do poorer on the exams. Thus, those results also limit the funding for the schools that actually need better funding to hire more teachers to help educate the children. However, that isn't the focus of the article. The article takes a turn on the parents who just dislike the test more than anything, which I feel is a bit silly. I truthfully feel more inclined to believe that the tests are a good thing that try to make the children proceed and do better so that they can say they got a good score on it. I feel that the US is slowly falling behind other countries academically and so to try to enhance the education process and, in a sense, force growth may actually be a good thing.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/03/20/pennsylvania.school.testing/index.html?hpt=T2

This article references the issues concerning Japan and its nuclear power plant issues and focuses on the repercussions from the problems. Apparently, many countries are severely rethinking their nuclear programs for safety reasons. Also 7 in 10 Americans are even more fretful of a nuclear disaster happening here in the US. As much as this article elaborates, it really tries to point out that safety was always a concern with the nuclear energy, and that much of the fear is unfounded. Let alone Americans being fearful that the radiation would harm them from Japan, considering that Chernobyl was a disaster of much larger proportions and still didn't affect areas of shorter distances than Japan to the US. Personally I believe that there is nothing to fear, disaster can always strike, but the benefits of nuclear energy far outweigh the costs concerning the world and humanity.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/03/09/illinois.death.penalty/index.html

This article is very simply about Illinois and its vote to eliminate the death penalty. It noted in the article that the last death penalty actually occurred in 1999, and was then halted by the current governor at the time. The article is very philosophical, reference many different opinions on the subject, although it seems to be more heavily suited towards being against the death penalty. Personally I don't believe that the death penalty should be legal in any form, but I do see the points for having it. I know a bit of sociology, and that being said prisons are actually a miserably poor excuse for a correction facility. You are basically taught that you have to be tough to get around and get anywhere, which is not present in formal society. Although you have to have a good self-esteem, that doesn't mean that you have to show brute strength to get everything. So, as such, bringing the death penalty allows the state to reduce the funding for the massive amounts of inmates that are likely repeat offenders. The death penalty also limits severe incidents from happening more than once. However, the possibility to actually kill an innocent person is much too great a risk in my opinion to allow it to happen.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Canning Duelists



As I drink my can of Brisk iced tea, I can't help but compare it to my favorite soda, Dr. Pepper. The designs of both cans, in particular, hold multitudes of differences even though both are just cans.

Brisk(Lipton): Lipton takes a very new age approach with their can, using abstraction to make a scene. None of the objects, with the exception of perhaps one tree, have any solid form. The mountains are created with sharp edges while rolling planes cover the ground of the can. All the while the lemon on the logo tends to act strangely as the moon, as opposed to a sun. The can's blue tones are accented by yellow which may be intended to have a mellow effect but still have a flavor.

Dr. Pepper: This can, on the other hand, takes a very solid approach with their design. The can is much less vibrant and almost at a standstill. Their approach is not as complex and even less new age as their design has been around for ages and the can has changed little. The deep pools of red make the can very well known and easily recognized, which is likely a good reason not to change the design. The can's focal point is the logo, perhaps pulling people in to the familiarity of it all and remind them of the 23 different flavors in every can.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

ordinarily bright

The object that I will be reviewing will be the hot new thing known as a light bulb. It merits evaluation for the sheer widespread use that it harbors from the population that needs light, be it day or night. Light bulbs have been around for many years and, yet, they may have lost a bit of their original flair due to being just as widespread as they are now. While it may not be new or exotic, let alone controversial(unless you're Amish), the light bulb is popular, although not in the most obvious of ways. When someone turns on the lights, they may not realize it, or verbalize their pleasure, but they do feel the joy of being bathed in the glow of the artificial sunshine. Categories would be hard, but household utilities might be a good one. Those common things that people tend to take for granted might be a slightly more efficient subcategory within the household as well, to give more meaning to what types of things we are comparing this light bulb with. Its functionality is also a huge category for the light bulb to be placed under, considering it's the majority reason that I chose to go with something so plain and bland. For that very plain and blandness, a certain functionality achievement is vaguely ignored in light(no-pun intended) of whatever else is going on. Yet, more often than not, light bulbs are necessary to keep whatever is going on, going on. That being said, categorically, light-emitting objects would also be a good category to put the light bulb under. The typical incandescent light bulbs are referred to as 'light bulbs,' while others are given more specific names such as LEDs or Halogen Light Bulbs. Every type of light object there is, excluding the sun, has some sort connection to the original light bulb design. The criteria for the light bulb are both quantitative and qualitative, because a good mixture of both helps to build a concrete foundation for a story. Comparing the light bulb to other bulbs, possible criteria include comparing the light bulb's visible light output. Also another criteria, perhaps more suited to the 'now' section of the paper, is the energy efficiency compared to the competition. It's been said that light bulbs are terribly inefficient and, as a result, waste electricity for the same level of output light in public. Another easy comparison in the fiscal requirements for the light bulb, and how it compares to other bulbs. Other light bulbs tend to appear more expensive, but why? I'm truthfully kind of curious myself. It seems like it should be a normal light bulb, but apparently glass is more expensive for them for some reason. Comparing conventional usage though, some qualitative data includes how widespread light bulbs really make it. The demographics of light bulbs(what a weird thing to say...) have much to say about which bulb is more positively reflected in the consumer's eyes. And, last but not least, where the light bulbs are used the most. Recently I saw a picture of the entire world in a silent glow of a thousand beams of light pouring from certain areas more than others. Spilling the light and allowing it to flow into the small countries so that everyone can have the warmth of the light.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Who said that?

To wake up in the morning to the smell of fresh roses in the air is a wonderful thing. To wake up in the morning and find out that you don't have anywhere to live, that's quite the opposite. The student's frightened expression did not belie the fact that they did not expect such an outcome. The quick fingers upon the keyboard sent an email to schedule the nearest appointment with the housing staff that they could manage around their busy Monday. They ran out of their dorm and through the ice covered ground later that day to make the appointment to discover what could have possibly gone wrong with their living arrangements for the following year. The foreboding lights were dimmed in the housing section of the commons. The student slowed and caught his breath as he pushed open the door to the busy department. He walked up to the counter so they could tell him that they were expecting him and to take a seat as they got the respective woman in housing that he had emailed. The thumbs he held in his lap played a game of tag as he waited along with three other students. He leaned over and asked the girl next to him what she was there for. "Oh, it sucks, I didn't get housing next year..." she said while pursing her lips.

Although she was attractive, his attention didn't focus for too long on the girl as he realized she had the same problem that he did. Finally a woman came out and looked at him and asked, "Jacob?"

"Yeah," he responded and with a sigh, got up out of his chair to be ushered by the woman to her office only to be told in a droll voice that, like so many others, there was nothing that could be done to get him on campus the next semester.

"Sorry..." is all that could really be said in this situation.

Q: "Did you get housing next year?"

A: "Yeah, I did, it's really nice"

Q: "Did you know that apparently there's a large number of students this year who didn't get housing?"

A: "Wow, that really sucks. I can't even imagine not having housing given to you. I mean, what are they even going to have to do now?"

Jonathan - freshman student - ~19

Q: "You're a senior, when did you stop living on campus?"

A: "Actually, this is my first year off campus. I thought I should try living on my own now because it's my last year and some freshman or someone would probably like my room more than trying to find one themselves I guess."

Peter - senior student - ~22

Q: "What would you do if you didn't get on-campus housing?"

A: "Well...probably run around in circles trying to find a place."

Anonymous - female freshman -~19

*Anonymous because she just didn't want her name posted simply

"5169 students applied for housing contracts, 3887 received them." (Anselmo, and Glossner )

Anselmo, Julia, and Joshua Glossner. "Lack of Housing Contracts Disappoint." Collegian Feb. 2011, Print.

"Freshman Acceptance & Retention

Total applicants: 40714

Total applicants who are accepted: 21017

Total of accepted students who enroll: 6540

% Undergraduates Living on Campus: 37.00" ("Princeton Review")

"Pennsylvania State University--University Park." Princeton Review (2008): n. pag. Web. 13 Feb 2011. .

"Student LivingFirst-time Room / Board Required

Dorm Capacity 13,399

Meals per Week N/A

Room Fee $3,820

Board Fee $3,930"

"Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus Academics, History, Financial Aid, Alumni, Campus, Students, Faculty, Address, and Tuition." stateuniversity.com. stateuniversity.com, 2010. Web. 13 Feb 2011. .

I still have to meet and greet with some people in the department of housing to get the numbers and statistics that don't seem to be posted online anywhere. They just didn't happen to be open over the weekend so there wasn't much I could do to meet and interview someone there. However, I did find it interesting that Jonathan, the student I interviewed on a bus of all places, got his housing through the honors college and he really seemed to be living the good life as a result and I found that quite interesting. I might interview someone who's in charge of that to get some numbers from them and in a way inspect what can go right if you play your cards right in the smart game possibly. The only other thing that I might like to research is the average cost of an apartment around the area and place the numbers against housing on campus and check if people thrown off campus are getting beat up financially as well, in a sort of adding salt to the wound type approach.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Penny for your thoughts?

"Frank Sinatra has a Cold," by Gay Talese, is considered the best profile that there is, and I can see why. The infinite yet specific scope of the piece gives an almost perfect rendition of the man called Frank Sinatra. I think the author assumes some previous knowledge of who Frank Sinatra is, but truthfully the real definition of how important he is comes from the bar scene where his position is made clear as nobody who knows something wants to get him mad. His interesting behavior thereafter and how he reacts to the situation at hand also makes him someone who the reader wants to learn about. The title of the piece pulls about that, when Sinatra has a cold, it really hits home for him as a singer. The moments where Sinatra cannot pull together his act because of his illness shows picture perfect the seriousness Sinatra puts into his singing. The descriptions honestly couldn't be enumerated to speak of how clearly the reader can visualize Sinatra by his personality without ever really physically describing him. It's slightly hard to grasp the motivation beyond for Sinatra to work other than the fact that Sinatra just wants to live a dream and, when that dream is taken from him by any cold, he is destroyed on the inside. The other aides to this lay with how his parents were under oppression by Irish. Although his mother never let it get to her, the pull of being free and letting go seems to be very important to him. The writer has drawn on so many sources, likely some that nobody would ever have thought about, to get their information. The depth of information seems incredible, and although I doubt that all of it is word for word truth, I feel like it should be. The author puts such an incredible amount of information in his piece, that it's unimaginable to think that there couldn't be a focus on the truth of who Frank Sinatra is.

In the interview, I was surprised at how old the man Gay Talese was. Of course to do the profile on Sinatra he had to have been around during Sinatra's prime, but to still be doing profiling at his age is amazing. It's interesting to see how well he enjoys what he does to be truthful. He really knows how to make the audience interested in what he's talking about. He also really knew what his interviewer was going to ask as well, which I guess just comes from the job. His description of what a profile should be was much more in-depth than I thought it could be. First he starts by talking that you really need curiosity in the subject and you need to portray that curiosity in your piece of literature. It surprised me by how far his curiosity would lead him when he stated that many of his 'interviews' would last from one to two years, which seems ridiculous (I won't, though, in light of this new information ask for a one to two year extension on my paper so it can be thorough enough; no worries). As a result of this, obviously, his pieces tended to be longer, but he really enjoyed that. It surprised me when he talked badly about newer journalism that tends to be focused solely on celebrities and only short bits of information at that. I can easily see his angle, considering how much of the news is only focused on the trivial outer appearance of something and doesn't ever go into a static neutral zone where the interviewee is a person; no more, no less. I found the fact that his upbringing was so similar to Sinatra's, where it was an Italian upbringing with a strong mother figure. I personally attribute then his success with "Frank Sinatra has a Cold" to a little bit of a personal connection. Talese mentions how he manages to stay in contact with the people he interviews because, obviously after a few years of research, he is able to become friends. The things about trust that he learned from his mother was an insanely interesting idea in that you really just want to learn about the person, paper or not. In that sense the idea of polite questioning was a very blunt hit as to the directives of an interview. I found it hilarious, in this sense, when the interviewer of Talese, who really couldn't ask many questions, seemed to cut Talese off at one point. The fact that Talese never used tape recorders or open notes threw me for a loop a bit, but I can fully understand the fact that if you want to get a completely calm person to interview, taking notes on everything they say can be overwhelmingly distracting. I really loved the way that Talese seemed like he was just teaching these newer journalists at how to do their job, while at the same time being interviewed himself. It seemed almost ironic, but truly enlightening at how this man, influenced by pure storytelling, could create such masterpieces of non-fiction.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Number One School, period.

The author of the report, "#1 Party School," takes an interesting approach to explaining the drinking 'issue' at Penn State. The author defines drinking in a way for the audience to understand easily by doing the sort of 'in-cognito' approach to both define the issue and make the audience understand what the problem actually is. The reasons are also defined in the undercover work in which it shows the investigative necessity of the alcoholism in State College. The way the report describes the different viewpoints of multiple different types of people such as the home owners, business owners, and police all give the best way the issue affects multiple groups of people. The author is using a radio talk show, so to be quoting someone is irrelevant when the majority of the show is the audio interview of the multiple different perspectives. However, one quote with Graham Spanier when he tried to say that drinking isn't for Penn State and the reactions thereof really showed how serious drinking is for Penn State. The students are interviewed in the beginning, so their opinions are included. However, only those students who are in the worst case scenarios are interviewed and so only a part of the population is considered in the report. I hate to say it, but this is obviously only a negative light on the drinking here at Penn State, with the only positive light being placed on what the business owners say in that they actually enjoy to see the students have fun. Obviously the author wants to get across the message of how intense drinking is at Penn State. The negative light on Penn State drinking is obviously inherent in the entire report with every situation being the greatest negative possible. Overall, I think this report is too widely biased to only one side of the issue and, as a result, seems almost unfair for a report of this length. As in the cases with the pizza man, there's obviously a reason why he STILL works the job he does. He never once really said he hated the job, he just stated that, yes, absolutely crazy things happen when you're a pizza driver. Not to mention the inability to be tipped if you deliver wings. I felt that this was strangely and funnily realistic. The only house owners interviewed seemed to be the most drastic of people, who clearly dislike the place they live in. I highly doubt that most people can't choose where they live if they bought a house in one of the biggest party areas in State College. It seems to me that it would be their fault if they didn't have any idea of where they were buying a house, which is not a light decision to make. All in all, there's a reason why Penn State has the biggest alumni association in the world. People loved what they did in Penn State, and most people drank, even from ages past. That being said, I can personally say I don't drink, but I love to see how lively my college is. The fact that people can have so much fun here is a great thing that other colleges don't offer. Penn State IS unlike any other school, but I wouldn't say it's in a bad way in the slightest.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Words of Wisdom?

Anne Lamott's segment on 'Shitty First Draft,' in her book on writing, Bird by Bird, she describes the excellent detail of how far down the toilet a piece of writing is allowed to be because nobody is every going to care what it was like. Taken to heart, I could always look back on my first writings for anything and easily see the mountains of problems and complications that they had. I would always, consequentially, tend to delete (I can't say that I had too many essays that I chose to handwrite) the majority of the work seeing it as just plain, well, shitty. I've believed for a long time now that a first draft is never intended to be remotely perfect, but reading that Lamott puts it that it's actually intended to be bad is fantastic. If I think back far enough, if I ever thought my first drafts were anything but bad, I probably would have been much better off as the world's youngest genius a while ago. While I'm still working on the prodigy inside me, I do enjoy the idea that my first draft can be terrible. With no intentions of making it this way, of course. In my personal narrative, I do believe that I did not, in any form, achieve a perfect first draft. More than likely the only difference from Lamott is the fact that peer editing is going to happen and if I wrote, 'Well so what, Mr. Poopy Pants,' I may not be able to come to class without an amazing amount of embarrassment. Beyond that, though, I do like to know that this first draft isn't, by any means, my final draft. My piece isn't polished, and I feel that's what Lamott really wants to get across. There's an animated movie, by my favorite animator Hayao Miyazaki, called "Whispers of the Heart," (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whisper_of_the_Heart_(film)) which depicts this concept perfectly by comparing the main character's first draft to that of a rock. The rock, however, hides a true gem inside of it that is needs to be cracked open and then polished. I've long felt that way towards my writing pieces after seeing the film. I'm always trying to polish the best gem ever for my writing, but I know that I'll always need to start with the rock first. Lamott's proposal that once you learn, you can pretty much trust the process, is true to the 'more or less' part. While you can learn and become a greater writer and enhance your pieces, no two pieces will ever be written exactly the same way. The statement, I believe, applies then to every writer out there. To keep writing is to keep improving. There will never be a single thing set in stone for any writing, no pun intended. However that stone is needs to be broken open to find the gems inside and polish a piece literature. Lamott worded it that all good writers write 'shitty first drafts,' and I couldn't agree more.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Narrative Criticism, Anyone?

Due to the curiosity that overwhelmed me, I couldn't help but choose to read "Tour of Duty," by Denise Grollmus as my memoir to critique. The basic idea would be the many faces that being on tour with a rock band can hold. Being an excellent memoir, however, it holds a candle that shows flames that both give light and darkness. A light to show what a grand adventure can do for you, as well as the darkness to show what it can do TO you. That warm atmosphere is depicted as both burning and gentle in certain moments of the piece. All facets of life could use the meaning shown with this piece, even if I, personally, believe that the audience was no person other than herself in an almost 'showing' kind of way to remind herself that what she was 'stuck' in was something she truly did want to remove herself from because, behind the negative atmosphere she did wish to be where she was. The memoir is filled with her personal pathos, a passion for her life that needed to have an end. The feelings put into the art were very broad; an alcoholic hot and steamy life combined with dreamy, soft moments where life wasn't so bad. The beginning throws out the idea of alcohol and drugs, which is tossed back and forth throughout the whole piece in the most negative of lights to show that it was easily a downside to the adventure. Although, the author honestly speaks outright and holds nothing back by showing that she did, in-fact, partake in drinking heavy enough to give herself hangovers. In my opinion, the inclusion of the eleven year old girl with the gnawed leg is strangely intriguing, not necessarily by the lesson learned, but the fact that Grollmus did indeed learn and grow on the journey. The selective dialog went hand in hand with showing which parts of the journey impacted her emotions deeply. Many times where speech is involved related to feelings of home and peace. It seemed that, during the passage of time, she seemed to want to be at home, in a family that eats warm eucalyptus leaves. Conversely, the dialog also focused heavily on negative events during the trip that showed the evils of the journey itself. The transitions were worked in such a fashion that the storyline was similar to that of an epic; where it starts in the center, goes to the beginning, and then finishes afterwards. The transitions beyond that were flawless, leading one hangover into another so that I couldn't point out to you any serious time jumps other than the time leaps that put the story into a general feeling to start and continued with that feeling. A feeling which I can honestly say made me feel like I, myself, was stuck in a "Tour of Duty."

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Non-Generic First Journal Entry

Unlike most college students at this point, this will be the first college 'paper' that I'll have written. The previous semester consisted of two computer science courses, two math classes, and a basic physics; none of these classes required or even suggested at the idea of writing so I am more than likely quite a bit rusty at this since I haven't written anything since High School. Lucky for me, however, I became a fairly proficient writer during my last English class in high school where writing papers was a massive foundation for the class. Generally speaking, my fortes in writing are probably my writing style along with the subjective content. I would put down grammar as another forte, but honestly word processors do a darned good job at that so I wouldn't feel right saying that. Conversely speaking, my writings are, obviously, far from perfect and I can't say I'll honestly ever be able to say that they would be. I lack quite a bit of organizational skills, both in writing and outside of it. The best I can hope to do is make outlines of things and try and follow that to stay on due course. Procrastination has a lot to do with it, but all I can say that does is keep me up until six in the morning working on a paper. Going beyond that I'd have to point out another flaw is a certain inability to withhold information and not just 'cloud' write. For all of my imperfections I do enjoy a certain pride in being able to overcome them. No particular means or ideas help me more with this than just writing and editing my works to see what would make my writings a touch better. That being said this class should help me improve greatly, seeing as the basis is, in fact, writing. Overall I see vast improvement as long I really try to improve (of which I will).

Being the son of an English teacher, I can't start to express the obviousness that is my fundamental inspirations. Books of all sorts were showered upon my since I was born and so it wasn't hard to say that I've had many experiences that belay my connection to the writings and works of many great authors. Though, I'm not saying this in retaliation against my mother who wanted me to read and learn how to write well. This wasn't intended to be a discrete section of hate, more of just a description to better know where I come from. I easily can say that I have always read for pleasure, although I can't say that I often write for pleasure. It seems I enjoy to get sucked up into another author's world as opposed to my own. I've read countless numbers of grand works, but there are only a few that manage to inspire me as great as the four great European Epics. Paradise Lost, http://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/, is easily my favorite among them and I would have to admit my favorite book ever. The subtleties of diction will always inspire me to continue to become a better write so that I can, perhaps, write papers with as much power as Milton wrote with. That being said, the subtleties in poetry also tend to inspire me to write without bounds. Edgar Allen Poe's works tend to be my favorite, but I can't put off others such as Frost or Byron as having grand numbers of verse written to perfection. However, "Hollow Men, " (http://poetry.poetryx.com/poems/784/) by T.S. Eliot is easily my favorite poem ever that inspires me, more than any other, to write with meaning.