Literary Devices in Two Kinds Essay Example

Literary Devices in Two Kinds Paper In our lives, there author of a short story entitled Two Kinds emphasises the literary element of the characteristics of two characters. The author also uses a variety of literary devices in her work, however the focus is on allusion. When I read the title, I think the short story is about two different sides. As I continue reading the rest of the short story, I finally know that the title represents the protagonist’s changes in her characteristics. Overall, I generally love the message contained in the short story as I can relate it to my relationship with my mother. As for the literary element, the characteristics of the characters are focused on the protagonist, Jing-mei Woo and her mother, Suyuan. After being pushed by her mother to become a prodigy, Jing-mei develops a rebellious attitude toward her mother. She resists her mother’s attempts at discipline and resents the pressures of high achievement. This is proven when Jing-mei says â€Å"You want me to be something that I’m not!† and â€Å"I’ll never be the kind of daughter you want me to be!† (line 21-22, page 6). I personally disagree with Jing-mei’s response toward her mother as her mother just wants the best for her future. Jing-mei should mind her words when speaking to her mother, so that she will not be offended. As a daughter, Jing-mei should obey her mother because she has sacrificed everything for the sake of having a better life in a new place. We will write a custom essay sample on Literary Devices in Two Kinds specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Literary Devices in Two Kinds specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Literary Devices in Two Kinds specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The author also describes the character of Jing-mei as regretful. After her mother’s death, Jing-mei wishes to appease her mother by playing the piano that she got for her thirtieth birthday. In recognising that the melodies she plays are â€Å"two halves of the same song† (line 25, page 7), she has displayed a desire to reconcile that which was previously separated and no longer living at the hyphen of being in the world. Jing-mei should have made best decisions in life before it is too late, as regretting will not c

The Complete 16-Step Marketing Project Management Process

The Complete 16-Step Marketing Project Management Process What if you could help your marketing team do more  in less time? Its a simple question that leaves  a lot to dream about: Youd be  awesome. Like riding a unicorn over a rainbow kind of awesome. Your team  and company would love you because youd finally get everyone organized, on the same page, and focused on super meaningful work. Youd lead a  happier, more fulfilled  career  while nailing every deadline and exceeding every goal. Ah, the good life. But, there are some challenges to overcome first. For starters, project management can feel overwhelming. There are a lot of moving parts that need to be accounted for, especially when managing multiple projects and team members. Fortunately, youre about to learn the secrets behind strategic marketing project management that will help you: Work even faster and collaborate better than ever  by managing your projects with an efficient process  from the get-go. Focus 100% of your resources  on the  right projects instead of weve always done it that way tasks that dont add measurable growth to your bottom line. Boost your productivity  while getting organized and taking control of your entire process. You can be a successful marketing project manager. The Complete 16-Step #Marketing Project Management Process That Will Get You Organizedbut first: Start Managing Marketing Projects With These Free Word And Excel Templates When you read this post, youll discover a need for project documentation. Download this free kit to grab your: Marketing project management template Word document to help you implement every step of this post for a real project youre working through. Sprint backlog Excel spreadsheet to manage the entire scope and timeline of your project. Go ahead and fill out these documents as you  read through this post to make the most efficient use of your valuable time! ... Then Upgrade to the Kanban Project Dashboard in Managing marketing teams is a multi-faceted. There are so many moving parts and dozens of tasks for each project and campaign. So... keeping everyone and everything on track and hitting all your deadlines can be, well, tough. That's why I'm inviting you to check out the Kanban Project Dashboard available in your favorite marketing project management platform. When you manage your  marketing team with , you'll: Get a pulse on every project. Using the kanban-style view, you can quickly see the status of every project your team is working on. Pinpoint bottlenecks in your workflow. Are team members getting stuck in particular areas on projects? Identify roadblocks quickly and keep tasks on track. Holistically manage projects from start to finish. Give your entire team full visibility across every project and manage everything in one place. Get and get organized! Schedule a demo today. What Is Marketing Project Management (For The Sake Of This Post)? The traditional project management method is split into phases: Initiate:  What is the scope of what you'll create? Plan:  How will you create your content  and with what resources? Execute:  Create your content. Monitor and control:  Identify and remove any  roadblocks that are preventing you from executing. Close:  Get approval, publish, and review. That is the approach  traditional project managers learn about as they get started. However, there's a way to layer in another proven project management method to help you move through the phases  even faster.  It's called agile product  management. Ever wonder what agile marketing was? Now I know.This process is how developers typically approach creating software (like your beloved  project management platform). Agile product  management helps developers complete lots of work in  short bursts  of time by providing intense focus and removing obstacles that might  cause them to miss deadlines. So, for the sake of this post, you're going to combine traditional project management and agile product  management together to create marketing projects more efficiently than ever before. Here's your definition: Marketing project management is the efficient process that helps you organize, create, and publish your content as fast as possible. The beautiful thing is that you can use this process for planning any type of content- and you should. Let's get into the details: Initiate Your Marketing Project By Defining  The Purpose Step 1: Choose The Highest Priority Project From  Your  Marketing Project Backlog Part of the agile project management process involves creating and maintaining a product backlog. For your  purposes, that's a fancy definition for a prioritized list of marketing projects. Project management starts by strategically choosing  to complete the highest priority project on your list. Since that's the case, we wrote an entire post to help you create your own marketing project backlog: Recommended Reading: The 1-Day Marketing Planning Process To Organize Your Next 6 Months What you're reading right now assumes that you've chosen one project  and that it's your highest priority for 10x growth. Step 2: Explain  The Project Background With A Creative Brief You may  already have detailed notes  from your marketing project backlog to help you implement your biggest priority project. If not, there are a handful of things to get straight before you get too much deeper: Who will this project benefit the most? Pinpoint  a subset within your audience. What do you need to create?  Define the end deliverable. Why will this project  benefit the audience you've specified? Write your value proposition  that answers your audience's  question, "What's in it for me?" What kind of resources might you need to  complete the project? Estimate the time and tools involved. What does done look like? Help your team know  what you'll accept as a successful final product. The background will serve as the foundation for all of the remaining steps in your project management process. As you write your creative brief  to answer these questions, you'll immediately be able to spot areas of potential challenges that you can work to resolve now- before your team starts executing the project. For example, if you need a developer's help to create a landing page or don't have a budget to complete the work, now is the time  to solve the roadblock before slowing up your entire team as they take on the project. Recommended Reading: How to Build a Concise Creative Brief Step 3: Define Your Project's Requirements To Fulfill The Business' Needs Requirements are the standards your content needs to meet before you publish. Every marketing project may  need different requirements, yet some examples to help you brainstorm your project's requirements should include: Automation: Is this a way to automate  a part of this project to prevent manual work during execution or afterward? Anything to cut out  unnecessary, tedious manual work a robot could do will immediately boost your productivity. Elimination: Can this project eliminate something else you're doing as a new and improved replacement? Removing work from your future to-do list will help you find time to execute  even more projects from your backlog a whole lot faster. Maintenance: How can you make this project as successful as possible now with the least amount of daily, weekly, or monthly maintenance? Think 10x  growth now that continues to provide long-term results without having to touch it. All of those may sound similar. But let that advice soak in a bit more as you look at your project idea and break down what you want it to do to benefit your team and business. If you can create requirements based on those three fundamentals, you will save you and your team time during and after  project execution. And when you don't have time to spare, that matters a lot. When you don't have time to spare, solid #ProjectManagement matters a lot.Another way to look at this  is by defining a set of  requirements your content must meet before you publish. For example, we've analyzed data to help us define standards of performance for our content. These standards literally help us predict how successful the content we execute will be based on four requirements: Topic: Is the topic similar to your other top-performing content? Is  the angle something your audience deeply cares about? Keyword:  Does the  main keyword have high search volume and low competition? Is there an opportunity to include latent semantic indexing to  help even more of your audience naturally find this content through search engines? Research: How can you  include deep research in this content to publish something the internet has never seen before? How can you  use research to factually back up your claims? Comprehensiveness: How can you tell  the most complete story on your topic on the internet? You could  apply this standard of performance to your project, or you may find your most successful content has different traits that make it awesome. The point is to really  define what the project will look like before you start working. In project management terminology,  a set of requirements is called a specification. So, if you follow this  guide, you will have two specifications (time-saving specification and content specification) with multiple requirements under each. If you think of more requirements, you can plan even more specifications for your projects. These two specifications are just a  minimum viable starting point to produce successful content. Define your content's standard of performance and demand it during execution.Step 4: Write  Your Stories To Focus  The Project On An Audience-Valued  Outcome Stories are how you'll  put yourself into your audience's shoes  to focus on how the project will benefit their lives instead of just creating a deliverable. Unlike traditional story-telling, these stories help define requirements of satisfaction. It's like asking yourself, "How will my audience benefit from this project?" Here's the template of how to think about stories: As an {audience type}, I want to {do something} so that {I get this value}. For example, let's say the  project you want to take on is a new e-book about content strategy that you'll publish on the Amazon store to reach a new audience. One story for your project may look like this: As a marketer, I want to learn how to  implement a better content strategy so that I can get more organized. One project  will likely have multiple stories to help you and your team understand your audience's needs. To continue the e-book example, a second story could help you write a specific chapter in the book: As a marketer, I want to learn which types of content our team should create so that we can maximize lead generation from every campaign. Since the e-book project example also requires  you and your team to create additional content, you could also use stories to define your audience's needs for a deliverable  like the  landing page where you'll promote the e-book: As a marketer, I want to  be reassured that this e-book is worth my valuable time so that  I can really reap the benefits it promises after I download the e-book. Later, when you plan, you'll break down the stories into manageable tasks you can assign to individuals on your team. Plan The Details Of Your Projects As Sprints Step 5: Break Your Stories Into  Manageable Tasks Your Marketing Team Members  Will Execute Stories are something a team  works on together, while  you assign tasks to your team members. Tasks are important because they break down a large project- which may seem difficult to even know where to start- into manageable pieces. And tasks help you divvy up the work among your team to use your resources as efficiently as possible. Let's look at an  example story again for your e-book landing page: As a marketer, I want to  be reassured that this e-book is worth my valuable time so that  I can really reap the benefits it promises after I download the e-book. To  build  a landing page that fulfills this story, you'll simply list the tasks  you need to complete in chronological order: Research landing page designs that convert. Write the landing page outline based on the  research. Write the text. Design  the wireframe. Design the landing page. Develop the landing page. Review the landing page. Publish the landing page. Promote the landing page. You get the idea- the point is to break down a story into the step-by-step process you need to complete to check this story off your sprint backlog. Smaller tasks make it easier to estimate how much time it will take to complete the story (and subsequently, the project as a whole). Step 6: Thrash Your Project Into An MVP (Minimal Viable Project) It's time to take a critical look into your stories. You want to find  where you might have frivolous uses of resources that could be used better for creating  a minimum viable project rather than an extremely polished deliverable. The real question here is this: What  stories or tasks could you cut to create a great project with the least amount of effort? You probably want your project to be the most perfect thing  in your niche, so this question might seem counterintuitive at first. However, the idea behind a minimum viable project  is to eliminate risk by helping you: Create and publish quickly Measure your success Learn to improve You can steal the idea of an MVP by cutting excess stories and tasks that  don't negatively impact your specifications.  This will save your team valuable time during execution while helping you complete your project faster. Remove excess work from your to-do list before you start your projects.Step 7: Estimate The Level Of Effort For Every Story It's one thing to give your team  a deadline to complete a project and another to know that the deadline is realistically achievable. By understanding how much time each task takes to complete (and subsequently rolling that estimation into the story), you'll be able to further understand what stories or tasks you'd like to cut from your project to complete it quicker while also being able to set practical due dates. To do this, you need to know two things first: Who will be accountable for completing each task. These are the team members who'll work together to complete the stories. The level of effort for each task. In other words, how much time will it take the person  you'll assign the task to complete it? For each task,  write down who on your team you think is best suited to complete it the fastest. Then visit with each team member  to ask how much time they'd estimate for every one of  their tasks. Step 8: Plan The Scope Of Your Project As A Sprint Backlog Scope helps you define how much work you'll complete in a certain amount of time. It's the big picture of the project. Your marketing project may  have many specifications and stories, so you may need to break the scope  into phases, which agile marketers call  sprints.  Sprints often occur in two-week bursts in which you prioritize a specific number of stories to be completed. Since you estimated the level of effort for each story- and understand how much time each individual needs to contribute- you can realistically plan your sprints and subsequently know your deadline when the project  will be 100% complete. A great way to  show your entire project scope  to your team is with a project schedule- aka sprint backlog. Step 9: Demand  That You Ship On Time You know that your project will fulfill the specifications and stories.  You also know your deadline is realistically achievable. So make sure you publish on time by preventing project thrashing- otherwise known as scope creep and last-minute changes- before you begin executing. Seth Godin has the best advice I've ever seen on this topic. Read  Linch Pin  to get the full scoop- and  for your marketing project management, start here: Set the date when you'll publish. This is when  you'll launch your project no matter what. Involve others in your initiation and planning process and write everyone's ideas down. This is important for your big wigs because, as Seth says, "This is their big chance." Show what you plan to do.  Give them the opportunity to thrash your plan before you start executing. Changes now are alright, but once your team starts executing, this  thrashing  will dramatically impact your deadline. Give them  an opportunity for one final review. Seth says, "Make sure everyone understands that this is the very last chance they have to make the project better." Revise the project blueprint into a final, comprehensive outline. Show your plan to the  big wigs and ask, "If I deliver what you approved, on budget and on time, will you ship it?" Only start executing once you get your yes. No maybes. Then deliver what you promised, thrash-free. This  simple process should prevent scope creep, last-minute modifications, and other nitpicking  with small details because you've nailed the big picture. Execute Your  Marketing Project With A Clear Content Creation Process Step 10: Assign Tasks For Your Upcoming Sprint To Your Team It's finally time for your team to start creating content for your project! You just need to assign them the tasks to complete. The best way to begin is by choosing a marketing project management tool that will help you: Manage your entire team  and easily assign them their specific tasks to complete. Assign specific deadlines for tasks to be completed on specific calendar dates. Automatically notify your team  that  you've assigned them a task to complete. Automatically remind your team as a due date for a task approaches. If you're planning a recurring project- like blog posts or social media campaigns- it's also helpful  to find a tool that helps you create your ideal workflow and save it to reuse on similar projects. Well, it just so happens that is a  marketing project management tool designed to help you collaborate with all of those things. ;) Agile product managers refer to this kind of functionality as a task board. Whether you use to  efficiently manage your process or not,  you're looking for a system to help you: See  which tasks are completed, which should be  in progress, and which are coming up. Understand which tasks are overdue that may cause you to miss your deadlines. Step 11: Communicate With A Tool That Keeps Collaboration In One Place While emails serve nicely as notifications and reminders to help your team get into the system where you manage your projects, they're not so great for managing project communication. That's where it's nice to manage your team communication around the project in the collaboration tool where you manage everything else. There are a few qualifications to make this work for your project: Avoid email to manage your project communication. Email forwards and strings  can miss some replies to sender only, which can cause team members to miss critical information on your projects. Agree as a team  to communicate consistently with the same tools for your specific purpose. This will help you maintain  one version of the truth for all project communication to help the team collaborate more efficiently. Keep your comments, notes, and progress reports in  the same tool where you manage your task board or workflow. This is especially important if you manage multiple projects at once. You can rock that advice with  nearly any  project management tool, but there's one designed to help marketers like you manage their projects better.  It's *ah hem* . Monitor And Control Your Project To Meet Your Deadlines Monitoring and controlling happens at the same time as your team executes the project. Step 12: Hold Daily Scrum Meetings To  Monitor Your Progress Scrum is a daily meeting everyone working in a current sprint attends. These informal touch points are most effective with small teams who are collaborating on completing a story together. You'll lead the touch point  with a simple itinerary with everyone sharing: What they did yesterday to make progress on your sprint. What they're going to do today for your sprint. Any roadblocks that may prevent them from executing. This helps your team stay accountable while giving them the chance to ask for help as needed. As the project manager, it's your job to proactively prevent those roadblocks from happening if you can. Otherwise, it's now your job to react and  remove the obstacles from your team's ability to execute. At each daily scrum, end the touch point by asking, "Who has roadblocks that are already or might prevent you  from executing?" Sometimes, this is when someone will speak up, even after they've already shared their progress reports. Step 13: Manage Your Burn Chart To Estimate How Much Work Is Left In Your Project Your project burn chart is a  graph that  compares your completed work to how many sprints are remaining in the project's scope. Another way to visualize  this is to analyze your percentage of tasks completed. Your marketing calendar shows a handy percentage completion rate for your project: This practice- combined with reviewing which tasks should have been completed in the past but have not been checked off your task board- will help you  keep team members accountable for completing their work and will keep your project on tack to hit your deadline. Agile product management processes often suggest that you  spell out  the definition of done for your project to help the entire team understand when the project is complete. The percentage completion rate is an excellent way to explain this to your team: A  story  is done when you  complete 100% of your tasks. A sprint is done when  you complete 100% of the tasks for the stories that make up the sprint. And a project is done when you complete 100% of the tasks for all of the stories within the sprints that make up the project. Step 14: Fail Fast To  Get Back On Track ASAP Even the best project managers hit snags that  take their team's focus away from the tasks and stories that will fulfill their project's specifications. Those are moments when you, as a project manager, need to step in immediately to get your project back on track. You can do that by identifying whom on your team  needs a guiding hand, and  asking them four simple questions: What happened? Why did this happen? How can we make sure this doesn't happen again? How can we get this project back on track? These questions help your team member identify the issue and the method to solve the problem now and in the future.  You just helped them self-correct! Step 15: Host Sprint Reviews To Celebrate Your Accomplishments Toward Project  Close-Out While you took Seth Godin's advice on getting approval to ship your project on time no matter what, your stakeholders probably want to see the progress you're making as the project continues. That's  exactly what sprint reviews are for. Schedule a half hour touch point at the end of every sprint to review  the stories  you've completed. Gather feedback from those who need to know what's going on. Just remember that you're employing Eric Ries' theory on the minimum viable project. That means you should document what your big wigs are saying, but that will not impact your upcoming sprints  or modify your deadlines because they've already signed off for approval. Later, you can plan the notes you take in this meeting as a post-project sprint to button up the outstanding items after you publish if necessary. However, these modifications aren't in scope for your project now, so you should not change your direction. Make this review fun for everyone- it's a celebration of accumulated hard work with 100% of your tasks done for an entire sprint! Close Your Marketing Project And Move On To The Next Step 16: Host A Retro To Learn From Your Success Your project is done when 100% of the tasks within the  stories that make up your sprints are complete.  Ship it now! There's just one thing left to do... and that's to learn how to improve your  marketing project management process before you initiate your next project. Traditional project management often calls for a post implementation review. It's a meeting where you invite your team to ask them three simple questions: What went well? What went wrong? What could we improve for the next project? Agile product management follows a similar approach, calling their post-project touch point a retrospective. The goal is the same- - but the questions you ask in the meeting vary slightly: What should we start doing? What should we stop doing? What should we continue doing? Combine those two sets of questions together for a 30-minute meeting, and you'll leave with dozens of lessons learned that will help you improve your marketing project management process next time. How Do You Manage Your Marketing Projects? Whether you use as robust of a marketing project management process as this or not, I know you've found at least a few helpful takeaways from this post. If you're ready to manage the execution and monitoring phases better than ever, try ! It's your marketing project management software designed to  get you organized. The Complete 16-Step Marketing Project Management Process What if you could help your marketing team do more  in less time? Its a simple question that leaves  a lot to dream about: Youd be  awesome. Like riding a unicorn over a rainbow kind of awesome. Your team  and company would love you because youd finally get everyone organized, on the same page, and focused on super meaningful work. Youd lead a  happier, more fulfilled  career  while nailing every deadline and exceeding every goal. Ah, the good life. But, there are some challenges to overcome first. For starters, project management can feel overwhelming. There are a lot of moving parts that need to be accounted for, especially when managing multiple projects and team members. Fortunately, youre about to learn the secrets behind strategic marketing project management that will help you: Work even faster and collaborate better than ever  by managing your projects with an efficient process  from the get-go. Focus 100% of your resources  on the  right projects instead of weve always done it that way tasks that dont add measurable growth to your bottom line. Boost your productivity  while getting organized and taking control of your entire process. You can be a successful marketing project manager. The Complete 16-Step #Marketing Project Management Process That Will Get You Organizedbut first: Start Managing Marketing Projects With These Free Word And Excel Templates When you read this post, youll discover a need for project documentation. Download this free kit to grab your: Marketing project management template Word document to help you implement every step of this post for a real project youre working through. Sprint backlog Excel spreadsheet to manage the entire scope and timeline of your project. Go ahead and fill out these documents as you  read through this post to make the most efficient use of your valuable time! ... Then Upgrade to the Kanban Project Dashboard in Managing marketing teams is a multi-faceted. There are so many moving parts and dozens of tasks for each project and campaign. So... keeping everyone and everything on track and hitting all your deadlines can be, well, tough. That's why I'm inviting you to check out the Kanban Project Dashboard available in your favorite marketing project management platform. When you manage your  marketing team with , you'll: Get a pulse on every project. Using the kanban-style view, you can quickly see the status of every project your team is working on. Pinpoint bottlenecks in your workflow. Are team members getting stuck in particular areas on projects? Identify roadblocks quickly and keep tasks on track. Holistically manage projects from start to finish. Give your entire team full visibility across every project and manage everything in one place. Get and get organized! Schedule a demo today. What Is Marketing Project Management (For The Sake Of This Post)? The traditional project management method is split into phases: Initiate:  What is the scope of what you'll create? Plan:  How will you create your content  and with what resources? Execute:  Create your content. Monitor and control:  Identify and remove any  roadblocks that are preventing you from executing. Close:  Get approval, publish, and review. That is the approach  traditional project managers learn about as they get started. However, there's a way to layer in another proven project management method to help you move through the phases  even faster.  It's called agile product  management. Ever wonder what agile marketing was? Now I know.This process is how developers typically approach creating software (like your beloved  project management platform). Agile product  management helps developers complete lots of work in  short bursts  of time by providing intense focus and removing obstacles that might  cause them to miss deadlines. So, for the sake of this post, you're going to combine traditional project management and agile product  management together to create marketing projects more efficiently than ever before. Here's your definition: Marketing project management is the efficient process that helps you organize, create, and publish your content as fast as possible. The beautiful thing is that you can use this process for planning any type of content- and you should. Let's get into the details: Initiate Your Marketing Project By Defining  The Purpose Step 1: Choose The Highest Priority Project From  Your  Marketing Project Backlog Part of the agile project management process involves creating and maintaining a product backlog. For your  purposes, that's a fancy definition for a prioritized list of marketing projects. Project management starts by strategically choosing  to complete the highest priority project on your list. Since that's the case, we wrote an entire post to help you create your own marketing project backlog: Recommended Reading: The 1-Day Marketing Planning Process To Organize Your Next 6 Months What you're reading right now assumes that you've chosen one project  and that it's your highest priority for 10x growth. Step 2: Explain  The Project Background With A Creative Brief You may  already have detailed notes  from your marketing project backlog to help you implement your biggest priority project. If not, there are a handful of things to get straight before you get too much deeper: Who will this project benefit the most? Pinpoint  a subset within your audience. What do you need to create?  Define the end deliverable. Why will this project  benefit the audience you've specified? Write your value proposition  that answers your audience's  question, "What's in it for me?" What kind of resources might you need to  complete the project? Estimate the time and tools involved. What does done look like? Help your team know  what you'll accept as a successful final product. The background will serve as the foundation for all of the remaining steps in your project management process. As you write your creative brief  to answer these questions, you'll immediately be able to spot areas of potential challenges that you can work to resolve now- before your team starts executing the project. For example, if you need a developer's help to create a landing page or don't have a budget to complete the work, now is the time  to solve the roadblock before slowing up your entire team as they take on the project. Recommended Reading: How to Build a Concise Creative Brief Step 3: Define Your Project's Requirements To Fulfill The Business' Needs Requirements are the standards your content needs to meet before you publish. Every marketing project may  need different requirements, yet some examples to help you brainstorm your project's requirements should include: Automation: Is this a way to automate  a part of this project to prevent manual work during execution or afterward? Anything to cut out  unnecessary, tedious manual work a robot could do will immediately boost your productivity. Elimination: Can this project eliminate something else you're doing as a new and improved replacement? Removing work from your future to-do list will help you find time to execute  even more projects from your backlog a whole lot faster. Maintenance: How can you make this project as successful as possible now with the least amount of daily, weekly, or monthly maintenance? Think 10x  growth now that continues to provide long-term results without having to touch it. All of those may sound similar. But let that advice soak in a bit more as you look at your project idea and break down what you want it to do to benefit your team and business. If you can create requirements based on those three fundamentals, you will save you and your team time during and after  project execution. And when you don't have time to spare, that matters a lot. When you don't have time to spare, solid #ProjectManagement matters a lot.Another way to look at this  is by defining a set of  requirements your content must meet before you publish. For example, we've analyzed data to help us define standards of performance for our content. These standards literally help us predict how successful the content we execute will be based on four requirements: Topic: Is the topic similar to your other top-performing content? Is  the angle something your audience deeply cares about? Keyword:  Does the  main keyword have high search volume and low competition? Is there an opportunity to include latent semantic indexing to  help even more of your audience naturally find this content through search engines? Research: How can you  include deep research in this content to publish something the internet has never seen before? How can you  use research to factually back up your claims? Comprehensiveness: How can you tell  the most complete story on your topic on the internet? You could  apply this standard of performance to your project, or you may find your most successful content has different traits that make it awesome. The point is to really  define what the project will look like before you start working. In project management terminology,  a set of requirements is called a specification. So, if you follow this  guide, you will have two specifications (time-saving specification and content specification) with multiple requirements under each. If you think of more requirements, you can plan even more specifications for your projects. These two specifications are just a  minimum viable starting point to produce successful content. Define your content's standard of performance and demand it during execution.Step 4: Write  Your Stories To Focus  The Project On An Audience-Valued  Outcome Stories are how you'll  put yourself into your audience's shoes  to focus on how the project will benefit their lives instead of just creating a deliverable. Unlike traditional story-telling, these stories help define requirements of satisfaction. It's like asking yourself, "How will my audience benefit from this project?" Here's the template of how to think about stories: As an {audience type}, I want to {do something} so that {I get this value}. For example, let's say the  project you want to take on is a new e-book about content strategy that you'll publish on the Amazon store to reach a new audience. One story for your project may look like this: As a marketer, I want to learn how to  implement a better content strategy so that I can get more organized. One project  will likely have multiple stories to help you and your team understand your audience's needs. To continue the e-book example, a second story could help you write a specific chapter in the book: As a marketer, I want to learn which types of content our team should create so that we can maximize lead generation from every campaign. Since the e-book project example also requires  you and your team to create additional content, you could also use stories to define your audience's needs for a deliverable  like the  landing page where you'll promote the e-book: As a marketer, I want to  be reassured that this e-book is worth my valuable time so that  I can really reap the benefits it promises after I download the e-book. Later, when you plan, you'll break down the stories into manageable tasks you can assign to individuals on your team. Plan The Details Of Your Projects As Sprints Step 5: Break Your Stories Into  Manageable Tasks Your Marketing Team Members  Will Execute Stories are something a team  works on together, while  you assign tasks to your team members. Tasks are important because they break down a large project- which may seem difficult to even know where to start- into manageable pieces. And tasks help you divvy up the work among your team to use your resources as efficiently as possible. Let's look at an  example story again for your e-book landing page: As a marketer, I want to  be reassured that this e-book is worth my valuable time so that  I can really reap the benefits it promises after I download the e-book. To  build  a landing page that fulfills this story, you'll simply list the tasks  you need to complete in chronological order: Research landing page designs that convert. Write the landing page outline based on the  research. Write the text. Design  the wireframe. Design the landing page. Develop the landing page. Review the landing page. Publish the landing page. Promote the landing page. You get the idea- the point is to break down a story into the step-by-step process you need to complete to check this story off your sprint backlog. Smaller tasks make it easier to estimate how much time it will take to complete the story (and subsequently, the project as a whole). Step 6: Thrash Your Project Into An MVP (Minimal Viable Project) It's time to take a critical look into your stories. You want to find  where you might have frivolous uses of resources that could be used better for creating  a minimum viable project rather than an extremely polished deliverable. The real question here is this: What  stories or tasks could you cut to create a great project with the least amount of effort? You probably want your project to be the most perfect thing  in your niche, so this question might seem counterintuitive at first. However, the idea behind a minimum viable project  is to eliminate risk by helping you: Create and publish quickly Measure your success Learn to improve You can steal the idea of an MVP by cutting excess stories and tasks that  don't negatively impact your specifications.  This will save your team valuable time during execution while helping you complete your project faster. Remove excess work from your to-do list before you start your projects.Step 7: Estimate The Level Of Effort For Every Story It's one thing to give your team  a deadline to complete a project and another to know that the deadline is realistically achievable. By understanding how much time each task takes to complete (and subsequently rolling that estimation into the story), you'll be able to further understand what stories or tasks you'd like to cut from your project to complete it quicker while also being able to set practical due dates. To do this, you need to know two things first: Who will be accountable for completing each task. These are the team members who'll work together to complete the stories. The level of effort for each task. In other words, how much time will it take the person  you'll assign the task to complete it? For each task,  write down who on your team you think is best suited to complete it the fastest. Then visit with each team member  to ask how much time they'd estimate for every one of  their tasks. Step 8: Plan The Scope Of Your Project As A Sprint Backlog Scope helps you define how much work you'll complete in a certain amount of time. It's the big picture of the project. Your marketing project may  have many specifications and stories, so you may need to break the scope  into phases, which agile marketers call  sprints.  Sprints often occur in two-week bursts in which you prioritize a specific number of stories to be completed. Since you estimated the level of effort for each story- and understand how much time each individual needs to contribute- you can realistically plan your sprints and subsequently know your deadline when the project  will be 100% complete. A great way to  show your entire project scope  to your team is with a project schedule- aka sprint backlog. Step 9: Demand  That You Ship On Time You know that your project will fulfill the specifications and stories.  You also know your deadline is realistically achievable. So make sure you publish on time by preventing project thrashing- otherwise known as scope creep and last-minute changes- before you begin executing. Seth Godin has the best advice I've ever seen on this topic. Read  Linch Pin  to get the full scoop- and  for your marketing project management, start here: Set the date when you'll publish. This is when  you'll launch your project no matter what. Involve others in your initiation and planning process and write everyone's ideas down. This is important for your big wigs because, as Seth says, "This is their big chance." Show what you plan to do.  Give them the opportunity to thrash your plan before you start executing. Changes now are alright, but once your team starts executing, this  thrashing  will dramatically impact your deadline. Give them  an opportunity for one final review. Seth says, "Make sure everyone understands that this is the very last chance they have to make the project better." Revise the project blueprint into a final, comprehensive outline. Show your plan to the  big wigs and ask, "If I deliver what you approved, on budget and on time, will you ship it?" Only start executing once you get your yes. No maybes. Then deliver what you promised, thrash-free. This  simple process should prevent scope creep, last-minute modifications, and other nitpicking  with small details because you've nailed the big picture. Execute Your  Marketing Project With A Clear Content Creation Process Step 10: Assign Tasks For Your Upcoming Sprint To Your Team It's finally time for your team to start creating content for your project! You just need to assign them the tasks to complete. The best way to begin is by choosing a marketing project management tool that will help you: Manage your entire team  and easily assign them their specific tasks to complete. Assign specific deadlines for tasks to be completed on specific calendar dates. Automatically notify your team  that  you've assigned them a task to complete. Automatically remind your team as a due date for a task approaches. If you're planning a recurring project- like blog posts or social media campaigns- it's also helpful  to find a tool that helps you create your ideal workflow and save it to reuse on similar projects. Well, it just so happens that is a  marketing project management tool designed to help you collaborate with all of those things. ;) Agile product managers refer to this kind of functionality as a task board. Whether you use to  efficiently manage your process or not,  you're looking for a system to help you: See  which tasks are completed, which should be  in progress, and which are coming up. Understand which tasks are overdue that may cause you to miss your deadlines. Step 11: Communicate With A Tool That Keeps Collaboration In One Place While emails serve nicely as notifications and reminders to help your team get into the system where you manage your projects, they're not so great for managing project communication. That's where it's nice to manage your team communication around the project in the collaboration tool where you manage everything else. There are a few qualifications to make this work for your project: Avoid email to manage your project communication. Email forwards and strings  can miss some replies to sender only, which can cause team members to miss critical information on your projects. Agree as a team  to communicate consistently with the same tools for your specific purpose. This will help you maintain  one version of the truth for all project communication to help the team collaborate more efficiently. Keep your comments, notes, and progress reports in  the same tool where you manage your task board or workflow. This is especially important if you manage multiple projects at once. You can rock that advice with  nearly any  project management tool, but there's one designed to help marketers like you manage their projects better.  It's *ah hem* . Monitor And Control Your Project To Meet Your Deadlines Monitoring and controlling happens at the same time as your team executes the project. Step 12: Hold Daily Scrum Meetings To  Monitor Your Progress Scrum is a daily meeting everyone working in a current sprint attends. These informal touch points are most effective with small teams who are collaborating on completing a story together. You'll lead the touch point  with a simple itinerary with everyone sharing: What they did yesterday to make progress on your sprint. What they're going to do today for your sprint. Any roadblocks that may prevent them from executing. This helps your team stay accountable while giving them the chance to ask for help as needed. As the project manager, it's your job to proactively prevent those roadblocks from happening if you can. Otherwise, it's now your job to react and  remove the obstacles from your team's ability to execute. At each daily scrum, end the touch point by asking, "Who has roadblocks that are already or might prevent you  from executing?" Sometimes, this is when someone will speak up, even after they've already shared their progress reports. Step 13: Manage Your Burn Chart To Estimate How Much Work Is Left In Your Project Your project burn chart is a  graph that  compares your completed work to how many sprints are remaining in the project's scope. Another way to visualize  this is to analyze your percentage of tasks completed. Your marketing calendar shows a handy percentage completion rate for your project: This practice- combined with reviewing which tasks should have been completed in the past but have not been checked off your task board- will help you  keep team members accountable for completing their work and will keep your project on tack to hit your deadline. Agile product management processes often suggest that you  spell out  the definition of done for your project to help the entire team understand when the project is complete. The percentage completion rate is an excellent way to explain this to your team: A  story  is done when you  complete 100% of your tasks. A sprint is done when  you complete 100% of the tasks for the stories that make up the sprint. And a project is done when you complete 100% of the tasks for all of the stories within the sprints that make up the project. Step 14: Fail Fast To  Get Back On Track ASAP Even the best project managers hit snags that  take their team's focus away from the tasks and stories that will fulfill their project's specifications. Those are moments when you, as a project manager, need to step in immediately to get your project back on track. You can do that by identifying whom on your team  needs a guiding hand, and  asking them four simple questions: What happened? Why did this happen? How can we make sure this doesn't happen again? How can we get this project back on track? These questions help your team member identify the issue and the method to solve the problem now and in the future.  You just helped them self-correct! Step 15: Host Sprint Reviews To Celebrate Your Accomplishments Toward Project  Close-Out While you took Seth Godin's advice on getting approval to ship your project on time no matter what, your stakeholders probably want to see the progress you're making as the project continues. That's  exactly what sprint reviews are for. Schedule a half hour touch point at the end of every sprint to review  the stories  you've completed. Gather feedback from those who need to know what's going on. Just remember that you're employing Eric Ries' theory on the minimum viable project. That means you should document what your big wigs are saying, but that will not impact your upcoming sprints  or modify your deadlines because they've already signed off for approval. Later, you can plan the notes you take in this meeting as a post-project sprint to button up the outstanding items after you publish if necessary. However, these modifications aren't in scope for your project now, so you should not change your direction. Make this review fun for everyone- it's a celebration of accumulated hard work with 100% of your tasks done for an entire sprint! Close Your Marketing Project And Move On To The Next Step 16: Host A Retro To Learn From Your Success Your project is done when 100% of the tasks within the  stories that make up your sprints are complete.  Ship it now! There's just one thing left to do... and that's to learn how to improve your  marketing project management process before you initiate your next project. Traditional project management often calls for a post implementation review. It's a meeting where you invite your team to ask them three simple questions: What went well? What went wrong? What could we improve for the next project? Agile product management follows a similar approach, calling their post-project touch point a retrospective. The goal is the same- - but the questions you ask in the meeting vary slightly: What should we start doing? What should we stop doing? What should we continue doing? Combine those two sets of questions together for a 30-minute meeting, and you'll leave with dozens of lessons learned that will help you improve your marketing project management process next time. How Do You Manage Your Marketing Projects? Whether you use as robust of a marketing project management process as this or not, I know you've found at least a few helpful takeaways from this post. If you're ready to manage the execution and monitoring phases better than ever, try ! It's your marketing project management software designed to  get you organized.

Asses whether it is accurate to label the american revolution as a Essay

Asses whether it is accurate to label the american revolution as a political revolution and the french revolution as a social revolution - Essay Example in rebelling against despotic structures and systems were witnessed in Europe and beyond; citizens rose up together to overthrow unpopular tyrannical regimes leading to a complete transformation. U.S and France are among the countries that witnessed remarkable revolutions. As indicated, revolutions can be generated and developed based on social or political grounds or both. The question that has puzzled many is the nature of the revolutions that occurred in America and France; whether they were social or political revolutions. The question is, was the American Revolution a political revolution? What about the French revolution, was it a social revolution? This paper aims at assessing evidence to prove that indeed the American Revolution was a political one while France, on the other hand, experienced social revolution. While there are many similarities in the two revolutions, what stands out is that American upheaval was politically driven unlike the French one that saw an uprising in response to inadequate social order and stability (Editorial Notes, 1959). One thing that distinctly justifies the American Revolution as politically instigated was government instability at that time. The gravity with which demonstrations were organized to overthrow the British regime justifiably attributes this revolution to political causes. The American colonialist sought to scrap the British oppressive systems that levied high taxes from the citizenry. 1776 was the year when Americans said enough was enough for political oppression leading to the transformation of political structures in the country. The French Revolution, however, was primarily based on the poor social structures and systems. Although it had shreds of political motives, the prime reason for effecting change was to revolutionize the existing social order (Cogliano, 2010). The France’s social stratification in three distinct estates brought up feuds. The larger estates that comprised of a large population

Business Policy - British Airways Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 7000 words

Business Policy - British Airways - Case Study Example According to the International Air Transport Association, the industry lost up to $8 billion in 2008 which is even greater than what was forecasted previously. The report uses a PESTEL analysis (See PESTEL Analysis: Appendix D) to scan the external environmental structure of the company. The business cycle of British Airways includes several parameters. This is due to the fact that airline industry is characterized by longer business cycle resulting from the lower profitability and for the lower shareholder returns. (Liehr, Nd, page 1). The marketing environment is constantly changing and with every change in the last few years airlines industry is being affected. The demand for the airline industry is highly income elastic. (â€Å"An analysis of British Airways Marketing Environment†, 2008) Thus the rise in the fuel prices last year and recent economic turmoil has affected the airlines industry in huge way as the passengers are avoiding more expensive air travels. According t o a report by Air Transport association of America, the revenue generated from passenger travels for all airlines fell by 19 % during the month of February, 2009 when compared to February 2008. This is the forth consecutive month where loss is being recorded. The business sector, hit badly by the economic crisis are cutting back on their airline trips. British airways having ten flights operating daily between London and New York is among the worst hit. (â€Å"Lucrative Business class air travel hit by crisis†, 2009) The company saw a decline in 8.6 percent in premium traffic and 4.1 percent in non premium. (â€Å"Lucrative Business class air travel hit by crisis†, 2009)   Also there are other factors which are directly affecting the industry. The events like terrorist attacks in the recent past closely linked with the airplanes may be considered as an external factor affecting air traveling. This assumption is based on the fact that these events lead to the introduc tion of strict security norms and regulation from the EU and US, affecting from summer 2006 resulting in a fall of customer traveling confidence.(â€Å"An analysis of British Airways Marketing Environment†, 2008). The intervention of Government rules and regulation were present in the areas of controlling the place of flight, the pricing policy etc. Also there are restrictions in the number and types of baggage that they carry, which ultimately is becoming the restriction on the part of the customers.

See assignment criteria Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

See assignment criteria - Essay Example 173). Because CP results from the damage in the brain, any injury to the brain during its development that happens before, during, immediately after or after a few years of childbirth potentially causes a child to have this condition. The insult to the brain maybe precipitated by anoxia or absence of oxygen, infections, brain malformations, head injuries, and genetic disorders (â€Å"Cerebral Palsy,† 2009, p. 212). These cases may consequence the affected child with mild, moderate or severe affectations. According to Professional Guide to Diseases, the condition appears to be more common in the male children than in females (2009, p. 173). Peacock (2000, p. 20) highlighted the three ways the children may be affected. They may (a) have weak muscles, (b) lack muscle tone in some muscles, or (c) have tightness in their muscles. Each one can exist without the other; in unfortunate cases, however, a child can have all. Other symptoms include inability to do various motor skills such as reaching, crawling, sitting, walking, writing and grasping things. Balance and gait, speech, and eating are also be affected. The child will also be easily fatigued. Due to the existence of these problems, a child faces more challenging issues as he or she grows. Without cerebral palsy, a person can effortlessly maintain an upright position against gravity with less level of tension demanded from the body and the muscle groups involved in such movement. People â€Å"can automatically adjust our position in a coordinated way to balance and move† (Hinchcliffe, 2003, p. 7). Moreover, the brain normally directs the whole body as to how and when it should move. Specific neural signals are sent to specific receptors which in turn enable the muscles to move as intended (Latash, 2008, p. 195). Since there is damage to the brain affecting this task in people with cerebral palsy, there is impairment in the normal function of muscle control and coordination.

The Ara Pacis: Monument of the Age of Augustus

The Ara Pacis: Monument of the Age of Augustus After 31 BC, as Augustus secured overall power in Rome, he set about a series of radical reforms which affected almost every area of public life, and some areas even of private life (the marriage laws, for example). His intentions were on a grand scale; he planned to regenerate Rome and its people after the disturbances of the late Republican period, and in more ways than one might have expected he succeeded. The price, of course, was the loss of republican liberties. Syme says â€Å"It was the end of a century of anarchy, culminating in twenty years of civil war and military tyranny. If despotism was the price, it was not too high† (Syme, 2). Suetonius’s account of the reign of Augustus is partly a list of reforms, in the army, the fabric of the city, the administration of justice, the customs of dress, the securing of public health and many others. Paul Zanker says that â€Å"The goal of his â€Å"cultural program†, pursued with far-reaching and concentrated e ffort over the next twenty years, was nothing less than a complete moral revival† (Zanker, 3), in which the focus of national and cultural attention would be himself, a ruler chosen by the gods, who embodied practically as well as symbolically the soul of the state. The excesses of the previous period were to be replaced by nobler and more serious public values, by a greater sense of national loyalty which would reject personal rivalries in the world of power politics and bring about an era of peace and security which would allow Rome to thrive. Such a radical revision of the public world naturally required a public imagery to support it and express its new codes. â€Å"Invidious private ostentation [was replaced] by a program of publica magnificentia† (Zanker, 3). Building in the city, and the visual arts generally, naturally became vehicles for conveying the new values. Favro says that Augustus â€Å"continuously used the built fabric of the city to convey policy† (Favro, 141). The Ara Pacis was built between 13 and 9 BC, and is a key monument for the display of the Augustan principles. Augustus himself records its construction in the Res Gestae: â€Å"When I returned from Spain and Gaul after successfully settling the affairs of those provinces†¦ the Senate decreed that the Altar of Augustan Peace should be consecrated for my return near the Campus Martius† (Brunt Moore, 25). Augustus had been away on this military campaign for three years, and the Ara Pacis was a tribute to him, but also to the idea of peace, which he reminds us in the next paragraph of the Res Gestae came through war and victory: â€Å"Peace had been secured by victories throughout the Roman Empire by land and sea.† It is not surprising, then, that in the carved panels flanking the doors of the Ara Pacis, the figure of Tellus/ Ceres/ Venus, surrounded by the images of fertility and peaceful abundance is matched by another figure, of Roma, seated on a pile of arms, reminding all viewers of the serious truth â€Å"that the blessings of peace had been won and made secure by the newly fortified virtus of Roman arms† (Zanker, 175). The altar enclosure carries sculpted friezes on all four sides. Tellus and Roma flank one door, Aeneas and Mars with Romulus and Remus the other. On the long sides a procession is depicted, showing Augustus himself and members of the Imperial family, accompanied by senators, lictors and priests preparing for a rite of sacrifice. Perhaps the processional image records the actual event of Augustus’s return to Rome. Some of the figures have been identified, rather tentatively, as individual people in the ruling group, but for the most part the faces are idealized, though distinctly human. Clearly there is a classicizing influence at work here. These are dignified and serious people, displaying â€Å"the Roman traditional concepts of dignity (dignitas) and sobriety (gravitas)† (Henig, 85). Although Henig argues that the procession commemorates â€Å"a specific event of contemporary history†¦ with anecdotal detail in three dimensional relief† (Henig, 74), it is s urely more the case that the classical dignity of the image is meant to convey â€Å"the idea of the return of Augustus, the guarantor (auctor) of peace† (Gallinsky, 142), and the presentation shows â€Å"not so much an individual action as a reflection of the underlying idea† (ibid). Augustus had refused the senate’s offer of a triumphant entry into the city, and accepted the Ara Pacis in its place, a structure of quite modest scale for a dictator, and understated in its imagery. The classicizing generality of the figures is part of the Augustan taste for moderation and restraint in all areas of life. The â€Å"elegant simplicity and clarity of style† (Henig, 74) reflect the classical model behind the design, the 5th century BC Panathenaic procession depicted in the Parthenon. Augustus’s inspiration could hardly have been more noble. The miraculous thing is that the Ara Pacis frieze escapes completely from the frigidity of the Parthenon sculptures , and from the pomposity of much nineteenth-century neo-classical statuary. It is interesting at this point to consider the images of Augustus himself produced during his lifetime. The Prima Porta statue of 27 BC is based on a Greek model, the Doryphoros of Polyclitus, which Quintilian calls â€Å"gravis et sanctis†, and thus a telling choice as a precedent. Augustus is shown addressing the troops, his right arm raised to command attention. Syme describes it as â€Å"showing the Princeps in his middle years, firm and martial but melancholy and dedicated to duty† (Syme, 470). The face has a calm, noble expression, its features â€Å"marked by a harmony of proportions, inspired by the Classical canon† (Zanker, 99). Like the Doryphoros, the hair has been arranged with careful attention to the rules of symmetry. The result is a look of â€Å"timeless and remote dignity† (ibid). It had little to do with Augustus’s actual appearance, but that is beside the point. This is how Augustus wished to be seen, it is the â€Å"image† of Augustus, an image which derives much of its authority from the great Classical models, with all their associations of seriousness, nobility and the ideals of human grandeur. The armour Augustus wears carries emblems of his achievement and reminders of the nature of the peace. â€Å"The rich panoply of symbols and personifications that decorate his cuirass refers to the establishment of peace (pax Augusta) in the Empire and Augustus’s role as restitutor orbis† (Henig, 85). At the centre of the cuirass a Parthian king hands the legionary eagle to an armed figure – a Roman centurion, perhaps, or even Mars Utor himself, to whom Augustus built a temple in Rome. Around them are placed heaven and earth. Two mourning women are on either side, emblems of the defeated nations. Apollo and Diana ride traditional animals, a griffin and a hind. Above, Sol is in a chariot above Apollo, Luna above Diana, while Caelus spreads out the cloth of heaven. Luna is being replace d by Dawn, who pours dew from a jug. Augustus’s victory over the Parthians thus takes on qualities imagined in terms of eternity, timeless like the idealized Classical face of the Emperor. â€Å"The Princeps who wears the new image of victory on his breastplate becomes the representative of divine providence and the will of God† (Zanker, 192). The second statue, from the Via Labicana, is from later in Augustus’s reign and shows us the Emperor dressed as a priest. The face is more individualized – the eyes are smaller, the cheekbones are visible, and the ears protrude. This is a more â€Å"real† Augustus, but the overwhelming effect of the statue is to show him as a serious and thoughtful figure. â€Å"The spirituality of the wise and benevolent father of the state and restorer of traditional morality emanates from the shaded deep-set eyes† (Henig, 85). The military commander is absent, but the same underlying conception is there; the god-like Emperor, who is both guardian of the security of the state, and also richly human in the most virtuous, intelligent, and pious ways. The sculptures of the Ara Pacis can be understood in these terms. The procession is towards a sacred ceremony. Around two thirds of the scenes involve members of the four principal colleges of priests, which Augustus had revived in his reform programme. The flamines can be identified by their traditional dress, a woollen cloak and a cap with a metal point. Membership of the priesthood was a mark of high status. Augustus entrusted the management of the annual sacrifices to officials of all the major priesthoods (thus skillfully diluting their real individual power). Here, some of the priests have veiled heads, which shows that the ceremony has begun. A woman puts her fingers to her lips to call for silence. â€Å"The dense rows of figures all similarly veiled in their togas give the impression of unity and uniformity. The sculptural style and composition, inspired by Classical reliefs, elevates the scene beyond the historical occasion into a timeless sphere† (Zanker, 121). Amon gst the Imperial family the women are draped in the style of Classical statues. Drusus, the successful general, stands in their midst. Children try to get the attention of their parents. As with the two Augustus statues, dignity and authority merge subtly with humanity. There is, as Gallinsky says, an â€Å"exquisite balance between stylization and informality† (Gallinsky, 152). The postures and gestures are varied, and in a way that is not merely the result of the artist’s desire to add variety to a potentially monotonous subject. â€Å"These are real people. They chat, even to the point of having to be admonished to be quiet, and the children wriggle and squirm as we know them to do at any official ceremony or church service† (ibid). That this is true, even though the principal mood is that of Classical decorum and sobriety, is a remarkable artistic – and perhaps political – achievement. Gallinsky goes on to call the Ara Pacis â€Å"one of the m ost humane monuments ever built by a powerful ruler†¦ This is not the pompous and grim monument of a party leader whose subjects are bullied into conformist succession. The relaxed attitude of the participants†¦ is in fact another manifestation of the blessings of pax† (ibid, 151-2). Mortimer Wheeler argues similarly for the remarkably relaxed grace of the work. He notes the delightful gestures of the lady hushing the chatterers, and the children â€Å"particularly vital in their display of childlike interest or boredom† (Wheeler, 165). While Bandinelli rather insensitively describes the work as â€Å"frigid in conception, sharing the programmatic conformity which stamps all official art† (Bandinelli, 189), Wheeler says that this is â€Å"wide of the mark. If frigid, these figures owe their aloofness to the calm assured, unanxious society which they represent† (Wheeler, 165), surely a very astute understanding of the relationship between Augustan art – even â€Å"official art† – and the mood of the society it expresses. Another fine piece of observation is Wheeler’s note that as we look along the frieze slabs form one vitally depicted head to another â€Å"there is no dramatic concentration upon the Emperor† (ibid). He stands, indeed, at the centre of the frieze, but he is only slightly taller than those around him, a quality he shares with Agrippa. The Emperor may be a god, but there is no personality cult at work. â€Å"He is merely primus inter pares† (ibid) and Wheeler sees this too as an example of the virtues of the Augustan era, â€Å"its quiet good manners and its undemonstrative confidence† (ibid). He contrasts this modest presentation of the Emperor with the image on the Arch of Titus about 100 years later, where the figure of the victorious Emperor is more prominent than the glory that seeks to crown him, and whose frontal positioning causes hopeless distortion of the perspective. This notion of Augustus’s modesty is certainly supported by Suetonius. He notes how Augustus â€Å"felt horrified and insulted when called ‘My Lord’† (Suetonius, 80), and would not let even his adopted children or grandchildren address him in this way. He al ways tried to avoid leaving or entering Rome in daylight â€Å"because that would have obliged the authorities to give him a formal welcome or send-off† (ibid). (This seems to be supported by his rejection of a triumphal entry after the Hispano-Gallic campaign, and the preference for the modesty and decorum of the Ara Pacis). Suetonius also describes the simplicity of Augustus’s living conditions. The furnishings of the palace would â€Å"now hardly be considered fit for a private citizen† (Suetonius, 92), and his dress was unostentatious. Of course he held formal dinner parties, but â€Å"There was no great extravagance, and a most cheerful atmosphere, because of his talent for making shy guests†¦ join in the general conversation† (ibid). And yet Syme reminds us that the blessings of the Augustan reign had a cost: â€Å"The new dispensation, or ‘novus status’, was the work of fraud and bloodshed, based upon the seizure of power and red istribution of property by a revolutionary leader† (Syme, 2). Both Bandinelli and Henig have complained of the lack of coherent plan in the Ara Pacis, â€Å"not in the quality of the sculpture, nor in the style and technique, but in the subject matter† (Henig, 73). The question is whether the processional friezes have anything to do with the mythical and allegorical panels flanking the doors at either end. If we have understood the nature of the friezes correctly, and their relationship to the Augustan vision of the Roman world, it is clear that the subject matter of the panels and their treatment are central to the statement of the work. Most important in this sense, as well as best preserved, is the panel depicting Tellus (or Venus, or Ceres). The subject of the panel is the blessings of abundance. A matronly woman sits in Classical dress, with two babies at her sides, reaching for her breast. Her lap is filled with fruit, and her hair is bound with a wreath of grain. Wheat and poppies grow behind her, and below her are farm animals. T he image celebrates growth and fertility. Either side of her are female figures, aurae, icons from Greek Classical tradition, who are emblems of the winds on land and sea. The land figure sits on a goose over a stream, the other has the sea monster under control (like Browning’s Duke, â€Å"taming a seahorse†). The aurae are the bringers of warmth and rain, the bestowers of abundance and successful harvest. â€Å"The overall structure is a paean to the fecundity, wealth, and harmony made possible by the Augustan peace† (Favro, 266). The female figure is Tellus, Mother Earth, but also Ceres, Venus, and perhaps Pax herself. The multiplicity of identities is enriching, not confusing. But this idyll is not allowed to stand alone as a dream vision. On the other side of the door, in the corresponding position, we see the figure of Roma sitting on a pile of arms, reminding us that the price of peace is military preparedness and conquest, â€Å"Peace based on world dom ination† (Gallinsky, 146). At the other end the panels celebrate the heroic past, putting the Augustan present into the grandest possible context. In one panel Aeneas is shown preparing to sacrifice after he has seen the portent prophesying his future in Italy. With Venus, and his son Julus, founder of the Julian family, who stands behind him, he is the ancestor of the Roman people, as are Romulus and Remus, presented in the corresponding panel with Mars, god of war, their father and thus also a Roman ancestor. It is the members of that family and the leaders of that people who walk in procession in the long friezes. Much of the wall surface is covered in delicate, symmetrical patterns of tendrils and vine clusters. This was a traditional decorative motif, but here the imagery of abundance takes on a particular relevance, which is reflected in the poetry of the period. The reference is to the myth of the Golden Age, and the implication of the use of such imagery, and so much of it, in the Ara Pacis is that the glorious present has recovered some of the qualities of that legendary past. As David Castriota says, â€Å"For poets like Horace and especially Virgil, who sought to idealize the stable and ordered Peace of the Augustan regime in the comparative terms of the mythic precedent, the analogy of a pristine era of blissful abundance and moral virtue must have seemed irresistible† (Castriota, 124). Such imagery was central to the Augustan picture of the world. In one sense the Ara Pacis might be seen as not entirely the modest and restrained monument suggested here, in that it appears that it was planned as part of a giant structure which sounds rather more Mussolini-like than anything hinted at so far. The Ara Pacis was placed where it would be part of a giant sundial, the hand a huge obelisk 100ft high, with Augustus’s mausoleum at the opposite end of the dial. Elaborate astronomical functions have been claimed for the design. The obelisk was of course a monument to the conquest of Egypt, so that the peace-through-victory notion is repeated. The Ara Pacis faced the Via Flaminia, which was the way Augustus had reentered the city after his campaign, and positioned in open ground â€Å"midway between Augustus’s Mausoleum and the built-up area of the southern Field of Mars, possibly coinciding with the pomerium (the sacred boundary of the city where soldiers had to lay aside their weapons)† (Claridge, 189). The positioni ng probably carried symbolic significance, joining secular and sacred ground, emphasizing the universality of Augustan rule. How much of this must one dismiss as the propaganda of a dictatorial regime? The Res Gestae is a curious document, hardly notable for its modesty. â€Å"Always it is the first person that is stressed† (Brunt and Moore, 4), say its editors, and it presents a highly selective view of the events of Augustus’s reign. He claims that he was unwilling to accept untraditional honours and powers, but â€Å"This plea is an example of clever propaganda writing†¦ He naturally did not mention that there was no precedent for any one man holding so many different positions and powers at the same time† (Brunt and Moore, 5). Syme says that Augustus’s account of recent history is nothing more than â€Å"official truth† (Syme, 522-3), and Tacitus, writing over 100 years later, was cynical: â€Å"He seduced the army with bonuses†¦ Opposition did not exist. War or judicial murder had disposed of all men of spirit†¦ Upper-class survivors found that slavis h obedience was the way to succeed† (Tacitus, 29-30). And yet for Horace, who we must remember fought against Octavius at Philippi, the Augustan peace was something very real. The Centennial Hymn, â€Å"a triumphal ode which is unique in the way it breathes serenity† (Horace, 31), is a tribute to Augustus’s achievements seen in terms of the establishment of peace, prosperity and safety. Now the Parthian fears the Alban axes, the forces mighty by sea and land; now Scythians and Indians, lately so proud, await our answer. Now Faith, and Peace, and Honour, and pristine Modesty, and Manhood neglected, dare to return, and blessed Plenty appears With her laden horn. (Horace, 168) The Augustan peace was something genuine for Horace, and it is difficult to see work of the quality of that in the Ara Pacis as the product of official artists merely. It is little wonder that both the Renaissance and the English eighteenth century saw the Augustan period, and its art architecture and poetry, as the great models to emulate. Works Cited Bandinelli, R.B., trans. Green, P. Rome. The Centre of Power. Roman Art to AD.200. London: Thames and Hudson, 1970. Brunt, P.A. Moore, J.M. (eds), Res Gestae. Oxford: Oxford U.P, 1967. Castriota, D. The Ara Pacis Augustae and the Imagery of Abundance in Later Greek and Early Roman Art. Princeton: Princeton U.P., 1995. Cooley, M.(ed.). The Age of Augustus. London: LACTOR, 2003. Claridge, A. Rome: an Oxford Archaeological Guide. Oxford: Oxford U.P., 1998. Favro, D. The Urban Image of Augustan Rome. Cambridge: Cambridge U.P., 1996. Henig, M. (ed.). A Handbook of Roman Art. Oxford: Phaidon, 1983. Galinsky, K. Augustan Culture. Princeton: Princeton U.P., 1996. Horace, trans. Shepherd, W.G., introd. Radice, B. The Complete Odes and Epodes. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1983. Suetonius, trans. Graves, R. The Twelve Caesars. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1957. Syme, R. The Roman Revolution. London: Oxford U.P.1960. Tacitus, trans. Grant, M. The Annals of Imperial Rome. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1956. Wheeler, M. Roman Art and Architecture. London: Thames and Hudson, 1964. Zanker, P., trans. Shapiro, A. The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan P., 1990.

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Fahrenheit 451 Argumentative Essay Was meeting Clarisse good or bad for Montag? In the book Fahrenheit 451 the main character, Montag, meets Clarisse someone he has recently known. She changes and adjusts his whole life. Clarisse brings valuable and wonderful effects upon Montag, but she also brings disastrous effects upon him too. In the society where Montag lives a firefighter’s job is to burn books. Montag is a fireman. Montag burned books for a living, but he has never questioned why the fireman's job is to burn books. Clarisse comes along making Montag realize there is more truth behind his regular, dull life. She always asks him odd questions that Montag has to ponder into his thoughts to answer them truthfully. Meeting Clarisse was good for Montag because she is the reason for motivation that urges Montag forward in his journey of self-realization, she helps him realize that his life has particularly been a lie, and she helps him recognize what he really feels on certain topics. Clarisse brings out a different side inside of Montag, and she brings him out of the little shell he has lived in. Montag is awed by Clarisse's curiosity and questioning. Because she is an person who has her own soul and makes her own decision. Clarisse helps Montag realize this by proving she is beneficial for Montag. For example in the book Clarisse asks Montag, â€Å"Do you ever read any of the book you burn?† and Montag replies by laughing, â€Å"That’s against the law!†. She is not afraid to ask questions that no one would dare to ask. Montag is always intrigued by her. She is unafraid to express her ideas and she challenges Montag by asking him why he is a fireman, burning books. When Montag goes to burn books at someone's home he always thinks about w... ...ds him in discovering his true feelings towards various things in his life. In conclusion Clarisse and Montag meeting was good for Montag because his life changed forever in a positive way even though there were some hassle. I believe that in the future Montag will never forget about Clarisse and always will be thankful for her when he reads books and becomes closer with Granger's group of book readers. Clarisse helped bring out a different side and perspective of Montag that had hidden behind his mind. He started breaking the rules and "living off the edge". Therefore meeting Clarisse was good for Montag because she acknowledges to him the absence of love, satisfaction, and happiness in his life, she helps him realize that his life has been mostly a lie, and she helps him recognize what he really feels on certain topics. She is a very positive influence on him.

Khmer New Year in Cambodia

Khmer New Year in Cambodia Khmer New Year, or ‘Bon Chol Chhnam Thmei’ in the Khmer language, is the greatest traditional festival and national holiday in Cambodia, and the celebration last for three days. Khmer New year starts on April the 13th, 14th or 15th depending on the ancient horoscope â€Å"Maha Sangkran†, 2012 it starts on the 13 of April. The majority of the Cambodians are still farmers and Khmer New Year marks the end of the harvest season when farmers enjoy the fruits of their labor and relax before the start of the rainy season.In the villages the people engage in traditional Khmer games, they play games such as the Bas Angkunh ‘seed throwing’, Chaol Chhoung ‘twisted-scarf throwing’, Leak Kanseng ‘twisted-scarf hide’ and dance to traditional Khmer songs. The first day of Khmer New Year is called â€Å"Maha Sangkran†, Sangkran means movement and refers to that the sun is moving into a new Zodiac sign and Ma ha means great. Some say that Maha Sangkran means welcome to the new spirits. In the morning the Cambodians will go to the temple and offer food to the monks and receive blessings.During this time the Cambodians clean and decorate their homes and prepare fruits and drinks on a table or in their spirit house to welcome the new spirits. Elderly people like to meditate or pray the Dharma because they believe that any spirit that comes to their home will stay with them throughout the whole year and take care of their family. The second day is called â€Å"Wanabot† and it is the day that they offer gifts to parents, grandparents and elders.In the evening of this day many Cambodians will go to the temple and build a mountain of sand to remember their ancestors who have passed away and have the monks give them blessings of happiness and peace. The third day is called â€Å"Leung Sakk† and this is the first day of the new year. In the morning the Cambodians go to the temple an d perform a ceremony where the mountain of sand gets blessed. The last ceremony is called â€Å"Pithi Srang Preah† and the purpose of this ceremony is to honor and to give a special cleansing to Buddha Statues, the monks, elders, grandparents and parents.During this ceremony the participators apologize for any mistakes they have made during the last year. The Khmer New Year is not only a great festival it is also an opportunity to pass on the Cambodian traditions to the next generation. The History of Khmer New Year Posted on April 10, 2009 by Chanroeun Pa| 4 Comments In ancient countries of Chompou Tvip (the central continent of the seven continents surrounding Mount Meru) the elder people adopted the Khmer New Year’s date in Khe Mikase (January), i. e. he early year. According to the lunar calendar, they formerly chose three seasons including Heman Radov or winter, Kimha Radov ir hot season and Vasan Radov or rainy season. Since Chol Sakarach (Lesser Era) they have formally adopted the solar calendar and held the Khmer New Year Festival in Khe Chet (fifth month) that is a free time from their farming. Four main seasons in the solar calendar contain winter, spring, summer and autumn. The Khmer people have adopted the fifth solar month, known as Khe Chet, to celebrate their New Year festival.Usually, according to the solar calendar, the Khmer New Year falls on the 13th of April although sometimes it falls on the 14th of April. The auspicious occasion of the Khmer New Year is detailed in the astrological almanac and extends over three days. The first day is known as Maha Sangkran or â€Å"Great Almanac Day†, the second day is called Veara Vanabath or â€Å"Worshipping Day†, and the third day is known as Veara Leung Sak or â€Å"Rank and Promotion Day†. Of the three days Veara Leung Sak is considered the most auspicious.The history of the Khmer New Year is closely connected to the seven signs of the zodiac for the week. The le gend of the New Year is detailed in the Almanac which says: In ancient, happier times, a young man by the name of Thoamabal, the son of a tycoon, had an extensive knowledge of three Vedas (ancient books on Hinduism) by the age of seven. Thoamabal’s father built a temple under the spread of a large Chrey tree (a fig tree) on the banks of a river that was home to many species of birds. He had an innate ability that enabled him to understand the languages of birds. Thoamabal’s attributes allowed him to become a layman in charge of religious ceremonies for all classes of people. Upon hearing this news another religious leader Kabel Maha Prohm, decided to challenge Thoamabal with tree riddles. He vowed that if Thaomabal could successfully answer the riddles he, Kabel Maha Prohm, would be beheaded; however if Thoamabal could not answer the riddles correctly then it would be Thoamabal who would be beheaded. Thoamabal insisted on having seven days to answer the puzzling enigma until Kabel Maha Prohm agreed.For six days Thoamabal could not solve the problems and knew that he faced the prospect of being killed by Kabel Maha Prohm the next morning. He therefore decided to hide himself and let his life fade away by natural causes. He hid himself beneath a pair of sugar palm trees in which a pair of eagles were nesting, that night Thoamabal overheard the eagles talking. The female asked, â€Å"What will we eat tomorrow morning? † The male eagle replied, â€Å"We will eat the flesh of Thoamalobal because tomorrow he is going to be beheaded by Kabie Maha Prohm due to his inability to solve the riddles†.The female then asked, â€Å"What are the riddles? † The male answered, â€Å"The first riddle is, where is luck to be found in the mornine? † Of course the answer is that luck is on the face because people always take water to wash their faces. The second riddle asked, where is luck located at noon? It is on the chest because people a lways take water to wash their chests. Finally, the third question asked, where is luck located in the evening? The answer is that luck is on the feet because people always wash their feet in the evening.Thoamabal overheard all of the conversation and so happily returned to his temple. In the morning Kabel Maha Prohm came to ask Thoamabal if he could answer the three riddles. Thoamabal successfully answered each of the riddles. Kabel Maha Prohm realixing he had failed, called his seven daughters, who were maids of Branma, to learn of his fate. Kabal Maha Prohm said, â€Å"Your father is foing to be beheaded in front of Thoamabal. If my head is set on the earth , if will set fire to Earth, if my head is thrown into the air, the rain will evaporate, if my head is thrown into the sea, the sea will dry up.Therefore I ask you, my seven daughters to get a holy metal tray on which to set your father’s head†. Having said this, he beheaded himself and his head was passed to Nea ng Toungsa, the eldest of his daughters. She placed her father’s head on the holy tray and then proceeded to walk around Mount Meru for one hour, respectfully keeping the tray on her right hand. She then took the tray to the temporary sanctuary of Phnom Kailas. At Phnom Kailas, Preah Visakam created a hall where seven holy glasses (Pheakabatei Saphea) were set. The glasses were for use by angels during ceremonies.Each year the seven angels took turns to invoke the head of Kabel Maha Prohm to and complete a holy procession around Mount Meru. Following the holy procession the angels returned to their heaven. The Seven Angels of the Almanac: If the annual procession talls on a Sunday then the day will be known as Toungsa, Monday is Kooreak, Tuesday is called Reaksa, Wednesday is   Kereney, Friday is known as Kemera and Saturday is Mahaotra. During the Khmer New Year Festival, youths gather to play popular traditional games such as Chaol Chhoung (throwing a ball) and Bas Angkun h (throwing brown seeds).The youths are normally divided into female and male teams to play these games. In some parts of Cambodia, e. g. Siem Reap and Battambang, they play a game known as the â€Å"Trot Dance†. Trot performers dance and ask for alms from house to house in their village. A man will ride on a long curved stick with a deer’s head on one side and with a cluster of grass on the other side like the deer’s tail. Two men pretend to be hunters and are armed with a crossbow. When they receive alms they will donate it for the benefit of the local pagoda.In villages along the Mekong Riverinthe province of Kandal women gather to rowboats in front of the pagodas. This action is believed to appease the crocodiles. This custom originated long ago when many crocodiles lived in the river. In some villages, people trample on effigies to appease the ghosts that live in the trees near the pagodas and ask for happiness in the coming year. The Khmer people will gath er together and visit pagodas and temples on the occasion of the Khmer New year. Each year many residents from other provinces visit Angkor Wat to worship to the powerful gods and trace their ancestors’ heritage.

How to Write Amazing Posts With This Awesome Blog Writing Checklist - CoSchedule Blog

How to Write Amazing Posts With This Awesome Blog Writing Checklist Blog If you didnt blog or write content you wouldnt be here, right? We all use to improve our content projects to blow our blogs up with traffic, conversion, and hundreds of grateful and loyal readers. No one remembers the brainiac who said this sacramental phrase Content is the king (rumors have it, it was Bill Gates); but we do our best to create content that helps us reach goals to appear on Googles top 10. Table of Contents: Check a Category Check Lifetime Check Keywords Check the Headline Check the Intro Check the Text Check the Conclusion Check Engagement Check the Language Choose a Featured Image Increase the Texts Value Check Visual Media Add Links Add Content Upgrades Check SEO Set Authorship Check Technical Aspects Synchronize It Test It Promote It Publish It is the perfect all-in-one marketing calendar platform to manage your entire blogging editorial calendar. And with Task Templates, you can create reusable checklists to make sure you never miss a step. Then, use Discussions to manage communication and collaboration between writers, designers, and project managers. Combined with a seamless WordPress integration for automated publishing, it's your go-to destination for creating and promoting every blog post.Start your free 14-day trial and manage your blog better than ever before. 21-Step Blog Writing Checklist doesn't let you miss any small but important detail for making your compelling content, while also winning your readers' hearts. So, here it goes. This blog writing checklist is great to go through every time you get ready to publish a new piece of content. Step 1. Check A Category It's as clear as day that your blog has many categories, and I know you know  how to choose them. Before publishing new content, make sure you choose a relevant category and tags for it. They'll increase traffic and engagement by improving the user's experience and helping search engines index it the right way. Things to check for: Is it relevant? Are tags present? Step 2. Check Lifetime You know what you'll be posting on your blog in the future. It's good to understand how this particular post will relate to your future content. Write every post, keeping in mind its role for your blog, your product, and your business. It's good to have timeless content on your blog. Things to check for: Does it lead to your next post? Is it timeless? Does it meet your objectives? Step 3. Check Keywords I'm not going to teach you how to choose keywords for your content or how to build a semantic core for your blog, but it's important to make sure your keywords are relevant to your content. Try using high volume keywords (for titles, headings, and subheadings) and long-tail (for body content) keywords in your posts. You know the benefits of including long-tail keywords  in your content. Don't ignore them. Things to check for: Are your keywords relevant? Do you have a high volume of keywords? How about long-tail keywords? Step 4. Check The Headline Two out of 10 people will read your post after reading the headline. A weak headline will ruin your chances of creating content that converts. That's why there are  so many guides, tutorials, and tools to help bloggers make their headlines resplendent. Here at , the free  headline analyzer scores quality and rates the SEO value of your headlines, making them clickable and shareable. Before publishing your content, make sure the headline is an appropriate length and that it has emotional words  to capture the attention of readers, bringing you traffic and conversion. Examples of emotional words  in headlines: how to, fast, easy, best, review, tips. These words will help visitors understand that the content will solve their problem and provide useful information. Things to check for: Do your headlines match the style? Is it short and meaningful? Does it reveal the topic? Will it attract and interest readers? Does it have keywords? Are emotional words  present? Step 5. Check The Intro Introductions help visitors decide whether they'll continue reading your content or not. Make your content intro attractive by writing a hook and using the APP method. The APP method in introductions: A – Agree:  Pitch an idea the reader will agree with. P – Promise:  Promise you'll show how to solve the problem. P – Preview: Make clear what you want your readers to learn. Things to check for: Is the APP method present? Is a hook present? Does it have keywords? Step 6. Check The Text Specialists still argue about the best blog length because there is no right answer. Just make sure the length of your post is enough to cover the topic and that it meets your objectives. When you use closely related words (synonyms) of your main keyword, you'll make it easier for Google to identify and it'll show as relevant in its search engine results pages. Google your main keyword and check the â€Å"related† terms to understand what synonyms to use. They drive a high volume of search traffic; otherwise, your post  might not be mentioned in suggestions. Things to check for: Is the length appropriate for this type of content? Are keywords in the subheadings and in bullet lists? Are there synonyms of your main keyword? Is it compelling for both readers and search engines? Did you add a call to action in the conclusion? Step 7. Check The Conclusion "Visitors who don’t click don’t convert."  - Neil Patel Let's face it: If you create content, your goal is conversion. It's cool that readers like your content. It'd be cooler if they did something with it, wouldn't it? Help them! Your content marketing will not survive without a  call  to action, so make sure it's present in your post before publishing it on your blog. Plus, your conclusion should synthesize the information you shared in your content. CTA variants: Question:  to increase comments. Invitation to click or check:  to increase conversion. Invitation to read related articles:  to increase a crawl rate. Things to check for: Does it have a strong CTA? Will it answer the question "So what?" Does it synthesize the points? Step 8. Check Engagement No comments needed, I suppose. We write for people, so we should try  to engage with them. Then they will know what to do next: comment, share, subscribe, or download. Make sure your blog post engages with your target audience. Things to check for: Is it written as if you wrote it for one specific person? Does it teach how to solve the problem? Will it provide your insight? Are comments enabled? Step 9. Check The Language Edit your content, make it sound natural and readable (1–2-sentence paragraphs work for online), add bucket brigades (aka â€Å"words and phrases that keep people on your page†), and speak the same language as your audience. A little practice: Can you find the bucket brigades in this article? While working with guest writers, be sure their stuff  is free of plagiarism. A tool like Grammarly's plagiarism checker can help you out quickly. Things to check for: Does the language sound natural? Are the paragraphs short? Do you have bucket brigades in it? Did you check for grammar mistakes, typos, and logical contradictions in arguments? Have you read the post out loud to catch weird wording? Does your voice fit the tone of the blog? Did you check for plagiarism? Step 10. Choose A Featured Image Okay, one more confession from me: I really like choosing featured images for my blog posts! It's a ritual. The featured image can both attract and frighten readers, and that's why many bloggers sometimes get stuck. To ease the task of choosing a brilliant image for your content, keep in mind that it should be part of your design. It should also keep to the tone of your post and show your personality. Creativity is what makes us who we are.  And, as Henri Matisse said, it takes courage. With no designer on board, you can try images licensed for commercial use (Creative Commons) or discover resources with free but professional looking pictures. Things to check for: Are the images high quality? Are they  eye-catching? How about relevant? Are they  properly credited? Step 11. Increase The Text's Value I've learned that we should use at least one image for every 350 words of content to make it more readable and attractive for visitors, as they often do not have time or patience to read lo-o-o-ong, though interesting, articles. Images, graphs, videos, photos, quotes, tables, and diagrams- they can all help you increase the text's value. Things to check for: Does it have visual media where appropriate? How about quotes and tweetable content? Step 12. Check Visual Media In the footsteps of the previous step (sorry for tautology), make sure your visual elements meet the above features. It's unacceptable to ignore quality, relevance, copyright, and optimization if you aim to write high-quality content. Things to check for: Are  the visual media high quality? Are they relevant to the content? Do they violate copyright? (If so, change it.) Do they fit the design of your blog? Are they optimized? Step 13. Add Links When powerful resources link to your content, it's a sign for Google to rate you higher. And when you link to cool websites, it helps your readers trust you more.  Links build your online reputation, so make sure to add them to your blog writing checklist before you click publish. Don't forget about internal linking, too, since  it improves your SEO and guides readers to where they should click next. Things to check for: Are there internal links? How about external links? (Are they relevant and reputable?) Do they all work? Does it contain TOO many links? (If so take out some.) Do the links open in a new tab? (If so, good.) Are all required attributes added? (dofollow, nofollow, etc.) Step 14: Add Content Upgrades I bet you've noticed that cute block invite in this post or others that invited you to get a free download in exchange for your email. We call that a content upgrade. It's a consistent way to grow an email list. A tool as easy as LeadPages allows you to do that. Summarize key points from your post into a worksheet, template, infographic, or poster- it's up to you what type and format you choose for your upgrades. Things to check for: Is it appealing? Will it help your audience become better at what they do? Does the content upgrade link work? Step 15. Check SEO Try as you will, content marketers are not able to ignore SEO factors. This mortal combat leads to nothing, as content marketing + SEO = love forever: They complement each other, helping Internet marketers be friends with Google. So, check all SEO aspects of your content before publishing. Things to check for: Are the URLs short  with your slug containing the keyword? Are meta tags present? (Check title, description, alt-tag for images, and keywords.) How about sharing buttons that work and display content correctly? Step 16. Set Authorship It doesn't matter if you invite guest bloggers to create content for  your blog or if you have an in-house team of writers- make sure you always name the author of your content. Are you the author? Perfect!  Your name will sound much better than just "admin" or "webmaster", don't you think? Things to check for: Is the author named? Does the author have a bio? Is the author's image in Gravatar or do you have a way to manage their profile picture? Step 17. Check Technical Aspects Check your content in different browsers to see whether it looks good and works well. Big files can be hard to open or download. Things to check for: Does the content look good in all browsers and mobile devices? BrowserStack can  help you out with testing. Does it have oversized files? (If so, fix.) Is it easy to open and/or download? Are metrics for further analysis set? Are the semantic core and key phrases present? Step 18. Synchronize It Thinking in the logical sense, bloggers won't find it hard to determine the perfect day and time for publishing content. Holidays are a dead duck since user activity is low; so, it would be wise to set a schedule and use a marketing calendar to manage your blog and social media content. Things to check for: Don't publish and promote during holidays. Are you publishing posts during your users' highest activity? Are you setting a schedule of publishing to maximize the reach? Step 19. Test It You'll get a clearer picture of changes or improvements your content might need when you test it. Things to check for: Compare your content with competitors' to make sure it's more interesting and informative. Show it to several colleagues who didn't work on it. Share it with users inside your target audience to get feedback. Step 20. Promote It Start promoting your content before you publish by sending teasers and previews to chats, forums, and communities where your audience lives. Plus, you can send it to thought leaders, asking them to review and share it with their followers after you publish it. It would be wise to have a promotion plan in advance so you can start it once the content goes live on your blog. Things to check for: Share  teasers and previews to resources on platforms where your target audience meets. Organize a â€Å"premiere† for bloggers and thought leaders to get reviews. Make a promotion plan after publishing. Step 21. Publish It Phew! That's it. It seems your content is ready to see the light and hit the Internet. So, it's high time to click the â€Å"Publish† button to release your post into the world. There you have it. This blog writing checklist seems heavy, but guess what? You know ALL of the  steps. But you might just forget to tick them off the blog writing checklist. Let's try to repeat this checklist in short: Specify its place:  Check the topic, category, keywords, and tags. Write it right:  Draft an emotional headline, introduce it with a hook, use body with H2–H3 subheadlines, rock number and bulleted lists, edit for short paragraphs, check for plagiarism, and write a strong conclusion with a  call to action. Make it beautiful:  Use natural language, featured images, visual elements, and authorship. Make it engaging and compelling. Help them find it:  Use links, meta tags, synchronization, key phrases, and synonyms. Let them share it:  Make it browser and mobile friendly, test it, promote  it, and share it. Be sure to tick off all the points in the blog writing checklist before publishing your content. You'll get the results you want to achieve. You've got this! How to Write Amazing Posts With This Awesome Blog Writing Checklist Blog If you didnt blog or write content you wouldnt be here, right? We all use to improve our content projects to blow our blogs up with traffic, conversion, and hundreds of grateful and loyal readers. No one remembers the brainiac who said this sacramental phrase Content is the king (rumors have it, it was Bill Gates); but we do our best to create content that helps us reach goals to appear on Googles top 10. Table of Contents: Check a Category Check Lifetime Check Keywords Check the Headline Check the Intro Check the Text Check the Conclusion Check Engagement Check the Language Choose a Featured Image Increase the Texts Value Check Visual Media Add Links Add Content Upgrades Check SEO Set Authorship Check Technical Aspects Synchronize It Test It Promote It Publish It Get This Checklist in a PDF If youd prefer to keep this checklist on-hand, download this free PDF:How To Write Amazing Posts With This Blog Writing ChecklistCreate Your Own Checklists With Task Templates in is the perfect all-in-one marketing calendar platform to manage your entire blogging editorial calendar. And with Task Templates, you can create reusable checklists to make sure you never miss a step. Then, use Discussions to manage communication and collaboration between writers, designers, and project managers. Combined with a seamless WordPress integration for automated publishing, it's your go-to destination for creating and promoting every blog post.Start your free 14-day trial and manage your blog better than ever before. 21-Step Blog Writing Checklist doesn't let you miss any small but important detail for making your compelling content, while also winning your readers' hearts. So, here it goes. This blog writing checklist is great to go through every time you get ready to publish a new piece of content. Step 1. Check A Category It's as clear as day that your blog has many categories, and I know you know  how to choose them. Before publishing new content, make sure you choose a relevant category and tags for it. They'll increase traffic and engagement by improving the user's experience and helping search engines index it the right way. Things to check for: Is it relevant? Are tags present? Step 2. Check Lifetime You know what you'll be posting on your blog in the future. It's good to understand how this particular post will relate to your future content. Write every post, keeping in mind its role for your blog, your product, and your business. It's good to have timeless content on your blog. Things to check for: Does it lead to your next post? Is it timeless? Does it meet your objectives? Step 3. Check Keywords I'm not going to teach you how to choose keywords for your content or how to build a semantic core for your blog, but it's important to make sure your keywords are relevant to your content. Try using high volume keywords (for titles, headings, and subheadings) and long-tail (for body content) keywords in your posts. You know the benefits of including long-tail keywords  in your content. Don't ignore them. Things to check for: Are your keywords relevant? Do you have a high volume of keywords? How about long-tail keywords? Step 4. Check The Headline Two out of 10 people will read your post after reading the headline. A weak headline will ruin your chances of creating content that converts. That's why there are  so many guides, tutorials, and tools to help bloggers make their headlines resplendent. Here at , the free  headline analyzer scores quality and rates the SEO value of your headlines, making them clickable and shareable. Before publishing your content, make sure the headline is an appropriate length and that it has emotional words  to capture the attention of readers, bringing you traffic and conversion. Examples of emotional words  in headlines: how to, fast, easy, best, review, tips. These words will help visitors understand that the content will solve their problem and provide useful information. Things to check for: Do your headlines match the style? Is it short and meaningful? Does it reveal the topic? Will it attract and interest readers? Does it have keywords? Are emotional words  present? Step 5. Check The Intro Introductions help visitors decide whether they'll continue reading your content or not. Make your content intro attractive by writing a hook and using the APP method. The APP method in introductions: A – Agree:  Pitch an idea the reader will agree with. P – Promise:  Promise you'll show how to solve the problem. P – Preview: Make clear what you want your readers to learn. Things to check for: Is the APP method present? Is a hook present? Does it have keywords? Step 6. Check The Text Specialists still argue about the best blog length because there is no right answer. Just make sure the length of your post is enough to cover the topic and that it meets your objectives. When you use closely related words (synonyms) of your main keyword, you'll make it easier for Google to identify and it'll show as relevant in its search engine results pages. Google your main keyword and check the â€Å"related† terms to understand what synonyms to use. They drive a high volume of search traffic; otherwise, your post  might not be mentioned in suggestions. Things to check for: Is the length appropriate for this type of content? Are keywords in the subheadings and in bullet lists? Are there synonyms of your main keyword? Is it compelling for both readers and search engines? Did you add a call to action in the conclusion? Step 7. Check The Conclusion "Visitors who don’t click don’t convert."  - Neil Patel Let's face it: If you create content, your goal is conversion. It's cool that readers like your content. It'd be cooler if they did something with it, wouldn't it? Help them! Your content marketing will not survive without a  call  to action, so make sure it's present in your post before publishing it on your blog. Plus, your conclusion should synthesize the information you shared in your content. CTA variants: Question:  to increase comments. Invitation to click or check:  to increase conversion. Invitation to read related articles:  to increase a crawl rate. Things to check for: Does it have a strong CTA? Will it answer the question "So what?" Does it synthesize the points? Step 8. Check Engagement No comments needed, I suppose. We write for people, so we should try  to engage with them. Then they will know what to do next: comment, share, subscribe, or download. Make sure your blog post engages with your target audience. Things to check for: Is it written as if you wrote it for one specific person? Does it teach how to solve the problem? Will it provide your insight? Are comments enabled? Step 9. Check The Language Edit your content, make it sound natural and readable (1–2-sentence paragraphs work for online), add bucket brigades (aka â€Å"words and phrases that keep people on your page†), and speak the same language as your audience. A little practice: Can you find the bucket brigades in this article? While working with guest writers, be sure their stuff  is free of plagiarism. A tool like Grammarly's plagiarism checker can help you out quickly. Things to check for: Does the language sound natural? Are the paragraphs short? Do you have bucket brigades in it? Did you check for grammar mistakes, typos, and logical contradictions in arguments? Have you read the post out loud to catch weird wording? Does your voice fit the tone of the blog? Did you check for plagiarism? Step 10. Choose A Featured Image Okay, one more confession from me: I really like choosing featured images for my blog posts! It's a ritual. The featured image can both attract and frighten readers, and that's why many bloggers sometimes get stuck. To ease the task of choosing a brilliant image for your content, keep in mind that it should be part of your design. It should also keep to the tone of your post and show your personality. Creativity is what makes us who we are.  And, as Henri Matisse said, it takes courage. With no designer on board, you can try images licensed for commercial use (Creative Commons) or discover resources with free but professional looking pictures. Things to check for: Are the images high quality? Are they  eye-catching? How about relevant? Are they  properly credited? Step 11. Increase The Text's Value I've learned that we should use at least one image for every 350 words of content to make it more readable and attractive for visitors, as they often do not have time or patience to read lo-o-o-ong, though interesting, articles. Images, graphs, videos, photos, quotes, tables, and diagrams- they can all help you increase the text's value. Things to check for: Does it have visual media where appropriate? How about quotes and tweetable content? Step 12. Check Visual Media In the footsteps of the previous step (sorry for tautology), make sure your visual elements meet the above features. It's unacceptable to ignore quality, relevance, copyright, and optimization if you aim to write high-quality content. Things to check for: Are  the visual media high quality? Are they relevant to the content? Do they violate copyright? (If so, change it.) Do they fit the design of your blog? Are they optimized? Step 13. Add Links When powerful resources link to your content, it's a sign for Google to rate you higher. And when you link to cool websites, it helps your readers trust you more.  Links build your online reputation, so make sure to add them to your blog writing checklist before you click publish. Don't forget about internal linking, too, since  it improves your SEO and guides readers to where they should click next. Things to check for: Are there internal links? How about external links? (Are they relevant and reputable?) Do they all work? Does it contain TOO many links? (If so take out some.) Do the links open in a new tab? (If so, good.) Are all required attributes added? (dofollow, nofollow, etc.) Step 14: Add Content Upgrades I bet you've noticed that cute block invite in this post or others that invited you to get a free download in exchange for your email. We call that a content upgrade. It's a consistent way to grow an email list. A tool as easy as LeadPages allows you to do that. Summarize key points from your post into a worksheet, template, infographic, or poster- it's up to you what type and format you choose for your upgrades. Things to check for: Is it appealing? Will it help your audience become better at what they do? Does the content upgrade link work? Step 15. Check SEO Try as you will, content marketers are not able to ignore SEO factors. This mortal combat leads to nothing, as content marketing + SEO = love forever: They complement each other, helping Internet marketers be friends with Google. So, check all SEO aspects of your content before publishing. Things to check for: Are the URLs short  with your slug containing the keyword? Are meta tags present? (Check title, description, alt-tag for images, and keywords.) How about sharing buttons that work and display content correctly? Step 16. Set Authorship It doesn't matter if you invite guest bloggers to create content for  your blog or if you have an in-house team of writers- make sure you always name the author of your content. Are you the author? Perfect!  Your name will sound much better than just "admin" or "webmaster", don't you think? Things to check for: Is the author named? Does the author have a bio? Is the author's image in Gravatar or do you have a way to manage their profile picture? Step 17. Check Technical Aspects Check your content in different browsers to see whether it looks good and works well. Big files can be hard to open or download. Things to check for: Does the content look good in all browsers and mobile devices? BrowserStack can  help you out with testing. Does it have oversized files? (If so, fix.) Is it easy to open and/or download? Are metrics for further analysis set? Are the semantic core and key phrases present? Step 18. Synchronize It Thinking in the logical sense, bloggers won't find it hard to determine the perfect day and time for publishing content. Holidays are a dead duck since user activity is low; so, it would be wise to set a schedule and use a marketing calendar to manage your blog and social media content. Things to check for: Don't publish and promote during holidays. Are you publishing posts during your users' highest activity? Are you setting a schedule of publishing to maximize the reach? Step 19. Test It You'll get a clearer picture of changes or improvements your content might need when you test it. Things to check for: Compare your content with competitors' to make sure it's more interesting and informative. Show it to several colleagues who didn't work on it. Share it with users inside your target audience to get feedback. Step 20. Promote It Start promoting your content before you publish by sending teasers and previews to chats, forums, and communities where your audience lives. Plus, you can send it to thought leaders, asking them to review and share it with their followers after you publish it. It would be wise to have a promotion plan in advance so you can start it once the content goes live on your blog. Things to check for: Share  teasers and previews to resources on platforms where your target audience meets. Organize a â€Å"premiere† for bloggers and thought leaders to get reviews. Make a promotion plan after publishing. Step 21. Publish It Phew! That's it. It seems your content is ready to see the light and hit the Internet. So, it's high time to click the â€Å"Publish† button to release your post into the world. There you have it. This blog writing checklist seems heavy, but guess what? You know ALL of the  steps. But you might just forget to tick them off the blog writing checklist. Let's try to repeat this checklist in short: Specify its place:  Check the topic, category, keywords, and tags. Write it right:  Draft an emotional headline, introduce it with a hook, use body with H2–H3 subheadlines, rock number and bulleted lists, edit for short paragraphs, check for plagiarism, and write a strong conclusion with a  call to action. Make it beautiful:  Use natural language, featured images, visual elements, and authorship. Make it engaging and compelling. Help them find it:  Use links, meta tags, synchronization, key phrases, and synonyms. Let them share it:  Make it browser and mobile friendly, test it, promote  it, and share it. Be sure to tick off all the points in the blog writing checklist before publishing your content. You'll get the results you want to achieve. You've got this!