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The Effects Of Video Game Play On The Educational Process

Video game play can be very beneficial in the educational process. It can enhance cognitive abilities and skills in children and adolescents. In fact, studies have found that improvements in cognition have been related to grey matter changes in the prefrontal cortex. Specifically, a study conducted by Simon Kuhn, in which magnetic resonance imaging scans of 152 14-year old adolescents were collected and used to estimate cortical thickness, showed an increase in cortical thickness in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and in correlation an increase in cognitive and strategic planning abilities (Simon Kuhn 5). These results come from the need to follow directions in games. In order to progress in games, one must first learn to follow the guidelines, restrictions and components of them. As the player confronts new challenges, he must use problem-solving skills to find solutions. The player must find new combinations and incorporate old skills with new skills to overcome obstacles. In relation, players must also get used to multitasking. As games become more intricate, players must juggle different objectives while keeping track of all the changing elements and connecting ideas. Games induce quick thinking as well. According to cognitive scientist Daphne Bavelier of the University of Rochester, results of a study found that people who play video games become more attuned to their environment, are able to keep visual tabs on friends in crowds, can navigate better, and areShow MoreRelatedVideo Games: More Beneficial Than We Thought Essay1693 Words   |  7 Pagesis the process of using game thinking and game mechanics to engage audiences according to Gabe Zichermann an educational gaming expert. Though its been said that video games cause laziness and violence in kids, we now know that video games can be a significant learning tool in early child development. Research has shown that video games help children with multitasking skills and can also increase fluid intelligence, which is the intelligence we use to solve problems (Zichermann). Video games may beRead MoreVideo Games Help Motor Development And Brain1501 Words   |  7 PagesSince the beginning of these, the benefits of video games have been ignored by many people due to the great discussions that have generated the defects of some video games that are violent. The young people, the main users of these only think of having fun and as many of them say, it is only a game but with regard to the questioning of society, they generate a stubborn attitude, as experts say, there is no influence more marked than that which is not aware. Not all of them are dangers and threatsRead MoreThe Impact Of Video Games On Children1594 Words   |  7 PagesTylor Staffileno 12 April 2017 The Impact of Video Games on Children Introduction â€Å"Video games are bad for you, that’s what they said about rock-n-roll† (Shigeru Miyamoto). Video gaming is regarded as a ubiquitous part of children and adolescents’ life. Children who are daily involved in this activity in the US account for 97% of their total. Additionally, for those at an average of 8-13 years old, approximately, 8.5% of them are addicted to playing video games. Moreover, children at the age of 13-18Read MoreEssay on Congrats: You Gained Loot and Experience1601 Words   |  7 Pages Video games are popular electronic games that people are able to manipulate images on the screen using a computer platform and are wildly fun to play everywhere in the world. It started simply out as a black-white TV projector 2D image game for free-time to a complex high-definition colored 3D-images world-wide popular phenomenon popularity with people of all ages, especially children and adults, around the world. However, there have been research about the negative impact of playing video gamesRead MoreTechnology Is An Integral Part Of Education845 Words   |  4 Pagesuse of technology and gaming can play a significant role in this process Therefore, educational games should be included as a viable teaching strategy to motivate students, to keep students engaged, and to increase academic achievement. Computer games are frequently used in education as a way to enhance the learning process. For this reason, instructional and educational games are being used more and more by teachers. According to Mind/ Shift: Guide to Digital Games + Learning online report, thereRead MoreVideo Games and Academic Success At the Post-Secondary Level Essay1144 Words   |  5 PagesThe market for video games targets people of all ages, these games however are not just for recreation but are also making headway in the academic world gearing more towards learning through play on the educational level. With a recent spike in popularity and availability video games have become something of interest with academic scholars, teachers and concerned parents wondering how an increased exposure to video games will affect their students academic success. In theory, one would believe thatRead MoreThe Psychology of Video Games: The Pros of Video Games1017 Words   |  5 PagesPsychology of Video Games: The Pros o f Playing Video Games What is a game? Video games have been accused of being overly violent and harmful to the overall health of children. However, video games have been proven to be beneficial through researched studies. Although many adults oppose video games, they have cognitive, educational, social, and other benefits. To better understand the benefits, the background and history of video games should be understood. Therefore what is a game? A game is an interactionRead MoreRationale on Effects of Playing Computer Games on the Academic Performance of the Students1503 Words   |  7 PagesRationale and Importance Gaming in Education: What Students Can Learn From Video Games in School As new teachers enter the workforce with greater technology familiarity than their predecessors, a wider margin of accepted teaching methods has developed, changing the way in which educators are able to form successful instructional relationships with their students. Many districts, in order to help faculty keep pace with their rapidly changing and technologically capable student bodies, are attemptingRead MoreEssay on The Educational Benefits of Video Games1300 Words   |  6 PagesThe Educational Benefits of Video Games The repetition of the statement claiming that video games do not help children in their educational enterprises is unfair. There have been numerous studies conducted providing evidence that children gain structural knowledge while engaging in video game play (Pillay 2002). Certainly, different styles of video games may produce different results. It is important for us to understand the different benefits from the various styles of games. BecauseRead MoreVideo Gaming Technology Can Be Beneficial Essay1741 Words   |  7 PagesVideo Gaming Technology can be Beneficial Student’s Name Institutional affiliation Video Gaming As a concerned parent, one would easily feel coaxed to venture into analyzing every aspect of the child s welfare from a day-to-day perspective. There is a common concern over what the kids play around with as well as the impacts created upon the receiver. Similarly, the use of video gaming presents a common challenge as to whether the games are of benefit or not in the educational system

Oil And Gas Essay Example For Students

Oil And Gas Essay The economy is affected by many factors that determine if it is strong or weak. These factors have to do with buyers consuming goods and services and at whatrate they do this. Do the goods and services that are consumed by people createdwealth, jobs and a better overall economy for a country. Throughout history someeconomies have evolved faster and stronger than others. Policies that thegovernment places on industry, technology and the environment can all affect theprosperity of an economy. Of the factors that affect economic growth theindustry of Oil and gas is one that holds a stronghold in the worlds andAmericas economy today. When evaluating the economic growth factor of economyand specifically oil and gas on must consider the following questions: Whatrelationship does the factor have with the whole economy? How does thisfactor affect economic growth Is the factor a cause or effect of economicgrowth? what would the economy be like if there were significant problemswith this factor? What relation does a central bank have to this factor? Iwill answer each of t hese questions in respect to how economy is affected by oiland gas. The economy in the United States today is greatly affected by oil andgas. When there are large reserves and an increase of active drills in respectto oil, the economy seems to receive a boost. This is because prices for suchthings like gas and oil fall and people are able to consume more gas at a lowerprice. There is more supply and prices fall, therefore people save money on gasand can consume other items in the economy. People working in these industrieshave more job openings and more jobs filled, therefore creating a lowerunemployment rate and a higher national per capita income. The need forsubstitutes are not there so, consumers will consume oil and gas at a growingrate. Since, people use oil and gas for so many different things like heatingthere homes, driving their cars, and a variety of other sources, the overall GNPfor the consumer will rise. Economic growth is affected through significantfluctuations in in flation of oil and gas. If you look throughout history whenthere have been fluctuations in gas and oil prices you have vast fluctuations inthe economy of our country. The instability of this factor has cause governmentregulation to come into play in times of crisis. For example during themid-seventies we had the oil and gas shortage due to the Middle East cutting offsupply to Importers of their oil. By doing this, they caused a shortage in a lotof countries creating rising oil prices and high demand. Consumers could notrely on the oil prices to be stable, therefore they consumed less of otherproducts due to the inflation of gas prices and more of their dollar began to bespent on gas. Americans particularly started to come up with more efficientmeans of using and consuming gas over the past 25 years. Oil and gas is aresource that can be used up if not conserved properly. That is why OPEC wasformed, as well as organizations such as NAFTA to help regulate trade of thesecommodities and bring organization to a disorganized status. In addition,governments like the United States impose taxes on gas to regulated the pricesin order to ward off against supplies of oil affecting the nations economy. Thisonly works to an extent, in the early to mid-eighties one states economy livedand died by the supply of oil. That state was Texas. When Texass oil rigs beganto dry up, their economy went into a recession. Their reliance on the oil supplyas their main revenue producer caused a lot of people to lose their jobs anddemand and consumption for other products fell as well. This caused a spiralingeffect which caused people from all industries to lose their jobs. Texasseconomy suffered and so did parts of the American economy with High inflationand high debt which caused the economy to suffer. Increased regulation anddiversification of a countrys resources can stop this from being the case. .u1457b7f9c1d732d3792755c50202fc7e , .u1457b7f9c1d732d3792755c50202fc7e .postImageUrl , .u1457b7f9c1d732d3792755c50202fc7e .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u1457b7f9c1d732d3792755c50202fc7e , .u1457b7f9c1d732d3792755c50202fc7e:hover , .u1457b7f9c1d732d3792755c50202fc7e:visited , .u1457b7f9c1d732d3792755c50202fc7e:active { border:0!important; } .u1457b7f9c1d732d3792755c50202fc7e .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u1457b7f9c1d732d3792755c50202fc7e { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u1457b7f9c1d732d3792755c50202fc7e:active , .u1457b7f9c1d732d3792755c50202fc7e:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u1457b7f9c1d732d3792755c50202fc7e .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u1457b7f9c1d732d3792755c50202fc7e .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u1457b7f9c1d732d3792755c50202fc7e .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u1457b7f9c1d732d3792755c50202fc7e .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u1457b7f9c1d732d3792755c50202fc7e:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u1457b7f9c1d732d3792755c50202fc7e .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u1457b7f9c1d732d3792755c50202fc7e .u1457b7f9c1d732d3792755c50202fc7e-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u1457b7f9c1d732d3792755c50202fc7e:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Sir Gawain And The Green Knight Essay Countries representing OPEC all live and die by the constant production of oil. While this factor is used to stimulate their countries economic growth, itshould be used to stimulate the building of a countrys infrastructure. Oil-richcountries should use the positive affect oil has had on their countries to buildstrong governments and consumer demand for other goods. This powerfulinfrastructure that could be built will give the economy stability and allow fora countrys GNP to grow in a slow, steady, and positive way. The building of astrong middle-class will allow for countrys to prosper for many years to come. Instead what has happened is that economies of these countries are in a state offlux. What I mean by this is that their economies are very unpredictable andunstable and their reliance on oil has made the disparity between the rich andthe poor a gap that becomes too large to overcome. One prime example of this isBrazil, Brazil has large reserves of oil in a very large country. Brazil is adeveloping nation and is very unstable when it comes to central governments. Inthe 70s and 80s Brazil made large amounts of oil from its reserves. Instead ofinvesting the money made (from exporting oil) into their countries future, theleaders of that country used the money to make themselves rich and left thecountry in political and economic disarray. The middle class of Brazil becamealmost non-existent and their seem to be but two classes in that country. Thoseclasses were the extremely rich and the extremely poor. The lack ofinfrastructure and consumer confidence in the economy due to the mishandlin g ofoil profits lead to many political assassinations and increased crime ratesthroughout the country. It has taken and will continue to take Brazil years andyears to recover from these economic crisiss , which all could have beenavoided had Brazils government invested in its future. It is definitely truethat an economy of a country can be vastly affected by the demand, consumption,and supply of oil. The affect that good supplies of oil has on a countryseconomy is one that can only be measured in the sense that it is inevitable thatthey will be affected. As long as we drive cars that are fueled by gas and weuse heat in the winter time, oil will always be a strong factor in determiningthe growth of a countries economy. In the United States, we have the stronginfrastructure to adapt to problems that the instability of both the supply anddemand of oil will cause. Countries need to look within themselves for managedgrowth in order to steady their economies if oil is what sparks their ec onomy. Astrong central bank and government will allow for funds to be invested insupporting the economy, the oil business, and consumerism. Once theinfrastructure is set the shear reliance on oil will not be a factor, becausethe countrys economy will be able to handle the affect. When the day comes thatoil wells ran dry and substitutes are needed the countries that will survivewill be the ones that have braced themselves for the effect that this will haveon their economy. Then these countries will adapt and overcome. Oil and gasshould be used as helper of a countrys economy and not the passion by which itis run. The production of great income for a country and a higher GNP that oilproduction is something that should be able to benefit them for many years tocome. If you look at the United States as a model you will see a country thathandles oil with precision. When the oil industry is in a downturn, thegovernment can step in and regulate taxes and stimulate investment by having thece ntral bank pump in funds that would not otherwise be used. When the oilindustry is doing fine, the government can sit back and reap the prosperity ofincreases in employment and a rise in demand for oil. The prices will be lowerfor gas and oil, which means consumption will be up and the economy will be uptoo. Countries around the world can learn how to handle oil to the extent thatit creates an agenda that the benefits far outweigh the costs. We know that oiland gas affects the economy and that it easily regulated by strong centralgovernment and bank. The infrastructure must be built up to manage growth. Theleaders of the country should be committed to the development of the oilindustry. Finally the consumers should be aware of how their role in theconsumption of oil will affect the economy as a whole. When all parties areaware and committed to the prosperity of their country and to the industry thenthe consumption, supply, demand, profits, losses, and investment towards oilwill be a mutually beneficial one for the country and its people. .ub998497852ba1b928a8a88b5c7a87edb , .ub998497852ba1b928a8a88b5c7a87edb .postImageUrl , .ub998497852ba1b928a8a88b5c7a87edb .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ub998497852ba1b928a8a88b5c7a87edb , .ub998497852ba1b928a8a88b5c7a87edb:hover , .ub998497852ba1b928a8a88b5c7a87edb:visited , .ub998497852ba1b928a8a88b5c7a87edb:active { border:0!important; } .ub998497852ba1b928a8a88b5c7a87edb .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ub998497852ba1b928a8a88b5c7a87edb { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ub998497852ba1b928a8a88b5c7a87edb:active , .ub998497852ba1b928a8a88b5c7a87edb:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ub998497852ba1b928a8a88b5c7a87edb .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ub998497852ba1b928a8a88b5c7a87edb .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ub998497852ba1b928a8a88b5c7a87edb .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ub998497852ba1b928a8a88b5c7a87edb .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ub998497852ba1b928a8a88b5c7a87edb:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ub998497852ba1b928a8a88b5c7a87edb .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ub998497852ba1b928a8a88b5c7a87edb .ub998497852ba1b928a8a88b5c7a87edb-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ub998497852ba1b928a8a88b5c7a87edb:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Enlightenment EssayEconomics

19th Century Women Authors Essay Example For Students

19th Century Women Authors Essay 19th Century Women Authors Some of the most influential women authors of all time lived in the 19th century. These women expressed their inner most thoughts and ideas through their writings. They helped to change society, perhaps without knowing it, through poetry, novels, and articles. Emily Dickinson, Harriet Jacobs, Kate Chopin, Louisa May Alcott, and Elizabeth Oakes Smith are the best-known controversial and expressive women authors of their time. On December 10, 1830 a poet was born. When Emily Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, no one knew that she was to become the most well known woman poet of all time. She loved her family deeply. Her father was a man of great reverence in Amherst and her mother was an invalid all of Emilys life. Dickinson had great admiration for her brother Austin. He married a woman named Susan. Susan and Emily became very close. So close, in fact, that it was rumored that they were lovers. She wrote love letters and poems to Susan. Some scholars believe that there is an indication of homosexuality found in many of Dickinsons poems. Emily never married, which did not help diminish the rumors. Another rumor affecting Emily related to her sanity. It is said that in her later years Dickinson refused to leave her house. When company would come to the door she would run upstairs to avoid them. She only totally secluded herself from adults. She made gingerbread for the neighborhood children and played games with them occasionally. No matter what rumors circulated there is no doubt that Emily Dickinson is a wonderful poet. There is another sky,Ever serene and fair,And there is another sunshine,Though it be darkness there. She expressed her feelings for the loss of her mother, father, and close friends in her poetry. She refused to believe that Heaven was a better place than Earth a nd she showed her love of nature in some of her poems. She found nature superior to society and preferred it. None of Dickinsons poems had titles. Many thought this was because she did not want them published. Many of her poems are dark and mysterious but all are true works of art. Emily Dickinson died peacefully on May 15, 1886. Only ten of Emilys poems were published in her lifetime.After her death over 1700 of her poems were discovered. She had bound them into several booklets. In 1890 and 1891 some of her poems were published. They received a great response but no more were published until 1955. A sepal, petal, and a thornUpon a common summers mornA flask of dew A bee or twoA breeze a caper in the treesAnd I am a rose!Dickinsons poems are timeless and will always leave one bewildered and amazed. Harriet Jacobs was born in North Carolina in the early 1800s. Jacobs never realized she was a slave until her mother died when she was six. Jacobs then moved in with her grandmother and her white mistress. The mistress died when Jacobs was eleven, and she was then sent to Dr. James Norcom. Jacobs suffered physical and sexual abuse from Dr. Norcom for numerous years, and she became involved with a white neighbor, Samuel Sawyer, simply so she could stay away from Norcom. They had two children together, Joseph and Louisa. Joseph was born when Jacobs was only sixteen years old. In 1835, Jacobs escaped from Norcom and went into hiding for seven years. In an attempt to get Norcom to sell her children, Jacobs wrote numerous letters to him, mentioning that she had escaped to the North. She thought Norcom would sell her children if he thought she wasnt coming back, but that never happened. In 1842, Jacobs made her escape to the North and managed to have her daughter, Louisa, sent to Brooklyn to be with her. They then moved to Rochester to escape Norcom, who was looking for her, and joined a circle of abolitionists that worked for Fredrick Douglasss newspaper, The North Star. In 1853, her employer bought her from Norcoms family, thus releasing her from being a fugitive. In 1863, Jacobs moved to Alexandria, Virginia with her daughter. There they organized medical care for the Civil War victims and provided emergency relief supplies. In Alexandria, Jacobs made perhaps her greatest contribution by establishing The Jacobs Free School. This was an institution that provided black teachers for the refugees. In 1865, they relocated to Savannah, Georgia, where they continued their relief work. After two short stops in Cambridge and England, they made their final move to Washington, D.C., in 1877. Jacobs wrote her only book in 1861, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. She used the name Linda Brent, and the book was published under a false name. The book ended with the freedom of Jacobs and her daughter. Besides her novel, Jacobs made great strides for the black community. Jacobs helped organize the National Association of Colored Women in Washington DC, established The Jacobs Free School, and helped many black refugees. She truly inspired many slaves and gave them the faith they needed. Jacobs died on March 7, 1897 at the age of 84. Elizabeth Oakes Prince was born in North Yarmouth, Maine on August 12 1806. She was self-educated and wanted to pursue a career in teaching. But to please her mother, at the age of sixteen she married Seba Smith, an editor and writer from Portland. In the Panic of 1837, the family went bankrupt and moved to New York. Here, both spouses pursued writing careers. Elizabeth contributed regularly to Godeys Ladys Book, Grahams Magazine, and the Southern Literary Messenger. Many, including Edgar Allan Poe, praised her first book, The Sinless Child, and other Poems. She also published juvenile literature and wrote plays. The cause of womens rights also occupied much of her time. A series of her writings on this subject in the New York Tribune was published as Woman and Her Needs in 1851. 1The recent movements of Women in our Country in the shape of Conventions, the one in Ohio, and the other in Massachusetts, have called forth from the Press one grand jubilee of ridicule from Dan even unto Bathsheba, as if it were the funniest thing in the world for human beings to feel the evils oppressing themselves or others, and to look round for redress. There is a large class of our sex so well cared for, whom the winds of heaven are not allowed to visit too roughly, that they can form no estimate of the suffering of their less fortunate sisters. Perhaps I do wrong to say less fortunate, for suffering to a Woman occupies the place of labor to a man, giving a breadth, depth and fullness not otherwise attained. Therefore let her who is called to suffer beware how she despises the cross, which it implies; rather let her 1 Woman and her Needs, editorial by Elizabeth Oakes Smithglory that she is accounted worthy to receive the testimony to the capabilities of her soul. But there is, as I have said, a class unconscious of this bearing; delicate, amiable, lovely even, but limited and superficial. These follow the bent of their masculine friends and admirers, and lisp pretty ridicule about the folly of Woman Rights and Woman Movements. These see no need of reform or change of any kind; indeed they are denied that comprehensiveness of thought by which they could hold the several parts of a subject in mind and see its bearings. Socie ty is a sort of grown up mystery which they pretend not to comprehend, supposing it to have gradually grown to its present rise size and shape from Adam and Eve, by natural gradation like Church BishopsI wish to show that while she has been created as one part of human intelligence, she has not only a right to be heard and felt in human affairs, not by tolerance merely, but as a welcome and needed element of human thought; and that when she is thus recognized, the world will be the better for it, and go onward with new power in the progress of disenthrallment. There is a woman view, which women must learn to takeas yet they have made no demonstration that looks like a defined, appropriate perception. The keynote has been struck by the other sex, and women have responded; this response has been strong and significant, but it will evolve nothing because it indicates no urgent need. It has done well in one respectit has raised the cry of contempt, the scoffings of ridicule, and this an tagonism is needed to make us look deeper into the soul of things. We shall learn to search and see whether we are capable of bringing anything to the stock of human thought worthy of acceptance. If we can, bring itif not, hold our peace. Soccer Essay IntroductionDuring the time that Kate was writing she wrote only one or two days a week, reserving most of her time for raising her children. After a fifteen year literary career marked by success, failure and scorn, two novels and over one hundred short stories, Kate Chopin died on August 22, 1904 following a cerebral hemorrhage. Earlier that week Kate became fascinated by the Worlds Fair in St. Louis. Although in poor health, and warned by her doctor to avoid stressful situations, Kate spent a long, hot day at the fair. Later that evening she collapsed, and died two days later. She was only fifty-three at the time of her death. Louisa May Alcott, the second of four daughters, was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania, and raised in Boston and Concord, Massachusetts. Her father, Amos Bronson Alcott, was a noted New England Transcendentalist philosopher and educator who worked only sporadically throughout Louisa Mays life. Her mother, Abigail May Alcott, was descended from the witch-burning Judge Samuel Sewall and the noted abolitionist Colonel Joseph May. Although severely impoverished, Alcotts childhood was apparently happy. Taught by her father, Alcott was deeply influenced by his transcendentalist thought and experimental educational philosophies. Ralph Waldo Emersons personal library of classics and philosophy was available for use to the young Alcott, and Henry David Thoreau taught her botany. Margaret Fuller, James Russell Lowell, and Julia Ward were only a few of Alcotts intellectually influential neighbors and friends. Womens rights and educational reformimportant social reform issues of nineteenth-centur y Americawere two of Alcotts pet causes that often appear as themes in her novels. Bronson Alcott founded several schools, but all of them failed, forcing Abigail and her daughters to undertake the financial support of the family. Later, Alcott often remarked that her entire career was inspired by her desire to compensate for her familys early discomfort. Alcott taught school, took in sewing, and worked briefly as a domestic servant. At age sixteen she began writing, convinced that she could eventually earn enough money to alleviate the familys poverty. In 1851, her first poem was published in Petersons Magazine under the pseudonym Flora Fairfield, bringing Alcott little money but a great deal of confidence. It was during the ensuing years that Alcott published, as A. M. Barnard, a number of sensational serial stories, which were both popular and lucrative. In 1862, Alcott went to Washington, D.C. to serve as a nurse to soldiers wounded in the American Civil War. It was a short-lived experience, however, for she contracted typhoid within a month, from which she nearly died. Her good health, undermined by the long illness and by mercury poisoning from her medication, was never fully recovered. Alcott later recounted her experiences as a nurse in her popular Hospital Sketches (1863), which was originally published in the periodical Commonwealth. Her first novel, Moods (1864), pronounced immoral by critics, sold well nonetheless, and its success encouraged Alcott to continue writing. In 1865, Alcott traveled through Europe as a companion to a wealthy invalid and wrote for periodicals. While abroad, she was offered the editorship of Merrys Museum, an American journal featuring juvenile literature. She accepted the position and became the journals chief contributor. The turning point of Alcotts career came with the publication of Little Women; also known as Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy (1868-69). An autobiographical account of nineteenth-century family life, the novel traces the development of Alcott, depicted as Jo March, and her three sisters. The work was an immediate success and established Alcott as a major author. She published four sequels to Little Women entitled Good Wives (volume two of Little Women), Little Men: Life at Plumfield with Jos Boys (1871), Aunt Jos Scrap Bag (1872-82), and Jos Boys and How They Turned Out (1886). Alcott was regarded as a celebrity and was easily able to support her family with her earnings. Louisa May Alcott died on March 6, 1888, in Boston, Massachusetts. She was buried at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, Massachusetts. Alcott remains an enduring figure in American literature. Although some regard her portrayals of nineteenth-century domestic life as dated, she is remembered for her sympathetic and realistic portrayals of the maturing adolescent. Her most popular work, Little Women, was instrumental in changing the focus of juvenile literature to include sensitive works for young adults. Nineteenth century women authors were some of the mo9st influential writers in the past several hundred years. Emily Dickinson expresses her love of nature through her poetry, and Harriet Jacobs shares a piece of herself and exposes the slavery of African American women. Kate Chopin invites people into her world of valuable life lessons that she had to learn the hard way. Louisa May Alcott gave us timeless fiction that captures our imaginations and our hearts. Elizabeth Oakes Smith wrote about womens suffrage and sparked new ideas for a new, equal society. These women are just a handful of the great and controversial writers of the 19th century that have had a great impact in todays society. Without these women and their tremendous talent for writing, we would not truly know what great literature is.