Hi,
I recently read your add requesting writers. I'm very interested in applying. I have written over 354 articles for essaywriters.com, 15 published articles for wiseGeek.com, and 4 published articles in magazines. That is my only part of my resume. Please let me know how to apply, what I need to send to you, etc.. Below, I have included my resume and two published articles as a start. If you need more writing samples or anything else, please let me know. Thank you very much for your consideration, and I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely yours,
Katie Jordan
Curriculum vitae
Katherine Jordan
_________________
1121 Spring Street
Burlington, IA 52601
(319) 754-5274
kjjent@hotmail.com
Objective: To become a successful fiction/nonfiction author.
Summary of Qualifications:
· Experience writing various magazine articles, newspapers articles, and scholarly essays.
· Experience writing grant proposals, business proposals, pamphlets, and newsletters.
· Experience running a successful small business.
· Experience with computer programming, networking/website building, and graphic design.
Professional Profile:
· Editor for The Carletonian newspaper at Carleton College, Northfield, MN
· Columnist for the Carleton Literary Arts Program, Northfield, MN
· Illustrator and Editor of The Literary Association at Iowa Wesleyan College
· Co-Leader of the Carleton Humanitarian Union Northfield, MN
· Treasurer of the Stock Traders Guild, Northfield, MN
· Chair on the Judicial Review Committee, Carleton College Northfield, MN
· Chair on the Financial Corruption Committee, Carleton College, Northfield, MN
· Co-Leader of the Mock Trial Group Iowa Wesleyan College, Mount Pleasant, IA
· Office Assistant, NAMI Pennsylvania Harrisburg, PA
· Computer Troubleshooter/Technical Support Manager, Civic Computing Information Center
· Freelance Writer for The Maroon Echoes and Essay Writers Inc.
· Executive Director of KTJ Works
· Awarded the National Dean’s List Honors (includes less than 0.5% of the top students)
· Published article for The Observer and the Intercollegiate Studies Institute recently
Education:
· Iowa Wesleyan College
601 North Main Street
Mount Pleasant, IA 52541
· Carleton College
300 North College Street
Northfield, MN 55057
· University of Iowa
Calvin Hall
Iowa City, IA 52242
WRITING SAMPLE #1
The Anglo-Dutch Wars
Over the course of two hundred years, Holland and Britain fought in four bloody wars. The cause of these wars has long been a matter of debate between historians and scholars. As with any war, however, there are always political and economic motivations. In the early sixteenth century, Holland had developed the greatest and most successful trading route after annexing a large part of Portugal and dominated European trade and a lot of the maritime trade with North America. England, which had always been successful economically and militarily, wanted to dominate the trade world as well, which would secure a thriving economy, and the Dutch taking over the majority of trade to North America – a task formerly dominated by Britain – further served to anger the British. England’s desire for economic dominance set off what would become known as the four Anglo-Dutch Wars.
One crucial factor in the outcome of the wars was Britain’s vast superiority in naval and general military force. Holland’s naval fleet paled in comparison; its participation in wars had always been fairly limited and thus, its military was weak from disuse. As the first war progressed, the every battle was fought solely between the two navies, and it was not long before England gained control of all the surrounding seas. At the war’s conclusion, the Netherlands had to accept England’s new position as the leader in maritime trade.
Clearly, England’s motivation was economic in declaring war on the Netherlands, but political triumphs are inherent in the victory of any war. England once again proved the formidability of its navy, and improved its military with new weapons and stratagems for winning the war. The Netherlands had made the fatal mistake of betraying its alliance with Britain, which immediately sent troops to their aid during the fight against the Spanish Armada. Once Britain helped them win the fight, instead of showing eternal gratitude, the Netherlands instead, took the entire portion of Portugal it had won, cut Britain off from its trade with the Iberian peninsula, and took over all sea trade routes surrounding Britain. Britain had no choice but to retaliate after these seemingly-hostile acts. After winning the wars, Britain regained its political position as a powerful nation.
In 1650, however, the Second Anglo-Dutch War had political motivations. In a convention at the Hague, Britain proposed annexing the Netherlands into the commonwealth, which took the Dutch completely by surprise. They had come to the Hague in the hopes of gaining complete control over Asia and Africa in exchange for helping Britain take the Americas from the Spanish. The Dutch considered the proposed annexation to be nothing more than Britain’s quest for world domination, and as a result, they issued a counter-proposal which in essence established a free-trade agreement between them. Britain was outraged, and declared them a threat to the commonwealth. They also cut off all trade with the Dutch and boldly captured a few of their ships.
War did not last long between the two nations this time. The Dutch were more prepared and ready for battle, which took Britain by surprise during a few of the battles. After the two generals were slain, and a tremendous plunge in morale ensued, both sides began considering an armistice. Overall, political and economic victories presented themselves to the Dutch, who gained trade routes, an increase of merchants, and military formidability. Britain’s trade on the other hand had taken a substantial hit, and bitterness between the two sides remained even after peace was established.
One of the conditions of peace was that the Dutch abide by the Navigation Acts after signing the Treaty of Westminster. However, the Dutch never heeded the laws set out by the Acts, which deepened hostilities between the two nations. They also kept expanding their trade monopoly to Asian and African countries. Britain was already having financial problems at the start of the war, and by the end, was almost in a state of financial ruin. The entire war was an embarrassment to Britain, and a political and economic triumph for the Dutch, who gained a political alliance with France as well as several new trade routes.
In 1672, a year which would later become “The Year of Disaster” for the Dutch, the Third Anglo-Dutch War ensued. A secret political alliance was formed by the British and French governments which caused the necessary rift between France and the Netherlands. In a surprisingly ruthless maneuver, France purposefully broke dams in the Netherlands so that its most vital regions would become destroyed. The Netherlands, in a desperate move, formed an alliance with Spain, which caused a surprising turn around in the war. France retreated and when Britain’s government was forced by its own citizens to promise not spend anymore money on the war, the Netherlands once again emerged victorious merely by destroying more property of Britain than Britain had managed to destroy of theirs.
In the final Anglo-Dutch War, the Dutch offended Britain by not joining an alliance to take over France. In further offenses, the Dutch were the first to salute and recognize the United States flag, and spoke out against Britain inspecting their ships. Britain quickly declared war before the Netherlands could form alliances. The war came so abruptly that the Dutch was ill-prepared and could not coordinate their military fast enough. Communication with the French and Spain was muddled and ship manufacturing was so poor that half of the ships sunk in Dutch-friendly waters. At the conclusion, Britain finally regained its colonies in India and took over several trade routes.
While many wars are fought as a result of an affront, the conquests inevitably involve economic and political gain. In the second and third Anglo-Dutch Wars, the Netherlands dominated the maritime trade world, which was an enormous economic victory. The political benefit stemmed from alliances and military reputation. In the first and fourth Anglo-Dutch Wars, Britain fought for trade routes which were key to its impoverished country and a respect for its military. The Dutch offenses showed great disrespect to the British government, and as a result of the victories of Britain, the country regained its political respect. Clearly, the wars were fought with political and economic motivation, and in the end, both sides had an equal share of defeats as well as victories.
WRITING SAMPLE # 2
Plato on Aesthetics
Although sometimes ambiguous on various subjects regarding aesthetics, Plato’s frequent attention to the arts showed his fervor for the subject. As a sharp critic of what most regard as ‘beauty’, he considered flowers blossoming, the sunset, and various other natural beauties imperfect copies of what Beauty truly is in its most innate form. The changing world proves that beauty fades, and only a trained eye for a subjective account of beauty is eternal.
Plato describes beauty in terms of ‘form’ or ‘perfect ideals’. The ability of objects to change over time, such as the blossoming and then death of a flower is irrational and therefore, imperfect. The world of Forms that exists only as a concept in the mind is entirely unchanging and rational, according to Plato. It is utterly important to a society to have ideals and representations to try to emulate and strive to achieve. The concept of Forms and unattainable perfection as a contrast to the real world of aesthetics and the imperfect replication of ideal beauty is essential because if true perfection were ever attained by humans, there would be no further goals for society and as it result creativity and invention would stagnate.
I agree that perfection will never be attainable by man. Rather, it is only achieved by God, who is perfection in and of Himself. God has made it physically impossible to ever attain perfection, so that man will only be able to emulate but never actually master. Perfection can only lie in realms beyond ours because to attain perfection is to reach the absolute zenith of our potential. God in his perfection created a world of imperfection – a society whose constant goal is to try to emulate his impossible nature. Man is always imperfect, with sin and impurities that cannot be absolved through any secular means. Because man will always have to rely on God, man will never be ever to achieve perfection for some reasons which are no fault of his own.
Plato also believed that art is dangerous because of its power to influence emotions, behavior, and character. Because of this, he thought music should be exposed to children earlier, while being strictly censored. Those with questionable integrity, ethics or other aspects of character were to be forbidden from ever listening to music. Promiscuous music should only be exposed to those with a strong character; often children were put to the test by judging their responses to music.
Even in modern society, people are worried about the influences of the arts on today’s youth. Today the fear stems from school shootings and random acts of violence, the growing homicide and violence of each passing year, and the increase in behavioral disorders. Every year, all forms of entertainment push the envelope with new allowances for vulgar language and sexual content. The music industry has songs of worship to Satan, songs that promote suicide and gunplay, patricide, matricide, fratricide, and self-mutilation on one extreme. On the other extreme, sexual promiscuity is promoted through nudity and songs of prostitutes. Glamorized images of wealth and power depicted by men and women who have multiple lovers, orgies, multimillions, and posh abodes also have tremendous influence.
On television, it is difficult to escape these sordid realities even on the news channels. The media– and paparazzi– crazed need to get the best and most shocking stories leads to violent and despairing images to constantly be shown. On the ‘entertainment’ side of television, mafia and murder are glamorized by shows like ‘The Sopranos’. Sex and promiscuity are glamorized by shows like ‘The OC’ and ‘Sex in the City’. Along with all of these negative images constantly being shown to the public, crime rates and divorce rates have soared.
Plato was correct in his advocacy of censorship for the weak-minded. The youth of today thinks all problems will go away if they blow away a teacher who is ‘unfair’ or a parent who is too ‘strict’. Those are extreme cases, but the fact of underage teenage pregnancies and abortions have also soared since sex has been so overly portrayed as the ultimate ecstasy. All humans are extremely impressionable. Our code of conduct often relies on what we read and watch. We are constantly imitating, as mentioned before, to a model of subjectively-conceived perfection. With the arts and entertainment becoming more and more negative, problems with simple-minded individuals subjecting themselves to these forms of entertainment will surely continue to rise until Plato’s suggested censorship is heeded.
Plato had many views on the arts. His view of aesthetics being mere representations of perfection was correct in that representation can never be as perfect as the images they are representing. Because man by nature was created in the image of God, who is perfection, man is only a model himself, and therefore, can never be perfect. The effects of art as a tool of emulation as well as its profound impact on people who are exposed to it, make it a very dangerous commodity. Plato’s belief that art should be restricted was a warning that should have been heeded long ago. However, in the United States, there is an extreme reaction when even the slightest freedoms are infringed on. There may never be a day in which censorship exists for the protection of the community, which may result in our own self-destruction. Plato foresaw all of this, and his bleak outlook of the effects of the fine arts on society may all prove true.
