Nicholas Sparks

Nicholas Sparks is an American romantic novelist, who bases most of his stories and plot lines on true events. People all over the world have praised him for his insight and depth of his characters, particularly his female characters. Many women look up to him because he understands the female mind, while being of the straight male species. Men say they don’t like his work because he’s too much of a girl with all the lovey dovey stuff he writes; which is very judgmental and misleading.

Even though he was born and raised in Omaha Nebraska, Nicholas bases all of his books settings in North or South Carolina, which is where he currently lives. Not all of his books are in the mind of a women however. He also tends to write about the mind of the sensitive and down to earth kind of man. That’s why women love his work so much. They find romance and long lost love within the pages of his books. Fairytales and happy endings rarely ever happen in the real world, so women use his books as a sort of safe haven, ironically because one of his best sellers is Safe Haven. Girls love the idea of finding the perfect guy and being swept off their feet. His female characters in his books also feel the same way. In many, but not all, of his books he tends to write the female characters as believing in love as a lost cause. He does this because he wants to relate to his main targeted audience; women. Many women feel as if all hope in finding love is lost, and he’s here to tell these women that love is all around you. You just have to wait and see what’s in stored for you.

If men in today’s society would only realize that if they want to get a girl, be romantic! Nicholas Sparks may be more in touch with his feminine side, but look at his life. He has a lot going for him. Women love him and what he writes down on the page. Men should really be taking notes and studying how he does it, rather than saying he’s a gay romantic novelist that’s not worth their time.

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Understanding Show Choir

If you live in the Midwest, you have more than likely heard of show choir. For those of you who don’t know, show choir is like dance team but with singing. Our season is pretty much all year round. Auditions are in the spring, around late April or early May, two or three dance camps in the summer, then once a week practices when school’s starts. Competitions are in January through March and as those months draw nearer, we begin to have practice twice a week. Show choir is definitely a full time commitment.

            Our show consists of five songs. An opener, a second song, a ballad, a novelty, and then a closer. Many directors will incorporate a theme into their show as well. Whether there’s a theme or not, the show should tell a story. The opener sets the stage with the emotions and setting. The second song, in many cases, is more moody and expresses anger. A good ballad is usually a tear-jerker. The ballad is supposed to be filled with hope and tell the audience that it’s going to be ok. The novelty is supposed to make people laugh, while the closer gets the crowd on its feet and ready to cheer at the end of the show.

            We spend one half of the rehearsals cleaning the choreography and the other half going through the music. A great show choir group has good diction, tall vowels, and their sound isn’t breathy. Singing in show choir isn’t just about memorizing the words. It takes a lot of work and effort to sing well while dancing. Try running around a building then have to run your whole show, going full out. Now that’s hard. Many directors will make their kids do physical activity before running their show in practice to get their stamina up.

            Many people say show choir is not a sport, and many schools don’t consider it one either. It may not be classified as a sport, however you do get just as much physical activity as a gym class would give you. It takes a good deep breath to support what you’re singing, and taking a good deep breath is tiring even without the dancing. Especially if you go all out. The way you practice your show is the way you’ll perform it because people tend to get stage fright and switch to autopilot. When someone goes all out while performing their show, they usually come off the stage drenched in sweat. People say it’s gross to sweat during show choir because you’re in a cute little outfit and don’t want to smell bad, but the people that sweat are the people who are working the hardest.

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HeForShe Campaign

            On Saturday, September 20, 2014, Emma Watson delivered a speech for the launch of the UN’s HeForShe campaign in New York City. The British actress is a feminist activist who believes that men have just as much to benefit from gender equality than women. Her speech on Saturday inspired many women, along with men.

            Many well developed countries, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, have adopted this type of thinking. We have laws protecting women’s rights and how we’re treated. However, there are still problems with people being prejudice towards women. Many teenage girls feel the need to be “Pretty in Pink” and “girly” just because that’s what society tells them they have to be. On the other hand, many men in today’s age have come to terms with the fact that women are just as important as men. When a man becomes a father to a little girl, they have two options. They can either accept her for who she is and love her just as much as a son, or they can disown her because of her sex. Unfortunately both of these scenarios are very much true.

            If women are not created equal to men, then vice versa is also true. Men are not created equal to women. Society has told us for many centuries that women are not muscular, they’re not strong, and their place is in the kitchen. Society has also told us that men are not vulnerable, they’re not sensitive, and their place is the garage or the gym. Men in today’s society don’t feel comfortable being themselves because that would mean showing the world that they are sensitive, and that they are capable of having feelings. Men feel as if they will be made fun of if they show their “girly” side. Men don’t feel manly if they’re sensitive because that’s what society has been engraining in our brains since day one. When women like Emma Watson give speeches about feminism, men feel as if they’re not invited into the conversation. However, Emma did something very extraordinary, that many women haven’t yet thought of. She formally extended an invitation to all men to engage in the conversation about this very controversial topic.

            In her speech, Emma makes a valid point in saying that when people think of the word Feminism, they automatically think of man-hater. Just because you want the same rights as them, doesn’t mean you have to hate the male gender as a whole. Most women’s rights activists don’t hate all men; just the men who stand in their way of freedom.

            “Both men and women should feel free to be sensitive. Both men and women should feel free to be strong. It is time that we all see gender as a spectrum instead of two sets of opposing ideals. We should stop defining each other by what we are not and start defining ourselves by who we are.” This quote also makes a good point because it’s saying that we are all humans, we all should have the same rights, and be able to express ourselves equally without any judgment. The last sentence of this quote is implying that it doesn’t matter what you look like on the outside, it’s what is on the inside that matters.

            Click Here to watch her official speech.

Word Count: 556