There have been an increasing number of juniors visiting this sub asking for advice about writing essays. Below are some tips and advice for making your essay stand out as excellent. Feel free to ask questions because I will answer every single question in the comments.
I know from experience that many of you are struggling to identify a good topic for your essay. Conventional wisdom says to start by brainstorming a list of potential topics, and chances are, you have already started a mental list of ideas. You might think you only have a few choices for topics, based on your activities or experiences, or essay examples you read, or the rough draft you already started (or worse, that GPT started...). I advise, however, that you put down your list of topics and back away from it. Forget that exists for a moment. Seriously - thinking about this initial list tethers you to certain ideas that might not actually be your best options.
Now you can begin brainstorming with a clean slate.
Start with thinking about what you want to show in your entire application, not just one essay. Every single component in your app has one purpose – to tell more about YOU. Filling out the rest of the application by rote and focusing solely on the essay is short-sighted and will leave so much potential untapped in your application.

It's About You. Tell Your Story - And Be The Protagonist

An admissions officer’s goal is to understand you fully, in the context of your background and the rest of the applicant pool. They will begin this with assessing your academic abilities and potential. Then they will evaluate how you will fit into the student body they’re trying to curate. All of this can be somewhat broad and diverse and touch on several institutional goals. But they will dig deep to find out what each applicant is like, what your core values and motivations are, what kind of student you will be, how you will contribute to the vibrant and intellectual campus community they’re building, etc.
Your goal with essay brainstorming is to ascertain how to powerfully tell your story in a manner that will fit these criteria. The entirety of your application (again, not just one essay) aims to showcase your abilities, qualifications, and uncommon attributes as a person in a positive way. Before you begin outlining or writing your application, you must determine what is unique about you that will stand out to an admissions panel. All students are truly unique. Not one other student has the same combination of life experiences, personality, passions, or goals as you do. Your job in your application is to frame your unique personal attributes in a positive and compelling way. How will you fit on campus? What personal qualities, strengths, core values, talents, or different perspectives do you bring to the table? What stories, deeper motivations/beliefs, or formative experiences can you use to illustrate all of this?
It is always helpful to start with some soul-searching or self-examination. You might not immediately know what you want to share about yourself. It’s not a simple task to decide how to summarize your whole life and being in a powerful and eloquent way on your application. Introspection prior to starting your application takes additional time and effort rather than jumping straight into your first draft. But it is also a valuable method to start writing a winning application that stands out from the stack.
You'll see the advice everywhere that all essay prompts are really about the same thing - you. The goal of each essay then is to showcase who you are, what matters to you, and how you think. I guarantee if you're on this sub enough, you'll hear the advice to "show, don't tell" when writing about yourself. But what does this mean really, and how do you do it well? How do you even get started on an essay that does this?

Introspection Questions

It’s often easiest to start thinking in terms of superlatives, especially those related to personal insights -- what are the most meaningful things about you, and what do you value the most? Here is a list of questions to help you brainstorm broadly before you narrow down your focus for writing:

• What are your interests?
  
• What sparks your curiosity?
  
• About what topics do you enjoy reading?
  
• With whom do you enjoy spending time? Who has impacted your life the most?
  
• Reflect upon “superlatives” in your life. What moments were most memorable, formative, enlightening, enjoyable, or valuable? What physical possessions, experiences, dreams, or lessons could make your superlatives list?
  
• Stop and think about what things, people, or circumstances in your life are really unique, fascinating, or outlandish. Are there any that really have a lot of "cultural flavor" (whatever your culture is)?
  

I have a free introspection worksheet with over 100 questions like this designed to help you find ideas worth exploring in your essays. You can find it on the A2C Discord or download it directly here.

Find Your Story And Arc

Think of a small anecdote or story from your life that you could share that serves as a microcosm of who you are and what is important to you. It will massively help you narrow this down and find a gem of a story if you first start by thinking about your application arc or theme. This is the one-phrase summary of your entire application. It could be "brilliant entrepreneur who started her own successful business" or "talented athlete who wants to study economics and finance as they pertain to sports", or even "avid baker whose hobby sparked an interest in chemistry". It doesn't have to be related to your intended major, but it can help your arc be stronger and clearer if it is.
Once you have an arc determined and a story to share, think about what you want that story to say about you. This is where it can help to think of this as something you would share on a date - what impression does it make about you to the reader? Once you know this, start showing, not telling this attribute of yourself through your story. For example, instead of saying that you're compassionate toward others, you show an example of a time you were compassionate, then elaborate on why, and what it means to you.

Essay Brainstorming Techniques

If you are having trouble finding a story, or simply have writer’s block once you have picked your topic, here are some ideas to get your juices flowing:

• Stream of consciousness writing -- Start writing whatever is in your head, and don’t stop for 30 minutes. You probably won’t use what you just wrote for your essay, but it will help you find a starting point.
  
• Journaling -- Answer the prompt as if you were writing in a journal. This will get you in the habit of writing about yourself and establish comfort with the concept. It will also take you to a new level of introspection and self-awareness.
  
• Twitter X style -- Write several rapid-fire responses to the prompt in 280 characters or less. Choose an idea from these responses to expound upon in your essay.
  
• Read each essay prompt, then go through your introspection worksheet responses and connect the stories and insights to one or more of the prompts. Some students like using color coding to visually see how their different ideas might work together.
  

Why Essays Matter

Here's the thing a lot of people don't realize about college admission: it's not an award for being the smartest, most accomplished, or most impressive. It's an invitation to join a community. Far too many students think that if they can just show that they're smart enough, they'll get in. Yale even says right on their admissions website that 75% of their applicants are academically qualified to succeed at Yale. But only ~4% are getting in. That should tell you that they're looking for more than just top tier test scores and grades. To be perfectly clear, you will need top tier grades and (optionally) test scores to show that you're qualified, and the vast majority of my students come to me with this part already in the bank. But what sets the admits apart? It's personal insight - sharing who you are, how you think, what matters to you, and how you engage community. You can't just say "/IAmVerySmart, please admit me," or even "I did a cool thing guys! Isn't that neat!" You need to go deeper and show them your core values, personal strengths, motivations, aspirations, character traits, foundational beliefs, personality, etc. And you need to do it in a charming, winsome way that makes them like you and want to invite you to join their community.
So how do I get students to do this? All of my students complete that introspection worksheet. We go through it and find the stories, examples, anecdotes, conversations, memories, relationships, and other things from their life that will help us craft a strong and personally insightful narrative. We also make lists of the values, strengths, and key personal qualities we want to showcase. Once we have some topics, outlines, abstracts, or rough drafts, we talk about which stories to tell where, how to tell them well, and what details to include to present the best they have to offer. Then we refine, edit, polish, and enhance over and over until the story sings, but more importantly shows their heart and soul. We also go through all the other application components to ensure consistency, quality, and distinctiveness.
Here's why this works so well: at most highly selective colleges there is a primary reader (or 2-3) who will review everything first and then present it to the admissions committee, who then votes on whether to admit you. That presentation typically goes one of three ways:

1. Total enthusiasm, energy, and excitement. They strongly advocate for admission and paint a clear picture of how you will contribute to their goals and community. Everyone in the room picks up on that energy and is leaning forward in their chairs, looking for reasons to admit you. This is quite rare, generally less than 5 out of every 100 applications, even among those which are "fully qualified." When you do this right, you show depth, meaning, and valuable personal insights so the reviewer is learning about who you are and how you might engage the community they're curating. You come alive off the page as a person, not just another file.
   
2. Business as usual. You're another great applicant in a pile of great applicants. They share a basic review of the facts, your profile, stats, strengths, weaknesses, etc. Maybe someone on the committee finds something they love, and they really push for admission. More likely, not and you get deferred/waitlisted even though there wasn't anything "wrong" with your application. They just didn't love you enough to commit.
   
3. "Here's a stack of 20 applications that I didn't find all that compelling, so we won't present them individually, but you guys are the committee and you make the decisions. So let me know if there are any you want to talk about." In this case, unless there's a letter of endorsement from an athletics coach or your last name matches several buildings on campus, you're probably not getting additional consideration, much less admission. They will regret to inform you.
   

Everything we're doing is designed to help them get to know themselves, present the best they have to offer, and land in that first group. Having top tier essays is the single best way to get there. Get started on brainstorming in the next few weeks so you'll have time to get a few essays completed over the summer.

There have been an increasing number of juniors visiting this sub asking for advice about writing essays. Below are some tips and advice for making your essay stand out as excellent. Feel free to ask questions because I will answer every single question in the comments.
I know from experience that many of you are struggling to identify a good topic for your essay. Conventional wisdom says to start by brainstorming a list of potential topics, and chances are, you have already started a mental list of ideas. You might think you only have a few choices for topics, based on your activities or experiences, or essay examples you read, or the rough draft you already started (or worse, that GPT started...). I advise, however, that you put down your list of topics and back away from it. Forget that exists for a moment. Seriously - thinking about this initial list tethers you to certain ideas that might not actually be your best options.
Now you can begin brainstorming with a clean slate.
Start with thinking about what you want to show in your entire application, not just one essay. Every single component in your app has one purpose – to tell more about YOU. Filling out the rest of the application by rote and focusing solely on the essay is short-sighted and will leave so much potential untapped in your application.

It's About You. Tell Your Story - And Be The Protagonist

An admissions officer’s goal is to understand you fully, in the context of your background and the rest of the applicant pool. They will begin this with assessing your academic abilities and potential. Then they will evaluate how you will fit into the student body they’re trying to curate. All of this can be somewhat broad and diverse and touch on several institutional goals. But they will dig deep to find out what each applicant is like, what your core values and motivations are, what kind of student you will be, how you will contribute to the vibrant and intellectual campus community they’re building, etc.
Your goal with essay brainstorming is to ascertain how to powerfully tell your story in a manner that will fit these criteria. The entirety of your application (again, not just one essay) aims to showcase your abilities, qualifications, and uncommon attributes as a person in a positive way. Before you begin outlining or writing your application, you must determine what is unique about you that will stand out to an admissions panel. All students are truly unique. Not one other student has the same combination of life experiences, personality, passions, or goals as you do. Your job in your application is to frame your unique personal attributes in a positive and compelling way. How will you fit on campus? What personal qualities, strengths, core values, talents, or different perspectives do you bring to the table? What stories, deeper motivations/beliefs, or formative experiences can you use to illustrate all of this?
It is always helpful to start with some soul-searching or self-examination. You might not immediately know what you want to share about yourself. It’s not a simple task to decide how to summarize your whole life and being in a powerful and eloquent way on your application. Introspection prior to starting your application takes additional time and effort rather than jumping straight into your first draft. But it is also a valuable method to start writing a winning application that stands out from the stack.
You'll see the advice everywhere that all essay prompts are really about the same thing - you. The goal of each essay then is to showcase who you are, what matters to you, and how you think. I guarantee if you're on this sub enough, you'll hear the advice to "show, don't tell" when writing about yourself. But what does this mean really, and how do you do it well? How do you even get started on an essay that does this?

Introspection Questions

It’s often easiest to start thinking in terms of superlatives, especially those related to personal insights -- what are the most meaningful things about you, and what do you value the most? Here is a list of questions to help you brainstorm broadly before you narrow down your focus for writing:

• What are your interests?
  
• What sparks your curiosity?
  
• About what topics do you enjoy reading?
  
• With whom do you enjoy spending time? Who has impacted your life the most?
  
• Reflect upon “superlatives” in your life. What moments were most memorable, formative, enlightening, enjoyable, or valuable? What physical possessions, experiences, dreams, or lessons could make your superlatives list?
  
• Stop and think about what things, people, or circumstances in your life are really unique, fascinating, or outlandish. Are there any that really have a lot of "cultural flavor" (whatever your culture is)?
  

I have a free introspection worksheet with over 100 questions like this designed to help you find ideas worth exploring in your essays. You can find it on the A2C Discord or download it directly here.

Find Your Story And Arc

Think of a small anecdote or story from your life that you could share that serves as a microcosm of who you are and what is important to you. It will massively help you narrow this down and find a gem of a story if you first start by thinking about your application arc or theme. This is the one-phrase summary of your entire application. It could be "brilliant entrepreneur who started her own successful business" or "talented athlete who wants to study economics and finance as they pertain to sports", or even "avid baker whose hobby sparked an interest in chemistry". It doesn't have to be related to your intended major, but it can help your arc be stronger and clearer if it is.
Once you have an arc determined and a story to share, think about what you want that story to say about you. This is where it can help to think of this as something you would share on a date - what impression does it make about you to the reader? Once you know this, start showing, not telling this attribute of yourself through your story. For example, instead of saying that you're compassionate toward others, you show an example of a time you were compassionate, then elaborate on why, and what it means to you.

Essay Brainstorming Techniques

If you are having trouble finding a story, or simply have writer’s block once you have picked your topic, here are some ideas to get your juices flowing:

• Stream of consciousness writing -- Start writing whatever is in your head, and don’t stop for 30 minutes. You probably won’t use what you just wrote for your essay, but it will help you find a starting point.
  
• Journaling -- Answer the prompt as if you were writing in a journal. This will get you in the habit of writing about yourself and establish comfort with the concept. It will also take you to a new level of introspection and self-awareness.
  
• Twitter X style -- Write several rapid-fire responses to the prompt in 280 characters or less. Choose an idea from these responses to expound upon in your essay.
  
• Read each essay prompt, then go through your introspection worksheet responses and connect the stories and insights to one or more of the prompts. Some students like using color coding to visually see how their different ideas might work together.
  

Why Essays Matter

Here's the thing a lot of people don't realize about college admission: it's not an award for being the smartest, most accomplished, or most impressive. It's an invitation to join a community. Far too many students think that if they can just show that they're smart enough, they'll get in. Yale even says right on their admissions website that 75% of their applicants are academically qualified to succeed at Yale. But only ~4% are getting in. That should tell you that they're looking for more than just top tier test scores and grades. To be perfectly clear, you will need top tier grades and (optionally) test scores to show that you're qualified, and the vast majority of my students come to me with this part already in the bank. But what sets the admits apart? It's personal insight - sharing who you are, how you think, what matters to you, and how you engage community. You can't just say "/IAmVerySmart, please admit me," or even "I did a cool thing guys! Isn't that neat!" You need to go deeper and show them your core values, personal strengths, motivations, aspirations, character traits, foundational beliefs, personality, etc. And you need to do it in a charming, winsome way that makes them like you and want to invite you to join their community.
So how do I get students to do this? All of my students complete that introspection worksheet. We go through it and find the stories, examples, anecdotes, conversations, memories, relationships, and other things from their life that will help us craft a strong and personally insightful narrative. We also make lists of the values, strengths, and key personal qualities we want to showcase. Once we have some topics, outlines, abstracts, or rough drafts, we talk about which stories to tell where, how to tell them well, and what details to include to present the best they have to offer. Then we refine, edit, polish, and enhance over and over until the story sings, but more importantly shows their heart and soul. We also go through all the other application components to ensure consistency, quality, and distinctiveness.
Here's why this works so well: at most highly selective colleges there is a primary reader (or 2-3) who will review everything first and then present it to the admissions committee, who then votes on whether to admit you. That presentation typically goes one of three ways:

1. Total enthusiasm, energy, and excitement. They strongly advocate for admission and paint a clear picture of how you will contribute to their goals and community. Everyone in the room picks up on that energy and is leaning forward in their chairs, looking for reasons to admit you. This is quite rare, generally less than 5 out of every 100 applications, even among those which are "fully qualified." When you do this right, you show depth, meaning, and valuable personal insights so the reviewer is learning about who you are and how you might engage the community they're curating. You come alive off the page as a person, not just another file.
   
2. Business as usual. You're another great applicant in a pile of great applicants. They share a basic review of the facts, your profile, stats, strengths, weaknesses, etc. Maybe someone on the committee finds something they love, and they really push for admission. More likely, not and you get deferred/waitlisted even though there wasn't anything "wrong" with your application. They just didn't love you enough to commit.
   
3. "Here's a stack of 20 applications that I didn't find all that compelling, so we won't present them individually, but you guys are the committee and you make the decisions. So let me know if there are any you want to talk about." In this case, unless there's a letter of endorsement from an athletics coach or your last name matches several buildings on campus, you're probably not getting additional consideration, much less admission. They will regret to inform you.
   

Everything we're doing is designed to help them get to know themselves, present the best they have to offer, and land in that first group. Having top tier essays is the single best way to get there. Get started on brainstorming in the next few weeks so you'll have time to get a few essays completed over the summer.

Hello everyone,
I'm looking for a specific video about open relationships which i think I have watched two-three years ago. I remember the author was a beautiful lady, not sure if african american or maybe caribbean and/or mixed, with a rich afro with blonde highlights as hairstyle.. She had an introductory catch phrase in all her videos, something like "what's up beautiful beautiful people", but not quite. Sorry for the fuzzy details, hope you can help me!

Ugh, Duolingo's Japanese course revamp is giving me serious anxiety. I had just reached the end of Section 1 and was proud of myself. Not to mention fried from days of review sessions. The next day, I was kicked back a few rounds and had to review some more.
Whatever, I thought. I'm not opposed to course improvements.
BAM, first question is full of words I don't recognize, and buttloads of kanji. I know five (one, two, three, plus Tanaka and Nakayama). Somehow I power through it and finish the section again.
I start Section 2 and am blasted with multiple linguistic concepts at the same time. Prepositions, articles, many new nouns. Intense and uneven pacing but not overwhelming. But then it starts using phrases with conjugated verbs; namely, 'lives in.' I have no recollection of being taught how verbs work. I dig through each subsection's notes looking for a quick primer on verbs, and there aren't any beyond 'desu' months ago.
I'm so disheartened. Instead of using DL to learn from the ground up I'm googling how verbs work from external sources. I'm worried I can't keep up with the volume of content coming in at once, either. Plus, y'know, the infinite hearts debacle that will come up if I renew in December.

Hi!
In these two sentences would the bold letters be adverbial phrases or accusative objects? I'm a bit confused due to the prepositions in front of the words
"He would stare at his shoes"
"He was appointed to an unpaid role"
"I pick at my waffles"
Any help would be much appreciated:)

This analysis comes from Cults and Nonconventional Religious Groups: A Collection of Outstanding Dissertations and Monographs, "Shakubuku: A Study of the Nichiren Shoshu Buddhist Movement in America, 1960-1975", David A. Snow, 1993, pp. 171-179.
I'll try to shave it down, because it's a long section, but he masterfully dissects the manipulation and artifice involved in the "discussion meetings" of then-NSA (now SGI-USA). You'll recognize the fakery he identifies - this is the nature of the Dead-Ikeda-cult SGI, a completely dishonest and exploitative cult.

It is at these discussion meetings, then, that NSA gets on with the real work of promoting and securing nominal conversion, of attempting to get recruits to take the first major step toward conversion by agreeing to receive a Gohonzon and to give chanting a try.

In those days, the nohonzon was issued up front (for a fee, of course - cash on the barrelhead).

And since gaining converts is, in large part, what this movement is all about, "nothing is more basic to the activities of NSA," as noted in the Winter edition of the 1975 NSA Quarterly, "than the discussion meeting." Or, as one district leader emphasized when discussing the importance of these meetings: "Discussion meetings are indispensable to the spread of the practice and the attainment of Kosen-rufu."

If you've ever felt confused at how sitting around someone's living room with the same bunch of losers month after month is doing anything toward the SGI's supposed goals of "world peace" or anything at all, actually, besides wasting the participants' time, I think what's described here will make it clearer what the original intent and purpose of these "discussion meetings" was, AND how far from that the current SGI "activities" have fallen.

The Character and Organization of These Meetings from a Sociological Standpoint
Given the purpose and importance of these discussion meetings, the question arises as to how they are organized and brought off in a strategic manner. In other words, what is the underlying strategy guiding this work of securing nominal conversion, and what are the kinds of tactical adjustments made at the line of scrimmage when the plan of attack does not appear to be advancing the group toward its goal of getting guests to agree to give chanting a try.

It's not enough that the "guests" say they'll try it; by the end of this ordeal, they'll say absolutely anything to get themselves to the other side of that door! What they really want is enough interest and desire on the part of those "guests" that they'll come back - and ideally become regularly attending members (as described in this indoctrinational creative writing fiction where a career Catholic priest is so entranced with the fictional (non)discussion meetings that he JOINS the SGI!! You'll notice that there is never any room within SGI to even mention one of THEIR SGI leaders who joins a Baptist church, for example, much less to celebrate such a stepping-out-of-line. But it's always FINE for other religions' leaders to see the obvious superiority of the SGI, knowmsayin?

In order to answer these question [sic] in a sociological manner, let us step out of the shoes of a guest and into those of a sociological [sic] with insiders' knowledge.
The Strategy of Theatrical Persuasion. Although members and the movement's literature like to characterize these meetings as being forums for free and open discussion and the spontaneous expression and flow of happiness and excitement, they are a far cry from gatherings characterized by spontaneity and unstructured discussion and interaction. Rather, they are meticulously planned and highly orchestrated meetings that can be best conceptualized, from a dramaturgical perspective, as theatrical-like presentations staged and conducted by a set of individuals (NSA members) who not only work together as a team but whose intimate cooperation is expected and required in order to foster and sustain a convincing impression or definition of the situation in the eyes of the audience (the recruits or guests).
Although the staged character of these meetings is seldom readily discernible to the unsuspecting guest, the appropriateness of conceptualizing these meetings in this way is suggested by the following considerations. First, the purpose of the meeting, as already indicated, is to sell guests on the idea of chanting, to so impress them that they feel compelled to give this practice call [sic] chanting a try.
Secondly, there is a division of labor such that all members have one or more roles to play. These various roles include the leadership role, the role of emcee, a general, overarching supportive role, and several more specific supportive roles, such as the role of giving an explanation of what NSA is all about, the role of a song leader, and the role of giving testimony. And even more significantly, members are provided with fairly detailed instructions, or, in the language of the theater, with scripts indicating what each role involves and how best to perform or play it.

There's a list of these roles. At the discussion meeting planning meeting, the attendees go down the list and simply plug different members' names into the worksheet.

The main leadership role, assumed by the district chief or, in his absence, the assistant district chief, includes, for example, the tasks of leading the chanting in a vigorous manner, conducting the question-and-answer session, meeting with each of the guests, and providing an inspirational role model for the other members. In performing these tasks, the leader is reminded that rather than putting on the air of a great sage, he should make a point of displaying great vitality, warmth, and compassion. Furthermore, he is expected "to be able to give clear explanations of the philosophy and practice," and is instructed to "always tailor his answers and encouragement to the audience."

Answers should always be tailored to the audience. If the guests are young, then the answers should include examples they can relate to. If the questions are too mystical or one-sided, the leader must have the wisdom to change the subject or break off the question-and-answer period diplomatically.

Blanche described how in her first district, the WD District leader instructed everyone that, if someone in the meeting was going on too long or rambling or whatever, that they should just start clapping wildly and shouting, "Congratulations!!" and then the MC would just move on to the next topic on the agenda. Reeeeal "spontaneous" there...

The emcee role is also regarded as particularly important, so much so that "the success of the meeting" is said to be contingent on how well it is performed. In fact, "so much depends on the emcee" that the discussion meeting is described for him as "a battleground in which he must struggle to bring victory to the members."

Barf. How far SGI has fallen! Now the goal is to see if there's some young teen in an SGI member's family who can be press-ganged to show up and read the agenda - their youth in and of itself is supposed to "encourage" everyone! Forget about all that "struggle" nonsense - they aren't gonna. This illustrates the SGI's current "form over function" approach, in which they just identify someone and pressure that person to do it, rather than the ideal candidate volunteering from a spirit of...oh, whatever - see above paragraph 🙄 Ideally, there would be SEVERAL young people positively brimming with passion and youthful energy who would be vying to be chosen: "Me! Let ME do it this time!" "No! ME!" "Choose ME!!" Instead, now it's just some tired old fart who agrees to do it, just to get this over with and there's no one else.

Specific responsibilities include setting "the gears fo the meeting in motion" and keeping the meeting going in a rhythmical and orderly manner.

You have to wonder just how crazy they envision these (non)discussion meetings might go - will a spontaneous rave break out if it isn't carefully controlled? An unpermitted parade? A frenzy of liturgical dance?? WHAT might happen??? Enquiring minds want to know!!

The emcee must develop the ability to keep the rhythm of the meeting going by making sure that there are no pauses or interruptions. If someone is causing a disorder, he should quiet the person in a polite manner. If a baby starts crying, he should see to it that either the mother or one of the young women at the meeting takes the child to another room to calm it down.

Gendered. Misogynist.

The emcee is also charged with being "the eyes and ears of the person leading the meeting."

Before and during the meeting, he should watch guests, be on the lookout for disruptions, and in general, be aware of everything that's happening. He should inform the person leading the meeting how many guests are present and whether they are young or old, so the leader can set the rhythm of the meeting accordingly.

Yeah. NO 😄 WOW but it's been a LONG TIME since any SGI sales pitch-based recruiting session - I mean discussion meeting - had any characteristics that would fit the above instructions. Just no way. Not now. Now, it's the same old handful of longhaulers dragging themselves in to go through the motions - as usual. By rote.

In addition, the emcee is expected to talk, act, and appear in a manner that displays or exudes strength, confidence, vitality and neatness.

The emcee must speak in a vigorous, strong and clear voice, but not screaming. The way he sits, stands up and moves the table must display confidence.

This was when a small table would be moved in in front of the person who led gongyo, who would turn around to face the group. This is of course a Japanese norm, completely foreign to Westerners. How many people outside of Japan even have a low table like that, designed for someone who's sitting on the floor??

In fact, he should stand up smartly whenever he is talking. As for appearance, he should reflect the image of NSA - clean and neat clothes and personal grooming.

It has been a LOOOOOOOONG time since ANY SGI district could insist on these requirements! Now they're just lucky if they can get anyone younger than retirement age to read the agenda off, and the agenda is often handed to them right there at the meeting itself - fuhgeddabout all this "advance preparation" nonsense. Nothing happens at the SGI discussion meetings, so nobody's going to go to this much trouble just because.

And finally, the emcee is instructed to have the details of the meeting worked out and the setting in order before the meeting begins.

...as opposed to showing up and being handed a printed agenda to read off as SGI does it now.

The emcee must have a plan for the meeting. He should write up a schedule showing who will give the explanation, what songs will be sung, who will give experiences and so on, and present it to the leader at least two days prior to the meeting. The emcee must prepare for the meeting. He should check to see if the meeting place is clean and neat, that all lights work and there is an appropriate meeting table. Most of all, he should do Shakubuku for the success of the meeting.

Oh, like any of that's gonna happen! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Yes, things were VERY different back in the late 1960s-early 1970s, when the SGI organization in the US was still growing. As you can see, all this has been tossed right out the window.
A couple of items:

• "the leader" - this was when the leader of the local district organizational unit (typically the MEN's leader) would assume the leadership role for the "discussion meeting". This was replaced with a "central figure", an invited "SENIOR leader" who would agree to attend and serve this "leader" function. The invited SENIOR leader would typically lead gongyo and preside over the proceedings - that's more how these meetings are arranged now.
  
• that "Shakubuku" in the last sentence? It strikes me wrong somehow. Sure, that'd be great and all for EVERYONE to bring a "guest" (#SGIGOALZ of course) but I think that having the person CHANT for the success of the meeting would be a more reasonable assignment. Also, how could the MC properly shepherd their "guest" and STILL do all that MC stuff single-mindedly??
  

In fact, you can see a newly promoted leader doing exactly that, "chanting for the success of the meeting", here, from this same time period (early 1970s).
It's been a LONG time since any of this was happening, and you can clearly see in today's (non)discussion meetings how far things have deteriorated - and that's JUST the MC part! There's a bit about the demands on the members of the group - I'll skip to just this part:

As one district chief explained during a planning meeting for senior and junior leaders within the district and which I was invited to by one of my key informants:

Make sure to tell your members to chant in rhythm with the leaders. There shouldn't be any more than one rhythm. Everyone should be together so that there is unity. And remember to have them support the leader in whatever he says; the guests won't know whether he is right or wrong. So even if you don't agree with what is being said, act as if you do. this [sic] way there is unity at the meeting and the guests will be more impressed.

Wow, huh? It's completely dishonest and oriented entirely at flimflamming and bamboozling the "guests"!
Next there's a big section on "experiences", but I'm going to give that its own post because it's a WHOLE topic on its own. Hopefully today! But Ima skip ahead a bit, to p. 177:

A fourth indication of the staged character of discussion meetings is provided by the fact that planning meetings are held at both the district and chapter level for the purpose of discussing how to improve discussion meetings and make them more successful. Although rank-and-file members (those who have not attained that status of a junior or senior leader) are not normally invited to these planning meetings, I was able to attend several of them at the invitation of both my district chief and a junior leader who was one of my key informants.

SKULLDUGGERY!! 💀

It was during these planning meetings that I became deeply sensitized to the highly orchestrated and dramaturgical character of not only the discussion meetings but of NSA's overall operation.

At this point it's important to remember that "dramaturgical" means "relating to the art or the theory of writing and putting on plays, especially for the theater" - it's all putting on a show to manipulate the unwitting guests in order to trick them into transforming into new recruits. It's ALL fake - just a façade to fool the uninformed.

A fifth consideration suggesting that staged character of discussion meetings is the fact that much of what members do and say, both verbally and nonverbally, during the course of a meeting is to appear natural and spontaneous rather than artificial and contrived.

They try. Unconvincingly.

In other words, these meetings are not to appear as staged performances or as the product of dramaturgical cooperation. This concern is evidenced by the emphasis placed on exuding sincerity and responding to calls from the emcee and to what the leader says and does with alacrity and enthusiasm. It is also suggested by some of the rituals engaged in by the emcee, as when he scans the gathering after he has called for an experience so as to foster the impression that whom he calls is a spontaneous decision rather than one that has been pre-arranged, as indicated by the fact that those called on are already listed on his meeting agenda and by the fact that members frequently know beforehand whether they will be giving an experience.

This fakery apparently was dropped decades ago; in current SGI (non)discussion meetings, not only is the person acknowledged by name as delivering/"sharing" an "experience", but the person often has it written out on a piece of paper they semi-read off.

But none of this is evident to the guest.

Rather, what transpires - who gives the explanation, who gives testimonies, and so on - is staged in such a way that it all appears as if it is spontaneous and independent of prior planning, negotiation, and decision-making among the members. As a consequence, it seems reasonable to suggest that NSA in general and the district members in particular have something of the character of a secret society.

Only without any special perks or sexiness.

This is not particularly surprising, however, when considering the nature of theatrical-like teamwork. As Erving Goffman noted in his seminal discussion of this kind of work:

... if a performance is to be effective it will be likely that the extent of cooperation that makes this possible will be concealed and kept secret... The audience may appreciate, of course, that all members of the team are held together by a bond that no member of the audience shares ... But (the members of the team) form a secret society ... insofar as a secret is kept as to how they are cooperating together to maintain a particular definition of the situation.

This will all be very familiar to the people trying to recruit new suckers into MLM schemes/scams, too.

The sixth and final consideration suggesting the appropriateness of viewing these meetings from a dramaturgical perspective is the fact that they do not "go on" unless there is an audience, that is unless guests are in attendance.

Before Ikeda was excommunicated by Nichiren Shoshu and transformed the SGI into his own personal worship society, there was a certain "rhythm" to the year. February and August were "Shakubuku Months", and there was an "introductory meeting" scheduled every week. If it came to meeting start time and there was no "guest", the meeting was halted and everybody was sent out to try and find something with a pulse to drag in, at which point the meeting would proceed:

When I first discovered this I was somewhat startled, for I had assumed that these meetings were conducted in their entirety regardless of the presence or absence of a new face. But as I learned one evening, this is not the case. Following the chanting session on this particular evening, the leader emphasized that since these meetings were for guests and none were present, we would have to go out and round up one or two. So the members in attendance were divided into Shakubuku teams and sent out in search of prospects. Although three of the four teams returned empty-handed, one had managed to corral a single guest. But one is all that is needed; and so the formal meeting began as usual.

For "formal meeting" read "sales pitch". By the late-1980s, perhaps earlier, instead of being every discussion meeting, this format was restricted to the "introductory meetings" during the Shakubuku Months. However, he's describing something that happened every single time. No meeting unless a "guest" was present.

During my tenure as a member I saw this particular scenario re-enacted on four different occasions, and on one occasion we were sent back into the streets three times in succession. Around 8:30 p.m., after the third try and with one guest in hand, the show finally got on the road.

The author describes himself as "an active participant observer for nearly a year and a half".

Perhaps even more illustrative of the theatrical character of these meetings and the fact that they are staged for guests is the following course of events that transpired one evening during a meeting I attended:

Although no guests were present when the chanting began, a young couple came in toward the end of the chanting session and situated themselves on the floor at the back of the room. But apparently the emcee didn't notice them; for upon completion of the chanting session he didn't jump up and yell out: 'Welcome to a vigorous and happy meeting of the [name here] District of NSA!' But the district leader, who had apparently seen this couple come in, punched the emcee in the ribs and whispered that some guests were present. And so this member immediately assumed his role of the emcee and proceeded as usual by springing to his feet, putting on a big smile, and blurting out, 'Welcome to a vigorous and happy meeting of the [name here] District of NSA!'

"Vigorous and happy" 🤣

In light of the foregoing considerations and observations, there seems to be little question about the appropriateness of conceptualizing NSA discussion meetings as "shows" or presentations staged by the members, who constitute a performance team, before an audience composed of recruits or "guests".

This was what was going on BEFORE Dickeda swanned into the US in 1990 and "changed our direction" - because of what Sensei did, the bottom fell out of the discussion meetings. Instead of weekly meetings, Dickeata dictated that these meetings would only happen monthly from now on - and of COURSE Die-Sucky Scamsei's word is LAW in his own cult of personality, where the membership follows a PERSON instead of any "law". Post-excommunication, at the (non)discussion meetings I attended, there was at least one guest every single time, but they never came back. The ONLY person I saw join post-excommunication was a formerly homeless woman with two small children who had moved in with an SGI member (who had unethically selected her at the abused-women's shelter she was living at, where he volunteered computer classes for the residents). She was able to see it didn't work; she ended up quitting.
Now what SGI-USA is left with is an ever-shrinking membership of mostly Baby-Boom generation and older individuals who mostly joined during the time period described in this study. SGI has completely lost what vitality it once had; now it's simply waiting around for the grave - and oblivion.

From what tribe do you hail? The tribe of LaVey!
Respect our providence or go on your way.
We bring but simple rules; eleven
to abide aside us in this earthly heaven:
Give no advice unsolicited; pearls to swine are mockeries
Burden no others with your troubles; a burden shared is a burden doubled
Respect at all times boundaries; insist the same, or consequences.
Withhold all sexual advances; outwith the heat of mating dances
Take not one thing that is not yours; matters not from rich or poor
On working a successful Magick; respect the powers or will be tragick
Do no harm to little children; those who do we find and kill them
To animals this law applies; kill only in defence or need to survive
When roaming common land to all; respect the others who play ball
Should others there come trouble thee; request they cease, or destroy utterly
So mote it be.
=+-=a =+-=b =+-=c
EDIT: by it's nature poetry is about communicating the most possible in the least possible words.
For elaboration on the word choices and reasons behind them, I offer this humble explanation:
"Yes, the word "tribe" and the entire introductory section is from Masonic ritual related to the tribe of Levi. It was not intended to be understood by those who were not aware of those things, but I dropped it in there for those who do.
Magick is typically used in Thelema, to distinguish it from stage magic, and Anton was most certainly talking about actual Magick and not stage magic.
I realise people not as familiar with Thelema, of whom Crowley was only one popular example and by no means the ultimate authority despite his proclamations to the contrary, might not be comfortable or understand the usage of the word Magick. Fine.
I was into wicca in my late teens, and SMIB or "So mote it be" is very much still a phrase we use in directing and confirming our will.
If you prefer "so it it done" which in this case doesn't rhyme, then all good.
It's a habit of mine in relation to Magick, and perhaps not entirely "Satanic", but it is something that exists that causes no harm (as advised by the Wiccan Rede) and can be effective in Magickal works for those so inclined.
"Kill" well...it rhymed. How should I have better put that little children are outside the tolerated boundaries of people you can be acceptably harmed?
Kids make mistakes just as adults do, but the consequences should be appropriate to maturity.
I will spare the child and spoil the rod regardless of the existing paradigms of society or religion or Proverbs 13:24
If you had been beaten or seen your childhood friends beaten under the mask of religion I guess you might share my sentiments somewhat, even though I do not claim they are flawless in expression."
You're welcome. ;)

Which shows, in your opinion, have had a specific rule or set of rules that were too harsh? I’ll start:

1. Jeopardy: Spelling and pronunciation are key. Also, phrasing is important. They let you off with a warning in the first round, but in subsequent rounds, it is counted again you.
   
2. Pyramid: The Winner’s Circle. No pantomiming, only a list that fits the subject, no prepositions, no rhyming. The current version is lax in terms of this, but previous versions (particularly both 80s versions and Donnymid) were tough.
   
3. Sale of the Century: The Winner’s Big Money Game. A mediocre bonus round is made worse by “you must stop the clock before it hits double 0”. Someone can be one puzzle away from the win, then buzz in a fraction of a second before 00, and it still counts as a loss.
   

Moving back to the US and am working on my resume. Have been teaching English in Japan for the last couple of years. Im looking for any Job that can help pay bills, and then I will start to look for something as a career.
Summary:
"I have many abilities that can benefit any team. I work well with others, have the ability to remain calm and level-headed in high-pressure situations.most recently job was a language teacher for a Japanese Elementary and Junior High school, were I worked with Japanese teachers to create and teach English lessons and activities. I can communicate and work well with others.I am motivated and willing to learn new skills required for any job and am confident that I would be an asset to the people I work with"
Job Description:
"Work with Elementary and Junior High School Japanese teachers to create English lessons and activities. Teach English lessons to elementary and Junior High school students. Help students practice pronunciation. Answer questions about grammar and the differences or meanings of English phrases. Evaluate students ability to understand and speak English. Help selected Junior High students prepare for and practice for the yearly English competition."
Or
"Elementary School: regular meetings with teachers to discuss lessons and activities. responsible for teaching and making new worksheets. Evaluated students language ability and made changes to the lesson as needed to better help students. Students studied basic English greetings, and phrases.
Junior High School: Worked with several Japanese English Teachers. Created worksheets and activities that were requested by the teachers. assisted the teachers during lessons. Helped students practice, answered any questions about grammar or phrases. Also helped conducted quarterly performance tests for students, and evaluated each students language ability. Helped selected students prepare for English competitions."
Edit: format

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1. Work on these exercises pertaining to grammar.
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2. Acquire Vocabulary Through These ExercisesThe speaker emphasizes the importance of expanding vocabulary and familiarity with English terms, stating that understanding how words are used and expressed is more crucial than just memorizing them. They suggest proper use of basic language and communication to expand vocabulary.English Language Lab's software offers experienced teachers practice in listening, speaking, reading, and writing, enhancing their English language learning experience.Listening Skills, English language lab – Digital Teacher
   1. Regular reading with vocabulary-building tasks
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   4. Taking in audiobooks
   5. These methods might significantly improve your English language learning by:
   6. Focusing on new terms
   7. Improving learning and remembering
   8. When everything is looked at, they greatly help students in their learning of the English language.
3. Regularly Work on Your Basic English Listening SkillsActive listening is crucial for effective communication, especially when learning a new language. Focus on speaking English, asking for details, and providing comments.
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Frequent Reading Has a Number of Advantages:

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A grammar book I have been using provided the following explanation: 'Arelative pronoun followed by verbs indicating presence, such as: be, seem, appera etc. + prepositional phrase is reduced to a prepositional phrase' This is one of the examples: The man who appears in the photo stole the vase The man in the photo stole the vase
However while doing practice exercises I found some examples that dont match the explanation/ where the rule doesn't seem to apply.
Here I was asked to complete using a relative pronoun and reduce when possible.
For the sentence: Her marriage, ( ) had been arranged by her parents when she was a child, took place when she was 12.
I used the pronoun (which) and then reduced to: Her marriage, arranged by her parents when she was a child, took place when she was 12.
I did this because it sounds the most natural to me, but I don't understand why as it is 1. Not followed by a prepositional phrase 2. Between comas, indicating it is a non-defining clause, which couldn't reduce on the first place?
There were several cases like this throughout the exercises and the book doesn't provide any further explanation. This is very confusing to me and would like some clarification. Thank you!

This is a game of borrowing and loaning words! To give our conlangs a more naturalistic flair, this game can help us get realistic loans into our language by giving us an artificial-ish "world" to pull words from!
The Telephone Game will be posted every Monday and Friday, hopefully.

Rules

1) Post a word in your language, with IPA and a definition.
Note: try to show your word inflected, as it would appear in a typical sentence. This can be the source of many interesting borrowings in natlangs (like how so many Arabic words were borrowed with the definite article fossilized onto it! algebra, alcohol, etc.)
2) Respond to a post by adapting the word to your language's phonology, and consider shifting the meaning of the word a bit!
3) Sometimes, you may see an interesting phrase or construction in a language. Instead of adopting the word as a loan word, you are welcome to calque the phrase -- for example, taking skyscraper by using your language's native words for sky and scraper. If you do this, please label the post at the start as Calque so people don't get confused about your path of adopting/loaning.
Last Time...

Tundrayan by SapphoenixFireBird

skrîǰo / скрыџо [skrɪˈd͡ʒo] n. inan. neut. ʏᴏ-root

1. wing, arm

ʏᴏ-root	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	skrîǰo	skrîǰä	skrîǰa
Accusative	skrîǰo	skrîǰä	skrîǰa
Genitive	skrîǰa	skrîǰu	skrîǰ
Dative	skrîǰu	skrîǰoma	skrîǰôm
Instrumental	skrîǰômi̥	skrîǰoma	skrîǰî
Locative	skrîǰä	skrîǰu	skrîǰäx
Vocative	skrîǰo	skrîǰä	skrîǰa
Prepositional	skrîǰě	skrîǰǐx	skrîǰǎx

Welcome to another instance of the Irregularly-Posted Game of Borrowings (IPGOB)!
Peace, Love, & Conlanging ❤️

Task: Please put the dialog below in indirect speech. Watch out for deixis. And, please stick as closely as possible to the original.
Rewrite the following statements by Rita so that each of the sentences can be reported after the introductory phrase, "I met Rita yesterday and she said that..."

1. Last Friday when I was leaving the English seminar, I met Jean and Paul.

Answer: I met Rita yesterday and she said that last Friday when she was leaving the English seminar, she had met Jean and Paul.

1. We decided to go to the cafeteria first and then go home together.

Answer: I met Rita yesterday and she said that they had decided to go to the cafeteria first and then go home together.

1. I told them what we had talked about.

Answer: I met Rita yesterday and she said that she told them what they had talked about.

1. In class the teacher had discussed what we were going to do this semester.

Answer: I met Rita yesterday and she said that in class, the teacher had discussed what they were going to do that semester.

1. He explained about open and closed classes and began talking about pronouns.

Answer: I met Rita yesterday and she said that the teacher had explained about open and closed classes and had begun talking about pronouns.

1. He said, "Changes in the pronoun system do not take place very often [which I believe]*

Answer: I met Rita yesterday and she said that the teacher said that changes in the pronoun system do not take place very often.

1. and a sex-neutral third person singular pronoun is unlikely to be adopted" (but I don't believe it]*.

Answer: I met Rita yesterday and she said that the teacher added that a sex-neutral third person singular pronoun was likely to be adopted.

1. We talked about this a lot that evening and again yesterday.

Answer: I met Rita yesterday and she said that they had talked about this a lot that evening and again yesterday.

1. And I've been thinking he must have been mistaken.

Answer: I met Rita and she said that she had been thinking the teacher must had been mistaken.

1. So today I'm going to ask how the thou-form got lost.

Answer: I met Rita yesterday and she said that that day she was going to ask how the thou-form got lost.

1. I really think that even pronouns can change.

Answer: I met Rita yesterday and she said that she thought that even pronouns could change.

1. Will you come along since you know a lot about this?

Answer: I met Rita yesterday and she asked if I would come along since I know a lot about this.

1. You can help me get my point across.

Answer: I met Rita yesterday and she said that I could help her get her point across.

1. And don't say no, because it must be easy for you.

Answer: I met Rita yesterday and she said that I shouldn't say no, because it must be easy for me.

• [...] = comments that you don't add but show grammatically as discussed in class.

Hi all. I had a chat with GPT 4 about doubled words in English sentences, and I wanted to get human opinions on the correctness of the responses.
Here’s an abridged transcript:
Me: There are times in the English language when a word can, in a grammatically correct way, appear next to itself in a sentence. Can you please list all words in the English language that can do this?
GPT: Creating a comprehensive list of all the words in the English language that can grammatically appear next to themselves is quite a challenge due to the vastness and complexity of the language. However, there are certain types of words and phrases that are known to do this. Here are some examples:

1. Contronyms - Words that can have contradictory meanings depending on the context. For example, the word "sanction" can mean both a penalty for a breach of law and official permission or approval for an action¹.
   
2. Homographs - Words that are spelled the same but have different meanings. "Lead" can refer to being in charge, or it can be a type of metal.
   
3. Buffalo Sentence - The famous sentence "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo" is grammatically correct and uses the same word in different capacities.
   
4. Doubled Words - Sometimes, words are repeated for emphasis or to convey a different meaning, such as in "The secret secret agent."
   
5. Conditional Clauses - In sentences like "If you see what I see, you see a repetition," the word "see" is used next to itself grammatically.
   

Me: Let me give you an example of what I mean: The person will move in in the future.
GPT: Ah, I see what you mean now. You’re referring to instances where the same word appears consecutively in a sentence but serves different grammatical functions. In your example, “move in in the future,” the first “in” is part of the phrasal verb “move in,” and the second “in” is a preposition indicating time.

1. Had had - “James, while John had had ‘had’, had had ‘had had’; ‘had had’ had had a better effect on the teacher.”
2. That that - “It’s not so much that that bothers me as it is your reaction to it.”
3. But but - In informal speech, someone might say, “I know but but still…”
4. Do do - “What do you want to do do next?”
5. What what - Used for emphasis or clarification, like “You did what what?”

Me: Since we now know I'm referring to instances where the same word appears consecutively in a sentence but serves different grammatical functions, please list all English words you can that fit these kind of circumstances.
GPT: Certainly! Here’s a list of English words that can appear consecutively in a sentence with different grammatical functions: 1. Had - “I had had enough of the noise.” 2. That - “I know that that is not true.” 3. Do - “What I want to do do you think is best?” 4. Can - “Can can be both a modal verb and a noun.” 5. Will - “I will will myself to finish the task.” 6. As - “As far as as I know, he’s not coming.” 7. But - “Nobody came but but for a few.” 8. So - “I am so so tired from the trip.” 9. Just - “I just just realized what happened.” 10. What - “What what you said is confusing.” These examples illustrate how the same word can be used in different grammatical roles, such as a verb followed by a noun, or a conjunction followed by a pronoun. It’s a unique feature of English that allows for such flexibility in expression.
Me: Fascinating! Can you provide more examples?
GPT: Absolutely, here are more examples of English words that can appear consecutively in a sentence with different grammatical functions:

1. By - "The artists agreed to stand by by the entrance."
2. For - "This charity is what I want to fight for for a long time."
3. To - "I plan to to complete the project by Monday."
4. On - "It depends on on how you look at it."
5. Out - "Check out out there for the best view."
6. Up - "Please look up up in the directory."
7. Down - "You can set it down down there."
8. Off - "The alarm went off off the coast."
9. Over - "They talked it over over dinner."
10. Like - "I like like you."

These examples showcase the versatility of English words when they serve different roles in sentences, such as a preposition followed by an adverb or a verb followed by a preposition. It's a testament to the dynamic nature of language and grammar.

this about 15 or so years ago, but i was reading about cringe moments in an article and it brought back this moment.
i was 16, and a junior in high school doing a favor for my BIL who not only taught at my school, but was also my teacher.
i had a free period due to being considered a senior and stopped by my BILs class to turn in a late worksheet. BIL asked if i would drop off a packet (class work) on the other side of the school that a student left behind. i figured why not, since i was leaving for the day anyways and it was on the way to the school parking lot.
im down the hall from the classroom and i hear the teacher ask about abe lincoln's famous speech or whatever. im nearly in the doorway when a kid in the front row goes, "ffffffff." my stupid ass pops in the room and shouts, "uh-oh REMIX."
it was the speech therapy class.
the teacher looked like he wanted to throat punch me, and the kid, peter, just sank in his chair. i felt like absolute ass caked in shit, esp since everyone knew petey was always bullied for his stutter
turns out the teacher would sort of think outside the box and have his students phrases and whatnot in speech therapy, ig to help them.
i apologized profusely and explained the reasoning behind my comment but Peter wouldn't look at me and the teacher just snatched the packet out of my hand.
i messaged my bil and told him what happened and he asked if it's my life's goal to maintain an iq that is the equivalent of a broken electrical cord that's still plugged in.
i did talk to peter about a month later on aim and apologized again but also stated that i didn't know it was the speech therapy class or that it was him talking at first until i looked inside the class and saw him, at which point it was too late. peter accepted the apology bc he spoke to a mutual friend who vouched that i wasn't a bully, just the dumb and awkward pasty mexican girl with sideburns.
TL;DR: accidentally made fun of a kid with a stutter, he accepted my apology and i still cringe when i think about it