Illegal Immigration into The United States of America :: Immigration Immigrants Persuasive Essays

Immigration, legal or otherwise, is a huge issue right now. Debates rage about how many immigrants should be allowed into the country and how zealously we should guard our border from illegal intruders. To a point, these people are correct, illegal immigration is something that should be stopped. People should not cross the border illegally or overstay on visits. The important question is, however, does illegal immigration deserve the massive amount of attention it receives? No, it does not. By looking at the respected immigrants of the past and thinking about the issues in a clear and objective way, it becomes apparent that illegal immigration (and legal immigration, for that matter) is not as vital an issue as many consider it to be. A key point in this discussion is that many of those who are vehemently opposed to illegal immigration are also opposed to large amounts of legal immigration as well. These thinly hidden agendas mean that often the debate on illegal immigration cannot be separated from the debate on legal immigration. According to Negative Population Growth (which is a suspect source), Americans are firmly believe in tough laws against illegal immigrants and that 70% of Americans want no more than 300,000 legal immigrants to enter the U.S. per year. In fact, N.P.G. says that 20% of Americans want immigration completely stopped. Taking these numbers as the truth, it is clear that America thinks that we have too many immigrants. Such a dislike of immigration is interesting considering the success of past immigration. Many people would say that today's immigrants are somehow different than those of the past. However, the truth is that the similarities between the immigrants of today and those of the past are numerous. Their reasons for coming to this country are often similar. Many of the immigrants of the late 19th and early 20th centuries were compelled to leave their homes by the rapidly changing nature of their countries. In the Europe of the 19th century, this meant quickly growing population and a rapidly industrializing economy. In nations like Mexico and Vietnam, the same thing is happening today, they "are undergoing the same convulsive demographic and economic disruptions that made migrants out of so many nineteenth century Europeans" (Kennedy p.64). Those who are against the immigration of the 1990's also say that the European immigrants of the past were culturally similar to Americans, and that they were more willing to assimilate and become "American." Neither of these things are true. Old immigrant groups like the Italians and may be seen as generically "white" and "American" now, but when they first began moving to the

Literary Tools of a Writer

The world is full of writers of all kinds: novelists, biographers, copy writers, and even floggers. Every so often, one of those writers will rise above the rest and become a great author?but what exactly does that take? Many qualities have to come together in one person to make his or her writing great, so having the idea for a story alone is not enough; great writers also have to possess talent and originality as well as the dedication required to see a story through to the end.Anyone can tell a story, but it takes special talent to tell a story beautifully and engagingly. As a reader, my favorite stories are always the ones that draw me in with descriptive language, imagery, and metaphors used skillfully by the authors. One example is F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby, which I loved reading because of Fitzgerald talent for using literary devices.In one chapter, he describes a valley full of ashes, but instead of simply calling it what it is, Fitzgerald creates a much more inter esting and inspiring description: â€Å"This is a valley of ashes?a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where she take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of ash-gray men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air† (23).Rather than Just telling you that the valley is full of ashes, Fitzgerald shows you with his words, creating images in your mind of a gray, ashy valley through his expert use of metaphors and similes. This mastery of figurative language is one of the most important parts of being a great writer, because it is what separates a simple story, like one that you would tell from day to day, from a literary masterpiece.

Identify the Common Poplars in North America

The genus Populus  most common North American natives include  one true poplar in the north, four primary species of cottonwoods and the quaking aspen. Most of the known 35 natural poplar species live in the Northern Hemisphere. The cottonwoods thrive in an ecosystem associated with riparian and wetland areas in eastern and western North America. The aspens are most comfortable in boreal environments dominated by conifers with aspen being a major broad-leaved species. Balsam poplar  (Populus balsamifera)  is the northernmost American hardwood and a major deciduous tree in Canada and Alaska. The Common North American Poplar Species Quaking aspenBalsam poplarEastern cottonwoodBlack cottonwood All have long reproductive catkins that appear just before the new leaves of spring and can help in identification. The resulting fruit is a capsule that opens into 2 tp 4 parts. The tufted seeds are shed in masses of white cotton which can cover the ground inches deep. The leaves of aspen and Eastern cottonwood are deltoids  where black cottonwood and balsam poplar are ovate. They occur on a branch alternately, are simple (single leaf) and mostly toothed. Interesting Facts The Eastern Cottonwood,  Populus deltoides, is one of the largest North American hardwood trees.  The aspen  has the widest range in the United States.  It occurs throughout the eastern United States and throughout Canada.Yellow poplar is not a true poplar and not listed here.