The Life and Times of Archery Essays

The Life and Times of Archery Essays The Life and Times of Archery Essay The Life and Times of Archery Essay The Life and Times of Archery Introduction Have you ever shot a bow, would you like to? Well I really love to shoot a bow and hunt with one. Preview Today I would like to take you through the history of archery throughout the centuries. I’m going to give you three main points about archery; early bows, how bows were used in Europe throughout the middle ages and how archery has evolved today. Transition: The bow is born I. Early bows. The earliest bows known to date were discovered in what is today Africa. They were simple and made from small saplings and were stung with animal sinew, which is dried animal guts. The Chinese made bows out of bamboo and were strung with vines, needless to say these bows weren’t very accurate or effective. When used for hunting they injured many more animals than they would have actually killed. They had very simple feather fletching and crude stone or flint arrowheads. The bow was what came to replace the spear and when used together they cave early people a huge advantage in hunting. This was the main use for early bows. Transition: There is a new need for the bow. II. The bows use throughout the middle ages in Europe As the middle ages came, uses for the bow changed dramatically. Rather than hunting, bows were now being used in war to kill other people instead of animals. Bow designs changed as well they got longer and were made from heavier larger pieces of wood. This was to increase range and killing ability. These new bows could be as long as or taller than the archer himself, and were ironically called â€Å"longbows†. long lines of bowmen played a key role in warfare at this time and charging troops could be wiped-out very quickly. Bows also proved very effective when they were used by soldiers riding horses or riding in chariots. In England the use of the bow started to hit a decline somewhere in the 15th century. This was mainly caused by a shortage of wood for making the bows. A grown supply of wood was needed to ensure that the bow could stay in use. So the yew tree was grown in many areas. According to library. think quest. org, Charles VII, ordered that yew trees were to be grown in every Normandy churchyard, and the British who were large consumers of yew wood, made a trade agreement with Italy because Italian yew was the highest quality wood. Despite being an ancient weapon it has held a strong military significance in several countries until modern times. Transition: Archery†¦an American sport. III. Archery is a modern sport. Archery as a sport had a late arrival to America. The United Bowmen, which was founded in 1828 is where archery as a sport was rooted in American history. This Philadelphia based club still exists today. The sports popularity grew quite fast and soon in 1879 the National Archery Assn. was founded. Unfortunately the depression that soon followed all but stopped archeries growth. Fortunately shortly after the depression ended the growth kicked off right where it ended. Interest in archery grew along with techniques in bow making, scientists started to create new ways to make bows and the material of choice was laminated fiberglass. This hade a huge impact on the speed and accuracy of bows because the faster you can shoot an arrow makes the bow shoot a tighter group. Archery became an Olympic sport in 1900 at the Paris games. The only thing shot were hay targets and all competitors shot longbows. Unfortunately Olympic popularity in archery all but went away by the 1920 games. But in 1970 it was again set as an Olympic event for both men and women. The stands at the 1984 Olympics were filled to capacity with fans wanting to watch the archery event. Advances in archery have continued to increase at staggering rate. Transition: What’s next? Conclusion: Archery has been around for thousands and thousands of years and has been one of the most diverse activities, wheatear you are holing off a charging infantry, killing a deer, or winning the gold for your country it will survive for generations to come. Bibliography: www. library. thinkquest. org/archeryhistory

The campaign to ban the bull - Emphasis

The campaign to ban the bull The campaign to ban the bull In our e-bulletin, we like to take a wild specimen of business-writing bull by the horns and tame it, so that it can be understood by all. The Ban the bull campaign was inspired by our gobbledygook amnesty back in 2009, which brought us the following offending sentence. And, despite the subject matter, theres nothing natural about this sentence In respect of a natural habitat, the sum of the influences acting on a natural habitat and its typical species that may affect its long-term natural distribution, structure and functions as well as the long-term survival of its typical species within, as the case may be, the European territory of the Member States to which the Treaty applies or the territory of a Member State or the natural range of that habitat. This 72-word monster is more likely to leave you dizzy than well-informed about natural habitats, assuming you even make it to the end. Sentences that have to be re-read numerous times are only going to annoy your reader, and could well make them put your document aside permanently. This sentence has actually been doing the rounds in several slightly modified forms in assorted EC Directives and national regulations for over a decade. (It speaks to the dangers of repeatedly using cut-and-paste, that this example is perhaps the worst.) Where it was previously broken up into numbered points, these have now been crammed together, with additional phrases haphazardly piled onto the end. So how might we re-build this into something more manageable? Start plainly Even bearing in mind that this is taken out of context, the opening is vague and unclear. In what sense is it in respect of? It would be best to make this obvious at the beginning, so the reader is prepared with a premise to add the rest of the information to as they go on. After a little research, it seems this is probably defining an official way of deciding the conservation status of any natural habitat. Would the reader have known that? This would be better: The conservation status of a natural habitat can be measured by looking at Punctuate Avoid such overly long, opaque constructions, typical of the language of legislation. Even when lacking in individually mystifying jargon words as this one mostly is the sheer length of such sentences is a huge obstacle to clarity. Effective use of punctuation is vital for making meaning explicit, so use it wisely: an infinite number of commas wont clarify a poorly put-together sentence. Break it up When youre dealing with a list in your text in this case, a list of factors consider using bullet points. These instantly make the piece more accessible, because the reader is no longer faced with a block of text. They also help to make separate ideas more distinct. Cut the filler Phrases like as the case may be sound rambling and wishy-washy. Better to actually state your case, and cut these out. Keep it simple Unless youre sure every reader will understand a particular word, pick a more straightforward one. So that would leave us with: The conservation status of a natural habitat can be measured by looking at: every influence, both environmental and human, that affects that habitat and the species within it how these influences will affect that habitats long-term distribution, structure and function; and on the future survival of its typical species. In this context, these definitions apply to the range of natural habitats within Member States of the European territory included in this Treaty. Now, armed with this knowledge, we can all move forward into a world where business writing is safer for everyone. If you ever spot any baffling business-speak, be it in a report, letter, email, flyer, website, or proposal, please join our campaign by sending it to us to unravel. Alternatively, just leave a comment here at our business writing blog.