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The process of writing an essay usually begins with the close reading of a text. Of course, the writer's personal experience may occasionally come into the essay, and all essays depend on the writer's own observations and knowledge. But most essays, especially academic essays, begin with a close reading of some kind of text—a painting, a movie, an event—and usually with that of a written text. When you close read, you observe facts and details about the text. You may focus on a particular passage, or on the text as a whole. Your aim may be to notice all striking features of the text, including rhetorical features, structural elements, cultural references; or, your aim may be to notice only selected features of the text—for instance, oppositions and correspondences, or particular historical references. Either way, making these observations constitutes the first step in the process of close reading.

The second step is interpreting your observations. What we're basically talking about here is inductive reasoning: moving from the observation of particular facts and details to a conclusion, or interpretation, based on those observations. And, as with inductive reasoning, close reading requires careful gathering of data (your observations) and careful thinking about what these data add up to.

How to Begin:

1. Read with a pencil in hand, and annotate the text.

"Annotating" means underlining or highlighting key words and phrases—anything that strikes you as surprising or significant, or that raises questions—as well as making notes in the margins. When we respond to a text in this way, we not only force ourselves to pay close attention, but we also begin to think with the author about the evidence—the first step in moving from reader to writer.

Here's a sample passage by anthropologist and naturalist Loren Eiseley. It's from his essay called "The Hidden Teacher."

2. Look for patterns in the things you've noticed about the text—repetitions, contradictions, similarities.

What do we notice in the previous passage? First, Eiseley tells us that the orb spider taught him a lesson, thus inviting us to consider what that lesson might be. But we'll let that larger question go for now and focus on particulars—we're working inductively. In Eiseley's next sentence, we find that this encounter "happened far away on a rainy morning in the West." This opening locates us in another time, another place, and has echoes of the traditional fairy tale opening: "Once upon a time . . .". What does this mean? Why would Eiseley want to remind us of tales and myth? We don't know yet, but it's curious. We make a note of it.

Details of language convince us of our location "in the West"—gulch, arroyo, and buffalo grass. Beyond that, though, Eiseley calls the spider's web "her universe" and "the great wheel she inhabited," as in the great wheel of the heavens, the galaxies. By metaphor, then, the web becomes the universe, "spider universe." And the spider, "she," whose "senses did not extend beyond" her universe, knows "the flutter of a trapped moth's wing" and hurries "to investigate her prey." Eiseley says he could see her "fingering her guidelines for signs of struggle." These details of language, and others, characterize the "owner" of the web as thinking, feeling, striving—a creature much like ourselves. But so what?

3. Ask questions about the patterns you've noticed—especially how and why.

To answer some of our own questions, we have to look back at the text and see what else is going on. For instance, when Eiseley touches the web with his pencil point—an event "for which no precedent existed"—the spider, naturally, can make no sense of the pencil phenomenon: "Spider was circumscribed by spider ideas." Of course, spiders don't have ideas, but we do. And if we start seeing this passage in human terms, seeing the spider's situation in "her universe" as analogous to our situation in our universe (which we think of as the universe), then we may decide that Eiseley is suggesting that our universe (the universe) is also finite, that our ideas are circumscribed, and that beyond the limits of our universe there might be phenomena as fully beyond our ken as Eiseley himself—that "vast impossible shadow"—was beyond the understanding of the spider.

But why vast and impossible, why a shadow? Does Eiseley mean God, extra-terrestrials? Or something else, something we cannot name or even imagine? Is this the lesson? Now we see that the sense of tale telling or myth at the start of the passage, plus this reference to something vast and unseen, weighs against a simple E.T. sort of interpretation. And though the spider can't explain, or even apprehend, Eiseley's pencil point, that pencil point is explainable—rational after all. So maybe not God. We need more evidence, so we go back to the text—the whole essay now, not just this one passage—and look for additional clues. And as we proceed in this way, paying close attention to the evidence, asking questions, formulating interpretations, we engage in a process that is central to essay writing and to the whole academic enterprise: in other words, we reason toward our own ideas.

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1. Be 18 years of age or older at the time of application
2. Have legally lived in Luxembourg for seven consecutive years
3. Pass an oral test in Luxembourgish
4. Attend three civic instruction classes

To avoid from poor sound quality, to accidental events that can cause laughter in many and the end of concentration, we give you 18 tips for before, during and after each work video call.

The meeting is before the meeting.

Setting up meetings with passwords

The simplest way to invite people to a meeting is to send a link and not have a password. It is not the most secure way since anyone who has the link can self-invite to the video conference.

In recent months there have been a number of reports of problems caused by intruders in calls, so much so that it has its own name: "Zoom-Booming". You should check the option to request password for the meeting.

The keyboard has some keyboard shortcut keys.

If you've already had several meetings, you'll know that there are things you want to do quickly, such as stop your camera, give voice, or mute your microphone. You can navigate the application on your desktop without using a mouse with a lot of keyboard shortcuts. You can discover them at: Zoom.

Look behind.

You can take a private picture by turning on your camera. Think about what image you want to give and try to find a place in the house where there is nothing in the background that you don't want to show.

The most serious way to solve this is to use the virtual background that you will find in the configuration wheel. Once activated, they will cover the background of your image with an image that you choose, and you can choose one from your computer Click here if you want to know more.

The lighting

Natural light from the front evenly accentuates and illuminates your features, giving you a clear image quality. It is a good idea to put your computer in front of a window. Your image is reduced to a silhouette when the light hits you from behind.

Artificial lighting is needed when there is no other option.

Decrease distraction.

If you can't hear the barking of the dog in the house, try to go to a quiet place where the children don't bother you and the cat doesn't pass in front of the camera, since it will distract you. If something unforeseen happens during the meeting, act normal, apologize and continue with what you were saying, because we are all at home working.

The camera and microphone are disabled when you enter video calls.

If you don't want to be late, you can enter with the camera and microphone off, and then use them once you are inside, if you need to. You only need to access the program settings and the option to "Disable my video when I join a meeting" is located in the "Video" section.

You have to uncheck the option "Mute the microphone when I'm joining a meeting" in the audio section.

During the meeting

The use of accessories.

External headphones and microphones are recommended to improve sound quality. The microphone built into your computer is too close to your keyboard and mouse, so whatever you type will make a lot of noise for your audience.

Make sure your microphone is activated and that the advanced level option is available in the audio section of the zoom settings.

Where to look.

It is recommended that you look at the camera so that you can better see your expressions and eyes. Try to avoid looking at the screen because we will look at other people's faces when we speak. If another attendee looks at his screen, he's speaking.

The space bar can be used to control the microphone.

When you are prompted to speak, stop fighting your computer and click the microphone button if you have decided to mute the microphone. You can quickly unmute your microphone from your keyboard by holding down the space bar.

Some participants should be kept out of the area.

If you are the meeting administrator, it is a good idea to turn off the microphones of those who are not speaking in the video call to avoid echo problems and unnecessary noise. It is recommended not to have the volume at maximum since it is heard worse when the audio is saturated.

Quickly silence all participants.

All the guests are talking at the same time.

The keyboard shortcut "Alt+M" can be used on Windows or MacOS.

Raise your hand to ask for the floor.

During a meeting, you can ask for permission to speak if you open theParticipants menu and tap on theRaise your hand option.

The person who is speaking will know that you want to say something, and in the process you will avoid multiple participants speaking simultaneously.

Don't do multitasking during a video conference.

Since there is a camera focusing on you, don't carry out other activities while another person is talking. Stay away from your phone. If necessary, place it on the table with the shade down.

If you have a microphone, try to use the mouse and not the computer if you are going to talk to someone.

You can use the gallery mode to see all the people.

The people you are talking to in a video call will appear on the screen if you set it that way. The gallery mode that shows up to 49 people on the screen may be interesting to use when giving online classes or holding meetings. The mode can be activated at the top right of the call screen.

The camera should be off to hide participants.

If you don't want people who don't have a camera in the meeting to see it, you can hide them by checking the "Hide participants without video" option.