FAFSA Documents Youll Need to Fill Out the Form

For students entering college in the fall of 2016 or later, you can fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) as early as October 1st. Applying early can improve your chances of getting scholarships and grant aid, for many schools use up their financial aid resources later in the admissions cycle. Filling out the FAFSA can be a frustrating process if you havent gathered together the information youll need. The department of education claims that the FAFSA forms can be completed in less than an hour. This is true only if you have all of the necessary documents at hand. To make this process as straightforward and efficient as possible, parents and students can do a little advanced planning. Heres what youll need: The first thing youll need before you can even begin filling out the FAFSA is a Federal Student Aid ID (you can get that here, and you can do it before the FAFSA is available). This username and password will give you access to your federal financial aid information throughout college and beyond.Your most recent federal income tax return. Note that as of 2016, you can use prior prior year tax forms. In other words, if youre applying for admission for the fall of 2017, you dont need to wait until you file your 2016 taxes, and you no longer need to estimate your current taxes. Instead, you can use your tax return from 2015.Your parents most recent income tax return if you are a dependent.  Most traditional aged college applicants are still dependents (learn more about dependent vs independent status). For both students and parents, you can greatly speed up the transfer of your tax return information using FAFSAs IRS Data Retrieval Tool. You can learn more about the tool here.Your cur rent bank statements including both checking and savings account balances. Youll also need to report any significant cash holdings.Your current investment records (if any) including real estate you own other than the house in which you live. Any stocks and bonds you own would go in this category.Records of any untaxed income you may have received. According to the FAFSA website, this can include child support received, interest income, non-education benefits for veterans.Your Drivers License (if you have one)Your Social Security NumberIf you are not a U.S. citizen: your alien registration or permanent resident cardFinally, its useful but not necessary to have a list of all the colleges to which you are likely to apply. FAFSA will automatically send financial aid information to up to 10 schools (and you can add more schools later). If you end up not applying to a school you list on the FAFSA, no harm done. You are not committing yourself to applying to the schools you list. FinAid.or g has a useful tool for finding the institutional codes youll need to use on the FAFSA: Title IV Institutional Codes. If you have all of the above information gathered before you sit down to fill out the FAFSA, youll find the process isnt that painful. Its also a remarkably important process--nearly all financial aid awards begin with the FAFSA. Even if you arent sure that youll qualify for any need-based financial aid, its worth submitting the FAFSA for some merit awards will also require the information. Third-party scholarships are one of the few exceptions to the importance of the FAFSA. Since these are awarded by private foundations, companies, and organizations, they rarely have any connection to your federal eligibility requirements. Here at About.com, we maintain lists of some of these scholarship opportunities that weve organized by the month of the application deadline:   College Scholarships by Deadline Month:  January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December

What Is the Toulmin Model of Argument

The Toulmin model (or system) is a  six-part model of argument (with similarities to the syllogism) introduced by British philosopher Stephen Toulmin in his book The Uses of Argument (1958).   The Toulmin model (or system) can be used as a tool for developing, analyzing, and categorizing arguments. Observations What is it that makes arguments work? What makes arguments effective? The British logician Stephen Toulmin made important contributions to argument theory that are useful for this line of inquiry. Toulmin found six components of arguments:[T]he Toulmin model provides us with useful tools for analyzing the components of arguments.(J. Meany and K. Shuster, Art, Argument, and Advocacy. IDEA, 2002) Claim: A statement that something is so.Data: The backing for the claim.Warrant: The link between the claim and the grounds.Backing: Support for the warrant.Modality: The degree of certainty employed in offering the argument.Rebuttal: Exceptions to the initial claim.[Toulmins] general model of data leading to a claim, mediated by a warrant with any necessary backing, has been very influential as a new standard of logical thinking, particularly among scholars of rhetoric and speech communication.(C. W. Tindale, Rhetorical Argumentation. Sage, 2004) Using the Toulmin System Use the seven-part Toulmin system to begin to develop an argument . . .. Here is the Toulmin system: Make your claim.Restate or qualify your claim.Present good reasons to support your claim.Explain the underlying assumptions that connect your claim and your reasons. If an underlying assumption is controversial, provide backing for it.Provide additional grounds to support your claim.Acknowledge and respond to possible counterarguments.Draw a conclusion, stated as strongly as possible. (Lex Runciman, Carolyn Lengel, and Kate Silverstein,  Exercises to Accompany The Everyday Writer, 4th ed. Macmillan, 2009) The Toulmin Model and the Syllogism Toulmins model actually boils down to a rhetorical expansion of the syllogism . . .. Although the reactions of others are anticipated, the model is primarily directed at representing the argumentation for the standpoint of the speaker or writer who advances the argumentation. The other party remains in fact passive: The acceptability of the claim is not made dependent on a systematic weighing up of arguments for and against the claim.(F. H. van Eemeren and R. Grootendorst, A Systematic Theory of Argumentation. Cambridge University Press, 2004) Toulmin on the Toulmin Model When I wrote [The Uses of Argument], my aim was strictly philosophical: to criticize the assumption, made by most Anglo-American academic philosophers, that any significant argument can be put in formal terms . . ..In no way had I set out to expound a theory of rhetoric or argumentation: my concern was with twentieth-century epistemology, not informal logic. Still less had I in mind an analytical model like that which, among scholars of Communication, came to be called the Toulmin model.(Stephen Toulmin, The Uses of Argument, rev. ed. Cambridge Univ. Press, 2003)

Othello, By William Shakespeare - 1515 Words

Shakespeare’s Othello is seemingly about the blooming affection between a man and a woman. However, it is a love story gone wrong—or is portrayed as so by the author. In the historical context of Othello, which is set during the Turkish-Venetian war in the 16th century, it is essential to emphasize that Othello is the love story between Othello, the Moorish general, and Desdemona, the Venetian lady. This racial difference is most problematic to the eyes of the white Venetian society, allowing characters like Brabantio, Roderigo, and Iago to use this weakness against Othello. The hatred and jealousy, especially by Iago, is clearly illustrated through the language they use in referring to Othello. While Shakespeare uses characters like Iago†¦show more content†¦To Roderigo, a â€Å"lavicious Moor† should not deserve the â€Å"fair daughter† of Brabantio (1.1.127,136). In this statement, Roderigo first draws the invisible line of physical boundary th at Othello, being a black man, cannot surpass; Othello’s character is successfully established in the â€Å"Other† category because he is a visible minority. Then Roderigo, representative of the English at the time, viewed Othello as â€Å"contaminating and threatening† (6), instilling a need to save Desdemona from the black hands, and put her where she naturally belongs, with a white man, preferably himself. This fear of the exotic and lesser-known being is what drives the racism in this play. Then, throughout the play, Othello is alluded to as the â€Å"Moor† more often as opposed to his name, Othello, reminding the audience that he is physically and emotionally an outsider and a foreigner. Even Desdemona, who loves Othello for his mind says, â€Å"That I did love the Moor†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (1.3.248). Though she means no negativity in calling him a Moor, it still separates him in a certain boundary. Iago, on the other hand, is quite vulgar in language when expressing his feelings towards Othello. â€Å"I have told thee often, and I tell thee again, and again, I hate the Moor,† Iago says (1.3.364-5). Even Emilia, a servant in the Venetian society, refers to Othello as â€Å"dull Moor† (5.2.225) and â€Å"cruel Moor† (5.2.250), inserting a negative connotation to the word. Othello is a visible minority because he

English Stories of Raymond Carver

Question: Discuss about theEnglishfor Stories of Raymond Carver. Answer: Introduction The Bath is one of the most popular stories written by Raymond Carver, that narrates the story of a couple, who are on the verge of losing their child to death owing to an accident, te boy confronted with, on the eighth year of his birthday. The author with the help of this story tries to explain the uncertainty of life, which is the major, pre-dominant theme running throughout the story. Scott shows the uncertainty of life, as he portrays the life of a couple getting shattered by a single mishap-the accident of their child. While the mother was excited to celebrate the birthday of the only child, by the time the reader arrives the middle of the story, he finds her left to ponder over the chance of survival of her only child. Further, to highlight a sense of uncertainty, the author also shows how the child, after being hit by the car was alright, and it is only after he came back to home, that he lost is sence and got hospitalized. The theme of uncertainty of life is clear throughout the story. In order to highlight the motif, the author keeps on offering jolts to the readers, by bringing in unexpected things. The story starts with a joyous note of the celebration of the boy, and even after Scott got hit by the accident, the reader does expect that nothing has changed as the boy returns home in perfect health. However, all of a sudden the boys shown to be hospitalized, and the reader along with the mother are left apprehending that the child is in coma. Further, the theme of uncertainty is again reinforced when the mother is shown passing through the waiting room at the hospital, where someone clad in housedress or another one in khaki shirt, is being shown to be awaiting healthcare provision. It shows how uncertain human life is, as one may get hospitalized even when it is least expected. The evidence is valid as the story illustrates a sense of uncertainty as the mother as well as the reader keeps on worrying if the child will get alright or not. The lack of understanding of what is happening around is also illustrated by the fact that the mother went to the extent of being superstitious, and left the hospital with the conviction that the child might get up if she was not watching him. The author shows life is uncertain and difficult to understand. The evidence is relevant as by the end of the story also, the readers are left to wonder if the child gets well or not. I have seen an uncle going out of his home in perfect health, and all of a sudden his family got a call from the hospital that he had a stroke and that his health was not stable at all. I partially agree with the authors view. Even though I am not fatalistic by nature, yet I have seen how people go through difficult times, where they do not get to control anything. A person who is smiling now, may not have a single reason to smile in the next moment. Reference List: Carver, R. (2015).Beginners. Vintage. Carver, R. (2015).Call if you need me: the uncollected fiction and other prose. Vintage. Halfon, S., Weinstein, L. (2016). Literary and analytic transformations of trauma: Repetition, revision and rebirth in two stories of Raymond Carver.Psychoanalytic Psychology,33(S1), S120. Hodge, M. (2014). Bicycles, Muscles, Cigarettes, and ESL: Raymond Carver in the Classroom.Teaching American Literature,7.