Thursday, August 27, 2020

Othello (2470 words) Essay Example For Students

Othello (2470 words) Essay Othelloâ€Å"If Othello didn’t start as a play about race, history has made it one.†The Venetian culture that Othello is set in is illustrative of the essayists setting. The perspectives and qualities that Shakespeare uncovers through the content are those equivalent mentalities and estimations of Elizabethan culture in England in the sixteenth-century. Despite the fact that Othello is set in Venice and Cyprus, the perspectives and qualities partook in the content are most likely intelligent of the mentalities and estimations of Shakespeares own general public. It is hard to evaluate the mentalities and estimations of individuals in sixteenth-century Britain to the generally barely any blacks living among them. We are given an understanding into those mentalities and qualities through the portrayal of race and sexual orientation in the content of Othello.These perspectives and qualities are characteristic of what a culture has confidence in and underpins. When Othello w as composed the English were turning out to be increasingly more mindful of the presence of different races on the planet other than themselves. There had been a great deal of voyaging and blacks were starting to be utilized in Europe for the slave exchange. During the time the play was composed, the Queen of England had restricted all blacks from entering the city. She discussed them as â€Å"Negars and Moors which are crawled into the domain, of which sort of individuals there are as of now here too many†. It appears that Shakespeare is practically deriding the Queen by describing Othello as a dark man who has a high positioning situation in the Army and who weds a white highborn ladies, without wanting to. Ruth Cowlig recommends that the introduction of Othello as the legend more likely than not been frightening for Elizabethan crowds. This may have been the situation, yet through the portrayal of Othello we can see that a few citizenry, for example, the Duke, investigated his shading to dole out him his position though, others, for example, Iago, look on his shading as an approach to ridicule him. Threatening vibe is appeared to Othello by characters, for example, Iago and Roderigo. This disposition may have been energized by the across the board confidence in the legend that blacks were relatives of Ham in the Genesis story, rebuffed for sexual overabundance by their darkness. The Elizabethans talked about finally whether this skin shading was because of life in a hot atmosphere or whether it was a discipline for wrongdoing. To the Elizabethans, who thought progressively, light complexion was the encapsulation of excellence and in this manner brown complexion positioned beneath it. The term dark was utilized in an assortment of writings to represent sin, foulness, grotesqueness, malicious, and the Devil. This worth is credited to Iago when he portrays Othello as the â€Å"black moor† indicating some different option from simply shading. Perspectives to race aren’t the main mentalities uncovered in the content however. Perspectives and qualities about sex are additionally uncovered in the depiction of ladies and their activities in the content. A prime case of this is when Desdemona runs off with Othello without her father’s authorization, which during that time would have been socially inadmissible. This is uncovered to us through Brabantio’s response as Shakespeare utilizes Brabantio as a vehicle for the portrayal of higher society’s sees on issues. Another worth uncovered in the content is that of marriage. In the Elizabethan time marriage was an otherworldly association as well as a property exchange; the lady of the hour brought an endowment from her dad and the groom’s father (or the husband to be in the event that he had just acquired his home) needed to settle arrives on her consequently, as a jointure. Along these lines, to wed without the ladies fathers consent could be vi ewed as a demonstration of robbery. This may clarify why Brabantio responded so emphatically to the association of Othello and Desdemona.These perspectives and qualities differentiate radically to those credited to society today. These days hued skin is a typical event and a character, for example, Othello would be socially acknowledged. Race is both more acknowledged and more mishandled than in Shakespeares time. With the women's activist development esteems given to ladies have additionally changed radically. This is on the grounds that ladies are currently considered less to be property and a greater amount of an equivalent. Marriage has likewise changed. In the sixteenth century young ladies would in general be offered fairly youthful in their adolescents and to have their spouses decided for them by their dads. Presently young ladies will in general get hitched in their late twenties and are allowed to pick their own accomplice. These perspectives and qualities that are uncovered in the content are done as such through the portrayal of race and sexual orientation. Race and sexual orientation are uncovered in the content by the employments of symbolism, characterisation, plot, expressive strategies, and language. Dear Bethany... EssayAct II scene I shows Iago’s most grounded sees on ladies. Iago makes speculations of ladies, when he says â€Å"you are pictures out of entryways, ringers in your parlors, wildcats in your kitchens; holy people in your wounds, villains being outraged; players in your housewifery, and hussies in your beds.† (II.i.109-112). He additionally presents a typical perspective on that period when he says â€Å"You ascend to play, and hit the hay to work†. (II.i.115) This presents the sixteenth-century perspective on ladies being held to be precarious, possibly or really unchaste, and ethically fragile. Their sexual wants were spoken to as unnatural hungers. They were likewise thought to be â€Å"unstable sexual animals, prone to sell out men† with â€Å"Appetites never satisfied† . The historical backdrop of the hanky additionally proposes the intensity of female sexuality over men: â€Å"That tissue Did an Egyptian to my mom give; She was a charmer, and could nearly peruse The musings of individuals: she advised her, while she kept it, Twould make her genial and repress my dad Entirely to her love.†(III. iv. 55-60) . Brabantio who speaks to higher society’s perspectives on ladies has a romanticized perspective on them. To him girls must be docile, and dutiful, by settling on her own choices in marriage, Desdemona speaks to selling out in his eyes. To the individuals of Elizabethan occasions it would presumably appear that Desdemona sabotages her situation in the public arena and changes sex governmental issues by wedding without her father’s assent. Emilia is an emotional complexity to Desdemona, and she is the main character who appears to offer an alternate perspective on ladies. She herself is a significant solid character as a lady as she is sensible, realistic, fit for mental fortitude, faithful and benevolent. In act IV scene iii she conveys a women's activist discourse that addresses society. â€Å"But I do think it is their spouses flaws if wives do fall†(IV.iii. 87) . She is a pragmatist and acknowledges people by observing their issues yet at the same time tolerating them. She additionally has a women's activist perspective on men â€Å"They are everything except stomachs and we as a whole yet food; They eat us hungerly, and when they are full they burp us† (III.iv. 108-110). How society felt about ladies is appeared by their effects on Othellos conduct and who he accepts about Desdemona’s treachery. Othello trusts Iago over Desdemona, who is his significant other. The ladies in this play dont appear to have especially power, yet in certainty they have significantly more force and control than the vast majority think. They hold the play together like paste to paper. On the off chance that Desdemona never had the ability to submit infidelity, at that point it could never have been thought of and Othello could never have fallen. Every one of the ladies in the play are manhandled by men and a survivor of the green looked at beast which doth mock the meat it takes care of on(III. iii. 168-169). Othello is an ideal case of where the ladies are made to appear to be sub-par compared to the men using elaborate procedures, plot, and utilization of language. Yet, for what reason is this so important?It is significant in light of the fact that ladies in Othello make up the foundation of the play. Without them there to estrange the men and produce extreme sentiments of affection, disdain and desire, the play couldn't and would not exist. The alleged mediocrity of ladies follows from the way that human social orders have been commanded by men. This may not be so obvious now, yet in Elizabethan occasions which is the â€Å"particular time and place† that the perspectives and qualities are uncovered from it was particularly evident. How these portrayals mirror the perspectives and estimations of Elizabethan culture is through how ladies are depicted in the content as I have examined before. In Elizabethan culture there was a legend of womens unquenchable lasciviousness and ladies were viewed as insatiable beasts. It was believed that female sexuality was a danger to the male centric culture, and should be securely contained. In the Encyclopedia of World Mythology it says â€Å"Women in male eyes, should be opposite and secretive animals, bewilderingly joining a wide range of qualities, as alterable as chameleons, but by one way or another vexingly in contact with reality through intuition.† Brabantio is a vehicle for society’s sees on sexual orientation and he shows how society at the hour of Othello would have thought of ladies. Taking everything into account, qualities and mentalities of a specific time and spot are uncovered in Othello through the portrayal of race and sexual orientation. How these perspectives and qualities are uncovered is through the manner in which they are depicted, the character development, the complex strategies, the language, the substance of discourse and the imagery. Shakespeare

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Battle of Petersburg in the Civil War

Clash of Petersburg in the Civil War The Battle of Petersburg was a piece of the American Civil War (1861-1865) and was battled between June 9, 1864 and April 2, 1865. In the wake of his annihilation at the Battle of Cold Harbor toward the beginning of June 1864, Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Award kept squeezing south towards the Confederate capital at Richmond. Leaving Cold Harbor on June 12, his men gained a sudden advantage over General Robert E. Remains Army of Northern Virginia and crossed the James River on an enormous boat connect. This move drove Lee to become worried that he may be constrained into an attack at Richmond. This was not Grants goal, as the Union head looked to catch the imperative city of Petersburg. Found south of Richmond, Petersburg was a key junction and railroad center point which provided the capital and Lees armed force. Its misfortune would make would Richmond shaky (Map). Armed forces Commanders Association Lieutenant General Ulysses S. GrantMajor General George G. Meade67,000 expanding to 125,000 men Confederate General Robert E. Leeapprox. 52,000 men Smith and Butler Move Mindful of Petersburgs significance, Major General Benjamin Butler, instructing Union powers at Bermuda Hundred, endeavored an assault on the city on June 9. Intersection the Appomattox River, his men attack the citys furthest guards known as the Dimmock Line. These assaults were stopped by Confederate powers under General P.G.T. Beauregard and Butler pulled back. On June 14, with the Army of the Potomac approaching Petersburg, Grant trained Butler to dispatch Major General William F. Baldy Smiths XVIII Corps to assault the city. Intersection the waterway, Smiths advance was deferred during that time on the fifteenth, however he at last moved to assault the Dimmock Line that night. Having 16,500 men, Smith had the option to overpower Brigadier General Henry Wises Confederates along the northeastern part of the Dimmock Line. Falling back, Wises men involved a more vulnerable line along Harrisons Creek. With late evening setting in, Smith stopped with goal of continuing his assault at first light. First Assaults That night, Beauregard, whose call for fortifications had been disregarded by Lee, stripped his barriers at Bermuda Hundred to strengthen Petersburg, expanding his powers there to around 14,000. Unconscious of this, Butler stayed inert as opposed to undermining Richmond. In spite of this, Beauregard remained gravely dwarfed as Grants segments started showing up on the field expanding Union solidarity to more than 50,000. Assaulting late in the day with the XVIII, II, and IX Corps, Grants men gradually pushed the Confederates back. Battling proceeded on seventeenth with the Confederates shielding persistently and forestalling a Union forward leap. As the battling seethed, Beauregards engineers started constructing another line of fortresses closer the city and Lee started walking to the battling. Assaults on June 18 increased some ground however were ended at the new line with overwhelming misfortunes. Incapable to propel, the officer of the Army of the Potomac, Major General George G. Meade, requested his soldiers to delve in inverse the Confederates. In four days of battling, Union misfortunes totaled 1,688 killed, 8,513 injured, 1,185 missing or caught, while the Confederates lost around 200 killed, 2,900 injured, 900 missing or caught Moving Against the Railroads Having been halted by the Confederate resistances, Grant started making arrangements for cutting off the three open railways driving into Petersburg. While one ran north to Richmond, the other two, the Weldon Petersburg and Southside, were available to assault. The nearest, the Weldon, ran south to North Carolina and gave an association with the open port of Wilmington. As an initial step, Grant arranged a huge mounted force assault to assault the two railways, while requesting the II and VI Corps to walk on the Weldon. Progressing with their men, Major Generals David Birney and Horatio Wright experienced Confederate soldiers on June 21. The following two days saw them face the Conflict of Jerusalem Plank Road which came about in more than 2,900 Union setbacks and around 572 Confederate. An uncertain commitment, it saw the Confederates hold ownership of the railroad, however Union powers broaden their attack lines. As Lees armed force was essentially littler, any need protract his lines correspondingly debilitated the entirety. Wilson-Kautz Raid As Union powers were flopping in their endeavors to hold onto the Weldon Railroad, a mounted force power drove by Brigadier Generals James H. Wilson and August Kautz hovered south of Petersburg to strike at the railways. Consuming stock and tearing around 60 miles of track, the looters took on conflicts at Staunton River Bridge, Sappony Church, and Reams Station. In the wake of this last battle, they got themselves unfit to forward leap to come back to the Union lines. Thus, the Wilson-Kautz looters had to consume their wagons and crush their firearms before escaping north. Coming back to the Union lines on July 1, the pillagers lost 1,445 men (approx. 25% of the order). A New Plan As Union powers worked against the railways, endeavors of an alternate sort were in progress to break the stop before Petersburg. Among the units in the Union channels was the 48th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry of Major General Ambrose Burnsides IX Corps. Made to a great extent out of previous coal diggers, the men of the 48th concocted an arrangement for getting through the Confederate lines. Seeing that the nearest Confederate stronghold, Elliotts Salient, was a minor 400 feet from their position, the men of the 48th accepted that a mine could be run from their lines under the foe earthworks. When complete, this mine could be stuffed with enough explosives to open a gap in the Confederate lines. The Battle of the Crater This thought was taken advantage of by their boss Lieutenant Colonel Henry Pleasants. A mining engineer in terms of professional career, Pleasants moved toward Burnside with the arrangement contending that the blast would shock the Confederates and would permit Union soldiers to surge in to take the city. Affirmed by Grant and Burnside, arranging pushed ahead and development of the mine started. Envisioning the assault to happen on July 30, Grant requested Major General Winfield S. Hancocks II Corps and two divisions of Major General Philip Sheridans Cavalry Corps north over the James to the Union situation at Deep Bottom. From this position, they were to progress against Richmond with the objective of drawing Confederate soldiers from Petersburg. In the event that this was not practicable, at that point Hancock was to stick the Confederates while Sheridan struck around the city. Assaulting on July 27 and 28, Hancock and Sheridan battled an uncertain activity yet one which prevailing with regards to pulling Confederate soldiers from Petersburg. Having accomplished his target, Grant suspended procedure on the night of July 28. At 4:45 AM on July 30, the charge in the mine was exploded slaughtering in any event 278 Confederate fighters and making a pit 170 feet in length, 60-80 feet wide, and 30 feet down. Propelling, the Union assault before long impeded as a minute ago changes to the arrangement and a fast Confederate reaction destined it to disappointment. By 1:00 PM the battling in the zone finished and Union powers endured 3,793 murdered, injured, and caught, while the Confederates caused around 1,500. As far as it matters for him in the assaults disappointment, Burnside was sacked by Grant and order of IX Corps went to Major General John G. Parke. The Fighting Continues While the different sides were battling in the region of Petersburg, Confederate powers under Lieutenant General Jubal A. Early were effectively battling in the Shenandoah Valley. Progressing from the valley, he won the Battle of Monocacy on July 9 and menaced Washington on July 11-12. Withdrawing, he consumed Chambersburg, PA on July 30. Earlys activities constrained Grant to send VI Corps to Washington to support its resistances. Worried that Grant may move to squash Early, Lee moved two divisions to Culpeper, VA where they would be in position to help either front. Erroneously accepting that this development had incredibly debilitated the Richmond barriers, Grant requested II and X Corps to assault again at Deep Bottom on August 14. In six days of battling, little was accomplished other than compelling Lee to additionally reinforce the Richmond protections. To end the danger presented by Early, Sheridan was dispatched to the valley to head up Union tasks. Shutting the Weldon Railroad While the battling was seething at Deep Bottom, Grant requested Major General Gouverneur K. Warrens V Corps to progress against the Weldon Railroad. Moving out on August 18, they arrived at the railroad at Globe Tavern around 9:00 AM. Assaulted by Confederate powers, Warrens men battled a to and fro fight for three days. At the point when it finished, Warren had prevailing with regards to holding a position straddling the railroad and had connected his strongholds with the primary Union line close to the Jerusalem Plank Road. The Union triumph constrained Lees men to offload supplies from the railroad at Stony Creek and carry them to Petersburg by wagon by means of the Boydton Plank Road. Wishing to forever harm the Weldon Railroad, Grant requested Hancocks tired II Corps to Reams Station to devastate the tracks. Showing up on August 22 and 23, they viably devastated the railroad to inside two miles of Reams Station. Considering the To be nearness as a danger to his line of retreat, Lee arranged Major General A.P. Slope south to crush Hancock. Assaulting on August 25, Hills men prevailing with regards to driving Hancock to withdraw after an extended battle. Through a strategic opposite, Grant was satisfied with the activity as the railroad had been put down and out leaving the Southside as the main track running into Petersburg. (Guide). Battling in the Fall On September 16, while Grant was missing gathering with Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley, Major General Wade Hampton drove th

Friday, August 21, 2020

25 Excuses for Not Writing (And Why Theyre Not Valid)

25 Excuses for Not Writing (And Why Theyre Not Valid) Writers (and those who want to be writers) have tons of excuses for not writing. Im not sure theres any other occupation with quite so many excuses for not working as writing. Everyone from school kids who have to write a term paper to novelists and freelance writers have piles of excuses for not doing the work. Worse, many writers and would-be-writers have convinced themselves that these excuses are valid. While some of them may be valid on a limited basis (if youre sick, injured, or in the middle of some kind of true crisis, for example, you may really not be able to write), most of them are just ways we try to justify our fears, insecurities, or laziness. Theyre nothing but excuses, not legitimate reasons for skipping work. To help you sort out valid from invalid excuses, here are some of the most common excuses writers give for not working and why most of them are garbage. I dont have time Everybodys busy. We all have errands to run, jobs to do, family to take care of, volunteer assignments, and appointments to keep. If everyone was too busy to write, wed never have another book published. If writing is something you want to do, you have to make it a priority. Drop whatever obligations you can get out of, delegate stuff to other people, and let the dishes sit in the sink for a little longer. My family will hate me This excuse comes up on two fronts. The first is that your family will hate you if you use real-life experiences in your work. They wont like seeing themselves in print. And they probably wont. But you can change names and alter events to protect the innocent. If they still get mad, well, you can hope that your royalty checks are enough to shut them up. The second fear is that your family will hate you if you start making writing a priority in your life. They may not get as much time as theyre used to and they might (gasp) have to start doing some more things for themselves. Thats not a bad thing. You can work out compromises as you go along to make sure they dont feel left out. Im too old to start You cant get published if youre over forty. Publishers only want hot young authors who are TV worthy. Or, They wont take a chance on an old guy who wont live to give them thirty books. Sometimes this is (sadly) true. But its even more true that publishers are businesses that want excellent products to sell. If youve got a great story well told or an original non-fiction book, theyll want it, even if youve got one foot in the grave and its the only book youre likely to ever write. Im too young to start Yes, sometimes young authors lack experience and training and that comes through in their work, leading to rejections. But the younger you are when you start the learning process, the longer and more successful your career can be. No one will take me seriously They may not. Your work may be ridiculed and pushed aside. Or it may not. You wont know unless you try. And unless your goal is to be a great literary author or the author of a serious non-fiction book, being taken seriously doesnt matter all that much, anyway. Ive got writers block There is no such thing as writers block. If you cant think of a single thing to put on the page, youve got a very big problem and it probably means youve gone blind, deaf, and mute as well. With everything that goes on around you every day and all that has happened in your life, you should always be able to find something to write about. Whether what you write is good or not is a separate problem, but its not writers block. Itll never be published Maybe not, but is publication the only reason you want to write? Do you want to write because you enjoy it, because you like to tell stories, or because you like to learn new things? If so, so what if you dont get published? Writing is often its own reward and publication is just icing on the cake. I have no talent You may not. Lots of people dont. But anyone can learn to write better. Spend some time in classes and working with a good writers group or mentor. You can get better. It may not be so much a lack of talent as you just dont know the mechanics very well. At least try to improve before you write yourself off as a no-talent hack. Im saving it for when I retire/have more free time/the kids are gone Sure. And something else will always insert itself into that, free time. Besides, what if you drop dead before you can retire, or what if the kids never leave? You have to write now, not put it off to some point in the future that may never come. I dont have any good ideas Ideas are all over the place, you just have to learn how to recognize them and then turn that tiny fragment of an idea into a story or article. Everything that you read, watch, see, hear, or smell has the potential to be a good idea. There are too many interruptions You can move your work area to someplace less distracting like the library. Turn off the phone and refuse to answer the door. Buy some noise-canceling headphones. Turn off your internet connection and email notifications. If the kids wont leave you alone, drop them off at the movies for a couple of hours. Dump them on your spouse for the afternoon and go to the library. Distractions can be managed if youre motivated. I need an MFA before I can write Yes, you might need some more training before your work is publishable. Chances are, though, that you can learn what you need through an extension course or by working with a writers group and by practicing on your own. An MFA is nice, but very few people need one at all, much less need to complete one before they can write at all. After all, if you cant write without it, how are you going to get into the program in the first place? The last thing I wrote was rejected Every writer is rejected. Most of them get rejected a lot. Even writers that are now legends like J.K. Rowling were rejected. Its not always a matter of your work being bad. Sometimes its just that the particular publisher didnt need what youre selling, or that they already have something similar on their list. You have to keep writing and submitting. Theres not a market for what I want to write True, it can be harder to get work published that doesnt fit into an established genre. But someone has to be the first to start a new trend. It could be you. Im too tired and stressed Then get your life under control. Go to bed earlier. Try writing in the morning while youre still fresh. Drop some obligations to reduce your stress. Figure out whats stressing you and then work to eliminate or control it. Exercise to burn off some anger and increase your energy levels. Eat right to keep your overall health in balance. Everyone is tired and stressed but you have to learn how to get things under control so that you can be productive. People will laugh at me They might. Generally, though, most people are too absorbed in themselves to care about what youre doing. And no publisher or agent is going to call you up and laugh at your submission to your face. Theyre too busy to bother laughing at you. Youll just get a polite rejection with no laughter. The whole thing is just too hard If its just too hard to write and go through the process of submitting and revising your work, youre in the wrong line of work. Writing is a job and, like any job, its not easy. If it were easy, wed all be getting six-figure royalty checks. Ill never finish, so why start? This speaks to a problem with completion. Do you finish other things you start? If so, then writing just isnt important enough to you to finish. Think about whether its something you want to do. If you never finish anything, then youve got a bigger problem you have to solve before you can write or do anything else successfully. Regardless, starting is worthwhile because you might discover that this is the one thing you do finish. Id rather be doing something else Then go do it. Writing is either important enough to you that you will forego other activities, or its not. If you dont want to do it, dont. If you want to write, youll put your butt in the chair and do the work. Otherwise youll go to the movies and let other peoples work populate the bookshelves. I dont know how to get published A lot of people dont, but they learn. There are plenty of books and magazines to help you and in the age of the Internet, the answer to any question is one Google away. There are also extension classes dedicated to the publishing process. Write the story or book first, then worry about what comes next. I have nothing new to say If everything on the market had to be 100% original, we could all stop writing right now. There is very little that hasnt already been covered. What matters is how you present your material. Is your voice unique? Do you have a slightly different angle on an old problem? Can you improve on something someone has already done? Im not an expert on anything You dont have to be. You can learn what you need to know as you go along. Sure, publishers like people who are well established in their fields, but you have a chance even if youre not that guy. If you are professional and have something original to say, you can find work. And you can make yourself an expert. Start writing for smaller publications and work your way up. By the time you get to the upper echelon of publications, youll be an expert. Im not web savvy It helps if you know how to set up a blog or website, and if you can promote yourself on Facebook and Twitter. But you can either learn these things as you go along, or hire someone to handle them for you. There are plenty of writers who pay someone to maintain their websites or presence on social media. There are also plenty of writers whove gone to classes to learn about these things. I cant handle failure (or success) And if you never write, you wont have to, now will you? Thats the allure of this excuse. But if you cant handle failure or success in your writing, how can you handle anything that happens to you? Do you freak out if you get promoted at work? Probably not. Are you reduced to despondency if your dinner party doesnt turn out the way you hoped? Probably not. The good news is that failure or success in writing is rarely life-threatening. So your story doesnt get published? You had a good time writing it, didnt you? And you probably werent counting on the money just yet. So try again. And if you succeed, the odds are very low that youll succeed to the point that the paparazzi are camping outside your door and the phone is ringing day and night with people wanting interviews. I work full-time and have to take care of the house/kids/pets, too Again, you need to prioritize your time. Can you write on your lunch hour? Are the kids old enough that they can be dropped at a friends house for a couple of hours? Can they carpool with someone else in their activities once a week so you dont have to drive them? And if you do drive them, can you take your laptop and write while you wait? Do you have a spouse that can pick up some of the work? Can you hire a housekeeper who comes in once a month to deal with the worst of the housework? You have to have time for the things that are important to you, whether its writing or something else. Otherwise youll go bonkers. Figure out how to carve that time out of your schedule. If you find yourself offering up excuse after excuse, it might be time to reevaluate your career choice. You probably shouldnt be a writer. If you really want to write, however, you have to realize that these excuses are just that. Excuses. And theyre probably hiding something else like fear, insecurity, or even something like depression. It may be that you really dont want to be a writer. If you deal with the root problem, your excuses will likely go away. (Image courtesy of Achim Hepp)