Tutor profile: Rudy R.

What are important principles a writer should both understand and possess before beginning any college-level writing assignment?

In order for a writer to provide an intellectual landscape that both appeals to and retains an audience's attention throughout the entirety of a respective composition, the writer should rely on three core writing principles -- clarity, brevity, and passion. As Stephen King stated in his memoir entitled On Writing, "Description begins in the writer’s imagination but should finish in the reader’s."

What were the effects of the Napoleonic Wars on the balance of power in Europe, evening going into the 20th century?

A major effect of the Napoleonic Wars was the rise of German Nationalism among the various separate German states, which led to the rise of a unified and formidable German Empire. During the Napoleonic Wars, German states such as Bavaria and Saxony sided with Napoleon's army to defeat the Coalition armies, which included the German State of Prussia. As a result, these endless and brutal wars created a sentiment among the German states that rather than fight each other, they should unite as one Volk (people). Following the dissolution of Napoleon's empire in 1815, the German states began the process of unifying, which became more palpable in the 1830s. From that point onwards, a German nation led by the preeminent state of Prussia played a pivotal role in affecting the balance of power in Europe. Led by the likes of Otto Von Bismarck and Kaiser Wilhelm II, this unified German State would challenge fellow European rivals Great Britain and France, and this would inevitably lead to the catastrophic war known as World War 1.

With the landmark Supreme Court decision in the 1896 case of Plessy v Ferguson essentially permitting segregation to persist in post-Civil War America, what were some of the effects this decision had on the country in the years that followed?

Racial tensions from this historic decision were exacerbated. Despite the passage of the 13th-15th amendments some 30 years prior, racism in the form of segregation in all facets of American life persisted for African-Americans. From being disallowed to own property within certain confines of a city or enjoying a meal at the town diner with people of different races, African-Americans were barred from indulging in the daily leisures much of us in contemporary times take for granted. A few examples of this inhumane treatment were evident with the widespread lynching of WW1 African-American veterans and the Tulsa Massacre of 1921.