The Rite: The Making of a Modern Day Exorcist | Critique

The Rite: The Making of a Modern Day Exorcist | Critique Reading The Rite was an intriguing experience for me since as young as I can recall I have gone to church, so the concept of Lucifer and demons is far from new to me. While reading this book by Matt Baglio the resounding question that crept into my head was what was his purpose for writing this book? There are enough movies out there satiate peoples hunger for exorcisms, I didnt think anything new would come of it, but as I read I realized that Baglios perspective was no ordinary approach. When I read of his account about studying exorcisms I was surprised to hear that there was a University class to textbook study the science which really caught my interest. After doing some research myself I learned that there was a need for Exorcists, and in America alone there should be 200, but we have only 50 in America, so the Vatican created a course for people interested to become Exorcists. I came to learn that Baglios purpose for writing The Rite was to write the truth about Exorcisms and give an accurate representation about them since the media has embellished exorcisms. As I read about Father Gary Thomas under goings I learned that exorcisms often arent accomplished and finished in one fell swoop. Hollywood has put people under the impression that an exorcism is a onetime event that frees the person from a demon in some dramatic and climatic fashion, but that is not how it works. The afflicted individual undergoes numerous exorcisms, resulting in temporary liberations which eventually can cause a demon to flee. Present day that is a screening process that happens before someone is exorcised with psychologists, psychiatrists, therapists involved because the Church has come to realize that a lot of people are mentally afflicted and need help. Another reason Baglio wrote The Rite is to convey the idea of personal responsibility and how it is up to us to make the right choices in our lives. He tries to convey to us the reader that were in control, the free will that w e possess, and how we cannot ignore this concept of evil because evil is real so we cannot simply ignore it. Yet dont let the fear of evil consume you and become obsessed by it. Which leads to Baglios thesis of The Rite which is to diminish fear and to talk about exorcisms in a way that people could put the concept of evil into a theological context. The reader learns throughout the book that demons often exhibit similar behavior when manifesting. Yet sometimes behaviors are unexpected. This is where the array of experiences among the exorcists is especially useful when developing the Churchs and individuals knowledge of the subject matter. Baglio didnt want to over-dramatize anything and give an accurate account. When reading The Rite, I learned that supernatural occurrences happen during exorcisms but that is not a common occurrence and during the writing of The Rite Father Gary did not witness it himself but other exorcists have like stuff flying across rooms, speaking is other tongues, and the afflicted throwing up objects that then liquefy. On one occasion Baglio describes the disparity of experience by different people present at the same exorcism, Dur ing the exorcism, Father Gary had the overwhelming sensation that the room was suffocatingly hot, while the priest from Indianapolis smelled a terrible over-powering stench, (page 149). Its details such as these that Baglio wanted to convey to the reader to give an accurate account to write the truth, but keep it in a theological context while not over-dramatizing the occurrences while still maintaining objectivity. As one reads The Rite its clear that Baglio is a serious journalist as he examines what popular culture takes as truth and corrects misconceptions. As well, he thoroughly examines many of the questions that occur to any logical person when faced with the idea of demons and possession in modern times. To this end, he interviews psychologist, doctors, and other specialists for information. All of this is told without ever inserting himself into the book which allows the focus to stay on the subject and on Father Gary, whose journey yielded spiritual growth in several ways. That is what Baglio is trying to convey. One of the main observations I made while reading The Rite is the concept of trying to be a good person which Baglio conveys relies heavily on the choices you make as an individual. Baglios accounting of the information from classes amounts to a brief catechism of Church teachings about anything to do with this subject including among other things angels, free will, Gods power, and human ailments. As a priest, Father Gary learns that one must be understanding and forgiving. While its technically true that any priest can perform an exorcism, not every priest should. Guideline thirteen of the Ritual states that the bishop can only nominate a priest who is distinguished in piety, learning, prudence, and integrity of life. In addition, The priest [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] should carry out this work of charity confidently and humbly under the guidance of the Ordinary, (page 72). We as the reader get a peek into the mind and teachings of an exorcist and even though an Exorcist can perform exorcism s as they please, they learn just how sacred and important undergoing such an act can be, and they must remain humble and understanding of a situation before they move forward and perform the exorcism. A second observation I made while reading The Rite is how Baglio goes about to shed light on the truth about Exorcisms. The Rite helps us realize just how thoroughly our popular notions of exorcism have been fashioned via cinema and fiction. Exorcisms often arent accomplished in one fell swoop. Instead, the process may take years of repeated encounters and prayers and this surprises some, People dont understand what we do, says Father Gramolazzo. People come to see us expecting to be healed right away. [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] Instead, as Father Gramolazzo explains, exorcism is more akin to a journey, with the exorcist acting as a kind of spiritual director helping the victim to rediscover the grace of God through prayer and the sacraments [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] Getting people to see it this way is not always easy for the exorcist. Half the battle is to change their whole purpose so they dont see it in the light of getting rid of a problem, but see it in the light of being more fully converted or being converted at all, says English exorcist Father Jeremy Davies, (page 167). Baglios work examines pop-culture misconceptions-about exorcism, demons, the church and more-by countering them with probing questions to psychologists, doctors, and other specialists; and the focus remains well-centered on Father Thomas, and the spiritual growth that the priest has experienced in his journey. The third observation I made is the fact that a person or exorcist is still unsure and not one hundred percent convinced about everything occurring throughout The Rite; that the doubt and skepticism still exists. While reading, we can notice that in Father Gary Thomas, and how there is still a lot of mystery about the matter; how suspicion grows about the people who are one hundred percent certain about the exorcisms. The exorcists are just like a guy and they hope what God is doing is real but they just rely on faith and leave it to God. This book relates to Anthropology 55 in many ways. As we reviewed earlier there is no uniform anthropological theory of religion and Baglio states that the concept of demons, exorcisms, and the afterlife date back to the dawn of time. This concept is not new and is applicable across all faiths. This plays a factor as to why there cannot be a uniformed anthropological theory of religion. As well everything we see and touch, feel and experience is only one path. There is an unknown but we cannot reach it or channel it. That is where exorcisms come into play, and studying that can help anthropologist better understand religion. The exorcist acts as a medium, the middle point to help exorcise the demons which we cannot channel or sense. Studying exorcists and exorcisms can help anthropologist better understand the concept of faith because the study of exorcism is not a science but also plays heavily on faith, so it is not something everyone can learn. Exorcisms can also be defined as rit uals and the reasons why we practice rituals can be applied as to why people study and practice exorcising. When they feel they have tempted fate, to diminish negative feelings, and bring about a sense of peace and comfort. Rituals are beneficial for helping us feel a sense of peace and familiarity in a world where we can feel very unfamiliar with and have a hard time maintaining our sense of peace. Since exorcisms can be called a ritual since rituals and exorcisms share many traits they can relate back to anthropology. The Rite helped me better understand the concept of demons and other worldly supernatural phenomena. I use to be a Christian due to my parents when I was younger but when I came of age and could make my own decisions about my life I questioned a lot of Churchs teachings. Reading Baglios book gave a much-appreciated insight into the life of an Exorcist because I doubted that what was portrayed in film was what occurred in real life, more so I thought that the concept of exorcising was an old-world practice and wasnt taught and executed today. Contrary to what I believed reading Baglios book showed me otherwise. Bibliography Baglio, Matt. The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist. New York: Image , 2010. Print.

The Cold War Continues: From Joseph Stalin to Vladimir Putin Essay

"Nobody and nothing will stop Russia..." -- Vladimir Putin In March of 2014 Russia invaded Ukraine, unleashing a maddening flurry of concern across the world. Originally the concern was how to defend Crimea Ukraine from Putin’s forces, however, the concern has since changed. Seemingly overnight, Putin managed to worm his troops into Crimea, and dominate part of Ukraine. But where does this expansion of power end? Trying to delegate and monitor a power-hungry politician is now the focus of nearly every government in the Western world. In an article written by The Guardian’s Ian Traynor, it states that Putin has declared that if he wanted to, â€Å"Russian forces could conquer Ukrainian capital in two weeks.† This amount of confidence is highly unnerving considering Russia’s track record on simply showing up and invading a country seemingly out of nowhere. That specific action and behavior has been associated with Russian leader Joseph Stalin during the Cold war, and now is a continuous and growing concern with Vlad imir Putin. Vladimir Putin’s aggressive actions toward the western world, specifically Ukraine, is inspired by the steps Joseph Stalin took during his rise to power by developing a cult mentality, using brute force to invade countries such as Greece and Turkey, and issuing threats to all countries who disagreed with his expansion of power and communism during the Cold War. It was Stalin’s increasing aggression towards Europe and the United during the Cold War that made him one of the most feared and unpredictable individuals at that time. Today, Putin is exhibiting identical behavior by following in Stalin’s footsteps and is issuing threats in addition to ignoring what Europe and the United States has to say. At the ... ...5788398/2D5751C189D04504PQ/10?accountid=14902 Ian Traynor, â€Å"Putin claims Russian forces ‘could conquer Ukraine capital in two weeks.’† The Guardian, September 2, 2014. Web. 5 May 2015. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/02/putin-russian-forces-could-conquer-ukraine-capital-kiev-fortnight Julie A. Cassiday, Emily D. Johnson, â€Å"Putin, Putiniana and the Question of a Post-Soviet Cult of Personality,† The Slavonic and Eastern European Review 88 (2010): 680-707. Kennedy-Pipe, Caroline. Stalin’s Cold War: Soviet Strategies in Europe, 1943 to 1956. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1995. Robert Skidelsky, â€Å"In Ukraine, Putin may be accelerating his own demise.† The Daily Star Lebanon, September 3, 2014. Web. 5 May 2015. http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/Commentary/2014/Sep-03/269383-in-ukraine-putin-may-be-accelerating-his-own-demise.ashx#axzz3COhHc9EU

Urban Farming in New York

Ilona Mukhisnova ENG 1101 10/22/2012 Prof. Alatriste Home Paper #2 – Argumentative Essay Urban Farming for Providing NYC with a Sustainable Food System ?Nowadays, a life in a huge megalopolis like New York can be very advantageous for a person in things like an easy access to business, culture, politics, and entertainment. However, live in the big city can has its own negative sides. Scott Stringer, in the report â€Å"Food NYC: A Blueprint for Sustainable Food System† points out serious nutrition and pollution issues in the city.Indeed, there are a lot of problems that New Yorkers have to face with, but a lack of â€Å"affordable and healthy† food is one of things that the City’s residents suffer most from. The report contains ideas and recommendations that New York can adopt to â€Å"balance health, economic, and environmental needs. † According to the report, it could be reached by changing processes of producing and consumption of food such as t he use of efficient and energy-saving technologies which may lead to reducing NYC’s GHG emissions.I think that sustainable food system could be developed by means of promotion of local agriculture and encouraging residents and businesses to consume locally produced food. ?There are a lot of problems that make the developing of local agriculture in the city difficult. One of such problems is the high CO2 production. In his report, Stringer says that â€Å"the city has committed to reducing its GHG emissions by 30 percent by the year 2030,† if it sticks to Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC initiative.However, a lot of people think that it’s really a low percentage of improvements for almost twenty-year period, but I believe that it’s way better than no improving at all, and that there’s some other ways to improve the environmental situation the city. One of the ways to reduce such problems as CO2 emission is to increase the number of parks and gardens in the city. According to Stringer’s report, some people consider gardens as â€Å"a transitional use of land, available until the land is ready for urban development. I find this point of view wrong, as these green oases in the middle of the concrete jungles help to keep our city healthier by both â€Å"absorb[ing] carbon through photosynthesis† and, thus, preserving the environment and being a place for community activities. Lubie Grujicic-Alatriste, the author of the article â€Å"New York City Community Gardens Are in Full Bloom,† says community gardens â€Å"bring so much needed relief from urban pollution. I agree with the author’s view that local residents’ help in maintaining community gardens are one of the best examples of people’s efforts to save the green â€Å"plots of land,† and this, most importantly, can help decrease the negative impacts of food sector. ?One of the biggest stoppers of developing urban agriculture in New York City is a lack of available for gardening and farming lands. In a built-up city like New York, the demand on land is great.There are some groups of people such as construction companies who are against securing the City’s land for agriculture purposes. They all need land for developing new projects and getting large profit. I think the City Government should create proper legislation to regulate the City’s land use and protect existing parks and gardens from being replaced with buildings. Also, the land demand keeps the prices on land extremely high, what makes it difficult to do business by growing fruits and vegetables; farms’ profits not always can cover the costs of production.Danielle Sonnenberg writes in her article â€Å"Interest Grows in Urban Farms: City’s Green Movement Has Ear of Wall Street† that â€Å"real estate costs are high†, and that the City and community organizations should increase the interest of Wall Street to invest in urban farming. The author points out that agriculture companies like NewSeed Advisors and Gotham Greens find urban farming profitable. Examples of these companies show that projects like hydroponic greenhouse are actually â€Å"commercially viable. That makes Wall Street consider urban farming as a good source of investment. All of the above reasons bring us to the point that we should consider new ways of city farming. According to the â€Å"Food NYC†, urban agricultural growth may be achieved by considering opportunities of using of â€Å"underutilized spaces, such as rooftops, basements, or warehouses. † In the article â€Å"Huge Rooftop Farm is Set for Brooklyn†, which appeared in the New York Times on April 5th, 2012, the author (Lisa W.Foderato) tells about a new project of â€Å"Bright Farms, a private company that develop greenhouses,† the world’s largest rooftop farm in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. The farm is going to work on the hydroponic technology, – â€Å"vegetables are [going to be] grown in water rather than soil. † Rooftop farms are not a novelty for New York: there are already farms in Long Island City, the Greenpoint, etc. Thus, the development of alternative urban farms may encourage city residents to consume locally produced food.The supporting and developing untraditional type of urban farming will bring affordable fresh produce to the City’s counters. Locally produced food with the use of modern technology can improve the overall health of the City’s population, lower the food’s costs, and reduce negative environmental impact. Securing the land for parks and gardens use can also improve NYC environment. Promoting urban agriculture and encouraging residents to consume locally produced food can help the City Government to provide New Yorkers with sustainable food system.

Morality and Utilitarianism Essay

Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that holds that an action is right if it produces, or if it tends to produce, the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of people affected by the action. Otherwise the action is wrong. This cost-benefit analysis is a form of utility calculation. People in business theory use utility curves to plot the results of various actions, choosing those that maximize whatever it is that they wish to achieve. This utility approach is not foreign to most people. It is widely used in many forms of general decision making and can be applied to moral issues as well as to strictly business issues. A defense of utilitarianism as an ethical theory is that it describes what rational people actually do in making moral decisions. It explicitly formulates for them the procedures they intuitively and spontaneously use in moral reasoning. The theory renders explicit what is implicit in the ordinary moral reasoning and argumentation that we ourselves use Utilitarianism adopts a teleological approach to ethics and claims that actions are to be judged by their consequences. According to this view, actions are not good or bad in themselves. Actions take on moral value only when considered in conjunction with the effects that follow upon them. ACT AND RULE UTILITARIANISM Act utilitarianism holds that each individual action, in all its concreteness and in all its detail, is what should be subjected to the utilitarian test. Rule utilitarians hold that utility applies appropriately to classes of actions rather than to given individual actions. Thus, by looking at the general consequences of breaking contracts in the past, we can determine that breaking contracts is immoral. OBJECTIONS TO UTILITARIANISM One objection claims that utilitarianism is ungodly because it proposes utility, rather than the Bible or God, as a basis for moral judgments. A second objection frequently brought against utilitarianism is that no one has the time to calculate all the consequences of an action beforehand. A third objection to utilitarianism is that we cannot know the full results of any action, nor can we accurately weigh the different kinds of good and evil that result. The calculation is artificial and not practical. APPLYING UTILITARIANISM 1. Accurately state the action to be evaluated. 2. Identify all those who are directly and indirectly affected by the action. 3. Consider whether there is some dominant, obvious consideration that carries such importance as to outweigh other considerations. 4. Specify all the pertinent good and bad consequences of the action for those directly affected, as far into the future as appears appropriate, and imaginatively consider various possible outcomes and the likelihood of their occurring. 5. Weigh the total good results against the total bad results, considering quantity, duration, propinquity or remoteness, fecundity, and purity for each value (kind of good and kind of bad), and the relative importance of these values. 6. Carry out a similar analysis, if necessary, for those indirectly affected, as well as for society as a whole. 7. Sum up all the good and bad consequences. If the action produces more good than bad, the action is morally right; if it produces more bad than good, it is morally wrong. 8. Consider, imaginatively, whether there are various alternatives other than simply doing or not doing the action, and carry out a similar analysis for each of the other alternative actions. 9. Compare the results of the various actions. The action that produces the most good (or the least bad, if none produces more good than bad) among those available is the morally proper action to perform UTILITARIANISM AND BRIBERY Bribery in business is an interesting kind of action to examine from a utilitarian point of view, because those who engage in bribery frequently justify their actions based on something similar to utilitarian grounds. Utilitarianism, far from being a self-serving approach to moral issues, demands careful, objective, and impartial evaluation of consequences. It is a widely used—but often misused—approach to moral evaluation. A powerful tool of moral reasoning, it is a technique well worth mastering. CASE SUMMARIES An Airplane Manufacturing Case An airplane manufacturer has spent a great deal of money developing a new airplane. The company badly needs cash because it is financially overextended. If it does not get some large orders soon, it will have to close down part of its operation. Doing that will put several thousand workers out of jobs. The president of the company bribes a foreign minister to insure the purchase of the planes, arguing that the good done overall justifies the use of bribery.

Refutation Definition and Examples

Refutation Definition and Examples In rhetoric, refutation is the part of an argument in which a speaker or writer counters opposing points of view. Also called  confutation. Refutation is the key element in debate, say the authors of The Debaters Guide   (2011). Refutation makes the whole process exciting by relating ideas and arguments from one team to those of the other (The Debaters Guide, 2011). In speeches, refutation and confirmation are often presented conjointly with one another (in the words of the unknown author of Ad Herrenium): support for a claim (confirmation) can be enhanced by a challenge to the validity of an opposing claim (refutation). In classical rhetoric, refutation was one of the rhetorical exercises known as the  progymnasmata. Examples and Observations Refutation is the part of an essay that disproves the opposing arguments. It is always necessary in a persuasive paper to refute or answer those arguments. A good method for formulating your refutation is to put yourself in the place of your readers, imagining what their objections might be. In the exploration of the issues connected with your subject, you may have encountered possible opposing viewpoints in discussions with classmates or friends. In the refutation, you refute those arguments by proving the opposing basic proposition untrue or showing the reasons to be invalid...In general, there is a question about whether the refutation should come before or after the proof. The arrangement will differ according to the particular subject and the number and strength of the opposing arguments. If the opposing arguments are strong and widely held, they should be answered at the beginning. In this case, the refutation becomes a large part of the proof . . .. At other times when the opp osing arguments are weak, the refutation will play only a minor part in the overall proof. -Winifred Bryan Horner, Rhetoric in the Classical Tradition. St. Martins, 1988 Indirect and Direct Refutation Debaters refute through an indirect means when they use counter-argument to attack the case of an opponent. Counter-argument is the demonstration of such a high degree of probability for your conclusions that the opposing view loses its probability and is rejected...Direct refutation attacks the arguments of the opponent with no reference to the constructive development of an opposing view...The most effective refutation, as you can probably guess, is a combination of the two methods so that the strengths of the attack come from both the destruction of the opponents views and the construction of an opposing view. -Jon M. Ericson, James J. Murphy, and Raymond Bud Zeuschner,  The Debaters Guide, 4th ed. Southern Illinois University Press, 2011An effective refutation must speak directly to an opposing argument. Often writers or speakers will claim to be refuting the opposition, but rather than doing so directly, will simply make another argument supporting their own side. This is a fo rm of the fallacy of irrelevance through evading the issue. -Donald Lazere,  Reading and Writing for Civic Literacy: The Critical Citizens Guide to  Argumentative Rhetoric. Taylor Francis, 2009 Cicero on Confirmation and Refutation [T]he statement of the case . . . must clearly point out the question at issue. Then must be conjointly built up the great bulwarks of your cause, by fortifying your own position, and weakening that of your opponent; for there is only one effectual method of vindicating your own cause, and that includes both the confirmation and refutation. You cannot refute the opposite statements without establishing your own; nor can you, on the other hand, establish your own statements without refuting the opposite; their union is demanded by their nature, their object, and their mode of treatment. The whole speech is, in most cases, brought to a conclusion by some amplification of the different points, or by exciting or mollifying the judges; and every aid must be gathered from the preceding, but more especially from the concluding parts of the address, to act as powerfully as possible upon their minds, and make them zealous converts to your cause. -Cicero, De Oratore, 55 BC Richard Whately on Refutation Refutation of Objections should generally be placed in the midst of the Argument; but nearer the beginning than the end. If indeed very strong objections have obtained much currency, or have been just stated by an opponent, so that what is asserted is likely to be regarded as paradoxical, it may be advisable to begin with a Refutation. -Richard Whately, Elements of Rhetoric, 1846)​ FCC Chairman William Kennards Refutation There will be those who say Go slow. Dont upset the status quo. No doubt we will hear this from competitors who perceive that they have an advantage today and want regulation to protect their advantage. Or we will hear from those who are behind in the race to compete and want to slow down deployment for their own self-interest. Or we will hear from those that just want to resist changing the status quo for no other reason than change brings less certainty than the status quo. They will resist change for that reason alone. So we may well hear from a whole chorus of naysayers. And to all of them, I have only one response: we cannot afford to wait. We cannot afford to let the homes and schools and businesses throughout America wait. Not when we have seen the future. We have seen what high capacity broadband can do for education and for our economy. We must act today to create an environment where all competitors have a fair shot at bringing high capacity bandwidth to consumers- especial ly residential consumers. And especially residential consumers in rural and underserved areas. -William Kennard, Chairman of the FCC, July 27, 1998 Etymology: From the Old English, beat Pronunciation: REF-yoo-TAY-shun

Overnight Success

Overnight Success â€Å"One press account said I was an overnight success. I thought that was the longest night Ive ever spent.†Ã‚   – Sandra Cisneros Lannan Literary Award for Fiction MacArthur Fellowship American Book Awards Anisfield-Wolf Book Award Im not whats considered a huge, box-office or New York Times Bestseller success, but I do fairly well for myself as a writer and novelist. Ive found a comfort zone in balancing my craft, business, and family. Every so often, someone whos just discovered me asks how I became successful. I can give them the twenty-year version with all its twists, turns, sidesteps and walls, or the blurb about being diligent and ever trying to improve. Someone invariably says I was lucky. Someone will tell me FundsforWriters opened doors for my books, which the average person doesnt have. Some wonder who I knew who gave me a leg up. Some say I must be healthy, not have family problems, or not have to really work outside writing to pay the bills. So many think what I have cannot be achieved And I completely disagree. When writers begin writing, they are accountable to no one but themselves, writing in secret. When they begin publishing, they earn some small degree of spotlight but it will at some time feel its not worth the effort. When they publish regularly, readers suddenly learn their name. Those writers are new blips on readers radar, and No writer is an overnight success. Discovery helps to a certain degree: discovery So when you are tempted to say someone was an overnight success, check yourself. Its almost disrespectful. Writers, as well as entrepreneurs, actors, athletes, and academics, travel a long road to reach success. And you are not excluded from that potential for yourself. Take count of your efforts in the year going out, then project how to improve them in the new. Sometimes thats all it takes . . . the acceptance that every foot in front of the other needs to be uphill, with each year a stronger, more focused journey than the one before. The beginning of overnight success.

Sample Letter of Recommendation for an Internal Promotion

Sample Letter of Recommendation for an Internal Promotion SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Beyond helping someone get an initial hire, recommendation letters can also go a long way toward assisting someone with an internal promotion. If the promotion involves moving into a position of leadership, then a great rec letter from a supervisor or colleague can be useful in showing that the candidate's ready to move up. In this sample reference, a supervisor recommends that a Customer Experience Advisor at a glasses company move into the position of Team Lead. Read on to see how the supervisor frames her letter. Sample Letter #5: Written by a Supervisor for an Internal Promotion Zachary ParkerDirector of Customer RelationsLark Lenses102 Charles St.Boston, MA 02114 Dear Zachary Parker, It’s my pleasure to provide this recommendation for Alex as she pursues the Customer Experience Team Lead position with Lark Lenses. As her supervisor on the customer service team for the past three years, I’ve worked closely with Alex on a day-to-day basis. I'm confident that Alex is ready to transition into a leadership position. Please allow me to give three examples of Alex’s qualifications for this promotion. First, Alex embodies our â€Å"customer-centric† philosophy and delivers an extraordinary shopping and ownership experience to our clients. She has impressed me with her warmth, wisdom, and kindness online, over the phone, and in person. A few months ago, for example, she spent an hour consoling a woman who was going through a tough time. The customer has since bought several glasses from us and referred friends and family members who have done the same. Alex builds strong relationships with customers and strengthens our business in the long term. Outstanding support is a cornerstone of our business model, and Alex consistently provides that service as a Customer Experience Advisor. Second, Alex has an in-depth knowledge of our products and operating procedures. After three years on the support team, she’s dealt with a variety of issues and understands the day-to-day operations and big picture aims of our business. She can solve problems fast and has introduced several new initiatives for improvement. Recently, she began working on a new framework to facilitate communication between the support team and the product team. Alex is improving the delivery of case notes from support representatives to product designers. She uses her in-depth knowledge to drive innovation. Third, Alex has shown leadership skills throughout her time with Lark Lenses. Her colleagues recognize her as an expert in all things support, and they often go to her with questions. In the past year, she’s helped with the onboarding of several new employees, assisting with training and checking in weekly to discuss their progress. Since new employee onboarding will be a large part of her role as Customer Experience Team Lead, Alex has already proven her capability in this arena. I know that she has her colleagues’ support in stepping into the role of team leader. Alex has proven her expertise in customer relations time and time again, and she is ready to move into a position of team leadership. She is capable, confident, and committed to our mission of extraordinary support. I look forward to seeing her in the position of Customer Experience Team Lead with Lark Lenses. Thank you very much. Please feel free to get in touch with any questions. Sincerely, Lucie WarbyCustomer Experience ManagerLark Lenseslwarby@larklenses.com617-729-5555 // Based on this letter, Alex sounds like the kind of warm, understanding person who wouldn't judge you if you were shopping for eyeglasses for your dog. Recommendation Letter 5: The Breakdown While you may write a letter for someone seeking external employment, you might also get tasked with producing a letter in support of an employee seeking an internal promotion. In this case, you should focus on why the candidate is the right person to move up in the company. How has she proven her capabilities in terms of both her professional skills and connections with her coworkers? In this letter, Lucie Warby expresses her support for Alex’s promotion from Customer Experience Adviser to Customer Experience Team Lead. She focuses on three main strengths: Alex’s customer service, her knowledge and innovative ideas, and her leadership skills among her colleagues. Lucie discusses Alex’s success as a support representative and the reasons she’s ready to move into a position of leadership. To give a few specifics, Lucie mentions Alex’s supportive conversation with a distraught customer. She also talks about her project to deliver case notes from the support team to the design team. // Finally, Lucie mentions how Alex has helped train new employees, a responsibility that would be a large part of her job as team lead. From Lucie’s portrayal, it’s clear that Alex has already started to move beyond the parameters of her current job and take on a leadership role. As a supervisor within the same company, Lucie’s high opinion of Alex’s work would hold a lot of weight. She knows the company and can speak realistically to Alex’s fit with the new position. By stating that Alex already has the support of her team, Lucie further proves that Alex could be the right choice for Customer Experience Team Lead. This letter uses strong, positive language and specific examples to support Alex as she applies for an internal promotion with Lark Lenses. What's Next? Ready for another sample? Check out this letter written by a supervisor for a student intern! // Are you looking for even more samples of recommendation letters for jobs? Head over to our main article for eight more samples and tips on how to write great reference letters. Want to provide a strong recommendation for your employee, but don't have the time to craft the perfect letter? PrepScholar's new recommendation tool, SimpleRec, takes you from good intentions and a blank page to a fully written and formatted letter of recommendation in under 5 minutes. All you need to do is give us some simple pieces of information about your employee and your experience working with them, and we'll do the rest. Try out SimpleRec risk-free today: