dream library essay

Simone and Her Books

An exploration through sci-fi, fantasy, and romance books

My Dream Library

The other day, my friend Emma and I were on our way to Ojai county and we got to talking. I posed the question “if you were gifted a billion dollars tomorrow, what would you do with it?” It was a good question to ask for a long car ride and Emma definitely had some great ideas. I had my own as well, but the one we both agreed on is having an amazing library.

I kept thinking about it and the dream library is something many book lovers want. Many people already have their dream library in their own home, while others like me are still just dreaming.

When I think about my library, the main components are ease, comfort, and relaxation. I want a room surrounded by books with lots of good light and maybe even some music quietly playing in the corner. Here’s my requirements for a wonderful library:

A coffee maker and hot water maker

My biggest accompaniments with books is tea or coffee. I love a warm drink while I’m reading and I need to have a coffee maker or a hot water maker in the room. I wouldn’t have a lot of food in my room (maybe some hidden snacks in fake books), but drinks are most definitely important. I would love a little tea set or a french press for making coffee. I don’t want anything too complicated or make too much of a mess, but I would love to remove that extra step going to the kitchen and getting more.

Cushy chairs and a couch

Not only would I want a cushy chair, but I want a full on couch. I basically want my library to be a second living room, but maybe without a TV. I want plants and I want a big couch that I can take naps on and read on and just live on. Cushy chairs and comfy couches are super important to anyone who sits on their butt all day and reads.

Bookish wall hangings

I think one of the most special things I want to do for my library is have some beautiful wall hangings. Either it’s posters of some of my favorite stories, or even a framed picture of my favorite indie bookstore bookmarks. I would love my wall hangings to be memories and souvenirs I’ve picked up while I’ve gone to different bookstores. I might even have a shelf just for my souvenir cups and mugs.

Bookshelves

Well, of course there needs to be bookcases and shelves in a library. For my shelves, I actually don’t like tall cases. I think it’s because I can’t see what’s on the top shelf and I love decorating the top of my cases with fun little tidbits. I love Funko dolls, little statues, and anything that makes the room feel a little more lived in. I like shelves that aren’t taller than me because then there’s room to fit pieces on the walls. I would probably also do some floating shelves of books or even for plants and other finds.

A big old window

I’m not a fan of window seats because they’re mostly uncomfortable for me. I’d much prefer sitting in a nice chair or a comfy couch to read. However, I absolutely love the big window with tons of light. Reading light is always important and while I would have some floor lamps and some overhead lighting, I would love to have big windows to let the light in and make it fun to read during the day.

What would be in your dream library?

11 thoughts on “ My Dream Library ”

I’d take a really, really comfortable window seat, a way to make tea, blankets, pillows, a ton of natural light and a dog by my side 🙂

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Yup! I love all of that too!

You have it all well thought out! Love the idea. As it is I have thousands of books but not enough room to put them all on bookshelves – I have a number of bookshelves filled with books but most of my books are boxed up -filling up my basement. To have them all in one or two big rooms all shelved and together- sorted out by subjects etc.. would be a dream!!

It’s most definitely the ultimate dream!

A snack bar 🙂

The snacks in fake books is a marvelous idea. You should do it now. I think I will. Haha. My dream library would be just a big airy room with lots of windows, the bookshelves, a chandelier and a fireplace….

OMG I would love a fireplace too. Or one of those fake fireplaces just to give it that ambience.

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This sounds like such a dream library! Sometimes I just think about the library at the Beast’s castle and sigh wistfully. Someday.

My dream library would pretty similar, except TONS OF PLANTS. Plants everywhere, but especially pothos plants so they can just vine out everywhere.

OMG YES! I would most definitely have plants!

Love this list and the fact that you spent so much time dreaming it up. You definitely hit on some important “musts” for my dream library: cushy chairs/couch, hot water/coffee maker and lots of natural light. I’d also definitely include a big fireplace like Jane mentioned, as well as fuzzy blankets, plants, and some hidden speakers to pipe in the sound of thunderstorms. 🙂

Dreaming and the brain: from phenomenology to neurophysiology

1 Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53719

Giulio Tononi

Associated data.

Dreams are a most remarkable experiment in psychology and neuroscience, conducted every night in every sleeping person. They show that our brain, disconnected from the environment, can generate by itself an entire world of conscious experiences. Content analysis and developmental studies have furthered our understanding of dream phenomenology. In parallel, brain lesion studies, functional imaging, and neurophysiology have advanced our knowledge of the neural basis of dreaming. It is now possible to start integrating these two strands of research in order to address some fundamental questions that dreams pose for cognitive neuroscience: how conscious experiences in sleep relate to underlying brain activity; why the dreamer is largely disconnected from the environment; and whether dreaming is more closely related to mental imagery or to perception.

Contemporary dream research

Although dreams have fascinated us since the dawn of time, their rigorous, scientific study is a recent development[ 1 – 4 ] ( Supplementary Fig. 1 ). In The interpretation of dreams [ 5 ] Freud predicted that “Deeper research will one day trace the path further and discover an organic basis for the mental event.” Recent work, which we review in this article, begins to fulfill Freud s prediction.

The study of dreams is a formidable task, because dream consciousness is only accessible via report rather than direct observation ( Box 1 ) and because it is difficult to manipulate dream content experimentally, whether by exposure to stimuli before[ 6 , 7 ] or during sleep[ 7 , 8 ]. Therefore, it is difficult to predict the contents of specific dreams[ 9 ], and most modern dream research tries to relate neuronal activity retrospectively to dream form rather than dream content, i.e. to focus on properties of all dreams rather than to investigate the neural correlates of a particular dream. Yet, as we shall see, encouraging progress has been made in relating the phenomenology of dreams to underlying brain activity, and to studies of brain damage and development.

BOX 1Can reports be trusted to accurately convey internal experiences in sleep?

Do dream reports obtained by awakening a sleeping subject accurately convey subjective experiences in sleep? At one extreme, we could be fully conscious throughout sleep but remember dreams well, little, or not at all depending on the brain state when we are awakened. Indeed, we know that dreaming often goes unreported – some people claim they rarely dream, but systematic awakenings in sleep labs have revealed that we greatly underestimate how often and how much we are conscious during sleep. On the other hand, neurological patients who report loss of dreaming are no more likely to have memory disorders than those who report dreaming[ 22 ], suggesting that lack of dream reports indeed reflects lack of experience rather than changes in memory alone. Further studies may illuminate this issue since, for example, memory-related regions in the medial temporal lobe are highly active in REM sleep ( Fig. 1 ).

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Meta-analysis of relative increases and decreases in neuronal activity during REM sleep as seen with PET imaging using H2 15 O measurements of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) [ 15 , 16 , 19 ] or [ 18 F]-flurodeoxyglucose measurements of glucose metabolism[ 17 ]. Top row: cortical surface, lateral view. Middle row: cortical surface, medial view. Bottom row: subcortical foci (left) and ventral view of cortical surface (right). Analysis is based on published Talairach coordinates of foci whose activity was significant at p<0.001 corrected (Z-score > 3.09). Circles, squares, triangles, and stars denote activity foci as reported by [ 15 ] (Maquet 96), [ 16 ] (Braun 97), [ 17 ] (Nofzinger 97), and [ 19 ] (Maquet 2000), respectively. Each symbol marks a region’s center-of-mass regardless of its spatial extent. Yellow symbols denote increased regional activity in the (1) mesopontine tegmentum and midbrain nuclei, (2) thalamus, (3) basal forebrain and diencephalic structures, (4) limbic MTL structures including amygdala and hippocampus, (5) medial prefrontal cortex, (6) occipito-temporal visual cortex, and (7) anterior cingulate cortex. Cyan symbols denote decreased activity in the (8) orbitofrontal cortex, (9) posterior cingulate and precuneus, (10) dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and (11) inferior parietal cortex.

At the other extreme, one could claim that we are unconscious throughout sleep and merely have a tendency to confabulate during the transition into wakefulness. While such a claim is hard to refute conclusively (just as it is hard to prove conclusively that one is not a zombie when awake), it seems highly implausible; when one has just experienced a vivid dream, it seems hard to believe that it was made up in a flash during an awakening. Indeed, (a) the estimated time in dream report correlates well with the time elapsed in REM sleep before awakening[ 62 ]; and (b) in REM sleep behavior disorder (where muscle atonia is disrupted), movements seem to match the reported dream[ 113 ].

Reports obtained upon awakenings from deep NREM sleep are more difficult to evaluate because of disorientation associated with increased sleep inertia[ 114 ]. However, some evidence indicates that indeed dream consciousness can occur in NREM sleep and does not merely reflect recalls of earlier REM sleep dreams[ 59 ]: (a) It is sometimes possible to influence dream content by sounds delivered in NREM sleep, and to “tag” NREM reports[ 59 ], (b) Some NREM parasomnias (sleep talking, sleep terrors) correspond to reported dream experiences[ 115 ], and (c) “Full-fledged” dreams are sometimes reported upon awakening from the first NREM episode, before any REM sleep occurred [ 59 , 66 ], and even in naps consisting of only NREM sleep[ 67 ].

Nevertheless, it is worth keeping in mind that several factors may render dream reports less trustworthy when compared to reports of waking experience, including: (a) a dramatic state change, since we report about a sleep experience when awake; (b) considerable time delay, since dream reports are obtained after the experience, possibly leading to passive forgetting and interference; (c) difficulties in verbally describing experiences that are mainly visual and emotional; and (d) censorship of embarrassing, immoral, sexual and aggressive material.

Phenomenology of dreams and their relation to brain activity

The level and nature of our conscious experience varies dramatically in sleep. During slow wave sleep (SWS) early in the night, consciousness can nearly vanish despite persistent neural activity in the thalamocortical system[ 10 ]. Subjects awakened from other phases of sleep, especially but not exclusively during REM sleep, report “typical”, full-fledged dreams - vivid, sensorimotor hallucinatory experiences that follow a narrative structure[ 3 , 11 ]. The dreamer is highly conscious (she has vivid experiences), is disconnected from the environment (she is asleep), but somehow her brain is creating a story, filling it with actors and scenarios, and generating hallucinatory images. How does the brain accomplish this remarkable feat? And, conversely, what do dreams tell us about the organization and working of the brain?

Since awakenings from REM sleep regularly yield reports of typical dreams, we will first focus on neural activity during REM sleep, to gain insight into brain states that are compatible with dreaming. It should be emphasized at the outset, however, that dreams can occur in other brain states, such as late NREM sleep, as will be discussed below.

Similarities between dreaming and waking

In order to gain insight into the phenomenology and neural basis of dreams, it is useful to consider both similarities and differences between waking consciousness and dreaming consciousness, and to relate these differences to changes in brain activity and organization[ 11 ]. Perhaps the most striking feature of conscious experiences in sleep is how altogether similar the inner world of dreams is to the real world of wakefulness. Indeed, at times the dreamer may be uncertain whether he is awake or asleep. Certainly, dreams are not created in a vacuum but closely reflect the organization and functions of our brain.

In most dreams, perceptual modalities and submodalities that dominate in wakefulness are heavily represented. Dreams are highly visual, in full color, rich in shapes, full of movement, and incorporate typical wakefulness categories such as people, faces, places, objects, and animals[ 3 ]. Dreams also contain sounds (including speech and conversation), and more rarely tactile percepts, smells and tastes, as well as pleasure and pain[ 4 , 12 – 14 ]. Experiences in typical dreams have a clear sensory character (i.e. they are seen, heard, and felt) and are not mere thoughts or abstractions.

These phenomenological similarities are reflected in neurophysiological similarities between waking and dreaming. For historical and methodological reasons, most electroencephalogram (EEG) and neuroimaging studies have contrasted brain activity during quiet wakefulness with that observed during REM sleep, when subjects are most likely to report dreams[ 15 – 20 ]. At least superficially, the EEG looks remarkably similar in active waking and REM sleep. Positron emission tomography (PET) studies have shown that global brain metabolism is comparable between wakefulness and REM sleep[ 11 , 20 ]. Such studies have also revealed a strong activation of high-order occipito-temporal visual cortex in REM sleep, consistent with the vivid visual imagery during dreams ( Fig. 1 )[ 16 , 17 , 19 ].

There is also remarkable consistency between a subject s cognitive and neural organization in dreaming and waking[ 13 , 14 ]. For instance, children studies demonstrate that dream features show a gradual development that parallels their cognitive development when awake[ 21 ] ( Box 2 ). Patients with brain lesions that impair their waking cognition show corresponding deficits in dreams. For example, subjects with impaired face perception also do not dream of faces[ 22 , 23 ] ( Box 3 ).

BOX 2The development of dreams in children

When do children start dreaming, and what kind of dreams do they have? Since children often show signs of emotion in sleep, many assume they dream a great deal. However, a series of studies by David Foulkes showed that children under the age of 7 reported dreaming only 20% of the time when awakened from REM sleep, compared with 80–90% in adults[ 21 ].

Preschoolers dreams are often static and plain, such as seeing an animal or thinking about eating. There are no characters that move, no social interactions, very little feeling, and they do not include the dreamer as an active character. There are also no autobiographic, episodic memories, perhaps because children have trouble with conscious episodic recollection in general, as suggested by the phenomenon of infantile amnesia. Preschoolers do not report fear in dreams, and there are few aggressions, misfortunes, and negative emotions. Note that children who have night terrors , in which they awaken early in the night from SWS and display intense fear and agitation, are probably terrorized by disorientation due to incomplete awakening rather than by a dream[ 116 ]. Thus, although children of age 2–5 can obviously see and speak of everyday people, objects and events, apparently they cannot dream of them.

Between ages 5 to 7 dream reports become longer, although still infrequent. Dreams may contain sequences of events in which characters move about and interact, but narratives are not well developed. At around age 7, dream reports become longer and more frequent, contain thoughts and feelings, the child s self becomes an actual participant in the dream, and dreams begin to acquire a narrative structure and to reflect autobiographic, episodic memories.

It could be argued that perhaps all children dream, but some do not yet realize that they are dreaming, do not remember their dreams, or cannot report them because of poor verbal skills. Contrary to these intuitive suggestions, dream recall was found to correlate best with abilities of mental imagery rather than language proficiency. Mental imagery in children is assessed by the Block Design Test of the Wechsler intelligence test battery[ 117 ]. In this task, children look at models or pictures of red and white patterns, and then recreate those patterns with blocks. Critically, scores on this test are the one parameter that correlates best with dream report in children. Put simply, it is children with the most developed mental imagery and visuo-spatial skills (rather than verbal or memory capabilities) that report the most dreams, suggesting a real difference in dream experience. Visuo-spatial skills are known to depend on the parietal lobes, which are not fully myelinated until age 7. Thus, linking visuo-spatial cognitive development with brain maturation studies[ 118 ] is an important field of further research.

The static nature of preschoolers dreams is also in accord with the notion that preoperational children can’t imagine continuous visual transformations[ 119 ]. In the “mental rotation” test[ 120 ] a subject is asked to determine whether two figures are the same or different. In adults, reaction times (which are used as the score) increase linearly with the degree of rotation, but children do not show this relationship and do not seem to be mentally imagining movement using visuo-spatial imagery. This is consistent with their dream reports lacking movement[ 21 ].

Along the same line, people who are blinded after the age of 5–7 seem to have visual imagination and dream with visual imagery throughout life, while blinding at an earlier age leads to absence of visualization in both waking and dreaming[ 121 , 122 ], though dreaming in blind individuals is a subject of debate[ 123 – 125 ]. Overall, dreaming appears to be a gradual cognitive development that is tightly linked to the development of visual imagination.

The slow development of full-fledged dreams and their intimate relation with imagination cast doubts on whether animals can dream as we do. It is likely that animals, too, can be conscious during sleep. For instance, lesions in parts of the brainstem that control movements cause cats to seemingly act out their dreams[ 126 ], very much like humans with REM sleep behavior disorder [ 113 ]. However, while a cat may experience images and emotions in sleep, it is less likely that these experiences are tied together by a narrative as is the case in our typical dreams[ 127 ]. Altogether, what kind of dreaming consciousness an animal has may reflect the extent to which it is conscious in general, and both waking and dreaming consciousness are best viewed as graded phenomena[ 80 ].

BOX 3Lesion studies of dreaming

The primary source on neuropsychology of dreaming is a study by Solms[ 22 ] who examined 361 neurological patients and asked them in detail about their dreaming. Overall, lesion studies indicate that dreaming depends on specific forebrain regions rather than on the brainstem REM sleep generator[ 22 , 128 , 129 ]. In most cases, global cessation of dreaming follows damage in or near the temporo-parieto-occipital junction (around Brodmann’s Area 40), more often unilaterally than bilaterally[ 23 , 128 ]. This region supports various cognitive processes that are essential for mental imagery[ 130 ]. Accordingly, patients with such damage typically show a parallel decline in waking visuo-spatial abilities[ 109 ]. These results strongly suggest that mental imagery is the cognitive ability most related to dreaming (though a link between loss of dreaming and aphasia has also been suggested[ 131 ]).

Less frequently, global cessation of dreaming follows bilateral lesions of white matter tracts surrounding the frontal horns of the lateral ventricles, underlying ventromedial prefrontal cortex[ 22 ]. Many of these nerve fibers originate or terminate in limbic areas, in line with increased limbic activity in REM sleep as revealed by functional imaging[ 15 , 16 , 18 ]. The ventromedial white matter contains dopaminergic projections to the frontal lobe which were severed in prefrontal leucotomy, once performed on many schizophrenic patients[ 53 ]. Most leucotomized patients (70–90%) complained of global cessation of dreaming as well as of lack in initiative, curiosity, and fantasy in waking life[ 23 ]. Since dopamine can instigate goal-seeking behavior, these data have been interpreted as supporting the classical psychodynamic view of dreams as fulfillment of unconscious wishes related to egoistic impulses[ 132 ].

Apart from global cessation of dreaming, more restricted lesions produce the cessation of visual dreaming [ 22 , 109 ], or the disruption of particular visual dimensions in dreams. For example, lesions in specific regions that underlie visual perception of color or motion are associated with corresponding deficits in dreaming[ 23 , 109 ]. In general, it seems that lesions leading to impairments in waking have parallel deficits in dreaming.

Some lesions, especially those in medial prefrontal cortex, the anterior cingulate cortex, and the basal forebrain, are associated with increased frequency and vividness of dreams and their intrusion into waking life[ 22 ]. Importantly, many brain-damaged patients report no changes in dreaming, indicating that the neural network supporting dreaming has considerable specificity. For example, lesions of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, sensorimotor cortex, and V1 do not seem to affect dreaming at all[ 22 ]. The fact that patients with V1 lesions report vivid dreaming argues against the notion that reentry to early retinotopic cortex is a necessary condition for visual awareness[ 133 ].

Dreams also reflect our interests and personality, just like mental activity during wakefulness. Formal content analysis has revealed that mood, imaginativeness, individuals of interest, and predominant concerns are correlated between our waking and dreaming selves[ 12 – 14 ]. Personal anxieties we experience in wake, such as being inappropriately dressed, being lost, or being late for an examination, can appear in dreams that involve social interactions[ 24 ]. Dreams, like our personality in general, are quite stable over time in adulthood[ 12 – 14 ], and share many characteristics across cultures[ 12 – 14 ]. In addition, we feel we are personally participating in many dream events.

Despite these remarkable similarities, what makes dream consciousness so fascinating are the ways in which it differs from our waking experience. Some of these phenomenological differences are accompanied by consistent neurophysiological differences.

Reduced voluntary control and volition

We are generally surprised on awakening from a dream (“it was only a dream”) mainly because we didn’t consciously will that we would dream it. In fact, during dreaming there is a prominent reduction of voluntary control of action and thought. We cannot pursue goals, and have no control over the dream’s content. The fact that we are so surprised, excited and even skeptical about lucid dreaming – possibly a way to control some dreams[ 25 ] - illustrates how dreams normally lack voluntary control[ 9 ]. Interestingly, recent evidence points to the role of the right inferior parietal cortex (Brodmann’s Area 40) in waking volition[ 26 , 27 ], an area that is deactivated during REM sleep[ 15 , 16 ] ( Fig. 1 ).

Reduced self-awareness and altered reflective thought

Our dreaming consciousness consists of a single “track”: we are not contextually aware of where we are (in bed) or of what we are doing (sleeping, dreaming). There is a strong tendency for a distinct narrative of thoughts and images to persist without disruption (“single-mindedness”[ 28 ]). Indeed, reports of mental activity in REM sleep are longer than reports obtained from awake subjects[ 28 ]. Dreaming is almost always delusional since events and characters are taken for real. Reflective thought is altered in that holding contradictory beliefs is common, and a dreamer easily accepts impossible events such as flying, inconsistent scene switches, sudden transformations and impossible objects[ 29 ] such as a pink elephant. There is often uncertainty about space, time, and personal identities[ 30 ]. For example, a character may have the name, clothes and hairstyle of a male friend, but have mother’s face. Reduced self-monitoring in dreams may be related to the deactivation of brain regions such as posterior cingulate cortex, inferior parietal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex[ 15 , 16 ] ( Fig 1 ). Indeed, deactivation of prefrontal cortex has been shown to accompany reduced self-awareness during highly engaging sensory perception in wakefulness[ 31 ]. However, some dreams may have conserved reflective thought processes such as thoughtful puzzlement about impossible events[ 32 ], contemplating alternatives in decision-making[ 32 ], reflecting during social interactions[ 32 ], and “theory of mind”[ 33 ], demonstrating that individual dreams can differ from each other substantially.

Emotionality

Some dreams are characterized by a high degree of emotional involvement, including joy, surprise, anger, fear, and anxiety[ 34 – 36 ]. Interestingly, sadness, guilt, and depressed affect are rare[ 11 ], possibly due to reduced self-reflection. Some claim that fear and anxiety are enhanced in dreams to a degree rare in waking life[ 37 ], in line with Freud’s suggestion that dream narratives originate in perceived threats or conflicts[ 5 ]. Whether or not this interpretation has merits, REM sleep is in fact associated with a marked activation of limbic and paralimbic structures such as the amygdala, the anterior cingulate cortex, and the insula[ 15 , 17 , 19 ] ( Fig. 1 ). However, emotions are feeble in other dreams, and are absent altogether in 25–30% of REM sleep reports[ 34 – 36 ], including in situations where emotions would likely be present in waking[ 34 ], once again highlighting the variability in dream phenomenology.

Altered mnemonic processes

Memory is drastically altered for the dream and within the dream. Unless the dreamer wakes up, most dreams are forever lost. Upon awakening, memory for the dream often vanishes rapidly unless written down or recorded, even for intense emotional dreams. It is not clear why this is the case since from a neuroimaging perspective, limbic circuits in the medial temporal lobe that are implicated in memory processes, are highly active during REM sleep[ 15 – 18 ] ( Fig. 1 ). Perhaps the hypoactivity of prefrontal cortex, also implicated in mnemonic processes, plays an important role in dream amnesia. Contemporary theories of dreaming ( Table 1 ) offer different accounts of dream amnesia. For example, according to psychodynamic models, dream amnesia is due to processes of active repression[ 5 ]. According to Hobson s Activation-Input-Mode [AIM] model, dream amnesia is related to a state-change involving inactivity of monoaminergic systems (“aminergic de-modulation”) and deactivation of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex[ 11 ]. The neurocognitive model claims that dreams are usually forgotten because they are internal narratives; unless internal experiences are tied to external cues such as times and places they are bound to be forgotten[ 13 ].

Contemporary theories of dreaming

Episodic memory is also impaired within the dream. Indeed, a dream is not like an episode of life being “replayed”. In one example in which subjects had intensively played the computer game Tetris, there was no episodic memory in subsequent dreams that subjects had indeed played Tetris. In fact, dreams of healthy subjects were indistinguishable from those of profoundly amnesic subjects, who could not remember having played Tetris at all. In contrast, both normal and amnesic subjects often reported perceptual fragments, such as falling blocks on a computer screen, at sleep onset[ 38 ]. While ‘residues’ from waking experience are incorporated in about 50% of dreams[ 39 – 41 ], they do so in new and unrelated contexts, and verified memories for episodes of recent life are only found in about 1.5% of dreams[ 42 ]. Such residual recollections have been interpreted by some to suggest that dreaming may have an active role in forgetting[ 5 , 43 ]. Finally, many have the impression that the network of associations stored in our memory may become looser than in wake[ 44 , 45 ], perhaps favoring creativity, divergent thinking, and problem resolution[ 4 , 46 ].

In summary, dream consciousness is remarkably similar to waking consciousness, though there are several intriguing differences. These include reduced attention and voluntary control, lack in self-awareness, altered reflective thought, occasional hyperemotionality, and impaired memory. Traditionally, dream phenomenology has often been compared to madness or psychosis[ 3 , 11 , 47 ], but in fact the hallucinations, disorientation, and subsequent amnesia of some bizarre dreams may be more akin to the acute confusional state – also known as delirium - which occurs after withdrawal from alcohol and drugs[ 48 ]. However, most dreams are less bizarre, perhaps more similar to mind wandering or stimulus independent thoughts[ 14 , 49 , 50 ]. Waking thoughts jump around and drift into bizarre daydreaming, rumination, and worrying far more than stereotypes of rational linear thinking suggest[ 51 ]. Importantly, individual dreams are highly variable in their phenomenology, and only some conform to the typical monolithic template that is often portrayed. Thus, just like diverse waking experiences, “Not all dreams are created equal” , and future studies should consider different kinds of dreams and their neural correlates separately.

What mechanisms are responsible for regional differences in brain activity between waking and REM sleep, and thus presumably for some of the cognitive differences between waking and dreaming? Single-unit physiology indicates that generally, cortical activity in REM sleep reaches similar levels as found in active wake ( Fig. 2 ), but variability between brain areas remains poorly explored. Regional differences may likely stem from changes in the activity of neuromodulatory systems ( Fig. 2 ). During REM sleep, acetylcholine is alone in maintaining brain activation, whereas monoaminergic systems are silent, an observation that could explain many features of dreams[ 11 ]. For example, consistent with imaging results, cholinergic innervation is stronger in limbic and paralimbic areas than in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex[ 52 ], which may explain why limbic regions are highly active in REM sleep while dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is deactivated ( Fig. 1 ). Dopaminergic modulation may also play a role[ 23 ], since dreaming is decreased by prefrontal leucotomies that cut dopaminergic fibers[ 53 ] and is increased by dopaminergic agonists[ 23 ] ( Table 1 and Fig. 2 ).

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A comparison of cortical activity (upper panel) and neuromodulator activity (bottom panel) in wake, early NREM (when sleep pressure is high and dream reports are rare), late NREM (when sleep pressure dissipates, and dream reports are more frequent), and REM sleep (when dreams are most common).

(a) Intracellular studies. The membrane potential of cortical neurons in both wake and REM sleep is depolarized and fluctuates around −63mV and −61mV, respectively [ 77 ]. In REM sleep, whenever phasic events such as rapid eye movements and PGO waves occur (gray arrows, events not shown), neurons increase their firing rates to levels that surpass those found in wake [ 77 , 146 ]. In early NREM sleep, neurons alternate between two distinct states, each lasting tens/hundreds of milliseconds: UP states (red arrow) are associated with depolarization and increased firing, while in DOWN states (blue arrow) the membrane potential is hyperpolarized around −75mV, and neuronal firing fades[ 78 , 147 ]. Intracellular studies focusing specifically on late NREM sleep are not available (N.A.).

(b) Extracellular studies. Spiking of individual neurons in REM sleep reaches similar levels as in active wake. In both wake and REM sleep, neurons exhibit tonic irregular asynchronous activity [ 77 , 148 – 151 ]. Sustained activity in wake and REM sleep can be viewed as a continuous UP state [ 78 ] (red bars). In early NREM sleep, UP states are short and synchronous across neuronal populations, and are frequently interrupted by long DOWN states (blue bars). In late NREM sleep, UP states are longer and less synchronized [ 79 ].

(3) Polysomnography. Waking is characterized by low-amplitude, high-frequency EEG activity (above 7Hz), occasional saccadic eye movements, and elevated muscle tone. In early NREM sleep, high-amplitude slow waves (below 4Hz) dominate the EEG. Neuronal UP (red) and DOWN (blue) states correspond to positive and negative peaks in the surface EEG, respectively [ 79 ]. Eye movements are largely absent and muscle tone is decreased. In late NREM sleep, slow waves are less frequent, while spindles (related to UP states and surface EEG positivity) become more common. Eye movements and muscle tone are largely similar to early NREM sleep [ 152 ]. In REM sleep, theta activity (4–7 Hz) prevails, rapid eye movements occur, and muscle tone is dramatically reduced.

(d) Neuromodulator activity. Subcortical cholinergic modulation is highly active in wake and REM sleep (green arrows) and leads to sustained depolarization in cortical neurons and EEG activation [ 77 ]. Wake is further maintained by activity of monoamines, histamine, and hypocretin/orexin (green arrows). In sleep, monoaminergic systems including norepinephrine and serotonin reduce their activity (pink arrows), and are silent in REM sleep (red arrows). While dopamine levels do not change dramatically across the sleep-wake cycle (asterisks), phasic events and regional profiles may differ[ 153 ].

Data are pooled across different species for illustration purposes. Intracellular cat data adapted with permission from Ref [ 77 ]; extracellular and EEG rat data obtained from V. Vyazovskiy (personal communication).

On the whole, relating typical dreams to the neurophysiology of REM sleep has proven to be a useful starting point for revealing the neural basis of dreaming. However, dream consciousness can not be reduced to brain activity in REM sleep. Indeed, some fundamental questions concerning the relationship between the brain and dreaming linger on. We shall discuss three in turn: i) what determines the level of consciousness during sleep; ii) why the dreamer is disconnected from the environment; and iii) whether dreams are more akin to perception or to imagination.

What determines the level of consciousness during sleep?

In principle, studying mental experiences during sleep offers a unique opportunity to explain how changes in brain activity relate to changes in consciousness[ 3 , 54 ]. In fact, if it were not for sleep, when consciousness fades in and out on a regular basis, it might be hard to imagine that consciousness is not a given, but depends somehow on the way our brain is functioning. Traditionally, studies have focused on differences among reports obtained after awakenings from different sleep stages or at different times of night. When REM sleep was initially distinguished from NREM sleep[ 55 ], it was reported that 74–80% of REM sleep awakenings produced vivid dream recall, compared to only 7–9% of awakenings from NREM sleep[ 56 , 57 ]. It was only natural to conclude that, compared to NREM sleep, the distinct physiology of REM sleep, and especially its fast, low-voltage EEG resembling that of wakefulness, was the reason why we are conscious and dream in REM sleep, and not in NREM sleep[ 29 ]. Indeed, for some time, reports of mental activity upon awakenings from NREM sleep were assumed to be recalls of earlier REM sleep dreams, or considered analogous to sleep talking[ 3 ], or treated as confabulations made up by subjects confused upon awakening[ 9 ] ( Box 1 ). However, when changing the question from “tell me if you had a dream” to “tell me anything that was going through your mind just before you woke up,” reports of conscious experiences in NREM sleep ranged between 23% and 74%[ 9 ]. Subsequent studies demonstrated clearly that NREM sleep awakenings yielded reports of mental activity[ 58 , 59 ].

Specifically, reports from sleep stage N1 are extremely frequent (80–90% of the time), though they are very short[ 60 ]. Usually people report vivid hallucinatory experiences, so-called hypnagogic hallucinations . In contrast to typical dreams, hypnagogic hallucinations are often static - like single snapshots[ 11 , 47 ], and usually do not include a self character[ 14 ]. Some activities performed before sleep (e.g. video games) may influence the content of hypnagogic dreams[ 38 , 61 ]. Awakenings from NREM sleep stages N2 and N3 yield reports about some experienced content 50–70% of the time[ 59 ], although there is great variability throughout the night and between subjects. Early in the night, when stage N3 is prevalent and many large slow waves dominate the EEG, awakenings yield few reports[ 62 ]. Moreover, these reports are often qualitatively different than typical REM sleep reports, being usually short, thought-like, less vivid, less visual and more conceptual, less motorically animated, under greater volitional control, more plausible, more concerned with current issues, less emotional and less pleasant[ 9 , 11 , 63 ]. Also, the average length of REM sleep reports increases with the duration of the REM sleep episode while this is not true for NREM sleep reports[ 62 ]. However, late in the night NREM sleep reports are considerably longer and more hallucinatory. Indeed, 10–30% of all NREM sleep reports are indistinguishable by any criteria from those obtained from REM sleep[ 64 , 65 ]. Since NREM sleep accounts for 75% of total sleep time, this means that full-fledged NREM sleep dreams actually account for a significant portion of all typical dreams.

Thus, the initial equation of a physiological state (REM sleep) with a mental state (dreaming) was incorrect, or at best, an oversimplification. Moreover, neuropsychological evidence indicates that dreaming and REM sleep can be dissociated: forebrain lesions may abolish dreaming and spare REM sleep, whereas brainstem lesions may nearly eliminate overt features of REM sleep without abolishing dreams[ 23 ] ( Box 3 ). But if dream reports can be elicited during any stage of sleep[ 11 , 47 , 59 , 66 , 67 ], and conversely some awakenings may yield no report, no matter in which sleep stage they were obtained[ 59 ], where do we stand today with respect to the relationship between brain activity and consciousness during sleep?

The one thing that seems clear is that we need to move beyond the REM/NREM sleep dichotomy and beyond traditional sleep staging. Though staging is useful, it treats brain activity as uniform in space (only a few electrodes are used) and in time (for 30 sec epochs). Inevitably, subtler features of brain activity, which may well influence the presence, degree, and reportability of consciousness, are missed both in space and in time.

In the spatial domain, increasing evidence suggests that different brain regions may be in different states at the same time. For example, preliminary findings suggest that during sleepwalking, thalamocingulate pathways may be active as in wake, while the rest of the cerebral cortex is in NREM sleep[ 68 ]. A related notion of dissociated states is derived from the study of parasomnias, where wake-like behaviors occur during sleep[ 69 ]. For instance, the study of REM sleep behavior disorder shows that, contrary to common assumptions, wakefulness, REM sleep and NREM sleep may not be mutually exclusive states[ 69 ]. In the current context, it has been suggested that dreaming in NREM sleep is related to ‘covert’ REM processes that occur locally[ 59 ]. Thus, refined spatial analysis using fMRI or high-density EEG (hd-EEG) could potentially identify regionally-specific predictors of dreaming, and possibly indicate, in real time, whether dream reports will be obtained.

In the temporal domain, some attempts have been made to relate transient, phasic activities[ 70 ] to dreaming. For example, various studies have tried to link dream recall to eye movements[ 71 , 72 ], PGO waves[ 73 ], and EEG power bouts in specific frequency bands[ 74 ] but limited success has been achieved, and little has been done for NREM sleep[ 11 , 75 , 76 ]. We now know that slow waves in NREM sleep reflect a slow oscillation of cortical neurons between UP and DOWN states ( Fig. 2 )[ 77 , 78 ]. Perhaps long UP states are necessary for dreaming to occur. This is normally the case in REM sleep since slow waves are absent. As for NREM sleep, we would expect that higher occurrence of recalls, and especially of typical dreams in the morning hours, would reflect longer UP periods upon dissipation of sleep pressure ( Fig. 2 )[ 79 ]. In general, focusing on (rather than avoiding) “gray zones” where it is more difficult to predict whether a dream report will be obtained, for example in early REM sleep or late NREM sleep, may be a promising strategy for identifying psychophysiological correlates that go beyond traditional staging.

Finally, theoretical considerations suggest that the level of consciousness may depend on the brain s ability to integrate information[ 80 ]. Indeed, during wakefulness external perturbations such as TMS pulses (transcranial magnetic stimulation) cause changing patterns of activation across distant interconnected brain regions[ 10 ]. In REM sleep, evoked activity propagates much like it does in wakefulness[ 81 ]. By contrast, in deep SWS early in the night, when consciousness is most likely to fade, the response evoked by TMS remains either local (loss of integration), or spreads nonspecifically (loss of information). Apparently, the brain s capacity for information integration is reduced whenever neurons become bistable between UP and DOWN states. Intriguingly, the brain s response to a TMS pulse may offer a more sensitive measure of the inner state than spontaneous EEG. For example, such perturbations can uncover inherent bistability in short stretches of NREM sleep even when the EEG shows a wake-like low-voltage pattern[ 82 ].

Why is the dreamer disconnected from the environment?

The most obvious difference between dreaming and waking consciousness is the profound disconnection of the dreamer from his current environment. Such disconnection, of course, is a key feature of sleep: by definition a sleeping person shows no meaningful responses to external stimuli, unless they are strong enough to cause an awakening. This feature is known as “high arousal threshold”, and it persists in REM sleep despite its wake-like low-voltage EEG[ 83 ]. Moreover, stimuli not only fail to elicit a behavioral response, but also largely fail to be incorporated in the content of the dream[ 8 , 84 – 86 ] (though some stimuli, such as a spray of water, pressure on the limbs, and meaningful words have a slightly higher chance of incorporation[ 84 , 85 ]). This striking disconnection occurs even when subjects sleep with their eyes taped open and objects are illuminated in front of them[ 8 ]. Surely just before awakening, stimuli such as the sound of an alarm clock can enter our dreams, but when sleep is preserved, such relations are by and large surprisingly weak and dream consciousness is remarkably disconnected from the external environment.

The disconnection of the dreamer poses an intriguing paradox, especially if one considers that dreams involve vivid sensory experiences, and that they can occur upon a state of strong cortical activation. Several possibilities come to mind. For example, it has been suggested that during sleep a thalamic “gate” may close and sensory inputs may not reach the cortex effectively[ 87 ]. However, evoked responses in primary sensory cortices are largely preserved during REM sleep[ 88 , 89 ]. Also, olfactory stimuli are not directly incorporated in dreams[ 90 ], though they are not routed through the thalamus (their emotional valence, however, may affect dreams). A related notion is that of a cortical “gate” leading to diminished inter-cortical propagation[ 91 ], as seems to be the case in the dissociation of primary visual cortex (V1) from high-order visual cortex in REM sleep[ 18 ]. It would be interesting to establish whether direct activation of cortical areas can overcome the disconnection from the environment. For example, can TMS over V1 or area MT bypass thalamic or cortical “gates” and produce sensations of phosphenes or movement in dream consciousness?

An intriguing possibility concerns the putative antagonism between externally oriented cortical networks and internally oriented, default-mode networks[ 92 , 93 ]. Perhaps in dreams intrinsic activity dominates, as it does during stimulus-independent thoughts in wake[ 50 ]. This may occur at the expense of the processing of external stimuli, leading to disconnection from the environment. Indeed, both PET and magnetoencephalography (MEG) suggest that medial prefrontal cortex, a part of the default network, is highly active in REM sleep[ 16 , 17 , 94 ] as it is during wakeful rest ( Fig. 1 ). Conversely, other components of the default network, including posterior cingulate and inferior parietal cortices, are deactivated in REM sleep[ 15 , 16 ], as in highly-engaging waking tasks ( Fig. 1 ). The exact cognitive task associated with the default-mode network is still not well understood[ 95 ] and it may be primarily driven by self-related introspective processes rather than general mind wandering[ 31 , 96 , 97 ]. Indeed, since most nodes of this network are deactivated in REM dreaming and mental imagery[ 98 ], cognitive states that are oriented internally but away from the self do not seem sufficient to elicit activity in this network.

Another possibility is that dreams may be analogous to altered states of consciousness in which attention is profoundly altered, as may be the case in extreme absorption, hypnosis, neglect[ 99 ], and Balint s syndrome, when visual experience may persist for single but unlocalizable objects (simultanagnosia)[ 100 , 101 ]. The reticular thalamic nucleus has been implicated in redirecting attention across modalities[ 102 , 103 ] and its activity in sleep may underlie some aspects of disconnection. It would also be interesting to determine whether neuronal correlates of momentary lapses of attention[ 104 ] occur regularly while dreaming.

Finally, as we have seen, the neuromodulatory milieu changes drastically in sleep ( Fig. 2 ). Specifically, the levels of norepinephrine, serotonin, histamine, and hypocretin are greatly reduced in REM sleep compared to wake, so the presence of one or more of these neuromodulators may be necessary for external stimuli to be incorporated into our stream of consciousness. This search can be narrowed down by considering cataplexy, which affects people with narcolepsy[ 105 ]. Cataplexy is a transient episode of muscle tone loss in which humans report that awareness of external stimuli is preserved, and presumably animals are likewise aware of their environment during cataplectic attacks. Neuromodulatory activity in cataplectic dogs is largely similar to that in REM sleep except that levels of histamine are high, much like during wakefulness[ 105 ]. It thus seems that levels of histamine are correlated with our ability to incorporate sensory stimuli into conscious experience. It would be important to establish whether histamine is indeed necessary for such incorporation, and how it may do so. For instance, could it be that in wakefulness histaminergic tone facilitates transmission of feed-forward sensory inputs in cortical layer 4, at the expense of backward signal propagation?

Are dreams more like perception or imagination?

Whether dreams are generated in a “bottom-up” or a “top-down” manner is a question that has been asked since at least Aristotle[ 106 ]. To put the question in a modern context, do dreams start from activity in low-level sensory areas, which is then interpreted and synthesized by higher-order areas, as is presumably the case in waking perception? Or do they begin as wishes, abstract thoughts, and memories deep in the brain, which are then enriched with perceptual and sensory aspects, as in imagination? Of course, it is possible that such a dichotomy is misguided, and dreams may be best conceptualized as global attractors that emerge simultaneously over many brain areas. However, as we shall see, the available data do indeed suggest that there may be a privileged direction of dream generation.

In the 19th century, sensory experience was often regarded as the source of dreams, which were considered to be an attempt of the mind to interpret somatic nerve-stimuli ( Supplementary Fig. 1 ). A similar notion was later adopted by Henri Beaunis, and recently championed by Allan Hobson ( Table 1 )[ 4 , 11 , 47 ]. According to his AIM model, internally generated signals originating in the brainstem during REM sleep, such as PGO waves, excite visual cortex and are later processed and synthesized by higher-order areas. High levels of acetylcholine in the absence of aminergic neuromodulation may enhance feed-forward transmission and suppress back-propagation[ 3 , 107 ]. By contrast, Freud and some of his followers asserted that dreams originate from psychic motives that are later instantiated as sensory percepts, much like mental imagery[ 5 ].

Deciding between these alternative views will most likely require difficult experiments in which the direction of signal flow during dreaming sleep is evaluated and compared to that during waking perception and imagery[ 108 ] ( Box 4 ). However, various lines of evidence already suggest that dreaming may be more closely related to imagination than to perception. From lesion studies ( Box 3 ) we know that dreaming requires an intact temporo-parieto-occipital junction[ 22 , 23 ] and lesions in this region also affect mental imagery in wakefulness[ 109 ]. Cognitive studies indicate that the skill that maximally correlates with dream recall in adults is visuo-spatial imagery[ 110 ]. In children, dream recall develops hand in hand with visuo-spatial imagery ( Box 2 ). In epileptic patients, direct electrical stimulation in high-order regions such as the medial temporal lobe, rather than in visual cortex, can elicit “dream-like” experiences[ 111 ], although such patients are simultaneously aware of their surroundings. Other evidence comes from lucid dreamers[ 25 ] who report that it is impossible to focus on fine-grain details of visual objects, as is the case in mental imagery[ 112 ]. Perhaps top-down connections lack the anatomical specificity to support detailed representations. The rare occurrences of smells or pain in dreams may also be related to our difficulty in imagining them vividly when awake. However, one important difference between dreaming and mental imagery is that while imagining we are aware that the images are internally generated (preserved reflective thought).

Box 4Future directions

1. Signal propagation in dreams

During wakefulness, sensory responses precede responses in higher-order areas by more than 100ms[ 134 , 135 ]. Does neural activity during dreaming sleep show a similar feed-forward progression as in perception? Or does neural activity propagate backwards, from higher to lower areas, as it is thought to do during imagery? This issue, which is crucial to our understanding of dream generation, could be resolved by examining unit and field potential recordings from the same neuronal populations in wake and REM (or late NREM) sleep in both animals and humans[ 135 ]. One can also apply directional measures of signal propagation (e.g. Granger causality) to hd-EEG data, and check whether the main direction of signal flow inverts between wake and sleep. Finally, one could use TMS with concurrent hd-EEG during both wake and REM sleep, and examine whether there may be a preferential direction of the brain s response to perturbations depending on behavioral state[ 10 ].

2. Functional networks underlying dreaming

So far, most regional studies of brain activity during sleep have employed PET. While PET allows for quantification of cerebral blood flow and comparison across vigilance states, functional MRI (fMRI) offers superior spatial and temporal resolutions. Event-related fMRI has been already used to map brain activity associated with phasic events such as slow waves[ 136 ] and eye movements[ 137 , 138 ]. Studies of functional and effective connectivity[ 139 ] may be especially well suited to map the functional networks underlying dreaming. Notably, perceptual awareness is associated with specific functional connectivity patterns within sensory modalities[ 140 ], between modalities[ 141 ], and with a striking segregation between sensory systems and the default-mode/intrinsic system[ 31 , 93 , 104 ]. Are such connectivity patterns also a hallmark of activity in the dreaming brain? What regional brain activity underlies dreaming in NREM sleep? How do functional networks of mental imagery and dreaming compare in the same subjects? Finally, hd-EEG may be particularly suited for sleep imaging since it (a) allows for relatively undisturbed sleep, (b) upon source modeling can provide a spatial resolution roughly comparable to PET, (c) offers high temporal resolution suitable for evaluating signal propagation, and (d) can be combined with TMS during sleep.

3. Initial steps towards studying dream content

Progress in signal decoding may ultimately enable us to investigate the neural correlates not only of dream form – what is common to all dreams – but also of dream content – what is specific to a particular dream. This can be done, for instance, by using classification techniques applied to fMRI or hd-EEG data[ 142 ]. At least initially, it may be worthwhile to consider some coarse properties of individual dreams, such as the frequency of occurrence of faces or places in a dream report, the amount of movement, or the dominant affective valence. In principle, it should be possible to predict not only the likelihood of a report upon awakening, but also the likelihood of specific features based on preceding brain activity. An important step in this direction would be to identify the contents of internally generated mental imagery using the same approach[ 143 ]. Furthermore, some patients with epilepsy or post-traumatic stress disorder who experience recurring dream contents[ 144 , 145 ] may provide a unique opportunity to relate specific dream content to its neural basis.

If the flow of brain activity during dreaming were shown to be largely backwards, as one would expect in imagery, rather than forwards, as in perception, many of the seemingly bizarre properties of dreams, such as blended characters and scene switches, would be easier to explain, as they are standard features of our imagination. Such a top-down mode may disrupt the encoding of new memories, and thus underlie dream amnesia. In addition, top-down mental imagery could obstruct the processing of incoming stimuli and disconnect us from the environment. If this view is correct, waking consciousness is more like watching the news in real time, while dreaming is more like watching a movie created by an imaginative director[ 81 ]. As in some B-movies, the director is not particularly choosey and any actor, dress, means of transportation, or object that is readily available will do. Albert Einstein said that “imagination points to all we might yet discover and create”, and indeed, dreaming may turn out to be the purest form of our imagination.

Concluding remarks

In summary, dream consciousness is remarkably similar to waking consciousness, though there are several intriguing differences in volition, self-awareness and reflection, affect, and memory, and there is great variability between individual dreams. The neurophysiology of REM sleep, and in particular recent insights into its regional activity patterns, offers a useful starting point for relating dream phenomenology to underlying brain activity. However, the initial equation of REM sleep with dreaming has been shown to be inaccurate. Thus, it is time we moved beyond sleep stages when trying to link dream consciousness to neuronal events, and focused on more subtle features of brain activity in space and time. Our profound disconnection from the external environment when dreaming poses a central unsolved paradox, the answer to which may be instrumental for understanding dreams. Converging evidence from multiple fields of study, including phenomenology, development, neuropsychology, functional imaging, and neurophysiology, support the notion that dreaming may be closely related to imagination, where brain activity presumably flows in a “top-down” manner. Viewing dreams as a powerful form of imagination can help explain many of their unique features, such as sudden transitions, uncertainty about people and places, poor subsequent recall, disconnection from the environment, and offers testable predictions for future studies.

Supplementary Material

Acknowledgments.

We apologize to those whose work was not cited because of space constraints. We thank Michal Harel, Lior Fisch, and Vlad Vyazovskiy for help with figures; Chiara Cirelli, Rafi Malach, Simone Sarasso, Brady Riedner, and Fabio Ferrarelli for helpful discussions and comments; our anonymous reviewers for valuable suggestions. Y.N. is supported by an EMBO long term fellowship and the Brainpower for Israel Fund. G.T is supported by an NIH Director’s Award DP1 OD000579 and NIH Conte Center Award P20 MH077967.

Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.

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What, to the Writer, Are Dreams?

Lauren acampora on the mythic links between dream life and creativity.

“Dream is the personalized myth, myth the depersonalized dream.” –Joseph Campbell

One morning, when I was younger, I gave a detailed description of my previous night’s dream to my mother. When I finished, she said, “I’m going to tell you something. Don’t ever share your dreams with anyone except your spouse. It’s boring to listen to other people’s dreams.”

I was offended at first. How could anyone, not to mention my own mother, fail to find my dreams as fascinating as I did? But of course she was right; it’s almost always deadly to hear other people talk about their dreams. As a rule, dreams die in the glare of the waking world, their shimmering aura evaporating in the harsh air outside the psyche. And yet, paradoxically, it’s the emotional aura of dreams that makes them feel so urgently worth sharing in the first place.

Needless to say, I didn’t listen to my mother. That is, I still share my dreams promiscuously—just not verbally.

Like so many other writers and artists, I employ dreams in my creative work. They’re an engine, a lending library. It’s a thrill to awake with a strange, arresting image in mind, or still grasping the thread of an allegorical dream story. Sometimes, a vision or scenario arrives as a package deal: the story is encased within the vision, packed up tight with a certain mood. For me, entire short stories have sprung from such vision: a woman alone in a pool, a finger touching a brain, a blindfolded child. A haunting dream of orange curtains in a hotel room has rolled into an entire novel (in which orange hotel curtains do not ever appear). And the power and mystery of dreams themselves inspired my novel The Paper Wasp , in which the narrator illustrates—and ultimately enters—her vivid, seemingly premonitory dreams.

There’s no shortage of literature and art that we know to have sprung from dreams. As legend has it, the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge transcribed the first lines of “Kubla Khan” from a dream; the idea for Frankenstein came to Mary Shelley in her sleep; Robert Louis Stevenson conceived of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in a consumptive fever dream; Stephen King came up with the idea for Misery while napping on a plane ; William Styron had a dream that inspired Sophie’s Choice . One of the most prolific dream miners of all was Edgar Allen Poe, who used his frequent nightmares in much of his work. And famously, Paul McCartney dreamed the tune for the song “Yesterday.” Upon waking, he asked his friends if they knew it. “It’s a good little tune,” he said, “but I couldn’t have written it because I dreamt it.”

Dreams can feel like messages from another place, so it’s no surprise that many ancient cultures believed dreams to be transmissions of divine knowledge. The Ancient Egyptians considered dreams to be oracular and held vivid dreamers in high regard. They practiced dream incubation and lucid dreaming, and employed dream guides called the “Masters of Secret Things” who lived in dream temples. The Greeks, too, incubated dreams, and thought that gods came to dreamers through a keyhole to deliver messages. The Aboriginal Australians and the Iroquois started their day by sharing dreams, which were considered a source of guidance for both the individual and the community. The Hindu religion, too, believes that in dreams one is given a glimpse of Vishnu, whose own dreaming mind creates our reality. It isn’t difficult to understand where such beliefs come from if you’ve ever dreamed of reading a book, sentence after lucid, elaborate sentence. “I couldn’t have written it,” you might think, “because I dreamt it.”

Brain science validates this phenomenon. Dreaming occurs during REM sleep, when the frontal lobe, the executive area of the brain, is shut down. Dreams are the mysterious activity of another part of the brain, beneath the scrutiny of the frontal lobe. Neurologically speaking, we really are receiving transmissions from a foreign entity; the unconscious, unobserved self slips through the keyhole when the guard is off duty.

Even during waking hours, the human brain is divided: the executive-desk frontal lobe and the inscrutable, intuitive limbic system are strangers to each other. In sleep, they are incommunicado. Because of this deep rift, the great majority of our dreams go unremembered, except on a buried emotional level. It’s difficult, even paradoxical, to try to bear total witness to them, akin to pinning down the present moment, halting the slippage of time. Just as the present can only be considered in retrospect, the unconscious mind can only be discerned via the remembered scraps of dreams. Any glimmers of awareness that may come during sleep, when a dream is fleetingly apprehended, are instances of the conscious half of the brain briefly observing and translating the activity of the submerged half: interpreting the enigmatic message of a stranger. These glimmers are rare and fleeting, occurring only during the hypnogogic and hypnopompic states, the liminal states between wakefulness and sleep.

In siphoning dreams for their work, writers and artists are tapping a valuable well. Dream logic and imagery carries an uncanny, allegorical quality that resonates deeply with readers and audiences. And it’s possible that dream recall actually enhances artistic output during waking hours. Scientific studies have confirmed a correlation between dream recall and creativity; those who recall dreams actually perform better on creativity evaluations. This may be because creative people are naturally better at recalling their dreams. It’s a chicken or egg situation: do creative people have more vivid and memorable dreams because they are innately creative, or can a brain become more creative through strengthening dream recall? Whatever the case, making use of dreams in art is a powerful way to reflect our foreign selves back to ourselves, while projecting that mystery self out to the world as archetypal image and story—dream as personalized myth, myth as depersonalized dream.

For writers, plugging into the unconscious provides a direct line to the human imagination in all its splendor and darkness. Indeed, in the midst of composing, it’s often unclear where the words are coming from. Sentences and imagery sometimes bubble up from a hidden well that surprises the conscious, transcribing mind. Some writers will tell you that they write in order to exorcise their demons, cleanse their psyches, to bring their fears and darkness into the light. Some will tell you that it’s better than therapy.

Writing at full tilt can be a euphoric state, tantamount to lucid dreaming. It’s half-awareness—one foot in, one foot out—a balance on the brink of consciousness. It’s not just in dreams that we can experience the ecstasy of flight and the exhilaration of omnipotence, but also when writing, when the words are flowing, the images appearing. Just as in a lucid dream, this exhilaration is paired with the knowledge that it can’t last, that it’s a temporary spell. Soon, we’ll become too aware of flying, and the spell will break and drop us to the ground. Still, we endeavor to capture and recapture this ecstasy of creative freedom, the ability to travel lightly anywhere at will, the bliss of floating to the treetops.

If writing fiction is analogous to dreaming, the experience of reading fiction can be, too. When we’re reading, another person is able to intrude into our psyches through the use of words alone, remotely projecting imagery onto the screens of our minds, suffusing them with atmosphere and mood. We are, in a way, sharing a dream with a stranger. And fiction, at its best, places a mirror before us, evoking terror and wonder. It affects us on an emotional level beyond language, and brings a frisson of recognition. There’s a momentary astonishment to encounter the familiar within the strange, something of our own inner lives on the page. There’s the eerie sense that the author has somehow entered and seen into us. The best art carries this sense of inevitability, of allegory, myth, dream—a truth that has always been there, that we already know in some deep part of ourselves.

This flare of astonishment is arguably the purpose of art. It’s the sudden thinning of the distance between us, the erosion of barriers that have been built and propped up by our conscious, waking lives. Like a flash of lightning, great art illuminates the human landscape in its breathtaking entirety and shows that the barriers are flimsy, false, only temporarily there. All at once, we are taken outside ourselves and given a glimpse of the Jungian collective unconscious, the subliminal wholeness of life, the enveloping dream of Vishnu. What is the purpose of all art, if not to puncture the illusion of fragmentation, to reveal the commonality of human experience, to return us—if briefly—to those collective waters?

__________________________________

The Paper Wasp by Lauren Acampora is out now via Grove Atlantic.

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Essays About Dreams In Life: 14 Examples And Topic Ideas

Dreams in life are necessary; if you are writing essays about dreams in life, you can read these essay examples and topic ideas to get started.

Everyone has a dream – a big one or even a small one. Even the most successful people had dreams before becoming who they are today. Having a dream is like having a purpose in life; you will start working hard to reach your dream and never lose interest in life.

Without hard work, you can never turn a dream into a reality; it will only remain a desire. Level up your essay writing skills by reading our essays about dreams in life examples and prompts and start writing an inspiring essay today!

Writing About Dreams: A Guide

Essays about dreams in life: example essays, 1. chase your dreams: the best advice i ever got by michelle colon-johnson, 2. my dream, my future by deborah massey, 3. the pursuit of dreams by christine nishiyama, 4. my dreams and ambitions by kathy benson, 5. turning big dreams into reality by shyam gokarn, 6. my hopes and dreams by celia robinson, 7. always pursue your dreams – no matter what happens by steve bloom, 8. why do we dream by james roland, 9. bad dreams by eli goldstone, 10. why your brain needs to dream by matthew walker, 11. dreams by hedy marks, 12. do dreams really mean anything by david b. feldman, 13. how to control your dreams by serena alagappan, 14. the sunday essay: my dreams on antidepressants by ashleigh young, essays about dreams in life essay topics, 1. what is a dream, 2. what are your dreams in life, 3. why are dreams important in life, 4. what are the reasons for a person to dream big, 5. what do you think about dreams in life vs. short-term sacrifice, 6. what is the purpose of dreaming, 7. why are dreams so strange and vivid, 8. why do dreams feel so real, 9. why are dreams so hard to remember, 10. do dreams mean anything, what is a dream short essay, how can i write my dream in life.

Writing about dreams is an excellent topic for essays, brainstorming new topic ideas for fiction stories, or just as a creative outlet. We all have dreams, whether in our sleep, during the day, or even while walking on a sunny day. Some of the best ways to begin writing about a topic are by reading examples and using a helpful prompt to get started. Check out our guide to writing about dreams and begin mastering the art of writing today!

“Everyone has the ability to dream, but not everyone has the willingness to truly chase their dreams. When people aren’t living their dreams they often have limited belief systems. They believe that their current circumstances and/or surroundings are keeping them from achieving the things they want to do in life.”

In her essay, author Michelle Colon-Johnson encourages her readers to develop a mindset that will let them chase their dreams. So, you have to visualize your dream, manifest it, and start your journey towards it! Check out these essays about dreams and sleep .

“At the time when I have my job and something to make them feel so proud of me, I would like to give them the best life. I would like to make them feel comfortable and see sweet smiles on their faces. This is really the one I like to achieve in my life; mountains of words can’t explain how much I love and appreciate them.”

Author Deborah Massey’s essay talks about her dreams and everything she wanted to achieve and accomplish in her life. She also tells us that we must live our values, pursue our dreams, and follow our passions for the best future.

“Fast-forward 5+ years, and my first published book is coming out this May with Scholastic. And now, let me tell you the truth: I don’t feel any different. I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity, proud of the work I’ve done, and excited for the book’s release. But on a fundamental level, I feel the same.”

In her essay, author Christine Nishiyama shares what she felt when she first achieved one of her goals in life. She says that with this mindset, you will never feel the satisfaction of achieving your goal or the fulfillment of reaching your dream. Instead, she believes that what fulfills people is the pursuit of their dreams in life.

“My dream is to become a good plastic surgeon and day after day it has transformed into an ambition which I want to move towards. I do not want to be famous, but just good enough to have my own clinic and work for a very successful hospital. Many people think that becoming a doctor is difficult, and I know that takes many years of preparation, but anyone can achieve it if they have determination.”

Author Kathy Benson’s essay narrates her life – all the things and struggles she has been through in pursuing her dreams in life. Yet, no matter how hard the situation gets, she always convinces herself not to give up, hoping her dreams will come true one day. She believes that with determination and commitment, anyone can achieve their dreams and goals in life.

“I have always been a big dreamer and involved in acting upon it. Though, many times I failed, I continued to dream big and act. As long as I recollect, I always had such wild visions and fantasies of thinking, planning, and acting to achieve great things in life. But, as anyone can observe, there are many people, who think and work in that aspect.”

In his essay, author Shyam Gokarn explains why having a big dream is very important in a person’s life. However, he believes that the problem with some people is that they never hold tight to their dreams, even if they can turn them into reality. As a result, they tend to easily give up on their dreams and even stop trying instead of persevering through the pain and anguish of another failure.

“When I was younger, I’ve always had a fairytale-like dream about my future. To marry my prince, have a Fairy Godmother, be a princess… But now, all of that has changed. I’ve realized how hard life is now; that life cannot be like a fairy tale. What you want can’t happen just like that.”

Celia Robinson’s essay talks about her dream since she was a child. Unfortunately, as we grow old, there’s no “Fairy Godmother” that would help us when things get tough. Everyone wants to succeed in the future, but we have to work hard to achieve our dreams and goals.

“Take writing for example. I’ve wanted to be a professional writer since I was a little boy, but I was too scared that I wouldn’t be any good at it. But several years ago I started pursuing this dream despite knowing how difficult it might be. I fully realize I may not make it, but I’m completely fine with that. At least I tried which is more than most people can say.”

In his essay, author Steve Bloom encourages his readers always to pursue their dreams no matter what happens. He asks, “Would you rather pursue them and fail or never try?”. He believes that it’s always better to try and fail than look back and wonder what might have been. Stop thinking that failure or success is the only end goal for pursuing your dreams. Instead, think of it as a long journey where all the experiences you get along the way are just as important as reaching the end goal.

“Dreams are hallucinations that occur during certain stages of sleep. They’re strongest during REM sleep, or the rapid eye movement stage, when you may be less likely to recall your dream. Much is known about the role of sleep in regulating our metabolism, blood pressure, brain function, and other aspects of health. But it’s been harder for researchers to explain the role of dreams. When you’re awake, your thoughts have a certain logic to them. When you sleep, your brain is still active, but your thoughts or dreams often make little or no sense.”

Author James Roland’s essay explains the purpose of having dreams and the factors that can influence our dreams. He also mentioned some of the reasons that cause nightmares. Debra Sullivan, a nurse educator, medically reviews his essay. Sullivan’s expertise includes cardiology, psoriasis/dermatology, pediatrics, and alternative medicine. For more, you can also see these articles about sleep .

“The first time I experienced sleep paralysis and recognised it for what it was I was a student. I had been taking MDMA and listening to Django Reinhardt. My memories of that time are mainly of taking drugs and listening to Django Reinhardt. When I woke up I was in my paralysed body. I was there, inside it. I was inside my leaden wrists, my ribcage, the thick dead roots of my hair, the bandages of skin. This time the hallucinations were auditory. I could hear someone being beaten outside my door. They were screaming for help. And I could do nothing but lie there, locked inside my body . . . whatever bit of me is not my body. That is the bit that exists, by itself, at night.”

In her essay, Author Eli Goldstone talks about her suffering from bad dreams ever since childhood. She also talks about what she feels every time she has sleep paralysis – a feeling of being conscious but unable to move.

“We often hear stories of people who’ve learned from their dreams or been inspired by them. Think of Paul McCartney’s story of how his hit song “Yesterday” came to him in a dream or of Mendeleev’s dream-inspired construction of the periodic table of elements. But, while many of us may feel that our dreams have special meaning or a useful purpose, science has been more skeptical of that claim. Instead of being harbingers of creativity or some kind of message from our unconscious, some scientists have considered dreaming to being an unintended consequence of sleep—a byproduct of evolution without benefit.”

Author Matthew Walker, a professor of psychology and neuroscience, shares some interesting facts about dreams in his essay. According to research, dreaming is more than just a byproduct of sleep; it also serves essential functions in our well-being.

“Dreams are basically stories and images that our mind creates while we sleep. They can be vivid. They can make you feel happy, sad, or scared. And they may seem confusing or perfectly rational. Dreams can happen at any time during sleep. But you have your most vivid dreams during a phase called REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, when your brain is most active. Some experts say we dream at least four to six times a night.”

In his essay, Author Hedy Marks discusses everything we need to know about dreams in detail – from defining a dream to tips that may help us remember our dreams. Hedy Marks is an Assistant Managing Editor at WebMD , and Carol DerSarkissian, a board-certified emergency physician, medically reviews his essay.

“Regardless of whether dreams foretell the future, allow us to commune with the divine, or simply provide a better understanding of ourselves, the process of analyzing them has always been highly symbolic. To understand the meaning of dreams, we must interpret them as if they were written in a secret code. A quick search of an online dream dictionary will tell you that haunted houses symbolize “unfinished emotional business,” dimly lit lamps mean you’re “feeling overwhelmed by emotional issues,” a feast indicates “a lack of balance in your life,” and garages symbolize a feeling of “lacking direction or guidance in achieving your goals.”

Author David B. Feldman, an author, speaker, and professor of counseling psychology, believes that dreams may not mean anything, but they tell us something about our emotions. In other words, if you’ve been suffering from a series of bad dreams, it could be worth checking in with yourself to see how you’ve been feeling and perhaps consider whether there’s anything you can do to improve your mood.

“Ever wish you could ice skate across a winter sky, catching crumbs of gingerbread, like flakes of snow, on your tongue? How about conquering a monster in a nightmare, bouncing between mountain peaks, walking through walls, or reading minds? Have you ever longed to hold the hand of someone you loved and lost? If you want to fulfill your fantasies, or even face your fears, you might want to try taking some control of your dreams (try being the operative). People practiced in lucid dreaming—the phenomenon of being aware that you are dreaming while you are asleep—claim that the experience allows adventure, self-discovery, and euphoric joy.”

In her essay, Author Serena Alagappan talks about lucid dreams – a type of dream where a person becomes conscious during a dream. She also talked about ways to control our dreams, such as keeping a journal, reciting mantras before bed, and believing we can. However, not everyone will be able to control their dreams because the levels of lucidity and control differ significantly between individuals.

“There was a period of six months when I tried to go off my medication – a slowly unfolding disaster – and I’d thought my dreams might settle down. Instead, they grew more deranged. Even now I think of the dream in which I was using a cigarette lighter to melt my own father, who had assumed the form of a large candle. I’ve since learned that, apart from more research being needed, this was probably a case of “REM rebound”. When you stop taking the medication, you’ll likely get a lot more REM sleep than you were getting before. In simple terms, your brain goes on a dreaming frenzy, amping up the detail.”

Author Ashleigh Young’s essay informs us how some medications, such as antidepressants, affect our dreams based on her own life experience. She said, “I’ve tried not to dwell too much on my dreams. Yes, they are vivid and sometimes truly gruesome, full of chaotic, unfathomable violence, but weird nights seemed a reasonable price to pay for the bearable days that SSRIs have helped me to have.”

In simple terms, a dream is a cherished aspiration, ambition, or ideal; is it the same as your goal in life? In your essay, explore this topic and state your opinion about what the word “dream” means to you.

This is an excellent topic for your statement or “about me” essay. Where do you see yourself in the next ten years? Do you have a career plan? If you still haven’t thought about it, maybe it’s time to start thinking about your future.

Having dreams is very important in a person’s life; it motivates, inspires, and helps you achieve any goal that you have in mind. Without dreams, we would feel lost – having no purpose in life. Therefore, in your essay, you should be able to explain to your readers how important it is to have a dream or ambition in life.

What are the reasons for a person to dream big?

Dreaming big sounds great; however, it’s easier said than done. First, you’ve got to have reasons to dream big, which will motivate you to achieve your goals in life. If you’re writing an essay about dreams in life, mention why most people dare to dream big and achieve more in life. Is it about freedom, money, praise from other people, satisfaction, or something else entirely?

For example, you could watch movies, play video games, relax every night, or give up all of them to learn a complex skill – what would you choose, and why? In your essay about dreams in life, answer the question and include other examples about this topic so your readers can relate.

There are many answers to this question – one is that dreams may have an evolutionary function, testing us in scenarios crucial to our survival. Dreams may also reduce the severity of emotional trauma. On the other hand, some researchers say dreams have no purpose or meaning, while some say we need dreams for physical and mental health. Take a closer look at this topic, and include what you find in your essay.

Weird dreams could result from anxiety, stress, or sleep deprivation. So, manage your stress levels, and stick to a sleep routine to stop having weird dreams. If you wake up from a weird dream, you can fall back asleep using deep breaths or any relaxing activity. You can research other causes of weird dreams and ways to stop yourself from having them for your essay about dreams and sleep.

The same areas of the brain that are active when we learn and process information in the actual world are active when we dream, and they replay the information as we sleep. Many things we see, hear, and feel in our everyday lives appear in our dreams. If you want to write an informative essay about dreams and sleep, look into more details about this topic.

Tip: When editing for grammar, we also recommend taking the time to improve the readability score of a piece of writing before publishing or submitting it.

People may not remember what happened in their dreams. Studies show that people tend to forget their dreams due to the changing levels of acetylcholine and norepinephrine during sleep. This will be quite an exciting topic for your readers because many people can relate. That being said, research more information about this topic, and discuss it in detail in your essay.

Although some people believe that dreams don’t mean anything, many psychologists and other experts have theorized about the deeper meaning of dreams. Therefore, your essay about dreams and sleep should delve deeper into this topic. If you’re stuck picking your next essay topic, check out our round-up of essay topics about education .

FAQS on Essays About Dreams in Life

There are many great short essays about dreams; you can write your own too! Some great examples include Do Dreams Really Mean Anything? by David B. Feldman and Dreams by Hedy Marks.

Writing about your dreams in life is a fantastic creative outlet and can even help you plan your future. Use a prompt to get started, like “What are your dreams in life?” or “What do you aspire to be in ten years?” and begin writing without thinking too much about it. See where the pen takes you and start mapping out your future with this writing exercise.

Meet Rachael, the editor at Become a Writer Today. With years of experience in the field, she is passionate about language and dedicated to producing high-quality content that engages and informs readers. When she's not editing or writing, you can find her exploring the great outdoors, finding inspiration for her next project.

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Friday essay: why libraries can and must change

Associate Professor in Media, University of Notre Dame Australia

Disclosure statement

Camilla Nelson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

The University of Notre Dame Australia provides funding as a member of The Conversation AU.

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There is a chapter towards the end of Stuart Kells’s The Library: A Catalogue of Wonders , in which the author envisions the library of the future as one in which “dreary hordes of students” stare mindlessly at “computers and reading machines”, ignorant of the more refined pleasures of paper and ink, vellum and leather.

This – the death of the book – is a familiar lament recounted by bibliophiles everywhere; a tragic epic in which the Goliath of technology slays the David of art and culture.

It may be superficially appealing to some. And yet, it misses the reality that writing itself is also a technology. Along with the wheel and the lever, it is one of the greatest technologies ever invented. The history of writing predates the invention of the book. It parallels and is a part of the history of other technological forms.

The history of the library is replete with mechanical marvels.

Take, for example, the book wheel , the scholar’s technology of the 16th century, an ingenious mechanical device operated by foot or hand controls, allowing a reader to move backwards and forwards across editions and volumes, referencing many different books as quickly possible.

Closer to our own century, there’s the Book Railways of the Boston Public Library installed in 1895, with tracks laid around every level of the stack to transport books. Or the ultra-modern teletype machine and conveyor belt used to convey book requests by the Free Library of Philadelphia in 1927. Or the current book retrieval system used at the University of Chicago, which boasts a system of robotic cranes .

Unlike Kells, I think there is a fabulous quality to the dream of an infinite library that can assemble itself in bits and bytes wherever a reader calls it into being. It sits well with the democratic dream of mass literacy.

It may well take an archaeologist – working a thousand years from now – a lifetime to unlock the data in our already defunct floppy discs and CD Roms. Then again, it took several hundred years of patient work before Jean-François Champollion deciphered Egyptian hieroglyphs in 1822, and even longer for Henry Rawlinson to unlock the secrets of the cuneiform scripts of ancient Mesopotamia.

Of course, Kells’s new book is not a history of reading or writing. It is a history of books as artefacts. It tells of books of doubtful or impeccable provenance, discovered in lost libraries or inaccessible private collections, purloined by book thieves, or crazed and nefarious book collectors, or at the behest of rich or royal patrons. It is a narrative – albeit with an unfortunate, cobbled together quality – brimming with strange anecdotes about a small handful of books owned by a small handful of people; lost books yielding strange surprises, from discarded condoms to misplaced dental appointment slips.

Kells’s favoured haunts are the chained libraries of medieval monks, and the bawdy or scandalous collections of wealthy 18th century patrons. The library of St Gall , for example, which houses one of the largest medieval collections in the world. Or the Bodleian at Oxford, which was never intended to be an inclusive collection, but rather, as its founder Thomas Bodley put it, sought to exclude “almanackes, plaies, and an infinit number” of other “unworthy matters” which he designated “baggage bookes” and “riff-raffe”.

I am a great lover of books. I have been lucky enough to while away the hours in libraries from Beijing to St Petersburg, Belgrade and Buenos Aires. But in an age of economic disparity and privatised public services – of pay walls, firewalls and proprietary media platforms, not to mention Google and Amazon – it is difficult to feel convinced by this bibliophile’s nostalgic reveries.

Embodying an idea of society

More than 20 years ago, when I was living in New York, eking out a living as a copyeditor and more often as a waitress, I became a regular at the 42nd Street Library (also known as the New York Public Library), on Fifth Avenue between 40th and 42nd Streets, a few blocks from the apartment that I shared in Midtown.

It was not just the size of the collection that drew me in – the 120 kilometres of bookshelves housing one of the largest collections in the world – or the ornate ceilings of the main reading room, which ran the length of a city block, with 42 oak tables for 636 readers, the bookish dimness interrupted by the quiet glow of reading lamps. I was fascinated by the library’s pneumatic system .

This labyrinthine contraption, which had been state-of-the-art around the dawn of the 20th century, sent call slips flying up and around through brass tubes descending deep underground – down seven stories of steel-reinforced book stacks where the book was found, then sent up on an oval shaped conveyor belt to arrive in the reading room.

The pneumatic system – with its air of retro, steampunk or defunct book technology – seemed to intimate the dream of a future that had been discarded, or, at least, never actually arrived. Libraries are not just collections of books, but social, cultural and technological institutions. They house not only books but also the idea of a society.

The predecessors of the New York Public Library, the Carnegie libraries of the 1880s, were not just book stacks but also community centres with public baths, bowling alleys, billiard rooms, and in at least one strange instance – at the Allegheny library in Pittsburgh – a rifle range in the basement.

Earlier in the 18th century, with the rise of industrial printing technologies and the spread of mass literacy, not only libraries but as many as a thousand book clubs sprang up through Europe. They were highly social, if occasionally rowdy places, offering a space not only for men but also women to gather. Monthly dinners were a common feature. Book club rules included penalties for drunkenness and swearing.

So too, the fabled Library of Alexandria – where Eratosthenes invented the discipline of geography and Archimedes calculated the accurate value of Pi – was not a collection of scrolls but a centre of innovation and learning. It was part of a larger museum with botanical gardens, laboratories, living quarters and lecture halls. Libraries are social places.

Lost libraries

Kells’s Catalogue of Wonders is at its best when it recounts the stories of these ancient libraries, charting the accidental trails of books, and therefore ideas, through processes of translating, pirating and appropriation. And the trades and technologies of papermaking that enabled them.

The library of the Pharaoh Ramses II in the second millennium BCE contained books of papyrus, palm leaves, bone, bark, ivory linen and stone. But “in other lands and other times,” Kells writes,

books would also be made from silk, gems, plastic, silicon, bamboo, hemp, rags, glass, grass, wood, wax, rubber, enamel, iron, copper, silver, gold, turtle shell, antlers, hair, rawhide and the intestines of elephants.

One sheep, he says, yields a single folio sheet. A bible requires 250. The Devil’s Bible , a large 13th-century manuscript from Bohemia, was made from the skin of 160 donkeys.

Ptolemy founded the Library of Alexandria around 300 BCE, on a spit of land between a lake and the man-made port of Pharos. He sent his agents far and wide with messages to kings and emperors, asking to borrow and copy books.

There are many stories about the dissolution of this library: that it was burnt by invading Roman soldiers or extremist Christians or a pagan revolt – or that a caliph ordered the books be burnt to heat the waters of the urban bathhouses. Or just as likely, as Kells points out, the scrolls, which were made of fragile papyrus, simply disintegrated.

But the knowledge contained in the scrolls never entirely disappeared. Even as the collection dissipated, a brisk trade in pirated scrolls copied out in a nearby merchant’s district ensured that the works eventually found their way to Greece and Constantinople, where other libraries would maintain them for another thousand years.

Destroyed collections

One thing that Kells fails to address in his book is the problems that arise when books are excluded, destroyed, censored and forgotten. And, indeed, when libraries are decimated.

Any list of destroyed libraries makes startling reading: The libraries of Constantinople sacked by the Crusaders, the Maya codices destroyed by Franciscan monks, the libraries of Beijing and Shanghai destroyed by occupying Japanese forces, the National Library of Serbia destroyed by the Nazi Luftwaffe, the Sikh Library of the Punjab destroyed at the behest of Indira Gandhi, the Library of Cambodia destroyed by the Khmer Rouge.

More recently, thousands of priceless manuscripts were burnt in the Timbuktu library in Mali and rare books spanning centuries of human learning were burnt at the University of Mosul. Yet more book burnings have been conducted by ISIS, in a reign of cultural devastation that includes museums, archaeological sites, shrines and mosques.

There is also destruction for which the so called “Coalition of the Willing” must accept responsibility. Dr Saad Eskander, the Director of the Iraq National Library and Archive, reported the devastation of the library in a diary posted on the British Library website: archival materials 60% lost, rare books 95% lost, manuscripts 25% lost.

There may be something not quite right in mourning the death of books in a time of war, as people are dying. But the problem remains that without books and documents, the history of the world can be rewritten.

Indeed, as Iraqi librarians sought to preserve the bookish remains of their country in the still working freezer of a bombed out Iraqi officer’s club, the US military quietly airlifted the archives of the Baathist Secret Police out of the country.

These are the dark places where, as George Orwell once said, the clocks strike thirteen, and Kells does not go.

Of course, the great irony of censorship and book burning is that books are destroyed because it is believed that they are important, and they possess a certain power.

Libraries of the future

In the age of the globalisation of everything – and the privatisation of everything else – libraries can and must change. It is seldom discussed that one of the great destroyers of books are actually libraries themselves, bearing cost cuts, and space limitations. But this process can be ameliorated by companies such as Better World Books that divert library books from landfill, finding new owners and funding literacy initiatives – you can even choose a carbon neutral footprint at the checkout.

Libraries, by which I mean public libraries that are free, open and accessible, will not become extinct, even though they face new competition from the rise of private libraries and the Internet. Libraries will not turn into mausoleums and reliquaries, because they serve a civic function that extends well beyond the books they hold.

Libraries can and must change. Quiet study areas are being reduced, replaced not only by computer rooms but also by social areas that facilitate group discussions and convivial reading. There will be more books transferred to offsite storage, but there will also be more ingenious methods of getting these books back to readers.

There will be an emphasis on opening rare books collections to greater numbers of readers. There is and must be greater investment in digital collections. Your mobile phone will no longer be switched off in the library, but may well be the very thing that brings the library to you in your armchair.

The much heralded “death of the book” has nothing to do with the death of reading or writing. It is about a radical transformation in reading practices. New technologies are taking books and libraries to places that are, as yet, unimaginable. Where there will undoubtedly be new wonders to catalogue.

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Home — Essay Samples — Economics — American Dream — The American Dream Argumentative

The American Dream Argumentative

Categories: American Dream Social Mobility

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Words: 565 |

Published: Mar 13, 2024

Words: 565 | Page: 1 | 3 min read

The growing gap between the rich and the poor, the decline of social mobility, the persistence of systemic barriers to success, in conclusion.

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The American Dream by Library of Congress

Social Studies (NYS K-12 Framework Common Core)

Grade Levels

Intermediate, Commencement, 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade, 9th Grade, 10th Grade, 11th Grade, 12th Grade

This lesson invites students to search and sift through rare print documents, early motion pictures, photographs, and recorded sounds from The Library of Congress. Students experience the depth and breadth of the digital resources of the Library, tell the story of a decade, and help define the American Dream.

Culture & Folklife
Immigration & Ethnic Heritage
Great Depression and WWII, 1929-1945
Postwar United States, 1945-present

Students will:

analyze, interpret, and conduct research with digitized primary source documents
interpret 19th and 20th century social life in the United States using digitized documents from the Library of Congress
define, present and defend their ideas about what the American Dream has been, through the decades
relate what they have uncovered from inquiry and research to their own American Dream

Two to three weeks

Preparation

Teacher's Guides and Analysis Tool
Background essay: "What Is the American Dream?"
Wall of Dreams
Citing Primary Sources

Introduction

Entry Level Skills and Knowledge

A basic understanding of Internet research, knowledge of search terms to navigate Library of Congress digital content, and reasonable facility with multimedia tools are needed.

When working with archival collections students must think like historians and archivists. Resources from the Teachers Page can help students get started. Acquaint students with the unique qualities of primary resources. You may want to create or use a set of primary sources to help students understand the process of primary source analysis.

If this is the first time you have used the Library of Congress collections, it will be helpful to consult the Using Primary Sources section of the Teacher Page. It may also be helpful to use the Collection Connections section to help understand and use specific American Memory collections.

Organizational Requirements

Define the scope of the project:

Before introducing the lesson, or as a class, define the scope of the historical research conducted in this project. Will teams gather material from a specific decade? Will they work with a single American Memory collection? Will research be guided by a theme, such as immigration? Will research be linked to literature the class is reading?

Determine desired learning outcomes:

What do you expect your students to know and be able to do when they have completed the activities. Create an assessment rubric for students based on your expectations.

Determine required learning product(s):

You may want students to create a Web page, a multimedia product, a video, or a contribution to the transformation of their classroom into a Decades Museum. Whatever format the student product may take, students should present and defend their ideas.

Engage students:

Invite students to begin their inquiry by considering the dreams of today and the dreamers of the present. Next, use The Library of Congress collections to learn about our cultural heritage and find evidence of the dreamers in our collective history. Finally, ask your students to compare their own dreams to the dreams of those who lived before them. Students should understand that history is the continuing story of human experience, the stories of people like themselves. Help students to understand that as they define and pursue their own dreams, they create the future of our nation and the world.

Introduce students to the student lesson pages. Divide your class into learning teams and assign roles and responsibilities.

Each team will select (or be assigned) a research role (photographer, lawyer, poet, politician, producer, comedian, musician). Each student will work as part of the team to complete the project. Remind students that while they each have specific tasks, all team members pitch in and help one another. Provide time for students to explore the student page of the project.

Individual responsibilities might include:

Team Manager As team manager you have full responsibility for this team. You will manage all aspects of the project by assisting the research, production, and archive managers in meeting their obligations to complete the project. Excellent interpersonal and management skills are required. You are ultimately responsible for helping the team meet the project deadline.
Research Manager Your job is key to the success of this project. You can shape the research by using focus questions. You will assist others in finding just the right quote, picture, or sound bite. Your team will rely on effective use of your detective and inquiry skills as you search the collections.
Production Manager You will lead the group in building the final product. You must gather materials from your archive manager and work with the researcher during production. You must be flexible and resourceful as you work and assist others with last minute changes; manage graphics, sound or movie clips; and deal with the unexpected occurrences of creating a product.
Archive Manager Excellent organizational skills make this job a challenge. You will keep track of all materials for the team and check to be sure that resources are compatible. For example, are your sound clips in the correct format? You will keep the original files, and back up files, and organize the the final project.

Building Background Knowledge and Skills

(suggested- 2 class periods)

Anticipatory Set:

Link to students' prior knowledge and work with them to develop a concept of the traditional "American Dream." Use the " What Is the American Dream ?" essay to initiate a discussion (either as a whole class or in team groups).

You may wish to have your students conduct interviews, explore other readings, engage in further class discussions, or hear guest speakers. Pair them to brainstorm: What do you already know about the American Dream? They might use paper or visual thinking software to record ideas and then share them with the learning team members in their groups.

Primary Source Analysis:

Before students begin their research, review strategies for analyzing primary source materials. Each student team will work with a set of pre-selected materials. Students analyze the materials recording their thoughts on the Primary Source Analysis Tool . Before the students begin, select questions from the teacher's guide Analyzing Primary Sources to focus and prompt analysis and discussion.

Each team will analyze its assigned primary source. Photographer - Mr. & Mrs. David Vincent and daughter, Martha, by their sod house Poet - "Dedication," Robert Frost's presidential inaugural poem, 20 January 1961 Politician - "Americanism", Harding, Warren G. (Warren Gamaliel), 1865-1923 Producer - Arrival of immigrants, Ellis Island Lawyer - Petition for change of venue, 1886 June 10, Evidence from the Haymarket Affair, 1886-1887 Comedian - Katzenjammer Kids: "Policy and pie" Musician - The old cabin home. H. De Marsan, Publisher, 54 Chatham Street, New York Reporter - The Independent gazetteer, or, The chronicle of freedom, 1788

Researching Online and Gathering Primary Resources

(suggested - 5 class periods)

Guide students in choosing a research role and developing an action plan. One strategy is to assign roles, such as team manager, research manager, production manager or archive manager. Support students as needed in identifying tasks to be completed and drafting a timeline.

Possible considerations during research might include:

Theme or Topic: What is your focus for inquiry? Identify your research topic or theme.
Research Questions: What questions will focus your research? List a series of questions you intend to answer to focus your research. What additional information do you need to answer these questions?
Primary Sources: How will you know you've found what you are looking for? List the type of resources you intend to look for to answer your research questions. What primary resources from the Library of Congress will you search for?
Evidence: How do you know that the examples you've found are valid? Once you have located a few examples of primary sources, what are your criteria for selecting these as evidence?

You may require each team to keep a "research log" of work accomplished during each work session to help students stay focused and, later, to help in the evaluative process.

Choose the questions that will provide a focus for the project. Students can use these questions to guide their research.

As a class, create and continually add to, a list of "tried and true" search terms. Remind students that the Library of Congress Web site is a collection of collections. It is not encyclopedic and it simply does not have "everything." If an initial search does not yield desired results, guide students in how they can narrow or refocus the search. Your schedule may limit students to visiting only the suggested collections and provided links for each team. As possible, however, encourage them to identify additional items in the Library of Congress collections and to expand their resources with other sources.

Supply students with primary source analysis tools to use to record their growing set of evidence. Allow at least two (more preferred) days/class periods for exploration and research.

Creating the Learning Product

Students can produce a variety of products to demonstrate their interpretation of the material. Public or private Web sites, podcasting, digital narratives, video documentaries, slide shows, oral presentations, booklets or newspapers, or museum display within the classroom of print documents, multimedia, and realia are all excellent vehicles for students to share their learning.

Creating and refining a final learning product that allows students to represent, present and defend their ideas about the American Dream is the tangible outcome of this project. Allow plenty of time for this vital phase. (Having students add what transpires during this phase of the project to their research log can provide useful insight in the evaluation process.)

Reinforce ethical use of the Internet by requiring that proper citation and/or bibliographical entry be used for all collected print and Internet resources.

Developing a Personal Dream for their Future

(1 class period)

When students have completed their research and have produced and presented the products that share their learning, they can be invited to consider their own American Dream – for themselves, their families and loved ones, their community, their nation and the world. Encourage students to give serious thought and honest expression to their hopes and dreams for the future. For inspiration, they may wish to view the Wall of Dreams contributed by other students.

Who are the dreamers that inspire us today? Ask students to read about or interview others who have a dream. Enrich this project with your own web resources, books, movie clips, interviews, or guest speakers.

Self and Peer Assessment

A confidential self-evaluation from each student can provide the teacher with further valuable input, and will help the student reflect upon their own learning and performance. Students are also asked to evaluate the work and contributions of team members.

Teacher Assessment

Student teams may be asked the following assessment questions:

What is the American Dream?
How has the American Dream changed over time?
How do diverse cultures view the American Dream?
How have significant historical events affected the American Dream?
How will new opportunities of the 21st century challenge the American Dream?
What makes your area of interest an effective medium for sharing the American Dream?
What is your American Dream?

The team products, and their presentation, should provide evidence of understanding from each team member. Be sure to require that each student contribute to the important tasks of presenting and defending a specific viewpoint.

Evaluate student work according to the evaluative criteria you and your students identified before beginning the project.

For Students

What is the American Dream ? Is it the same for all Americans? Is it a myth? Is it simply a quest for a better life? How has the American Dream changed over time? Some see their dreams wither and die while others see their dreams fulfilled. Why? Everyone has dreams about a personally fulfilled life ...what is your dream?

Your job is to research the dreams of others. You will then create and publish your interpretation of the "American Dream."

Divide into teams by research roles (photographer, lawyer, poet, politician, producer, comedian, musician).
Define the American Dream with your group.
Search in the American Memory collections and document the dreams of those who lived in the past.
Identify and publish your interpretation of the "American Dream" according to your research role and the evidence you found.
Reflect upon your personal dream — for the nation and for yourself.
Review the Wall of Dreams for ideas. Write your own personal dream to share with your teacher and class.

Getting Started

Choose a Research Role

As a group, choose one of the research roles to create your project:

Record the results of your discussion.

What do you already know about the American Dream?

Your group needs to define the American Dream. Read " What Is The American Dream? ". Find out what the dream means to each member of your group. Brainstorm and share your ideas. What do you know about the "American Dream"? With a partner create a mind map of what you know, or believe you know, about the American Dream. All ideas are valid. Use paper or visual thinking software to record your ideas. Share the results with your learning team members in your group. This is the beginning of your project, so file your results with your archive manager.

Define your Project

Determine your research theme or topic: Are you interested in immigration/emigration, families, social life? Will you investigate one decade or compare how the American Dream evolved over the decades? Discuss topic ideas with your group.

Analyzing Documents

Use the Primary Source Analysis tool and questions provided by your teacher to practice reading and interpreting sources with sample materials. Your team will look at resources through the lens of your research role.

Photographer - Mr. & Mrs. David Vincent and daughter, Martha, by their sod house: near White River, South Dakota
Poet - "Dedication," Robert Frost's presidential inaugural poem, 20 January 1961
Politician - "Americanism", Harding, Warren G. (Warren Gamaliel), 1865-1923
Producer - Arrival of immigrants, Ellis Island
Comedian - Katzenjammer Kids: "Policy and pie"
Lawyer - Petition for change of venue: Evidence from the Haymarket Affair, 1886-1887
Musician - The old cabin home. H. De Marsan, Publisher, 54 Chatham Street, New York
Reporter - The Independent gazetteer, or, The chronicle of freedom, 1788

Research — Gather Evidence — Create the Team Product

As a group, be sure you all understand the task for your team's research role . Divide the tasks. Create an action plan. Record the results of your discussion.

Discuss possible questions and anticipate how you will answer them. Search the American Memory collections and gather your evidence.

Create your learning product. Develop a strategy to share your learning project which allows all team members to contribute and share their ideas.

You and your teacher established expectations for the project before you started your work. You and your team recorded your progress. Your teacher may be using a rubric to evaluate your work. You understand the difference between excellent, good, and satisfactory work.

Complete a confidential team and self evaluation that describes how you contributed to your team’s effort and what you have learned.

You were challenged to investigate the American Dream, to see if it is the same for all Americans and whether it is real or just a myth. Did you find that it is simply a quest for a better life? What did you discover about how the Dream has changed over time? Do you now know why some see their dreams wither and die while others see their dreams fulfilled? What is your dream?

You've finished a group project. You've presented your ideas to your class. Has this experience influenced your view of the American Dream? How? Now that you have completed your project:

What questions do you still have about the American Dream?
What can the dreams of others teach you?
Who are the dreamers of today?
Were the dreams of yesteryear like your own dreams? In what ways?
What IS the American Dream? Can it be simply stated?
How will YOUR personal dream become a part of America's (and the world's) future?

Access this resource at:

The American Dream

Content Provider

Library of Congress

The Library of Congress is the nation's oldest federal cultural institution and serves as the research arm of Congress. It is also the largest library in the world, with millions of books, recordings, photographs, maps and manuscripts in its collections.

The Library's mission is to support the Congress in fulfilling its constitutional duties and to further the progress of knowledge and creativity for the benefit of the American people.

As Librarian of Congress, I oversee the many thousands of dedicated staff who acquire, catalog, preserve, and make available library collections within our three buildings on Capitol Hill and over the Internet. I am pleased that you are visiting our Web site today, and I invite you return to it often.

Sincerely, James H. Billington Librarian of Congress

Credits: Kathleen Ferenz and Leni Donlan, American Memory Fellows, 1997

Related academic standards, new york state.

SS.8.8 DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGE: After World War II, the population of the United States rose sharply as a result of both natural increases and immigration. Population movements have resulted in changes to the American landscape and shifting political power. An aging population is affecting the economy and straining public resources.

SS.8.8.a After World War II, the United States experienced various shifts in population and demographics that resulted in social, political, and economic consequences.

SS.SSP.5.1.2 Recognize and effectively select different forms of evidence used to make meaning in social studies (including primary and secondary sources such as art and photographs, artifacts, oral histories, maps, and graphs).

SS.SSP.5.3.2 Categorize divergent perspectives of an individual historical event.

SS.SSP.6.1.2 Identify, effectively select, and analyze different forms of evidence used to make meaning in social studies (including primary and secondary sources such as art and photographs, artifacts, oral histories, maps, and graphs).

0 d: 0 h: 0 m: 0 s remaining 30 March 2024, 23:59 hr

The wait is over! We're thrilled to announce that the results for Season 3 are out!

DREAM. EXPLORE. WRITE

It’s back For the 3rd season

CHECK YOUR RESULTS

Introduction

Kigali Public Library Annual writing competition is an open to the public competition that engages public and private schools (Lower and Upper primary and secondary) in Rwanda that was launched in 2021. Each year, the public is requested to write on a particular subject commonly for the aim of raising awareness or educating the Rwandan communities on different issues that our society is facing today, to enhance the creative writing skills among Rwandan communities with the opportunity to become published authors and promote particularly inclusive reading and writing among Rwandan youth.

Kigali Public Library's annual writing season three is for Rwandan communities and aims at engaging students and the general public in different categories to achieve high language proficiency in English, Kinyarwanda, and French to enhance their reading and writing skills as well as stimulate their imagination and creativity.

The central focus of our competition revolves around "Tourism and Conservation" Our tourism industry consists of two products: Tangible and Intangible attractions

What is a tourism product?

As defined by UNWTO, a Tourism Product is "a combination of tangible and intangible elements, such as natural, cultural and man-made resources, attractions, facilities, services and activities around a specific center of interest which represents the core of the destination marketing mix and creates an overall visitor.

Tourist’s Experience
Tourist’s Memory
Natural features
Works of art

For this year's competition, the Primary contestants will concentrate on exploring the realm of intangible attractions, while the Secondary contestants will delve into the captivating world of tangible attractions. The following topics will serve as guidelines for each category:

Lower Primary

Imagine a special park with animals from Rwanda. What magical powers do they have? Share your exciting visit with us!

Upper Primary

Write about your favorite view from a hilltop and why it's special and tell how taking care of nature is important for everyone.

Ordinary Level

Write about a place in Rwanda where people can learn about different cultures and traditions.

Advanced Level

Write about a sustainable tourist attraction contributing to both economic development and environmental conservation.

Writing Criteria

Submission must conform to the conditions below:

Application

All talents must fill the required information on the application form both soft and hard.

Writing Style

Talents must demonstrate effective integration of writing principles, rules, and best practice guidelines for writing. Allowed writing Types will be Fiction, Poem , Essay , and Article.

Kinyarwanda, English, and French

Document Guidelines

Documents will be received into both physical and digital formats.

Digitally submitted copies should not reveall any information about the talent, as that information would have been submitted during the first 2 submission steps

Hard copies MUST contain the information below on first page:

Section 1: Personal Information

Residence District
Date of Birth
Parent/Guardian Phone Number
Parent/Guardian Email (Optional)

Section 2: School Information

School Name
Email (optional)
Class Level

Section 3: Submission

Category Topic

SOFT DOCUMENTS:

PDF or Word
Times New Roman
Font size 12
Line and Paragraph Spacing 1.5

HARD DOCUMENTS:

Must be written in clear readable handwriting or typed

Composition Limitations

All documents must have 500 words maximum per page.

Lower Primary : 100 - 250 words maximum
Upper Primary : 200- 500 words maximum
Ordinary Level : 500 – 1000 words maximum
Advanced Level : 750 – 1500 words maximum

TALENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

Visual Impairment: All documents should be written in braille or audio of 10 minutes maximum.

Speech and Hearing Impairment: All talents must submit their work in the video for 10 minute maximum.

Mental Impairment: All talents must submit their work in a painting format, and they should consult with the KPL staff if they have other formats to use.

All talents with impairment MUST submit a one-page document containing personal and school information as per the guidelines.

Registration and Submission - 09th Feb 2024 to 30th March 2024

Evaluation – 1st to 10th April 2024

Field trips – 19th to 21st April 2024

FINAL – 26th to 28th April 2024

Awarding ceremony – 18th May 2024

Ready to Compete?

Submit your application today

Check Your Results

+250 788 500 777
[email protected]

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3.4: Assignment- Sleep and Dream Journal

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Sleep and Dream Journal

STEP 1 : For this assignment, you’ll be keeping track of your sleep habits and your dreams in order to analyze your sleep habits and examine dream theories. To begin, make a copy of this sleep log .

STEP 2 : Keep track of your sleep habits and dreams for a MINIMUM of 3 days.

STEP 3 : While it’s not guaranteed you will remember your dreams, you can take some steps to help. Begin by telling yourself you want to remember your dream, then print off the sleep/dream journal and have paper and a pen (or your phone) next to your bed right when you wake up. Try to review the dream in your head as soon as you wake up, and consider specifics such as the people involved, the location and setting, the storyline, or how you felt.

STEP 4 : Submit your sleep journal and sleep essay based on the following prompt:

Based on your sleep/dream journal and what you have learned about the purpose for dreaming, write a 1-2 page essay (between 250-500 words) about your own sleep habits.

Your essay should include:

An analysis of your sleep habits. Do you go to bed at the same time every night? How many hours a night do you normally sleep? How could you be a better sleeper? Do you notice any patterns? What concepts from your text might apply to your sleep habits?
An analysis of your dreams. Why do you usually dream? Are there any patterns or re-occurring themes? Is there any consistency between the things you do during the day and the dreams you have? *If you cannot remember your dreams, you can skip this part and spend more time focusing on the steps above and below.
Your conclusion as to what is the MAIN purpose that we dream and why. Consider the theories presented in your readings.

Licenses and Attributions

CC licensed content, Shared previously

Sleep and Dream Journal Assignment. Provided by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution . License Terms : Download for free at http://cnx.org/contents/[email protected]

Essay on My School Library for Students and Children

500+ words essay on my school library.

A school library is a structure within the school that houses a collection of books, audio-visual material and other content that serves common use to meet the educational, informative and recreational needs of the users. The chief objective of libraries is to meet the academic needs of the particular educational institution which it serves. Besides serving students in their studies and teachers in their research school, libraries aim at creating interest in reading amongst the students who get the best of resources and environment here.

Types of Books

The types of books we can have access to in school libraries are fiction books , non-fiction books, reference books, literature books, biographies, General Knowledge books, Fables and folktales, cookbooks and craft books, poetry books, books in a series, and wordless books.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Importance of School Librar y

It provides us with quality fiction and nonfiction books that encourage us to read more for pleasure and enrich our intellectual, artistic, cultural, social and emotional growth. The ambiance of the school library is perfect for learning without getting disturbed.

This makes it easy for us to learn and grasp faster. It provides teachers the access to professional development, relevant information and reference material to plan and implement effective learning programs.

Thus. School library is helpful to every member of the school community whether its students, teachers or any other staff member. It helps gain skills and knowledge for personal development .

School library has a positive impact on the academic performance of the students. It helps us develop the overall skills necessary to succeed in the modern-day digital and social environment. It is important to develop the habit of visiting the library regularly.

Role of a School Librarian

Librarian has an important role to play in the effective functioning of the school library. Librarian has the essential skills to guide and support the library users learning, and help them develop into independent readers and learners. School librarian mainly performs the role of a teacher, information specialist, instructional partner, and program administrator.

Librarians are not merely the caretakers of books anymore they are the consultants, information providers, instructional readers, curriculum designers, and teachers. They can help students in achieving their goals.

The setup of the libraries has also changed into more like classroom setup. The role of the school librarian is to empower others with resources, information, skills, and knowledge and establish flexible learning and teaching environment .

School librarian is like teaching staff and has a vital role to play in supporting literacy and impact students’ learning in a positive way. School librarian supports the learning of the students and helps them develop into efficient independent learners and readers.

Library and Education are Interrelated

Education and library are interrelated and fundamentally co-exist with each other. Education is the process of gaining knowledge, values, skills, habits, and beliefs. It is the social process in which children are subjected to the influence of the school environment to attain social competence personnel development.

Education is the outcome of the knowledge and experience acquired. Library, on the other hand, is the source and storehouse of knowledge, information, and resources vital for the leap in the advancement of knowledge. Libraries enhance the cause of education and research.

A library plays an important role in meeting the growing needs of people in literacy. The library is essential for self-education, a means of information and knowledge. Education is the complex social process of gaining knowledge and experience formally. In involves a system used for the development of the students. Library provides spiritual, inspirational, informative and interesting reading experience.

The library facilitates each student with access to essential resources and learning material for a smooth learning process. It plays a vital role in a student’s life. The design, modern tools, and strategies of the school libraries change with the changing times. The library is thus a leap in the advancement of the literacy provided in classrooms. Education and library cannot exist alone and are inseparable. The library is an essential part of the educational system.

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Essay on Library: 100, 200 and 250 Words

Updated on
Apr 24, 2024

A Library is a place where students and people interested in reading books visit very often. It constitutes several collections of books of variable genres to please the reader. The library is the in-person source of information. It is an easily accessible place for students and raiders. Every school and college has a library with multiple books. Besides that, it is economical for the students. This article will provide an essay on library for students and children studying in schools. Enjoy Reading.

Table of Contents

1 Sample Essay on Library
2 100 Words Essay on Library
3 200-250 Words Essay on Library
4 Short Essay on Library

Sample Essay on Library

The library is an important place for the community. It includes books, newspapers, magazines, manuscripts, DVDs, and more such informational sources. It plays a significant role in the kid’s learning phase. Despite the advancement in technology , the library still plays a critical role in everyone’s life. One can borrow books from the library. There are two types of libraries one is a private library that is controlled by the school and college authorities, whereas the other is a public library that is open to all.

100 Words Essay on Library

A library is a place where books belonging to different subjects and genres are stored. My school also has a very big library next to the computer lab. Our timetable is designed in such as format that we could visit the library twice a week and explore books apart from our syllabus. This practice of visiting and exploring books in the library induces a habit of reading in all the students.

My school library has autobiographies, picture books, comics, novels, fictional books, books on culture, art, and craft, and many other materials. Students can borrow the desirable book to read for one week and then, on a specific date we need to return that book to the school library. Thus, the library teaches us the value and importance of books and inculcates the habit of reading and imparting knowledge.

200-250 Words Essay on Library

The library is the place where people come together to learn and gain knowledge. Books are arranged on large bookshelves. Books belonging to similar genres are arranged on the same shelf by the librarian. The librarian is in charge of the library.

Some libraries have digital software to keep track of books issued and received to and from the library. Owing to technological advances, books are nowadays available on online platforms. Readers can read the book on apps like Kindle. But still, the library has its role, it is easily accessible plus it will provide a trustworthy source of information.

Good raiders prefer books to read in their physical form as they cherish the quality of pages, type of writing , and the authenticity of book covers. Thus, the library plays an important role in the student’s as well as adults’ life.

Every school allots specific hours for students to visit and read books from the library so that they can induce reading habits from childhood itself. Students also refer to books from the library to complete their assignments or summer vacation homework.

There are set rules and regulations of the library. Generally, we are not allowed to talk so that readers won’t get distracted and lose their pace of reading. Besides that, if any book issued from the library gets misplaced, damaged, or lost from the borrower then, he/she has to pay a fine to the librarian.

Thus, the library is an excellent resource for books that spread knowledge and information along with entertainment .

Also Read: One Nation One Election Essay in 500 Words

Short Essay on Library

Also Read: Speech on President of India for School Students in English

A. The library plays a critical part in every individual starting from the school itself. It helps in developing the overall personality because reading books and gaining knowledge help people to make a good career.

A. Include points like what is a library, why books are important, and the importance of a library in the life of students and children. Divide your essay into three parts introduction, body, and conclusion. End the concluding paragraph on a positive note.

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Kajal Thareja

Hi, I am Kajal, a pharmacy graduate, currently pursuing management and is an experienced content writer. I have 2-years of writing experience in Ed-tech (digital marketing) company. I am passionate towards writing blogs and am on the path of discovering true potential professionally in the field of content marketing. I am engaged in writing creative content for students which is simple yet creative and engaging and leaves an impact on the reader's mind.

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The Unique Burial of a Child of Early Scythian Time at the Cemetery of Saryg-Bulun (Tuva)

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Pages: 379-406

In 1988, the Tuvan Archaeological Expedition (led by M. E.вЂЇKilunovskaya and V. A.вЂЇSemenov) discovered a unique burial of the early Iron Age at Saryg-Bulun in Central Tuva. There are two burial mounds of the Aldy-Bel culture dated by 7th century BC. Within the barrows, which adjoined one another, forming a figure-of-eight, there were discovered 7 burials, from which a representative collection of artifacts was recovered. Burial 5 was the most unique, it was found in a coffin made of a larch trunk, with a tightly closed lid. Due to the preservative properties of larch and lack of air access, the coffin contained a well-preserved mummy of a child with an accompanying set of grave goods. The interred individual retained the skin on his face and had a leather headdress painted with red pigment and a coat, sewn from jerboa fur. The coat was belted with a leather belt with bronze ornaments and buckles. Besides that, a leather quiver with arrows with the shafts decorated with painted ornaments, fully preserved battle pick and a bow were buried in the coffin. Unexpectedly, the full-genomic analysis, showed that the individual was female. This fact opens a new aspect in the study of the social history of the Scythian society and perhaps brings us back to the myth of the Amazons, discussed by Herodotus. Of course, this discovery is unique in its preservation for the Scythian culture of Tuva and requires careful study and conservation.

Keywords: Tuva, Early Iron Age, early Scythian period, Aldy-Bel culture, barrow, burial in the coffin, mummy, full genome sequencing, aDNA

Information about authors: Marina Kilunovskaya (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dvortsovaya Emb., 18, Saint Petersburg, 191186, Russian Federation E-mail: [email protected] Vladimir Semenov (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dvortsovaya Emb., 18, Saint Petersburg, 191186, Russian Federation E-mail: [email protected] Varvara Busova (Moscow, Russian Federation). (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dvortsovaya Emb., 18, Saint Petersburg, 191186, Russian Federation E-mail: [email protected] Kharis Mustafin (Moscow, Russian Federation). Candidate of Technical Sciences. Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. Institutsky Lane, 9, Dolgoprudny, 141701, Moscow Oblast, Russian Federation E-mail: [email protected] Irina Alborova (Moscow, Russian Federation). Candidate of Biological Sciences. Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. Institutsky Lane, 9, Dolgoprudny, 141701, Moscow Oblast, Russian Federation E-mail: [email protected] Alina Matzvai (Moscow, Russian Federation). Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. Institutsky Lane, 9, Dolgoprudny, 141701, Moscow Oblast, Russian Federation E-mail: [email protected]

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Published Jan 9, 2024

Honoring the Dream: How to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day at school this year with Microsoft Education

Content Type
Minecraft Education

Each January, we honor and remember the life and impact of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He is renowned for his dedication to civil rights, advocating through non-violent means, and for his inspiring speeches and writings. Dr. King’s enduring influence on social justice and human rights continues to resonate today as we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2024.

We stand in solidarity with everyone who honors, reflects upon, and memorializes Dr. King, especially on January 15, his birthday. Here are some ways that you can honor and teach your students about Dr. King:

Dedicate the day to community service
Participate in local or national events
Delve into a deeper understanding of Dr. King’s various commitments and ideals through his writings or speeches
Share about Dr. King with others

Microsoft encourages you to take a moment to contemplate Dr. King’s legacy, accomplishments, and historical and cultural significance. Let’s explore how to celebrate Dr. King in your classroom.

Minecraft: Immerse in civil rights history

Minecraft Education stands out as a popular immersive learning platform for young learners. Introduce your students to the Who is Dr. MLK Jr.? immersive world, where they will collaboratively learn about Dr. King’s life and legacy through guided questions, emphasizing an understanding of his identity and influence. Working together, students will craft museum galleries illustrating the various facets of Dr. King.

To enhance the experience, consider pairing it with the Minecraft Good Trouble: U.S. Civil Rights lesson, an additional resource to introduce your students to prominent civil rights leaders and events. Further engage students by exploring inspirational stories and portraits of American civil rights activists. Elevate the learning journey by encouraging students to select a highlighted figure for deeper exploration using Search Coach , a tool specifically crafted to assist students in developing essential information literacy skills and locating reliable sources.

Minecraft block version of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, with civil rights protesters lined up on the adjacent sidewalk.

Depiction of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama from Minecraft Good Trouble: US Civil Rights Lesson.

App smash Learning Accelerators

Learning Accelerators are a set of learning tools included in Microsoft 365 Education designed to provide students with personalized real-time coaching as they develop essential skills, including information and reading literacies. Combining, or “app smashing,” multiple tools from this category enhances the overall learning experience and outcomes.

To begin, use Search Coach to locate digital sources related to Dr. King’s life or excerpts from his speeches. Next, download the passage and create a Reading Progress assignment within Microsoft Teams for Education . Reading Progress offers an inclusive and personalized platform for students to refine their reading skills, supplying actionable data for addressing individual needs. Built-in tools such as Immersive Reader enable translation or read-aloud features. Additionally, Reading Coach makes a set of challenging words for each student, fostering further practice and skill development.

Explore curiosity and teach about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with Wonderopolis

Ignite your students’ curiosity and teach them about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by introducing Wonderopolis articles that address fundamental questions such as Who Was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.? and What Is a Civil Right? . Crafted in elementary-appropriate language, each article is accompanied by discussion questions and relevant vocabulary. Immersive Reader is built into Wonderopolis giving students an accessible experience through translation, read-aloud, and other features that cater to your students’ diverse learning needs.

Using the read aloud feature in Immersive Reader with the “Who Was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.?” Wonderopolis article.

Curate a collaborative video library to teach your students about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Access online videos of Dr. King’s iconic speeches, such as “I Have a Dream” and “I Have Been to the Mountain Top,” as well as various biographies. Promote active participation by setting up a Channel, Conversation, or Assignment within Teams for Education. This platform empowers students to curate, view, and engage in discussions about these impactful videos.

Consider using Microsoft Stream or Flip to record yourself reading various books or creating a shared playlist for students to explore. This interactive approach enhances the learning experience, offering an opportunity for students to engage with the content in a more dynamic and personalized manner.

Connect through Flip

Flip , a platform designed for video-based classroom discussions, offers students a secure and accessible space to express their ideas. Educators can share the Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. topic, remix content from Flip’s Discovery Library, or create a new discussion through Flip’s built-in Topic Copilot .

“Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.” discussion topic in Flip.

Take a moment to explore the curated Celebrate Black History Flip Discovery Library Collection , featuring ready-to-launch topics that enable students to learn, honor, and celebrate Black History. This collection includes contributions from partners like The National WWII Museum, Amplify Voices, Langston League, The Equal Justice Initiative, and more, along with submissions from educators across various grade levels and subjects.

Extend the conversation into Black History Month by participating in the Learning from the Past, Shaping the Future: Discovering Black History through Digital Innovation Flip Live Event on February 21, 2024. This event provides an opportunity for students to discover how virtual museums, Flip, and AI can be used to explore and celebrate the rich and diverse heritage of Black culture in America and worldwide. Register for the event to take a journey through black history and culture with your class.

Celebrating Mrs. Coretta Scott King

Take a moment to spotlight Mrs. Coretta Scott King as you celebrate the legacy of the King family. The King Center Timeline is an unparalleled collection that documents the evolution, history, and influence of The King Center , showcasing the global contributions of its founder, Mrs. Coretta Scott King. Dive into the timeline to emphasize significant moments in Mrs. King’s life, focusing on themes like persistence, activism, nonviolence, and the preservation of history. Finally, watch the Flip Event video A tribute to Mrs. Coretta Scott King with her daughter Dr. Bernice A. King to celebrate Mrs. King’s global impact on human rights.

The King Center Timeline, chronicling the life, influence, and contributions of Mrs. Coretta Scott King.

Every day presents a fantastic opportunity to delve into and celebrate the legacy, service, and values of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Microsoft extends an invitation to commemorate his birthday on January 15, 2024. Explore Dr. King’s life, his significant contributions, and his enduring impact through classroom resources , activities, and discussions.

Inspiring students during Women’s History Month 2024

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The Essence of a Dream Library

How to create an immersive space for deep dreaming reflection..

Posted November 30, 2021 | Reviewed by Michelle Quirk

A special collection of books can enhance your receptivity to insights from dreaming.
Any book that has stimulated your imagination can be part of a Dream Library.
The total number of books is irrelevant; what matters is each book’s value for you.

A Dream Library is a playground for studying and dreaming . It’s a spatial technology for stimulating your oneiric imagination . It’s not a shrine to dreaming, but it’s not not a shrine to dreaming, either. It’s your personally crafted portal into the intuitive depths of your own mind.

What exactly makes a library a Dream Library? What are the essential elements that create a library of dreaming, in all senses of that term? This may seem abstract, but it has potential benefits for anyone who pays attention to their dreams. You can easily create a Dream Library for yourself, and, if you do so, you’ll find it opens doorways to new dimensions of insight and understanding. There are, in my experience, four essential elements to a Dream Library: books, numinous objects, a cup of tea, and a candle. Let me describe each in more detail, in reverse order.

The soft, golden light of a candle creates a human-scale sphere of illuminated space. The gently flickering flame brings a dynamic, unpredictable natural force into your presence. Multiple candles can be fun, but one is enough to serve the candle’s essential role in creating a Dream Library. Throughout history, the candle has been a classic companion of scholars and sages, symbolizing the enlightenment that slowly emerges from a deep immersion in a collection of wisdom literature. Lighting a candle is a ritual act that opens the Library anew; blowing the candle out is a ritual closing. Of course, a candle with its open flame poses a danger, too (see: Library of Alexandria), so its role in the Dream Library is also to stimulate vigilance and respect for the elemental powers.

A Cup of Tea

Whether it’s black, green, or herbal, or even some variant of coffee or cocoa, the presence of a hot beverage also plays a vital role. Sure, you might say, but is tea necessary? Is it essential to a Dream Library? Yes, I believe so. Tea can be conceptualized as an ideal provision for the journey ahead. Entering the Library means a significant commitment of your time and presence. It’s not a quick, in-and-out kind of place. And if you stay there for a while, eventually you will get thirsty. Plain water is fine, but it adds nothing atmospherically. A cup of hot tea, however, poured fresh and then brought straight to the Library so the first blooming swirls of redolent steam can fill the immediate surroundings, enhances your experience at many levels. It’s another small but meaningful ritual act that signals a new entry into the Library, and a new commitment to spend time there, to become enveloped for a while within that space. Again, this runs counter to typical library practice, as liquids of any kind can easily damage or destroy books. Water and Fire compete for the title of gravest threat to libraries of all kinds. So, you have to be careful. Think about where you can and can’t safely place your cup, stick to that plan, and you’ll be fine.

Numinous Objects

This is a broad, potentially infinite category of small material objects that carry special memories, meanings, and values for you. Examples can be a beautiful seashell, a ceramic bowl made by your grandfather, a favorite toy from childhood , or a framed photo of you and a friend on a faraway trip. They can be as simple as a small piece of weathered wood, a cool rock, or an old piece of metal. They can be as elaborate as crystals, antiques, mandala images, and mechanical curiosities. Unusual teacups and candleholders can also double as numinous objects. With this element of a Dream Library, multiplicity matters. The combined effect of these objects is to stimulate wonder and playful curiosity, inviting your mind to wander beyond the here and now, toward distant horizons of exploration and discovery.

There can be no library without books, of course. But, for a Dream Library, having books simply means having more than one volume. Two books together already constitute a library. This is a key point: The dynamic vitality of a Dream Library arises from the quality of interaction between books and reader, not the total quantity of books. Naturally, at the center of this Library are various books about dreams. Classic and contemporary, famous and obscure, academic and popular, books you know well and books you hope to read soon. I always suggest including a few texts from Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, not because they were right about everything (they weren’t) but because they knew so much about ancient dream traditions and expressed those insights in ways that can still enlighten us today. I’d also suggest including your favorite books of all time, not just about dreams. What was your favorite fairy tale from childhood? What novel did you love as a teenager ? What nonfiction book has given you a sense of wonder about the world? Those should also be at the Library’s core. You might add other anthologies of fairy tales, other novels by that same author, other nonfiction works on that same topic, thereby expanding and deepening your collection. But, again, it’s quality that matters, not quantity. A rich, vibrant Dream Library can have just four or five volumes if they are the books that speak most powerfully to you.

A Dream Library may be enhanced in other ways, too — e.g., a comfortable chair, a window with a view, cats. The four elements named here have special appeal because they can be inexpensively acquired, easily transported, and endlessly refined, elaborated, and expanded. Every one of us is a dreamer, and, thus, everyone can benefit from spending time in a self-created, self-curated library of dreaming.

Kelly Bulkeley, Ph.D. , is a psychologist of religion, Director of the Sleep and Dream Database, and author of numerous books on dreams, psychology, spirituality, art, science, and history.

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The National Recording Registry's best Spanish language songs (and what it's missing)

Felix Contreras

Anamaria Artemisa Sayre

Carlos Santana is featured on this week's episode of Alt.Latino. Photo by Gary Gershoff/Getty Images hide caption

Carlos Santana is featured on this week's episode of Alt.Latino.

The Library of Congress' National Recording Registry is more than just a collection of music and sound — it's a reflection of who we are as a country. In April, two new Spanish language songs were added to the registry: Juan Gabriel's "Amor Eterno" and Héctor Lavoe's "El Cantante."

This week on Alt.Latino , Felix and Ana take the opportunity to dive into the Spanish language songs that have made it into the historic collection, as well as share their dream picks for what should be chosen next.

Songs featured in this episode:

Héctor Lavoe, "El Cantante"
Juan Gabriel, "Amor Eterno (En Vivo [En el Palacio de Bellas Artes])"
Buena Vista Social Club, "Chan Chan"
Buena Vista Social Club, "Orgullecida"
Buena Vista Social Club, "El Carretero"
Santana, "Oye Como Va"
Lydia Mendoza, "Mal Hombre (Cold-Hearted Man)"
Dizzy Gillespie feat. Chano Pozo, "Manteca"
Ivy Queen, "Quiero Bailar"
Jose Feliciano, "El Reloj"

Audio for this episode of Alt.Latino was edited and mixed by Joaquin Cotler, with editorial support from Hazel Cills. Our project manager is Grace Chung. NPR Music's executive producer is Suraya Mohamed. Our VP of Music and Visuals is Keith Jenkins.

Dizzy Gillespie
Carlos Santana
Buena Vista Social Club
Juan Gabriel

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Savvino-storozhevsky monastery and museum.

Zvenigorod's most famous sight is the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery, which was founded in 1398 by the monk Savva from the Troitse-Sergieva Lavra, at the invitation and with the support of Prince Yury Dmitrievich of Zvenigorod. Savva was later canonised as St Sabbas (Savva) of Storozhev. The monastery late flourished under the reign of Tsar Alexis, who chose the monastery as his family church and often went on pilgrimage there and made lots of donations to it. Most of the monastery’s buildings date from this time. The monastery is heavily fortified with thick walls and six towers, the most impressive of which is the Krasny Tower which also serves as the eastern entrance. The monastery was closed in 1918 and only reopened in 1995. In 1998 Patriarch Alexius II took part in a service to return the relics of St Sabbas to the monastery. Today the monastery has the status of a stauropegic monastery, which is second in status to a lavra. In addition to being a working monastery, it also holds the Zvenigorod Historical, Architectural and Art Museum.

Belfry and Neighbouring Churches

Located near the main entrance is the monastery's belfry which is perhaps the calling card of the monastery due to its uniqueness. It was built in the 1650s and the St Sergius of Radonezh’s Church was opened on the middle tier in the mid-17th century, although it was originally dedicated to the Trinity. The belfry's 35-tonne Great Bladgovestny Bell fell in 1941 and was only restored and returned in 2003. Attached to the belfry is a large refectory and the Transfiguration Church, both of which were built on the orders of Tsar Alexis in the 1650s.

To the left of the belfry is another, smaller, refectory which is attached to the Trinity Gate-Church, which was also constructed in the 1650s on the orders of Tsar Alexis who made it his own family church. The church is elaborately decorated with colourful trims and underneath the archway is a beautiful 19th century fresco.

Nativity of Virgin Mary Cathedral

The Nativity of Virgin Mary Cathedral is the oldest building in the monastery and among the oldest buildings in the Moscow Region. It was built between 1404 and 1405 during the lifetime of St Sabbas and using the funds of Prince Yury of Zvenigorod. The white-stone cathedral is a standard four-pillar design with a single golden dome. After the death of St Sabbas he was interred in the cathedral and a new altar dedicated to him was added.

Under the reign of Tsar Alexis the cathedral was decorated with frescoes by Stepan Ryazanets, some of which remain today. Tsar Alexis also presented the cathedral with a five-tier iconostasis, the top row of icons have been preserved.

Tsaritsa's Chambers

The Nativity of Virgin Mary Cathedral is located between the Tsaritsa's Chambers of the left and the Palace of Tsar Alexis on the right. The Tsaritsa's Chambers were built in the mid-17th century for the wife of Tsar Alexey - Tsaritsa Maria Ilinichna Miloskavskaya. The design of the building is influenced by the ancient Russian architectural style. Is prettier than the Tsar's chambers opposite, being red in colour with elaborately decorated window frames and entrance.

At present the Tsaritsa's Chambers houses the Zvenigorod Historical, Architectural and Art Museum. Among its displays is an accurate recreation of the interior of a noble lady's chambers including furniture, decorations and a decorated tiled oven, and an exhibition on the history of Zvenigorod and the monastery.

Palace of Tsar Alexis

The Palace of Tsar Alexis was built in the 1650s and is now one of the best surviving examples of non-religious architecture of that era. It was built especially for Tsar Alexis who often visited the monastery on religious pilgrimages. Its most striking feature is its pretty row of nine chimney spouts which resemble towers.

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Burial 5 was the most unique, it was found in a coffin made of a larch trunk, with a tightly closed lid. Due to the preservative properties of larch and lack of air access, the coffin contained a well-preserved mummy of a child with an accompanying set of grave goods. The interred individual retained the skin on his face and had a leather ...
Honoring the Dream: How to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day at
Curate a collaborative video library to teach your students about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Access online videos of Dr. King's iconic speeches, such as "I Have a Dream" and "I Have Been to the Mountain Top," as well as various biographies. Promote active participation by setting up a Channel, Conversation, or Assignment within Teams ...
The Essence of a Dream Library
How to create an immersive space for deep dreaming reflection.
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My Dream Library

A coffee maker and hot water maker

Cushy chairs and a couch

Bookish wall hangings

Bookshelves

A big old window

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Dreaming and the brain: from phenomenology to neurophysiology

Giulio Tononi

Contemporary dream research

BOX 1Can reports be trusted to accurately convey internal experiences in sleep?

Phenomenology of dreams and their relation to brain activity

Similarities between dreaming and waking

BOX 2The development of dreams in children

BOX 3Lesion studies of dreaming

Reduced voluntary control and volition

Reduced self-awareness and altered reflective thought

Emotionality

Altered mnemonic processes

What determines the level of consciousness during sleep?

Why is the dreamer disconnected from the environment?

Are dreams more like perception or imagination?

Box 4Future directions

Concluding remarks

Supplementary Material

What, to the Writer, Are Dreams?

Lauren Acampora

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Essays About Dreams In Life: 14 Examples And Topic Ideas

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FAQS on Essays About Dreams in Life

Friday essay: why libraries can and must change

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Embodying an idea of society

Lost libraries

Destroyed collections

Libraries of the future

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The American Dream Argumentative

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The American Dream by Library of Congress

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Credits: Kathleen Ferenz and Leni Donlan, American Memory Fellows, 1997

Introduction

What is a tourism product?

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Section 1: Personal Information

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Section 3: Submission

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