Looks Can Be Deceiving Essays (1861 words) - Logic, Philosophy

Looks Can Be Deceiving Conundrums are some of the time made out of conflicting thoughts introduced together, at last prompting an unworkable circumstance. Oddities, be that as it may, are most certainly not basically uncertain inquiries. Oddities are the embodiment of the characteristic unpredictability of frameworks (Internet 1). Every conundrum must be broke down and unmistakably comprehended before it very well may be clarified. Since science is, it could be said, an all inclusive language, certain Catch 22s and logical inconsistencies have emerged that have disturbed mathematicians, dating from old occasions to the present. Some are bogus conundrums; that is, they don't present real logical inconsistencies, and are simply smooth rationale stunts. Others have shaken the very establishments of arithmetic ? requiring splendid, imaginative numerical intuition to determine. Others remain uncertain right up 'til today, however are thought to be resolvable. One repeating subject concerning Catch 22s is that every one of them can be illuminated somewhat of fulfillment, yet are rarely totally indisputable. At the end of the day, new replies will probably supplant more seasoned ones, trying to harden the appropriate response and explain the issue. A mystery can be characterized as an unsuitable end determined by obviously satisfactory thinking from clearly worthy premises. This article gives a prologue to a scope of mysteries and their potential arrangements. Likewise, a poll was created so as to exhibit the degree of information that everybody has relating to Catch 22s. Mysteries are valuable things, regardless of their marvelous appearance. By and large, in any case, most mysteries can be understood via scanning for explicit properties that they may contain. Along these lines, on the off chance that you attempt to depict a circumstance and you end up with a mystery (conflicting result), it as a rule implies that the hypothesis isn't right, or the hypothesis or the definitions separate en route. Likewise, it is conceivable that the circumstance can't in any way, shape or form happen, or the inquiry may essentially be good for nothing for some other explanation. Any of these conceivable outcomes are important, and on the off chance that you exhaust all the potential translations, one of them ought to end up being off base (Internet 1). The accompanying kind of Catch 22 is called Simpson's Mystery. This oddity includes an obvious logical inconsistency, since when the information are introduced one way, one specific end is induced. Notwithstanding, when the same information are introduced in another structure, the contrary end results. Catch 22 1: Acceptance Percentages for College An and College Chart 1 Section A Area B Accepted Rejected Total Percent Accepted Rejected Total Percent Passing Women 400 250 650 61% 50 300 350 14% Men 50 25 75 67% 125 300 425 29% Total 450 275 725 175 600 775 As is obvious in Chart 1, when the information are introduced in two separate tables, it looks as though men are acknowledged all the more regularly than ladies, on the grounds that for each situation (College An and College B), men are acknowledged at a higher proportion than ladies. In any case, when similar information are consolidated into one table (Chart 2), a repudiating result is suggested. Acknowledgment Percentage Totals for the University Chart 2 Accepted Rejected Total Percent Accepted Women 450 550 1000 45% Men 175 325 500 35% Total 625 875 1500 This table shows ladies as a matter of fact having a higher generally speaking acknowledgment rate than men. This is a case of Simpson's Paradox since it includes misdirecting information. Clearly, the introduction of the information is significant, and can prompt inaccurate suppositions if the information are not utilized appropriately (Internet 2). Catch 22 2: An Arrow in Flight One can envision a bolt in flight, toward an objective. For the bolt to arrive at the objective, the bolt should initially travel half of the general good ways from the beginning stage to the objective. Next, the bolt should travel half of the remaining separation. For instance, if the beginning separation was 10m, the bolt first voyages 5m, at that point 2.5m. In the event that one broadens this idea further, one can envision the subsequent separations getting littler and littler. Will the bolt ever arrive at the objective? (Web 3) The appropriate response is, obviously, yes the bolt will arrive at the objective. Our sound judgment lets us know so. Be that as it may, numerically, this reality can be demonstrated in light of the fact that the whole of an endless arrangement can be a limited number. The question contains a reason, which suggests that the unending arrangement will result in a boundless number. Accordingly, 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 + ... = 1 and the bolt hits the target (Internet 3). Catch 22 3: Two Equals One? Accept that a = b. (1) Increasing the two sides by an, a? = stomach muscle. (2) Subtracting b? from the two sides, a? - b? = abdominal muscle - b? . (3) Factoring the two sides, (a + b)(a - b) =

Dexterity Impairment

Definition: Dexterity Impairment (Arms/Hands/Fingers) Reduced capacity of arms and hands makes exercises identified with moving, turning or squeezing objects troublesome or unimaginable. This doesn't impact discourse correspondence itself however makes it difficult to make a call or utilize a wide scope of other gear. Huge catch telephones, content to-discourse and other convenient items If you have issues with ability you don't need to battle with little fastens or fiddly switches. A considerable lot of our telephones have highlights which may help make utilizing them easier.More about Easy grasp handsets Handsfree and headset choices Large or very much dispersed catches Memory store to decrease the occasions you need to squeeze catches to make a call Speed dial alternatives so you can store every now and again utilized numbers under committed fastens for one touch dialing Pre-dial office to check the number you have entered is right before dialing Dedicated 1571 catches for simple message recovery. BT Big Button 200 The BT Big Button 200 is our most famous telephone, with bunches of highlights to make calling easier.It has huge, very much dispersed catches perfect for any individual who battles to see a littler keypad, simple volume controls, an inductive coupler for use with a portable hearing assistant, and substantially more. . Basic hints to help with ability Keep things you use normally in places that are anything but difficult to reach, maybe get a cordless telephone. Try not to utilize your hands for an extensive stretch of time without breaks, you may get a kick out of the chance to consider a hands free phone. Consider making changes in accordance with your home like including hand rails or switch taps.

I Suppose It Was Inevitable That We Have An Office Instagram

I Suppose It Was Inevitable That We Have An Office Instagram Nearly five years ago I added a Facebook share button to the blogs. Its strange to think that was so long ago, and also strange to think that it was once not obvious that people would come to the blogs any other way than navigating to or searching for MITAdmissions.org. Of course, its also strange to think I once had a full head of hair and wasnt exhausted by 10 PM every night. And this too shall pass. TLDR: we on  Instagram now. The account is curated primarily by my colleague Holly, who will be taking and posting many square, filtered photos of MIT. As some of you know, the admissions blogs originally grew out of independent student blogs which Ben collated and eventually centralized under this domain. Nowadays, our bloggers post here, but they also have continued to post elsewhere too, on different platforms. Ive never been that interested in connecting the two, mostly because I wanted to respect some distinction between what bloggers post for us and their personal accounts on other platforms intended for other audiences. However, when we were discussing starting an office Instagram, a few of the bloggers volunteered that they would be happy to let prospective students see their lives through the lens of these other platforms as well. So, as a resource (and a bit of an experiment of interest) heres a list of some places you can find some bloggers: Lydia K: Twitter tumblr Instagram Allan K: Tumblr Ceri R: Twitter tumblr Erick P: Twitter Instagram Michael C: Instagram Rachel D: Personal tumblr Cat tumblr Twitter Anastassia B: tumblr Vincent A: tumblr Again, these are all personal accounts for the bloggers. I dont exercise (and am not interested in exercising) any oversight or editing or guidance or anything over them. The purpose of this list is to just let you know where else they are on the web besides MITAdmissions.org in case you want to read about science and cats and sciencecats somewhere else.

Human Rights Violations in China - Should Western...

The United Nations office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (2010) claims that everyone is equally entitled to human rights without discrimination. In the western society, the principles of freedom, democracy and human rights are fundamental rights. However, the People’s Republic of China, commonly known as China, is still known as the largest human rights violator in the world. This raises the question whether or not western companies should continue doing business in China despite of the human rights violations. To find an answer to this question, the human rights violations and the values of the Chinese population will be analysed. Furthermore, the impact of these violations on the business world will be discussed. Human rights†¦show more content†¦Confucianism emphasised harmony and stressed the importance of the collective rather than the individual. The communist Chinese government claims that according to the Asian values, the welfare of the collective Chinese population should always proceed any rights of any individual and in order to create a harmonious society, it is sometimes necessary to force individuals to sacrifice their rights for the wider needs of the society (People’s Daily, 2005). We cannot blame China for slowly implementing the rights of the West. Keep in mind that even the most advanced liberal democracies have only relatively recently implemented human rights. An example of this is the racial segregation in the United States in the 1960s (Breslin Taylor, 2008). Burstein De Keijzer indicate that human rights are often simply a part of a political agenda. How is it possible that for example the United States is able to create close ties and do not overwhelm the human rights agenda in countries such as Indonesia, India or Saudi Arabia, which also violate human rights according to Western standards (as cited in Breslin Taylor, 2008). Keeping in mind China’s stage of development and its discourse on human rights, it should be pointed out that China has made considerable progress over the last few decades. The Chinese business environment. The economic reforms implemented by the government over the past two decades have allowed China to evolve from a centrally planned economy,Show MoreRelatedNon Market Strategy Recommendation For Foxconn1542 Words   |  7 PagesConsulting DATE: October, 25, 2015 SUBJECT: Non-Market Strategy Recommendation for Foxconn Foxconn Technology Group is the number one firm among Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) providers since 2005, and is a global firm that goes beyond China and Taiwan. However, recent market research and analysis show that Foxconn is facing a rather unfavorable publicity regarding its labor practices in its factories. The firm is in dilemma. It wants to retain current clients and maintain leadership inRead MoreHuman Rights And The Lack Thereof2450 Words   |  10 PagesHuman Rights and the Lack Thereof in China It is clear that in China there is certainly a lack in the belief of what constitutes proper ethics regarding the treatment and freedom of citizens is. The government of China is a one party system meaning that only one political organization exists, and it is the communist party. The communist viewpoint is that society should be classless, everything should be communal in the sense there is no private ownership, and the leaders of the party are to enforceRead MoreChina s Effect On Child Labor1912 Words   |  8 Pagesis the reality in China for many young children. While here is the US many children at the age of 12 are in elementary school, children in China are working in factory industries making toys and other goods to export out to the US and other countries. For years, China has engaged in the use of child labor, wage levels below international standards, and unsafe ergonomic conditions. Some facts about China is that they are a communist country and currently the president of China is Xi Jinping. TheyRead MoreEssay on Google Inc, in China7565 Words   |  31 Pages Inc., in China I. The Pre-Analysis: A. Perspective: 1. Author’s Perspective. Describe the perspective of the author(s) of the case study and possible biases of the author(s):  ¶ The case was wrote by Kirsten E. Martin, the Assistant Professor of Business Administration at George Washington University, School of Business. She has her Ph.D. from Darden Graduate School of Business, University of Virginia. Her main research interests are business ethics, privacyRead MoreHuman Rights Violation in Burma Essay932 Words   |  4 PagesGiven the level of corruption and the human right violation that is ongoing in Burma today, no wonder that there are concerns about the backfire of the FDI. Lived experience of the population: In recently published article about the relocation of people who live in the areas designed for the new hydropower or agriculture projects the authors highlight how the local communities’ rights are being neglected. The dialogue with local farmers revealed the ugly truth about the relocation of villagesRead MoreFoxconn s Good Reputation Associated With Foxconn3155 Words   |  13 Pagestime to fix.  Introduction Imagine waking up before the sun, working a twelve hour shift in a factory that employs hundreds of thousands only to return home and repeat the cycle (Chang, 2010), a life of eternal darkness. This is the perception western media has spoon-fed to American citizens. However, in reality, Foxconn--the victim of labor scandals in recent years--is a safe haven that shields its workers from the hardships of living in a developing country. Foxconn acts as a lifeline to countlessRead MoreStrategic Analysis for Best Coffee China Essay9455 Words   |  38 PagesSTRATEGIC ANALYSIS FOR BEST COFFEE CHINA Linda Qin Bachelor of Economics, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, 1996 PROJECT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION In the Faculty of Business Administration O Linda Qin 2004 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Fall 2004 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. APPROVAL Name: LindaRead MoreBusiness Ethics6288 Words   |  26 Pageslegislatures have legislated against product liability actions against producers and distributors of fast food), much of the same criticism leveled against the tobacco companies applies to fast food franchises whose product is both physiologically addictive and physically harmful. The movie ends with a rhetorical question, Who do you want to see go first, you or them? This is accompanied by a cartoon tombstone, which reads Ronald McDonald (1954-2012), which originally appeared in The EconomistRead MoreThe Globalization Of A Multinational Corporation1725 Words   |  7 Pagescorporation is a corporation that does business in two or more countries. It has its home base in its own country, but has branches or subsidiaries in other countries. Their home base is the company’s identity. For example Toyota is Japanese even though it operates in the United States. With modern technology and improvement in communications, transportation and infrastructure, corporations are venturing beyond national boundaries in the pursuit of business opportunities. Their size provides themRead MoreBenefits Of Moving Production Overseas1507 Words   |  7 PagesThere continues to be a rise of organizations from the United States and other developing countries who are moving p roduction overseas to developing countries. At the outset the advantages of moving production overseas may seem obvious, multinational companies can capitalize on the competitive advantage these countries offer in the form of inexpensive labor. However, this cost reduction can come at a high cost as different cultures may not place a high value on the safety and wellbeing of their

Customer Satisfaction And Service Delivery Essay - 1161 Words

1) Customers The financial markets cover a wide range of different functions, products and serve a wide range of different clients and customers. These different financial institutions have different customer groups (e.g. industry large and small, individuals, the public sector and NGOs) and therefore have different levels of influence over them. The customers or consumers is one of the main financial market participant to which LFI’s executive officers and directors owe their duty of care too. A well satisfied customer is a good customer. Customer Satisfaction Customer satisfaction has been proven to be a crucial and valued outcome of good marketing practice. One principle determination of a business is to enhance satisfied customers. The licensed financial institution understands in order to thrive, both product and service delivery must be sufficiently aligned with customer expectations: achieving customer satisfaction and loyalty is essential for long-term survival. It s critical to form a close working relationship with client that is why customer service is of vital importance. Clients/customers should feel valued, wanted and loved. It s also about a relationship with people who are an essential part of everything we do. An institutions future profitability depends on satisfying customers in the present - retained customers should be viewed as revenue producing assets for the firm. Empirical studies have found evidence that improved customer satisfactionShow MoreRelatedReserach Proposal on a Delivery Process of Customer Service in Banking Sector Customer Satisfaction2175 Words   |  9 Pagesmethod†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦05 7. Data collection†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..05 8. Population and sampling†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...05 9. Timing†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...06 10. Budgeting†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..06 11. Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 1.0 Introduction Banking services remain one of the largest and fastest growing industries sectors in Bangladesh. This sector and this industry plays an important role to stimulates the development of new infrastructure that creates new income-earning opportunities. (Economic ReportRead MoreQuestions On Online Shopping Development1748 Words   |  7 PagesOliver in 1997 had defined satisfaction that is the customer reports to judge a product or service, provide a â€Å"pleasurable level of consumption-related fulfillment†. Customer satisfaction should be measured for influence customer buying and repurchases. In last decades, online shopping speedily develops and deeply impacts traditional shopping. Customers and retailers are allowed to run business without limitation of geography and temporal barriers around world. By the advantages of Internet, lowerRead MoreDifference Between Service Quality And Customer Satisfaction1278 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction: Service quality represents a fundamental aspect of delivery, which strongly influences consumer satisfaction and, as a result, loyalty. In today’s global market a customer’s service expectation has to be met and exceeded eventually in order to retain customers as well as achieve success. Perceived quality of a product or a service is becoming one of the major competitive factors in the business world and has led to the innovation of the ‘Quality Era’ (Peeler, 1996). In simple wordsRead MoreFedex Case Study1722 Words   |  7 Pagesexpress shipping o 99% of deliveries are on time †¢ Expansion of operations into international markets o Purchase of Tiger International †¢ Strong brand image associated with products, quality, and reliability Weaknesses: †¢ Expensive compared to other services †¢ Increased amount of debt †¢ Decreased expansion in Europe Opportunities: †¢ Expansion of online consumer services †¢ Offer larger variety of shipping services †¢ Global business growth Read MoreA Balanced Scorecard : An Organization s Mission And Strategy1534 Words   |  7 Pagesstrategy into a comprehensive set of performance measures that provides the framework for a strategic measurement and management system (Kaplan Norton, 1996). The scorecard measures performance across four critical business perspectives: financial, customers, internal business processes, learning and growth. Financial perspective Objective 1: Increase Revenue – As Divine E is a small business it is important for Jessica to have an objective and goal to not only increase revenue, but to achieve an overallRead MoreThe Role Of Service For Service Delivery1165 Words   |  5 Pageseconomist described services as â€Å"cost disease† (Baumol, 1991) because at that time, service industry with low profit margin was seen as abstract performing art which heavily rely on human interaction. As time goes by, service industry is continuously growing and flourishing, people start to recognize the importance of service. Employees’ and customers’ roles in service delivery also become the center of management concern. The paper concentrates on analysing service delivery, in particular, employees’Read MoreObjectives And Goals Of An Operational Strategy1736 Words   |  7 Pagesthe organization should be managed by all stakeholders to achieve the set objectives and goals of the organization. An operatio nal system ought to have the capacity to outline the company s usage of its asset in the creation of a good, item, or service. Organizations define operations methodologies in view of the styles and needs of the management. Differentiation strategy is one of the several operational strategies that LensCrafters use in its operations. LensCrafters is a global leader in theRead MoreData Analysis And Interpretation Of The Marketing Strategies Essay793 Words   |  4 Pagesdata collected for the study. Opinions of both customers as well as the employees and insurance agents of the fiveinsurance companies are taken for the study. This chapter brings out the criteria for selection of sample respondents and framework of statistical analysis of the marketing strategies in the selected firms in nine sections as follows: PART I-customer perspective In this section data collected from the customers is analyzed from the customer perspective. Effectiveness of marketing strategiesRead MoreLaunching Amazon.com Self Service Lockers Essay1510 Words   |  7 PagesLaunching Amazon.com self-service lockers In a modern fast paced world, people seek instant gratification. On a national level this can be seen in companies such as Mc Donald’s which have adopted this notion by preparing hot, quick food for customers. This can be delivered on a local level as well as we see in a company like Comet Cleaners which offers a same-day service. According to Entrepreneur and Online Marketing Expert, Neil Patel, â€Å"Humans are hardwired to want things -- now. It’s called instantRead MoreThe Fedex Corporation : An American Based Worldwide Courier Delivery Service Company Essay1532 Words   |  7 Pagesworldwide courier delivery Service Company. It provides strategic and logistical support for a variety of operating divisions, currently known as FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight, and FedEx Services. These companies operate independently, compete collectively and manage collaboratively (Amsler et al., 2010). For the purpose of this report, focus will be on FedEx Express opera tions. The company is currently the global leader in the express delivery market, and offers delivery to and from individuals

Part Seven Chapter 1 Free Essays

string(283) " needle and the flame had had no transformative effect upon Krystal’s reputation; on the contrary, they had fixed her permanently in the mind of Old Pagford as a soulless creature whose pursuit of what the elderly liked to call kicks had led to the death of an innocent child\." Relief of Poverty †¦ 13.5 Gifts to benefit the poor †¦ are charitable, and a gift for the poor is charitable even if it happens incidentally to benefit the rich †¦ Charles Arnold-Baker Local Council Administration, Seventh Edition Nearly three weeks after the sirens had wailed through sleepy Pagford, on a sunny morning in April, Shirley Mollison stood alone in her bedroom, squinting at her reflection in the mirrored wardrobe. She was making final adjustments to her dress before her now-daily drive to South West General. We will write a custom essay sample on Part Seven Chapter 1 or any similar topic only for you Order Now The belt buckle slid up a hole tighter than it had done a fortnight ago, her silver hair was in need of a trim and her grimace against the sunshine blazing into the room could have been a simple expression of her mood. When Miles accompanied her to the hospital, she could let him do all the talking to Howard, which he did, keeping up a steady monologue of Pagford news. She felt so much better – both more visible and more protected – with tall Miles walking beside her down the chilly corridors. He chatted genially to the nurses, and handed her in and out of the car, and restored to her the sense of being a rare creature, worthy of care and protection. But Miles could not come every day, and to Shirley’s profound irritation he kept deputizing Samantha to accompany her. This was not the same thing at all, even though Samantha was one of the few who managed to bring a smile to Howard’s purple vacant face. Nobody seemed to realize how dreadful the silence was at home either. When the doctors had told the family that recuperation would take months, Shirley had hoped that Miles would ask her to move into the spare room of the big house in Church Row, or that he might stay over, from time to time, in the bungalow. But no: she had been left alone, quite alone, except for a painful three-day period when she had played hostess to Pat and Melly. I’d never have done it, she reassured herself, automatically, in the silent night, when she could not sleep. I never really meant to. I was just upset. I’d never have done it. She had buried Andrew’s EpiPen in the soft earth beneath the bird table in the garden, like a tiny corpse. She did not like knowing it was there. Some dark evening soon, the night before refuse-collection day, she would dig it up again and slip it into a neighbour’s bin. Howard had not mentioned the needle to her or to anyone. He had not asked her why she had run away when she saw him. Shirley found relief in long rattling streams of invective, directed at the people who had, in her stated opinion, caused the catastrophe that had fallen on her family. Parminder Jawanda was the first of these, naturally, for her callous refusal to attend Howard. Then there were the two teenagers who, through their vile irresponsibility, had diverted the ambulance that might have reached Howard sooner. The latter argument was perhaps a little weak, but it was the enjoyable fashion to denigrate Stuart Wall and Krystal Weedon, and Shirley found plenty of willing listeners in her immediate circle. What was more, it had transpired that the Wall boy had been the Ghost of Barry Fairbrother all along. He had confessed to his parents, and they had personally telephoned the victims of the boy’s spite to apologize. The Ghost’s identity had leaked swiftly into the wider community, and this, coupled with the knowledge that he had been jointly responsible for the drowning of a three-year-old child, made abuse of Stuart both a duty and a pleasure. Shirley was more vehement in her comments than anybody. There was a savagery in her denunciations, each of them a little exorcism of the kinship and admiration she had felt for the Ghost, and a repudiation of that awful last post which nobody else, as yet, had admitted to seeing. The Walls had not telephoned Shirley to apologize, but she was constantly primed, in case the boy should mention it to his parents, or in case anybody should bring it up, to deliver a final crushing blow to Stuart’s reputation. ‘Oh yes, Howard and I know all about it,’ she planned to say, with icy dignity, ‘and it’s my belief that the shock caused his heart attack.’ She had actually practised saying this aloud in the kitchen. The question of whether Stuart Wall had really known something about her husband and Maureen was less urgent now, because Howard was patently incapable of shaming her in that way again, and perhaps never would be, and nobody seemed to be gossiping. And if the silence she offered Howard, when she was unavoidably alone with him, was tinged with a sense of grievance on both sides, she was able to face the prospect of his protracted incapacitation and absence from the house with more equanimity than she might have thought possible three weeks previously. The doorbell rang and Shirley hurried to open it. Maureen was there, hobbling on ill-advised high heels, garish in bright aquamarine. ‘Hello, dear, come in,’ said Shirley. ‘I’ll get my bag.’ ‘They’re saying people got up a collection,’ said Maureen, brimful of gossip that Shirley had somehow missed, in her endless back and forward trips to the hospital. ‘Don’t ask me who. Anyway, I wouldn’t have thought the family would want it right by the river, would you?’ (The dirty and foul-mouthed little boy, of whose existence few had been aware, and of whom nobody but his mother and sister had been especially fond, had undergone such a transformation in Pagford’s collective mind by his drowning, that he was spoken of everywhere as a water baby, a cherub, a pure and gentle angel whom all would have embraced with love and compassion, if only they could have saved him. But the needle and the flame had had no transformative effect upon Krystal’s reputation; on the contrary, they had fixed her permanently in the mind of Old Pagford as a soulless creature whose pursuit of what the elderly liked to call kicks had led to the death of an innocent child. You read "Part Seven Chapter 1" in category "Essay examples") Shirley was pulling on her coat. ‘You realize, I actually saw them that day?’ she said, her cheeks turning pink. ‘The boy bawling by one clump of bushes, and Krystal Weedon and Stuart Wall in another – ‘ ‘Did you? And were they really †¦?’ asked Maureen avidly. ‘Oh yes,’ said Shirley. ‘Broad daylight. Open air. And the boy was right by the river when I saw him. A couple of steps and he’d have been in.’ Something in Maureen’s expression stung her. ‘I was hurrying,’ said Shirley with asperity, ‘because Howard had said he was feeling poorly and I was worried sick. I didn’t want to go out at all, but Miles and Samantha had sent Lexie over – I think, if you want my honest opinion, they’d had a row – and then Lexie wanted to visit the cafe – I was absolutely distracted, and all I could think was, I must get back to Howard †¦ I didn’t actually realize what I’d seen until much later †¦ and the dreadful thing,’ said Shirley, her colour higher than ever, and returning again to her favourite refrain, ‘is that if Krystal Weedon hadn’t let that child wander off while she was having her fun in the bushes, the ambulance would have reached Howard so much more quickly. Because, you know, with two of them coming †¦ things got confu – ‘ ‘That’s right,’ said Maureen, interrupting as they moved out towards the car, because she had heard all this before. ‘You know, I can’t think why they’re having the service here in Pagford †¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ She longed to suggest that they drive past the church on the way to the hospital – she had a craving to see what the Weedon family looked like en masse, and to glimpse, perhaps, that degenerate junkie mother – but could think of no way to frame the request. ‘You know, there’s one comfort, Shirley,’ she said, as they set off for the bypass. ‘The Fields are as good as gone. That must be a comfort to Howard. Even if he can’t attend council for a while, he got that done.’ Andrew Price was speeding down the steep hill from Hilltop House, with the sun hot on his back and the wind in his hair. His week-old shiner had turned yellow and green, and looked, if possible, even worse than it had when he had turned up at school with his eye almost closed. Andrew had told the teachers who enquired that he had fallen off his bike. It was now the Easter holidays, and Gaia had texted Andrew the previous evening to ask whether he would be going to Krystal’s funeral the next day. He had sent an immediate ‘yes’, and was now dressed, after much deliberation, in his cleanest jeans and a dark grey shirt, because he did not own a suit. He was not very clear why Gaia was going to the funeral, unless it was to be with Sukhvinder Jawanda, to whom she seemed to cling more fondly than ever, now that she was moving back to London with her mother. ‘Mum says she should never have come to Pagford,’ Gaia had told Andrew and Sukhvinder happily, as the three of them sat on the low wall beside the newsagent’s at lunchtime. ‘She knows Gavin’s a total twat.’ She had given Andrew her mobile number and told him that they would go out together when she came to Reading to see her father, and even mentioned, casually, taking him to see some of her favourite places in London, if he visited. She was showering benefits around her in the manner of a demob-happy soldier, and these promises, made so lightly, gilded the prospect of Andrew’s own move. He had greeted the news that his parents had had an offer on Hilltop House with at least as much excitement as pain. The sweeping turn into Church Row, usually made with an uplift of spirits, dampened them. He could see people moving around in the graveyard, and he wondered what this funeral was going to be like, and for the first time that morning thought of Krystal Weedon in more than the abstract. A memory, long buried in the deepest recesses of his mind, came back to him, of that time in the playground at St Thomas’s, when Fats, in a spirit of disinterested investigation, had handed him a peanut hidden inside a marshmallow †¦ he could still feel his burning throat closing inexorably. He remembered trying to yell, and his knees giving way, and the children all around him, watching with a strange, bloodless interest, and then Krystal Weedon’s raucous scream. ‘Andiprice iz ‘avin’ a ‘lurgycacshun!’ She had run, on her stocky little legs, all the way to the staff room, and the headmaster had snatched Andrew up and sprinted with him to the nearby surgery, where Dr Crawford had administered adrenalin. She was the only one who had remembered the talk that their teacher had given the class, explaining Andrew’s life-threatening condition; the only one to recognize his symptoms. Krystal ought to have been given a gold merit star, and perhaps a certificate at assembly as Pupil of the Week, but the very next day (Andrew remembered it as clearly as his own collapse) she had hit Lexie Mollison so hard in the mouth that she had knocked out two of Lexie’s teeth. He wheeled Simon’s bike carefully into the Walls’ garage, then rang the doorbell with a reluctance that had never been there before. Tessa Wall answered, dressed in her best grey coat. Andrew was annoyed with her; it was down to her that he had a black eye. ‘Come in, Andy,’ said Tessa, and her expression was tense. ‘We’ll just be a minute.’ He waited in the hallway, where the coloured glass over the door cast its paintboxy glow on the floorboards. Tessa marched into the kitchen, and Andrew glimpsed Fats in his black suit, crumpled up in a kitchen chair like a crushed spider, with one arm over his head, as if he were fending off blows. Andrew turned his back. The two boys had had no communication since Andrew had led Tessa to the Cubby Hole. Fats had not been to school for a fortnight. Andrew had sent a couple of texts, but Fats had not replied. His Facebook page remained frozen as it had been on the day of Howard Mollison’s party. A week ago, without warning, Tessa had telephoned the Prices, told them that Fats had admitted to having posted the messages under the name The_Ghost_of_Barry_Fairbrother, and offered her deepest apologies for the consequences they had suffered. ‘So how did he know I had that computer?’ Simon had roared, advancing on Andrew. ‘How did fucking Fats Wall know I did jobs after-hours at the printworks?’ Andrew’s only consolation was that if his father had known the truth, he might have ignored Ruth’s protests and continued to pummel Andrew until he was unconscious. Why Fats had decided to pretend he had authored all the posts, Andrew did not know. Perhaps it was Fats’ ego at work, his determination to be the mastermind, the most destructive, the baddest of them all. Perhaps he had thought he was doing something noble, taking the fall for both of them. Either way, Fats had caused much more trouble than he knew; he had never realized, thought Andrew, waiting in the hall, what it was like to live with a father like Simon Price, safe in his attic room, with his reasonable, civilized parents. Andrew could hear the adult Walls talking in quiet voices; they had not closed the kitchen door. ‘We need to leave now,’ Tessa was saying. ‘He’s got a moral obligation and he’s going.’ ‘He’s had enough punishment,’ said Cubby’s voice. ‘I’m not asking him to go as a – ‘ ‘Aren’t you?’ said Cubby sharply. ‘For God’s sake, Tessa. D’you think they’ll want him there? You go. Stu can stay here with me.’ A minute later Tessa emerged from the kitchen, closing the door firmly behind her. ‘Stu isn’t coming, Andy,’ she said, and he could tell that she was furious about it. ‘I’m sorry about that.’ How to cite Part Seven Chapter 1, Essay examples

Is America Breaking Apart Book Review Essays - American Culture

Is America Breaking Apart? Book Review A Book Analysis: Is America Breaking apart? John A. Hall and Charles Lindholm 1999 Princeton University Press In Is America Breaking apart? written in 1999, John Hall and Charles Lindholm state that, Americans are exceptional in their concern with their own exceptionalism. (p.3) However, they fear that their society is breaking apart. In July 2013 Daniel Gross from The Daily Beast wrote an article titled America is Not Doomed in which he wrote, although there is a great deal of dyspepsia about the state of America, much of it is inspired by the political dysfunction in Washington and the rising inequality and challenge to social mobility throughout the economyand yet, as the rest of the world goes to hell, politically and economically, the U. S. is standing tall. Then and now, Americans continue to worry about the preservation of the Union. As an answer to this perennial worry, Hall and Lindholms Is America Breaking apart? presents us with a unique book- a primer of sorts- which combines history, sociology, anthropology, McCarthyism, politics, immigration, American values, racism, religion, tolerance, slavery and individualism. John Hall and Charles Lindholm scrutinize our culture, which continues to be heavily influenced by our early Protestant heritage. American faith in the power of individuals to change themselves is quite understandable as a product of the immigrant experience in combination with the Protestant ethos. Protestant sects believe that individuals can be spiritually transformed through disciplined, virtuous action in this world. For most of the original settlers immigration to America was just such a transformative action, a voluntary pilgrimage in search of the City on a Hill and this model continues to hold. With a balanced viewpoint, John Hall and Charles Lindholm examine the institutional structures of American society and how Americans continue to fear its destruction and downfall. They argue that our self-doubt is based on our shared cultural belief in our distinctiveness, which encourages Americans to worry about disunity in the ranks. Although pessimistic with a favorable assessment and outlook for America, while recognizing the strength of our culture and institutions, fortified by Americas diversity, Hall and Lindholm do not sidestep Americas moral apprehensiveness and internal inconsistencies. To validate their book and its claims, they call upon a variety of scholars. In Emile Durkheims The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, Durkheim, a renowned sociologist, states that our notion of time, space and causation are given to us by our society and he outlines three American ways of grasping the world. The first is abstraction and vagueness in relation to political theory, the second is a pragmatic modular approach to reality, and the third is a faith that the self can be transformed. And, as Tocqueville, a French aristocrat added, each is conducive to social homogeneity and antithetical to animosity and fragmentation. In essence, Americans know that citizens have rights but are very unclear about what those rights are; they know we are supposed to be free, but not necessarily what those freedoms are; Americans know we have political parties but are vague in their understanding and this ambiguity and confusion is homologous. Speaking further to American homogenizing capabilities, Hall and Lindholm believe that although we believe in a strong sense of individualism, Americas homogenizing capacities have ensured that its internal conflicts have not led either to world war or to tyranny. They refer to the 17th century invention of toleration in Europe that was followed by the French Revolution, fascism and communism, the two great totalitarian movements of the 20th century. (p.147). Hall and Lindholm draw upon Max Weber, Churches and Sects in North America, Sociological Theory (1985), who links Americas sect spirit that is the legacy of its Protestant origins. This ethic links radical individualism with principled and self-aware voluntary participation in the larger moral community. Individualism and communal action are thereby united. Weber goes on to argue that American individuals are motivated by an internal ethic of individual responsibility, personal honor, and principled resistance to immoral authority; they seek membership and participation in the community as a central measure of their own unique worth. This Protestant legacy means that instead of requiring groups to give them any sense of power or moral shape, American individuals already have a strong personal