A Hope in the Unseen

Cedric Jennings, the main character of Ron Suskind’s novel A Hope in the Unseen is an anomaly at Ballou Senior High School, an inner city public school of Washington, D. C. Raised by a single mother on a measly salary from the Department of Agriculture, Cedric is accustomed to working hard for everything he receives in life. An honors student and participant of Ballou’s special science and math program, Cedric dreams of pursuing education as a means to escape D. C. and carve out a better life for himself. Being a star pupil in a poorly performing school that scorns academic achievement is no easy role to play.Viewing the Minority Introduction to Engineering and Science summer program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as an imperative step on his path towards a new life, he is shocked to find himself drowning in the work and competition around him. Cedric is surprised to find solace in returning to Ballou. After receiving admission to Brown University, Cedric feels he has finally proven himself to all of his naysayers and earned a ticket out of D. C. In his new Brown environment, Cedric struggles to adjust to the intense diversity and intelligence surrounding him.Although it takes the majority of his freshman year, eventually Cedric finds his own niche at Brown and transforms into a man capable of caring for his beloved mother. A Hope in the Unseen offers itself as a lens through which to examine sociological themes. Specifically, education, social deviance, religion and their respective implications can be thoroughly analyzed through the pertinent events of Cedric’s journey. Living in a credential society like the United States, the institution of education holds immense importance in terms of facilitating social placement and earning potential.Cedric observes his mother, Barbara, and her inability to climb the ladder of society without a strong education. Without the necessary credentials she is destined to remain in her low-inc ome bracket, struggling to make ends meet each month. On her five-dollar-an-hour salary, finances are perpetually tight. One evening Barbara casually reminds Cedric, â€Å"I hope you knew to eat big lunch today? You know, it’s the first week with rent and all. † (Suskind, 41) Cedric responds in the only way he can, â€Å"Yeah, I knew. Got seconds on salad. Ate all I could† (Suskind, 41).This culture of poverty also manifests itself in the school culture at Ballou. Every school possesses a hidden curriculum consisting of the implicit attitudes and rules of behavior (Henslin, 507). At Ballou however, this hidden curriculum reinforces beliefs of solidarity found through gangs, street slang, and repression of aspirations outside of their immediate purview. For example, at an inner-city school like Ballou, teachers accept the use of street slang in formal writing with the belief that refined speech will be unnecessary in their future occupations.This hidden curriculu m exhibits itself in Cedric’s peer, Delante Coleman. His leadership in one of the school’s largest gangs, his reputation as an established drug dealer, and his silver Lexus compose Delante’s status; an ideal status for a large percentage of Ballou students. Delante is â€Å"every bit as driven as Cedric. It’s what each does with his fury and talents that separates these two into a sort of urban black yin and yang† (Suskind, 19). In order to escape absorbing the intense hidden curriculum, Cedric actively works to isolate himself and remain focused on his ultimate goals.James Henslin describes the function of education as a system that sorts people according to abilities and ambitions (Henslin, 505). Barbara raises her son to take pride in his academic abilities and to use them to actualize his ambitions. Ballou High School utilizes a method known as tracking to control the gates of opportunity. â€Å"The idea: save as many kids as you can by separa ting out top students early and putting the lion’s share of resources into boosting as many of them as possible to college. Forget about the rest. † (Suskind, 8) The impacts of such methods are long lasting and affect job opportunities, income, and lifestyle.While, Cedric is fortunate enough to be viewed as one of the college-bound, most students simply cannot conjure up the motivation to succeed in the Ballou environment. Attendance is scanty at best, homework is reduced to optional, and teachers rest satisfied so long as their students show up to class. This learning environment renders even the brightest students incapable of competing with the national pool of college applicants. Cedric is aware of this challenge and fears â€Å"whether any amount of work will be enough to propel him to a new life† (Suskind, 9).Ultimately, education and its effects come down to family background, as Henslin clearly illustrates. The U. S. education system reproduces social cla ss structure and its racal-ethnic divisions (Henslin, 510). Adults without college degrees, in general, tend to work low-paying, dead-end jobs, which further inhibits social movement. With the cost of higher education ever on the rise, inner-city students must work harder still to obtain scholarships if they wish to attend college. â€Å"Acceptance to college is meaningless for many kids at Ballou without financial aid† (Suskind, 124).For Cedric’s friend, James Davis, receiving no scholarship money means the disintegration of his acceptance to Florida A&M, his first choice university. Despite receiving the necessary scholarship to attend Brown, Cedric’s achievement is still spited in the community. By those who know the reputation or even location of Brown, which is not many, Cedric’s decision to attend an Ivy League school is viewed as pretentious and a waste of both time and money. When Cedric arrives at Brown, he becomes acutely aware of how different his family background is from that of his peers.His roommate, Rob Burton, was raised in Massachusetts by two college-educated parents and an older sister who attends Harvard. Additionally, both his parents are doctors. The two boys find themselves at extreme odds in terms of common interests and experiences. For Rob, â€Å"there was never any question about whether he would use his quick mind and good manners to excel. It was assumed in everything that cosseted him† (Suskind, 178). Even these expectations stand in stark contrast to Cedric’s experience as a first-generation college student.When Cedric befriends the only other black student in his dorm unit, Chiniqua, he finds they have much in common in terms of their racial identity and its inherent culture. However, she matriculated through a program called Prep for Prep in New York and was privately educated from seventh grade onward so as to pave her path to the Ivy League. â€Å"Chiniqua, who scored an 1100 on her SATs, received years of counseling – both academic and social – to assist with the collision of cultures she ingested each day crossing fifty blocks of Manhattan† (Suskind, 202).Cedric has had no experiences, other than the MITEs program, in the intense process of racial and cultural mixing characteristic of the university. Intimidated by the impressive SAT scores and credentials of his peers, Cedric elects to take all of his first semester courses as pass/fail. When he returns home for winter break however, he lies to his community claiming to maintain a 4. 0 grade point average. The intense societal focus on grades has stemmed from grade inflation. As Henslin points out, â€Å"Theletter grade C used to indicate average, and since more students are average than superior, high school teachers used to give about twice as many C’s as A’s. Now they give more A’s than C’s. Students aren’t smarter – grading is just easierâ⠂¬  (Henslin, 514). This practiced inflation places increased pressure on students to bring home A’s. Passing or performing â€Å"averagely†, is no longer acceptable. For so long, Cedric has clung to grades and perfection in school as the one thing he could control. He discovers that in order to allow himself to be educated he must let go of the grades and focus on the learning.Realizing he cannot handle a five-lass course load he reflects, â€Å"it doesn’t feel as bad as he thought, not like a retreat so much as a reasonable fallback position. Far different from the swallow-your-pride, lowered bar of the first semester†¦he wouldn’t accept limits or impose limits on himself out of some fear of failure† (Suskind, 308). With new, higher expectations in place at Brown, Cedric is able to adapt and perform on the level expected by professors. This demonstrates the sociological principle that students perform better when they are expected to meet h igher standards (Henslin, 515).In June, when his final grades arrive, Cedric is filled with pride reading his A, B, and two S’s, for satisfactory. â€Å"Full membership in the Brown community, won fair and square† (Suskind, 357). From his position in a higher learning community, Cedric can reflect on Ballou and other schools like it. He voices his observations in a final paper assignment. â€Å"How do we lift poorly educated minorities to an equal footing in the classroom? How do we do this while respected that being singled out for special attention †¦ can result in crippling doubts about one’s abilities?† (Suskind, 338). In asking these essential questions, Cedric truly removes himself from his upbringing and its implications and aligns himself instead with a community of intellectuals. Throughout the novel, multiple characters grapple with the challenges of conforming to the norms of their society and the omnipresent option of social deviance. Hen slin describes deviance as any violation of norms, minor, major, or in between (Henslin, 198). At Georgetown University, located in Washington, D. C. , intellect is valued and being a serious student is the norm.However, at Ballou, truancy and apathetic sentiments towards education comprise the norms. Norms make social life possible as they render behavior predictable. As exemplified in the comparison between Georgetown and Ballou these expectations differ even within schools of the same district. As one of few serious students, Cedric struggles to find his own niche, realizing that he â€Å"simply has no social currency at Ballou† (Suskind, 21). Sociologist Robert Merton would describe Cedric’s state as anomie, lacking feelings of belonging (Henslin, 209). An acquaintance of Cedric, Phillip Atkins, also grapples with deviance.Despite possessing the intellectual capacity, Phillip hides his intelligence in school. He struggles to recognize his true identity. At Ballou h e puts on an act as the popular class clown oozing toughness and coolness. However, at home, he is a well-mannered boy whose dreams of tap dancing have been stifled by his father. He had been a nerd too at one time, but in an effort to conform to the norms of society, â€Å"He began a slow but steady shift in outlook and appearance to creating an identity†¦ He is now a popular member of Ballou’s mainstream†¦He’s earned himself some comfort and security† (Suskind, 67).While Cedric stands by his own morals and commitment to education, Phillip falls victim to the intense societal pressure to conform. After returning from his MITEs summer program, Cedric toys with the idea of conforming to the mainstream culture at Ballou. On the first day of school he dresses for the part which entails a leather jacket and a hat tilted to one side. Almost immediately Cedric is asked to remove his hat, as is the school policy. Trying to play his new role Cedric responds, à ¢â‚¬Å"No way, Dr. Jones, this hat is phat† (Suskind, 102).It takes the honest words of his peer, James Davis, to snap Cedric out of this new act. James, the stereotypical popular scholar-athlete, removes Cedric’s hat adding, â€Å"Boy, keep that hat off. You don’t need to be doing all that. You’re supposed to be a role model. You’re fine, just the way you are† (Suskind, 103). Cedric smiles realizing that he has wanting to hear someone say that since freshman year. In an inner-city school like Cedric’s, Edwin Sutherland’s term of differential association is applicable.As Sutherland explains, â€Å"the different groups with which we associate give us messages about conformity and deviance†¦The end result is an imbalance – attitudes that tilt us in one direction or another† (Henslin, 202). At Ballou, the norm is conformity. Solidarity develops from these conformist communities. In general, society desires conform ity. It simplifies groups when all members are working by the same means to achieve the same cultural goals. By choosing to be a social deviant and pursuing his own goals, Cedric renounces all solidarity.Throughout his life, Cedric is constantly receiving sanctions for his deviant behavior. The negative sanctions range from being mocked and beaten up by his peers in school to being spited by adults for acting â€Å"too good for the community† and attending an Ivy League school. Such negative sanctions contribute to social unity. â€Å"To affirm the group’s moral boundaries by punishing deviants fosters a ‘we’ feeling among the group’s members† (Henslin, 207). However, positive sanctions do come to Cedric from key characters. His teacher, Mr. Taylor, constantly encourages Cedric and pushes him to pursue his goals.Additionally, Clarence Thomas positively sanctions Cedric by inviting him to his office to discuss his recent enrollment at Brown Un iversity and offer guidance. Tired of the countless negative sanctions he receives for pursuing his dreams, Cedric retaliates through his impassioned speech at graduation. He seizes the opportunity to explain how students must â€Å"[learn] to fight off Dreambusters†¦Many of us have been called crazy or even laughed at for having big dreams†¦I will never forget being laughed at for saying I wanted to go to the Ivy League† (Suskind, 136-137).In an ultimate act of deviance, Cedric names his naysayers and asserts that he will follow his abnormal dreams, no matter how hard they try to push him down. In times of hardship and strife, it was God and religion that allowed Cedric to prevail. His mother instills in Cedric a devotion to God and religious services at Scripture Cathedral, to which Barbara and Cedric are devout members. Throughout the constant upheaval the two experience they find solace in God’s word and their faith community.In fleshing out the functions of religion, Henslin touches on the need for religion in lives of individuals like Barbara and Cedric. He explains, â€Å"the answers that religion provides about ultimate meaning also comfort people by assuring them that there is a purpose to life, even to suffering† (Henslin, 525). With the constant worry of how she can pay the bills and feed her son, faith in God is Barbara’s method of coping and getting from one day to the next. She is willing to give twenty dollars she cannot afford to do without in the church offering each week.However, this offering is essential to Barbara’s faith. As Pastor Long preaches in church one week, â€Å"Faith is taking the last $10 from your checking account and saying, ‘God, I give this to you, because I have nothing but faith, I live on faith, and I know in my heart that you’ll bring it back to me† (Suskind, 30). Many religions emphasize that money and material belongings are of no importance to God and t hat all money should go to helping those less fortunate. Barbara lives by the words of the Gospel even when her checkbook cannot afford her kindness.She thrives on the social solidarity of religion; for her it is enough. Having returned to the church herself at around thirty years of age, Barbara consciously decides to raise Cedric with a strong grounding in faith. â€Å"It’s faith, all about faith, she decides. If she can just keep [Cedric’s] faith in God and in righteousness living intact for a little longer, blessings will come† (Suskind, 30). In many instances, it is Cedric’s faith that gives him the power to persevere and actualize his dreams. He places his acceptance to Brown in God’s hands praying, â€Å"God, this is where I want to be†¦I worked so hard.I deserve it. Yes, I believe this is it. This is the place I want to be. Bless me, Lord. Let your will be done. If this is where I’m supposed to be, let your will be done† (Suskind, 109). This prayer exemplifies the influence of religion in everyday life. Believing his life is part of God’s greater plan, Cedric places decision-making power in God’s hands. Individuals who lead lives grounded in reason would place decision-making power in the hands of Brown admissions officers who undoubtedly read all applications.His speech at the graduation ceremony reads like a sermon itself. Starting by thanking God for giving him the strength and courage to be where he is today, Cedric proclaims, â€Å"THERE IS NOTHING ME AND MY GOD CAN’T HANDLE† (Suskind, 137). This quotation epitomizes Cedric’s ultimate confidence in God. He concludes his speech with a quote from the Bible. The language of the Bible is crucial to the social solidarity of religion. It creates a culture, made up of language, values, symbols, goals and norms that pious people can share.Throughout the novel, both Cedric and Barbara reference biblical passages. The B ible possesses the ability to capture the complexity of life and beliefs in God. Henslin touches on this concept explaining, â€Å"the shared meanings that come through symbols, rituals, and beliefs unite people into a moral community. People in a moral community feel a bond with one another†. Henslin goes on to address the power of community. â€Å"Not only does it provide the basis for mutual identity but also it establishes norms that govern the behavior of its members.Members either conform or they lose their membership† (Henslin 530-531). For Cedric and Barbara, who build their identities on religion, no action or possible outcome is worth defying God’s word. They lead their lives by God’s word. Barbara’s final words to Cedric after moving him into Brown are, â€Å"Trust in God, let Him guide you† (Suskind, 165). Bishop Long leaves Cedric with the final words â€Å"Yes, all you find students must ask your questions and get your good gr ades†¦But, never forget – never- that the only real answers lie with God† (Suskind, 153).As Cedric adapts to Brown, he finds religion inefficient in providing answers to his many complex questions. Overwhelmed with his schoolwork and social struggles, Cedric makes no attempt to attend religious services in Providence. When he returns to Scripture Cathedral during winter break and is asked whether he’s found another church at school, Cedric responds â€Å"I just know there’s no way I could ever replace Scripture Cathedral† (Suskind 263). While his faith remains strong, Cedric falls away from the active practice of his religion.Over thanksgiving, which he spends at his mentor, Dr. Korb’s home, Cedric overhears a conversation about religion versus reason. Speaking to a small group of people, Dr. Korb remarks â€Å"The ultimate egotism, more broadly, is a belief in the existence of God†¦Faith, in a way, is egotism. I know it’s a t the center of Cedric’s life, what keeps him going. But ultimately, it can’t get him where he needs to be†¦he needs to find his place through reason, not faith† (Suskind, 256). Unable to understand this Cedric brushes off the comment. However, Dr.Korb touches on a relevant debate in society. Henslin explores this secularization of religion and its ability to splinter a group into those who live by reason and those who live by religion. Henslin argues that for individuals who have had less worldly success, this shift in focus from spiritual matters to worldly affairs represents â€Å"a desertion of the group’s fundamental truths, a ‘selling out’ to the secular world† (Henslin, 550). In the scholarly community of Brown, it is challenging to compartmentalize religion and reason and people today so often do.This debate comes to the forefront of the mind for Cedric. The two can certainly exist together, however, it requires some sacrif icing on the side of strict religious believers. Cedric speaks to Bishop Long about his conflict explaining, â€Å"I feel I’ve outgrown the church† (Suskind, 359). Long tells Cedric that as long as he carries God along for those times when he will need Him, then he can venture out into the world. Despite his questioning, Cedric’s faith in God never wanes.Even at the conclusion of the novel though â€Å"more than anything else, mustering that faith, on cue, is what separated him from his peers and distinguishes him from so many people it these literal sophisticated times. It has made all the difference† (Suskind, 365). Reading A Hope in the Unseen through a sociological lens allowed me to access the course material and its presence in daily interactions through Cedric’s experiences. I was raised in an affluent, predominantly white community with a strong public school system.As a result, I lack the experience to relate to Cedric and the intense adve rsity he overcomes. The text acted as both a sociological document, and a novel with adept language and development of literary themes. I found this paper immensely helpful in rendering the sociological themes and theories applicable to one individual’s life in such a wide spectrum of ways. I would highly recommend the use of this novel as an additional sociological perspective for the course next semester.The novel contains countless sociological themes, which allows any individual to draw upon what he or she finds interesting or worthy of further exploring. I chose to draw on religion although we have not yet covered it in class because I have personal ties to religion and connected with Cedric’s religious motivation and support throughout his journey. As many Georgetown students come from privileged backgrounds and become involved in the D. C. public school system throughout their four-year experience, A Hope in the Unseen is a pertinent text for all sociology stude nts.

Social Network and Dangerous New Form

Instagram can be a dangerous new form of social networking. Smart phone users now have an option to download an app called Instagram. Although it is the new, trendy thing to do, it can be an issue. The basics of Instagram are to post only pictures. Users can put a small bio about themselves, but it is nothing like the other social networks where users will post all sorts of pointless information. When a picture is posted, users can put a caption for it and the caption is often followed by things called ‘hashtags’.Examples of these include #pretty, #somuchfun #beach, or whatever it is pertaining to the photo. In the search section, users can search for words or phrases that have been hashtagged. There are choices to â€Å"follow† other Instagram users, but the main issue is that of the user doesn’t want to be followed by somebody, they have no choice. On other social networks, there is an option to accept or decline followers, but on Instagram there is not. Instagram is generally used by people between the ages of 14 and 25, which makes it a lot worse that there is no way to keep away potentially dangerous users.When somebody searches for a hashtag, every use of that hashtag by every Instagram user pops up. There is no need to be following a person to look and â€Å"like† their pictures. Although there is an option to set your Instagram profile as private, only a minority of people actually do it. I have and use my Instagram every day. I love it. I think it is great to be able to only post pictures and to only be able to see pictures that others have posted.My main stream of pictures doesn’t get all crowded up with people posting pointless statuses about their life and annoying political references. I do have negative thoughts about it though. I hate it when strangers like or comment on pictures that I post. I am being followed by people I have never met and no nothing about and I cannot do anything about it. I am sure to only post pictures that don’t show where my location is or put any captions about there I live. I would hate to see some horrendous things happen to users of Instagram because of ignorant mistakes like that.

Caught Up in Different Worlds

The short story Caught Up in Different Worlds is a fascinating piece that takes the readers through different jaunts of experiences of a woman called Sylvania, a good pretender who can imply to be happy even if sad, and can also appear to be sad when really happy. She is caught in different escapades that force her to fake what she does not feel. When wedding Horace, she pretends to be happy, yet in a real sense, she hates what she goes through. Later, when Horace dies, she pretends to be at a great loss, yet feeling relieved at last. This study examines the story alongside different stylistic devices used by the author. The devices include anaphora, asyndeton, polysyndeton, and kenning. Sylvania's parents arrange her marriage with Horace in accordance with their culture where parents decide whom to marry their sons and daughters. That is done to ensure they marry the right person. Even if they do not agree, children are obliged to accept their parents' verdicts. As a result, Sylvania pretends to be happy to meet Horace as her husband, but inside her is a heart of pain and despair that is forced to accept something she does not feel for. The story is a captivating piece about the experiences of a woman living in a world controlled by her parents who choose to express what she does not feel, just to conform to their expectations. She appears to be happy from outside, yet suffering from inside.AnaphoraAnaphora is one of the stylistic devices used in the story. It is the repetition of common or similar words at the start of consecutive phrases in conjunction with the pinnacle of the story. The author uses anaphora to express Sylvania's feelings on the last day of the wedding. While in her room, he engages in a monologue repeating the words ‘How I wish they understood'. The speaker uses the statement to explicate her inner feelings about what she is yet to face. The reader is able to see a jovial woman from outside but is in pain from inside. At one time, she opted to run away not to wed Horace, but on the other hand, she is strongly held by the love and respect she has for her parents. Horace, on the other hand, is comfortable and promises to be a good husband. The readers follow the story keenly to see how Sylvania would survive in the arms of a man she does not have any feeling for. At the end of the story, Horace involves in a road accident that claims his life. In that too, Sylvania pretends to be grieved and saddened by the death of her husband, but from inside, she is happy that she is free at last and makes her own decision. The culture allows a widow to remarry any man of her choice without being dictated by her parents. Therefore, the story is about a character that lives by pretense to please the people around her.AsyndetonAsyndeton is an act of omitting conjunctions between clauses, words, and phrases. In the story, Sylvania eulogizes her husband as loving and caring by the statement, â€Å"Horace, is loving, caring.† the people who listen to her are carried by her expressions to realize that they have not stayed for long in the marriage and feel that it is a great loss to her. She makes them think so by appearing so, but on the other hand, she feels relieved and happy at last. She falsely narrates how she was happy to have him as her husband, yet by the time of a wedding, she had thought of running only to be kept by the love and respect she has for her parents. In fact, the readers usually have an extended advantage over the characters since they can see the holistic story of what takes place. Among the people attending the two events, wedding and burial go home with a different image of Sylvania. They think that she is happy when she is very sad. On the other occasion, they think of her to be sad, yet she is the happiest. Therefore, any written piece has a lot for the readers compared to the characters involved.PolysyndetonPolysyndeton is structurally opposite to asyndeton. It involves the use of a conjunction between each phrase, word or clause. The use of polysyndeton is apparent at the beginning of the story where Sylvania is informed about the impending wedding. According to his father, though not named in the story, Horace is a good man with standard discipline and qualities of a husband. When given the news, Sylvania appreciates and accepts to marry as a demand of the custom, while inside her heart she does not have any feeling for him. Similarly, when the message of his death is delivered to her, she appears to be shocked and wails bitterly, yet feeling better to finally live a life that is uncensored by her parents. The other uses complete sentences that are well conjunct to express Sylvania's inner world. The story is so electrifying to see the way Sylvania is able to pretend and get away with it. In fact, Horace also lived with Sylvania for their short time in marriage imagining that she loved him, but not really. From this plinth, Sylvania represents many people in the society who live in particular ways just to impress the people around them, yet they do not like what they are. Therefore, it is an educating piece for the readers and the society to avoid putting more pressure on people to an extent that they live to express what they are really not.KenningKenning is used to creatively describe something in a more creative and skillful way. Chopin uses the same in her story on the first page, paragraph four and five. The story gives the readers an outlook of what Sylvania looks like while inside her room, during the wedding and when eulogizing her husband. As depicted in the story, she narrates her experience with Horace right from the time they had their first encounter. She also refers to him as a loving, caring and responsible husband. The readers can imagine a woman who enjoyed her marriage. They see someone at a great loss, more so because the marriage did not last long. Two things they are not aware of is that Sylvania did not enjoy the marriage, did not support her parents' choice and is very happy to have the news about the death of her husband. Life is a journey where two people can walk together facing the same direction, but not having a common destiny. Horace and the people around him thought that his wife loved her. When he died, people thought that it was a blow to his wife. However, the truth of the matter is that no assumptions were consistent with whatever Sylvania was.ConclusionThe story gives the readers an outlook of Sylvania, more so whatever she feels about the wedding and the death of her husband. People living around her are very unclear about what she really is. The story is a captivating piece about the experiences of a woman living in a world controlled by her parents. They choose a husband for her and she pretends to like it, yet not. When the husband dies, she pretends to be in a great pain of loss yet happy inside. It represents the people in the society who can smile to please people, but from inside, they suffer. Therefore, it has a lot for the readers to desire. Study Outline Attention Getter: The short story Caught up in Different Worlds is a fascinating piece that takes the readers through different jaunts of experiences of a woman called Sylvania, a good pretender who can imply to be happy even if sad, and can also appear to be sad when really happy. Thesis Statement: The story is a captivating piece about the experiences of a woman living in a world controlled by her parents who choose to express what she does not feel, just to conform to their expectations. She appears to be happy from outside, yet suffering from inside. Main PointsPoint#1: Anaphoraa) Explanation of anaphorab) How it used in the storyc) It's relevance to the storyPoint#2: Asyndetona) Explanation of asyndetonb) How it used in the storyc) It's relevancePoint#3: Asyndetona) Meaning of asyndetonb) How it is used in the storyc) It's relevancePoint#4: Polysyndetona) Meaning of polysyndetonb) How the author used it in the storyc) It's significance in the storyPoint#5: Kenninga) Meaning of Kenningb) How it is used in the storyc) It's relevance. The readers learn a lot from the story, more so the inner world of Sylvania. It tells more about living in a bigoted society. It paints the picture of the pressure that the society places on people to live according to certain expectations. The story is an electrifying piece with much for the readers to desire.

TQM in Hospitals and Healthcare organizations Essay

TQM in Hospitals and Healthcare organizations - Essay Example very critical to the quality of health care, public expectations have also been one of the main reasons in increasing health care quality .There are diverse strategies and multiple approaches to improve the safety and the quality of services. (John, 2003) Health Care Industries require optimal quality levels as it provides vital services and is usually measured with various indicators such as mortality rates, rate of medical errors, avoidable injuries to patients etc. (Fawziah S Balghonaim, 2009) There has been a momentous interest in the application of Total quality management and Continuous quality improvement (TQM and CQI) in many of the Health Care Organizations in the recent past. (Colleen, 2003) Implementations of TQM have been in high demand in many organizations and have also been made compulsory in others to face both internal and external challenges. TQM implementation will also help the public and private health Organizations to achieve good quality health services and also compete globally. (Fawziah S Balghonaim, 2009) Quality Management is very essential in all companies especially in the health care industry due to the type and nature of service rendered. Quality in this sector consists of customer quality of life, services rendered and patient satisfaction. (Fawziah S Balghonaim, 2009)There are 3 TQM principles identified by Hill and Wilkinson (1995) which are, Total quality management is viewed as the best way to implement rapid improvement in the process. TQM has become critical and mandatory as there is high level of competition between health sector organizations and increase in demand for high quality services. It helps in providing customer satisfaction and also achieving the desired outcomes for these hospitals. Implementation of TQM involves all the levels of management. It involves all the staff, employees, doctors and nurses in the health care organization and it covers all the activities. Top level involvement and continuous

Family socilogy (The influence of the family structure) Essay

Family socilogy (The influence of the family structure) - Essay Example Family has always played a vital role in ordering society and in determining life chances of various individuals. The word family holds different meaning for different people and used to symbolize many different views. Giddens defines the family as a â€Å"group of persons directly linked by kin connections, the adult members of which assume responsibility for caring for children†. By children he meant who are dependent on their parents for their livelihood; are aged under 16 or 17 and are in full time education. Till today families are responsible for the upbringing and nurture of children. They are the ones who provide not only love and care but also financial support to children. The main functions performed by the family is to teach a child discipline, judge between what is right and wrong and an acceptable behavior pattern. In this essay, we shall discuss to what extent is family central to the lives of children in Britain. Gordon Brown had expressed that family is the foundation on which our communities, our society and our country are built. However, it has been found in recent years that the traditional beliefs and values of families have undergone lots of social and economic changes. Earlier the foundation stone of families used to be love and care but today it has been replaced by looser and material needs of money and selfishness. These factors have led to the emergence of new types of families like lone parent families, step families, symmetrical families and cohabit families. (cited in Duncan & Phillips, 2008:1). The demographic transition in Europe started from the 1950’s and is still continuing today. Ansley Coale’s has described demographic transition â€Å"as a change from the traditional society in which high mortality and natality rates existed to an industrialized society in which natality and mobility are stabilized at low levels.† This transition has been the result of various social and economic changes such as urbanization, education levels, productive structure and secularization etc. The changes in the trends of life of people have brought about a major change in the way children perceive family in Britain (Pairo, 1997). According to Squire, a family structure changes with experience and life events as a child grows from childhood to adulthood. Every family functions in a unique way due to variations in household types, family structures and the division of domestic labor. Also the composition of the family is influenced by the social, cultural and economic characteristics of different ethnic groups. These factors affect the extent to which a family may or may not be central to the lives of children. Although all family structures are unique but they have one thing in common – they all provide emotional and mutual structural support to all children. A family helps to locate a child socially and thus act as one of the key socializing agents (Squire, 2003:60). A child’s happiness and healthy development depends on a large scale on the kind of relationship that exists between parents, grandparents and other caring adults in the family and most crucially among children and adults. According to research in 2008, 64 % of children live in married families with couples, 23% of children live in lone parent family and 13% live with cohabiting couples (Mapalthorpe et al., 2008:4).The research also reveals that marriage is not necessary for the successful running of the family but good relations matter. Also, 78% of individuals have agreed that it is not divorce that harms children but parental conflicts. According to the individualistic theory, families should become more liberal, with children having a say in important family decisions. Also, biological parents should provide parenting to their children lifelong which will help in their growth towards adulthood. However, research says otherwise –step fathe rs can equally take care and bestow love on them as compared to biological fathers. Traditionally family had been seen as

What is the current, on-going and increasing demand and short supply Essay

What is the current, on-going and increasing demand and short supply for IT resources - Essay Example In 2013 for instance, there was a huge demand by the young generation of people in purchasing electronic gadgets likes tablets, i-phones, internet enabled phones, computers, among others, just for the sole purpose of being able to access the web. There has been growing interest among youths to have any information technology device that can enable them access the internet and be on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Instagram among others (Croft). As the world is becoming a global village, people sort out any means that would connect them, creating the increased demand and short supply in IT resources. People have come to appreciate the importance of information technology in their lives currently. In looking at some of the trends which companies need to have in order to remain relevant in the near future, include something like diversification to mobile platforms (Wang 13). Companies are shifting their marketing strategies and building mobile friendly websites and applications for their consumers. According to a survey conducted in 2013, the number of mobile users had increased. It was found out that many people used their mobile phones to access their internet and do most of their stuff their when compared to desktop devices. In a way not to lose potential clients, most companies opted to introduce mobile friendly websites and applications which their clients can relate to easily (Wang 233). Another trend currently gaining popularity is people fancying to get internet everywhere in every device that they have. For instance, in 2014, there was a rapid emergence of sensors which were internet-connected, hence making computers being able to process devices and physical systems (Croft). This trend is what is being called â€Å"Internet of Things† and has already made steps in transforming TVs, personal healthcare devices, appliances, cars, and thermostats (Wang 23). From my opinion, I believe quite a number of goods will become connected to

Reading Reflactions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Reading Reflactions - Essay Example The racial discrimination has produced the unreliable statistics by holding the black men responsible for the criminal actions and this gravely troubling situation of the close association of blackness and criminality has given rise to the racial discrimination and oppression in the urban America of the 21st century. The study suggests that the unreliability of the statistics and racial discrimination has made the statistics of white crime as virtually invisible. It is only utilized to augment and boost the excessively dramatic criminal behavior of African Americans. The Black activists and scholars have strived for the color blind criminal justice by presenting the arguments that the crime and race can be detangled and the pillar of racism can be destroyed only through treating both, the black and white Americans, as equal in status and every factor. On the other hand, the significance of the European ancestry and the attributes of skin color has been depicted by the white scholars, and according to them, the anti-black racism was gradually adopted to assimilate immigrants into the single white race. The book The Condemnation of Blackness also presents the fact that fundamentals to the arising of the contemporary talks on race and crime have been initiated by the statistical comparisons between the Negros, and Foreign born. In my opinion, the ongoing black crime rhetoric has gained more strength because it has obtained more proponents than the opponents. This subject of racial distinction and black crime has gone to the extent on national discourse due to the comparison of statistics. The White Americans take complete advantage of this statistically created discrimination by utilizing it to shield and support the biased social practices and public policies. However, when it comes to dignity and self-respect, the current reading reflect upon the fact that numerous Black