The Promise Plot Essays - The Promise, Reuben, American Literature

The Promise: Plot Title of Book: The Promise Author of Book: Chaim Potok 1.In 10-12 sentences, write a brief outline of the plot of the novel. Be sure to make clear the major conflict of the story. 1.In the beginning of the novel, the main character, Reuben, is spending some time with his father at their cottage. His friend, Rachel is also vacationing nearby. Reuben finds out that Rachel's 14 year old cousin, Michael, is mentally ill, and Reuben seems to be the only person Michael will talk to. Near the end of the summer, Reuben's best friend Danny comes to visit Reuben and the Gordons (Rachel's family) invite Danny over to discuss Michael because Danny is a genius, and he is studying psychology. At the summer's end, Michael is put into the treatment centre at which Danny is working. Reuben becomes friends with Michael's father, Abraham Gordon, a very respected scholar. Unfortunately, his ideas are not approved by Reuben's professor, Rav Kalman. Rav Kalman tells Reuben that if he continues to see Abraham and Michael Gordon, he will not be given his smicha, the degree which he has been working to get for so long. Also, Michael does not respond well to the treatment centre, and bec omes violent. Danny decides to use an experimental treatment on Michael, which involves not letting him talk to anyone or interact with anything except his therapist. The major conflict is when Michael becomes catatonic, and it seems as if Reuben will not get his smicha and Michael will never be cured. Danny decides to have a long conversation with Rav Kalman, and convinces him to at least give Reuben the smicha examination. During the examination, Reuben uses a method called test emendation, which is strictly forbidden by his school. Reuben backs up his arguments so well, that Rav Kalman does give him smicha, and when Reuben tells this to Michael (although Michael is in a comatose state) Michael awakes and tells Reuben, Danny and his parents that he hates his father because when his father writes a book, all the people who disagree with his ideas write hateful articles, and excommunicate the Gordon family. 2.What is the setting of the novel? 2.The novel is set in Willamsburg, Brooklyn, in the 1950's. 3.In one sentence, state the climax of the novel. Explain how it solves the conflict. 3.The climax of this novel is when Reuben receives his smicha because it solves the problem of Reuben not getting his smicha, and when Reuben tells Michael that he received smicha, Michael wakes up and tells Reuben and Danny everything. 4.Name 2 important character traits of a major character in the novel. Then give 2 examples from the story demonstrating each trait. 4.The character I am examining is Danny Saunders. The first character trait is that Danny was very trustworthy. Example 1: " `I trust him....I needed someone I could trust....someone I could trust absolutely and without the slightest reservation. I trust Daniel Saunders.' " pg. 244 Example 2: My second example is that Dr. Altman, Danny's supervisor at the treatment centre, trusted Danny enough to let him go ahead with the experiment on Michael. The second character trait is intensity. Example 1: " He was unshaven and his eyes blinked repeatedly and he looked as though he had not slept in a long time...`Went back?' I stared at him. `You weren't home for Shabbat?'...`I've been at the treatment centre since three in the morning.'" pg.256 Example 2: " Danny was playing volleyball the way he had once played baseball, with an intense, hungry eagerness to win." pg.380 5.Circle one of the following categories below to describe how you would rate the book. Making reference to the novel's subject matter, language, character development and other elements, explain why you rated the book as you did. 5.I would rate the book as very interesting. I would rate it in this way becuase, first, I could indentify with the subject. I knew most of the Hebrew or Yiddish terms before the author translated them, and although it did not apply directly to me, I could see paralels between the novel and my own life. The language in the novel was well choosen, at an in-between level, not too hard to understand, but very well written. Some of the metaphores used in the book were so brilliant, I would have rather done a full novel study of this book, because I know I must have missed so much of the depth of the novel.

Honor vs. Honour

Honor vs. Honour Honor vs. Honour Honor vs. Honour By Maeve Maddox One of the most noticeable differences between U.S. and British spelling is that of pairs like honor, honour and glamor, glamour. The dropping of the u in such words is often attributed to the progressive thinking of American lexicographer Noah Webster (1758-1843), but Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) thought of it first. As a printer, Franklin had a professional interest in spelling. In 1768, he published his ideas and ordered a custom type font that included eight extra symbols. Years later, he approached Noah Webster with his innovations. Webster was not interested: There seems to be an inclination in some writers to alter the spelling of words, by expunging the superfluous letters. This appears to arise from the same pedantic fondness for singularity that prompts new fashions of pronunciation. Thus they write the words favour, honour, etc. without u† In 1768, Webster’s view was that it was better â€Å"to speak our language with propriety and elegance as we have it,† but by 1789, he’d changed his mind: I once believed that a reformation of our orthography would be unnecessary and impracticable. This opinion was hastyI now believe with Dr. Franklin that such a reformation is practicable and highly necessary.† By the time Webster published his first small dictionary in 1806, he was ready to drop the u from the â€Å"honour family† of nouns. Modern British spelling retains the u in armour, behaviour, clamour, colour, endeavour, favour, fervour, flavour, glamour, harbour, humour, labour, neighbour, odour, rancour, rigour, rumour, saviour, splendour, and similar words. Even in British spelling, however, when certain endings are added to these nouns, our becomes or. The endings that alter the our spelling are -ous, -ary, -ation, -ial, and ific. The following are both British and U.S. spellings: glamorous, humorous, laborious, rancorous, rigorous, coloration, honorary, honorific, armorial. Note: the word behaviour seems to be putting up a fight. The OED gives both spellings, behavioural and behavioral. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Spelling category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:100 Words for Facial ExpressionsCapitalization Rules for Names of Historical Periods and MovementsList of 50 Compliments and Nice Things to Say!

Subprime Crisis and Oil Prices Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Subprime Crisis and Oil Prices - Essay Example But since interest rates rose and the worth of houses dropped in the last two years in the crisis country, refinancing has become more difficult, leading to more instances of foreclosures and defaults. According to RealtyTrac (2008), about 1.3 million housing properties in the U.S. became subject to foreclosure in 2007, which is about 79 percent higher than in 2006. O Fineman, J & Keoun, B (2008) and Onaran (2008) said that about $435 billion was reportedly lost by several banks and financial institutions. A series of market interventions were attempted to bail out some firms, even presenting a $700-billion proposal to the U.S. Congress this month aimed at stimulating their economy and positively inspire the financial market. Just recently, the U.S. House of Representatives controversially rejected the bill, but leaders said they will revise the proposal. The Associated Press (2007) said the value of U.S. subprime mortgages was estimated at $1.3 trillion as of March 2007. Moreover, about 16 percent of subrpime loans with adjustable rate mortgages were 3 months delinquent or currently in foreclosure proceedings as of October 2007, according to Bernanke (2007). According to Duhigg (2008), the U.S. ... According to Duhigg (2008), the U.S. mortgage market might just be estimated at $12 trillion, about ten percent of which is either delinquent or in the midst of foreclosure. Wilson (2007) and Shostak (2007) said there are three types of speculative borrowing that helped accumulate debt, specifically in the subprime mortgage crisis: first is the "hedge borrower" who intends to pay from other investments; second is the "speculative borrower" who believes that they can have service interest on the loan and even continually roll over the principal into new investments; and third, the "Ponzi borrower" who relies on the appreciation of their assets' values to pay-off their debt or loan. Of course the best way to discuss things is to put the listener or the reader in the shoes of the person experiencing the situation being discussed. Say your neighbor is facing a foreclosure, you'll probably think that it should not concern you. I'd say, think again. According to Greer (2008), if there is a foreclosure in your neighborhood, even if you are not struggling to pay the mortgage in your home, it might still cause trouble to you and your property. He said there is a number of reasons why a person should help his or her neighbor avoid foreclosure while you still can. To put it more bluntly, if you live in a neighborhood that has had many foreclosures, your own property value could be at a standstill or worse, dropped proportionally. Greer (2008) further said that "as foreclosures spike, gang activity and crime accompanies the problem hand in hand." According to studies, every 1 percent increase in foreclosures, there is an associated and accompanied 2.23 percent increase in violent crime and problems. Some examples of the impact of

Development of Cloud Computing Technology Thesis

Development of Cloud Computing Technology - Thesis Example As compared to a private cloud, the community cloud is shared among many organizations having identical business requirements. Moreover, the required infrastructure is shared among all the organization that is connected to the cloud saving the cost and demonstrates one of the advantages of cloud computing (Cloud deployment models). Public computing is a traditional approach where the resources are accessible on the Internet. Third party providers, known as the cloud vendors, organize the hosting for these resources on the Internet. The services and resources on this cloud are accessible to the public and groups of various industries (Cloud deployment models). A hybrid cloud comprises of a mixture of all types of clouds i.e. public, private and community. Most organizations deploy this type of cloud as it provides a range of options in the context of accessibility. By incorporating hybrid clouds, issues such as PCI compliance can be eliminated (Cloud deployment models). Cloud computing consists of applications that are represented as a service on the web and the provision of hardware / software services provided by companies operating data centers. Likewise, the services provided over the Internet are referred as (Software as a Service) ‘SaaS’. There are few sellers who use the term (Infrastructure as a service) ‘IaaS’ and (Platform as a service) ‘PaaS’ in order to demonstrate their products and services. However, these terms are avoided and not accepted globally, due to variation (ARMBRUST, FOX et al. 2010). The Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have illustrated some helpful definitions that focus on three concepts (Ryan & Loeffler, 2010): The core components of a cloud are consists of the data center hardware and software. When these resources are made available to the public, they are referred as public clouds and the service provided by the cloud is called as utility computing.

Propolis To Be Selected For Winter Promotion Essay Example for Free

Propolis To Be Selected For Winter Promotion Essay Introduction In coming winter, there will be a special promotion event and a brand of propolis capsules will be selected to present. The aim of this report is to describe the basic information of propolis, show the popularity of propolis and evaluate the advantages and reputation of best seller on market. Firstly the method of research is described, followed by the findings. Then conclusions are drawn and recommendations are made. Methodology Research was conducted to find out the information about propolis. Firstly, table of information about basic information of propolis and research results of evaluation of Comvita Propolis Capsules were conducted by Mr. Tim Burch. Then, websites of two exhibition were visited to get information on Popularity of propolis as a health supplement product. Findings (a) Basic information of propolis According to the table of information, propolis is produced by bee and it is used to build the hives in nature. It is 100% natural substance. Regarding the function, propolis has special power in strengthen and accelerate regeneration of cell as to speed up wound healing. It helps to whiten skin and make skin fine. Besides, boosting immune system is another unique effect of propolis. It contains some anti-allergies like asthma and nasal allergy. Therefore, it helps fight inflammation caused by viruses, bacteria and fungi and lower the chance for other complication occur. (b) Popularity of propolis as a health supplement product Propolis has a board usage as a health supplement product. From the website of MedinePlus(http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/390.html) shows the following findings. There sufficient evidence to rate effectiveness for Cold sores, Genital herpes and Mouth surgery. Propolis is very popular as it has many medicinal uses today and it presents over the world. From the website of JAFRA(http://www.jafra.gr.jp/eng/propolis1.html)  shows the findings that just in Japan, there are 300 companies are selling propolis health foods and the market is still increasing. Thus, it shows that propolis is very well-received now. (c) Evaluation of Comvita Propolis Capsules Based on research results from Mr. Tim Burch about the best seller on market, Comvita Propolis Capsules. It evaluates this brand of propolis has two major advantages. High purity and flavonoid has found in Comvita Propolis Capsules, it has competitive content of purity and flavonoid than other product. One of the unique features of the product is † additives free†. Comvita Propolis Capsules is a natural product with no artificial colourings lavourings or preservatives. Other than advantages, it has a reputation for honesty and efficiency. There is more than 1000 positive reviews by users on online shopping websites. And Comvita Propolis Capsules becomes the finalist of ‘Product of the Year’ by the Women’s Weekly Health Wellbeing magazine in Australia. It is perceived that Comvita Propolis Capsules is the best seller on market. Nevertheless, the products are not very stable during winter due to the peak consuming season. Pre-order is needed for porduct s supply.

Perceptions of Dimmesdale and Chillingworth in the Scarlet Letter Essay

Chillingworth and Dimmesdale: Reflections of True Puritan Society 18th century’s perception of the Puritan Society was that Puritans were a zealous community of people that lived with strict moral standards which allowed them to live in perfect harmony. However, the truth is Puritans were overly zealous whose values created paranoia and intolerance for other views. Through the characters Dimmesdale and Chillingworth who are also falsely perceived, Hawthorne suggest they are representative of the dour living of Puritan society that is hidden by the puritan’s tranquil and utopian outlook. John Winthrop aimed to created Christian utopian society when he founded the puritan community, he failed in this goal. Even with his failure, people still thought of the society as pure and just. What he engendered instead was a community whose theology denied human being’s free will, filled with paranoia, racism, sexism and hatred of sexuality and youth. These themes are clearly represented in the Scarlet Letter. The hatred of youth is shown early on in the novel, when Hester Prynne first enters from the prison, â€Å"This woman [Hester Prynne] has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die. Is there not law for it? Truly, there is, both in the Scripture and the statue-book.†(199). The aged ugly woman who makes this statement is used by Hawthorne to serve as representative for the puritans, while Hester represents youth and sexuality. The undeserving punishment of death for the crime of adultery only further demonstrates the extremities of this so-called per fect society. While perhaps seen as God’s will that a person who commits adultery must die, it is instead the government’s way of controlling the people by fear and terror so that t... ...ore it would be released free, which he then delivered the greatest sermon yet. The puritans economic status increased as less and less free will was granted, basically proving along with Dimmesdale, as corruption increases in religious figures or people they gradually better themselves, Dimmesdale in his sermons, while the Puritans in their economic status. Through the characters Dimmesdale and Chillingworth, Hawthorne reveals the true nature of Puritan society through parallels among the three. All three’s hidden evil is masked by each of their perfect appearances. Chillingworth exhibited the Puritan’s benefit of the doubt they received because of their relation to religion, while Dimmesdale presented the fact that corruption fuels the association with religion and as corruption within someone or something increases, so does a person or people’s betterment.

Great economic Depression And Of Mice And Men Essay

In 1929, the US entered a period of Great economic Depression from it only emerged with the onset of the Second War in 1939. During this period, there was long-term unemployment, so workers needed to go to California where there was still some short-term, poorly paid contract ranch works available. They were not educated therefore they had got no right and could be sacked at any time. They travelled from ranch to ranch to get jobs. This lifestyle forced ranch workers to keep moving and got no chance of making friend and keeping contact with their families. There was also a lot of competition, which put workers under pressure about whether they were good enough. They live isolated lives and are alienated from each other because are rivals. They are struggling to survive in a hostile world. All of these factors make all the characters lonely in ‘Of Mice and Men’. Between them, there are some characters who are very lonely because they are disadvantaged, Crooks, he’s black; Candy, because he is old; Curley, because he has more security than others; and his wife, as she is the only woman on the ranch. They are the victims of the strange society. In this essay I will be investigating the reasons why these characters are lonely in more depth by looking at each character more carefully. Crooks is probably the loneliest character in the book because he is very different from other ranch workers. He is old, disabled and the only black man in the book who lives in a racism society. As a result of this, he is isolated in his own room in the barn and is not allowed to go into or stay in the bunkhouse with the other ranch workers. Therefore he has no one to talk to. Though other workers knew that he reads a lot and has more knowledge and thinks deeper, they don’t listen to his opinions. ‘ If I say something, why it’s just a nigger saying it.’ P102 Instead they take advantage of his disability this is shown when they beat him up at Christmas. The racism society gives Crooks no chance of making friend. Crooks tries to get his own back for the way the white men treat him by keeping a distance between him and the other men. But obviously he recent the fact that he isn’t want in the bunkhouse. This makes it even harder to make friends. This is revealed by his words when Lennie comes to his room. ‘I ain’t wanted in the bunkhouse, and you ain’t wanted in my room.’ But gradually he is defeated by Lennie’s innocent smile and lets his guard down. This is because in his heart he knows that coping with loneliness is no good by reading books, he needed a friend to be near him and talk to him. ‘Suppose you didn’t have nobody †¦ A guy needs somebody -to be near him†¦ a guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody †¦ I tell you a guy gets too lonely and he gets sick.’ ‘A guy sets alone out here at night, maybe readin’ books or thinking or stuffs like that†¦If some guy was with me, he could tell me I was sleep. An’ then it would be all right. But I just don’t know.’ This quote from the same page of the book also shows you Crooks’ feelings of loneliness. When Lennie and Candy started to talk about the dream Crooks pointed out that this dream was shared by thousand of ranch workers but none of them ever succeed in reality but just for a moment he suspends his disbelief long enough to wish to share the dream, though he was immediately reminded his position by Curley’s wife words and shut by George’s anger as he doesn’t think that any white people would treat him decently. From the facts above, we could see the reasons of why Crooks are lonely. Candy is an old and disabled character in the book. He is quite similar to Crooks and is very lonely because he is different too. He lost his hand in an accident and was only kept on by the boss out of guilt. He has no relatives, no friends and his only comfort is his old dog, which keeps him company and reminds him of the days when he was young and whole. Candy is not interested in the things the other guys talk about. For instance: ‘I ain’t interest in nothing you was saying. A guy on a ranch don’t never listen nor he don’t ast no questions.’ But when his only comfort has gone– was shot by Carlson, he is totally alone and eagerly clutches at the idea of buying a farm with George and Lennie. This is shown below when George started to talk about the dream: ‘Old candy turned slowly over. His eyes were wide open. He watched George carefully.’ The reason for this change is, Candy himself is very similar to his dog, they both old and disabled, from the shooting of his old dog, Candy knows that when he can’t work any more he will be turned away from the ranch. He will have ‘I got hurt four years ago. They’ll can me purty soon, jus’ as soon as I can’t swamp out no bunk-houses they’ll put me on the county†¦ When they can me here I wish’t somebody’d shoot me. But they won’t do nothing like that.’ At this situation, Candy needs something to look forward to, so when he heard about the dream between George and Lennie he found that this is the thing he needed. But of course this all comes to nothing. As the inevitability of the fall of the dream, Candy would certainly be disappointed. The dream ends in a miserable way. ‘You and me can get that little place, can’t we, George? You an’ me can get that little place, can’t we, George†¦ Can’t we? Before George answered, candy dropped his head and looked down at the hay, he know. Then- it’s all off? †¦ And I’ll have fifty buck more.’ Candy’s words show that he realises that the end of Lennie means the end of the dream, without Lennie George hasn’t got the heart to go on. There are so many ‘ can’t we ‘ in his speech telling us he wants George to tell him he is wrong. But the reaction of George confirms this completely. The sadness is expressed in the bitter words he uttered to the body of Curley’s wife, whom he blames for spoiling the dream or more accurately, his hope of a future. ‘ You god damn tramp†¦ You done it, didn’t you? I s’pose you’re glad†¦ you lousy tart.’ Curley is the character who is described as a ‘wretch’ by John Steinbeck. It may be argued that he must be not lonely because he is the boss’s son and had been married for two weeks, has a family and a lot of thing that other ranch workers wanted to have. But actually he is very lonely. As he has more security (he was never worried about being fired), other ranch workers don’t mix with him so he has no one to talk to. The ‘macho’ male society makes him fell that if a guy doesn’t appear to be tough and strong, others will put something on him and laugh at him. It is even worse for him that he chooses the wrong way to earn respect-by fighting and be aggressive. But other workers know that he is a coward and despise him for the tension atmosphere he creates. ‘What does he got on his shoulder?’ George ‘You god damn punk, †¦ you tries to throw a scare into Slim, an’ you couldn’t make it stick. Slim threw a scare into you. You’re yella as a frog belly. I don’t care if you’re the best welter in the country. You come for me, an’ I’ll kick your God damn head off.’ He has no friends, to overcome his loneliness, he married a pretty young woman but has blindly chosen the wrong person whom totally inappropriate for the kind of life he leads. He forbids his wife to talk to other ranch workers, as he is scared that she may have an affair with one of the other men which makes her hate him and others more despise to him. Consequently, his feelings are all channelled into aggressive behaviour in order to deal with his loneliness but this leads to his feeling lonelier because the others don’t want to be with him. Curley’s wife is another character who is lonely. She is newly married, lives in a strange place, and does not seem to fit in on the ranch as being the only woman. She and Curley do not love each other; both of them try to overcome their own loneliness by the marriage. But unfortunately, both have chose the wrong person. She hates Curley because of his aggressive: ‘I don’t like Curley, he ain’t a nice fella.’ One point that needs to be mentioned here is that she is the only character who is never given a name in the book and is only referred to as ‘ Curley’s wife’. It appears that John Steinbeck passes a message from this that she is not seen as a person at all by other characters, but an object which Curley thinks he owns. ‘You gotta husban’. You got no call foolin’ around with other guys, causing trouble.’ ‘Why’n’t you tell her to stay the hell home where she belongs?’ Her situation is just like Crooks’; no one is sensitive about her feelings. This makes her feel angry with the men especially at Curley. ‘Whatta they think I am, anyways.’ ‘Seems like they ain’t none of them care how I gotta live.’ Further more, she has been forbidden by Curley to talk to anyone but him, as he doesn’t trust her. ‘I get lonely, you can talk to people, but I can’t talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad. How’d you like not to talk to anybody?’ To counter this, she keeps approaching the ranch hands with the excuse that she is looking for Curley or something she lost. ‘Think I don’t like to talk to somebody ever’ once in a while? Think I like to sit in that house alla time?’ The only result is, the men regard her as a slut. But in her eyes, that is the way she is supposed to be. ‘Candy:’†¦ I think Curley’s married†¦ a tart.’ ‘Whit:’ Well, ain’t she a looloo?’ Curley’s aggressive behaviour leads others to avoid her and this further isolated her and she approaches the ranch hands more frequently therefore Curley becomes even more jealous and aggressive. This leads to her feeling lonelier. Finally her loneliness leads to her death as she makes a serious error of trying to overcome it by playing the tease with Lennie as she is pleased that Lennie beat Curley and impressed by his size and strength, but she didn’t realise the extent and danger of Lennie’s mental disability. George and Lennie are also caught in the trap of loneliness; this is because they are different as they have a strong friendship. They travelled together and trust each other and share a dream of owning a farm whereas other ranch workers travelled alone and had no strong relationships with others and have nothing to look forward to. George’s loneliness could be reflected by the words that he uses a lot of swearing and the fact that he needs the dream to keep him going. Just as candy has his dog for company, George has Lennie (who is often described in animal-like terms). Both companions died and George and candy are left completely alone. Lennie totally relies on George and couldn’t survive without George, but on the other hand, George somehow needs Lennie to overcome his own loneliness. It is revealed by Crooks’ words with great understanding he tells us of the importance of Lennie. ‘I don’t blame the guy you travel with for keeping you outa sight.’ ‘It’s just the talking. It just being with another guy. That’s all.’ Maybe it is just talking but this is an enough reason of keeping Lennie as company for George. In conclusion it is clear that all of the characters in ‘ Of Mice and Men’ are lonely. Their loneliness is the evitable result of the society, which is made by the Great Depression. Crooks, for instance is suffered deeply from the racism society. No one is trying to make friends with him before the visit of Lennie except Slim. Candy, Curley and his wife are the victims of the macho male society. They all have dreams but none of them realise them and get nothing at the end.