WalMart :: essays research papers

Wal-Mart’s philosophy has always been to provide everyday low prices and superior customer service. But this philosophy might have stared potential customers away from Wal-Mart. Many people, including myself, have the misconception that Wal-Mart only sells necessities that the average working class family can afford. An extreme eye opener for me was a recent television commercial by Wal-Mart. I saw that they also sold flat panel televisions, which is considered a luxury item for any social class. After going to their website to see what other luxury items Wal-Mart sold I was amazed at the number of items I found that were not the necessities which I stereotyped them selling. Wal-Mart has to change the public’s opinion of the items that they sell and the types of people that it has in mind of serving. Sam Walton was the shrewd businessman behind the world's largest retailer. After working his way through the University of Missouri as a newspaper delivery boy, he got a job in Des Moines, Iowa as a management trainee for J.C. Penny at a salary of $75 a month. Walton borrowed some money from his father-in-law and opened a variety store after serving as an Army captain in World War II. A chain of drugstores followed. He went into business with his brother Bud, and by 1960, the Waltons' 15 stores were taking in $1.4 million a year. But Walton soon saw a challenging new competitor arise in the discount store. The Walton brothers opened their first Wal-Mart in 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas. Specializing in name brands at low prices, the chain of Wal-Mart stores sprang up across rural America. Wal-Mart’s sales grew to $26 billion by 1989, compared to $1 billion in 1980. By 1990, Wal-Mart was the largest U.S.

interent personals :: essays research papers

Romance is not Gone - I Promise!!! Click here for more Ads Like This One. I live in Decatur and I am divorced - after 22 years of marriage since June of last year. There was something missing and we just grew apart. A friend told me about this internet thingie and I tried it. Lets just say the jury is still out - have meet some very very strange people. My monk application is next to the computer LOL - I have come to the conclusion that the computer is an escape from reality for some - so please be very careful. This technology is great but there is nothing better that the spoken word - just two people talking and listening to each other. Guess I am a little old fashion :) I have two children - both not living at home - my daughter is 20 is currently in school at UA and is a Chemical Eng major. My son Chris, is 17 and lives with his mother and is still in high school - he will probably be there till he is 30 based on his grades. He is a typical boy - loves sports and girls and high school is where to socialize not study. I am very lucky - I have two great children and they are my life. I teach high school at a small school. This is my second career - I am retired from the military after 21 years. The Clinton drawdown was going on and it was time to leave. Didn't want to but was afraid that I would get a "pink slip" and didn't want to leave under those circumstances. So I had to decide what to do now that I was all grown up and had to find a real job. Teaching fit the bill. I teach both Special Ed and ROTC. I love my school kids to death - they keep me young -- to have got to stay one step ahead of them - but it is a pleasure to go to work each day. I am presently working on a certificate in administration and my EDS.degree. After that I am considering transferring to UA and finish my PhD there - would like a asst. principal or principal position. I enjoy anything outdoors - I am a very casual person - blue jeans and t-shirt.kinda of guy but I also like getting all dressed up (in my best coveralls :) - and going to a nice restaurant.

Wound Management

HLTEN506B Apply Principles of Wound management in the clinical environment Assessment 2 – Short answer questions Define a wound A wound is a break in the integument or underlying structures that results from physical, mechanical or thermal damage or develops as a result of an underlying disorder. List the functions of the skin Functions of skin includes: a) Protection – An anatomical barrier from pathogens and damage between the internal and external environment in bodily defense. b) Sensation – Contains a variety of nerve endings that jump to heat and cold, touch, pressure, vibration, and tissue injury. ) Thermoregulation – Eccrine glands and dilated blood vessels aid heat loss, while constricted vessels greatly reduce cutaneous blood flow and conserve heat. Erector pill muscles in mammals adjust the angle of hair shafts to change the degree of insulation provided by hair or fur. d) Control of evaporation – The skin provides a relatively dry and se mi-impermeable barrier to fluid loss. e) Absorption – Oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide can diffuse into the epidermis in small amounts. f) Water resistance – Act as a water resistant barrier so essential nutrients aren’t washed out of the body.The skin has three (3) layers, name these three layers and give a brief description of each layer. 1) Epidermis – Provides waterproofing and serves as a barrier to infection, also helps the skin regulate body temperature. 2) Dermis – Serves as a location for the appendages of skin. It provides tensile strength and elasticity to the skin through an extracellular matrix composed of collagen fibrils, microfibrils and elastic fibers, embedded in proteoglycans. 3) Hypodermis – Attach skin to underlying bone and muscle as well as supplying it with blood vessels and nerves.It consists of loose connective tissue and elastin. Name phases of wound healing and give an explanation of what occurs in each phase. I. Inflammatory Phase – Immediate to 2-5 days; Hemostasis (Vasoconstriction, Platelet aggregation, Thromboplastin makes clot); Inflammation (Vasodilation, Phagocytosis ) II. Proliferative Phase – 2 days to 3 weeks; Granulation (Fibroblasts lay bed of collagen, Fills defect and produces new capillaries); Contraction (Wound edges pull together to reduce defect); Epithelialization (Crosses moist surface, Cell travel about 3 cm from point of origin in all directions)III. Remodeling Phase – 3 weeks to 2 years; new collagen forms which increases tensile strength to wounds; Scar tissue is only 80 percent as strong as original tissue. Many wounds that are in the inflammatory phase of wound healing are often mistaken for being infected. Why is this so? How can we determine whether the wound is infected of in the infected or in the inflammatory phase? Both type of wounds look similar in appearance. The inflammatory phase is a vital stage in the wound-healing process, with out which healing will not progress. Inflammation is apparent in all wounds at some point.However, its presence may also signal the onset of infection, an allergic reaction or dermatitis. When assessing infected wounds, some groups of people will not produce the classical symptoms associated with wound infection. In this instance we should look for additional signs. For example, a person with diabetes may also fail to produce the classical symptoms of infection owing to reduced neutrophil activity. What is your understanding of granulation and epithelialisation? Granulation is a part of the healing process in which lumpy, pink tissue ontaining new connective tissue and capillaries forms around the edges of a wound. Granulation of a wound is normal and desirable. Epithelialisation is the natural act of healing dermal and epidermal tissue in which epithelium grows over a wound. Epithelium is a membranous tissue made up of one or more layers of cells that contains very little intercell ular substance. In your own words explain your understanding of the term â€Å"wound management†. Wound management is the evaluation, treatment, and prevention of open injuries. It includes short team/ long team goals. What is meant by the following terms? ) Healing by primary intention – Primary intention healing is healing of a wound where the wound edges heal directly touching each other. This result in a small line of scar tissue, the goal whenever a wound is sutured closed. In primary intent healing, the goal is to minimize the need for granulation tissue by holding wound edges tightly together. This way, scarring is minimized. 2) Secondary intention – may be the only possibility if the wound is infected or contaminated. In this case, the wound edges cannot be held together because the infection would grow in the space between.The wound is instead left open to fill with granulation tissue, and the granulation tissue will subsequently turn into scar tissue. This is not ideal, because scar tissue contracts significantly as it matures, often times resulting in cosmetic or disfiguring problems. However, if contamination or infection is bad enough, healing by primary intent may not be an option. 3) Tertiary intention – This type of wound healing is also known as â€Å"delayed† or â€Å"secondary closure† and is indicated where there is a reason to delay suturing or closing a wound some other way, for example when there is poor circulation to the injured area.These wounds are closed later. Wounds that heal by tertiary intention require more connective tissue (scar tissue) than wounds that heal by secondary intention. An example of a wound healing by tertiary intention is an abdominal wound that is initially left open to allow for drainage but is later closed. List seven (7) things that we document about a client’s wound. 1) Length of the wound 2) Width of the wound 3) Depth of the wound 4) Exudate amount and type 5) Pain score 6) Swap taken 7) Surrounding skin status Wounds can be described by their color. What are the five (5) colors used to describe the wounds and what does each color mean? ) Black – Necrotic – Caused by presence of dehydrated dead tissue. May extend over the whole wound or be confined to a single area. Prolongs wound healing and may harbor infection. 2) Yellow – Slough – Caused by dead cellular debris. May lead to odour/ infection if not removed. Prolongs healing process if not removed. 3) Green – infected – Excessive, purulent and malodorous exudate. Clinical signs of infection present. Prolongs healing process. 4) Red – granulation – Bright red, moist in appearance as capillary loops develop from wound base. Extremely fragile, trauma delays healing process. ) Pink – epithelialisation – Pink-white tissue at wound margins or as islands within the wound. List five (5) things that need to be documented a bout a wound’s exudate. 1) Amount 2) Type 3) Swab 4) Smell 5) Colour When assessing a wound it is important to look at the surrounding skin. Why is this so? Make sure it is not affecting the surrounding skin. Wound is healing towads the middle but not towards the edge of the wound. Most pressure ulcers can be prevented. Suggest three (3) preventative measures that you as an enrolled nurse can put into place to prevent pressure ulcers in your older clients. ) Pressure area care – change of positions for patient regularly 2) Encourage patient to mobile to regulate blood flow 3) Correctively use of pressure sockings Describe four (4) stages of pressure ulcers. 1) Stage I – Non-blanchable erythema of intact skin the heralding lesion of skin ulceration. In individuals with darker skin, discoloration, warmth, edema, induration, or hardness may be indicators. 2) Stage II – Partial thickness skin loss involving epidermis, dermis, or both. The lesion is superficia l and presents clinically as an abrasion, blister, or shallow center. ) Stage III – Full thickness skin loss involving damage or necrosis of subcutaneous tissue that may extend down to, but not through, underlying fascia. The sore presents clinically as a deep crater with or without undermining of adjacent tissue. 4) Stage IV – Full thickness skin loss with extensive destruction, tissue necrosis, or damage to muscle, bone, or supporting structures. There are many factors that delay wound healing. Please define extrinsic and intrinsic factors that prevent wound healing and give five (5) examples of each. 1) Extrinsic – impinge on the patient from the external environment.Examples: Mechanical stress, Debris, Temperature, Desiccation and maceration, Infection. 2) Intrinsic – directly affect the performance of body functions through the patient’s own physiology or condition. Examples: Health status, age factors, body build, Nutritional status, Systemic diseases. Moist healing has been shown to be significantly more effective that dry healing. Give an example of when moist healing is not recommended. Necrotic digits due to ischaemia and / or neuropathy should be kept dry or monitored very closely. What is the key to preventing nosocomial infections? Infection control.E. g. Good hand hygiene practice that is effective and promotes compliance, such as the use of alcohol-based products, is important in preventing nosocomial infection. How long does a routine hand wash take? Around 15 seconds. From your research provide information about the following dressing product types. Give an explanation of how each dressing type works and provide an example of the type of wound it may be used on. 1) Alginates – it can promote autolytic debridement of the wound. Alginates have the unique ability to absorb up to 20 times their weight in fluid, depending on the manufacturer.Depending on the type of seaweed species from which the alginate i s made, the dressing may either gel or swell in the wound after absorption of wound fluid. Calcium alginates tend to swell, whereas sodium alginates tend to dissolve or gel in the wound bed. Wound type: Cavity wounds 2) Films – can be used to cover and protect catheter sites and wounds, to maintain a moist environment for wound healing or to facilitate autolytic debridement, as a secondary dressing, as a protective cover over at-risk skin, to secure devices to the skin, to cover first and second degree burns, nd as a protective eye covering. Wound type: Pressure Ulcers 3) Foams – antimicrobial foam dressings provide an ideal healing environment by simultaneously managing moisture and bacteria in the dressing. As the foam dressing absorbs exudate, a powerful yet safe antiseptic, targets and kills bacteria on contact. Wound type: Heavily exudating wound 4) Hydrocolloid – works to absorb the exudate from a wound and convert it to a gel that is either stored within the dressing, or  pushed through the surface of the dressing away from the wound itself.Wound type: can be used very appropriately on dry wounds as any slight moisture produced by the skin creates a gel that in turns helps to keep the skin's surface in that area soft and supple, aiding in healing. 5) Hydrogel – Wound gels are excellent for helping to create or maintain a moist environment    Some hydrogels provide absorption, desloughing and debriding capacities to necrotic and fibrotic tissue. Wound type: loughy or necrotic wounds What are primary and secondary dressings? Primary: are applied directly to a wound and may contain some medication.Secondary: secure the primary wound dressing in place. They are not secondary in importance, for if the primary wound dressing cannot be kept or applied where intended, then no matter what is placed on the wound might not work. State two (2) types of leg ulcers giving an explanation of the clinical signs of each one. 1) Venous â₠¬â€œ swollen ankles filled with fluid that temporarily hold the imprint of your finger when pressed (known as pitting oedema); discolouration and darkening of your skin around the ulcer (known as haemosiderosis); hardened skin around the ulcer, which may make your leg eel hard and resemble the shape of an upside-down champagne bottle (known as lipodermatosclerosis), small, smooth areas of white skin, which may have tiny red spots (known as atrophie blanche) 2) Arterial – patient will experience an increase in a cramp like pain due to the reduction in arterial blood supply. It can also be presented on leg elevation. If the reduction in blood supply left untreated, it can cause death of tissue in the area being fed by the affected artery. The limb will appear pale and there will be a noticeable lack of hair.When wound you not use compression bandaging as a treatment for a leg ulcer? Arterial ulcers – treatment is often urgent. Compression bandages must not be used, as th is will reduce the blood supply even further. Surgery may be needed to clear out the blocked artery (angioplasty). In some cases, the section of blocked artery may require surgical replacement (by-pass surgery). In severe cases, the lower leg may have to be amputated. How do you know if a wound product is working? The wound has signs of improvement such as growth of new tissues/ minimising of exudate.At what point does an acute wound become a chronic wound? In healthy individuals with no underlying factors an acute wound should heal within three weeks with remodeling occurring over the next year or so. If a wound does not follow the normal trajectory it may become stuck in one of the stages and the wound becomes chronic. Chronic wounds are thus defined as wounds, which have failed to proceed through an orderly and timely process to produce anatomic and functional integrity, or proceeded through the repair process without establishing a sustained anatomic and functional result.So Chr onic wounds are stuck in either prolonged inflammatory stage or proliferative stage. Many clients experience pain in and around the site of their wound. List facts that need to be included in pain assessment and provide some examples of things that can be done to reduce a client’s pain. In the pain assessment, we should assess the wound and document the pain score that the patient is experiencing. Also, we need to record the description of the pain (i. e. burning, tingling, stabbing etc. ) and will the pain affect the healing process. Furthermore, we also need to document how we treat the pain.Such as medication or any therapy that has been used. There are things that we can do to reduce a client’s pain: * Cover the wound to protect it from further injury. * Change the bandage daily, and keep the wound clean to prevent infection. * Take ibuprofen or acetaminophen to ease initial wound pain. If pain lasts for more than a day or two, consult your doctor. * For a foot or ankle wound, stay off your feet as much as possible to ease pain and encourage healing. * Be sure to get plenty of sleep and follow a healthy diet to help your body heal.

“The English” Text Analysis

THE ENGLISH Text Analysis In process of analyzing the text ‘The English’ I found that there are six paragraphs and in each paragraph there are approximately four sentences. Vocabulary of this text is simple without difficult words like scientific terminology etc. , in addition it is also descriptive, so author describes how immigrants from overseas have settled in different parts of England and had formed their communities.Simple and descriptive vocabulary makes text more understandable to people. Author use in the text specialized vocabulary, lexical words in the text refer to geographical discipline (immigrants, north, east, west and south, London region etc. â€Å"The Greater London region is roughly a cicle, extending twenty to thirty miles from central London in the north and east, and thirty to forty miles in the west and south. †). Also in the text I found some compound words such as overseas and commonwealth.Text ‘The English’ consists of verb s, nouns and adverbs. Firstly I would like to consider the usage of nouns in this text. I think that author mostly used abstract nouns – language, accent, pride, dialects, behavior, life (An abstract noun means something that we cannot taste, touch, smell or see, for example â€Å"As the English are such a mixed people, local customs and accents in England vary a great deal and local pride is still strong in some parts of the country. )- all of them we can refer to moral qualities. I detected there few collective nouns- communities, cosmopolitan city, school, which means that author keep in mind group of people, a special class composed of members (â€Å"They still speak their own languages or dialects, but their children grow up speaking English exactly like the children with from they go to school. †) . Also there are proper names in the text, for example Ian Macdonald, Leonard, Herbert Perkins.Adjectives in the text are not frequent and mostly they refer to visual and evaluative attributes (â€Å"The Williams, The Macdonalds, The Townsends and Herbert Perkins have all made their homes in London which is now a great cosmopolitan city. † ; â€Å"Yet one of the strongest and more usual accents is to be found in the East End of London, the home of the cockneys. †) Author used restrictive adjective clause (â€Å"A cockney is very different from most people’s idea of a typical Englishman. ), so the adjective restricts the information and as we can see the restrictive element is not set off with commas. Also adjectives in this text are mostly gradable, for example â€Å"strong† and â€Å"different†, we can grade these adjectives like rather different, very different or extremely different, author used one of them in the sentence â€Å"A cockney is very different from most people’s idea of a typical Englishman. † . The author uses that kind of adjectives to show us big difference between cockney and t ypical Englishman, to transmit the idea of paragraph or of whole text.Author use adjectives mostly before noun (â€Å"As the English are such a mixed people, local customs and accents in England vary a great deal and local pride is still strong in some parts of the country. †) Verbs in this text, such as moved, has been added, made, settled, formed, speak and grow up, carry an important part of meaning. Without these verbs the person who read the text would be confused because of misunderstanding. Verbs in the text make a bit clear the main idea, verbs are dynamic (referring to actions, events), for example â€Å"Many immigrants from overseas have settled there and have formed their own communities.They still speak their own languages or dialects, but their children grow up speaking English exactly like the children with whom they go to school. † We can clearly see that verbs from the example refer to speech acts and movements. The adverbs are not frequent, I have foun d only eleven adverbs the text: since, still, only, always, exactly, less, roughly, far, rarely, really, more. (â€Å"The Greater London Region is roughly a circle, extending twenty to thirty miles from central London in the north and east, and thirty to forty miles in the west and south. ; â€Å"Some people travel to work in London from as far as eighty miles away. †) Adverbs ‘always’ and ‘rarely’ are the adverbs of frequency (â€Å"This is why Hampshire accents are now so rarely heard. †) ; ‘since’ the adverb of purpose, ‘really’ is the adverb of degree and ‘still’ the adverb of time (â€Å"They still speak their languages or dialects, but their children grow up speaking English†¦Ã¢â‚¬ )I have noted an interesting thing that the author did not use conjuncts such as ‘so’, ‘however’ and disjuncts like ‘obviously’, ‘frankly’.Maybe that’s wh y transition from one paragraph to other is so sharp and paragraphs are bad connected among themselves. Sentences on the whole have a simple structure (â€Å"Some people travel to work in London from as far as eighty miles away. †), but there are also complex sentences (â€Å"Not only have Welsh, Scottish, and Irish people made their homes in England, but also Jews, Russians, Germans – people from almost every country Europe – as well as many West Indians, Indians and others from the commonwealth. †). Author mostly uses declarative sentences with no commands and exclamations.Author did not use rhetorical questions and even usual questions, only statements, that’s why the main idea is weakly perceptible. The average sentence length is approximately 25 words. The sentences are mixed, that mean that there are different tenses in the text, for example present perfect continuous (â€Å"Since 1066 the blood of many other races has been added to the orig inal English mixture. †), present simple (â€Å"Many people now live in south and south-east England and commute to their places of work in London. ), present perfect (â€Å"The Williams, The Macdonalds, The Townsends, and Herbert Perkins have all made their homes in London which is now a great cosmopolitan city. ) . What is more, I found an example of detached construction in the sentence (â€Å"Not only have Welsh, Scottish, and Irish people made their homes in England, but also Jews, Russians, Germans – people from almost every country in Europe – as well many West Indians, Indians, and others from the commonwealth. †) There are no modal verbs in the text.The author gives us objective information with positive qualities that mean that author provides information in this way to make a good impression on readers, like in this sentence (â€Å"London is the largest city in Europe after Paris, but it’s population has shrunk from 8 million in 1939 t o less than 7 million in 1988. †), the main idea of the sentence is that population of London has shrunk, but author â€Å"leave† this information on the background and to make better inspiration about London as main information he wrote that London is the largest city in Europe after Paris, not that London in the second largest city in Europe after Paris.As I have already sad that the text has formal vocabulary and lexical words in the text refer to geographical discipline, but we cannot refer it to scientific texts because scientific text needs terminology, but there we cannot see terminology at all, so this is publicistic text which may appear in the newspapers and magazines. There is no addressing to the reader, no personal pronouns like ‘me’, ‘you’ etc. , no directives, no rhetorical questions, however there is impersonalization.All in all I think that the main idea of the text is that nowadays it is difficult to find a typical, purebloode d Englishman because the centuries ago the blood of other races has been added to the original English mixture. But in this text is very difficult to ‘catch’ the main idea because each paragraph has they own idea and paragraphs are bad connected among themselves, also because there are lack of rhetorical questions, lack of adverbs and adjectives and interactivity, all these would make the text vivid and more understandable. To prove this I took the last sentence from the 5th paragraph (â€Å"Some people travel to work in London from as far as eighty miles away. †) and the first sentence from the 6th (â€Å"This is why Hampshire accents are now so rarely heard†) as we can see there is no straight connection between the 5ht and the 6th paragraph. The main idea is developed trough the names of nationalities, trough the verbs ‘settled’, ‘made’, ‘formed’ etc. trough the dates and statistician. I also noted that the topic à ¢â‚¬ËœThe English’ partly does not conforms to the text. The topic does not reflect the meaning of the text. The reader may think that text is about the pure Englishmen, about their habits and lifestyle but not about the immigrants who become to inhabit The British Isles few centuries ago and how their inhabitation affects nowadays situation.

Bcom 275 Demonstrative Communication Paper

Demonstrative Communication Paper BY: Erin Kelly BCOM 275 There are several things that can be said about nonverbal and unwritten communication. When you are talking to someone or someone is talking to you. You can tell a lot about how well the person is listening and understands what you are saying. You can also tell by their body language and facial expressions if they are interested in what you are saying. If you are talking to someone and they are not making eye contact that shows a few things either they don’t understand what you are talking about or they are not interested in what you are saying. If they are looking at you but have a puzzled look on their face that shows they are listening but also shows they are confused about what you are talking about or what you are saying is completely wrong or off the topic you started talking about. Body language also tells a lot about the listener and the speaker. If you are talking to someone and they are playing with their hands, folding their arms or doing anything else but paying full attention to the speaker. That shows they are just waiting for you to be done talking so that they can go back and do what they would rather be doing. If the speaker is looking around the room or maybe playing with the note cards or whatever the case may be. That shows that maybe they aren’t very comfortable with what they are talking about or they are not very good at public speaking. Other things that are unwritten and nonverbal are they we live. If you have a clean and organized house or apartment that says a lot about you to other people. If your home is inviting and colorful and cheery that shows that you are ready for visitors at any time and they are welcome they are welcome to come in. If your house or apartment is dark and messy that shows you would rather be alone and have no one come over. Do you have a fence or a line of trees separating you from your neighbors that also says a lot about you? It says you are a not a very social person and would rather be left alone then talk to people. In some cultures touching and hugging is a big part of their lives. How you touch someone says a lot about you. The way you touch someone says a lot if you touch them loving and comforting it shows you are kind. If you touch them too hard and hurt them, people are going to be afraid to touch you when they see you. In the United States we always shake hands with people when see them or meet someone a new person. That says you are friendly but not always in a good way. We shake hands with a lot of people and sometimes we don’t really want to see that person any more. The way we handle employees at work is another example. If you have to reprimand and an employee the way you go about it says a lot about you. If you are loud and yell at the employee it says you don’t respect the person as an employee or a person in general. You are telling that employee that they are basically useless and you don’t want them around. If you reprimand the employee but do it in a positive way that says you respect the employee and you are just trying to help them learn from their mistakes. That shows them that they are part of the team and you are willing to work them until they understand what you expect of them. We show nonverbal and unwritten communication in our lives each and every day. How we choose to do it is up to us. Only we can give an impression on people it’s up to us if we want to leave a good impression or a bad impression. We communicate with every one we see though out the day and it’s not always good communication. So we need to remember that every time we come in contact with someone. How do we want that person to remember us?

“Everyday Use ” Summary by Alice Walker

â€Å"Everyday Use† In â€Å"Everyday Use†, author, Alice Walker uses the backdrop of a small town family using characters Maggie and Dee and Mama to symbolize the dynamics of the greater African American color, educational and class struggle in America. She uses the family because it is an institution that every reader can identify with. This is a story of what it really means to â€Å"make it† in the Black family and Black community. Mama typifies the single parent who is functioning in the dual role of mother and father. Walker makes no mention of Dee and Maggie’s father in the story but rather characterizes Mama as a â€Å"big-boned woman with man-working hands†(1) and gives Mama all the physical qualities and skills of a man but embodied in a woman. Mama can slaughter and prepare hogs and bull calves; she can bust up blocks of ice to get the water needed in the house for washing. And she can do all of these things as â€Å"mercilessly as a man†(1). From the beginning of the story, Mama’s character takes on the strength and hardness of presencenormally represented in a man. With Mama, the author shows the daily struggles and assimilation of the dual role that single mothers must embody on a daily basis inthe absence of a father figure. The outward display of Mama’s strength is a foreshadowing of the strength that she will have to summon at the end of the story when she must ultimately decide which daughter will receive the quilts. Mama’s children, Dee and Maggie have their own set of paradoxical differences which are juxtaposed against each other not unlike their mother. There is the conflict of light skinned versus darker skinned; well spoken and educated versus reticent and ignorant. A shapely body with perfect feet versus a skinny and badly burned girl with no style. Brazen and head strong versus cowering and confused. Dee and Maggie are polar opposites of each other, with all of the positive attributes in the favor of the older sister, Dee. The author is illustrating how society has createsa disparity in the Black community with Dee and Maggie. Dee represents the portion of Black America that has tried to â€Å"make it† but has not leant a helping hand down to the people who have paid the way to make it possible for them to succeed in society and to get an education. Dee has forgotten about all of the sacrifices Mama and Maggie have made which have allowed her to enjoy the benefits of her Neo-African-Islamic renaissance. It was Mama and Maggie who took part in raising money for Dee to live out her dream. Dee is symbolic of that portion small portion of society that refuses to both acknowledge and to give back to their families and communities. The only message that they can ever seem to offer is one of criticism and blame. The most vivid imagery of this is when the first house burns down; Dee is the only one who has made it outside safely. She does not yell for help or try to ensure the safety of her mother and sister. She is transfixed on the flames and is seemingly hoping for the house and all of its inhabitants to be consumed as well. Dee stands out in the safety of the sweet gum tree while her mother and sister literally have to run for their lives. Walker shows us the paradox of a person who, having obtained safety, will not extend concern for similar struggles that will be shared by the family. The fire in the previous house beat Maggie’s spirit down. The fire represents the world having beat Maggie because she was not Dee. Neither Maggie nor Mama had the good fortune to be of a fairer complexion like Dee. Maggie already had one strike against her by being dark, which would be made worse by being scarred by her environment (the house fire). Maggie has accepted that she is not bright like Dee and has resigned herself to her mundane life of poverty. She is ashamed of her scars and life experience so she cowers in the presence of strength and in the cruelty of society. Maggie’s natural inclination is to acquiesce. She realizes that she is no match for the likes of Dee and so she concedes the quilts that Mama has promised her to Dee. Neither Dee nor Mama has realized that Maggie does have something to offer to the world. She has a capability and intelligence that are all her own. It is Maggie who knows the family history: she knew the name of Big Dee’s first husband, Stash and that he had whittled the butter dash(3); she made the observation that Dee has never had any friends; she has learned the art of family preservation through quilting with Grandma Dee and Big Dee. â€Å"Maggie knows how to quilt†(4). Maggie’s resourcefulness and knowledge are never acknowledged in the presence of Dee. She can never shine quite as bright as Dee can. Society will never fully lay credit to all that Maggie can offer to the world because Maggie does not look like a person of value should look to us. Alice Walker has raised some challenging issues for us to ponder. How is value both assessed and ascribed? Does skin complexion still both afford some and exclude others from certain opportunities? Walker uses the most protected place on earth, the family structure, to show what some may be afraid to see within ourselves and in our society.

The Salient Issues In Understanding Islam And Christianity In The Essay

The Salient Issues In Understanding Islam And Christianity In The Twenty-First Century - Essay Example While in the past people used to turn to their religions to solve all their problems, today there is a mix of public attitudes towards religion. This difference in public attitudes is because very few presently properly understand the actual message conveyed by myriad religions. Majority is oblivious to what constitutes the bedrock of most important religions like Islam and Christianity. Some of the most salient reasons explaining what obstacles are encountered by people in thorough understanding of Islam and Christianity will be scrutinized in this essay. The purpose of the following discussion is to explore the major issues faced in the 21st century by both Muslims and Christians. Many misconceptions serve to extend the distance between Muslims and Christians due to which good understanding of these major religions is critically important. Understanding the true spirit of Islam is important. But, there is a variety of stereotypes associated with this religion which convey misleadin g information. These stereotypes need to be identified and corrected because they mislead both Muslims and Christians. The sacred book of Islam, the Qur’an, can help to solve many problems which are faced by Muslims today (Siddiqui 20). This is because many Muslims are religiously quite ignorant despite being highly literate in other areas. When they are approached by non-Muslims for clarification of disturbing and notorious ideas targeting Islam, they have no convincing explanation to offer. This reinforces the doubts and biases in the hearts of non-Muslims and contributes to uncertainty enveloping Islam. Unfortunately, the most influential media groups have decided to tarnish the reputation of Islam by glorifying a few incidents of terrorism and adamantly ignoring many peaceful efforts made by Islamic scholars. Muslims, at large, are portrayed as terrorists who pose potential threat to global peace. This lack of understanding has created many problems for millions of Muslim s living in the Western world. Muslim minorities living in the West are confronted with more disturbing issues compared to other Muslims living in Muslim countries. This is the kind of subject which has not become less grave over time, but continues to attract considerable attention throughout the world. It is worth mentioning here that Islam is one of the fastest growing religions in the world and the number of Muslims continues to drastically increase every year. A particularly high surge in the number of Muslims is noticed in the Western world presently. Still, Islam is one of the most poorly understood religions in the world. This is because the Western media has largely stuck to quite a prejudiced and controversial approach in portraying Muslims. This pattern proves to be very negative both for Islam and Muslims as it only serves to aggravate the already devastated conditions faced by giant masses of innocent Muslims living in the Western countries. In his book â€Å"Following Muhammad: Rethinking Islam in the Contemporary World†, Carl Ernst offers explanation for many issues faced by people today in understanding Islam. He not only explores myriad man-made misconceptions plaguing Islam, but also discusses the forces active behind these misconceptions to explicate how they operate, tarnish the bond connecting over one billion of Muslims with the West, and harm global peace. It is stressed that every stereotypical image of Islam promoted to reinforce negative feelings about this religion has political approval too due to which it is maintained that â€Å"