The Silver Crown By Bernard Malamud Essays - Bernard Malamud

The Silver Crown By Bernard Malamud Distrust is a major theme throughout The Silver Crown by Bernard Malamud. This lack of trust is not only justified by the circumstances in the story but also with the period the story was written and the authors personal life. Albert Gans is a teacher whose father is deathly ill with an unknown ailment. Doctors are baffled and do not know what treatment to prescribe to their patient. Emotionally exhausted Albert travels home to rest when he encounters a retarded girl whom offers him some hope. She gives him a card saying: Heal The Sick. Save The Dying. Make A Silver Crown(Malamud 5). He follows the address on the card and meets a rabbi by the name of J. Lifschitz who offers him the chance to save his father by having a blessed silver crown made for him. Albert listens to the rabbi as he tells him of the powers of the crown. Eagerly wanting to help his father, Albert inquires about the price of the crown. One is for 401 and the other is 986(Malamud 12) Lifschitz explains as Albert ponders the decision he is about to make. After leaving the old rabbi to think about this offer, Albert wonders why he could not see one of the crowns and believes Lifschitz is trying to con him out of his money. He finally is sho wn one of the crowns and is still convinced he is being swindled out of nine hundred and eighty-six silver dollars. Albert becomes so suspicious of his dealings with the rabbi that ultimately his distrust causes his own fathers death. The circumstances in the book that lead Albert to assume he is being deceived are numerous. Returning one night to look for the rabbi, Albert asks a colleague of Rabbi Lifschitzs about the silver crowns and his colleague has no idea what Albert is talking about. This leads Albert to presume there is no silver crown. A few moments later Lifschitz arrives home wearing expensive new clothes. Upon seeing this Albert is infuriated and demands either the return of his money or the silver crown in his hands. Neither of which Lifschitz could produce. Albert then flies into an uncontrollable frenzy and curses his father, the curse that kills him. Malamud being Jewish often uses his religion in his stories and relates the importance of having faith in God. The place, which he set this story, was an inner city like most of his other works. The effects of suffering are the central point to Malamud's fiction, his Jews symbolize all victims and that his characters cannot be easily categorized as heroes or villains. It is never clarified whether the rabbi is a charlatan or if he can perform miracles. The death of Alberts father can be seen as a coincidence or the results of his sons doubt in the old rabbi. Distrust is a dangerous emotion. It can cause people to say things they will regret and cause devastating events to happen. The effect of Alberts suspicion forces him to pay the ultimate price of losing his father. I believe the lesson Malamud tries to convey is to have faith and trust in God no matter how unbelievable the outcome seems. English Essays

Whats the Big Deal About Ebooks

Whats the Big Deal About Ebooks First of all, ebook sales are equaling print sales with most publishers, on most books. Ebook sales for Lowcountry Bribeamounted to over 85 percent of sales. Yep. Surprised me, too. And yes, I understand you want to hold that paper book in your hands. But if you are seeking numbers of sales and dollars in your pocket, youd better embrace ebooks. Here are a few reasons why you should consider publishing via ebook: 1) Readers will test a new author on an ereader, where they can purchase the book for a big discount. They will not often go into Barnes Noble and spend $15-$30 for that same test. Sure, I sold a few copies of Lowcountry Bribe, but most came from online sales that I prompted. Those who didnt know me, read me via ebook. 2) Ebooks are cheaper. Readers would rather buy more books for their buck. 3) Books are not fun to get rid of. They take up space. I donate or giveaway at least 100 books a year. It gets old finding new homes for old books. I save my bookshelf space for those special books I want to keep. 4) Ebooks are mobile. I travel several times a year, and always have at least two books going at a time. If Im gone for a week or having to make long waits at airports, I go through even more books. You get the idea. 5) Your ebooks are simple to upload to Amazon, Barnes Noble, etc. Heck, you can have Smashwords or BookBa 6) Ebooks pay higher commissions/royalties than paper. Ebooks published However, dont overlook the fact that your ebook: 1) Needs to be edited as hard as any print book.2) Needs just as gorgeous a cover as any print book.3) Needs marketing and promotion like any print book.4) Needs book reviews like any print book to be taken seriously.5) Can be uploaded almost too easily, so so youll be tempted to post it for sale prematurely. Ebooks are here to stay. People who swore theyd never read anything but paper are warming up to e-readers. Here are some links to help you get started as an ebook author. Its indeed a learning curve, but once you get it down pat, it gets to be fun as well as turn a few dollars for your pocket. Ebook Aggregators (Folks who can post your ebook online)Also known as Ebook Convertors and Distributors:publishyourownebooks.com/ebook-aggregators-comparison-chart/ebookit.com/index.php Ebook Convertorshttp://calibre-ebook.com/ebookconversiondirectory.com/http://mysterywritingismurder.blogspot.com/p/ebook-services-directory.htmlmobipocket.com/

E-Businesss Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

E-Businesss Marketing - Essay Example By doing this an organization faces both the advantages and the disadvantages of conducting business internationally. Advantages include competing with multinational firms and exploiting regions more suited to the products of the firm. The disadvantages include; entering a new country successfully will require studying the culture of the country and adapting to the situation and the potential risk of failing. Security is one of the major issues that are being faced by any organization in the present world. Internet crime has been one of these problems for organizations doing business on the Internet. Viruses and hacking have become very common, steps to reduce these have been taken and are being taken. An organization doing business online must convince its customers that data transmitted about them while buying online is safe from hackers and alteration. This can be done by formulating a security policy that provides the most secure transactions. A good security policy not only builds trust within the consumers but also helps an organization build a reputable image. The organization should also be efficient in responding to potential threats that are present before they harm the organization in any way. Importance to systems privacy is given while formulating a security policy as it determines a user's freedom while using Internet to purchase from the organization's website. Integrity i s also given importance while formulating a security policy as to avoid policies that might hinder the cohesiveness of different systems that are integrated into the E-Business. Another major security issue apart from all these is the physical security of the system. Physical security ensures that a system is safe from physical damage and thefts. Ant viruses help organizations in conducting a secure e-business and Fire Walls help control the traffic flow, balancing activities and stopping unexpected actions. Fire Walls also restricts unauthorized access in the systems. A security system that I have recently been exposed to is McAfee Antivirus system that protects the System from viruses, hackers and different potential threats on the Internet. 3. Some of the specific security objectives for protecting Web business assets and customer privacy are: - How do you protect client computers from security threats - How do you protect information as it travels through the Internet communication channel - How do you protect the security of Web server computers Pick any one of these topics to give your discussion contribution. Protecting Client Computers from security threats is not a very easy task to accomplish but it's the most important one too. Until and unless a client computer is safe it's impossible to conduct e-business with trust. The main threats are hackers

Country cultures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Country cultures - Essay Example He conducted his research amongst employees of IBM which he believed had a national representation of all cultures. In this discussion, I am going to discuss Hofstede’s approach to country cultures using his proposed model. First, there is the power or distance dimension. This dimension addresses the extent of inequality in the society and the level of acceptance in a community without power. In this dimension, when there is a high score of power/distance (PD) it implies that the community acknowledges unequal dispersion of power in the society and that people accept their placement as dictated by running systems. A low indication of PD sends signals that power is well distributed among members of a community and that people perceive themselves as equals. In relation to Canada, the PDI is approximately 40 according to Hofstede statistics. This is slightly lower than fifty percent implying that there is unequal distribution of power though not to a large extent. The PDI of China is 80 which indicate existence of high levels of unequal distribution of power compared to Canada. The second indicator is Individualism (IDV) which refers to the level at which people maintain ties with others in the community. A big score of IDV implies that there is loose bonding among individuals in the community. In countries which are characterized by a high IDV, there is low indication of interpersonal connection among people and people shy away from sharing except for immediate family members and friends (Hofstede 101). A community that has got low IDV indicates that people have strong cohesion among themselves. I addition, people respect and value each other. Canada’s IDV index is placed at eighty percent which is high score. This is an indication that there exists loose bonding among people in Canada compared to countries like China which has a score of 20. This shows that bonding among Chinese people is high compared to Canadians. Masculinity (MAS)

Write an essay outlining the strategic business objectives of an

Write an outlining the strategic business objectives of an information system, including a description of its management, organisation and technology components. Make use of diagrams where appropriate - Essay Example This paper focuses on the objectives played by information systems in an organization. It will also look into the management, business and technology components of the information systems. To begin, information systems refer to ‘the set of interrelated components that collect, process, store, and distribute information to support decision making, coordination and control in an organization.’ In addition to this information systems help in the analysis and solving of problems and; come up with products that are new in the markets (Laudon, and Jane, p12). Information systems have roles that they do play in organizations. ‘The network revolution and the internet’ is one of these roles. Over the years, there have been numerous developments in information systems. For instance, there are available software that are very easy to use, people can now analyse huge amounts of data and in an easy way (Beynon-Davies-Robert, & Chris, p134). These two features and many more, enable communication networks to be very powerful due to the computer technology. The internet is one of these communication networks, which is very vital for any company, regardless its size. The internet can connect numerous countries and is a platform for people in different fields to exchange information. Companies are able to use the internet to make business transactions, graphical presentations, documents, among other things. This happens very easily despite the distance between the different parties. The internet has different importance to any company. Collaboration and information is one of these roles. Whereby, people in an organization can easily communicate by the exchange of emails, or even transmitting documents, as reports. The internet can also be used to access information. For example, during a research; or when one requires certain information, they can look for related documents, or even read books online. In addition to

Evidence Basis for Psychological Disorder Classification

Evidence Basis for Psychological Disorder Classification Introduction A trained mental health professional will use interviews, psychometric tests, background information to be able to make a diagnosis of a psychological disorder. (Weekly 3, Weekly notes). A diagnosis is formed by comparing the data that has been gathered to that of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (APA, 2013) or the International Classification of Diseases (WHO, 1992). These manuals are both used in the classification of psychological disorders and requires the clinician to make judgments on each of the five axes. The DSM classification system lists 16 categories of disturbance and more than 200 subcategories. Abnormal behaviour classification is made on the basis of Axis I (Clinical Syndromes) and Axis II (Personality Disorders). The other three axes are used as supplementary information — Axis III (General Medical Conditions), Axis IV (Psychosocial and Environmental Problems), and Axis V (Global Assessment of Functioning)—are used to provide su pplementary information. (APA, 2013) Comorbidity Clarke et al (1995) describe comorbidity as the co-occurrence of two more disorders in the same individual. Comorbidity occurs when an individual meets diagnostic criteria for more than one disorder or has symptoms from multiple disorders even if they occur at a subclinical level (Kazdin 2005). Clinicians need to consider these problems as part of a whole complex of phenomena that are closely linked to one another and not deal with each disorder separately.( DOHA, 2008) Strong Evidence Base: Personality Disorders Key features of Personality Disorders are distorted thinking patterns, problematic emotional responses, unregulated impulse control and interpersonal difficulties. These can blend in various ways to form ten specific personality disorders identified in DSM-5 (APA, 2013) and are grouped in 3 clusters which are: Cluster A- social awkwardness and social withdrawal that are dominated by distorted thinking Paranoid Personality Disorder Schizoid Personality Disorder Schizotypal Personality Disorder Cluster B- problems with impulse control and emotional regulation Borderline Personality Disorder Narcissistic Personality Disorder Histrionic Personality Disorder Antisocial Personality Disorder Cluster C- high level of anxiety Avoidant Personality Disorder Dependent Personality Disorder Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorders. In order to be diagnosed with a specific personality disorder an individual must meet the minimum criteria with symptoms that cause distress and functional impairment. Research suggests that personality disorders frequently co-occur with each other and with other disorders such as: Bipolar Disorder ADHD Social Phobia Schizophrenia Substance Use Disorders Eating Disorders About half of all people who meet the criteria for one personality disorder will also meet the criteria for at least one other (Fowler, ODonohue Lilienfeld, 2007). Studies on the prevalence of personality disorders performed in different countries and amongst different populations suggest that roughly 10% of adults can be diagnosed with a personality disorder (Torgersen, 2005). There is sufficient research and empirical evidence to support the symptoms, diagnostic instruments and treatment for personality disorder. Weak Evidence Base: Anxiety Disorders Key features of Anxiety Disorders are mental apprehension, physical tension, physical symptoms and dissociative anxiety, restlessness or nervousness, easy fatigability, poor concentration, irritability, muscle tension, or sleep disturbance. (Healy, 2008). In anxiety disorders, culture plays a significant role with a wide range of what is acceptable and normative. DSM-5 (APA, 2013) classify anxiety disorders into the following categories Panic disorder Social Anxiety Disorder Agoraphobia Specific Anxiety Disorder. Separation Anxiety Disorder Selective Mutism Agoraphobia Generalized Anxiety Disorder Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome In order to be diagnosed with a specific anxiety disorder an individual must meet the minimum criteria with symptoms that cause distress and significant problems in their functioning. Anxiety is a normal human emotion but can also be a symptomatic feature of many different psychiatric disorders such as: Avoidant Personality Disorder Mood Disorder/ Depression Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders Substance Use Disorders Anxiety disorders are fairly common with approximately 18% of the American population experiencing an anxiety in a year (NIMH, 2008). Each disorder is applicable to both children and adults with an average onset of 21.5 years of age. The presence of some anxiety symptoms does not automatically indicate an anxiety disorder. (Jacofsky et al, DSM-5 (APA, 2013) acknowledges that the overlap of anxiety disorders may represent alternative conceptualizations of the same or similar conditions and more research is needed to identify differences. It may also be difficult to separate anxiety from depression when both disorders co-occur resulting in poorer response to treatment. There is inconsistent evidence on comorbidity of schizophrenia and anxiety. Some studies suggest that having both disorders has no significant effect. Other research points to poorer outcomes when both disorders are present (Pokos Castle, 2006). Reasons for Difference in Evidence Base Clark et al (1995) discusses that some disorders are currently placed in the wrong diagnostic class e.g. should be listed as a dissociative disorder rather than an anxiety disorder. They suggest that this presents a taxonomic problem for which no solution has been found. Another problem isheterogeneity. Most research is focussed on a limited range of disorders with researchers not being aware of similar issues in the discipline as a whole.( Week 4, Weekly Notes) Individuals could be relatively dissimilar to each other and have very little in common but may get classified into the same diagnostic group. Psychometric tests used may not be relevant across different cultural or age groups. Conclusion To be able to determine the appropriate treatment process, Clinicians must be able to determine the psychologically sound diagnosis based on the evidence available and the diagnostic criteria set out in the DSM-5 or ICD-10. Interrelated groups of diagnoses make this a complex and demanding task. References: American Psychiatric Association. (APA) (2013)Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders(5th edn) (DSM-5) Clark, L. A., Watson, D., Reynolds, S. (1995). Diagnosis and classification of psychopathology: Challenges to the current system and future directions.Annual Review of Psychology,46, 121–153. Department of Health and Ageing (DOHA) (2008) Comorbidity of mental disorders and substance use: A brief guide for the primary care clinician. Retrieved September 3rd 2014 from Drug and Alcohol Services South Australia website: www.nationaldrugstrategy.gov.au/internet/drugstrategy//mono71.pdf Fowler, K.A., ODonohue, W., Lilienfeld, S.O. (2007). Introduction: Personality Disorders In Perspective. In ODonohue, W.T., Fowler, K.A., Lilienfeld, S.O. (Eds.). Personality Disorders: Toward the DSM V. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Healy, D. (2008) Drugs Explained, Section 5: Management of Anxiety, Elsevier Health Sciences, 2008, pp. 136–137 Jacofsky, M.D., Santos, M.T., Khemlani-Patel, S., Neziroglu, F. (2014) Anxiety and Other Psychiatric Disorders. Retrieved September 2nd 2014 from Seven Counties Services website: http://www.sevencounties.org/poc/view_doc.php?type=docid=38463cn=1 Kazdin AE. 2005. Evidence-based assessment for children and adolescents: issues in measurement development and clinical applications.Journal of. Clinical Child Adolescent Psychology. 34:548–58 Laureate Online Education (2011) Week 3, Weekly notes: Assessments in mental health continued https://elearning.uol.ohecampus.com/bbcswebdav/institution/UKL1/MAP/201480_AUGUST/APPTRE/readings/APPTRE_Week03_weeklyNotes.html Laureate Online Education (2011) Week 4, Weekly notes: Diagnoses and case formulation. https://elearning.uol.ohecampus.com/bbcswebdav/institution/UKL1/MAP/201480_AUGUST/APPTRE/readings/APPTRE_Week04_weeklyNotes.html National Institute of Mental Health (2008). Statistics. The numbers count: Mental disorders in America. Retrieved September 3rd 2014 from NIMH website http://www.nimh.nih.gov/statistics/index.shtml Pokos, V., Castle, D. J. (2006). Prevalence of comorbid anxiety disorders in schizophrenia spectrum disorders: A literature review. Current Psychiatry Review 2, 285-307. Torgersen, S. (2005). Epidemiology. In Oldham, J.M., Skodol, A.E., Bender, D. S (Eds.). The American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook of Personality Disorders (pp. 129-143). Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Publishing. World Health Organization (WHO) (1992).  International classification of diseases  (ICD-10). Geneva, Switzerland: Author.

God Has the Cure Essay -- Religion, God, The Church

Throughout the ages great thinkers and men with revolutionary ideas have been changing the world of understanding. During the Renaissance men like Vesalius, William Hervey, and Paracelsus revolutionize the understanding of medicine through the use of dissection and constant studying. However these men did not find change easy, the Christian Church was set in their ways and was reluctant to change. People where dying from unknown causes and the church had no answers. The Renaissance was a time for enlightenment and rebirth of new ideas, but the church inability to adapt and adopt the new discoveries and knowledge of medicine left society in the dark ages. The Church was not all prayers and hope when it came to medicine. They did believe in a set of ideas which came into effect, â€Å"3,000 years ago when Hippocrates and Galen created four humors: Blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile† (Dawson 8-9). These humors were what doctors used to diagnose patient’s illness based on the balance of each humor. If the patient felt ill, then the doctor would drain blood from the patient and send them on their way. Now medical science knows that blood is responsible for the curing of ailments and by draining that patient’s blood, they are even less likely to recover. The church agreed with Galen because, â€Å"His view was in line with the Christian belief that God had created human beings and therefore the human body must be a perfect creation† (Dawson 14). The church also agreed with Hippocrates because he had gathered his knowledge of human anatomy from the dissection of animals because, â€Å"The human body was seen as sacrilege and doctors faced legal and censure if dissection was attempted† (Kate 2). With this information patients of the Renaissanc... ... looking for hope and finding nothing from the church. The churches inability to change delayed the new understanding and medical advancements for thousands of years. Many questions arise when thinking about this time period, what would our world be like if the great thinker of the time were allowed to work freely? Would there be more cures for deadly disease? And how many lives could have been saved with this knowledge. Those questions will never be answered but the question still stand. The idea of religious freedom from education has been an issue even to this day. Seeing how it worked out for the Renaissance thinkers it will stay as an issue. When one is told what to believe and not to question, they should stop and ask why. Because faith is based on knowledge and knowledge is something that is acquired thought to constant questioning of old ideas.