The Go-Between LP Hartley Essay Example

The Go-Between LP Hartley Essay The Go-Between is a story of memories, told by a man in his sixties, looking back on his boyhood to the particular summer of 1900 on a visit to an aristocratic family in Norfolk, where a chain of events that took place, due to his naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½vetà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½, provoked the downfall of the main character, Leo Colston. His two-week stay in a grand house, among upper-class strangers scarred him, and contributed to the type of life that he has grown accustomed to ever since, that of a companionless and removed life. The prologue of The Go-Between serves several purposes, being an introduction to the character, his life and how he came to remember that summer in which his life was changed forever.The prologue opens with the cultured and educated bachelor in his sixties, Leo Colston, rummaging through a box of memories he once owned, taken from the year 1900, including the diary he kept for that year. The discovery of the diary and the other miscellaneous contents of the box; rusty magnet s, photo negatives, dried sea urchins, etc. awaken the events that took place of the summer of 1900 which had been concealed and forgotten deep within his mind, and the contents of the diary as what he, Leo Colston, believes encouraged him to become the lonely and detached person he is today, in 1953, when the novel is set.With the opening line of The past is a foreign country, they do things differently there a theme of the past and memory is instantly aroused. Even though the theme of the past is conjured up, there is a greater sense of distance, not only in the past but the way that the character himself is distanced by the choice of grammar, they instead of we and do instead of did. The opening line suggests Leos past to be of a foreign nature, meaning that his memories of his past have become foreign to him due to the fact that he buried them deep within his mind in order to forget the events that occurred the year of 1900. From the initiating line of The past is adifferently t here, the reader is immediately made aware that this is a story of the past, and suggests an alienation of events which may have occurred in the past, with which the main character, Leo Colston, has consequently attempted to block from his mind.After rifling through the contents of the recently discovered box, the older Leo discovers the diary, which contain the events that were to change him from then onwards. At first Leo doesnt recognise the diary, only the diary refused to disclose its identity p5, and he primarily believes that it was a present someone had brought (me) from abroad p5, again emphasising the theme of things being foreign to him because they have been mentally blocked and so when he is confronted with these things later on in life they are seemingly alien. The older Leo is stumped as to why he cannot remember the diary because he believes that he must have treasured it at the time due to its expensive appearance, and so therefore he is unwilling to open it because it questioned his memory and he disliked having it (his memory) prompted, p5. After some time attempting to remember what the diary held and stood for, he ventures at opening the combination lock, and as soon as he hears the click of the diary opening, it was as though the key in the lock of his memory turned, and the chain of events recorded in the diary were uncovered.As soon as these events are recognised, the elder Leo realises that without the recorded events occurring, he would be a very different person leading a very different life, not looking into the past but into the futureand not sitting alone, p 6. This recognition causes the reader to conceive and comprehend the importance and the scarring effect that these events had upon the younger Leo, at the age of 12. The reader does not yet know of something that could be so powerful to change someone so much and in so many ways, but is forewarned of the importance of the events that took place that summer were to be never for gotten, etched forever in his memory, by the slow release of information of how the character comes to remember the contents of the diary.In the act of opening the diary, he notes the signs of the Zodiac on the first page, recounting his fascination with them and their significance. Including the fact that it was also he year of 1900, the dawn of a new era, caused the young Leo to hold great expectations of the new century, hoping it to be the turning point of his otherwise hum-drum life, living with his widowed mother in a working-class lifestyle, and unfortunately the year 1900 was the pinnacle of his life, but changed it for the worse, not the better.The rapture of and attention paid to the signs of the Zodiac is heightened to the fact that the signs provided his young and impressionable imagination symbols with which to attach to people and reflect upon them. The older Leo remembers his particular intrigue of the sign of the Virgin the distinctly female figure in the galaxy, p7, which would later be recognised as Marian, his envy of the manly signs of the Archer and the Water-Carrier, and also his wanting to disassociate himself with his sign, Leo, because it was that of an animal, and therefore considered unmanly by him. Due to this dislike of being recognised as an animal, he searches for a more grown up zodiacal figure to model himself on, and is attracted to the signs of the Archer and the Water-carrier. The elderly Leo also remembers his enthusiasm of the coming about of the turn of the century, believing it to be the dawn of a Golden Age, p8, and a year that would change his life. To begin with, while Leo is still at boarding school, it is noticeable that his main fantasies were about being on the brink of a golden age seem to bear no relation to his real experience as a schoolboy. He is content to keep his imaginary world and his real life separate, which display to the reader that the events of the two-week stay at Brandham Hall must have scarred h im to a great degree considering the lonely life Leo has grown to lead.It is made apparent to the reader the Hartley must have chosen to set the novel in the year 1900 so to convey the idea that Leo believes himself to be living in a year which will change the rest of time, and is the beginning of the rest of his life. In the prologue it is clear that the novel will continue the theme of Leos youthful idealism and ultimately his disillusionment. The choice of a new century and particularly the twentieth century provides an ideal setting for Leos story.The older Leo recalls a specific time when he was a schoolboy at boarding school, the diary being one of his prides and joys, and would flaunt it about in front of the other boys. The diary was then stolen and the use of the word Vanquished within it caused him to be severely bullied by two boys, Jenkins and Strode. The older Leo reflects on this and accepts his pretentious use of a word such as vanquished at the time of being a school boy and continues to recount how he got revenge, by writing three curses in the diary with his own blood. When the curses came to light and reality, he was respected, afterwards I was quite a hero, p12, maybe even feared by the other schoolboys as Jenkins and Strode were both critically injured when the fell from the roof of a building.When Leo goes to look at the diary again, he sees assorted occurrences and affairs leading up to the two-week stay in Brandham Hall. After the noting of the name Brandham Hall, he reads through the list of guests that stayed there at the same time as him, and also the noting of the maximum temperature for each day, up until the 26th of July, the last entry in the month of July and the last entry in the diary, I did not have to turn the pages to know that they would be blank, p16. The emphasis on the fact that the older Leo knew that after that date he had not continued to use the diary causes the reader to realise that the two weeks in July was the ti me scale which within Leo became a changed person.The accentuation of the recordings of the maximum temperature for each day of Leos stay at Brandham Hall in 1900 introduces the authors use of pathetic fallacy to the reader thus enabling the author to use the weather to reflect the feelings and emotions of certain characters. By recording the temperature, after each day I had recorded the maximum temperature p16, it initiates to the reader that the summer of 1900 must have been an extremely hot one and so the heightened atmosphere of the heat would add to the building of ambience around specific characters.As the older Leo opens the diary, it is noted that the stirring of the memories of that summer was like the loosening of phlegm in an attack of bronchitis, which were waiting in anticipation to be freed from where that had been buried all these years. The older Leo then goes on to explain about how what happened at Brandham Hall was to change him forever as it was the first time i n his life that he felt he had been a significant figure within a certain company, and this significance had lead to disaster. This therefore conveys to the reader Leos fear of mattering, the saying pride comes before a fall comes to mind and so it appears that the older Leo has continued to hold the belief that pride is a sensation to be wary of as it can cause a greater damage. Because of the great pride Leo held as a young boy, he believes that it may have contributed to the enormous breakdown he suffered after the stay at Brandham Hall and so has chosen to blend into the background throughout his life. This is seemingly in order not to get so high on his horse so that he becomes blind to the things that are actually going on around him, suffering great consequences, as he once did as a boy.The idea of Leo attaching symbols of the zodiac to unfamiliar people in order to characterise them and create a more friendly feeling towards them is again emphasised in the later stages of th e prologue. The unknown guests also staying at Brandham Hall within the same two weeks as Leo, had, according to the younger Leo, zodiacal properties and proportions and were the substance of his dreams, p16. These descriptions furtherly stress Leos habit of putting people on pedestals, having a fixed image of them in his mind, which they may not actually fulfil, remaining in awe of them believing that they were above him. It is clear to the reader that Leo idealised the guests staying at Brandham Hall, relating them to the signs of the zodiac in order for them to become more familiar and to gain a further understanding of them.The imaginary conversation that the older Leo has with his younger self follows swiftly on, and is a good example of the distinctness between the two Leos, what the one was like before the events that occurred at Brandham Hall and what the other has become due to the events that occurred, showing a distance between them. When Leo, as an old man, expects the y ounger Leo to question why his life has ended up as it has after all that he did in his first twelve years in order to have a greater life, the older Leo replies that it was the younger Leos fault for becoming too big-headed. Again the line of pride coming before a fall is accentuated as the older Leo explains quite simply you flew too near to the sun and got scorched, p 17. This being a reference to Icharus of Greek Mythology who had winged sandals, became too big headed and flew too near to the sun, melting the glue on the wings and thus falling to his death. This cindery creature is what you made me, p 17, acts as a justification to the younger Leo as to why the older Leo has become what he has become, believing that it was the breakdown he suffered after staying at Brandham Hall from which he never recovered. The older Leo concludes that it was his younger selfs too high expectations of the new century that added to his downfall, as they were expectations that could never be rea ched.As the conversation between the two very different Leos continues, the older Leo argues that even though the Maudsleys, Ted, Marian or Hugh did him wrong, he insisted on looking at them as angels, even if they were fallen angels, p 17. This proves that as the younger version of Leo had idealised these people, almost viewed them as icons, he could not plant any blame for what followed onto them, he couldnt allow the perfected images he had of them in his head to be tarnished, so accepted the blame himself. Even over fifty years later, it is made apparent to the reader that it obviously still bothers Leo, showing that he hasnt been able to fully bury the memories and cannot, even though he wants to, put it behind him. The last line of the conversation between the two contrasting Leos, try now, try now, it isnt too late p 18, is an obvious desperate plea for closure of the subject by the older Leo in order to regain some normality to his life.The next paragraph tells the reader of how the voice of the younger Leo had haunted Leo as an older, more mature man, and that it had only confirmed his suspicions that he could no longer bury his memories, but had to confront them head on. The next stage brings the reader back to reality, the clock struck twelve p 18, sets the scene again, back to where Leo had been rifling through his old belongings. The last word of the prologue, LEO, p18, furtherly accentuates his fascination with the zodiac as a boy and also his mild egotism at this age, for using his name as the code to the lock.In conclusion to what the prologue does for a reader in preparing them for the novel, is that in the way in which it is written, including intriguing flashbacks, memories and talk of the past, the author quickly has enraptured the readers attention into finding out what could have emotionally scarred the main character Leo, so much so, that it in return ended up ruining his life.

Welfare essays

Welfare essays Welfare is government programs that provide money, medical care, food housing, and other necessities for needy people. People who receive welfare include children, the aged, the blind, the disabled, and others who cannot adequately provide for themselves and their families. Most welfare in the United States comes from agencies of the federal and state governments. They are also funded by payroll taxes on workers and their employers. Federal and state governments in the United States help the needy through about sixty public assistance programs. Most people receive assistance chiefly through four major programs. These are (1) Medicaid, (2) Aid to Families with Dependent Children, (3) Supplemental Security Income for the aged, blind, and disabled and (4) the Food Stamp Program. The question now is, is Welfare appropriate? There is much criticism on the welfare system. It ranges from a number of economic and social issues. Some people criticize welfare programs for not providing high enough benefits to eliminate poverty. Many critics of the welfare system charge that providing a steady income to needy people encourages idleness. Some people cheat the system by not reporting all the income they earn. I am one of those many critics that are very disappointed with the governments welfares food stamp program. The food stamp program is supposed to help low income households buy more and better food than they could otherwise afford. Each participant household receives a certain number of coupons called, food stamps. The federal government issues the stamps. The number of stamps a household receives varies with the familys size, income, and expenses. Cooperating grocery stores accept the stamps like money for food purchases only. On every food stamp booklet there is a statement. For example: Make Healthy choices that fit your lifestyle ...

Analyze ethical aspects of organizational decision-making at WalMart Term Paper

Analyze ethical aspects of organizational decision-making at WalMart - Term Paper Example It is running successful business almost in all major countries across the globe and perhaps that is the reason why it is known as the largest retailer in the world. This paper tries to through a light on the ethical activities carried by Wal-Mart. The essay also takes into account the case of bribery the firm faced in Mexico and how it curves its way out from the problem. Wal-Mart is often termed as a hypermarket, it operates to sale varied range of goods and services to the consumers; like from dairy products to meat, cellular phone stores to pet shops. ‘Low price always’ is the jingle used by the company commonly, it provides goods at the most competitive and resalable prices (Stone, 1997). It is estimated that most of the consumers of Wal-Mart has no bank accounts and their income is almost less than that of the national average. Founded in 1962 the company was supposed to serve a healthy competition for all the other small retailers in the market. Bribery in Mexico Like all that glitters might not be gold, these are various complains against the giant organization of Wal-Mart. It is believed by many economists that the poor communities in U.S. are unfavorably affected by the special discounts given by throng merchandisers like Wal-Mart. It was analyzed that the company will made small retailers in U.S. ... The company found it to be beneficial to open a business wing in this zone as it is situated in a crowded location of the main entrance of the city and it is only a mile away from the prehistoric pyramids that sketch large strength of people as tourists. It was estimated by the analysts of the company that almost 250 customers would come each hour provided the store of the company was established in the chosen location. There was one big hindrance that came up to the business plans of the company, the elected leaders of the town decided to settle up a new zoning map. The leaders wanted to frontier the growth near the pyramids. It was also estimated that the way in of the city was already very crammed thus it would not be an efficient decision to allow Wal-Mart establish there new store in that location. This annoyed the officials of the headquarters of the company in Mexico. It was in records and interviews that the company responded to the unfavorable zoning conditions by offering a bribe of about $52000. The zoning map would not become an edict until it would come in print in the newspapers. The bribing offices of Wal-Mart bribed an executive before the new zoning map was sent in the media. Thus when the modified new zonal map was issued it gave the legal allowance to Wal-Mart to open its new store in the entrance of Mrs. Pineda's field. The protesters oppose the very entry of Wal-Mart in a location that was very near to the cultural heritage but amidst all the difficulties Wal-Mart de Mexico established their business in the grounds of the city. The business running in the entrance of the city made its crowded traffic worse off, the company almost contended the long-established community markets and ruined them. The news of Mexico was mostly covered with grumble of

Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 3

Management - Essay Example authorize their employees; also, the results are reliable with the possibility perspective in that the achievement of leader-influence approaches depends on the association among manager and employee. Leaders are anticipated to influence their employees to be vigorous and skillful in the quest of organizational objectives. Leadership researchers have focused on identifying the strategies that managers can use to persuade, convince, and control subordinates successfully. Although research in leadership influence has important implications, there has been a lack of progress in the development of consistent knowledge linking influence strategies with employee compliance and effective work (Davis & Luthans, 1994, 237). A less recognized fact is that the nature of the manager-employee relationship can affect the success of influence attempts. This study was an examination of how the cooperative or competitive relationship between managers and employees affects the kind of influence used and its effectiveness. The findings of recent studies suggest that the attitudes of employees toward their manager affect his or her influence attempts (Graen & Schiemann, 1997, 210). How employees believe their goals are related to their manager may affect their receptiveness to influence. According to Deutsch (2000, Press), influence and interaction more generally can be examined in terms of perceived goal interdependence. In cooperation, people believe their goals are positively linked so that as one moves toward goal attainment, others move toward reaching their goals; they can be successful together. In competition, people believe that their goals are negatively related so that ones success interferes with others. With independent goals, people consider their interests unrelated so that ones goal attainment neither helps nor hinders others goal attainment. In past hypotheses, goal interdependence was thought to affect trust and openness. In cooperation, people expect mutual

Meeting the Customer Needs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Meeting the Customer Needs - Essay Example From this study it is clear that the most important question is how to know the specific needs of the customers related to some specific products. The marketing research plays the vital role in this case. The survey design and the questionnaire design play the major role to identify the customer needs. Through the proper data collection and analyzing the data are the most appropriate way to find out the customer needs and to satisfy the needs accordingly. In this particular case the target organization is the McDonald’s.This paper highlights that  maintaining a great service quality and the product quality are all about understanding the requirements of the customers and delivering the tailor-made services to satisfy them.   Understanding the customer behavior is another very important factor to be focused on to run a successful business. However, these are the basic rules to delivering satisfying services. The measurement of the steps taken towards the customer satisfacti on is also very important. The primary and secondary data are important to support the outcome of the services related to the customer satisfaction. In regards to this research, the secondary data used are gathered from the Internet, journals and other publications in order to get basic information about the nature of the influences of the customer satisfaction. And the primary data are collected from the survey made from the sample size of 50 people selected randomly.... It is very vital to understand the importance of the customer satisfactions. Customer needs are the base of any business. However, the most important question is how to know the specific needs of the customers related to some specific products. The marketing research plays the vital role in this case. The survey design and the questionnaire design play the major role to identify the customer needs. Through the proper data collection and analyzing the data are the most appropriate way to find out the customer needs and to satisfy the needs accordingly. In this particular case the target organization is the McDonald’s. Introduction: Maintaining a great service quality and the product quality are all about understanding the requirements of the customers and delivering the tailor-made services to satisfy them. Understanding the customer behavior is another very important factor to be focused on to run a successful business. However, these are the basic rules to delivering satisfyi ng services. The measurement of the steps taken towards the customer satisfaction is also very important. The primary and secondary data are important to support the outcome of the services related to the customer satisfaction. In regards to this research, the secondary data used are gathered from the Internet, journals and other publications in order to get basic information about the nature of the influences of the customer satisfaction. And the primary data are collected from the survey made from the sample size of 50 people selected randomly. McDonald’s has been taken as the target brand in this case. The whole paper is stratified into five chapters and each chapter has its own relevance to prove the importance of the customer satisfaction to win

Overview Of The Tangshan Earthquake History Essay

Overview Of The Tangshan Earthquake History Essay It is important to develop some general knowledge what causes earthquakes, in order to gain a better understanding about the Tangshan event. Earths crust is broken into major tectonic plates that move towards and away from each other in different directions. Debated driving forces behind this movement includes Earths rotation, gravity related forces and mantle dynamics. Generally, it is accepted that tectonic plates are able to move because of the relative density of oceanic lithosphere and the relative weakness of the asthenosphere. While these plates are moving, they can collide or slide past each other creating high energy phenomena such as volcanoes and earthquakes. Specific to earthquakes, the edge of one plate is forced under another. This process is called subduction and results in intense vibrations in Earths crust. More specifically to Northeast China, the tectonic environment is driven by collisions between the Indian and Asian plates, and Pacific and Asian plates. An important component of the Tangshan earthquake is the role of an extensive strike-slip fault system, known as Tancheng-Lujiang, or Tan-Lu. This system extends in a north-northeast direction for more than 3,200 miles from the north bank of the Yangtze River in eastern China to the west across the Russian border. It is an intertwined zone of faults 5000km long and 1000km wide, neighbored by other sub-faults. These collectively played a significant part in what resulted in the Tangshan earthquake. In fact, the Tangshan earthquake sequence has been explained as the result of sequential ruptures of the Tangshan fault produced by NNE extensive faulting and associated NE-SW regional compression. The earthquake sequence then initiated at the bending region (near Tangshan City) due to continued tectonic stress that had been increasing for a long time. The relationship between the rupture geometries of the Tangshan earthquake sequence and the regional compression stresses. The Tangshan Event Pre-cursors Earthquakes have occurred in the surrounding area in the past, including 22 earthquakes of magnitude 4.75 or greater since 1485. Despite these previous activities, there were no foreshocks or clear precursory phenomenon prior to the Tangshan earthquake. However, there had been a series of abnormal signals observed in the regions of Beijing, Tianjin, Tangshan, Bohai and Zhangjiakou. Tangshan indicated that there was a consistent drop in the pumping rate (and hence groundwater levels) in the years before the event with a sharp increase in the days prior to the earthquake. Additionally, survivors interviewed following the earthquake noted that well water levels changed abruptly in the hours before the event e.g. with rises of over a meter in at least on village in the region. There was also strange animal behavior reported, including city dwellers from the downtown area who had fish discovered that the fish were restless, jumping out of the aquarium as if wanting to escape. Unfortunate ly the anomalous precursory phenomena were widely scattered and inconclusive. The main quake The main quake struck Tangshan at 3:42 am on July 28, 1976, and lasted approximately 23 seconds. This short lived quake was at an intensity of XI (out of XII), according to the State Seismological Bureau report, with a magnitude of 7.5 on the Richter magnitude scale. Although the epicenter was located in the city of Tangshan, the earthquake was felt in fourteen provinces of China, and as far as Xian, in Beijing and in Tientsin. The stress of the Tangshan quake was caused by the compression along the plate boundaries of the Indian and Asian plates, as well as the compression along the boundaries of the Pacific and Asian plates. The quake ruptured a five-mile (8 km) section of a 25-mile long fault that passes through the city Tangshan. In addition, along the west side the ground moved laterally for about five feet, in a north/northeast direction sub parallel to the major axis of the meizoseismic zone with some areas with horizontal ground displacements of up to 7 meters. On the eastern side of the rupture, the ground block tipped upward near the south end and downward at the northern end. Although the earthquake was a shallow focal depth of 15 kilometers, it created both horizontal and vertical movement, causing the ground to rent apart by several feet, cave in to form craters, previously flat agricultural land being undulated, and soil liquefaction. Aftershocks Following the main earthquake, the many aftershocks also had devastating effects. There were two major aftershocks which caused additional damage to the region. On July 28, 1976 at 6:45 pm local time an Mw 7.0 earthquake struck, centered in Shangjialin Luanxian to the northeast of Tangshan. This caused 50 km (31 mi) rupture along the Luanxian-Laoting fault. The second major aftershock of Mw 6.4 struck on November 15, 1976 at 9:53 pm local time, centered south of Lutai to the southwest of Tangshan. This aftershock ruptured 20 km (12 mi) of the Jing Canal fault. In all, over 850 aftershocks occurred through the end of 1978 and were distributed throughout an area approximately 140 km (87 mi) in length and 50 km (31 mi) in width along a northeast trend, indicating the Tangshan fault as the main fault rupture. Destruction and Casualties The destruction of the earthquake included 242,400 deaths; 164,600 people severely wounded; 3,800 people disabled; 360,000 people suffering minor injuries; and various damages to residential areas, industrial areas, roads, railways and sewage systems. Here, the report will examine what effects the earthquake had on infrastructure and casualties. Infrastructure Before the 1976 earthquake, scientists did not believe Tangshan was susceptible to a large earthquake. Thus, the seismic design code for the area was zoned an intensity level of VI and the buildings in Tangshan were not built to withstand such a large earthquake. Furthermore, the city of Tangshan is located in the center of an area surrounded with major faults, where many of its structures had been built on unstable, alluvial soils. The 7.8 earthquake that hit Tangshan was given an intensity level of XI and left hundreds of thousands of buildings destroyed. The infrastructure damage affected many different areas. Ninety-three percent of residential buildings and 78 percent of industrial buildings were completely destroyed. Eighty percent of the water pumping stations and fourteen percent of the sewage pipes were seriously damaged. In addition, the foundations of bridges gave way, bridges collapsed, railroad lines bent, closed roads were covered with debris, highway bridges and at least two dams collapsed, all telephone and radio communications systems stopped functioning and almost all of the irrigation wells became inoperative. The seismic waves of the earthquake spread the damage to various regions, such as Qinhuangdao and Tianjin, and a few buildings as far away as Beijing. As was the case in Tangshan city, earthquake resistance was not generally considered in the design of buildings in these other regions. Newer buildings with seismic capacity and any buildings strengthened after the 1975 Haicheng Earthquake performed much better during the Tangshan Earthquake than those designed without seismic design considerations. Casualty Along with infrastructure damage, there were devastating amounts of casualties. As mentioned earlier, the earthquake struck just before 4 am, when many people were asleep and unprepared. Before the earthquake, the total population of Tangshan city was approximately 1.2 million, with 2 million within 40 km (25 mi) of the epicenter. As mentioned earlier, the official death count from the earthquake was 242,400; however, other sources have cited the death toll to be as high as 655,000 to 779,000 people. Contributing to the high number of casualties was the structure of residential buildings. Most residential structures in Tangshan and surrounding rural regions consisted of older, single-story brick or stone wall homes with only few newer multi-story brick apartment buildings built in the 1960s. Due to this structure, many buildings collapsed because of the lack of proper connections between the walls and roof, as did many reinforced concrete and masonry industrial buildings with heavy roofs, weighing as much as 400 kg (890 lbs). Finally, another contributing factor to the high death toll was the density of buildings and population in Tangshan city being extremely high. This concentration contributed to the seriousness of the loss in particular because the source of the earthquake was directly beneath the city. Relief Response The earthquake disaster required both short-term and long-term response. To begin, the Chinese government refused to accept international aid from the United Nations, and insisted on self reliance. This required rescue workers accompanied by appropriate equipment in order to rescue people from the collapsed buildings, as well as a pre-established plan to coordinate the effort, which was made difficult since vehicular traffic brought the few clear streets to a standstill. Also, since most of the population lost their homes due to the infrastructure destruction, there was a great need for temporary shelters. Clearing of the debris did not begin in earnest until September 1981, leaving the vast majority of the population not being able to live in permanent housing until 1985. In addition, there was the need for long-term strategic planning. Much of this had to do with future design codes for the city. The Tangshan Earthquake led to a major update to the seismic design code, released in 1978. The study of the Tangshan Earthquake and its tectonic setting also resulted in the reclassification of hazard zonation of the Hebei province (particularly the Tangshan region). Updates to the code included performance criteria increases with the raising of expected ground shaking intensity, introduction of a new understanding of how the liquefaction of underlying soils impacts building foundations, and the inclusion of increased vertical forces from seismic loads good building practice from the collapsed buildings in Tangshan. The earthquake also highlighted the requirement for redundancy in the provision of lifelines, accompanied by the assessment of the appropriate design standards to guarantee the minimum necessary function of roads, bridges, or utility supplies wh ich were greatly affected by the earthquake. The relief responses resulting from the Tangshan Earthquake created the opportunity to build and incorporate increased earthquake resistance for future seismic events. Moreover, the layout of the city was planned to reduce both the number of casualties and injured, in addition to increasing the efficacy of emergency relief and disaster rehabilitation. The 2008 Sichuan earthquake had the same measurement on the Richter scale at 8.0 in magnitude. It, however, occurred in a mountainous region where relief efforts were noticeably hampered by the geographical makeup of the land nearby. The Sichuan earthquake also had a much quicker and more organized response system than Tangshan, as the political, social and technological environment was different. Discussion Conclusion In summary, this report has presented many important concepts to gain an understanding about the Tangshan Earthquake. It has examined the underlying driving forces, such as the Tancheng-Lujiang fault system and Tangshan fault; the various effects from the precursors, main quake, aftershocks; the destruction and casualties from the disaster, including factors that lead to an increased death toll and infrastructure damage; the relief response to the disaster and how it affected future earthquake responses; and a discussion of how amateur seismologists and professionals made predictions about the Tangshan Earthquake. Discussing these topics brings awareness on the importance of understanding natural disasters, and how a population can learn and prepare itself for future natural disasters.

Acupuncture Essay -- Health Medical China Argumentative Essays

Acupuncture The traditional Chinese treatment of acupuncture is an affective alternative medicine that has been around for thousands of years. Acupuncture is one of the most researched and documented alternative medicines around (Acupuncture). Although a vast majority of people believe Western medicine is the only cure to sickness, many people benefit from acupuncture everyday. Most people disregard the ancient art all together without giving it a chance because are scared of the needles it involves. Also, since no accurate scientific explanation of how and why it works has been found, people shy away from it. The healing powers of the body are taken to a whole different level with this alternative medicine. Ancient roots of acupuncture can be traced back to archeology five thousand years ago. Its written existence has been around for about two thousand five hundred years (Dr. Michael). Acupuncture was discovered during the Chinese Empire in the Yuan dynasty which lasted from 1264 to 1368 CE (Felt). Statues of acupuncture were made during this time period and served as the base of date for the oriental medicine. Traditional acupuncture uses sterilized needles which are inserted into various acupuncture points in the human body. The needles can be anywhere from a half an inch to several inches long and produce stimulation inside the body (See). Sometimes, the needles are stirred around once inserted to speed up stimulation. In modern acupuncture, electrical stimulators are used to increase the amount of stimulation (Dr. Michael). The acupuncture points stimulated depends on a patient’s individual needs and treatment expectations. This oriental medicine is one of the safest ways to be cured of a sickness. It has no major side effects. One might experience a little pain or dizziness during the first few seconds of the first treatment, but this is rare. These side effects only occur if a patient is nervous or scared to be treated (RH). Acupuncture can cure everything Western medicine can, from diseases to back pain, without the dangerous, sometimes life-threatening side effects. Many patients turn to acupuncture as a last resort and find closure in its effectiveness. â€Å"My daughter and son have never taken a pill in their lives; acupuncture has cured all of their [health] problems† (Dr. Michael.). Acupuncture is individual based. It is a very â€Å"c... ...uman body is a sacred, complicated thing which can only be done by nature and God. In the book Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein gets ahead of himself and takes on a task bigger than life itself, creating life. He forgets how sacred the creation of the body is and tries to create an ideal human for fame. Of course, the outcome was horrific and Victor paid for his actions for the rest of his life. Acupuncture doesn’t allow people to get ahead of themselves like Victor did; the way of thinking brought about is that of a natural sense. The techniques of the alternative medicine allow people to remember how magnificent and sacred the human body is and realize that it cannot be created through lab work or perfected through medicine. With Western medicine, patients can take up to four or five medications before finding one that suits their needs and most can have many life threatening side effects. With acupuncture, it is one procedure and one attempt to heal a patient with NO major side effects. Acupuncture is a unique ancient art that is backed by thousands of years of Chinese thought and research and has been proven affective for many people and their illnesses. Acupuncture Essay -- Health Medical China Argumentative Essays Acupuncture The traditional Chinese treatment of acupuncture is an affective alternative medicine that has been around for thousands of years. Acupuncture is one of the most researched and documented alternative medicines around (Acupuncture). Although a vast majority of people believe Western medicine is the only cure to sickness, many people benefit from acupuncture everyday. Most people disregard the ancient art all together without giving it a chance because are scared of the needles it involves. Also, since no accurate scientific explanation of how and why it works has been found, people shy away from it. The healing powers of the body are taken to a whole different level with this alternative medicine. Ancient roots of acupuncture can be traced back to archeology five thousand years ago. Its written existence has been around for about two thousand five hundred years (Dr. Michael). Acupuncture was discovered during the Chinese Empire in the Yuan dynasty which lasted from 1264 to 1368 CE (Felt). Statues of acupuncture were made during this time period and served as the base of date for the oriental medicine. Traditional acupuncture uses sterilized needles which are inserted into various acupuncture points in the human body. The needles can be anywhere from a half an inch to several inches long and produce stimulation inside the body (See). Sometimes, the needles are stirred around once inserted to speed up stimulation. In modern acupuncture, electrical stimulators are used to increase the amount of stimulation (Dr. Michael). The acupuncture points stimulated depends on a patient’s individual needs and treatment expectations. This oriental medicine is one of the safest ways to be cured of a sickness. It has no major side effects. One might experience a little pain or dizziness during the first few seconds of the first treatment, but this is rare. These side effects only occur if a patient is nervous or scared to be treated (RH). Acupuncture can cure everything Western medicine can, from diseases to back pain, without the dangerous, sometimes life-threatening side effects. Many patients turn to acupuncture as a last resort and find closure in its effectiveness. â€Å"My daughter and son have never taken a pill in their lives; acupuncture has cured all of their [health] problems† (Dr. Michael.). Acupuncture is individual based. It is a very â€Å"c... ...uman body is a sacred, complicated thing which can only be done by nature and God. In the book Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein gets ahead of himself and takes on a task bigger than life itself, creating life. He forgets how sacred the creation of the body is and tries to create an ideal human for fame. Of course, the outcome was horrific and Victor paid for his actions for the rest of his life. Acupuncture doesn’t allow people to get ahead of themselves like Victor did; the way of thinking brought about is that of a natural sense. The techniques of the alternative medicine allow people to remember how magnificent and sacred the human body is and realize that it cannot be created through lab work or perfected through medicine. With Western medicine, patients can take up to four or five medications before finding one that suits their needs and most can have many life threatening side effects. With acupuncture, it is one procedure and one attempt to heal a patient with NO major side effects. Acupuncture is a unique ancient art that is backed by thousands of years of Chinese thought and research and has been proven affective for many people and their illnesses.