ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
The novel The Memory Keeper’s daughter is about a story set in mid twentieth century. The social, political, and economic environment was different and its effect on the characters life can be seen especially through the actions they choose. The characters in the novel all seem to be victims of social constrains. By examining the novel through a sociological perspective, the characters can be seen as reacting to the social elements in their world and how that leads to their suffering or redemption. The story revolves around a decision made by one of the key characters, David. David is a doctor who realized that being caught up in a snowstorm, he would have to help his wife deliver at home. Everything went well with the delivery, but David learned that one of the twins, a baby girl had down syndrome. Because of the stigma associated with the condition, David prefers to put the child in an institution than to put his family through the hardship of raising a child with down syndrome. After all, given the short lifespan expected, Phoebe’s life would have been short. David remembered the difficulties he had with his sister June and her death. Although he felt it freed him, the truth was that “He felt guilty… ” (121). During the time of the setting of the novel, Down Syndrome Association states that, there were many social limitations that families with special children had (5). Families were treated as if something was wrong with them if they had such a child. Many parents would be embarrassed and ashamed to have such a child (5). As a result they put their children away in institutions to avert the shame. Society in many instances would treat the children as subnormal. This would explain David’s reaction. However what compounds the situation is that he was a doctor. While he should have known better, it is David the parent who made the decision. He was so afraid for the pain that Norah would have to endure that for their sake, he made the decision to have the child, Phoebe, taken to an institution. In his experience with his sister, David knew that with such a child the road ahead was tough. He could remember having June in the family and the conflict it brought to him, “His love for her was so deeply woven with resentment that he could not untangle the two.” (120). Another related social issue in the novel is the prejudice that people have against children with down syndrome. Edwards brought this out by the the dismissive description in the novel that is given without any positivism, “flaccid muscle tone, delayed growth and mental development, possible heart complications, early death.” (16). Caroline who takes care of Phoebe does so while she continues to endure the public discrimination of Phoebe. It is for this reason that Caroline is hesitant to let Al into their lives. Down syndrome was still very much misunderstood. It is only after Al proves himself that Caroline gives him a chance and married him, confident that he had a great love of Phoebe and accepted her. The social discrimination of Phoebe does not end in social environment, but extended to other area like education. Phoebe’s opportunity for education was also t
Today our society lives in the world of numbers because it became so important for people to value everything in numbers. A lot of modern information is perceived and analyzed not according to its qualitative parameters, but according to its quantitative characteristics. To understand the peculiarities of many phenomena, it is necessary for people to focus on the data presented in numbers, but not in words. Now it is rather difficult to determine what influenced the increase of the effects of algebra on the modern society. It is possible to state that the processes of the development of our society and the progress of the role of algebra in it are interdependent. Thus, algebra has influenced the development of modern business, and it has been actively used for the progress of our digital world. Our modern society develops according to the business principles. The quantitative data and bookkeeping materials determine the process of the business strategy’s working out. Algebra is used by businessmen on every stage of the development. The business organization of the company is a complex process which is connected with such spheres as bookkeeping, economy, and finance. The elementary rules of algebra used by specialists can combine all these fields in a strong structure. Thus, business managers use the algebraic rules every day for providing the elementary calculations, for accounting the profits and ratios, for presenting their business reports (Larson). Algebra is one of the oldest sciences in history which has influenced the development of all the other sciences and spheres of scientific knowledge which depend on definite kinds of calculations. Algebra can be considered as the fundament for providing the effective business because the usage of the algebraic rules and formulas is an efficient way to solve such everyday business problems as the counting of the taxes, costs, and prices. It is impossible to control the effectiveness of the business affairs and the company’s income without using algebra (Larson). Nowadays many researchers state that our contemporary society becomes the digital nation for which computers and electronics is the main part of the everyday reality. Nevertheless, it is significant to note that the computer science which progress gives people the opportunity to use all the advantages of the digital world and information technologies was developed with basing on the principles of algebra. Modern computer technologies are the result of using the peculiarities of the linear, abstract, and geometric algebra (Gilbert). These branches of algebra are not elementary and cannot be used effectively by non-specialists in the field. However, professionals and inventors in the industry have achieved the highest results in the progress of information technologies and computer science which depe
Perhaps no issue appears as vexatious as the ongoing Palestine-Israeli conflict that threatens to deepen the ‘fault lines’ between the West and the Arabs. This age old problem is rooted in a historicity of ancient times, false promises, realpolitik and religion. The complexity of the issue suspends the commonly held perceptions of ‘right’ and’ wrong’ and this essay attempts to examine what could be the ‘Right’ side of the conflict. The Arabs have claimed that historically speaking there had always been a state of Palestine, which the past colonial masters, the British had promised to restore to the Arabs as per the tenets of the Balfour declaration of 1917 which stated that “nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine” (Encyclopædia Britannica). The Arabs further argued that Jews never had any claim to the lands of Palestine and thus their forceful conquest of Palestine to create Israel was a conspiracy of the Christian world to drive a wedge amidst Muslim lands for the purposes of geo-politics and geo-strategy. This ploy was proved by the fact that “The League of Nations awarded Palestine as a man
Purpose The purpose of any article is what the researcher wants to accomplish (Foundation for Critical Thinking, 2007). In the selected article, the author focuses on investigating the importance and implications of conflict management. The author pays special attention to determining the very concept of conflict, addresses its causes and ways to cope with related challenges, and explores efficient conflict management strategies and approaches to resolving conflict (McKibben, 2017, p. 100). Therefore, the central objective of the article is to make an attempt to prove that positive conflict management is helpful for resolving conflicts, especially when combined with effective leadership practices and theories (McKibben, 2017, p. 100). Point of View Point of view refers to the perception of the problem under consideration or the unique perspective from which the problem is investigated (Foundation for Critical Thinking, 2007). In this article, the author focuses on determining the importance and consequences of conflict management in healthcare facilities. To address the question mentioned above, conflicts are viewed from several perspectives. First of all, the author perceives the concept of conflict and conflict management from the perspective of positive conflict resolution, addressing the root causes of conflicts (McKibben, 2017, p. 100). Question at Issue Although the author does not explicitly state the research question, it is possible to identify it based on the article’s stated research objective, which points to the issue that drives the researcher’s thinking (Foundation for Critical Thinking, 2007). Therefore, the paper aims to address the following questions: Why is conflict management important? Is positive conflict management, supplemented with appropriate leadership style and communication, beneficial for resolving conflicts? Information Information refers to all data, facts, and experiences that the author mentions to address the central research question (Foundation for Critical Thinking, 2007). Even though this article is theoretical in nature and does not include any experiments or quantitative data, the experiences of nurses and healthcare professionals are mentioned in order to investigate the effectiveness of positive conflict management approaches in resolving conflicts between healthcare facility staff (McKibben, 2017, p. 101). Still, it is essential to note that all of the experiences are taken directly from other researchers’ published articles. Interpretation and Inference Interpretation and inference refer to the conclusions that the author reaches after analyzing all collected information (Foundation for Critica
Business ventures can be found all over the world and they exist in different categories depending on their respective turnover or headcount limits and the kind of business being carried out. This categorization, however, may vary from one country to another or within different industries. Small and Medium Enterprises, otherwise known as SMEs or Small and Medium Businesses, SMBs, are part of the categories that have significantly varying definitions (Root and Koenig, 2003). In the United States, for instance, the term small and medium businesses or otherwise SMBs is commonly used. The standardized definition of an SME in the European Union refers to companies having a total number of employees lying between 10 and 250. In the United States, a small business refers to a company with less than 100 employees while a medium-sized company refers to those with employees less than 500 in number (Applegate, 2002). In most developed economies, a greater percentage of businesses are small enterprises and are responsible for driving the competition and innovation in the business sector. On a global dimension, SMEs do account for about 99% of the total number of businesses and contribute between 40% and 50% of the Gross Domestic Product, GDP (Analoui & Karami, 2003). These businesses rely mainly on outsourcing agreements for most of their businesses. This paper seeks to focus on the dangers of SMEs relying fully or partly on an outsourcing partner for most of their business operations. It will also propose the factors necessary for consideration when planning for an Outsourcing Agreement as well as mention the importance of networking for a small business manager. Outsourcing refers to the practice where a company contracts with a different company in order to offer services that the in-house employees might have otherwise performed (Applegate, 2003). In recent times, many of the large companies have resorted to outsourcing some of the jobs such as e-mail services, payroll, and call center services. All of these jobs are surrendered to other separate companies which specialize in specific services. In most instances, these companies are located overseas. The most driving force behind outsourcing is the objective to save money since there will be no benefits to be offered unlike if the employees were allowed to perform these tasks (Asheim, 2003). However, there are a number of dangers associated with outsourcing some or all of the services by a company. Outsourcing, in most cases, facilitates the elimination of one-to-one communication between a given company and its clients (Hallberg, 2000). This impairs a company’s capability to bond with its customers and even to create more. This ofte
Introduction E-commerce has been accessible ever since the 1990s. However, it has only received major recognition from both customers and entrepreneurs in the past few years. For both consumers and businesses, e-commerce proves to be more convenient in terms of time and cost. Due to its healthy growth rate, many local and international businesses are adapting to the modern method of conducting business, which employs the tenets of e-commerce. The aim of this paper is to conduct an in-depth analysis of the perspective and perception of Saudi Arabian women on online shopping. The study will make use of both qualitative and quantitative research methods to gain deeper insight and a greater understanding of the thoughts and reactions of Saudi women as regards online shopping. Through the methods of focus groups, in-depth interviews, and surveys, the study aims at examining the level of awareness, level of trust in terms of online payment, and most importantly the level of interest among Saudi women. Literature Review A review of the existing body of knowledge reveals that e-commerce is influencing the lives of Saudi residents positively. A study conducted by Al-Maghrebi proved that women are interested in the new technologies related to online shopping because of their convenience and the satisfaction that they bring (30). Alotaibi supported the views of other scholars by claiming that the introduction of the internet is attributed to the growth of online shopping in the country (45). Online shopping gives women a new experience in process of product ordering, viewing, and delivering. He suggested that electronic commerce (e-Commerce) has an emerging latent in Saudi Arabia owing to extensive utilization of the internet and the development of information knowledge and communication. The focus of the canvasser was to review the excellence of e-commerce websites in Saudi Arabia with the help of an anticipated c
According to the CSB report, BP failed to “implement or heed all the safety recommendations regarding the blowdown drums before the blast” (CSB, 2005). Earlier reports and safety studies showed that BP was aware of the danger lurking in blowdown drums. From 1991, Amoco had proposed the removal of the blowdown drums that vented into the atmosphere. However, the company did not implement the proposal due to budget constraints. OSHA had also notified Amoco of the unsafe design of such pressure releasing system. There had been several proposals to change the blowdown drums venting into the atmosphere. However, when BP took over, it remained focused on cost-cutting measures such that any safety recommendations were of limited concerns (CSB, 2005). Blowdown drums and stack work by accepting “the mixed liquid, and or vapour hydrocarbons from venting relief and blowdown valves during unit upsets or following a unit shutdown” (CSB, 2005). Normally, remnant hydrocarbon vapours separate themselves from the liquid and rise to the top of the stack and escape to the atmosphere. However, any heavy hydrocarbon vapours cool and fall to the bottom of the blowdown drum for subsequent collection. The problem is that, this system of discharging waste was dangerous according to the industry standards. Instead, the industry standards recommend that companies should discharge any waste direct into a sewer. BP also knew that the leftovers that pass through the blowdown drum were highly inflammable materials, and thus, the resulting explosion could be extremely dangerous. In addition, blowdown drums are potential sources of hazard. Despite all the recommendations of 1991, 1995, 1997, 2002 and 2004, BP did not take any corrective measures. The design system of the blowdown drum increased its usages. However, BP failed to carry out necessary changes to the system. Specifically, the company “failed to replace the internal baffles, decommissioning the quench system, and adding more inlets, which possibly reduced its effectiveness” (CSB, 2005). Most reports have indicated that BP ought to have installed flare systems or closed relief systems. These systems considerably reduce effects of such incidence. There are a number of reports and recommendations to suggest that BP knew of risks associated with the blowdown drums that vented into the atmosphere. The company also knew that the system was a source of danger to its refinery and the surrounding environment. For instance, BP Texas City Refinery safety standards of 1977 stated “the industry standards did not permit new blowdown stacks, and BP ought to have connected the blowdown drums to closed systems or flares when the operations of the company outgrew existing facilities, or when it made major modifications to the units” (CSB, 2005). There were subsequent changes to the blowdown drums since 1986. These changes were major replacements that increased the capacity of the blowdown drum. However, BP did not connect the system to any safe dis
Introduction The story told in Fight Club focuses on the creation of intense relationships between people who are desperately searching to find fulfillment in a world that is gone crazy. The story focuses upon an unnamed narrator who struggles to find a sense of fulfillment in a world in which personal fulfillment is supposed to be accomplished through making the right purchases and having access to the right places. This never-ending search for the almighty dollar and the things it can buy leaves little room for a personality or a ‘self’, instead of filling the individual with a never-ending need to drone for corporations that might eventually provide them with the ‘ideal’ criteria of a ‘good life. Fight Club explores issues of dehumanity and the paths taken by people attempting to discover their human elements after having given them up for the corporate combine. The story capitalizes on the sense of alienation and dissociation caused by an increasingly complex world. The narrator of Fight Club drifts through an emasculating world of capital gains and risks with little or no true reward and no outlet or encouragement for human emotional involvement. The narrator is unable to find satisfaction in pursuing those objects that his society tells him are important and he turns instead to exterior models as a means of attempting to bridge the gap. Main text The narrator of Fight Club plods through his empty work cycle, traveling to various accident sites in order to determine whether or not products should be recalled and weighing the risks of recall versus potential lawsuits that might occur. He is tremendously dissatisfied with his life and feels empty and completely without energy, but he also cannot sleep at night. To try to fill the void of his life, he attempts to get his doctor to prescribe sleeping pills and begins attending meetings for seriously ill people on his doctor’s recommendation, in order to ‘get an idea of what real suffering is’, but he finds instead that he is comforted by his proximity to real emotion. As he becomes more and more in touch with his emotions, he comes face to face with Tyler Durden, who works as a salesman. Between the two of them, they found a fight club, in which men go to fight with each other simply to have a means of expressing their male phys
In the divergent opinions that history cannot instruct people anything and that the future represents merely an indication of the past is the rational situation that history offers people indistinct comprehension of what could lay ahead for humankind. History-free economic experts could have held the efficient marketplace hypothesis that asserts that the market will value shares properly, with divergences from perfect forecast happening accidentally. Nevertheless, the understanding of history would not have allowed any person to foretell the timing and degree of the current meltdown. In particular, history may not respond to the inquiry of what the approach of people towards money ought to be. The Ascent of Money signifies an excellent book that demonstrates both the strong points and weak points of history for comprehending what is occurring currently. The book has been written in a story style, inclination for detail, scope of reference, and liveliness of language that people have come to anticipate from the outstandingly resourceful historian. Ferguson is fascinated by the issue of finance, understands a vast measure regarding it, and shows his interest to the reader. The majority of the sections of the book are very common to experts, but Ferguson has a unique capability of coloring even the ordinary with strange and unusual instances, and he interlaces the separate threads of the monetary tapestry through enormous expertise. Some of the monetary concerns are very intricate, but through Ferguson’s mastery, they seem easy to understand. The well-themed composition of the book commences with the basis of money, and illustrates, in its subsequent chapters, how money got a means of reproducing itself via the advancement of such things as banking and derivative devices of every variety, as well as insurance marketplaces. This happened until the world’s financial system resembled an upturned pyramid of liability placed on a progressively constricted bottom of actual assets. Ferguson asserts that people owe their affluence more to finance as compared to expertise. All through history, people have been more inventive at establishing the means of making money as compared to making things. Devoid of the motivation offered by money to the authorities and enthusiasms of human character, communities could hardly have emerged from the crudest barbarianism. In line with Ferguson, money is not a thing, but an association, particularly, an association involving debtors as well as creditors. Once time, as well as distance, begins to slip away between exchanges of items of worth, which occurred at the initiation of evolution, people required something beyond barter. Growers required borrowing some money while they waited for their crops to mature, traders required borrowing some