Before phrenology

"Before phrenology all we knew about the brain was, how to slice it" Richard Chenevix, 1828 (Victorian Web). Phrenology was a popular pseudoscience that was founded by Franz Gall. He believed that by examining the bumps on a person's skull, you could determine ones personality characteristics, moral characteristics, and intelligence. Notions such as, are people with large foreheads smarter than people with small foreheads, were at the core of phrenology. This is what led me to pick this topic for this paper. I have always been told I have a large forehead, so I found this topic interesting. By going to hospitals, prisons, and schools Gall gathered evidence to try and support phrenology. By doing this he identified 27 personality characteristics that he believed could be diagnosed by examining areas of the head. He devised maps of the showing the location on the skull of different personality characteristics and abilities. He believed that a large fo!rehead was asso ciated with ones higher intelligence. Gall took his ideas to the general public when his theories started to be ridiculed by other scientists. He began to give "readings" in which he described ones personality based on measuring the bumps on a person's head. Since the mid- nineteenth century, phrenology has been almost completely discredited. Even when it was most popular between the 1830s and 1840s, phrenology was very controversial. It never became an accredited science. Phrenology did become a formalized social activity, which started in Britain. George

Free Essays on Dentistry

Dentistry Introduction thesis statement. My term paper is on the career of a dentist .A dentist is a medical professional who specializes in the care of teeth, gums, and mouths. Some dentist's make dentures for people with out teeth. Their are many ,many kinds of dentist's. For example their is a dental assistant, a dental hygienists, a oral surgeon, also a dental laboratory technician. These career's are just some in the world of dentistry. By doing this research I believe my research will show. What a dental assistant, dental hygienists, orthodontists, oral surgeon, and dental laboratory technicians dose. Like for example what do they do , what is their salary, their nature of their work, and the education needed to become one of these people. The thing you need to know before you become any kind of a dentist. I choose to do my term paper on dentistry because when I grow up I want to become a dentist. My aunt's and uncle's are all dentists and I want to know what they do for a living. My a unt's and uncle's worked very hard to get to where they are and they are very proud of themselves. And I thought it would be interesting to learn about dentist's. The things that I already know about my topic dentistry is that there are a lot of other fields in this particular topic. For example there's a dental laboratory technician, a dental assistant, dental hygienists, Orthodontists, and oral surgeons. And these are just a few of the career's in dentistry. I know that the dentist works long hard hours. They have to at least finish high school. Then you go to college for four years. I also have a feel of how much a dentist makes they make 50,000 dollar's a year. But if you study hard, have a high school diploma , graduate from college, and take a lot of training your salary could be a lot more then 50,000 dollars. It would be 100,000 dollars a year. So all of that hard work and effort in school pays of. Dentist have to go throw a lot of ... Free Essays on Dentistry Free Essays on Dentistry Dentistry Introduction thesis statement. My term paper is on the career of a dentist .A dentist is a medical professional who specializes in the care of teeth, gums, and mouths. Some dentist's make dentures for people with out teeth. Their are many ,many kinds of dentist's. For example their is a dental assistant, a dental hygienists, a oral surgeon, also a dental laboratory technician. These career's are just some in the world of dentistry. By doing this research I believe my research will show. What a dental assistant, dental hygienists, orthodontists, oral surgeon, and dental laboratory technicians dose. Like for example what do they do , what is their salary, their nature of their work, and the education needed to become one of these people. The thing you need to know before you become any kind of a dentist. I choose to do my term paper on dentistry because when I grow up I want to become a dentist. My aunt's and uncle's are all dentists and I want to know what they do for a living. My a unt's and uncle's worked very hard to get to where they are and they are very proud of themselves. And I thought it would be interesting to learn about dentist's. The things that I already know about my topic dentistry is that there are a lot of other fields in this particular topic. For example there's a dental laboratory technician, a dental assistant, dental hygienists, Orthodontists, and oral surgeons. And these are just a few of the career's in dentistry. I know that the dentist works long hard hours. They have to at least finish high school. Then you go to college for four years. I also have a feel of how much a dentist makes they make 50,000 dollar's a year. But if you study hard, have a high school diploma , graduate from college, and take a lot of training your salary could be a lot more then 50,000 dollars. It would be 100,000 dollars a year. So all of that hard work and effort in school pays of. Dentist have to go throw a lot of ...

The Restructuring Sony Corporation Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

The Restructuring Sony Corporation - Case Study Example Another reason was to adjust the corporation to market changes. The 2001 restructuring is an example of a restructuring that was done to adjust to new market realities. 3. The restructuring efforts at Sony were realized to make the company more flexible and adaptive. As a conglomerate, the different types of businesses needed their own autonomy. The restructures at Sony decentralized the decision-making process. The unified dispersed management model was very effective at creating greater autonomy. 4. At Sony due to the segmentation of businesses and the decentralized nature of the operation, there was a lot of cultural diversity. Each business unit had its own corporate culture. The managers operated each business unit in an independent manner to a certain degree.  5. I believe that the dominant business culture at Sony is innovation. The reason for innovation and research and development is so important for Sony is because the company has so many different types of products and services.

FINANCIAL PLANNING AND WEALTH MANAGEMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

FINANCIAL PLANNING AND WEALTH MANAGEMENT - Essay Example Investing the entire sum of money in a single stock exposes the investor to the risk of that asset. So, in case when the price of that security falls in the market due to any reason, the investor will suffer huge losses. This, risk of concentration of money in a single stock is mitigated through diversification. As per the preliminary interview conducted with a married couple named Kevin and Katia we came to know the following details: Katia aged 43, is a primary school teacher earning ?35,000 per annum and contributes 7.6% of her gross annual salary to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme. Kevin aged 45, is a construction site project manager earning ?80,000 per annum and contributes 6% of his gross annual salary to a defined contribution scheme. The couple has two children – Tilly and Jemima aged 7 and 9 years. The couple seeks advice for their retirement planning that is after 17 years when Katia is 60. The couple would like to achieve a combined retirement income of approxi mately ?45,000 in today’s terms. ... Kevin has identified a range of investments that the couple might consider to help achieve their retirement planning objectives (including index-linked gilts, corporate bond funds, authorised investment funds and offshore equity funds) but is not sure about the option to choose. With an investment of ?10,000 annually a target of 7% is required to achieve their target objectives. Therefore, in this paper we would analyze and evaluate the various parameters to achieve the desired objectives and return. Part 1: Identification of Appropriate Investment Options Portfolio management is the fundamental work of investment management. It can be done by minimizing the risk through diversification. In order to manage an investment portfolio, three steps are considered by portfolio manager i.e. planning to execution to feedback. In the planning step, the objectives and policies of investment are formulated, strategic asset allocations are ascertained and capital market expectations are formed. I n the execution step, a portfolio is constructed by portfolio manager. And, in the feedback step, the portfolio manager examines and assesses the portfolio compared with the plan (Villanova, No Date, p.5). The steps discussed here were in the short form. Taking in account the large form, the portfolio manager have to consider the following steps in order to manage his investment portfolio. The steps are as follows: Specification of investment objectives: In order to manage an investment portfolio, the usual objectives sought by investors are capital appreciation, current income and safety of principals. Choice of asset mix: Asset mix decision is the most

Recrystallising acetanilide

Recrystallising acetanilide The aim of this experiment is to establish the most suitable solvent required for recrystallising acetanilide, and to exhibit the methods of vacuum filtration and recrystallisation. Experimental Method (for selection of a suitable solvent): Four solvents: dichloromethane, methylated sprits, petroleum ether and water were tested to see how appropriate they were for recrystallising acetanilide. Impure acetanilide (0.1g) was inserted into a small test tube and whilst continually shaking the test the solvent was added drop by drop. After 1cm3 of the solvent was added!!!!? the mixture was then heated till it was boiling using the water for the organic solvents bath in the fume cupboard once approximately 1mL of solvent had been added. As the acetanilide was dissolved the test tube was cooled to see whether recrystallisation occurred. The same method was repeated out for all four solvents. Experimental Method (for recrystallisation of acetanilide): Impure Acetanilide (4g) was weighed out using a rough balance into a conical flask (250mL). A suitable amount of the solvent from the previous method [water (1mL)] was used to wet the crystals. The mixture was then boiled gently, and more solvent was added until all the sold had dissolved. Using the filter paper obtained from the pre-heated funnel the boiling solution was filtered. This was done into a pre-heated container so that rapid cooling as avoided. The flask containing the hot solvent was covered and allowed to cool slowly. When a noticeable amount of solid had formed and the solution had cooled considerably, the solution was placed in an ice-bath to speed up the process. The filter paper was wet with the solvent then using vacuum filtration the crystals were separated from the rest of the solution. Using cold solvent (5mL approximately) the crystals were washed. The crystals were kept on the Bà ¼chner funnel until they were almost dry. The damp material was transferred to a labelled watch glass and then this was positioned into a vacuum oven of a set temperature lower than the melting of the pure solid. The dry purified product was weighed and packaged into a labelled plastic bag. Why I chose water for the larger scale recrystallisation: This is because when cooling, water out of the four solvents dissolved completely and the most crystals were formed. Also water is the most suitable solvent because it has the best polarity. The covalent bonding between an oxygen atom and two atoms of hydrogen form a water molecule. Atoms share electrons between these covalent bonds. The sharing of these electrons is not equal in water as the hydrogen atoms have a weaker attraction to the electrons than the oxygen atoms. Hence the distribution of charge in water is asymmetrical. Molecules are known as polar when they have ends with positive and partially negative charges. The reason for why water is able to dissolve a number is substances, is due to this polarity that enables water to separate polar solute molecules. Waters polarity makes gives it the property of being a good solvent. Water molecules surround polar or ionic compounds that enter water. One molecule of solute can be surrounded by many water molecules as the size of water is relatively small. The positive dipoles are attracted to negatively charged components of the solute and vice versa for the negative dipoles. The hydrogen bonds in water are always being formed and broken hence liquid water has a partially ordered structure. The high cohesiveness of water is due to the strong hydrogen bonds and this also results in high surface tension. This is why water remains together as drops when on a non-soluble plane. Additional reasons for why water was the most suitable solvent: i. It was cheap to use water as the solvent ii. When the water was boiled at a temperature below the acetanilide melting point. iii. At room temperature the acetanilide appeared to have low solubility when it was in water. iv. The water was also not toxic or flammable. v. When the acetanilide was heated to boiling in water it seemed to have high solubility. The main points in the procedure where the sample is lost: There are a number of ways in which the sample can be lost throughout the experiment: One of the reasons is whilst carrying out the practical some of our sample was spilt accidently by one of our neighbouring colleagues so our yield was less that what would have been expected.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The sample may have been lost during the transfer stages i.e. when the sample was transferred to the conical flask some of the sample may have remained in the weighing boat as it is unlikely you can get a 100% transfer. Further sample could have been lost when it was transferred from the conical flask to the Bà ¼chner funnel when washing the conical flask using distilled water. Furthermore, sample could have been lost by the transfer of sample from the Bà ¼chner funnel to the watch glass. Also when the crystals were transported into the glass plate as part of the sample may have got trapped to the pot and remained in the vacuum. When we used the filter paper to filter the acetanilide crystals some of the residue maybe have remained on the filter paper resulting in less sample.  · Why low boiling point solvent such as diethyl ether (BP: 35à ¢Ã‚ Ã‚ °C) or dichloromethane (BP: 40à ¢Ã‚ Ã‚ °C) are general les suitable for recrystallisation than higher boiling point solvents, such as water or ethanol, irrespective of their polarity: One of the technicians had said in the practical that Dichloromethane has an occupation explosive limit (OEL)..!!!. Both diethyl ether and dichloromethane are the best solvents to consider as they are both flammable which is a safety hazard. Dichloromethane (DCM) is not as suitable because it evaporates more readily at room temperature (due to its low boiling point) which does not allow time for the crystals to dissolve. Also the impure compound would not have enough time to dissolve as well as the DCM would evaporate before hand.  · Why the solubility of paracetamol in water is several times higher than that of acetanilide by looking at the structures: Because the paracetamol contains an OH group hence it makes it more polar than acetanilide so it dissolves more readily in water which is also polar. Conclusion: In conclusion, water was found to be the most suitable solvent to dissolve acetanilide out of the four solvents in investigation. The yield of crystals formed is greater with a larger scale of production.

Marketing of Lucky Charms

General Mills Goes Ceriously Retro Target is running a 1-month exclusive with General Mills showcasing retro packaging around Cocoa Puffs, Cheerios, Lucky Charms, Trix, Kix and other brands within their cereal portfolio. A collectable t-shirt is promoted on the new retro-themed packaging, offering consumers the chance to get a vintage-styled tee of their favorite morning munch. Overall, its a smart play. Target gains exclusivity, consumers feel rewarded with a limited piece of throwback merch, and wearing the fashion creates conversations around the cereal brands and must-have appeal for young-ins. A website has been built to offer up a chance to win the tees. This isn’t the first time General Mills or others have tapped the retro look. Junk Food was wildly popular with teens a few years back via licensed t-shirts using iconic General Mills logos and characters such as Lucky Charms, Trix and others 70’s and 80’s characters. Mountain Dew and Pepsi recently announched retro packaging and product formulated with real sugar in their Throwback LTO. Dew has also used their past icons successful in recent campaigns such as Green Label Art showcasing their legenday Hillbilly character. General Mills is likely reaching a younger consumer, a savvy trend follower that will still rock the retro tee, which will likely fare well when it’s time for parents to write their grocery lists. This type of straightforward offer often favors well in a value-focused economic environment where there is a lot of pressure on established name brands to keep generic from brands taking market share. Hell, even I’d consider rocking a Boo Berry t-shirt to the gym for anyone looking to pick me up a gift on my b-day (which is a only a month away)! General Mills to make all its cereals from healthier ingredients By Bob Faw NBC News updated 12:37 p. m. ET, Thurs. , Sept. 30, 2004 Each year the average American downs 160 bowls of cereal. Thursday will see a tremor in this $9-billion-a-year industry as General Mills announces that all of its cereals — not just Wheaties and Cheerios, but Cocoa Puffs and Lucky Charms — will be made with whole grains. â€Å"Emerging science continues to support the benefits of whole grains in people's diets whether t be heart health or maintaining a healthy body weight, and we are trying to make it easy,† says John Haugen, vice president of marketing at General Mills. â€Å"When the †¦ consumer trend of being more health conscious came out, we lost sales to competitors who were already in that space,† says Tony Alvaraez, CEO of Interstate Brands. While General Mills says it's spending millions on the switch to whole grains, the amount of sugar in its cereals — 13 grams, for example, in just one cup of Trix — won't change. So some industry observers are accusing General Mills of gimmickry. â€Å"Certainly it's a marketing ploy. This is about marketing. It's not really about nutrition,† says Marion Nestle, a nutritionist at New York University. Still, many mothers are applauding General Mills. â€Å"If it's to better the health of kids and whoever eats it, it's about time they started getting it done,† says Kris Simonson. Die-hard consumers like her daughter Kali Simonson could care less. As long as the cereal tastes good, she doesn’t care what's in it.  © 2008 msnbc. com_ Reprints_ *General Mills Thrives on Increased Marketing Spending: *Boosting TV Ads Hiked Cereal Sales, But Digital ROI Even Higher BOCA RATON, Fla. AdAge. com) — General Mills, one of the package-food industry's top performers, laid out a number of recent marketing successes at the Consumer Analysts Group of New York conference this morning, and offered a preview of the rest of its fiscal year. The company has staunchly supported consumer-marketing spending increases — 19% in the first half of fiscal 200 9, which began in June — while competitors, including Kellogg and Kraft, have begun to scale back on the heady marketing outlays of 2008, instead preaching bundling and greater return on investment. General Mills estimates that its consumer-marketing spending will be up by â€Å"double digits† for the full fiscal year. CEO Ken Powell has repeatedly said that it's particularly important to support well-known brands during the current economy. â€Å"We're meeting here in Florida at a time of great economic uncertainty around the world,† Mr. Powell said. â€Å"General Mills has weathered the storm due in large part to the strength of our product categories and the strength of our brands. † He underscored that the company has a number of well-known 50-year-old brands, such as Cheerios and Pillsbury, as well as 30-year-old brands such as Yoplait and Nature Valley, that consumers trust. Positive response General Mills' sales have responded well to increased marketing support as consumers are eating more at home. Sales grew 11% in the first half of fiscal 2009, to $7. 5 billion. The company has raised guidance with each of the first two quarters. General Mills is doing so well that analysts had been expecting the company to raise its earnings guidance again this morning. For the balance of 2009, the company said it is planning a broadcast blitz for its cereal brands. Ian Friendly, chief operating officer of U. S. retail operations, said he expects the ad program to generate the biggest bump in sales. The company's Cheerios, Honey Nut Cheerios, Multigrain Cheerios and Lucky Charms have been faring particularly well. General Mills is launching Banana Nut Cheerios, Cinnamon Chex, and Fiber One Frosted Shredded Wheat cereals in the coming months. Some of these products are likely to be advertised to baby boomers, who Mr. Friendly noted will make up about half of the U. S. population by 2010. When I started here in 1983, we didn't do much advertising to baby boomers,† he said, adding that boomers are eating more cereal as they age. â€Å"We're targeting them directly now. † The company is also working harder to target Hispanics, with Progresso products such as Menudo being tested in Texas. Mr. Friendly said the company credits Hispanic-targeted advertising for Honey Nut Cheerios with a 35% increase in year-to-date sales with those consume rs. Bromley Communications is General Mills' Hispanic agency. Online growth But while the bulk of the company's spend remains on TV, Mr. Friendly said in a conference with reporters that it has begun to see significantly higher return on digital investment. General Mills has been diverting funds online, driving traffic to recipe sites such as BettyCrocker. com. The company's cooking sites had about 8 million visitors last month. General Mills also recently launched a free Betty Crocker iPhone application, which offers meal suggestions based on what's in a consumer's pantry. â€Å"We are seeing very high returns from digital than broadcast,† Mr. Friendly said, declining to give the percentage of spending that's moved online. â€Å"It's ot that our TV ads don't work, but when you're watching TV you're doing it for a different reason. When you go to a website you have a very specific purpose. † General Mills Thanks Its Lucky Charms, Melinda Peer, 06. 18. 08, 5:45 PM ET http://www. forbes. com/2008/06/18/general-mills-guidance-markets-equity-cx_mp_markets38_print. html With higher ingredient costs eating int o food companies' profits, General Mills surprised investors with news that full-year results would be better than expected. That's because they've been serving up extra costs to consumers. Shares of General Mills, Inc. gained $1. 1, or 3. 2%, to close at $62. 64 on Wednesday after the company said year-end results would top guidance thanks to a 13. 0% sales increase in the fourth-quarter. The food company, which boasts popular brands like Cheerios, Yoplait, Green Giant and Haagen-Daz, now expects 2008 earnings of $3. 71 a share and sales of $13. 7 billion. Earnings, adjusted to exclude a favorable tax ruling and gains from valuations of commodity holdings, are expected to be $3. 52 a share–an 11. 0% increase from last year's earnings of $3. 18 a share. Analysts had been expecting earnings of $3. 48 and sales of $13. 4 billion. The company's previous guidance had been for adjusted earnings between $3. 45 and $3. 47 a share. But with commodity prices showing no signs of falling, it's unclear how long the General Mills can expect consumers to foot the bill. Cocoa U. S. futures soared to a 28-year high at $3,122 a tonne as investors responded to reports of pressured supply in the Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa grower. Corn for delivery in July 2009 matched Monday's high of $8. 07 a bushel before settling ahead by 6 cents at about $8. 01 a bushel. General Mills, however, expects growth to meet or exceed expectations through 2009. It guided for adjusted earnings in the range of $3. 78 to $3. 83 a share. Analysts have been expecting earnings of $3. 81 a share in 2009. Rival company Kellogg's, raised prices in January to offset expensive raw material costs. Rather than hiking prices again, the company said it would shrink the size of cereal boxes instead and sell them for the same price (See: Kellogg's Crumbling Profits). Kellogg's skimmed an average of 2. 4 ounces from boxes that will be used for 14 products under brands like Apple Jacks, Cocoa Krispies, Corn Pops, Froot Loops and Honey Smacks. The boxes shipped to U. S. stores earlier this month.

Say You’re One of Them

In many respects, the world’s attention has shied away from modern Africa in recent years, most likely due to the unsteady domestic situations in other parts of the world. Recently, however, the collection of stories written by Uwem Akpan, Say You’re One of Them, has brought back to the forefront all of the pain and challenge of life in Africa at the present time. The humanity that comes through the words not only tugs at the heartstrings of the reader, but also makes strong statements about cultural conflict, class struggles and other social phenomena. This research will not only discuss Akpan’s work, but also these intertwined issues within the work. Ultimately, the work will be better appreciated and understood, but also, modern issues will be brought to light. Discussion of the Various Issues of Cultural Conflict within the Story When the research was introduced, the point was made that Akpan’s work was not only deeply emotional, but also makes strong cultural statements. Taking that assertion a step further is possible when using specific examples from the work to identify and discuss the various aspects of cultural conflict to be found in the story. The first of the areas of cultural conflict which emerges in the work is the vast divide between the economic classes within modern Africa. An early story in the work tells of a young boy whose sister turns to street prostitution in order for him to be able to afford to attend school- a blatant attempt to escape the lower class and ascend in African society. So intense is this desire to advance that extreme measures are taken by poor Africans to make ends meet: â€Å"When Baby was born, we pawned three quarters of his clothes to defray debts† (Akpan, 2008, p. 13). Therefore, fellow Africans are in fact culturally divided along economic lines, despite hailing from the same homeland. Language is also a dividing factor in modern day Africa, or more specifically, the way that someone’s voice sounds not only could set them apart from others in a cultural context, but in fact could lead to bodily harm for those of one culture who encounter opposition from another, as seen in this excerpt from the work: â€Å"He was an easy target for the sporadic violence that seized the land†¦a simple thing like his accent could give him away† (Akpan, 2008, p. 93). This is an interesting element of cultural conflict in a highly diverse continent- it is a unique type of situation whereby someone who merely speaks in a different way than others could in fact set them apart and lead to fractured subcultures, but that is exactly what Akpan is portraying. Additionally, there is a subculture of violence that is prevalent in the Africa of today; to be m ore specific, much of Africa is ruled at the present by wealthy warlords, who essentially build their own armies and make their own rules for their own advancement. Basically, these individuals are using force to alienate and oppress their own fellow Africans, keeping the weak in a state of poverty and preventing them from possible improvements that would allow them to surpass their oppressors: â€Å"Our northern generals are responsible for the extreme poverty in the land† (Akpan, 2008, p. 314). Therefore, we see the establishment of a new culture of the powerful over that of the weak. This culture is likewise somewhat restrictive, as the penalty for trying to escape it would be brutality at best, and death at worst. Changes in the Culture in the Story In Say You’re One of Them, there are sweeping changes to African culture that can be seen when looking more closely at the points that are made in work; the culture is essentially shifting from one of proud traditions and an embracing of the diversity of the various nations of the continent to a more divided one, where differences in economic status, language and ability to fight back against those who have the power to destroy one another has taken precedence (Mwaria, et al, 2004). An important point needs to be made here- although what is happening in Africa according to Akpan is certainly distressing, it is not unique to Africa, nor is it limited to lands where opportunity is less than widely available. This can be pointed out with a look into other cultures where division is complicating matters at present. A Study of Other Cultures Like Africa, the United States is a melting pot of different cultures and also like Africa, has encountered its share of culture clash in recent years. This conflict has taken place in several diverse cultures and has divided people in several different ways. First, along lines of ethnicity, the US has seen a renewed level of awareness of the fundamental differences in human beings as a result of the horrific terrorist acts of September 11, 2001 on American soil. Because of this pivotal event, those wishing to immigrate to the US from other nations, whether legally or illegally, have met with opposition ranging from disdain to outrage and acts of unwarranted violence (Moser, 2000). It would seem that like Africa, the diversity of culture that made America such a unique place has been watered down in a flurry of prejudice, fear and false impressions about one ethnic group or another. Instead of introducing new cultures into the American landscape and then allowing them to assimilate into the prevailing American culture, people are being excluded from the opportunity to do so from the beginning, not only depriving them of opportunity, but also stifling the advancement of American society from within. Politically, Americans have also formed subcultures that of late have been in a great deal of conflict. Recent years have seen differences in political mindset become key issues that instead of bringing these individuals together for the sake of healthy debate, have in many cases divided individuals to the detriment of the political process (Shogan, 2002). From time to time, this difference has also turned volatile in more than one instance as wars of words sometimes turn into acts of violence. Lastly, class envy is also alive and well in America, creating cultural conflicts, especially given the current dire economic climate in the world. Tied closely to the political issues of the nation, economically diverse people are commonly divided by a lack of understanding of each other’s culture- a culture defined by money and privilege or the absence thereof. Overall Analysis of the Reading Akpan’s book opened the eyes of the researcher in many ways, not the least of which was in terms of gaining an understanding that cultural differences can either create a wonderful blend of different traditions and ideas or can divide people and lead them to destroy others. This realization evoked in the researcher the feeling that diversity must be embraced, lest its power consume and destroy one culture at the hands of another. Conclusion The research has made important points about culture, diversity, and the perpetual change of the human condition. In conclusion, perhaps the best point to take away from the research is the fact that without a tolerance at least and embracing at best of diversity, no one can truly be free.