Family in Europe Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 6

Family in Europe - Coursework Example This was commonly communicated as far as the dad as ruler over the family. He was a definitive position who chose all things and in whose hands the government assistance of all refreshed. Be that as it may, issues at the state level started to change this dynamic. It was demonstrated over and over that the lords didn't really pay attention to their fatherly obligations, permitting huge numbers of their ‘children’ to bite the dust of sickness and starvation. So as to break with these rulers, it was important to break the linkage in people’s minds between the lord and the dad. This break, once organized, remained and the political job of the family as far as characterizing the activities of the state faded. The possibility that the dad was the ruler of the family prompted a characteristic connection between the lord and the dad. Seen as a ruler, the King of a country was regularly excessively unique and far off for average citizens to completely comprehend or notice loyalty to. Be that as it may, thinking about the ruler as the dad made him in a split second progressively open as his obligations turned out to be clear in the brains of the people. While laborers had an almost no origination of what a ruler was required to do so as to cause the state to work productively, they had the option to imagine him as the man dealing with all the high level requests that would be important for the running of a proficient home as the dad typically did. This was genuine whether the domain was a rented bungalow on farmland or a fabulous assortment of homes and properties that each must be kept up. This association was strengthened by Biblical association with the undertakings laid upon Adam and the s imilarity among lord and God in that each decided the destinies of the group of ‘children’ under him. Adam was given the rulership over all life on earth, featuring the requirement for a preeminent ‘decider’ while God was a definitive dad in heaven.â

The Industrial Revolution Of Mass Media Media Essay

The Industrial Revolution Of Mass Media Essay The greater part of the universes populace is under 30-years of age and just 4 of them have not joined an interpersonal organization yet. It took 38 years for Radio to arrive at 50 million clients and 13 years for TV. Facebook announced an ascent of 200 million clients in under a year (Social Media Revolution, 2010). 48 hours of video will be transferred to Youtube in the following two minutes (Youtube Fact Sheet, 2010). Media utilization takes up right around a portion of a normal people time and, albeit live TV remains the most loved direct in many people groups media counts calories, new medias ubiquity is developing at an amazing rate (Ofcom, 2010). One fourth of the query items for the universes biggest brands are connections to client created substance and 78 of purchasers trust the online companion audits proposals of an item or administration (Qualman, 2010). In this unique circumstance, it is not, at this point a decision, yet a need, for PR experts today to consider the various Web 2.0 instruments and advances and overhaul their correspondence procedures around clients social movement. So as to adjust to the current media patterns, most papers today are creating web journals, transferring video substance to their site, offer e-pamphlet membership, etc. This may show that the channel isn't as imperative to the media buyer as the substance seems to be. The blend between the old media of broadcasting and papers and the enhanced one, of information interchanges, conveyed on a solitary gadget, is alluded to, by most examiners, as media combination. An ongoing case of old-new media combination is spoken to by the merger between the US magazine Newsweek and the news and web journals site The Daily Beast into another substance named The Newsweek Daily Beast(Media Week, 2010). In his book Convergence culture: where old and new media impact Jenkins (2006:2) utilizes three distinct ideas media combination, participatory culture, and aggregate knowledge to depict the union culture; at the end of the day, it is the progression of data over a bunch of media enterprises, the coordinated effort between these media and the traveling conduct of media customers looking for their ideal sorts of diversion, that characterize the term of assembly culture. The creator suggests that combination isn't only a mechanical idea, bringing together different media in a solitary gadget, yet a social and social one, urging buyers to go about as networks, instead of people. Jenkins (2006) states that assembly culture impacts both the manner in which media is delivered and the manner in which it is devoured, featuring the changing connections between media makers and customers in todays online condition, in some cases their endeavors fortifying one another, different occasions clashing with one another. He shows that intermingling is driven by enterprises (on a top-down level) when media organizations are accelerating the progression of data to build customer contribution and thus incomes, and furthermore by buyers (on a base up level), who are requesting increasingly more power over the media content, the option to partake in its formation and the capacity to get to it any place they go (Jenkins, 2006). Web has changed the whole PR industry: the manner in which PR experts see their jobs, the conveyance of successful correspondence and the manner in which a brand collaborates with its clients (Solis Breakenridge, 2009). In contrast to the old, conventional media shoppers, the new customers are dynamic, transitory between various systems or media, socially associated and uproarious, and media makers who neglect to react sufficiently to this new culture may experience lost altruism and decline in incomes (Jenkins, 2006). With the democratization of media, monolog becomes discourse and individuals are supplementing the presence of PR experts, turning into the principle influencers (Breakenridge, 2008). Breakenridge (2008) draws consideration on the significance of consistent and focused on research during the entire lifecycle of a brand, featuring the different open doors accessible in the 2.0 world. Among these, there is the capacity to screen and break down client conduct and decide how well is the brand gotten in the market. Besides, organizations can stay up with the latest on their rivals, yet in addition comprehend their fundamental influencers, for example, the media, utilizing a wide exhibit of exploration apparatuses accessible on the Internet, from the free web search tools to the paid specialist co-ops. The assembly of the Internet and the advertising calling into PR 2.0 opened new entryways for business communicators, who would now be able to arrive at their clients legitimately, in manners PR stars have not experienced previously: through web journals, interpersonal interaction, Really Simple Syndication (RSS) innovation, webcasts or web recordings.

How the Trucking Industry Can Help End Distracted Driving

How the Trucking Industry Can Help End Distracted Driving Diverted driving is a plague asserting very numerous lives every year. One organization, KRST (Keeping Roads Safe Technologies, Inc.) is prepared to take that pestilence on, and is presently searching for accomplices inside the shipping business to assist them with battling it. The Halifax-based organization proposes to screen how, when, and why truckers utilize their cell phones while driving. The organization has structured two gadgets to be introduced in any organization vehicles that would gather and dissect this data. The first, CellAware, would give shipping organizations exact information about their employees’ phone utilization out and about. The second, KRSTI, would really postpone all calls and instant messages on a driver’s telephone until their vehicle’s motor had been turned off.The gadgets could likewise give significant data about mileage, fuel utilization, and area following, just as separation went without occurrence, at the same time checking an d announcing any endeavored calls, messages, or altering the vehicle in motion.KRST plans to produce 5,000 of these gadgets and commencement the program-at no charge to the taking an interest organizations in January 2016. Organizations needing to get included should call +1 844-993-4357.

Al-Anon Observation Paper -- Twelve-Step Meeting Observation Paper

Liquor abuse is as pervasive in my family, as blood is in our veins. When recently requested to watch 12-advance gatherings, I formally ran to Alcoholics Anonymous, without thought of the likelihood that different gatherings could have an effect on me. I generally value my capacity to distinguish as a person that isn't entrapped in liquor abuse, yet shockingly am a person that was profoundly tormented by liquor addiction. Through perception of the gathering and how it prepared, just as recognizing how I felt as another participant, I had the option to comprehend why self improvement, bolster bunches are so essential for people in recuperation. I at long last acknowledged, I also am in recuperation. I went to Al-Anon gatherings on Sundays at St. Matthew Episcopal Church. The gatherings started at 11:45am, and were held until 1:00pm, which was dependent upon the advancement of every little gathering. I was in participation starting January nineteenth, with participation on January 26th, and February second. The gatherings initially met in one room together, and afterward broke into littler gatherings to process. The underlying gathering room is a nursery room in the congregation. It had a great deal of characteristic lighting from the windows, and was designed in children’s strict fine art. The room was excessively little for the entirety of the participants. There was a normal of thirty-five participants at each gathering. Ordinarily individuals who arrived behind schedule needed to remain outside the entryway and tune in, on the grounds that the room was actually flooding with individuals. There were never enough seats, which constrained a few people to remain, until the huge gathering, broke into little gatherings. The gathering itself was altogether comprised of middle age, Caucasians. There was a normal of around thirty-five participants every week. The normal age of the gr... ...http://apt.rcpsych.org/content/6/5/348.full Gifford, S. (2011). Contrasts Between Outpatient and Inpatient Treatment Programs. Psych Central. Recovered from http://psychcentral.com/lib/contrasts among outpatient-and-inpatient-treatment-programs/0007531 Galanter, M., M.D. (2008). Otherworldliness, Evidence-Based Medicine, and Alcoholics Anonymous. PsychiatryOnline. Recovered from http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/article.aspx?articleID=100364 Peele, S., PhD. (2004, August). Is AA's misfortune brain science's benefit? American Psychological Association. Vol. 35 NO. 7 pp. 86 Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/screen/julaug04/jn.aspx McGovern, M. P., PhD, and Carroll, K. M., PhD. (2003). Proof base Practices for Substance Use Disorders. Mental Clinics of North America. Recovered from http://www.dartmouth.edu/~dcare/pdfs/fp/McGovernMark-Evidence-BasedPractices.pdf

Types of social assistance policies

Kinds of social help approaches Social strategy fuses the arrangement of fundamental administrations †human services, training, water and sanitation and other and social insurance. Government managed savings incorporates three rule parts: social protection, social aids, work showcase intercession and network based or casual social security. Social insurance covers contributory activities covering life course and business related possibilities. Social help contains charge financed programs oversaw by government organizations and tending to hardship and destitution. In the work showcase it give dynamic and inactive work advertise approaches making sure about fundamental rights while upgrading the employability. 1. Social help There are different assorted variety in plans of social help with creating and created nations. In created nations social help relies upon a pay support structure, and giving salary moves that planned for filling in the neediness hole. In creating nations, it incorporates an assortment of program configuration, including unadulterated salary moves as in non-contributory benefits or youngster awards and recompenses; pay moves joined with resource amassing and assurance as in human improvement restrictive exchange programs or ensured work conspires; and coordinated enemy of neediness programs covering a scope of destitution measurements and tending to social rejection There is additionally decent variety in scale, extension and regulation in social help across nations, and across programs inside nations. (Pellissery, Barrientos, 2013) Different social help whether money move or business or kind and so on is being actualized the world over. The adequacy of the arrangement and program relies on the execution and the effect that it make on the general public, I this view the later part portray about the different type of social security either promotive, defensive, preventive or transformative. 1.1 Cash moves â€Å"Although money moves are not a panacea, they have been obviously viable and are viewed as a practical system in both formative and helpful settings. Contingent Cash Transfer (CCTs), actualized in Latin America with incredible achievement, are believed to be a method of alleviating the danger of money moves being abused. CCTs yield fast, positive effects (destitution easing, improved wellbeing and instruction results) and break the ‘vicious cycle’ of intergenerational neediness in the long haul. In any case, CCTs are condemned for having high managerial, checking and implementation costs, being excessively dependent on focusing on, having a sabotaging impact on beneficiaries and adversely influencing in general degrees of utilization among the two recipients and non-beneficiaries.† (Scott, 2012) 1.2 Cash moves in crises Money move can be successful during crisis or emergency while offering a defensive component which has prompt impact on the individual through different methods either imaginative like portable banking and so forth or custom with money close by or in bank. It bolster when the proper organization of assurance is fizzled and there is no other option for social insurance. 1.3 Social Pensions It is a non-contributory benefits which incorporate a focused on money move by age or widow or individuals with incapacity. Different investigation shows that the money move with regards to social annuity gave certainty and backing to the focused on individual or family. When all is said in done the writing recommends that social benefits have been utilized especially effectively in southern African setting. 1.4 Public works programs It is a sort of contingent exchange where money or food is given in return for take a shot at open foundation ventures, for example, street building. During late occasions these social insurance measure is generally applied far and wide because of outcome of food and money related emergency. This measure make resources, produce occupations and some way or another focused as it be ugly to the non-poor because of low wages or proportion are paid. Despite the fact that the supportability of this measure is till when the state is eager to give since it makes a reliance on state. Accessible examination show that while transient open works make and advance utilization and request during the market disappointment yet the drawn out social insurance work is probably going to be constrained except if ensured business is presented. 1.5 In-kind exchanges â€Å"In-kind transfer’s non-money resources went to defenseless or denied people and family units, frequently with the point of adjusting or affecting the conduct of beneficiaries. There is impressive discussion about whether in-kind exchanges ought to be preferred over money moves, in spite of the last being famous for furnishing recipients with decision as per needs, just as giving a chance to investment†. (Zoe Scott, 2012) 1.6 Food There has been various discussion on food versus money move far and wide since and before 1970s, on whether food move can be utilized as a choice to money or both are integral to one another, regardless of whether food moves are a nourishing or financial mediation, whether they intend to just ‘feed people’ or plan to help jobs. It has been believed that when there will be food emergency either by advertise disappointment or deficiency because of absence of flexibly, or there be an emergency when food are required, food move are best, alongside other defensive measure. 1.7 Utility endowments Assurance as utility, for example, lodging, power and water are given to decrease the weight of consumption on these things by individuals, however regardless of having the arrangement of Indira awas yojana alongside different plan, it has been broadly acknowledged that the advantages of utility sponsorship doesn’t arrive at the objective individuals or networks living in a zone withought power and water. It has been viewed as more expensive to actualize than other type of social help. In spite of being expensive lodging endowment runs with less dangers of barring the most helpless. 1.8 Health expense waivers There is enormous discussion going on Universal human services and focused on social insurance. One give a framework through which everybody are qualified for human services while contributing up to the financial spending plan though focused on is imperfect of choice and usage and reach to the focused on individuals. Despite the fact that it has been derived that wellbeing administration waivers or wellbeing charge waiver or exclusions might be powerful if there would be an across the country approach which adequately observed and upheld at nearby and national levels 1.9 In India setting In India the presentation of social help were presented since the British time frame however it was uniquely for the worker in formal division and a huge bit of populace, the individuals who were utilized in casual segment were barred from this. Also, again after freedom until the 1990s the primary focal point of focal government were country improvement and social security didn’t get a lot of consideration. There were numerous rustic advancement program, for example, coordinated provincial improvement program or hostile to destitution program, which intended to give food and sustenance, fundamental administrations like instruction, social insurance, and lodging and business age came. In interim many state presented different program, for example, +pension for rural landless worker, maternity benefits, inability advantage and so on relying on the need however regularly these program were acquainted as constituent instruments with gain votes. It is imperative to see the governm ent assistance system in India could be named clientelist or populist. Over the most recent two decades, there has been an inversion of the story.† The focal government has ordered various social help quantifies by instituting court enforceable right-based vows to the past mandate standards, (for example, right to training, right to business and others) revered in the Constitution of India. From the point perspective on social help, three improvements are significant. To start with, in 1995 the focal government presented the National Social Assistance Program (NSAP) under which five unique advantages were given. They supplemented existing arrangement by government states. These advantages were the Old-Age Pension Scheme (arriving at 8.3% of older family units), Widow Pension Scheme (6.2% of widow families), Disability Pension Scheme (arriving at 14.1% of impaired family units), Family Benefit Scheme (onetime alleviation for the families where primary provider accidently kicked the bucket) and Annapurna (nourishment for the old households† (P ellissery, Barrientos, 2013) The second and third improvement occurred when the Congress Party-headed United Progressive Alliance government accepted force in 2004. A racket for food security were bolstered by common society development alongside right to work support the fillip of decade with regards to social assurance. Later the UPA government set forth the standardized savings program for chaotic segment laborers, Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana, planned especially for the workforce in the sloppy segment. That has just given protection against hospitalization to 40 million families. Alongside other social assurance plan or program there come different rights which safeguards government managed savings yet the truth appears to be changed. One of the most intriguing and successful social assisistance in the creating scene is the Brazil’s Bolsa Familia. The Brazilian constitution cherished a privilege to social insurance and that prompted thought on the job and extent of standardized savings and on the jo b of government to giving it depends on the citizenship rule and for all Brazzilians. 2. Social protection .â€Å"Social protection plans are contributory projects in which recipients make standard budgetary commitments so as to join a plan that will decrease hazard in case of a stun. Since wellbeing expenses can be

Sustainability

Sustainability Sustainability Home›Economics Posts›Sustainability Economics PostsOverviewSustainability is defined as the continued use of natural resources indefinitely without the energy or material source which provides some value to man (Brundtland Report, 1987). It is the ability to maintain a certain level of status or process in a system that exists. It has been studied and managed in many scales in time and space, and in several aspects such as, environment, economic, and social contexts. The term sustainability ranges from the total earth’s carrying capacity to the sustainability in economics, ecosystems, individuals, societies and mane more. It entails the biological and human activities.  Sustainable development is the development that meets the needs of the present generation without jeopardizing the ability of the coming generations in meeting their own needs.In this broader sense, sustainability encompasses the economic, environmental, and social aspects which must be coordina ted to achieve a long-term viability in the environment. All practices of an individual, business, or society, must ensure that economic, social and environmental benefits are achieved. Hence, every stakeholder, individuals, businesses, or industries, must be held responsible in ensuring that their actions support the sustainability of every society. In ecological terms, sustainability refers to all means of configuring civilization and human activity to enable the present and future generations to meet their basic needs and wants, while preserving the environmental and biological systems through planning to participate in order to meet these ideals in the long-term.The goal of sustainability is to achieve a reasonably and equitable distribution level of economic wellbeing that can be enhanced continually to the coming generations. It also means that renewable natural resources are used in a manner that does not make them extinct or degrade them, hence eliminating their value to the future generations.Issues of sustainability in developed countriesDeveloped countries refers to the economically developed nations, industrialized, and often referred to as the North they Most of them are situated in the northern hemisphere and includes countries like Canada, USA, Countries in Western Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand in which the GDP exceeds per ca pita   . These countries face a number of sustainability problems. First is energy issue which is a major concern. The developed nations have experienced energy crisis in the past and admits that they are addicted to oil use, however, investments in alternative energy has been given little attention leading to the overuse of the existing energy resources. Pollution has also been facilitated by the first growing rate of industrialization and urbanization in the developed nations. Industrialization has increased environmental pollution with a lot of green house emissions ij the atmosphere. The green house gases suc h as carbon dioxide, methane, carbon monoxide, and chlorofluorocarbons (CFC’S) are the major ozone layer depleting substances.The developed nations have also led to resource depletion since they are the heaviest consumers of global natural resources (MacDonald, M. and Peters, 2001). Thus, most of the world’s resources are consumed by these nations at a faster rate that they can generate. For instance, forests have been cleared to provide timber to be exported to the developed nations for construction. The clearance of the forests has led to desertification, and soil erosion in many parts of the world. In addition, silting, that has resulted from soil erosion has reduced water quality and the aquatic biological productivity. Another hindrance to sustainability in the developed countries is ideological differences. Like the developing countries, developed countries have tried to minimize environmental laws and policies that are necessary in promoting sustainable development in loc al, national, regional and global levels. The differences in ideologies have made developing nations to argue that environmental policies to govern sustainable development are meant to restrain them from meeting the exploitation of their resources in order to develop (MacDonald, M. and Peters, 2001).

Clothes Make the Man - Literature Essay Samples

In his â€Å"rags to riches† story, Ragged Dick or, Street Life in New York with the Boot Blacks, by Horatio Alger, Jr., we are introduced to the character of Richard Hunter (known on the streets as Ragged Dick), a bootblack working in the rough streets of New York City in the late 1860s. Alger’s novel falls in the category of juvenile fiction, a â€Å"story to teach†; this type of fiction helps with the mental state and development of young people and acts as a type of moral guidebook for young readers. This bildungsroman focuses on Ragged Dick’s emotional and psychological growth that paves the way for his later success. Although the plot is fairly simplistic and even in some ways predictable, one interesting aspect of the work is the reoccurring motif of clothing. Specifically Ragged Dick’s evolving characteristics and maturity can be directly tied to his change of clothing and appearance. His emotional and moral growth, as reflected by his attir e, can be organized into three general stages: status quo (he is satisfied with his life as it is); epiphany (he is awakened to the possibility of a new and more respectable life); and rebirth (he becomes a new person in the sense of having the initiative to become successful). At each of these stages, Ragged Dick’s attire is symbolic of materialism in the world, social status, and false appearances, among other concepts. In spite of Ragged Dick’s low status, however, the narrator says more than once that the bootblack has an open, honest face and would never stoop to the level of stealing or defrauding somebody. Clearly, Ragged Dick is meant to be seen as a diamond in the rough who just needs a little polishing to shine. At the beginning of the novel, Alger describes Ragged Dick as a street urchin who not only seems content with his lot in life (including his very tattered attire), but also makes no attempt to improve himself in any way. His appearance is described as being â€Å"rather peculiar†: â€Å"His pants were torn in several places, and†¦ two sizes larger than himself. He wore a [nearly buttonless] vest†¦a shirt which looked as if it had been worn a month. To complete his costume he wore a coat too long for him† (4). In addition, Ragged Dick never takes the time to wash the dirt off his body: â€Å"He had no particular dislike to dirt, and did not think it necessary to remove several dark streaks on his face and hands† (4). In one incident a well-dressed gentleman points out the flaws in Ragged Dick’s attire, for example noting the large tear in the bootblack’s coat. Instead of feeling embarrassed by the man’s criticism, Ragged Dick deflect s it with humor and wit. Further evidence that Ragged Dick is either content with his life or resolved to it is the fact that he has no desire to save money, the narrator points out that because of his hard work, the bootblack actually earns enough money to live fairly decently. But Ragged Dick’s outlook can be described as â€Å"carpe diem†; he spends every penny that he earns on entertainment, cigars, or quite generously, treating less fortunate friends to meals. This kind of behavior seems to reflect on his lack of motivation to change his social status for the better and implies that he sees his present condition as a permanent one. Like so many other impoverished and orphaned children of his post-Civil War era, Ragged Dick’s only concern is survival on a day-to-day bases; he does not have the luxury of worrying about cleanliness or attractive clothing. Clearly the bootblack is in the â€Å"status quo† stage here with no desire to change either his cl othing or his lifestyle. Because of his lifestyle and clothing choices, Ragged Dick is subjected to various incidents involving bias and prejudgment. Ironically, although the bootblack occasionally earns enough money to be able to eat at a fancier restaurant, his unsavory appearance prevents him from enjoying better food and better company: â€Å"Neither the coffee nor the steak were as good as can be bought at Delmonico’s; but then it is very doubtful whether, in the present state of his wardrobe, Dick would have been received at that aristocratic restaurant, even if his means had admitted of paying the high prices there charged† (9-10). In addition, strangers whom he encounters on street and in business establishments make biased assumptions about Ragged Dick’s character and honesty based on his outward appearance. For example, in one instance, Ragged Dick has polished a gentleman’s shoes and the gentleman has asked for change for a bill that he pays the bootblack with. The boot black goes into a nearby store and asks for change. The clerk attempts to cheat Ragged Dick by saying that the bill in counterfeit and seems to think he can get away with it because of the bootblack’s poor appearance: â€Å"‘Clear out of this shop, you young vagabond’† (15). Ragged Dick strongly protests and says the money belongs to a gentleman whose shoes he has just polished. This seems to alarm the clerk because of the difference in the social status between a ragged bootblack and well-to-do gentleman: â€Å"He [the clerk] fancied that he could browbeat a ragged boot-black, but with a gentleman he saw that it would be a different manner† (16). Clearly Ragged Dick’s slovenly appearance causes others to prejudge him as either untrustworthy or foolish. Ragged Dick is resourceful and always on alert to find ways to make money. For this reason, when he overhears a conversation on the street by Mr. Whitney and his nephew Frank, he offers his services as a city guide for Frank. Understandably, both men are a little wary about Ragged Dick because of his appearance. However, Mr. Whitney makes an important observation and decision by looking past the bootblack’s threadbare clothing: â€Å"‘He isn’t exactly the sort of guide I would have picked out for you. Still he looks honest. He has an open face, and I think can be depended upon’† (20). Frank does not share his uncle’s confidence at first, and is embarrassed by the poor figure the bootblack presents: â€Å" ‘I wish he wasn’t so ragged and dirty,’ said Frank, who felt a little shy about being seen with such a companion† (20). Ragged Dick’s epiphany begins when he is convinced to wash up and change into a presenta ble suit of clothes that they give him. The change is so dramatic that the bootblack feels like Cinderella when she is changed into a fairy princess. In fact the change is somewhat theatrical, because almost like magic, Ragged Dick is no longer ragged but is suddenly transformed into another role as â€Å"the gentleman.† He can’t help feeling pleased and happy at the new treatment he receives from total strangers who speak respectfully to him and welcome him into establishments where he would have been previously unwelcome. Interestingly, even after he changes into presentable clothing, he does not quite understand that his old filthy handkerchief should also be discarded. Frank appears to be very concerned with outward appearance, recoils from the rag that Dick has pulled from his pocket, and convinces Dick to exchange it for a clean one. Alger is demonstrating the need for Dick to reject all of his old articles of clothing so that he can reinvent himself. At one poin t, Ragged Dick throws his old dingy hat to the ground where it is promptly picked up by another poor boy, perhaps symbolizing that Ragged Dick has cast away his past. When he gets a new hat and completely transforms his outward appearance, the respectful way in which others treat him causes him to have an awakening to the fact that he wants this new improved life. It is worth noting that Alger gives us reasons to admire Ragged Dick both when he is dressed shabbily and when he is transformed by his new clothing. It is mentioned more than once that Ragged Dick is extremely honest and that he is proud of being honest. We also see his generosity as he treats less successful bootblacks to food and drink. Additionally, we can admire his cheerfulness, optimism, and strong work ethic. Clearly, had he been born into better circumstances, he would have been respected by anybody who met him. However, his outward appearance presents an obstacle to that. On the other hand, when he is better dressed and escorting his new friend Frank through the city, we see that he is very street smart. While Frank is naive and easy fooled by the con men they encounter on the streets and in the shops, Ragged Dick is not naive and never falls for their tricks. We can admire his clever mind in the way that he turns the tables on these con men and beats them at their own game . The motif of clothing is seen again in the section of the novel in which the boys are walking down Chatham Street. Frank is impressed by the seemingly incredible bargains that he sees in the clothing stores and is not aware that unscrupulous shopkeepers are trying to cheat unsuspecting customers into buying their wares. Ragged Dick is well aware of these scams and steers his friend Frank away from them. This passage is interesting because it shows that appearance is deceiving. Frank is the well-dressed gentleman that the public would expect to be wise and cautious, while the bootblack in his threadbare attire would be expected to be less educated about ways of the world. We see here that clothes are a superficial addition to a person’s image and that one must go below the surface of clothing to know the real person beneath. Ragged Dick experiences an epiphany almost immediately after he changes into the nicer clothing that Frank gives him. First of all the bootblack is delighted at how good he feels, mentally and physically to have a clean body and fresh clean clothes. This moment is symbolic because he is ready to throw away his old clothes and old life and change his future. The epiphany he experiences includes more than just his outward appearance. Ragged Dick wants to improve his mind as well and has a sudden yearning for education and reading. Fortunately he has good mentors (Mr. Whitney and Frank) who see his potential and encourage him to improve himself. This is the turning point in the story and is also symbolized by Ragged Dick’s disgust when he looks at his old dirty attire: â€Å"But now, as he surveyed the ragged and dirty coat and the patched pants, Dick felt ashamed of them. He was unwilling to appear in the streets with them† (82). Where previously he had been content with his bootblacking job, he now longs for something bigger and better to do. He says, â€Å"‘I really wish I could get somethin’ else to do,’ said Dick, soberly. ‘I’d like to be a office boy, and learn business, and grow up spectable’† (37). At this point he is equating success with money, but his friend Frank guides him and helps him understand that what really matters is to earn respect: â€Å"‘If you’ll try to be somebody, and grow up into a respectable member of society, you will. You may not become rich, it isn’t everybody that becomes rich, you know—but you can obtain a good position, and be respected’† (39-40). Similarly, Mr. Whitney offers his advice about what the bootblack should focus on as a means of improving his life and status: education. He encourages the bootblack to save his money and buy books with it. As part of his epiphany, Ragged Dick recognizes how uneducated he really is and makes this strong statement: â€Å"‘I mean to turn over a new leaf †¦I’m willin’ to work hard†¦I never thought how awful ignorant I was till now’† (52). This is probably the most important part of the novel because Ragged Dick awakens to the desire to take a new path in his life and to basically become a new person outside and inside. While the bootblack is undergoing changes in his appearance and life, people who encounter him have different reactions. Strangers react positively and assume from his genteel clothing and his good looks that he must be a gentleman’s son; he is treated accordingly with respect and trust. On the other hand, a fellow bootblack acquaintance is offended and threatened by Ragged Dick’s new persona. Micky Maguire taunts Ragged Dick about his new clothing, accuses him of â€Å"putting on airs† and becomes so upset that he tries to fight him. This scene seems to represent Alger’s view that underprivileged people such as Micky feel inferior and resentful towards those who have social power over them. When a policeman notices the quarrel and tries to stop it, Micky is the automatic culprit in his eyes because the well-dressed Ragged Dick was clearly not someone who would stoop to street fighting. Ragged Dick’s rebirth is his transformation into a new and improved character. His increasing desire to elevate himself mentally and intellectually is reflected in the pride he takes in his clean and respectable appearance. Some of the ways that the bootblack works to rise in society’s higher class include: he rejects sleeping in a box like he used to do and instead pays for lodgings; he opens his first bank account (previously he could never save to put any money into a bank); he is tutored at Sunday school by Mr. Greyson who teaches him by having him read the bible; he receives additional tutoring from another bootblack named Henry Fosdick who knows how to read and write (Ragged Dick pays him for his services); and he is finally able to write his first letter to Frank after many months of study. Ragged Dick’s golden opportunity and the real moment of his rebirth occurs when Mr. Rockwell gives him a new set of clothing and a clerk position in his business after the bootblack saves Mr. Rockwell’s son from drowning. It is important to note that there are two times when Ragged Dick receives new clothes from someone in the story, and those new clothes are given as a reward for a good deed. The first set of new clothes simply awakens Ragged Dick to the fact that, fair or not, people judge others by their appearance. The second set of clothes signify a real forward step out of the poverty and ignorance that Ragged Dick has known all of his life. The respectable clothing allows the bootblack to be judged by who he is because there is no distraction caused by ill-kempt attire. In other words, in a sense Ragged Dick is reborn as â€Å"Richard Hunter,† his given name but one that he has never felt able to use before. Alger’s novel is not only a coming of age novel showing one young man’s rise from poverty to success based on his own hard work and moral values; it is also a commentary on society and the way that people tend to â€Å"judge a book by its cover,† making judgments about others based on appearance only. The change in Ragged Dick’s outward appearance provides opportunities for improvement that would have never been offered to him in his previous threadbare outfit. However, the bootblack himself recognizes the profound change in his life and prospects: â€Å"Dick felt in very good spirits. He seemed to be emerging from the world in which he had hitherto lived, into a new atmosphere of respectability, and the change seemed very pleasant to him† (96). In Ragged Dick or, Street Life in New York with the Boot Blacks, Horatio Alger Jr. effectively utilizes the symbol of clothing to represent the three stages in Ragged Dick’s life: status quo, epiphany , and rebirth. Ragged Dick is transformed from an underdog in the lowest rungs of society to a promising young man with a bright future ahead of him. This novel offers hope and inspiration to young readers and emphasizes the importance of education and hard work. It epitomizes the classic American Dream motif in which people can be successful with hard work and perseverance to achieve the life they dream of.