Half & Half

The full title of this book is “How the Other Half Lives: Studies Among the Tenements of New York” and it was first published in 1890. Jacob A. Riis was a journalist and a photographer that focused mainly on the environment of the poor neighborhoods and slums in New York City in the second half of the 19th century. This essay deals with the motives behind Riis’s work and the importance of photographs for achieving his goals. At the beginning it is important to look at the life of Jacob A. Riis…

Along the lines of rate laws come half-lives. Such a common topic that comes to mind with half-lives is the decay of radioactive elements, or the time it takes for a certain sample of an element to reach half of its original size. For example, during the Chernobyl power plant incident in 1986, one of the most dangerous elements to begin its decay was Cesium-137 which has a half-life of 30 years. Therefore, people can’t move back to the area because of the deadly amounts of Cesium-137 still…

Sam's half of the book tells the story of how he and his parents go to Thailand, while Beth stays home to attend a swim meet. He tells about how the tsunami that hits the beach in Phuket, and how they run up to the second floor of the hotel to get to safety. Then the second wave hits and Sam tells about how he got washed about how he gets caught in the wave. Beth's half of the story tells about how Beth goes to Thailand and tries to find…

Adichie’s novel Half of a Yellow Sun is told with true brilliance through her use of pendulum narration, moving from one character narration to the other. The three key narrators of her novel are divergent in every sense – adding to the richness of the books storytelling as their lives interweave through the use of an extradiegetic narration. Ugwu takes us through the life and experiences of an adolescent houseboy coming of age. Olanna shows us the world of a well-educated and privileged woman…

Robert Half Accountemps is the worlds first and largest specialized temporary staffing company for accounting and finance professionals. They specialize in understanding an organizations needs, specifications and requirements for their employees. They use that and provide them with finance and accounting professionals on a temporary and temporary-to-hire basis. I interviewed Cassie Eisenhower who works at Robert Half Accountemps as a Staffing Manager. Communication being a key asset to this…

Half Resurrection Blues by Daniel José Older tells the story of a man struggling between the worlds of death and life, all at the same time. Carlos Delacruz is an agent of New York’s Council of the Dead, and lives a life of not really living, all without knowing how he got this halfway life, or even why. Older’s novel is different from anything I’ve ever read in the fantasy genre, mainly due to the themes he implements in his story. The theme of being “halfway” really struck a chord with me,…

Upon reading “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins and “Half a Day” by Naguib Mahfouz, one can infer that the two share many synonymities, although their authors are of different nationalities and the stories are written decades apart. The themes displayed in both stories are dynamic and thought provoking. Moreover, the protagonists develop for the worst and encounter similar events. Ultimately, the setting adds depth to both pieces by unravelling as the stories progress which enables both…

Prior to being appointed to serve in full time ministry, I served in a half-time appointment but also maintained a secular job to help provide for income. There were occasions in which I felt conflicted by the needs of both employers. Having been appointed to serve full time has allowed me the opportunity to be free and available to serve those under my care when it is needed. Shortly after being appointed to serve full time, there was a member of my congregation who had continual health issues…

outlaw prejudice, one factor stays the same: patriarchy, the favoritism and hierarchy of men. In the novel Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan, a blues band of three African-American men face challenges as they navigate through Nazi-controlled Germany in the 1940s. They meet Delilah Brown, who helps them escape Germany with little recognition from the band. Through the character Delilah Brown in Half-Blood Blues, Edugyan presents an accurate portrayal of the struggles and complications women face in…

My half brother, Michael, has always been a very independent individual. Throughout the years, he played the role as big brother and as a dad, since mine hadn’t been around often and Michael is nine years older than I am. Because we were so close, he was never known as my half-brother, only as my older brother. Generally speaking, growing up with a drug addict father, like Michael did, his life would be more difficult since he had an addictive personality already. Teenage years were the…