The Glasgow Coma Scale Health And Social Care Essay

The Glasgow Coma Scale Health And Social Care Essay There are three types of cord syndromes related to spinal cord injury. These are the central cord syndrome, anterior cord syndrome, and brown-sequard syndrome or the lateral cord syndrome. The central cord syndrome is caused by injury or edema in the central cord usualy in the cervical area due to hyperextension injuries. This results to motor weakness of the upper extremities than the lower extremities. The anterior cord syndrome is caused by disk herniation or compression of the artery that runs along the front of the spinal cord. This causes loss of sensory, loss of pain and temperature but sensitivity to position and vibrations are preserved. The brown-sequard syndrome or lateral cord syndrome may be a result of penetrating injury in the spine or hemisection of the cord. This causes ipsilateral hemiplegia with loss of touch, pressure and vibration also contralateral pain and temperature sensation deficits. Discuss how the Glasgow Coma Scale is utilized in determining neurological status. The Glasgow coma scale is used widely in hospitals to give a reliable, objective way of recoding the level of consciousness of a patient. The GCS has three elements, the eye response, verbal response and motor response. Each has their own grades. For the eye response 4pts for open spontaneously, 3pts to open to non-verbal command, 2pts on open in response to pain and 1pt to no response. For verbal response 5pts for talking/oriented, 4pts for confused speech/disoriented, 3pts on inappropriate words, 2pts for incomprehensible sounds and 1pt for no response. Last for motor response 6pts for obey commands, 5pts to localizes to pain, 4pts for flexion/ withdrawal from painful stimuli, 3pts to flexion in response to pain, 2pts for extension in response to pain and 1pt to no response. 15pts is the perfect score and 3 as the lowest score which indicates that the patient is in deep coma. Discuss nursing interventions related to prevention of injury in the brain-injured patient. To prevent injury for patient that has brain injury the patient must be assessed to ensure adequate oxygenation and that the bladder is not distended. Dressings and casts mast be check for constriction. The side rails must be raised and padded to avoid falling. The bed must also be lowered. Reducing environmental stimuli and to have an adequate lighting. Minimize disturbances during sleep to provide adequate rest for the patient. Medications can be given as prescribed to prevent restlessness. For incontinence catheter can be used. Written assignment Identify risk factors for spinal cord injury. Spinal cord injury is an injury due to an unexpected accident. In short everyone can have a spinal cord injury. Still there are some risk factors. One risk factor is if you are engage in active sports or into jobs that requires lifting heavy loads. Another risk factor is for the people who are in the 16-30yrs of age because in these years people are active and many people at these age bracket is now driving and one of the leading cause of spinal cord injury is vehicular accidents. And if you have bone disorder like osteoporosis, this can cause spinal cord injury. List three clinical features of the patient with neurogenic shock. Neurogenic shock is caused by injury in the central nervous system that causes vasodilation as a result of loss of balance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic stimulation. This causes low blood pressure (hypotension), decrease heart rate (bradycardia), and reduce venous return which gives a dry, warm skin. Why is autonomic dysreflexia an acute emergency situation? Autonomic dysreflexia is the over activity of the autonomic nervous system. The nerve impulses that are being send to the brain are blocked by a lesion in the spinal cord (at the t-5 level or above) which causes the brain to increase activity of the sympathetic system that results to a rise in blood pressure. The heart then sends impulse to the brain that causes the heart to slow down and the blood vessels above the spinal injury to dilate. But the brain cannot send impulse below the level of injury due to the lesion therefore blood pressure cannot be regulated. This is an acute emergency situation because if not treated immediately this may lead to seizures, stroke and even death. Develop a matrix identifying concussion, contusion, and diffuse axonal injury. Identify clinical manifestations and associated diagnostic testing. Definition Clinical manifestation Diagnostic testing Concussion Injury to the brain that is a result from an impact to the head. Ranges from mild to severe concussion Mild concussion Slightly dazed Brief loss of consciousness Severe concussion Longer loss of consciousness Longer recovery time Other manifestations Nausea and vomiting Blurred vision Confusion Fatigue Short-term memory loss Neurological function tests CT scan Contusion Traumatic brain injury or bruising of the brain because of sever acceleration-deceleration force or blunt trauma Loss of consciousness Lack of motor coordination Memory problems CT scan MRI Diffuse axonal injury This is a diffuse brain injury cause by severe head traumas. As tissue slides over tissue, a shearing injury occurs. This causes the lesions that are responsible for unconsciousness, as well as the vegetative state that occurs after a severe head injury Lack of consciousness No lucid interval Immediate coma MRI CT scan EEG electroencephalogram Discuss the long-term rehabilitation needs of the spinal cord injured patient. Within a group, ask questions regarding nursing care in the rehabilitative phase. For patients who suffered spinal cord injury rehabilitation is needed to restore as much function to the patient. The patient must understand his condition and reduce assistance with activities and let the patient be independent to improve motor function and also to increase the patients self-esteem. Discuss nursing management for the head-injured patient related to nursing applicable nursing diagnoses. Ineffective airway clearance Assess the respiratory status Check the patency of the airway Ensure airway clearance Ineffective tissue perfusion (cerebral) Assess the visual, sensory and motor functions Note for headache, dizziness, altered mental status and personality changes Elevate HOB (10 degrees) and maintain head/neck in midline or neutral position to promote circulation and venous drainage Decrease intracranial adaptive capability Monitor patients neurological vital signs (GCS) Monitor ICP Assess the patients reflexes Decrease environmental stimuli Risk for injury Provide safe environment Raise side rails Lower bed Web output NURSING MANAGEMENT OF ADULTS WITH SEVERE TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY http://www.dvbic.org/images/pdfs/AANN08_TBIGuide_2-13-09_update.aspx Base on the study that I have read, the neuroscience nurse is the one who intervenes to maintain and manage intracranial pressure (ICP) and cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) in patience with traumatic brain injury (TBI). The prevention of complications commonly associated with TBI is also involved in the management of care for TBI patients such as deep vein thrombosis (DVT), hyperglycemia, and excessive protein loss. In maintaining or decreasing of ICP, this study recommended guidelines. First, an uncontrolled intracranial hypertension leads to an absence of cerebral perfusion and results in brain death thus, the recommended ICP according to the original Guidelines for the Management of Severe head Injury should be at less than 20mmHg (Bullock, Chestnut, Clifton, 1995), as stated in the study. Second, the draining of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) -this decreases ICP. As stated in the study, according to the Brain Trauma Foundation, American Association of Neurological Surgeons, the Joint Section on Neurotrauma and Critical Care (2000), the first step to reduce intracranial hypertension is through ventricular drainage. As early as 1960, Lund demonstrated that removal of CSF via ventriculostomy temporarily decreases ICP (Lund, 1960). Draining as little as 3ml of CSF was found to decrease ICP by 10.1% relative to the baseline value of 10 minutes in 58 patients with severe TBI (Kerr, Weber, Sereika, Wi lberger, Marion, 2001). Protocols for CSF diversion range from time- dependent (leave drainage open for 5 minutes, then close), CSF-volume-dependent (drain 5cc then close), to continuous drainage (open all the time, closed at intervals to obtain an accurate ICP reading). This is supported by Monroe- Kellie hypothesis stating that a normal ICP can be maintained as one component in the cranial compartment (brain, blood and CSF) increases as long as there is a corresponding decrease of another component- therefore, decrease of one component decreases ICP. Third is not inducing hyperventilation to decrease ICP. Hyperventilation was routinely used to manage severe TBI. Studies done in the 1990s demonstrated the vasoconstriction associated with hyperventilation also resulted in decrease cerebral blood flow (CBF), thus, it is recommended to maintain normocapnia in most patients with severe TBI (Brain Trauma Foundation et al., 2007). Fourth is administering sedation- it prevents ICP increa ses. A study of 17 patients with severe TBI found ICP was significantly higher and there was a significant decrease in CPP with endotracheal suctioning among patients who were inadequately sedated compared to those patients who were well- sedated with proforol (Gemma et al., 2002) According to the study, a randomized controlled trial of 42 patients with TBI found the use of Proforol (rather than morphine) resulted in significantly lower ICPs by post- injury day 3, with less use of neuromuscular blockers, benzodiazepines, and barbiturates and less CSF drainage was required ( Kelly et al., 1999). Fifth is administration of Mannitol is effective in decreasing ICP. Guidelines for Management of Severe TBI, 3rd Edition states, mannitol is effectice for control of raised ICP at doses of 0.25 gms/kg to 1.0 gm/kg body weight (Brain Trauma Foundation et al., 2007). The diuretic effect of mannitol can cause increase Na+ and serum osmolarity levels, this should be monitored at regular intervals . Mannitol is infused via IV bolus through a filter. Mannitol 20% contains 20g of mannitol in 100cc. 80% of 100g dose appears in the urine within 3 hrs. of infusion. Sixth is to elevate head of bed (HOB) 30 degrees to maintain or decrease ICP- this is thought to promote intracranial venous return and increase CSF drainage from the head, resulting in decreased ICP (Fan, 2004). Four controlled studies with sample sizes ranging from 5- 38 patients with severe TBI found significant decreases in ICP with HOB elevations of 30 degrees (Moraine, Berrà ©, and Mà ©lot, 2000; Ng, Lim, Wong, 2004; Schulz- Subner Thiex, 2006; Winkleman, 2000). Seventh is removing or loosening rigid cervical collars- according to the study, it may decrease ICP. These collars may hold back venous blood flow and cause pain and discomfort, elevating ICP. Eight is administering intensive insulin therapy- it may reduce ICP. Hyperglycemia is common in severe TBI and has a negative effect on outcome. A study was con ducted with a result of lower mean and minimal ICPs to those treated with intensive insulin therapy to maintain glucose levels lower than 110 mg/dl than in subjects treated with insulin only when their glucose levels exceeded 220 mg/dl. The ninth is maintenance of normothermia- it may prevent ICP increases. Hyperthermia is prevalent in the TBI population, as high as 68% within 72 hours of injury (Rumana, Gopinath, Uzura, Valadka, Robertson, 1998). There have been no long- term outcome studies in the effect of normothermia in TBI, but a study found an increase in brain temperature was associated with significant increase in ICP; as fever ebbed, there was significant decrease in ICP. In controversial treatments for refractory intracranial hypertension, first is the inducing of moderate hypothermia- it may decrease ICP in refractory intracranial hypertension. There are multiple human studies that have demonstrated decreased ICP with the induction of moderate hypothermia (33-36 degrees Celsius) in patients with severe TBI (Clifton, Miller et al., 2001; Marion, Obrist, carlier, Penrod, Darby, 1993; Polderman, Tjong Tjin, Peerdeman, Vandertop Girbes 2002; Tokutomi, Miyagi, Morimoto, karukay, Shigemori, 2004; Tokutomi et al., 2003). Second is admistering hypertonic saline. Third is the administration of high- dose barbiturates- are thought to suppress cerebral metabolism, reducing cerebral metabolic demand and cerebral blood volume. In maintaining adequate CPP or increasing CPP, first is maintaining CP b/w 50- 70mmHg- optimized cerebral perfusion (Brain Trauma Foundation et al., 2007). Second is administering norepinephrine, it may maintain adequate CPP or increase CPP. Third is elevating HOB 30 degrees- not only it increases venous drainage from head, it also can decrease perfusion. Fourth is CSF drainage- the decreasing volume of CSF decreases total intracranial volume. In preventing DVT, pharmacologic treatment may be safe for DVT prophylaxis. Agency for healthcare Research and Quality recommends use of prophylaxis to prevent venous thromboembolism for at- risk patients. In adequate nutrition, first initiating nutrition within 72 hours of injury- according to the study, it may improve outcomes. It is recommended that patients be fed so that full caloric requirements are met by post injury day 7 (Brain Trauma Foundation et al., 2007). Second is providing continuous intragastric feeding- it may improve tolerance. According to the study, continuous feeding was better tolerated and achieved 75% of nutritional goals faster than bolus feeding in 152 consecutive patients admitted to neurosurgical intensive care units (20% of whom had sustained severe TBI; Rhoney, Parker, Formean, yap, Coplin, 2002). In preventing seizures, administering antiepileptic drugs decreases incidence of early posttraumatic seizures. Guidelines for the Management of Severe TBI, 3rd Edition recommends the use of anticonvulsants to decrease the incidence of post traumatic seizure within the fisrt 7 days of injury when the brain is particularly vulnerable to secondary injury- involves multiple metabolic mechanisms that result from interruption of blood flow and oxygen to undamaged cells, producing anaerobic metabolism, inadequate synthesis of ATP, or cellular acidosis. Then continuous EEG monitoring has been used to identify a 20% seizure incidence with 50% of patients identified as non-convulsive (Vespa Nuwer, 2000) Reference: Nursing Management of Adults with Severe Traumatic Brain Injury, AANN Clinical Practice Guidelines Series

How are people presented in Vultures Essay

Both â€Å"Vultures† and â€Å"Two Scavengers in a truck, two beautiful people in a Mercedes† are presented using people. They both represent people in some way and both include the people in different forms. The poem â€Å"Vultures† presents the people using the vultures. These vultures represent people of a certain kind. In real life vultures are real birds of prey, but in the poem they are trying to represent the types of people. The poem, â€Å"Two Scavengers in a truck, two beautiful people in a Mercedes†, people are presented through the division in society. Vultures are shown that humans aren’t so different to animals; it is shown that both animals and humans are shown through their actions. It is shown that vultures are bad in real life because of what they do, but behind all the disgusting habits there is care shown. They appear to have care for each other and therefore this shows us that even though people do bad things, they still have some good factors about them. Both animals and humans are shown through their actions and imagery to show that they are caring even though they have evil within them. For example, it starts off with how the two vultures are picking the eyes of a swollen corpse and how they eat the contents of the bowel. This shows that they are grotesque and very evil. But straight after this, the vultures are shown to be nestling together affectionately and lovingly. In spite of the nasty diet, the vultures appear to care for each other. From this the author goes on to show that even the worst of human beings shoe some touches of humanity. Then he compares the vultures to a commander n Belson. He goes on to consider the ‘love’ a concentration camp commander shows to his family – having spent his day burning human corpses, he buys them sweets on the way home The poet remarks on the strangeness of love, existing in places people would not have thought possible. This is the same way that the vultures are presented which links it in comparison to people; the vultures are compared with the Nazi Commandant who preyed greedily and ruthlessly on people who were supposedly weaker than him, but could still show compassion towards people that he loved, such as his family. This is the same way that the vultures are presented which links it in comparison to people and the vultures are compared with the Nazi Commandant who preyed greedily on people who were supposed to be weaker than him, but could still show compassion towards people that he loved, such as his family. In â€Å"Two Scavengers in a truck, two beautiful people in a Mercedes†, people are presented from two different sides of the society. It shows two garbage men and contrasts them with an elegant, rich couple in a Mercedes. It’s about two pairs of people meeting for a moment in a busy city at nine o’clock in the morning. They are strangers and never speak to each other. They are only near each other because they are waiting for the traffic lights to change. The first pair of people are two dustmen. They are finishing their working day and going back to the depot. They are hanging off the back of the dustbin lorry and looking down at a couple in a Mercedes sports car. These people in the Mercedes seem the very opposite of the dustbin men. They are starting their day and seem rich, successful and fashionable. The poem makes lots of contrasts between the two pair and it seems to criticise the society which makes the differences between people so large. When the poet’s describing the dustbin men, it is often negative, dirty and cheap. For instance, their jackets are plastic, they are grungy, and he calls them ‘scavengers’. We usually think of scavengers as animals that live off whatever others leave behind, like vultures. And in a way that’s what they are – they are paid to take away what others don’t want, but they do an important job and we couldn’t live without them. The poet describes the couple in the Mercedes in a very positive way. He wears a suit and her hair is nicely done, and their car shows just how rich they must be, but at the same time the poet also seems to criticise this couple. He says it’s like watching an ‘odourless TV’ advert, so they don’t look like real people and they sound too good to be true. The poet then shows us how two of the men are similar. They are the same age, wear sunglasses and have long hair. And of course they live in the same city – they should be equal. This idea is made very clear at the end. The four people are next to each other, but there is a ‘gulf’ between them – they are living in different worlds. The language in ‘Vultures’ is very negative towards the people, and also has a strong influence on how the people are presented. There are a lot of pessimistic adjectives used to describe the opening lines of the poem, and also to present the vultures throughout the poem. For example in the first couple of lines in the poem ‘greyness’ is used, which create the idea that it is a dull scene, but the contrast with the words ‘sunbreak’ give a more positive effect. The poem uses a similar technique to present the vultures, for every positive point about them; there is a different negative point presented. The metaphor, ‘bashed in head, a pebble on a stem rooted in a dump of gross feathers’ creates a negative image of the vultures. Various words are use to create disgusting images of the birds. It says ‘they picked the eyes of a swollen corpse†. This is presented as an inhumane thing to do. The vultures are picking at the body of either a dead animal. After this the poet presents the juxtaposing idea of how the birds love each other. People are presented in comparison to the vultures using the example of the brutal Nazi Commandant at the Belsen concentration camp. The poem states how the commandant goes home ‘with the fumes of human roast clinging rebelliously to his hairy nostrils’. This emphasises the more negative side. The word ‘hairy’ compares the commandant to the vultures as it is a description which also applies to the vultures feathers. The poem also says how the commandant stops at the sweet shop to buy a chocolate for his child. The poet uses the phrase ‘tender offspring’ to refer to the child; the word tender suggests that there is a close, caring and loving relationship between the commandant and his child. Therefore this shows the more positive side to the poem. The use of the word offspring, which usually refers to the child of an animal, links people to the vultures in the poem. So the poem presents humans negatively, with an evil side, but also shows how these kinds of people also have a more tender side to them, just like the vultures. It compares people with animals such as vultures. Overall the words used are both negative and then follow a positive point. ‘Two Scavengers in a Truck, two Beautiful People in a Mercedes’ uses linguistic features to present people. In the first couple of lines, the colours yellow and red are used to describe the garbage men. These colours are bright and suggest brightness into their lives. The adjective used to describe the people in the Mercedes is elegant and this is repeated, which suggests the couple are boring as there are no other adjectives to describe them. This also emphasises on the word and shows that they are very posh and therefore quite snobby. This is ironic as you would expect the couple to have a better life whereas the garbage men are expected to have a boring and dull life. The way that the couple are dressed and appear is described using various phrase and adjective; ‘hip’, ‘three-piece linen suit’, ‘shoulder length blond hair & sunglasses’, ‘young blond woman’ and ‘casually coifed’. All of the previous sugge st that the couple are superior to the garbage men. This is because they are modern and are living what can be described as The ‘American Dream’. The garbage men are described more negatively, the first one id referred to as having ‘grey iron hair’, †hunched back’ and’ gargoyle Quasimodo’. The word ‘grey’ contrasts with the earlier colours but also suggests that he is quite dirty, the phrase ‘gargoyle Quasimodo’ implies that he is ugly and compares him to the Hunchback of Notre Dame, who was very caring and loving despite his appearance. The second of the garbage men is described the same as the Mercedes driver, however you know that they are nothing alike from other references and also because the two men are collectively described as ‘scavengers’ and ‘grungy’. The use of the word ‘scavengers’ suggest the two men are poor and the fact that they are garbage men emphasises this further. Overall it is shown that the garbage men are dirtier but have a more interesting life, whereas the elegant couple are shown to have the more boring life. One of the unusual things about the poem is that it doesn’t have clear sentences, full stops or commas. Even the lines don’t all start in the same place – some lines start on the left, some on the right and some in the middle. This is done on purpose. The four people are together for a few seconds and the poet quickly notes down some differences. It also means that when you read it, you stop at different places, and this might make you think about different ideas in the poem, and what you think of modern life. The two poems present people in different way using different adjectives and linguistic features. They also show that people are not in anyway perfect in their actions and appearances. Therefore by these two poems we are shown that people can be both evil and kind and also you cannot judge a book by its cover. The two garbage men are referred to as scavengers with a low status, whilst the young people are described as elegant. The poem is set in what can be described as a ‘snapshot’ in time, which is when they are waiting at the traffic lights. Although the two groups of people are presented completely differently in terms of status they sill exist in the same place at the same time which is what brings them together.

Upton Sinclair s The Jungle Essay - 1678 Words

For centuries immigrants have left their homes and have journeyed to the United States in pursuit to live out the â€Å"American Dream†, an idea that the U.S. will provide people with a better life. However, this â€Å"better life† was not just given upon arrival, immigrants were not told the horrid experiences, and backbreaking hour, they would face in search for a better life. There is no better representation of this than Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, this book is a very accurate representation of the life of the vast majority of people within the United States. During the time when this book was written there were few jobs, and the jobs that were obtainable were mostly factory jobs with horrible conditions that entailed excruciating hours. Aside from the dangerous conditions, the pay was next to nothing making it near impossible to afford food and shelter, let alone providing for a family. Immigrants quickly found out that the â€Å"American Dream† was not the glorified vision that they thought, rather more like the song â€Å"Welcome to the Jungle† by â€Å"Guns N Roses†. After examining the lyrics, you can tell the similarities Axl Rose and the rest of Guns N Roses were facing as they tried to make it in the music industry. â€Å"In the jungle, welcome to jungle, watch it bring you to your knees, I wanna watch you bleed,† once you get to the U.S. you’ll get ripped down to almost nothing and suffer from the horrible conditions that you are faced with. The Jungle takes all of the issues immigrantsShow MoreRelatedUpton Sinclair s The Jungle1989 Words   |  8 Pagesthe Haitians. Upton Sinclair seemed to have a similar view of the Lithuanian immigrants of the 1800s. Upton Sinclair is the author of The Jungle, a book that follows a family of Lithuanian immigrants as they travel to and try to make their way in America. Sinclair used the book to speak out about the issues of America through the eyes of immi grants, including the economic system and the corruption within the government. The question this paper is required to answer is if Upton Sinclair adequately portrayedRead MoreUpton Sinclair s The Jungle1832 Words   |  8 Pagesthrough time and meet the author of â€Å"The Jungle†, Upton Sinclair, who will help us to open our eyes how everything was chaos and improved in the Progressive Era. And in that book, we can also see many faces and colors of the social American world had back then. Thanks to Upton Sinclair, because he drew a painting about things worked in the Progressive Era, we could imagine how and live back when America was in the Progressive Era. Upton Sinclair was a muckraker who examined the riseRead MoreUpton Sinclair s The Jungle1438 Words   |  6 PagesThe Jungle and Today Upton Sinclair’s novel, The Jungle, follows the life of Jurgis Rudkus, his Lithuanian family, and friends who all recently immigrated to Chicago in search of a better life. Jurgis, Ona, and the rest of their family find jobs in Packington, the meatpacking industry of Chicago. Quickly they discover the difficulties of surviving in the United States during the early 1900’s through financial troubles, unreliable work, illness, and swindling. Through his novel, Sinclair exploitsRead MoreUpton Sinclair s The Jungle1843 Words   |  8 Pagesfamous people inspire authors to write books written about their achievements, however Upton Sinclair Junior did it backwards. Some of his ninety novels including an autobiography, and in particular The Jungle, changed America forever by using fictitious stories to depict the present issues at that time. Upton Sinclair was an author and activist in the early to mid 1900’s who was passionate about issues involving women s rights, w orking conditions, and the unemployed. He wrote over ninety books in hisRead MoreUpton Sinclair s The Jungle2164 Words   |  9 Pagesthose at the top succeed with abundance at the severe expense of those left with nothing at the bottom. The book’s author, Upton Sinclair, sought to show America the cost of its capitalist system. Born into a poor family with wealthy relatives, Sinclair was aware of social and economic disparity in America from a young age (The Jungle v). The Jungle is the result of Upton Sinclair working undercover for seven weeks in Chicago’s meatpacking industry in 1904, as well as the socialist sentiments whichRead MoreUpton Sinclair s The Jungle1536 Words   |  7 PagesThe Jungle Upton Sinclair, an American writer and reformer, was born on September 20, 1878, in Baltimore, Maryland. Both of Sinclair’s parents came from prominent families, but Sinclair grew up impoverished because of an alcoholic father. Throughout his childhood, Sinclair lived in conditions that varied from slums to country homes but sometimes his father would spend all the family’s money on alcohol forcing Sinclair and his mother to live with his mother’s wealthy sister in order to surviveRead MoreUpton Sinclair s The Jungle1630 Words   |  7 PagesWritten at the turn of the 20th century, Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle took place in an era of unprecedented advancement in civilization where the American economy had risen to become one of the wealthiest on the planet. However, Sinclair asserts that the rise of capitalist America resulted in the virulent corruption and competition that plighted society into an untamed â€Å"jungle.† Shown by the corruption o f the Chicago meatpacking industry, Sinclair highlights the repulsive filth of human greed thatRead MoreUpton Sinclair s The Jungle Essay1471 Words   |  6 PagesUpton Sinclair took interest in fiction at an early age by writing fiction stories as a young boy to writing adventure stories and jokes to help support himself through college. He was the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1943 and focused on writing fiction stories about real world industrialist views. Upton Sinclair’s fiction â€Å"The Jungle† entwines the reality of the dangerous and legal conditions of meat industry workers and consumers in Chicago while narrating the lower-class lifestyleRead MoreUpton Sinclair s The Jungle986 Words   |  4 PagesUpton Sinclair’s The Jungle is an unashamed example of the journalistic style known as muckraking. Sinclair researched the conditions being fought against during the Progressive Era and painted a picture in literary form for the ignorant read ers. The consumerism that taped into the greed of industrialists is drawn out many times. This greed, in turn, drove down the American Standard of living in almost every aspect. With every corner of hope demolished, a path was laid out for all to follow, theRead MoreAnalysis Of Upton Sinclair s The Jungle 2028 Words   |  9 Pagesâ€Å"I aimed for the public’s hearts, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.† This quote was in response to the reaction of Upton Sinclair’s ground breaking exposà ©, â€Å"The Jungle†. On February 26, 1906 Sinclair shocked the Nation by exposing the horrors of slaughter houses and meat packing plants. Thousands of people have died from food-borne illnesses. E-coli, along with other diseases resulting from filthy food processing was revealed as the murderer. As shocking as it might have been back then

Constructing the Empire State Building

Ever since it was built, the Empire State Building has captured the attention of young and old alike.  Every year, millions of tourists flock to the Empire State Building to get a glimpse from its 86th and 102nd-floor observatories. The image of the Empire State Building has appeared in hundreds of ads and movies. Who can forget King Kongs climb to the top or the romantic meeting in An Affair to Remember and Sleepless in Seattle?  Countless toys, models, postcards, ashtrays, and thimbles bear the image if not the shape of the towering Art Deco building. Why does the Empire State Building appeal to so many? When the Empire State Building opened on May 1, 1931, it was the tallest building in the world - standing at 1,250 feet tall. This building not only became an icon of New York City, but it also became a symbol of twentieth-century mans attempts to achieve the impossible. The Race to the Sky When the Eiffel Tower (984 feet) was built in 1889 in Paris,  it  taunted American architects to build something taller. By the early twentieth century, a skyscraper race was on. By 1909 the Metropolitan Life Tower rose 700 feet (50 stories), quickly followed by the Woolworth Building in 1913 at 792 feet (57 stories), and soon surpassed by the Bank of Manhattan Building in 1929 at 927 feet (71 stories). When John Jakob Raskob (previously a vice president of General Motors) decided to join in the skyscraper race, Walter Chrysler (founder of the Chrysler Corporation) was constructing a monumental building, the height of which he was keeping secret until the buildings completion. Not knowing exactly what height he had to beat, Raskob started construction on his own building. In 1929, Raskob and his partners bought a parcel of property at 34th Street and Fifth Avenue for their new skyscraper. On this property sat the glamorous Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Since the property on which the hotel was located had become extremely valuable, the owners of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel decided to sell the property and build a new hotel on Park Avenue (between 49th and 50th Streets). Raskob was able to purchase the site for approximately $16 million. The Plan to Build the Empire State Building After deciding on and obtaining a site for the skyscraper, Raskob needed a plan. Raskob hired Shreve, Lamb Harmon to be the architects for his new building. It is said that Raskob pulled a thick pencil out of a drawer and held it up to William Lamb and asked, Bill, how high can you make it so that it wont fall down?1 Lamb got started planning right away. Soon, he had a plan: The logic of the plan is very simple. A certain amount of space in the center, arranged as compactly as possible, contains the vertical circulation, mail chutes, toilets, shafts and corridors. Surrounding this is a perimeter of office space 28 feet deep. The sizes of the floors diminish as the elevators decrease in number. In essence, there is a pyramid of non-rentable space surrounded by a greater pyramid of rentable space. 2 But was the plan high enough to make the Empire State Building the tallest in the world? Hamilton Weber, the original rental manager, describes the worry: We thought we would be the tallest at 80 stories. Then the Chrysler went higher, so we lifted the Empire State to 85 stories, but only four feet taller than the Chrysler. Raskob was worried that Walter Chrysler would pull a trick - like hiding a rod in the spire and then sticking it up at the last minute. 3 The race was getting very competitive. With the thought of wanting to make the Empire State Building higher, Raskob himself came up with the solution. After examining a scale model of the proposed building, Raskob said, It needs a hat!4 Looking toward the future, Raskob decided that the hat would be used as a docking station for dirigibles. The new design for the Empire State Building, including the dirigible mooring mast, would make the building 1,250 tall (the Chrysler Building was completed at 1,046 feet with 77 stories). Who Was Going to Build It Planning the tallest building in the world was only half the battle; they still had to build the towering structure and the quicker the better. For the sooner the building was completed, the sooner it could bring in income. As part of their bid to get the job, builders Starrett Bros. Eken told Raskob that they could get the job done in eighteen months. When asked during the interview how much equipment they had on hand, Paul Starrett replied, Not a blankety-blank [sic] thing. Not even a pick and shovel. Starrett was sure that other builders trying to get the job had assured Raskob and his partners that they had plenty of equipment and what they didnt have they would rent. Yet Starrett explained his statement: Gentlemen, this building of yours is going to represent unusual problems. Ordinary building equipment wont be worth a damn on it. Well buy new stuff, fitted for the job, and at the end sell it and credit you with the difference. Thats what we do on every big project. It costs less than renting secondhand stuff, and its more efficient.5 Their honesty, quality, and swiftness won them the bid. With such an extremely tight schedule, Starrett Bros. Eken started planning immediately. Over sixty different trades would need to be hired, supplies would need to be ordered (much of it to specifications because it was such a large job), and time needed to be minutely planned. The companies they hired had to be dependable and be able to follow through with quality work within the allotted timetable. The supplies had to be made at the plants with as little work as possible needed at the site. Time was scheduled so that each section of the building process overlapped - timing was essential. Not a minute, an hour, or a day was to be wasted. Demolishing Glamor The first section of the construction timetable was the demolition of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. When the public heard that the hotel was to be torn down, thousands of people sent requests for mementos from the building. One man from Iowa wrote asking for the Fifth Avenue side iron railing fence. A couple requested the key to the room they had occupied on their honeymoon. Others wanted the flagpole, the stained-glass windows, the fireplaces, light fixtures, bricks, etc. Hotel management held an auction for many items they thought might be wanted.6 The rest of the hotel was torn down, piece by piece. Though some of the materials were sold for reuse  and  others were given  away for kindling, the bulk of the debris was hauled to a dock, loaded onto barges, and then dumped fifteen miles into the Atlantic Ocean. Even before the demolition of the Waldorf-Astoria was complete, excavation for the new building was begun. Two shifts of 300 men worked day and night to dig through the hard rock in order to make a foundation. Raising the Steel Skeleton of the Empire State Building The steel skeleton was built next, with work beginning on March 17, 1930. Two-hundred and ten steel columns made up the vertical frame. Twelve of these ran the entire height of the building (not including the mooring mast). Other sections ranged from six to eight stories in length. The steel girders could not be raised more than 30 stories at a time, so several large cranes (derricks) were used to pass the girders up to the higher floors. Passersby would stop to gaze upward at the workers as they placed the girders together. Often, crowds formed to watch the work. Harold Butcher, a correspondent for Londons  Daily Herald  described the workers as right there in the flesh, outwardly prosaic, incredibly nonchalant, crawling, climbing, walking, swinging, swooping on gigantic steel frames.7 The riveters were just as fascinating to watch, if not more so. They worked in teams of four: the heater (passer), the catcher, the bucker-up, and the gunman. The heater placed about ten rivets into the fiery forge. Then once they were red-hot, he would use a pair of three-foot tongs to take out a rivet and toss it - often 50 to 75 feet - to the catcher. The catcher used an old paint can (some had started to use a new  catching  can  made  specifically for the purpose) to catch the still red-hot rivet. With the catchers other hand, he would use tongs to remove the rivet from the can, knock it against a beam to remove any cinders, then place the rivet into one of the holes in a beam. The bucker-up would support the rivet while the gunman would hit the head of the rivet with a riveting hammer (powered by compressed air),  shoving  the rivet into the girder where it would fuse together. These men worked all the way from the bottom floor to the 102nd floor, over a thousand fe et up. When the workers finished placing the steel, a massive cheer rose up with hats  waiving  and a flag raised. The very last rivet was ceremoniously placed - it was solid gold. Lots  of Coordination The construction of the rest of the Empire State Building was a model of efficiency. A railway was built at the construction site to move materials quickly. Since each railway car (a cart pushed by people) held eight times more than a wheelbarrow, the materials were moved with less effort. The builders innovated in ways that saved time, money, and manpower. Instead of having the ten million bricks needed for construction dumped in the street as was usual for construction, Starrett had trucks dump the bricks down a chute which led to a hopper in the basement. When needed, the bricks would be released from the hopper, thus dropped into carts which were hoisted up to the appropriate floor. This process eliminated the need to close down streets for brick storage as well as eliminated much back-breaking labor of moving the bricks from the pile to the bricklayer via wheelbarrows.9 While the outside of the building was being constructed, electricians and plumbers began installing the internal necessities of the building.  The timing  for each trade to start working was finely tuned. As Richmond Shreve described: When we were in full swing going up the main tower, things clicked with such precision that once we erected fourteen and a half floors in ten working days - steel, concrete, stone and all. We always thought of it as a parade in which each marcher kept pace and the parade marched out of the top of the building, still in perfect step. Sometimes we thought of it as a great assembly line - only the assembly line did the moving; the finished product stayed in place.10 The Empire State Building Elevators Have you ever stood  waiting  in a ten - or even a six-story building for an elevator  that seemed to take forever? Or have you ever gotten into an elevator and it took forever to get to your floor because the elevator had to stop at every floor to let someone on or off? The Empire State Building was going to have 102 floors and expected to have 15,000 people in the building. How would people get to the top floors without waiting hours for the elevator or climbing the stairs? To help with this problem, the architects created seven banks of elevators, with each servicing a portion of the floors. For instance, Bank A serviced the third through seventh floors while Bank B serviced the seventh through 18th floors. This way, if you needed to get to the 65th floor, for example, you could take an elevator from Bank F and only have possible stops from the 55th floor to the 67th floor, rather than from the first floor to the 102nd. Making the elevators  faster was another solution. The Otis Elevator Company installed 58 passenger elevators and eight service elevators in the Empire State Building. Though these elevators could travel up to 1,200 feet per minute, the building code restricted the speed to only 700 feet per minute based on older models of elevators. The builders took a chance, installed the faster (and more expensive) elevators (running them at the slower speed) and hoped that the building code would soon change. A month after the Empire State Building was opened, the building code was changed to 1,200 feet per minute and the elevators in the Empire State Building were sped up. The Empire State Building Is Finished! The entire Empire State Building was constructed in just one year and 45 days - an amazing feat! The Empire State Building came in on time and under budget. Because the  Great Depression  significantly lowered labor costs, the cost of the building was only $40,948,900 (below the $50 million expected price tag). The Empire State Building officially opened on May 1,  1931, to a lot of fanfare. A ribbon was cut, Mayor Jimmy Walker gave a speech, and President  Herbert Hoover  lit up the tower with a push of a button. The Empire State Building had become the tallest building in the world and would keep that record until the completion of the World Trade Center in New York City in 1972. Notes Jonathan Goldman,  The Empire State Building Book  (New York: St. Martins Press, 1980) 30.William Lamb as quoted in Goldman,  Book  31 and John Tauranac,  The Empire State Building: The Making of a Landmark  (New York: Scribner, 1995) 156.Hamilton Weber as quoted in Goldman,  Book  31-32.Goldman,  Book  32.Tauranac,  Landmark  176.Tauranac,  Landmark  201.Tauranac,  Landmark  208-209.Tauranac,  Landmark  213.Tauranac,  Landmark  215-216.Richmond Shreve as quoted in Tauranac,  Landmark  204. Bibliography Goldman, Jonathan.  The Empire State Building Book. New York: St. Martins Press, 1980.Tauranac, John.  The Empire State Building: The Making of a Landmark. New York: Scribner, 1995.