Abstract
This paper discusses acts of kindness as they are reflected in religion. The paper describes kindness shown through an outpouring of money to Tsunami victims to illustrate individual citizens' altruism and desire to help. The Bible stories of Ruth and Naomi, of Jesus Christ giving sight to a blind man, and of the prodigal son are presented to emphasize kindness in the Bible. The paper contends that, whether kindness and altruism are shown through a parable in the Bible or through the generous giving of individual citizens, the very act of kindness is a blessing on all of humanity.

From the Paper
"In the book of Ruth, Chapter One, Ruth and Naomi were going through some very difficult moments in their lives. Both of their husbands had died - and that was a particularly challenging position for women to be in during that time period, since females did not have a lot of options as far as employment. Meantime, the two women had just moved back to Naomi's hometown, and that created some tension for Naomi because she had left her hometown ten years earlier, and her neighbors had not understood at that time why she had left her community."

Tags:ruth, naomi, tsunami, prodigal

Abstract
The paper examines the novel, "Halfbreed" by Maria Campbell, an autobiography where Campbell describes the struggles of her life centered around her being a halfbreed, a half-Indian and half-white person, rejected by both the Indian and the white people. The paper shows that cruelty and kindness are important themes of Campbell's story. Firstly, there is the human cruelty of discrimination, represented by the acts of the people. Secondly, it describes the cruelty of society, where society oppresses people. Finally, the paper discusses a belief in human kindness that allows Campbell to overcome the struggles, with the writing of the autobiography an act of reaching out to the people who have discriminated against her and offering them the opportunity to understand the cruelty of their ways and choose to change these ways.

From the Paper
"Campbell shows that it is the basis of society that is responsible for the treatment of the halfbreeds. The halfbreeds are homeless because the government took their land from them, forcing them to live in poverty. Their culture was never accepted, instead they were expected to fit into the Canadian culture. This separated the halfbreeds from the rest of society, forcing them to be seen as outcasts. Campbell expresses this process when she says recalls her grandmother's words, "My Cheechum used to tell me that when the government gives you something, they take all that you have in return - your pride, your dignity, all the things that make you a living soul.""

Tags:poverty, social, outcast, prostitution, Canadian

Abstract
This paper reviews the book " A Simple Kindness" written about Nomi Nickel, a girl growing up in the Mennonite community of East Village. The paper specifically deals with the description of love, hope and redemption in Trudie's escape. It examines the social conditions in the community and the concept of excommunication.

From the Paper
"A Complicated Kindness is the story of Nomi Nickel a girl growing up in the Mennonite community of East Village. Nomi lives with her father Ray, mother Trudie and sister Tash in a brick bungalow. The most prominent themes in A Complicated Kindness are love, hope and redemption. All of the family members play into these themes at one point or another. However, it is Trudie who provides the most compelling display of these themes. This essay will look at how love, hope and redemption made Trudie's escape from East Village possible."

Tags:love, hope, redemption

Abstract
This paper examines the case of the Singapore Kindness Movement (SKM) and its goal of promoting "graciousness" in Singapore. It looks at the various roles the SKM fulfills in Singaporean society. It compares the SKM with other civil society groups in neighboring Southeast Asian states like Malaysia. In conclusion, it posits that the case of the SKM shows how the state can still exert subtle influence on its people through the institutions of civil society.

From the Paper
"In Malaysia, Zainah Anwar shows how organizations such as the Sisters of Islam are challenging the steady erosion of women's legal rights and social freedoms under the country's Muslim government. Feminist scholars argue that such erosions are inconsistent with the Qu'ran's teachings regarding justice and equality (Anwar 231). These civil society feminist groups provide further challenges by re-interpreting the Qu'ran continually to meet the realities of modernity. Compared to these institutions, the SKM is not an area for dissent or challenge. Instead, it serves to help cement the legitimacy of the ruling Singaporean party."

Tags:malaysia, muslims, government, society

Abstract
The paper discusses how the social breaching theory is best explained by observation of random acts of kindess that break the expected norm and upset the apple cart so to speak. the paper describes how people do not expect to be treated benevolently and do not know how to react.

From the Paper
"The phenomenon of positive deviance, or random acts of kindness are situational behavioral expressions that exceed the boundaries of conformity as socially "normalized" or otherwise perceived as conventional. As conformity is the default mode for most social actors in mundane social situations, the pressures that subtly enforce such behavior are rarely felt. Consequently, random acts of kindness are significant only to the extent that they are based upon the exhibition of behaviors that are at odds with expectational norms that are subliminally taken for granted. Because they are unanticipated by nature, the reactionary..."

Tags:positive, deviance, experiment

Abstract
A review of Boswell's book in which he uses the history of Antiquity to make a persuasive case that the idea of parental love for children is a constructed, rather than a biological, norm.

From the Paper
"To make this powerful argument Boswell presents a historical narrative of the practice of child abandonment. He alleges it was a common practice during antiquity, up to the time of the Renaissance. Boswell's book, despite its morbid subject matter, is very entertaining and readable because he uses such a wide variety of sources from this vast historical stretch of time. He uses drama and popular myths as well as demographics. After all, even the abandoned founders of Rome itself, Romulus and Remus, were, traditionally suckled by a she-wolf. However, Boswell is not simply a storyteller. The implications of child abandonment are not simply literary or historical. He suggests amounted, in essence, to a form of cultural "pruning," genealogically speaking in Rome, and a kind of moral policing in Christian Europe."

Tags:parental, child, rearing

Abstract
This paper discusses how feminism can be seen throughout the story as the mother and sister leave the community because of feminism and as the main character, Nomi Nickel, struggles to live as a teenage girl who has few freedoms. The paper discusses how the setting based during the 1970's was a time of change for women.

From the Paper
"In November 2004, Miriam Toews' novel, "A Complicated Kindness", won the Governor General's Literary Award for fiction in English" (Neufeld 99). The story grabs the interest of the reader because Toews paints a verbal picture of what life would be like for a teenage girl who lives in a Mennonite community in the 1970s. The teenage girl struggles to understand her own identity while handling the grief of losing her mother and sister. The setting of the story centers around life in the 1970s where women remained at home to care for the family and men were the head of the home. Feminism can be seen throughout the story as the mother and sister leave..."

Tags:mennonite, feminism, novel

Abstract
This paper describes a personal example of the role of altruism as it relates to personal, professional and social responsibility. The paper then discusses how altruism applies to psychology and psychological principals. Next, the paper explains how altruism improves the human condition by providing a reward system to those who act in an altruistic manner, and rewarding those who behave in a manner that elicits self-sufficiency. Finally, the paper addresses the future of psychology as it relates to altruism.

From the Paper
"While speaking to a couple that I met at a local street fair, I learned that they were foster parents of six children and three of those children were autistic. They lived in the city and were constantly under enormous stress. I mentioned that I knew someone who owned a children's horse ranch that catered to families. This is what most people refer to as a dude ranch. I asked them if they had ever been to a dude ranch and they said that was something that was far beyond their means. We spoke a bit longer and exchanged numbers just in case the couple ever changed their mind and want to spend a week riding horses, feeding chickens, goats, and pigs, and spending time singing songs around the bon-fire after filling their bellies with a good old fashioned country cooking."

Tags:codependency, help, reciprocity, self-sufficiency

Abstract
The paper looks at Amy Tan's, "Two Kinds," and at how this well-received short story is a thoughtful look at how living one's own life (not the life others wish for you) is the secret to happiness - and also an act of considerable personal courage. The paper explores the constraints placed upon the story's protagonist by her mother, and addresses the notion of courage and how a lack of courage actually brought Amy Tan much pain and suffering in her formative years as she grappled with being something she was not. Lastly, the paper concludes by looking at the Chinese-American experience in America and how this shaped the dynamics of the Tan household. The paper highlights the message that life is about living - and living well means living as oneself.

From the Paper
"The following paper will look at Amy Tan's, "Two Kinds," and at how this well-received short story is a thoughtful look at how living one's own life (not the life others wish for you) is the secret to happiness - and also an act of considerable personal courage. With that in mind, the next few pages will explore the constraints placed upon the story's protagonist (ostensibly a youthful Amy Tan) by her mother; time will also be devoted to looking at the notion of courage and how a lack of courage actually brought Amy Tan much pain and suffering in her formative years as she grappled with being something she was not. Lastly, the paper will conclude..."

Tags:amy, tan, kinds

Abstract
This paper analyzes the dynamic narrator in "Two Kinds." The narrator in the story undergoes two significant changes throughout a series of events: She first aspires to become a prodigy, then determines to spite her mother and finally resolves her inner tension that initially surfaces due to the expectations of her mother. In this paper specific quotes are analyzed in order to prove that the narrator underwent a transformation.

From the Paper
"In Tan's "Two Kinds" a mother's blind faith that her daughter can be a genius leads the young girl to face several internal struggles. The narrator, the young daughter, initially feels as though she could one day become a prodigy as her mother suspects. However, the narrator's mother constantly pushes too hard and forces endless tests upon her daughter, which causes great tension in the mother-daughter relationship. After many acts of resentment and spite towards her mother's ambitions, the narrator finally releases all of her emotion and leads her mother to lose any trace of hope. Unfortunately, the narrator understands her mother as well as her lost potential when reconciliation is already out of reach, although she does capture inner peace after realizing her mother truly wished only success for her daughter. The narrator in the story undergoes two significant changes throughout a series of events: she first aspires to become a prodigy, then determines to spite her mother, and finally resolves her inner tension that initially surfaces due to the expectations of her mother."

Tags:amy, conflict, internal, kinds, narrator, recognition, resolution, revelation, tan, two, work