What is the purpose of having a system of checks and balances in the United States Constitution?
O to keep any one branch of government from gaining too much power
to establish a process for conducting presidential elections
to recognize the basic rights guaranteed to all citizens
to divide power between national and state governments

Which line from extremely loud and incredibly close reveals a melancholy tone? as for the bracelet mom wore to the funeral, what i did was i converted dad’s last voice message into morse code, and i used sky-blue beads for silence, maroon beads for breaks between letters . . she said it was the best gift she’d ever received. i asked her if it was better than the edible tsunami, from when i was interested in edible meteorological events. she said, “different.” i wanted to tell her she shouldn’t be playing scrabble yet. or looking in the mirror. or turning the stereo any louder than what you needed just to hear it. it wasn’t fair to dad, and it wasn’t fair to me. i made her other morse code jewelry with dad’s messages—a necklace, an anklet, some dangly earrings, a tiara—but the bracelet was definitely the most beautiful, probably because it was the last, which made it the most precious.