bool checkPalindrome(std::string str) {
	
	// Given a word, checks whether it is a palindrome.
	for (std::string::size_type i = 0; i < str.size(); i++) {
		// grab the first character
		char startchar = str[i];
		char endchar = str[str.size()-i-1];
		if (startchar == endchar){
			continue;
		}
		else return false;
	}
	return true;
}