How does Dickens use satire in this excerpt from Great Expectations and what is the impact? "So, we all put our pocket - handkerchiefs to our...

This passage ridicules the ostentatious funeral ceremony that Trabb and Co. directs. It is first a procession in which the mourners must dramatize their grief by holding handkerchiefs to their faces, marching as though on parade all the way to the graveyard with ribbons streaming from their hats. 

In Chapter XXXV of Great Expectations, Pip returns home for the funeral of his sister only to find that the whole affair has been aggrandized. When Trabb and Co. are ready for Joe and Pip and the others to form a procession, they are instructed to be ready with their handkerchiefs and hold them to their noses as though they are crying. Trabb fidgets with their black coverings for the hats, their capes, and the tying of ribbons. On a cue, they all march to the graveyard. As they do so, "the obsequious Pumblechook" brushes Pip's cape, fiddles with his hat band, and whispers to him. Another couple, Mr. and Mrs. Hubble, are so proud of being included in this group that they are

...surpassingly conceited and vainglorious in being members of so distinguished a procession.

The neighborhood is also impressed with this funeral as boys run after them, shouting "Here they are!" and almost cheer when they probably do not even know who Mrs. Joe was. Certainly, she is given more importance dead than when she was alive.

What are the main points in the first four chapters of Michael P. Nichols' Family Therapy: Concepts and Methods?

Chapter one is an overview of how the helping professions began to perceive the need for dealing with the family system, rather than fixing individuals out of the context of the family. There is a discussion of, among others, Gregory Bateson's work, which is a foundational approach to understanding the roots of communication problems in human problems. There is also a discussion of Murray Bowen's work, wherein he took a child (the identified patient) out of the family, to his clinic, and "fixed" the child, and discovered that when the healthy child was returned to the family system, the symptoms returned. This was a time, in the late 1950s, when therapists began to examine the role of the family system in "creating" symptoms.

Also, the role of marriage therapy and small group dynamics in the evolution of family therapy is examined.

Chapter two walks the reader through a typical family's therapy, from the first meeting to the decision to end therapy. In the process, the reader examines, among other items, the following concepts: relationship of the presenting problem, as told by the clients, to the practitioner's theoretical approach; the "systemic context", meaning an analysis of the family system, what its equilibrium is and how that contributes to problems; the structure of the family, which was a primary approach the family therapy in the early years; family communication styles and how they contribute to problems; and various external issues like alcohol and drug abuse, marital infidelity, and abuse, and how they affect therapeutic outcomes.

Chapter three discusses the fundamental concepts of Family Therapy, as it has evolved over the years, including the role of cybernetic processes in families, and a breakdown of General Systems Theory, which is a skeleton of systems that was first applied to biological and other sciences, and later was applied to families. The discussion moves to Constructivism, which is about how people perceive reality, and why that affects family members. Then some specific higher level concepts, such as triangulation, complementarity and whether it is good or bad for family members, family structures including coalitions and opposing groups, resistance to change efforts, and the effects of gender and culture on families.

Chapters four through eleven examine the classic schools of family therapy, and chapter four starts with the Bowen family systems therapy approach.

Murray Bowen was a psychiatrist who extracted troubled children from their families, brought them to his hospital, and helped them with their problems. When they were healthy, he returned them to the family, but discovered that often as not, their symptoms returned. In the process of examining that phenomenon, he began to treat the family as a system. He focused on a few common problems he discovered in families: differentiation of self, emotional triangles, emotional processes that carried forward across generations, emotional cutoff of family members, the position of an individual among siblings, and society’s processing of family emotions. The chapter discusses normal family processes, how family systems “cause” behavior problems, the goals of his systems therapy, what conditions Bowen school sees as necessary for behavioral change, and how they assess families.

What are some passages that show how Scout learned to be herself in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird?

In the beginning of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout feels self-conflicted because she is torn between wanting to be a tom boy and the fact that she is actually a girl. She at first resists the idea of being a girl because she sees it as nothing more than wearing dresses, "playing with small stoves, tea sets, and wearing the Add-A-Pearl necklace" given to her by her Aunt Alexandra (Ch. 9). She sees being a girl as nothing more than a "pink cotton penitentiary" (Ch. 14). Yet, as she matures, she grows to understand that to "be a lady" is really the equivalent of being a very courageous person, which helps her overcome her conflict and learn to be herself.

Scout first becomes acquainted with the idea that being a lady is being a courageous person upon Mrs. Dubose's death. Through the children's experience with Mrs. Dubose, Jem was able to learn something from Mrs. Dubose that Scout was still too young to fully understand at the time. Specifically, Jem learns that Mrs. Dubose was not just the cantankerous old woman everyone believed her to be; she was actually a "great lady" due to her extraordinary amount of courage (Ch. 11). After this lesson, Jem begins growing frustrated with Scout's immaturity and ordering her to start "bein' a girl and acting right!," whereas earlier he insulted her by calling her a girl each time she acted cowardly (Ch. 12). Jem's sudden transformation shows us Jem has learned from Mrs. Dubose that to be a lady, or a girl, is to be courageous, much like he has already learned from his father that to be a gentleman is also to be courageous. Furthermore, Jem's new reaction to Scout's behavior plants a seed within Scout that helps her reach new conclusions about femininity later in the novel.

It's in Chapter 24 that Scout finally realizes the importance of being a lady. In Chapter 24, Scout is invited by Aunt Alexandra to join the missionary circle for refreshments as part of Aunt Alexandra's designs to train Scout to be a lady. However, sadly, the act of serving refreshments is interrupted by Atticus, who comes home to give the distressing news that Tom Robinson has been shot to death in prison, with an unjust number of 17 bullets. Aunt Alexandra and Miss Maudie are visibly distressed by the news. But, Scout is struck by the fact that they are able to pull themselves together, and under Miss Maudie's command, Scout pulls herself together as well. Scout is then impressed to see that Aunt Alexandra and Miss Maudie are able to return to their guests and reserve serving refreshments as if nothing had happened. She realizes that their behavior is intended to continue to pay their guests the respect they deserve, just as Atticus paid Tom Robinson the respect he deserved by bravely defending him in court.

The moment Scout is able to equate putting on a brave face during moments of adversity in order to continue to show respect to others with being a lady is the moment Scout begins to understand that to be a lady requires the utmost bravery. It is also at this moment that Scout decides she can accept her role in life to be a lady. Scout's acceptance of being a lady is particularly seen in the following passage:

I carefully picked up the tray and watched myself walk to Mrs. Merriweather. With my best company manners, I asked if she would have some. After all, if Aunty could be a lady at a time like this, so could I. (Ch. 24)

Scout's acceptance of her role as a lady shows that she is no longer in conflict with herself and has finally learned to be herself.

According to Orwell in his essay "Politics and the English Language," why do people use hackneyed imagery and prefabricated phrases?

In his essay "Politics and the English Language," George Orwell laments that written English, especially with regard to political discourse, is littered with bad habits that impact both written expression and thought. He further explains that these habits spread from writer to writer by repetition and imitation.

One of the bad habits Orwell decries is that:

[N]o one seems able to think of turns of speech that are not hackneyed: prose consists less and less of words chosen for the sake of their meaning, and more and more of phrases tacked together like the sections of a prefabricated henhouse…

Orwell explains that, in his analysis, writers use such set phrases because it is easier and quicker to use them than to choose appropriate words to convey the writers' intended meaning. Further, the use of prefabricated phrases allows writers to exercise less thought in coming to their conclusions, which therefore results in less thought being expressed in their writing.

Thus, according to Orwell, hackneyed imagery and prefabricated phrases represent a shortcut, both in writing and in thinking. Such devices do not serve to illuminate and convey novel ideas, which Orwell claims is the purpose of written discourse; rather, these shortcuts allow the writer to, with minimal actual thought, build on already existing messages.

If there is new fad that decreases the demand of a good, how could you amend the issue only involving the price?

The answer to this depends on what you mean by “amend the issue.”  If you are asking what you could do to the price of the good to raise its demand back to previous levels, the answer is “nothing.”  If you are asking what you could do to raise the quantity demanded back to previous levels, the answer is “lower the price.”

These answers are based on the difference between a change in demand and a change in quantity demanded.  Demand can be defined as the amount of a good that people are willing and able to buy at a given price.  In the case you pose here, a fad arose that made your product less popular. People are now willing to buy fewer of your product at a given price.  You cannot change this by changing the price because we specified that demand is the amount that people can and will buy at a given (cannot be changed) price.  The quantity demanded, by contrast, does change when the price changes. The law of demand tells us that, ceteris paribus, people will buy more of a thing as its price drops and less of it when its price rises.  What this means is that you can get people to buy more of your product if you lower the price. This will not raise demand, but it will raise the quantity demanded.

Thus, we can say that there is no way that you can change demand by changing your price.  However, you can increase the quantity demanded.  Which of these would meet your definition of “amend the issue?”

What does the following quote mean by W.E.B. Dubois? "Education and work are levers to uplift a people. Work alone will not do it unless...

Education and work are the levers to uplift a people. Work alone will not do it unless inspired by the right ideals and guided by intelligence. Education must not simply teach work - it must teach Life. (Phi Delta Kappa, p. 15)

W.E.B. Dubois was a champion in advocacy for liberal arts education of African-Americans.  While other civil rights leaders, particularly Booker T. Washington, advocated vocational training programs for African-Americans, Dubois felt that best path to freedom was equality in education.  Dubois, the first African-American to receive a doctorate, believed that African-Americans should fight for inclusion in America's colleges.  This quote demonstrates his passion for education.  It acknowledges the necessity for tenacity and hard work but ultimately refers back to the importance of intelligence that necessary for economic success.  Within this educational framework, African-Americans must be trained to acquire the necessary skills required to make sound and quick decisions that are guided by principles.  Dubois believes that education is inadequate if it just teaches the people how to work, which is a criticism that he has of vocational education programs.  

A 1000-kg car traveling at 25 m/s runs into the rear of a stopped car that has a mass of 1500 kg and they stick together. What is the speed of the...

In a collision between vehicles, such as in this case, the moving vehicle will lose out on some momentum (product of mass and velocity of the object), while the stationary vehicle will gain some momentum. Using the conservation of momentum, the momentum remains conserved as the following equation:

m1v1 + m2v2 = MV

where, m1 and m2 are the masses of the moving and stationary vehicle, respectively. v1 and v2 are the velocities of moving and stationary vehicle, respectively. M and V are the mass and velocity of the combined mass (consisting of the two vehicles) after the collision. 

Thus, 

1000 x 25 + 1500 x 0 = (1000 + 1500) V = 2500 V

or. V  = (25 x 1000) / 2500 = 10 m/s

Thus, the speed of combined cars, after the collision, is 10 m/s.

Here, we have assumed that the motion is in one-direction only. 

Hope this helps. 

In Hemingway's "In Another Country", the major said a man must not fight, marry, cry, lose.

In the short story In Another Country, the major said a man must never marry. The main reason he said this was because he was a soldier. His concern was twofold. If he were married in wartime, he would have two worries. One is that he would be distracted in battle, thinking about leaving his wife all alone if he were to die. This would cause distraction, which could easily lead to his death.

The other reason he said a man should never marry is because of a fear of loss. The major is terrified of losing someone he loves, and says so.

This whole thing is ironic in the long run, because he marries a woman much younger than him so that he would not have to worry about losing her. He waits until he is out of the war to get married, for the above reason. He figured he would die first, being the much older person. The irony comes when she dies of illness, leaving him alone. All of those plans to keep from losing the person her loved were pointless.

Which incident in Act 3 provoked the strongest emotional response in you? Why?

Certainly, for me, the moment that provokes the strongest emotional response in Act Three is when Mary Warren turns on John Proctor, once again taking sides with Abigail and the rest of the girls, and accusing him of being in league with the Devil.

The reason it affects me so deeply is that Mary Warren knows, absolutely, that the girls are lying, and thus committing murder; and, ultimately, she makes the same choice.  She has been brought to the court, by Proctor, for the sole purpose of exposing the girls' lies.  Yet, when she feels herself to be in danger, when the girls are starting to accuse her of sending out her spirit to attack them, she turns on the truth and her employer, knowing full-well that her testimony against him will likely lead to his conviction and death.  It is a truly horrific moment.  Before she runs into Abigail's arms, she says -- lying, and knowing that she is lying -- that 

"[Proctor] wake me every night, his eyes were like coals and his fingers claw my neck, and I sign, I sign . . . [....].  No, I love God; I go your way no more.  I love God, I bless God."

She fabricates a story of how Proctor forced her to sign the Devil's book, in order to explain why she accused the other girls of lying.  She says, in other words, that the Devil forced her to lie then, and now she tells the truth.  In reality, it seems more likely that the Devil coerces her to lie now because it is the easier thing to do.  To see her lie, so callously, taking another's life into her own hands because she fears losing her own, is abominable in every moral sense.  

What does irony mean? And where is an example of it in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

Irony is a very common, yet often misunderstood, literary device. In its simplest form, it is the difference between what is said and what is done, but that is only the skeleton of the definition. There are multiple different types of irony: verbal, situational, and dramatic. Verbal irony is when a person says one thing, but means another (very similar to sarcasm). Situational irony is, for example, when a person does something and scolds someone else for doing the exact same thing. Dramatic irony is a type of situational irony; in situational irony, both the characters and the audience are in the dark regarding the irony of what is happening, but in dramatic irony, the audience knows the truth and the characters do not. 

Dramatic irony is a big part of The Cask of Amontillado, as we the audience know what Montresor's plan is (to get his revenge on Fortunato for insulting him), but Fortunato is completely unaware, thinking that Montresor is taking him to test a cask of Amontillado wine. There is also verbal irony in much of what Montresor says: a few times, he tells Fortunato that they should return to the party in the interest of Fortunato's help, when in reality he wants to continue on in order to kill Fortunato.

Langston Hughes wrote several poems about dreams why might this have been a particularly powerful topic for Africans in the 1920s-30s?

Although slavery had been abolished by the 13th amendment in 1864, the United States remained a deeply racist and segregated nation in the 1920's and 1930's. Most blacks in the south were little more than sharecroppers. Voting laws passed in the wake of the Plessy vs. Ferguson Supreme Court decision made it almost impossible for blacks to vote. In the north things were not much better. Popular black entertainers who performed for white audiences could not actually sit in the audience.

It wouldn't be until the 50's and 60's that the civil rights movement would get into high gear. Even today the nation feels the effects of the past as poverty and unemployment remain higher for blacks than for whites, despite the fact the nation is in the final year of the first black president's historic tenure.

Langston Hughes is considered the greatest writer of the Harlem Renaissance, a movement of black writers in New York City in the first half of the 20th century. Hughes wrote many poems about the black experience, and, not surprisingly, many of them dealt with "dreams." Four in particular deal with the hopes of blacks to one day rise above their status as second class citizens.

In "Dreams", Hughes encourages blacks to not give up and to cling to hopes for a better future. Not doing so could only end in despair and emptiness. In "Mother to Son", a mother encourages her son to keep climbing the stairs (a metaphor for economic status) even though things may be hard. She hopes she has worked hard enough for him to rise above her difficult life.

"I Too" is probably the most optimistic of Hughes's poems about dreams. The speaker thinks of the day he will not have to eat in the kitchen as a servant. He will be at the main table and those who have oppressed him will realize they were wrong, "And be ashamed".

"Harlem" or "Dream Deferred" is the most prophetic of Hughes's poems in that it predicts the violence which would erupt out of the 1960's civil rights movement. He predicts violence if the dreams and freedoms promised by the Declaration of Independence and Constitution don't become reality for blacks. Indeed, assassinations, riots and protests marked the 1960's, several years after the poem was written.

These poems certainly appealed to blacks who suffered cultural and economic repression. They dreamed of the day when a black man could be the head of a company, play professional baseball or even rise to be President of the United States.

What was FDR's role as President during the Great Depression and the New Deal?

Roosevelt, unlike his predecessor Herbert Hoover, took a leading and vocal role in attacking the effects of the Great Depression. Franklin Roosevelt's response to the Great Depression was a massive collection of government programs, administrations, and agencies that attempted to provide relief, bring about recovery, and establish permanent structural reforms. This effort, known as the New Deal, fundamentally and permanently altered the role of the President, and the federal government in general. 

While Hoover was not the laissez-faire doctrinaire that many have accused him of being, he did not advocate direct relief, and he was not particularly good at communicating his policies to the American people, which made him seem aloof to their suffering. Roosevelt, on the other hand, implemented immediate relief and "make-work" programs, and directly communicated to the American people through "fireside chats" and through sending representatives, including his wife Eleanor, throughout the country to meet with people and discuss their hardships. So the role of the President as national leader certainly increased in importance under Roosevelt as a result of his reaction to the New Deal. His popularity with the people, in fact, caused him to overstep his bounds on several occasions, particularly his "court-packing" scheme of 1937, when he sought to add additional justices to the Supreme Court, which had just scuttled some of his reforms. This hurt Roosevelt politically, but there is no doubt that his approach to the presidency during the Great Depression--and equally the Second World War--increased the powers and the scope of the federal executive.

What lines from Macbeth (besides the banquet scene where he sees Banquo's ghost) suggest he is mentally unstable?

In Act IV, Scene 1 of Shakespeare's Macbeth, Macbeth once again encounters the witches. This time he actually seeks them out, hoping for some information about his future. Prior to this scene we see Hecate, the goddess of sorcery, berate the witches for their previous behavior toward Macbeth. She believes that they have been too easy on him. So Hecate and the witches plan to make his life more difficult in the future.

In this scene Macbeth is asking several things of the witches. The fact that he trusts them at all points to his growing instability. He wants to know if he needs to fear Macduff. The witches answer cryptically in terms that he thinks he understands but really does not. Then he asks about Banquo’s descendants, wanting to know if they will ever take the throne of Scotland. The witches respond with a line of visions of future kings, all related to Banquo. The sight of this parade seems to throw Macbeth over the edge:

Thou are too like the spirit of Banquo. Down!

Thy crown does sear mine eyelids. And thy hair,

Thou other gold-bound brow, is lke the first.

A third is like the former. Filthy hags!

Why do you show me this? A fourth! Start, eyes!

The sight is too much for Macbeth. After this he vows to take swift action in the future to protect himself, starting with the slaughter of Macduff’s family. 

What happened to Native Americans in the Gilded Age?

The Gilded Age is the historical term for the period between 1870 and 1900 and it was a time of great change in America, especially for the native population.

By the mid-nineteenth century, many native tribes had already been pushed to living west of the Mississippi River but, by the 1870s, many Americans wanted to expand into this territory. As a result, a number of conflicts erupted as the natives were pushed off their lands and into reservations. War broke out in New Mexico and Arizona in 1871, for example, in which 100 natives were killed. The U.S. Army also adopted the tactic of winter campaigning, when the natives broke up into smaller bands, so that they met with less resistance. 

In 1882, Congress created the Court of Indian Offenses so that they could prosecute natives who refused to abide by American law. By the census of 1890, there were only 225,000 natives in the country and the population was quickly fading. 

Overall, then, this was a time of great change for the native population in which the federal government sought to control their movements and force them to either assimilate into mainstream society or disappear. 

In "A Good Man Is Hard To Find," what is the character change in the grandma throughout the story?

In Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find," the grandmother is the central character in the story. Though her personality does not change throughout the story, her presence does. She remains throughout the story, an opinionated old woman who is disrespected by her son and his family. However, at the beginning of the story, she takes a backseat (figuratively and literally) in the family. She doesn't say much and tries not to annoy her grown son. Though she makes small comments here and there, she knows her place.

Later, once the Misfit has the family on the side of the road in the woods, the grandmother takes a dominant role in the family since Bailey has become helpless and wordless. It is the grandmother who tries to talk her way out of the situation. She becomes voluble as she desperately tries to reason with the Misfit or convince him that he is a 'good man' and should let them go. So the real change in the grandmother occurs in her shifting role from a background character to a primary voice of the family. Because Bailey has gone from the controlling son and head of the household to a diminished person, sitting helplessly while the Misfit is about to kill them, the grandmother must step forward and take a more active role, which is a complete reversal from how readers saw her at the start of the story.

Using textual evidence, how do we know that Della is nervous about cutting her hair?

Della’s hair has always made her feel special and proud because it's unusually long, reaching “below her knee.” Described as "the most valuable thing" she had, her hair is also a matter of pride to her husband Jim.

Della loves Jim more than anybody or anything else in her life. Finding her savings insufficient to buy him a nice present on Christmas, she decides to do away with her hair, though she knows even a queen would envy her with that hair.

Of course, this was not an easy decision. Parting with her hair would be her last alternative. When she has settled with this idea of selling her long hair, she stands before the mirror gazing at her prized possession for the last time.

“So now Della’s beautiful hair fell about her, shining like a falling stream of brown water. It reached below her knee. It almost made itself into a dress for her.”

She thinks she must buy Jim a gift that should be “something nearly good enough. Something almost worth the honor of belonging to Jim.” At the cost of her hair, if she could make this Christmas special for Jim, she wouldn’t mind doing it.

But that also means she would lose her unique and enviable possession. This dilemma, though, lasts for a while, and makes her feel nervous, as reflected in these lines:

And then she put it up on her head again, nervously and quickly. Once she stopped for a moment and stood still while a tear or two ran down her face.

Her uneasiness is exhibited from her nervous quick gestures and movements. The tears in her eyes reflect how much she will miss her hair. Nevertheless, her love for Jim triumphs over her nervousness and once she has left home, she doesn't rethink her decision. 

What did Bear's father do for him when he was twelve?

When he was twelve, Bear's father paid his fees at a Benedictine abbey so that Bear could train to be a monk. Bear confides to Crispin that his father might have become 'weary' of the responsibilities of fatherhood. Bitterly, Bear surmises that his father might have even committed him to the abbey so that he could 'fulfill a pledge he'd made in exchange for some profitable trade.'

Bear tells Crispin that he never saw his father again. After his father paid his fees, Bear stayed at the abbey for seven years. There, he learned how to pray, how to be silent, and how to read in English, French, and Latin. Shortly before he took his vows, Bear admits that he ran away from the abbey and joined a group of mummers.

"Although literary critics have tended to praise uniqueness in literary characterizations, many authors have employed the stereotyped character...

First, there is a problem with a statement to the effect that "literary critics" value uniqueness. While some literary critics do, others do not. In fact, the notion that originality is a virtue in a literary work is a relatively modern one; in many genres such as oral-traditional epic, originality would be regarded as a weakness. Comedy also tends to be a genre which relies heavily on stereotypes and stock characters.

Wilde's success as a comic playwright has less to do with his plots or the originality of his characters than with verbal pyrotechnics. Several of the characters in the play could be straight from Roman comedy, with Lady Bracknell taking the role of the "matrona" (strict and powerful mother figure), Lane the "servus callidus" (clever servant), and the two young couples the traditional young romantic lovers. 

Much of the comedy in the play is created by the way in which the characters ironically subvert the stereotypical expectations. For example, the orphaned young hero is a typical stereotype. Normally, one would expect Lady Bracknell to utter conventional expressions of sympathy on hearing of Jack's being an orphan. Instead, she states:

"To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness."

Although Cecily and Gwendolyn might appear to fit the stereotypes of the helpless young maidens who need to be rescued by their male lovers, in fact, they turn out to be intelligent, manipulative, and quite determined. In general, the women of the play create humor precisely by subverting the stereotypes of weak, helpless women. Cecily, in particular, rather than fitting the stereotype of an innocent country girl, is well educated and quite sophisticated. 

In A Wrinkle in Time, how does Meg react when the Happy Medium shows the children Calvin's family?

When the Happy Medium shows the children Calvin's family, they witness a sad scene: Calvin's mother, unlike the lovely Mrs. Murry, is "unkempt," with long, stringy gray hair and no teeth. She screams at her children and hits one child with a wooden spoon. When Meg sees the disorder of Calvin's family life, she feels for him, and recognizes that rather than leaning into him for security and safety, as has been her way so far, she needs to offer him support. She takes his hand in sympathy,

trying to tell him by the pressure of her fingers what she felt. If anyone had told her only the day before that she, Meg, the snaggle-toothed, the myopic, the clumsy, would be taking a boy's hand to offer him comfort and strength, particularly a popular and important boy like Calvin, the idea would have been beyond her comprehension. But now it seemed as natural to want to help and protect Calvin as it did Charles Wallace.

Meg's vision of the world has begun broadening, and she is maturing. She is beginning to understand that other people, even if they seem popular and confident, have problems and sorrows of their own. She begins to recognize that she can offer strength and support to others outside of her own family.

What is "real" and what is not in The Tempest?

The Tempest by William Shakespeare is a dramatic work of imaginative literature. It is not based on actual historical events. Thus nothing in the play is "real". When English actors stood in front of an audience in the Globe theater pretending to be Miranda, Ferdinand, Ariel, or Prospero, they were not actually the characters they pretended to be. Thus on the most basic level, nothing in the play is "real". One could also say, though, that audiences understand that the nature of drama means that what is "really" happening on stage is actors dressing up and uttering words from fictional scripts, and that the performers and performances are no more or less real than people performing other roles in our society. A teacher giving a lecture, a car mechanic fixing a car, or a salesperson dealing with a consumer are performing social roles just as much as an actor is performing dramatic roles.

Within The Tempest, one can also separate "realistic" from supernatural elements. Although the story itself is fictional, some aspects of the fiction are closer to our ordinary experience than others, such as the young people (Ferdinand and Miranda) falling in love or the wealthy and powerful engaging in unscrupulous plots. These are events Aristotle in his Poetics would have characterized as unactual probables.

Prospero's magical abilities and the characters of Ariel and Caliban both belong to a different realm, those of unactual improbables. These are imaginative devices that work well within the logic of the story, but most viewers would not believe in the ability of a human to conjure or summon spirits or an air spirit to bewitch humans and control the weather. Caliban's mother's ability to control the moon, mentioned by Prospero, was similarly supernatural; Prospero states:

His [Caliban's] mother was a witch, and one so strong

That could control the moon, make flows and ebbs,

Ariel displays many magical properties, such as the ability to create a shipwreck, select survivors, and leave their clothing dry and unharmed.

On another level of reality, one can look at the relationship between the characters' perceptions and those of the audience. Caliban perceives Stephano to be a god, but the audience understands Stephano to be a drunken and somewhat ludicrous servant. Miranda in her innocence sees Ferdinand as an almost miraculous creature, but the audience perceives him as a relatively ordinary young man.

Why was Mark Watney stranded on Mars in The Martian?

In the first chapter of Andy Weir's The Martian, astronaut Mark Watney—the book's protagonist—becomes stranded on Mars due to a storm and a technological failure.

Mark was a member of Ares 3, NASA's third manned mission to the red planet. Shortly after landing on Mars, Watney and his crewmates encounter a major storm system that their equipment is not built to endure. Consequently, NASA tells the Ares 3 crew to abort the mission, board the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV), and rendezvous with the Hermes shuttle, which was in Mars' orbit.

The crew races to get off Mars, but by this point the storm is raging. The crew can barely see in front of them, so they rely on the technology in their suits to help them reach the MAV and locate any crewmembers who get lost.

Unfortunately, the storm knocks a communication dish off the crew's Mars base camp and slings it into Watney. He goes flying across the Martian landscape and loses consciousness. Moreover, the dish breaks his biometric computer, which makes the rest of the crew believe he is dead. Thus, they board the MAV and leave Mars—and Mark Watney—behind.

Why did Lady Macbeth want Duncan dead?

Lady Macbeth wants Duncan dead so that her husband can become king. Her husband informs her of the witches' prophecy in a letter, and she immediately resolves to set him to murdering the King. She fears that he is "too full of the milk o'human kindness" to do what she thinks must be done to fulfill the prophecy. When Macbeth wavers just before sneaking into Duncan's chamber to murder him, it is his wife that pushes him along, essentially challenging his masculinity and his bravery. She does this, it must be said, out of her own ambition, but also because she clearly loves her husband, and wants him to claim what she believes is his, even though doing so will require him to commit unspeakable deeds. Her goading, and Macbeth's willingness to be pushed toward the deed, winds up destroying both of them, and she dies at the end a shell of the strong, ruthless woman she is at the beginning of the play.

Why did American citizens not want the United States to get involved in World War I?

There were a variety of reasons many Americans did not want the country to get involved in World War I. For one thing, the conflict was absolutely devastating, and Americans were able to get a sense of this from media coverage. By the time the United States entered the war, virtually all of the belligerent nations had suffered devastating losses, and few Americans wanted to send troops to Europe. Another reason was that the United States had, since the days of George Washington, steadfastly avoided entanglement in European conflicts--it had become a sort of article of faith that they should continue to do so. It is also important to remember that there were many German-Americans in the United States, and most of them hoped for a German victory. So too did many Irish-Americans, as their ancestral homeland was involved in a fight for independence against British rule at the same time as WWI. Many left-leaning progressives viewed the war as being fought on behalf of capital, and to further the causes of militarism and imperialism, and objected to US involvement on those grounds. Others saw it as another version of the age-old power struggle between corrupt European dynasties, one which the United States had no business getting involved in. So there were many reasons why Americans did not want to get involved in the First World War.

Examine a perfectly competitive firm that you have recently purchased a product from, focusing specifically on how the firm operates relative to...

In general, it is probably not accurate to say that any of us have purchased goods or services from firms in perfect competition because perfect competition essentially does not exist in the real world.  I will give an example of a purchase from a firm that comes close to being in perfect competition. That example is when I purchase gas from a gas station.

One of the main characteristics of perfect competition is that there are many small firms selling a product.  Gas stations fit this model because there are many small gas stations in every town. They may all belong to a bigger network (Shell, Exxon, etc) but each one is owned by a different person and they are all in competition with one another.

A second characteristic is that the firms sell an identical product. If we are simply talking about gasoline, this is true of gas stations as well.  It does not matter to me what gas station I buy from.  As far as I can tell, 87 octane gas from one station is identical to 87 octane gas from another.  However, there are other factors that do differentiate the stations’ products. One station might be cleaner than another.  One might do a better job of making sure that there is cleaner and tools for cleaning my windshield. One might have cleaner bathrooms. In short, while the gasoline is identical, the other things about the stations might not be. So in this way, these stations are not in perfect competition.

A third characteristic is that buyers know all the firms’ prices. This is essentially true with gas stations.  You have to drive by the station to know, but you can clearly see every station’s prices posted.

Finally, firms must be able to enter and leave the market very easily. Here, gas stations are not completely in perfect competition.  It costs a lot of money to build a gas station so it is not that easy for someone to just enter the market because they have decided that they want to do so.

While gas stations are not truly an example of perfect competition, they come closer than any other kind of firm that most of us buy from in real life.

In Animal Farm, how are the values, attitudes, and beliefs of "Animalism" effectively manipulated by the pigs through propaganda techniques for the...

'Animalism' is the name given to the basic tenets expounded by Old Major in his speech to the animals when he addressed them in the big barn. It was developed into a complete system of thought by Snowball, Napoleon and Squealer, the pre-eminent pigs on the farm. The system entailed rules and principles the animals had to follow to ensure that all the animals were treated as equals and that they did not become like the oppressive humans.

The pigs generally ignored these principles and manipulated the rules to achieve their own agenda, which was to gain privilege for themselves and live lives of luxury and comfort. The first signs of the pigs' intent was when the five buckets of milk and the windfall apples were claimed for their exclusive use. When some of the animals complained about this, Squealer went around to convince them why it was necessary to have these resources:

"Comrades!" he cried. "You do not imagine, I hope, that we pigs are doing this in a spirit of selfishness and privilege? Many of us actually dislike milk and apples. I dislike them myself. Our sole object in taking these things is to preserve our health. Milk and apples (this has been proved by Science, comrades) contain substances absolutely necessary to the well-being of a pig. We pigs are brainworkers. The whole management and organisation of this farm depend on us. Day and night we are watching over your welfare. It is for YOUR sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples. Do you know what would happen if we pigs failed in our duty? Jones would come back! Yes, Jones would come back! Surely, comrades," cried Squealer almost pleadingly, skipping from side to side and whisking his tail, "surely there is no one among you who wants to see Jones come back?"

This type of rhetoric became common and, since Squealer was such a brilliant talker, he became the pigs' mouthpiece. It was his task to convince the animals that they were at fault in thinking that the pigs were seeking to provide themselves unfair advantages. The threat of Jones returning was constantly used to remind the animals that the pigs had a noble purpose and to make them afraid.

Whenever the pigs adopted behavior that went against the principles of Animalism, they would alter the commandments written on the barn wall. The commandments were, essentially, a summary of the basic tenets of Animalism. So it was that after Snowball had been banished, the Sunday Meetings were stopped. Napoleon explained that they were unnecessary and that the pigs would meet and arrange schedules for the week ahead. Debate was not necessary anymore. When four young pigs wanted to protest, Napoleon's vicious dogs growled menacingly, causing them to immediately shut up. Squealer, again, explained the necessity of this decision, stating that animals sometimes make the wrong decisions. He denigrated Snowball and spoke of him as if he was an enemy to what they wished to achieve on the farm.

The general animal populace lacked the intelligence to challenge Squealer's explanations and he went unchallenged. Their general ineptitude to argue and Benjamin's indifference, allowed the pigs to assume total control. This power was abused. When the pigs moved into the farmhouse and slept in beds, they changed the commandment, 'No animal shall sleep in a bed' to 'No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets,' to justify their actions. They were, however, the only ones who slept in beds. The other animals had to make do with sleeping in the barn.

Once again, Squealer went around to explain their decision:

"You have heard then, comrades," he said, "that we pigs now sleep in the beds of the farmhouse? And why not? You did not suppose, surely, that there was ever a ruling against beds? A bed merely means a place to sleep in. A pile of straw in a stall is a bed, properly regarded. The rule was against sheets, which are a human invention. We have removed the sheets from the farmhouse beds, and sleep between blankets. And very comfortable beds they are too! But not more comfortable than we need, I can tell you, comrades, with all the brainwork we have to do nowadays. You would not rob us of our repose, would you, comrades? You would not have us too tired to carry out our duties? Surely none of you wishes to see Jones back?"

Propaganda was used especially to demonize Snowball. He was held responsible for everything that went wrong on the farm. The pigs also used this argument to severely punish those who were supposedly colluding with him. At one stage Napoleon purged the farm of those who had been implicated in this regard. The dogs tore out the throats of those who were driven to confess. After the execution of so many animals, the remaining ones were absolutely distraught and terrified. The pigs had discovered another method to subdue and control the animals: extreme violence and brutality.

There are numerous examples of the pigs growing tyranny and the other animals' increasing fear and anxiety to challenge them. The pigs merrily adopted human habits and were remorseless. They, for example, again altered another commandment after the terrible executions. 'No animal shall kill any other animal' was adjusted to read: 'No animal shall kill any other animal without cause.' The animals understood then that the other animals were executed because they had colluded with Snowball to destroy the farm.

Throughout the novel, the general animal populace was deceived and misled by lies and deceit. Since they could not clearly remember the past, they accepted the pigs' versions of events. Boxer, for example, believed that Napoleon was always right and he easily accepted his explanations. In the end, these animals became mere pawns in the hands of the malicious and greedy pigs. Their lot was clearly engendered in the change made to a core principle of Animalism, which stated: 'All animals are equal' which was changed to the paradoxical and fatuous: 'All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.'  

Is nominal GDP always higher than real GDP?

Nominal gross domestic product (nGDP) is usually higher than real GDP, but this is not necessarily the case.  NGDP can be higher than rGDP if prices have been declining in a country.

Nominal GDP is a measure that looks only at how things are right now.  It takes the goods and services that an economy produces and multiplies them by their current prices.  This tells us the current value of the new goods and services created in our economy this year.

Nominal GDP does not, however, show how we are doing compared to previous years.  This is why we use real GDP at times.  Since nGDP looks only at today’s prices, it can rise simply because prices go up, and not because we are producing more things.  In such a case, nGDP will be higher than rGDP.  But this is not necessarily the case.  Imagine an economy that is experiencing deflation.  In such an economy, prices drop.  If the economy produced the same amount of goods in 2015 as it did in 2010, but the  prices were lower in 2015, the country’s nGDP for 2015 would be lower than its real GDP (in 2010 dollars).

Since inflation is more common than deflation, we are used to nGDP being higher than rGDP.  But the opposite situation is possible if deflation occurs.

In Chapter 15 of Lyddie what about the boarding house rules make it hard for Lyddie to have Rachel with her?

Lyddie worries about keeping Rachel at the boarding house because children are not allowed.

Lyddie works at the Lowell factory because she needed a job to pay off her family’s debts.  Her main goal is to get her family back together, because her mother lent out the family farm, the cow and the horse, and her children.  Lyddie did not last long at the tavern, and left to get a factory job.  Her mother kept her too younger sisters, Agnes and Rachel, and her brother went to work for a mill.

One day Lyddie got a letter from her mother telling her that her littlest sister Agnes had died.  She also said that Rachel was not doing well.  Lyddie was worried, and sent her mother money with a promise for more.  Then her uncle showed up unexpectedly with her little sister.

Lyddie was happy to see her sister, but worried just the same.  Her uncle told her that her mother was being institutionalized and the farm sold.  Lyddie was also concerned that Rachel was too small and sickly. Most importantly, Lyddie had no place to put her.

She could read the warning in Mrs. Bedlow's eyes. No men, no children (except for the keeper's own) in a corporation house. But surely the woman would not have the heart . . . (Ch. 15)

Lyddie gets Mrs. Bedlow to allow her to keep Rachel there because she will not eat much or take up much space.  She considers getting Rachel a job, because she can’t really afford to take care of them both.  Mrs. Bedlow tells her that it won’t work.

"I'll get her a job. She can doff."

"You know she's not old enough or strong enough to be a doffer."

"Just till I can straighten things out," Lyddie pleaded. "Please lether stay. I'll get it all set in just a few days, ey?" (Ch. 15)

Lyddie does not really have to solve the problem, because after she writes to her brother Charlie, he comes to take Rachel home with him.  The family that Charlie works for adopted him, and wants to adopt Rachel.

Even though she is glad that she does not have to worry about a place to put Rachel, Lyddie is sad that her family will likely never be together again.  She has lost Charlie and Rachel, and her mother died.  Lyddie is pretty much on her own.

How does Shays' Rebellion compare to recent economic events that have happened in the United States?

It is exceedingly difficult to objectively compare the economic situation surrounding Shays’ Rebellion with the economic problems that the US faced in 2008 and afterwards. At the time of Shays’ Rebellion, there were essentially no records kept of things like economic output. We have no way of knowing how much America’s GDP dropped after the Revolutionary War.  We have no way of knowing how concentrated the economic problems were in specific areas.  We have no measures of how many people were in poverty or were unemployed. Without these statistics, it is impossible to compare these two eras of economic trouble in a systematic and precise way. With that being the case, we will have to rely on less precise ways of comparison.

I would argue that the economic situation that brought about Shays’ Rebellion was more critical than the recent “Great Recession."  The reason for this is that the economic problems in the 1780s were more concentrated among one group of people in one geographic area. In the Great Recession, the economic pain was distributed around the country.  People in every region felt the effects of the recession. At the same time, however, there was no region of the country where everyone was devastated by the economic problems. Instead, we had generalized economic pain that hit a few people in each neighborhood, but did not hit everyone in any neighborhood or any region of the country.

This is in contrast to the situation at the time of Shays’ Rebellion. At the time of this rebellion, the economic pain was extremely severe, but it was also felt by practically all people in certain areas of Massachusetts.  In this crisis, the pain was felt much more by farmers than by anyone else. The farmers were the ones who were going deeply into debt and who were being told they had to pay their debts in hard currency.  City dwellers did not face these problems as much.  At the same time, there were many parts of the country where practically all of the population farmed.  Today, rural areas are no longer made up solely of farmers.  By contrast, rural areas in those days were made up only of farmers.  This meant that, when there was a crisis that hit farmers, everyone in a large area of country was badly affected.

What this meant is that the economic crisis after the Revolution was more likely to cause a rebellion.  It affected everyone in one area of the country while affecting very few people in another, more prosperous and powerful, area of the country.  This meant that all the people in one area would feel aggrieved and would be likely to rise up and rebel against the more prosperous and more powerful people.

Because our current economic problems are less concentrated and perhaps less severe, they are not as dangerous to our country as the problems at the time of Shays’ Rebellion.

What is a word that means warning or advice in The Giver?

Admonition means a warning or advice.

To admonish means to tell someone what to do. This can mean a warning or advice. Jonas uses the word admonition to describe the rules and instructions he is given for his training.

He was very aware of his own admonition not to discuss his training. But it would have been impossible, anyway. There was no way to describe to his friends what he had experienced there in the Annex room. (Ch. 12)

Jonas’s instructions told him not to tell anyone else what was happening in his training. This is because Jonas’s training is very secret. He is being trained as the Receiver of Memory and has access to information that no one else in his community is privy to.

Jonas says that he would not be able to describe his training even if he wanted to. It is just so far beyond everyone else’s experience. In his community, no one really feels. When Jonas does try interacting with people based on the information only he has, it ends up disastrously.

Jonas tries to advise Asher not to play war games. No one in the community really understands the concept of war or death. Jonas has seen memories of war, and it is all too real to him. Yet when he tries to explain this to Asher, all he does is confuse and irritate his friend.

"Don't play it anymore," Jonas pleaded.

"I'm the one who's training for Assistant Recreation Director," Asher pointed out angrily. "Games aren't your area of expertness." (Ch. 17)

The same thing happens when Jonas tries to question his parents about the concept of love. He asks them if they love him, and they react with gentle amusement. He is scolded about using imprecise language, but Jonas knows that there is nothing more precise than the word love. It describes a real feeling, but it is one his parents can’t possibly understand. Like everyone else in the community, they have no idea what it means.

How did colonization affect the colonizers?

Colonization affected the colonizers in several ways. The countries that created colonies benefited from them economically. They were able to get resources cheaper from the colonies than they could if they bought the resources from other countries. They also were able to sell the finished products from their factories to the people who lived in the colonies.

The colonizing country was affected politically. They were able to become stronger as a nation by controlling the colonies. They were able to develop military bases around the world to protect their trade. These bases could be used in case of war. Sometimes, the colonizing country had to put down rebellions that occurred in the colonies. There were times when the colonies gained their freedom by fighting for their independence. There were times that running a colony became very expensive.

Colonizing countries were able to spread their way of life. Missionaries would come and convert people to Christianity. The colonizing country could show the people who lived in the colony how to develop a political and an educational system, how to build a strong economy, and how to live a productive life. This allowed the colonizers to spread their way of living.

The colonizers were impacted in several ways by having colonies.

`int x cos(5x) dx` Evaluate the integral

`intxcos(5x)dx`

To evaluate, apply integration by parts `int udv = uv -intv du` .

So let:

`u=x `     and     `dv =intcos(5x)dx`

Differentiating u and integrating dv yield:

`du=dx `     and     `v=sin (5x)/5`

Plugging them to the formula, the integral becomes:

`int xcos(5x)dx`

`= x*sin(5x)/5 - int sin(5x)/5 dx`

`= (xsin(5x))/5 - 1/5int sin(5x)dx`

`= (xsin(5x))/5 - 1/5(-cos(5x)/5) + C`

`=(xsin(5x))/5 + cos(5x)/25+C`

Therefore, `intxcos(5x)dx=(xsin(5x))/5 + cos(5x)/25+C` .

Water flowing over a waterwheel is an example of kinetic energy transforming in to what type of energy? A) Thermal energy, B) Electrical...

Waterwheel is a device which harvests the the energy of water. Here, the kinetic energy of water is converted to mechanical energy. Historically, waterwheels were used to power watermills for grinding grains, such as rice and wheat. Another application was in crushing ores, which helped in saving manual labor and increased ore processing capacity. Timber saws were also operated by using the kinetic energy of water flowing over waterwheels. In modern times, the same concept is used for generation of electrical energy in hydroelectric projects. Here, the energy of falling water is used to rotate the blades of turbines, thus converting the water energy into mechanical energy. These turbines then convert this mechanical energy to the electrical energy. Hence, option D is correct.

Hope this helps. 

In the book The Help by Kathryn Stockett, why does Minny keep the tickets from the store?

The Help is set in Jackson, Mississippi, in the early 1960s. Minny is a black maid working in a white household for Miss Celia and her husband, Johnny Foote, Jr. Miss Celia is a fairly casual employer. She wants Minny to teach her how to cook and to keep a clean house, because these are tasks that are beyond her capabilities. But Minny has been serving white folks for decades, and she knows the unspoken rules. She knows it takes only one mix-up – perceived or based on truth – to get oneself fired. So whenever she goes grocery shopping for Miss Celia, she makes sure she brings home the correct change and that the figures match the receipts. In other households, if she didn’t do this, she could be charged with theft. She talks about this situation early on in Chapter 10:

“I’m going to the store after while,” I say to Miss Celia. I hold the grocery list for her to see. Every Monday we do this. She gives me the grocery cash and when I get home I push the receipt in her face. I want her to see that every penny of change matches the paper. Miss Celia just shrugs but I keep those tickets safe in a drawer in case there’s ever any question.

Minny likes working for Miss Celia, in spite of the quirkiness of the circumstances. She doesn’t want to be accused of stealing from her employer. The receipts could serve as proof that she didn’t.

What were the negative effects of the Columbian Exchange?

The Columbian Exchange was the widespread transfer of goods and ideas, plants, animals, food, humans, cultures, etc., between the east and west after Europe discovered the Americas, opening up trade routes. The main negative effects were the propagation of slavery and the spread of communicable diseases. 

European settlers brought tons of communicable diseases to the Americans. Indigenous peoples had not built up immunity, and many deaths resulted. Smallpox and measles were brought to the Americas with animals and peoples. Smallpox is believed to be the number one killer of indigenous peoples at the time, surpassing all wars. Yellow fever was also brought from Africa to the Americas via the slave trade. It is believed that Europeans, perhaps Christopher Columbus himself, also brought syphilis. 

The Columbian exchange also opened up the passage of humans from West Africa to the Americas as slaves, increasing slavery as an overall practice.

Some invasive species of plants and pathogens were also accidentally introduced to Europe.

Why do you disagree that Macbeth's character is that of a "tool"?

I'm not sure I do disagree with the statement that Macbeth in William Shakespeare's play is a "tool", although being a professor, I would probably use more formal language to describe him.

If you wanted to write a sort of defense for Macbeth for an assignment, you might emphasize the opening of the play, where he is portrayed as a genuine hero, helping King Duncan suppress a rebellion by the traitorous Thane of Cawdor. In this part of the play, the Sergeant states:

For brave Macbeth--well he deserves that name--

Disdaining fortune, with his brandish'd steel, ...

 Like valour's minion carved out his passage 

This passage shows Macbeth as a brave and valiant warrior.

Next, you might argue that it is the three evil witches who tempt Macbeth to rebellion, stoking his ambitious, and planting in him the thoughts that will lead to his becoming a murderer and tyrant. Next, you could argue that Macbeth wavered initially on his path to murdering Duncan and probably would not have done so had not his wife, Lady Macbeth, strengthened his resolve. While this certainly justifies neither murder nor tyranny, you can argue that the decline of his character was not entirely his fault and that he did display a certain bravery even when he realized that Macduff would triumph.

Which statement about a multiparty system is true? It can be found in fewer than 10 countries today. It is the most common system in the...

So, what do these terms mean?

Multi-party states are democracies in which three or more parties frequently hold a significant number of seats in important governing bodies.

Denmark, Finland, Germany, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, the Philippines, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, and Taiwan are all generally considered multi-party states.

Two-party states are democracies in which there are really only two parties that hold a significant number of seats in important governing bodies.

The United States is one of a handful of countries that is universally considered a two-party state, but other countries such as Australia and the United Kingdom where most of the seats are held by one of two major parties are also sometimes considered two-party states as well (while others consider them multi-party states).

Single-party states come in two types: Democracies in which one party for some reason happens to hold almost all the major seats, and authoritarian states which may have some formal kind of pseudo-democracy but are really governed by an authoritarian system. The former are also sometimes called dominant-party states to distinguish them.

Brazil, Japan, and Turkey are the first kind, democracies with a single dominant party.

China, North Korea, Cuba, and Eritrea are the second kind, authoritarian governments that hold elections as a formality.

In some cases, it's kind of ambiguous; just how democratic is Russia or Syria?

Okay, now with that done, we can easily answer your question. The multi-party system is clearly the most common; dozens of countries use it, while only a handful are dominant-party states or two-party states. A moderate number of countries are authoritarian single-party states, but still clearly fewer than the number of multi-party states.

In what ways did the Treaty of Versailles negatively impact Germany?

The Treaty of Versailles had several negative impacts on Germany. One negative impact was Germany had to pay reparations to the Allies. The $33 billion in reparations crippled the German economy leading Germany into a severe economic depression in the 1920s.

Another negative impact is that Germany had to accept responsibility for World War I. Germany resented this idea because it was Austria-Hungary that declared war on Serbia, which led to the start of World War I. However, the Allies believed Germany could have prevented the start of World War I by refusing to support Austria-Hungary if Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.

Germany also lost some land and had its military weakened by the Treaty of Versailles. Germany had to give up some land, including the territory of Alsace-Lorraine, as a result of its defeat in the war. Germany also was allowed to have a military with defensive capabilities only. Germany wasn’t allowed to have a military that could go on the offensive.

Germany resented the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. The German unhappiness with and anger with this treaty was one of the factors leading to start of World War II in 1939.

How can I write a hook for an essay on on coming of age for the novel To Kill a Mockingbird?

A hook is a catchy beginning that is included at the beginning of an essay to catch the reader’s attention.  A hook is used to introduce the theme of the essay and to make the essay interesting.  Since you are writing about the coming of age theme, your hook should be related to it. 

Many people write questions as their hooks.  Using a question to start an essay is kind of a cliché, but questions can be used as a hook.  You can ask your readers a question to get them to think about their childhood.  

When did you first begin to question the adult world? 

When did you realize the world was not fair? 

You can also avoid questions altogether, and focus on statements.  You can turn these questions above into statements. 

There comes a point when children come to question the adult world. 

The world is not fair. 

These are all related to the coming of age themes of the book, and Scout’s journey to understanding how the adult world works.  She begins to learn empathy, and she understands life through her interactions with the Tom Robinson trial and Boo Radley.  You would explore these issues in your essay.

What are the similarities and differences between the three plans for Reconstruction? (Lincoln’s, Johnson’s, and Congress’s Plans.) Why were...

There were several plans for Reconstruction. I will explain each plan so you can identify the similarities and differences. The plans were different because each person or group proposing the plan had different objectives. For example, President Lincoln want to heal the country yet be sure some of the factors leading to the Civil War didn’t occur again. President Johnson was from the South. Some people felt that impacted his plan. Congress wanted to have a plan that was harsher on the South. Some in Congress, the Radical Republicans, really wanted to punish the South.

Lincoln’s Plan was known as the Ten Percent Plan. It required ten percent of the voters to pledge to be loyal to the United States. New constitutions would have to end slavery. Forgiveness would be offered to white southerners who agreed to be loyal to the United States. This provision didn’t include the former leaders of the Confederacy.

The Wade-Davis Bill was a plan proposed by Congress. It required 50% of white southerners to be loyal to our country. In the new state constitutions that would be written, slavery would be illegal. Former leaders of the Confederacy couldn’t hold office.

President Johnson had a plan because he believed the President should direct the Reconstruction process. Southerners would be forgiven and get their property back if they agreed to be loyal to the United States. The leaders of the Confederacy had to ask the President directly for forgiveness. New state constitutions would be written. Slavery would be illegal, and secession wouldn’t be allowed in these newly written constitutions.

The Radical Republicans in Congress had a plan that was quite harsh on the South. They wanted to give African-American males the right to vote. They wanted to prevent the former leaders of the Confederacy from voting. They also planned to give slaves land by taking it from the plantation owners. They also provide funding for schools. The 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments were part of their plan. Slavery was illegal with the 13th amendment. All people born in the United States would be citizens of the United States was part of the 14th amendment. With the 15th amendment, people couldn’t be denied voting rights based on their race or color. The military was also in charge of Reconstruction in the South.

Eventually, it was the harsher Radical Republican plan that prevailed and became the plan of Reconstruction in the South.

Sketch the character of Belinda in Pope's The Rape of the Lock .

I think the best way to characterize Belinda is to use the toilet scene.  The toilet scene is an incredibly high brow description of Belinda getting herself ready to go out.  

The first thing that I want to point out is that Belinda must be wealthy.  She has servants that help her do her hair and makeup.  That's not the norm.  It wasn't then, and it isn't now.  Having servants makes you wealthy.  

The busy Sylphs surround their darling Care;
These set the Head, and those divide the Hair,
Some fold the Sleeve, while others plait the Gown;
And Betty's prais'd for Labours not her own.

I've always thought that Belinda is incredibly vain as well.  I realize that women put on makeup to improve their looks.  That doesn't make all women vain. But Belinda is vain, because the beautification of herself is likened to a form of worship.  

A heav'nly Image in the Glass appears,
To that she bends, to that her Eyes she rears;
Th' inferior Priestess, at her Altar's side,
Trembling, begins the sacred Rites of Pride.

Self worship is essentially the definition of narcissism.  Honestly, if Pope was writing this poem today, he would have found a way to describe selfie pictures being taken of Belinda.  

I would also have to say that Belinda is quite sweet. . . while things are going her way.  But if things don't go according to plan, or somebody messes with her looks, watch out.  For example, she goes into crazy rage mode when Lord Petre cuts off one of her curls.  

In A Christmas Carol, is "stave" ironic? Each spirit is helping to stave off a miserable life and afterlife, so is there potentially a double...

Good catch on the double meaning! Dickens was very intentional with his wording, so we have to assume that this was intended as well.

On the surface, we take the word "stave" at face value -- as a portion of a song (like a stanza of a poem).  This matches the title of the work.  If the entire work is a song or a "carol," then it would make sense that the individual parts that comprise it would be known as staves.

However, as you astutely point out, to stave something off is to keep something from happening, or to at least delay it.  No doubt the ghosts are trying to stave off Scrooge's potentially meaningless life by showing him his past, present, and future.

What were some reasons why Rome was a good site for a city?

Let's take these one by one.

First, Rome was located along the Tiber River, which ran from the Mediterranean across the northeast of the peninsula.

Second, Rome was built near seven hills which provided some defense against invasion in the city's earliest years but not over the course of centuries of Empire.

Third, at the mouth of the Tiber River was Ostia, Rome's seaport from which the city would trade with the Mediterranean and built an impressive navy.

Fourth, the farms of Rome grew a variety of crops. Farming, in fact, became a chosen profession for much of Rome's elite.

All of these are part of why Rome's geography helped ensure its success. 

What is the significance of the Majimaji Rebellion?

The Majimaji Rebellion was an ultimately unsuccessful rebellion by African natives who attempted to remove those who had established German colonies in Africa. The two-year rebellion (1905-1907) involved hundreds of thousands of people and covered an area of more than 10,000 square miles.

The rebellion began after an African prophet, Kinjikitile Ngwale, claimed that he knew the secret to being able to repel German bullets—sacred water, which was known as "Maji Maji."

Though those who fought as part of the Majimaji rebellion had some successes and victories, those successes were quelled thanks to a German counteroffensive that left more than 75,000 warriors dead. 

Despite the failure of this particular rebellion, it did a couple of things of significance, including forcing the German government in Berlin to institute reforms to lessen the brutality by which they ruled in the colonies, and providing an example to other interethnic groups later in the 1900s who fought against similar colonization efforts from other European nations.

What were the social differences between the North and the South?

This answer will focus on the social differences between the North and the South before the Civil War. The biggest difference between the two regions was that the South held, by 1860, nearly four million enslaved people. The states where slaves made up the largest percentage of the population were in the Deep South--South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi--though Virginia had nearly half a million in its own right. Meanwhile, in the North, slavery had been abolished by 1860, slowly dying out under gradual emancipation laws in most cases. This transition accompanied another, equally significant transition. The Southern economy became more and more based on cotton as a cash crop while the Northern economy diversified and industrialized. In the North, a large industrial working class began to develop in the cities, its numbers increased by immigrants from Ireland and elsewhere. The prevalence of slave labor, and the capital invested in slaves, meant that no such free working class emerged in the South. Rather, most poor whites remained small farmers. So in short, the existence of slavery, which made the emergence of a cash crop economy possible, marked the most important social difference between the North and South.

Why does Lennie become upset with Crooks in Of Mice and Men?

Realizing that he has the intellectual advantage, Crooks tries to rile Lennie, who is looking for George, by telling him that George is not returning. He upsets Lennie simply because he can; this behavior of Crooks demonstrates the tendency of men who are too often alone to become mean and resentful.

Thematic of Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men is the Fraternity of Men that provides individuals strength and companionship. Without this fraternity men become mean and defensive, and in their alienation they lose meaning in their lives, because meaning comes from sharing. And, so, there is another reason that Crooks taunts Lennie by saying that George may not return from the whore house in town.

Crooks' face lighted with pleasure in his torture...."Le's say he wants to come back and can't. S'pose he gets killed or hurt so he can't come back."

Lennie struggled to understand. "George won't do nothing like that...he's careful....Say, what you doin' anyways?....This ain't true. George ain't got hurt."

Crooks bored in on him."Want me ta tell ya what'll happen?They'll take ya to the booby hatch. They'll tie ya up with a collar, like a dog."

When Lennie becomes threatening, Crooks backs off, and he reassures Lennie that George is all right. Lennie "growled back," Crooks, then, asks him, "Maybe you can see now," meaning now, perhaps, Lennie understands what it is to be alone. Crooks tells Lennie that a man needs someone to be near him.

"A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody....I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an' he gets sick."

This companionship helps a man know what he thinks makes sense, or what he sees is really there. There is a necessity for man to have others around him, to have someone against whom he can measure himself. The fraternity of men, the dream of living together and looking out for one another, is thematic of the narrative, and nowhere is it brought to point than in the interchange between Lennie and Crooks in his room.

Why should we protect animals?

Biodiversity is a term that relates to the variety of living things on Earth. This link from the Endangered Species International does an exceptional job in identifying the need to protect the biodiversity of animals. The Endangered Species International speaks of the medical advancements and discoveries that are made be studying different animals.

From an ecological perspective, humans need to protect animals in order to keep a balance in the ecosystems. When the prevalence of a species is altered, entire food chains and food webs are also altered.

Some people take a Biblical perspective on the responsibility of humans in the protection of animals. The Bible repeatedly calls for humans to show love and compassion.  In verse 28, God gives man the authority over all of God’s creations. Therefore, it is argued that this love and compassion be displayed to all of God’s creations, not just other humans.

I hope this helps!

Analyze the poem "Rebellion Against the North Side."

There will be no monograms on our skulls.
You who are training your daughters to check for the words
“Calvin Klein” before they look to see if there are pockets
are giving them no hands to put in those pockets.

Naomi Shihab Nye, an Arab-American writer, wrote the poem "Rebellion Against the North Side" as a critique of materialism and consumerism.  She believes that we are doing our children harm by teaching them to value material things. Children are being accustomed to look for the name brand of an object rather than the quality.  Paying top dollar for a brand or "monogram" is done only to be included in the "in crowd."  She makes the argument that doing this teaches children to be followers who are not able to think for themselves.  

You are giving them eyes that will find nothing solid in stones.
No comfort in rough land, nameless sheep trails.
No answers from things which do not speak.

The reference to "sheep trails" is meant to exemplify the blindness by which consumers follow the leader when it comes buying consumer goods.  She directs parents to remind their children that for generations, people spun their own clothing and wore it "till they fell apart."  Nye also believes that these fashions are fleeting and children should be taught to revere the natural world more than the material world.  

What does the Declaration of Independence say?

The Declaration says many things, but it can basically be divided into a few key parts. The first states the reasons for writing the document, namely to tell mankind why the Americans are declaring independence. This is followed by a statement of the purpose of government and an assertion of the right of revolution when government fails to live up to that purpose, namely the protection of "unalienable rights". The third, and longest section, is a list of accusations against King George III. Essentially the Declaration held him responsible for violating their rights, which was, as I mentioned above, their justification for revolution. In the final section of the document, the signers announced that all political connections were dissolved between Great Britain and its former colonies, and pledged themselves to bringing about independence. Many people after the fact have read the Declaration as a kind of "statement of principles" of the new nation, but this is not really how it was read at the time. For a copy of the Declaration itself, see the link below.

What aspects of nature does Alfred, Lord Tennyson feature in his poem "The Eagle"?

Along with Wordsworth, Lord Byron, Shelley and Keats, Alfred, Lord Tennyson is considered one of the premiere English Romantic poets. Romantic poetry often focused on nature. For example, one of Wordsworth's most famous poems, "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" is simply the poet's recollection of what it was like to come upon a field of daffodils and the beauty they provided him.

Likewise, Tennyson focuses on an eagle, perched high on a mountain cliff, as the subject of this short, two stanza poem. He uses both personification and simile to describe the eagle as the bird watches from high above, and then dives to the sea below for his prey. The eagle is personified in the first stanza: "He clasps the crag with crooked hands". In the second stanza, Tennyson uses a simile to express the eagle's hunt:

He watches from his mountain walls,

And like a thunderbolt he falls.

In nature, the eagle is a king, very high on the food chain. The poem reflects this predominance. Nothing can touch the eagle on its lofty precipice. It has a complete view of the world below and hunts ruthlessly. The eagle is compared to a thunderbolt, and the extreme power that natural element brings to the world. Tennyson also describes the sky as "azure," defining its deep blue quality, and the sea as "wrinkled," taking into account the motion of the waves. 

Does Virginia Woolf use the stream of consciousness technique in "A Room of One's Own"?

The simple answer would be "yes", but there is much more to Virginia Woolf than "yes" and "no" answers, as you will find out the more you read about her and her works.

As a genre-bending production that combines the basics of essay, discourse, self-analysis, and autobiography, "A Room of One's View", does show plenty of the stream of consciousness narrative in that it features:

• An interior monologue

Characters are consistently talking to themselves. We are not the intended audience. We really are the secondary listeners.

• Ongoing analysis

Woolf is determined to make a point throughout this essay regarding her conviction that there should be equality for men and women. She does this consistently.

• Non sequential (non linear) narrative

Can we really categorize the story by beginning, middle or end? We cannot. It is all over the place, sometimes with some parts of the narrative showing more organization than others.

• Tangential thoughts

There is literary license to shift from one theme to another, or even from one mood to another, as well.

• Free, indirect speech

Again, we are not being asked to sit down and read, or sit and listen. The narrator will do it, regardless.

In other words, Virginia is not speaking to us directly, nor is she trying to convince us of anything. In literary works that feature this narrative style, the characters who do the talking seem more like they are making an attempt at convincing themselves of what they are saying.

It is no different than speaking out a manifesto where an idea is exposed and evidence is given to support the main thesis, hence, the "essay" traits also evident in this work.

Whether it is as Mary Beton, Mary Seton, Mary Carmichael, or even as Judith Shakespeare, the reader gets the gist that Virginia Woolf is speaking about a topic that is very dear and strong to her: gender equality in literature. As such, she uses a variety of foci to make her point, present her ideas, and perhaps elicit a sense of agreement in the audience, to justify her point.

Is the Nautilus like a sovereign nation?

In Captain Nemo, Jules Verne created one of the most fascinating characters in literature. One of the reasons Captain Nemo has fascinated generations of readers is that he is fully sovereign over himself and his crew. In this way, he represents an ultimate freedom that most people cannot have—the freedom to completely decide one’s own destiny.

The Nautilus is Captain Nemo’s domain, and as he is sovereign, the vessel itself is akin to a sovereign nation. It neither sails under the flag of nor recognizes the law of any nation. It has its own laws and tradition, and its own means of defending itself. Further, the crew are loyal to the ship and its captain above any nation, all of them, like Nemo, having chosen to live apart from the nations of the world.

Finally, it is worth noting that the Nautilus rarely ventures into the waters of other nations, even for supplies. It mainly keeps to international waters, where its captain and crew do not have to submit to the laws of any nation. Further, the crew of the Nautilus are able to derive most of their subsistence from the ocean, making them and the ship beholden to no nation for support, other than through trade.

Who got out of the cart in Anna Sewell's Black Beauty?

There are several moments in Anna Sewell's Black Beauty when someone jumps out of a cart, especially a dog-cart, which is an open one-horse drawn vehicle that only sits one driver and one passenger; it also rolls on only two high wheels. One of the best moments occurs early on in the book when Black Beauty is still under the care of Squire Gordon.

In Chapter 12, Part 1, Black Beauty, called Beauty for short, narrates a moment in late fall when he had been driving Squire Gordon and John, the coachman, in the dog-cart on a long business trip. While traveling, a storm struck, bringing heavy rainfall, strong winds, and flooding. Arriving safely in town, they did not leave until later that afternoon when the storm was even worse. While traveling along the woods, Squire Gordon remarked that he wished they were away from the woods, and John commented, "Yes, sir, ... it would be rather awkward if one of these branches came down upon us." John's remark was prophetic for, soon enough, a branch groaned, cracked, splintered, and "fell right across the road just before us." Beauty informs his readers that he was terrified but "did not turn round or run away" because of his strong upbringing.

He further informs us that John instantly "jumped out" of the dog-cart and went to Black Beauty to make sure he was alright.

Beauty further informs us that John and Squire Gordon decided to backtrack and go across the bridge, but when they reached the bridge, Beauty refused to cross because he "knew the bridge was not safe." John rightly trusted Beauty rather than foolishly urging him further, and soon enough, they learned from a man at the toll-gate that the bridge was broken. Beauty was praised for saving everyone's lives.

Which words or actions are evidence of Romeo being a tragic hero?

First, a tragic hero is a character of noble birth.  Romeo is from one of the "two households, both alike in dignity" in Verona that have even gained the attention of the Prince with their well-publicized feud.  Both families are obviously very wealthy; the Capulets host an elaborate masquerade for what amounts to the entire upper crust of the city in the first act.  Also, Juliet has been all but promised to Paris, who is a Count with wealth and land.

Next, fate will play a role in the tragic hero's circumstance, but so will free will.  When Capulet sends out a servant with the party guest list, fate intervenes when he asks none else but Romeo to read it for him.  This, of course, is how Romeo learns of the Capulet masquerade, where Rosaline will be.  On the way, however, he has a premonition:

. . . my mind misgives / Some consequence yet hanging in the stars / Shall bitterly begin his fearful date / With this night's revels and expire the term / Of a despised life closed in my breast / By some vile forfeit of untimely death.

It is Romeo's choice that leads him to continue on to the feast despite his fears, and to his fated meeting with Juliet that leads to the fulfillment of his prophesy.

Of course, a tragic hero's most basic requirement is the exhibition of a tragic flaw.  Romeo's most plot-driving flaw is his impulsiveness.  He falls (out and) in love and is married in less than twenty-four hours.  He refuses to defend himself against Tybalt and yet avenges Mercutio against Tybalt within minutes.  Worst of all, when he is exiled, his impetuousness leads him to quickly agree to a plan that causes his own and Juliet's eventual suicide. 

While not necessarily a characteristic of the tragic hero, catharsis is necessary to complete a tragic tale.  The teens' death brings catharsis to Verona and to the audience; all are relieved that the feud is at an end and the senseless killings will end.  

How do the multiple speakers in the poem "Ozymandias" help create a sense of irony?

You could say that there are three speakers in this poem even though there is only one speaker relating what has been said. The main speaker of the poem recalls what a traveler from an ancient land had told him about the statue. The irony arises between what the traveler says about the statue and what Ozymandias "said" (the quote) to all who would look upon his statue. 

Ozymandias is quoted as saying "Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" Ozymandias (Ramses II) was quite proud and wanted monuments such as this statue to demonstrate his greatness and superiority to all others. However, in an ironic twist, the sculptor is able to mock this pride by capturing and mocking Ozymandias. The sculptor gives him a "wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command." Ozymandias wanted the sculptor to illustrate his greatness, but the sculptor mocks the ruler's pride instead. 

The further irony is that the statue has become a "colossal wreck" in a barren desert. Contrary to Ozymandias's wish, his greatness has been forgotten. 

The speaker of the poem reflects upon this notion that power is fleeting, but that the art (sculptor's work) has lasted. It is the mockery in the art, not the ruler's greatness, that has survived the test of time. Art outlasts power. 

What are the two different types of lobbying methods and what is considered direct lobbying techniques?

The two different kinds of lobbying are direct and indirect lobbying. 

Indirect lobbying occurs when the interest group communicates with the people who then get in touch with the people who make the laws.  An example of this would be if there were a gun control law proposed and the NRA encouraged its members and other people in the community to write to or call their Congresspeople to urge them not to support the bill.

Direct lobbying occurs when a representative of an interest group directly contacts members of government to try to get them to act in the way that the interest group prefers.  One example of a direct lobbying technique would be if a lobbyist hired by an agricultural interest group might schedule a meeting with a senator from Iowa or with the senator’s staff to try to persuade them to support a farm subsidy bill.  Another technique would be if the interest group wrote a bill and then brought it to the senator and asked him or her to consider introducing the bill in Congress.  A third technique would be to contribute money to a legislator’s campaign fund.  An interest group might give a lot of money to a super PAC that supports a given legislator.  They would then hope to gain access to that legislator so they could try to persuade him or her to support their goals.  All of these are examples of direct lobbying techniques.

How does Atticus from To Kill a Mockingbird show he's against racism?

"I hope and pray I can get Jem and Scout through it without bitterness, and most of all, without catching Maycomb's usual disease. Why reasonable people go stark raving mad when anything involving a Negro comes up, is something I don't pretend to understand" (88).

The above passage quotes Atticus talking with his younger brother Jack about the Tom Robinson case. What he means by "Maycomb's usual disease" is racism. Atticus is appointed by Judge Taylor to take Tom Robinson's case, but he doesn't have to care about it, and he sure doesn't have to prepare a strong defense--but he does. This shows that Atticus is against all of the prejudice and discrimination against blacks in his community. When Atticus discusses with Scout about the reasons why he has taken the case in chapter 11, he says the following:

". . . well, all I can say is, when you and Jem are grown, maybe you'll look back on this with some compassion and some feeling that I didn't let you down. This case, Tom Robinson's case, is something that goes to the essence of man's conscience--Scout, I couldn't go to church and worship God if I didn't try to help that man" (104).

What Atticus is saying in this passage is that he is greatly concerned about what this trial represents and what the fight really is about. He understands how racist his community is, but he knows that he needs to take the opportunity to stand up against it by doing his best in the Tom Robinson case. He also knows that the odds are stacked against him and Tom, but if he doesn't put up a good fight, then he would only be as good as those who perpetuate the racial problem. Not only that, but he wants to be a good example for what's right to his children. He doesn't want them to grow up racist either.

What are three examples of prefixes in Chapter 7 of Bud, Not Buddy?

Some of the words containing prefixes used in chapter 7 are described below along with the meaning of the prefix. Many common prefixes are used throughout this upper elementary to middle school level, young adult novel.

The word concerning is used in chapter 7. The prefix "con-" means with and is also found in words such as concert and concur.

The word retrieve is used in chapter 7. The prefix "re-" means again. It is also found in words such as rewrite and repaint.

The word divide is used in chapter 7. The prefix "di-" means two or double. It is also found in words such as dilemma and digraph.

The word pretended is used in chapter 7. The prefix "pre-" means before. It is also found in words such as pretext and prelude.

Provide two arguments that either supports line item veto or opposes it. Back up both arguments with data or specific examples.

The line-item veto is a power granted to some executives (most Governors in the US have it, for example) to veto not entire pieces of legislation, but specific pieces. This makes the veto, and hence the executive, much more powerful. I'll give you some arguments for an against, and you can decide which ones you find worth expanding on.

In the US, whether or not the line-item veto is Constitutional hinges upon how we read the Presentment Clause:

"Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States: If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it."

If we interpret "Bill" to mean the entire document presented to the President, then the line-item veto is obviously un-Constitutional. But if we interpret "Bill" to mean any proposed change in laws, then the line-item veto could be Constitutional, since each line-item is itself a change in laws. In 1998 the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the former reading, banning the line-item veto. Before that point, Bill Clinton had exercised it over 80 times.

So, by law, a Constitutional Amendment (or a reversal by the Supreme Court) would be required to restore the line-item veto. But aside from the reading of the Constitution, there are also moral arguments we could make about whether or not the line-item veto should exist.

How powerful do we want the executive to be, compared to the legislature? The ability to veto entire bills already grants significant power to the executive, and the ability to veto only parts of bills would greatly expand that power. While the main uses of the line-item veto in practice involved removing minor additions to budget bills, there's nothing in principle from stopping an executive with the line-item veto from fundamentally changing the character of a piece of legislation by removing certain parts of it. For example, I've linked an example of some extensive rewrites that the Governor of Wyoming made to the state budget by heavy use of the line-item veto. I agree with most of the changes---but I'm not sure he should have had the authority to make them.

On the other hand, without the line-item veto, the legislature can add riders to bills that have nothing to do with the original intent of the bill, and then the executive is forced to either pass the riders or veto the entire bill. A number of very questionable pieces of legislation have been written into  budgets; a veto of the budget could trigger a government shutdown, just as the failure to vote on a budget triggered a shutdown in 2013.

For example, "indefinite detention" provisions were included in the 2014 defense budget, which President Obama would almost certainly have line-item vetoed if he could have. But he didn't want to veto the entire defense budget, so he signed it. (Interesting thought: He could actually have tried, citing the Fourth Amendment; basically he'd be saying "this rider is un-Constitutional, so I don't need the line-item veto; it should not be there." Then the Supreme Court would have to rule on whether the provision itself was Constitutional.)

One could also argue that the executive should have more power, because voters appear to be much more engaged in electing the President than they do in electing Congress, and therefore the President may be a better reflection of the true values and interests of the voting population. The fact that the President is elected by state instead of by district also means that the votes might be more representative (you can't gerrymander a state). On those grounds, giving more power to the executive (within reason; we're talking about a line-item veto, not a dictatorship) could actually be considered more democratic.

How does Brutus feel about swearing an oath?

We do know in the play Julius Caesar that Brutus is against the idea of him and the conspirators swearing an oath of loyalty to one another because he feels that if everyone is truly loyal, no oath should be required—their honesty should be present in their faces. Many have viewed his belief to be naive and even a weakness on his part. In his heart, Brutus is a man of honor. Unfortunately, he believes everyone else he is conspiring with is also honorable, and this simply is not the case. Cassius is a master manipulator, and by refusing to take an oath, Brutus is shown to be blindly following him. 

While taking an oath probably would have made little difference in the outcome of the aftermath of Caesar's assassination, by refusing to make an oath, Brutus revealed himself to be, if nothing else, a very poor judge of character and politically naive. 

How might learning to empathize require people to challenge expectations of themselves and others?

Great question! In the book The Freedom Writers Diary, many of the students learn to empathize with others.

Through the students’ readings and educational experiences, many of the students learn to empathize with different individuals. Although the students may not exactly relate to some of the characters or heroic individuals (such as Anne Frank), many find aspects of the stories to relate to and empathize with in their own lives.

As a result of their new empathy, many of the individuals are challenged to change their expectations of others and themselves. For example, "problem students" who have not expected much from themselves have realized that they are “heroes” and should make a difference in the world. As Miep reveals to the students:

“You are the heroes. You are heroes every day.”

Furthermore, they have also learned to empathize with others. Instead of aligning themselves with their own ethnic background or gang, students began to care and unite with individuals from very different backgrounds.

Thus, in the story, many of the students learn to empathize with characters and individuals from books. Consequently, they eventually start empathizing with others in their own classroom and begin to challenge expectations of themselves and others.