What is an important trait of the protagonist, Bud, from Christopher Paul Curtis' Bud, Not Buddy, that is widely supported throughout the text?

It is somewhat unfortunate given Bud Caldwell/Calloway’s overall temperament and intelligence, but this kind, compassionate little boy’s most persistent trait throughout Christopher Paul Curtis’s novel Bud, Not Buddy is his skill at fabricating or lying. Bud displays uncommon compassion for others, as when he consoles six-year-old Jerry, who has just, along with Bud, been pulled out of the breakfast line at the orphanage to be informed that both boys are being placed in new foster homes, Jerry with a family with three young girls. The slightly-older (by two years) Bud, burdened with the knowledge that he is almost certainly headed into a far worse scenario than Jerry, nevertheless takes the time to try to ease the latter child’s mind:

“I sat down next to him and said, ‘I know being in a house with three girls sounds terrible, Jerry, but it's a lot better than being with a boy who's a couple of years older than you. I'm the one who's going to have problems. A older boy is going to want to fight, but those little girls are going to treat you real good. They're going to treat you like some kind of special pet or something.'"

Bud’s compassion for others is evident throughout Curtis’s story, and it is this young boy’s compassion and intelligence that makes particularly sad the fact the trait most commonly ascribed to Bud throughout the novel is his skill at lying. Lying, for Bud, is an essential characteristic; it is a defense mechanism against the unfairness and petty cruelties he is forced to endure by virtue of his situation. The logical answer to the question—what is an important trait of Bud—then, is his proclivity for lying his way out of difficult situations, as when he is forced to lie to Mrs. Amos, the mother of 12-year-old Todd/Teddy, the violent, bullying boy in whose house the smaller, younger Bud is placed after he is pulled out of the orphanage. Bud hastens to note, upon being beaten by Todd and blamed for the attack by the older boy when Mrs. Amos enters the room, that he may have met his match in his new nemesis:

“I'm not bragging when I say that I'm one of the best liars in the world but I got to tell you, Todd was pretty doggone good. It seemed like he knew some of the same things I know, the things I think of all the time and try to remember so I don't make the same mistake more than seven or eight times. Shucks, I've got so many of them rememorized that I had to give them numbers, and it seemed like Todd knew Number 3 of Bud Caldwell's Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar Out of Yourself.”

This passage reveals Bud’s secret for surviving: the ability to deceive others as to his true thoughts and motivations. It is a character trait to which he consciously clings when circumstances dictate. As Curtis’s young narrator concludes upon being compelled by Mrs. Amos to apologize for being attacked by Todd, and fearing the adult’s wrath, “if I didn't lie good enough she was going to use that strap on me.” Later, in Chapter Six, Bud again feels obligated to lie out of a well-founded sense of self-preservation. Arriving too late at the Mission in the hopes of finding food, he states, “It was time to start lying. If I didn't get any food now I'd have to steal something out of someone's garbage or I wouldn't be able to eat until the mission opened for supper.”

Bud’s propensity for lying is a constant theme throughout Bud, Not Buddy. In Chapter Ten, hoping to get a ride to Grand Rapids, where he has been falsely telling people he is from in the hopes that people will be naturally inclined to return him from whence he came, he begins to suspect that this particular lie may not work out the way he intended. Encountering an adult who may be predisposed to aid him in his journey, but who may not accept as fact the story Bud has told him, the boy reflects, “[t]hat's the bad thing about lying, once you say one you've usually got to stick with it.” Bud’s is a tragic situation, but he is smart and precocious enough to believe in himself. He knows he has to carefully maneuver himself through the adult world to achieve his objective. If lying from time to time is necessary, then so be it.

What is the critical analysis of "Lucy Gray"?

"Lucy Gray" is both a ballad, telling the story of the death of a young girl named Lucy Gray in verse form, and a meditation on death itself. The narrative or ballad is based on a story Wordsworth heard from his sister Dorothy of a little girl lost in a snowstorm. As Wordworth's idea in the Lyrical Ballads, the 1799 book of poetry in which this poem appeared, was to write about nature, the supernatural, and the common people in simple language, this poem was an ideal fit: in it Lucy, a solitary child of nature and daughter of ordinary folk, becomes a symbol of nature as well as a spirit that may roam the earth after death.

Children died often in this period, and in the nineteenth century their deaths were often the subject of poems. In this poem, by leaving the nature of Lucy's death somewhat mysterious—all we learn is her footsteps on a bridge suddenly stop on a "plank"—and by having "some maintain that to this day / she is a living child," the poet raises questions about the nature of death. Does some essence of a person's spirit get left behind after they die, especially if the person was as closely tied to nature as Lucy Gray? Do the villagers really see her "upon the lonesome wild" of the landscape or hear her voice in the wind, or is this only their imagination? The theme of imagination was especially important to the Romantic poets, and the poem implicitly appreciates the idea of remembering and imagining this little girl as part of the natural world. Further, the Romantics liked to explore the relationship of the soul to nature, and other writers, such as Emily Brontë, explore the theme of a person so tied to a natural spot that after death their soul stays on it. By recording that people still see and hear Lucy Gray, the poet argues that part of her remains behind after her death. Whether this is real or imaginary is up to the reader to decide.

In "Good Country People," how do handicaps symbolize the greater handicap of the intellect, the heart, and the soul?

In Flannery O'Connor's "Good Country People," one of the main characters, Hulga, suffers from a handicap. She has only one leg and uses a prosthetic leg to get around. She puts much emphasis on her false leg, clomping around the house loudly, especially when her mother is around. She uses it as an excuse for why she can't do things and emphasizes how it has negatively affected her life. This handicap, however, represents a greater handicap, according to O'Connor. Hulga may have gone to school and earned a degree, but she is not putting her intelligence to good use because she claims her leg won't let her work. In addition, O'Connor portrays Hulga as a spiritually empty person who cannot love--both of these things are represented by her handicap. The message O'Connor sends, then, is that Hulga's real handicap is not her leg, it is who she is as a person.

In the Merchant Of Venice, why does Portia tell the Prince of Morocco that she loves him when she actually hates him?

Portia finds herself in a most unfortunate situation because her father has willed that she may only marry a man who chooses the correct casket of three: gold, silver and lead. He has placed, before his death, messages in each of the three chests but only one congratulates the suitor on his success whilst the other two mocks him for making the wrong choice.  

Portia is, therefore, the winning prize in a lottery arranged by her deceased father. She may not assist any of the suitors or provide them any clues as to which is the correct choice for she would then forfeit her entire inheritance. Since her father had been an extremely wealthy man and she was a beautiful young lass, many suitors came to her island home, Belmont, to chance their luck. The suitors, themselves, were wealthy young men with titles and status. Such a person was the prince of Morocco.

When she hears of the prince's imminent arrival, Portia confides to Nerissa, her waiting-lady:

...I should
be glad of his approach: if he have the condition
of a saint and the complexion of a devil, I had
rather he should shrive me than wive me.

Portia here clearly expresses her disdain. She is not happy that the prince would be coming to chance his luck but has to pretend to be, for appearance' sake; that is why she uses the word 'should.' Her remark as to the prince's complexion has numerous interpretations, but she would not be pleased if he appeared unpleasant. She would then rather have him forgive her of her sins or exclude her from his choice for a wife than to actually marry her. 

When the prince eventually makes his entry in Act 2, scene 1, he asks Portia not to hate him for his looks. In her reply, Portia tells him:

In terms of choice I am not solely led
By nice direction of a maiden's eyes;
Besides, the lottery of my destiny
Bars me the right of voluntary choosing:
But if my father had not scanted me
And hedged me by his wit, to yield myself
His wife who wins me by that means I told you,
Yourself, renowned prince, then stood as fair
As any comer I have look'd on yet
For my affection.

She means that she is not only guided by good looks and furthermore, she does not have any choice in the matter because of her father's will and she is therefore compelled to give herself to him if he should choose correctly. She assures the prince that if these were not the conditions, he would have stood as much a chance of winning her hand as any man. She would have no particular prejudice against him. 

In saying this, Portia shows her breeding and stature. She is courteous to the prince and does not wish to offend him. As such, she speaks like a gentlewoman should and, instead of being harsh and dismissive or even rude, she makes him feel welcome and just as much the equal of any other man who may want to win her affection. The prince is impressed by her courtesy and generously thanks her. 

Later, in scene 7, when the prince is at the point of making his choice, Portia refers to the prince as 'noble', again displaying her generosity and genteel nature. She assures the prince when he asks how he would know if he had chosen the correct chest, by saying:

The one of them contains my picture, prince:
If you choose that, then I am yours withal.

She would be the prince's completely if he should choose right.

Once the prince has made his choice, which turns out to be the wrong one, he leaves immediately. Portia breathes an obvious sigh of relief and says:

A gentle riddance. Draw the curtains, go.
Let all of his complexion choose me so.

She is happy that she is so easily rid of the prince.

When a thick glass slab is placed over some printed matter, the letters appear raised. Why?

The letters appear raised because of a phenomenon known as refraction. When light travels from one medium to another, it bends (either towards or away from the normal). This happens because different media have different densities and thus, the speed of light is different in each one of them. This causes the light to slow down or speed up, depending on the medium. Note that refraction takes place at the interface of two media, air and glass in this case. Also note that refraction only takes place when the light is incident obliquely to the medium and not along a normal drawn to it.

Thus, when we look at letters printed on a piece of paper through a glass slab obliquely, the light rays bend at air-glass interface and the letters appear raised to us. We can also think about it by considering two light rays from the printed letters. These rays would be refracted on coming out of glass slab (and into air). If these rays were to be extended backwards, they will meet at a slightly raised position, giving us the illusion that letters are raised.

Similar observations are there when we look at the bottom of a swimming pool. It appears raised. A pencil dipped partially in a glass of water appears displaced at the water-air interface. 

Hope this helps. 

Which battle features at the start of the play, Macbeth? Is the battle even named?

The battle is not given a specific title, but it is clear from the text that it was part of King Duncan's fight against the rebellious Macdonwald, who had turned against his king, most probably in an attempt to usurp the Scottish throne and claim it for himself.

To this end, Macdonwald has gathered around him a number of allies, such as the thane of Cawdor and Sweno, the king of Norway, who have obviously provided him with men to boost his forces. It is clear from the injured sergeant's report in Act 1 scene 2, that the battle had been fierce and advantage had probably swayed from one party to the other throughout. It becomes evident, though, that it was Macbeth's stubborn resilience and determination which encouraged the king's exhausted troops and ensured victory. The sergeant, in glowing terms, reports in part:

...For brave Macbeth--well he deserves that name--
Disdaining fortune, with his brandish'd steel,
Which smoked with bloody execution,
Like valour's minion carved out his passage
Till he faced the slave;
Which ne'er shook hands, nor bade farewell to him,
Till he unseam'd him from the nave to the chaps,
And fix'd his head upon our battlements.

It was Macbeth's undaunted spirit and valor which won them the day. He confronted the fierce and fiery Macdonwald, showing no courtesy, and executed him, ripping him apart from his navel to his jaw. He then decapitated the traitor and attached his head to the battlements for all to see.

This victory, however, did not scare off the Norwegian king and his troops, for they believed that they had the upper hand and, with new weapons and fresh men, launched a renewed assault. Their inspired action, though, did not dishearten Macbeth and Banquo but, instead, encouraged them, for they doubled their attack.

Ross, on returning from the battlefield, later confirms what the sergeant had reported and states that the king of Norway and the thane of Cawdor were defeated by the force of their fighting. This news obviously provides Duncan much joy for the threat to his crown has been ruthlessly suppressed. In his bliss, he praises Macbeth specifically and, in his absence, awards him the title thane of Cawdor, for the previous thane would be executed for his betrayal. Duncan tells Ross:

No more that thane of Cawdor shall deceive
Our bosom interest: go pronounce his present death,
And with his former title greet Macbeth.

Great irony lies in the fact that firstly, great honour and title is bestowed upon Macbeth for his courage in defending his king and country and secondly, that he had fought against the traitors who wished to overthrow his king. The irony lies in the fact that he betrays the king himself by doing the very thing Macdonwald, Cawdor and Sweno had failed to achieve. He murders the king in his bed later and claims the throne when Duncan's sons escape, fearing for their lives.

I don't quite understand this problem, can you please explain it?

Here two scenarios are compared: inhalation and exhalation. The conditions of the lungs, during these scenarios, are compared. We are given the volumes of lungs, pressure and other data to assist us. 

Since there is no change in temperature of our body, as per the given problem here; we will use it to solve the problem. 

Using the ideal gas law: PV = nRT

we can also write it as: T = PV/nR

since, temperature is constant in the two scenarios, we can compare them by using the equation for temperature as:

`(P_1V_1)/(n_1R) = (P_2V_2)/(n_2R)`

or, `(P_1V_1)/n_1 = (P_2V_2)/n_2`

where, P1 = 759 mm Hg, V1 = 4.2 L, n1 = 248.1 moles, P2 = 768 mm Hg and V2 = 1.8

Thus, `n_2 = (P_2V_2n_1)/(P_1V_1)`

substituting the values of variables in this equation, we get n2 = 107.59 moles. Thus, even when we have exhaled as much as we can, our lungs would still hold about 107.59 moles of air. 

Hope this helps.

How is Scrooge's relationship to Tiny Tim at the end of the story?

Scrooge first takes notice of Tiny Tim when he visits the Cratchit house with the Ghost of Christmas Present.  He inquires about Tiny Tim and is disturbed when the ghost suggests that Tiny Tim will not survive.

When Scrooge awakens a changed man on Christmas morning, his thoughts go back to the Cratchits, and to Tiny Tim in particular.  He sends a large turkey to the Cratchit home.  The next day, he surprises Bob Cratchit with a raise that will help Bob better support his wife and six children.  

Scrooge's assistance of the Cratchits is not short lived.  The story tells us that Scrooge forms a relationship with Tiny Tim, and that he acts almost as a second father to him throughout the rest of his life.

What does Helen Stoner tell Holmes about her stepfather in "The Adventures of the Speckled Band"?

Helen Stoner tells Holmes that her stepfather is a violent and quarrelsome man.

Helen Stoner comes to see the detective Sherlock Holmes when her sister is killed.  She feels that her sister died in suspicious circumstances, and she worries that something might happen to her too.  They lived with her stepfather, and the man is not a nice man.

Helen explains to Holmes that her stepfather married their mother, but their mother died and the three of them returned to the family’s estate, Stoke Moran.  There he immediately began to fight with the neighbors and generally behave in a horrible manner.

Dr. Roylott suffers from what Helen Stoner refers to as “violence of temper.”  He gave up his medical practice and settled into the family estate, but at this time a terrible change came over him.

Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our neighbours, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in his house and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious quarrels with whoever might cross his path. 

Helen has a lot of examples of how her stepfather has been violent and gotten into fights with the neighbors and others.  He seems like a perfectly horrible man.

A series of disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of immense strength, and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger.

It does not seem impossible that someone like this would try to kill his stepdaughters for the inheritance.  Dr. Roylott killed one and tried to kill the other.  Fortunately, she hired Holmes and he figured out that Roylott was using a snake to commit murder.

Holmes says that when a doctor goes bad, it is the worst thing.  Doctors are supposed to help people, not hurt them.  However, they are possessed of a great deal of intelligence and cleverness which can be used to commit their crimes, should they go bad.

What are the important pages of George Orwell's book, 1984? With important, I mean the main events in the book, for example, when Julia has sex...

The novel, 1984, is split into three parts and each of these parts contains important events. 

In the first part, for example, Winston's internal fear of the party begins to dissipate and he experiments with the idea of rebellion. We see this in his purchase of the diary, on pages 8-9, and his jaded view of rewriting history at the Ministry of Truth, on pages 40-43.

In Part Two of 1984, Winston's rebellious feelings intensify and this has a profound affect on his outward sense of conformity. This is best illustrated on pages 123-133, in which Winston meets with Julia, his girlfriend, and the pair have sex in the woods, far away from the constant surveillance of the telescreens. Feeling the need for security, Winston rents the room above Mr Charrington's shop, on page 143, and this becomes his and Julia's hideaway.

Later in Part Two, Winston and Julia take their rebellion to the next level. They go to O'Brien's apartment, on page 174, and reveal themselves as party rebels. O'Brien arranges for Winston to receive a copy of Goldstein's book, which he reads aloud to Julia on page 192. But, on page 230, Winston and Julia are arrested by the Thought Police and taken to the Ministry of Love. 

Finally, in Part Three of 1984, Winston is tortured by O'Brien and his reintegration into society begins (page 273). Despite the beatings, Winston remains faithful to Julia, prompting O'Brien to send him to Room 101 where he is confronted by rats, his biggest fear (pages 298-300). Winston does, in fact, betray Julia and is released shortly after, as he is no longer a threat to the party. When he meets Julia again, on page 305, he learns that Julia also betrayed him and the love they once shared is over. All that is left for Winston is to accept that he loves Big Brother and he acknowledges this on the final page of the book, page 311. 

Please note that my copy of 1984 is the Penguin Classics Edition, published in London in 1990, and the page numbers in your copy may differ slightly. 

How were Bilbo and the dwarfs able to cross the river in The Hobbit?

The travelers use a rope to catch a boat from the other side of the river.

The forest of Mirkwood is a dangerous place.  You can lose your head easily.  Beorn warned the company to stay out of the water because it would bewitch them.  When they came to a river, they could not ford it as they had the others.

This was their state when one day they found their path blocked by a running water. It flowed fast and strong but not very wide right across the way, and it was black, or looked it in the gloom. (Ch. 8)

Bilbo suggests that the river is about twelve yards wide, although Thorin doesn’t believe him.  He thinks it is thirty yards.  Bilbo comes up with a plan to get the boat they see across the river.

"Can any of you throw a rope?"

"What's the good of that? The boat is sure to be tied up, even if we could hook it, which I doubt."

"I don't believe it is tied," said Bilbo, "though of course I can't be sure in this light … (Ch. 8)

The plan works, although it takes a few tries.  Fili is finally able to hook the boat, and the others help to reel it in.  Bilbo had not thought the boat was tied up, but it turns out it was.  Still, with their combined strength they are able to get it.

They break up into groups since they will not all fit in the boat at once.  Bombur complains about being last, saying "I'm always last and I don't like it," but Thorin tells him it is because he’s fat.  Unfortunately, Bombur falls into the river and the boat disappears.  There is no way to get back.  The dwarves try to shoot at some deer, but they are not successful and they waste all of their arrows.

The incident is just one of several difficulties the travelers face on their way to the Lonely Mountain.  They cross many rivers, and most of them are easy to ford.  This river, however, is dangerous.  The travelers have to be careful not just of the speed and width of the river, but of the water inside it and its effects.

Who was Charles Baskerville's next of kin?

In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's novel, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Mr. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson have been asked by Dr. Mortimer to look into the death of a good friend. Sir Charles Baskerville recently died under somewhat mysterious circumstances. Sir Charles was in generally good health and took a walk every evening, but one night he didn't come back. His body was found at the end of the lane, surrounding by giant dog prints—it appeared he had simply died of fright. For many years, a curse has surrounded the Baskerville family and it seems that the spectral hound which killed Hugo Baskerville more than a century prior is back at it again.

In the event of Sir Charles' death, his estate falls into the hands of his next of kin—his nephew Sir Henry Baskerville. After Sir Henry, the next in line would be his estranged cousin who goes by the name of Stapleton.

How would the second cat in Poe's story "The Black Cat" be described?

When the narrator first meets the second black cat, he describes it by saying:

"It was a black cat - a very large one - fully as large as Pluto, and closely resembling him in every respect but one. Pluto had not a white hair upon any portion of his body; but this cat had a large, altogether indefinite splotch of white, covering nearly the whole region of the breast."

After he adopts the cat and comes to know it better, its resemblance to Pluto becomes more alarming. It is the same size as Pluto, and it's even missing an eye. Because of this likeness, he discovers that he is "disgusted" and "annoyed" by the cat's affection to him. Eventually, he says he feels "bitter hatred" toward it. Too ashamed of his treatment of Pluto to harm the cat, he flees from it whenever it comes near him. He wants to destroy it, but its one difference from Pluto makes him too afraid to do so: the new cat's white hair, which he previously thought of as an indefinite shape, now looks to be the shape of a gallows.

How has Lyddie's proficiency affected her salary in Lyddie?

Lyddie gets paid more when she becomes proficient because she gets paid by the piece.

Ever since she lost the farm and her family was split up, Lyddie has worried about money. She gave what little money she had to Ezekial, an escaped slave. Then she was fired from the tavern. This led her to get a job at the factory, where she felt more in control of her own destiny. 

When her roomates go home for the summer holiday, Lyddie comforts herself by hoping that she can use this as an opportunity to make more money. She does not really have a home to return to.

I may earn even more. If the weaving room is short of workers, Mr. Marsden may assign me another loom. Then I could turn out many more pieces each week. For she was proficient now. Weeks before she had begun tending her own loom without Diana's help. (Ch. 11)

After working at the factory for a short time, Lyddie no longer needed Diana’s help. Not only could she run a loom on her own, but she felt that she could handle another one too. Lyddie was willing to do anything for just a little more money.

The pay reflected her proficiency. She was making almost $2.50 a week above her $1.75 board. While the other girls grumbled that their piece rates had dropped so that it had hardly been worth slaving through the summer heat, she kept her silence. (Ch. 11)

Lyddie is a hard worker and values independence. She believes that if she works hard and saves money, she will eventually be able to pay off the family’s debts. Then, she hopes she can get her family back together on the farm.  Her brother works for a mill, and her mother and two littlest sisters went to her aunt’s house.

Which of the following is an example of a diseconomy of scale? A hotel increasing in size from 100 to 105 rooms and needing to hire more staff to...

Of these options, we can imagine that two of them could potentially be examples of diseconomies of scale.  However, without more information, we cannot be completely sure as to which answer your instructor would like to see. 

Your second and fourth options are clearly not right. If your supplier gives you a discount because you increase the size of your order, that is a classic example of an economy of scale.  You get a better price when you grow large enough to order more things from your supplier. Inflation is not connected to diseconomies of scale.  Firms experience inflation regardless of their size.  Inflation will not necessarily hurt a large firm more than it hurts a small one.   For these reasons, these two options are clearly incorrect.

Either of the other two options could or could not be correct, however, depending on how you think about them.  Advertising during the Super Bowl could be seen as a diseconomy of scale. You could argue that a firm only has to advertise during the Super Bowl if it is a big, important company. Because it has to advertise during the Super Bowl, it has to pay a higher price per minute of advertisement than a small firm that advertises at some other time.  On the other hand, you could say that large firms do not have to advertise during the Super Bowl.  Many large firms do not advertise then.  Some small firms do.  This means that advertising during the Super Bowl is not really a diseconomy of scale.

When the motel has to hire more staff, it might be experiencing a diseconomy of scale.  Higher labor costs are one source of diseconomies of scale.  However, the motel’s actual labor costs per output do not necessarily increase just because they hire more people.  Imagine that the hotel has 50 staff to clean 100 rooms.  They expand to 105 rooms and hire only two more staff. Now they have 52 staff cleaning 105 rooms, which is actually a better staff-to-room ratio than before. So this will only be an example of a diseconomy of scale if they have to hire too many new workers and their average costs go up.

So, none of these is a clear example of a diseconomy of scale. Two of them definitely are not examples, while the other two might or might not be.  You will need to decide how you are going to interpret each option in order to decide which answer is right.

What does Poseidon want Odysseus to learn during his journey home from Troy?

During his ten-year journey to Ithaca after fighting in the Trojan War, Odysseus and his crew came ashore at an island inhabited by the Cyclopes, a race of one-eyed giants.  When he and some of his crewmen went to seek them out, they stumbled across a cave filled with livestock and provisions, which turned out to be the abode of a Cyclopes named Polyphemus.  After sealing the entrance to the cave with a boulder, Polyphemus explained to Odysseus that the religious tradition of hospitality towards travelers meant nothing to him and proceeded to demonstrate his point by devouring four of the Greek general's crew. 

At length, Odysseus was able to blind Polyphemus by driving a stake through his eye, allowing him and the remaining crewman to escape.  As the Greeks were putting out to sea, Odysseus yelled taunts at the enraged giant, who hurled a boulder which barely missed sinking Odysseus' ship.  Although his terrified crew begged their leader to stop, he shouted a final boast to Polyphemus.  

Cyclops, if anyone asks you who it was that put your eye out and spoiled your beauty, say it was the valiant warrior Odysseus, son of Laertes, who lives in Ithaca.

Polyphemus took revenge against Odysseus by praying to his father Poseidon, the god of the sea, to either kill him or make his journey home a long ordeal. Poseidon answered his son's prayer, and in delaying Odysseus's return to his homeland with a succession of grueling challenges, taught him the foolishness of hubris, the most of dangerous of transgressions in the Hellenic cosmos.

You have to make a choice about which of two colleges to attend. You can't really explain it, but you feel strongly that you want to choose one...

Though the brain isn't really divided into sectors dedicated to emotion, sensory perception, radical action, and rational thought, we can describe the brain's myriad functions in abstractions such as these. For this question, the emotional brain is most likely in control.

If we categorize different processes of the brain as sensory, radical, rational, and emotional, we should also consider what these terms mean. What is the motivation or functions of these different types? Hopefully by breaking these down, it will become clear why the emotional brain is in charge in considering the two colleges.

• Sensory- The "sensory brain" describes our processes of detecting and interpreting sensory stimulus. This includes hearing, sight, sound, taste, touch, and our ability to move through space. If I had a strong preference for one college over another based on its sensory aspects, I might be able to describe the sensory stimuli that I found pleasant about the college. As this is not the case, it cannot be the sensory brain.


• 
  Rational- The "rational brain" describes our ability to make good judgments. What is the best course of action towards a desired end goal? Many people base their choice of college on their hopeful career and what type of degree they would like to earn. Other factors may be cost of tuition, student services and accommodations, distance from home, proximity to leisure activities and emergency services, and graduate programs. Because potentially beneficial factors like these aren't mentioned, it cannot be the rational brain at work. 


• 
  Radical- The "radical brain" is quite the opposite of the rational brain. It describes random actions, unpredictability, and perhaps a desire to go against the grain or subvert what might be called "good decisions." Above I mentioned several factors which can influence someone's decision on which college to attend. If the radical brain was in charge, I might choose to attend colleges which have the least beneficial factors, or disregard such criteria entirely. The radical brain isn't so much concerned with making the best decisions for the long-term goal as making impulsive decisions contrasting with or without regard for the criteria that make a college "good."


• 
  Emotional- The "emotional brain" describes the processes by which we feel. "Feel" is really the key word in answering your question. Feelings can be influenced by rational, radical, and sensory criteria, but these all offer some amount of explanation. Sometimes, we just feel, and it can be hard to really pinpoint the reason why. In this question, I can't explain why I feel a preference for the college, but I do. For that reason, I believe the emotional brain is in charge here.

What are the characters' motives in the story "Two Kinds?"

The two main characters in "Two Kinds" are Jing-mei, and her mother, Suyuan. Suyuan wants her daughter to be a prodigy and pushes her from a young age to perform. Her reasons for having such high expectations for her daughter include feeling competitive with her friend Lindo and wanting the best life possible for her daughter. Lindo's daughter, Waverly, is a true prodigy, having become a national chess champion at only nine years of age. Suyuan has to put up with Lindo's flaunting of Waverly's talents, and she would like to be able to have something with which to counter those boasts. Still, she tells Jing-mei, and it is certainly partially true, that she wants her to excel "for you [sic] sake." She wants her child to take advantage of all the opportunity America offers, especially since she came from China, where options were much more limited. Another subconscious motivation for Suyuan in having Jing-mei succeed is to make up for Suyuan's two baby girls whom she lost in China. In a sense, Suyuan needs Jing-mei to live three lives in one since those two baby girls never got to grow up with their mother.

Jing-mei at first is motivated by wanting to please her mother. She buys into the efforts to become a prodigy, thinking that when she did, "my mother and father would adore me. I would be beyond reproach." This motivation is short-lived. When she realizes she is not prodigy material, she has a meeting with herself in front of the mirror and decides, "I won't be what I'm not." Now her motivation is to be herself, not what someone else wants her to be. This motivation continues to grow as Jing-mei behaves first with passive defiance and then with outright rebellion towards her mother. Her desire is to be herself and to be loved for who she is, not for what someone can make of her. 

These motivations are in obvious conflict--a conflict that cannot be resolved peacefully because the mother and daughter can't seem to communicate effectively with each other. 

What role does the overproduction of organisms play in natural selection?

Overpopulation leads to competition for limited resources amongst the individual of population. There is variety amongst the individuals within a population. Some varieties are more advantageous within a given environment than others. Therefore, the individuals that possess the characteristics that are less advantageous to the environment will be more likely to perish.  Likewise, the individuals that possess the more advantageous variations will be better adapted to their environments. Such individuals will be more likely to obtain the limited resources and survive in that particular environment.  As a result, the survivors will have more opportunities to produce offspring. Over time, the genes of the survivors will become more prevalent within the gene pool of the population. As time passes, the results will accumulate and a new generation will be created in which the individuals obtain the favorable characteristics that make the species better adapted to its environment.

 In this way, overpopulation causes natural selection that leads to evolution.

What is the meaning of Dee changing her name to Wangero in ''Everyday Use''?

Names are important. For example, most people choose their children's names very carefully, seeking names that perpetuate a legacy and/or fit the child's personality. Children often grow up to shorten or even change their legal names to something that feels more like "them." So, it's important to consider how names impact a person's self-identity, as well as how others construct their perception of a person's identity based on a name.

In Alice Walker's "Everyday Use," Dee is a nickname for Dicie, a family name whose use can be traced back to the Civil War. However, Dee doesn't associate her name with family and belonging; she associates it with oppression and the loss of heritage. As an adult, after she's acquired an education, she renames herself Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo. Wangero is especially interesting because though she says that she values heritage and history - for example, asking for the handmade quilts - she distances herself emotionally from her family, and she wants the quilts so that she can display them, as if they're museum pieces. You might consider the contradictions Wangero embodies, as she is guilty of the very thing she accuses her mother and sister of: "You just don't understand...your heritage."

In the story Once Upon A Time, what is the "truth" that Gordimer develops throughout the story?

In Once Upon A Time by Nadine Gordimer, Gordimer develops the story of a family which goes to ever-increasing lengths to protect itself from an unknown enemy in the mistaken belief that it is "the people of another color" whom they should fear. This fictional short story reveals the sad truth attached to social and political ignorance. In South Africa in 1989 when the story was originally published, the political landscape was changing and some sectors of South African society were afraid of the repercussions from an unjust and racially-divided system (apartheid) which was crumbling.

Ironically, the more steps this family takes to separate itself from "unemployed loiterers" who make the man and his wife uncomfortable, and whom they think spoil "this beautiful suburb", the more the man and his wife become blinded by the real threat of their own lack of awareness and their own contribution to an intolerable situation.

The family in this story creates and intensifies its own fear; there is no malicious intent. Gordimer stresses that this family is not overtly "racist" and the wife feels a certain responsibility towards the less fortunate people who she sees but never interacts with, hating "to see anyone go hungry", although the reader is not entirely sure whether it is her own guilt or her genuine compassion which leads to her actions. She is easily persuaded that building the wall higher is the best option. Even the "trusted housemaid" has unwittingly become part of this system as she sees only "loafers and tsotsis" outside, revealing the absurd nature of the system and its harmful and divisive effects (a truth that many people refuse to accept). 

In real life, the system (Apartheid) is collapsing, and in the story, the man and his wife refuse to accept any change which makes them uncomfortable, even though it is that very system that has contributed to, and now builds on, their fears. Gordimer reveals the truth that it is not the "people of another color" who have created the fear, but the institution. Now that it is changing, the poor response to it generates it own extremes. The tragedy which occurs is unrelated to the apparent threat from outside and the story reveals that there is no concept of what the underlying problem is. 

In "Once Upon a Time," what was the character motivation for the housemaid?

The housemaid is a complex character, for all that she occupies little space within the story. As a housemaid, it is inferred that she is from "outside the city, where people of another color were quartered," and yet she echoes the beliefs of her employers and sometimes encourages them. The first time she is mentioned, she advocates for more security measures:

The trusted housemaid of the man and wife and little boy was so upset by this misfortune befalling a friend left, as she herself often was, with responsibility for the possessions of the man and his wife and the little boy that she implored her employers to have burglar bars attached to the doors and windows of the house, and an alarm system installed.

Her loyalty is very much evident in her desire to protect her employers' belongings, and, perhaps encouraged to have their need for security reinforced by a woman from outside the suburb, the family complies with her request.

Later, when the wife cannot bear to see the people on the street go hungry, she sends out the maid. The maid, however, is less sympathetic than the wife. She calls the people outside loafers and tsotsis (hooligans) and encourages her to stop feeding them. She is as afraid of them as her employers are, perhaps more so: while they fear the loss of their possessions, she is terrified of being tied up and shut in a cupboard.

She is mentioned once more, at the end of the story, as she helps carry the corpse of the little boy into the house. She is "hysterical," in contrast to the parents, whose emotional states are not described. 

The housemaid is, like her employers, motivated largely by fear. She fears for her safety should intruders invade the house. She is very loyal to the family, as can be seen. But she must also be motivated by job security as people around her starve, unemployed. She straddles the divide between the suburb and the outside city, and it appears to be an uncomfortable place. 

In Romeo and Juliet, in what month was Capulet's feast?

In Act I of Romeo and Juliet, we come to know that the Capulet family are hosting a party (or feast) that night. Lady Capulet hopes that Juliet will take a liking to Paris at this party and agree to marry him. Of course, Juliet has her fateful meeting with Romeo at this party and pays no mind to Paris at all.

In their preparation for the party, Lady Capulet and Nurse are talking about Juliet- see Act I Scene III. Here, Nurse mentions that Juliet was born on the day before Lammas-tide, which is "a fortnight and odd days" away. This means that it is just over two weeks until Juliet's birthday. Since the introduction of the Gregorian calendar, Lammas has been celebrated on the first day of August, marking the beginning of the harvest season. With this information, we can infer that Capulet's feast is taking place in July, about two weeks prior to the first of August.

You borrow $1,000 on a simple interest loan. You pay an annual rate of 3.5%. You will take 3 years to pay back the loan. How much interest will you...

Interest refers to the cost borrowing of money. Simple interest refers to the costs of borrowing money calculated on the original amount borrowed. The formula for simple interest is as follows: 

`A= P (1 + rt)`

Where: 

A = Total Accrued Amount (Original amount borrowed + interest)

P = Original Amount borrowed

r = Interest rate per year  expressed in decimal form (always convert the interest rate from percentage to decimal form by dividing the interest rate percentage by 100)

t = time period in months or years. 

From the above information we can write down what is given as follows: 

`P = $1000`

`r = 3.5/100 = 0.035`

`t = 3 years`

`A = ?` We need to find A

Now substitute what's given in the formula to determine A: 

`A = 1000 (1+ 0.035*3)`

`A = $1105`

A gives us the accrued amount, but we still need to find the interest by using the following formula: 

`I = A - P`

Where: 

I = Interest amount 

A = Accrued amount (interest + original amount borrowed)

P = Original amount borrowed 

Let's find the interest: 

`I = $1105 - $1000 = $105`

Therefore the interest you will pay is $105

A shorter way to determine the amount of simple interest you pay is using the following formula: 

`I = P * r * t`

Where: 

I = interest

P = Original amount borrowed

r = interest rate expressed in decimal form 

t = time period in years or months 

Substituting the values from above: 

`I = 1000 * 0.035* 3 = $105`

Using the simpler equation yields the same result: Interest you pay = $105 

Compare Atticus Finch to his sister, Alexandra. Which character is portrayed as more heroic to Scout?

Atticus Finch is a morally upright individual who believes in racial equality and justice. Atticus defends Tom Robinson in front of the prejudiced town of Maycomb, despite his sister's opposition. Alexandra is the quintessential Southern Belle, who favors traditional ideology, which includes the belief in racial segregation. Alexandra reveres her family background and even tries to convince her brother to teach the children about their heritage. Atticus finds Alexandra's obsession with heredity to be ridiculous and dismisses his failed attempt to talk to Jem and Scout about their family tree. Throughout the novel, Scout views Aunt Alexandra with contempt because of their conflicting personalities and interests. Alexandra is continually trying to convince Scout to wear dresses and play with dolls. Scout is a tomboy who prefers to wear overalls and play outside with Jem and Dill. Scout is most comfortable around her father, Atticus, and she looks up to him throughout the novel. Scout views Atticus as a heroic individual for his marksmanship abilities and his courage to defend Tom Robinson. Scout listens to her father's advice and is continually asking him questions about things that she hears and sees throughout Maycomb. Scout's admiration for her father contrasts with her contempt for Alexandra. Atticus is clearly depicted as being more heroic in his daughter's eyes throughout the novel.

What is historical context for Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson?

The book frequently refers to the battles between the Patriots and the Loyalists. That would put the novel taking place sometime during the American Revolution. More specifically, the book takes place between May 1776 and January 1777. The setting is mostly New York City, which was a political and military hotbed of conflict. Anderson does a nice job of weaving Isabel's story with actual events and people of the time period. For example, Isabel attends the hanging of Thomas Hickey. Hickey was actually hanged for treason against the Patriots and possible involvement in a plot to kill George Washington. Another item that puts some historical context into the novel is that Isabel reads Thomas Paine's book Common Sense. The fire Isabel rescues Lady Seymour from is also a real historical event that occurred in New York in 1776. No definitive cause has ever been found for the fire, but the fire did burn roughly 500 buildings. That amounts to roughly one quarter of the houses in New York at the time.  

Anderson also provides a dozen or so pages at the end of the novel in which she addresses many other real historical features and events she included in the novel.   

What is the central idea of "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin?

Kate Chopin may be considered an early feminist. In "The Story of an Hour" she posits the idea that a woman's life may actually be better without a husband. It was a radical idea at the time. In the Victorian age it was assumed that women were the lesser sex and that men needed to make the important decisions in a family. In this way, Chopin, although she was writing in the late 19th century could be considered a modernist writer who paved the way for later American modernist and feminist writers such as Edith Wharton and Sylvia Plath.

Initially, Mrs. Mallard grieves over the sudden news that her husband has died. After mulling the news for a while she comes to a surprising and, to many readers of the late 19th century, a shocking realization. She is now free to plan her life. The benevolent "repression" she had been experiencing while her husband lived is gone. Whereas she believed life might be too long, she now prays for the opposite. She whispers quietly to herself, "Free! Body and soul free!" Unfortunately, her prayers are ignored as her husband reappears, and she dies from a heart attack at the trauma of having her dreams of freedom vanish.

Her story is quite common today. Any number of novels, stories and movies have dealt with the longed for emancipation of a woman in a restrictive world ruled by men. In the 19th century, however, the story was ahead of its time. Women wouldn't even achieve the right to vote for a few more decades. 

How do the principles of care affect the autonomy of vulnerable people?

The principles of care in a health care setting are designed to protect the rights of all patients, including those members of a vulnerable population. Multiple safeguards, policies, procedures, and laws have been implemented to protect the rights, the privacy, and the safety of patients of all populations.

The idea of patient rights for each individual started as early in 1948 when the World Health Organization declared that each person has rights as part of the "human family". In the United States, a law that is used to protect patient rights and privacy is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This law protects the privacy of protected health information (PHI) that is available to health care providers, insurance companies, companies that handle medical records or information technology companies that store or create medical information. Healthcare providers are limited on information they can provide about the patient to other health care providers without the patient's prior consent. 

Best practices in healthcare as recommended by the Institute of Medicine also outline protections for patients' rights. Some of these principles include effective communication between provider and patient, meeting health literacy needs of the patient, providers developing cultural competency, and understanding the needs of disabled populations. Moreover, patients have a right to know and understand all treatments that are being given and also should grant informed consent prior to treatment. 

How does imagery and figurative language contribute to the development of the story?

Imagery, connotation, similes, and metaphors very much contribute to the mood and symbolism of the story as well as foreshadow future events. 

When Jerry goes to his "wild bay," he "slid[es] and scrap[es] down" an incline of "rough, sharp rock" to water that "showed stains of purple and darker blue."  These words are associated with pain, with something that can inflict pain, or with the effects of pain.  Even the image of stains of blue and purple sound like a bruise.  Further, "rocks lay like discoloured monsters under the surface" of the water, and "irregular cold currents from the deep water shocked his limbs."  The initial simile is frightening, comparing the rocks to scary and violent creatures waiting for unsuspecting swimmers, as is the next tactile image of being physically shocked by random freezing jets of water.  From all of these painfully-connoted words to the frightening and shocking images and comparisons, we can gather that this wild bay is a place of danger to Jerry.  He is not safe here, not like the older boys who can play here without incident.  Jerry is too young for this bay.

On the other hand, the metaphor and simile used to describe his mother, on the "safe beach," clearly connote that it is a place for children, long before Jerry realizes it as such.  She was "a speck of yellow under an umbrella that looked like a slice of orange peel."  Such cheerful, citrus colors are more appropriate to a beach vacation; they are much more appropriate than the bruised colors of the "wild bay."  They help us to understand that the wild bay and the safe beach are much more than just two different places to play.

What makes the children hate and fear Mrs. Dubose in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird?

Early in Chapter 4 of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout the narrator announces that the neighborhood unanimously felt Mrs. Dubose to be the "meanest old woman who ever lived." She was so mean that when the Finch children were younger, they were afraid to walk past her house without Atticus by their side. However, by the time they are a little older in Chapter 11, they decide it is time to start venturing into town by themselves and must pass her house in order to do so. In Chapter 11, we learn that the children, though a little older, continue to hate and fear Mrs. Dubose because of the many criticisms and insults she hurls at them each time they walk past.

One reason why they fear her is because "it was rumored that she kept a CSA pistol concealed" on her at all times. They further fear and hate her because they could do nothing to please her. Scout notes that even if she cheerfully said, "Hey, Mrs. Dubose," while passing her house, all Scout would get in reply is, "Don't you say hey to me, you ugly girl! You say good afternoon, Mrs. Dubose!" (Ch. 11). She further insults the children by calling them the "sassiest, most disrespectful mutts" in the neighborhood and criticizes Atticus's parenting style, saying he lets them "run wild." However, she makes the children the angriest, especially Jem, when she one day says, "Your father's no better than the niggers and trash he works for!" This comment leads Jem to seek vengeance by whacking off all the camellia flowers in her garden, a vengeful act that is restituted through his punishment of being ordered to read to her each afternoon. Yet, through his interactions with Mrs. Dubose, he learns tolerance, acceptance, and a valuable lesson about what true courage is.

What does Lady Macbeth say, and what does the doctor think about her condition?

The part of the play that your question is asking about is Act 5, Scene 1.  A gentlewoman has come to get a doctor in order to ask him to observe Lady Macbeth's new habit of sleepwalking.  Lady Macbeth walks around the castle at night trying to wash the blood off of her hands.  She says some of her most famous lines during her sleepwalking episodes.  

 All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. 

and

Out, damned spot! Out, I say!

and

Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him.

Her words and actions are Lady Macbeth's confession to some evil deed.  The doctor does admit that she might not be guilty of anything.  

This disease is beyond my medical skills. But I have known people who sleepwalked and weren’t guilty of anything.

The above line also indicates that the doctor wants nothing more to do with the situation.  He's looking for an out, and he claims that Lady Macbeth's condition is beyond his training.  The doctor believes that Lady Macbeth needs a priest for her problems more than she needs a medical doctor.  

More needs she the divine than the physician.

Is Rappaccini a good botanist? Why or why not?

Yes, Rappaccini is a good botanist.  He has a flourishing garden that attests to the devotion he has for his craft and his science.  Professor Pietro Baglioni even admits to Giovanni that Rappaccini's knowledge and abilities are second to none.  

"The truth is, our worshipful Doctor Rappaccini has as much science as any member of the faculty. . ."

Baglioni continues to describe some of the successes that Rappaccini has had as a botanist.  The reader, and Giovanni, learn that Rappaccini has been able to modify plants and their poisons to be more deadly than anything else that nature has ever created.  That statement is a clear testament to the fact that Rappaccini is essentially creating genetically modified plants.  Yes, he's a good botanist.  

However, Rappaccini is not a moral botanist.  His goals are always to use plants to make poisons instead of cures.  He feels that any discovered cures are actually failures.  On top of that, Rappaccini cares very little for people.  Baglioni tells Giovanni as much too.  

". . . he cares infinitely more for science than for mankind."

Scientists that care more for the science are guilty of asking the question "can it be done?" and never asking the question "should it be done?"  Rappaccini clearly experiments on his garden, which is one thing, but he has also clearly been experimenting on his own daughter. That's an entirely different thing.  There is no doubt that turning Beatrice into a walking, talking poison is amazing science.  But it is morally reprehensible science.  

In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, what are some quotes which demonstrate what the education system is like?

In Fahrenheit 451, there are a number of quotes which we can use to better understand the education system. In Part One, for example, when Beatty visits Montag at home, he reveals some information about the school day and the number of subjects which are taught:

School is shortened, discipline relaxed, philosophies, histories, languages dropped, English and spelling gradually neglected, finally almost completely ignored.

According to Beatty, this has an important effect on the type of occupations which students pursue when they reach adulthood:

With school turning out more runners, jumpers, racers, tinkerers, grabbers, snatchers, fliers, and swimmers instead of examiners, critics, knowers, and imaginative creators.

Similarly, the reader learns a lot about the education system through the dialogue of Clarisse McClellan. In a conversation with Montag, for instance, she talks about her specific lessons:

An hour of TV class, an hour of basketball or baseball or running, another hour of transcription history or painting pictures, and more sports.

In addition, she provides more information about the type of teaching:

We never ask questions, or at least most don't; they just run the answers at you, bing, bing, bing, and us sitting there for four more hours of film-teacher.

By the end of the day, she says, students are so tired that they "can't do anything but go to bed or head for a Fun Park to bully people around."

Through these quotes, then, the reader is left with the impression of a highly-censored education system which teaches its students the absolute basics, instead of fostering intellectual curiosity and a thirst for knowledge. 

In Boyne's The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, why does Bruno think the Fury is the rudest person he ever witnessed?

"The Fury," of course, is Bruno's erroneous pronunciation of Adolf Hitler's title: "the Führer." The exact words from the novel are that Bruno believes "the Fury" is “the rudest guest I ever seen.”  A few of the main reasons why Bruno thinks this are that Adolf Hitler invites himself to Bruno's house for dinner, marches inside, and immediately takes Bruno's father's head spot at the dinner table.  Another reason that Bruno thinks Adolf Hitler is rude is the way that he treats Eva.  When Eva spends too long visiting with the children, Bruno hears Hitler "roar."  Then Hitler yells at Eva to come to his side by “clicking his fingers as if she were some sort of puppy dog.”  It is obvious to Bruno that Adolf Hitler immediately gets everything he wants despite his behavior.  There is also an indirect reason why Bruno believes "the Fury" to be very rude:  "the Fury" is the reason why Bruno and his family had to move from Berlin.  Because Bruno loved his home in Berlin (especially the banister and the fact that they lived close to Bruno's grandparents), Bruno is especially disgusted to be living near the concentration camp of "Out-With" (Auschwitz).

In Animal Farm, how is Mr. Jones portrayed in the first chapter?

Mr. Jonas is portrayed as taking advantage of his animals.

Manor Farm is not a very happy place for the animals.  The farmer, Mr. Jones, is at best negligent and at worse abusive.  He has a habit of getting drunk and forgetting to take care of his animals, or leaving the farm for long periods of time when his animals need attention.

Old Major vilifies Jonas in his speech to the animals about why they should get rid of the humans.  He explains that Jones is taking advantage of the animals, and that everything they have is stolen by him—including often their lives.

And what has happened to that milk which should have been breeding up sturdy calves? Every drop of it has gone down the throats of our enemies. And you hens, how many eggs have you laid in this last year, and how many of those eggs ever hatched into chickens? The rest have all gone to market to bring in money for Jones and his men.  (Ch. 1)

Old Major also describes how animals are killed before they can grow old, or the ones who do grow old are killed as soon as they can no longer work.  No animal gets a peaceful and quiet retirement in his old age.

You, Boxer, the very day that those great muscles of yours lose their power, Jones will sell you to the knacker, who will cut your throat and boil you down for the foxhounds. As for the dogs, when they grow old and toothless, Jones ties a brick round their necks and drowns them in the nearest pond. (Ch. 1)

The animals all live this terrible existence because of the tyranny of man.  Man forces them to work for him, takes their young, and kills them whenever he feels like it.  The animals do all of the hard work, and Jones does nothing.  All he does is get drunk and forget to feed the animals or milk the cows.

Old Major's rhetoric is very convincing.  Soon Jones is too drunk to feed the animals and they decide to revolt.  They kick the humans out and take over the farm.  Unfortunately, many of the abuses Old Major described continue under the new regime of pigs.

Explain the connotations of the vivid words and phrases in the first stanza of part 31 of "Song of Myself."

The first stanza of section 31 is one of the most lyrical sections of Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself." It introduces the reader to a variety of images of the natural world, all of which culminate in a celebration of simplicity and "insignificance."

Consider, for instance, that all of the images that Whitman uses refer to small pieces of nature that are often overlooked in favor of things deemed more dramatic. In lines 663-69, Whitman celebrates "a leaf of grass," a "pismire" (an ant), a "tree-toad," "the narrowest hinge in my hand," and, last but not least, a "cow crunching with depress'd head." Whitman celebrates all of these humble images of the natural world, although his assessment of the "leaf of grass" is perhaps his most significant, as he compares the vegetation to "the journey-work of the stars" (663).

It's apparent, therefore, that Whitman wants to assert the inherent importance of all things, of all the myriad pieces of the world. Furthermore, he deliberately equates humble and seemly insignificant things, such as grass and toads, with the glamour of the cosmos to argue that the infinite complexities and wonders of the universe are found even within the smallest of things. As such, this section becomes one of the most important parts of the poem, as it advances Whitman's thesis that each individual organism is "a kosmos" (497).

Why is Jimmy Valentine brought to the warden's office?

The warden has received Jimmy Valentine's written and signed pardon from the governor. He sends for Jimmy in order to hand him the official document. This meeting gives author O. Henry an opportunity to present some exposition in the form of dialogue rather than in straightforward expository prose. The dialogue between the two men is more interesting because it is more dramatic. It is more dramatic because there is some conflict in their meeting, and conflict is always the source of drama. For example:

"You're not a bad fellow at heart. Stop cracking safes, and live straight.”

“Me?” said Jimmy, in surprise. “Why, I never cracked a safe in my life.”

“Oh, no,” laughed the warden. “Of course not. Let's see, now. How was it you happened to get sent up on that Springfield job?" 

“Me?” said Jimmy, still blankly virtuous. “Why, warden, I never was in Springfield in my life!”

The reader is informed that Jimmy is a well-known safecracker and is serving time for a job he pulled in Springfield. Not only that, but the dialogue between the two men introduces the theme of "reformation." Jimmy does not appear to take any notice of the warden's advice to stop cracking safes and live straight, but he may have been thinking along those lines already. 

He had served nearly ten months of a four year sentence. He had expected to stay only about three months, at the longest. When a man with as many friends on the outside as Jimmy Valentine had is received in the “stir” it is hardly worth while to cut his hair.

Jimmy may be starting to realize that he could be on a slippery slope. His expertise and activities are becoming common knowledge. His friends on the outside had a hard time getting him pardoned. This was because the governor "balked" at issuing a pardon. The governor probably feared it would look bad for him to hand out a pardon to a notorious criminal. Jimmy's friends might drop him if he becomes too infamous and too much of a problem for them. Jimmy decides not to reform, but he does move to a different territory, change his name, set up what appears to be a legitimate business, and be more cautious about cracking safes. In a sense, he is going partly straight. He has a different identity, and he appears to be an ordinary small-town businessman.

Unexpectedly, Jimmy falls in love and decides to go all the way with his reformation. It helps that his shoe business is successful, so he doesn't have to worry about money. Otherwise it would have been hard for him to give up his criminal career. He begins to realize that the warden was giving him good advice at just the right time when he said,

Brace up, and make a man of yourself. You're not a bad fellow at heart. Stop cracking safes, and live straight.

The warden liked Jimmy. He could see Jimmy's potential to be successful as an honest citizen. With his brains, style, and personality, Jimmy could be even happier and more prosperous as a legitimate businessman than he could ever be as a crook.

In The Giver, what is a "release room?"

The "release room" is where people are released, which in this community means death by lethal injection. Very few people actually see the release, hence there is a special room for it to be conducted.

The only point in the book where we hear of a specific release room is in Ch. 4 when Larissa is describing Roberto's release. Jonas is curious about where Roberto went when he was released and Larissa shrugs her shoulder and says, 

"I don't know. I don't think anybody does, except the committee. He just bowed to all of us and then walked, like they all do, through the special door in the Releasing Room" (Ch. 4).

We also know that all releases are filmed, as the Giver explains this later when Jonas remarks that he wishes he could have seen the release of the newborn twin that his father performed. In that scenario, it does not seem as though there is a specific room for release. Rather, there was an exam room and the release simply took place there.

In Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games, how is the central conflict resolved?

In Suzanne Collins' novel, The Hunger Games, the central conflict revolves around the theme of "man vs. society." 
 
While the story's protagonist, Katniss Everdeen, must fight to survive the Hunger Games, the bigger issue lies within the way society operates.
 
President Snow, the leader of Panem, is both politically corrupt and morally bankrupt. He joyously enforces the tradition of the Hunger Games and mandates that all citizens of Panem, regardless of their district, watch the gruesome events unfold on live TV.
 
In addition to enforcing the Hunger Games each year, President Snow also uses his political power in order to spread propaganda to the masses which results in long-lasting rivalries between various districts. By creating rifts between the people of each district, President Snow is able to effectively keep them from banding together to combat the real problem - him. 
 
This societal conflict is resolved (in this book, anyway) shortly after Katniss and Peeta realize they are the only tributes left in the Games. There can only be one victor, though, so one of the two has to die. Unwilling to hurt one another, Katniss and Peeta reach stalemate.
 
Katniss and Peeta have poisonous berries on hand. They agree to commit suicide together. As they lift the berries to their lips, the announcer frantically commands them to stop. He then declares the two of them victors, ultimately saving both of their lives.
 
Although this sets off a grisly chain of events that lead to Katniss and Peeta fearing for their lives, their act of unintentional rebellion proves to all of Panem that the Capitol will never actually "own" them.
 
The conflict continues on in Suzanne Collins' sequel, Catching Fire.

What is the setting in Chapter 8, “Flies and Spiders”?

In this chapter Bilbo and the dwarves are in Mirkwood, the great forest once known as Greenwood the Great, east of the River Anduin. The wood was once green and glorious, but due to a shadow that has taken over some ancient strongholds, it is now dark and dangerous, save for the realm of the Wood-Elves in the northeast. Gandalf has ridden south on business of his own, leaving the thirteen adventurers to face the wood by themselves. He warns them not to stray from the path, for the forest is full of tricks and fearsome beasts, but the next day the company spies an Elven feast off in the trees, and they make their way toward the light and the singing. As soon as they make their final approach, however, the party of Elves disappears, only to reappear some distance away. This happens several times, resulting in the company becoming hopelessly lost.

In the midst of this predicament we learn why the chapter is titled “Flies and Spiders,” for the company is attacked by a host of giant spiders who spin the dwarves into their webs, rendering them utterly hopeless. Bilbo, with the Elvish dagger given to him from the Trolls’ hoard several chapters previously, is able to cut through and kills the spider holding him captive. He thus dubs his sword "Sting," before putting on the ring and eventually rescuing his companions.

After the rescue, the company notices that Thorin is missing—he has been taken to the Elvish king Thranduil for questioning.

What are some facts about Suzanne Collins' (author of the Hunger Games) later life?

Suzanne Collins, author of The Hunger Games, has a quite interesting background. Although she eventually wrote books, she started off working on children’s television shows. After this, she transitioned to writing and became the success that we know today!

After graduating from NYU with her master’s degree in dramatic writing, Collins continued by working on children’s shows, such as on the television show Clarissa Explains It All and Little Bear. With this, she soon gained notoriety and was then hired to be the head writer of Generation O!

With the support of others, Collins began her writing career. In 2003, Collins published Gregor the Overlander, which became a massive success. With this, she eventually turned the story into a four book series. Subsequently, Collins wrote The Hunger Games, which is arguably her most famous book series.

Today, she has been recognized as a distinguished writer and has received numerous awards. Although she did not start her career in writing books, she has impacted the lives of many with her writings.

Who were the scientists that were involved in the discovery of cells and types of cells?

Cells are considered the smallest unit of all living things. Because cells were first discovered using microscopes, the inventors of microscopes or parts of microscopes have been included in the cell and cell part timeline below.

460-370 BC: Democritus proposed that all things are made of small, invisible particles.

127-151 BC: Claudius Ptolemy used curved surfaces to magnify the appearance of objects.

1590: Hans and Zacharias Jansen created a primitive compound microscope by combining two convex lenses within a tube.

1665: Robert Hooke is accredited with discovering the first cell by looking at a piece of cork under a microscope.

1676: Anton van Leeuwenhoek discovered the first “animalcules”.

1683: Anton van Leeuwenhoek discovered bacteria from a sample of saliva from his mouth.

1838: Matthias Schleiden discovered plants were made of plant cells.

1839: Theodor Schwann discovered that animals were made of animal cells.

1967: Lynn Margulis developed the theory of endosymbiosis that explains how eukaryotic cells formed from symbiotic relationships amongst prokaryotic cells.

Why is M more reactive than N even though N is further down the periodic table? I don't understand, although M only has to loose one electron N...

By comparing the image with periodic table of elements, we can see that M is sodium (Na) and N is (strontium). And using the reactivity series (refer to the attached link), we can see that sodium is placed higher on the series as compared to strontium, that is, sodium is more reactive than strontium. In other words, M is more reactive than N.

When going down a group, the reactivity generally increases (for metals), since we are adding an extra layer of electrons and it becomes easier to lose them. When going across a period, since we are adding extra electrons, it becomes difficult to donate them and hence reactivity decreases. In the given question, N is placed to the right and one group down of M. That is, N has 1 more electron to lose (which decreases reactivity) as compared to M (which has only 1 electron) and N has 1 extra layer of electrons (which increases reactivity). A combined effect of these two factors causes M to be more reactive. It could be because the extra electron would be more difficult to lose, even though it is from an extra layer. 

Note that V and W are noble gases here and are inert. T and U are halides and they need to gain electrons to complete the octet. As we go down a group, non-metals find it hard to attract and gain an electron and hence T is more reactive. 

Hope this helps. 

`int_1^3 r^3 ln(r) dr` Evaluate the integral

`int_1^3 r^3 ln(r) dr`

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

So let

`u = ln r`

and 

`dv = r^3 dr`

Then, differentiate u and integrate dv.

`u=1/r dr`

and

`v= int r^3 dr=r^4/4`

Plug-in them to the formula. So the integral becomes:

`int r^3 ln(r) dr`

`= ln (r)* r^4/4 - int r^4/4 * 1/rdr`

`= (r^4 ln(r))/4 - 1/4 int r^3 dr`

`= (r^4 ln(r))/4 - 1/4*r^4/4 `

`=(r^4 ln(r))/4 - r^4/16`

And, substitute the limits of the integral.

`int_1^3 r^3 ln(r) dr`

`= ((r^4ln(r))/4 - r^4/16) |_1^3`

`= ( (3^4ln(3))/4 - 3^4/16) - ((1^4ln(1))/4-1^4/16)`

`= (3^4 ln(3))/4-3^4/16 +1/16`

`= (81ln(3))/4-81/16+1/16`

`=(81ln(3))/4-80/16`

`=(81ln(3))/4-5`

Therefore,  `int_1^3 r^3 ln(r) dr = (81ln(3))/4-5` .

What did Machiavelli mean when he said, “In Republics there is greater life, greater hatred and more desire for revenge”? What examples from...

Machiavelli had an interesting and profound viewpoint, which has impacted many political thinkers and government studies to this day.

In order to thoroughly answer this question, it is vital to remember Machiavelli’s purpose in writing the book, The Prince, where this quote originated. In this book, Machiavelli instructs princes or a prince on how to carry out government in the most effective manner. For example, Machiavelli offers his advice, which includes lying to the people while appearing generous.

With this specific quote, I think it is important to finish the sentence’s quote, which says:

In Republics there is greater life, greater hatred and more desire for revenge, and the memory of ancient liberty does not let them and cannot let them remain quiet.

As a result, we can see that Machiavelli is discussing new regions being taken over by a prince. These people can be harder to control due to their recent memory of another government system being in control of the region. Consequently, Machiavelli urges the prince to take more drastic measure to stifle out the memory of the past government.

This concept is still seen today. For example, Russia (within the past two decades) attempted to take over parts of the country of Georgia. The Georgians remembered their regions being under their own control; thus causing them to argue over the land. As a result, they have been many negotiations and are still attempting and hoping to take all the land back. With this, Machiavelli would indicate that the Georgian people remember their past too well, which is causing the resistance of giving up their territories to Russia.

Sources

Machiavelli, Niccolò, and Peter E. Bondanella. The Prince. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2005. Print.

What are some of the ways in which Steinbeck makes the characters' reaction to the dream of living "off the fatta the lan'" so revealing?

The way the various characters react to George's dream (and it IS primarily George's dream; Lennie could not have created such a plan for himself) reveals their outlook on the world around them.  For example, Lennie envisions the little farm where he and George will live off the land as an idyllic Heaven, where everything is soft and no one will judge him for his (mis)behavior.  He sees his world as hard and harsh and constantly ready to berate him.  When Candy overhears George and Lennie discussing their plans, living off the land symbolizes escape and preservation for him.  After Slim gives permission for Carlson to shoot Candy's dog, he laments:

When they can me here I wisht somebody'd shoot me. But they won't do nothing like that. I won't have no place to go, an' I can't get no more jobs.

His attitude toward living off the land is one of last-ditch survival.  He agrees to contribute more than half the money for the farm and make a will leaving his portion to George and Lennie.  The farm represents one last chance for dignity for this old man.   For Crooks, the dream of living off the land is tempting . . . but only for a moment.  Although he does entertain the idea of being able to join the men in what would amount, for Crooks, to a return to slavery--he says he would work for no pay--he eventually recants his offer with this sad commentary:

They come, an’ they quit an’ go on; an’ every damn one of ‘em’s got a little piece of land in his head/ An’ never a God damn one of ‘em ever gets it. Just like heaven. Ever’body wants a little piece of lan’. I read plenty of books out here. Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land. 

Each character has his own reasons for wanting to live "off the fatta the lan'."  These reasons give the reader further insight into the character and how he views the world.

What problems did the United States have remaining neutral when France and Britain went to war?

When France and Great Britain went to war in 1793 as part of the so-called War of the First Coalition, they began a more than twenty year on-again off-again war that placed the United States in a very difficult position. On the one hand, despite the recent American Revolutionary War, British trade was important to the American economy. On the other, the United States had a treaty with France, signed in 1778, when the French entered the Revolutionary War on the side of the American colonies. The course George Washington chose in 1793, one of neutrality, was the one the United States would try to pursue throughout the long conflict. But neutrality proved very difficult to maintain. A number of events threatened to drag the United States into the conflict. These included:

• the so-called Genet affair, when a French diplomat attempted to recruit Americans to join the war effort without presenting his diplomatic credentials to President Washington.


• Jay's Treaty with Great Britain, which angered the French, who responded by attacking American shipping.


• the XYZ Affair, in which the French foreign minister demanded a bribe in return for meeting with American diplomats. This, in fact, led to what has become known as a "Quasi-War" between the French and American navies.


• the persistence of British impressment of American sailors. One incident, an attack on the American ship Chesapeake by the British ship Leopard, in which several sailors were taken and the Chesapeake was fired upon, led to the enactment of an embargo on all trade by President Thomas Jefferson.


• The War of 1812, which pitted the United States against Great Britain, who simultaneously fought against Napoleon. In the end, then, the United States failed to remain neutral.

How does Jack change throughout Lord of the Flies?

In the beginning of Lord of the Flies, Jack is introduced in chapter one as being a very powerful leader of the choir. His authority over the boys is evident by the way the boys are still wearing their wool uniforms, even though the tropical beach setting would be more conducive to less restrictive clothing. They do not remove their togs until he tells them they are allowed to do so. Even when Simon faints, the boys do not break form and sit down until Jack gives them permission to do so. Jack uses his power to maintain the order and expectations of the proper, civilized school to which they were accustomed. 

By the last chapter of the book, Jack is no longer using his authority to maintain the expectations of civilization. Instead, he is ruling by force and using his power to encourage savagery in its most evident form: the pre-meditated, ruthless murder of Ralph. The authoritarian nature of Jack's personality is consistent throughout the novel. However, it is the motivation of his character that changes drastically. Jack changes from being a leader that upholds the conventions of society to being a leader that actively destroys the conventions of civilized society.

Why is the first caucus/primary in Iowa?

The first contest of the presidential election campaign is in Iowa because that has become traditional.  There is nothing about Iowa that makes it “deserve” to be the first state to have a caucus or a primary election.

Iowa has only been the first in the nation in terms of caucuses since 1972.  In that year, the Democratic Party decided to change their system for selecting their nominee for the presidency.  Iowa happened to have a process that took a long time (it has three levels of caucuses or conventions and then it has a state convention).  This meant that Iowa needed more time to get their process done, so it made sense for them to start early.  This was not seen as a big deal at the time.  In 1976, the Republicans also had Iowa go first.

It was in 1976 that people came to think that Iowa was really important.  In that presidential election, there was no obvious candidate on the Democratic side.  Jimmy Carter then won the Iowa caucuses and that put him in the spotlight.  He went on to win the nomination and the presidency.  That made people realize that winning Iowa could make a candidate look good and give him or her a big boost towards the nomination.  Since then, candidates have typically treated Iowa as a big deal and Iowa does not want to let any other state go before it.

So, Iowa goes first in presidential elections just because it happened that way and then it became traditional.  There is no real reason that Iowa should go first, but now that it is this way, Iowa will not give its spot up easily.

Why do we get an electric shock when we touch neutral wire?

A proper electrical wiring (typically) includes, hot or live wire, neutral or common wire and a ground wire. In a connected (or complete) electrical circuit, the current flows from the source to the device, through live wire, and back to the source through the neutral wire. For safety purposes, we connect the neutral wire to the ground wire. Thus, even though the neutral wire carries current, it is at zero (or very small) potential difference from the ground and hence should not cause any electrical shock due to any accidental exposure. 

The reason for electric shock upon touching neutral wire, is possible break in the wire or improper grounding. Such a scenario can be very dangerous as the electricity will flow through our body and can even cause death. It is not advisable to touch the neutral wire, without proper training and equipment to ensure safety of human beings. 

Hope this helps. 

What is the function of the bicuspid valve?

The bicuspid valve, also known as the mitral valve, is located between the left atrium and left ventricle of the heart. Its purpose is to keep the flow of blood going in the right direction, into the ventricle from the atrium. When the left ventricle is filling, the bicuspid valve is open, allowing blood to flow from the atrium. When the left ventricle pumps, the bicuspid valve must be sealed to prevent the blood from backing up into the left atrium. This isolates the intense blood pressure of the left ventricle and systemic circulation from the much lower pressure of the pulmonary circulation.

When the bicuspid valve is not working correctly, blood may flow backwards through it when the heart beats in a pathology known as mitral valve regurgitation. This often can be detected externally by a stethoscope through a sound known as a murmur. This condition can be minor and asymptomatic; as much as 3 percent of the population may have some degree of mitral valve regurgitation and not know it. In more extreme cases, it can cause a sense of shortness of breath as it disrupts pulmonary circulation. In some cases it can lead to a general weakening of the systemic circulation.

Students often confuse the bicuspid and tricuspid valves.  A useful memory technique is to remember that the tRicuspid valve is in the Right AtRium, which means the bicuspid valve is in the left.

Provide a description for the policeman on the beat.

The policeman on the beat is made to appear like a typical beat cop in a NYPD uniform. His actions are described, but there is no description of his physical features. O. Henry is adroitly introducing a major character, Jimmy Wells, without actually identifying him. The reader will believe that he stops to talk to Bob because it is just part of his routine to check out anyone who might seem a little suspicious. Bob knows he looks a little suspicious standing in a darkened doorway. He had an appointment to meet his old friend at that location, but he thought it would still be "Big Joe" Brady's restaurant. As the policeman tells him, that restaurant was torn down five years ago.

O. Henry describes the unidentified cop in such a way as to suggest that he has been a beat cop for a long time. The way his handles his billy club suggests that he has been twirling it for many years. 

Trying doors as he went, twirling his club with many intricate and artful movements, turning now and then to cast his watchful eye adown the pacific thoroughfare, the officer, with his stalwart form and slight swagger, made a fine picture of a guardian of the peace. 

Saying that the officer "made a fine picture of a guardian of the peace" is another way of saying that he looked like a typical uniformed beat cop. He is trying doors of closed shops because this is part of his usual routine. The words "stalwart form" suggest that he is overweight, like many beat cops who are approaching middle-age.  O. Henry takes pains to make Jimmy Wells look like a typical cop, so that the reader will have no suspicion that the cop is actually keeping an appointment made twenty years ago and that he is the very man Bob has come a thousand miles to meet.

O. Henry specifies that the streets in the neighborhood are dark because almost all the business establishments have closed for the night. Bob will not be able to recognize Jimmy Wells for several reasons:

• It is dark.


• He wouldn't have expected Jimmy Wells to be a cop in uniform.


• He hasn't seen Jimmy in twenty years, and Jimmy has naturally changed. He was a young man when he and Bob parted; now he is forty years old.


• When Bob lights his cigar it illuminates his face, but the match is between him and Jimmy. Instead of making it easier to see Jimmy's face, the lighted match actually blinds Bob, so that he can only see a vague figure in a dark uniform.

Jimmy intended to introduce himself, but Bob started talking and didn't give his old friend a chance to speak.

"It's all right, officer,” he said, reassuringly. “I'm just waiting for a friend. It's an appointment made twenty years ago. Sounds a little funny to you, doesn't it? Well, I'll explain if you'd like to make certain it's all straight." 

Bob lights his cigar and Jimmy recognizes him as the man wanted by the Chicago police. He decides not to introduce himself after all. The two men have a short conversation. We can imagine that Jimmy is privately wondering what he should do. He makes the decision to go back to the precinct station and get some other officer to make the arrest. Bob would never have known that the cop he had been talking to was his old friend Jimmy Wells had not Jimmy given the arresting plainclothes officer a note to pass on to Bob when the arrest was made.

Bob: I was at the appointed place on time. When you struck the match to light your cigar I saw it was the face of the man wanted in Chicago. Somehow I couldn't do it myself, so I went around and got a plainclothesman to do the job.  JIMMY.

Just like Bob, the reader has been thoroughly taken in by O. Henry's clever storytelling and is just as surprised as 'Silky' Bob.