How does Alice Walker use direct/indirect characterization to relate to the theme in "Everyday Use"?

In "Everyday Use," Alice Walker uses direct and indirect characterization to develop the theme of honoring one's heritage by participating in family traditions.  Throughout the story, Walker characterizes Mama and Dee as contrasting characters to develop tension.  For example, Dee is directly characterized as always wanting "nice things, while Mama is indirectly characterized as settling for the simple things in life (i.e. a small house).  Further, through direct characterization the reader learns that Dee has gone away to college and that Mama never made it past grade school.  Indirect characterization leads the reader to infer that Dee believes in cultural preservation:  she arrives at the home with a new name that relates to her African heritage, and she wants to take family artifacts to put on display in her home.  Mama, on the other hand, is characterized as one who believes in cultural participation:  there is butter in the churn when Dee arrives, and Mama--like her own mother--has learned the art of quilting.  So direct and indirect characterization in the story sets up the contrast between Mama and Dee, which speaks to Walker's theme regarding honoring one's heritage.

Give examples of monopoly market.

A monopoly exists when only one company can provide a product or service to consumers, with no competitors at all.  In the United States, monopolies that still exist are mostly, for example, gas, electricity, and water and sewerage companies. The telephone business was originally a monopoly as well, AT&T.  These were permitted to be monopolies because they had very high start-up costs, and the only way to attract investors was to guarantee that there would be no competition, hence a reasonably assured return on investment. Digging ditches and laying down pipes or putting up poles and stringing wire are costly endeavors, and it can take years and years for this investment to pay off.  If there had been competition, there was no way of knowing that all of this would ever pay off for a company, and it would have been difficult to attract investors. Of course, in exchange for being granted monopoly status, these companies had to submit to government regulation, the intent being to prevent consumers from being gouged by high rates.  Today, most utilities have been deregulated and compete, not with their infrastructure, but with the energy products that they sell. Thus consumers receive delivery of gas or electricity through lines that are still monopolistic, but they can choose the gas or electricity from a menu of purveyors.

Other kinds of monopolies do exist, for example, nationalist monopolies and patents. In some countries, the gas or oil industry is controlled by the state, and the state is the only provider of this product. No one else can be in the gas business, and the state sets the price.  A company that holds a patent has a monopoly on that product, for example, a pharmaceutical product or a technological device or operating system. This is why some drugs are so expensive. There is no competition for them, and the company can set whatever price it chooses. These are finite monopolies, though, since when the patent runs out, anyone may produce the drug, device, or system.  

When Atticus says "I wanted you to see what real courage is,instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you...

These remarks of Atticus are made with reference to Mrs. Dubose, who in her final hours has decided courageously that she will die naturally without benefit of any pain killers. Atticus praises her act of bravery in return for her peace offering to Jem, ignoring her previous insults about him.

After Jem cuts the blooms of Mrs. Dubose's camellias in angry retaliation for her vindictive and derogatory words about his father, Atticus, who always "turns the other cheek" makes Jem return to her house and apologize. He punishes Jem by having him fulfill Mrs. Dubose's request that he read to the ailing old woman for a month. In doing so, Jem must practice the Golden Rule of treating others in a charitable manner that one would desire for oneself without expectation of anything in return. And, with this order to Jem, Atticus demonstrates no hard feelings towards the woman who has insulted him before his children.

Then, after Jem has completed his month of reading, Jem receives a peace offering from Mrs. Dubose: a perfect camellia, positioned beautifully inside a decorative candy box. She repays Jem's gift of time in reading to her as a distraction for her withdrawal from morphine with the only thing of beauty that she owns. Atticus practices the Golden Rule by praising her for her courage to get off morphine and face death without help, rather than recalling her insults to him.

Who is Ender and what makes him different?

Andrew "Ender" Wiggen, is the protagonist and ultimately, the hero, of the novel. Set in the future, the story opens with the search for a child who can be trained into a perfect soldier for leading a battle against alien enemies known as "Buggers."

As a third-born child, Ender is already marked and different from his two older siblings and his peers. First of all, the government has banned families from having more than two children. Ender is only allowed to be born because his older brother and sister showed promise as potential leaders, but didn't quite pan out. All three of the Wiggen children are geniuses. The first, however, was too aggressive, too angry, and too much of a fighter. The second, also very smart, was too passive and too much of a peacemaker. Ender is a balance of both.

He is very smart and knows when to fight and when to hold back. He understands his enemy and does what needs to be done in order to win, but is also a very sensitive and empathetic character, who regrets hurting others, even in the name of survival. In school, he is picked on because he is a "Third." This causes Ender to be a loner from the very beginning. Because he has no friends, he learns very early how to be self-reliant and resourceful. When bullied by a group of older boys, he defends himself smartly and physically. He coaxes the leader of the group to fight him alone, and then he attacks quickly and completely, so he can prevent himself from getting picked on again. He knows this is the only way to end the fight, but at the end, he cries because he hates that he had to do it.

It is these initial qualities seen in Ender that make him the best choice as a future leader in the war against the Buggers.

I've watched through his eyes, I've listened through his ears, and I tell you he's the one. (Col. Graff, Chapter 1)

In The Crucible, how do suspicion and name-calling among the Salemites contribute to a growing sense of hysteria?

If a person is already suspicious of something or someone, then they are a great deal more willing to respond emotionally and not logically to any news of that event or person.  For example, Mrs. Putnam is already emotional about the deaths of seven of her eight children, and she desperately wants to know the cause.  Despite the fact that some of the children seemed very healthy, they died quickly.  Because she cannot imagine why God would inflict such misfortune on her, she assumes that it must be the work of the Devil, and so she sends her daughter to Tituba to conjure the dead babies' spirits and find out "what person murdered" them.  She is already suspicious of those women who were midwives to her, and so when Tituba accuses one of them, it is all too easy for Mrs. Putnam to believe.  She says, "I knew it!  Goody Osburn were midwife to me three times [....].  My babies always shriveled in her hands!"  In this way, suspicion can lead quickly to hysteria; Mrs. Putnam is too ready to believe the worst, and so she allows her emotions to rule her.

Further, name-calling and accusations heighten emotions and tension among the townspeople and lead to hysteria.  When Giles Corey barges into the court and declares that "Thomas Putnam is reaching out for land," he is essentially calling him a liar.  Immediately, the response is great: "A roaring goes up from the people."  The typically-subdued Puritans seem to lose control.  

Once accusations begin to fly, people have a tendency to fear that they, too, will be accused.  This could lead them to first accuse those people who they suspect might accuse them.  This is what happens with Reverend Parris.  He is so concerned that his enemies will find out that his daughter and niece conjured spirits in the woods, and so he tries to draw attention to qualities that might make others seem suspicious.  Before Giles and John Proctor have a chance to make their case to Danforth, Parris calls them "contentious" and "mischief," respectively.  He accuses them of having ulterior motives when it is really he who does.  All of this only leads to more confusion and heightened emotion.

Where do I put two commas in this sentence: Some women believe it or not fought in the Civil War disguised as men?

The commas must be placed as follows, and I will explain why:

Some women, believe it or not, fought in the Civil War disguised as men. 

"Believe it or not" is what we call a non-essential phrase.  That means that if we took it out of the sentence, we would still have a perfectly good sentence.  We use these non-essential phrases as little modifiers in sentences, to explain or describe something, for example, and they are commonly used, so it is important to understand how they should be punctuated.  When they occur mid-sentence, they are always set off with commas on both sides.  Here are a few examples for you:

Miss Smith, the English teacher, had a reputation for being tough.

The employee, having a broken arm, was trying as best he could to do a better job.

My students, the ones in the history class, are starting a new unit on the Civil War.

In each instance, the words that are between the commas are explaining something.  In each instance, if we took those words between the commas out of the sentences, each sentence would still be a proper sentence. 

We do this because, as the reader is reading, he or she needs to know which groups of words should be processed together in groups, so their meaning is clear. Without the commas, it would be difficult for the reader to know that, and the commas are like road signs, to help navigate the sentence better for clear meaning.

What is the tone of Emily Dickinson's poem "Because I Could not Stop for Death?"

At the beginning, the poem's tone is steady and nonchalant (or casual). Death is a person riding in a carriage and the poet, when Death stops, joins him for his carriage ride. Rather than the typical response of being frightened or overwrought by death, the poet sees him as "kindly" and full of "civility," as if he is a neighborhood gentleman. She seems perfectly content to join him and together they pass a schoolyard where children are playing during recess and then a field of grain. But as they pass the setting sun--or the sun passes them--the tone shifts to become darker (like the time of day) and chillier. The scene becomes subtly more uncanny or un-homelike--now, the poet begins to quiver from the chill, because she realizes she is only dressed in very light clothes--"gossamer" and "tulle." She and Death pass what looks like a house, but it is buried in the ground, because it is, in fact, a grave. It's then that she realizes, with more foreboding, what death or "Eternity" is: being buried with no sense of time. So, although the poem's tone starts out as steady and casual, by the end, it is more chilly. 

Consider the reaction: 2 NO (g) + O2 (g) --> 2NO2 (g) If at a particular moment during the reaction nitric oxide (NO) is reacting at a...

In the given reaction:

`2NO (g) + O_2 (g) -> 2NO_2 (g)`

nitric oxide reacts with oxygen and forms nitrogen dioxide.

Using stoichiometry, 2 moles of nitric oxide reacts with 1 mole of oxygen and generates 2 moles of nitrogen dioxide.

The rate of nitric oxide reaction (or consumption) at a particular moment is given as 0.044 M/s. Since 2 moles of nitric oxide are forming 2 moles of nitrogen dioxide 0.044 M/s of nitrogen dioxide is being formed.

Since 2 moles of nitric oxide reacts with 1 mole of oxygen, the rate of reaction of oxygen would be half of nitric oxide. In other words, at that particular instant, oxygen would be reacting at 0.022 M/s (= 0.044/2 M/s).

Thus, using stoichiometry and a balanced chemical equation, we can determine the rate of reactions (consumption or formation) for various chemical compounds.

Hope this helps. 

What was the purpose of John F. Kennedy's speech on January 20, 1962?

John F. Kennedy was addressing a large gathering of Democratic supporters at a fundraising event in Washington D.C.  The evening was a celebration of the one-year anniversary of Kennedy's inauguration of the previous January.  The reason for the address was to draw Democratic financial and political support for the Congressional elections that were to be held in November.  The election was important to Kennedy's presidency because he hoped to gain further support for his programs by adding some Democratic seats in Congress.  Kennedy recounts some of the great achievements of Democratic presidents of the Twentieth Century and even makes parallels to the programs that his presidency was attempting to pursue.  By connecting some of his programs like the space race and the Alliance for Progress with historical successes, he is able to further communicate the importance of the upcoming Congressional elections.  

What does Scout mean when she says that something is a part of the "ethical culture"? Why does she say that it's different with money in To Kill A...

This passage from Chapter 4 of To Kill a Mockingbird, is said by Scout after having found two "scrubbed and polished" 1900 and 1916 Indian head pennies in the knothole of the Radley tree.

But Scout and Jem are nonplussed (completely surprised) by the discovery and bewildered about what to do with them because keeping money someone finds is not part of Scout and Jem's "ethical culture." That is, taking money one finds is equivalent to stealing, but eating the wild scuppernongs (a large white grape with a thick skin that thrives in Alabama, although originally from North Carolina, and that is named after a river) in Miss Maudie's arbor, or stealing a squirt of warm milk from the cow, or even picking "an occasional camellia" are considered acceptable behavior for children.

Because Southerners were almost all descended from those immigrants from the British Isles, and because few people migrated to the South before air conditioning was invented, a distinct culture was generated in this part of the country. And, part of this culture was the unwritten code for what was permissible for children to which Scout alludes. 

What problems did Reconstruction resolve? What problems did it fail to resolve?

Reconstruction solved some problems that existed in the South, but it failed to resolve others. One of the goals of Reconstruction was to rebuild the South. Reconstruction was able to move this process forward. As a result of Reconstruction, the South had its economy rebuilt and diversified. While many people continued to farm, industries began to develop in the region. This diversification was good for the southern economy.

Reconstruction also was designed to bring the states that had seceded back into the Union and provide more equality and opportunity for the former slaves. These goals were accomplished in a couple of ways. All southern states that had seceded wrote new constitutions. These constitutions banned slavery and gave citizenship to all people born in the United States. African-American males were able to vote, at least for a period of time, in elections. The Freedmen’s Bureau helped African-Americans get on their feet. The Freedmen’s Bureau helped African-Americans establish schools and helped them get jobs and other needed supplies.

Reconstruction was unable to change long-standing attitudes and beliefs of many white southerners. Many white southerners never accepted the idea of equality for the former slaves. As soon as white southerners were able to do so, they began to restrict the freedoms the former slaves had received during Reconstruction. Voting restrictions, in the form of poll taxes and literacy tests, prevented many African-Americans from voting. White people were exempted from these restrictions by the grandfather clauses that allowed a person to vote if their father or grandfather had voted before the Civil War. Most black fathers and grandfathers hadn’t voted before the Civil War. The South became very segregated after Reconstruction ended. Jim Crows laws were passed that legalized segregation. Many white southerners couldn’t accept the idea of a society where blacks and whites were equal. Reconstruction was unable to change these long-held beliefs many white southerners had about the different races living in the South.

How does the writer use symbolism to give meaning to the story?

In this feminist tale, the main character is a wife and mother who withdraws from fulfilling her expected role as caretaker and nurturer of others. She feels trapped by the expectations that come with her role. Her right nipple, "shrivelled with chill," symbolizes her inability to nurture, to produce metaphoric milk from her breast, as a mother is supposed to do. She is afraid of the violence of her son's need for her, symbolized by the fact that he pretends to be a tiger and scratches her, making her bleed. His role as a tiger symbolizes that children are, at least to this woman, feral and dangerous, and not the innocent angels of domestic stereotypes. 

Fairytale motifs symbolize her entrapment: the wife is a “cloistered queen” and a “young virgin in a tower.” Being a queen symbolizes power and privilege and virginity symbolizes purity but both these roles are symbolized as prisons, from which the woman is unable to escape. In fact, the women doesn't try to physcially escape: she simply withdraws into her own world within the imprisoned domesticity in which she lives. The "white room," a "girl's" room, also symbolizes virginity and her desire to withdraw into a girlish state. This symbolism works in opposition to her "breast," a symbol of the womanhood she wishes to cast off. 

The color gray symbolizes the woman's depression. For depressed people the world often is dull and gray: here, her child has gray eyes and her husband wears a gray shirt. Underscoring her dismal mood, the story begins in winter, a symbol of bleak times and dying. Also, as the woman gazes out the window, she sees symbols that reinforce her sense of life as dismal and off kilter: a boy can't seem to learn to ride a bike and an old woman "extracts a parcel" from the  trash. The women watches but is alienated from these acts. 

Finally, we see her attempts to nurture as literally killing her: when she prepares a big feast, she dies. Many of the images of her feast are typical symbols of domesticity and nurturing: warm bread, a stuffed turkey, pies, a glazed ham, fresh laundered sheets, but woven in with these are symbols of despair and depression that foreshadow her death: "grey" sweaters and "mad ... stories:"

The man and boy came home and found five loaves of warm bread, a roast stuffed turkey, a glazed ham, three pies of different fillings, eight molds of the boy's favorite custard, two weeks supply of fresh-laundered sheets and shirts and towels, two hand-knitted sweaters (both of the same grey color), a sheath of marvelous watercolor beasts accompanied by mad and fanciful stories nobody could ever make up again, and a tablet full of love sonnets addressed to the man. The house smelled redolently of renewal and spring.

The price of nurturing, the story implies, is death: the woman in caring for others is eaten alive, perhaps symbolized by "the marvelous watercolor beasts" she paints. 

What is the symbolic significance of the main character's name in Death of a Salesman?

The first thing you need to analyze to find symbolic meaning in Willy Loman’s name is his last name.  Broken down, it is “low man.”  In the play, Willy is an unsuccessful traveling salesman who is past his prime.  He has continued to fantasize about the riches he will make with the next deal down the road.  Willy is not well-liked; he brags and “talks big,” often losing sales because of his ego.  Willy never advances in the company he works for and even pleads to his boss, Howard Wagner, to not fire him and let him keep his meager job.  As far as his success and contributions to the world, Willy is definitely a “low man.”  He will never measure up to the expectations of a successful man in society, and he is worn out and of no use to the business world.  His extramarital affair also shows his failure as a husband.

Another thing you might think of is why is a grown man still called “Willy”?  It is pretty typical to keep a childhood nickname, but in Willy’s case, it is probably more detrimental to his business and the way people see him than if he went by Will or William.  Willy is also very child-like in the play.  Linda does everything for him and continuously makes excuses for his failings as a provider and father.  He wants to be pals with his children, Biff and Happy, rather than a father who guides and acts as a role model to his children.  He is stuck in the past, where he did have some success in business, but he is now old and cannot let go of Biff’s brilliant high school football record or the success of Charley, his neighbor, who runs his own business.

Willy is also at the “low” point in his life.  His world is crumbling around him; he can’t afford to buy new appliances or fix the decaying house; he has been fired from his job.  It is then that Willy gives up and kills himself to at least provide life insurance money to his family. 

Gordon Freeman uses a crowbar (2 meters long) to open up a door by wedging it into the hinges. He applies a force of 500N on one end. How much...

Hello!

A crowbar in this situation is a kind of a lever. One end of a lever is used to apply one's force and the other end transmits energy, force and torque to some load, in this case to a door. A necessary part of this construction is some support, or fulcrum, which in the case of a crowbar is located between ends.

I suppose that Gordon Freeman applies force to a crowbar perpendicularly to it. In this case torque is force multiplied by arm length (in more general case it is must also be multiplied by sine of the angle between them). Also this maximizes torque.

Force is given, and an arm length is close to the total length of a crowbar, which is also given. So the answer is  `500N * 2m = 1000 N*m.` 

Describe the assembly place from the fifth chapter of Lord of the Flies.

The assembly place is described in detail near the beginning of the chapter. It's the same place the boys have been assembling since the beginning of the story, but Golding may have held off on describing it until this point because its description serves to further illustrate some of the symbols and themes of the story, particular as Ralph starts to despair at the lack of civil and mindful behavior among the others.

The assembly is near the palm terrace where Ralph first called to the others with the conch. It is surrounded by palm trees and is shaped like a triangle, with logs for seats. One log, the largest, and far larger than any other on the terrace, is Ralph's seat. This log lies parallel to the beach, so that Ralph sits at the "base" of the triangle, with the ocean behind him and the other boys, and the island, in front of him. The other two sides of the triangle are also formed by logs; one large one on Ralph's right, and four smaller ones on his left, the last of which is wobbly and often causes the boys sitting on it to fall off; this started off being funny, but Ralph is getting tired of it, and is disheartened that neither he nor anyone else has thought to stabilize it with a rock. 

There is tall grass growing in the middle of the triangle, but it is stamped down in the places closest to where people sit on the logs. 

My thoughts on the point of the description are as follows;

• Ralph's position is intended to show how he is figuratively alone, with an unknown behind him (the ocean) and another in front of him (the island, and increasingly, the boys) and he is intended to protect the boys from both, but he can also be seen as the one in peril. Ralph is also trying to intimidate the others by sitting so that he can't be seen as easily.


• The wobbly log and the tall grass in the middle of the assembly represent how the boys have left things go half-finished; everything they do is a bare minimum effort and they are nowhere near as insulated from the wilderness as they might imagine. 

What brings Juliet pain in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet?

Daughters in Shakespeare's time, and throughout most of history, were subject to their fathers socially and legally. Young girls did not have the pleasure of choosing to whom they would be married because that was usually a business agreement between gentlemen. Many young girls were married to older gentlemen, just like Paris is older than Juliet. But this is only part of the pain inflicted upon young Juliet. The most painful events for Juliet is when her father threatens to cast her out of his family if she doesn't marry Paris, Tybalt's death and Romeo's banishment. 

First, Juliet gets caught in a paradox because she married Romeo just as her father makes the arrangements for her to marry Paris. She does her best to hold her father off as best she can because if she marries Paris, she will be committing an even greater sin by having married two men. Juliet is a good girl and doesn't want to offend God or her vows to Romeo by marrying another man, so this is a painful situation. But to add salt to the wound, her father threatens her as in the following lines:

"Hang thee, young baggage, disobedient wretch!

I tell thee what: get thee to the church o'Thursday,

Or never after look me in the face.

Speak not, reply not, do not answer me" (III.v.160-163).

Another event that greatly burdens Juliet is the fact that Romeo kills her cousin Tybalt and she doesn't know exactly why. She must choose to stay loyal to her husband and forgive him, or hate him for Tybalt's death. Juliet expresses her grief as follows:

"O, break, my heart, poor bankrupt, break at once!

To prison, eyes; ne'er look on liberty.

Vile earth, to earth resign; end motion here,

And thou and Romeo press one heavy bier!" (III.ii.57-60).

Clearly, Juliet exclaims that her heart is broken upon the news about Romeo and Tybalt.

One last example of Juliet's pain and suffering is expressed when she is letting the news of Romeo's banishment sink in as shown below:

"All slain, all dead. 'Romeo is banished'--

There is no end, no limit, measure, bound,

In that word's death. No words can that woe sound"

(III.iii.124-126).

The poor girl just can't get a break from the vicissitudes of life all thrown at her within three days time.

Describe the setting of the short story "The Sniper" by Liam O'Flaherty.

Liam O'Flaherty's short story "The Sniper" takes place in Dublin during the Irish Civil War. The author tells us it is specifically set on the rooftops near the Four Courts, an important government building. The Liffey River, which runs through the city, is also nearby. It is an otherwise peaceful urban setting that has been rocked by war. O'Flaherty writes:

Dublin lay enveloped in darkness but for the dim light of the moon that shone through fleecy clouds, casting a pale light as of approaching dawn over the streets and the dark waters of the Liffey. Around the beleaguered Four Courts the heavy guns roared. 

In the summer of 1922, a street battle broke out in Dublin between the Irish Republican Army, who disagreed with the recent treaty that the Provisional Government had negotiated with Britain, and Free State troops of the Provisional Government. The treaty made Ireland a free state within the British Commonwealth. The Republicans wanted to eliminate any ties with Britain. That summer, members of the Republican Army barricaded themselves inside the Four Courts. Eventually a large explosion, which destroyed important historical records, ended the stand off.

The story centers on a Republican sniper on a rooftop near the government building, probably there to help protect the men inside the Four Courts. The plot centers around his battle with a Free State sniper who turns out to be his brother. The war divided families and it was not uncommon for men from the same family to fight on opposing sides. 

How does Mrs. Mallard's heart condition impact the way other characters interact with her?

The characters with whom we see Mrs. Mallard interact in the story are her sister and her husband's friend Richards.  We also are privy to Mrs. Mallard's thoughts about her relationship with her husband. With all three characters, there is evidence to show that Mrs. Mallard's heart condition has caused those around her to treat her far more carefully than a woman of normal health.

The very first sentence of the story tells us,

Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband's death (para. 1). 

This sets the stage for Mrs. Mallard's interactions with those around her.

Mrs. Mallard's sister, Josephine, finds it necessary to be indirect in breaking the news of Mr. Mallard's death, "in veiled hints..." (para. 2). And when Mrs. Mallard retreats to her room and closes her door, Josephine kneels in front of the door begging Mrs. Mallard to open the door, telling her she will make herself sick.

Mr. Mallard's friend Richards checks twice to be sure that Mr. Mallard is on the fatality list.  Then he hurries to the house to be sure that he can break the news before someone less sensitive to Mrs. Mallard's delicate state could let her know in a way that would be less tender and careful. 

While we do not see Mr. and Mrs. Mallard together in the story, except for that one fleeting moment at the end, there is evidence to suggest that Mr. Mallard might have been controlling and dominating to some degree because of his wife's heart condition.  She thinks of his "powerful will bending hers..." (para. 12) with "kind intention...." (para. 12).  We can speculate that at the very least, this was his justification for being a controlling spouse. 

The way this story is set up, it makes sense for Mrs. Mallard to have a heart condition, so it is plausible that she dies from shock, and the interactions with others are meant to show this.  But I don't think it is a coincidence that she has a heart condition.  This is almost a play on words, really, since the condition Mrs. Mallard suffers from is certainly a condition of the heart, an inability to be her own person in her marriage. 

What does Stanley find out about Zigzag in Chapter 17 of Holes by Louis Sachar?

Stanley learns Zigzag has harbored a grudge and can be violent. 

All of the boys at Camp Green Lake go by nicknames.  The nicknames are generally not flattering.  Stanley’s nickname is Caveman.  Other boys are named Zigzag and Zero.  Zigzag thinks Zero is weird, but Stanley thinks Zigzag is pretty weird, too:

Zigzag had to be the "weirdest dude" Stanley had ever seen. He had a long skinny neck, and a big round head with wild frizzy blond hair that stuck out in all directions. His head seemed to bob up and down on his neck, like it was on a spring (Ch. 7).

It turns out Zigzag has some violent tendencies.  All of the boys are forced to dig holes all day long that are as wide and deep as their shovel.  It is supposedly character-building, but the boys know they are looking for something.  The boy who finds something when digging is allowed the rest of the day off.  Zigzag is upset when Stanley finds a lipstick tube but gives it to X-ray instead of him, and expresses his frustration violently: 

[Stanley] scooped up some dirt, and was raising it up to the surface when Zigzag's shovel caught him in the side of the head.

He collapsed.

He wasn't sure if he passed out or not. He looked up to see Zigzag's wild head staring down at him. "I ain't digging that dirt up," Zigzag said. "That's your dirt." (Ch. 17) 

Zigzag is obviously still angry at Stanley.  “Mom” makes no response except to tell Stanley not to nap.  This is not a camp where anyone cares what happens to the boys.  The boys only have value as diggers of holes to find treasure. 

It turns out the warden is a descendant of Kissing Kate Barlow, and she is looking for buried treasure.  She could not care less about the fate of the boys in her care.  They can bully and victimize each other all they want.  She is just as cruel.  Her only goal is the treasure.

In Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, how are Anne’s views of women different from those of most women of her day?

Anne Frank compares herself to other women such as Margot, Mrs. Frank, Mrs. Van Daan, and her friends at school. She sees herself as an independent woman who is strong and can carry herself through her own choices. She values honesty and integrity, but she also won't allow anyone to talk down to her or about her. She feels that these character traits of hers are unique because most women seem to act meek, mild, quiet, and roll over whenever anyone challenges them. For Anne, this is disgusting. For example, Anne doesn't truly respect her sister Margot for the following reasons:

“I might tell you I don’t want to be in the least like Margot. She is much too soft and passive for my liking, and allows everyone to talk her around, and gives in about everything. I want to be a stronger character!” (66).

Anne certainly is a stronger character; but, what Anne may not know is that it might take a lot of strength for Margot to mind her manners and temper. Anne wants to be a strong woman, but she doesn't want to lose her self-respect. Anne loses respect for Mrs. Van Daan when she flirts with Mr. Frank and Mr. Dussel. Even though Anne isn't Mrs. Frank's biggest fan, she respects her mother for keeping her flirting to herself. Near the end of the time in the annex, Anne loses respect again for Mrs. Van Daan when she becomes more and more desperate. Anne discloses her thoughts about Mrs. Van Daan as follows:

“Mrs. Van Daan is desperate, talks about a bullet through her head, prison, hanging, and suicide . . . she quarrels, uses abusive language, cries, pities herself, laughs, and then starts a fresh quarrel again. What on earth can one do with such a foolish, blubbering specimen? No one takes her seriously, she hasn’t any character, and she grumbles to everyone" (252).

Again, Anne wants to be a strong, independent woman. She wants to be a journalist or a writer one day; and because she doesn't mention it in her diary, she doesn't seem to want to be a mother and a wife like many in her generation were brought up to be. Anne is more ambitious and seems to desire a career more than anything else at this stage in her life. She also feels as though she is more affectionate with Peter than other girls her age might be. She worries a little bit about her behavior with Peter as shown in the following passage:

"I know almost for certain that Margot would never kiss a boy unless there had been some talk of an engagement or marriage, but neither Peter nor I have anything like that in mind. I’m sure too that Mummy never touched a man before Daddy. What would my girl friends say about it if they knew that I lay on Peter’s arms, my heart against his chest, my head on his shoulder and with his head against mine!” (212).

Even though Anne worries about what others may think, she keeps doing as she sees fit for the most part. She believes that she is independent and strong enough to check herself if needs be. Many other girls might cling more to their parents for guidance and advice, and Anne does go to her father about Peter once or twice; but for the most part, Anne is her own woman no matter what other women in the world might be doing.

Who is the focal point in Wordsworth's poem, "A Character?"

The focal point of Wordworth's "A Character" is the face of an idealized man. Because we know Wordsworth was a nature poet who liked to write about the common people, we can imagine this to be the face an ordinary laboring person Wordsworth might have seen in his isolated home in the Lake District of northern England.

The poet first marvels at the many expressions that cross the man's face. "There's thought and no thought ... paleness and bloom ... bustle and sluggishness ... pleasure and gloom."

At this point, the poet's opinions of this man's face, and by extension the man himself, seem neutral. But by the second stanza, the poet finds goodness and virtue in this face. The poet see this as the face of a man who would accept affliction and pain with peace. In the third stanza, the poet becomes even more enthusiastic. The face  before him is attentive, without ambition, joyful, and mild, proud without being envious. In stanza four, we learn more about the virtues the poet reads in the man's face: he is free and "there's virtue, the title it [the face] surely may claim."

In the final stanza, the poet recognizes that his opinions of this face may be too good to be true: "this picture from nature may seem to depart." Wordsworth indicates that his thoughts are influenced by emotion or sentiment: "the Man at once would run away with your heart." At the end, Wordsworth wishes he could be this simple man, who he calls "a kind happy creature."

This poem expresses the Romantic themes of idealizing and celebrating the common person. It is also written in the kind of simple language important to Romantic poets. While some of the language does not seem simple to us, Wordworth is using plain words like "mild" and "kind" or rhymes like "bloom" and "gloom," and he avoids making allusions to Classical literature or mythology.  

What are the differences between metals and non-metals?

Metals and non-metals are elements, apart from noble gases, that are generally presented in the periodic table of elements. There are a number of differences between the two classes. At the atomic level, metals have lesser number if valence electrons and find it much easier to donate electrons. Non-metals, on the other hand, have many more valence electrons and find it much easier to accept electrons. Metals are solid at room temperature (except mercury), while non-metals can be solid, liquid or gas at room temperature. Metals and non-metals can also be differentiated on the basis of malleability and ductility. Metals exhibit both, along with electrical conductivity; all these properties are absent from non-metals. Metals are shiny in appearance, whereas non-metals generally have a dull appearance.

Hope this helps.

What is the effect of the run-on lines in stanza three of Roy Campbell's poem "Autumn"?

As you read Roy Campbell’s poem “Autumn,” the first two stanzas describe the slow, rhythmic fluctuations of the seasons. Campbell speaks of the changes that autumn makes in nature as it slips into winter. The author describes the appearance of the trees as they become bare and bleak as the trunk and branches are exposed. To him these are works of art.  It is a slow plodding change.

In the third stanza, Campbell has one line run into the next as the process and transformation speeds up; it creates urgency and exposes the cyclical nature of seasonal change. The writing makes the reader move from line to line more quickly without stopping. The olive branches are bare and lightened of their load while the “vats” of olive oil fill-up. The olives are transformed into oil which the poet explains is the vestige of the summer. He uses this writing technique to demonstrate the non-stop change of the seasons through the metaphor of the transformation of the olives into oil that lasts throughout the winter while reminding one of summer.

In the last stanza, he again slows the pace. autumn turns to winter when wine is enjoyed with a warm fire in the hearth.

What is the main theme in "Still I Rise" by Maya Angelou?

The main theme of Angelou's "Still I Rise" is the promise of triumph of African-Americans over slavery and racism.  The author contrasts the history of racism and brutality to her race and the determination to overcome this wretched treatment. 

She says we can trod upon her "in the very dirt" (line 3), but "like dust" (line 4), she will rise.  She says we can shoot her, cut her, kill her "with hatefulness" (line 23), but she will, "like air" (line 24), rise again. 

The entire history of the American treatment of African-Americans, from slavery to Jim Crow laws, from physical mistreatment to the prejudice reflected in the expressions of white people, is depicted in the poem.  But the constant refrain, "I'll rise" (line 4), is a promise to America that none of this will stop African-Americans in their quest for equality, happiness, and success.  

What is the significance of the photograph in "The Red Convertible"? Why does Lyman dislike it so much?

Significance of the Photograph

The picture was taken on the last day of Henry's life. It was taken just before Henry lost his life either because of a thoughtless mistake or a need to escape memories and living (the psychology driving Henry is ambiguous). The picture was the last family moment recorded just before Lyman failed to save Henry from the overburdened river.

Henry posing there with Lyman photographically captured the first time Henry voluntarily touched Lyman since returning. Seeing himself posing there with Henry, Lyman remembered the way Henry's arm felt that day, unyielding and unlike in times past when they were relaxed and comfortable with each other, sitting still for "whole afternoons."

[H]e took his other arm and put it on my shoulder, very carefully, as though it was heavy for him to lift, and he didn't want to bring the weight down all at once.

Posing there with Henry was the last time they were together with their little sister Bonita, who took their picture and told them to smile.

Why Lyman Dislikes It So

In the story, Lyman starts out liking the picture. He "felt good about Henry at that time, close to him." Note that this implies that at the time of Lyman's narration, he no longer feels good about Henry, no longer feels close to him. The reason Lyman suddenly takes an immense dislike to the picture is complex. It has to do with the many things Lyman saw, did, and experienced that "one night":

• the television he saw, which Henry once watched in rigid silence, stiff, like a scared "rabbit when it freezes": "I was looking at television."


• Lyman being drunk and stoned, with artificially distorted perceptions, which can nonetheless have bewilderingly persistent impact: "I was a little drunk and stoned."


• the impression that Henry was staring at Lyman from the picture: "I looked up at the wall and Henry was staring at me."


• the pained posing he saw in the picture because Henry's arm seemed to feel too heavy for him: "[It seemed] heavy for him to lift and he didn't want to bring the weight down all at once."


• the imperfections he saw in the picture: Henry had to "squint against the glare" or against a "blinding" camera flash; he had "shadows on his face" as "deep as holes," two shadows "hooked around the ends of his smile" as if to "try to keep it there."

The picture Bonita took that day caught Henry's first smile since coming home, and Lyman thought that smile "looked like it might have hurt his face." The picture of Henry, given its circumstances and imperfections, may have caused Lyman to see that he felt some unspoken responsibility for Henry's death. It may certainly have made him see that he had pent-up grief and unanswered questions over the tragedy of Henry's sudden death and the horror of his post-war life.

In "The Adventure of the Speckled Band," what information does Holmes gather to start his investigation after Roylott's visit?

Holmes learns that Roylott is very strong and also unstable.

A woman named Helen Stoner visits Holmes to tell him that she fears that her sister’s death may not have been an accident. She thinks her stepfather, Dr. Roylott, was responsible. Stoner tells Holmes that her stepfather is violent and quarrels with the neighbors.

After Stoner leaves, Roylott storms in, and from Watson’s description he certainly seems dangerous.

So tall was he that his hat actually brushed the cross bar of the doorway, and his breadth seemed to span it across from side to side. A large face, seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with the sun, and marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other of us…

Roylott is indeed angry. He found out that Helen Stoner has been to see Holmes and he wants to know why. He calls Holmes a “busybody” and a “meddler.” He also threatens Holmes, telling him he is a “dangerous man to fall foul of.”  When he bends a fireplace poker with his bare hands, Holmes learns that he is not only unstable but incredibly strong.

Holmes is not impressed. He unbends the fireplace poker just as easily as Roylott bent it. Holmes now knows what kind of man Roylott is.

This incident gives zest to our investigation, however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer from her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace her.

Holmes is not the least bit intimidated by Roylott. If anything, he is amused. Watson and Holmes go to Stoke Moran to learn how Roylott killed Julia and planned to kill Helen. Waiting in the dark, Holmes realizes that he has sent his trained pet swamp adder out as a murder weapon. Unfortunately for Roylott, the murder snake turns on him and he is killed, saving everyone the cost of a trial!

`bbv = -5bbi + 4bbj` Find the magnitude and direction angle of the vector `bbv`.

The magnitude of a vector `u = a*i + b*j` , such that:

`|u| = sqrt(a^2+b^2)`

In the problem, the vector `v = -5i + 4j,` hence, its' magnitude is:

`|v| = sqrt((-5)^2 + 4^2) => |v| = sqrt(25+16) => |v| = sqrt41`

The direction angle of the vector can be found using the formula, such that:

`tan theta = b/a`

`tan theta = -4/5 => theta = tan^(-1)(-4/5)`

Hence, evaluating the magnitude and the direction angle of the given vector yields `|v| = sqrt41` , `theta = tan^(-1)(-4/5).`

In the play Macbeth, what are Macbeth's thoughts on social change?

Most people would agree that the leader (king) of a country should be concerned about improving the nation over which he presides. Often, people who run for president or aspire to a leadership position do so because they want to change something about the society. A good starting point to answering this question would be to think about why Macbeth wants to be King of Scotland and whether or not he is motivated by his desire to effect positive change in Scotland.

There is not much evidence that Macbeth wants to be King of Scotland in order to create positive change in the country. It seems that Macbeth's motives are purely selfish. His excessive ambition to become King and his greed for power eventually lead to his downfall. After Macbeth hears from the witches that he will rule Scotland one day, he acts almost immediately to put himself on the throne. Consequently, he doesn't really think about what he hopes to accomplish as the ruler of Scotland. Once Macbeth is crowned, he does nothing to improve the lives of Scottish people, and, in fact, many references in the play suggest that the country has gone quickly downhill with Macbeth at the helm. People are afraid, and Macbeth's unnatural act (murder of King Duncan) has created a ripple effect in the world around him such that nature and society are in complete turmoil. Macbeth has a nobleman (Banquo) and the family of another thane (Macduff) killed to maintain his power. His goal simply seems to be to gain and keep power. There is no evidence that he wants to effect social change (at least not a positive one) in Scotland.

Malcolm, the rightful heir to Duncan's throne, is the foil to Macbeth. In Act IV, it is established that Malcolm is a righteous person who also has genuine intentions to make Scotland a great country again. After his father's murder, Malcolm flees to England, where he has been protected and is loved by the monarch there. Because he feels a duty to his home country, though, Malcolm, with help from England and other defected Scottish nobles like Macduff, declares war on Macbeth and succeeds in gaining the throne. At the close of the play, the characters are hopeful that Malcolm's reign will restore hope and prosperity to Scotland. 

What is a good monologue given by the character Malcolm in Macbeth?

The character of Malcolm has a few good monologues in Macbeth, although some of them are the most cryptic and ambiguous monologues in the entire play (specifically, Malcolm's monologues in Act 4). 

Arguably, Malcolm's first monologue takes place after he finds out his father has died. It is an aside to his brother, Donalbain:

MALCOLM: What will you do? Let's not consort with them. / To show an unfelt sorrow is an office / Which the false man does easy. I'll to England... / This murderous shaft that's shot / Hath not yet lighted, and our safest way / Is to avoid the aim. Therefore to horse, / And let us not be dainty of leave-taking / But shift away. There's warrant in that theft / Which steals itself when there's no mercy left. (II.iii.160-172)

In this monologue, Malcolm accurately foresees that he and Donalbain are in danger and that the two of them should quickly flee to safety. After this moment, Malcolm is not seen again until later in the play. When he is seen again, Malcolm is engaging with Macduff. He tricks Macduff, stating he is more of a monster than Macbeth, to test Macduff's loyalties. Malcolm claims that:

MALCOLM: It is myself I mean, in whom I know / All the particulars of vice so grafted / That, when they shall be opened, black Macbeth / Will seem as pure as snow, and the poor state / Esteem him as a lamb, being compared / With my confineless harms. (IV.iii.61-66)

At face value, these words are confusing and seem contrary to the Malcolm the audience has first seen. However, it soon becomes clear that Malcolm is testing Macduff, which proves Malcolm to be a cunning and intelligent future leader.

It also should be noted that Malcolm has the final lines in Macbeth. Malcolm ultimately represents the new restored order. His final monologue, which can be found at the very end of the play, is a beautiful testament to patriotism, community and unity. 

What are the main events of the story "Thank You, M'am?"

The story opens with an action scene depicting a stout woman, walking down a city street at night carrying a large purse. A boy runs up behind her, attempting to steal her purse but instead, falls backwards when the purse strap breaks. The woman, Mrs. Jones, takes complete control of the situation from this point on and turning, kicks the boy.

When Mrs. Jones realizes he has no one at home waiting for him, she insists the boy come with her and half drags him back to her home in what appears to be a boarding house. Once there, she lets go of him and tells him to wash then proceeds to feed him. She asks him if he needed the money from her purse for food and he admits that he wanted ten dollars to buy blue suede shoes. The entire time, her door is open and he could obviously escape but Mrs. Jones commanding presence causes him to obey her and stay. They talk and she admits she too has done things about which she is not proud.

Mrs. Jones shares her sparse meal and cake with him then hands him ten dollars, walks him to the door and shutting the door as he leaves, instructs him to behave himself.

Chapter 4 - pp. 45-62 of Night 1. What were the objectives of the medical examinations?2. Why were the Jewish musicians not allowed to play...

The objectives of the medical examinations were to determine if the inmates were in good health capable of discharging their duties as required by the Germans. The dental examination, on the other hand, was for the sole purpose of looking for inmates with gold crowns so they can be removed.

The Jewish musicians were not allowed to play Beethoven because the Jews were prohibited from playing German music.

One of Idek’s bout of madness occurred when he physically assaulted Elie. He later calmed down and asked Elie to resume his duties like nothing had happened.

Elie feigned sickness to avoid losing his gold crown. He informed the dentist that he had a fever, and so the dentist postponed the procedure. He did this until the dentist’s office was shut down.

Years later, on the Paris Metro, Elie met the French lady who worked at the electrical warehouse as a forced laborer. The lady comforted Elie after his first encounter with Idek.

After Elie refused to give Franek his gold crown, Franek took to harassing Elie’s father because he could not march in step as required in the camps. He physically assaulted Elie’s father until Elie decided to teach his father how to march correctly. Eventually, Elie was forced to give away his gold crown because the assault persisted.

During an alert, all inmates and officers took cover in the buildings leaving behind two cauldrons of soup unattended. The inmates saw this, but they also understood that they risked their lives if they dared venture outside during an alert. However, one of the inmates made his way to the cauldrons of soup by crawling on his belly. He made it to the cauldrons, but he was shot dead before having its contents.

Juliek whispered that “They’re expecting trouble” because the inmates were surrounded by the SS. They were just about to witness the hanging of one of their fellow inmates.

Elie and other inmates cried during the hanging of the pipel belonging to the Dutch Oberkapo. They cried because the pipel was just a child.

In Freak the Mighty, what are three words Max says that make him feel like a real person?

Not feeling like a “real person” is just another way of saying that a character lacks self-confidence. This is Max’s main internal problem from the very beginning of the book. (Max’s external problem is his father, Kenny “Killer” Kane.) Therefore, the three words Max says that make him feel like a real person are “Freak the Mighty.”

At the beginning of the novel, Max is a bully who feels that he isn’t smart as he retreats “down under” into the basement.  It is his new friendship with Kevin that gives Max hope. An interesting thing about the friendship is that Max is the one who initiates it by retrieving Kevin’s toy from a tree and then inviting Kevin “down under.” It isn’t long before the two discover the advantages of working together. Kevin can conquer his disability and Max can learn self-confidence by teaming up as a dual character named “Freak the Mighty.” As Max proclaims these three words, both at school and abroad, the two go on many adventures. Eventually the two are able to put Max’s evil father back in jail. Even after Kevin’s death, Max still allows “Freak the Mighty” to live on as a set of three words in the book that Max writes about their adventures.

How does one structure three claims for a literary analysis paper about Langston Hughes's poetry?

A claim is what you would use to support a larger argument, or thesis. When it comes to poetry, there are many ways in which you can create an argument and support it with claims. The most important part of writing a literary analysis is to have an argument that can be proven.

Generally, when writing about poetry, you'll end up writing about theme, poetic structure, figurative language, genre, and so on. Think about what you want to prove and then think about the ways in which you'd prove this point.

Here's an example:

You could argue that Hughes's poem "Ballad of the Landlord," with its emphasis on the struggles of a tenant versus his landlord, is part of the social protest literature movement. This is your larger argument.

You would then make three claims which will help you prove this larger argument.

(The clothesline metaphor for argument is perfect: you make your main argument, which is the clothesline, and you hang the claims on this clothesline.)

For example, you could say that the structure of the poem, particularly the use of a ballad, suggests something sad or tragic, which in fact this poem is. You could talk about how the poem for the most part is in ballad form until the last few stanzas, which shift from the tenant's perspective to a larger white American perspective.

Then you could make the claim that this tragic character of the tenant is repeated in many others of Hughes's poems, including the "Madam to..." poems. You would use this claim to emphasize that Hughes's aim is to shed light on the struggles of black Americans.

Finally, you could make the third claim that Hughes's increasing use of colloquialisms in the poem emphasizes the frustration that occurs in black communities in regards to housing.

For the most part, when making claims, you need to make sure that you have a larger argument that you are supporting. Otherwise, the claims will feel like a grocery list of the poem's characteristics. The most important thing is to say something that advances discussion about a particular poem.

What do we learn about Eliza and Georgiana Reed and why did Bronte bring them back into the novel later ?

Eliza and Georgiana are Jane's cousins at Gateshead, the home of Jane's aunt, Mrs. Reed. As a poor dependent, Jane is constantly tomented by the Reed children, especially the brother, and heir, John. Eliza is the clever one; she is the one who instantly knows that Jane is hiding in the window seat in Chapter 1, while Geogiana is the pretty one, spoiled by her mother. Mrs. Reed says that Jane is "not worthy of their notice," because of her temper and her abilty at age 10 to stand up for herself. She is soon sent away to school, and we hear nothing more of Mrs. Reed and her family until much later,  in Chapter 21, when Mrs. Reed, on her death bed following the dissipated death of John, summons Jane from Thornfield. 

What we learn about these characters from this second meeting is that their lives have moved along a clearly defined trajectory. Eliza, "very thin too, with a sallow face and severe mien," has become even more flinty with age, seeking more than anything else to become a nun and be left alone. Georgiana, "a full- blown, very plump damsel, fair as waxwork," always the flirt, has become fat and made a poor marriage. In fact, Jane's return serves to show how far she has progressed, emotionally and spiritually, compared to her cousins. As Jane says, "Eliza did not mortify, nor Georgiana ruffle me. The fact was, I had other things to think about."

Find the periodic payments necessary to accumulate the amount of $11500 in a fund paying 5% per year, with monthly payments for 6 years. ( Assume...

To determine the periodic payment, apply the formula of future value of annuity.

`FV = (PMT[(1+r/n)^(nt)-1])/(r/n)`

where

FV is the future value

r is the rate

n is the number of payments in a year, and

t is the number of years.

The given future value is FV = 11500. The rate is r=5%. Since it is paid monthly for 6 years, then  n=12 and t=6.

Plugging them to the formula yields:

`11500=(PMT[(1+0.05/12)^(12*6)-1])/(0.05/12)`

`11500=PMT*83.76425859`

`11500/83.76425859=PMT`

`137.2900589=PMT`

Rounding off to nearest hundredths, it becomes 137.29 .

Therefore, the monthly payment should be $137.29 in order to have $11500 in 6 years.

Why doesn't Rosaline like Romeo? What is Juliet's opinion of Paris?

When the reader first meets Romeo in Act I he has a terrible crush on Rosaline. He is depressed and spends many hours by himself and in the darkness of his room. When confronted he confesses to his cousin Benvolio that, even though he is madly in love with Rosaline, she does not reciprocate his affection. In lines 216-224 of Act I, Scene 1 Romeo says,

Well in that hit you miss. She’ll not be hit
With Cupid’s arrow. She hath Dian’s wit,
And, in strong proof of chastity well armed,
From love’s weak childish bow she lives uncharmed.
She will not stay the siege of loving terms,
Nor bide th’ encounter of assailing eyes,
Nor ope her lap to saint-seducing gold.
O, she is rich in beauty, only poor
That, when she dies, with beauty dies her store.

In other words, Romeo says she will not give in to his advances. She is as clever as the Roman goddess of hunting, Diana, and shields herself against Cupid's arrows. Rosaline has vowed never to give up her "chastity" and to remain celibate. Of course, Romeo finds this a terrible waste and he complains about it for several lines. It tells us that Romeo is quite a sensitive young man and that it is perfectly plausible that, after seeing Juliet, he falls in love at first sight. It also gives Shakespeare a reason to place Romeo at Capulet's party. He originally goes to see Rosaline but soon forgets her after meeting Juliet.

In Act I, Scene 3, Lady Capulet brings up the subject of Juliet marrying Count Paris. As his title suggests, Paris is very wealthy and a good match for Juliet, who also comes from the upper class of Verona society. Juliet's nurse is excited for Juliet because she believes the count a fine and handsome man. The Nurse says,

A man, young lady—lady, such a man
As all the world—why, he’s a man of wax.

By saying he's made of wax the Nurse is implying how good looking Paris is. Although Juliet is only 13 it was quite acceptable for young ladies her age to marry older men in Renaissance Italy. We never learn Paris's age (nor Romeo's for that matter) but we can guess he may be in his 20's. Juliet wants to play the dutiful daughter and she tells her mother,

I’ll look to like, if looking liking move.
But no more deep will I endart mine eye
Than your consent gives strength to make it fly.

She says she will check out Paris to see if she likes him but will do nothing without her parents' consent. Paris, on the other hand, is ready to marry Juliet immediately. He is twice seen speaking with Juliet's father about the subject. Paris, of course, is nothing in Juliet's eyes compared to Romeo.

What is the speaker's attitude about the ride in the first three stanzas?

In "Because I Could Not Stop for Death," perhaps one of Emily Dickinson's most-read and discussed poems, a clear tonal shift exists between the first three stanzas of the poem and the final three. One possible interpretation of the poem as a whole is that it represents the speaker's slow realization that she has died—and her ultimate acceptance and understanding of it. 

The speaker's attitude in the first three stanzas can be seen as polite, but distant. The speaker appears to be someone who was very caught up in whatever constituted her day-to-day life. The poem's opening line, "because I could not stop for death," and her setting aside "my labor and my leisure" indicate a preoccupation for activity—and are a sharp contrast to Death, who "knew no haste." As anyone who gets a rare day off after going nonstop for a few weeks can attest, that first moment when there's nothing to do but quietly relax can be a little bit jarring. The speaker appears preoccupied, but willing to pause for this carriage ride.

The speaker doesn't appear to mind the break from her life either. In referring to death, she is very polite, saying "He kindly stopped for me" and that she put aside what she was doing "For His Civility." In the first three stanzas at least, she doesn't appear to be concerned that she's sharing a carriage with Death, her host, and Immortality, the other silent passenger on this ride. While it could be that she's merely being polite, there is also no indication that her politeness is masking any other conflicting emotions.

While the third stanza shows only action as the travelers pass a school, fields, and the setting sun, this action still offers insight into the speaker's perspective and what she is choosing to recall. For most, all these images elicit fond positive imagery: childhood, abundant crops, and the sun are all associated with life and vitality. She may be on a leisurely ride with Death, but her perspective is still concerned with the world of the living, of youth, vibrance, and abundance.

Because of this, it could be argued that the meaning—or perhaps permanence—of her carriage ride is still lost on her. From her perspective, she could still depart the carriage at any moment, rejoin the living, and get back to her daily rituals.

This initial perspective is driven home in the fourth stanza, when it becomes apparent that although she had been willing to entertain Death on this journey, she was not expecting it to be taking her to her "final destination," so to speak. Too late, she realizes that the sun is setting (a common metaphor for dying), and judging by her attire ("For only Gossamer, my Gown— / My Tippet—only Tulle"), she had not been prepared. 

The rest of the poem finishes drives this point home as the reader learns the speaker has been dead for centuries. This, coupled with the seemingly naive indulgence of Death in the first three stanza, seems to imply that perhaps no one is ever really prepared to die, and that death's finality can—either figuratively or literally, depending on one's view of the afterlife—take much longer than one's own lifetime to accept.

What did Henry George and Edward Bellamy propose to do about the unequal distribution of wealth?

In the late-nineteenth century, many people were shocked by the unequal distribution of wealth in American society. One such person was Henry George, a journalist, who faced his own share of financial problems while raising his family. For George, the central problem was that only a few people in society benefited from rising land values and their high rents. He thus proposed to resolve this unequal distribution of wealth by replacing all taxes with a 'single tax' on what he called 'unearned increment' - an increase in the value of a piece of land which is caused by demand, not by any improvements carried out by the owner. George's idea was very popular and almost led him to become the mayor of New York.

In contrast, Edward Bellamy, an author and socialist, proposed a solution in which the means of production (factories and businesses) were no longer the property of businessmen and were instead controlled by the government. Bellamy idealised this vision in his 1888 novel, Looking Backward, and it was immediately popular with the American public. Unfortunately, his socialist ideas were never adopted but the government did introduce legislation to prohibit trade monopolies. 

Who visits Sadako every day?

Sadako was visited by her parents every day until she passed on. It can also be inferred from the story that her brother Masahiro also visited daily or at least quite often, because he was responsible for hanging the cranes which were made daily and bringing Sadako her school work. According to the story, when the leukemia took a toll on young Sadako only her parents and brother were allowed to visit, possibly because she was extremely weak during the period leading to her death.

Sadako grew pale and listless. Only her parents and Masahiro were allowed to visit her. The bamboo class sent a Kokeshi doll to cheer her up.

Sadako was a young athletic girl who was caught up in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima when she was only 2 years old. She seemed fine until symptoms of leukemia started to manifest when she participated in her school’s relay race. Sadako withheld this information until she finally collapsed during one of the races and was helped by the teachers who also informed her father. The visit to the hospital confirmed their worst fears after she was diagnosed with leukemia. While admitted at the hospital, her best friend told her a story about a Japanese legend that promised a wish for anyone who was able to fold 1,000 origami cranes. The story ended with Sadako folding 644 cranes (According to her brother she surpassed the 1,000 paper cranes and actually made it to 1,300*).

During a phase change, the temperature of a substance is what?

During a phase change, the temperature of a substance remains constant. We commonly observe phase changes from solid to liquid, such as the melting of ice. Liquid to gas phase changes are also commonly seen, such as during the boiling of water.

Ice melts to form water at 0 degree Celsius. When we supply heat to the ice, its temperature rises until it reaches 0 degrees Celsius. At that temperature, ice has a phase change and becomes liquid water, without any change in temperature. This is because the amount of heat that is supplied to the ice molecules is used to increase their kinetic energy, which is reflected in temperature increase. Once they have sufficient energy to overcome the bonds that are holding them together, we observe the phase change. Thus, we can see that the heat supplied during the phase change (at constant temperature) is used to break these bonds rather than provide kinetic energy to the molecules. Hence the phase change reaction takes place at a constant temperature.

Hope this helps.  

How does Romeo's language seem immature? Is his love for Rosaline inauthentic?

It is illuminating to compare the language of Romeo when he describes his love for Rosaline and when he describes his love for Juliet. The language is drastically different and more poetic when Romeo discusses Juliet. Rosaline seems more like a throwaway character in comparison, but her existence is important. The audience first sees Romeo as downtrodden and immature:

Alas that love, whose view is muffled still, / Should without eyes see pathways to his will! (169-170)

When discussing Rosaline, Romeo is filled with questions and bad poetry. (Few people quote his love for Rosaline, and that's for a reason.) Shakespeare does this because it allows us to take his love for Juliet seriously. While many claim his love for Juliet is foolish and immature, his love for Juliet seems incredibly mature when compared to his love for Rosaline. "O brawling love! O loving hate! O any thing, of nothing first create," (174-175) which Romeo shouts about Rosaline, is essentially Shakespeare's version of bad poetry. Romeo is grasping at love, but his feelings ultimately come across as inauthentic. With Juliet, however, the poetry he proclaims has become some of the most famous poetry of all time. 

In Shirley Jackson's "The Possibility of Evil," what is significant about the fact that Miss Strangeworth uses a dull stub of a pencil and childish...

While Miss Strangeworth is viewed as a sweet and elderly woman by the people in her community, she's actually anything but. If anything, Miss Strangeworth is bitter, judgemental, and cowardly. 

She makes polite conversation with her neighbors when she's out and about in town and she always asks questions about how they're doing and what they're up to. 

Her concern appears genuine, at first, but it's soon revealed that Miss Strangeworth frequently writes hurtful letters to her neighbors, most of which are rooted only in gossip.

The narrator describes the locked desk in her house in which she keeps all of her stationary—one "normal" set and a colorful set, commonly used by various townspeople, that she uses to pen her anonymous letters.

It's noted that Miss Strangeworth goes to great lengths in order to keep her identity hidden. She never signs her name on the letters and brings them to the post office only after dusk. 

In addition to that, she always uses the same dull stub of a pencil when writing and she masks her handwriting by making it blocky and childish.

The whittled down pencil stub implies that Miss Strangeworth writes her hateful letters fairly often and the childish handwriting implies that she works very hard to remain undiscovered.

It's also implied that Miss Strangeworth is the one who sent the shocking letter to Linda Stewart's parents, which is why she's no longer allowed to have Dave over to her house.

While the reader is never made aware of the contents of the letter, Linda describes it as being both "dirty" and "nasty."

How does Scout feel about her gender in To Kill a Mockingbird?

Scout’s feelings about her gender are complicated. There are not many children her age who are also girls, and her only sibling is a boy. Jem often teases her or is frustrated by the fact that she is a girl. Although he usually spends time with her and treats her like a friend, he sometimes demeans her because of her gender. 

“I swear, Scout, sometimes you act so much like a girl it’s mortifyin’.”

There was more to it than he knew, but I decided not to tell him (Chapter 4).

Of course Scout is a girl, and Jem knows that. He seems to like to pretend she is not. To Jem, being a girl is always an insult. It is not a positive thing, or a normal fact of life.

I was not so sure, but Jem told me I was being a girl, that girls always imagined things, that’s why other people hated them so, and if I started behaving like one I could just go off and find some to play with (Chapter 4).

Especially after Dill arrives, Scout spends a lot of time with Miss Maudie because Jem often insults her and calls her a girl, and Jem and Dill go off and do "boy things" together.  Jem really confuses Scout when he pulls away from her as he gets older. He even stops telling her not to act like a girl, and then starts telling her to act like one!

Overnight, it seemed, Jem had acquired an alien set of values and was trying to impose them on me: several times he went so far as to tell me what to do. After one altercation when Jem hollered, “It’s time you started bein‘ a girl and acting right!” I burst into tears and fled to Calpurnia (Chapter 11). 

When Scout was younger, she hated the trappings of being a girl. She preferred overalls to dresses and wanted to run around with the boys. As she got older, she learned how to properly serve at a tea party and why she shouldn’t pick fights. For Scout, part of growing up was learning what it meant to be a lady and coming to like being a lady or at least accept that she was expected to behave like one.

In "A Modest Proposal" how does Swift use irony to satirize anti-Catholic feelings?

Jonathan Swift's satirical pamphlet “A Modest Proposal” is a purely ironic attempt to offer a solution to Ireland's hunger and overpopulation problems in the early 18th century. While most of the essay is spent outlining his argument that Irish infants should be sold and eaten at one-year of age, there are two instances in which the speaker, who is not Swift himself (since Swift is being satirical and does not really believe what he is writing), directly addresses Catholics.

Swift's motivation was the prejudice of the Protestants in Ireland and England toward the Irish Catholics. Over time, the Catholic population in Ireland had become more and more persecuted, as they were denied employment and fundamental rights, including the right to vote. Although Swift was not a Roman Catholic, he was concerned about their plight.

The following excerpt is the first mention of Catholics in the essay:

. . . there are more children born in Roman Catholick countries about nine months after Lent, the markets will be more glutted than usual, because the number of Popish infants, is at least three to one in this kingdom, and therefore it will have one other collateral advantage, by lessening the number of Papists among us.

The irony here is emphasized by the matter-of-fact tone the speaker uses, as though the idea of eating Catholic infants is indisputably right and just.

A little further on in the essay, the speaker says:

For first, as I have already observed, it would greatly lessen the number of Papists, with whom we are yearly over-run, being the principal breeders of the nation, as well as our most dangerous enemies, and who stay at home on purpose with a design to deliver the kingdom to the Pretender, hoping to take their advantage by the absence of so many good Protestants, who have chosen rather to leave their country, than stay at home and pay tithes against their conscience to an episcopal curate.

This paragraph makes reference to the political situation in England and Ireland in the early 18th century. There is irony in the fact that the speaker makes it sound like the Protestants are the ones being persecuted, rather than the Catholics, which was not the case.

Explain a situation where a person has to choose one option out of many? What was its impact on his/her life?

Let’s take a situation right out of high school. Students have completed a mandatory expectation of society; they have gotten a high school diploma.  Now students must make a choice that will determine the quality of the rest of their lives. They can go to college, get married, go into the military, work in their family business, or get a job, and sometimes two of those combined. The decision they make totally affects the rest of their lives.  

If they decide to go to college, they are looking at four years of expenses and hard work.  However, the Bureau of Statistic has calculated that a college graduate who works 40 years full time will earn one million dollars more than a high school graduate in his/her lifetime.  (See documentation below)

This does not only affect men but also women.  If a person decides to marry right out of high school, the chances of divorce in the United States are 40-50 percent. (See documentation below).  Generally the women retain custody of the children and they need to go back to work to make ends meet.  Therefore, their education is just as important as the males.  We no longer live in a society where the man is the main bread winner.  Even if the marriage stays together, the cost of raising children has increased and, many times, two incomes are necessary to live the style of life wanted by both parties.

If the student, male or female, decides to go into the military, there are many benefits they will receive, but there are also many disadvantages.  Benefits include medical treatment for free, a low-cost loan for his/her first home, shopping privileges to buy items at a low cost, extensive travel, and other Veteran’s benefits.  The disadvantages include separation from family while you are overseas, possibility of death or dismemberment, and low salaries while you are in the military. The student needs to weigh his/her situation with the pros and cons of this profession.

Students could work in their family business.  If their mother or father is very successful, and the student enjoys doing that kind of work, it might be very beneficial.  They will probably inherit the business, and they may end up a very successful business owner.  However, if they hate doing that kind of work, the idea of spending the next forty years doing something they hate, may not be very enticing.

Finally, students could get a job with their high school diploma.  As stated previously, they will earn approximately one million dollars less in their lifetimes than a college graduate.  They will start out at minimum wage and hope for the prospect of a promotion.  Many high school graduates have been overlooked for other candidates that have a two year college degree. 

The choice is up to the individual.  However, the choice that they make will affect the rest of their lives.  Where they live, who they associate with, what they can offer their children, and how they will affect others in their lives. 

Where is the poet going (in "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening")?

The first question to ask is: “Is the poet the narrator in the first person”? This is a legitimate question because, according to Aristotle, a poem only has one narrator, and our assumption is that the poet is putting himself in that position (many poems use this convention: “When I have fears that I may cease to be,” "Oft in a stilly night ‘ere slumber’s chains have bound me,” etc.).

Having equated the poet with the speaker, then, we can find several clues in the poem to justify the conclusion that the speaker/poet is returning home (after a day in town, perhaps). “My little horse must think it queer”: one can infer that this a routine journey. “Miles to go before I sleep” can be seen as looking forward to being in his own bed (although an inn or friend’s home could also be meant); “promises to keep” infer promises made to known people, perhaps to his family after being away (that it infers his family is pure speculation of course).

All these clues together imply the end of a journey. Symbolically, the poem is discussing any journey, even a "life's journey," as such the "dark and deep" woods could be any distraction from any journey's goal.

Are there any primary sources regarding Druids, especially related to Emperor Claudius banning Druidism?

There is, indeed, primary source material on Emperor Claudius and the Druids. The problem, however, lies in the perennial difficulty surrounding ancient texts, the transliterations and translations of which may conflict and may not always be reliable. Another caveat, however, is the fundamental question of what constitutes "primary source material" when discussing ancient texts, such those written by Tacitus, Herodotus, Suetonius and others. Often, such highly-esteemed figures in the study of history are drawing from questionable sources, yet these early historians are usually the only sources of information we have on the periods they cover. Suetonius, for example, remains widely studied for his portraits of the leaders of ancient Rome, yet how reliable is Suetonius on such a vast topic with the obvious limitations under which he was studying and writing. That said, this link provides about as good a reference as one is likely to find on the topic of Claudius and the Druids. While the passages provided are, by necessity, abbreviated, they do provide an optimal guide for further research.

Another very good source is the volume edited by John T. Koch, titled Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia, a multi-volume history that draws on pretty much the same sources as those to which the above link references. You won't be able to purchase this set of encyclopedias unless you are willing to spend hundreds of dollars, but you should be able to locate them at a university library.

In Fahrenheit 451, after finding the green bullet, what threat did Beatty announce?

Beatty threatens to find the person on the other end of the radio.

Montag and Faber make arrangements to hear each other through a special kind of seashell radio.  Montag calls it a bullet because it is about the size of a .22 caliber bullet. However, the “green bullet” is actually a small radio receiver and transmitter.

Faber wants to be able to talk to and hear Montag from anywhere, so he can guide him through his subversive activities.  The bullet is similar to an earwig in our world, a tiny two-way radio.

Montag placed the green bullet in his ear. The old man inserted a similar object in his own ear and moved his lips.

"Montag! "

The voice was in Montag's head.

"I hear you! (Part II)

Faber’s plan is to give Montag directions on how to interact with Beatty and others from the safety of the radio.  Unfortunately, the way Montag uses the radio gives it away.  Beatty realizes that Montag has the bullet and hits him, trying to knock it loose.  It falls out and he picks it up.

Beatty switched the green bullet off and thrust it in his pocket. "Well--so there's more here than I thought. I saw you tilt your head, listening. First I thought you had a Seashell. But when you turned clever later, I wondered. We'll trace this and drop it on your friend." (Part III)

Beatty says that he saw Montag tilting his head as he listened to Faber.  He became suspicious that Montag was talking to a revolutionary.  He threatens to find the person on the other end and capture him.  Montag is already in serious trouble.  His wife called the firemen on him, accusing him of having books.  At this point all Montag can do is kill Beatty and run.

Montag uses his flamethrower on Beatty and takes off to find Faber.  Although Montag never wanted to kill anyone, Beatty knew too much and was too suspicious.  Montag could not risk Beatty finding his way back to Faber and the other book people.

Why do salt make iron rust?

Rusting is a type of corrosion process and is commonly used to refer to corrosion of iron by oxygen. When iron surfaces are exposed to oxygen, oxidation of iron takes place and metal is consumed. This is the reason we hardly ever see a piece of pure iron in the natural environment. Water speeds up this process by facilitating the movement of electrons. Addition of salt provides free ions (common salt, sodium chloride provides `Na^+` and `Cl^-` ) capable of moving around and further speeding up the electrolysis reaction of rusting. This is one of the reasons metal rusts faster in coastal regions. Places where salt is used to melt ice, such as the east coast of the United States, generally observe a higher rate of vehicular rusting compared to places where salt is not used.

 Hope this helps. 

List five things that happen in the rumble in The Outsiders.

1. Paul Holden punches Darry


2. Ponyboy asks Dally how he got out of the hospital


3. Darry defends Ponyboy and rips a Soc off his back


4. Ponyboy gets kicked in the head


5. Tim Shepard breaks his nose

In Chapter 9, the greasers face off against the Socs in a rumble at a vacant lot. Prior to the fight, the Socs and greasers made an agreement to fight without using weapons. As the two gangs stand across from each other, Darry steps out from his group to begin the rumble. Paul Holden, a Soc who used to play on Darry's football team, steps out from his gang and says he'll take Darry. Dally yells "Hold up!" from across the lot and Darry turns his head to look. When Darry turns, Paul lands a hard right cross to Darry's chin and the fight begins. While the boys are fighting, Pony manages to ask Dally how he made it out of the hospital, and he says he pulled Two-Bit's switchblade on the nurse. Ponyboy gets tackled by a Soc, who begins to punch him in the face while he is talking to Dally. Darry protects Pony during the fight and lifts the Soc off his back and slugs him hard, sending him three feet from Pony. During the fight, Ponyboy gets kicked hard in the head and suffers a concussion. Tim Shepard breaks his nose, and the leader of the Brumly boys beats the Socs with a pipe during the fight. The Socs finally run off, and the greasers win the brawl.

Discuss how Dickens presents responsibility in Stave I and throughout the story, "A Christmas Carol."

The most obvious example of responsibility in Stave I is when Ebenezer Scrooge is approached by two men soliciting for charity to support the poor and Scrooge refuses to donate. Not only does he refuse to donate money, he asks if the prisons and work houses are still open, which indicates he sees the poor as a burden to society and that they already have their basic needs being met by these institutions. This shows a general lack of personal responsibility, as well as a lack of empathy. 

“I wish to be left alone,” said Scrooge. “Since you ask me what I wish, gentlemen, that is my answer. I don’t make merry myself at Christmas and I can’t afford to make idle people merry. I help to support the establishments I have mentioned—they cost enough; and those who are badly off must go there.”

“Many can’t go there; and many would rather die.”

“If they would rather die,” said Scrooge, “they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population. Besides—excuse me—I don’t know that.”

So, from the beginning we understand that Scrooge feels he is already doing his part to be socially responsible, even though he only does so out of obligation. If he was not required to pay tax, which is what keeps those institutions open, it is obvious he would not be helping these "idle" people. By calling them "idle" he also does not truly understand why they are poor or the complexity of poverty. He sees himself as financially responsible and them as financially irresponsible.

As the story continues, responsibility is show in many other areas by other characters. The two men who are requesting money for charity show their own social responsibility. We see responsibility to family in Bob Cratchit and how he takes care of his family and puts them first above everything. We see responsibility for being a good employer and friend in Fezziwig and his holiday party. We see Scrooge becoming responsible later when he decides to give to the charity, to Bob Cratchit, and to Fred.

The overall message of the story is that one can be entirely selfish and not responsible for anyone but themselves, but that only brings a life of misery. To be truly happy one must embrace others and their responsibilities (both financial and personal) to them.

What are the next three numbers. 3 7 12 19 28 39

The next three numbers in the sequence are fifty-two, sixty-seven and eighty-four. The pattern consists of adding the next odd number in sequence to the last number. Starting with the seven, five is added to make twelve. After five, the next odd number is seven. When added to the last number, twelve, the result is nineteen. The next odd number is nine, added to nineteen, equals the number twenty-eight. Finally, the next odd number is eleven, added to twenty-eight, equals thirty-nine.

Therefore, the next three numbers must follow the same pattern. Thirteen added to thirty-nine equals fifty-two. Fifteen, the next sequential odd number, added to fifty-two equals sixty-seven. And finally, the next odd number in sequence is seventeen, when added to sixty-seven equals eighty-four.

If a car going at 50 kmph North, then turns West and the speed remains unchanged, can you find the speed while turning?

If the speed remains unchanged, then the car must have turned (from North direction to West direction, that is, towards left) at the speed of 50 kmph. 

In general, we slow down our vehicles, when taking a turn. The decrease in our speed is, in general, proportional to the steepness of the turn, our current speed, type of vehicle, etc. When taking a right angle turn (as in this case, from north to west), we typically slow down a lot. When taking a blind turn (for example, on mountains, etc.), we ideally slow down to very low speeds. Here, we are not given any other information than that the car's speed remains unchanged. In such a scenario, we have to assume that the car must have taken the turn at the speed at which it was traveling before taking the turn.

Hope this helps. 

How have Shakespeare's plays affected our society today?

Aside from the pure enjoyment (or, perhaps from some students' perspective, torment) that Shakespeare's plays provide us today, they have lingering cultural significance. Perhaps the most important contribution of Shakespeare's plays today is that they have contributed hundreds of everyday expressions to modern English. For all of his flowery language, one of Shakespeare's greatest traits was his ability to sum up complex human emotions about the situations and paradoxes that confront us in memorable, pithy phrases that we use today without even thinking about it. "As luck would have it," "be-all, end-all," "for goodness' sake," "full circle," and "foregone conclusion" are just a few of these phrases. So Shakespeare has been indispensable to the development of modern English. This is perhaps his primary impact on today's society. The reason Shakespeare's plays resonate with some modern readers as well as theater and moviegoers (there have been many major motion pictures that were either adaptations or in other ways based on Shakespearean plays) is because they speak in eloquent ways to aspects of the human condition--love, jealousy, hate, fear, revenge, and so on--that are essentially timeless.