How do you get anything you want for free?

By applying a single concept that is important to the study of economics, it is easy to see that there is no way to get something for free.  That principle of economics is known as TINSTAAFL and is an acronym for "there is not such thing as a free lunch."  Because resources are scarce, or finite, everything has a cost.  Decisions are made in economics about costs and benefits.  If a person gets something for free, some other person is paying for it.  For instance, if a student from a low socio-economic background is receiving a free lunch, that lunch is paid for with tax revenues and actually does have a cost.  When a high school student is awarded a full scholarship to attend a university, that scholarship has been sponsored of funded by another party.  If you were to receive free samples in the mail, the company that  sends those samples will assume the cost.  In any example that you can think of, a cost is paid by somebody for something that is deemed "free."  So to answer your question as an economist, there is no way to get everything that you want for free. 

Do you think experience should be the most important requirement to become a president in the U.S.?

This is, of course, a matter of personal opinion.  My own view is that experience probably should not be the most important qualification that we would look for in a presidential candidate, mainly because there are not really any jobs out there that really count as relevant experience for the job of being president.

Some people say that being governor of a state is good experience for being president.  This may be true in the sense that you have to work with a legislature and run a government.  But governors do not have to do foreign relations or defense policy.  They do not have to try to get legislation through a group as large as Congress and with as many different factions.

President Obama was a senator and so are Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, two of the Republican frontrunners right now.  Senators do have to try to get laws through Congress (if they have laws they want to pass), but they do not do any administration.  They do not actually have to run a government.

What this means is that there really aren’t any jobs that actually prepare a person to be president.  For this reason, I think that the more important factor is the personality of the person running.  Will they be able to effectively get along and work with their political enemies?  Will they be able to communicate their agenda in a way that the American people respond to?  Will they have the temperament needed to face unpredictable crises that will come their way?  Will they be willing to put in the work needed to learn about issues they don’t currently know about?  Will they be humble enough to listen to others’ voices?  I would argue that these factors are more important than the previous offices they have held.

Can a commodity have zero opportunity cost? Explain.

If we are asking this question from the point of view of the consumer, the answer is no.  Whenever we use any money to purchase a good, we give up the chance to use that particular bit of money to buy anything else.  We may have plenty of other money, but the money used to buy that commodity can never be used for an alternate use.  This means every purchase of a commodity has an opportunity cost.

If we ask this question from a producer’s point of view, the answer is “probably not.”  It is theoretically possible for something to have zero opportunity cost, but it is extremely unlikely.  In general, every time you produce a commodity, you give up the chance to produce some other commodity or to use your resources for some other purpose.  Let us say that there is some piece of land on which only one commodity can be grown.  This land is not usable for any other commodity.  In that sense, there is no opportunity cost involved with using the land itself.  However, even in that circumstance you will incur opportunity costs because the labor that you put into harvesting the commodity could have been put to some other use.  Theoretically, you could have a piece of land with no other use and laborers who could not be doing anything else, but this is highly unlikely.  In general, there is an opportunity cost associated with producing any commodity.

What are the parallels between Jay Gatsby and F. Scott Fitzgerald?

Like his character Jay Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald seemed to want a more prosperous and glamorous life than his family had. Fitzgerald's father was not very financially successful, and when Fitzgerald got to Princeton, he felt that he didn't fit in with his wealthy and socially prominent classmates. This seems to be the case with Gatsby, too, who was raised in rural poverty and never finished his studies at Oxford.

Fitzgerald fell in love with a Southern belle, Zelda Sayre, when he was training for the Army in Alabama. Her parents were wealthy and prominent. He pursued Zelda, and she rejected him because she thought he would not make enough money to give her the life she wanted. When Fitzgerald became an overnight success with the sale of his first novel, she changed her mind and married him. This story is not unlike Gatsby's; he met Daisy in Louisville when he was training for WWI, and her parents were wealthy. Jay Gatsby knew he had to acquire enormous wealth to persuade her to marry him.

How is technology used in animal farming?

Animal farming is a farming technique in which animals (such as cattle, poultry and fish) are bred and raised for useful products such as eggs, meat, wool, etc. With the increasing population, our demand for animal-based products, especially meat, is increasing. With easier access to information, people are getting more and more conscious of the quality of products and associated health risks. These factors together mean that farmers have to increase the population of animals in their farm and also ensure good quality, healthy products. Many of these objectives can be met by the use of technology. There is now technology that can track each animal's health and diet. Better care, including medical care, is possible through technology. Better and long-term storage of the animal products is also possible by advances in technology. We can develop better yielding animals using technology. 

Thus, technology plays a crucial role in providing safe and high quality animal products and is essential to people involved in animal farming.

Hope this helps. 

In Whirligig by Paul Fleischman, what does Brent learn when making the whirligig in Maine?

Maine is Brent's last stop before he heads home. After planting his last whirligig on the artist's property, he feels that he is finally ready to meet his family again and to face Lea's mother. He also looks forward to attending a new school in the fall.

Brent's time at Weeksboro has given him hope and courage to face the challenges of the future. Because of the artist's compassion and understanding, Brent learns that he can forgive himself. While he may have caused Lea's death, he need not live in the shadow of his crime. It is therefore a relief to Brent when he realizes that his past mistakes need not hamper his ability to navigate his future successfully.

Brent also learns that, when he crossed paths with Lea, it set into motion a catalyst of events that was to bring hope to strangers he later met in Washington, Florida, California, and Maine. Now, with his last whirligig project finished and his promise to Mrs. Zamora fulfilled, Brent feels that he can look forward to a brighter future.

What was an immediate impact of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen? Americans adopted a constitutional system of government...

The only plausible answer to this question is answer choice 4, though the fall of the French monarchy was not an effect of the Declaration of the Rights of Man. The other answer choices, however, have nothing to do with the French Revolution, and the Declaration, issued by the revolutionary National Assembly in August of 1789, was an important part of this event. So while it is the only answer having anything to do with the French Revolution, it is not really correct. The early "liberal" phase of the Revolution, during which the Declaration was issued, established a constitutional monarchy with the Declaration as a statement of general principles. King Louis remained in power until almost four years later when he was executed, the Revolution by that point having taken a more radical turn toward establishing a republic. The reform-minded nobles and bourgeoisie who issued the Declaration of the Rights of Man did not, for the most part, argue that the King should be removed from power. 

Did Chris McCandless commit suicide?

While we can never know about Chris McCandless's mindset and precise circumstances at the time of his death with certainty, little to no evidence would support the notion that he committed suicide. 

The evidence we do have includes his journals/marginalia, the impressions he left on those who knew him, and his autopsy. 

His writing and daily log do not suggest any suicidal thoughts or tendencies. In fact, on the contrary, he notes in his journal on Day 94, "Extremely weak. Fault of potato seeds. Much trouble just to stand up. Starving. Great Jeopardy." One can assume that he believed he was in "great jeopardy" of dying, and his wording suggests foreboding and apprehension about this, as opposed to excitement or relief.

On Day 100 he writes, "DAY 100! MADE IT! But in worse condition of life. Death looms as serious threat. Too weak to walk out, have literally become trapped in the wild -- No game." Again, his choice of words, "trapped," "serious threat," suggests that death was not his aim. 

Additionally, the hikers and locals who discovered McCandless's body saw a note he left on the abandoned bus in which he was staying that read,

"Attention Possible Visitors. S.O.S. I need your help. I am injured, near death, and too weak to hike out of here. I am all alone. This is no joke. In the name of God, please remain to save me. I am out collecting berries close by and shall return this evening. Thank you, Chris McCandless. August ?"

His journals also reveal that McCandless decided to head back to civilization but was thwarted by the fact that the trail was blocked by a then-swollen Teklanika River (which had been much lower in the spring when McCandless arrived). 

Turning to McCandless's relationships with others, he had made plans with various friends of his for the other side of his Alaskan adventure. Specifically, he expressed an intention to return and work at Wayne Westerberg's grain elevator in Carthage, South Dakota. 

Finally, McCandless's autopsy has led most to believe his cause of death was a combination of starvation and poisoning due to the long-term ingestion of a certain breed of toxic potato seed. The coroners determined that McCandless weighed only sixty-seven pounds at the time of his death, his body containing no subcutaneous fat, and chemists found that the potato seeds he'd been eating indeed contained a potentially lethal dose of a neurotoxin called beta-N-oxalyl-L-alpha-beta diaminopropionic acid (ODAP).

How does Holling win the cross country race? Why is that significant?

Holling Hoodhood wins his race in the cross country meet the exact same way that most great runners win.  Holling is blessed with a mixture of natural talent, hard work and determination, and good coaching.  Mrs. Baker is a former Olympic medalist for running, and she takes Holling under her wing and helps him with tips on form and training.  As a very young athlete, Holling is able to make the varsity squad.  All the coaching in the world wouldn't have let him do that if he didn't have the natural ability and dedication to train in the first place. Holling also has the added benefit of encouraging friends.  Regarding the meet in question, Holling knows that several other athletes are gunning for him and want to somehow ruin his race.  Knowing that those saboteurs are there allowed Holling to be prepared to respond.  He responds and wins.  

The win is significant because it further reinforces Holling's positive attitudes about himself.  His home life is not good, so about the only good things in Holling's life at this point are his small friend circle, Mrs. Baker, and running.  The win allows Holling to feel accomplished, it helps him further respect Mrs. Baker and her vast knowledge reserves, and it allows him and his friends to grow closer. 

What is the tone of "The Lady or the Tiger?"

The tone of a story is the attitude that comes across from the author about the subject. In Stockton's "The Lady or the Tiger?" the sentence structures are highly complex and the vocabulary is elevated. These devices are used to help the author show a dignified and authoritative voice, which appropriately links it to the story of a king and his way of ruling. Also, the details provided about the way the king rules are stated factually and without passion. This attitude of the king (and author) extends to the way the king views the way he rules and how he deals with his daughter's boyfriend. Since the king doesn't show any unnecessary emotion, he simply hands out sentences and allows the arena to take care of the accused. Therefore, the tone for most of the story seems factual and emotionally indifferent. However, as the plot thickens, and the lover is about to discover his fate based on what the princess tells him to choose, the tone seems critical and important which creates a highly intense and suspenseful mood full of intrigue.

What is the thesis for the introduction to Outliers: The Story of Success?

Outliers: The Story of Success is popular nonfiction book written in 2008 by Canadian journalist Malcolm Gladwell. It attempts to explain people who have been extraordinarily successful, or ones who might be what statisticians call "outliers."

The statistical definition of an outlier found in the National Institute of Standards and Technology Engineering Statistics Handbook is:

An outlier is an observation that lies an abnormal distance from other values in a random sample from a population. ... This definition leaves it up to the analyst (or a consensus process) to decide what will be considered abnormal. Before abnormal observations can be singled out, it is necessary to characterize normal observations.

In statistics, outliers are often discarded from data sets. For example, if one is surveying age distributions in humans, and you have 2 or 3 people reported as over 300 years old, but the rest of the ages congregate between 0 one 115, the odds are that the numbers over 300 are errors in data entry or people trolling the survey. 

Gladwell, however, sees apparent "outliers" or people who are extraordinarily successful as a product of a combination of hidden advantages and hard work. The thesis he states in his introduction is that apparent "outliers," such as successful athletes and entrepreneurs, are not the product of some mysterious innate genius but rather a combination of of situational advantage (such as being born at a certain time of year or in a certain period of history) and hard work. In other words, his "outliers" only appear to be statistical outliers but instead are actually simply the far end of what statisticians call a "normal distribution." This means that rather than their being inexplicable, they actually provide models that ordinary people can emulate. 

What are some adjectives to describe Captain Beatty in Fahrenheit 451?

 

In the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Captain Beatty represents an unusual character. Although Captain Beatty is not the primary character in the book, some interesting character traits are revealed about Beatty.

Foremost, Captain Beatty represents a smart individual who utilizes his intellect to influence others. Throughout the book, Beatty manipulates quotes from famous books, documents, and authors to try to influence Montag. In the story, Montag struggles with determining truth. Captain Beatty realizes this and tries to influence Montag’s opinion. For example, Captain Beatty states:

“We must all be alike. Not everyone born free and equal, as the Constitution says, but everyone made equal.”

Furthermore, Captain Beatty’s character also represents someone who no longer desires to live. Although Captain Beatty has knowledge and a more prestigious position (such as being the captain of the fire department), he does not seem to want to live. For example, Montag attacks and kills Beatty while trying to escape. However, Beatty does not fight back, but rather accepts his death. As the text reveals:

“Beatty had wanted to die. He had just stood there, not really trying to save himself, just stood there, joking, needling . . .”

Consequently, Beatty is a complex character in the book. Throughout the book, Beatty demonstrates his knowledge to influence Montag’s perspective. However, in the end, Beatty wants to die, regardless of his knowledge or higher occupational position.

The energy transfer in a(n) _____ is more complex than energy transfer in a food chain because the interaction between many organisms is considered.

In an ecosystem, we have many interactions between organisms, including producers, consumers, detritivores, etc. These interactions can be studied in terms of food chains and food webs. In a food chain, only a particular set of organisms are involved. For example, a food chain in a grassland may include grass (producer), rabbits (primary consumer) and wolves (secondary consumer). This food chain will only consider these organisms. However, in an ecosystem, many organisms interact with each other, either as competitors, prey or predator, etc. The interactions between different food chains or organisms at a much larger level is studied by using food webs. In a food web, various food chains interact with each other. For example, the same grass can be eaten by cows, rabbits, sheep, goats and other herbivores. All such herbivores are preys for a carnivore such as a wolf, tiger, lion, etc. 

Thus, the study of energy interactions is more complex in the case of a food web as compared to a food chain, since many organisms are interacting.

Hope this helps. 

In "Sympathy" by Paul Laurence Dunbar, how does the poem's straightforward language depict the plight of African-Americans, and was it as effective...

In "Sympathy," Paul Laurence Dunbar uses the extended metaphor of a bird in a cage to express the plight of African-Americans. His use of easily understood imagery in all three stanzas conveys the agony of being less-than-free. For example, in the first stanza, the bird is subjected to "When the sun is bright on the upland slopes; When the wind stirs soft through the springing grass" (lines 2-3). While the bird sees the enticements of nature, it can not escape from its cage. In the second stanza, the bird beats his wing on the cage's bars until it is sore, and in the third stanza, the bird sings not out of joy but out of pain: "It is not a carol of joy or glee, But a prayer that he sends from his heart’s deep core" (lines 19-20).

While "Sympathy" is written in Standard English, some of Dunbar's poems, such as "Lover's Lane," are written in different dialects. "Lover's Lane" begins, " Summah night an’ sighin’ breeze,/ ‘Long de lovah’s lane;/ Frien’ly, shadder–mekin’ trees,/ ‘Long de lovah’s lane" (lines 1-4). His dialect poems, which tried to capture the voices of freed slaves (he was writing around the turn of the 20th century), were extremely popular with white and African-American audiences alike. Many people argue that while his Standard English poems, many of which use extended metaphors to capture the essence of the African-American experience, were eloquent, his dialect poems were even more powerful. In part, his dialect poems were revolutionary in that they captured voices that had not been part of formal poetry before. Dunbar identified African-American vernacular language as something beautiful and distinctive--something that merited pride and preservation. 

What are the setting and conflict in "The Raven"?

The physical setting of this poem is the narrator's den.  He describes this room only as a "chamber," but because it houses books and a bust of Athena, it seems to be a study of some kind (line 16).  In terms of time, the setting is late December, a "bleak" month that is often symbolic of the end of life because it is, literally, the end of the year (7).  Further, it is midnight, and a "dreary" one -- it is probably cold and windy and kind of creepy and bare outside (1).  Midnight is also often used as a symbol of death because it is the end, or death, of day.

The poem's conflict seems to be one of the character vs. Nature variety.  Although the raven could be viewed as an antagonist, I would argue that the raven doesn't really oppose the narrator in any way; he simply provides a catalyst for the narrator to begin to explore his feelings regarding death and what happens after it; this makes death the antagonist, and the raven is only a symbol of death.  The narrator immediately identifies the bird with death, saying that the raven has come from the "'Night's Plutonian shore,'" and he hopes that the bird was a gift from the angels to distract him and help him forget his "memories of Lenore" (47, 82).  Then, however, he fears that the bird is a "'thing of evil'" (85), and he wishes to know if there is some cure for his pain, for death.  Next, he asks the raven if, "'within the distant Aidenn,'" his soul will ever meet with Lenore again in heaven (93).  And though he believes that the bird will leave him as others "'have flown before,'" he eventually realizes that the bird is "never flitting" and will never leave (58, 103).  He can never forget that death is coming for him now that he has had such a brush with mortality, when his lover died, and so the bird that represents death will never leave him.  Thus, it is the narrator's own fears of death, his own as well as the permanence of his beloved's, that he must grapple with. 

In Chapter 12 of To Kill a Mockingbird, Calpurnia's vitalization of two dialects confuses Scout. What valuable lesson does Scout learn from...

Her vitalization of two dialects teaches Scout that Calpurnia occupies two worlds.

In Chapter 12 Calpurnia takes the children to her church, the First Purchase African Methodist Episcopalian Church. There Jem and Scout witness a side of Calpurnia that they have not known. For, when she is confronted by a tall, formidable woman who displays Indian features, Calpurnia responds with an indignant tone and in a thick dialect.

"I wants to know why you bringin' white chillun to a nigger church." 
"They's my comp'ny," said Calpurnia.

Scout remarks, "Again I thought her voice strange: she was talking like the rest of them." 

After the service is over and the children walk with Calpurnia, Scout asks her why she speaks in the dialect of African-Americans in her church. Calpurnia explains that if she were to talk as she does in the Finch home, people would think that she is "putting on airs to beat Moses." Further, she explains that many in the congregation cannot read or write and they do not like someone around them who "knows more than they do" as it shames them. She adds that no one can change someone by speaking properly; the change must come from within the person. Therefore, all one can do is speak as they do, or keep her mouth closed. These words of Calpurnia affect Scout, who learns that people can only change if they themselves desire a change.

What would have happened if Mathilde Loisel had not lost the necklace?

Mathilde Loisel would not have had many opportunities to play Cinderella at the ball. She was not the promiscuous type, like the wife of Monsieur Lantin in Maupassant's story titled "The Jewels," or "The False Gems." Mathilde is obviously a dreamer. She would go back to her normal humdrum existence and continue to fantasize about 

...silent antechambers, heavy with Oriental tapestries, lit by torches in lofty bronze sockets, with two tall footmen in knee-breeches sleeping in large arm-chairs, overcome by the heavy warmth of the stove. She imagined vast saloons hung with antique silks, exquisite pieces of furniture supporting priceless ornaments, and small, charming, perfumed rooms, created just for little parties of intimate friends, men who were famous and sought after, whose homage roused every other woman's envious longings.

Feminine beauty and charm has evolved for the purpose of reproduction. Women have to attract men in order to have babies, and they reproduce successfully if they can hold men while their offspring are growing to adulthood. Mathilde would undoubtedly have gotten pregnant. That's generally what happens when women get married. Then her interests would probably have centered on her children, and the "silent antechambers, heavy with Oriental tapestries" and the rest of it would have vanished like dreams. Her misfortune was that she had not been able to marry a man who would have been able to provide more of the luxuries she had read about in novels. But marriage was a more binding commitment in Maupassant's day. Mathilde was stuck with the nice little man she married. She wouldn't have started having "affairs" with other men, and she wouldn't have thought of getting a divorce. Her fate was practically settled when 

...she let herself be married off to a little clerk in the Ministry of Education.

There must be many women who regret being married to the men they end up with. They must dream about how their lives would have been more comfortable and more interesting if only they had married this or that other man. The invitation to the Minister's ball in "The Necklace" only provides a brief opportunity for Mathilde Loisel to revel in the attention of men who are superior to her husband--

...men who were famous and sought after, whose homage roused every other woman's envious longings.

The ball is only like a continuation of the dreams she has when she is alone at home. It is not the ball that makes the big difference in the story, but the loss of the borrowed necklace. If she hadn't lost it, her life would have been the same as before. She would have become a mother and a lower-middle-class housewife. She might have learned to accept her lot in life. She might have even become happy.

How did Tom and Huck find treasure in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer?

Tom and Huck overhear Injun Joe and his accomplice discussing the treasure.

Tom is obsessed with pirates and treasure, as most boys are.  However, one day he overhears two conmen, Injun Joe and his accomplice, discussing an actual treasure—their loot.  They have buried it beneath the floor of their hideout.

"Oh, partly, partly. Nearly time for us to be moving, pard. What'll we do with what little swag we've got left?"

"I don't know—leave it here as we've always done, I reckon. No use to take it away till we start south. Six hundred and fifty in silver's something to carry." (Ch. 14)

Since the two men are obviously dangerous, Tom and Huck can’t just barge in and steal the treasure from the outlaws.  Huck sees the men move the treasure and follows them.  At the same time, Tom gets lost in a cave with Becky, and they find the treasure there.  Fortunately for them, Injun Joe dies in the cave and Tom and Huck get the treasure.  They are rich!

It was the treasure-box, sure enough, occupying a snug little cavern, along with an empty powder-keg, a couple of guns in leather cases, two or three pairs of old moccasins, a leather belt, and some other rubbish well soaked with the water-drip. (Ch. 33)

The whole town of St. Petersburg is excited by the news of the hidden treasure.  It is more money than most people can imagine.  Tom and Huck become local celebrities.  The money is invested for them, and they earn an income of “a dollar for every weekday in the year and half of the Sundays” making them very wealthy indeed, especially for boys.

The treasure will later become a problem for Huck, when his no-good father finds out about it and tries to get it from him.  This is an example of the difference between the mostly carefree The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and the more serious The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  For now, the treasure is just fun.

In The Possibility of Evil, does Miss Strangeworth seem like a reasonable person? Explain your answer.

Miss Strangeworth must seem like a reasonable person to everybody in her town, but we readers know she is really insane. There are several indications that she is insane. One is that she makes accusations without having any evidence. She suggests that Mrs. Harper's husband is having an affair with another woman. She suggests to Mrs. Foster that her nephew might be bribing her surgeon to kill her on the operating table. She suggests that Don Crane's six-month-old infant girl is probably mentally retarded. She has already created serious trouble for Linda Stewart and her boyfriend Dave Harris by suggesting to Linda's parents that the two teenagers are engaging in sexual intercourse. Miss Strangeworth does not have even the slightest bit of evidence for her accusations. This is what makes her seem insane.

Miss Strangeworth never concerned herself with facts; her letters all dealt with the more negotiable stuff of suspicion. Mr. Lewis would never have imagined for a minute that his grandson might be lifting petty cash from the store register if he had not had one of Miss Strangeworth's letters.

Another indication of Miss Strangeworth's possible senile psychosis is that she does not realize she is causing so much trouble with her poison-pen letters. She notices that many people seem anxious or worried, but she has no idea that her letters have anything to do with their problems. Furthermore, she does not realize her own motives for writing these anonymous letters. She thinks she is doing her civic duty, when in fact she is probably motivated by envy and jealousy. She envies Mrs. Harper for having a husband when she has been an old maid all her life. She is jealous of Don and Helen Crane for having a beautiful baby, when she has never been able to have one herself because she has never even had a husband. There is a lot of secret anger and hatred concealed behind the mask of a sweet little old lady which she presents to the townsfolk.

Anybody who does what Miss Strangeworth has been doing for the past year--sending those poisonous letters to people she knows personally--cannot be considered "reasonable." Only Don Crane knows that Miss Strangeworth has a dark side to her character, but he may not tell anybody else what he knows because he would not want them to suspect him of chopping up her rose bushes. Furthermore, Don Crane doesn't know that other people have been receiving Miss Strangeworth's poison-pen letters. And she doesn't know that Don knows who sent him that letter in which she wrote:

DIDN'T YOU EVER SEE AN IDIOT CHILD BEFORE? SOME PEOPLE JUST SHOULDN'T HAVE CHILDREN SHOULD THEY?

So she may go on writing those letters for a long time until she has created utter chaos in the town she feels duty-bound to protect. 

Rubber, plastic and glass are good examples of these materials.

Rubber, plastic and glass are all good examples of insulators or insulating materials. These materials do not conduct electricity, as opposed to conductors or conducting materials (such as copper, aluminum, etc.). The insulators are used to break the electrical connection or provide insulation against current flow. This is the reason why we wear rubber sleepers or shoes while working with electricity (so that we do not get electrical shock and consequent injuries). This is also why the electrical cables are covered with a layer of rubber (to insulate them). And also why the ladders have rubber shoes, especially when we have to work with electricity. Insulators do not have free electrons and hence do not conduct electricity.

Conductors, on the other hand, have free electrons and thus easily conduct electricity. These are used to complete electrical circuits and allow flow of electricity. That is why copper or aluminum wires are used for electricity supply.

Hope this helps. 

What can be a statement of theme for "After Apple-Picking" by Robert Frost?

While critics suggest a number of themes for Frost's "After Apple-Picking," one statement of theme can be this: Apple-picking can be likened to the memory of writing poetry.

In every poem there is a controlling idea which helps to unlock the meaning of the poem. Certainly, there can be different interpretations which lead to the finding of different controlling ideas in Robert Frost's poem about the harvesting of apples since the apple can be seen as a symbol of different things. But, one interpretation is that the apple is the fruit of the poet's efforts, the finished poem.

One argument made by critics is that "After Apple-Picking" is an allegorical poem for Robert Frost's career as a poet with the theme of Memory. This theme is most pronounced from line 25 to the end of the poem: 

For I have had too much
Of apple picking: I am overtired
Of the great harvest I myself desired....

Looking back on his career as a poet, Frost remembers his desire to write poems of worth, some of which were discarded-- "Went surely to the cider-apple heap"--but there were many that were achievements--"Of the great harvest that I myself desired." Now, he is exhausted from his creative efforts as he approaches sleep, always a symbol of death for Frost.

As sleep approaches, the poet's memory will recall for him the "apples," or ideas, which he began but discarded, and his successes. He is also concerned about the sleep state that he will enter, exploring ideas of what lies beyond death--"whatever sleep it is." Is it like the woodchuck's hibernation and one awakens to a new season, a new life? Or, is it "just some human sleep" in which he will have memories?

How do I start an essay about someone who has enriched my life?

The process of beginning an essay can be difficult, but doing some preparation before writing the body of your essay can make a big difference. I recommend getting a piece of paper or creating a word document to make some notes. Consider the following questions and make notes or write out full answers.

• How do you feel you've changed for the better throughout your life?


• Do you have any role models in your life?


• Do you have a favorite teacher? Family member? Coach or mentor? Religious leader? 


• What things are important to you in life? What are your values? Who has helped to shape these values?


• Can you think of a time when someone made a big impact on your life by assisting you or offering advice?

After answering these questions, hopefully you'll have thought of one or a few people who have had a positive impact on your life. Try not to stress over choosing someone who has had the biggest impact or did something especially spectacular for you. Small good deeds are just as important as the big ones. If you are able to list more than one person who has had a positive influence on you, you may want to choose one who you've written the most about or feel you can write a lot about. Alternately, go with your gut!

Next, you could try making a small timeline of the times before, during, and after this person helped you. For example, I took ballet classes when I was younger. I had a really hard time getting the hang of pirouette—a spinning move. My instructor took the time to work with me and gave me tips on how to find the right feeling to pull off this spin. After his help, I was much better at being able to pirouette. Do you have any similar experiences? It may not be to do with any physical accomplishments; maybe someone gave you some advice that changed your outlook on a situation.

When you begin writing the actual essay, your introduction should serve to introduce the topic of your essay. State that your paper is about someone who has enriched your life, then tell a little bit about this person and how they helped you. If you feel that this person taught you a particular lesson, say what that lesson is in your introduction. (With regards to my ballet example, the lesson for me was to think "up," not "around," when spinning.) 

The body of your paper should be a detailed description of how this person helped you. Refer back to the timeline you made earlier and flesh it out.

Finally, the conclusion paragraph of your paper ought to do two things: resolve and re-state. If there is anything in your essay which needs to be resolved and you did not address this in the body of your essay, do so now. Re-state the lesson you mentioned in the introduction to tie the paper together.

As a general tip, don't forget to take breaks when writing a paper. It's helpful to clear your head when writing. Taking a break every 25 or 45 minutes to stretch, grab a snack, or focus on another activity for a little while gives your brain a chance to process. When you come back to working on your paper, you may notice some changes you hadn't thought about making before! If you don't have the opportunity to take breaks during your writing process, at least read over your paper after a good night's sleep to see if you want to make any more revisions.

Good luck!

What are some examples of imagery in Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game"?

Imagery is the creative way that an author uses the five senses: sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell. Authors use imagery to help readers draw from outside experiences with their senses in order to understand the context better. If readers can connect with a story on a deeper level, then they will have a more enjoyable experience with it.

"The Most Dangerous Game" takes place on an obscure island, so there are many descriptions just from the setting that come from many of the five senses. (Sight and sound seem to be the most used images.) The story is written from Rainsford's point of view, which provides a position from which the reader can read and understand what he senses throughout his journey for survival. For example, Rainsford goes from falling off a yacht into the ocean, to dining and sleeping in a mansion, to being hunted through a jungle for his life. He requires the use of all his senses to help him survive the deadly game that Zaroff demands that he play. Below are some quotes from the story with different examples of imagery:

Sight:

"There was no breeze. The sea was as flat as a plate-glass window."

". . . giant rocks with razor edges crouch like a sea monster with wide-open jaws."

Sound:

"An evil place can, so to speak, broadcast vibrations of evil."

"Again he heard the sound, and again. Somewhere, off in the blackness, someone had fired a gun three times."

"Ten minutes of determined effort brought another sound to his ears--the most welcome he had ever heard--the muttering and growling of the sea breaking on a rocky shore."

Touch:

"The cry was pinched off short as the blood-warm waters of the Caribbean Sea closed over his head."

"Night found him leg-weary, with hands and face lashed by the branches, on a thickly wooded ridge."

Taste:

"'You have some wonderful heads here,' said Rainsford as he ate a particularly well-cooked filet mignon."

Smell:

"Then he straightened up and took from his case one of his black cigarettes; its pungent incense-like smoke floated up to Rainsford's nostrils."

How can we interpret the bird imagery used in "The Girl Who Fell from the Sky"?

Birds are found throughout the text of The Girl Who Fell From The Sky, written by Heidi W. Durrow in 2010. The author makes use of bird imagery and metaphors to describe the juxtaposition and travel between different worlds that the protagonist Rachel finds herself in. Birds often symbolize freedom and escape; they can fly away at any moment. Birds in many ways symbolize the hopes and dreams of the young protagonist Rachel.

Where birds can fly, Rachel finds herself stuck between two worlds. But she finds hope in the travel between spaces. Rachel is the only survivor in a tragic accident at the age of eleven where her mother and two siblings fell from the top of their Chicago apartment. Rachel is in some ways the bird that escapes her own death. Jamie, a neighbor, sees the family falling from his window and mistakes them for birds at first.

“This, of course, is precisely what Durrow has done in this powerful book: taken sadness and turned it into a beautiful song.” (McAlpin 2010)

Rachel is bi-racial. She lives between whiteness and blackness. The story is dealing with complex issues of identity and grief. Birds provide a metaphor of hope and escape in the face of trauma and sadness. 

Durrow, H.W. (2010). The girl who fell from the sky: A novel. Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.

McAlpin, H. (2010, February 19). The Girl Who Fell From the Sky. Retrieved January 22, 2016 from http://www.csmonitor.com/Books/Book-Reviews/2010/0219/The-Girl-Who-Fell-From-The-Sky

What is a good way to start an essay about the characters, and their roles, in Hard Times?

In many of Charles Dickens’ novels, the characters he presents to readers often are representative of larger Victorian social trends. Hard Times is no different. Indeed, almost every character in the novel represents some facet of Victorian society. In order for you to progress in writing your paper, you first need to decide which characters you want to focus on and how you want to compare them in a fruitful manner. I argue that it would be helpful for you to group certain characters together and examine what they represent.

For instance, I group the Gradgrind family together as a prime example of the negative effects of Utilitarian philosophy. Thomas Gradgrind, the family patriarch, emphasizes statistical facts and rote memorization over imagination and a sense of humanity:

“A man of realities. A man of facts and calculations. A man who proceeds upon the principle that two and two are four, and nothing over, and who is not to be talked into allowing for anything over.... With a rule and a pair of scales, and the multiplication table always in his pocket, sir, ready to weigh and measure any parcel of human nature, and tell you exactly what it comes to” (6).

His staunch philosophy negatively affects the rest of his family, and this is why examining them together and their roles within the family could prove an interesting approach.

Alternatively, you could compare the plight of the worker Stephen Blackpool with the unsavory character of Josiah Bounderby. These two are perfectly opposite, and you could write a compelling essay examining Bounderby’s role as an entitled, disingenuous “wealth creator” compared with Blackpool’s role as an honest, hard-working, downtrodden member of the working poor. If you decide to go this route, then Marxist criticism will be very useful to your argument.

These are merely two suggestions. There are other ancillary characters that represent other facets of Victorian society, and examining their roles could produce a compelling argument. Every character in Dickens’ novel plays a specific role and represents some component of Victorian culture. 

What is the significance of this quote from Othello? "Ere I would say, I would drown myself for the love of a guinea-hen, I would change my...

The above quote originates from Act 1 Scene 3 in Othello where Roderigo complains bitterly about losing Desdemona to Othello. Iago, of course, is unsympathetic. He advises Roderigo to pull himself together and to keep his wits about him.

When Roderigo whines that he might as well die, Iago pipes up:

Oh, villainous! I have looked upon the world for four times seven years, and since I could distinguish betwixt a benefit and an injury I never found man that knew how to love himself. Ere I would say I would drown myself for the love of a guinea hen, I would change my humanity with a baboon.

Here, Iago says that, in all the twenty-eight years he has lived on earth, he's never met a wise man who knew how to promote his own interests effectively. Then, he brings in the imagery of the 'guinea hen' and the 'baboon.' The guinea hen is an euphemism for a prostitute in the Shakespearean era. Basically, Iago is saying that he wouldn't even think of drowning himself for a woman of such ill worth as Desdemona. It's all pretty insulting, but he's trying to get Roderigo to calm down because he needs his help to destroy Othello.

The baboon reference is an insult to Othello; it is a reference to the animal sexuality of a black man in Shakespearean England. Remember that in Act 1, Iago warns Brabantio that 'an old black ram (Othello) /Is tupping your white ewe (Desdemona).' Again, the black ram reference is a sexual one, just like the baboon reference; the two imply that all black men are hyper-sexual creatures who will ravish innocent and defenseless white women. Iago appropriates the imagery of animals to refer to Othello, the man he thoroughly despises; he's saying that he would never exchange his humanity for that of a baboon's (of course, here, Othello is the baboon).

If you want to know more about Shakespearean insults, try reading this book:

Shakespeare's Insults: A Pragmatic Dictionary.

What are some quotes from "Self-Reliance" using personification?

Emerson adds color to his essay by sprinkling personification throughout it, giving abstract concepts and non-human entities human characteristics. One example would be "lungs of inspiration," as if inspiration breathed like a human. In another instance, Emerson describes thoughts as having a "certain alienated majesty," as if they were a human being with a distinct personality. The concepts of malice and vanity are personified by Emerson as wearing "the coat" of philanthropy, as if they were people who needed clothing. This functions to show how bad human qualities hide themselves, as humans might hide their physical flaws, under "coats." When Emerson gives a dollar to what he thinks is a bad charity, he personifies the dollar bill as "wicked." He talks about the "eyes" of nations, as if nations were people, and personifies art by saying a picture "awaits my verdict; it is not to command me," treating the picture as if it as human being Emerson is in dialogue with and must master. All of this enlivens an essay that otherwise might get lost in abstraction.

What evidence suggests Gatsby is devoted to an ideal rather than an actual person?

In Chapter 6, Gatsby reveals that he wishes for Daisy to erase the years of her life during which they were apart and transport back to the last day they had been together in Louisville:

He wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say: “I never loved you.” After she had obliterated four years with that sentence they could decide upon the more practical measures to be taken. One of them was that, after she was free, they were to go back to Louisville and be married from her house — just as if it were five years ago.

Gatsby is desperate for Daisy to tell Tom that she never loved him. If Gatsby could see Daisy as an actual person, he would understand that in the five years they were separated, she had her own life and time passed for her. During that time, she married Tom Buchanan and had a child by him. If Gatsby cared about Daisy as a person, he would not ask her to delete those years from her life. He would not want to go back in time. He would accept that time had passed and that Daisy had done things during the years he was not with her, and he would be able to move on from that point forward.

The idea of going back in time shows that Gatsby cherishes the feeling he had when they were first together, not Daisy as a person. In Chapter six, Nick tells Gatsby, “You can’t repeat the past.” However, Gatsby vehemently disagrees, showing that it's not Daisy he wants, but the feeling he had when he was first with Daisy.

Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald uses the green light at the end of the Buchanans' dock to symbolize Gatsby's desire to possess Daisy. At the end of Chapter 1, Nick arrives home one evening to see Gatsby for the first time. Gatsby is standing on his own dock, reaching out for the green light, trembling. In a way, this introduction to the title character shows that the essence of Gatsby is his desires for an idea, a concept, symbolized by the green light.

At the end of the novel, Nick's final words to the reader explain the green light:

Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And then one fine morning—

So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.

These words show that Gatsby's dream was never attainable. We know he got Daisy, so Nick's final words show that there was something more that Gatsby desired. Something out of reach that he would never have obtained under any circumstances. Gatsby's life was about reaching for that which he desired, not about getting it. 

What kind of property describes how something looks, smells, sounds, or tastes?

A substance can often be characterized and identified by describing its physical and chemical properties.

• 
  Physical Properties: Physical properties are properties that we can observe or measure about a substance without changing the identity of the substance. Examples of physical properties include: color, smell, freezing point, boiling point, melting point, viscosity, density, mass, and volume. 

• 
  Chemical Properties: Chemical properties are properties whose observation or measurement causes a substance to turn into another substance. Examples of chemical properties include: reactivity with water, reactivity with acid, flammability, and corrosiveness.

For example, suppose that you have been given an unknown sample and asked to describe its properties. So, you place your unknown substance on a scale and measure its mass. When you are finished measuring the mass, you notice that your substance is unchanged. You can then conclude that mass is a physical property, because you were able to measure it without changing the substance.

On the other hand, suppose that you want to find out if your substance is flammable, so you set it on fire and discover that it burns easily. When you are finished burning the substance, you notice that your substance is now ash - it has changed into another substance. In order to observe the property of flammability, you had to change your substance to ash. Therefore, you can conclude that flammability is a chemical property.

In Tuck Everlasting, what 3 events took place as the story began?

The opening prologue to the story Tuck Everlasting tells readers that three seemingly unrelated events happened in the first week of August. The events narrated are told in chronological order.  

The first event happened at dawn.  Mae Tuck took her horse and began travelling toward the village of Treegap.  She was going there to see her two sons, Miles and Jesse.  Mae Tuck only does this once every ten years.  

The second event happened at noon.  Winnie Foster began contemplating running away.  

The third event happened at sunset.  The text says a stranger arrived at the Foster's gate.  He said that we was looking for somebody, but the stranger refused to give any specifics.  

As the reader will find out, the stranger is the man in the yellow suit. He is looking for the Tuck family, who Winnie happens to stumble across as she makes a halfhearted attempt to run away.  

Can the fatty acids of guava be used for making gasoline fuel for butane lighters?

The short answer is yes, fatty acids from a guava could hypothetically be used to fuel a butane lighter. I don't personally know of any instances of this being performed, and online research yielded no results - based on my knowledge of this process, there are probably other biofuels better suited for hydrocarbon extraction (since guava have such little fat content), and other end-products that guava are better suited for (possibly alcohol fermentation due to high amounts of sugar in fruits). However the fundamental chemistry remains the same, and given the right tools it should be possible.

It should be noted that gasoline and butane are not the same thing; butane is a specific hydrocarbon with the chemical formula C4H10, whereas gasoline is a mix of several hydrocarbons including butane and several others. Butane is also frequently used in gaseous form. Depending upon the construction of the lighter, it may not be possible to fuel a butane lighter with gasoline, or vice versa. 

However, both butane and gasoline are based on hydrocarbons, and fatty acids are essentially hydrocarbon chains with a carboxylic acid molecule at one end. Removing the carboxylic acid should render the hydrocarbons free to be used for other purposes. Unfortunately the nutritional information provided in the photo doesn't tell us enough about the chemical structure of the fatty acids, so we can't really tell what hydrocarbons they could form. The only exception is the Omega-6 and -3 fatty acids, although these names only describe one portion of the hydrocarbon, and neither of them are de facto progenitors of butane. 

In the opening of Chapter 6, Orwell writes: "All that year the animals worked like slaves. But they were happy in their work; they grudged no...

The irony is that, although they are no longer working like slaves for humans, they are in fact working, and will continue to work, like slaves for Napoleon and the pigs. Things are still going quite well for Animal Farm in Chapter Six, but we already see signs that Napoleon is perverting the ideals of the farm for his own private benefit. The pigs have begun to negotiate trade deals with humans on outside farms, a violation of the founding ideals of the farm. They have also taken up residence in the farmhouse, where they have begun eating in the kitchen and sleeping in the beds. They are not sharing in the sacrifices of the other animals, and Squealer uses his powers of propaganda to alter the Seven Commandments to suit their needs. By the end of the chapter, the windmill has been destroyed, a disaster that Napoleon blames on Snowball. He uses this event to further consolidate his power by engaging in bloody purges.

What did Alfred Wegener theorize?

Alfred Wegener was a German meteorologist. In the early twentieth century (1915), Alfred Wegener created the Continental Drift Theory. Using the Continental Drift Theory, Alfred Wegener proposed that all of the continents were once one large land mass. He called this land mass Pangea (“pan” = all). Alfred Wegener explained that, over time, the continents drifted apart to become the continents of today. Alfred Wegener used the following arguments to support his theory.

1. All the continents fit together like the pieces of a puzzle.


2. Mountain ridges on different continents match up when the continents are placed together into one large supercontinent. For example, the American Appalachian mountains match up with mountains in Scotland.


3. Similarly, the same fossils are found on complimentary continents of Pangea. For example, the same fossils are found on the coast of Brazil and western Africa.

In "Winter Dreams" by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Dexter is obviously undergoing a significant life crisis. What is an idea you could use to comfort him?

F. Scott Fitzgerald's masterful "Winter Dreams," frequently discussed as a first draft of The Great Gatsby, looks at the themes of attaining dreams and pursuing hopeless ventures. To explore these themes and others, Fitzgerald presents readers with Dexter, a young man of ambition who lacks the clarity to find fulfillment in his dreams.

In the story, Dexter becomes disillusioned as he is “unconsciously dictated to by his winter dreams” (p. 2). These dreams are of both a love interest and material gain. Over time, Dexter goes from knowing what he wants to “[surrendering] a part of himself to the most…unprincipled personality" (p. 5).

If one believes that Dexter's problems stem from a lack of clarity on the value his dreams, one piece of advice to comfort Dexter may be to prioritize his pursuits. The story leads us to believe that dreams without purpose are destined to fail; Fitzgerald ends the story noting that "even the grief [Dexter] could have borne was left behind in the country of illusion," signaling Dexter's dreams as unattainable (p. 9). Dreams and goals therefore must mean something to an individual for one to find fulfillment in making their dreams reality.

Identify the type of figurative language used in the expression: "Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable...

Your question refers to a phrase in the opening paragraph of O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi". The phrase refers to the method by which Della has been able to scrape together a small amount of money, in other words repeatedly haggling with the grocer, vegetable seller, and butcher. The type of figurative language used in this phrase is metaphor. A metaphor is a comparison of two things by stating or implying that one thing is some other thing. In this case, Della is compared to a bulldozer because the pressure with which she argues with vendors to lower their prices for her is apparently forceful enough to knock over their objections, just like a bulldozer knocks obstacles out of its way. "Bulldozing" is a much more vivid way to describe Della's haggling than to say that she had "argued" about the prices of things.

What conflict did Odysseus have in the Underworld?

In the Underworld, Odysseus has a bit of a conflict with Achilles, the brave warrior who died in the Trojan War when his heel was struck by an arrow.  His heel was his only weak spot because, when he was a baby, his mother had dipped him in the river Styx to render him invulnerable, and because she held him by the heel, it was the only part of him which is not impenetrable.  In Hades, when Odysseus sees Achilles's sadness, he tells the warrior not to grieve for his lost life because, on earth, Achilles is afforded the respect of a god by all mortals.  However, Achilles tells Odysseus that it is better to live a lowly, inconsequential life than to be a king among the dead; in other words, any life is better than no life at all.  Unable to argue with this claim, Odysseus tries to appease Achilles by telling him all he knows of Achilles's family.

Please make comparisons between William Blake's Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience with reference to the poems "The Lamb," "The Chimney...

William Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience contrasts the innocence of childhood with the corruption of adulthood. His message in this series of poems, which he also illustrated, is that people are born into innocence but are corrupted and sullied by the dirtiness of human experience. 

The poems "The Lamb," "The Chimney Sweeper," "The Nurse's Song," and "The Dream" are from Songs of Innocence. In "The Lamb," Blake writes about the innocence of the creature and asks the lamb if he knows who made him. He then compares the lamb to the innocence of Jesus: "For he calls himself a Lamb." The lamb, a baby sheep, is innocent and pure as Christ. In "The Chimney Sweeper," an innocent boy must go to work when his mother dies, and he becomes sullied and dirty in the process. The poem reads, "There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head/ That curled like a lamb's back." In other words, a little boy must have his head with its curly, lamb-like white hair shaved to go to work in the corrupting city. The chimney sweeper is literally and figuratively dirtied as he works. In "The Nurse's Song," a group of children play in a pastoral scene until they are called by their nurse, "And the hills are all cover’d with sheep." Again, the innocent sheep find a place in this poem as the ultimate symbol of innocence. Finally, in "A Dream," a child mourns over a lost ant, who uses a beetle to light his way home. The poem ends on a happy note because the ant can find his way home.

"The Tyger," from Songs of Experience, is the counterpart poem to "The Lamb." The narrator asks, "What immortal hand or eye,/ Could frame thy fearful symmetry?" In other words, the narrator wonders who created the tiger, just as he wondered who created the lamb. The lamb is the ultimate symbol of innocence, but the tiger is a ferocious, bestial creature, the opposite of the lamb. In "London," the narrator watches people going about their dirty jobs in the city and sees suffering everywhere. The narrator remarks "How the Chimney-sweepers cry/ Every black’ning Church appalls." In this poem, the chimney sweepers are no longer innocent and happy but dirty and distressed. For Blake, rural scenes are the places of innocence and childhood, while adults in the city are corrupted and dirtied from their time on earth. 

Why did the author say "the grey or multicolored lights touching their faces, but never really touching them"?

Bradbury is talking about the flickering lights of a television set dancing across the faces of people in their homes doing nothing but watching endless channels of television.  The entire description reads,

Everything went on in the tomblike houses at night now, he thought, continuing his fancy.   The tombs, ill-lit by television light, where the people sat like the dead, the gray or multicolored lights touching their faces, but never really touching them.

Bradbury compares the people of the town to the dead and their homes to tombs because of their obsession with watching television. The society no longer needs books or magazines because television has taken over their lives. None of the programs are probably worth watching and are for entertainment only; therefore, no knowledge is sinking into the brains of the citizens.  They shut themselves up in their homes and are hypnotized by what television can give them, an escape from their own lives. Unlike Leonard Mead who takes nightly walks, the rest of the city spends their nights in their tomb-like homes and merely exist not learning or growing or accomplishing anything in life.

The key to understanding the quote is to analyze the use of the word, “touching.”  The light from the television set touches the viewers physically, but nothing on television ever touches them emotionally.  They are the “watching dead” or zombies created by the television age.

Based solely on the title, "Flowers for Algernon," would you guess that the book is a comedy, a tragedy, a tragicomedy, or a history?

The title, Flowers for Algernon, makes me feel that the story is most likely a tragedy. Though I have read this book before, when I consider the title alone, it makes me think of occasions when you might give someone flowers. Flowers may be given as gifts as a sign of romantic love, celebration, or as a gesture at funerals. The title mostly makes me think of a funerary offering of flowers in remembrance of someone. 

Alternately, you could guess that the story is a comedy or tragicomedy. Flowers can be a thoughtful gift to cheer someone up. Perhaps the character Algernon has been feeling sad and someone gives him flowers to help him feel better. This is a bit of a stretch, as there are no content clues in the title that Algernon has been feeling sad or requires cheering up.

What are the three rules the author sets for herself at the beginning of Nickel and Dimed? Does she ever break them? If so, when and why, in your...

Ehrenreich sets the following three rules for herself as she sets out to live on the wages of an unskilled worker: first, she will not "fall back" on her education or skills she acquired on prior jobs in order to get work. Second, she will accept the highest-paying job offered to her and do it to the best of her ability: she will not, as she puts it, engage in "Marxist rants" or reading novels in the restroom. Third, she will find the cheapest living space possible that offers privacy and safety. 

Ehrenreich says herself that she breaks or bends her rules during her project. She notes, for example, that in Key West, she falls back briefly on her education, saying as she interviews for a waitressing job that she could greet customers with Bonjour or Guten Tag. However, I would not tend to count this, as people with little education might well know these very common words in French or German. She also mentions that in Minneapolis she doesn't take the highest-paying job offered. This is a $10-an-hour job at Menards that she turns down after she has already started at Wal-Mart at $7 an hour because Wal-Mart "has already sunk its talons into me." She thinks about doing a second shift at Menards, but decides it would be too exhausting. In this case, she really is breaking her rule: to be true to it she should have quit at Wal-Mart and gone to Menards. I think she stays at Wal-Mart because the whole situation of getting oriented to a new job is exhausting and she doesn't want to go through it again. In addition,  Menards wants her to work 11-hour shifts.

Finally, she says she rants, but only outside of the hearing of management. I would mention as well that she rants directly at her manager, Ted, when she works at The Maids, telling him he should send her coworker, Holly, home for hurting her knee. "I blow. ... I tell him he can't keep putting money above his employee's health and ...this girl [Holly] is in really bad shape." In this case, she is annoyed at Holly's willingness to take abuse, knows Holly's health isn't good to begin with and that she might be pregnant, and she is fed up enough to want to take a stand. All through the book, we can feel how Ehrenreich is worn down by the jobs she holds and the grueling nature of trying to live on very low wages.

How did Adolf Hitler use propaganda to manipulate people?

Hitler and the Nazis used propaganda to influence people in almost every imaginable way. While every politician uses propaganda to some extent, the Nazis, seeking to establish a totalitarian state, besieged the German people with propaganda on an unprecedented level. Like Franklin Roosevelt in the United States, Hitler used the radio to reach into the living rooms of German people through frequent speeches and addresses. Unlike Roosevelt, however, Hitler peppered his speeches with hateful messages, playing to German fears and anxieties about the times in which they lived, and blaming all of the problems confronting Germany on Communists and, above all, Jews, who Hitler portrayed as traitors, racially inferior, and existential threats to the German people. Films commissioned by the Nazis drove home the same message, as did textbooks that were deliberately written by Nazi propagandists to drive home German racial theory. The Nazis also commissioned grand public spectacles intended to impress the popularity of their movement on the German people. The annual Party rallies at Nuremberg, documented by Leni Riefenstahl's film Triumph of the Will, for example, featured hundreds of thousands of uniformed Party members engaged in parades, reviews, and other public demonstrations. These helped create the impression that the Nazi Party represented an unstoppable movement of the people. Above all, the Nazis, particularly propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, depicted the German people as unified in the face of external and internal threats, and Adolf Hitler was the living embodiment of what the Nazis called the Volk. 

What is life like in the city Omelas?

At first glance Omelas is very much a utopian society—it is not a city with all our modern trappings, but the narrator stresses that this does not mean the people of Omelas are simple. They are happy, but this does not mean they are unintelligent. The inhabitants of the city are “not less complex than us”:

They were not naive and happy children—though their children were, in fact, happy. They were mature, intelligent, passionate adults whose lives were not wretched. O miracle! but I wish I could describe it better. I wish I could convince you.

In short, life was good in Omelas. And the narrator often makes him- or herself known in his or her attempts to describe, as accurately as possible, what this foreign city based on this foreign concept of happiness was truly like. Interjections and exclamations clarify to the reader that the narrator is uncertain how to supply us with a true representation of what Omelas really is—the details of such an interesting yet joyful existence. And the narrator decides that, really, it doesn’t matter—Omelas is what we would like to imagine it to be. Omelas, on a detailed level, is an amalgam of each reader’s subjective perspective on what would make up a utopian society. The narrator says ambivalently,

“they could perfectly well have central heating, subway trains, washing machines, and all kinds of marvelous devices not yet invented here, floating light-sources, fuelless power, a cure for the common cold. Or they could have none of that: it doesn't matter. As you like it.”

And then we see the narrator creating his or her own version of Omelas before our eyes, creating a balanced, egalitarian society of free love and free religion, with harmless, non-addictive drugs available to those who desire them and beer, of course, for those who do not. And what is being emphasized here is that it doesn’t matter—the details of life in Omelas aren’t important. How the people behave, their rituals and their edifices, their trade laws and their technology—none of it matters in the face of the pure, simple fact that they are happy. That they have managed to create a society that rests on that thinnest of ledges—nondestructive and sustaining. The narrator gives us one truth amid all this varied fantasy about Omelas, and speaks with conviction when he or she says, “One thing I know there is none of in Omelas is guilt.”

This one undeniable detail happens to be one of the most important things about Omelas, because we soon learn that the people of the city, if they had cause to feel any sentiment beyond happiness, it would indeed be guilt. The society is trading the life-long misery of a single child for the happiness of the entire city. And it is not a secret. Everyone in the society is aware, and goes to see the child every once in a while—goes to see what they are trading for their improbable perfection. And those who see the injustice for what it is—these few are “the ones who walk away from Omelas.”

Explain how "Eveline" by James Joyce makes its point. Also, what is the point of the story?

I'm not sure if this is simply the assignment you have been given, but I would resist ever thinking of stories as having a single point or theme. Joyce, like most great authors, creates believable characters and puts them into realistic situations, then watches them grapple with essential human questions. In this sense the point of the story is Eveline herself.

Joyce famously believed that through the specific we gain insight into the universal. This is very much the case with this character. Eveline struggles with troubles from her past, including memories of her abusive father and the loss of loved ones. She considers the possibility of leaving Ireland with her lover, but the power of her emotions overwhelms her. She is seemingly paralyzed. By observing this character we gain insight into larger human questions surrounding grief and human choices. Do we learn helplessness in the face of immense struggle? Is there something about hardship that draws us even closer to a place or situation? Only by diving into one very specific person can Joyce tackle these larger questions.

How does Victor Frankenstein feel toward the monster he has created?

Immediately following the moment when the creature first comes to life, Victor's dream of nearly two years, he says that "the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart."  He is unable even to look at the creature, and so he runs from the room.  Victor did not expect to have this response because he actually chose the creature's features to be beautiful, and though it seemed "ugly" when it was unfinished, Victor now feels that the horror of seeing its features animated is truly awful.  For this reason, Victor calls him a "wretch" and a "miserable monster," saying that "no mortal could support the horror of that countenance."

Two years later, when Victor has returned to Geneva, he sees the creature and realizes that it was he who killed Victor's brother.  After the murder conviction and execution of Justine, who the creature framed, Victor travels to Chamounix to take in the scenes of nature and, he hopes, to be healed by them.  However, the creature takes this opportunity to confront Victor, and Victor calls him a "devil."  However, the creature's words force Victor to feel "the duties of a creator towards his creature [...]."  Thus, after hearing the creature's story, Victor feels some obligation to grant his request for a mate.  It isn't until he has second thoughts and destroys the mate he worked on that the creature vows to exact revenge.  At this point, the creature becomes the monster Victor felt him to be, and he picked off Victor's loved ones one by one.  It is this behavior, most especially the murder of Elizabeth, that compels Victor to take his revenge on the creature or die trying.

State 2 changes that occur to the image when the object is moved towards focal length?

Hello!

Denote a distance between an object and a lens as O, and the distance between an image and a lens as I. It is known that

`1/F=1/O+1/I.`

[From this formula we see that, as stated on the picture, when O is between F and 2F, I is greater than 2F (2F for O=2F and more for a smaller O).]

Therefore `I=1/(1/F-1/O).`

When O becomes smaller, I becomes larger. This is the first change that occurs.

The second change is that the size of an image also increases when the distance between an image and a lens increases. As you may see from the given picture, when an object moves towards a lens, the ray which goes from the upper point of an object through the lens' center becomes more inclined to the lens' axis. And the point of intersection moves not only further but also down.

A satellite orbits the Sun with a period of 220 days. An asteroid orbits the Sun twice the orbital radius of the satellite. What's the asteroid...

Hello!

Kepler's Third Law is useful here. It states that for two objects orbiting the same celestial body the expressions

`T_1^2/R_1^3` and `T_2^2/R_2^3`

are the same, where `R_1` and `R_2` are the radiuses of orbits and `T_1` and `T_2` are the periods.

In our problem `T_1` is given and `R_2=2R_1` ("an asteroid orbits the Sun twice the orbital radius of the satellite"). Therefore,

`T_2^2=(R_2/R_1)^3*T_1^2,` or

`T_2=(R_2/R_1)^(3/2)*T_1=2^(3/2)*T_1.`

It is approximately 622 days. This is the answer.

Johannes Kepler discovered his three laws of planet motion analyzing the results of his teacher's astronomical observations. The man who found the deep cause of these and other laws and found the relation between this `T^2/R^3` and the mass of a central object, was Isaac Newton.

In the short story, "Charles", by Shirley Jackson, what can a reader infer from the main character's actions and interactions with others?

In the short story, "Charles" by Shirley Jackson, a number of things can be inferred from the character's actions and interactions with others, such as that with each story Laurie tells about Charles, the mother and father should have been questioning how they raised their own child. 

At the beginning, the mother is reluctant to see her boy Laurie go off to school, just like many mothers who wonder what effect school will have on their children.  Laurie comes home every day with stories of what 'Charles' has done that day, from throwing things at other children, arguing with the teacher, refusing to do what the teacher wants, to even hitting other children. 

With each of these stories, his parents should begin to wonder about their own child. These stories all sound like the invention of a child having trouble in school. Yet the parents simply accept the explanations he offers.  No one questions him about his own behavior. 

One inference you can draw from the smart-mouth questions Laurie asks like, "Isn't anybody here?" after slamming the door, and from his greeting to his father, "Hi, Pop, y'old dust mop," is that Laurie's behavior indicates a boy who has been unquestioningly allowed to do as he pleases in his early life at home. 

When the parents talk to Laurie when he comes home late from school with the explanation that all of the class stayed to watch Charles be punished, alarm bells should have been ringing for them as no school allows such a thing. Yet again, the parents blindly and unquestioningly accept the explanation.

From this blind acceptance we can infer that these are loving but unaware parents. When they find out at the end of the story that there is no Charles in the kindergarten, that Laurie is the one having all the trouble adjusting, the parents as well as the reader are surprised. 

I believe that Shirley Jackson wants us to infer that the parents of this world might need to be more questioning and aware of their children's behaviors, might need to observe more closely, might need to make children responsible from a young age, and most of all, must be involved in evaluating how their children are growing up.  If parents simply allow their children to grow up without guidance, as illustrated by Charles, the world will be in trouble. 

How is leadership shown throughout the story Animal Farm?

George Orwell's Animal Farm demonstrates the rapaciousness of leadership when it is provided power.

This is the irony of Communism: While its ideal is worthwhile, human nature is such that it really does not desire equality with all; therefore, corruption of the ideal occurs. The animals revolt against Mr. Jones who is despotic only to have their truly socialist leader (the ideal=Snowball) replaced by a dictator (corruption of the ideal=Napoleon) who is far crueler than Mr. Jones.

During the progression of the narrative of Animal Farm, once Snowball is ousted and Napoleon takes charge, tenets of the Seven Commandments are gradually altered until they are reduced to virtually nothing and the animals live under the dictatorship of Napoleon. Symbolizing this erosion of equality for the animals and totalitarianism is Napoleon's progressive acquiring of the traits of Mr. Jones, such as his drinking, sleeping in a bed, and, finally his walking on two legs. 

The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.

The acquired human nature of the pigs is what defeats them because it is the human trait of cupidity that propels Napoleon and Squealer to seek absolute power, which history proves is always destructive.

Describe the mysterious nature of the raven in Poe's poem, "The Raven."

The raven in this poem is very mysterious for a number of reasons.  First, the fact that he appears to rap at the narrator's door at midnight is both odd and unsettling, especially considering that both ravens and midnight are associated with death (and the narrator just lost his lover, Lenore, to death).  When the narrator goes to answer the door, no one is there.  

Next, he hears a tapping at the window, and when he opens it, the raven steps in with "mien of lord or lady" (line 40).  So, the raven conducts himself like a person of noble bearing, possessing a "grave and stern decorum" (44).  The bird speaks only one word: "'Nevermore.'"  At first, the speaker assumes that the bird's master must have lived through a great deal of tragedy, and thus the raven learned the word because he heard it spoken so many times.  

However, the longer the bird stays, the more the narrator seems to think him a "'devil'" (85), and he imagines the bird to be a messenger sent from the land of death to tell him that he will never again see his lost love, Lenore.  By the end of the poem, the bird is still there, "never flitting, still is sitting" (97).  It appears that he will remain forever to torment the narrator.  

Therefore, whether or not the bird is sentient is a mystery.  Whether he is simply a bird or actually a messenger or prophet of death is also a mystery.  His continued presence in the speaker's study is also a mystery.  Finally, the morbid affect the raven has on the speaker is mysterious: the narrator feels that his "soul from out that shadow [...] / Shall be lifted - nevermore!"

Why shouldn't a lens be thick?

How thick a lens can be, while still remaining practical, somewhat depends on the application for the lens. However, there are two main reasons why most lenses (regardless of their function) should not be extremely thick. There is a useful equation relating the key physical properties of most types of lenses called the lensmaker's equation (valid only for lenses in air). While there are approximations of this equation with different terms, I will use the following form to demonstrate the first reason why a lenses should not be excessively thick:

`(1)/(f)=(n-1)*((1)/(R_1)-(1)/(R_2)+((n-1)*d)/(n*R_1*R_2))`

In the equation above "f" refers to the focal point of the lens, which is the distance from the center of lens that light is either concentrated at or dispersed from. The focal length of a lens is its most practical dimension. The other terms in the equation are not extremely important for this explanation, so I will define them quickly: "n" is the refractive index of the lens material, "R1" and "R2" are the radii of curvature of the lens surface farthest from and closest to the light source, and "d" is the thickness of the lens. This last term is the one we care about here. The equation above dictates that the thickness of the lens "d" and the focal length "f" are inversely proportional. Thus, as the thickness of the lens increases and becomes extremely large (infinite) the focal point approaches zero. This means that the focal point is in the center of the lens, which is useless for controlled focusing of light because the focal point is physically inside of space occupied by the lens material. A concrete example of this case would be glasses that are so thick that the user's eyes would have to be pushed directly against the lenses (or need to be inside of them, which is impossible) for the user to see a clear image of their surroundings. Exactly what value of lens thickness that results in an impractical focal length depends on the other terms in the equation above, as well as the desired focal length.

The second reason why a lens should not be excessively thick has to do with light transmission and absorption of the material that the lens is made of. While lenses tend to be made of glass or clear polymer that transmits all wavelengths of light very well and absorbs very little of the light, they are still not perfectly ideal optical materials. This means that the lens material does not transmit 100% of the light entering and some energy is lost through absorption and dispersion of light by the molecules in the lens. For most lenses this is never a problem because they are kept sufficiently thin so that the effects of absorption and dispersion of the light do not get in the way. However if a lens were made extremely thick, the light being focused or dispersed may not be bright enough for the application.

The first reason is probably relevant more often than the second, but they are both valid concerns involving thickness when designing lenses for a specific application.

Examples from To Kill A Mockingbird for the prompt "The quietest is the strongest."

The quietest characters in the novel are Atticus, Heck Tate, Miss Maudie, and Arthur "Boo" Radley. Atticus does a lot of talking, of course, because he's a lawyer, but he isn't loud or belligerent (compare him to Mr. Ewell and Mrs. Dubose). He has a quiet, meditative style, and doesn't let anything ruffle him. When the whole town is talking smack about him "lawing for niggers," he ignores them, treats them with respect, and tries to set the example for his children in hopes that they'll learn to understand that people have opinions--sometimes nasty opinions--but they still are good people inside. Moreover, they're their neighbors, and they will go on living with them when the trial is ancient history. 

Heck Tate doesn't say much, even though he's a recurring and important presence in the novel. After the attack on Jem and Scout and the death of Bob Ewell, he thinks about the situation and decides unilaterally that Ewell "fell on his knife." He does this to save Boo from the limelight, because to praise such a man as a hero would be cruel. 

Miss Maudie is also a woman given more to listening and thinking than talking. Her strength is obvious in the women's missionary society meeting when Mrs. Grace Merriweather subtly badmouths Atticus (in front of Aunt Alexandra) and she calls her out on it ("His food doesn't stick going down, does it?"). When Mrs. Merriweather pretended to not know what she meant, Miss Maudie simply said, "I'm sure you do"--and her point was made. 

Of course, Boo is the quietest character in the story. The only words he utters in the entire book are to Scout, after he has gone to see Jem: "Will you take me home?" But he is there for the children when they need him, protecting them from Bob Ewell's homicidal rage. 

Which colony had the most religious freedom?

People came to the British colonies for many reasons. One of the reasons was to be able to practice their religion freely. Interestingly enough, many of the colonies didn’t offer religious freedom to people who practiced a religion different from the main one of the colony. Even though these groups were persecuted for their religious beliefs in Europe, they didn’t offer religious freedom in the colonies. However, in Pennsylvania, there was religious freedom. Pennsylvania was the colony that had the most religious freedom.

William Penn, the founder of the colony, was a Quaker. The Quakers weren’t allowed to practice their religion freely in Great Britain. They were persecuted if they did that. When William Penn received the land for his colony, he allowed people of any religious faith to settle there. Quakers from many European countries came to Pennsylvania. Other religious groups from Europe that came to settle in Pennsylvania were the Amish, Protestants, Lutherans, and Mennonites.

Because of the different religious groups that came here and because there were many people from different European countries living in Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania became known as the melting pot. There was a good deal of diversity in the colony of Pennsylvania. Thus, Pennsylvania earns the title as the colony with the most religious freedom.

What problem does the servingman have in Act I of Romeo and Juliet?

In Act I, Scene 2 of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Capulet's servingman is tasked with delivering invitations to the party being held at Capulet's house. Lord Capulet says,

Go, sirrah, trudge about
Through fair Verona, find those persons out
Whose names are written there, and to them say
My house and welcome on their pleasure stay.

The servingman's problem is illiteracy, which would have been typical of lower class servants during the Renaissance. He is not able to read and so cannot decipher the names on the list he is given. In an example of plot expedience, the servingman comes across Romeo and Benvolio on the street. They have just been discussing Romeo's failed love for Rosaline.

Benvolio has advised Romeo to look at other women in Verona and to forget Rosaline. Romeo agrees to help the servingman by reading the list for him. On the list is Rosaline's name. Benvolio convinces Romeo that they should "crash" the party and he will show Romeo the other beauties of Verona. He says,

At this same ancient feast of Capulet’s
Sups the fair Rosaline whom thou so loves,
With all the admirèd beauties of Verona.
Go thither, and with unattainted eye
Compare her face with some that I shall show,
And I will make thee think thy swan a crow.

Of course, Romeo eventually meets Juliet at the party and totally forgets his earlier infatuation with Rosaline. 

What is the significance of the robe, and the annual Song to the social stability of this society?

In Gathering Blue both the robe and the Song are methods by which the Council keeps control of society. Gathering Blue is a "companion" book of The Giver; both are set in the future after an unspecified disaster has changed the world. In Kira's society, the Council is all-powerful. Like many powerful organizations, a lot of their energy is spent on keeping that power. In Gathering Blue strict control is kept over the people's knowledge of the past. Kira's job is to add to the robe, which is a visual story of the society's past. Emphasis is on angry, hot colors such as orange and red. Blue is too peaceful for the Council's purposes, but Kira works to insert them. The Song is added to every year and is sung once per year. It serves the same purpose as the robe but in words. In general, the Council benefits from encouraging a view that death and destruction are inevitable, and that trusting in the Council is in everyone's best interests. Although you do not ask about it, there is a third symbol of the Council's control, which is the staff. It is also added to every year with new carvings, and is held by the singer of the Song, while wearing the robe.

What was the author's style of writing in "The Sniper"?

In his short story "The Sniper," Liam O'Flaherty uses a third person narrator to build suspense in a story about a soldier on a rooftop in war torn Dublin during the Irish civil war. The narrator is totally detached and the story is mostly without emotion. Even at the end when the sniper discovers he has killed his own brother, the narrator does not comment on the sniper's feelings.

Instead, the style of the story tries to build on the tension surrounding the sniper's struggle to survive with enemies all around him. We learn very little about the sniper other than he is a "fanatic" and is quite willing to kill without remorse. The narrator concentrates on the action rather than any editorial comment about the war or the sniper's mentality. In this example the narrator puts the sniper in a life or death situation:

The turret opened. A man's head and shoulders appeared, looking toward the sniper. The sniper raised his rifle and fired. The head fell heavily on the turret wall. The woman darted toward the side street. The sniper fired again. The woman whirled round and fell with a shriek into the gutter.

The narrator utilizes short, abrupt sentences and action verbs to intensify the suspense of the situation. It is much like the prose created by Ernest Hemingway in his early short stories about World War I. Hemingway eschewed adjectives and you'll notice the narrator here abandons too much description in order to simply present the action.

The narrator is also good at providing memorable imagery of a city under siege, as Dublin was in the 1920's:

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. Here and there through the city, machine guns and rifles broke the silence of the night, spasmodically, like dogs barking on lone farms.

He also paints an interesting picture of the sniper:

On a rooftop near O'Connell Bridge, a Republican sniper lay watching. Beside him lay his rifle and over his shoulders was slung a pair of field glasses. His face was the face of a student, thin and ascetic, but his eyes had the cold gleam of the fanatic. They were deep and thoughtful, the eyes of a man who is used to looking at death.

What are the characteristics of lightning that enables it to convert nitrogen into ammonia?

Nitrogen is the most abundant element in the Earth's atmosphere.  It is predominantly present in the form of diatomic nitrogen gas N2.  Nitrogen gas has two nitrogen atoms connected together by a triple bond.  This makes nitrogen gas extremely stable and extremely unreactive.  Nitrogen gas itself is really not very biologically useful.  The process of nitrogen fixation must occur in order to convert nitrogen into ammonia (NH3) which can then be further reacted into other useful compounds for biochemistry.  Due to the low reactivity of nitrogen, some type of catalyst must be used to allow the chemical reaction to occur.  Nitrogen fixation most often occurs in microbes that have special proteins that catalyzed the reaction of nitrogen into ammonia.  Lighting can also catalyze the reaction because of its intense energy.  The high energy levels associated with lightning are what allows it to convert nitrogen into ammonia.

For whom was the Webster-Hayne Debate beneficial?

The topic of nullification was the focus of the Webster-Hayne debate. The southern states were very unhappy with the protective tariff of 1828. They believed it was too high. This tariff hurt the South while it benefited the North. The South believed that states should have the right to nullify laws if those laws hurt one state or region while benefitting another state or region.

Senator Webster and Senator Hayne had different views on the topic of nullification. Daniel Webster gave an eloquent speech about how the Union always comes before the states. He argued that the states couldn’t nullify federal laws. Robert Hayne believed that states could nullify federal laws if those laws did harm to a state.

This debate was of benefit to President Jackson. President Jackson made it clear that the tariff laws would be enforced. He also made it clear that he was against nullification. This debate provided excellent reinforcement of President Jackson’s position on the topic of nullification.

What moral issues are discussed in Primo Levy's The Drowned & The Saved?

The moral issues discussed in Primo Levi's The Drowned & The Saved all have to do with measuring the methods people use (both then and now) to deal with the tragedy of genocide that the Nazi’s proposed (and carried out) through the Holocaust.

A simple discussion of the title can serve to begin the thoughts about moral issues. The title stems from the idea that someone can be “saved” physically, but not be “saved” spiritually. Those that survived the Holocaust, then, were not necessarily better off than those that were slaughtered in concentration camps.

One of the interesting ways these moral issues are presented is by the publication of letters from German citizens both living then and living now. This is one of the most interesting ways that the surviving people’s thoughts about reconciling the Holocaust are implied. By including these letters, Levi tries to continue the moral discussion through the ages (in that these real letters can be discussed again and again), to make the Holocaust impossible to forget, and to make the facts apparent.

In regards to the discussion of moral issues, it is the central chapter entitled “The Gray Zone” that should cause the most interest. Why? This is the chapter that shows the range of responses from the German people from guilt and regret and from pride to concealment. Rightly so, Levi calls this section the “ultimate drainage site of the German universe.”

In conclusion, discussing this moral issues revolves around Levi figuring out people’s choices. Is the person vocal or not? (Is the person communicating?) Is the person putting stock in his or her religion or losing his or her faith? Is the person happy to conform or defiant? These moral ideas, Levi delves into great detail in the sections entitled “Communicating” and “Useless Violence” and “Stereotypes.” In a sense, these are all ways to deal with the moral problem of genocide that existed within the Holocaust.

What are the kinds of seabirds mentioned in the poem, "The Seafarer"?

In the poem "The Seafarer," the speaker references the presence of several types of birds around him as he sails in exile. Some of these birds remind him of the companions he has lost, while others appear to be associated with some facet of his exile.  

The speaker mentions several types of birds whose voices remind him of and take the place of the companionship with his fellow warriors that he has lost due to their death and/or his exile. Thus, the swan's song is a pleasure to the speaker; the noise of the gannet and the voice of the curlew remind him of the laughter of men; and the sound of gulls reminds him of drinking mead. These birds are now his companions, and he associates them with the human companions he has lost.

In addition to the birds that remind him in some way of men, the speaker also names the tern and the eagle, although these two birds seem more associated with the reality of his exile rather than serve as a reminder of lost companions and kinsmen. The speaker associates the tern with the storms on the stony cliffs, and the eagle is a constant presence of his exile. The eagle may be especially interesting with respect to the nature of the speaker’s plight as the eagle is one of the so-called beasts of battle. The beasts of battle refer to ravens, wolves and eagles, which were the animals that the Anglo-Saxons seemed to have associated with eating the dead after a battle. The fact that the speaker tells us that the eagle always cries may be symbolic of the seafarer’s association of his exile with impending death.

What are two instances of flashbacks or foreshadowing in "The Pit and the Pendulum," and what helped you determine your choices?

In the first paragraph of "The Pit and the Pendulum," Poe foreshadows the coming fate of the narrator symbolically, when, after looking at the candles and imagining them as angels who might save him, the narrator's mind switches, and has this dark and fearful premonition:

"...the tall candles sank into nothingness; their flames went out utterly; the blackness of darkness supervened; all sensations appeared swallowed up in a mad rushing descent as of the soul into Hades."

In the next scene, the narrator is in a black room, as he imagined. Lying there in "a swoon," a half-dream where he, the narrator, tries to piece whatever he can together, he has the following flashback:

"...These shadows of memory tell, indistinctly, of tall figures that lifted and bore me in silence down—down—still down—till a hideous dizziness oppressed me at the mere idea of the interminableness of the descent."

It is indeed a descent which finds the narrator in a very real hell, where soon the swaying pendulum appears, designed to cut him in two.

1 L of helium at 1 atm is compressed to 350 ml. What is the new pressure of gas?

According to Boyle's law, the pressure and volume of a gas are inversely proportional. The factor by which the pressure increased is the same as the factor by which the volume increased. Here's the equation for Boyle's law, where P1 and V1 are the initial pressure and volume and P2 and V2 are the final pressure and volume:

P1 x V1 = P2 x V2

The information given is:

P1 = 1 atm

V1 = 1 liter

P2 = unknown

V2 = 350 ml = 0.35 liters

(1 atm)(1 liter) = (P2)(0.35 L)

P2 = (1 atm)(1 L)/(0.35 L) = 2.86 atm

It's a good idea to think about your answer and decide if it seems reasonable. Since the volume is decreasing to approximately one-third the original volume, this means that the pressure is increasing to approximately three times the original pressure. The answer is therefore reasonable.