In The Great Gatsby what page does the quote "he threw all those parties hoping she'd wander in one night" appear?

In my copy of The Great Gatsby the line in question is in chapter four, page 84, almost at the end of the chapter. I have the "First Scribner Paperback Fiction Edition 1995" with the preface by Matthew Broccoli.

The line is spoken by Jordan Baker, who is asking Nick to arrange a meeting between Daisy and Gatsby. She has just finished telling Nick about the love affair between Gatsby and an eighteen-year old Daisy Fay of Louisville, Kentucky. She also tells Nick about Daisy's wedding day when she became quite drunk after receiving a letter, presumably from Gatsby.

Gatsby, of course, has built his palatial mansion on West Egg right across from the Buchanan's house on East Egg. He throws lavish parties attended by people who are basically strangers to him. He wants to impress Daisy with his wealth and he hopes, as the lines suggest, she will attend one of his parties. When she never shows up he employs the assistance of Nick, who is Daisy's cousin.

Is Macbeth's head brought out on the battlefield or inside Macbeth's castle?

The entire duel between Macbeth and Macduff takes place in the open field outside Macbeth's castle. The two actors playing Macbeth and Macduff begin fighting on the stage. They leave the stage still fighting. Evidently, this first exit was intended to make the duel seem long and grueling. Some of it occurs offstage because the actors cannot be expected to look like two professional soldiers having a real sword fight for a substantial length of time onstage. After the actors reenter and Macduff evidently kills Macbeth onstage, he must somehow retire offstage with Macbeth's body. Shakespeare wanted to show Macbeth's head, either being carried by Macduff by the scalp or impaled on a stake or pike. This obviously had to be a fake head, and Macduff would have had to go offstage to obtain that fake head and then reenter. All of this occurs in Act V, Scene 7, and the entire scene is understood to be taking place on the field of battle outside the castle. The stage directions at the beginning of Scene 7 specify [Another part of the field.]  There is a great deal of physical action indicated. For example,

Enter, with drum and colors, Malcolm, Siward, Ross, [the other] Thanes, and Soldiers.

There is no indication, however, that the action takes place anywhere but in the one part of the open field.

In the short story "Charles" by Shirley Jackson, why were Laurie's parents looking forward to meeting the kindergarten teacher?

Laurie’s parents were looking forward to meeting his teacher so that they could find out more about Charles.

Laurie did not adjust well to kindergarten.  He was a spoiled child, and the rules and order of school did not suit him.  He came from school each day complaining about a classmate named Charles who got into a lot of trouble.  Laurie and his parents thought that Charles was a lot of fun.

“Well,” he said, “Charles was bad again today.” He grinned. “Today Charles hit the teacher,” he said.

“Good heavens,” I said. “I suppose he got spanked again?”

“He sure did,” Laurie said.

As Laurie continues to come home day after day and describe the horrible things Charles does, his parents are curious but not overly concerned.  After all, their son is no angel.  He talks back, harasses the baby, and generally wreaks havoc.

When the night of the Parent-Teachers meeting comes, Laurie’s mother stays home because the baby is sick.  As a result, she does not get to meet Laurie’s teacher.  She continues to listen to his reports about Charles, the scourge of the kindergarten.

When Laurie’s mother finally makes it to the PTA meeting, she looks for any woman who might be Charles’s mother and then seeks out the kindergarten teacher.  The teacher is polite and they discuss Laurie.

“He’s had some trouble getting used to school,” she said. “But I think he’ll be all right.”

Laurie’s mother asks about Charles, and learns that there is no Charles.  Then she realizes the truth.  Charles is not real.  Her son made him up.  Everything that he has described has been his own behavior.

Of course, it is truly ironic that Laurie’s mother is so judgmental when, overwhelmed with a baby, she has not really been paying attention.  Both of Laurie’s parents have let his behavior go, when they should have realized that it would have an effect on his school life.  Charles was his way of telling them that he needed help, and they missed it completely.

Where do Buddy and his friend keep their money?

In Truman Capote’s short story “A Christmas Memory,” Buddy and his friend raise money to pay for the ingredients to make their annual Christmas fruitcakes. They do small jobs, enter contests, save money given to them by other household members, and even hold a freak show in their barn to make money. As they add to the “Fruitcake Fund” they hide the money in an “ancient bead purse.” The purse is placed under a floorboard that they are able to raise. That floorboard is located under a chamber pot, which is placed beneath the friend’s bed. For the most part, once the money is placed in the purse, which stays in its hiding place, it is not removed until it is time to shop for the fruit, flour, whiskey, and other ingredients to make the cakes. The purse is only taken out to add money, or on Saturdays when Buddy is allowed a dime to see a movie.

In Farhenheit 451, why don't the authorities bother the hobos?

There are two explanations as to why the government doesn't bother those in the hobo camps:

1. According to Faber, the government doesn't bother these people because they "never considered them a great enough danger to go in and track them down."

2. According to those at the camps, they did not keep books on them, instead they kept them in their heads and destroyed whatever books they had. Granger, who seems to be the leader of the group explains, "We read the books and burnt them, afraid they'd be found." In fact, according to Granger, the government does, in fact, bother those in the camps. He says that they're "stopped and searched occasionally, but there's nothing on our persons to incriminate us."

The hobo camps make up a loosely-based organization full of intellectuals and other book lovers. The camp Montag runs into has former professors from UCLA and Harvard and a preacher who angered the government. They memorize books with the pledge to write them down once the social order changes to one that welcomes intellectual thought. 

Name two types of animals that depend on protist for food.

Protists are photosynthetic organisms that are responsible for providing food to a large fraction of world's animals and organisms. They share a symbiotic relationship with corals. In this arrangement, protists provide food to the corals and this enables the corals to secrete compounds necessary for making the skeleton. The corals provide protected environment for the protists and also provide nutrients for carrying out photosynthesis. Other species are also capable of feeding on protists. In fact, protists themselves may eat each other, for example, amoeba and ciliates can feed on other protists. Since protists can carry out photosynthesis, while some others can eat protists (and some bacteria as well), protists are both a producer and 1st level consumer in a given food web.

Hope this helps.  

What were the main roots of the scientific revolution?

The Scientific Revolution ushered in the shift from medieval scientific philosophy. It was centered on new scientific procedures developed by a number of individuals including; Bacon, Rene Descartes, Galileo, Newton, Spinoza and Comenius among other thinkers. Scientific revolution formed the basis of modern science which led to significant changes in the environment and society, by challenging previous assumptions.

Scientific revolution had its roots in the growing need for experimentation by thinkers of that particular period. Medieval science relied mostly on circumstantial evidence to prove its theories. This led to the need by thinkers to prove some of the assumed theories through systematic experimentation and observation.

This led to empiricism and the development of inductive approaches in the investigation of nature. Empiricism was fueled by the collaboration between mathematical communities, astronomical groups, and thinkers of the period.

Publication of scientific research helped in promoting the scientific revolution by providing an avenue for thinkers to address gaps in knowledge based on previous empirical studies. Publishing of such works was facilitated by institutions such as the British Royal Society. The publications generated discussions and arguments which led to further testing and reliable conclusions.

What does Fezziwig symbolize in A Christmas Carol?

In Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, Fezziwig symbolizes all that Scrooge is not. Fezziwig was the kind, compassionate employer who Scrooge apprenticed under as a young man. On Christmas Eve, Fezziwig shuttered up his business and threw a large, rambunctious party for his employees, family, and friends.

"Yo ho, my boys!'' said Fezziwig. "No more work to-night. Christmas Eve, Dick. Christmas, Ebenezer! Let's have the shutters up,'' cried old Fezziwig, with a sharp clap of his hands, "before a man can say, Jack Robinson!"

He valued his young apprentices and his business but he was able to put his work aside to enjoy the fruits of his labor with family and friends. Fezziwig, along with his loving wife, showed gratitude to all of the people who worked for them or provided services such as the baker and butcher. He was the antithesis of what Scrooge became. As Scrooge watched the party scene, a knowing look crossed his face as he traveled to the past with the Ghost who guided him through his past.

How and When does Scout show empathy in To Kill A Mockingbird? In the final chapter I know she "walks around in" Boo's "skin" but is there any...

The lesson Scout learns from Atticus to respect people and to try to see life from their perspective is seen through Scout’s interaction and understanding of several characters in the rest of the novel.  First of all, she has an immediate understanding about Walter Cunningham when she says “hey” to Mr. Cunningham at the courthouse where Atticus is protecting Tom Robinson from the lynch mob.  She has put her prejudices aside and asks Mr. Cunningham to tell Walter hello.  This shows that Scout has taken Atticus’ lesson to heart.  Scout also learns to sympathize with Mayella Ewell's horrible situation and existence.  During Mayella’s testimony about her alleged rape by Tom Robinson, Scout listens intently to Mayella and comes to the conclusion that she must be the “loneliest person in the world.”  She doesn’t have any friends and spends her time taking care of her brothers and sisters.  Mayella doesn’t even know that it is polite for Atticus to call her, “M’am”.  She is so isolated in the cabin next to the dump that she leads a helpless, lonely existence afraid of her own father.  Scout’s ability to understand this simply by listening to Mayella’s testimony shows just how much Scout has learned Atticus’ lesson and how she practices it.   

Was Rainsford in the army in "The Most Dangerous Game"?

General Zaroff was in the army, but so was Rainsford.

Zaroff is fully aware that Rainsford was in the army.  Almost every man his age would have fought in World War I.  When Zaroff is explaining his views on the acceptable nature of killing whatever men he feels inferior, he seems to think that Rainsford having been a soldier would make him agree with his views.

He regarded Rainsford quizzically. "I refuse to believe that so modern and civilized a young man as you seem to be harbors romantic ideas about the value of human life. Surely your experiences in the war--"

"Did not make me condone cold-blooded murder," finished Rainsford stiffly.

Rainsford became an experienced hunter, and even wrote books on the subject.  This is one of the reasons that Zaroff knows so much about him.  He respects Rainsford’s abilities.  He knows that between his service in the war and his hunting skills he will be a very good competitor.  Zaroff can’t wait to hunt him.

During the hunt, Rainsford does use his war experience to aid him in evading Zaroff.  The combination of hunting skills and war experience indeed makes him a formidable foe.

Rainsford had dug himself in in France when a second's delay meant death. That had been a placid pastime compared to his digging now. The pit grew deeper; when it was above his shoulders, he climbed out and from some hard saplings cut stakes and sharpened them to a fine point.

Zaroff’s experience in the army was likely different than Rainsford’s.  Rainsford was clearly in the thick of it.  Zaroff, on the other hand, joined the Russian army as an officer because that was what was expected of a wealthy young man.

“…I went into the army--it was expected of noblemen's sons--and for a time commanded a division of Cossack cavalry, but my real interest was always the hunt. I have hunted every kind of game in every land. It would be impossible for me to tell you how many animals I have killed."

Zaroff considers his entire life one long hunt.  To him, the fact that he ended up on the wrong side of the Russian “debacle” known as the Russian Revolution meant little.  He just went off to create his own little island kill zone.  Clearly he had plenty of money left.

Describe the origin of the universe.

There are a number of theories that attempt to explain the origin of the universe. These include the big bang theory, steady state theory, pulsating universe theory, etc. Among these, the Big Bang Theory is the most accepted model of the origin of our universe. According to this model, our universe originated from an infinitely dense point in space, some 15 billion years ago. From that initial moment of time, our universe started expanding and this expansion has been going on ever since. A scientific evidence of this theory is the presence of cosmic background radiation throughout the universe. These radiations were measured in 1964 by Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson. An evidence of expansion of our universe was presented by Edwin Hubble (the Hubble Telescope has been named after him), who found that all the galaxies were moving away from us.

Hope this helps.

In what sense did Kino become "every man's enemy" in The Pearl?

When someone suddenly has a stroke of good luck, it is easy for those around them to become jealous. When Kino first finds the pearl he believes it is the key to success for his family, especially for little Coyotito. Kino doesn't simply want medical care for his child; he begins to imagine his life differently than he ever has. He wants to be married in the church and desires to send his son to school. The problem is that other people have become jealous; they too want the pearl and the good fortune it could bring. 

Steinbeck clues us in on the stirrings of hatred and desire amongst the other characters in the story.

“Every man suddenly became related to Kino's pearl, and Kino's pearl went into the dreams, the speculations, the schemes, the plans, the futures, the wishes, the needs, the lusts, the hungers, of everyone, and only one person stood in the way and that was Kino, so that he became curiously every man's enemy.”

Envy is quick to take control in the town; it spreads roots and grasps hold of anyone who realizes that "the pearl of the world" exists. Suddenly everyone wants what Kino possesses. The only thing standing in the way of that desire is Kino himself.

Steinbeck succinctly compares this envy to the very same venom that is spreading through Coyotito. Envy, it turns out, is a poison that is spreading through the town very much like the scorpion venom rushing through the baby's veins.

“The news stirred up something infinitely black and evil in the town; the black distillate was like the scorpion, or like hunger in the smell of food, or like loneliness when love is withheld. The poison sacs of the town began to manufacture venom, and the town swelled and puffed with the pressure of it.”

Thus, like the venom of the scorpion, jealousy and desire envelop the town, making Kino the target of their hatred and “every man’s enemy.”

Who are the characters in Andrew Clements' A Week in the Woods?

The two most important characters in Andrew Clements' A Week in the Woods are the two protagonists, Mark Robert Chelmsley and Mr. Maxwell. A protagonist is a character that battles the conflict, or problem, in the story and changes as the story progresses.

Mark is the kid of wealthy parents and has just moved from Scarsdale, New York, to a farmhouse his parents renovated into a mansion in New Hampshire. At first, having loved Scarsdale, Mark hates New Hampshire and is unimpressed by his surroundings and even more unimpressed by the public school he must now attend. Having been in elite private schools all his life, he knows far more than his fellow fifth graders at the public school. Since he hates his surroundings so much, he begins acting out. However, he begins exploring his surroundings, especially the woods around his new home. The more he explores the woods, the more he loves them. He also has a moment of self-realization:

I've been acting like  stuck-up jerk. (p. 66)

After this moment, he begins making friends and behaving differently in class.

Mr. Maxwell is Hardy Elementary School's fifth-grade science teacher. He's a true outdoorsman and loves teaching. Since he was an Eagle Scout in his youth, he is also passionate about motivation. Hence, when Mark arrives as the new kid at school and is very withdrawn socially and nonparticipatory in class, Mr. Maxwell is very quick to judge Mark: "This new boy was a slacker" (p. 21). Mr. Maxwell's premature and unforgiving judgements of Mark form the basis of the story's conflict, and both Mark and Mr. Maxwell grow as a result.

Another important character includes Jason, whom Mark befriends. Mark especially spends a lot of time with Jason at the camp during the "A Week in the Woods" event, and Jason accidentally gets Mark into trouble by showing Mark his multitool. Other important characters include Mark's wealthy parents, Robert and Eloise Chelmsley, who are hardly ever around, and Leon and Anya. Leon and Anya are a married Russian couple and the family's household employees, also given the responsibility of acting as Mark's caretakers. Leon is the Chelmsleys' handyman, while Anya is the housekeeper.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of studying educational psychology?

Studying educational psychology will provide a broad and intricate understanding of human development (particularly early childhood development), assessment and diagnostics, and test validity among many other subjects. While, in its rudimentary definition, this branch focuses on learning methods, teaching modalities, and human cognition, educational psychology fosters a helping professional's ability to grow and expand a working knowledge of many fields that may benefit children and adults alike.

As adults, we rely on our earliest experiences as children to inform us on problem solving, work management, and incorporating new information into existing mental capacities. Moreover, our early childhood background helps us assess the belief in our adult abilities, our self-worth, and our capability to meet challenges.  Working in the field of educational psychology means possessing the power to shape minds as they are growing and cultivating their pathways to learning and success for the rest of their lives. 

On a more practical side, choosing a career in educational psychology offers many avenues for professional development including research and evaluation, teaching, school administration, and guidance counseling. Perhaps the less attractive components to studying the field come in the form of learning again and again about failed systems of teaching and invalid testing methods. Challenging the status quo in any environment can prove daunting and requires dogged determination. Also, many states have very strict policies regarding what types of work you can practice according to your profession's licensure; hence, it may behoove a person interested in the field of psychology at all to investigate which educational tracks provide the most inclusive career options. 

When the United States joined the war, how did it impact the rest of the war?

The United States entered both World War I and World War II a few years after each war began. Our entrance into each war was a major factor in determining the outcome of both wars.

In World War I, both sides were fighting each other in a long war of attrition. Even though Germany believed it was close to winning the war, they weren’t as close to winning as they thought they were. When we joined World War I, we brought fresh troops to the Allies. We also provided needed supplies. In World War I, the entrance of the United States into the war on the side of the Allies was the deciding factor in the result of the war. Our entrance into World War I enabled the Allies to win this war.

In World War II, we had no choice in joining the war. After we were attacked at Pearl Harbor, we had to join the war. Our entrance into World War II was also a significant factor. We could now openly help Great Britain fight against Germany and Italy. After many Axis victories in Europe, Great Britain was the only major country remaining in the fight against Germany and Italy. With the United States entering the war and providing troops, weapons, and supplies, we were able to help Great Britain stop the Axis advance in North Africa and Europe. We also were able to stop the Japanese advance in the Pacific Ocean and in Asia after we recovered from the attack at Pearl Harbor. Our war industries helped to rebuild our military in the Pacific region very quickly. As a result, our military was able to stop the Japanese advance, and then it began to pursue the Japanese as they retreated.

The entrance of the United States into both World War I and World War II was a huge factor in helping the Allies win both of these wars.

Define mass.

One definition of mass is that the mass is the measure of inertia. Inertia is the tendency of the objects to resist the change in motion, more specifically, the change in their velocity. This is typically illustrated by the fact that when a car suddenly slows down, the riders in the car fall forward, because they tend to move forward with the original speed.

The first Newton's Law states that an object will remain moving with the same velocity unless there is an external force exerted on the object. If there is the external force, it will be proportional to the mass of the object. The more mass, or inertia, the object has, the more force is needed to change the velocity by a given amount.

Another way to define mass is as the measure of gravitational attraction. The two object with masses m and M will attract each other with the force of gravity

`F=G (mM)/r^2` , which is proportional to the masses of both objects. The more the mass of an object, the more gravitational attraction it experiences.

It has been measured, with great accuracy, that "inertial" mass is equal to "gravitational" one.The Einstein's theory of relativity states that the two masses are in fact the same thing.

What are examples of irony in Gathering Blue?

Gathering Blue contains three kinds of irony: verbal, dramatic, and situational. Verbal irony occurs when words mean the opposite of what their literal meaning suggests. Dramatic irony is when readers, or other characters, know something that a certain character does not. Situation irony is when events turn out to be the opposite of what was expected.

An example of verbal irony occurs when Kira, accompanied by Matt, follows Jamison to her room in the Council Edifice. Matt asks with concern whether Kira is a captive, and Jamison replies, "No, she's not a captive. . . . Why would you think that?" Later in the book, Kira comes to realize that, although her door is unlocked, she is not really free. Jamison's words turn out to be ironic.

One example of dramatic irony revolves around Annabella. Kira mentions to Jamison that Annabella told her "there be no beasts." Jamison replies that it's dangerous to talk that way. Shortly after, Kira learns that Annabella has died. Readers put two and two together that the guardians have had Annabella killed for contradicting the lie about beasts that the guardians use to keep people from leaving the village. But Kira never makes that connection, so readers know something Kira doesn't know.

An important use of situational irony appears near the end of the book when Kira's father arrives in the village. Kira wants her father to stay, and assures him that Jamison will find a place for him. Kira's father stiffens upon hearing Jamison's name. He says, "Your defender, Jamison? . . . Yes, he tried to find a place for me before. Jamison is the one who tried to kill me." It's ironic that Jamison should be Kira's defender and mentor when he was the one who had attacked her father and left him for dead, resulting in her growing up without a father and facing much hardship in her life. 

Lowry uses verbal, dramatic, and situational irony effectively in Gathering Blue. 

What is the basis for classification?

The basis of classification depends on what is to be classified and what is the purpose of classification. In general, a set of characteristics (one or more characteristic criterion) are used for classification of any object, generally, for the purpose of comparison. For example, we can classify a group of 12-15 year old students into different classes based on body weight (slim, average, overweight, etc.), height (short, average, tall, etc.), etc. Such a classification will help us compare them. We can classify elements into metal and non-metals, reactive and inert, natural and synthetic, etc. Similarly, we can classify animals into vertebrates and invertebrates (depending on presence or absence of backbone), macroorganism and microorganism (depending on size), prokaryotes and eukaryotes (depending on presence of one cell or multiple cells), etc.  

In each of these example cases, something has been classified on the basis of a characteristic and for comparison purpose.

Hope this helps.

In "Just Later, That's All," what are three points that make Captain Torres the villain of the story?

In "Just Lather, That's All," Torres is clearly the villain, as demonstrated in the following three ways:

1. Captain Torres is responsible for ordering the hanging of four men and then forcing everybody in the town to view their bodies. Even worse, the barber notices that the Captain's men have used the bodies for target practice. In conversation with the barber, the Captain refers to this public execution as a "fine show."


2. After capturing fourteen rebels, the Captain claims to be so tired that he could go "straight to sleep." This implies that his violent job has little effect on his thoughts or state of mind.


3. The Captain admits to the barber that he plans on punishing all of these captured men in a manner which is "better" than the hanging. He also states that the punishment of these men will be enjoyable, saying, "We'll amuse ourselves."

How does Buddy's cousin show that the tree they have cut down is special?

In Truman Capote’s “A Christmas Memory,” Buddy’s cousin has firm ideas about the attributes of their Christmas tree even before they cut it down. To make the tree special, she wants it to be twice as tall as a boy Buddy’s size, thick enough to take “thirty hatchet strokes” to fell, and it must make a loud noise as it falls. They struggle to drag the tree home but receive many compliments while they do. The reader can tell that the tree is special to the cousin when she refuses to tell others the exact location they found it and more importantly, she refuses to sell the tree. Money is something the two struggle all year to acquire but the tree is theirs, and she will not accept money even though she is often afraid to say “no” to others. When the woman, who wants to buy the tree, says they can get another tree, Buddy’s cousin says, "I doubt it. There's never two of anything."

Buddy’s cousin wants the tree to be beautifully decorated. The tree is so special that Buddy and his cousin spend days making ornaments to decorate its boughs. They draw, color, and cut each ornament because they do not have money to buy them. Another way you can tell that the tree is special is that Buddy’s cousin saves cotton picked during the summer to make the tree look like it is draped in snow. When they are finished decorating she exclaims, "Now honest, Buddy. Doesn't it look good enough to eat!"

In Fahrenheit 451, what does the firehouse look like?

It would seem, by Bradbury's descriptions, that the firehouse in his futuristic setting is much like the same as one would find in today's world. On page 4, Montag is shown cleaning his helmet and hanging up his fireproof jacket and clothes. Then he showers on the upper floor and descends by way of a golden fire pole down the hole to the lower level. The next time the pole is mentioned, it is described as a brass pole (24).

When the reader is introduced to the firemen's Mechanical Hound, Montag comes in from having a cigarette and looks at it in its kennel on the ground floor. Then it describes how the men let the Hound kill rats and other small animals in the "firehouse areaway" (25). This suggests that there is a large space on the ground floor, which is probably more like a garage that houses the fire vehicles along with the Mechanical Hound.

Montag then turns from the kennel of the Hound and the following is described:

"Behind him, four men at a card table under a green-lidded light in the corner glanced briefly but said nothing" (26).

Based on the evidence, the card-playing table is on the ground floor along with the hound and the vehicles. The firehouse even has a bell in the ceiling that "kicked itself two hundred times" when an alarm rang out (35). On this page, too, it says that Beatty reminds Montag to remember to get his helmet which is near the Mechanical Hound; so, the fireproof clothing and helmets are on the ground floor as well.

"The chief character in a Shakespeare tragedy is isolated, cut off more and more from normal relationships from relatives, friends, associates and...

After his father's death, Hamlet becomes isolated from almost everyone who he once held dear, a fact that certainly adds to his status as a tragic figure.

First, he becomes alienated from his mother, Gertrude, because she very quickly remarries after Hamlet's father's death with her brother-in-law, Claudius. Hamlet sees this as an act of betrayal because his father so recently died (less than one month before her remarriage), and thus she did not appear to grieve appropriately. She seemed to be so in love with him while he was alive,  

[...] yet, within a month
(Let me not think on 't; frailty, thy name is woman!
[....] Oh God, a beast that wants discourse of reason 
Would have mourned longer!) [she] married with my uncle (1.2.149-156)

As a result of these feelings, Hamlet becomes estranged from his mother, believing her to be an improper wife. He likewise becomes estranged from his lover, Ophelia, when her father, Polonius, cautions her against attaching herself the young prince. He says, 

Be something scanter of your maiden presence,
Set your entreatments at a higher rate 
Than a command to parle.
[....] Do not believe his vows, for they are brokers,
Not of that dye which their investments show, 
But mere implorators of unholy suits,
Breathing like sanctified and pious bawds
The better to beguile. (1.3.130-140)

Polonius tells her that she needs to keep herself apart from Hamlet and not simply appear whenever he beckons her.  She should not believe his vows of love because they are only a mask for his sexual desire; his vows seem upright and honest but are just meant to deceive her into giving herself to him. Ophelia, a dutiful daughter, does as her father tells her, eventually returning any and all gifts Hamlet has given her, severing all private ties with him.

Hamlet is alienated from former friends as well when he learns that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have been brought to Denmark by his uncle (who hopes that they will feed him information about Hamlet, now that he's grown suspicious of his nephew). Hamlet confronts them, saying,

You would play upon me, you would seem to know my stops, you would pluck out the heart of my mystery, you would sound me from my lowest note to the top of my compass [...].  'Sblood, do you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe? Call me what instrument you will, though you can fret me, you cannot play upon me. (3.2.394-402)

The only really close relationship that Hamlet maintains throughout the tragedy is with Horatio.  He's lost relationships with his father (who died), his mother (who betrayed his father in Hamlet's eyes), his uncle (who killed his father and married his mother), his friends (who he has killed in England), and his girlfriend (who goes mad when her ex-boyfriend, Hamlet, kills her father). Even before his death, the general public seemed to support Polonius' son, Laertes', bid for the throne (instead of Hamlet, to whom it should have gone upon his father's death). With no one left besides Horatio, it is him to whom Hamlet entrusts the telling of his story once he's dead.  

Explain why the narrator feels he owes a great debt to Aunt Georgiana, and what special treat he has planned for her in Boston. How does she react...

"Don't love it so well, Clark, or it may be taken from you. Oh! dear boy, pray that whatever your sacrifice may be, it be not that."

The narrator feels obliged to Aunt Georgiana because she has provided him the joy of music; so, after learning that she will soon arrive in Boston, he attains tickets to a concert. However, Clark is rather surprised that she does not react at first, and then she cries.

Because Clark Howard relishes the delight that music brings to the senses and its message to the soul, he cherishes the memories of times when his Aunt Georgiana taught him piano lessons as he shared his aunt's great enjoyment of music with her. So, when he learns that she is returning to Boston after years in Nebraska, Clark makes arrangements for them to attend a concert. When they first arrive at the concert hall, Aunt Georgiana seems rather anxious about her appearance and how she should act; however, after the musicians enter and take their places, she gives "a little stir of anticipation and looks around with "quickening interest." As the orchestra plays the overture, Clark feels that the low bow strings touch his heart, and her glances over at his aunt. After some hesitation, Georgiana clutches his sleeve, but she says nothing. Once the overture is completed, 

[S]he sat staring at the orchestra through a dullness of thirty years, through the films made little by little by each of the three hundred and sixty-five days in every one of them.

Clark wonders if the music still speaks to her and if she has enough left in her after the deprivation of the Nebraska farm life in order to be able to "comprehend this power which had kindled the world since she left it?" But he attains no answer as his aunt sits stoically. Soon after the tenor begins "The Prize Song," however, he hears his aunt draw her breath and close her eyes against the tears that have begun to flow. Clark notes,

It never really died, then--the soul that can suffer so excruciatingly and so interminably; it withers to the outward eye only.... 

Afterwards, Aunt Georgiana bursts into tears and tells Clark that she does not want to return to the farm. He understands as imagines the desolate farm with only the sounds of turkeys and cows.

In Farewell to Manzanar, what was one of the problems the Wakatsuki family faced with the housing situation, and how did they solve it?

Although life in the camp was cramped and uncomfortable for many reasons, one of the worst issues with the Wakatsuki family's housing situation was the dust that kept on blowing into the barracks from the knotholes and cracks in the walls, covering everything. This issue is the focus of Chapter 3: "A Different Kind of Sand," in which "a fine dust" and "a skin of sand" are discovered all throughout the room in the morning, coating everything in the room, including their clothes and even their faces. Woody jokes that the rooms are barrels of flour, but his mom doesn't see anything funny about the situation; she seems deeply irritated that they are living in such squalid conditions.

They solve the issue by covering up the knotholes in the walls and floor with the nailed-in lids of tin cans, by sweeping up all of the dust that had settled on the floor, and by finding bits of scrap lumber and nailing those over the larger cracks in the walls. Woody directs much of this work, trying to approach it with optimism and jokes, but Mama remains depressed. "Animals live like this," she says. Their vastly different reactions to the problem of the dust and its slow, difficult solution reveal quite a lot about their respective personalities.

What are the correct sequence of events in Act III of Romeo and Juliet: Group 1 a. Romeo cries that flies can touch Juliet's hand but he can...

Sequence of Events: Romeo and Juliet Act III

Group 1: 

1. Romeo declares he is fortune's fool. Scene 1, line 42

2. Romeo cries that flies can touch Juliet's hand but he can not. Scene 3, lines 33-42

3. Romeo tells Juliet that he will gladly die for her if that's what she wants. Scene 5, lines 17-18

4. Romeo looks as though he is at the bottom of a tomb. Scene 5, lines 55-56

Group 2:

1. Juliet waits anxiously for the night to come so she will be able to be with Romeo. Scene 2, lines 1-33

2. Juliet gives the nurse a ring to give to Romeo to show she still loves him, despite what he has done. Scene 3, lines 155-157

3. Juliet leads her mother to believe she hates Romeo as much as her mother hates Romeo. Scene 5, lines 98-99

4. Juliet protests to her father that she can not marry a man that she hasn't even gotten to know yet. Scene 5, lines 123-124

Group 3

1. Benvolio explains the sword fight between Mercutio and Tybalt. Scene 1, lines 160-184

2. The nurse curses Romeo and says shame should come to him. Scene 2, lines 92-98

3. Friar Laurence reprimands Romeo for crying like a woman. Scene 3, lines 119-121

4. Paris comes to Lord Capulet to set a wedding date with Juliet. Scene 5, line 21

Group 4

1. Lady Capulet calls Benvolio a liar. Scene 1, lines 185-186

2. Friar Laurence tells Romeo to go to Mantua. Scene 3, lines 159-160

3. The Nurse warns Juliet that her mother is coming to her room. Scene 5, lines 39-40

4. Lord Capulet sees Juliet's tears and believes that she has been crying over Tybalt's death. Scene 5, lines 131-134 

In To Kill A Mockingbird, what is Tom Robinson accused of? Why can't his wife find a job?

Tom Robinson was accused of coming into the home of teenage Mayella Ewell and raping her.  Tom was black and Mayella was white.  These facts elevated the supposed crime in the minds of many people in Maycomb.

These accusations sent Tom to jail.  He was married to Helen, and they had several children.  While he was in jail and unable to work, his wife needed to find a way to help support the family.  She wanted to work, but she needed someone to keep her children for her.

The Robinson children were not the only predicament that Helen faced when finding a job.  Calpurnia explained to Scout that due to the nature of the supposed crime, many people were not wanting to associate themselves with Helen.  Calpurnia told Scout: "Folks aren't anxious to— to have anything to do with any of [Tom's] family" (To Kill a Mockingbird, Chapter 12).  

Link Deas eventually found a job for Helen.  He proved to be an excellent employer.

Find the general solution to the first order differential equation: ydx + (y-x)dy = 0

Hello!

Let's pick up `y` as the independent variable. Divide the equation by `dy` and obtain

`y*(dx)/(dy) +y-x=0,`  or  `y*x'(y)-x(y)+y=0.`

Now divide it by `y^2:`    `(y*x'(y)-x(y))/(y^2)+1/y=0.`

Observe that `(y*x'(y)-x(y))/(y^2)=((x(y))/y)'`  and obtain  `((x(y))/y)'=-1/y.`

Now both sides are integrable:

`(x(y))/y=-ln|y|+C,`  or  `x(y)=-yln|y|+Cy,` where `C` is an arbitrary constant.

This is the answer in terms of a function of `y.` There is no way to express `y` as a function of `x` using only elementary functions.

Where was the Renaissance and who was involved?

The Renaissance was a cultural movement which began in the late-fourteenth century and lasted until the 1600s. 

This movement began in the city-states of Italy where scholars and artists rediscovered the works of Ancient Greece and Roman and became inspired by its messages and ideas. Historians often consider Florence to be the birthplace of the Renaissance because its had a large number of wealthy merchants and bankers who were able to patronise many writers and artists.

From Italy, the Renaissance spread to the rest of Northern Europe: England, France, Spain Germany, Portugal, Hungary and the Netherlands all experienced a cultural Renaissance. Its influence was even felt in places as far away as Russia where new styles of architecture which were fashionable in Italy were introduced by Prince Ivan III. 

What is the difference between a prokaryotic organism and a eukaryotic organism?

Based on their cell type, organisms can be classified as either prokaryotic or eukaryotic organisms. Prokaryotic organisms are also known as single celled (or unicellular) organisms, since they are made up of single cells. In comparison, eukaryotic organisms are called multi-cellular organisms since they are made up of multiple cells. Examples of prokaryotic organisms include bacteria and archaea. Examples of eukaryotic organisms include plants, animals, etc. Prokaryotic organisms are made of simpler cells in comparison to eukaryotic organisms. A eukaryotic cell has a number of organelles that are missing from prokaryotic cells, such as the nucleus, mitochondria, golgi apparatus, endoplasmic recticulum, lysosome, nuclear membrane, etc. The more complex nature of eukaryotic cells allows them to form complex organisms such as human beings. In comparison, prokaryotic organisms tend to be much simpler in design and function.

Hope this helps. 

Describe the appearance of the little prince.

A description of a character's "appearance" might be about the way he looks (the character's physical attributes, like "short" and "blonde") or about the circumstances in which he enters the story for the first time. I'll talk about both, then: what the little prince looks like, and what it's like when he first pops into the story.

The little prince appears very suddenly to the narrator in Chapter 2, after the narrator has crashed his plane in the desert where not another soul was around. Instead of saying "hello" or introducing himself, the little prince immediately asks that the narrator draw him a sheep. It's an odd appearance, to say the least. Here's what he looks like:

"And I saw a most extraordinary small person, who stood there examining me with great seriousness."

As you can tell from the narration, the little prince is very small, with a serious face.

In fact, if you take a look at the illustrations in the book, you can go ahead and interpret them as a valid part of the storytelling--the illustrations were created by the author himself. So envision the little prince just as he is in the illustrations, with that grand and fairly ridiculous cape, the messy blonde hair, and the cute little face.

The most interesting part about the little prince's appearance, though, is probably his attitude. He's acting as though being in the middle of the desert, right where the pilot has crashed, is a totally normal circumstance:

"And yet my little man seemed neither to be straying uncertainly among the sands, nor to be fainting from fatigue or hunger or thirst or fear. Nothing about him gave any suggestion of a child lost in the middle of the desert, a thousand miles from any human habitation."

Like any normal person would do under these circumstances, the pilot asks the prince where he came from, but the little prince ignores the question and asks again for a drawing of a sheep.

In Chains, who was trying to kill George Washington? Why?

Mr. Lockton, the mayor, and several other conspirators are trying to have George Washington assassinated.  They believe that the Patriot rebellion will collapse with Washington's death. 

In chapter nine, Lockton and three other men planned to bribe members of the Patriot army with money and land for joining the British.  That plan failed miserably.  

"They turn down the offer of hundreds of acres?" Lockton said.

"The land offered by the King is distant from their farms." Goldbuttons buttered a piece of bread. "My fellow reports they simply want peace and the chance to get in a good crop of wheat."  

"Idiots," said Lockton.

The mayor proposes a more drastic plan to win the war for the British.  He is afraid that anti-British sentiment is growing too far and too fast.  He suggests that killing George Washington will stop the Patriots immediately.  

"With Washington gone, the revolution will collapse," predicted the mayor.  "War will be averted and countless lives saved.  Our world will return to the former state of tranquility we enjoyed before all this nonsense."  

Lockton is hesitant to take such a drastic measure, but by the end of the chapter, he has been convinced that killing Washington is necessary.  Lockton goes so far as to agree to begin bankrolling the plan, and he hands the mayor a large stack of paper currency.  

`v = ` Find a unit vector in the direction of the given vector. Verify that the result has a magnitude of 1.

Hence, you need to find the unit vector having the same direction as the vector `v = <3,0>` , hence, you need to use the formula, such that:

`u = v/|v|`

You need to evaluate the magnitude |v|, such that:

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

`|v| = sqrt(3^2 + (0)^2) => |v| = sqrt(9+0) => |v| = sqrt 9 => |v| = 3`

`u = (<3,0>)/3=> u = <3/3, 0/3>`

`u = <1,0>`

You need to check that the magnitude of the unit vector is 1, such that:

`|u| = sqrt(1^2 + 0^2)`

`|u| = sqrt(1+0)`

`|u| = sqrt (1)`

`|u| = 1`

Hence, evaluating the unit vector yields `u = <1,0>.`

How is Dill looked at as an outsider in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird?

Dill's heightened sensitivity is one characteristic that makes him an outsider of Maycomb in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. Since he is from Meridian, not Maycomb, Dill is not influenced by Maycomb's racism and is able to view Maycomb's people critically.

We especially see Dill's sensitivity during Tom Robinson's trial. During Robinson's cross-examination by Mr. Gilmer, Dill must be escorted out of the courthouse by Scout because he is sobbing. When Scout asks why he is crying, Dill explains he couldn't stand the way Mr. Gilmer was treating Robinson, "talking so hateful to him" (Chapter 19). In contrast to Dill's sensitivity to the situation, Scout argues it is Mr. Gilmer's job to treat Robinson that way. She even makes a very racist remark that shows she has not been able to escape Maycomb's racist influence, despite being Atticus's daughter:

Well, Dill, after all he's just a Negro.

This contrast between Scout and Dill shows us Dill, as an outsider, has not been sucked into Maycomb's racist thinking like Scout has.

The day after the trial, Scout, Jem, and Dill emerge from the Finches' house to see Miss Stephanie Crawford gossiping to Miss Maudie Atkinson and Mr. Avery about the trial and where the children had been. The children retreat to the security of Miss Maudie's house but emerge sometime later to see Miss Stephanie and Mr. Avery still gossiping. At the sight of the gossiping, Dill articulates his criticisms of the gossips by talking about his desires to laugh at their ridiculousness:

I think I'll be a clown when I get grown. . . Yes sir, a clown. . . There ain't one thing in this world I can do about folks except laugh, so I'm gonna join the circus and laugh my head off (Chapter 22).

He further explains that he'll be a "new kind of clown," a kind who laughs at people rather than be laughed at by others. Dill's comment that people, especially Maycomb's prejudiced gossips, are worthy of being laughed at shows us that, as an outsider of Maycomb, Dill is not afraid to judge Maycomb's people with a very critical eye.

What do you think motivates Da-duh and the narrator to try to triumph over each other?

Da-duh sees the fierceness in her granddaughter’s eyes when they first meet in the shed at the boat landing. Da-duh is immediately challenged to teach her granddaughter a lesson and takes her “under her wing” to convince her that the way of life in Barbados is superior than the one in New York. It becomes a mission for Da-duh to convince her granddaughter that there is “no place like home” and to not forget her roots.  She takes the narrator into the sugar cane fields, points out the beautiful, tall palm trees, and leads her into the magical places in the gully on her property. The narrator is in awe, and agrees that there is nothing like this in Brooklyn, New York, but she, too, is insistent on teaching Da-duh about the wonders of her world.  Da-duh quickly becomes under the spell of her granddaughter’s descriptions of electricity, tall buildings, and even a place where black girls beat up white girls.  They teach each other in the story, and it is in the end that we see Da-duh’s influence on the narrator who dreams of palm trees and sugar cane by painting murals on the walls of her apartment.   

How do I teach Spanish year 3 and Spanish year 4 in the same period?

When I was still in school, my French 4 class shared a time and room with the French 5 class. My teacher had the desks in the classroom organized into groups of four, and French 4 took up one group, while French 5 took up another. Of course, that particular arrangement works best if you have smaller classes, but you could arrange the desks in multiple different ways. The teacher would go back and forth between the groups, helping and teaching each in turn. Each group had exercises or tasks to complete, and when she was with a group, she answered whatever questions they had regarding the assignment while the other group worked on their own. She usually started with French 4 and had the French 5 kids go over their homework with each other and try to answer questions between themselves. Then once she had helped French 4 get started, she would go over to French 5 and help them. She visited each group two or three times each class.

This particular method does rely on smaller classes, so I am not sure if that will work for you. It also relies on a certain amount of self-motivation and self-sufficient students. The method was effective, and I probably learned even better than a normal class because we were expected to teach ourselves to some degree, which was incredibly helpful.

What was the effect of the Quit India movement on the struggle for Indian freedom?

In August of 1942, Gandhi began the Quit India movement by giving a speech that called for passive resistance to British rule in India. As a result, the All-India Congress Movement started a mass protest to call for the peaceful British withdrawal from the country. In the short term, the Quit India movement had a deleterious effect on the struggle for Indian freedom, as almost all the leaders of the All-India Congress Movement were jailed within hours of Gandhi's speech. Opposition to the speech came not only from the British but also from internal sources. This speech, demanding the end to British rule in India, took place during World War II, and many Indian businesspeople resisted Gandhi's call, as they were profiting from British wartime spending.

However, in the long term, the movement spurred international support, as U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt tried to convince British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to grant some of Gandhi's demands.  In the end, Britain decided to leave India after World War II because the cost of running the country was too great, given Britain's wartime debts. 

To Kill a Mockingbird is told from the first person point of view of Adult Scout and Young Scout. Explain how the two work together in Chapter 1...

The entirety of To Kill A Mockingbird is narrated by the Adult Jean Louise, looking back on the events of a three year span of her childhood, beginning when she was six years old, and the events of a trial in which her lawyer father, Atticus, defended a black sharecropper named Tom Robinson against the charges of rape. In the very beginning of the novel, the voice of Adult Jean Louise sets the scene:

When enough years had gone by to enable us to look back on them, we sometimes discussed the events leading to his [Jem's] accident. I maintain that the Ewells started it all, but Jem, who was four years my senior, said it started long before that. He said it began the summer Dill came to us, when Dill first gave us the idea of making Boo Radley come out. [Chapter 1]

In this passage, the adult narrator is looking back on the inception of the events of the entire novel, which occur during Scout's childhood. The use of the adult voice of Jean Louise narrating events which are in her past gives her a clarity of expression and detail which would not have been possible with a child narrator.

A good example of the two voices working together can be found further along in Chapter 1, during the initial interaction between the children, Scout, Jem, and Dill:

When Dill reduced Dracula to dust, and Jem said the show sounded better than the book, I asked Dill where his father was: "You ain't said anything about him."

"I haven't got one."

"Is he dead?"

"No..."

"Then if he's not dead you've got one, haven't you?"

Dill blushed and Jem told me to hush, a sure sign that Dill had been studied and found acceptable. Thereafter the summer passed in routine contentment. [Chapter 1]

In this passage, we hear the Adult Scout relating a conversation where the Child Scout has made a tactless inquiry about Dill's absentee father. It is strongly implied though never implicitly stated in the story that Dill is illegitimate, a fact which the Child Scout could not have known or understood; the Adult Scout relates the conversation, and shows, with an efficient use of details ('Dill blushed and Jem told me to hush'), that as an adult she understands that there was more to Dill's situation than the Child Scout could have understood. The dialogue is all the Child Scout's voice; the rendering and implicit analysis of the conversation is very adult.

To whom is Romeo talking in his aside in Act II, Scene 2, line 37? Why is the aside effective?

In Act II, Scene 2, Romeo first speaks softly to himself in an aside because he is excited to hear Juliet's voice, and in the second aside, line 37, he is uncomfortable because he feels that he is invading Juliet's privacy by standing beneath her balcony and hearing her private thoughts. But, by not speaking, he hears more.

Romeo says, "Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?" but he decides that it is better not to speak. This aside is effective because by keeping quiet, Romeo learns that Juliet shares his loving interest and wants to be with him as he hears her say,

....Romeo, doff thy name,
And for thy name, which is not part of thee,
Take all myself. (2.2.47-49)

Learning of Juliet's love, Romeo then becomes emboldened to declare his own desire and love for Juliet, and by so doing, he and Juliet communicate their feelings early on. Otherwise, they would not know so soon how the other feels, and might have difficulty in contacting each other since their families are enemies. Certainly, this Scene 2 as it is written enables the drama to advance more quickly than it would if Romeo were to not speak up right away. 

What are three of Walter Mitty’s secret lives?

Only three huh?  Walter Mitty imagines himself in more than three lives, but I'll pick three.  

One of the imaginary lives that Walter imagines himself in is as killer being interrogated in a court room.  The idea pops into his head after he passes a newsboy shouting out info about a current court trial.  

Another imaginary life that Walter imagines himself in is as a brave Navy pilot.  During the sequence he is piloting a "hydroplane" through a fierce storm.  

A third creation of Walter's is that he imagines himself as one of the world's preeminent surgeons, and he has been called in to save the life of some VIP.  

What all of his imaginary lives have in common is that they are nothing like his normal life, and the people that he becomes are nothing like Walter.  They are brave, strong, popular, and well liked people.  In reality, Walter is a bit of a wallflower.  He's meek and mild and people take advantage of him often.  

Who started the Cold War?

At the end of World War II, the Allies had reached an agreement about what the world would like in post-war Europe. The Soviet Union chose not to follow many of these agreements leading to the start of the Cold War.

One agreement that was made was about how the post-war government in Poland would become composed. It was agreed there would be free elections, and the new government would have some members of the pre-war government in it. However, the new government had very members of the pre-war government in it, and it appeared there were no free elections occurring.

Another agreement made was reflected in the Declaration of Liberated Europe. This agreement said countries would be free to choose the kind of government they would like to have. However, the King of Romania said he was pressured by the Soviet Union into having a communist government.

The Soviet Union tried to spread communism throughout Europe and Asia. We developed a policy designed to stop the spread of communism known as containment. Thus, we helped European countries with the creation of the European Recovery Program. This program offered aid to countries resisting the spread of communism. We helped West Berlin when the Soviet Union cut off the land routes to West Berlin in an attempt to turn West Berlin into a communist area. We developed the Berlin Airlift to fly supplies over the blockade. We got the United Nations to help South Korea when the Soviet-supported North Korea invaded South Korea to try to unite Korea into a communist country.

We responded to the breaking of agreements and the aggressive actions of the Soviet Union after World War II ended. A Cold War is a period of confrontation and competition between countries. The actions of the Soviet Union led to the beginning of the Cold War. This lasted until about 1990.

The setting of Andre Dubus's "Killings" is an important literary element that is often overlooked. In what way does setting play a significant role...

"Killings" by Andre Dubus is a work that deals with the emotional struggle of Matt Fowler after his son is murdered by a man named Richard Strout. The short story often jumps through time and place, sometimes landing in a car in city traffic along the Charles River and other times in a bar or at a funeral. The constant, however, is Boston. The city of Boston is a recurring place in "Killings," as it is where each of these families live their day-to-day lives. Boston is contrasted in the story with the woods, where Fowler eventually murders Strout in retribution. A possible thesis regarding these settings could be: Dubus creates two parallel settings, Boston and the woods, which represent the compartmentalized feelings of Matt Fowler and his way of grieving. Boston represents the external and the commonplace, the everyday that Fowler has worked his entire life to enjoy. The woods, however, are more primal. 

Dubus sets up Boston early on in "Killings":

It was a cool summer night; he thought vaguely of the Red Sox, did not even know if they were at home tonight; since it happened he had not been able to think about any of the small pleasures he believed he had earned, as he had earned also what was shattered now forever: the quietly harried and quietly pleasurable days of fatherhood.

Boston is the place where Fowler composed his life. There are small pleasures that he used to enjoy in Boston, such as the Red Sox, or the gentle pleasures of having a stable family. When his son was murdered, Fowler lost the ability to enjoy these pleasures, but Boston remained. The city continues to stand after the death of his son, as his own body continues to stand, but the contents are not the same. Fowler suffers greatly, but he cannot express it externally. He compartmentalizes his feelings, but they are always present, similarly to the woods outside of Boston. These same woods are where Fowler will kill Richard Strout: 

Beyond the marsh they drove through woods, Matt thinking now of the hole he and Willis had dug last Sunday afternoon after telling their wives they were going to Fenway Park. They listened to the game on a transistor radio, but heard none of it as they dug into the soft earth on the knoll they had chosen because elms and maples sheltered it. Already some leaves had fallen.

Matt lives two lives. His outward life, the one in Boston, but then his internal life, which can be more closely compared to the wild woods. For instance, when digging a grave in these woods, the men cannot hear the pleasantries of their life in Boston. Here, their pain is more audible than the transistor radio or thoughts of Fenway Park, which normally distract them from their grief. 

After the brutal paragraph describing the death of Richard Strout ("...squirming on his belly, kicking one leg behind him, pushing himself forward, towards the woods.") Dubus immediately takes the reader back to Boston. Life continues in Boston, despite the murder that took place in the woods. Later that morning, in bed with his wife, Matt thinks about Strout's daughter, also lying in her bed. He weeps for her, but only in his heart, and not out loud. This is one of the great tragedies of this story, the fact that the murder of Richard Strout does not unite Matt's internal and external worlds. He still can only feel his pain internally, and cannot find a way to properly express it in Boston. Like the woods that always surround Boston, Matt Fowler's pain is an ever-present wilderness, always reminding him of his loss. 

What questions are asked by postmodernists?

This is a huge question and an answer here can only begin to scratch the surface. But let's give it a shot. First, postmoderns question the ability of language to convey anything more than a partial, incomplete truth. While in the 18th century, during the Enlightenment, thinkers largely believed that writing in the most accurate possible language would provide a clear windowpane into truth, postmoderns question that assumption. They tend to stake their claims on Nietzsche's contention that language is a "prison house." What Nietzsche meant was that we are born into a language that carries with it limitations and stereotypes, and as we learn the language, we internalize its limits. One example of this would be Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin. She wrote the book with the fullest sympathy for black slaves and made a passionate argument for freeing them, but at the same time was caught in a "prison house of language" such that she could not get beyond the racist stereotypes of her culture. So postmoderns ask, what are the limits of language? What is being left unsaid? What are we assuming to be true that might be false (such as Stowe's belief that blacks were "childlike")?

Second, in the same vein, postmoderns would argue that we can't "know" without acknowledging or being conscious of our "social location." In other words, they argue that there is no place--no mystical mountaintop-- where we can position ourselves to see all truth. While there might be an ultimate truth, no human can see it, because we are all blinded in one way or another: a woman cannot see the world the way a man does, a person of privilege can not see the world as an oppressed person does and a white person can't see the world as a black person does, at least not entirely. Whole cultures have blind spots too. So postmoderns reject the idea of a transcendent knowing. A first question they might ask would be, "what is the social location of the person writing this book or essay?" so that they can understand where the writer is coming from. (A way to understand this would be to go to Youtube and watch a version of the "Blind Men and the Elephant.")

Since postmoderns tend to want to contextualize knowledge in history, it might be useful to quickly rehearse what has happened in recent history. While postmodernism arose in the 1960s with the ascent of thinkers such as Jacques Derrida and Michel Foucault, it came, in part, out of the profound questions raised in Western culture at the end of World War II. (Bronowski's Ascent of Man's episode on the concentration camps offers insights into this.) How did all our knowledge and so-called cultural and intellectual superiority leave us standing in the ruins wrought by genocide, the atom bomb and the kind of widespread destruction unleashed by totalitarian ideologies? What didn't we see? Where did we go wrong? Where might we still be going wrong? What might the people once dismissed as "savages" have to teach us? Postmodernism, much as it has been maligned, arguably brings a profound humility to the intellectual table. 

Why does Rikki-Tikki answer Chuchundra scornfully in "Rikki-tikki-tavi"?

Rikki is scornful of Chuchundra because he is a coward and wasting Rikki’s time.

Riki-tikki-tavi is very brave.  Bravery is a trait of mongooses, apparently.  Even when he faces extreme danger, Rikki is never afraid for long.  His most common emotion is curiosity.

There is plenty of danger in the bungalow and surrounding gardens.  There is a family of cobras, and cobras are the natural enemy of the mongoose.  The cobras, Nag and Nagaina, target the family of humans in order to try to control Rikki.  The snakes are very afraid of Rikki. 

Chuchundra the muskrat is so fearful that he skulks around the edges of the room instead of coming out into it.  Even though he knows something about where Nag is, he is afraid to get involved.  This annoys Rikki, who needs the information and does not understand the muskrat’s fear.

Chuchundra sat down and cried till the tears rolled off his whiskers. ``I am a very poor man,'' he sobbed. "I never had spirit enough to run out into the middle of the room. H'sh! I musn't tell you anything. Can't you hear, Rikki-tikki?''

Rikki threatens to bite Chuchundra, not to be mean, but because he needs the information quickly and Chuchundra is taking too long.  Rikki is not in a sympathetic mood.  As far as he knows, the snake could attack the family while he is standing around trying to get information out of the muskrat.

Chuchundra tells Rikki that he should have talked to his cousin, Chua the rat, because he feels that Chua would have more information and be more forthcoming.  It is too late though.  Chuchundra tells Rikki to listen.

``That's Nag or Nagaina,'' he said to himself; ``and he is crawling into the bath-room sluice. You're right Chuchundra; I should have talked to Chua.''

In the end, Rikki is able to take care of both Nag and Nagaina without anyone getting hurt.  We are told in the beginning of the story that Chuchundra gave Rikki advice, and he did.  Even though Rikki had no patience for the muskrat, he was able to telling Rikki where the snakes were hiding.

Three reasons for the rise of conservatism in the last part of the 20th century.

There were several reasons why the conservative movement became more popular in the 1950s. One of the reasons dealt with the Cold War. In the Cold War, we were fighting the spread of the Communist system. In a communist economy, there is a lot of government control, influence, and regulation. There also was a de-emphasis on religion. The people in the conservative movement were concerned we would have increasing government control in our economy. They wanted to prevent that from happening. They also want to be sure there was no decline in religious values or religious practice. The fear that these ideas might come to our country allowed for the conservative movement to grow.

Another factor leading to the growth of the conservative movement was the growth of the Sun Belt. As people moved to the South and the West, they saw many opportunities available. They didn’t want the government to impose rules and regulations that may restrict these opportunities.

Conservative writers such as William Buckley also influenced people. These writers spread the ideas of the conservative movement. The National Review was a magazine that focused on conservative values and the spread of these values.

Finally, people were moving away from the cities into suburban areas. Suburban areas tend to be more affluent than city areas. People who are more affluent tend to support conservative ideas. People left the cities to escape the riots and poverty in the cities. These people didn’t want to have higher taxes to support a lot of government programs. These suburban areas tended to be more conservative.

Is Magwitch responsible for Compeyson's death in Charles Dicken's novel Great Expectations?

Magwitch is arrested as he is on his way back to New South Wales, with the help of Pip and Herbert Pocket. As he is being rowed out to the transport ship, Magwitch sees a covered figure on the other side of his captor. He uncovers the figure’s face and sees that it is Compeyson. He cries out and grabs Compeyson, tipping over the boat. As Pip and the others in the boat are taken aboard the galley, it is seen that the two convicts are gone. Soon, Magwitch is rescued, but Compeyson disappears. His body is later found. It is unclear whether Magwitch is directly responsible for Compeyson’s death, but he is most likely the reason he was taken underwater. He is thus at least indirectly responsible for Compeyson’s death.

Who was Harper Lee and why is she important?

Harper Lee was born on April 28, 1926, and passed away on February 19, 2016. Lee was the author of two books—To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) and Go Set a Watchman (2015). Both books are centered on the fictional Finch family but contain many autobiographical details from Lee's life. To Kill a Mockingbird almost instantly became a bestseller, and the novel retains that popularity today. To Kill a Mockingbird has been highly influential in American literature and today is widely considered to be an American classic. Lee's book was and is so influential because it captured a very real subject matter few people wanted to discuss: racial injustice in the Jim Crow South. The novel is all the more impressive because its narrator is an honest but naive child. 

To Kill a Mockingbird has become a staple of the American high school curriculum because it is an exemplary example of the literary and social heritage of the United States.

Consider the following three demand curves (where P is price in dollars and Q is quantity in units):(A) Q = 200 – P(B) Q = 100 - 0.5P(C) Q...

The price elasticity of demand is the percentage change in demand for a percentage change in price.

If the demand is Q and price is P, the price elasticity of demand at any price p is Ep = P/Q*(dQ/dP)

The first demand curve is Q = 200 - P.

dQ/dP = -1

At P = 20, Q = 200 - 20 = 180

The price elasticity of demand in this case is (20/180)*-1 = -1/9

The second demand curve is Q = 100 - 0.5P

dQ/dP = -0.5

At P = 20, Q = 90

The price elasticity of demand is (20/90)*-0.5 = -1/9

The third demand curve is Q = 200 - 0.5P

dQ/dP = -0.5

At P = 20, Q = 190

The price elasticity of demand is (20/190)*-0.5 = -1/19

How does the 2007 film adaptation of Persuasion by Adrian Shergold compare and contrast with Jane Austen's novel Persuasion?

Generally, this film adaptation differs from the novel in pace, characterization and mood. The adaptation moved at a much faster pace than the novel, and some felt the pace left little room for the subtlety and nuance present in the novel. The characters were less developed and complex in the film and, in some cases, displayed different qualities than the novel showed us. 

At the end of the film, Anne runs frantically around Bath looking for Wentworth, becoming sweaty and unkempt in her quest. Additionally, the film features a scene in which Anne, wearing only underclothes, sets her uncle's collarbone in the presence of her brother-in-law and his father. These scenes portray a very different version of Anne, as well as the historical period and its social strictures, than Austen shows us. In contrast to the novel, Anne is generally portrayed as a sad, impulsive girl, quite unlike the level-headed, well-bred young woman of Austen's novel. 

Additionally, Wentworth buys Kellynch as a gift for Anne in the film adaptation. This does not occur in the novel, and portrays Wentworth as a more wealthy character than he appears to be in the novel.

What is the importance of clothes for the characters in The Great Gatsby (except for Gatsby himself)?

In F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby, the physical descriptions of characters' clothing is used as a means of characterization, developing symbolic color associations or developing themes with which the characters are associated. 

• Daisy and the White Dress: when the reader first encounters Daisy Buchanan, she is described in a white room, dressed entirely in white, with language that is airy, ethereal, and incorporeal. White is typically associated with goodness and purity, which aligns closely with Gatsby's feelings for Daisy. However, given the context, it could also comment upon Daisy's lack of substance. 


• Tom's polo clothes: When the reader first encounters Tom, he is described as having a "cruel body" that is close to bursting out of his clothing, which is laced and buttoned, but straining to remain so. Tom's presence is enormous, and this description matches his later character development as violent and quick to anger, always nearly bursting during an interaction. 


• Myrtle's apartment outfit: Upon Myrtle's arrival to the apartment where she and Tom stay, she changes into an incredibly garish outfit, which she demurely and coquettishly brushes aside whenever people compliment it. Myrtle's position in a lower socioeconomic class is emphasized by her desire to appear wealthy while simultaneously acting as if nothing is different whatsoever. 

At the end of stave 4, Scrooge promises to honor Christmas all year. How does Scrooge see this as a way to alter his present life?

At the end of all his encounters with the spirits of Christmas, Scrooge realizes that it will take more than just celebrating Christmas in December to change his life  (and his heart). He will take the meaning of Christmas—service to others, generosity, kindness, fairness, love—throughout the entire year. This can be seen in his commitment to Tiny Tim, who does not die because of the care given him by Ebenezer Scrooge. With the proper help, Tiny Tim can overcome his disability. Though this is not often the case, Scrooge sees that his money (and his talent for making money) can be used as a force for good. His opening up his heart to Fred and his family allows him to come out of his office and into the world. His goodness to Bob Cratchit as an employer displays his realization of his obligations to look after the welfare of his employees. His willingness to open up his heart to others around displays the true meaning of Christmas as presented by Dickens.

Which is an example of osmosis? A. oxygen moving into the bloodstream from the lungs B. carbon dioxide moving into the leaf cells of plants C....

To understand which answer choice is correct, one must first compare two related concepts, diffusion and osmosis. Diffusion is defined as movement of particles from an area of a higher concentration to an area of a lower one. This process is typically seen when ions or molecules diffuse across a cell membrane in an attempt to make the concentration on either side of the membrane equal. It is important to note that diffusion occurs without requiring energy. Osmosis is a special form of diffusion used specifically for the case of water moving across a semi-permeable membrane. This is important in cells because a small molecule like water can easily diffuse across a cell's membrane. This process can produce internal or external forces on the cell that can lead to a number of different cellular conditions. This creates environments that are either:

1. Hypertonic, a state in which less water is outside the cell, leading to cell shrinkage due to water leaving.


2. Hypotonic, a state in which more water is outside the cell, causing water to enter the cell and leading to expansion and possibly rupture of the cell, resulting in cell death.  


3. Isotonic, a state in which water on the inside and outside of the cell becomes equal, and no net movement occurs.

Looking specifically at this question, one will notice that answers A, B, and C all deal with the movement of other small molecules besides water, or in the case of C ions, across a semi-permeable membrane. In these cases, all of these examples are examples of diffusion. Only D, the example of water moving into the root cells of plants, is an example of osmosis. Hope this helps!       

What is a summary of the prologue of Romeo and Juliet?

The Prologue of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet provides several spoilers about the tragedy's plot for those in attendance. It also displays Shakespeare's expertise as a sonneteer, as it is written in iambic pentameter and made up of twelve lines with alternating rhymes followed by a couplet in lines 13 and 14. It opens by telling the audience that the story takes place in Verona, where two wealthy families are involved in a bitter feud which has gone on for quite some time and often breaks out in "new mutiny." The offspring, who have been matched by the stars (a nod to the idea of fate as well as to astrology, which was very popular at the time), of these two families fall in love and eventually commit suicide, but before that the two will experience misadventure and "their parents' rage." The play will last about two hours, and the audience should have "patient ears." It didn't really matter to the audience if Shakespeare immediately gave away important plot elements. The audience members would be well-aware of the basic story of Romeo and Juliet from the poem by Arthur Brooke. Moreover, as the Prologue suggests, the audience has come to hear Shakespeare's words; they are not all that concerned with the plot. Shakespeare was experimenting with the English language in a way that was highly attractive to the 16th century London theater-going public and, of course, is still quite popular today. That the Prologue basically told the whole story before it even started didn't matter.

How does this lottery differ from what we usually think of as a lottery?

The impact of the plot is based on the fact that this lottery is one in which the winner is the loser, so to speak. In other lotteries the winner gets a prize of one kind or another. In this lottery in Shirley Jackson's famous story, the first prize, and only prize, is getting stoned to death. In other lotteries everybody wants to draw the one special ticket. In Shirley Jackson's lottery everybody dreads drawing that ticket, although many of them, if not all, are looking forward to the pleasure of stoning someone else to death. Most of the people don't reveal their secret cruelty, but the younger boys betray everybody else's by the eagerness with which they gather stones long before the "winner" is determined. In the typical lottery there are feelings of covetousness, anticipation, and finally disappointment for all but one participant. In this lottery there are feelings of anxiety, dread, morbid curiosity, and hope.

There is a sense of the release of tension among the assembly when Bill Hutchinson draws the black spot for his family, meaning that everybody else is safe for another year. It can be felt in the reactions among the crowd, as if everybody one had been holding their breaths.

For a minute, no one moved, and then all the slips of paper were opened. Suddenly, all the women began to speak at once, saying, "Who is it?," "Who's got it?," "Is it the Dunbars?," "Is it the Watsons?" Then the voices began to say, "It's Hutchinson. It's Bill," "Bill Hutchinson's got it."

There is a surge of relief, satisfaction, and eager anticipation of the finale. Even the two Hutchinson children are joyful, although they must realize that their escape narrows down the prospects of death to their mother or father or tiny brother Davy.

Nancy and Bill. Jr.. opened theirs at the same time. and both beamed and laughed, turning around to the crowd and holding their slips of paper above their heads.

The story would be funny if it were not so pathetic. The winner is the loser. The losers are all winners. There is usually only one winner and many losers in a conventional lottery, but here there is only one loser and around three hundred winners. Perhaps this explains why the people continue to support these annual lotteries for decades. It gives the survivors a sort of esprit de corps.

That is one of the things that makes for irony. Irony is like a bad joke. It would be funny if the consequences were not so painful. Tessie Hutchinson makes a good victim. She is emotional and articulate. We can "hear" the scene as well as visualize it.

What challenges faced African nations as a result of colonialism?

After World War II, the European powers that dominated Africa for the better part of a century started to leave. African nations were now faced with the challenge of political independence. The policies of these imperial nations toward the continent of Africa made it very difficult for these states to have a strong start. To begin with, the boundaries that were drawn in Africa were drawn for the economic benefit of Europeans and did not account for ethnic or tribal rivalries. These boundaries tended not to change after colonialism. As a result, civil wars and sectional conflicts were the norms in Africa. The irrational placement of borders also made it difficult for fledgling democracies to stabilize. As competing ethnic groups struggled for control in these new governments, brutal military dictatorships emerged.

The economies of the new African nations were also greatly hampered by imperialism. Europeans were not interested in educating or training the Africans, they only used them for labor in an effort to make a profit. Most economies were based around one or two cash crops. When Africans were faced with independence, they did not have a viable economy because of the cash crop system. Africans still depended on foreigners for manufactured goods. As a result, large trade deficits became the norm for the newly independent states.

What is the story of Molly's past in Great Expectations?

Molly is a multi-layered character with a colorful past. Pip meets her initially when she is introduced to him as Mr. Jaggers’ housekeeper. In an odd statement, Mr. Jaggers points out the strength of her wrists and hands. Molly is obviously embarrassed by this, which seems to please Mr. Jaggers.

The reason becomes clear later. Years earlier, Molly was accused of flying into a jealous rage and murdering a woman in a barn. Jaggers defended her and she was found not guilty because he argued that she was too small to overpower the victim, a much larger woman. He took care that her exceptionally strong wrists and hands were covered by long sleeves and not clearly visible to the jury. After the trial, Molly is ‘cured’ of her explosive temper and comes to work for Jaggers right away. He takes a cruel delight in pointing out her strength to others. This also reminds her that she could have been executed.

In a more direct connection to Pip, it turns out that Molly is Estella’s mother and Magwitch’s wife.  Jaggers arranged Estella’s adoption. Her background is no higher than Pip’s, although she does not know it. 

Is there an ultimate victory for the animals in George Orwell's Animal Farm?

In Animal Farm, there was no ultimate victory for the animals, with the exception of the pigs. While the animals realized their dream of overthrowing Mr Jones, life for the majority of the animals on the farm was just as hard and oppressive under Napoleon as it was when humans ran the farm. By the end of the novel, for example, Boxer has been sold to a glue manufacturer, the animals work seven days per week and retirement is nothing more than a dream. In addition, the Seven Commandments, which were designed to promote equality and freedom, have been reduced to the following single commandment, which demonstrates pigs' belief in other animals' inferiority:

ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS.

As for the pigs, they replaced their human master, Mr Jones, and became equally tyrannical and selfish. They live in the farmhouse, drink alcohol, wear clothes, and enjoy better rations and living standards than other animals on the farm.

Just like Mr Jones, Napoleon rules the farm with an iron fist, as we see from his expulsion of Snowball, and his rise to absolute power is, arguably, the only time a character experiences a long-term victory in the novel. 

What is one way Elie Wiesel escaped from becoming a brute in Night?

The biggest way in which Elie retained his humanity was through his treatment of his father throughout their shared time in the concentration camp.  While Elie laments times when he permitted his father to be beaten, or when he got angry with his father for things beyond his father's control, Elie does not betray his father throughout the text.  

This example lies in sharp contrast to other father/son relationships.  For example, late in the book when the men are running to the next camp, Rabbi Eliahou's son purposely loses his father in the crowd, as he realizes that his father cannot keep up.  In other instances, we see even more drastic action.  When food is thrown onto their train car, one father takes and hides some of the bread to give to his son, Meir.  The son, misunderstanding the action, beats his father to death to take the bread.  He, in turn, is beaten as well.  That Elie does not stoop to either level in the text permits him to retain an important piece of his humanity.

In Wizard of the Crow, how does gender influence religion and religious expression?

In Wizard of the Crow, it is largely men who represent influential spiritual figures. Yet, Ngugi wa Thiong'o does not neglect to highlight masculine and feminine influences in the area of religious expression. As an example, the Ruler represents a religiopolitical symbol of corruption, while both Kamiti and Nyawira represent the symbiotic religious figure of the "Wizard of the Crow."

In the story, Ngugi wa Thiong'o's satirical portrayal of the Ruler serves as an implicit criticism of Kenya's oppressive regimes. The Ruler sees himself as God's all-powerful representative on earth. Even the language that surrounds the Ruler is religious in nature. The Ruler expects his subjects and even his wife to hold him in extreme veneration. According to the text, the Ruler is rumored to visit a special chamber in his house on a daily basis. This chamber is said to be a cross between a museum and a temple. There, he supposedly bathes in the blood of his enemies before commencing his daily inspection of enemy skull exhibits.

When his wife, Rachael, confronts him about his preference for young girls, the Ruler stops time in order to punish her. He commissions a mansion to be built for her imprisonment, an obscene twist on the biblical "In My Father's House Are Many Mansions" concept. There, Rachael will be confined until she repents of her sin of questioning her husband's sexual predilections. Even the record player in Rachael's sinner's mansion is set up to play only one hymn, one which exhorts sinners to repentance:

Our Lord will come back one day
He will take us to his home above
I will then know how much he loves me
Whenever he comes back
And when he comes back
You the wicked will be left behind
Moaning your wicked deeds
Whenever our Lord comes back.

The Ruler tells his wife that he means to be her "beginning" and her "end." Again, the language is couched in biblical overtones. Later, the Ruler proposes building his own Tower of Babel, which he indulgently names "Marching to Heaven" or "Heavenscrape."

Aburiria would now do what the Israelites could not do: raise a building to the very gates of Heaven so that the Ruler could call on God daily to say good morning or good evening or simply how was your day today, God? The Ruler would be the daily recipient of God's advice, resulting in a rapid growth of Aburiria to heights never before dreamed by humans.

On another level, the masculine joins with the feminine in the spiritual figure of the "Wizard of the Crow" in order to battle government corruption. As the masculine incarnation of the Wizard of the Crow, Kamiti is able to see the future, fly above ground, and interpret the socio-political events besieging African countries. When the police hunt him and Nyawira, they hide at a residence and put up a sign that reads "Warning! This property belongs to a wizard whose power brings down hawks and crows from the sky. Touch this house at your peril. Sgd. The Wizard of the Crow."

Thus, it is through the spiritual guise of the Wizard of the Crow that Kamiti and Nyawira combine their energies to fight for true democracy in Aburiria. In a story replete with religious expressions and allusions, Ngugi wa Thiong'o highlights government corruption through the quasi-religious figure of the Ruler. Simultaneously, in Kamiti and Nyawira, the feminine and the masculine are joined in religiopolitical cooperation for the purposes of defeating evil.

What is the normal routine when Jem goes to read to Mrs. Dubose?

Jem destroys Mrs. Dubose's camellias in a fit of rage.  As penance, he must read to her for two hours a day, six days a week.  Each day, Jem and Scout go to Mrs. Dubose's house with a book.  When they first arrived every day, "Mrs. Dubose would hound Jem for a while on her favorite subjects" (To Kill a Mockingbird, Chapter 11).  These topics were also two of Jem's least favorites.  She talked with disgust about how Atticus Finch was defending a black man.  She also talked about the camellias Jem had destroyed.  Eventually she became silent and seemed to drift off into a world in her own mind.  Eventually, an alarm clock would sound and her hired woman would come in and dismiss them.  She mentioned that it was time for Mrs. Dubose to take her medicine.

Time went on and this routine continued.  The alarm clock sounded later and later in the day.  The children never left before the alarm clock went off, so they stayed longer and longer each day.

In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, what are Mercutio and Benvolio's attitudes toward life and women?

Mercutio and Benvolio are Romeo's best friend and cousin, respectively. Their views about women surface when they attempt to comfort Romeo after his breakup with Rosaline. Benvolio listens patiently as Romeo pours his heart out; then, he gives the following advice:

"Be rul'd by me, forget to think of her.

By giving liberty unto thine eyes;

Examine other beauties" (I.i.224 & 226-227).

Benvolio's view on women is if there's one, then there must be others. When he and Romeo find out that there's a Capulet party to go to, he suggests that they go and compare Rosaline to the other beauties at the party.

Mercutio, on the other hand, is more of a philosopher on life. He gets into a debate about dreams with Romeo that can also be applied to life. Romeo is converted to the belief that Fate rules their lives, but Mercutio says the following:

"True, I talk of dreams,

Which are the children of an idle brain,

Begot of nothing but vain fantasy,

Which is as thin of substance as the air

And more inconstant than the wind" (I.iv.102-106).

The above passage is Mercutio's counter-claim to Romeo's belief in dreams and Fate. Romeo is so sure that Fate directs their lives, but Mercutio mocks that belief by saying it is "vain fantasy" and "inconstant" as the wind. Mercutio's way of thinking gives freedom to the individual to pave his own path in life, rather than having to wait to be acted upon by Fate.

Unfortunately, Romeo does not listen to Mercutio, per se; but he does go to the party like Benvolio suggests and discovers another beauty--Juliet. Both Benvolio and Mercutio are less serious about matters of the heart, women and life. Had Romeo been more like them, he may not have married Juliet so quickly and could have taken life a little bit more slowly.  

What is one useful thing that makes Okonkwo's father popular in Things Fall Apart?

I suppose the answer to this question regarding Chinua Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart depends upon your definition of the term useful. In that case, I'll answer it in two ways: 

1. Unoka's musicality: Unoka is described as an incredibly talented musician, which has a symbiotic relationship with his love for leisure and feasts. This skill might be seen as useful in a culture where many traditions rely on music as an important component. 


2. Unoka's effect on Okonkwo: Much of Okonkwo's character has developed directly in opposition to Unoka's own defining personality traits. Because of Unoka's laziness and "shamelessness", Okonkwo becomes an incredibly well-respected and traditional Igbo man. In this way, Unoka's "failings" positively impact Okonkwo's character development if perceived through a traditionalist Igbo perspective.