What do solar energy and fossil fuels have in common?

Solar energy and fossil fuels provide us energy that originated from the same source, our Sun. We obtain Sun's energy in the form of light and heat energy. We convert it to useful form using man-made devices such as, solar cells and solar water heaters. A much more efficient process is employed by plants, known as photosynthesis. In this process, plants consume Sun's light energy to glucose and water molecules. The glucose is further used by plants for growth and survival. Animals, in turn, consume plants as food, for their own growth and survival. When the plants and animals die, temperature and pressure (over a period of time) convert them to fossil fuels. We use these fuels in the form of coal, petroleum, natural gas, etc. to do useful work.

Hence, solar energy and fossil fuels provide us energy obtained from the same source.

Hope this helps.

`bbu = bbi + bbj, bbv = 2bbi - 3bbj` Find (a) `bbu + bbv`, (b) `bbu - bbv`, and (c) `2bbu - 3bbv`.

You need to evaluate the sum of two vectors,`u+v,` hence you need to perform the addition of the same versors, such that:

`u = i + j`

`v = 2i - 3j`

`u + v = (1+2)i + (1-3)j`

`u + v = 3i - 2j`

Hence, evaluating the sum `u + v ` yields `u + v = 3i - 2j`

You need to evaluate the difference of two vectors`,u-v` , hence you need to perform the subtraction of the same versors, such that:

`u = i + j`

`v = 2i - 3j`

`u - v = (1-2)i + (1+3)j`

`u - v = -i + 4j`

Hence, evaluating the difference `u - v` yields `u - v = -i + 4j.`

You need to evaluate the difference of the vectors,`2u-3v` , hence you need to perform first the multiplication of each vector with the indicated scalar and then you need to perform the subtraction of the same versors, such that:

`u = i + j => 2u = 2i + 2j`

`v = 2i - 3j=> 3v = 6i - 9j`

`2u - 3v =2i + 2j - 6i + 9j => 2u - 3v = -4i + 11j`

Hence, evaluating the difference `2u - 3v` yields `2u - 3v = -4i + 11j.`

What important roles does Macduff have in Macbeth?

Macduff plays a number of important roles in Macbeth.  Throughout the play, he acts as one of the primary foils to Macbeth himself. A foil is a character who exhibits qualities that contrast with those of the main character in order to accent the qualities of the main character. In the play, Macduff is a stalwart, loyal, honorable man; this is in direct contrast to the treachery and cowardice of Macbeth.

The first point at which the reader sees Macduff as a foil occurs in Act 2, Scene 3, shortly after Macbeth has murdered King Duncan. Macduff arrives at Macbeth's castle and discovers the body. He laments the loss sincerely, unlike Macbeth, who puts on a show of false sadness and rage. As the play continues, the actions of Macbeth and Macduff are juxtaposed repeatedly. When Macbeth is to be crowned king, Macduff refuses to go to Scone to see the coronation. After Macbeth has had Banquo killed and throws a dinner party for the other Scottish lords, Macduff doesn't attend. Instead, Macduff goes to England to enlist the help of Malcolm, Duncan's son and the rightful heir to the throne, in an effort to overthrow Macbeth. At the aforementioned party, Macbeth notices Macduff's absence, and begins to grow more paranoid about threats to his reign. Shortly after, he consults the Weird Sisters, who conjure an apparition that tells him to "Beware Macduff" (4.1, 81). This causes further paranoia, and Macbeth orders the murder of Macduff and Macduff's entire family. 

When the murderers arrive at Macduff's castle, Macduff is still in England. He is saved, but his entire family is murdered. When news of the horrible tragedy reaches him, Macduff demands vengeance. He returns to Scotland with Malcolm and the army that Malcolm has mustered, and together they storm Macbeth's castle. Macbeth's own men begin to flee or fight against him, and eventually Macbeth finds himself face to face with Macduff. The two fight, and Macduff slays Macbeth, taking his head back to Malcolm at the end of the play.

Macduff has a number of important roles throughout the play. He is one of the first to suspect Macbeth of wrongdoing. His loyalty and love for Scotland are one of the major catalysts for the end of Macbeth's reign, and near the end of the play, Macduff is the only man who is able to locate and slay Macbeth.

How did the War of 1812 affect American industry?

In can be said that the American War of 1812 with Great Britain accelerated the pace of industrialization, particularly in the north. Before the conflict, Americans depended on manufactured goods, especially clothing, from Britain and France. The Embargo Act, passed by Thomas Jefferson as an alternative to war, challenged Americans to become self-sufficient in manufacturing. While the Embargo Act was repealed before the war started, the British blockade pinched imports from reaching America's shores. This forced Americans to produce their own goods if they hoped to survive.

While the Embargo Act and War of 1812 forced Americans to produce their own goods, it did challenge manufacturers of New England in that they lost markets for their goods overseas. This hurdle was offset by the fact that domestic goods did not have a competitor in the American market. Manufacturers did not have to worry about being undercut by British goods during the war. The war also brought a sense of unity in the United States that did not exist prior. This sense of unity encouraged Americans to purchase domestic goods and aided in the creation of the Second Bank of the United States.

Explain the phrase “abstinence from painful experience” as a way of characterizing the lives of Matthew and Susan before their marriage?

At the beginning of “To Room Nineteen” Susan and Matthew are intelligent, cautious people.  They are very loyal, honest, and careful people.  When Lessing mentions “their abstinence from painful experience,” she is highlighting the results of this rational, careful behavior – by conducting themselves moderately at all times, they do not become involved in any experiences that could cause themselves, or others, suffering.  They eschew complicated scenarios and live their lives according to the most logical, intelligent path, which makes them reliable and sought-after for advice from their friends.  The fact that they have both had several partners and are marrying late (compared to all their peers) is a testament to this.  Indeed, when they do finally marry, Lessing states that “because of their foresight and their sense for what was probable, nothing was a surprise to them.”

Both of them are moderately successful, unimposing members of society who value balance and compromise, so much so that they were attracted to these self-same qualities in each other, “linking themselves ' whom no one else had ever thought of linking, probably because of their similarities.”  And when they developed into a romantic couple they believed it was evidence of their “sensible discrimination.”  This “sensible discrimination” could be considered another form of their “abstinence from painful experience” – they do not take risks, and have come together through the identification of this quality in the other person.  They are a safe match, and believe themselves to be as such.

In "The Interlopers," who inadvertently ran into whom in the story?

Ulrich is hoping to find Georg, so when the two encounter each other "man to man" and "face to face" in the forest, it is Georg who has inadvertently run into Ulrich.

Ulrich "jealously guarded" that "narrow strip" of land because it was historically the site of George Znaeym's poaching. On the night of the story, Ulrich and his men are especially on the watch for Georg's poaching because Ulrich sees that the animals of the forest are disturbed. Normally during a night storm, the animals sleep or take safety in sheltering in the protective areas of the forest. Yet on this windy, stormy night, the roebuck and other animals are "running like driven things" because of the disturbance of Georg's poachers, "a human enemy."

Ulrich had banded together his foresters to watch the dark forest, not in quest of four-footed quarry, but to keep a look-out for the prowling thieves whom he suspected of being afoot .... The roebuck, which usually kept in the sheltered hollows during a storm-wind, were running like driven things to-night, and there was movement and unrest among the creatures that were wont to sleep through the dark hours.

Ulrich walks away from his men, who are laying in "ambush" on the "crest" of a hill, and goes downhill into a steep "wild tangle of undergrowth" in secret hopes of encountering Georg, alone, "man to man," where, "with none to witness," he might make good use of his rifle and thus end the blood-feud between himself and Georg. As Ulrich thinks this, he rounds a beech tree and comes face-to-face with Georg, the "man he sought."

If only on this wild night, in this dark, lone spot, [Ulrich] might come across Georg Znaeym, man to man, with none to witness - that was the wish that was uppermost in his thoughts. And as he stepped round the trunk of a huge beech he came face to face with the man he sought.

Since Georg and his men are trying to secretly poach like "prowling thieves" the game of the forest, he is hoping not to encounter Ulrich, which may be the reason Georg takes the steep downhill route instead of going to the crest of the hill: hills are look-out spots for Ulrich's men; steep hide-a-ways are good for stealthy poachers. Therefore it is Georg who inadvertently encounters Ulrich--Ulrich, who is on the look-out to find Georg--in the disturbed forest on this "wild night, in this dark, lone spot." [Neither man shoots when they are face-to-face, but it is Georg who inadvertently encounters Ulrich, while it is Ulrich who consciously seeks Georg.]

Analyze the current scientific observations which are the basis of discovery of ideas of cell theories?

Cell theory has 3 main postulates:

• All living things are composed of cells (one or more).


• Cell is the basic functional unit of life.


• All cells come from pre-existing cells.

Microscope has made the biggest contribution in development of the cell theory. Earlier it was impossible to see the cell, till Robert Hooke made a primitive microscope in 1655 to observe cells on a cork. Later, other scientists used microscopes to see cells in other structures (animals, plants, etc.) and biologists discovered cell organelle. 

In modern times, advances in biotechnology, especially the genetic methods have helped us confirm the ideas of cell theory. We can now confirm that cell is the smallest living unit and is capable of carrying out all the functions. We know now the basis of generation of cells from existing cells, we can also create synthetic cells and carry out changes in cellular structures. 

Hope this helps. 

Congress had no power to regulate interstate or foreign trade. Economic quarrels among the states broke out. There was difficulty in arranging for...

The Articles of Confederation created a federal government that was weak, in comparison to the power of the state governments. The founders did not allocate certain powers to the federal government that are crucial for running a government. An example of a necessary power not allocated to the federal government is the ability to regulate trade. The power to regulate trade includes the ability to tax and apply duties to goods that are being traded, thus providing income for the government. 

Additionally, because states could each formulate their own trade policies with foreign nations, conflicts broke out between states. One state on the coast might refuse to trade with England and close its ports to English ships, for example, and the state next to it would see an economic opportunity and open its ports and trade with England, thus profiting at the expense of the neighboring state. These types of conflicts were common, and very bad for international trade. Foreign countries hesitated to trade with the states, due to the uncertain atmosphere. Simultaneously, states would set high duties or tariffs on goods coming in from other states, which resulted in a near freeze in trade between the states themselves. States would retaliate against other states who placed high tariffs on the importation of their goods by placing high tariffs on the goods from the offending state. These are the economic quarrels referred to in your question. 

As a result of the mess created by the inability to regulate trade and the inability to levy taxes, the Constitutional Convention was called, and the Constitution was written to correct these oversights. 

What is a rumor the townspeople pass around to explain their pastor’s wearing of the black veil?

First, Goodman Gray says that "'Our parson has gone mad!'" and the village physician concurs that "'Something must surely be amiss with Mr. Hooper's intellects [...]."  So, they initially whisper to one another that he has actually lost his mind and, in this way, account for the strangeness of the black veil. 

Soon, however, Mr. Hooper's unwillingness to see his own reflection in a mirror or pool of water leads his parishioners to say that "Mr. Hooper's conscience tortured him for some great crime too horrible to be entirely concealed, or otherwise than so obscurely intimated."  They are correct to associate Mr. Hooper's veil with sinfulness, but they fail to understand (or persuade themselves not to understand) that it concerns more than just his "secret sins," and it refers to their own as well.  Readers never find out if there is one significant sin that Mr. Hooper feels compelled to hide or if it is simply his desire to truthfully express what he understands of the human condition.  His words on his deathbed indicate the latter.

DNA divides by a process called ___?

The division of DNA into two daughter cells is accomplished by the process of mitosis.

For life to continue, cells must be able to divide and pass along the DNA blueprint to each daughter cell.

Before a cell divides, it carries out the process of DNA replication which forms two complete copies of the organism's genome.

DNA is found inside of chromosomes which in turn contain hundreds to thousands of genes. The cell cycle follows the path a cell travels on its journey from interphase to mitotic cell division and cytokinesis. During interphase, there is the Gap 1 stage where the cell produces organelles and proteins, the S phase when DNA replication occurs and the Gap 2 stage where proteins and organelles are produced.

Once a cell passes through all stages of interphase which is where it spends ninety percent of its life cycle,  it will enter the M or mitotic phase. This phase is very brief but at the end, the replicated DNA is divided between two identical daughter cells which will each have the full DNA complement. After mitosis, cytokinesis separates the cytoplasm between the two daughter cells which pinch apart in animal cells or are divided into two cells by the formation of a cell plate in plant cells.

 

Who calls a meeting of the animals in Orwell's Animal Farm?

Animal Farm is an allegory. An allegory is a story that can be read on two different levels and the characters usually represent something else. Since the novel is an allegory of the Russian Revolution, many of the animals (and the farmer) personify real personalities in the revolution. For example, Snowball is an obvious reference to Trotsky, who was exiled from Russia in the early 1920's, Napoleon is the dictator Stalin, Boxer represents the Russian working class and the farmer is Czar Nicholas II. 

Old Major is the farm's "prize Middle White boar." He calls the initial meeting of the animals in the opening chapter. He is probably a reference to Vladimir Lenin, the leader and chief theorist of Bolshevik doctrine in Russia. Old Major could also be the German philosopher Karl Marx. Marx formulated the communist philosophy in his treatise The Communist Manifesto. 

Old Major calls a meeting of all the animals on Manor Farm to announce his theory of what would later be termed "animalism," and encourage them to rebel against Farmer Jones. He argues that the animals live miserable lives and that, even though Farmer Jones produces nothing, he reaps the benefits of the animal's labor. He urges the animals to overthrow the farmer and begin to take advantage of their own labor.

Just as Marx and Lenin did for the Russian Revolution, Old Major sets the tenets of the rebellion. He has several rules or "commandments" which he recites including, "All animals are equal." The pigs eventually quantify these doctrines and post them for the animals to see. Eventually, however, each rule is broken by the pigs and eliminated from the list, which winds up with only one commandment reflecting the pigs' dominance:

ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL 

BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS

What are differences between the Japanese and Americans in this picture?

This image of Commodore Perry’s time in Japan is clearly painted by a Westerner.  We can see this because it depicts the Americans in a way that looks heroic while the Japanese are secondary players who are, for the most part, in the background or in deferential positions.

The Americans are clearly the focus of this painting.  Perry is placed in such a way that the eye is drawn to him first.  He and the men nearest to him are in upright postures but are not at attention.  They are relaxed and seemingly in charge.  They are in uniform, making them look official and important.  The large mass of American military men to the left are braced at attention and are well-armed.  All of this helps make the Americans look important and in control.

The Japanese, by contrast, are barely visible.  The imperial commissioners are in the background.  They are kneeling and indistinct.  The Japanese man on the far right of the painting is bowing deferentially, again making the point that the Americans are the important people in the scene.  The only Japanese who looks like the Americans in any way is the man holding the pole arm with his back to us.  He, like the Americans, is armed and looks erect and confident.

By portraying the Americans and the Japanese differently in this way, the artist is subtly telling us who is important.  He does not do anything to make the Japanese appear bad, but he clearly shows that the Americans are more important and more in control of the scene.

Which of John Locke's ideas had an influence on American government?

Two of John Locke’s ideas influenced American government in important ways.  Both ideas can be seen in the Declaration of Independence.

First, Locke had ideas about where government got its legitimacy.  He said that government could only be legitimate if the people consented to be governed.  This helped influence America to become a strongly democratic country where we believe that the people’s voices must be heard.

Second, Locke had ideas about what government was supposed to do.  He believed that the government was supposed to protect people’s basic human rights.  He listed these rights as the rights to “life, liberty, and property,” (which Thomas Jefferson changed to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” in the Declaration).  To Locke, the only reason to have a government was so that it could protect these rights.  This influenced American government, causing the American people to want limits on their government.  Our Constitution is full of provisions that say what the government cannot do.  It sets our government up in such a way that it is hard for the government to act.  The Constitution is this way because Americans do not want the government to be powerful enough to take away their rights.  They want to limit the government so it will not do much more than protecting their basic rights.

In these ways, John Locke’s ideas influenced the system of government that we have today.

In chapter 4, what does Mr. Wopsle say about "the prodigal"?

In Charles Dickens' novel Great Expectations, Mr. Wopsle, the clerk at the church, comes to the Gargery household for Christmas dinner. Although he is just the clerk some say "he would read the clergyman into fits," meaning he could just as well be giving the sermon each Sunday.

We meet Wopsle in chapter four just after Pip has pilfered food from his sister's pantry to feed the convict he meets in the marshes. Of course, Pip is feeling guilty and is nervous about the theft being discovered. Pip's sister is constantly reminding him of the good will she and Joe the blacksmith have bestowed upon him and how much of a burden he has been.

When talk at the dinner table turns to the day's sermon, Wopsle is quick to point out it wasn't the type of sermon he would have given considering the number of other good topics available. When Uncle Pumblechook suggests "Pork" as a topic, Wopsle begins pontificating about the "Prodigal Son" who worked as a swineherd after squandering the money his father had given him. He uses the theme of the Prodigal and the swine as a warning to Pip to appreciate everything his sister has given him. Wopsle suggests that, because he is young, Pip has been ungrateful:

"Swine," pursued Mr. Wopsle, in his deepest voice, and pointing his fork at my blushes, as if he were mentioning my Christian name,—"swine were the companions of the prodigal. The gluttony of Swine is put before us, as an example to the young." (I thought this pretty well in him who had been praising up the pork for being so plump and juicy.) "What is detestable in a pig is more detestable in a boy."

The example of the Prodigal is ironic because, in Jesus' parable, when the son returns to his father's house he is greeted with a celebration. In a firm statement of Christian love the father has forgiven his son for wasting his money and is only concerned the son has returned safely home. Wopsle seems to have missed this important point, focusing instead on the fact the Prodigal had slept with swine.

`a_1 = 5, d = -3/4` Write the first 5 terms of the arithmetic sequence.

`d=-3/4` is the common difference. This means that each next term is the previous term plus `d.`  Therefore the terms are

`a_1=5 (given),`

`a_2=a_1+d=5-3/4=20/4-3/4=17/4,`

`a_3=a_2+d=17/4-3/4=14/4=7/2,`

`a_4=a_3+d=14/4-3/4=11/4,`

`a_5=a_4+d=11/4-3/4=8/4=2.`

What are the formula of ions formed by the following elements? Hydrogen, Helium, Lithium, Beryllium, Boron, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Fluorine.

The ions (whether cations or anions) formed by an element, depend upon the number of electrons that need to be lost or gained, in order to achieve a fully filled orbital. When electrons are lost, cations are formed. When electrons are gained, elements form anions.

For example, hydrogen has only 1 electron and it loses it to form a cation `H^+` . In comparison, helium has 2 electrons and fully filled electronic orbital and hence does not require any electron gain or lose. Thus, helium is a noble gas and does not form an ion. Similar to hydrogen, lithium loses one electron and becomes `Li^+` . In comparison, beryllium is form `Be^(2+)` . Boron forms `B^(3+)` , nitrogen forms `N^(3-)` , oxygen form `O^(2-)` and fluorine form `F^-` . 

Hope this helps.

What are the similarities and differences between Marxist theory and psychoanalytic theory in literature?

Both Marxist theory and psychoanalytic theory emphasize the examination and critique of underlying structures and their manifestations. With Marxist theory, one is analyzing the social structures which maintain and reproduce (material) culture. In particular, we look at class organization, ideology, and distribution of wealth. An example of a Marxist analysis of literature might be to consider European texts from 18th and 17th century. Around this time, many revolutions occurred. These revolutions challenged the "God-given" societal structure which justified the oppression of great numbers of people, keeping material wealth in the hands of very few. Literature from pre-revolutionary contexts may offer insight into how people thought about the world and its organization.

Psychoanalysis, on the other hand, focuses on the examination of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors as well as the underlying structures and functions which cause them. Psychoanalytic examination of literature draws from Sigmund Freud's theories of psychoanalysis and holds that texts can be read as manifestations of underlying mental processes. For example, consider Shakespeare's relationship with depression (or "melancholy") as evidenced by the characters he wrote.

In "Everyday Use," according to Mama how is Dee different from her and Maggie?

In "Everyday Use," Mama thinks that Dee is different from her and Maggie because Dee has always wanted "nice things."  Mama says that even when she was young, Dee had a style of her own, and she insisted on fine clothing and stylish accessories.  Similarly, Dee dreamed of having a lifestyle different from that of Mama and Maggie:  Dee always hated the house and seemed happy when it burned to the ground.  Mama and Maggie, however, still live on the same land in a house not much different from the one that burned down.  Furthermore, Dee has gone away to college, while Mama and Maggie are uneducated.  Mama and Maggie make do with their lives, and Dee thinks that they need to make something more of themselves.  Mama sees Dee as one who believes she is better than her family members.

What can you tell me about Izvorul Bigar?

Izvorul Bigar is a waterfall in southwestern Romania and one of the country's protected natural spaces. It is located in the southern part of the Anina Mountains, very close to the border with Serbia. The waterfall is considered unusual and especially beautiful for the way the water spreads out over the top of a mossy rock and trickles down--similar to how water rolls off of an umbrella in the rain. This waterfall is also unusual because it is located exactly on the 45th parallel, precisely halfway between the North Pole and the Equator! Some people say it is the most beautiful waterfall in Romania or all of the world. If not the most beautiful, it is certainly one of the most interesting. 

Explain how only four years after the end of World War II China and Korea were dragging the US into a war stance. Describe how, although a UN...

The events that were occurring in China and in Korea put the United States into a situation that could have led to war. When China became communist in 1949, it was the first time since the end of World War II that a communist group defeated a group that we were actively supporting. We were supporting the Nationalists in the Chinese Civil War. This led to a series of confrontations with China that could have led to war. For example, Communist China wanted to take over Taiwan, which is where the noncommunist government went after losing in 1949, and wanted to make it communist. We threatened Communist China with nuclear attack if they carried out their plans to invade Taiwan.

Regarding Korea, the United Nations led the forces against the North Korean invasion of South Korea. However, the United States took the lead with the forces of the United Nations. General Douglas MacArthur was in charge. After the North Koreans were removed from South Korea, General MacArthur pursued North Korea and nearly conquered the country. He also talked openly about invading China. Since the United Nations responded to help South Korea from becoming communist, going in North Korea and threatening to invade China turned this involvement into something far beyond the goal of containing communism and keeping it from spreading to South Korea.

What are the pros and cons of a manned mission to Mars? Would you go on the Mars One mission?

There are both advantages and disadvantages of a manned mission to Mars. On the positive side, such a mission will enable the scientists to study life in extreme conditions. We can also expect to see a number of technological advances from this mission (past missions have resulted in the development of automated health monitors, pacemakers, cordless tools, etc.). A successful manned mission will allow us to explore space further by using Mars as the base. And we may also be able to use the resources of planet Mars for furthering our goals. 

However, such a mission is very costly and challenging, and justifying the cost to simply satisfy humanity's curiosity, when problems such as poverty, climate change, etc. are threatening our existence is tough. It is a one-way mission and has slim chances of success. 

Given a chance, I would love to go on this mission. Despite the risks involved, I believe this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to explore space and help figure out how life can be established on Mars and how this can benefit the entire human race. 

Hope this helps. 

What two mistakes are obvious as chapter 17 begins?

The mistake that I believe that you are asking about is the mistake in thinking that giving Bud a lot of work to do is punishment.  It is not a punishment.  Bud relishes doing the work that they give him.  They also make the mistake in thinking that Bud will slack off in the chores that they gave him.  He does not slack off in his chores.  In fact, Bud goes above and beyond in his cleaning duties.  He mops the floors and wipes the tables and sweeps up.  At no point does he think it is tedious, boring work either.  Bud is able to stay motivated and work hard at his task, because he turns his cleaning into an adventurous game.  He imagines that the mop and bucket are representative of Nemo and his submarine for example.  

Has reproduction ever occurred in different species of animals?

Yes, reproduction can occur between members of different species. However, the offspring produced is sterile--this means that the offspring cannot themselves reproduce. This is, in fact, one of the ways in which we define a species--that organisms can only reproduce, creating fertile offspring, if they are members of the same species.

The classic example used to illustrate this aspect of what defines a species is the example of the horse, Equus caballus and the donkey, Equus africanus asinus. They are different species. However, they can breed together and create a mule. Mules themselves are sterile--the only way to get a mule is to breed a horse and donkey. Despite the fact mules themselves cannot reproduce, humans have consistently produced mules because they are extremely powerful animals. Dogs, on the other hand, no matter how different they look, they are all members of the same species, Canis familiaris. All dogs can create fertile offspring with other dogs. The different types of dogs are instead referred to as breeds.

Why do you think Pluto is no longer a planet?

Pluto, formerly a planet of our solar system, was discovered in 1930. For a long time, we considered the 9 largest objects in our solar system that rotate around the Sun to be planets. However, over time, powerful telescopes helped us understand our solar system better and we have found many more objects in our solar system, apart from these 9 bodies. This caused confusion over what is planet and what is not. International Astronomical Union (IAU) came up with a definition of planet as a round body that orbits Sun and has cleared the neighborhood of its orbit. While Pluto satisfies the first two conditions (round and orbits the Sun), it is yet to clear its neighborhood. The failure to fully satisfy the criteria caused the IAU to vote out Pluto from the list of planets, on 24 August, 2006. 

Pluto constitutes only a very very small portion of the mass of bodies in its orbit. In comparison, Earth has more than a million times the mass of the other bodies in its orbit. 

Hope this helps. 

"Appearance is not always the reality." Justify this statement by taking examples from the poem "Richard Cory."

The poem “Richard Cory” describes a man who seems very fortunate yet commits suicide. Through the glorious description of his character, the townspeople’s dazzled reaction to him, and finally his isolated outcomes, the theme demonstrates to the reader that appearances can be deceiving. Just because a person seems to have everything and is envied by others for their fortunes, does not necessarily imply that the person also feels so lucky and fulfilled by their fortunes. In this manner, “Richard Cory” is useful at demonstrating how a man who appears to have everything, likened to a king, can actually be very lonely and lacking true connections.

“Richard Cory” portrays the character as being royalty, compared to a king and admired by all, yet does not imply that he had any close relationships or joy in his life. In the first stanza of “Richard Cory”, the author describes Cory as being a gentleman from sole to crown, clean favored, and imperially slim. The words “crown” and “imperially” emphasize Cory’s air of royalty as felt by the townspeople. In the second stanza of “Richard Cory”, the author states how Cory was human when he talked, fluttered pulses when he said “good morning”, and glittered when he walked. Since Cory was likened to royalty, he was seen as being immortal and above other men, and therefore, it was a gift to be seen as a common “human” when he talked. Additionally, people were so excited at a mere acknowledgement from Cory that a phrase such as “good morning” was enough to make their day, hence “fluttering pulses”; furthermore, Cory seemed to “glitter when he walked”, meaning that he was not of this Earth, and appeared to others as a golden man. However, given his eventual suicide, the reader understands that Richard Cory is in fact human as well.

In stanza three of “Richard Cory”, Cory is described as being “richer than a king”, yet he is never described as having any joy. He is simply admired by all, appearing as royalty to others, and yet not much is known about him. Cory is described in a way that makes him appear mythical and immortal, perhaps intimidating others to the point where Cory is unable to make any real connections. The people harbored an idea about who he was, because they never actually knew him as a real man; this is why they “thought he was everything”. However, their perceptions clearly did not match how Cory felt about himself.

The fourth and final stanza of “Richard Cory” describes the plight of the townspeople, continuously working and pressing on despite their rough times; “so on we worked...and went without meat…” The poem ends on a very somber note, “and Richard Cory, one calm summer night, went home and put a bullet through his head”. The calm summer night adds juxtaposition to the nature of his death; nature was at its most beautiful, at peace, yet Richard Cory felt alone, dark, and cold enough to end his own life. This juxtaposition between the setting and Richard Cory’s feelings provide all perspective needed to derive the theme, that appearances can be deceiving. 

What was the concept of Women and Economics in 1898?

Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s book Women and Economics was published in 1898. While others were concerned with women’s suffrage, Gilman investigated the role of women in a society that was becoming increasingly industrial. In part, her beliefs were based in social Darwinism. She wrote, “We are the only animal species in which the female depends on the male for food, the only animal species in which the sex-relation is also an economic relation.” In her book she describes how the roles of both men and women grow and progress because of societal change over time.

 Gilman’s concept was based on the need for both a men and women to work outside the home in industrial society. When society was agrarian, women's roles as mothers and homemakers were a necessity. Women produced more children who were needed to make farm life successful. But as society trended toward industrialization, she stressed that woman should be encouraged to find roles in the working world to achieve financial independence.

She questioned women’s subservient position to men both in the home and in the workforce.  Although her ideas sounded radical at the time, her ideas on child care and professionalism in women have come to fruition in contemporary society. Her book planted the seed for societal change. She proposed as women moved into professional roles, others would take on child care and domestic roles. Women would no longer be unpaid wives and homemakers, instead they would achieve financial independence even when they were in stable, married relationships. Her writing urged both sexes to take responsibility for social and economic change.

In the novel Lord of the Flies, why is the "Lord of the Flies" the best leader?

The "Lord of the Flies" could be described as the best leader throughout the novel because the majority of the boys choose to act like savages and subscribe to the belief that they need to make sacrifices to the beast. The "Lord of the Flies" is symbolic of the inherent evil and wickedness present in each individual. It also represents the carnal desire in each human. The boys who chose to join Jack's tribe essentially follow their inherent desires, thus choosing to follow the "Lord of the Flies." They neglect civility and opt to become savages. The "Lord of the Flies" is regarded as a significant figure that requires attention from the boys and encourages violence on the island. Flies surround the rotting pig's head, and the name "Lord of the Flies" is the actual translation of the Hebrew word Beelzebub, also known as the Devil. The savage acts of violence and disregard for humanity on the island result from Satan's "leadership" on the island. Murder and intimidation are prevalent, which is why the "Lord of the Flies" can be described as the most successful leader on the island.

How do Buddy and his friend earn money?

Buddy and his friend are very creative in how they earn money. Keep in mind one is only seven years old and the other is a hunched, timid woman in her sixties, so neither one has a job outside the house.

Here are a few of the ways that Buddy says they scrape together money throughout the year.

• holding rummage sales and selling things


• picking blackberries and selling them by the bucket


• making homemade jams and jellies and selling them


• picking flowers and then selling them for local weddings and funerals

They also enter all sorts of contests in hopes of winning prize money, which they actually did once.

"Once we won seventy-ninth prize, five dollars, in a national football contest. Not that we know a fool thing about football. It's just that we enter any contest we hear about" (Capote).

Finally, they once ran a "Fun and Freak Museum" in their backyard, where they were able to charge adults a nice a piece and kids two cents each.

Overall, these two are pretty crafty when it came to earning a buck!

What are the psychological, social, and religious allegories found in the novel Lord of the Flies?

The Lord of Flies can be viewed as a psychological allegory that portrays mankind's struggle between the superego and id. According to Freud, the superego's function is to control the id's impulses, such as aggression and sex. The id represents mankind's primitive instincts that often conflict with societal norms. Throughout the novel, the castaway boys' psyches shift towards their primitive human instincts that represent Freud's id. The boys paint their faces, which allows them to feel unrestrained in their savagery. The id controls their behavior and enables them to partake in barbaric acts.

The novel can also be viewed as a social allegory between democratic and totalitarian governments. Ralph's tribe symbolizes a democratic society that values each member's opinion. Throughout the novel, the members of Ralph's tribe partake in elections and are given the opportunity to speak during assemblies. Jack's tribe symbolizes a totalitarian form of government that uses violence and intimidation to control its followers.

The Lord of the Flies contains symbolism that presents the novel as a religious allegory. The island symbolizes the Garden of Eden, and the "beastie" parallels the snake in the garden from the Biblical account. The Lord of the Flies symbolizes Satan, and Simon's character portrays the figure of Christ. Their meeting in the secluded spot in the forest parallels Jesus' temptation in the desert.

Examine Macbeth as a leader. How would Machiavelli assess Macbeth's leadership skills? Use The Prince and Macbeth to support your argument.

Examining Macbeth using Machiavelli's The Prince is a great way to draw connections between texts. I believe that, while he would praise Macbeth's ability to instill fear in the hearts of his subjects, Machiavelli would ultimately condemn Macbeth as a leader, saying that he goes too far and causes his subjects to hate him, which in turn causes his downfall.

Machiavelli famously asserted that it's better for a leader to be feared than to be loved, for a leader who is feared can more easily influence the populace to obey him. Macbeth is certainly feared once he murders the rightful king, Duncan, and in this respect Machiavelli would probably approve of Macbeth's leadership. As a feared ruler, Macbeth would be able to get his way and ensure that his will prevailed.

However, Macbeth is not simply feared; he incurs the wrath and hate of Macduff after he murders Macduff's family. This in turn leads Macduff to rise up against Macbeth and kill him in combat. Since Macbeth's cruelty incurs the hate of his subjects, Machiavelli would most likely condemn the Scottish ruler's reign, saying that he went too far in trying to bully his subjects into submission and was justly murdered. After all, Machiavelli stressed the importance of being feared but not hated.

What does the seventh couplet literally mean in the poem "The Secret Heart"?

“The Secret Heart” by Robert Peter Tristam Coffin is a tender, loving poem that speaks of a man’s best memory of his father, as the latter lit a match at night to see if his son was sleeping peacefully.  The poem uses beautiful, intimate imagery to evoke feelings of peace and protection.  The seventh couplet is as follows:

He wore, it seemed to his small son,
A bare heart on his hidden one

To fully understand the image here we must first understand what has happened up to this point in the poem.  The boy lies half-asleep in his bed, partially awakened by his father lighting a match, and is viewing the scene as if in a half-dream, thus paving the way for certain illusions and tricks of the mind.  We can say, therefore, that it does literally seem to the son that his father is wearing “a bare heart on his hidden one.”  And that bare heart is composed of his father’s hands cupped around the match to shield the light.  In the couplet immediately preceding this one, we see that “His two hands were curved apart/In the semblance of a heart.”  The “hidden” heart in the seventh couplet is of course the father’s real, beating heart, and so we can assume that he is holding the match at the level of his chest, for the “bare heart” is “on his hidden one.”

This soft, paternal image – a father holding a glowing heart in his hands, at the level of his own beating heart, to check in on his sleeping son – is warm and gentle, comforting both to the boy sleeping and to the man recalling the memory.  We can see that the boy thinks the world of his father, and feels supported and nurtured by him, whose “hands held up the sun.” 

What are some similarities between the misfit and the grandmother in "A Good Man Is Hard to Find"?

One of the most striking similarities between the Misfit and the grandmother is their hypocrisy. The Misfit is clearly a criminal, yet declares that he calls himself “The Misfit” because he “can’t make what all I done wrong fit what all I gone through in punishment” (21). The Misfit deflects blame from himself and refuses to bear the consequences of his actions.

On the other hand, the grandmother continuously claims to be a “lady” though she is evidently racist, and essentially entirely to blame for the murder of her family. The grandmother manipulated her son into driving by a house the she wanted to see before realizing that it was in another state. Furthermore, she begs for her life, but never asks The Misfit to spare her family. In fact, the grandmother doesn’t even recognize that The Misfit has taken her son’s shirt after he kills him.

Finally, on the issue of faith as is pertinent to Flanner O’Connor’s works, The Misfit outright rejects religion, but also admits to the grandmother that “Nome, I ain’t a good man” (17).  Conversely, the grandmother pleads to him that “You’ve got good blood! I know you wouldn’t shoot a lady” (17). Returning to the theme of hypocrisy, this is another great example that follows the grandmother’s previous agreement with Red Sammy that “A good man is hard to find” (8). According to Revelations 3:16, the Bible says, “So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” That verse, in a religious context, means that God prefers that you either accept or reject him fully. While The Misfit directly rejects religion and faith, the grandmother claims to be a lady and have morals because of her religion, yet she only relies on religion when her life is on the line. The Misfit says, after killing her, “She would of been a good woman if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life” (23). Ultimately, The Misfit’s statement helps to summarize the grandmother’s hypocrisy, but also exposes her lukewarm religion used only in an attempt to save her life rather than live by it throughout her life.

Works Cited

O'Connor, Flannery. "A Good Man Is Hard to Find." A Good Man Is Hard to Find, and Other Stories. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1955. 1-23. Print.

Can you provide some examples of how both the Vicomte and the Marquise are victims of their own making? Thank you

Both of these characters are portrayed as very charming and very manipulative. They are also both very aware of the social implications of their behavior and the gossip and judgment that are pervasive in their social circles. The Vicomte is a seducer of women and refuses to fail in this quest. When he carelessly seduces Cecile, taking her virginity and thereby compromising her virtue, he angers her music teacher Danceny, and also offends her mother (previously his admirer). When he loses face, he becomes erratic and, while drunk, challenges Danceny to a duel, leading to his death. In this way, the behavior he once prided himself on, and that lent him legendary status among many in court, leads to his downfall.

Similarly, the Marquise is also known for her sexual prowess. She manipulates the Vicomte by saying she is still in love with him, but then reveals she has seduced Danceny in retaliation for his seduction of Cecile. Her seduction of Danceny (also a virgin) after Cecile breaks his heart ultimately leaves her dissatisfied and eventually rejected by her social circle. Both characters enjoy popularity and status via their reputations as sexual dynamos; but this behavior ultimately lessens their social standing.

How old is Jimmy in "The Gift of the Magi?"

In the short story “The Gift of the Magi,” by O. Henry, “Jimmy” is 22 years old.  I put the word “Jimmy” in quotes because he is never called by this name in the story.  His real name is James Dillingham Young.  He is most commonly referred to in the story as “Jim.”  We are told that his wife, Della, commonly addressed him by that name.

We are not told Jim’s age until about half way through the story.  We can surmise that he and Della are rather young, though.  He does not make much money and they do not have any children, both making it likely that they are young.  However, we do not have to guess at Jim’s age.  We are specifically told that he is 22.  This happens when he comes home after Della has cut her hair to buy him his present.  It is the first time he is actually present in the story.  At that point, we are told

Poor fellow, he was only twenty-two--and to be burdened with a family!

From this, we can tell that Jim is 22 years old in this story.

Distinguish between a "scholar" and "bookworm" according to Emerson.

Books are, to be sure, an important part of a scholar's training according to Emerson. But a "bookworm," as he puts it, is someone who places too much stock in the writings of the past, someone constrained to stay within the ideas and the literary conventions found within canonical books. This, according to Emerson, is an unfortunate and all-too-common phenomenon among the intellectuals of his day:

Genius is always sufficiently the enemy of genius by over influence. The literature of every nation bear me witness. The English dramatic poets have Shakspearized now for two hundred years.

The point was not that nobody should read the classics, or that Shakespeare was not worthy of scholarly attention. Emerson was arguing that American intellectuals should forge their own way intellectually. The "American Scholar" had to be what Emerson called a "man thinking," which he saw as a creative act rather than one that should be overly emulative of European or past writers and intellectuals. Inspiration should be drawn from nature and within one's self rather than solely from the minds of dead authors. A true scholar would be creative, not simply reproducing work based on old ideas.

How does Harper Lee capture Dill's lost childhood innocence in To Kill a Mockingbird?

In To Kill a Mockingbird, author Harper Lee depicts Dill as an innocent child who loses his innocence in Maycomb.

Dill's childishness is especially characterized in the whopping tales he tells. For example, when he has trouble explaining to Scout that he ran away from his home in Meridian because he felt neglected by his mother and new stepfather, he concocts a story that you can row a boat "across to a foggy island where all these babies were; you could order one--" (Ch. 14). He continues in his story to describe the magical island where "babies slept, waiting to be gathered like morning lilies" (Ch. 14).

Dill's innocence is especially captured when Dill begins uncontrollably crying during Mr. Gilmer's cross-examination of Tom Robinson during the trial. As Mr. Dolphus Raymond points out, Dill is not crying because he's overly sensitive; he's crying because he still has the ability to be sickened by evils that go on around him. The older we get, sadly, the more desensitized we become to the evils around us. Mr. Raymond points out the fact that we become desensitized when he further makes the following speech:

Let [Dill] get a little older and he won't get sick and cry. Maybe things'll strike him as being--not quite right, say, but he won't cry. (Ch. 20)

In other words, Dill will no longer cry because, though he will still be able to recognize evil as evil, he'll be so accustomed to witnessing it that he will have been hardened and no longer cry.

The more time Dill spends in Maycomb, the more the reader observes Dill growing up and losing his childhood innocence. One example of his loss of innocence is seen when he relays to Scout the story of witnessing Helen Robinson being told by Atticus and Calpurnia that her husband was shot to death while trying to escape from jail. Dill witnessed Helen's very shocking response, a response that's even more traumatic to witness if the observer knows all of the injustices that have led to Robinson's death, as Dill knew. According to Scout, Dill relayed that Helen "just fell down in the dirt. Just fell down in the dirt, like a giant with a big foot just came along and stepped on her" (Ch. 25). What's interesting about Dill's account of Helen's reaction is that neither witnessing her reaction nor telling the story makes Dill cry as it would have done during the trial. Hence, as we see, just as Mr. Raymond predicted, Dill has already lost his innocence, has already become hardened by the atrocities around him.

What is the summary of "Do Not Ask My Love" by Faiz Ahmed Faiz?

This poem does two things: it puts our own losses and sorrows in perspective when held against the great evils that exist in the world, and it asks that we do not dwell on what has been tried failed, but rather look to the future and to fixing those existing ills—those things over which we may as yet have some control. The poem is spoken to an old lover, and the first seven lines concern the relationship between this person and the speaker; the lovers lived, at that time, in a world populated only by each other. “Beyond your eyes,” the speaker wondered, “what could the world hold?” At that time, “the world’s grief was far.”

But with the dissolving of their relationship the reality and vastness of the world crept back into the speaker’s life, and his or her own trials suddenly seem trivial in comparison to all else that the world contains. “The world knows sorrows other than those of love, / Pleasures beyond those of romance.” Life is not one person’s relationship, but a vast global empire of emotion, of beauty and terror and everything in between. And after enumerating a handful of the terrible things that are going on in the world today—slavery, war, subjugation—the speaker asks two questions. “My gaze returns to these: what can I do? / Your beauty still haunts me: what can I do?”

With this juxtaposition, the speaker affirms that there are ways he or she can be useful in the fight against evil in the world; there are no ways he or she can be useful in pining for a lost lover. The latter of these things is hopeless; the former is not—it is  instead a good fight, and an honorable one. And so, at the end of the poem, the speaker repeats that the world is greater than the sum of one couple’s lost love; that there is real, damaging suffering occurring all around us, and so the speaker asks of his own past lover, “Do not demand that love which can be no more.” There are greater ills which demand our attention—things that can still be changed.

Which character is becoming Miss Sullivan's ally at the end of Act III, Scene II?

At first, Captain and Mrs. Keller are uncertain about Miss Sullivan's methods in teaching Helen.  At times, Captain Keller wants to send Miss Sullivan back to Boston.  He does not believe that Miss Sullivan can truly help Helen, who is deaf and blind.

In Act III, Captain Keller begins to see Miss Sullivan and Helen making progress.  He sees that his daughter is responding to the teacher's methods.  Captain Keller expresses his gratefulness to Miss Sullivan, saying that she has "taken a wild thing, and given [them] back a child."

Captain Keller agrees to help Miss Sullivan by being consistent with Helen.  He plans to establish boundaries with his daughter.  He will no longer give in to all of Helen's whims.  In the past, Captain Keller and his wife had let Helen do almost anything she wanted.  For example, at mealtime Helen ate off of everyone's plates with her hands.

What are the mascots at Merryweather High School in Speak?

Merryweather High School (the school which is attended by Melinda, the protagonist of Speak) undergoes several changes in mascots over the course of the book. The first mascot featured in the book is that of the Trojans, which the school board feels does not represent the message of abstinence that they want to convey to the impressionable teenage students. The mascot is, thus, changed to the Blue Devils. Melinda wryly comments on this, stating, "Better the Devil you known than the Trojan you don't, I guess."

This doesn't last for long, however, and the school board decides that the new mascot will be the Merryweather Tigers. The Ecology Club believes that this is "degrading an endangered species," and so a vote is taken to determine the next mascot. There are three votes for Bees, seventeen votes for Icebergs, one vote for Hilltoppers, thirty-two votes for Wombats, and one-thousand-five-hundred-and-forty-seven illegible or written in votes. Despite the vote, the Principal decides to make the mascot the Hornets. 

After some students make a cheer at the basketball game about "Horny Hornets," the PTA starts a petition to get rid of this mascot. Due to the immense student pride in this mascot, however, it manages to stick around.

How could you argue that Gertrude is an exemplary woman in Shakespeare's Hamlet?

Gertrude is a complicated character who is often viewed in a negative light. She hurts Hamlet in many ways, including (but not limited to) marrying Claudius, potentially being complicitous in the murder of Hamlet's father, and her quick forgetting of Hamlet's father after his death. These actions cause many audience members and readers of Hamlet to dislike Gertrude. It doesn't help that Gertrude does not speak much during the play, and so she has little text that defends her actions.

Many of these traditional viewings of Gertrude are through the context of Hamlet's perception of his mother. Yet, there are two frameworks that reveal Gertrude as a sympathetic and, arguably, exemplary woman. 

If viewing Gertrude under a patriarchal framework, she is an exemplary woman. Gertrude is faithful to her initial husband, Hamlet's father, but then she quickly moves on to her next husband after Hamlet's father's death. In this way, Gertrude is a faithful wife, and potentially an exemplary woman.

One could also argue, oddly enough, that Gertrude is an exemplary woman if they view her actions through a feminist framework. Gertrude does what she needs in order to survive. During this time period, where women were essentially property to men, Gertrude was surviving (and thriving) in a political climate that could have become increasingly dangerous for her survival. While some of her actions may seem ruthless, this is only coming from Hamlet's perspective. 

Where is the "Bottom"? How was the neighborhood established and how is the name symbolic?

The "Bottom" is part of the town of Medallion, Ohio, situated in the hills above the town "and spread all the way to the river."

The story of how the Bottom came into being is recounted in the opening chapter of the novel, although the veracity of the story is somewhat dubious as it is introduced in the context of a joke.

A farmer promises freedom and land to a slave if the slave agrees to do some difficult work. The slave completes the tasks and the farmer equivocates, playing on a misuse of language to suggest that the only land he can give the slave is "valley land" up in the hills.

When the slave asks for an explanation as to how valley land could be situated up in the hills, the farmer replies with a roundabout and creative lie.

"'High up from us,' said the master, 'but when God looks down, it's the bottom. That's why we call it so. It's the bottom of heaven—the best land there is.'"

This is the tale of the Bottom's origin, and it expresses the full and symbolic meaning of the term. The Bottom is a social status that we can associate with the physical meagerness of the land and its value as farm land. The name of the town, then, is a statement on the marginal status of the people who live there.

With these various meanings to the name (the bottom of heaven, the location in the hills and the social meaning), the name of the town becomes endowed with irony. This irony is reinforced when, late in the novel, the wealthy residents of Medallion take over the Bottom, replacing the poorest residents of the town with the "top" residents in terms of privilege.

Thus the privileged view from the hills enjoyed by the people of the Bottom was not entirely ironic, though it is ultimately taken from them by the same group that swindled them with it in the first place.

How does dramatic irony contribute to the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet?

In William Shakespeare's dramatic tragedy Romeo and Juliet, dramatic irony plays a significant role in the events that lead to the play's tragic conclusion. 

Dramatic Irony is a literary device used by authors to create a situation in which the audience is aware of certain events or effects, but the characters themselves are unaware of it. As a result, characters make certain choices that the audience knows are misinformed, often with adverse effects. 

The most notable moment of dramatic irony in Shakespeare's play is when the false nature of Juliet's "death" is not effectively communicated to Romeo. As a result, Romeo reacts to the news of her death as if it were a real event, thereby leading to their actual deaths at the conclusion of the play. 

Who are the main characters in the novel A Man of the People?

Chinua Achebe's A Man of the People, a novel that takes place in an unnamed African country, follows two main characters and a number of secondary characters. The two main characters in the novel are the antagonist Chief Nanga, a corrupt politician, and Odili, the narrator and protagonist who is in conflict with Chief Nanga.

The main protagonist of A Man of the People is Chief Nanga, a man who becomes Minister of Culture after his country gains independence from white rulers. As Minister of Culture, it is Chief Nanga's duty to protect his countries traditions and culture, being called "a man of the people." However, preferring to use his political stature for self-serving reasons, Chief Nanga uses his wealth to bribe others and uses his political power to intimidate others.

In contrast to Chief Nanga is Odili, a young man whose only political ambitions are to be a teacher. And while he is seduced by Chief Nanga's promises of wealth, he eventually turns against Chief Nanga, realizing that Chief Nanga is corrupt and not at all as just as he pretends to be. Finally, toward the end of the novel, Odili raises his own political party in opposition of Chief Nanga so that he can combat the corruption that is destroying his country's new-found government.

I need to propose a change in my organization related to performance deficiency that has been observed by Human Resources Management. What types of...

Performance Deficiency and How It Is Normally Encountered

Performance deficiency is identified as instances in which employees fail to advanced the objectives and profitability of the organization. Performance deficiency is normally encountered in a single individual who, for example, lacks proficiency in job description required skills, feels obstructed by inadequate communication, fails to meet output measures or quality or is deficient in skills that are predicted by leadership as being needed in six months or a year's time.

In such a situation, Human Resources conducts 360-interviews (managers, supervisors, fellow workers, customers), makes and interprets observations of employee behavior, examines and analyzes past and present performance appraisals in order to design a mode of addressing the individual employee's performance deficiency. Some deficiencies can be addressed by training courses, for example, skills deficiency, but some need other avenues of address, for example, obstacles to performance because of insufficient upward vertical communication (down-up: from employee upward to higher hierarchical levels) (Sims, "Organizational Success Through Effective Human Resources Management"). It is less common for performance deficiency to occur with a broad enough scope to trigger organizational change (as contrasted to individual employee change), but when it does occur with a broadly sweeping scope, what sort of performance deficiency might be encountered?      

What Performance Deficiency Might Lead to Organizational Change?

Two examples of situations that might lead to organizational change aimed at correcting performance deficiency identified at the organizational level by HR are performance deficiencies stemming from the managerial level or from poor design of elements related to production. Deficiency in either of these scenarios might lead to failure to realize the organization's objectives, and deficiency at the managerial level spreads downward, eventually progressing through the entire employee structure. Human Resources can play a role in identifying this kind of performance deficiency, which has a broad scope with an organizational impact, because HR not only gathers individual and departmental performance assessments, HR best practices also analyzes the assessments and identifies trends leading to identification of performance deficiencies with broad organizational scope. The role of HR in observing or detecting performance deficiency in the individual employee or in organizational trends is a significant one, and it begins with observational assessments and continues through to organizational trend analyses (Sims, "Organizational Success Through Effective Human Resources Management").

What Organizational Change Is

Organizational change is change that affects entire organizations or, at minimum, entire departments, and that initiates broad reorganization that restructures organizational operations and organizational culture. A large percentage of organizational changes fail (Rick) when attempted because of the cultural element. In many cases of failure, leadership and management were unable to generate a change in corporate culture that reflects the organizational changes required. In other words, operations may change but organizational culture does not resulting in failure (Hyatt, "How Do You Change Organizational Culture?"). One successful organizational change that is held up as a model of effective and broad organizational restructuring is the merger of Hewlett Packard and Compaq, which was handled in such a way that an entirely new culture was created from both entities such that a new combined entity emerged. What emerged was a organizational culture based on the best of each culture with original elements added and conflicting elements of culture eliminated (AMA, "HR Best Practices During Organizational Change"). Not all organizational change is as sweeping as HP-Compaq, but all organizational change must include change to organizational culture if it is to be successful (Rick, "Organizations don’t change. People do – or they don’t").
 
Example of Corporate Level Change Responding to HR Identified Performance Deficiency

A change we can talk about readily is a change at the management level wherein performance deficiency is identified by HR because C-level leadership and next-level management--both responsible for communicating and overseeing fulfillment of the organizational objectives--have in part or as a whole failed to effectively communicate the organization's objectives so that productivity matches objective. Organizational changes that might be proposed in response to the performance deficiency arising from this break in organizational objective communication is a change in the up-down communication structure and a change in the direct report structure, in other words, in vertical hierarchical communication from leadership-management to employees and in the span of control governing whether direct report span is broad or narrow (many direct reports or few).

Since the trends in organizations are for broad spans of control (HBR)--for the CEO and other C-level executive officers (i.e., Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, etc) downward--and increased horizontal communication between executive leadership and between second and third level management, in our scenario, we might say that the hierarchical communication change implemented in this scenario could be the enrichment of horizontal communication across management and leadership levels. We might also say these executives and managers are being asked to perform double functions by leading projects in separate areas of competence, such as, for example, supply chain development and international acquisitions. This doubling of functions, a trend occurring when organizational changes are implemented (Neilson and Wulf, "How Many Direct Reports?"), gives rise to the opportunity and the need for greater horizontal communication, which is communication across the same level of organization.

We might also say for our scenario that executives and managers would have broader spans of control, meaning they would each have more direct reports (the optimum is thought to be between 5 and 7 direct reports, with the maximum not more than 10). This change to "delayering" and "flattening" the control pyramid (Bandiera, "Span of Control and Span of Attention") would reduce supervisor and foreman positions since more employees would report directly to higher hierarchical levels leaving fewer employees (if any) reporting to supervisors or foremen. One result of this change in direct report vertical communication would be clearer communication of organizational objectives. This enhanced communication would result in greater performance proficiency (which is the result of reversing performance deficiency). HR would also play an instrumental role in implementing organizational changes since HR best practice analyses determine the need for training (e.g., training in effective communication), based upon employee behavior assessment, and would tailor training to the organizational restructuring.

What Conflicts Might Occur Due to Changes in Vertical Communication and Span of Control?

SOME CONFLICTS

1. Fears over employee reduction triggered by loss of supervisor and foreman positions.


2. Disagreement in C-level leadership and in management with the organizational changes.


3. Difficulties faced by leadership who newly take on two functions in "double hatting," e.g. tasked with a finance project and a marketing project (Neilson and Wulf).


4. Difficulty for employees adjusting to directly reporting to management instead of to supervisor or foreman.


5. A feeling of loss of autonomy on the job because of directly reporting to management.


6. Managers' difficulties in adjusting to an increase in direct reports requiring greater mentoring/counseling time and lessened project or record keeping time.

SOLUTIONS

1. Clear, concise, repeated communication to management and employees from C-level leadership of the need for, the structure of, and the importance of the changes (the answer to "why" is as important as the answer to "what").


2. Open debate and discussion at C-level and management levels with time to think and discuss privately amongst themselves; leadership will be replaced if unable to "align" with changes [alignment: different from agreement; requires wholehearted loyalty and commitment to the organizational objective regardless of agreement or disagreement].


3. Clear communication from C-level leadership about what the new and clearly stated objectives are.


4. HR communication to clearly define job description and job related functional skills; HR provision of training for new responsibilities, such as training in skill development.


5. Clear and concise communication to employees from C-level leadership as to the role and function of each job and employee in the new organizational structure, e.g., why your job matters and what you provide and how your job fits into the new organizational structure.

Since this organizational change scenario includes the loss of supervisor and foreman positions, all employees will fear for their jobs. It will be essential that precise, clear, yet comprehensive communication assure them of their new roles and define their new roles in the organization in view of the changes (Hyatt); describe how the organization change will effect them directly and indirectly; and state what the answer is to the most central question in the minds of employees, "What will the changes mean to me?" These questions have to be addressed in terms of each individual employee and in terms of specialized, functional skill groups (Georgia State University, "Functional Competencies"). Similarly, C-level leaders and managers who cannot align--within a reasonable amount of time with a reasonable amount of conversation, discussion and debate--with the organizational change will have to be replaced (Hyatt, "How Do Leaders Create Alignment?"). Any replacements will produce a downward cascading effect instigating the same fears about job security among all levels of employees. These fears will have to be addresses in the same manner, providing answers to the same question: "What will the changes mean to me?"

PREVENT CONFLICT
Preventing conflict caused by organizational change is centered in a clear, concise, distilled massage from the CEO to the various levels of stakeholders so that all understand what will occur and and why it is necessary and how the reorganization will meet the organization's objectives. Not only does the message need to be given, with opportunity for questions, debate and discussion, it needs to be repeated consistently and continually, because a primary reason for failure is the lack of message communication and message directive. The organization goes the way the leadership goes, so all stakeholders, including the lower levels of the organizational hierarchy, have to know and be continually reminded of what the upper level wants and is doing and why (Hyatt, "How to Avoid Public Backlash When Introducing a Major Organizational Change").

RESOLVE CONFLICT
Conflict resolution will remain dominantly in the hands of HR, but conflict resolution in situations of organizational change will begin with management's message to direct reports (who will filter that message in a faithful form to their own direct reports, which spreads the organizational message through all employees). Conflict resolution will focus on discussion and debate with the objective of alignment from all direct reports. On any level of hierarchy, those who cannot give alignment, but continually give contention and argument, will have to be replaced. The goal is to present roles so clearly, to explain why change is needed and how it facilitates meeting organizational objectives so precisely, and to answer the central questions ("How does this affect me?" etc) so well that, even without agreement, all will give alignment, loyalty and commitment to the organizational objectives and reorganization. In addition to the C-level message about the organizational change, HR will identify and provide training where it will help in conflict resolution such as in developing new functional skill sets needed for expanded job descriptions or for career advancement within the reorganization.

What Digital Communication Means Are Appropriate to Implement to Prevent or Resolve Conflict?

1. Highest levels of stakeholder: face-to-face communication where possible; where impossible, digital communication means of voice mail and email is acceptable, but only as a fail-safe for top stakeholders, who are always informed first, before employees and the general public; clarity leading to alignment (not agreement) is the communication goal.


2. Vertical "up-down" communication to descending managerial levels: face-to-face of C-level leadership to direct managerial reports; digital communication is not advisable for initial phases of organizational change messaging but is appropriate for mid- and later phases as email, voicemail, blog updates and video or audio presentations.


3. Employees: face-to-face from owner or CEO where possible; where impossible, digital communication by means of video and blog, especially for FAQ, with emails at mid- and later phases to (1) repeat and reemphasize the concise message of plan and objective and to (2) reinforce or clarify what it means to individual employees or functional groups of employees.


4. General public: press releases available through various digital media such as blog, online news agencies, online business reporting agencies, online FAQ (Hyatt).  

• Resolving conflict has (1) fewer digital options and (2) more specific, more rigid, requirements for chains of communication. Often, initial contacts in conflict resolution--which may involve management or HR or both at some stage of proceedings--most often includes in-person and phone contact. Following up on initial contacts may include voice messages, emails, blogs, or video or audio messaging.

In the poem "Dulce et Decorum Est" by Wilfred Owen, what is the condition of the gassed soldier after he was thrown in a wagon?

The gassed soldier serves as both a refutation of and antidote to the lines quoted in the title of this poem, taken from the writings of Horace, a Roman poet:  “dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.” Meaning, It is sweet and glorious to die for one’s country.  In Owen’s poem we have proof that it is indeed neither sweet nor glorious to suffer as the soldier in the wagon suffers, for one’s country or not.  If the reader could “watch the white eyes writhing in his face,/His hanging face, like the devil’s sick of sin,” he or she would understand the folly of this ancient phrase.  The soldier’s face is slack and numb from the gas, only his eyes belying the intense, insufferable pain he is experiencing – this disconnect between the eyes and the face is a potent and distressing image.  In addition to this,

“at every jolt, the blood/Come[s] gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,/Obscene as cancer….” 

The integrity of the soldier’s lungs has been compromised by the gas, and now he froths at the mouth with blood at each bump in the road.  The soldier is completely incapacitated, at the mercy of the movements of the wagon and the gas in his system; the other soldiers “flung him” bodily into the vehicle, because he was unable to control his own movements.

The soldier was suffering from the horrendous effects of chlorine gas, which the Germans used in WWI as a more powerful alternative to tear gas.  The chlorine was not always deadly, and the Allied forces soon discovered the intricacies of mitigating its effects, but exposure to the gas can cause intense damage to the eyes, nose, throat, and lungs, and in high concentrations it can cause death by asphyxiation.  We cannot be sure as to what fate the soldier in Owen’s poem is heading, but we do know that whatever the outcome, the road is torturous. 

Owen emphasizes the incomprehensible pain of the soldier by having the speaker assert that the reader could only imagine it “in some smothering dream;” the image is too gruesome for waking life, too horridly imaginative for conscious thought.  And if any one of us should think that war is glorious, or that death is glorious, no matter what ideal one might die for, the sobering truth is the opposite.  Is what this gassed soldier going through glorious?  No.  It is horrid.  And this truth must displace the propaganda of clueless ideals.

What problem do Della and Jim have in the story?

Della is the point-of-view character in "The Gift of the Magi." She and Jim have the same problems: each wants to buy the other a nice Christmas present, and neither of them has any money. But it would be a mistake to try to write an essay about this story as if both Della and Jim have problems of equal weight. This is Della's story. Jim is a minor character. He only appears at the end. He exists mainly in Della's thoughts, and we see him from her point of view when he returns home from work. People will always remember "The Gift of the Magi" as a story about a young woman who sold her long, treasured hair in order to buy her husband a Christmas present. It is true that Jim sold his watch, but that happened offstage, so to speak. We do not see him agonizing over buying his wife a gift or agonizing over parting with the elegant gold watch which had been his father's and his grandfather's before that. In writing a paper about this story it would be much easier to focus on Della's thoughts, feelings, and actions than to try to deal with the problems of both characters simultaneously. We know very little about Jim, but we know a lot about Della because O. Henry chose to make it Della's story. We see that remarkable long, youthful, glowing hair done up, let down, done up again, and finally shorn off by the unsympathetic Madame Sofronie. Everything is about Della's hair. Even the combs Jim brings her were intended to hold and highlight that beautiful long hair.

In "Through the Tunnel," why is the beach "not his beach"? How does this detail hint at the symbolic meaning of the two beaches?

Jerry says the "safe beach" is "not his beach" because it "now seemed a place for small children [...]." He has been practicing and practicing in order to swim through the tunnel in the rock, something that the "big boys—men to Jerry" could do. Fitting in with them has been so important to him, especially at this age where even his mother must recognize that his longing to have more freedom from her is normal and right (even if it's scary for her). That next day, "He did not ask for permission" to go to the "wild bay"; children ask permission and Jerry no longer wants to think of himself as a child. The safe beach is "a place where his mother might lie safe in the sun." He doesn't want to be with her all the time; he craves the danger and independence he has when he goes to his other beach. He wants to feel himself to be as adult as he perceives those older boys to be.

Author Shirley Jackson does not include the year in which "The Lottery" takes place, or the name of the village. Why are these details omitted?

Shirley Jackson leaves out the name of the town and the year "The Lottery" took place for a couple of reasons. First, the town could be any town, and the year could be any year. The act of leaving out the name and year gives the reader the idea that the events of "The Lottery" could happen anywhere. The narrator is very detached from the story, telling it as though what is happening is completely normal, and in the beginning readers are led to believe everything is completely normal. It's as if a town picnic is about to begin--a time for visiting neighbors and having some fun. It makes it seem realistic. As a matter of fact, I remember reading somewhere that when this story was first published in the newspaper, the newspaper received many inquiries about where this town was and who was getting away with stoning people!

Jackson is also commenting on society and its "traditions," and the fact that many towns, states, and countries have traditions that may have lost their meaning. The idea that people do something because they've always done it and not because it serves any real meaningful purpose anymore is highlighted. "The Lottery" occurs during mid-summer, and historically, the time surrounding the summer solstice was often when ritual sacrifice was performed to assure good crops in the coming year. This town has continued this sacrifice even though other towns are starting to give it up. The townspeople accept it as a necessary--and even perhaps-- a good part of their lives.

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, what are some quotes that would explain why Dill and/or Tom Robinson are "mockingbirds"?

Mockingbirds are symbolic of innocent individuals throughout the novel. Similar to mockingbirds, innocent individuals do nothing to harm others; they bring joy to the people they encounter. At the beginning of the novel, Dill is an innocent child who has yet to be exposed to racial discrimination and injustice. He is Jem and Scout's good friend and is always entertaining them in the summertime. Dill's innocence and positive attitude make him a symbolic mockingbird. During the trial of Tom Robinson, Dill gets upset and begins to cry. After Scout walks him out of the courtroom, he tells her that Mr. Gilmer made him sick. He says,

"Well, Mr. Finch didn't act that way to Mayella and old man Ewell when he cross-examined them. The way that man called him 'boy' all the time an' sneered at him, an' looked around at the jury every time he answered---" (Lee 266)

Dill says that Mr. Gilmer had no business treating Tom Robinson with contempt, and he could care less if Tom was black. For Dill, witnessing racial discrimination is traumatic and this is the moment he loses his childhood innocence. His reaction portrays why his character is a symbolic mockingbird.

Similar to Dill, Tom Robinson is considered a mockingbird because he does nothing to harm anybody and brings joy to those around him. While Tom is on the witness stand, Atticus asks him if he was paid for his services to Mayella. Tom says,

"No suh, not after she offered me a nickel the first time. I was glad to do it, Mr. Ewell didn't seem to help her none, and neither did the chillun, and I knowed she didn't have no nickels to spare." (Lee 256)

Tom's helpful and considerate response portrays him as a symbolic mockingbird. Tom never hurt Mayella and was only trying to help her. Tragically, Tom falls victim to racial injustice and is wrongfully accused of raping Mayella Ewell.

Why was colonizing important to other countries?

Colonization was important to countries for various reasons. One reason was that there were economic benefits to colonization. By owning colonies, a country would have access to resources that it could use. When the Industrial Revolution was taking place, countries could get resources for their factories cheaper from their colonies than they could if they bought them from other countries. Also, the colonies served as a guaranteed marketplace for the products made in the industries.

There were political advantages to having colonies. When countries were able to establish colonies around the world, they were able to increase their political power. The more colonies a country had, the stronger that country was in political terms. Countries with many colonies were viewed as a world power. World powers also needed to protect their trade. The colonies made it easier for this to happen since ships could stop at the colonial ports if needed.

Having colonies provided military advantages that helped the country become or remain a world power. The colonies could serve a military base. If a war occurred, the colonies would be a place from where the military could operate. The ships could also refuel and resupply in the colonial ports.

Countries realized there were many benefits to having colonies. This led to a competition between countries to gain colonies.

What can I learn in 10 minutes that will help me the most in high school?

I will recommend you learn one or both of the two things I wish I had learned for success in high school, and each takes about 10 minutes to learn. The first is that in mathematics the order of operations is essential. It takes about ten minutes to read, memorize and make sticky-notes for mirror, door and refrigerator to remind yourself of the vital importance of keeping mathematical order of operations clearly and firmly in mind. The order of operations applies to algebra and is remembered as PEMDAS, an acronym for Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally. Eduplace.com says this about what the order is:

1. Do operations in parentheses.
2. Multiply and divide from left to right.
3. Add and subtract from left to right.

Elizabeth Stapel, writing for purplemath.com, says this (with dubious line-end punctuation) about the order of operations:

The "operations" are addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, exponentiation, and grouping; the "order" of these operations states which operations take precedence (are taken care of) before which other operations. ... "Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication and Division, and Addition and Subtraction".

The second thing concerns writing and is that the rules for commas are not there just to vex, confuse and torment me. They are there to allow me to sort out and communicate my complex thoughts effectively with you. A comma in the right place allows me to realize relationships between ideas, events, concepts or thoughts and feelings and to communicate these ideas (etc) and relationships to you. And why would either of us care that we communicate the relationships between ideas and things to each other? We care because that's what humans always want to do, communicate their complex realizations or imaginings about ideas and things to each other. And, conveniently, your teachers will be asking you to communicate a lot of these complex thoughts, realizations, revelations and imaginings to them.

The British have the best way of discussing commas. Americans rely on (what is supposed to make the use of commas easier but really opens Pandora's Box of comma mayhem) the archaic idea that you can "use commas wherever you'd pause or breathe in speaking." This advice leads to tortuous paths of misery. The British teach there are four types of commas: the listing comma, the joining comma, the gapping comma and the bracketing commas (plural because they always come in pairs, opening and closing bracketing commas).

Another strategy for teaching the same comma ideas is to call them the listing comma, the setting off commas, and the sentence structure commas. This strategy requires a bit more of a sophisticated vocabulary and grammar knowledge but can--when the time is right--open exciting new avenues of thought expression adventure.

It takes about 10 minutes to read and understand the explanation of the four commas--listing, joining, gapping and bracketing--memorize them and make those memory assisting sticky-notes to paste on mirror, door and refrigerator. The "four types of commas" is courtesy of the University of Sussex, Sussex, UK, and the more sophisticated approach is courtesy of Jordan Penn, J.D., educated at the University of California, Hastings College of Law. 

What is Iago's first plan? How does he fail?

Iago first plans to destroy Othello's marriage by turning Brabantio against him. Desdemona and Othello have married in secret. Iago plans to tell her family of the relationship in the hopes that her father will become angry and perhaps even demand they separate. At first the plan works. Brabantio grows angry and sends men to capture Othello. He believes his daughter has come to love Othello because of witchcraft. The general is able to avoid a confrontation though. He explains to Brabantio and the authorities that Desdemona actually came to love him because of his heroic stories. In this way, Iago's first plan to ruin Othello fails. The authorities believe Othello and the marriage continues. For the time it appears there will be a happy ending.