What is the Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, and Falling Action of "One Thousand Dollars"?

• Exposition

A "decidedly amused" Bobby Gillian leaves the offices of Tolman & Sharp where he is given an envelope containing $1000.00, a sum willed to him by his uncle. He has been told that he must render an account for how he spends this sum as soon as he disposes of it. Gillian finds this "a confoundedly awkward amount"; so, he sets out to ask advice on how to spend this money at the men's club.

• Rising Action

After arriving at the men's club, Gillian talks to the cynical Old Bryson, who has himself sequestered in a corner with a book in the hope of being left alone. His cryptic reply to Gillian's request for suggestions on how to spend this inherited $1000.00 is for the young man to give his chorus girl friend a diamond necklace. Or, he adds sardonically, Gillian could move to Idaho: "I advise a sheep ranch, as I have a particular dislike for sheep."

Realizing that his conversation with Bryson is a waste of time, Gillian phones for a cab and goes to the Columbine Theatre where he offers Miss Lotta Lauriere "a little thing in the pendant line," but she rejects his offer because her friend received a more expensive necklace from Tiffany's the other night. So, Gillian departs, asking the cab driver what he would do with a thousand dollars. But, he is dissatisfied with the driver's answer, so Gillian gets out of the cab and talks with a blind man. This man's response is nothing that Gillian accepts, either. Next, Gillian has the cab take him to the law office where he asks lawyer Tolman if Miss Hayden, the ward of his late uncle, was left anything other $10 and a ring as have the others. "Nothing," replies Mr. Tolman.

Gillian returns to his uncle's house where he finds Miss Hayden. He tells her that he has just come from Tolman & Sharp's where he has been given another thousand for Miss Hayden because of an "amendment or postscript or something." Gillian also tells her, "...you know I love you." But, Miss Hayden gathers the money and replies, "I am sorry."

Disappointed, Gillian asks if he may write a note before leaving. On the paper he writes his account of the money he has received,

Paid by the black sheep, Robert Gillian, $1000 in account of the eternal happiness, owed by Heaven to the best and dearest woman on earth.

Then, Gillian returns to the law offices.

Gillian returns to the law offices where the two old lawyers pull from a safe a codicil to his uncle's will which bequeaths to Gillian $50,000.00 if he has spent the first sum unselfishly; if he has not, the sum is to go to Miss Hayden.

• Falling Action

When Gillian hears this, he quickly snatches from Mr. Tolman's hand the envelope with his record of how he has spent the $1000.00, and he tears it into pieces. He tells the lawyers,

"I lost the thousand dollars on the races. Good-day to you, gentlemen."   

• Resolution

When they hear Gillian, lawyers Tolman and Sharp mournfully shake their heads as they feel that Gillian has continued what his uncle termed "reprehensible dissipation."

Whistling as he departs, Gillian feels good about his act of love for Miss Hayden.

Describe Zaroff's conditions for the hunt in The Most Dangerous Game.

General Zaroff's conditions for the hunt include giving the man he is hunting good food, a hunting knife, and a three hour head start. Having these conditions tells the reader that General Zaroff is not interested as much in the killing of men, but in the hunting of men.  He is excited by the chase so he gives the men an even playing field.  If his sole intent was to kill, without regard for the...

General Zaroff's conditions for the hunt include giving the man he is hunting good food, a hunting knife, and a three hour head start. Having these conditions tells the reader that General Zaroff is not interested as much in the killing of men, but in the hunting of men.  He is excited by the chase so he gives the men an even playing field.  If his sole intent was to kill, without regard for the experience of hunting, he would not give them men means for survival when he sends them on their way.  If the men survive three days, General Zaroff says that he will return them to the mainland, but to date that had not happened.

When Zaroff hunts Rainsford, the conditions change slightly in order to ensure an exhilarating  hunt.  When hunting Rainsford, Zaroff suggests that he wear moccasins to camouflage his footprints and make it harder to be tracked. He even tells Rainsford to avoid certain areas of the island that will make his capture inevitable.  

The purpose of these conditions in the story, and the slight change in conditions when it was time to hunt Rainsford, suggests that Zaroff is more interested in the hunt than in the killing of his quarry.

Which one of the following has nothing to do with Eisenhower's brinkmanship? (a) Strong Air Force (b) Massive retaliation (c) Flexible...

Brinksmanship is a strategy in which you force compliance by threatening an overwhelming, disproportionate response. It is very high-risk, but it can also be effective. Eisenhower's brinkmanship policy in the Cold War was to threaten immediate retaliation with nuclear weapons if the Soviet Union attempted to invade any US allies. On the one hand, this made the Soviet Union wary about invading any US allies, which is a good thing; on the other hand, if...

Brinksmanship is a strategy in which you force compliance by threatening an overwhelming, disproportionate response. It is very high-risk, but it can also be effective.

Eisenhower's brinkmanship policy in the Cold War was to threaten immediate retaliation with nuclear weapons if the Soviet Union attempted to invade any US allies. On the one hand, this made the Soviet Union wary about invading any US allies, which is a good thing; on the other hand, if they ever tried to call our bluff, we would either have to back down and lose credibility or launch a nuclear war.

Let's go through the options to see which has the least to do with that policy.

A strong Air Force isn't necessarily a brinksmanship policy, but in Eisenhower's case it was, as it was during this period that B-52s and ICBMs were developed in order to maximize the ability to deploy nuclear weapons. So that has at least a little bit to do with Eisenhower's brinkmanship policy.

Massive retaliation is the essence of brinksmanship policy; the whole point is that in response to any violation you retaliate with overwhelming force. Far from being unrelated, it's basically the exact same thing.

But "flexible response", that's quite different. In fact the term "flexible response" was first used by Kennedy---after Eisenhower left office---to describe a policy where we would maintain nuclear weapons as an option, but also build a large conventional army capable of responding to smaller threats in a more proportionate way. The idea was to prevent the Soviet Union specifically from using nuclear weapons---if they used nukes, so would we; but as long as they limited themselves to conventional arms we would as well. (Actually there was one exception; the flexible response doctrine allowed that if a US ally were about to be overwhelmed, even by conventional forces, they could deploy small-scale "tactical" nuclear weapons.) Kennedy was trying to de-escalate the Cold War away from nuclear annihilation. He succeeded, insofar as we are still alive; but there were definitely a number of close calls (such as the Cuban Missile Crisis).

The best answer is therefore (c), since that refers to a policy implemented by Kennedy, not Eisenhower, and furthermore a policy that was intended to reduce brinksmanship.

Who is Perpich and why does Brian think about him in Hatchet?

Perpich was Brian’s English teacher, and Brian values his advice.

Brian is involved in a plane crash in the Canadian wilderness.  The pilot has a heart attack and dies, and Brian goes down with the plane but survives.  In the beginning, Brian is stunned.  He has nothing with him but a hatchet, and he has to figure out how to survive on his own.

In this time of difficulty, Brian grasps at straws for ways...

Perpich was Brian’s English teacher, and Brian values his advice.

Brian is involved in a plane crash in the Canadian wilderness.  The pilot has a heart attack and dies, and Brian goes down with the plane but survives.  In the beginning, Brian is stunned.  He has nothing with him but a hatchet, and he has to figure out how to survive on his own.

In this time of difficulty, Brian grasps at straws for ways to help him survive.  He remembers the advice of one of his teachers, a man he seems to respect.

Brian had once had an English teacher, a guy named Perpich, who was always talking about being positive, thinking positive, staying on top of things. That's how Perpich had put it—stay positive and stay on top of things. Brian thought of him now— wondered how to stay positive and stay on top of this. (Ch. 5)

It is difficult to stay positive when you are a kid all alone in the wild.  Brian has only the clothes on his back and the hatchet.  He has a few survival skills, but most importantly he has cunning and ingenuity. 

Brian’s teacher Mr. Perpich also taught him the value of staying motivated.  Of course, survival is a good motivator.  You stay motivated or die.

I have to get motivated, he thought, remembering Perpich. Right now I'm all I've got. I have to do something. (Ch. 5)

Brian realizes that no one is coming to save him, at least not soon.  He has to rely on himself.  This requires remembering his English teacher’s advice about life. He must stay positive, because it is easy to get overwhelmed with fear and worry.  He must also keep motivated to survive.  Without motivation he will just give up, and giving up means he will die all alone out in the wilderness.

How wlll the nation's economy be improved by the modest proposal?

According to A Modest Proposal's narrator, Ireland's poor adults would be able to earn a living if they fattened and sold their one-year-old babies to the rich as gourmet food. The narrator then gives detailed calculations to show that doing this would be profitable for the poor, noting that it would cost a mother only two shilling to raise a "fat" baby for a year, including the cost of dressing it in rags. The baby...

According to A Modest Proposal's narrator, Ireland's poor adults would be able to earn a living if they fattened and sold their one-year-old babies to the rich as gourmet food. The narrator then gives detailed calculations to show that doing this would be profitable for the poor, noting that it would cost a mother only two shilling to raise a "fat" baby for a year, including the cost of dressing it in rags. The baby could then be sold for 10 shillings, leaving the mother a profit of eight shillings. A "thrifty" mother could earn even more if she turned the skin of the baby into gloves or shoes. 

In addition, the poor would have "something of their own" (the babies) which could be seized to settle debts. Further, killing many of the poor at a year old would reduce the number of the impoverished children and adults needing to be supported by charity, which would free up the money to increase Ireland's wealth. Finally, the money earned from this trade would stay in Ireland, people would be encouraged to marry because of the profitable baby selling business, and more people would come to eat in the taverns if they knew they could purchase such a delicacy.

Swift meant for people to be horrified by his narrator's idea. The essay satirizes (uses humor and exaggeration) to expose the cruelty in treating people as if they have no value beyond how much money they are able to earn.

What is Andrew Jackson's idea of being common man and tyrant?

Andrew Jackson represented the interests of the common man. His detractors also called him a tyrant. Andrew Jackson believed the common man’s interests weren’t being represented in the government. While he was President, nominating conventions were used to choose the party’s candidates instead of party caucuses. This meant party members chose the party's candidates instead of just the party leaders. President Jackson began the spoils system. This allowed him to give government jobs to his...

Andrew Jackson represented the interests of the common man. His detractors also called him a tyrant. Andrew Jackson believed the common man’s interests weren’t being represented in the government. While he was President, nominating conventions were used to choose the party’s candidates instead of party caucuses. This meant party members chose the party's candidates instead of just the party leaders. President Jackson began the spoils system. This allowed him to give government jobs to his supports. This gave common people at a better chance of getting government jobs.

Those who disliked him called him a tyrant. He was nicknamed “King Andrew” by his detractors. They believed Andrew Jackson acted like a king. They didn’t like how he tried to “kill” the national bank by transferring federal money into state banks. He wanted the banks to stop being an economic force before the bank’s charter ended in 1836. President Jackson refused to enforce a Supreme Court decision allowing the Cherokee tribe to remain in Georgia. To his detractors, he appeared as a person that didn’t respect the Constitution and acted like a tyrant would act.

Thus, his enemies perceived Andrew Jackson as a tyrant. His supporters viewed him as a common man who protected their interests.

What does Ponyboy tell Cherry while standing in line for popcorn in The Outsiders?

In Chapter 2, Ponyboy, Dally, and Johnny sneak into the drive-in movies. Johnny and Ponyboy meet two Soc girls, Cherry and Marcia, and become fast friends with them. Ponyboy shares a connection with Cherry, and she asks him to walk with her to get popcorn. While they are waiting in line, Cherry comments that Johnny has a scared look in his eyes, and she can tell he's been hurt badly. Ponyboy tells her the story...

In Chapter 2, Ponyboy, Dally, and Johnny sneak into the drive-in movies. Johnny and Ponyboy meet two Soc girls, Cherry and Marcia, and become fast friends with them. Ponyboy shares a connection with Cherry, and she asks him to walk with her to get popcorn. While they are waiting in line, Cherry comments that Johnny has a scared look in his eyes, and she can tell he's been hurt badly. Ponyboy tells her the story about when Johnny was beaten badly by a group of Socs four months earlier. He tells Cherry that he, Steve, and Sodapop were walking home from the DX station when Steve noticed a jacket lying on the road. The jacket belonged to Johnny, and there were blood stains around the collar. They followed the trail of blood across a field and heard Johnny moaning. When they reached Johnny, he was bleeding profusely and had deep cut from his temple to his cheekbone. Johnny tells the boys that four Socs driving in a blue Mustang jumped him. One of the Socs was wearing rings, which caused a lot of damage. Ever since Johnny suffered the brutal beating, he acts nervous and carries a switchblade with him at all times. Johnny refuses to walk anywhere alone and vows to kill the next person who attempts to jump him.