What strange fact was revealed to Gulliver by an eminent person at court?

When Gulliver is in Luggnugg, he is "asked by a Person of Quality" whether or not he has ever seen one of their most peculiar kinds of residents called Struldbrugs, or Immortals in English.  He is informed that such immortals exist here, and they are born with a solid red circle in the middle of their foreheads, immediately atop the left eyebrow, and this is how the person is identified as one who is...

When Gulliver is in Luggnugg, he is "asked by a Person of Quality" whether or not he has ever seen one of their most peculiar kinds of residents called Struldbrugs, or Immortals in English.  He is informed that such immortals exist here, and they are born with a solid red circle in the middle of their foreheads, immediately atop the left eyebrow, and this is how the person is identified as one who is going to live forever.  The spot changes colors as the immortal ages: turning green, then blue, and then deep black.  

Gulliver is amazed by this strange fact, and he proceeds to elaborate on how wonderful it would be to live forever as well as all the things he would do if he were so lucky to be a Struldbrug.  However, his interpreter finally informs him that his conjectures are way off because Gulliver is assuming eternal youth, and this is not the case with the Struldbrugs.  Instead, they age and age and age, eventually becoming unable to understand language or be understood, and they are miserable decrepit drains on the economy in the end.

What is the summary of "Breaking Out" by Marge Piercy?

"Breaking out" moves back and forth between the thoughts of an empowered female, designated by "I," and a little girl who feels powerless, indicated by an "i." They are both the same person, and the poem shows how the scared and questioning little girl grows powerful in two ways, first, by rejecting the domestic life led by her housewife mother and second, by breaking the yardstick her parents used to beat her.

In the first...

"Breaking out" moves back and forth between the thoughts of an empowered female, designated by "I," and a little girl who feels powerless, indicated by an "i." They are both the same person, and the poem shows how the scared and questioning little girl grows powerful in two ways, first, by rejecting the domestic life led by her housewife mother and second, by breaking the yardstick her parents used to beat her.

In the first four stanzas, the little girl questions the life of housework that she, as a female, is being raised to lead. She doesn't see any need for using the "mangle" to iron clothes and she is not interested in the "stuffed sausage bag" of the vacuum cleaner. She can't understand why her mother submits to such drudgery, but knows she will not follow in her mother's footsteps.

In school, when she reads about the Greek Sisyphus, who was sent to Hades and had to roll a rock up a hill, always to have it slip from his grasp and roll to the bottom when he was half way up, so that he had to start over and over, the girl connects this to her mother's life of housework:

it was her I
thought of, housewife scrubbing
on raw knees as the factory rained ash.

In the second part of the poem, the girl describes being beaten and how painful it is. Finally, she breaks the yardstick that is used to beat her, and is surprised at how easy it is to do so. Breaking the yardstick doesn't end the beatings, but it does give her a sense of power.

Piercy sums up the poem's meaning in the final stanza:

This is not a tale of innocence lost but power gained : I would not be Sisyphus,  there were things that I should learn to break.

The final stanza means she has gained power by deciding not to become a housewife ("Sisyphus") and by learning she can "break" what oppresses her, like the yardstick used to beat her. 

What does Miss Maudie mean by "sometimes the Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a whiskey bottle in the hand of---oh, of your father"? Why...

In Chapter 5, Miss Maudie is explaining to Scout why Boo Radley never leaves his home. Maudie tells Scout that Arthur was a friendly boy whose father was a "foot-washing Baptist." She goes on to explain that Mr. Radley believed that any type of pleasure was a sin and that he followed a strict interpretation of the Bible. Miss Maudie makes the comment, "but sometimes a Bible in the hand of one man is...

In Chapter 5, Miss Maudie is explaining to Scout why Boo Radley never leaves his home. Maudie tells Scout that Arthur was a friendly boy whose father was a "foot-washing Baptist." She goes on to explain that Mr. Radley believed that any type of pleasure was a sin and that he followed a strict interpretation of the Bible. Miss Maudie makes the comment, "but sometimes a Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a whiskey bottle in the hand of---oh, of your father" (Lee 60). Scout is offended and comments that Atticus never drank alcohol in his life. Scout is too young to understand Maudie's analogy and takes her statement literally. Maudie was trying to compare the way Mr. Radley misuses the Bible to harm his son and other members of the community to the way alcohol destroys families. Distorting religion and misusing the Bible can be very harmful. Mr. Radley perverts scripture by taking certain passages and applying them literally. Maudie uses the example that "foot-washers" believe that women are a sin by definition to explain their twisted interpretation.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, when Atticus asks Scout about the blanket around her shoulders, what does Jem realize?

The fire had the whole neighborhood preoccupied, and even Jem and Scout are too busy to see anything but the drama in the neighborhood. They are pushed away from the fire, and as they watch, someone puts the blanket on Scout to keep her warm. But neither Scout nor Jem even bother to see who it was. They are so focused that they don't even realize how close they are to the Radley's house, and...

The fire had the whole neighborhood preoccupied, and even Jem and Scout are too busy to see anything but the drama in the neighborhood. They are pushed away from the fire, and as they watch, someone puts the blanket on Scout to keep her warm. But neither Scout nor Jem even bother to see who it was. They are so focused that they don't even realize how close they are to the Radley's house, and considering their obsession with Boo, that really shows how distracted they are.

When Atticus asks about the blanket, Jem is older and wise enough to put together what happened. He realizes that Boo, who apparently has been watching them as much as they were watching him, must have been the one to bring out the blanket and put it on Jem.

Ultimately, besides realizing that they were that close to Boo and missed the chance, Jem realizes that Boo is just a person and becomes less obsessed with him.

What do all of the countries around the world have in common when it comes to culture?

This is an exciting question and one that many Anthropologists have spent entire careers seeking to answer. Considering all of the distinctions between cultures, it may be appropriate to say that the one thing all countries have in common is ... culture!

Anthropologists like to say that anything that isn't biological (and coded in our DNA) is cultural. That may sound redundant, but consider the multitude of ways in which culture helps us adapt and...

This is an exciting question and one that many Anthropologists have spent entire careers seeking to answer. Considering all of the distinctions between cultures, it may be appropriate to say that the one thing all countries have in common is ... culture!

Anthropologists like to say that anything that isn't biological (and coded in our DNA) is cultural. That may sound redundant, but consider the multitude of ways in which culture helps us adapt and survive. Humans are highly social beings, so culture accounts for actions which contribute to survival beyond the basics of eating, drinking, sleeping, and having shelter. The ways we eat, drink, sleep, and take shelter are influenced by culture, though.

It may help us to understand the universals of culture by breaking down some of its major aspects. This includes:

• 
  Language. One of the ways cultures distinguish themselves from one another is through the languages we speak. Language is heavily connected to another aspect of culture.


• 
  Identity. One has to identify as part of a culture to be a part of it, though generally it is required that other members of this culture acknowledge the person as a part of it as well. Identity may be bound up in beliefs about ethnicity, race, religion, and gender. Some identities don't exist out of the context of their culture, but all cultures share a sense of identifying or belonging to a group.


• 
  Food. All cultures employ some sort of subsistence strategy to acquire food, which may then be transformed through cooking, preserving, or other forms of presentation. Often, when we talk about culture or identity, we may describe foods or food-related behaviors that are distinctive to a group. 


• 
  Art. All cultures experience some degree of artistic expression. Humans generally have leisure time in their lives to create beautiful or expressive things or to decorate objects which are primarily functional. Even if all members of a culture do not create art, they understand the shared set of symbols which contribute to the meaning of the art.


• 
  Belief systems. Here, I use the term "belief systems" to refer to any way of thinking which helps us make sense of and organize the world around us. This may be religious, scientific, or even folk-belief. Every culture on Earth has a way of thinking about and explaining the world around us. Some belief systems are shared around the world, like major organized religions. Others may be very localized--for example, does your family or community have any special means to try and bring snow or rain? Do you know any urban legends from your town?

Unfortunately, we must speak very generally about the commonalities of culture in countries, but perhaps someday you will join the field of Anthropology and answer this question once and for all.

In The Witch of Blackbird Pond, what does Nat do to make Kit want to marry him? Who is Nat Eaton?

The plotline between Kit and Nat is one of those classic love stories when the characters initially don't like each other, but later grow fond and eventually marry.

Kit first meets Nathaniel Eaton aboard the Dolphinon her way to Wethersfield. Nat is the first mate and the captain's son, as the ship belongs to his father. He thinks Kit is arrogant and spoiled. She refers to the ship as "filthy," and Nat finds this offensive since the ship smells because the Eatons make...

The plotline between Kit and Nat is one of those classic love stories when the characters initially don't like each other, but later grow fond and eventually marry.

Kit first meets Nathaniel Eaton aboard the Dolphin on her way to Wethersfield. Nat is the first mate and the captain's son, as the ship belongs to his father. He thinks Kit is arrogant and spoiled. She refers to the ship as "filthy," and Nat finds this offensive since the ship smells because the Eatons make a moral choice to transport horses instead of slaves.

When Kit jumps in the water to save Prudence's doll, Nat jumps in after her. He is furious when he jumps in the water to save Kit, only to find that she can swim. He feels foolish and is forced to wear wet clothes all day as he has soaked the only ones he owns during his attempted rescue.

Nat is the first person to warn Kit that "only the guilty ones stay afloat," referring to witch trials that took place during this time period.

Later, Nat's feelings toward Kit soften when he sees that she is a good friend to Hannah Tupper. Nat has been friends with Hannah since he was a boy and Hannah found him crying in the Meadow, similar to Kit. They become friends as they work together to thatch Hannah's roof.

Nat becomes jealous when he hears that Kit is going to marry William Ashby and he and some of his sailor friends put jack-o-lanterns in William's windows as a prank. This lands them in the stocks and Kit is distraught to see the townsfolk jeering and throwing apple cores at Nat.

Nat eventually comes to Kit's rescue when she is accused of being a witch by Goodwife Cruff. He brings Prudence, who reads out of the Bible and convinces Goodman Cruff and the town that Kit is not a witch and all charges are dropped.

Nat returns to Wethersfield with a new ship, his own, that he has named The Witch. He tells Kit about it and his hopes for their relationship, and Kit is eager to sail on her namesake, but Nat won't bring her aboard until she agrees to marry him.

The grouping of things that are alike is the science of: A. petrology B. classification C. geology D. biology

B. Classification  

In science, sorting living things into groups that are alike and have similar qualities makes them easier to study and to identify newly discovered organisms. The grouping itself is know as the science of classification; the naming of the groups is known as taxonomy. The system originally formulated in the 1700s by Carolus Linnaeus is still in use today, though with many changes and additions. For example, Linnaeus grouped fungi with plants...

B. Classification  

In science, sorting living things into groups that are alike and have similar qualities makes them easier to study and to identify newly discovered organisms. The grouping itself is know as the science of classification; the naming of the groups is known as taxonomy. The system originally formulated in the 1700s by Carolus Linnaeus is still in use today, though with many changes and additions. For example, Linnaeus grouped fungi with plants in the same kingdom; today they are separate kingdoms. As the system stands currently, there are two entire kingdoms of bacteria (Archaebacteria and Eubacteria), and the kingdoms of Protista, Fungi, Plants, and Animals. Each species has its own scientific name. It is know by its genus and its species, and is either italicized or underlined. The genus is capitalized, and the species is not. For example, Panthera leo is the scientific name for the lion. The levels of classification for animals from most general to most specific are Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus and Species. These are different for other kingdoms; see the links below for more details on these.

What goes through Lady Macbeth's mind before the slaying of King Duncan in Macbeth?

There is a brief glimpse into the human heart of Lady Macbeth. She says that she would have killed King Duncan herself if he had not looked so much like her father. By this we know that there are at least two people that Lady Macbeth loves: her husband and her father. Though her love for Macbeth is manipulative and ambitious, her love for her father seems to be more pure and admirable. She has...

There is a brief glimpse into the human heart of Lady Macbeth. She says that she would have killed King Duncan herself if he had not looked so much like her father. By this we know that there are at least two people that Lady Macbeth loves: her husband and her father. Though her love for Macbeth is manipulative and ambitious, her love for her father seems to be more pure and admirable. She has compassion, at least in the very bottom of her heart, that makes it difficult for her to see Duncan murdered.

Yet it is only for her father that she suffers during the killing spree. She chides her husband for failing to kill the guards when his heart begins to weaken from the horror of what he has done. Lady Macbeth has no such compassion and easily kills them herself. Later, when her mind is going, she wonders (speaking of the murdered Duncan), “Who would have thought that the old man to have so much blood in him?” It is only when her mind is broken that she is able to see the horror of what she has done.

Why did the thieves and beggars drink to the English law?

In Chapter 17, Prince Edward has been lured into John Canty's clutches again. We are told in this chapter that Canty now calls himself John Hobbs. Meanwhile, the death of King Henry VIII, Edward's father, has been a great blow to Edward; the young prince now finds himself bereft of a father and is a prisoner to boot. Grieved beyond measure, he retires to the far end of the barn that he has been lured into and proceeds to brood. Eventually, he falls asleep.

He is soon rudely awakened by loud noises:

A bright fire was burning in the middle of the floor, at the other end of the barn; and around it, and lit weirdly up by the red glare, lolled and sprawled the motliest company of tattered gutter-scum and ruffians, of both sexes, he had ever read or dreamed of.  There were huge stalwart men, brown with exposure, long-haired, and clothed in fantastic rags; there were middle-sized youths, of truculent countenance, and similarly clad; there were blind mendicants, with patched or bandaged eyes; crippled ones, with wooden legs and crutches; diseased ones, with running sores peeping from ineffectual wrappings...

These are the thieves and beggars you mention above; they form part of an underground group of thieves that John Hobbs belongs to. They drink and talk raucously in the barn. Soon, a thief named Yokel, who was once a prosperous farmer, tells of his sad fate living under English law. Accordingly, his mother was a healer who was burned as a witch after one of her patients died. After his mother's death (she appeared to be the main breadwinner of the household), the farmer found himself and his little family begging for food.

Yokel relates that his family members were unmercifully lashed "through three towns" because it was a crime to beg in England. Undeterred, Yokel had continued begging for food for his children. Meanwhile, his wife died from the injuries caused by the lashes, and his children starved to death. Yokel himself was sent to the stocks and both his ears were cut off as punishment. Eventually, he was sold as a slave but has since run away from his owner. He asserts pitifully that he will be hung, courtesy of the 'wonderful' English law, when he is found.

So, when Yokel encourages his fellow thieves and beggars to drink to the English law, he is actually mocking and criticizing the oppressive character of the law. His sarcasm, in tandem with his sad story, serves to illuminate the true, cruel nature of English law. At his story, Prince Edward is so incensed that he shouts out that he will do away with the kind of law that will hang a poor man for running away from slavery. The thieves and beggars in turn mock Edward for his proud announcement; they don't really believe he is the son of Henry VIII. The chapter ends with Edward feeling very sorry that he ever tried to extend kindness to this rabble group of subjects.

I need a summary of Rivethead by Ben Hamper.

Rivethead: Tales From the Assembly Line by Ben Hamper is a nonfiction memoir of Hamper's life. Hamper was born in 1956 in Flint, Michigan to a blue collar family that worked for General Motors. He followed family tradition in working on the GM assembly line as he gradually established himself as a radio personality and journalist. 

Rivetheadis written in a style associated with "New Journalism" or "Gonzo Journalism", in which the persona of the...

Rivethead: Tales From the Assembly Line by Ben Hamper is a nonfiction memoir of Hamper's life. Hamper was born in 1956 in Flint, Michigan to a blue collar family that worked for General Motors. He followed family tradition in working on the GM assembly line as he gradually established himself as a radio personality and journalist. 

Rivethead is written in a style associated with "New Journalism" or "Gonzo Journalism", in which the persona of the writer, usually a cynical and rebellious one, is an inherent part of the story. Hamper takes on a persona similar to that of Hunter Thompson, portraying himself as a high school rebel and slacker who quickly learned to obtain a regular paycheck at GM on the assembly line while putting in minimal effort and even hanging out at bars while his partner did his work for him. 

In the book, Flint is described as almost a company town, with most families working for automotive factories for generations. Hamper states:

Right from the outset, when the call went out for shoprats, my ancestors responded in almost Pavlovian obedience.

Hamper's own family, however, was unusual in that his father had problems with alcohol, which led to his mother needing to work two jobs. Hamper himself was a rebellious teen who seemed to have inherited his father's substance abuse issues, and barely graduated high school. He married his pregnant girlfriend, but his alcohol and drug abuse led to a inability to hold a regular job and eventually the marriage broke up. 

The bulk of the narrative covers Hamper's years holding down a job on the GM assembly line as he continued to abuse drugs and alcohol and a description of the life and characters surrounding the factory. As many of the GM manufacturing plants were closed in the 1980s, Flint endured an economic recession and developed a high crime rate. Hamper, due to layoffs, moved into a career as a writer, in which he chronicled both factory life and the effects of the decline in manufacturing on Flint. 

Is Gregor Samsa from The Metamorphosis sane?

Is Gregor Samsa from Kafka's The Metamorphosis insane?

In order to answer this question, we must look at the point of view from which the story was written. The Metamorphosis is written in the third person -- the "he, she, they" style of narration -- and not from the first person -- the "i, me" style of narration. This indicates that the narrator is reliable, and we can take at face value that the facts...

Is Gregor Samsa from Kafka's The Metamorphosis insane?

In order to answer this question, we must look at the point of view from which the story was written. The Metamorphosis is written in the third person -- the "he, she, they" style of narration -- and not from the first person -- the "i, me" style of narration. This indicates that the narrator is reliable, and we can take at face value that the facts relayed to us via the narration are true. In fact, right from the first line of the story, we know what kind of world we're in:

When Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from unsettling dreams, he found himself changed into a monstrous vermin.

This sentence is an anacoluthon, which is defined as "syntactical inconsistency or incoherence within a sentence". At the beginning, it is logical that Gregor Samsa would wake in the morning from unsettling dreams, but not that he would find himself changed into an insect. Right away, the expectation for the whole story is established, and we know that we are no longer in a place of strict naturalism. As such, it can be concluded that Gregor Samsa is quite sane, and also that he is definitely a bug.

What are some rhetorical devices used in Romeo and Juliet that relate to physical love?

To begin, we must first understand what is meant by "rhetorical device." A rhetorical device is language that is used to persuade, or to convey specific meaning. (See the link below for a list of rhetorical devices.)

The physical love between Romeo & Juliet is strongly alluded to throughout the play, but is particularly potent in the balcony scene. Consider Juliet's words in her famous "Wherefore art thou Romeo" speech:

What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part 
Belonging to a man. (II.ii.42-44)

In this snippet, "nor any other part belonging to a man" refers rather overtly to genitalia. And in the conclusion of that speech, she goes on to say:

Romeo, doff thy name,

And for that name, which is no part of thee,

Take all myself. (II.ii.47-49)

In this section of the speech, she is offering up her virginity to him. Consider also Romeo's speech from the beginning of the scene:

Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, 
Who is already sick and pale with grief, 

That thou, her maid, art far more fair than she.

Be not her maid, since she is envious;

Her vestal livery is but sick and green

And none but fools do wear it; cast it off. (II.ii.4-9)

In this speech "her maid" indicates Diana, who is the goddess of the moon and the patroness of virgins. A "livery" is a piece of clothing worn by servants of a lord or patron, and "vestal" indicates chastity. In this section of the speech, Romeo is asking Juliet to shirk her role as a virgin maid of Diana.

The language becomes more overt in Act 3. Consider Juliet's speech:

Lovers can see to do their amorous rites 

By their own beauties; or, if love be blind,

It best agrees with night. Come, civil night,

Thou sober-suited matron, all in black

And learn me how to lose a winning match,

Play'd for a pair of stainless maidenhoods. (III.ii.8-13)

In this speech, Juliet is essentially saying that lovers can make love by the light of their own beauties. Or, if they're not beautiful, then they can copulate in the dark. But she wants night to come so that she, and her new husband, can both loose their virginities together.

The play, being about teenagers in love, is full of examples of speeches about physical love. It is full of lust and the speeches are beautiful.

What is Benjamin Franklin’s attitude toward religion? Discuss this aspect of his Autobiography.

"Here is my Creed," Benjamin Franklin wrote to Ezra Stiles -- the Calvinist president of Yale College -- in 1790. "I believe in one God, Creator of the Universe. That He governs it by His Providence. That he ought to be worshipped. That the most acceptable Service we render to him is doing Good to his other Children. That the Soul of Man is immortal, and will be treated with Justice in another Life respecting its Conduct in this ... As for Jesus of Nazareth ... I think the system of Morals and Religion as he left them to us, the best the World ever saw ... but I have ... some Doubts to his Divinity; though it is a Question I do not dogmatism upon, having never studied it, and think it is needless to busy myself with it now, where I expect soon an Opportunity of knowing the Truth with less Trouble."

Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706, in Boston, Massachusetts, one of 10 children to his parents Josiah and Abiah Folger. Benjamin Franklin's father wanted him to attend school to become a clergyman, but that was not in the cards for him, much by his own design. In fact, he was always a single-minded and headstrong man, leaving an apprenticeship with his elder brother "illegally", and running away to Philadelphia to begin life anew in a new city at the age of 17. And when he left, he also left the Puritan church of his parents.

After he grew up, he became an advocate for republicanism, and -- like its other advocates -- emphasized that the new American Republic could only function if its constituents were virtuous. He went on to write extensively about virtue, but his writings never included the fundamental Puritan ideals he grew up with, including the belief in salvation and the divinity of Jesus as the Son of God. In his autobiography, he indicated that he was a "deist", someone who believes in a single God.

Though he does seem very liberal and progressive by today's political standards, he did introduce the practice of daily common prayer during the Constitutional Convention of 1787. The motion, however, was met with much resistance and was never even brought to a vote, let alone enacted.

But Benjamin Franklin was known for being respectful and tolerant of all churches and practices. And though he was raised with Puritanical values, he decided for himself that God's truths can be discovered through nature and rationalism.

What is the difference between Boxer and Clover? A Boxer is an independent thinker, while Clover accepts everything she it told without...

The correct answer is C: Boxer blindly follows the rules of Animal Farm, while Clover silently questions some of Napoleon's decisions. Both Boxer and Clover are strong and loyal to the Revolution and their comrades on Animal Farm. Boxer's loyalty--coupled with the fact that he is not capable of deep thinking--causes him to accept the statements of the pigs without question. He truly cares about Animal Farm, and he helps it the best he can...

The correct answer is C: Boxer blindly follows the rules of Animal Farm, while Clover silently questions some of Napoleon's decisions. Both Boxer and Clover are strong and loyal to the Revolution and their comrades on Animal Farm. Boxer's loyalty--coupled with the fact that he is not capable of deep thinking--causes him to accept the statements of the pigs without question. He truly cares about Animal Farm, and he helps it the best he can by doing what he does best: hard work (His motto is "I will work harder"). 

Clover--though loyal--secretly questions some of Napoleon's decisions. She recognizes the hypocrisy of the pigs--such as when the pigs begin sleeping in beds despite previously passing a law which forbade animals to sleep in beds--but she does not have the vocabulary or rhetorical skills to organize a resistance to the pigs' rule All she can do is watch as the pigs resort to the ultimate example of cruelty: murdering their fellow animals in cold blood. As Orwell describes:

As Clover looked down the hillside her eyes filled with tears. If she could have spoken her thoughts, it would have been to say that this was not what they had aimed at when they had set themselves years ago to work for the overthrow of the human race. These scenes of terror and slaughter were not what they had looked forward to on that night when old Major first stirred them to rebellion. 

What is the classification of our sun?

The sun is what is known as a G-type main sequence star. Specifically, the sun is a G2V star, sometimes referred to more vaguely as a yellow dwarf. Let's break down what each of those three characters means.

The G is the spectral type of a given star, according to the Harvard spectral classification system (http://www.star.ucl.ac.uk/~pac/spectral_classification.html), derived from the emission spectra of a star as seen through a telescope. The emission spectra is dependent on the temperature of the surface of the star. The temperature is mostly, but not completely, dependent on the star's mass. The classifications of the Harvard system are O, B, A, F, G, K, and M, in descending order of temperature (and usually mass). These are often remembered by the phrase "Oh Be A Fine Girl/Guy, Kiss Me." Our sun has an emissions spectra that appears yellow, which correlates to about 5,800 degrees Kelvin, firmly in the G classification.

The "2" in the classification lets astronomers be more specific about the temperature. There are 10 sub-levels of temperature, 0 through 9, with 0 being hottest and 9 being coolest. This more granular classification system let's you make some additional inferences about a star. For instance, our sun is a G2, which is relatively hot for a star of its mass. That's likely because of its age, as middle aged stars like the sun burn hotter than they do in their youth. By contrast, 70 Virginis is a G4 star, cooler than the sun despite being more massive. That is likely because it is much older than the sun and has passed its prime, at least as far as temperature is concerned. It's begun to progress towards the next stage of its stellar evolution, cooling down but also growing in diameter.

Finally, the V is the luminosity class (http://www.spektros.de/lumi.html) of the star. While the spectral classification is dependent on the temperature of the star, the luminosity is dependent on the star's radius. Hence the luminosity class is defined by a Roman numeral with I being a "Supergiant" and VII being a "White Dwarf," a star with a volume comparable to the earth. The V class, including our sun, is "Dwarf," although the sun is not a particularly small star. The next class upwards is sub-giant, which the sun will become as it ages.

You can see from these descriptions how important age is for main-sequence stars like the sun, as their temperature and size changes based on their stage of life. Other important classifications include composition, degree of variability, and certain common spectral peculiarities. These identifiers help astronomers to assess a lot about the life of a star from just a few symbols in a database.

If a wave train of 10,000 waves covers 100cm, what is true? Are we talking about calculating the wavelength, frequency, wave number or period? Why?

We would be talking about the wave number, sometimes referred to as wavenumber.  The wave number is the space frequency of the wave, specifically number of cycles per unit of distance or radians per unit of distance.  If we had 10,000 waves covering a distance of 100 centimeters, that would be expressed as 10,000 waves/100 centimeters.  When you divide, you get a wave number of 100 cycles per centimeter.

In contrast, the frequency of a...

We would be talking about the wave number, sometimes referred to as wavenumber.  The wave number is the space frequency of the wave, specifically number of cycles per unit of distance or radians per unit of distance.  If we had 10,000 waves covering a distance of 100 centimeters, that would be expressed as 10,000 waves/100 centimeters.  When you divide, you get a wave number of 100 cycles per centimeter.

In contrast, the frequency of a wave involves a time element, such as how many waves pass a fixed point per second, per minute, or per hour.  The wavelength measures the specific length from one crest to the next consecutive crest, or trough to trough.  The period requires an element of time again, specifically the time required for a wave cycle to complete passage by a fixed point.  Out of all these, the wave number is the correct choice, as it involves a specific number of waves passing over a specific distance.

Why did Great Britain fight against the American colonists?

Great Britain fought against the American colonists for several reasons. The first reason is that if Great Britain didn’t respond to the Declaration of Independence issued by the colonists, the British would have lost the 13 colonies because they would have been free. The British were fighting to keep control of the 13 colonies.

The British also fought against the Americans because the British felt they had the right to do whatever they wanted with...

Great Britain fought against the American colonists for several reasons. The first reason is that if Great Britain didn’t respond to the Declaration of Independence issued by the colonists, the British would have lost the 13 colonies because they would have been free. The British were fighting to keep control of the 13 colonies.

The British also fought against the Americans because the British felt they had the right to do whatever they wanted with their colonies. The British believed that the colonists needed to follow the policies and the laws passed by the British Parliament that dealt with the colonies. These were the British colonies, and the British felt they had the right to govern the colonies. Since the colonists weren’t following some of the rules and the policies, the British believed they needed to take actions to require the colonists to do so. The British believed their entire colonial system could be in danger if they didn’t respond to the protests of the colonists, their violation of rules and policies, and their declaration of freedom.

The British believed they had no choice but to fight the colonists if they wanted the colonies to remain in British control.

In the book The Egypt Game, chapter 10, "The Return to Egypt," what is the confusion about the word "sign"?

On Halloween, the three girls make plans to leave the group of trick-or-treaters they will be with to make a brief stop at Egypt. Elizabeth nervously asks what they are going to do, and April says that they will stick close together and wait for a secret omen, or sign, showing them that the time is right to separate from the others. Marshall, who overhears much but usually says little, asks whether the sign will...

On Halloween, the three girls make plans to leave the group of trick-or-treaters they will be with to make a brief stop at Egypt. Elizabeth nervously asks what they are going to do, and April says that they will stick close together and wait for a secret omen, or sign, showing them that the time is right to separate from the others. Marshall, who overhears much but usually says little, asks whether the sign will be a pigeon feather, and April replies mysteriously that they will know it when it happens. 

As soon as they join the large group, Marshall stops in his tracks and says he wants a sign. The girls are mortified that he would speak publicly about their secrets. He had never blabbed before. They scold him for speaking of their game out loud in the hearing of others, but he clarifies: "Not a secret sign. ... A sign to carry." Melanie realizes that Marshall thinks they are part of a demonstration. He has never gone trick-or-treating before, but he is aware of peace demonstrations that were common in California in the 1960s, the time period in which the book is set. 

The confusion about the word "sign" is that the girls think Marshall is referring to the secret omen they discussed earlier, when he really is referring to a physical sign like the sign a demonstrator would carry. 

What two processes in the water cycle increase the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere?

Two main processes are involved in increasing the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere. These two processes are known as evaporation, and transpiration.

Evaporation is generally defined as the process by which water turns from a liquid back into a vapor or gas. This occurs due to heat energy from the sun heating up liquid water molecules in bodies of water, such as streams, rivers, lakes, and oceans, causing them to change...

Two main processes are involved in increasing the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere. These two processes are known as evaporation, and transpiration.

Evaporation is generally defined as the process by which water turns from a liquid back into a vapor or gas. This occurs due to heat energy from the sun heating up liquid water molecules in bodies of water, such as streams, rivers, lakes, and oceans, causing them to change from a liquid state to a gas, or vapor, state. It is noted that the majority of atmospheric water vapor is generated by this process (around 90%). Involved in this process, is also a process known as sublimation, when water in ice form (i.e. solid form) is converted directly to its gas form (i.e. water vapor), although this occurs rarely and only accounts for a small amount of water vapor in the atmosphere generated by evaporation. 

Alternatively, transpiration, which can generally defined as water vapor given off by plants, via the same mechanism as evaporation from bodies of water, is responsible for also generating a small portion (around 10%) of water vapor in the atmosphere. During this process, water evaporates through pores, located on plants and their leaves.  

Together, these process are collectively known as evapotranspiration, and provide the atmospheric water vapor necessary to drive the water cycle. Hope this helps!

What is pitch? |

In addition to what was noted in the answer above, pitch may also refer to a sales pitch, which is a persuasive talk or presentation that aims to motivate a person or company to purchase a product or service. This can be an elevator pitch, a short, pithy persuasive talk that sums up the importance of a product or service in however much time (usually less than a minute) that it takes a person to ride an elevator to his destination. This version of pitch dates to 1943 and may derive from the idea of pitching or throwing a baseball. This could also refer back to pitch's 1847 definition of "to work vigorously."

The word, going back to the 1200s, can also mean to set something up or fasten it in place, hence the origin of the term we still use, pitch a tent.

If Infinity is larger than the largest number imaginable, then how do you square infinity? Because if Infinity is the largest number then even...

Hello!

Infinity is not an ordinary number, and its square isn't a number also. Actually, the square of infinity is also infinity.

Consider a model where ordinary numbers and infinity are represented as a limits of sequences.

If a sequence `{a_n}` has a limit `a` (a number), i.e.

`AA` e>0 `EE` N(e) | `AA` n>N(e) `|a_n-a|lte,`

then it is considered as a representative of a number `a.`

If a sequence `{a_n}` has an infinite limit,...

Hello!

Infinity is not an ordinary number, and its square isn't a number also. Actually, the square of infinity is also infinity.

Consider a model where ordinary numbers and infinity are represented as a limits of sequences.

If a sequence `{a_n}` has a limit `a` (a number), i.e.

`AA` e>0 `EE` N(e) | `AA` n>N(e) `|a_n-a|lte,`

then it is considered as a representative of a number `a.`

If a sequence `{a_n}` has an infinite limit, i.e.

`AA` E>0 `EE` N(E) | `AA` n>N(E) `|a_n|gtE,`

then it is considered as a representative of the infinity.

In this model we can add and multiply numbers AND infinity (with some restrictions). In particular, infinity squared is also infinity.

There is another model, where infinity is a cardinality of an infinite set. There are many different infinities in this model, some of them are greater than another:)
But "infinity squared" (the cardinality of the Cartesian product of the corresponding infinite set) is the same infinity.

In part three, Beatty explains "Old Montag wanted to fly near the sun and now he's burnt his damn wings, he wonders why." Why is Bradbury comparing...

In many ways Montag's story up to this point parallels the Icarus myth.

First of all, Montag is being lead by Faber, an older man who has devised Montag's means of "escape"; a plan to destroy the fire houses. Faber continually warns Montag against rash action, and Montag frequently ignores Faber - he reads poetry in front of his wife and her friends, he talks to Faber through the earpiece in the presence of others,...

In many ways Montag's story up to this point parallels the Icarus myth.

First of all, Montag is being lead by Faber, an older man who has devised Montag's means of "escape"; a plan to destroy the fire houses. Faber continually warns Montag against rash action, and Montag frequently ignores Faber - he reads poetry in front of his wife and her friends, he talks to Faber through the earpiece in the presence of others, and he lets Beatty confuse and scare him when he returns to the firehouse. Like Icarus, Montag is warned about the dangers of recklessness and self-involvement.

Secondly, the moral of the Icarus myth warns against pride. Beatty believes Montag is demonstrating hubris by hiding books and plotting against him. He accuses Montag of being prideful while explaining his dream:

"'The folly of mistaking a metaphor for proof, a torrent of verbiage for a spring of capital truths, and oneself for an oracle, is inborn in us'"

and after they arrive at Montag's house:

"It was pretty silly, quoting poetry around free and easy like that. It was the act of a silly damn snob. Give a man a few lines of verse and he thinks he's the Lord of all Creation. You think you can walk on water with your books."

Finally, one of the main images in Fahrenheit 451 is the comparison between water and fire, or dryness and wetness. This parallels imagery from the Icarus myth. Although Icarus' wings were melted by the heat of the sun, he was killed by a fall into the sea.

How is Melinda Sordino suffering from post traumatic stress disorder? What effects does it have on her?

In the novel, the main character Melinda Sordino is indeed suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder. This struggle is the biggest conflict the character has to over her, and she is in a bad way until she finds an outlet which allows her to slowly overcome her sadness and anger and come to terms with what happened.

Melinda's struggle with PTSD is most obviously seen with her inability to articulate what has happened to her....

In the novel, the main character Melinda Sordino is indeed suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder. This struggle is the biggest conflict the character has to over her, and she is in a bad way until she finds an outlet which allows her to slowly overcome her sadness and anger and come to terms with what happened.

Melinda's struggle with PTSD is most obviously seen with her inability to articulate what has happened to her. This is what the title of the novel refers to. The art she creates in school eventually allows her to deal with her emotions regarding what happened to her, which was a date rape. At this point, she is able to "speak" and tell others what took place.

What is Chapter 15 about in the book Flight to Canada by Ishmael Reed?

Chapter 15 is about the meeting of Quickskill and Carpenter and the later meeting of Quickskill and Quaw Quaw. He and Carpenter talk about Carpenter's upcoming flight to Toronto, Canada, where Quickskill expects to join him soon. He and Quaw Quaw talk about who she does "frontier" dances for and about whether slavery is "a state of mind, metaphysical." She and Quickskill reignite their old love affair whenever they can. The chapter fades to the sounds coming over the television set of a new play being performed at the Ford Theatre, with Lincoln and Mary Todd in attendance.

Chapter 15 opens with Carpenter greeting Quickskill at the party being thrown. Carpenter talks excitedly about his upcoming trip to Toronto, Canada, where he has a reservation at the King Edward Hotel, a "Gracious Tradition," where he will order a room service breakfast with three breakfast meats: "bacon, sausage, ham."

Quickskill promises Carpenter that he will join him in Canada as soon as he gets his check from the magazine paying for his latest poem, "Flight to Canada." Carpenter asks Quicksilver to read a poem he wrote and to introduce him to "one of them big-time editors." Quickskill puts him off. Carpenter responds graciously with "There's plenty of time."

Quickskill muses about the air of condescension "those free slaves" (Carpenter) take toward fugitive slaves (Quickskill). He contemplates how "slavemasters in Louisiana often freed their sons by African women." Some of these freed sons joined the anti-slavery lecture tour, telling tales supposedly their own but borrowed from "real sufferers."

Quickskill brought "some Paul Lawrence Dunbar cuisine" to the pot-luck party featuring slave food. The party guests were dancing in animated styles, with "local Native American poets" drinking Coke. Quickskill notices the "Abolitionist principal of the Free High School" where "some of the slave children" students had become "surly and unmanageable," thinking of themselves as the people of the "future," as a result of her indoctrination.

Princess QuawQuaw Tralaralara enters. She is a "frontier dancer," a Native American with a "desperado" personality and an ability with native dances, who backs up poets' poetry readings with Native American dance. Quaw Quaw recognizes Quickskill. She walks toward him with "hips moving like those of a woman who swims fifty laps a day"; they rekindle their old love affair.

Quickskill takes a tour of the slave castle, where his ancestors had been chained and "rotted." The tour cost a penny. He got separated form the group and found himself upstairs, entering a room where he finds Quaw Quaw on a spacious bed, reading poetry. They rekindle their love affair, which they do a lot, but turn cool to each other when they have "an argument about the Kansas-Nebraska Act." She says that "slavery was a state of mind, metaphysical. He told her to shut" up.

Quaw Quaw defends herself and attacks Quickskill by saying, "You're just not broad enough, Quickskill. You're...you're too...too ethnic. You should be more universal." Quickskill responds, "How can I be universal with a steel collar around my neck and my hands cuffed all the time and my feet bound? I can't be universal bound." He talks with praise about "Abe the Illinois Ape" and about how he's "standing up to them" and that the "South can't continue Camelot."

Watching Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd at the Ford Theatre, Lincoln waving back to the cheering audience, Quaw Quaw breaks in by calling Lincoln that "hick," then talking about how her "professors at Columbia talk about him" and his "Corn belt accent" and stovepipe hat. She wants to go back to her Columbia professors and join in their tea parties. Quickskill insults her professors' poems for sounding like "a summer home on Long Island, about three o'clock in the morning." Quaw denounces all his "race talk all the time."

Quickskill returns to the idea of the fall of Camelot: "Camelot. Camelot West, Camelot East, Camelot South," and denounces Quaw Quaw's pirate husband for his treatment of a swami from India. They sink back on the sofa in another embrace as "Tom Taylor's new play was about to begin" over the television; she had been "between him and the television set." Some of Tom Taylor's uninspired play forms the background ambience:

ASA: There was no soft soap.
DE B: Soft soap!
AUG: Soft soap!
VER: Soft soap!
Mrs. M: Soft soap!
FLO: Soft soap!
GEO (on sofa): Soft soap!
DUN: Throft Thoap?
ASA: Yes, soft soap. ... I'm everlastingly dry.

What were the main obstacles to Reconstruction?

By far the biggest obstacle to Reconstruction was the opposition of white Southerners. Almost immediately after the war, whites in the South formed vigilante groups to terrorize freedmen and passed legislation aimed at preserving the racial order in the South. These so-called "black codes" ended with the advent of congressional Reconstruction, as radicals in Congress secured laws and eventually the Fifteenth Amendment that guaranteed suffrage to African-Americans. This was a major advance, but still in...

By far the biggest obstacle to Reconstruction was the opposition of white Southerners. Almost immediately after the war, whites in the South formed vigilante groups to terrorize freedmen and passed legislation aimed at preserving the racial order in the South. These so-called "black codes" ended with the advent of congressional Reconstruction, as radicals in Congress secured laws and eventually the Fifteenth Amendment that guaranteed suffrage to African-Americans. This was a major advance, but still in many states "redeemer" Democrats were able to seize control of legislatures as early as 1870. Throughout the South, Reconstruction was always hindered by violence and the threat of violence. Bloody "race riots" in which white mobs attacked African-Americans occurred throughout the South, most infamously in Memphis and New Orleans in 1866 and Colfax, Louisiana in 1873. Federal legislation in the form of the Ku Klux Klan Acts helped to limit the activities of terrorist organizations, but they proved difficult to enforce in the long run, and white racism and violence proved to be a major force in returning white Democratic governments to power throughout the South.

Perhaps the other most important factor hindering Reconstruction was the unwillingness of most in the federal government to enact land reform. Aside from a few isolated experiments like the "40 acres and a mule" promise in the Sea Islands of Georgia, neither the US Army nor the federal government showed any stomach for confiscating the lands of slaveholders and redistributing them to the people who had worked them. Rather, the federal government, through the Freedmen's Bureau, sought to broker labor contracts between freedmen and landowners. Over time these contracts became sharecropper arrangements, and this system mired most African-American farmers in debt and poverty. Even most Radicals believed only in "free labor," and they held property rights, even of former rebels, to be sacrosanct when it came to land redistribution. As a result, African-Americans gained limited political freedoms, but the vast majority lacked economic security. 

What was the main idea of Sinclair Lewis's The Jungle?

Sinclair Lewis was a socialist who wrote The Jungle to dramtize the plight of exploited workers in the U.S. In this book, which was first serialized in a socialist newspaper, Lewis showed how the meat packing industry in Chicago forced workers to toil in harsh, dangerous conditions for very low pay. The workers would be rapidly replaced if they got ill or injured and had no rights.

The book chronicles the downfall of a family...

Sinclair Lewis was a socialist who wrote The Jungle to dramtize the plight of exploited workers in the U.S. In this book, which was first serialized in a socialist newspaper, Lewis showed how the meat packing industry in Chicago forced workers to toil in harsh, dangerous conditions for very low pay. The workers would be rapidly replaced if they got ill or injured and had no rights.

The book chronicles the downfall of a family who, in addition to toiling in terrible jobs, also tries to pursue the American Dream by purchasing their own home. However, they don't understand the terms of the contract and are soon in over their heads with ballooning payments and a shoddy house. Eventually, they are put on the street. 

Lewis wrote the novel in hopes of encouraging support for unionization, worker's protections and decent wages. Instead, middle class audiences were shocked at the depictions of the filth of the meat packing industry. The book led to reforms there, including government inspections of slaughterhouses. As Lewis said, he aimed for people's hearts, meaning he hoped to raise sympathy for the worker, but hit people's stomachs instead. 

How does Uri positively influence Misha?

I am always fascinated by the character of Uri each time I read Milkweed because, yes, Uri does certainly influence Misha in a positive way even in the midst of the Holocaust.

Uri's positive role is defined by his actions as father-figure to a group of boys, including Misha.  In fact, the boys are dependent upon Uri for their survival.  Uri is confident not only in how to be a father but how to take...

I am always fascinated by the character of Uri each time I read Milkweed because, yes, Uri does certainly influence Misha in a positive way even in the midst of the Holocaust.

Uri's positive role is defined by his actions as father-figure to a group of boys, including Misha.  In fact, the boys are dependent upon Uri for their survival.  Uri is confident not only in how to be a father but how to take care of his little charges.  Uri's main desire is to protect the boys from the truths behind the Holocaust.

Uri's role as father-figure with Misha, though, is particularly intricate.  Not only does Uri give Misha an identity to cling to but also protects him from reality.  One of the ways Uri protects Misha is by dismissing Misha's questions and/or speaking in a very evasive and general way.  In this way, Uri protects Misha from the arrival of the Nazis to their specific area as well as from the action of the Jews being moved to the ghettos.  This serves as protection of innocence for the character of Misha.

Therefore, as you can see, by being a positive father-figure for Misha, Uri certainly does positively influence Misha. Uri does this by protecting Misha's innocence throughout the story.

What are good examples of person vs. person (jealousy) conflict in Macbeth?

There are many instances of jealousy between characters in Macbeth. Macbeth is clearly jealous of King Duncan's power, but he also seems to harbor a similar, if not less explicit envy toward Banquo. Banquo is Macbeth's foil, in that he is honorable; also, in Act IV, the witches conjure eight kings who resemble Banquo ('For the blood-bolter'd Banquo smiles upon me / and points at them for this'). The message is clear: Banquo's heirs will be...

There are many instances of jealousy between characters in Macbeth. Macbeth is clearly jealous of King Duncan's power, but he also seems to harbor a similar, if not less explicit envy toward Banquo. Banquo is Macbeth's foil, in that he is honorable; also, in Act IV, the witches conjure eight kings who resemble Banquo ('For the blood-bolter'd Banquo smiles upon me / and points at them for this'). The message is clear: Banquo's heirs will be powerful kings. In this way, the slain man once again succeeds where Macbeth has failed (that is, in terms of having sons and heirs).

It could also be argued that Lady Macbeth is generally envious of men, who are able to wield power in ways she cannot (see Act II, 'Come, you spirits / unsex me here'). Last, toward the end of the play, Macbeth seems to envy those who are not plagued by a guilty consciousness (see Act I, especially 'Macbeth shall sleep no more').

How does moral education work and why is it valuable in the society?

Moral education in a public school is quite tricky, since so much of morality is religion-based, and religion has no place in public education unless it is being studied as a phenomenon of culture or as part of the underpinnings of literature.  In the United States, there are many religions, and none should be able to dominate in a school for the purposes of moral training.  Just one example shows this quite clearly.  In Judaism,...

Moral education in a public school is quite tricky, since so much of morality is religion-based, and religion has no place in public education unless it is being studied as a phenomenon of culture or as part of the underpinnings of literature.  In the United States, there are many religions, and none should be able to dominate in a school for the purposes of moral training.  Just one example shows this quite clearly.  In Judaism, the prohibition is "Do not do unto others what you do not want done to you," while in Christianity, there is an active prescription to "Do unto others what you would have done unto you." There is a world of difference in these approaches. The former tells you what not to do, leaving the individual to make the choice what to do, while the second tells you what you should do.  Besides, the fact that you want something done to you does not mean that someone else would find that to be a desirable or pleasurable experience. It is as though you were buying a birthday gift for someone because it is what you wanted.  The point is that religions differ in their approaches to morality, sometimes in very subtle ways, and trying to inculcate students in a public school with some sort of watered down compromise is ineffective.  Moral education should be in the home and in the house of worship. 

How can I analyze the following from Eusebius' Life of Constantine Book 3, Chapter V: "For as soon as he was made acquainted with the facts which...

Eusebius has left us one of our very few contemporary accounts of Constantine's interaction with the Christian Church. A little background is needed to analyze this passage. The Emperor Constantine was the first Emperor to recognize the Christian Church, ending its persecution. Scholars debate the extent to which he was actually a convert: he continued to be a religious pluralist. For example, he routinely sacrificed a bull to Jupiter every year in Rome. For him, religion was most likely a practical affair and his recognition of Christianity very probably reflected his realization that it had become an important force in the Empire, especially in Alexandria, which was also a center of learning. At this time, the Roman Empire was increasingly in trouble and increasingly reliant on Egypt as the Empire's breadbasket, the place that supplied much of the wheat the Romans needed. Constantine, as a wise ruler, didn't want the Alexandrian Egyptians rioting over debates about Christian doctrine, and possibly burning the crops in the process.

As we know from other history, at this time the Alexandrian Christians were involved in an intense debate with the Arians over the relationship of Jesus to God. We have to keep in mind that at this time, these debates had the heated importance of debates over gay marriage and abortion in today's Christian church. The debate raging involved whether or not Jesus was the son of God, and hence a "creature" like the rest of us, or co-equal with God. 

Eusebius was an Arian, meaning he believed Jesus was a creature, not "of one substance with the Father." The Alexandrians believed Jesus was of one substance with God. To calm everything down, Constantine called for a council to convene at Nicea and work this out. 

If we are to analyze this passage, we understand that Eusebius is suggesting that Constantine cares deeply about these theological issues and is on the Arian side in this debate about Jesus. Throughout this work, Eusebius heaps the highest praise on the emperor, even alluding to him as a god (which would have been usual for his era). In this passage, he is suggesting that even though Constantine sent the Alexandrians a letter to correct them, they are still persisting in their (to Eusebius) erroneous beliefs. In this version of the story, Constantine is calling a council not to have an open debate about the nature of the trinity (ie, Jesus' relationship to God) but to set the Alexandrians straight and to let them know face-to-face what is what. 

In reality, one council would briefly upset the idea that God and Jesus were of the same substance and this is probably the council Eusebius refers to here. Later councils would definitively decide on the theology we still have: Jesus as of one substance with the father, begotten not made. If we analyze this passage, we see Constantine as a strong decisive leader, an energetic and intelligent ruler, and also one who acts quickly. More importantly, Eusebius puts Constantine strongly on the side of Arians, an interpretation of the emperor's beliefs that other history does not necessarily support. We can see here that Eusebius wrote a highly opinionated, rather than factual, account of church events. 

What are the sound devices and the figures of speech in the poem "Mother to Son"?

Langston Hughes uses a number of sound devices and figures of speech in the poem “Mother to Son.”

The poem is metaphor for life, which Hughes describes as a “crystal stair.” A mother speaks to her son about the difficulties she has endured in her life using the voice and dialect of an African American woman living in Harlem during the Harlem Renaissance.

Upon examining the first stanza, examples of a form of alliteration, consonance,...

Langston Hughes uses a number of sound devices and figures of speech in the poem “Mother to Son.”

The poem is metaphor for life, which Hughes describes as a “crystal stair.” A mother speaks to her son about the difficulties she has endured in her life using the voice and dialect of an African American woman living in Harlem during the Harlem Renaissance.

Upon examining the first stanza, examples of a form of alliteration, consonance, are found in line 1. Hughes repeats the l sound with the words, well, I’ll, and tell. This begins the poem on a lyrical note. The word And is repeated at the beginnings of lines 4, 5, and 6, as the mother emphasizes the tribulations she faced in life. This literary device is called anaphora. Lines 6 and 7 are an example of enjambment where one line flows into the next taking the thought with it.

Again in the second stanza, Hughes uses consonance with the in sound in the words climbin’, landin’s, turnin’, and goin’. The use of anaphora continues with the word and at the beginning of lines 10, 11, and 12.

In both the second and third stanzas, Hughes repeats the mother’s use of the slang contraction I’se instead of using the words I am. This use of repetition adds authenticity to the mother’s character.

Throughout the poem, there are examples of visual imagery that add to the metaphor of the “crystal stair.” The mother profoundly explains how she continues to rise out of her difficult Harlem life. It has not been easy, with stops and starts, and sometimes feeling like there is no hope, but still, she continues to encourage her son to push onward, not to give up in despair.

But all the time

 I'se been a-climbin' on,

 And reachin' landin's,

And turnin' corners,

 And sometimes goin' in the dark

 Where there ain't been no light.

Would 'barked' be an onomatopoeia? I know bark is, but if I use it in the past tense can it still be regarded as onomatopoeic?

Yes, it definitely does. The term onomatopoeia refers to the imitation of sounds in words. Therefore, when we say, 'The dogs bark,' we copy the sound they make by using the word 'bark.' However, when we wish to indicate that they made this sound in the past, we need to follow the conventions of grammar, to make the meaning clear. We therefore say, 'The dogs barked,' to indicate the tense. The fact that the sound...

Yes, it definitely does. The term onomatopoeia refers to the imitation of sounds in words. Therefore, when we say, 'The dogs bark,' we copy the sound they make by using the word 'bark.' However, when we wish to indicate that they made this sound in the past, we need to follow the conventions of grammar, to make the meaning clear. We therefore say, 'The dogs barked,' to indicate the tense. The fact that the sound is represented in the past, does not mean that the word has lost its onomatopoeic value.

Alternatively, one may say, 'The dogs did bark.' This convention, however, is outdated and regarded as poor English. It may also be ambiguous since the use of the auxiliary verb may be seen as being used in the indicative form, to assert that for example, they indeed barked instead of growling.

Interestingly, the word is, figuratively onomatopoeic, since it copies the sound a dog makes, but as a part of speech it is a verb, which indicates what action the dog performed. The one does not automatically cancel the other, since a word can have a dual function and may be understood both as a figure of speech as well as a part of speech. This duality is evident in many onomatopoeic words such as the following examples: the cat miaows, the horse neighed, the birds were chirping, the frog croaks, the crickets are chirping, etc  

In "Thank You, M'am," what is Mrs. Jones' motivation?

Teaching Roger life lessons is Mrs. Jones's motivation.

Mrs. Jones is motivated by wanting to provide instruction to Roger.  When Roger's attempt to rob her fails because he falls flat on his back with his legs in the air, Mrs. Jones prevents any effort at escape by delivering a swift kick "right square in his blue-jeaned sitter." Not mentioning police, she drags him bodily home with her

  After that the woman said, “Pick up my pocketbook, boy, and give it here.” She still held him. But she bent down enough to permit him to stoop and pick up her purse. Then she said, “Now ain’t you ashamed of yourself?”
  Firmly gripped by his shirt front, the boy said, “Yes’m.”
  The woman said, “What did you want to do it for?”
  The boy said, “I didn’t aim to.”
  She said, “You a lie!”
  By that time two or three people passed, stopped, turned to look, and some stood watching.
  “If I turn you loose, will you run?” asked the woman.
  “Yes’m,” said the boy.

When Mrs. Jones takes Roger to her home, she provides instruction on a variety of levels.  She instructs him on the importance of personal hygiene: She makes him wash his face.  Mrs. Jones teaches Roger the lesson that others have suffered from want because of limits on money, and that not everyone wins out over temptation: 

The woman was sitting on the day-bed. After a while she said, "I were young once and I wanted things I could not get." ... The woman said, “Um-hum! You thought I was going to say but, didn’t you? You thought I was going to say, but I didn’t snatch people’s pocketbooks. Well, I wasn’t going to say that.” Pause. Silence. “I have done things, too, which I would not tell you, son—neither tell God, if he didn’t already know." 

Mrs. Jones is motivated by compassion because his actions are not unfamiliar to her: She has at one in her life behaved the way Roger has behaved.  Finally, Mrs. Jones is motivated by wanting Roger to learn before it is too late the ultimate lesson of the need to live a better life.  

When Mrs. Jones leaves Roger in the hallway with the stern warning of "Behave yourself, boy!" it is clear that Roger has learned the lessons Mrs. Jones was motivated to provide, lessons founded in understanding and compassion and mercy. 

  The boy wanted to say something else other than “Thank you, m’am” to Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones, but he couldn’t do so as he turned at the barren stoop and looked back at the large woman in the door. He barely managed to say “Thank you” before she shut the door.

Discuss how one of Huong’s female characters is a means by which the author offers a critique of the male-dominated culture around her. Include a...

In the novel, Que is Hang's mother, a woman who is deeply committed to the Vietnamese Confucian values of her society. Because Vietnam spent almost 1000 years under its Chinese overlords, Confucian ethics permeated every sector of Vietnamese culture during the ancient era. Please refer to the link below to read more about this.

Confucianism holds that five primary relationships are inherently important in any society. These are the relationships between a ruler and his subject; a husband and his wife; a parent and his child; a brother and his sister; and a senior and his junior acquaintance. Confucianism essentially favors a male-dominated and patriarchal societal structure. In such a society, social expectations are rigid and uncompromising. As the older sister to her only brother, Chinh, Que must fulfill her social obligations without complaint. Failure to comply would result in dishonor in the present life as well as for all eternity.

So strong are these Confucian values that Que sacrifices her health and life to meet the needs of her self-absorbed brother. Since Chinh is the only male heir in the family, Que feels that she is responsible for her brother's well-being and happiness. In the story, Chinh, a communist, forbids Que to continue associating with her husband Ton (a schoolteacher); Chinh asserts that there are only two types of respectable people in the world: the proletariat, who he calls the "beacon of the revolution," and the peasants, "faithful ally of the proletariat in its struggle for the construction of socialism." Since the professional class is what Chinh considers the "exploiter" class or "parasites," Ton must be persecuted and held accountable for his "crime" of dismissing communist values.

In the novel, Chinh is responsible for Ton having to flee his village, in fear for his life. During the communist occupation, the land reforms, led by men like Chinh, caused great anguish and suffering to the Vietnamese people. Yet, despite her brother's cruelty, Que persists in placating him and catering to his selfish desires. For example, Chinh demands his share of the profits from the sale of their parents' home. Despite her own poverty, Que makes sure that Chinh has his share, although there is no indication that she has allocated any money for her own share. In the novel, Que and her daughter, Hang, live in extreme poverty.

However, Que doesn't feel that she can readily dismiss her brother's demands. Chinh wants her to work in a factory and essentially position herself so that she can ascend the communist hierarchy. He accuses Que of denying him a right to a promotion and tries to shame her into submission. Accordingly, one of Chinh's colleagues supposedly has a sister who has been a militant since 1945 and who works at the Central Commission for the Women's Union. This colleague, despite his inferiority to Chinh, has supposedly been promoted to region deputy in the last year (all due to his connections to his sister).

Chastened, Que submits to her brother's draconian whims. At one stage, despite being near starvation, she uses her meager income (and money that Aunt Tam has left for Hang's welfare) to purchase lavish banquets for Chinh, his wife, and their two children. Que's groveling capitulation to her brother's will and her extreme preference for her brother's family causes her and her daughter Hang to suffer greatly from want of food. Not content with this state of affairs, Que even turns against Hang for refusing to support her martyred desire to sacrifice their lives on the altar of Confucian ethics.

Que's inability to respect her own right to personal agency or self-realization inspires the author's call (through Hang) for the "reinvention of hope and the rediscovery of human dignity." As the novel ends, Hang's Aunt Tam dies and leaves all her wealth to Hang. Despite this, Hang resolves not to carry on the traditions and societal obligations of her ancestors. She decides to chart her own path through life:

Forgive me my aunt: I'm going to sell this house and leave all this behind. We can honor the wishes of the dead with a few flowers on a grave somewhere. I can't squander my life tending these faded flowers, these shadows, the legacy of past crimes.

What experiences and circumstances from Cofer’s life are echoed in Elena’s life? Explain.

Judith Ortiz Cofer was born in 1952 and moved from Puerto Rico with her family when she was a toddler. Her family actually did live in El Building in Paterson, New Jersey just like her main character, Elena, in her short story "American History." Cofer knows first-hand what life as an immigrant is like. She says that her father encountered many types of discrimination, but that finding a place where other Puerto Ricans lived also...

Judith Ortiz Cofer was born in 1952 and moved from Puerto Rico with her family when she was a toddler. Her family actually did live in El Building in Paterson, New Jersey just like her main character, Elena, in her short story "American History." Cofer knows first-hand what life as an immigrant is like. She says that her father encountered many types of discrimination, but that finding a place where other Puerto Ricans lived also helped him to keep on going.

El Building itself, Cofer says, had very thin walls and she could hear her neighbors arguing in Spanish, smell their rice and red kidney beans cooking, and hear their salsa music blasting down the hallways and out through the windows. Many of these same descriptions are in the story as well:

"El Building was like a monstrous jukebox, blasting out salsas from open windows as the residents, mostly new immigrants just up from the island, tried to drown out whatever they were currently enduring with loud music" (Lines 8-10).

The lifestyle and housing were not rich, but they were rich in culture and found strength as a community. The social and political circumstances of the time made it difficult to deal with prejudiced people when they encountered them for Cofer's family as well as Elena's. Cofer says that she doesn't consider herself a political writer, but that her characters experienced those realities. Of "American History" Cofer says the following:

"The story doesn't end with a speech on prejudice but with the heartbreak of a girl still unable to comprehend that it all comes together and affects her life" (Elements of Literature, Third Course, 572).

In "The Death of the Moth," what does Woolf see in the moth fluttering at the window?

In "The Death of the Moth," Woolf sees an ordinary day moth fluttering at her window. Despite the fact that it is a completely ordinary creature, the moth arrests Woolf's attention. He flies from one corner of the window pane to the other with an intensity that rivets her. In fact, he seems to represent life itself. As Woolf writes:

It was as if someone had taken a tiny bead of pure life and decking...

In "The Death of the Moth," Woolf sees an ordinary day moth fluttering at her window. Despite the fact that it is a completely ordinary creature, the moth arrests Woolf's attention. He flies from one corner of the window pane to the other with an intensity that rivets her. In fact, he seems to represent life itself. As Woolf writes:

It was as if someone had taken a tiny bead of pure life and decking it as lightly as possible with down and feathers, had set it dancing and zig-zagging to show us the true nature of life. 

The moth reminds Woolf that life, no matter how insignificant, matters. As Woolf watches the moth struggle against its impending death, she recognizes it as a representation, stripped bare, of the fundamental struggle for existence that human beings share. No matter how ordinary, insignificant or forgotten our existence might be, a force throbs in us while we are living, just as in the moth. 

Woolf admires the moth's monumental struggle to stay alive. It prevails for a moment, and Woolf celebrates its "minute ... triumph" over death. In the end, however, the moth dies, and Woolf recognizes that death will take us all. At the same time, it is the struggle to stay alive, no matter how briefly, and to live life to its fullest, even if that only involves flying from one end of a windowpane to another, that is important. Woolf feels an affinity with the moth, for the moth is all of us: "He was little or nothing but life."

How is hypocrisy shown in Arthur Miller's The Crucible?

Hypocrisy is prevalent throughout Arthur Miller's play about the Salem witch trials of 1692--events he depicts in his effort at drawing a parallel with the anti-communist "Red Scare" of which he would become a victim. In preparing the script for The Crucible, Miller did copious research into the real-life events portrayed in his play, and the theme of hypocrisy stood out as particularly pervasive among the Puritan community involved. An early indication of Miller's intent to illuminate that hypocrisy is in the background material he provides on the character of John Proctor, whose illicit extra-marital affair with the much younger Abigail is instrumental in precipitating the tragic chain of events that culminated in the hanging of 20 innocent people:

"Proctor was a farmer in his middle thirties, He need not have been a partisan of any faction in the town, but there is evidence to suggest that he had a sharp and biting way with hypocrites. He was the kind of man - powerful of body, even-tempered, and not easily led - who cannot refuse support to partisans with-out drawing their deepest resentment."

Note the descriptive wording Miller employs in introducing Proctor: “he had a sharp and biting way with hypocrites.” That the presumably happily-married John Proctor would be revealed as every bit as hypocritical as any within his community by virtue of the contrast of his public demeanor with his sexual relationship with 17-year-old Abigail is a very glaring example of the hypocrisy the playwright sought to expose.

The Reverend Parris is another blatantly hypocritical character in The Crucible. As a reverend ministering to a Puritan community, he should be morally above reproach, but from the play’s opening scene, it is clear that Parris will be part of the problem rather than part of the solution. He will be revealed as a petty, frightened individual unable to contain the damage his own paranoia will inflict on those around him—and we’re not even talking here about his ownership of a slave, Tituba, whom he brought back from Barbados. Early in the opening scene, Parris is depicted praying for the recovery of his daughter Betty, apparently taken ill after being observed engaging in strange activity with his niece Abigail and with Tituba. Alarmed at the possibility that the citizens of his town will suspect his daughter of practicing witchcraft, Parris reveals his true character in the following comment, in which he threatens Abigail for her role in the suspicious events:

Parris: Now look you, child, your punishment will come in its time. But if you trafficked with spirits in the forest I must know it now, for surely my enemies will, and they will ruin me with it.

Note, again, the words Miller has emanate from the mind of this less-than-respectable minister. This ‘man of God’ is more concerned with his reputation and with whatever political infighting surrounds him than in the truth. Now, look at the character of Ann Putnam, described by the playwright as “a twisted soul of forty-five, a death-ridden woman, haunted by dreams.” With this introduction of another citizen of this community, the actors and directors, and readers of Miller’s script, know that Ann Putnam will play a prominent role in the tragic events to come. Ann’s bitterness at the repeated deaths of her children and her jealousy of Rebecca Nurse, who has 11 children and 26 grandchildren. As the Putnams and Rebecca joust over the condition of the incapacitated Ruth:

Mrs. Putnam, with a growing edge of sarcasm: But I must! You think it God’s work you should never lose a child, nor grand-child either, and I bury all but one? There are wheels within wheels in this village, and fires within fires!

Ann Putnam’s bitterness towards Rebecca, an elderly woman in her seventies, provides another example of the hypocrisy endemic among this community. Ann’s accusations against Rebecca, who Miller describes as enjoying “the high opinion of most people,” stands in stark contrast to the love-thy-neighbor mentality that one would expect from a community built around fealty to the word of God.

The Crucible was Miller’s allegory about the communist witch-hunts sweeping America during the early 1950s, and that would find their personification in Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy. Miller took aim at the hypocrisy of the holier-than-thou mentality that led to unnecessary deaths in 1692 and to many damaged lives in the 1950s.

What is being recalled in the poem "Piano" by D. H. Lawrence?

In this poem, the speaker recalls his childhood. In the present time, the speaker is listening to a singer accompanied by piano music. In the present moment, he is an adult man. The song evokes memories of his childhood because it reminds him of his mother singing at the piano. He is mentally transported back to his experiences as a child sitting under the piano while his mother (presumably) played and sang. 

Note that in...

In this poem, the speaker recalls his childhood. In the present time, the speaker is listening to a singer accompanied by piano music. In the present moment, he is an adult man. The song evokes memories of his childhood because it reminds him of his mother singing at the piano. He is mentally transported back to his experiences as a child sitting under the piano while his mother (presumably) played and sang. 

Note that in the second stanza, he is transported to this memory in spite of himself. As a rational adult, he seems to resist such a romantic, sentimentalized longing for childhood. As the speaker moves into the third stanza, he says that by this time, the song of the present time is not so relevant anymore. And this is because he has been fully transported (emotionally, mentally) back to his childhood. His emotions have overrun and conquered his adult, rational mind and sent him back to the past. That's why he says his "manhood is cast . . . " Initially, he thinks it is irrational to be conjured to this overly sentimental memory, but the emotion is too much and overrides this resistance: 

The glamour

Of childish days is upon me, my manhood is cast

Down in the flood of remembrance, I weep like a child for the past. 

Describe Annie Sullivan. What kind of a young woman was she? Cite three examples from the play to support your views.

Annie Sullivan is a determined woman.  She does not give up, even when her efforts do not work right away.  She is patient, and does not get easily frustrated.  She also suffers from a lingering sadness due to her unpleasant childhood memories.

Annie's determination is revealed in Act II of "The Miracle Worker."  Helen tries to take food off of Annie's plate with her hands.  Annie refuses to let the child do this.  Helen's family...

Annie Sullivan is a determined woman.  She does not give up, even when her efforts do not work right away.  She is patient, and does not get easily frustrated.  She also suffers from a lingering sadness due to her unpleasant childhood memories.

Annie's determination is revealed in Act II of "The Miracle Worker."  Helen tries to take food off of Annie's plate with her hands.  Annie refuses to let the child do this.  Helen's family had let her do this every day for years.  Despite protests from Helen's parents, Annie will not let Helen touch her food.  Each time Helen reaches to grab food off Annie's plate, the woman physically stops her.  Helen becomes upset, but this does not phase Annie.  She is determined that Helen's bad manners will stop that day.  Soon Annie attempts to have Helen eat with a spoon instead of her hands.  Annie places the spoon in her hand and Helen tosses it away.  This happens many times.  Annie's determination will not let her give up.  After many attempts, "Annie, with Helen's hand, takes up another spoonful and shoves it into her open mouth. Helen swallows involuntarily."  The battle is still not over, but progress has been made.

Patience is another quality that Annie possesses.  She spells words into Helen's hand over and over again, but the child does not understand.  Annie displays patience.  She does not get angry at Helen for not understanding.  Instead, she patiently tries again.  She does this until Helen learns that each word means something.

Annie is a woman who suffers from sadness.  She had been sent to an almshouse with her brother as a child.  She cared for him as best she could, but he still became sick.  He eventually died.  Throughout the play, Annie has flashbacks to conversations with her brother.  These memories haunt her.

In the play The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, how does fire work as a symbol?

Fire in The Crucible symbolizes sinfulness, and fire's ability to quickly become out of control is mirrored by the way sin seems to spread and destroy everyone and everything in the town.

After all, the trials in this play begin with two small fires, one literal and one figurative.  Reverend Parris mentions fire in Act One when he describes seeing "Tituba waving her arms over the fire" when he found the girls dancing in the forest.  "She were swaying like a dumb beast over that fire!"  This small fire was at the center of the circle when the girls were conjuring spirits and Abigail drank the charm to kill Elizabeth Proctor.  Calling spirits back from the dead and attempting to murder an innocent woman were activities that their community would certainly have considered to be sinful.  Once Reverend Hale finds out about their activities, he immediately believes the Devil to have infiltrated Salem via the slave, Tituba.  He elicits a confession from her, and when she accuses two women in the town as being in league with the Devil, the girls join in and immediately accuse nine more.

Then, when Abigail and John are speaking alone in Parris' house, she says to him, "I have a sense for heat, John, and yours has drawn me to my window, and I have seen you looking up, burning in your loneliness."  The fire between them is metaphorical, but it is sinful because of John's married status.  He has broken one of the Ten Commandments, and so this "fire" between Abigail and himself is certainly representative of that sin.  Because of this "fire," Abigail accuses Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft in order to get rid of her, and the sin spreads further and begins to get more unpredictable and out of control.

When Mrs. Putnam grows upset with Rebecca Nurse, insisting that witchcraft must be responsible for the deaths of her seven babies, she says, "There are wheels within wheels in this village, and fires within fires!"  Because enough people are willing to share this belief, the "fire" spreads in Salem as people begin to accuse their neighbors, land-owners, and outcasts alike, all selfishly motivated.

Finally, after Mary Warren turns on Proctor at the end of Act Three, and Danforth accuses him of being in league with the Devil, Proctor says, "A fire, a fire is burning!  I hear the boot of Lucifer, I see his filthy face!  And it is my face, and yours, Danforth!  For them that quail to bring men out of ignorance as I have quailed, and as you quail now when you know in all your black hearts that this be fraud -- God damns our kind especially, and we will burn, we will burn together!"  The "fire," i.e. sin, has now spread so much that it has gotten out of control and will consume them all.  Abigail never meant for John to be accused; she loves him.  But the sin has spread so far and so uncontrollably that she can no longer determine where it reaches.  Proctor says, now, that he and Danforth are also responsible for the spread of this "fire because they had the power to stop it and didn't.  He feels that God will mete out a special punishment for them.

How did the light bulb change the world in terms of geography?

The light bulb changed world geography because it allowed predominately agrarian societies to become increasingly industrial. Prior to the development of the light bulb, life revolved around the rising and setting of the sun for the completion of work. Farmers rose with the sun to begin their work, and their workday ended when the sun set. Society used the limited power of candles and oil lamps for evening tasks.  With the advent of reliable light...

The light bulb changed world geography because it allowed predominately agrarian societies to become increasingly industrial. Prior to the development of the light bulb, life revolved around the rising and setting of the sun for the completion of work. Farmers rose with the sun to begin their work, and their workday ended when the sun set. Society used the limited power of candles and oil lamps for evening tasks.  With the advent of reliable light sources, retail and industrial society could operate long after the sun set. Once reliable power grids were established, cities grew and operated around the clock thus changing the landscape and work environment. Rural communities often took longer to change because the power sources for electrical lighting were not established as quickly. People looking to capitalize economically, moved closer to urban areas which became more and more congested but provided for growth of new industries and retail establishments. Factories were able to extend work hours, which impacted society both positively and negatively. Community housing was established for those who worked in the non-stop mills and other industrial establishments. The world no longer depended on the rising and setting of the sun to determine when daily work would occur.

The idea of people as "trash" is discussed throughout the novel. Develop a definition of what it is to be "trash," and explain your definition...

"White trash" is a slang term that evolved in the South for the stereotypical character who is poor, lazy, ignorant, shiftless, of low intelligence and usually dirty and often inbred. Even when presented with opportunities to improve their conditions, few take advantage of them as they are unmotivated.  If they do try to improve in some way, they often regress and return to their habitual conditions. Ethical behavior is usually lacking in such people, as well.

One novel that contains the quintessential "white trash" is Erskine Caldwell's Tobacco Road. In this novel about a Georgia sharecropper, whose land is played out, the daughters leave for Augusta, which is nearby in order to work in factories and to get away from their incestual father. But, he remains, although he is starving because he loves his land and remembers better days. When he does have an opportunity to make some money with the thirty-nine-year old woman that marries his sixteen year-old son, he and the others mishandle themselves and everything else and get nowhere; in fact, they make their lives worse. 

Similarly, in To Kill a Mockingbird the Ewells are a family in which poverty, drunkenness, incest, indolence, meanness, laziness, and uncleanliness are pronounced. The father, Bob Ewell, is a shiftless man who squanders his welfare check on alcohol, and the children hunt through garbage at the dump for sustenance; they do not try to do chores for anyone for food or pay, either.
Not only is Bob Ewell ignorant, but he is disagreeable and odious in his neglect for his children as well as his cruelty to them, and his disrespect for the law and attitude toward African-Americans, the only people over whom he can feel superior. Moreover, because blacks are the only ones over whom he can feel better, Ewell accuses the kind Tom Robinson of raping and beating Mayella when he himself has beaten her severely after finding that she has invited Tom inside their shack.

Both he and his children have hateful attitudes toward anyone in authority, as, perhaps, a defense mechanism. While he and Mayella both are on the witness stand, they are impolite and confrontational toward Atticus and Mr. Gilmer both. When, for instance, Mr. Gilmer asks Ewell if he is the father of Mayella, he answers impertinently, "Well, if I ain't I can't do nothing about it now, her ma's dead," and Judge Taylor interrupts to correct Ewell on his tone. Throughout his testimony, Ewell is hostile, using inappropriate language and he displays his ignorance when he does not know the meaning of ambidextrous.
When Mayella is on the witness stand, she lies about Tom's actions, from dread of her father, as well as fear from society as she has broken an unwritten law in the South. Instead of showing any shame, she tries to disguise her guilt by antipathy toward Atticus, which is not even reasonable, as she tells Judge Taylor,

"Long's he keeps on callin' me ma'am an sain' Miss Mayella. I don't hafta take his sass, I ain't called upon to take it."

Much like his father, Ewell's son, Buress, who is in Scout's class at school is filthy and lice ridden, yet he presumes to speak with utter disrespect to Miss Caroline: "I done done my time for this year." When Miss Caroline tells Burris to remain and sit down, he challenges her, "You try and make me, missus."

In the book Lyddie what is Patterson personifying?

Lyddie personifies factory girls and their problems.

In the larger sense, Lyddie is a symbol.  She is representing all of the factory girls who lived in the 1800’s and the struggles they went through.  She puts a human face on the problem.

Lyddie represents the pioneer spirit.  She is fiercely independent, intelligent, and loyal.  When she becomes a victim of circumstances outside of her control, she never pities herself.   She just does her best to...

Lyddie personifies factory girls and their problems.

In the larger sense, Lyddie is a symbol.  She is representing all of the factory girls who lived in the 1800’s and the struggles they went through.  She puts a human face on the problem.

Lyddie represents the pioneer spirit.  She is fiercely independent, intelligent, and loyal.  When she becomes a victim of circumstances outside of her control, she never pities herself.   She just does her best to do what she can for her family.  Many factory girls were in the same position.  No one would work in a factory if she didn’t have to.

Conditions in the factory were deplorable.  It was noisy, and often unsafe.  Disease and injury were common.  Both happen to Lyddie.  She gets injured rethreading a shuttle on a weaving machine.

Before she could think she was on the floor, blood pouring through the hair near her right temple . . . the shuttle, the blasted shuttle. (Ch. 13)

Lyddie also gets incredibly sick later on, and worries about losing her job from missing work.  The doctor is another example of dangers that faced factory girls.  He is clearly a predator.  He gets her friend Diana pregnant, and tries to kiss Lyddie when she collapses from fever.

Paterson also demonstrates what factory girls tried to do to make conditions better.  Lyddie refuses to sign a petition for worker’s rights at first, because she does not want to stir up trouble.  Betsy explains how the girls were practically treated like slaves.

“…When I started in the spinning room, I could do a thirteen‐hour day and to spare. But in those days I had a hundred thirty spindles to tend. Now I've twice that many at a speed that would make the devil curse. I'm worn out, Amelia. We're all worn out." (Ch. 12)

The factory system clearly takes advantage of the girls.  They must all be single, and live in the factory boarding house.  They work long hours in deplorable conditions, and are not allowed to protest.  As Betsy demonstrates, they are constantly forced to work harder and faster until it is no longer safe.

Although modern factory workers have rights in this country, and safety laws prevent dangerous working conditions, the problem has not gone away.  Many factories still operate illegally in secret, often relying on immigrants as their workforce.  In other countries, especially those who specialize in cheap labor, dangerous factory conditions are still a part of life.