Blog: February 2014

Friday, February 28, 2014

How does Macbeth come to be Thane of Cawdor in Shakespeare's Macbeth?

The Thane of Cawdor is a traitor and Macbeth is promoted to his title.

Macbeth distinguishes himself in battle, and then hears the prophecies of the three witches. One of these is that he will be Thane of Cawdor. The other two prophecies are that he will be king, and that Banqo’s sons will be king. When Macbeth appears at Duncan’s castle, Ross addresses him with his new title. That is how he finds out...

The Thane of Cawdor is a traitor and Macbeth is promoted to his title.

MACBETH

The thane of Cawdor lives: why do you dress me
In borrow'd robes?

ANGUS

Who was the thane lives yet;
But under heavy judgment bears that life
Which he deserves to lose. … (Act 1, Scene 3)

Macbeth doesn’t seem to be too upset that the current Thane of Cawdor has confessed to being a traitor. He is more interested in the fact that one of the witches’ prophecies came true. If one came true, can the others be far behind?

Ever since the witches planted this seed in his head, Macbeth cannot be satisfied. He wants to be king, because he has been told that he will be king. When Duncan announces that his son will be his successor, which in most circles would be expected, Macbeth is upset. He wants all of the witches prophecies to come true, or at least those that relate to him. He doesn't want Banquo's sons to be king!

Is guilt more intense if the wrongdoing is undiscovered? Explain.

Absolutely, I think one's guilt is much worse if one's wrongdoing is never discovered. Clearly, the murder of Fortunato has been weighing on Montresor's conscience heavily because it has been around fifty years since he abandoned his nemesis inside the crypt's wall, and yet the memory is occupying his last moments on earth.

It appears, from the first and last lines of the story that Montresor is an old man, on his deathbed, and he's...

It appears, from the first and last lines of the story that Montresor is an old man, on his deathbed, and he's making his last confession. He supposes that the person to whom he speaks "know[s] the nature of [his] soul" well, and he says, at the end of the story, that for "half of a century no mortal has disturbed [Fortunato's bones]." Moreover, Montresor employs hyperbole (overstatement) in the story's first line in order to emphasize how wronged he had been by Fortunato, as if to justify the murder. He says, "The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge." It is improbable the Fortunato had actually harmed Montresor to any significant degree, but it certainly felt as though he had to Montresor. In offering this exaggeration, it appears that Montresor is attempting to reassure himself that his crime was justified (which is precisely what someone who has an unwanted guilty conscience might do).

Furthermore, in the final paragraph, Montresor says that after he'd begun to wall Fortunato in, "[his] heart grew sick; it was the dampness of the catacombs that made it so." It seems unlikely that the humidity in the crypt would cause his heart to pain him; it might cause him to become short of breath but why would it affect a part of the body so much associated with the soul, with morality and feeling? He seems to be offering, now, an excuse for why it felt so bad because he doesn't want to admit that it was guilt. If Fortunato truly deserved what he got, as Montresor seems to want to believe (and as he seems to want his auditor to believe as well), then there'd be no reason to feel guilt. And yet, it does seem a lot like guilt. Had his crime been discovered, it would have been out in the open, and he would have been punished for it. However, this way, having kept the secret for half a century, has clearly taken a toll on him: he is still so concerned with trying to justify his actions so that he does not have to come to grips with the weight of his own guilt. Yes, secret sin is far worse than public.

How does the New Deal relate to the New Deal era.

The New Deal is related to the New Deal Era. The New Deal Era is the time period when the New Deal programs were created and put into effect. Therefore, the New Deal Era and the New Deal are closely connected.

The New Deal Era began when Franklin D. Roosevelt became President in early 1933. He launched a series of programs designed to provide relief for the American people, recovery for the American economy, and...

The relief programs were designed to get people working again. Many jobs were created in the construction field as a result of the Civil Works Administration and the Public Works Administration. Relief was also provided to homeowners and those who owned farms as they were helped with mortgages.

Recovery programs were designed to get the economy up and running again. For example, the National Industrial Recovery Act had businesses, workers, and the government working together. They agreed to a series of rules for wages, prices, and hours of work.

The reform programs were designed to prevent future depressions from happening again. The Glass-Steagall Act created insurance for savings accounts. It also prevented commercial banks from speculating in the stock market. The Securities Act created the Securities and Exchange Commission to prevent fraud.

These programs and many more were developed as part of the New Deal during the New Deal Era. They were designed to help people during the Great Depression and to try to prevent the causes that led to the Great Depression from happening again.

List four benefits offered from "A Modest Proposal."

In Swift's "A Modest Proposal," the narrator offers the following four benefits for his plan of having the poor fatten and sell their babies as food:

1. It will bring in money to impoverished households. The narrator calculates the poor will make eight shillings in profit on each baby sold.

2. It will offer the tables of the rich a tender delicacy.

3. It will reduce wife abuse, as men will not want to damage...

In Swift's "A Modest Proposal," the narrator offers the following four benefits for his plan of having the poor fatten and sell their babies as food:

1. It will bring in money to impoverished households. The narrator calculates the poor will make eight shillings in profit on each baby sold.

2. It will offer the tables of the rich a tender delicacy.

3. It will reduce wife abuse, as men will not want to damage pregnant women or women who are nursing and fattening their babies for sale.

4. As large numbers of these babies are eaten, it will reduce the number of Catholics in Ireland, a concern to the Protestant ruling class, which feared the "papists."

The benefits don't stop at four for this exuberant but clueless proposer: the plan will reduce abortions and infanticide, increase Ireland's overall wealth, and enterprising women will turn their babies' skins into gloves to sell to the rich, among other "positives" that the narrator suggests.

What action best demonstrates Lady Macbeth’s weakness in Act V?

By Act V, Lady Macbeth has completely fallen apart psychologically. She is a shell of the strong (if profoundly wicked) woman portrayed earlier in the play. Wracked by guilt, she sleepwalks, attempting to wash away imagined bloodstains from her hands, exclaiming "Out, damned spot!" Interestingly, her collapse into madness from guilt parallels her husband's development into a murderous monster. Earlier in the play, Macbeth was morally conflicted about the murder of King Duncan, and it was Lady Macbeth who drove him to commit the deed that unleashed the string of killings. By this point in the play, Macbeth has become a pitiless tyrant, plotting the murder of any who he perceives to threaten his security as king. His wife is the one torn apart by remorse for the murders they have committed, as we see when she asks herself, "will these hands ne'er be clean?" The "out, damned spot" scene (Act V, Scene 1) is when we see Lady Macbeth at her lowest, and Macbeth discovers before his climactic battle with the forces of Malcolm and Macduff that his shattered wife has taken her own life.

Thursday, February 27, 2014

In Irene Hunt's Across Five Aprils, does Bill fight for the South or for the North?

Early in Across Five Aprils, Irene Hunt's novel of a family struggling to survive the divisions within families as well as across the nation during the American Civil War, there are hints of a reticence regarding one of the novel’s main protagonist's brother. The first such hint that Bill Creighton harbors views at variance with those of the rest of his family occurs in the book’s opening chapter when oldest brother John states that he wants to “see them city newspapers”, suggesting his interest in the dominant story of the time, the war between North and South:

"I want to see them city newspapers––” he stopped as he saw Nancy’s anxious eyes on his face. He had tried to avoid talk of war as much as possible lately; the two younger boys were too eager for it, the womenfolk too ready to cry about it. And Bill, for the first time that John could remember, had reservations about a subject and seemed unwilling to discuss it with his brother. They ate in silence after that, but there was tension in the air.”

As readers of Hunt’s novel become aware, Bill, alone among his siblings and within the community in which the Creighton clan lives, has decided that his heart belongs with the Confederacy. In other words, Bill joins the Confederate Army of the South, while his community is aligned with the pro-Union forces of the North. For a novel told primarily from the vantage point of Jethro, the youngest of the Creighton brothers, Bill’s decision to join the Confederacy will be fraught with conflict. As Hunt’s narrator notes, “Jethro loved Bill far and away beyond his other brothers”, and for Bill to ally himself with the Confederacy will not only divide Bill from his family, but will create a nightmare for the family within the community. Bill’s decision, however, is not a reflection of his views on slavery, but rather on the issue of economic inequality between North and South. In one key passage, Bill states the following:

“Slavery, I hate. But it is with us, and them that should suffer fer the evil that they brought to our shores air long dead. What I want to answer in this year of 1861 is this, John: does the trouble over slavery come because men’s hearts is purer above the Mason-Dixon line? Or does slavery throw a shadder over greed and keep that greed from show’ up quite so bare and ugly?”

Bill is deeply conflicted about the direction in which the nation is headed and about the hypocrisies that he sees among Northerners critical of the culture of the South. It takes him time and much contemplation before he comes down on the side of the South, but he does, and it will cause his family no small amount of grief. For Bill, however, the policies pursued by rich Northern factory owners are no more morally righteous than is the South’s reliance on slavery as a source of cheap labor.

In the short story,"The Most Dangerous Game," Rainsford uses three techniques in his struggle against Zaroff. What are they?

One of the reasons Zaroff feels that Rainsford is a worthy opponent is because Rainsford has traveled around the world and hunted in every country. He is considered an expert on the subject of hunting. The knowledge he gained on these trips helps him to fight Zaroff. Zaroff also has traveled extensively in his pursuit of exciting game. His knowledge will also be tested. Zaroff is now hunting an animal that can reason and has knowledge of how he hunts.

First, Rainsford builds a Malay mancatcher. Rainsford made it from a huge dead tree that was leaning on a smaller, living one. When Zaroff‘s foot touches one of the smaller boughs, he recognizes the trap. He jumps back quickly just as the large dead tree comes crashing down. It injures his shoulder, but he is still alive and still willing to hunt. He yells to Rainsford,

“Not many men know how to make a Malay mancatcher. Luckily for me I, too, have hunted in Malacca. You are proving interesting, Mr. Rainsford.” (pg 8)

Having failed with that technique, Rainsford heads further into the island only to end up in the swamp. Zaroff warned him about at this end of the island. His foot gets caught in the quicksand, but he is able to extricate it. He backs up about a dozen feet from the quicksand and begins to dig a Burmese tiger pit. When the hole he is digging is above his shoulders, he climbs out. He places pointed stakes in the bottom with the points sticking up. Then he weaves a cover for the pit of weeds and branches so that it can not be seen. When Zaroff comes in pursuit, Rainsford hides. The technique works. Rainsford hears a horrible scream. He thinks he has killed the general, but he has only killed one of the general’s best hunting dogs. Now Zaroff says,

“Again you score, I think, Mr. Rainsford, I’ll see what you can do against the whole pack…..Thank you for a most amusing evening.”(pg 9)

Rainsford now heads away from the swamp. He is going to try a trick he learned in Uganda. He found a young, supple tree and fastened his hunting knife to it with the blade pointing down the trail. He tied the tree back so that it would spring forward when tripped. He then runs away as quickly as possible. He can hear the baying of the hounds as they search for him. Suddenly, the baying stops. Rainsford, again, thinks he has killed Zaroff, but, to his surprise, Zaroff is still standing. The trick killed Ivan. This time Zaroff continues the hunt.

My copy of the story comes off the internet. Therefore, my pages may not coincide with your story, but they should be close.

Discuss the concept of bullying, prejudice or class-based discrimination in chapter one of Lord of the Flies

While we often think of bullying as being physical attacks on a person, this is not the only way to bully a person. Bullying can take the form of a physical attack, a verbal attack, or intentionally excluding someone from a group. In chapter one of Lord of the Flies, Jack exhibits bullying behavior towards Piggy. When the boys all assemble on the beach when they hear Ralph blow the conch, they are trying to establish who is present and who is in charge. When Piggy tries to get the names of the children who have arrived to the assembly, Jack interrupts, '“You’re talking too much,” said Jack Merridew. “Shut up, Fatty."' This is when Ralph corrects Jack and tells him that his real name is Piggy. Ralph's motivation can be interpreted to be purely benevolent; an attempt to protect Piggy. However, his motivation could also be interpreted malevolently as an attempt to impress Jack by also degrading Piggy. With the latter interpretation, Piggy is a victim of bullying from not just Jack, but Ralph as well.

One defining feature of bullying is that it involves a "real or perceived power imbalance" (stopbulying.gov). This is definitely the case with Piggy. Due to his lack of physical strength, his appearance, and his self-proclaimed weaknesses of poor vision and asthma, the boys have identified him as the weakest boy in the group and that puts them in a superior position to him. This power imbalance is what changes the boys' teasing from good-natured to bullying.

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Distinguish between ATP, ADP, and AMP.

ATP, ADP, and AMP differ in the number of phosphates and the amount of energy obtained by each compound.

ATP stands for adenosine triphosphate. ADP stands for adenosine diphosphate. AMP stands for adenosine monophosphate. Therefore, one difference between ATP, ADP, and AMP is the number of phosphates associated with each compound.

Another differences between the three molecules is the amount of energy stored within each molecule. Simply put, the more phosphates, the more energy stored. Thus,...

ATP, ADP, and AMP differ in the number of phosphates and the amount of energy obtained by each compound.

Another differences between the three molecules is the amount of energy stored within each molecule. Simply put, the more phosphates, the more energy stored. Thus, ATP has the most stored energy and AMP has the least amount of stored energy.

ATP is the main energy source for most cellular functions. ATP is created during cellular respiration in the mitochondria of eukaryotic cells. During cellular respiration, the sugar called glucose (C6H12O6) and oxygen gas (O2) is converted into carbon dioxide gas (CO2), water (H2O), and ATP.

The energy within ATP is released in order to perform everyday cellular functions as phosphates are removed.

What's Roger's role in chapter 11 of Lord Of The Flies?

Roger acted as a sentinel at the Castle Rock where Jack and his tribe had set up a fort. It was his job to sound the alarm when Ralph or any of the others approached. His duty was made clear when Jack at one point asked him why he wasn't on watch. He explained that he had just come down, but did not complete his sentence.

Roger was one of the older boys and Jack's right hand. He therefore could be deemed second in command. He was one of the choirboys and was a member of Jack's hunters. Throughout the novel, he is painted as a dangerous character, one with an almost instinctive leaning towards evil. He was secretive and seemed not to like attention as illustrated in the following extract:

There was a slight, furtive boy whom no one knew, who kept to himself with an inner intensity of avoidance and secrecy. He muttered that his name was Roger and was silent again.

Golding consistently paints him as a sinister character who is quite cynical as in the following examples:

The dark boy, Roger, stirred at last and spoke up.

Roger took the conch and looked round at them gloomily. “I’ve been watching the sea. There hasn’t been the trace of a ship. Perhaps we’ll never be rescued.”

Roger is also deliberately destructive and seems to enjoy scaring and even hurting others. He intentionally destroys the littluns castles and later throws stones at Henry whilst hiding from view.

He was not noticeably darker than when he had dropped in, but the shock of black hair, down his nape and low on his forehead, seemed to suit his gloomy face and what had seemed at first an unsociable remoteness into something forbidding.

When he and Jack capture a pig, it is Roger who seems to relish the idea of inflicting pain on the helpless creature:

Roger found a lodgment for his point and began to push till he was leaning with his whole weight. The spear moved forward inch by inch and the terrified squealing became a high pitched scream.

It is therefore hardly surprising that he is responsible for Piggy's horrific death. Roger had intentionally pushed on a lever to dislodge a large rock which bounded down, first shattering the conch and then knocking Piggy over the ledge, hurtling him forty feet down to his demise.

"Some believe that Midsummer has strong female characters who make their own decisions and stand up for themselves. Others believe that the play...

The play does not merely reinforce stereotypes. It shows how women can break through stereotypes. I would caution, however, against the false dichotomy of either so-called strong females characters or a sexist narrative. Women in real life are neither strong nor weak in every cause, just as men in real life are neither strong nor weak. Humans have both good and bad qualities and there are some people who are stronger than others. Shakespeare presents a realistic cast of characters with a different array of realistic strengths and weaknesses. I would argue this is actually more of a break from convention than simply preventing a series of women who confirm to the strong/weak binary.

The fairy queen, for instance, is generally a very strong character. She is in a position of power and she disobeys her husband. She becomes a fool, however, when the love spell enamors her with Bottom. This is not a reinforcement of stereotypes. She is still a powerful and strong woman. Shakespeare is merely demonstrating how strong people are often foolish in the face of love, even when that love that is fading and superficial. This is realistic of human beings, whether these humans are male or female. Note that the male characters of the play are also swayed by the spell. No character is immune from the charms of love.

Shakespeare presents many kinds of women: Helena, who has a stereotypical pining for her lover, Titania, a powerful woman in conflict with her husband, Hippolyta, a strong, free woman in love with a man of order, etc... This depiction of women as human beings, with the same flaws and strength as men, is the very sort of force that breaks stereotypes in literature. Strong female characters alone are often as foolish as weak characters alone; both demonstrate that women exist on a binary, unlike the more complex male characters. Complexity breaks convention, not strength.

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

In "The Cop and the Anthem," what is a metaphor? What do these words stand for: "sailing away on a ship," "southern skies"?

The words about "sailing away," and "southern skies" are contained in an early paragraph of the story.

The hibernatorial ambitions of Soapy were not of the highest. In them there were no considerations of Mediterranean cruises, of soporific Southern skies drifting in the Vesuvian Bay.

These are not metaphors. They are allusions to one kind of advertising that would be commonly seen at this time of year in newspapers, magazines, and on travel posters. O....

The words about "sailing away," and "southern skies" are contained in an early paragraph of the story.

The hibernatorial ambitions of Soapy were not of the highest. In them there were no considerations of Mediterranean cruises, of soporific Southern skies drifting in the Vesuvian Bay.

These are not metaphors. They are allusions to one kind of advertising that would be commonly seen at this time of year in newspapers, magazines, and on travel posters. O. Henry took it for granted that his readers would be familiar with the pictures and copy intended to arouse a desire to get away from the cold northern cities and relax in the southern sunlight. Soapy himself would have seen many such ads because he collected piles of newspapers that others had read and discarded. But such "hibernatorial ambitions" were naturally out of the question for a homeless man like Soapy, who slept on a park bench blanketed with piles of newspapers containing such tempting words and pictures.

There are many metaphors in "The Cop and the Anthem." The second paragraph of O. Henry's story is laden with fanciful metaphors.

A dead leaf fell in Soapy's lap. That was Jack Frost's card. Jack is kind to the regular denizens of Madison Square, and gives fair warning of his annual call. At the corners of four streets he hands his pasteboard to the North Wind, footman of the mansion of All Outdoors, so that the inhabitants thereof may make ready.

O. Henry is comparing a dead leaf to Jack Frost's calling card without using "like" or "as." Jack Frost is a mythical figure who flies about painting the leaves in the fall and early winter.

What do Macbeth and Banquo have to fight against?

At the beginning of the play, Macbeth and Banquo are fighting against the forces of the rebel, Macdonwald, who has betrayed king and country to mount an attack on Scotland. The captain who tells Duncan and Malcolm this paints a pretty frightening picture of Macbeth as he fought.

For brave Macbeth (well he deserves that name),Disdaining Fortune, with his brandished steel,Which smoked with bloody execution,Like Valor's minion, carved out his passageTill...

For brave Macbeth (well he deserves that name),
Disdaining Fortune, with his brandished steel,
Which smoked with bloody execution,
Like Valor's minion, carved out his passage
Till he faced the slave;
Which ne'er shook hands, nor bade farewell to him,
Till he unseamed him from the nave to the chops,
And fixed his head upon our battlements. (1.2.18-25)

Macbeth fought valiantly, caring nothing for his own safety, used his sword -- still steaming from the hot blood on its blade -- and cut a path through the fighting men until he reached Macdonwald, the traitor. Macbeth proceeded to split him from his belly to his chin and then place his head on a spike as a warning to any other would-be rebels. Both Banquo and Macbeth then pursued the rebel army, "as sparrows eagles or the hare the lion," as the captain says (1.2.39). So despite their force's relative weakness, Banquo and Macbeth continued to put their lives in danger to be assured of a victory for Scotland and King Duncan.

Monday, February 24, 2014

A spring has a force constant of 525 N/m. A force of 375 N is applied to the spring. Find the elongation of the spring and its elastic potential...

Hello!

I suppose that the spring follows Hooke's Law:

`F=kx,`

where `F` is the force (it is given), `k` is the spring force constant (given also) and `x` is the length of the elongation or compression. Using this formula we can find the length of an elongation,

`x=F/k.`

Also it is known that for such a springs the elastic potential energy is equal to

`(kx^2)/2=(F^2)/(2k).`

Now perform the calculations.

For the first case, the...

Hello!

I suppose that the spring follows Hooke's Law:

`F=kx,`

where `F` is the force (it is given), `k` is the spring force constant (given also) and `x` is the length of the elongation or compression. Using this formula we can find the length of an elongation,

`x=F/k.`

Also it is known that for such a springs the elastic potential energy is equal to

`(kx^2)/2=(F^2)/(2k).`

Now perform the calculations.

For the first case, the elongation `x` is `F/k=375/525 approx 0.71(m).`
The elastic potential energy is `(375^2)/(2*525) approx 134 (J).`

For the second case, the elongation x is `F/k=350/525 approx 0.67(m).`
The elastic potential energy is `(350^2)/(2*525) approx 117 (J).`

There is no surprise that for the less force the elongation occurred to be less also, and the same is observed for the elastic potential energy.

An adult female who weighs 164 pounds consumes on average 3040 Cal/day. If she wanted to lose 20.0 pounds in 257 days, what should her daily...

There are two ways to lose weight. You either have to decrease the input of calories coming from food, or increase the output of calories coming from exercise. If the amount of calorie input (food) is less than the amount of calorie output (basal metabolic rate + exercise), then a calorie deficit leads to weight loss Your question asked about how best to decrease this woman’s calorie input to achieve weight loss. However, it’s important to remember that weight can also be lost by increasing calorie output through exercise!

Figuring out calorie deficit per day:

The first thing you will need to think about is how large this woman’s calorie deficit will need to be each day to achieve the loss of 20 lbs. over 257 days. A pound is roughly equal to 3,500 kcal, meaning that a calorie surplus of 3500 kcal will lead to a pound of weight gain and a calorie deficit of 3500 kcal will lead to a pound of weight loss.

20 lbs. is equal to 70,000 calories. Knowing that this woman will need to create a 70,000 kcal deficit over 257 days, how much of a calorie deficit will she need each day?

Figuring out energy expenditure (basal metabolic rate + exercise):

The next thing you will need to figure out is this woman’s daily energy expenditure. This you can find by adding her basal metabolic rate (BMR) with her calories burned through activity (exercise).

A basal metabolic rate simply means the amount of calories she burns per day just from the chemical work of sustaining life! In other words, it is the minimum amount of calories burned per day at rest, or the number of calories you would still burn if you were completely bedridden.

A basal metabolic rate can be roughly estimated by this formula: 655 + (4.35 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) – (4.7 x age in years). Since we don’t have most of this information, we will not be able to get a particularly accurate estimate of her BMR.

This problem also didn’t give us this women’s daily calories burned through activity. Normally, we would add this together with her BMR to find her total daily energy expenditure. Since we are at such a loss for information, let’s go with a very rough estimate of 2,000 kcalfor energy expenditure—a fairly typical number for non-athletes.

Decreasing calorie input to create a calorie deficit:

This woman will need to create a calorie deficit of 272 kcal per day to hit her weight loss goal (70,000 kcal/257 days). How many calories per day will she need to limit herself to assuming her daily energy expenditure is 2,000 kcal?

(Hint: take the daily calorie deficit and subtract it from her daily energy expenditure)

What was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's purpose in having Sherlock Holmes describe the methods of transportation that Helen Stoner used to reach his...

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle frequently has Sherlock Holmes make deductions about his clients in the opening scenes of his stories. Typically, the visitor is astonished by what seems like psychic powers, and then Holmes explains what he observed and what he deduced from those observations. Here is an example from "The Red-Headed League."

“Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he...

“Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of writing lately, I can deduce nothing else.”

“How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. Holmes?” he asked.

Holmes then goes on to explain each of his deductions with the exception of the snuff-taking, which the reader will assume is obvious from the quantity of snuff on Jabez Wilson's waistcoat.

Doyle's main reason for having Holmes make these apparently gratuitous observations in so many of his stories is partly to demonstrate his detective's keen deductive powers. They show that Holmes is always on the alert, always observing, always making deductions from force of habit. Sometimes Holmes' deductions will convey useful information to the reader. For instance, the fact that Wilson has spent some time in China helps to explain why an unusual event like the foundation of the Red-Headed League might have occurred without his having heard about it. Wilson explains that he was a ship's carpenter, which means he was out of the country for years. When his new assistant told him all about the wealthy American who founded the Red-Headed League, Wilson would naturally assume that he had never heard about it because he was far away from England when it happened.

Like Jabez Wilson in "The Red-Headed League," Helen Stoner in "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" is astonished when Holmes describes the methods of transportation she used to get to 221B Baker Street. And, characteristically, Holmes explains his observations and deductions. This characterizes Holmes as keenly observant and highly intelligent. He doesn't miss a thing. It also serves to help the reader form a mental picture of the setting in which the story takes place. It extends from Baker Street to Stoke Moran on the western border of Surrey, from the crowded city to the sparsely populated countryside. The reader has to be given some idea of how a timid and sheltered Victorian maiden could travel to London so easily and so quickly. She can take a dog cart from the nearby Crown Inn to Leatherhead Station and get off at Waterloo Station, where she would take a cab to Baker Street. Doyle makes this exposition interesting through the dialogue, deductions, and explanations.

So Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's purpose in having Sherlock Holmes describe the methods of transportation that Helen Stoner used to reach his residence in "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" is to characterize the great detective and to convey some pertinent information to the reader in dramatic dialogue rather than in straight prose exposition. The interchange also helps the reader to visualize Helen Stoner and to become better acquainted with this extremely important character whose plight is central to the entire story.

How did the Wade-Davis plan differ from the Ten Percent Plan?

The Wade-Davis Bill was a Congressional response to Lincoln's fairly lenient Ten Percent Plan. By December of 1863, the Civil War was still raging, but Union troops had already occupied virtually the entirety of Louisiana, and controlled large expanses of territory along the Mississippi. Lincoln needed to come up with a plan for readmitting conquered states, and hoped that announcing a lenient plan for readmission to the Union might sap the morale of the South. His Ten Percent Plan offered a pardon to all except Confederate military and political leaders who would take an oath of allegiance to the Union. If ten percent of people within a state were willing to do this then the state could assemble a new government and petition for admission to the Union. The only condition was that they had to accept the end of slavery.

The Wade-Davis Bill was offered by House Republicans in the winter of 1864 as a more punitive and strict alternative to the Ten Percent Plan. Its authors, Benjamin Wade and Henry Davis, demanded that fifty percent of the eligible voters from 1860 (i.e. white men) in a former Confederate state had to swear the so-called "ironclad oath" that they had never supported the Confederacy. Not only did the new state governments formed under the Wade-Davis Bill have to recognize emancipation, but they had to grant the right to vote to all black men, a very controversial proposition even in the North. These, then, were the major differences between the Wade-Davis Bill and the Ten Percent Plan. Lincoln "pocket" vetoed the Wade-Davis Bill, and the nation entered the final year of the war with no coherent plan for Reconstruction.

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Give two reasons why you dislike a character in the short story,"The Nightingale And The Rose" .

In the short story, “The Nightingale and the Rose”, the most unlikable character is the young girl. She first teases the young student by telling him that she will dance with him if he brings her a red rose. He is sad and crying because he cannot find a red rose. She obviously doesn’t care for the young student because she has set him up for failure. Then, when he does find a red rose,...

“It will not go with my dress.” (pg 8)

She tells the young student that the Chamberlain’s nephew sent her jewels, and jewels cost far more than flowers. They cost more? She is obviously very materialistic. Finally she reinforces her insult by telling him that his shoes do not have silver buckles like the Chamberlain’s son. By the end of the story, she has caused the death of the nightingale, who believed so fervently in the true love the young student had for this girl, and she sent the young student back to his books in the belief that love was unpractical.

To find the best way to communicate with someone, I can: 1. Speak to family or 2. Speak to care workers or 3. Speak to friends.

The best way to communicate with someone is to speak with that person directly.

However, there may be situations where it is not possible to speak with the individual directly - for example, a baby or an unconscious person.

The best way to communicate with someone is to speak with that person directly.

However, there may be situations where it is not possible to speak with the individual directly - for example, a baby or an unconscious person.

In cases where you cannot speak directly to a person, you should seek out the person legally allowed to make decisions for that individual. In the case of the baby, that would be the legal guardian. In the case of an unconscious adult, it may be next of kin or the person may have appointed a non-family member.

It is always best to check, rather than assume. For example, usually parents are the legal guardians of a baby, sometimes this is not the case. Legal guardianship may have been passed to a grandparent or the state. Always be sure to clarify the identity of the person you speak with, and their legal responsibilities.

In Tagore's "The Postmaster," how does Ratan feel and react when the postmaster says that he will leave the village?

In Rabindranath Tagore's story "The Postmaster," Ratan takes care of the little town's postmaster.

Ratan, an orphan girl of the village...did odd jobs for him.

Ratan is very upset to hear that the postmaster is leaving. Though this young girl has served him and even cared for him while he was so sick, he waits until the day before his departure to tell her that he is returning to his home in Calcutta.

Ratan asks two questions: where is he going and when will he return? He informs her that he will leave the next day and will not be returning. She says no more but goes to prepare his meal. When she is finished making his dinner, she asks if he would take her to his new home. Without thought to his callous response, he says:

What an idea!

The concept of such a thing, for the postmaster, is absurd—though he does not take the time to explain it to her.

Ratan sleeps that night, "haunted" by the postmaster's response. Still, the next day she gets up early and draws many containers of water for his bath. The reader learns that the postmaster has often spoken harshly to her, but Ratan still cares deeply for this man she calls "Dada." When he offers to speak to the next postmaster on her behalf so the new man will take care of her (and believing that he is showing her a kindness), Ratan becomes deeply distressed:

No, no, you need not tell anybody anything at all about me; I don't want to stay on here.

The postmaster has no sense of how deeply she is hurt, so he cannot understand her behavior.

Just as the postmaster is ready to leave, he tries to give Ratan part of his monthly salary so she can take care of herself for a time, but she will not take it:

"Oh, Dada, I pray you, don't give me anything, don't in any way trouble about me," and then she ran away out of sight.

Even after he has left, Ratan walks around the postoffice, overcome by tears, hoping somehow that the postmaster will one day return to her. The narrator points out that this will never happen.

Whats a proomium ? Which characteristics does it have ?

A Proömium is, in essence, a preface. From the Greek, it literally means "before the song". From ancient times, it has been used as an introductory chapter, or prologue. The ancient writer Homer wrote many such prologues, or songs before the song, and many of them have survived until today. The Homeric Hymns is a collection of 33 such Proömien (the plural) that invoke various Gods. The language is very similar in style and rhythm to the Homeric epics, but the purpose of the poems is quite different: they serve to exalt and invoke -- in essence, they set the stage and ask the Gods to bless the artful work that is about to appear.

It is a style that has survived over the centuries: in Latin, it is spelled "prooemium", and it simply evolved to mean preface. It is no longer an invocation of the Gods, but a preamble to the story that is to come. We use them today in our storytelling as well, in order to present our reader or audience with backstories about the characters with whom we are about to go on a journey. It is used in musical compositions as well, from classical to contemporary: in this case it would be called an Overture, which musically includes the many leit motifs that you can expect to hear throughout the course of the symphony.

In short, a prooemium or Proömium will set the stage. It is a preface, preamble, or prologue for what is to follow.

Please provide 6 quotes (page numbers included) from To Kill a Mockingbird that show people are all the same on the inside, and regardless of skin...

To Kill a Mockingbird employs many different themes, but most of it centers around racism and learning to either live with it or to fight against it. Many of the best quotes might not explicitly focus around racism, but the same lesson can be learned from them. For example, Calpurnia teaches Scout to respect everyone no matter who they are in the following quote:

"Hush your mouth! Don't matter who they are, anybody sets foot in this house's yo' comp'ny, and don't you let me catch you remarkin' on their ways like you was so high and mighty!" (24).

Calpurnia defines company without color, so it can be inferred that this means black, white, or any race as well as social status.

Next, Atticus teaches Scout to respect everyone by considering where other people are coming from. This too can be applied to any race because many people in Maycomb do not have such wisdom because of racial prejudices:

"First of all, . . . if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you'll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view" (30).

Another good one from Atticus is when he is discussing the Tom Robinson case with his brother Jack:

"Why reasonable people go stark raving mad when anything involving a Negro comes up, is something I don't pretend to understand. . . I just hope that Jem and Scout come to me for their answers instead of listening to the town" (88).

In the above passage, Atticus is wondering why people need to be racist, but it is not explicitly expressed. Atticus usually doesn't say that people are the same no matter what their race, but he also demonstrates it by how he acts respectfully towards all and by honorably defending Tom Robinson in court.

Then Dill gets physically and emotionally sick when Mr. Gilmer treats Tom Robinson like nothing in court. Scout tells Dill that this is the way people talk to black people and Dill responds with the following:

"I don't care one speck. It ain't right, somehow it ain't right to do 'em that way. Hasn't anybody got any business talkin' like that--it just makes me sick" (199).

Thus, Dill knows deep down that it isn't right to treat people differently because of their race and it is manifested by him feeling sick about it.

Fortunately, Atticus gets to speak up for Tom Robinson during the closing remarks in the trial, and he gets to tell his friends and neighbors how life should be, as follows:

"But there is one way in this country in which all men are created equal--there is one human institution that makes a pauper the equal of a Rockefeller, the stupid man the equal of an Einstein, and the ignorant man the equal of any college president. That institution, gentlemen, is the court. . . in this country our courts are the great levelers, and in our courts all men are created equal" (205).

Finally, Miss Maudie drives it all home with her riveting speech to Scout and Aunt Alexandra as they sit collecting themselves to rejoin a tea party of racist women spewing out racist comments. They've also just found out that Tom Robinson was shot and they must continue to play the upstanding roles they've been given in their community. Maudie says the following:

"The handful of people in this town who say that fair play is not marked White Only; the handful of people who say a fair trial is for everybody, not just us; the handful of people with enough humility to think, when they look at a Negro, there but for the Lord's kindness am I. . . The handful of people in this town with background, that's who they are" (236).

Friday, February 21, 2014

How does the media coverage of the Vietnam War affect the characters in Gary Schmidt's The Wednesday Wars?

In Gary Schmidt's The Wednesday Wars, two characters the media coverage of the Vietnam War affects the most are Holling and his sister Heather.At first, Hollingignores the news coverage given by Walter Cronkite and is annoyed by his father's obsession with the news reports. However, as Holling grows closer to Mrs. Baker, the media coverage affects him more. Towards the beginning of the book, we learn that Mrs. Baker's husband, Tybalt...

In Gary Schmidt's The Wednesday Wars, two characters the media coverage of the Vietnam War affects the most are Holling and his sister Heather.

At first, Holling ignores the news coverage given by Walter Cronkite and is annoyed by his father's obsession with the news reports. However, as Holling grows closer to Mrs. Baker, the media coverage affects him more. Towards the beginning of the book, we learn that Mrs. Baker's husband, Tybalt Baker, has been drafted into the 101st Airborne Division. By February of the story, Mrs. Baker receives a telegram reporting that Lieutenant Baker is "MISSING IN ACTION" near the Khesanh marine base, which was surrounded by the Vietcong. Soon after learning Mrs. Baker's husband is missing, Holling begins devotedly watching Walter Cronkite report on the war every night with his family. As he watches, he "hop[es] for a sign, any sign of Lieutenant Tybalt Baker" ("March").

Mr. and Mrs. Hoodhood show some anxiety about the news reports of the war, especially when they learn that five thousand US Marines are trapped on the Khesanh base, surrounded by twenty-thousand Vietcong soldiers; however, Heather, Holling's sister, is the one who is stirred to express the most anger about and fear of the war. As a high school student, Heather is influenced to become involved in the flower child movement, a movement that expressed belief in "peace and understanding and freedom" and protested against the Vietnam War ("October"). At one point in the story, when Holling becomes humiliated enough to think of going to military school, Heather expresses her fear of losing her brother to the war by saying that the "next stop after military school is Saigon"; she continues further to talk about how the news reports "two hundred soldiers" dying in the war every single week ("January"). She ends by saying, "I couldn't stand it if ... " ("January"). Though Heather is unable to finish her thought, we know she is thinking of how dreadful it would be if she lost her brother to the terrible war, and we know her knowledge of the war has been influenced by media coverage.

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Why does Jerry cry in "Through the Tunnel"?

Jerry cries from fear, embarrassment, frustration, and humiliation.

At the beach, Jerry gets permission from his mother to swim away from her over by the rocks, a good distance from her. There he sees native boys, who are older than he, jumping and diving. "To be with them, of them, was a craving that filled his whole body."
Like many young boys, there is an admiration for older ones, and Jerry is at the age of this desire. When he dives and the bigger boys make way for him, Jerry feels accepted. But, when the skills become more challenging, Jerry cannot compete with them and becomes fearful; for instance, when one of the boys dive into the water and disappears for a long time and surface on the far side of a barrier of rock, having held their breaths for a very long time and Jerry fears that he will drown:

...after waiting for the sleek brown head to appear, let out a yell of warning; they looked at him idly and turned their eyes back toward the water.

He counts faster as though to bring the boy to the surface. Then, the others dive in the water after their friend. In his immaturity and frustration, Jerry acts like a clown in order to recapture their attention. However, this action brings Jerry only embarrassment as the older boys turn their backs on him and swim to shore. As the boys gather up their clothes and run along the shoreline, in his humiliation, Jerry realizes that they are hurrying to get away from him. "He cried openly, fists in his eyes."

The emotional stress of his earlier fear that the boys would drown, and embarrassment of being able to only act the clown rather than the skilled diver bring the tears to his eyes, and he cries in his fears, embarrassment, frustration, and humiliation.

What system of government has the most freedom?

When debating types of government, the level of freedom that citizens enjoy is somewhat in the eye of the beholder. I suppose the form of government that would provide people the most unlimited version of freedom would be anarchy, which is to say no government at all. If there were no government (according to an anarchist) then there would be no government constraint... perfect freedom. Now that said, anarchy has obviously never taken root in an entire society. So, for my money, I would say that a direct democracy offers its citizens the most freedom. The citizenry votes on each measure that the government deals with... in other words, the citizens have ultimate freedom of choice, for example in ancient Athens.

In the entry dated Friday, 2 April, 1943, Anne Frank says, "It is hard to speak the truth, and yet it is the truth." What does she mean?

From Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, Anne speaks about what she feels is the truth about her relationship with her mother in the entry dated Friday, 2 April, 1943. Anne starts the entry by saying that she has acquired another "black mark" against her. When it was time for bed, Anne's mother goes to tuck her daughter in and asks, ". . . shall I say your prayers with you tonight?"...

"It is hard to speak the truth, and yet it is the truth; she herself has pushed me away, her tactless remarks and her crude jokes, which I don't find at all funny, have now made me insensitive to any love from her side" (77).

When taken in its full context, Anne's truth is that she feels as though she does not love her mother. The truth is that Anne doesn't want anything to do with her mother as far as affection or bonding are concerned. When her father asks how she could hurt her mother in such a way, Anne reflects in her diary that she knows her parents want an apology, but she can't apologize for the way she feels about her mother. It is clear that Anne is not afraid to refuse her mother's love because she also refuses to pretend to return this love simply for her mother's sake.

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Does Napoleon die in Animal Farm?

This is a great question. We should answer this question in a few different ways.

On a physical level, Napoleon does not die on the farm. He is alive and well at the end of the story. However, he does cause others to die. For example, he was the architect of a massacre.

On a more literary level, we can say that the old Napoleon did die. The Napoleon that earnestly wanted a revolution died....

This is a great question. We should answer this question in a few different ways.

On a physical level, Napoleon does not die on the farm. He is alive and well at the end of the story. However, he does cause others to die. For example, he was the architect of a massacre.

On a more literary level, we can say that the old Napoleon did die. The Napoleon that earnestly wanted a revolution died. Once the revolution took place, he betrayed the principles of it. At first it was small - the taking of apples and milk, but by the end of the story, he introduced a rule of terror.

If we focus on the final scene of he book, we can also say that Napoleon died. He is no longer a pig. He turns into a man. From this perspective, Napoleon, the pig, is gone forevermore. He is now a man.

How did Orwell's experiences possibly lead him to believe in socialism?

George Orwell experienced life in a confusing part of history. He was born in the 1903 and passed away in 1950. Because of the timing of his life and his eventual rejection of his fortunate upbringing, he witnessed much pain and felt great empathy toward the working class.

First, Orwell grew up in a privileged manner. After graduating and working in this way, he began to resent his privileged status and the British Empire that...

First, Orwell grew up in a privileged manner. After graduating and working in this way, he began to resent his privileged status and the British Empire that encouraged this way of life. As a result, he started being sympathetic to the lower (or working) class. Consequently, he believed that Socialism (a political system granting equal options to everyone regardless of class) would offer a more fair solution to benefit all individuals in a country, not just the privileged or upper class.

Subsequently, it is also worth noting that Orwell lived and fought during the Spanish Civil War. As a result of this, he was able to witness the horror of war and experience for himself the “classless” band of brothers who fought together, regardless of social status.

Through these and other experiences, Orwell was encouraged to accept Socialism. As Orwell states:

Political language - and with variations this is true of all political parties, from Conservatives to Anarchists - is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.

As a result, he eventually wrote his famous book, Animal Farm, and continued in his Socialist beliefs.

What are five historical facts that you learn about the fire and its aftermath in Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson?

The fire that the question is asking about is the fire that burns down Lady Seymour's house. Isabel rescues Lady Seymour and a few of her valued possessions from the fire. That particular New York City fire is an actual historical event. Here are the five things I learned about the fire from this book:

I learned there was an actual real fire that ravaged a large part of New York. Until reading this book, I...

I learned there was an actual real fire that ravaged a large part of New York. Until reading this book, I only knew about "The Great Chicago Fire."

The fire happened in 1776.

It burned about 500 buildings.

It burned nearly one quarter of the housing that existed in New York at the time.

"Canvastown" was the name for the burned remains of the city because of the hovels hastily constructed over the burned-out cellars.

Nobody knows who or what caused the fire.

One last interesting detail about the fire: the World Trade Center Towers were built over portions of New York that burned in 1776. St. Paul's Chapel is located in that area as well. That chapel has survived both the fire and the September 11 attacks.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

What is a domestic novel? Is Pride and Prejudice a domestic novel?

A Domestic Novel is a type of fiction that was prevalent in the early-to-mid-nineteenth century, and was primarily read by women. The Domestic Novel has certain defining characteristics, among which are:

Time period: domestic novels or domestic fiction generally date from the 1820s to the 1860s;

Focusing on a particular type of heroine; specifically, either the angel or the practical woman. This heroine is frequently contrasted with an incompetent or cowardly woman, or with an ignorant beauty;

The novel documents the heroine's struggle for self-mastery, particularly in relation to her emotions and desires; the heroine is seen as struggling to control her feelings and her wants;

She may undergo religious struggles in the submission of her emotions and wants;

She may suffer abuse by persons in positions of power;

She will usually be married by the time the story is ended, either to a "bad" man who the heroine's virtue has reformed, or to a paragon to whom she has aspired;

These novels are frequently couched in extremely sentimental language designed to wring the heartstrings of a female readership.

Pride and Prejudice does not meet these outlines for a few reasons, which I will elaborate in a moment. Instead, Austen has written Pride and Prejudice as a Novel of Manners. A novel of manners has the following characteristics:

Usually a story about social class;

A lot of attention is paid to the different ways the characters express themselves, and how their words are indicative of their class and good (or poor) "breeding," or upbringing;

The story is concerned with the manners, morals, and customs of various social classes, the conflict between those classes and customs, and the ways in which the characters succeed or fail in living up to their social roles.

In the story, the Bennett sisters are a group of genteel young women by social class, but with no fortune. They are brought into contact with their various social equals and "betters," such as Lady Catherine de Bourgh, and various members of the landed gentry, such as Mr. Darcy and his friend Bingley. As the story progresses, the girls, and Lizzy and Jane in particular, observe and react to the various characters and their successes or failings in the social roles which define them. Charlotte, for instance, is a success in her social role, according to this formula: although she marries the insipid and objectionable Mr. Collins, nevertheless in doing so she cements her social position and obtains a home and livelihood--and financial security. Lydia, on the other hand, fails miserably in her prescribed role and is too brazen to care: she elopes with the scandalous Mr. Wickham, living with him without benefit of marriage until Mr. Darcy steps in and pays Wickham's debts, thus clearing the way for Lydia and Wickham to marry. The mere fact of her marriage doesn't completely rehabilitate Lydia, however; her transgression against her social role is far too serious to be undone. Due to her actions, she is effectively banished, albeit with Wickham and his regiment, to the far north.

Pride and Prejudice was written somewhat earlier than the vogue of the domestic novel, and verges more on satire. While some of its themes blur at the edges, so to speak, with the domestic novel, it is more properly considered a novel of manners. As well, it is less sentimental than humorous, and the language is not couched in effusively emotional terms. The characters have their struggles, but their struggles are social in nature--rather than emotional suffering or a struggle to sublimate the will, for instance.

For an example of a domestic novel, see the works of Harriet Beecher Stowe.

I need a thesis statement about how Romeo and Juliet are infatuated with each other and I have to somehow connect it to this monologue?? I need to...

With this specific soliloquy in mind, it would most make sense to argue that Juliet was infatuated with Romeo. This particular soliloquy occurs in Act III, scene 2 after the Nurse led Juliet to believe that Romeo was killed. Once the loose ends are tied, it's clarified that Tybalt, Juliet's cousin, was in fact killed by none other than Romeo. Grief stricken, Juliet sends the Nurse to fetch Romeo so that they can celebrate their recent marriage. In a brief moment, Juliet has transformed from an excited bride to a "widow" and a young lady seeking the Nurse's advice to a woman capable of making decisions on her own.

The soliloquy you must refer to is full of oxymoronic expressions to describe Romeo. An oxymoron is when two seemingly contradictory terms coexist. I've taken the soliloquy you provided and bolded examples of oxymorons.

O serpent heart, hid with a flowering face!
Did ever dragon keep so fair a cave?
Beautiful tyrant! fiend angelical!
Dove-feather'd raven! wolvish-ravening lamb!
Despised substance of divinest show!
Just opposite to what thou justly seem'st,
A damned saint, an honourable villain!
O nature, what hadst thou to do in hell,
When thou didst bower the spirit of a fiend
In moral paradise of such sweet flesh?
Was ever book containing such vile matter
So fairly bound? O that deceit should dwell
In such a gorgeous palace!

In this short monologue, Juliet uses about 10 oxymorons in order to express her sorrow, disbelief, disdain, and love. For example, she recognizes that Romeo's good looks may have caused her to overlook his evil heart: "O serpent heart, hid with a flowering face!" Furthermore, the word "tyrant" has a negative connotation, yet she pairs it with the word "beautiful," just as the word "fiend" has a negative connotation, yet she pairs it with the word "angelical." Throughout this soliloquy, her emotions for Romeo are quite conflicted, which could bring us closer to your thesis.

When a person is infatuated with someone, he or she will experience an intense passion for the person; however, that passion is normally short-lived.

In the case of Juliet, we can argue that her passion for Romeo was intense due to the fact that they married so quickly. We could also argue that her passion for Romeo is intense using the diction in this very monologue. What forces that infatuation to be short-lived, however, is the fact that Romeo killed her cousin Tybalt, thus, making Juliet feel conflicted between honoring her new husband or her family.

Here are some basic and more advanced thesis statements you could work with:

In the monologue 'O serpent heart, hid with a flowering face,' William Shakespeare highlights Juliet's infatuation with Romeo through oxymoronic phrases.

In the monologue 'O serpent heart, hid with a flowering face,' William Shakespeare reveals Juliet's "true love" for Romeo as just infatuation through conflicting, oxymoronic phrases.

In the monologue 'O serpent heart, hid with a flowering face,' through the use of oxymoronic phrases, William Shakespeare shows that Juliet's infatuation with Romeo is causing her to feel conflicted between her duties as a wife and a daughter.

Does Cassius saying, "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in the stars/But in ourselves, that we are underlings," have any connection to Caesar saying...

The Romans of “Julius Caesar” spend a lot of time thinking and talking about planetary movements and other omens and what impact they have on human behavior. Caesar calls himself “constant as the Northern Star,” Cassius scoffs at the notion of heavenly influence, saying that our fate “is not in our stars,” soothsayers tell fortunes, priests make sacrifices and try to read entrails. It’s a superstitious society, much to Cassius’s dismay, and one theme of “Julius Caesar” concerns just how predetermined our fates are. The soothsayer predicts Caesar will die, and he does, exactly as predicted. Does that mean we can’t escape our destiny? Brutus has a plan for how to govern after Caesar’s death but it goes horribly wrong when Antony successfully turns the citizens against him: was that also predetermined? Or could Brutus have made different choices and created a different outcome? Cassius believes that people are “masters of their fates”; the play asks us to consider to what extent we think that’s true.

After her changed attitude, how does Mrs. Auld react to seeing Douglass with a book?

You ask about Mrs. Auld's response to seeing Douglass with a book. However, the interaction in question didn't actually involve a book. Mrs. Auld became very angry when she caught Douglass with a newspaper.

In any case, this reaction represented a dramatic shift in Sophia Auld's treatment of Douglass. When he had first come to live with her, she had been kind and warm. She had taught him the alphabet, and helped him learn to spell short words. But when her husband discovered the lessons, he ordered her to stop. He explained to her that was both illegal and "unsafe" to teach a slave how to read. It would "spoil" him:

"He would at once become unmanageable, and of no value to his master. As to himself, it could do him no good, but a great deal of harm. It would make him discontented and unhappy."

Afterwards, Sophia Auld changed her attitude. As noted in chapter VII, she ceased instructing Douglass, and ended up becoming "even more violent in her opposition than her husband himself." Douglass cites this example:

"Nothing seemed to make her more angry than to see me with a newspaper. She seemed to think that here lay the danger. I have had her rush at me with a face made all up of fury, and snatch from me a newspaper, in a manner that fully revealed her apprehension."

Douglass also notes that she tried to avoid leaving him alone (in case he'd seize on the opportunity to look at a book):

"From this time I was most narrowly watched. If I was in a separate room any considerable length of time, I was sure to be suspected of having a book, and was at once called to give an account of myself."

Ultimately, her efforts fail. Douglass manages to continue his education, teaching himself to read and write on the sly. In fact, Douglass notes that it was Mr. Auld's warning that inspired him "with a desire and determination to learn." By showing their opposition, the Aulds helped convince Douglass that literacy would indeed transform him, and help Douglass escape bondage.

Monday, February 17, 2014

Why have writers like Tennyson continued to tell stories about King Arthur's life and death?

The legends of King Arthur have proven to be hugely influential to the British canon. The tales even endure into today, and have inspired countless iterations and reinterpretations of the classic stories. Part of the reason the stories have been appropriated is due to the fact that they have components of storytelling that are especially compelling. These stories contain romance, danger, action, and a powerful, wise leader in the character of King Arthur.

Lord Alfred...

Lord Alfred Tennyson and his contemporaries in the Victorian era were especially drawn to appropriating the Arthurian legends. During the Victorian era, a time of great social change across England, there were a number of writers who romanticized the Middle Ages and its perceived emphasis on chivalry and bravery. The Middle Ages, at least in the public perception, represented a simpler era, a time when rustic feudalism ensured a static social stratification. These social designations were in flux during the Victorian era with the rise of the middle class. Therefore, a number of writers used Medieval imagery entrenched in Arthurian legends in their works in order to evoke the noble qualities Arthur and his knights represented.

How does Shakespeare create conflict and opposition in the Prologue and Act 1, Scene 1 of Romeo and Juliet?

In the prologue of Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare outlines a narrative structure filled with conflict and opposition. The houses of the Capulets and Montagues are similar - alike in dignity - but they are caught in a terrible feud that has entwined the entire city. Shakespeare outlines the full extent of this conflict which allows him to create dramatic irony. This irony is created because the audience knows the events of the play but...

In Act 1, Scene 1 of Romeo and Juliet, the conflict described in Shakespeare's prologue is dramaticized. A feud quickly breaks out between the smaller side characters in the houses of the Montagues and Capulets. This feud is calmed down by the Prince, but the audience quickly realizes this feud is real and quickly escalating. The combination of these opposing factors (the Montagues and the Capulets) and the creation of dramatic irony is what creates the conflict and opposition in the prologue and first scene.

Sunday, February 16, 2014

What contrasts does the narrator draw between changing reality and Emily's refusal or inability to recognize change?

Emily Grierson stands out from the other townspeople of Jefferson in her inability and unwillingness (I think both are true) to recognize and respond to change. Whether it is acknowledging her father's death to understanding the nuances of the South's shift from antebellum traditions to post-Civil War progress, Miss Emily seems almost intentionally uninformed.

One contrast between Miss Emily and the reality of the rest of Jefferson is the Grierson family house:

a big, squarish frame house that had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies, set on what had once been our most select street"

Though garages and cotton gins have replaced most of the other houses like it and the town is moving on to a more commercial future, Miss Emily's family home lingers, "an eyesore among eyesores," a decaying relic of the traditional plantation aristocracy that the rest of the town is beginning to forget. She won't even put up the metal numbers to add her house to the postal route, a decision that declares her defiant refusal to change with the times.

Another example of this contrast is Miss Emily's fight with the aldermen over her taxes. Another symbol of Southern tradition and chivalry, Colonel Sartoris, has allowed Miss Emily to continue living in her family home without paying taxes after the death of her father, but as local government administration changes over the years, the younger, newer generation has no such sentimental attachment. Miss Emily's insistence that she "ha[s] no taxes in Jefferson," repeated again and again to the varied responses of the aldermen show her complete denial of new ways of operating and the changing world.

A final example of Miss Emily's refusal to acknowledge the change and passage of time is the bridal chamber/crypt of the final scene, where she has laid the body of Homer Barron and where, the iron gray hair suggests, she herself lies, to imagine the way her life might have gone. Miss Emily's choice to live in a morbid fantasy rather than the real world is the ultimate show of her refusal to face reality.

Why can't the Tucks stay together as a family in Tuck Everlasting?

The Tuck family can’t stay together because they never age or die and they do not want to make people suspicious by hanging around one place for too long.

The Tuck family stays on the move. Mae and Angus Tuck will set up a household for few decades and then move on. Since they are immortal, if someone were to see them too often they might wonder why they never age.

"We been in this house about as long as we dare, going on twenty years. … Then, too, it's off by itself, plenty of fish in the pond, not too far from the towns around. When we need things, we go sometimes to one, sometimes the next, so people don't come to notice us much" (Ch. 10).

Another reason the Tuck family can’t stay together is that even though they can’t have families of their own, Miles and Jesse like to travel and see the world. They can see a lot over the years, since time moves on without them.

"Tuck and me, we got each other," she said, "and that's a lot. The boys, now, they go their separate ways. … But they come home whenever the spirit moves, and every ten years, first week of August, they meet at the spring and come home together so's we can be a family again for a little while (Ch. 10)."

Mae comments that Miles and Jesse do not always get along. That is another reason why it is best that they do not all stay in one place. I guess when you live forever, you might get pretty sick of each other.

Miles had a family once, but his wife and children left him when it became clear that he was immortal. His wife thought that he was bewitched and was afraid to be around him. As a result, Miles lost his family. It was not possible for Miles or Jesse to have families unless they got their wives to drink from the immortal spring.

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Explain the quotation: "Atticus said the Ewells had been the disgrace of Maycomb for three generations. None of them had done an honest day’s...

Scout asks Atticus about Burris Ewell and why he always goes to school on the first day and skips the rest of the year. Atticus explains to his daughter how the Ewells live. He wants Scout to understand how they are different. The Ewell family is not respected in Maycomb, and has not been for many years.

According to Atticus, the Ewells are not hard workers. Hard work is valued in Maycomb. Even the Cunninghams,...

According to Atticus, the Ewells are not hard workers. Hard work is valued in Maycomb. Even the Cunninghams, who are poor and fairly uneducated, work as hard as they can. The Ewells live in squalid conditions near where the people of Maycomb dump their Christmas trees each year. Scout is curious about the Ewell family. Atticus tells her that one year, after Christmas, he will take her by the Ewells' house when they go to dump their tree.

What is observed from Gilman's language choices? How does it look on the page? Why has she chosen this format?

This is an interesting set of questions. Let us tackle the trickiest one first: some aspects of format are beyond Gilman's control, or beyond the control of any author. She did not, for example, control how the text was presented on the page, what font was used, etc. You might review two or more printings of the story to see what difference this makes.

Turning to the language itself, there are several aspects of the...

Turning to the language itself, there are several aspects of the language that are worth noting.

The first, of course, is that it is a first person narrative. Since this is someone who experiences a reality that no one else in the story does, that creates suspense and ambiguity.

Within that first person narrative, there is often a sense that the narrator is engaging someone else--arguing with them, answering them, etc. For example, look at this line early in the story: "Else, why should it be let so cheaply? And why have stood so long untenanted?" To whom is she asking this question?

The narrative is broken into brief paragraphs, creating a sense of fragmentation.

Finally, some of the word choice is striking. For example, consider this early line: "Still I will proudly declare that there is something queer about it." Using the word "queer" indicates the house is strange. Using "proudly" shows she is already emotionally attached, just a few lines in. That's strange.

Friday, February 14, 2014

Let `z= cos theta +i sin theta` .Then the value of `sum_(m=1)^15` `lm(Z^(2m-1))` at `theta=2` deg is

You need to evaluate the sum of imaginaries of the given powers of complex number z, such that:

`Sigma_(m=1)^15 Im(z^(2m-1)) = Im(z^(2*1-1)) + Im(z^(2*2-1)) + Im(z^(2*3-1)) + ... + Im(z^(2*15-1))`

`Sigma_(m=1)^15 Im(z^(2m-1)) = Im(z^1) + Im(z^3) + Im(z^5) + ... + Im(z^29)`

All the powers of the complex number z, may be evaluated with De Moivre formula, such that:

`z^n = (cos theta + i*sin theta)^n => z^n = (cos (n*theta) + i*sin (n*theta))`

`z^3 = cos (3theta) + i*sin(3 theta)`

........

`z^29 = cos (29theta) + i*sin(29 theta)`

The imaginary part of the sum is `Im(z^1+z^3+...z^29) = cos theta + cos (3theta) + ... + cos(29 theta)`

You may group the terms such that:

`cos theta + cos (29 theta) = 2cos ((theta + 29theta)/2)*cos((theta - 29theta)/2)`

`cos theta + cos (29 theta) = 2cos (15theta)cos(-14theta)`

Since `cos(-theta)=cos theta`

`cos theta + cos (29 theta) = 2cos (15theta)cos(14theta)`

You may calculate the next sum `cos (3 theta) + cos (27theta),` such that:

`cos (3 theta) + cos (27theta) = 2cos (15theta)cos(12theta)`

`cos (5 theta) + cos (25 theta) = 2cos (15theta)cos(10theta)`

`cos (7 theta) + cos (23 theta) = 2cos (15theta)cos(8theta)`

`cos (9 theta) + cos (21 theta) = 2cos (15theta)cos(6theta)`

`cos (11 theta) + cos (19 theta) = 2cos (15theta)cos(4theta)`

`cos (13 theta) + cos (17 theta) = 2cos (15theta)cos(2theta)`

Notice that the term `cos (15 theta)` remains. You may take out the common factor `cos (15theta)` such that:

`Im(z^1+z^3+...z^29) = cos (15 theta)(2cos(12theta) + 2cos(10theta) + 2cos(8theta) + 2cos(6theta) + 2cos(4theta) + 2cos(2theta) + 1)`

You may put now` theta = 2^o` , such that:

`cos (15*2^o) = cos 30^o = sqrt3/2`

You may group again the terms, such that:

`2cos(12theta) + 2cos(2theta) = 4 cos (7 theta)*cos (5 theta)`

`2cos(10theta) + 2cos(4theta) = 4 cos (7 theta)*cos (3 theta)`

`2cos(8theta) + 2cos(6theta) = 4 cos (7 theta)*cos ( theta)`

Factoring out 4` cos (7 theta)` yields:

`2cos(12theta) + 2cos(10theta) + 2cos(8theta) + 2cos(6theta) + 2cos(4theta) + 2cos(2theta) = 4 cos (7 theta)*(cos (5 theta) + cos (3 theta) + cos ( theta))`

You may group again the terms, such that:

`cos (5 theta) + cos ( theta) = 2cos (3theta)*cos (2theta)`

`2cos (3theta)*cos (2theta) + cos (3theta) = cos(3theta)(2cos(2theta) + 1))`

Using the formula of double angle yields:

`cos (2theta) = 2cos^2 theta - 1`

`cos(3theta)(2cos(2theta) + 1)) = cos(3theta)(4cos^2 theta -2 + 1))`

`cos(3theta)(2cos(2theta) + 1)) = cos(3theta)(4cos^2 theta -1))`

`2cos(12theta) + 2cos(10theta) + 2cos(8theta) + 2cos(6theta) + 2cos(4theta) + 2cos(2theta) = 4 cos (7 theta)*cos(3 theta)*(4cos^2 theta -1))`

`Im(z^1+z^3+...z^29) = cos (15 theta)(4 cos (7 theta)*cos(3 theta)*(4cos^2 theta -1)) + 1)`

Hence, evaluating `Sigma_(m=1)^15 Im(z^(2m-1)) = (sqrt3/2)*)(4 cos (14^o)*cos(6^o)*(4cos^2(2^o) -1)) + 1).`

Thursday, February 13, 2014

What is meant by the term "poor white trash" in To Kill a Mockingbird? How do the Ewells exemplify this stereotype? Does this stereotype exist...

"Poor white trash" is a derogatory term used to describe a stereotypical lower-class Caucasian, who is characterized as unintelligent, dirty, and discourteous. The Ewells exemplify the term "poor white trash" because they share similar characteristics typically associated with the term. The Ewells rely on welfare as their income and live in a dilapidated cabin behind to town dump. Their yard is a mess and Burris, one of the younger children in Scout's class, is so filthy that he has bugs crawling from his hair. Bob Ewell is a despicable human being who abuses his daughter and attempts to harm innocent people throughout Maycomb. His son, Burris, also displays poor manners and a lack of respect during the first day of school. The entire family is uneducated and viewed with contempt throughout Maycomb. I believe that this stereotype still exists in today's society. There are many lower-class Caucasian individuals who are referred to as "white trash" each day. Similar to other racial slurs, "poor white trash" is still in existence and used by ignorant, insensitive people. The term hasn't changed much since its inception and is still used to refer to lower-class, ill-mannered Caucasians.

Examine the role of force and violence in Shakespeare's Macbeth. Are these actions justified for their own sake or only as a means to an end? How...

Though Macbeth is initially portrayed as an honest, loyal thane of King Duncan, we see very early on that he is capable of extreme acts of violence, as he disembowels and decapitates the rebel leader Macdonwald in battle. Macbeth's Scotland was one in which a man's ability to use force and violence were the measure of his masculinity and his worth. It is the fact that Macbeth uses violence to usurp his natural place in Scotland that carries him down a path to destruction. When he kills the King, he kills a divinely-chosen leader, God's representative in Scotland. He is thus a usurper, and is forced (as he sees it) to defend his position with more violence, though notably he uses assassins to carry out the murders of Banquo and Macduff's family. So violence is not necessarily bad in and of itself in Macbeth, but disloyalty and usurpation of the natural order of things are. As for how Machiavelli would have viewed these developments, we can say that he (at least if we are going by his treatise The Prince) would have not necessarily had any compunction about the treachery of Macbeth, but he ultimately thought that leaders who constantly schemed and betrayed were engaging in self-defeating behavior:

Still, to slaughter fellow-citizens, to betray friends, to be devoid of honour, pity, and religion, cannot be counted as merits, for these are means which may lead to power, but which confer no glory.

Macbeth's tyranny and unrestrained use of violence were his undoing, and Machiavelli certainly could have predicted this.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Define cell biology using two real life examples.

Biology is the study of living things ("bio" = life, "ology" = the study of). Cell biology is the study of the cells of living things. Like the atom is the basic unit of matter, the cell is the basic unit of all living things. Cell biology may study the life cycle of a cell, cell division, the formation of cells, organelles within a cell, types of cells, the structure of cells, and/or the function...

Sometimes the term "molecular biology" is used interchangeably with the term cell biology. Like cell biologists, molecular biologists may be concerned with the entirety of a cell. However, a molecular biologist most often deals with the components within a cell. Thus, most techniques used by a molecular biologist require that a cell be split open. For example, a molecular biologist may deal with the expression of genes.

Which is generally easier to accomplish: Prove a hypothesis or Disprove a hypothesis?

A hypothesis is a likely explanation of a phenomenon or an observation. Scientists design careful experiments in order to validate the hypothesis. Such validation efforts require supporting evidence. Scientists carry out a number of experiments to check the validity of hypothesis. Data that supports the hypothesis helps us prove it and data that does not support the hypothesis, disproves it. In general, it is much easier to disprove a hypothesis than prove it. Any number of supporting evidence helps raise our confidence in the stated hypothesis, however, it takes only a single set of evidence against the hypothesis to disprove it. For example, if we hypothesize that plants grow better in presence of sunlight and carry out experiments, a single experiment where plants grown in dark setting shows better growth will disprove our hypothesis.

Hope this helps.

How is Jack symbolized as a dictator in Lord of the Flies?

Jack displays several personality traits that connect his role as a leader, to that of a dictator throughout the novel Lord of the Flies. Historically, dictators are selfish individuals who rule via fear and violence. During the first assembly meeting, Jack suggests that he should be the leader of the group because he is the head boy and lead in the choir. Similar to the character of a dictator, Jack assumes that he is the most capable leader. Dictators are typically inconsiderate of others. Jack shares this character trait by constantly bullying Piggy, and suggesting that they use a littlun to simulate attacking a real pig. Throughout history, dictators have made outrageous claims in hopes to persuade the masses. Similarly, Jack makes the false claim that Ralph is a coward and attempts to usurp power. Dictators have a tendency to use fear to manipulate their followers to act in their best interests. For instance, Saddam Hussien used "fear of the Western world" to influence his troops to resist American forces. Jack uses the "fear of the beast" to coerce his followers in looking to him for protection and influence. Dictators also use fear and violence to maintain control over the population. Jack threatens Samneric to join his tribe, and they obey him because they fear the repercussions. Much like dictators, Jack likes to take chances and engages in risky behavior. Hitler risked starting World War II by invading Poland. Jack risks open conflict with Ralph and his followers when he steals Piggy's glasses. Jack eventually gains control over the majority of the boys on the island, but as we see from a later scene, his power will soon be challenged by another ruthless character, Roger. Likewise, many dictators lost their authority during coups within their party.

What is the full summary of chapter 10 of the novel Frindle ?

Judy Morgan works as a reporter for The Westfield Gazette. It wasn’t a very interesting job because not much of interest occurred in Westfield. One day a fellow worker told her that his fourth grade daughter was kept after school because of a “secret code” word that the fifth graders had started. He said half the students were kept after school as a punishment for using the word.

Judy decides to investigate. When she first enters the school, she sees a note on the bulletin board outside of the principal’s office about the punishment for using the word “frindle.” She first interviews the principal, Mrs. Chatham, who tells her that the problem is under control, and that Mrs. Granger may have overreacted a little bit. She explains the whole situation to Judy. Then Judy interviews Mrs. Granger. Mrs. Granger tells her,

“I am merely helping my students to see that this foolishness must stop. Such a waste of time and thought! There is no reason to invent a new and useless word.” (pg 61)

Judy asks Mrs. Granger if she knew how this word got started in the fifth grade, and Mrs. Granger gives her the name of Nicholas Allen.

As she walks to her car, some of the students who had been kept after school walk with her. She asks them why they are willing to stay after school in order to use the word “frindle.” They tell her that it isn’t so bad because they are with all their friends. They are to write 100 times that they are writing with a pen, but they have started replacing the word “pen” with “frindle” and Mrs. Granger hasn’t even noticed. Judy asks if she could meet this young man, Nick. A young man tells her that Nick probably wouldn’t want to talk to her because,

“He might say something stupid and get himself in trouble” (pg 65)

The next morning Judy gets a brown envelope delivered to her at The Gazette offices marked “Frindle Story.” When she opens it, it is the group picture of the fifth grade with all the students holding “frindles” or pens. Written on the back it said,

“3rd row, 5th from left” (pg 65)

There was the picture of the same young man who told her that Nick would not be interested in an interview. It was Nick. Judy laughed and said,

“Well,well, well. Pleased to meet you, Mr. Nicholas Allen.” (pg 66)