What are the direct characterizations of Jay Gatsby in chapters 1 - 3?

In Chapter one, Nick describes Gatsby as someone "with a heightened sensitivity to to the promises of life," possessed of "an extraordinary gift for hope" or a "romantic readiness." In other words, Gatsby is determined to make himself, and his life, into what he wants it to be. His persona as the mysterious man without a past is built on in chapter two, when Myrtle's sister Catherine speculates that Gatsby "is a nephew or cousin...

In Chapter one, Nick describes Gatsby as someone "with a heightened sensitivity to to the promises of life," possessed of "an extraordinary gift for hope" or a "romantic readiness." In other words, Gatsby is determined to make himself, and his life, into what he wants it to be. His persona as the mysterious man without a past is built on in chapter two, when Myrtle's sister Catherine speculates that Gatsby "is a nephew or cousin of Kaiser Wilhelm's." This thread is picked up again in Chapter three, when guests at Gatsby's party speculate that he "killed a man" or had been "a German spy."

In fact, Gatsby is best characterized by his possessions; much of Chapter three is given to describing the scene at one of his famous parties, going into detail about the crates of oranges and lemons delivered to his house, the food, the size of the orchestra, the colored lights in his garden, his books.

When Nick first meets Gatsby, he doesn't recognize him at first; they chat about the war, and when Gatsby finally tells him who he is, Gatsby

"smiled understandingly ... It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it....It understood you just so far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey."

The smile is another expression of Gatsby's "gift for hope," an expression of confidence in the goodness of the word, a goodness that includes Nick. It is only after the smile fades that Nick realizes that he "was looking at an elegant young rough-neck, a year or two over thirty, whose elaborate formality of speech just missed being absurd."

In this way, in the first three chapters, Gatsby is characterized as both a young man whose pretensions to gentility are almost "absurd," and a person whose essential optimism and romanticism about life find expression in big parties thrown for hundreds of people he doesn't know.

In the novel "To Kill a Mockingbird," why does Calpurnia fuss over the children so much before taking them to First Purchase African M. E. Church?

Another possible reason Calpurnia fusses over the children is that, in Atticus's absence, both Jem and Scout represent the face of the Finch family. The First Purchase Church is also geared towards an African American congregation and is not the usual place of worship for the Finches. So, Calpurnia wants the children to make a good impression; in her eyes, looking one's best in church is respectful conduct towards God and the congregation.

With Tom Robinson's trial in the community consciousness, Calpurnia may have also wanted to make as few waves as possible upon the children's entrance into church. Despite her efforts, however, she is accosted by Lula, a member of her congregation. Lula is upset that Calpurnia has brought Jem and Scout to Sunday service. She contemptuously questions Calpurnia's wisdom, but the rest of the congregation are supportive of Calpurnia. Zeebo particularly makes an effort to welcome Scout and Jem, assuring them that Lula is just "a troublemaker from way back, got fancy ideas an’ haughty ways..."

Most of the congregation are appreciative of Atticus's effort to represent Tom Robinson; however, members like Lula are suspicious of Atticus's intentions. In Lula's mind, Calpurnia still works for a white man. 

Because of the Jim Crow laws, some African Americans in Maycomb have little hope that Tom Robinson will get a fair trial. For her part, Calpurnia has placed her trust in Atticus; she is familiar with his beliefs and knows that he is a good man. Her decision in taking Scout and Jem to church demonstrates her ability to trust good people, regardless of their skin color.

So, Calpurnia has a few reasons to fuss over the children. She wants Scout and Jem to look presentable; to Calpurnia, it is a mark of respect to dress well for Sunday worship. She also wants her congregation to know that she works hard and is proud of performing her duties well. Last, but not least, her entrance with her well-dressed charges in tow is also a statement: Calpurnia is proud to be associated with the Finch family.

Why was World War I considered to be a total war?

World War I was considered to be a total war. In World War I, all aspects of the military were involved. As in most wars, the army played a big role in World War I. The number of troops involved in the fighting on the eastern and western fronts was very high.

The navy was very active in World War I. The Germans introduced a new weapon in this war. It was the submarine. The...

World War I was considered to be a total war. In World War I, all aspects of the military were involved. As in most wars, the army played a big role in World War I. The number of troops involved in the fighting on the eastern and western fronts was very high.

The navy was very active in World War I. The Germans introduced a new weapon in this war. It was the submarine. The submarine was a weapon that would conduct sneak attacks. Unfortunately, the sinking of neutral ships without warning was illegal. Thus, our navy had to accompany our merchant marine to make the trip across the Atlantic Ocean a little safer.

For the first time in a war, airplanes were used. While airplanes didn’t play a major role in World War I, the development of tracer ammunition aided the pilots. It also sent a message about how important airplanes would be in future wars.

New technology was used during World War I. The German use of chlorine gas and the Zeppelin inflicted much damage on the Allies. The Allies countered the chlorine gas with gas masks and also began the use of tanks.

People were asked to make significant sacrifices during World War I. Citizens were drafted into the war. People were strongly encouraged to use less food and buy bonds to support the war effort. There were laws passed that restricted the people’s freedoms. For example, the Sedition Act made criticism of the government or war effort illegal in the United States.

World War I was an example of total war.

Please provide an analysis on loyalty based on this quote from Macbeth, act 1 scene 2: Till he faced the slave;Which ne'er shook hands, nor bade...

The quote is an extract from a report to Duncan by an injured sergeant who has been involved, with Macbeth, in a conflict against the king's enemies. He is asked by Malcolm, Duncan's eldest son, to divulge information about the battle:

... Say to the king the knowledge of the broilAs thou didst leave it.

In his report, the sergeant refers specifically to Macbeth. In the quote provided, 'the slave' is a metaphor for the...

The quote is an extract from a report to Duncan by an injured sergeant who has been involved, with Macbeth, in a conflict against the king's enemies. He is asked by Malcolm, Duncan's eldest son, to divulge information about the battle:

... Say to the king the knowledge of the broil
As thou didst leave it.

In his report, the sergeant refers specifically to Macbeth. In the quote provided, 'the slave' is a metaphor for the traitor Macdonwald, who is also described as being without mercy. 'Slave' suggests that Macdonwald was a servant of evil, controlled by his savagery and desire for power. He was a ruthless adversary, but Macbeth faced him without any fear. The sergeant says that Macbeth did not let up in his fight against his enemy, he was relentless and pursued Macdonwald, he neither greeted nor bade him farewell.

This suggests moreover, that Macbeth had no time for pleasantries and was resolute, committed to the task at hand - destroying his king and country's adversaries. Those who challenged his beloved Scotland and his king, were to be treated with utter contempt and had to be extinguished.

Macbeth's unabating battle against Macdonwald resulted in his victory. He 'unseam'd him from the nave to the chaps,' which means he cut him in two, from his navel to his jaw. Once Macbeth had executed him, he placed his head on top of the castle wall.

The description indicates Macbeth's willingness to do everything in his power to defend his country and his king. It is this loyalty that drives him and gives him the passion to fight fiercely and persistently. He is not afraid to face any risk or challenge and seems to actually relish destroying opponents to his king and country. He inspires those in battle with him and this inspiration is what eventually ensures Duncan's victory over Macdonwald, Sweno of Norway and the traitorous thane of Cawdor.

Macbeth's loyalty is clearly evidenced by his gloriously courageous actions and he therefore rightfully deserves king Duncan's grateful praise and his reward, the title, 'thane of Cawdor.' 

During the trial Scene of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, what symbols represent Atticus Finch and why?

A symbol is any object used by an author to represent greater meaning than just the literal meaning of the object. In the court scene of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, beginning at Chapter 17, it can be said that one symbol representing Atticus is his fountain pen.

During Atticu's cross-examination of Bob Ewell, Atticus first asks Ewell if he concurs with Sheriff Heck Tate's statement that Mayella was bruised on the right side of her face. After Ewell concurs, Atticus next asks Ewell if he can read and write then hands him an envelope and his fountain pen, asking him to write his name. As Ewell does so, he writes with his left hand, and when Judge Taylor asks him if he is ambidextrous, Ewell intelligently replies, "I most positively am not, I can use one hand good as the other" (Ch. 17). Whereas Atticus has just proven Ewell can use his left hand, he later proves it is impossible for the accused Tom Robinson to be able to use his crippled left arm and hand at all. The information is important because only a man who could use his left hand would be able to bruise Mayella on the right side of her face while facing her. The fact that Ewell can use his left hand whereas Robinson cannot shows that Ewell is the more likely guilty culprit of having hurt Mayella, not Robinson.

A commonly known adage, meaning philosophical saying is, "The pen is mightier than the sword," an idea that appears in a play titled Richelieu; Or the Conspiracy, written by English playwright Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1839. The adage asserts that our ability to write or use words is much more powerful for effecting change than our ability to use physical force or violence. During the trial, Atticus is very limited in his abilities to effect change since the outcome of the trial depends on the jury, and the jury members, like most of Maycomb's citizens, are very accustomed to judging based on their racial prejudices. Therefore, though he certainly cannot force the jury to make a fair and unbiased ruling based on the evidence, he has the ability to present evidence to the jury using the power of his words. Therefore, Atticus's fountain pen handed to Ewell symbolizes Atticus's power to use words to make a difference.

What is the significant role of the United Nations in creating a peaceful world?

There are at least three significant roles that the United Nations plays in creating a peaceful (or at least more peaceful) world.

First, the UN sometimes sends peacekeeping forces to places where conflict is occurring.  These peacekeeping forces are armed, but are not supposed to be there to fight.  Instead, they get between opposing forces and prevent them from fighting.  Alternatively, they might serve as security forces to protect people who might otherwise be targeted...

There are at least three significant roles that the United Nations plays in creating a peaceful (or at least more peaceful) world.

First, the UN sometimes sends peacekeeping forces to places where conflict is occurring.  These peacekeeping forces are armed, but are not supposed to be there to fight.  Instead, they get between opposing forces and prevent them from fighting.  Alternatively, they might serve as security forces to protect people who might otherwise be targeted by fighters.  These peacekeeping forces are perhaps the UN’s most visible contribution to world peace.

Second, the UN helps to prevent conflicts from occurring in the first place by promoting international law and international dialogue.  Because of the UN, countries have a place where they interact with one another in peaceful ways.  This helps to create habits of dialogue and peaceful working out of problems rather than habits of armed conflict.  The UN also promotes treaties between countries that do things like settling disputes about territory.  These treaties help to prevent conflicts from arising.

Finally, the UN can sanction countries that act in ways that are likely to disrupt the peace of the world.  The threat of economic sanctions or even of military action authorized by the UN can help prevent countries from disrupting world peace.  For example, we can argue that UN-backed sanctions have helped cause Iran to negotiate with regard to their nuclear program rather than simply forging ahead with it and bringing about a threat of serious war in the Middle East.

In all of these ways, the UN can help promote peace in the world even though it cannot ensure that peace will always prevail.

What did Greece and Rome contribute to the development of governments?

Ancient Greece and Rome contributed quite a lot to the development of government, at least in the West. Athens--led by Solon, Cleisthenes, and Pericles--introduced the concept of limited democracy, which meant that more citizens (although not all) could participate in government than in older forms of government. However, not all Greek city-states followed Athens' lead; Sparta, for instance, had a monarchy, and other had oligarchies (rule by a small, elite group).

Rome's contribution to the...

Ancient Greece and Rome contributed quite a lot to the development of government, at least in the West. Athens--led by Solon, Cleisthenes, and Pericles--introduced the concept of limited democracy, which meant that more citizens (although not all) could participate in government than in older forms of government. However, not all Greek city-states followed Athens' lead; Sparta, for instance, had a monarchy, and other had oligarchies (rule by a small, elite group).

Rome's contribution to the development of government was the republic. Rome was originally a monarchy, but the monarchy was overthrown during the tyrannical reign of Tarquinius Superbus. Rome's republic featured two branches, divided by class: the Senate (upper class patricians) and the Assembly (lower class plebeians). This divided government was designed to prevent either the aristocrats or the common people from tyrannizing the other class. Like Athens' democracy, political agency in Rome was limited to free male citizens.

When the American founders sought to create their new government in the United States, they looked back to Greece and Rome for inspiration. Ultimately, they sought to fuse the best of the two systems into a democratic republic.

In "A Modest Proposal" how does Swift use irony to satirize anti-Catholic feelings?

Jonathan Swift's satirical pamphlet “A Modest Proposal” is a purely ironic attempt to offer a solution to Ireland's hunger and overpopulation problems in the early 18th century. While most of the essay is spent outlining his argument that Irish infants should be sold and eaten at one-year of age, there are two instances in which the speaker, who is not Swift himself (since Swift is being satirical and does not really believe what he is writing), directly addresses Catholics.

Swift's motivation was the prejudice of the Protestants in Ireland and England toward the Irish Catholics. Over time, the Catholic population in Ireland had become more and more persecuted, as they were denied employment and fundamental rights, including the right to vote. Although Swift was not a Roman Catholic, he was concerned about their plight.

The following excerpt is the first mention of Catholics in the essay:

. . . there are more children born in Roman Catholick countries about nine months after Lent, the markets will be more glutted than usual, because the number of Popish infants, is at least three to one in this kingdom, and therefore it will have one other collateral advantage, by lessening the number of Papists among us.

The irony here is emphasized by the matter-of-fact tone the speaker uses, as though the idea of eating Catholic infants is indisputably right and just.

A little further on in the essay, the speaker says:

For first, as I have already observed, it would greatly lessen the number of Papists, with whom we are yearly over-run, being the principal breeders of the nation, as well as our most dangerous enemies, and who stay at home on purpose with a design to deliver the kingdom to the Pretender, hoping to take their advantage by the absence of so many good Protestants, who have chosen rather to leave their country, than stay at home and pay tithes against their conscience to an episcopal curate.

This paragraph makes reference to the political situation in England and Ireland in the early 18th century. There is irony in the fact that the speaker makes it sound like the Protestants are the ones being persecuted, rather than the Catholics, which was not the case.

What are the main comparisons and how do they differ: Confessions of an English Opium Eater by Thomas De- Quincey and Home at Grasmere by William...

To compare and contrast Thomas de Quincey's Confessions of an English Opium Eater with William Wordsworth's Home at Grasmere, it is helpful to note the relationship history between both authors.

Thomas de Quincey (1785-1859) was William Wordsworth's (1770-1850) junior by fifteen years. His relationship with Wordsworth earned him an invitation to stay with the Wordsworth family at their Dove Cottage, a house situated in Grasmere in the Lake District, in 1807. Wordsworth and his sister, Dorothy, lived at Grasmere from December of 1799 to May of 1808; upon their vacating Dove Cottage, de Quincey moved himself into the cozy home in 1809. He stayed until money ran out for him, in 1820.

To understand the differences between de Quincey and his mentor, it is worth noting the first split in their friendly acquaintance. This happened during the Cintra essay debacle. Accordingly, Wordsworth had put de Quincey in charge of proof-reading; de Quincey, a voracious reader, was well-known for his prose and ecstatic to be chosen by his idol to oversee the whole process of editing and printing. However, his joy soon turned to dismay when the autocratic Wordsworth made difficult and often contradictory demands on him. Furthermore, Cintra, at 216 pages, didn't sell well, and Wordsworth bitterly blamed de Quincey for obscuring his 'long and involved sentences' with de Quincey's 'unusual system of punctuation.'

To make matters worse, de Quincey and Wordsworth shared antithetical views about nature. While De Quincey enjoyed his idol's poems, he was more interested in people, history, and legends, than in 'waterfalls or sheepfolds or sunrises or daffodils.' Wordsworth viewed nature as the ultimate, transcending inspiration for his writing while de Quincey relied on laudanum (opium mixed in alcohol) to fuel his writing binges. On any given day, de Quincey was known to consume about '480 grains of opium or twelve thousand drops of laudanum.' He increased his dosage when his stomach ailments became worse.

So, you can see one of the main differences between Confessions of an English Opium Eater and Home at Grasmere. The former concerns itself with addiction, pain, and the struggle for relevance and meaning. It is a treatise filled with vulnerable confessions and humiliating concessions. The latter, on the other hand, concerns itself with the transcending influence of nature and how nature mitigates the dehumanizing influences of modernization and industrialization.

Say boldly then that solitude is not
Where these things are: he truly is alone,
He of the multitude whose eyes are doomed
To hold a vacant commerce day by day
With objects wanting life - repelling love;
He by the vast Metropolis immured,
Where pity shrinks from unremitting calls,
Where numbers overwhelm humanity,
And neighbourhood serves rather to divide
Than to unite. (from Home at Grasmere).

Home at Grasmere is also written in blank verse, while Confessions of an English Opium Eater is equal parts autobiography and cathartic prose.

Source: The English Opium Eater, a biography of Thomas de Quincey by Robert Morrison.

The addicted life of Thomas de Quincey.

Imagination, Metaphor, and Mythopoeia in Wordsworth, Shelley, and Keats by Firat Karadas.

What can be a statement of theme for "After Apple-Picking" by Robert Frost?

While critics suggest a number of themes for Frost's "After Apple-Picking," one statement of theme can be this: Apple-picking can be likened to the memory of writing poetry.

In every poem there is a controlling idea which helps to unlock the meaning of the poem. Certainly, there can be different interpretations which lead to the finding of different controlling ideas in Robert Frost's poem about the harvesting of apples since the apple can be...

While critics suggest a number of themes for Frost's "After Apple-Picking," one statement of theme can be this: Apple-picking can be likened to the memory of writing poetry.

In every poem there is a controlling idea which helps to unlock the meaning of the poem. Certainly, there can be different interpretations which lead to the finding of different controlling ideas in Robert Frost's poem about the harvesting of apples since the apple can be seen as a symbol of different things. But, one interpretation is that the apple is the fruit of the poet's efforts, the finished poem.

One argument made by critics is that "After Apple-Picking" is an allegorical poem for Robert Frost's career as a poet with the theme of Memory. This theme is most pronounced from line 25 to the end of the poem: 

For I have had too much
Of apple picking: I am overtired
Of the great harvest I myself desired....

Looking back on his career as a poet, Frost remembers his desire to write poems of worth, some of which were discarded-- "Went surely to the cider-apple heap"--but there were many that were achievements--"Of the great harvest that I myself desired." Now, he is exhausted from his creative efforts as he approaches sleep, always a symbol of death for Frost.

As sleep approaches, the poet's memory will recall for him the "apples," or ideas, which he began but discarded, and his successes. He is also concerned about the sleep state that he will enter, exploring ideas of what lies beyond death--"whatever sleep it is." Is it like the woodchuck's hibernation and one awakens to a new season, a new life? Or, is it "just some human sleep" in which he will have memories?

What rights can a grandparent hold over a motherless child that the father can't take away?

What rights grandparents have and under what circumstances they have those rights are a function of state law. Each state has its own statute regarding the rights of grandparents. You will have to review the statute in the state that has jurisdiction over the parties.

Generally, no matter which state's law governs, there are unlikely to be any absolute rights of a grandparent against a parent.  The standard for all custody law is "the best...

What rights grandparents have and under what circumstances they have those rights are a function of state law. Each state has its own statute regarding the rights of grandparents. You will have to review the statute in the state that has jurisdiction over the parties.

Generally, no matter which state's law governs, there are unlikely to be any absolute rights of a grandparent against a parent.  The standard for all custody law is "the best interests of the child."  This means that if a court were to determine that the child's best interests were to not be with a grandparent, the father would prevail. This could come up in any number of ways, depending upon the state. For example, if a grandparent were found to be interfering with the child's relationship with the surviving parent, the court would not see that as being in the best interests of the child. Or, if the child were old enough and preferred not to see the grandparent, that would have some weight in some state proceedings. 

There are two distinct sets of possible rights for grandparents.  One is custody and the other is visitation.  Custody can be complete or partial.  Visitation can be supervised or unsupervised.  The standard is the same for either, the best interests of the child. In no state are the courts in the business of affording any party rights over another party without meeting that standard.

If this is a personal inquiry, seriously consider consulting with an attorney in your state. Some states have legal services organizations that offer income-eligible help, and some counties have bar associations where you can consult with someone who practices family law for a reasonably-priced initial consultation. And it is always best for children if the adults who love them can work things out amicably. 

What are some good secondary sources for the theme of race relations in The Secret Life of Bees?

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd takes place in 1964 in South Carolina. That summer was also called the Mississippi Freedom Summer because Civil Rights leaders launched a campaign to register African-Americans to vote in a state that had largely disenfranchised them. A good source to learn more about the summer is Doug McAdam's Freedom Summer(Oxford University Press, 1988). During the summer, activists by the names of Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, and...

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd takes place in 1964 in South Carolina. That summer was also called the Mississippi Freedom Summer because Civil Rights leaders launched a campaign to register African-Americans to vote in a state that had largely disenfranchised them. A good source to learn more about the summer is Doug McAdam's Freedom Summer (Oxford University Press, 1988). During the summer, activists by the names of Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, and Michael Schwerner were murdered while trying to register African-Americans to vote in Mississippi. For more information about the events of that summer, you can also consult Joel Norst's Mississippi Burning (New American Library, 1988).

In addition, Fannie Lou Hamer was a critical figure in organizing the Mississippi Freedom Summer. She became one of the leaders of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, which was formed in opposition to the all-white Mississippi Democratic delegation to the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey. You can use Fannie Lou Hamer's The Speeches of Fannie Lou Hamer: To Tell it Like it is' (University Press of Mississippi, 2011).

A very good source of information about the Civil Rights movement is Taylor Branch's trilogy about America during the Martin Luther King years. The first volume is Parting the Waters, which covers 1954-1963, and the second volume, Pillar of Fire, covers 1963-1965. The third volume, At Canaan's Edge, covers the period 1965-1968.

What does this quote about The Crucible mean? “It is rare for people to be asked the question which puts them squarely in front of themselves.”

Proctor had to make a decision about whether or not to confess, and in that decision he had to address the fundamental nature of his character.

This is a quote from a man named Tom Wilkinson, who played the part of Proctor in a production of the play.  Wilkinson is referring to the insistence that Procter confess, and the choice he has to make about what kind of person he is.  Proctor refuses to confess...

Proctor had to make a decision about whether or not to confess, and in that decision he had to address the fundamental nature of his character.

This is a quote from a man named Tom Wilkinson, who played the part of Proctor in a production of the play.  Wilkinson is referring to the insistence that Procter confess, and the choice he has to make about what kind of person he is.  Proctor refuses to confess what they want him to, that he made a deal with the Devil.  He does not want to give up his name because he says it is all he has left.  He is willing to go to his death, but he refers to be part of the witch hunt (literally) and give legitimacy to the trial.

Proctor: You will not use me! I am no Sarah Good or Tituba, I am John Proctor! You will not use me! It is no part of salvation that you should use me! (Act 4, Scene 4)

To Proctor, this is madness: a group of girls starts accusing people of witchcraft, and soon dozens of people are put to death on the thinnest, obviously manufactured, evidence.  He has accepted his fate, but he wants to go down with his pride.  He will not let them take that from him.

Elizabeth wants John to confess because, as she says, then he could live.  She ultimately tells John that it is up to him.  He could not live with himself if he admitted a lie.  He will not justify the nonsense.  Other local towns shut down their courts when they came to their senses, but Salem held on.  Proctor insists, rightly so, that the court is nothing but a place to nurse grievances and exact vengeance on one’s neighbors.

Miller clearly was making a political statement with this play, and particularly with Proctor. In a village of people who seem to have lost their minds in the witchcraft hysteria, Proctor maintains his sanity.  He tries to protect the vulnerable.  Proctor is a man of principles, and while he admits that he did something wrong in having an affair, he will not admit to consorting with the Devil because he didn't, and the entire situation is wrong.

In what ways is Mr. Flood an example of a modern hero in "Mr. Flood's Party"?

In Edwin Arlington Robinson's poem, "Mr. Flood's Party," Mr. Flood represents modern man because he is alienated and alone, and lost in a world that has become for him meaningless, yet he is an existential hero because he creates some meaning out of this meaningless world.

Accompanied by his jug, Eben Flood walks drunkenly home, talking to himself as though someone else were holding this jug. He becomes involved in an imaginary drama as an...

In Edwin Arlington Robinson's poem, "Mr. Flood's Party," Mr. Flood represents modern man because he is alienated and alone, and lost in a world that has become for him meaningless, yet he is an existential hero because he creates some meaning out of this meaningless world.

Accompanied by his jug, Eben Flood walks drunkenly home, talking to himself as though someone else were holding this jug. He becomes involved in an imaginary drama as an untethered soul because his friends are all gone. He sings "with only two moons listening," and

There was not much that was ahead of him, 
And there was nothing in the town below— 
Where strangers would have shut the many doors 
That many friends had opened long ago.

Eben Flood is an existential man, who seeks to create some meaning out of a meaningless world. He sings "Auld Lang Syne" but no one listens in the "silver loneliness"; nevertheless, he forms some sense of order with this song and with his valiant recall of memories with old friends; in fact, he is heroic as he creates meaning in his empty life.

Why did the men from Umuofia want to go to war with their neighboring tribe, Mbaino?

In Chapter Two, the Umuofia clan want to avenge the murder of Ogbuefi Udo's wife, who died at the hands of men from the Mbaino clan. The unfortunate woman was at the market in Mbaino when she was murdered.

After a meeting, the Umuofia clan immediately dispatches Okonkwo as an emissary to Mbaino. The goal is to threaten Mbaino with war if fitting compensation is not offered for the murder of the Umuofia woman. Because...

In Chapter Two, the Umuofia clan want to avenge the murder of Ogbuefi Udo's wife, who died at the hands of men from the Mbaino clan. The unfortunate woman was at the market in Mbaino when she was murdered.

After a meeting, the Umuofia clan immediately dispatches Okonkwo as an emissary to Mbaino. The goal is to threaten Mbaino with war if fitting compensation is not offered for the murder of the Umuofia woman. Because Umuofia has a fearsome reputation for prowess on the battlefield, Mbaino chooses to placate its formidable neighbor. A boy, Ikemefuna, and a young virgin are sent back with Okonkwo to Umuofia.

Accordingly, the young virgin becomes the wife of Ogbuefi Udo, and Ikemefuna is sent to live with Okonkwo until the clan decides his fate. Unbeknownst to Ikemefuna, his own father had participated in the murder of the Umuofia woman. Ikemefuna lives with Okonkwo for three years before the clan decides he must die for his father's guilt. Meanwhile, Ogbuefi Ezeudu, the oldest man in the clan, warns Okonkwo not to participate in Ikemefuna's death, but the formidable warrior ignores the warning, a decision he later regrets.

In Julius Caesar, What does Brutus say about Caesar's spirit at Phillipi?

The first thing Brutus mentions about Caesar's ghost when he is on the battlefield at Phillipi is the following:

O Julius Caesar, thou art mighty yet!Thy spirit walks abroad and turns our swordsIn our own proper entrails.

Brutus expresses the superstition that Caesar's spirit has come for vengeance and forces his men to turn their swords against themselves, i.e to commit suicide. Later, he once again refers to Caesar's ghost when he says...

The first thing Brutus mentions about Caesar's ghost when he is on the battlefield at Phillipi is the following:

O Julius Caesar, thou art mighty yet!
Thy spirit walks abroad and turns our swords
In our own proper entrails.

Brutus expresses the superstition that Caesar's spirit has come for vengeance and forces his men to turn their swords against themselves, i.e to commit suicide. Later, he once again refers to Caesar's ghost when he says to Volumnius:

The ghost of Caesar hath appear'd to me
Two several times by night; at Sardis once,
And, this last night, here in Philippi fields:
I know my hour is come.

Brutus realises that his time has come. He believes that the appearance of Caesar's ghost the previous night, prior to their battle at Philippi, and again on the battlefield, was an ominous sign that he would die. Whilst he had been in his tent at Sardis, Caesar's spirit appeared:

... Ha! who comes here?
I think it is the weakness of mine eyes
That shapes this monstrous apparition.
It comes upon me. Art thou any thing?
Art thou some god, some angel, or some devil,
That makest my blood cold and my hair to stare?
Speak to me what thou art.
GHOST
Thy evil spirit, Brutus.
BRUTUS
Why comest thou?
GHOST
To tell thee thou shalt see me at Philippi.
BRUTUS
Well; then I shall see thee again?
GHOST
Ay, at Philippi.
BRUTUS
Why, I will see thee at Philippi, then.

Brutus was clearly shaken by the appearance of Caesar's spirit and enquired of his other men why they had cried out. He believed that he may have imagined what he had seen and that his men had been crying out in their sleep. However, all of them denied having made a sound, making it more convincing that what he had seen was real.

It has become obvious to Brutus that the ghost had kept its promise. His troops have been overrun and there is no way out. The victorious Antony and Octavius are coming ever closer. His men ask him to flee but Brutus decides to commit suicide, just like Cassius has done. He runs onto his sword (held by Strato) and kills himself, stating in his last breath:

Caesar, now be still:
I kill'd not thee with half so good a will.

He means that he had a greater desire to take his own life than he had in taking Caesar's. Caesar's ghost can now come to rest because its vengeance is complete.

In the Bronze Bow, how was the conflict resolved?

The primary conflict in Elizabeth George Speare's novel The Bronze Bowis the internal conflict Daniel experiences with himself. He has become so consumed by hatred of the Romans and his desire for revenge that he cannot lead a normal life. Even an insignificant encounter with a Roman soldier can ruin his mood for days, and his exaggerated reaction to a soldier results in a serious wound that could have been fatal. His outburst at...

The primary conflict in Elizabeth George Speare's novel The Bronze Bow is the internal conflict Daniel experiences with himself. He has become so consumed by hatred of the Romans and his desire for revenge that he cannot lead a normal life. Even an insignificant encounter with a Roman soldier can ruin his mood for days, and his exaggerated reaction to a soldier results in a serious wound that could have been fatal. His outburst at Leah when he learns she has taken a gift from a Roman soldier sends her plunging into mental and physical illness to the brink of death. And he throws away the chance he might have to marry Thacia because of his vow for vengeance.

Although Daniel thinks the Romans are to blame for the difficulties in his life, the fact is, his own hatred is what makes him miserable. Jesus is the one who shows him that love is the only thing stronger than hate; only love is strong enough to bend a bow of bronze. Daniel tells Jesus he will give him everything he has and will follow him, but Jesus asks him if he can give up his hate. Daniel thinks he cannot do that. But when Thacia calls Jesus to Daniel's home to heal Leah, Daniel experiences the love of Jesus toward himself, even after he has rejected Jesus, and he decides he wants to stop fighting and follow Jesus. He realizes that "to know Jesus would be enough," and "almost with the thought the terrible weight was gone." Daniel is able to give up his hate when he is touched by the love of Jesus and decides to follow him.

In "The Most Dangerous Game," what choice does Zaroff give Rainsford before the hunt?

In Richard Connel's short story "The Most Dangerous Game" Sanger Rainsford, a big game hunter, accidentally falls off his yacht into the ocean near an island named "Ship-Trap" island. While on the island he comes across the chateau of Zaroff, a former Russian general who lives on the island to indulge in his one passion in life, hunting. Unfortunately, Zaroff, who has grown bored with hunting animals, now hunts humans, sailors who are ship wrecked...

In Richard Connel's short story "The Most Dangerous Game" Sanger Rainsford, a big game hunter, accidentally falls off his yacht into the ocean near an island named "Ship-Trap" island. While on the island he comes across the chateau of Zaroff, a former Russian general who lives on the island to indulge in his one passion in life, hunting. Unfortunately, Zaroff, who has grown bored with hunting animals, now hunts humans, sailors who are ship wrecked on the island. 

When Zaroff asks Rainsford to hunt with him, Rainsford refuses and calls it "cold-blooded murder." He demands to be released from the island and given a boat to the mainland. Since Rainsford won't hunt with him, Zaroff decides he will hunt Rainsford. Zaroff is anxious at the thought of matching wits with another hunter. He says,

"You'll find this game worth playing," the general said enthusiastically. "Your brain against mine. Your woodcraft against mine. Your strength and stamina against mine. Outdoor chess! And the stake is not without value, eh?" 

Rainsford's only other option is to fall into the hands of Zaroff's servant, a cossack and former torturer for the Russian army. Zaroff describes the potential fate with Ivan:

"If he does not wish to hunt, I turn him over to Ivan. Ivan once had the honor of serving as official knouter to the Great White Czar, and he has his own ideas of sport. Invariably, Mr. Rainsford, invariably they choose the hunt." 

Zaroff also guarantees that if Rainsford outwits him and is not captured or killed within three days he will release him to the mainland. With no other choice Rainsford strikes off into the jungle armed only with a "supply of food and an excellent hunting knife."

What was FDR's role as President during the Great Depression and the New Deal?

Roosevelt, unlike his predecessor Herbert Hoover, took a leading and vocal role in attacking the effects of the Great Depression. Franklin Roosevelt's response to the Great Depression was a massive collection of government programs, administrations, and agencies that attempted to provide relief, bring about recovery, and establish permanent structural reforms. This effort, known as the New Deal, fundamentally and permanently altered the role of the President, and the federal government in general. 

While Hoover was...

Roosevelt, unlike his predecessor Herbert Hoover, took a leading and vocal role in attacking the effects of the Great Depression. Franklin Roosevelt's response to the Great Depression was a massive collection of government programs, administrations, and agencies that attempted to provide relief, bring about recovery, and establish permanent structural reforms. This effort, known as the New Deal, fundamentally and permanently altered the role of the President, and the federal government in general. 

While Hoover was not the laissez-faire doctrinaire that many have accused him of being, he did not advocate direct relief, and he was not particularly good at communicating his policies to the American people, which made him seem aloof to their suffering. Roosevelt, on the other hand, implemented immediate relief and "make-work" programs, and directly communicated to the American people through "fireside chats" and through sending representatives, including his wife Eleanor, throughout the country to meet with people and discuss their hardships. So the role of the President as national leader certainly increased in importance under Roosevelt as a result of his reaction to the New Deal. His popularity with the people, in fact, caused him to overstep his bounds on several occasions, particularly his "court-packing" scheme of 1937, when he sought to add additional justices to the Supreme Court, which had just scuttled some of his reforms. This hurt Roosevelt politically, but there is no doubt that his approach to the presidency during the Great Depression--and equally the Second World War--increased the powers and the scope of the federal executive.

What is the difference between symbolic interactionism and macro perspectives (functionalist and conflict) ?

The major difference between symbolic interactionism and the two  macro-level perspectives in sociology is that the macro-level perspectives look at large chunks of society or at society as  a whole while symbolic interactionism looks at individual people and their internal lives.  In short, symbolic interactionism is a micro-level perspective while the others are, as you say, macro-level.

The two macro-level perspectives are not terribly interested in what individual people do.  Instead, they are interested in...

The major difference between symbolic interactionism and the two  macro-level perspectives in sociology is that the macro-level perspectives look at large chunks of society or at society as  a whole while symbolic interactionism looks at individual people and their internal lives.  In short, symbolic interactionism is a micro-level perspective while the others are, as you say, macro-level.

The two macro-level perspectives are not terribly interested in what individual people do.  Instead, they are interested in what large groups do.  For example, a functionalist might try to understand why women tend not to advance as far in the workplace as men do.  A conflict theorist might attempt to explain why non-whites are generally less wealthy than whites.  These questions look at large groups in society, not at the way that individuals think.

By contrast, symbolic interactionism does look at what individuals think. This perspective says that society is created by the ways in which people interact with the world around them. Individuals in society have to look at all the things that go on around them and assign meaning to those things. They have to essentially treat things like other people’s actions and words as symbols.  They do the same to other things like flags, crosses, pictures of Santa Claus and anything else you might think of.  People see those things and give them meaning. They then interact with those meanings, letting the meanings that they assign to those things influence their lives.  Symbolic interactionism is interested in this process of thinking about the world that goes on inside people’s heads.  This makes it very different from the other two perspectives.

What are some positive and negative words about the American industrial Revolution?

The American Industrial Revolution had some positive and negative characteristics associated with it. Some of the words that would reflect the positive characteristics would be economic growth, progress, the growth of the country, and increased trade. As a result of the Industrial Revolution, our economy grew. Many jobs were created by the growth of factories. New products were available. We were able to trade more products with other countries because we were making more products in the factories.

There was progress as a result of the Industrial Revolution. New inventions were made that helped make life easier. The mechanical reaper helped farmers with their work. Elias Howe invented the sewing machine. These and other inventions helped make life easier for Americans.

The Industrial Revolution also helped the country grow. With the development of the steam engine, it became easier for people to move to the west. As people moved to the west, the businesses followed. As more people moved westward, cities began to grow and develop. This led to more industrial development. Industries followed the westward movement of the people.

Some of the negative words associated with the Industrial Revolution are poor treatment of workers, pollution, and dangerous factories. As factories developed, workers found it more difficult to improve their pay and working conditions. Because there were many workers available, workers weren’t in a strong position to ask for more pay and improved working conditions.

The Industrial Revolution led to more pollution. The steam engine belched smoke into the air. Factories would often pollute the water supply. There were no laws to regulate the pollution caused by the factories. Pollution became a real issue with the growth of our industries.

Factories were often unsafe places to work. There were no safety laws to protect workers. Workers got hurt and would lose their jobs. There was no compensation for workplace related injuries.

The Industrial Revolution had both positive and negative characteristics associated with it. Some of these positive issues helped the country while some of these negative issues led to calls for reforms to correct the problems that existed.

what does Durkheim mean by "sacred realm"

Emile Durkheim was a French sociologist who described religion as being a negotiation or relationship between the sacred and the profane. The sacred (realm) is supernatural, ideal, powerful, and potentially dangerous if not treated properly. Anything can be sacred, even seemingly mundane objects like rocks or a favorite food- they are  marked as sacred when a person or group of people believes this object has a special quality which marks is as not profane. 

In...

Emile Durkheim was a French sociologist who described religion as being a negotiation or relationship between the sacred and the profane. The sacred (realm) is supernatural, ideal, powerful, and potentially dangerous if not treated properly. Anything can be sacred, even seemingly mundane objects like rocks or a favorite food- they are  marked as sacred when a person or group of people believes this object has a special quality which marks is as not profane. 

In many cases, religion and a shared perception of what is sacred or profane can be part of a social cohesion. Religion may be part of or related to ethnic identity, but is also quite transcendent of lived experiences like ethnic identity, health or bodily status, and even language. A shared belief in the sacredness or profanity of a person, place, thing, word, or action unites people. 

The sacred realm is a very ambiguous word or quality. In the simplest terms, it is everywhere and nowhere, dependent upon whether or not someone believes it is there. The realm can be created through action or speech, or may be a permanent fixture which becomes sacred in the presence of someone who believes it is sacred.

The sacred realm can include religious buildings or sites of worship, spaces or objects marked as sacred through prayer, realms of the before and afterlife, and objects deemed to be sacred which have influence over the place they rest. 

How can we consider "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll as a work of the absurd? Are there any elements of absurdity in it?

Saying that the poem "The Jabberwocky" is absurd is true, but calling it a work of the absurd, or absurdist fiction, is a little risky. Works of the absurd are generally more satirical and focusing on human nature, which is not the point of Carroll's "The Jabberwocky". However, there are a few things this poem has in common with absurdist fiction: lack of plot, lack of moral, and the form. Absurdist fiction often has no...

Saying that the poem "The Jabberwocky" is absurd is true, but calling it a work of the absurd, or absurdist fiction, is a little risky. Works of the absurd are generally more satirical and focusing on human nature, which is not the point of Carroll's "The Jabberwocky". However, there are a few things this poem has in common with absurdist fiction: lack of plot, lack of moral, and the form. Absurdist fiction often has no real structure or plot, which Carroll's poem is also lacking; there is a slight plot (the Jabberwocky is bad, a guy decapitates it, and then the guy goes home), but nothing too elaborate or really firm. It also has no moral; it is not trying to tell you that you should slay evil creatures, it is not trying to tell you anything, except maybe to "Beware the JubJub bird, and shun the frumious Bandersnatch!" Also, absurdist fiction can often be found in the form of a poem, which is what "The Jabberwocky" is.

All of that being said, Carroll's poem is more about whimsical nonsense rather than absurdist concepts.

What figure of speech is used by the captain when he says "disdaining fortune" in Act 1, Scene 1 of Macbeth?

Macbeth was not worried about what would happen.

A figure of speech is no-literal language, or figurative language.  It can be a simile, a metaphor, or an idiom.  If it is an idiom, it would mean that it was a commonly used phrase.  The expression used by the captain to describe Macbeth’s actions might be best described as a metaphor or personification.  Personification is giving human traits to something nonliving.  In this case, fortune is...

Macbeth was not worried about what would happen.

A figure of speech is no-literal language, or figurative language.  It can be a simile, a metaphor, or an idiom.  If it is an idiom, it would mean that it was a commonly used phrase.  The expression used by the captain to describe Macbeth’s actions might be best described as a metaphor or personification.  Personification is giving human traits to something nonliving.  In this case, fortune is described as something that you fight or ignore. 

Macbeth was a brave solider before the witches got hold of him.  Evidence of this can be found in the captain’s descriptions of Macbeth’s actions during the battle that preceded the play.  It appears that Macbeth knew no fear, and charged into battle until he defeated the traitor Macdonwald.

And fortune, on his damned quarrel smiling,
Show'd like a rebel's whore: but all's too weak:
For brave Macbeth--well he deserves that name--
Disdaining fortune, with his brandish'd steel,
Which smoked with bloody execution,
Like valour's minion carved out his passage
Till he faced the slave … (Act 1, Scene 2)

In other words, Macbeth had to defy fortune in order to accomplish his task.  This is because there were a lot of enemy soldiers he had to defeat before he could get to Macdonwald.  Macbeth did not care though.  He laughs in the face of fortune, so to speak.  (That’s another figure of speech.)  Macbeth had luck on his side.

This is actually a very important scene.  It is easy to forget that Macbeth was once regarded as a valiant solider and a good man once the play gets started.  Macbeth makes a lot of terrible choices, and is presented throughout as either aggressively ambitious or just plain insane.  However, aggression and ambition are celebrated on the battlefield.  Macbeth was a hero once.

Why was Amir one of the bravest and most courageous characters in Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner?

It is almost blasphemous to suggest that Amir is brave or courageous after he watches Assef rape Hassan and doesn't do anything about it. It is even harder to suggest it when he tries to frame Hassan for stealing in order to get him sent away.

The bravery and courage that Amir demonstrates come later in the story, after he has been unable to face his horrific actions as a boy. It is only when...

It is almost blasphemous to suggest that Amir is brave or courageous after he watches Assef rape Hassan and doesn't do anything about it. It is even harder to suggest it when he tries to frame Hassan for stealing in order to get him sent away.

The bravery and courage that Amir demonstrates come later in the story, after he has been unable to face his horrific actions as a boy. It is only when Rahim Kahn, who was aware of what happened, calls and tells him that he has a chance to redeem himself that he begins to face his fears.

He faces them with an impressive amount of courage when the time comes. When he has to go and meet with Assef and Assef is beating him so badly that he begins to assume that he will die, he begins to laugh at the relief he feels at finally standing up to him. He knew that his "body was broken... but [he] felt healed."

And he fights desperately to save Sohrab both from Assef and later from himself. He even has the courage to bring him home to his wife and to try and build a family around him despite having a clear understanding of how difficult that will be.

Which character had the greatest impact on Maniac in Maniac Magee?

The character that has the greatest impact on Maniac is Amanda Beale, because she gives him a family.

Maniac wants a family more than anything else. His parents are dead, and the relatives he was sent to live with did not seem able to handle having a child, or each other. He ran away and ended up in Two Mills. There he eventually found Amanda Beale, and they became friends.

The author tells us that...

The character that has the greatest impact on Maniac is Amanda Beale, because she gives him a family.

Maniac wants a family more than anything else. His parents are dead, and the relatives he was sent to live with did not seem able to handle having a child, or each other. He ran away and ended up in Two Mills. There he eventually found Amanda Beale, and they became friends.

The author tells us that Amanda was the first person to befriend Maniac.

As for the first person to actually stop and talk with Maniac, that would be Amanda Beale. And it happened because of a mistake. (Ch. 3) 

Maniac tells her “hi” and she is surprised, because white kids do not greet black kids. He shouldn’t even be in her neighborhood. However, Maniac has a disarming smile and is enamored of Amanda’s books. Amanda carries her library with her, so that younger siblings do not destroy the books. 

Maniac asks Amanda to lend him a book. She is hesitant at first, because she doesn’t know how he will get it back to her. He told her he was from Bridgeport. She is late for school, so she lends him a book about the Children’s Crusade. Maniac loves reading, and he is thrilled.

The Beales take Maniac in and give him a family, despite the color of his skin. It makes little difference to them once he is in their house. Maniac is so excited that he can’t sleep on his first night there until he looks at the house's address.

Before the puzzled faces of Mr. and Mrs. Beale, he opened the front door and looked at the three cast-iron digits nailed to the door frame: seven two eight. He kept staring at them, smiling. Then he closed the door, said a cheerful "Good-night," and went back to bed. (Ch. 12)

Since running away from home, Maniac has wanted nothing more than an address, with real numbers. The Beales give him that. He is forced to leave because others do not approve of a white boy living with a black family, but he later returns after Grayson dies, finally home.

Give a reason why scientists prefer the metric to the "US" system of measurement

Personally, I prefer the metric system because it is based on multiples of ten. This make mental math much simpler when using the metric system rather than the US system. Scientists sometimes have to make calculations on the fly, or many calculations in a row. If these calculations can be done accurately with mental math, you can save time. 

For example, it is much easier to convert grams to kilograms using mental math, since one...

Personally, I prefer the metric system because it is based on multiples of ten. This make mental math much simpler when using the metric system rather than the US system. Scientists sometimes have to make calculations on the fly, or many calculations in a row. If these calculations can be done accurately with mental math, you can save time. 

For example, it is much easier to convert grams to kilograms using mental math, since one gram is one thousandth of a kilogram. It is much more difficult to convert ounces to pounds, since one pound is one sixteenth of a pound. I would need a calculator if I were converting between pounds and ounces frequently.

Another reason I prefer the metric system is because familiarity with the metric system allows me to read and understand scientific results produced overseas. Can you imagine how complicated it would become if every country had its own unit of mass? Standardization makes international collaboration much easier.

In "Araby", what is the significance of the uncle quoting "The Arab's Farewell to His Steed"?

"Araby" is very much a story about disappointed hopes, letting go of childish fantasy, and learning that the world does not bend or change for one person's dreams.

In his attempt to get to Araby, the young boy meets with many delays that frustrate him in his desire to purchase something special for Mangan's sister, the girl with whom he believes himself to be in love.  The first of these delays is the lateness of...

"Araby" is very much a story about disappointed hopes, letting go of childish fantasy, and learning that the world does not bend or change for one person's dreams.

In his attempt to get to Araby, the young boy meets with many delays that frustrate him in his desire to purchase something special for Mangan's sister, the girl with whom he believes himself to be in love.  The first of these delays is the lateness of his uncle on whom he must wait to give him the money to go.  When his uncle finally arrives, he sits down to his dinner (another delay!) and the narrator must wait for several minutes before asking him for the money.  Even then, his uncle jokes that many people are already in bed.  He asks, again, where the narrator wants to go (more delays), and then asks if the boy knows the poem "The Arab's Farewell to his Steed."  

The connection of the story to the poem seems to lie in the frustrated hopes of the young narrators.  In the poem, an Arab boy is compelled to part with his beloved horse when the horse is sold.  It's quite a romantic poem, with lots of beautiful descriptions of the boy's fervent love for his wonderful horse, how he aches not to have to give the horse up and dreams of riding away from the new owner to be able to keep his horse forever.  Yet, in the end, the boy must give him up.  Likewise, in "Araby," the young narrator lives on his dreams and is only beginning to acknowledge the reality of a life that moves on without regard to his love, a life where "sordid" things like money are considered to be of much greater value and importance than fantasies and feelings.  The uncle, perhaps, has a sense that the narrator is at such a point in his life and has yet to realize the nature of the world.  And although the boy leaves before he can hear the poem and make that connection, he learns that harsh lesson in the end.

In thermodynamics what kind of measurements do we use in order to find out how intensely hot something is?

Ultimately, temperature is just the average kinetic energy of particles bouncing around inside an object. But how we measure it really depends on what it is we are measuring.

For small, accessible objects at moderate temperatures (which includes objects like cars and people), we have lots of methods, and the most typical way is to use thermometers, which are actually just two different substances (such as glass and mercury) with known, different rates of expansion due to temperature, such that we can compare their relative sizes and read off the temperature. To measure the object, we simply put the thermometer on it and wait for the heat to be conducted until the two objects reach thermal equilibrium. Then, we read off the calibrated thermometer what the temperature is. (How did we calibrate it in the first place? By placing it in water which we then cooled and heated to its freezing and boiling points, which are by definition 0 C and 100 C respectively).

But obviously that won't do if we're talking about something which is very large, very hot, or very far away---such as the Sun, which is obviously all of those things. Then, a better method is to use spectroscopy, where we study the spectrum of light radiated by the object. This spectrum we can then compare to mathematical models we have from quantum mechanics of blackbody radiation, which is the radiation that all substances naturally emit simply due to the fact that they are warmer than absolute zero. This can give us a very precise measurement of the object's temperature, and even tell us which parts of the object are hotter than other parts.

This is especially good for temperatures near those of the Sun, because then the blackbody radiation is in the visible spectrum. (This is not a coincidence; we evolved to see in that spectrum precisely because it is what the Sun produces). For objects much colder than the Sun, the radiation is in the infrared spectrum, so we need special instruments to detect it. (Your body emits infrared blackbody radiation, for example, because it is much colder than the Sun). For objects even hotter than the Sun, the radiation is instead far in the ultraviolet range, and again requires special instruments.

Spectroscopy is even useful, in a somewhat different way, for measuring the "temperature" of molecules or atoms, which are so small that the very concept of "temperature" begins to break down. Really, what we are measuring is their energy, but from thermodynamics we know that if you put enough molecular energy together, you get temperature.

Which gas in air does the magnesium in a flare react with? What kind of reaction is happening when magnesium reacts with this gas? What is the...

The gas in air that reacts with magnesium is oxygen. The type of reaction that takes place is called synthesis or combination. In this type of reaction there are two or more reactants and one product. Here's the equation for the reaction:

`2 Mg + O_2 -gt 2MgO `

There are two foms of evidence that a chemical reaction is taking place. One is the release of heat and very bright light. The other...

The gas in air that reacts with magnesium is oxygen. The type of reaction that takes place is called synthesis or combination. In this type of reaction there are two or more reactants and one product. Here's the equation for the reaction:

`2 Mg + O_2 -gt 2MgO `

There are two foms of evidence that a chemical reaction is taking place. One is the release of heat and very bright light. The other is the formation of a new substance: White, powdery magnesium oxide forms as the magnesium burns.

Here are the word equations for the reaction of magnesium, lead and potassium with the same gas, oxygen:

Solid magnesium burns with oxygen gas to produce magnesium oxide

Hot molten lead reacts with oxygen gas to produce lead(II)oxide 

Potassium metal burns with oxygen to produce potassium peroxide

What is the report given by Casca in Act I, Scene 2 of Julius Caesar?

Publius Servilius Casca in Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar might be considered a minor character. He has few speaking parts, appearing to be little more than an informer for Brutus and Cassius. On the other hand, Casca, a respected Roman senator, draws and lands his sword first in Caesar’s assassination.

After Caesar and his party leave for other public events, Casca comes by invitation to speak to Brutus and Cassius. He describes the events that have...

Publius Servilius Casca in Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar might be considered a minor character. He has few speaking parts, appearing to be little more than an informer for Brutus and Cassius. On the other hand, Casca, a respected Roman senator, draws and lands his sword first in Caesar’s assassination.

After Caesar and his party leave for other public events, Casca comes by invitation to speak to Brutus and Cassius. He describes the events that have occurred in the recent Lupercal celebration.

• First, Antony offered the symbolic crown to Caesar three times; Caesar refused it three times.


• Secondly, the crowd appeared glad that Caesar had refused the crown.

This prompted Casca to say, "Why, there was a crown offered him: and being offered him, he put it by with the back of his hand, thus; and then the people fell a- shouting."

• Next, Casca notes that Caesar wanted to take the crown but resisted. From this episode, Casca describes that Caesar has a seizure possibly prompted by the crown incident.

Casca: Caesar refused the crown that it had almost choked Caesar; for he swooned and fell down at it: and for mine own part, I durst not laugh, for fear of opening my lips and receiving the bad air.

• After Caesar awoke, he apologized. According to Casca, Caesar could have done anything and the crowd would have supported him.


• Cicero spoke out but it was in Greek...Casca could not understand what he had said.


• Lastly, Casca conveyed the news that the soldiers Flavius and Murellus have been punished for taking the drapings from Caesar’s statues.

The reader learns that Casca is both cynical and two-faced. He wants to laugh when Caesar falls down during his seizure, yet he quiets the crowd for Caesar to speak. Furthermore, he answers rudely when Cassius asks him to dinner.

Casca, a minor player, plays a larger role than perceived in the assassination of Caesar. Unfortunately for Casca, his celebration is short since he meets his demise on the same day Caesar dies.

I require quotes regarding deception in the Kite Runner, I have found many on betrayal but only a few on lying

He asked me to fetch Hassan too, but I lied and told him Hassan had the runs. I wanted Baba all to myself.

Amir was always envious of Baba's affection towards Hassan. He never understood how Baba would treat Hassan like his son. Amir only learned later that Hassan was his half-brother. Sanaubar, Hassan’s mother, got intimate with Baba so she could have a child because Ali was sterile. However, she abandoned Hassan soon after...

He asked me to fetch Hassan too, but I lied and told him Hassan had the runs. I wanted Baba all to myself.

Amir was always envious of Baba's affection towards Hassan. He never understood how Baba would treat Hassan like his son. Amir only learned later that Hassan was his half-brother. Sanaubar, Hassan’s mother, got intimate with Baba so she could have a child because Ali was sterile. However, she abandoned Hassan soon after he was born. Further, she was a Hazara and could not have an official relationship with Baba. Although Baba did not publicly relate with Hassan as his father, he always treated him as such. He invited him whenever they were going for trips with Amir.

I faked interest for as long as possible. I cheered with him when Kabul’s team scored against Kandahar.

In attempts to live up to his father’s expectations, Amir pretended to like football, at least, as a spectator. Baba was athletic during his youth. He hoped his son would follow in his footsteps. However, Amir was not inclined to live up to his father’s expectations. Instead, he was interested in literature. This irked his father who viewed poetry or literature as an embodiment of his son’s “soft” character.

‘Imbecile.’ It means smart, intelligent. I’ll use it in a sentence for you. ‘When it comes to words, Hassan is an imbecile.

In this instance, Amir employed his knowledge of English to deceive Hassan. Hassan was illiterate with no hopes of ever attending school because of his social status. He relied on Amir to explain some of the words he did not understand, but during this instance, Amir lied to him. However, Amir did this in jest as he was teasing Hassan.

I lifted Hassan’s mattress and planted my new watch and a handful of Afghani bills under it.

Amir lied to his father about his lost watch, which he had planted in Hassan’s room. He did not want Hassan around him anymore because of the guilt he carried around. He did nothing to help Hassan when Assef raped him.

What is the mood of "The Veldt"?

On one level, the mood of "The Veldt" is clearly one of fear and paranoia. We can sense this from the very first lines of the story:

"George, I wish you'd look at the nursery."

"What's wrong with it?"

"I don't know."

"Well, then."

"I just want you to look at it, is all, or call a psychologist in to look at it."

"What would a psychologist want with a nursery?"

"You know very well what he'd want."

Clearly, the mother is upset about something. What we discover is that she is afraid that the technologically advanced house they have bought, and specifically the nursery, a kind of giant three dimensional TV set, has undermined their authority as parents with their two children, Wendy and Peter. There is a sense that the children know something the adults do not. There is something unsettling about the scenes of Africa they find in the nursery. Maybe Peter has tampered with the Nursery, so that the parents cannot control it?

This mood of paranoia is amplified when the parents confront the children about the nursery, and Peter flatly denies that they had anything to do with Africa. It is amplified still more when the father says he is thinking about turning the house off, Peter responds by saying "I don't think you'd better consider it any more, Father." Are the children becoming smarter and more powerful than the parents?

On another level, the story has a darkly comic mood to it. If we think of the story as a satire of the nuclear family, we can see how the efforts of the parents to "provide" for their children actually afford the children the means to supercede parental authority. Since the whole point of raising children is to make their lives better, we can see in the parent's reaction to their kids that 1) they don't understand them very well and 2) maybe their house has more to say about them and their desire to be "babied" than it does about their care for their children. In this case, Bradbury seems to suggest that maybe Wendy and Peter are the real adults in the story. 

What type of thinking spread during the Renaissance and Reformation periods?

During the Renaissance period, thinking shifted from that which closely aligned to the teachings of the Catholic Church to a more humanist perspective.  This was in part because of the invention of Gutenburg's printing press, which allowed different types of literature to be published in large quantities.  Petrarch was an Italian poet whose work helped to spread the ideas of humanism in Italy and the rest of Europe during the Renaissance.

Also during this time,...

During the Renaissance period, thinking shifted from that which closely aligned to the teachings of the Catholic Church to a more humanist perspective.  This was in part because of the invention of Gutenburg's printing press, which allowed different types of literature to be published in large quantities.  Petrarch was an Italian poet whose work helped to spread the ideas of humanism in Italy and the rest of Europe during the Renaissance.

Also during this time, Martin Luther took a stand against the Catholic Church in Germany.  He expressed his concerns with the church, specifically the selling of indulgences.  He also suggested that the mass should be in the language of the country where the church is located, rather than solely in Latin.  These new ideas and others were the beginning of the Protestant Reformation in Europe.  

In both cases, the Renaissance and the Reformation defied the teachings and outlook of the Catholic Church.  The Catholic Church lost strength and power in Europe because of these two movements.

Why is Piggy a social outcast in William Golding's Lord Of The Flies, and how do the boys make him feel uneasy?

In his novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding identifies Piggy as a social outcast. Piggy, whose real name is unknown, is fat and unathletic. He is also balding and wears glasses. Piggy's physical inferiority is highlighted by the fact that he has asthma and cannot complete manual laboror any other physically taxing activity. When the boys first meet Piggy they call him "Fatty," and Ralph corrects them by incidentally calling him by...

In his novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding identifies Piggy as a social outcast. Piggy, whose real name is unknown, is fat and unathletic. He is also balding and wears glasses. Piggy's physical inferiority is highlighted by the fact that he has asthma and cannot complete manual labor or any other physically taxing activity. When the boys first meet Piggy they call him "Fatty," and Ralph corrects them by incidentally calling him by the name he hates the most...Piggy. Throughout the novel, Piggy is viewed as a social outcast because he is excluded from physical activities, like exploring the island with Ralph, Simon, and Jack, as well as going on hunting expeditions. Jack antagonizes Piggy throughout the novel by interrupting him while he is trying to speak at the assemblies, calling him names, and even physically assaulting him. Piggy gets made fun of for his glasses, which get broken, stolen, and destroyed by the end of the novel. Roger refers to Piggy as a "bag of fat," which ironically is the same adjective used to describe a group of pigs on the island. Piggy fears that the boys will harm him and looks to Ralph for protection. Their constant antagonism makes Piggy feel uneasy because he is aware that he is not socially accepted by the group of boys. He is also Ralph's biggest supporter, which does not add to his popularity as Ralph quickly loses control over the group. At the end of the novel, Roger rolls a boulder and kills Piggy, effectively destroying the last hope of civilization and humanity on the island.

What are some improvements in acting from the Elizabethan era to today?

The matter of whether or not acting technique is better today than it was in the Elizabethan era is really a matter of artistic preference. One could argue that today, actors have the opportunity to take more time to "get into" character, and potentially work in character detail from a number of previous interpretations.

As for the conditions actors worked in, things are certainly much improved! In the Elizabethan era, theatres were typically cramped courtyards,...

The matter of whether or not acting technique is better today than it was in the Elizabethan era is really a matter of artistic preference. One could argue that today, actors have the opportunity to take more time to "get into" character, and potentially work in character detail from a number of previous interpretations.

As for the conditions actors worked in, things are certainly much improved! In the Elizabethan era, theatres were typically cramped courtyards, though having freestanding theatres (such as the Globe) did become more common. Courtyard and freestanding theatres were often unhygienic as people left food scraps and personal waste on the ground. Gathering lots of people together in close quarters was also an exceptional means of spreading disease, like the plague.

Theatres built of wood frequently caught fire, which posed a big risk to the actors and patrons. Costuming had its dangers, as makeup contained hazardous materials like lead (as for white face paint) and mercury.

Actors were historically one of the lowest classes, along with sex workers and other people who "danced for their dinner." Being low-class in any society and time comes with its own stresses of health, safety, and survival. Women were not allowed to act, though today there is much more gender equality in acting and it is a desirable profession for many people of all genders.

How were Americans justified in their fear of immigrants after WWI?

First of all, we have to realize that not everyone would say that Americans were justified in their fear of immigrants after World War I.  There are many people who would argue that American nativism during this time period was misguided.  However, if we have to argue that fear of immigrants was justified, we can do so by pointing to the fact that some immigrants were politically radical during this time, which was also the...

First of all, we have to realize that not everyone would say that Americans were justified in their fear of immigrants after World War I.  There are many people who would argue that American nativism during this time period was misguided.  However, if we have to argue that fear of immigrants was justified, we can do so by pointing to the fact that some immigrants were politically radical during this time, which was also the time right after Russia’s Tsar had been overthrown and the communists had come to power.

At this point in world history, there was a fair amount of worry about communism and anarchism.  Communists had, of course, just overthrown the Russian monarchy and set up a country that they controlled.  The communists were explicitly trying to spread their system, making it logical for people in other countries to worry about them.  At the same time, anarchist thinking was somewhat prevalent in many European countries, particularly those whose economies were less strong.  Anarchists were detonating bombs and assassinating political leaders, trying to destabilize countries’ political systems.

In the United States, there was reason to fear that immigrants would be politically radical.  Many of the “new immigrants” were from countries where communism and/or anarchism were strong.  Some of the immigrants were certainly politically radical.  An anarchist immigrant had assassinated President McKinley in 1901.  Radical immigrants were largely behind the attempted bombings of public figures’ homes that led to the Palmer Raids of late 1919.  Because there were immigrants who were likely to be sympathetic to the radical political factions of this time, and because those radical factions seemed like a threat to commit violent acts, we can argue that Americans were justified in their fear of immigrants after WWI.

What did Elie think of the advice given to him by the head of the block in Night?

Elie is not sure whether to listen to his block captains' advice.

Elie and his father arrive at a new block.  After they are forced to take showers and run, they encounter the head of the block, “a young Pole” who gives them a speech about being in a concentration camp.  He tells them they have “already eluded the worst danger” and he then goes on to explain the importance of faith.

Therefore, muster your strength and keep your faith. We shall all see the day of liberation. Have faith in life, a thousand times faith.  By driving out despair, you will move away from death. (Ch. 3)

Elie says that these were “the first human words.”  The Pole is responsible for “keeping order” on the block and tells them to come to him with complaints.  For the first time in the process, Elie seems to feel like he is being treated like an individual and not a number or one of the mass of victims.

Throughout the book, Elie will face a crisis of faith.  Not everyone seems to still have his faith and believe in its importance, as the Polish block captain did.  Elie is not sure what to believe.

Things are not easy in the concentration camps.  Elie finds himself the recipient of a lot of advice.  Since I am not sure which one you mean, here is another example.  When Elie’s father gets very ill, he is told by the Blockälteste not to share his bread with his father.

Don't forget that you are in a concentration camp. In this place, it is every man for himself, and you cannot think of others. Not even your father. In this place, there is no such thing as father, brother, friend. (Ch. 8)

Elie feels “deep down” that the man is right.  His father is in bad shape, and not likely to live.  However, Elie also wants to help him as much as he can while his father is still alive.  He only thinks about it for “a fraction of a second” and still feels guilty.  He does not know what to do to help his father or himself.

In the concentration camps, Elie gets advice from many quarters.  Some of this advice is very helpful, but these two examples show how the advice gave Elie pause.  He tried to listen to others that meant well, but sometimes he wasn’t sure about whether to take their advice.

How are children changed by the differences between today and the past? How are they different?

In my opinion, the largest difference the current generation of children has as compared to past generations is the influence of the internet.  No generation has ever before been bombarded with information and social pressures as they are today.  No generation of children has ever before carried phones in their pockets, constantly attached to the world at all times. 

In the past, children would come home from school and visit with friends, do homework, do chores, and then possibly...

In my opinion, the largest difference the current generation of children has as compared to past generations is the influence of the internet.  No generation has ever before been bombarded with information and social pressures as they are today.  No generation of children has ever before carried phones in their pockets, constantly attached to the world at all times. 

In the past, children would come home from school and visit with friends, do homework, do chores, and then possibly spend the rest of the evening with their families.  Today, they might still be busy chatting with friends online until late hours, even robbing themselves of needed sleep.

In the past, children could be protected to some extent from the negative influences of the adult world.  Today, not only is porn and violence available on every phone, tablet, and pc, but it does not wait to be found by a child.  It is there, ready to be seen by any surfing eye.

In the past, it was enough of a challenge for kids to concentrate on school work.  Now, however, there are the constant distractions of text messages, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, entertainment updates, news headlines, and many other interruptions.  Children were not meant to multitask constantly.

Finally, with all of the TV, video games, and internet usage available to children, there is very little incentive to go outside and be active.  Because of this, today's youth are facing more obesity and internal health problems than ever before.  In the past, children became victims to external health threats such as viruses.  Today, kids tend to unknowingly cause their own health problems. 

How do the shifts in tone in "A Christmas Memory" reflect Buddy's coming of age at the end of the story?

Truman Capote changes the tone of his nostalgic short story “A Christmas Memory” with two lines. “This is our last Christmas together.” “Life separates us.” These lines signal the end of Buddy’s childhood and his move into young adulthood. These lines delineate the portion of the story that describes Buddy’s childhood relationship with his friend and the next step in his life when the adults have decided that he needs to be in military school.

...

Truman Capote changes the tone of his nostalgic short story “A Christmas Memory” with two lines. “This is our last Christmas together.” “Life separates us.” These lines signal the end of Buddy’s childhood and his move into young adulthood. These lines delineate the portion of the story that describes Buddy’s childhood relationship with his friend and the next step in his life when the adults have decided that he needs to be in military school.

The story becomes melancholy as Buddy realizes that his friend is deteriorating. They stay in correspondence and it becomes evident that his friend is becoming increasingly confused as she keeps him apprised of what is happening in their childhood home. When his friend dies, Buddy realizes that his childhood is over.

Characterize Peyton Farquhar. If you think Bierce makes him sympathetic, consider the ways in which Bierce does so.

Peyton Farquhar is a slave-owner, a Confederate sympathizer, and a saboteur. Bierce has no trouble making him sympathetic even to Union sympathizers because of several factors.

• Farquhar is facing his death courageously. He knows he was taking a risk and realizes he has to pay for it with his life.


• Farquhar has a wife and family.


• Farquhar is all alone against a large contingent of the Union Army. We tend to root for the "little...

Peyton Farquhar is a slave-owner, a Confederate sympathizer, and a saboteur. Bierce has no trouble making him sympathetic even to Union sympathizers because of several factors.

• Farquhar is facing his death courageously. He knows he was taking a risk and realizes he has to pay for it with his life.


• Farquhar has a wife and family.


• Farquhar is all alone against a large contingent of the Union Army. We tend to root for the "little guy," and Farquhar is certainly the little guy here.


• We naturally sympathize and identify with a man whose life is in danger if we are kept in his point of view. Another example is the unnamed protagonist of Jack London's "To Build a Fire." Yet another example is Meursault in Albert Camus' novel The Stranger. We don't necessarily have to "like" a character as long as we are held in his point of view and identify with his motivation. In Farquhar's case, he wants to live, he wants to go home to his wife, he wants to escape hanging. Bierce has an easy time creating sympathy for Farquhar. We could identify with almost anyone, even the worst type of criminal, if we were in his point of view and identified with his common human motivation--love, hate, fear, survival, greed, revenge, etc.

What are the characters' motives in the story "Two Kinds?"

The two main characters in "Two Kinds" are Jing-mei, and her mother, Suyuan. Suyuan wants her daughter to be a prodigy and pushes her from a young age to perform. Her reasons for having such high expectations for her daughter include feeling competitive with her friend Lindo and wanting the best life possible for her daughter. Lindo's daughter, Waverly, is a true prodigy, having become a national chess champion at only nine years of age....

The two main characters in "Two Kinds" are Jing-mei, and her mother, Suyuan. Suyuan wants her daughter to be a prodigy and pushes her from a young age to perform. Her reasons for having such high expectations for her daughter include feeling competitive with her friend Lindo and wanting the best life possible for her daughter. Lindo's daughter, Waverly, is a true prodigy, having become a national chess champion at only nine years of age. Suyuan has to put up with Lindo's flaunting of Waverly's talents, and she would like to be able to have something with which to counter those boasts. Still, she tells Jing-mei, and it is certainly partially true, that she wants her to excel "for you [sic] sake." She wants her child to take advantage of all the opportunity America offers, especially since she came from China, where options were much more limited. Another subconscious motivation for Suyuan in having Jing-mei succeed is to make up for Suyuan's two baby girls whom she lost in China. In a sense, Suyuan needs Jing-mei to live three lives in one since those two baby girls never got to grow up with their mother.

Jing-mei at first is motivated by wanting to please her mother. She buys into the efforts to become a prodigy, thinking that when she did, "my mother and father would adore me. I would be beyond reproach." This motivation is short-lived. When she realizes she is not prodigy material, she has a meeting with herself in front of the mirror and decides, "I won't be what I'm not." Now her motivation is to be herself, not what someone else wants her to be. This motivation continues to grow as Jing-mei behaves first with passive defiance and then with outright rebellion towards her mother. Her desire is to be herself and to be loved for who she is, not for what someone can make of her. 

These motivations are in obvious conflict--a conflict that cannot be resolved peacefully because the mother and daughter can't seem to communicate effectively with each other. 

Who wrote each essay of the Federalist Papers?

After the Constitutional Convention was held, the states would have to decide if they would ratify the Constitution. There was a strong debate regarding the Constitution. The Anti-Federalists were opposed to it because they believed it gave the federal government too much power. They also were concerned that there was no Bill of Rights in the Constitution that would protect the people from having their rights abused, violated, or taken away. They remembered what the...

After the Constitutional Convention was held, the states would have to decide if they would ratify the Constitution. There was a strong debate regarding the Constitution. The Anti-Federalists were opposed to it because they believed it gave the federal government too much power. They also were concerned that there was no Bill of Rights in the Constitution that would protect the people from having their rights abused, violated, or taken away. They remembered what the British King had done to them in the years leading to the Revolutionary War.

The people who supported the Constitution were called the Federalists. These people believed that the government created by the Articles of Confederation was too weak. Our country had many issues because the federal government didn’t have the power to adequately deal with them. These problems included financial issues, relations with other countries, and having a place where states could resolve disputes. The Federalists believed there would be chaos and disorder without a new plan of government.

There was a significant concern that the Constitution might not get ratified. Thus, three leaders wrote a series of 85 essays explaining why the Constitution should be ratified. These leaders were Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay. They wrote under an assumed name that was published as “Publius.” These essays, along with the promise to add a Bill of Rights to the Constitution, helped to convince people that the ratification of the Constitution would be a good thing for our country.

What is Scout's perspective on Boo Radley in Chapter Eight of To Kill a Mockingbird?

Her perspective changes from the beginning of the chapter to the end, but only slightly because she is still confused about what to make of the information she has. She has perceived him as a threat, and while she is still spooked by him, she now sees he may not be as scary as she thought.

At the beginning of the chapter we learn that Old Mrs. Radley has died and Scout seems certain that Boo was responsible. She and Jem are disappointed to find out that she actually died of natural causes AND that when Atticus visited the house after her passing, he did not see Boo. This shows that Scout views Boo as a bad guy, a psychopath, and a villain. Or at least she hopes he is for the sake of the stories they have been telling themselves. She is also genuinely a little spooked by the guy.

By the end of the chapter, it is obvious that Boo has snuck out of his house and put a blanket over Scout while she was watching Miss Maudie's house burn. When Atticus tells her it was Boo who wrapped the blanket around her, she felt sick:

"My stomach turned to water and I nearly threw up" (Ch. 8).

She, Jem, and Dill have all been telling stories about how crazy Boo is and up to this point she had no reason to disbelieve them. However, if he really did put the blanket over her, he might not be so scary. She's still nervous, though, about how close he got to her, given what she has felt about him.

From the beginning, Hurston startles us: "I remember the very day that I became colored." Why does Hurston insist that one becomes colored? What...

The shift that occurs for Hurston's younger self was not really felt until she was thirteen and sent to Jacksonville to attend school. She writes, as follows:

"I left Eatonville, the town of the oleanders, as Zora. When I disembarked from the river-boat at Jacksonville, she was no more...I was not Zora of Orange County any more, I was now a little colored girl. I found it out in certain ways. In my heart as well as in the mirror. I became a fast brown -- warranted not to rub nor run."

In Eatonville, a small, predominately black town where black people were marginal but known by the whites who passed through, she is left alone to be herself -- even though that sense of self concerns the black people around her. She makes a note of this when she recalls singing and dancing for whites in exchange for dimes. She recalls how the colored people "deplored any joyful tendencies in me, but I was their Zora nevertheless." She is an innocent, unaware of how her song-and-dance routines satisfy white stereotypes about black people, but the locals love her anyway. 

In Jacksonville, a larger city, she is simply one among many black people -- all undesirable, all subjected to second-class citizenship. During the Jim Crow era, a black girl would have learned this from the signs posted all around her: "Coloreds Only," "Whites Only." She would not have seen these signs in Eatonville. In Jacksonville, it would have been made clear to her when and where she was welcome. In Eatonville, she would have been welcome everywhere. 

So, if you read the essay, you will see that there is no particular day on which she realizes that she is different from everyone else. Instead, it is something she learns in her day-to-day experiences in Jacksonville and, later, during her time at Barnard College. 

The notion of "becoming colored" is the realization that every young black person has of being "other," or outside of the white mainstream. It is learning that your presence as a black being is undesirable, questioned, suspect, and even hated.  

This, of course, is the social view of black identity. Hurston's view is quite different. She insists that she is "not tragically colored." She embraces black identity and, particularly, the artistic forms it has created. Toward the end of the essay, she describes herself at a jazz concert with a white friend. The music allows her to tap into something native and ancestral within her. The white friend, on the other hand, fails to connect with the music she has heard:

"He has only heard what I felt. He is far away and I see him but dimly across the ocean and the continent that have fallen between us. He is so pale with his whiteness then and I am so colored."

The notion of being colored takes on a different meaning here. It is a positive. Semantically, it works as a pun: she is "colored" in the sense of not being white, but she is also "colored" in the sense of having color -- vividness, authenticity. The white friend is dim and "pale" in comparison. He is the one lacking something.