In Ho Chi Minh's speech declaring independence, he contains a demand that the free world support that independence in part as payment for services...

The original question had to be pared down, but I invite you to post the other questions separately because they are quite profound.

I think that one of the "services" that Ho Chi Minh directly mentions is assistance to the French.  As World War II advanced, conflicts between Japan and the French spilled over into Vietnam.  Ho Chi Minh addresses this by saying that as both nations battled for territorial supremacy, the Vietnamese Republic paid...

The original question had to be pared down, but I invite you to post the other questions separately because they are quite profound.

I think that one of the "services" that Ho Chi Minh directly mentions is assistance to the French.  As World War II advanced, conflicts between Japan and the French spilled over into Vietnam.  Ho Chi Minh addresses this by saying that as both nations battled for territorial supremacy, the Vietnamese Republic paid the price.  He argues that despite the fact that there was an increase in the "sufferings and miseries" of the Vietnamese people, they still assisted the French:

Notwithstanding all this, our fellow-citizens have always manifested toward the French a tolerant and humane attitude. Even after the Japanese putsch of March 1945, the Vietminh League helped many Frenchmen to cross the frontier, rescued some of them from Japanese jails, and protected French lives and property.

It is evident that Ho Chi Minh argues that the best way to acknowledge the efforts of the Vietnamese people is to accept their claims of self-determination.   

Ho Chi Minh frames the argument for Vietnamese sovereignty in the context of World War II.  He makes clear that the principles which motivated World War II also govern the issue of Vietnamese independence:

We are convinced that the Allied nations which at Tehran and San Francisco have acknowledged the principles of self-determination and equality of nations, will not refuse to acknowledge the independence of Vietnam.

A people who have courageously opposed French domination for more than eight years, a people who have fought side by side with the Allies against the Fascists during these last years, such a people must be free and independent.

Ho Chi Minh asserts that if principles like self-determination justified American entry into World War II, then they can be applied to the case of Vietnamese freedom. He argues that if the Allies stood up to Fascism in the name of a nation's right to embrace self-determination, then the independence of Vietnam should be guaranteed.  In referring to the Tehran conference and Treaty of San Francisco, he appeals to the Allied assertions which ended fascism, a reality he would like to apply to the case of other nations controlling Vietnam.

Ho Chi Minh opens his speech with direct quotations from Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence.  In his mind, the issue of Vietnamese independence is as clear as the Colonial cause for freedom from the British.

What was Macbeth's tragic flaw?

Macbeth's major tragic flaw is his ambition, as he himself reveals in his soliloquy in Act I, Scene 7:

I have no spurTo prick the sides of my intent, but onlyVaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itselfAnd falls on the other—

It is Macbeth's ambition that causes him to kill the King, an act that leads to his downfall. But Macbeth is also very trusting and easily persuaded. It never dawns on him until the...

Macbeth's major tragic flaw is his ambition, as he himself reveals in his soliloquy in Act I, Scene 7:

I have no spur
To prick the sides of my intent, but only
Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself
And falls on the other—

It is Macbeth's ambition that causes him to kill the King, an act that leads to his downfall. But Macbeth is also very trusting and easily persuaded. It never dawns on him until the climactic final scene that the witches might be misleading him by telling him he is essentially invincible. They are telling him what he wants to hear, and he never really questions them--indeed, he bases all of his actions on their prophecies. Lady Macbeth also easily persuades her husband to carry out the murder of the king, even when he has, after careful consideration, decided to put it off for awhile. Macbeth, while a very powerful man, allows himself to be led by others. That these "others" were female would have suggested to Shakespeare's audiences a weakness of will that they would have seen as an inversion of the natural order.

How should I start my body paragraph for the short story "The Sniper"

How you start your body paragraphs depends on your thesis statement, which controls your essay.  If this is just one paragraph, then the first sentence of the paragraph is your topic sentence.  In other words, a thesis statement controls an entire essay while a topic sentence begins and controls only a paragraph. 

Depending on what you want to discuss about "The Sniper," that is what your body paragraph should introduce.  If, for example, you want...

How you start your body paragraphs depends on your thesis statement, which controls your essay.  If this is just one paragraph, then the first sentence of the paragraph is your topic sentence.  In other words, a thesis statement controls an entire essay while a topic sentence begins and controls only a paragraph. 

Depending on what you want to discuss about "The Sniper," that is what your body paragraph should introduce.  If, for example, you want to talk about the sniper being able to think through how to get off the roof before dawn, when he would be vulnerable, or about how he has to use a trick to get rid of the other sniper, your first line in the body paragraph should introduce that idea.  If you want to talk about the event of finding out that the man he has killed is his brother (the story ends with him looking in the dead sniper's face, so no emotional or psychological impact is even alluded to), you begin with that idea.  If this is an essay and your body paragraph is the first one of three body paragraphs, you begin with the first idea introduced in the thesis statement. 

So think of what you want to discuss, such as the futility of war,  the impact of war on the families, the never ending vigilance required by war if you are a soldier, or the determination required of you if you want to be a sniper.  These then become 6he content of your body paragraph or paragraphs.

Why are the narrator and the young boy who had lost his face considered outsiders by the others?

The boy with the black handkerchief, whose face had been injured, was not at the front long enough to receive any medals. The narrator says that, at first, the other boys were polite about he and his own medals. But when they found out that he had received medals simply for being an American, their demeanor with him changed. 

I was a friend, but I was never really one of them after they had read...

The boy with the black handkerchief, whose face had been injured, was not at the front long enough to receive any medals. The narrator says that, at first, the other boys were polite about he and his own medals. But when they found out that he had received medals simply for being an American, their demeanor with him changed. 

I was a friend, but I was never really one of them after they had read the citations, because it had been different with them and they had done very different things to get their medals. 

In the end, the only things that the narrator and the four other boys shared was that they were all somewhat emotionally detached from their experiences in war and that they all went to the hospital. The narrator and the boy with the reconstructed face had only been wounded. They do not have the same evidence or experiences of bravery that the other three boys had in their efforts during the war. 

The narrator calls the other three boys "hunting hawks." He finds more in common with the remaining boy (injured face) because "I thought perhaps he would not have turned out to be a hawk either." 

The major and the three Italian soldiers with medals symbolize the Hemingway "Code Hero," the man who illustrates courage and bravery. The narrator and the boy with the injured face are outsiders because they have not proven themselves to be this kind of hero, a "hunter," or an accomplished soldier. 

What does the The Declaration of Independence reveal about the main causes behind the war of independence?

The Declaration of Independence reveals deeply embedded causes for the war of independence in colonial society.

Upon reading Jefferson's document, it is clear that the call for war was not something that the Colonists took lightly.  It was not instantaneous. Rather, The Declaration of Independence shows that the reasons for separating from England took place over time and were deeply rooted in the way Colonists saw the world and their place in it.

One way...

The Declaration of Independence reveals deeply embedded causes for the war of independence in colonial society.

Upon reading Jefferson's document, it is clear that the call for war was not something that the Colonists took lightly.  It was not instantaneous. Rather, The Declaration of Independence shows that the reasons for separating from England took place over time and were deeply rooted in the way Colonists saw the world and their place in it.

One way that the Declaration of Independence reveals the main causes for war with England is in its call for human rights.  The document's Preamble and the Statement on Human Rights argues that there are specific entitlements that every human being should experience.  When these are absent, a cause for change is evident:

When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

Jefferson's Preamble articulates that violating the natural rights that human beings possess represents a reason for separation and a cause for war. Colonists were able to see their struggle against England as a struggle for human rights, compelling them to embrace change.

From the universal, Jefferson focuses on the specific. The Declaration of Independence does not only make a case for separation on a human rights level, but also in the specific experiences of the Colonists. Jefferson details his charges against the British King and of Parliament in the middle of the document.  When Jefferson says, "let facts be submitted to a candid world," he justifies a war for Colonial independence.  Charges such as "He [King George III] has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good," or that the British government has "obstructed the Administration of Justice," and "For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent," resonated with colonists.  Jefferson understood that making charges like these public allowed colonists to share a common experience. Many of them had experienced the injustices that the Jefferson identifies. These charges showed the deep grievances that Colonists held against the British, and reveal that the main causes for independence existed on a structural level.

How did the Four Olds relate to the goals of the Communist Party?

During the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), the Communist party sought to attack and destroy the Four Olds of Chinese culture. These were Old Customs, Old Habits, Old Ideas, and Old Culture. The failure of Mao's Great Leap Forward had damaged his standing in the Communist party as well as the public's opinion of him, so he gave societal reform one more try with the Cultural Revolution. By destroying the Four Olds, Mao and his Red...

During the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), the Communist party sought to attack and destroy the Four Olds of Chinese culture. These were Old Customs, Old Habits, Old Ideas, and Old Culture. The failure of Mao's Great Leap Forward had damaged his standing in the Communist party as well as the public's opinion of him, so he gave societal reform one more try with the Cultural Revolution. By destroying the Four Olds, Mao and his Red Guard sought to make Chinese culture, art, literature, and education more in line with his ideal of a true Communist society. The Four Olds were never explicitly defined, but anything that seemed to be a threat to proletarian society and ideology was destroyed.

A number of historical buildings, including religious sites and temples, were destroyed; other places were given new, proletarian names. Libraries were destroyed and their books burned. Mao's Red Guard were specially tasked with destroying any bourgeois elements of culture and acting as enforcers in their own schools and towns. 

The Four Olds were really a target for cutting out anything that didn't fit into Mao's ideal of a highly controlled Communist society.

How has Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his dream affect how you live your life today?

Martin Luther King, Jr. and his dream have affected the lives of the American people to this day. Martin Luther King, Jr. fought for Civil Rights. He showed the world that it is possible to make significant changes without resorting to violence. Because of his efforts, The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed. This ended discrimination in areas of public life. For example, no longer could there be separate drinking fountains, separate bathrooms, as...

Martin Luther King, Jr. and his dream have affected the lives of the American people to this day. Martin Luther King, Jr. fought for Civil Rights. He showed the world that it is possible to make significant changes without resorting to violence. Because of his efforts, The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed. This ended discrimination in areas of public life. For example, no longer could there be separate drinking fountains, separate bathrooms, as well as separate entrances to and seating sections in theaters. As a way to honor his legacy after his assassination, Congress passed this law.

Because of Martin Luther King, Jr. and his dream, we work in more integrated environments. We live in more integrated neighborhoods. We pray in more integrated houses of worship. People of different races are dating, marrying, and raising families. There are more opportunities for people regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and religion. Fifty to sixty years ago many of these changes would have seemed impossible.

Martin Luther King, Jr. made an invaluable contribution to the world. He showed us significant changes that positively affect us can be made through non-violent protest.