What can be inferred about Mrs. Mallard's Marriage in "The Story of An Hour"?

Given her initial reaction to the news that her husband had been killed, we might suppose that Mrs. Mallard's marriage was very good and filled with love and devotion. The narrator says, "She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister's arms." Mrs. Mallard then retreats to her room to grieve some more. Such a dramatic reaction suggests that she had truly loved her husband and the news at losing him is devastating. 

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Given her initial reaction to the news that her husband had been killed, we might suppose that Mrs. Mallard's marriage was very good and filled with love and devotion. The narrator says, "She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister's arms." Mrs. Mallard then retreats to her room to grieve some more. Such a dramatic reaction suggests that she had truly loved her husband and the news at losing him is devastating. 

But this initial reaction is just that: mostly a reaction. It is the reaction of a woman who had been playing the role of a dutiful, loyal wife. In this role, she had been fully dependent upon her husband. So, some portion of her dramatic grieving is the result of losing the person upon whom she depended so much. The reaction stems from living this role. 

When she begins to experience her new feelings of freedom and independence, it becomes clear that, while her marriage might have been good on the surface, her spirit had actually been repressed. So, her initial reaction of grief seems to have stemmed from that role of the loyal wife. But with her great awakening of independence, she reveals that her true happiness had been repressed by that role of living for her husband, rather than living for herself: 

There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature. A kind intention or a cruel intention made the act seem no less a crime as she looked upon it in that brief moment of illumination. 

No longer burdened by her husband's will, she feels liberated from that old role. She can now live for herself. Given this discovery of happiness in independence, the conclusion is that their marriage was functional. There may have been some degree of genuine love, but this was all on the surface. Inside, Mrs. Mallard's spirit was oppressed to the point that she repressed any notion of living for her own happiness. In that respect, the conclusion is that the marriage was deeply flawed because Mr. Mallard did not know how to, or simply would not understand and encourage his wife's free will and happiness. 

What are ten features of the Dark Ages?

The Dark Ages are also known as the Middle Ages; the term "Dark Ages" is seen as somewhat pejorative in that it implies a time of barbarity and intellectual darkness. The period extends from roughly the 5th century (the Fall of Rome) through the 14th century (the birth of the Renaissance) and usually refers to life in Europe and Asia during that time. It is also known by historians and scholars as the "medieval period" because the term "middle" implies a somewhat short period of time, or one that is somehow less significant than the two periods surrounding it. 

The Middle Ages saw a number of social movements, some positive and some negative. The Age of Chivalry occurred during this time, and was associated with a code of integrity and ethical behavior followed by knights. Knights were warriors who fought in the Crusades (holy expeditions ordered by the Catholic Church that were designed to preserve Christian dominance). They also helped protect various dynasties and communities from harm, often under the orders of a monarch or military leader. Many invasions and battles also took place during this time, including the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

The latter part of the Middle Ages (middle of the 14th century) saw a horrific disease known as "The Black Death" (the bubonic plague) spread far and wide through Europe and kill over 20 million people due to its high rate of contagion and high instance of mortality. Because of a general lack of medical knowledge or hygiene, the disease was believed by some to be linked to superstitious religious beliefs in the devil and witchcraft. These beliefs persisted well into the 18th century in Europe and the Americas. The Catholic Church became very powerful and influential during this period, partly as a result of the Crusades (begun in the 11th century) and the charges of heresy (which meant rejecting the teachings of the Church) the Church made, which were also associated with witchcraft and the occult.

It sounds as though your question is pertaining to a specific list of features you were asked to memorize. There are many different features particular to this time period, so I hope I have illuminated some of them for you.

In English: A Mystery of Heroism by Stephen Crane, how is the main character, Collins, an ordinary man?

"English: The Mystery of Heroism" is set against the backdrop of the Civil War.  Collins, the protagonist, is a member of A Company, which is pinned down on the side of a hill by the relentless onslaught of an enemy battery.  Although he's in the midst of horrific carnage, the sight of a well across the meadow suddenly fills the young soldier with a desire for a drink of water.  When he expresses this desire...

"English: The Mystery of Heroism" is set against the backdrop of the Civil War.  Collins, the protagonist, is a member of A Company, which is pinned down on the side of a hill by the relentless onslaught of an enemy battery.  Although he's in the midst of horrific carnage, the sight of a well across the meadow suddenly fills the young soldier with a desire for a drink of water.  When he expresses this desire to go to the well aloud, his fellow soldiers deride the notion that anyone would risk their lives so lightly, but hand him their canteens after he requests permission from his commanding officers to do so.

Once he begins to cross the meadow toward the well, with bullets and artillery shells whizzing past his head, he is disappointed to discover that, although viewed from the outside his action might appear to be heroic, he still feels like an ordinary man.  

He wondered why he did not feel some keen agony of fear cutting his sense like a knife.  He wondered at this, because human expression had said loudly for centuries that men should feel afraid of certain things, and that all men who did not feel this fear were phenomena -- heroes.

No, it could not be true.  He was not a hero. Heros had no shames in their lives....

He saw that, in this matter of the well, the canteens, the shells, he was an intruder in the land of fine deeds.

So, despite an outwardly heroic deed, Collins was an ordinary man in his residual awareness of his flawed and finite nature.

How does Wiesel juxtapose illusion and reality in terms of the German occupation and how does it effectively establish mood?

In section one of Elie Wiesel's memoir Night, the Jews are under the illusion that nothing will happen to them. They won't believe the horror stories of Moshe the Beadle who has witnessed the reality of Nazi atrocities in the forest of Galicia. Despite this first hand account they continue to remain optimistic. They hear contrasting reports of what is happening. Some reports suggest that the war will end soon and they will be...

In section one of Elie Wiesel's memoir Night, the Jews are under the illusion that nothing will happen to them. They won't believe the horror stories of Moshe the Beadle who has witnessed the reality of Nazi atrocities in the forest of Galicia. Despite this first hand account they continue to remain optimistic. They hear contrasting reports of what is happening. Some reports suggest that the war will end soon and they will be untouched, but increasingly, bad news filters into Sighet. The Germans have occupied Hungary and the Jews in Budapest are living "in an atmosphere of fear and terror."

Soon the Nazis arrive in Sighet "with their steel helmets, and their emblem, the death's head." Even this does not collapse the illusion of safety. When a German commander gives Madame Kahn a box of chocolates, relief again pervades the town. The townspeople believe the Germans are simply benevolent guests. Even when the ghettos are set up and the deportations begin, many of the Jews cling to the illusion they will ultimately be safe. Elie's father refuses the pleadings of his servant Martha who wants to hide the family in her village.

The mood in this section is increasingly nervous and foreboding. The reader knows the outcome so becomes increasingly frustrated with people who are on the brink of disaster yet seem to carry on with their normal lives. Elie repeatedly notes that his mother continues with the everyday activities of the house despite the signs that indicate things will never be the same again. This same mood was reflected throughout a world where nobody could possibly envision the brutality of the Nazis and their attempt at total genocide. The illusion is soon obliterated when the Jews come to the gates of Auschwitz and are confronted by the reality of the flames which Madame Schächter had predicted on the train.   

Summarizing, what are the similarities and the differences between the novel genre and the short story genre?

Setting aside the obvious difference of number of pages, a novel is a full-length portrait of a protagonist and a flushed out portrait of several supporting characters, with a detailed description of the environment, the time of year, the complexities of the protagonist’s situation that puts him/her in a conflict of some sort (or several sorts); a short story is usually a “sketch” of the main character, in a specific environment, solving a specific dilemma....

Setting aside the obvious difference of number of pages, a novel is a full-length portrait of a protagonist and a flushed out portrait of several supporting characters, with a detailed description of the environment, the time of year, the complexities of the protagonist’s situation that puts him/her in a conflict of some sort (or several sorts); a short story is usually a “sketch” of the main character, in a specific environment, solving a specific dilemma. The key word is “complexity”: A short story is specific, a close-up of the story, but a novel is a broad landscape peopled with a varied number of human specimens. Think of a few days of your diary vs. the whole year’s diary. Interestingly, literary history is riddled with examples of blurred lines between the genres – Moby Dick is definitely a novel, but what about “Bartelby the Scrivener”? For Whom the Bell Tolls is definitely a novel, but what about “The Old Man and the Sea”? In the final analysis, it is a distinction that need only be made when citing and/or editing the terms: so-called novel titles are underlined or put in italics, while short-story titles are put in quotation marks.

Is Gulliver's Travels a Horatian or a Juvenalian satire? Give examples from the text.

Jonathan Swift’s novel, Gulliver’s Travels, was written in 1726 and is a rich, satirical text focusing on human nature. The story includes wildly imaginative characters that represent people in society and the predicaments they find themselves in. Swift’s ultimate statement is that no form of government is truly good, and one can find decent individuals among a race that is almost entirely bad.

In literature, there are two types of satire: Juvenalian and Horatian....

Jonathan Swift’s novel, Gulliver’s Travels, was written in 1726 and is a rich, satirical text focusing on human nature. The story includes wildly imaginative characters that represent people in society and the predicaments they find themselves in. Swift’s ultimate statement is that no form of government is truly good, and one can find decent individuals among a race that is almost entirely bad.

In literature, there are two types of satire: Juvenalian and Horatian. Juvenalian is quite harsh or caustic and generally shows contempt for the subject; it includes the use of irony, exaggeration, and indignation. Horatian is more mild and playful, with the general goal of revealing vice. Gulliver’s Travels has both types of satire, but the story leans more heavily toward the Juvenalian. For example, Swift makes fun of the society of Lilliput by showing them in a diminutive manner. He also employs exaggeration when he depicts the Houyhnhnms as extremely reasonable, while the Yahoos, he states, ought to be exterminated. In part three, Swift satirizes scientific experiments as well as the Enlightenment. Much of the book contains elements of satire; in fact, almost every portrayal of his primary characters is satirical.

How can I critically analyze "Howl" by Allen Ginsberg?

In terms of literary style, "Howl," by Allen Ginsberg, can be placed within the Beat Movement. Beat poetry (as exemplified by writers such as Kerouac, Ginsberg, Corso, and Burroughs) often challenged the notion of the status quo; it regularly featured a refusal of gender and sexual norms, capitalism, and social expectations. Travel, drug use, artistic expression, and personal/spiritual enlightenment were common themes in Beat poetry and prose, and Ginsberg's work draws upon these as well....

In terms of literary style, "Howl," by Allen Ginsberg, can be placed within the Beat Movement. Beat poetry (as exemplified by writers such as Kerouac, Ginsberg, Corso, and Burroughs) often challenged the notion of the status quo; it regularly featured a refusal of gender and sexual norms, capitalism, and social expectations. Travel, drug use, artistic expression, and personal/spiritual enlightenment were common themes in Beat poetry and prose, and Ginsberg's work draws upon these as well. Within Howl, the speaker laments the destruction of "the best minds of [his] generation" and proposes that these minds have ultimately succumbed to madness. Importantly, this madness is one perpetuated by social and economic demands. For Ginsberg's speaker, madness (whether literal or figurative) is, at least in part, propelled by a destructive, machine-like, frequently violent society, one which often excludes artists, intellectuals, minorities, roamers, and the disadvantaged. Ginsberg addresses the most negative aspects of the human experience through the figure of Moloch, a powerful presence within the poem who stifles creative or spiritual development while promoting the tendency toward war and who exists symbolically in faceless representations of capitalism and impersonal, oppressive public structures. The final portion of Howl addresses Ginsberg's friend, Carl Solomon, and his experiences at Rockland, a psychiatric institute. One way of interpreting this section of the poem is seeing it as an expression of solidarity--an attempt to share experiences. The references made within Howl are extensive, and it is certainly worth looking into the meaning behind each line.