How are women "dangerous" in Of Mice and Men?

John Steinbeck's novella Of Mice and Men, women are "dangerous" because they distract men from their purposes and act as temptresses who cause conflict.

It is interesting that in Steinbeck's narrative there is only one female, other than the mention of the girl in Weed who was the reason for George and Lennie's having to leave a job and "the working girls" in town, who George says take men's money from them. This single female has no name, only the genitive of her husband: "Curley's wife." Trouble brews around her before she is even seen as her jealous husband has "ants in his pants" because he is worried about what she does when he is not with her.

For Steinbeck, in the fraternity of men, a communion which would allow them to have strength and unity, women are Eves, temptresses who disrupt this fraternity. The first time Curley's wife appears. She stands in the doorway of the bunkhouse, leaning against the doorway so that her body is thrown forward in a provocative pose. When Lennie watches her in fascination, she "smiled archly and twitched her body." After she leaves, George scolds Lennie, telling him to stay away from Curley's wife because she is "jail bait."

Further in the narrative, when George is away in town with the other men, Lennie wanders into the barn to find his puppy, but he also meets Crooks, the black stable mate. Then, old Candy comes in, also. When Candy mentions the plans that George, Lennie, and he have for a place of their own, Crooks, who has been so marginalized that he is made to live in the barn, asks if he could join in with them. Afterwards, there is a sense of camaraderie and fraternity is established among them. However, they are soon interrupted by Curley's wife, who even notices the strength men have together:

"Funny thing," she said. "If I catch any one man, and he's alone, I get along fine with him. But just let two of the guys get together an' you won't talk. Just nothing but mad." She dropped her fingers and put her hands on her hips. "You're all scared of each other, that's what. Ever'one of you's scared the rest is goin' to get something on you."

When Crooks tries to get her to leave, she refuses. Then, Candy starts talking, telling her about the plans he and others have, ending by saying they are not worried about being fired because they have their own land "and it's ours, an' we c'n go to it." Hearing this, Curley's wife laughs and ridicules their idea, saying she knows their type and they never save any money. In another effort to be rid of her, Candy tells her that Curley will not like his wife in the barn with such bindle stiffs as he, Lennie, and Crooks. Curley's wife turns on them, especially Crooks, whom she threatens with having "strung up on a tree." But, she leaves and goes to another part of the barn. Unfortunately, Lennie comes upon her and she talks with him, then she lets him pet her hair. But, when the Herculean Lennie holds it too tightly, she complains. Frightened, Lennie tries to keep her from screaming and inadvertently breaks her neck.

With the death of Curley's wife, comes the death of the dream of Lennie and George. Candy stands over her, hating her for having destroyed their plans for a little farm of their own. He curses her:

"You God damn tramp," he said viciously. "You done it, di'n't you? I s'pose you're you're glad. ever'body knowed you'd mess things up. You wasn't no good. You ain't no good now, you lousy tart....I could of hoed in the garden and washed dishes for them guys."

After this, Lennie has to hide and George feels he must shoot Lennie to prevent him from being shot or hanged. Their dream is ruined because of this dangerous woman.

Explain the theme of "appearance versus reality" in "The Most Dangerous Game". Find two examples from the story to illustrate the theme.

Richard Connel's short story "The Most Dangerous Game" is about a big game hunter who has the tables turned on him as he becomes the prey in a deadly contest on a remote island.

Sanger Rainsford accidentally falls from a yacht and swims to an island where he comes upon the "palatial chateau" of General Zaroff. Zaroff lives in splendor. His house features every comfort including a "canopied bed," clothes from a "London tailor," a...

Richard Connel's short story "The Most Dangerous Game" is about a big game hunter who has the tables turned on him as he becomes the prey in a deadly contest on a remote island.

Sanger Rainsford accidentally falls from a yacht and swims to an island where he comes upon the "palatial chateau" of General Zaroff. Zaroff lives in splendor. His house features every comfort including a "canopied bed," clothes from a "London tailor," a "baronial hall," "linen," "crystal" and much more. Zaroff comments:

"We do our best to preserve the amenities of civilization here. Please forgive any lapses. We are well off the beaten track, you know. Do you think the champagne has suffered from its long ocean trip?" 

The general's observation, of course, is ironic. The appearance is of "civilization" but what Zaroff is doing on the island is quite savage. In reality, he may live in luxury, but he is a barbarian who get his kicks by hunting and killing men.

Another example of appearance defying reality is at the end of the story when the general is shown reading a book by the Roman emperor and philosopher Marcus Aurelius:

In his library he read, to soothe himself, from the works of Marcus Aurelius. 

Aurelius's stoicism preached virtue and ethical behavior. It is highly ironic that the sociopath Zaroff would be reading works of philosophy which were far removed from his own reprehensible behavior. 

Phillip assumes that his father is looking for him, but what doesn't he understand?

In The Cay by Theodore Taylor, Phillip, Timothy, and Stew Cat become stranded on a small island after the ship they were on is torpedoed. Phillip assumes his father, who is still living on Curacao, will leave no stone unturned to find him. Phillip expects his father to show up at any minute to rescue him. What Phillip does not understand is that the island, or cay, where he and Timothy have landed is so...

In The Cay by Theodore Taylor, Phillip, Timothy, and Stew Cat become stranded on a small island after the ship they were on is torpedoed. Phillip assumes his father, who is still living on Curacao, will leave no stone unturned to find him. Phillip expects his father to show up at any minute to rescue him. What Phillip does not understand is that the island, or cay, where he and Timothy have landed is so small that it does not even have a name. It is also hidden back in what Timothy calls the Devil's Mouth and is very difficult to find. Of course Phillip's father is looking for him, but considering the torpedoed ship and everything surrounding the situation, most people think that Phillip is dead. When Phillip is finally rescued, he is given this information.

"There was still disbelief in his voice when he said he'd checked all the charts and publications on the bridge; our cay was so small that the charts wouldn't even dignify it with a name. But Timothy had been right. It was tucked back up in the Devil's Mouth" (Taylor 134).

What were some criminal activities Puck (Robin) did in A Midsummer Night's Dream?

Puck engages in all manners of mischief in A Midsummer Night’s Dream: he drugs teenagers, he transfigures unsuspecting weavers, he proves himself adept at covert surveillance, trespassing, unauthorized gardening, impersonating an Athenian (twice) and that’s just what we see. He also confesses to ruining cooking projects, attacking old women, teasing horses, and deliberately getting people lost. Some people file all this under tricksterish good fun, but some people see something darker. The Polish critic...

Puck engages in all manners of mischief in A Midsummer Night’s Dream: he drugs teenagers, he transfigures unsuspecting weavers, he proves himself adept at covert surveillance, trespassing, unauthorized gardening, impersonating an Athenian (twice) and that’s just what we see. He also confesses to ruining cooking projects, attacking old women, teasing horses, and deliberately getting people lost. Some people file all this under tricksterish good fun, but some people see something darker. The Polish critic Jan Kott thought Puck reminded him of the scary, secretive practices of KGB agents at the height of the Cold War, and some productions make Puck a very sinister figure. On the other hand, because he is a fairy, he’s not subject to the same laws as the rest of us, so it’s hard to call his behavior truly criminal. All’s fair in love and ass heads.

Compare and contrast the traditional cell theory with the modern cell theory.

As technology began to advance during the Renaissance, scientists' ability to look more closely at living organisms brought us classical cell theory. By 1855, the three basic parts were in place. They are that all living things are composed of cells, cells are the basic units of structure and function in living things, and that all cells are produced from other cells.

There were several major advances that changed in the three centuries leading...

As technology began to advance during the Renaissance, scientists' ability to look more closely at living organisms brought us classical cell theory. By 1855, the three basic parts were in place. They are that all living things are composed of cells, cells are the basic units of structure and function in living things, and that all cells are produced from other cells.

There were several major advances that changed in the three centuries leading up to this. In 1663, Robert Hooke observed small, boxlike structures when he looked at cork under an early compound microscope. He did not know their structure or function, and as he was looking at dead, dried samples did not see any organelles. Anton von Leewenhoek observed living, unicellular organisms in 1674. In the 1850s Schleiden, Schwann, and Virchow added that animals and plants are made of cells, and that cells arise from other living cells.

Modern cell theory builds on the previous three components; it does not eliminate any of the earlier information. Modern cell theory adds that energy flows within cells, hereditary information is passed on from cell to cell, and that all cells have the same basic chemical composition. Major advances in technology in chemical analysis, DNA technology and microscopy have added to our information about cells.

How to calculate monthly return on Shiller's "Long Interest Rate GS10" (1871-2016)? I hope someone out there can help with some formulas and excel...

Your intuition is correct; the monthly return is essentially what you'd get each month if every month you cashed out and then bought back in. In fact, most people consider the yield-to-maturity a better measure of return than monthly return, but you said you wanted monthly return, so here goes.

For example, if the price for the same asset went up from $50 to $100 in the first month, that would be a 100% monthly return. Then if it went back down to $75, that would be a -25% monthly return. (Notice that if you use percentages, you can't simply average monthly returns to get the overall return. In this case the overall return is 50%, or 22% per month. If you used log points, you could average them---this is why in my humble opinion returns should be measured in log (logarithm) points.)

The key here is to understand what the yield-to-maturity actually means.

Yield to maturity is the discount rate at which the sum of all future cash flows from the bond is equal to the price of the bond.

For instance, suppose we have a zero-coupon bond that pays $100 at maturity, which is 12 months from now. Initially it's priced at $90; this means that we have a discount rate such that $90 today is exactly as good as $100 in 12 months. Thus our annual discount rate is 10%---this is our yield to maturity. Now in the following month suppose the price rises to $91. This now means our discount rate must be such that $91 today is worth $100 in 11 months. Our yield to maturity must therefore be 1 - (91/100)^(11/12) = 8.3%.

Since you're given the yield-to-maturity and you want the price, you have to do this backwards, solving for the current price P where P_0 is the nominal value of the payment at maturity ($100 in my example) and n is the number of months remaining until maturity:

YTM = 1 - (P/P_0)^(n/12)

(1 - YTM)^(12/n) = P/P_0

You may not know P_0, but that's okay; just make one up, because you're actually interested in the relative return. You'll be dividing out P_0 anyway.

I've been assuming a zero-coupon bond. If there are coupon payments, you have a much trickier problem, because you also discount the future coupon payments:

P = sum C_0 + C_1 / (1+YTM)^(1/12) + C_2 / (1+YTM)^(2/12) + ... + P_0 / (1+YTM)^(n/12)

In the poem, “Dulce et Decorum Est", how does the author depict the brutal realities of war?

The horrors and brutality of war are shown in “Dulce et Decorum Est” through Wilfred Owen’s descriptions of the physical and psychological effects of war on the soldier. In the first stanza, Owen describes the physical hardships of war when he writes, “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge.” The soldiers’ clothing is torn and tattered like beggars, and they are sick with pneumonia or other...

The horrors and brutality of war are shown in “Dulce et Decorum Est” through Wilfred Owen’s descriptions of the physical and psychological effects of war on the soldier. In the first stanza, Owen describes the physical hardships of war when he writes, “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge.” The soldiers’ clothing is torn and tattered like beggars, and they are sick with pneumonia or other respiratory ailments as they march through the plains of mud on the battlefield.  In addition, they are lame, marching as if asleep and are “drunk with fatigue”.  The physical exhaustion caused by war shows that it is especially brutal on the body; they are metaphorically the walking dead. This bodily fatigue will also cause psychological problems for a soldier. 

In stanza two, we see the panic of the soldiers as mustard gas bombs explode around them, and they barely have time to grab their gas masks before they will die from the gas.  The fear of dying is ever present on a soldier, and that fear causes psychological problems like shell shock in WWI (today it is called PTSD).   In stanza three, the psychological effects of loading dead bodies of your friends and fellow soldiers into a cart to take them away are seen.  Owen describes the dead soldier’s face as obscene and ghastly.  The psychological effect of burying the dead and seeing your friends die around you also shows the brutality of war. 

Through descriptions, Owen shows the realities of war and how it affects all who fight.  War not only affects a soldier physically but psychologically as well. Innocent young men who go off to war will come back very different because of the physical and psychological strains of fighting, killing, and surviving war.