What are some reasons why the colonies should be independent?

There are several reasons why the colonies believed they should be independent of the rule of Great Britain. One reason was the colonists believed the British were trying to restrict their freedom. After the French and Indian War ended, the British Parliament passed the Proclamation of 1763. This law prevented the colonists from moving west of the Appalachian Mountains to the land Great Britain gained from France as a result of the French and Indian War. The colonists were upset because they wanted to move to this area. When the British passed the Quartering Act, which required the colonists to provide housing for British troops to enforce this unpopular law, the colonists became more upset.

The colonists also believed the British were violating their rights by passing new tax laws such as the Stamp Act and the Townshend Acts. The colonists believed these laws were illegal since the colonists had no representatives in Parliament that could speak about and vote on these laws. A basic right of all British citizens is that they could have representatives in Parliament to vote on tax laws. Since the colonists were British citizens and didn’t have this right, they felt their rights were being violated.

When events turned more violent in the 1770s, more colonies began to believe they needed to be independent of British rule. In the Boston Massacre, five colonists were killed when the British soldiers fired into a crowd of colonists gathered outside of the Custom House. After the Boston Tea Party, the British passed the Intolerable Acts. These laws were designed to punish the colonists, especially those living in Massachusetts, for the Boston Tea Party. The colonists refused to obey these laws, and they began to form their own militias. In April 1775, the colonists and the British fought at the battles of Lexington and Concord. There were casualties on both sides. While the Revolutionary War didn’t begin with these battles, for many colonists it was a signal that war with Great Britain was inevitable.

Eventually, the Second Continental Congress authorized the writing of a Declaration of Independence. The Declaration of Independence was formally adopted on July 4, 1776. We now claimed that we were free from British rule. We would have to fight and win the Revolutionary War to prove that we were really independent.

In "The Devil and Tom Walker," how would the story change if it was in a different time and place?

What an interesting question! As we answer it, I think we'll see that the story is universal: that it could happen anywhere, during any time, because it's simply the story of someone so greedy and immoral that he succumbs to temptation and ultimately has to pay a hefty price for it.

As such, the tale deals with the heights of human greed and the destruction it brings, which is true no matter what time period...

What an interesting question! As we answer it, I think we'll see that the story is universal: that it could happen anywhere, during any time, because it's simply the story of someone so greedy and immoral that he succumbs to temptation and ultimately has to pay a hefty price for it.

As such, the tale deals with the heights of human greed and the destruction it brings, which is true no matter what time period or location we're in.

For example, let's move the story from early America to Elizabethan England. A penniless actor could meet the devil while out for a walk late at night, accept the devil's offer of riches, and quickly become a wealthy owner of many theaters, overcharging his audience members and forcing his actors to work long hours. Then one day as he's yelling at a group of actors, telling them that they'll have to take a pay cut and go hungry, he says, "The devil take me if I ever made a shilling off any of you!” At that point the devil could show up and take his soul.

See? It’s easy (and kind of fun) to imagine the story with a different setting.

Let’s do it once more: we’ll move it to the distant future, to a colony on Mars. A jobless Mars-dweller meets the devil while out for a spin in her hover-car. She accepts the devil’s offer of power and money and starts a terraforming company, charging exorbitant fees to colonies on other planets whose inhabitants need safer air to breathe. One day as she’s threatening to cut off a whole planet’s oxygen supply for failing to pay the ever-increasing maintenance fees, the devil swoops in and takes her soul.

Of course, you could write a more imaginative and elaborate version of the story if you like. The point is that the setting of “The Devil and Tom Walker” is interesting and adds color to the story, but it would work just as easily in any other time or place simply because the theme is universal.

In what point of view is this story written?

In first-person point of view, the narrator uses "I" or "we." In the second-person point of view, the narrator uses "you." In "Harrison Bergeron," the narrator uses the third-person point of view. In this style, the narrator uses "he," "she," and "it" in referring to characters in the story. 

More specifically, the narrator in "Harrison Bergeron" employs a third-person omniscientnarrator. This means that the narrator knows everything going on in the story. The narrator...

In first-person point of view, the narrator uses "I" or "we." In the second-person point of view, the narrator uses "you." In "Harrison Bergeron," the narrator uses the third-person point of view. In this style, the narrator uses "he," "she," and "it" in referring to characters in the story. 

More specifically, the narrator in "Harrison Bergeron" employs a third-person omniscient narrator. This means that the narrator knows everything going on in the story. The narrator even knows what the characters are thinking. For example, the narrator knows and explains the intelligence levels of George and Hazel. The narrator notes what they are thinking and when they forget things. Omniscient means "all-knowing." When Diana Moon Glampers shoots Harrison and his Empress, the narrator knows that they die before they hit the ground. The third-person omniscient narrator knows the physics, social context, outcomes, and any thoughts or emotions the characters experience. This is the most common form of narration. 

What did Thomas Jefferson say that leads us to believe he thought very highly of John Locke?

Well for one thing, some of Jefferson's writings are so closely paraphrased from John Locke it borders on plagiarism. Indeed, the two documents are so similar that it's not hard to imagine Jefferson looking over his annotated copy of "Two Treatises of Government" as he drafted the Declaration of Independence.Where Locke said we had "insuperable rights" of "life, liberty and property", Jefferson said we had "inalienable rights" of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of...

Well for one thing, some of Jefferson's writings are so closely paraphrased from John Locke it borders on plagiarism. Indeed, the two documents are so similar that it's not hard to imagine Jefferson looking over his annotated copy of "Two Treatises of Government" as he drafted the Declaration of Independence.

Where Locke said we had "insuperable rights" of "life, liberty and property", Jefferson said we had "inalienable rights" of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness".

Locke also appears to have been the source of many of Jefferson's core principles, such as "consent of the governed" and the role of revolutions as a last resort---but a necessary option to have---against tyranny.

Oddly, Jefferson did not actually speak or write about Locke specifically all that often, but he seemed to deeply internalize most of Locke's ideas on political philosophy. It could be what is called "the anxiety of influence"; perhaps Jefferson knew that he was so influenced by Locke that if he talked about Locke too much people would think he had no new ideas of his own!

What is normal profit? |

To understand what normal profit is, we have to understand the concepts of accounting and economic profit.  Accounting profit is what people generally think of when they think of profit.  This is the difference between what a company takes in in revenue and what it spends in costs.  If I own a small company and we take in $100,000 in revenue in a year and have $50,000 in costs, our accounting profit is $50,000.

However,...

To understand what normal profit is, we have to understand the concepts of accounting and economic profit.  Accounting profit is what people generally think of when they think of profit.  This is the difference between what a company takes in in revenue and what it spends in costs.  If I own a small company and we take in $100,000 in revenue in a year and have $50,000 in costs, our accounting profit is $50,000.

However, this does not mean we have made economic profit.  Economic profit takes into account our opportunity costs.  In our example, let us say that I quite a job making $50,000 per year to start my company.  To determine economic profit, we have to include that $50,000 in our costs as something called “implicit costs.”  Now, my costs are equal to my revenues and I have made no economic profit.

When you make no economic profit, it is called “normal profit.” When you make a normal profit, you get enough revenue to cover all your explicit costs (the money you pay out to be able to make your product), but you also get enough revenue to cover the opportunity costs of the options you gave up in order to engage in the business you are in.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, why does Harper Lee include the scene where Atticus shoots the dog?

There are both practical and symbolic purposes for including the incident where Atticus shoots the rabid dog.  First, the incident shows that the town of Maycomb looks to Atticus to do what most people can’t.  Second, it shows that Atticus is able to surprise his children.  The mad dog incident is also symbolic. Atticus defends the town for the first time in this chapter.  At this point, it is Atticus versus rabies.  During the Tom Robinson trial, it is Atticus versus racism.  Maycomb relies on Atticus to do its dirty work.

Scout is surprised to learn that her father has hidden talents.  She describes him as “feeble” and sees him as old.  Atticus isn’t interested in guns.  He doesn’t even teach his children to shoot their air-rifles.  That task falls to Uncle Jack.  Atticus also warns his kids to be careful with the guns.

Atticus said to Jem one day, “I’d rather you shot at tin cans in the back yard, but I know you’ll go after birds. Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” (Ch. 10)

Imagine their surprise when they find out that their gun-avoiding father is actually One-Shot Finch!  When a rabid dog threatens the neighborhood, Atticus is called to deal with it.  The Sherriff, Heck Tate, doesn’t believe that he can shoot the dog as efficiently as Atticus.

“For God’s sake, Mr. Finch, look where he is! Miss and you’ll go straight into the Radley house! I can’t shoot that well and you know it!”

“I haven’t shot a gun in thirty years—”

Mr. Tate almost threw the rifle at Atticus. “I’d feel mighty comfortable if you did now,” he said. (Ch. 10)

Atticus is able to do what no one else, even the sheriff, is able to do.  He shoots the mad dog and saves the town from the potential danger.  A rabid dog can be very destructive.  Rabies can kill a person as well as a dog. 

Lee includes this incident to show how essential Atticus Finch is to the town of Maycomb, but it is also foreshadowing of the role that he is playing with Tom Robinson’s trial.  Just as with the mad dog, Atticus will face down the threat—racism—when no one else can or will.  In that case, he will not so openly and easily defeat it.  However, he does make progress, and helps Maycomb understand that change will be necessary.

Nick Carraway is the narrator of The Great Gatsby, but is he a good observer or is he an "unreliable narrator"?

Nick Carraway is an unreliable narrator. After he accuses Jordan Baker of dishonesty, remembering newspaper reports about her having been involved in at least one golfing tournament in which she may have cheated, he then refers to himself as honest. He says this about himself: 

Every one suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known. 

Not...

Nick Carraway is an unreliable narrator. After he accuses Jordan Baker of dishonesty, remembering newspaper reports about her having been involved in at least one golfing tournament in which she may have cheated, he then refers to himself as honest. He says this about himself: 

Every one suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known. 

Not really. In this same passage that he notes his honesty and Jordan's dishonesty, he mentions a girlfriend back home he hasn't quite broken off with, despite a certain distaste he has in remembering a line of sweat like a mustache that would form over her upper lip and despite the fact that he is now seeing seeing Jordan. In not breaking off this prior relationship, he is dishonest to both the girlfriend and to Jordan. Yet he lacks the self-awareness to see this.

With Nick as narrator, we can't be sure we're not getting a skewed portrait of Gatsby--does Nick idealize him, despite the irony he reveals in depicting him? We just don't know. Likewise, we don't know if his dislike of Tom Buchanan seeps into his portrait of him.