How do you describe Pumblechook's role in Great Expectations?

Pumblechook serves as comic relief and represents the disingenuous nature of those who admire the rich.

Here is a basic description of Uncle Pumblechook.

Uncle Pumblechook’s role is to provide comic relief.  He is laughably absurd.  It is clear that he is posing as more important than he actually is.  He enjoys abusing Pip, pretending he is doing it for his own good.  He pretends to know Miss Havisham to make himself seem important.

Pumblechook...

Pumblechook serves as comic relief and represents the disingenuous nature of those who admire the rich.

Here is a basic description of Uncle Pumblechook.

Uncle Pumblechook’s role is to provide comic relief.  He is laughably absurd.  It is clear that he is posing as more important than he actually is.  He enjoys abusing Pip, pretending he is doing it for his own good.  He pretends to know Miss Havisham to make himself seem important.

Pumblechook is described as a “well-to-do cornchandler” (Ch. 4).  All that means is that he is a shopkeeper.  Pumblechook’s greatest character flaw is that he puts on airs constantly, even around his family.

I was not allowed to call him uncle, under the severest penalties. (Ch. 4)

Pumblechook torments Pip, and seems to only like Mrs. Joe.  He clearly considers himself better than Joe, and definitely thinks he is superior to Pip because Pip is only a child.  He constantly tells Pip that he should be grateful to his sister for having raised him.

Pumblechook torments Pip as a matter of sport, and believes that he knows more than anyone else about any subject.  The greatest example of his posing comes when he says that he can introduce Pip to Miss Havisham and pretends to know her well.  Clearly he has never even seen her.

“Boy! What like is Miss Havisham?” …

“Very tall and dark,” I told him.

“Is she, uncle?” asked my sister.

Mr. Pumblechook winked assent; from which I at once inferred that he had never seen Miss Havisham, for she was nothing of the kind. (Ch. 9)

Pumblechook’s role pretty much ends after Pip develops ties with Miss Havisham.  As he gets older, Pip likes him less and less, calling him a “fearful imposter” and an “abject hypocrite.”  Soon Pip is much more important than his uncle.  When Pip comes into his expectations, Pumblechook pretends that he cares about him and gives himself credit for everything.

List eight things that can be considered a part of a person's environment.

I am going to assume that you mean 8 things that a part of a person's health environment and not part of an ecological definition of environment.  

A person's health environment is comprised of things that a person can control and some things that a person can not control.  

A person's genetics, for example, is part of a person's health environment, but they cannot be controlled.  That makes them less interesting to talk...

I am going to assume that you mean 8 things that a part of a person's health environment and not part of an ecological definition of environment.  

A person's health environment is comprised of things that a person can control and some things that a person can not control.  

A person's genetics, for example, is part of a person's health environment, but they cannot be controlled.  That makes them less interesting to talk about in my health class though.  Nothing can be done about them, and I like to teach students about the things that they can control around them to improve their health environment.  

A person's health triangle is made up of three segments. The social segment, the emotional/mental segment, and the physical segment.  A person's total health includes all three segments, and the environment can be used to hurt or help any of those three sections.  Generally speaking, a person's health "environment" is divided into two parts -- physical environment and social environment.  

A person's family is part of a person's social health environment and can affect all three parts of the triangle -- especially emotional.  

Air quality is part of the physical environment and can affect the physical segment.  Included within air quality is more than just smog though.  Pollen and dust levels need to be taken into account for allergy reasons.  

Friends and their influences are part of the social environment.  They can influence many of a person's health habits.  But friends can also affect a person's physical environment.  For example, I might be friends with a heavy smoker.  I don't smoke, but the second hand smoke is detrimental to my health.  

A person's work environment is another piece of the overall social environment that can affect total health.    

Diet and exercise are two more parts of the health environment.  

Stress and stress management strategies are two more parts of a person's health environment.  It's okay to have high levels of stress . . . if you can appropriately manage the stress.  

One last major piece of a person's health environment is the culture that a person is from or participates in.  Culture will include beliefs, customs, and behaviors of a group.  A particular group culture might practice healthy eating habits.  If you are a member of that culture, chances are you practice those healthy practices too.  

In The Crucible, why do so many of the accusers lie about the existence of witchcraft?

There are a number of reasons why characters lie about witchcraft and implicate others as witches. These include fear, guilt, revenge, greed for property and paranoia. 

Tituba, Reverend Parris' slave from Barbados, is the first to start accusing others of witchcraft after Abigail implicates her. She opens up a can of worms which exposes the underlying malevolence in Salem society. When she is confronted about her activities in the woods she, at first, denies any wrongdoing. It is only when she is threatened, that she 'confesses' and starts naming so-called witches in the village who had apparently sent out their spirits to her.

Tituba: I don't compact with no Devil!

Parris: You will confess yourself or I will take you out and whip you to your death, Tituba!

Putnam: This woman must be hanged! She must be taken and hanged!

Tituba, terrified, falls to her knees: No, no, don't hang Tituba! I tell him I don't desire to work for him, sir.

When Reverend Hale tells Tituba that she would be doing God's work and would be redeemed, she is obviously relieved and is prepared to say practically everything to save herself. She becomes a pawn in the hands of her accusers and is guided by their questions and assertions. She tells Reverend Parris that the devil had repeatedly instructed her to kill him. This is probably more an expression of her guilt for harbouring ill-feelings towards the reverend, than anything else. She then names Sarah Good as one of those who accompanied the devil on one of his supposed visitations.

At this point, Abigail joins Tituba and vehemently starts naming others whom she claims to have also seen with the devil. It is not long before Betty joins in and they start shouting out random names of those they had seen consorting with Satan. Not long after, the group of girls who were seen dancing in the woods, are called to court to testify. They implicate many others. The girls are in a frenzy to absolve themselves from blame and make others responsible for their indulgence in the woods. Furthermore, the accusations give them a power they never had. The rules of Salem society required them to be submissive and respectful. Their freedoms were repressed and the trials give them an opportunity, as it were, to lash back at the deeply conservative strictures they had to adhere to

Added to this, there were opportunists who saw the trials as a chance to enrich themselves and avenge whatever wrongs they believed had been incurred upon them by those they despised. The Putnams were wealthy landowners and eminent citizens of the village. They had, over the years, acquired many enemies because of their continuous battles over property and political status. 

Thomas Putnam had many grievances and saw those who opposed his greed for property and who denied him what he believed was rightfully his, as enemies. He went as far as using his daughter, Ruth, to accuse George jacobs so that he may acquire his property. He also wanted to get rid of Francis and Rebecca Nurse as well as Giles Corey and John Proctor, people he despised. 

The Reverend Parris also had issues with a number of Salem's residents. He was paranoid about his position and believed that there was a faction out to get rid of him. It was, therefore, easy for him to accuse his enemies and pile up evidence against them so that he was finally rid of their criticism. Such a person was John Proctor. Reverend Parris increasingly meddled in the court's affairs to finally be free of him. 

The witch trials created fear and frenzy amongst the villagers and those who were accused had to confess or name others who had been consorting with Satan. Many of the accused did just that in order to save themselves from hanging. In the end, all those accused became innocent victims of the spite, greed and paranoia of others.

What are some political, social and economic successes during Reconstruction ?

Reconstruction was the process used to bring the South back into the country and to rebuild it after the Civil War ended. There were some political, economic, and social successes as a result of Reconstruction.

Economically, the South benefited from Reconstruction. Before Reconstruction, the South was ruined by the war. The South was also one-dimensional economically. As a result of Reconstruction, the South was rebuilt. There also were more industries in the South as a...

Reconstruction was the process used to bring the South back into the country and to rebuild it after the Civil War ended. There were some political, economic, and social successes as a result of Reconstruction.

Economically, the South benefited from Reconstruction. Before Reconstruction, the South was ruined by the war. The South was also one-dimensional economically. As a result of Reconstruction, the South was rebuilt. There also were more industries in the South as a result of Reconstruction. The southern economy became more diversified.

Politically, there were several successes. The slaves were freed as a result of the Civil War. The 13th Amendment abolished slavery. The 14th Amendment gave the rights of citizenship to anybody born in the United States. The 15th Amendment made it illegal to deny voting rights based on race or being a former slave. Former slaves began to vote and some African-Americans got elected to office.

Socially, there were successes also. As a result of Reconstruction, the former slaves were able to get an education. The Freedmen’s Bureau helped establish schools for African-Americans. The Freedmen’s Bureau also helped the former slaves get a new start in life. The Freedmen’s Bureau provided medical care, food, and clothing to them. The Freedmen’s Bureau helped the former slaves find jobs.

Reconstruction had some political, economic, and social successes. While some of these successes weren’t sustained after Reconstruction ended, these successes did exist during Reconstruction.

How does Krakauer describe Alex's camp in the novel Into the Wild? About how many people lived there?

In Jon Krakauer's novel Into the Wild, the main character Chris McCandless has nicknamed himself Alex Supertramp. When he arrives in the Alaskan wilderness he finds an abandoned bus. He sets up camp there, hence the name "Alex's Camp." The area is along the "Stampede Trail." It is actually quite close to highways and the Denali National Park, but like many areas of Alaska, it is still remote. Remote enough that when Chris needed help...

In Jon Krakauer's novel Into the Wild, the main character Chris McCandless has nicknamed himself Alex Supertramp. When he arrives in the Alaskan wilderness he finds an abandoned bus. He sets up camp there, hence the name "Alex's Camp." The area is along the "Stampede Trail." It is actually quite close to highways and the Denali National Park, but like many areas of Alaska, it is still remote. Remote enough that when Chris needed help there was nobody around.

Chris makes his camp in this abandoned bus which had been left as a shelter for hunters who would come through the area. He is all alone. The hike into the bus is about twelve miles and two rivers needed to be crossed. One of them is the Teklanika River which became swollen with icy, raging water in the summer when Chris tries to cross back over to civilization. The camp was outfitted with a wood burning stove and a makeshift bed. The entire four months Chris was there he never saw another person. Ironically, the day his body was found about three weeks after he died, about seven people showed up in three different parties.  

What are some examples of impressionism in An Episode of War?

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines literary impressionism as 'the depiction (as in literature) of scene, emotion, or character by details intended to achieve a vividness or effectiveness more by evoking subjective and sensory impressions than by recreating an objective reality.'

So, the literary impressionist is focused on presenting an impression of a character's reality through imagery which incorporates the five senses. We can see examples of this in Stephen Crane's An Episode of War. In the story, Crane never explicitly announces that the lieutenant has been shot, but he paints (in words) the sensory evidence of the soldier's injury. Furthermore, Crane is focused on our protagonist's feelings and sensations in regards to his injury. What the lieutenant sees, hears, feels, and touches encapsulates everything that the injury does to him.

What you and I read is what the lieutenant experiences as it happens. The immediacy of real-time action is evident in works exemplifying literary impressionism. When he is first shot, he is in shock. He doesn't know what to make of it; he 'winced like a man stung, swayed dangerously, and then straightened.' His men are as 'silent, astonished, and awed by this catastrophe' as he is. No one wants to believe that their leader has been injured, much less that he has been shot within the safety of their camp. Everyone tries to act 'normal,' but what is 'normal' supposed to feel like when one has been shot? Let's take a look at how Crane uses literary impressionism to describe the lieutenant's experience as he feels shock and pain in the aftermath of his injury. Bolded words are mine.

He looked at it in a kind of stupefaction, as if he had been endowed with a trident, a scepter, or a spade...This wounded officer engaged in a desperate struggle with the sword and the wobbling scabbard, and during the time of it, he breathed like a wrestler. (We can almost feel the lieutenant's raw desperation in this depiction of his struggle to hold on to his dignity. The subjective or organic imagery alerts us to his emotional paralysis and accompanying physical impotence).

He saw a general on a black horse gazing over the lines of blue infantry at the green woods which veiled his problems. An aide galloped furiously, dragged his horse suddenly to a halt, saluted, and presented a paper. It was, for a wonder, precisely like an historical painting. (This is what the lieutenant sees on his way to the field hospital. Both his injury and the battle scene before him seems surreal; he has sustained injury without benefit of battle. The 'historical painting' imagery alerts us to the lieutenant's shell-shocked state).

To the rear of the general and his staff a group, composed of a bugler, two or three orderlies, and the bearer of the corps standard, all upon maniacal horses, were working like slaves to hold their ground, preserve, their respectful interval, while the shells boomed in the air about them, and caused their chargers to make furious quivering leaps. (Here, kinesthetic imagery provides the impression of movement, violent action, and frantic desperation. Auditory imagery through the booming of the shells alerts us to the noisy specter of war).

A battery, a tumultuous and shining mass, was swirling toward the right.The wild thud of hoofs, the cries of the riders shouting blame and praise, menace and encouragement, and, last the roar of the wheels, the slant of the glistening guns, brought the lieutenant to an intent pause.The battery swept in curves that stirred the heart; it made halts as dramatic as the crash of a wave on the rocks, and when it fled onward, this aggregation of wheels, levers, motors, had a beautiful unity, as if it were a missile. The sound of it was a war-chorus that reached into the depths of man's emotion. (Here again, both auditory and kinesthetic imagery alerts us to the chaotic atmosphere of war on the battlefield).

The above are only a few examples of literary impressionism from the story.  Hope this helps!

What are all the men in short supply of?

In Part 1, Chapter 1, of 1984, the reader learns that all male party members are in short supply of razor blades. This is repeated in Part 1, Chapter 5, during a conversation in which O'Brien asks Winston if he has any blades. Winston responds that he does not; and that he doubts if they are still in existence. The reader learns that Winston is lying here: he, in fact, has two razor blades at...

In Part 1, Chapter 1, of 1984, the reader learns that all male party members are in short supply of razor blades. This is repeated in Part 1, Chapter 5, during a conversation in which O'Brien asks Winston if he has any blades. Winston responds that he does not; and that he doubts if they are still in existence. The reader learns that Winston is lying here: he, in fact, has two razor blades at home but is "hoarding them up" because they are in such short supply. Presumably, Winston was able to obtain these two blades by "scrounging" on the free market.

The shortage of razor blades, then, tell us much about the nature of life under the party. It tells us about the existence of a black market where party members risk their lives by associating with proles in order to obtain the basic items they need. In this respect, the shortage of blades also illustrates the nature of life under the party. By controlling access to certain items, the party is better able to control the lives of its members.

Furthermore, while it preaches about plenty, the party, in fact, deliberately withholds certain necessities from its people, to keep them in a permanent state of dependence.