Why are there both positive and negative comparisons? Where do they occur in the first two paragraphs in "The Scarlet Ibis?"

By using both positive and negative comparisons in the first two paragraphs of “The Scarlet Ibis,” James Hurst marks the time close to when Doodle died and after some time has passed.

In the first paragraph, he describes the scene in the garden when the Scarlet Ibis first came to the yard. He describes the season as being after summer but before autumn has fully arrived. Some of the summer flowers are dying while others...

By using both positive and negative comparisons in the first two paragraphs of “The Scarlet Ibis,” James Hurst marks the time close to when Doodle died and after some time has passed.

In the first paragraph, he describes the scene in the garden when the Scarlet Ibis first came to the yard. He describes the season as being after summer but before autumn has fully arrived. Some of the summer flowers are dying while others are still in bloom. “The five o'clocks by the chimney still marked time, but the oriole nest in the elm was untenanted and rocked back and forth like an empty cradle.” He goes on to explain that the graveyard flowers are still in bloom but they remind the family of their dead.

Once again in the second paragraph, the author uses both positive and negative images. He portrays the emotions brother feels. Although the oriole still sings in the tree, its song floats away like dust, the yard and fences are neat but do not indicate what lies within. The bleeding tree has been replaced by a grindstone but the sound of that grindstone reminds Brother of Doodle. On the surface, time has passed, but within Brother, the normal things bring back the memory of his little brother.

Describe the appearance of the Ghost of Christmas Past in A Christmas Carol

To begin, the ghost was "like a child: yet not so like a child as like an old man." The spirit seems to embody the innocence of children and yet possesses the wisdom associated with age: two things we typically do not think of as going together. Usually as we gain wisdom, we lose our innocence. The ghost has long, white hair that hangs down its back, but the "tenderest bloom" on the skin. Its...

To begin, the ghost was "like a child: yet not so like a child as like an old man." The spirit seems to embody the innocence of children and yet possesses the wisdom associated with age: two things we typically do not think of as going together. Usually as we gain wisdom, we lose our innocence. The ghost has long, white hair that hangs down its back, but the "tenderest bloom" on the skin. Its arms are "long and muscular," as though it has a great deal of strength, and yet its legs are "delicately formed." The spirit is certainly a strange combination of old and young. It also wears a tunic of white—again, as if to symbolize its purity and innocence—trimmed with "summer flowers," and it carries a "branch of fresh green holly."

Even more curious is that "from the crown of its head there sprung a bright clear jet of light," and he carries "a great extinguisher" as a hat.  An extinguisher is the small bell-shaped apparatus, usually at the end of a long stick, which one would use to snuff out a candle by placing the bell over the flame and depriving it of air. Finally, Scrooge seems to notice that

its belt sparkled and glittered now in one part and now in another, and what was light one instant, at another time was dark, so the figure itself fluctuated in its distinctness: being now a thing with one arm, now with one leg, now with twenty legs, now a pair of legs without a head, now a head without a body

In other words, it sounds an awful lot like the spirit flickers, like a candle flame, and given the light that comes out of its head and the fact that it carries an extinguisher for a hat, the spirit seems in many ways to resemble a candle. Thus, it embodies all ages, all seasons, and one of the major symbols of goodness and joy in the text: light.  

What is the difference between anger and wrath?

Anger and wrath are closely related, but they do not mean the same thing, nor are they equivalent emotions.  The dictionary defines anger as "a strong feeling of displeasure."  Anger is actually quite normal.  It's normal to feel angry when a person wrongs you or when you feel that something unfair has happened.  Wrath on the other hand, is an extreme form of anger.  Unlike anger, wrath is not normal and certainly not healthy, because...

Anger and wrath are closely related, but they do not mean the same thing, nor are they equivalent emotions.  The dictionary defines anger as "a strong feeling of displeasure."  Anger is actually quite normal.  It's normal to feel angry when a person wrongs you or when you feel that something unfair has happened.  Wrath on the other hand, is an extreme form of anger.  Unlike anger, wrath is not normal and certainly not healthy, because wrath is a destructive and vindictive form of anger.  Wrath usually leads a person toward some kind of destructive behavior toward another person.  In fact, wrath is so extreme and hurtful that the Christian religion has marked it as one of the seven deadly sins, because it usually overrides existing moral boundaries.  

In the poem "A Poison Tree," the speaker lets his anger turn into wrath.   He holds on to and harbors large amounts of anger toward his friend until it becomes wrath.  At that point, the speaker plots and kills his friend.  The wrath (extreme anger) overrode his moral compass and caused him to commit a vengeful and vindictive act.  Anger doesn't do that.  Wrath does. 

Hamlet's madness, whether genuine or not, adds to the fascination of his character to the audience. How can I discuss this statement, supporting...

Two things that really hook an audience and make them interested in a character are complexity and ambiguity. Complexity, because we always like finding yet another interesting layer to a character, and ambiguity because it keeps us guessing—the character never feels "figured out." Hamlet and his madness fulfill both of those things for us—his madness, real or feigned, makes his behavior complex and unpredictable, and the question of just how mad he truly is lends...

Two things that really hook an audience and make them interested in a character are complexity and ambiguity. Complexity, because we always like finding yet another interesting layer to a character, and ambiguity because it keeps us guessing—the character never feels "figured out." Hamlet and his madness fulfill both of those things for us—his madness, real or feigned, makes his behavior complex and unpredictable, and the question of just how mad he truly is lends ambiguity—just what is really going on with him, anyway? Could anyone who keeps insisting on his own sanity really be as sane as he claims? Could someone truly insane behave with such calculated care to appear "mad"? In fact, the question of Hamlet's madness or sanity is one of his most compelling attributes: if Shakespeare gave us, with absolute certainty, an answer to whether Hamlet was mad or not, the play would lose a great deal of the strangeness that has kept people fascinated by it for centuries.

How did we preserve food when we didn't have electric fridges?

The main reason food needed to be preserved before the advent of electric refrigerators was to slow the action of bacteria and mold which caused food to spoil and could even be dangerous to people who ate the food.

One method was pickling surplus vegetables. By placing cucumbers for example, in a brine with salt and vinegar and spices and then placing in vacuum sealed jars, the pickled items would last a very long time.

If it was cold during the winter months, ice could be put into an "ice box" in a large chunk to keep foods cool. Streams could be used to keep beverages and food cool and if a cave was nearby, their naturally cool and stable environments are ideal to keep food from spoiling. Produce could be stored in a cool, dry environment such as in a cellar or basement to extend how long fresh produce or canned items could last.

Salting was another method of preservation. By salting and thus drying the food, it prevented the food from spoiling and slowed bacterial action. Salted codfish can still be bought today and when ready to use, it can be washed and soaked to remove the salt and soften it once again before cooking.

Drying meat to make beef jerky as an example, could allow the food to last very long and it could be eaten that way, or reconstituted when soaked in water. Produce like beans can be stored when dried for many months and fruits can be dried out and stored for a very long time as well.

Smoking meats has long been a method of preservation. Items like bacon, ham, fish and others are made by smoking over a low flame for a very long time. The smoking is a preservative which extends the shelf life of meats.

Using the action of microbes, fermentation is a process which can extend the shelf life of foods. An example is the making of wine from grapes or beer from grains. The alcohol produced by fermentation performed by microbes known as yeasts can allow these beverages to last a very long time. Fermented foods are also healthy-- sauerkraut can be made with lactic acid bacteria which are able to ferment the cabbage because starch and sugar are present in the leaves. The sauerkraut can last a longer length of time than the fresh cabbage would and can be stored.

The production of jelly or jam with some of the excess fruit crop would be used to preserve rather than have to discard fruit that spoiled quickly. The fruit would be boiled with sugar and cooked down and later placed in jars which were vacuum sealed. These fruits would be preserved for later use and would not easily spoil. 

These are some methods people used before refrigeration and to a great extent still use today in the constant struggle to maintain our food supply.

How does blood flow from the left hand to the heart?

Blood flowing from any part of the body, including the left hand, enters the right side of the heart through either the superior vena cava or the inferior vena cava. Since blood from the left hand would be coming to the heart from the upper part of the body, it would enter via the superior vena cava. From the superior vena cava, the blood would be passed onto the right atrium. When the right atrium...

Blood flowing from any part of the body, including the left hand, enters the right side of the heart through either the superior vena cava or the inferior vena cava. Since blood from the left hand would be coming to the heart from the upper part of the body, it would enter via the superior vena cava. From the superior vena cava, the blood would be passed onto the right atrium. When the right atrium contracts, blood is pushed through the tricuspid valve and into the right ventricle. From the right ventricle, blood is pumped through the pulmonary valve and into the pulmonary artery. The blood passes by the lungs where it picks up oxygen, which is needed so the oxygen can be delivered to cells. Cells need oxygen so they can undergo cellular respiration and produce an energy source called ATP (adenosine triphosphate). The ATP helps the cells and organism in which the cells are located perform daily functions needed for survival.

The oxygenated blood then returns to the left side of the heart via the pulmonary veins. From the pulmonary veins, the blood travels to the left atrium. As the left atrium contracts, blood is pushed through mitral valve and through the left ventricle. The left ventricle pushes blood through the aortic valve and into the aorta. This is a key step in blood circulation. The aorta is considered to be the artery that distributes blood to all other parts of the body.

Once the blood is distributed to where it is needed and its oxygen is depleted, then the cycle starts over.

Can you summarize the short story, 'The Canterville Ghost?'

In The Canterville Ghost, Oscar Wilde turns the ghost story on its head. Instead of the ghost scaring the new residents of Canterville Hall, they scare him. These new residents are Americans, the Otis family, and bring with them a practical, no-nonsense approach to life. If the ghost leaves a blood stain on the floor, they immediately scrub it out with a brand new cleaning product. 

The Otis twins play jokes on the ghost. He...

In The Canterville Ghost, Oscar Wilde turns the ghost story on its head. Instead of the ghost scaring the new residents of Canterville Hall, they scare him. These new residents are Americans, the Otis family, and bring with them a practical, no-nonsense approach to life. If the ghost leaves a blood stain on the floor, they immediately scrub it out with a brand new cleaning product. 

The Otis twins play jokes on the ghost. He is beside himself, but the young girl in the family, Virginia, sympathizes with him. She and the ghost talk, and he tells her he wants to die, but needs a pure young girl to help him do it, as he is too stained by his sins to enter a final rest. She stands by him, and he is able to free himself from a life haunting the earth. At the end, Virginia is sad the ghost has died, a death symbolized by an almond tree, but also glad he is at peace.

The story plays on tensions between old English families and New Money Americans flooding into England in the late 19th century. Also, beneath its comic facade, it shows the pathos of the tortured ghost, perhaps an image of Wilde's sense of guilt and otherness over his homosexuality.