What themes does Harper Lee develop through Calpurnia in To Kill A Mockingbird?

Calpurnia is paid by Atticus to watch his children while he's at work. She's more of a mother to the kids than their Aunt Alexandra who comes to live with them. She washes their clothes, feeds them, and teaches them manners. Since she is also African American, she represents her culture living in Maycomb County during the 1930s. She's a good Christian woman who has a good work ethic and is a little superstitious as times. Many of the people in Maycomb, black or white, are superstitious about the Radley family for instance. Scout witnesses Calpurnia say, "There goes the meanest man ever God blew breath into" and then spit off to the side as if to stop bad luck from getting her because he crossed her path.

Another theme that comes through Cal is teaching good manners and tolerance to Scout. Aunt Alexandra seems to take over later on, but in the beginning, Calpurnia is the first to teach Scout about how to behave when company is over. Walter Cunningham Jr. comes over for lunch on Scout's first day of school and pours maple syrup over his non-breakfast-food meal. Scout vocalizes her dismay and Calpurnia says the following:

"Hush your mouth! Don't matter who they are, anybody sets foot in this house's yo' comp'ny, and don't you let me catch you remarkin' on their ways like you was so high and mighty! Yo' folks might be better'n the Cunninghams but it don't count for nothin' the way you're disgracin' 'em--if you can't act fit to eat at the table you can just set here and eat in the kitchen!" (24-25).

Later, Calpurnia is a good example of being a hostess as she takes the children to her church on Sunday. She also practices tolerance again as she stands up to those who don't like her bringing white kids to their church. The scene goes as follows:

"When Lula came up the pathway toward us Calpurnia said, 'Stop right there, nigger.'

Lula stopped, but she said, 'You ain't got no business bringin' white chillum  here--they got their church, we got our'n. It is our church, ain't it, Miss Cal?'

Calpurnia said, 'It's the same God, ain't it?' . . . but when I looked at Calpurnia there was amusement in her eyes" (119).

Calpurnia stood her ground, but she didn't hold it against Lula. She and many other people welcomed the Finch children into their church. Fortunately, the children learn the good aspects of Calpurnia's culture as they are treated kindly. Along those lines, the children learn to care about everyone no matter what race or disability they may have.

Give one example of imperialism in Asia.

There are several examples of imperialism in Asia. One example is the French taking control in Indochina. Around 1860, France established control in part of Vietnam. Eventually, that control spread to the rest of Vietnam as well as to Cambodia and to Laos. The French were interested in gaining resources from Indochina. They also knew they would be able to sell French products to their colonies in Indochina. France was competing for power with other...

There are several examples of imperialism in Asia. One example is the French taking control in Indochina. Around 1860, France established control in part of Vietnam. Eventually, that control spread to the rest of Vietnam as well as to Cambodia and to Laos. The French were interested in gaining resources from Indochina. They also knew they would be able to sell French products to their colonies in Indochina. France was competing for power with other European countries that were setting up colonies in Asia. For example, Great Britain had established colonies in Singapore and the part of the Malay Peninsula.

France controlled Indochina before World War II. During World War II, the Japanese took over and controlled Indochina. After the war ended, the people of Indochina had hoped to get their independence. However, France returned and ruled until 1954. In 1954, the Indochinese forces, led by Ho Chi Minh, defeated the French. Indochina, according to the Geneva Accords, would then be divided into four countries. These countries were Laos, Cambodia, North Vietnam, and South Vietnam. There was supposed to be elections held by 1956 to unite the North Vietnam and South Vietnam into one country. When those elections didn’t occur, the Vietnam War began.

What was social life like in the Middle Colonies?

The "Middle" or "Mid-Atlantic" (colonies) is a term referring to what now would be the states of Delaware, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey. These had extensive Native American populations as well as European settlers from a variety of different national and religious traditions, including German, Irish, Dutch, Scandinavian, English, and enslaved Africans.

Native Americans in the Middle Colonies spoke Algonkian and Iroquois languages. The Iroquois were divided into matrilineal clans. Multiple families lived together in longhouses....

The "Middle" or "Mid-Atlantic" (colonies) is a term referring to what now would be the states of Delaware, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey. These had extensive Native American populations as well as European settlers from a variety of different national and religious traditions, including German, Irish, Dutch, Scandinavian, English, and enslaved Africans.

Native Americans in the Middle Colonies spoke Algonkian and Iroquois languages. The Iroquois were divided into matrilineal clans. Multiple families lived together in longhouses. During the day, women would work in groups, often taking care of the longhouses and cultivating crops, while men engaged in trade and hunting. This meant that daytime social life was divided by gender. The Iroquois played sports such as lacrosse and made toys for their children. In evenings or winter, they created art work, especially dolls and masks, performed music, conducted religious ceremonies, and socialized over communal meals.

Among the Europeans, the main household and social unit was the extended family. All but the very poor also had servants. Social life was segregated by age, class, gender, and ethnicity. It would have been unusual for the poor to socialize with the rich or Quakers with Episcopalians. The Mennonites tended to form cohesive communities that emphasized a plain, modest lifestyle. 

Going out to saloons and drinking was an activity reserved for males, especially young single ones. Conversely, sewing or quilting circles, in which women accomplished the practical task of making or repairing blankets, cushions, and clothing while socializing, was an exclusively female activity. Dancing and music were common forms of entertainment. Dances were a place where men and women could meet, and marriages could be negotiated. Among the upper classes, members of a family might gather together and read aloud to each other, or young women might play the piano and sing to entertain other family members. For the lower and middle classes, social activities could also occur at times like the harvest or on major building projects, when people would gather for a common goal. Just like people today gather and gossip at work when pausing for meals or taking brief breaks, this was also the case in the colonies.

For all classes, church was an important part of social life, with people dressing up for Sunday services in their best clothes and socializing with friends and neighbors after the service. 

What was Henry James' purpose of writing "The Real Thing"?

"The Real Thing" is a short story by Henry James. As a work of fiction, it doesn't have a "purpose" in the sense a persuasive essay does of trying to persuade someone of something, nor do we have the ability to read James' mind to discover what he was thinking as he composed the story. We do know that James was a professional writer and earned his living from his writing. Thus, one of his...

"The Real Thing" is a short story by Henry James. As a work of fiction, it doesn't have a "purpose" in the sense a persuasive essay does of trying to persuade someone of something, nor do we have the ability to read James' mind to discover what he was thinking as he composed the story. We do know that James was a professional writer and earned his living from his writing. Thus, one of his motives for writing was simply to earn money.

The story itself is a sort of parable about the nature of art. While James considered himself a realist in representing the details of life as it actually happens, he also argues in his essay, "The Art of Fiction", that literary works are reality as it is filtered through a writer's sensibility and crafted to convey an impression to a reader. In this essay, James also sets out many parallels between writing and painting.

In "The Real Thing", an artist is approached by Major and Mrs. Monarch who want to work as models. They are a well-bred couple who are actually the sort of people who appear in the artist's portraits. The artist's current models are a cockney girl and Italian vagrant. When the artist tries to use the Manners as models though, he discovers that they are worse at modeling than professional models who are not "the real thing". Here, James is suggesting, through an analogy with painting, the need for artifice and craft in all forms of art. Thus the story suggests that a writer simply transcribing everyday conversation would not produce realistic dialogue, but something awkward and aesthetically lacking, just as the artist fails to produce good work when he uses "the real thing" instead of professional models. 

How and why was Germany allowed to annex Austria and the Sudtenland?

In the 1930s, the countries that eventually made up the Axis Powers began to take land in Europe and in Asia. Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931 and China in 1937. Italy invaded Ethiopia in 1935. In 1936, Germany moved its military into the Rhineland. In 1938, Germany took over Austria and made known its desire to take over the Sudetenland.

Hitler believed that regions with German speaking people should be ruled by Germany. Thus, in...

In the 1930s, the countries that eventually made up the Axis Powers began to take land in Europe and in Asia. Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931 and China in 1937. Italy invaded Ethiopia in 1935. In 1936, Germany moved its military into the Rhineland. In 1938, Germany took over Austria and made known its desire to take over the Sudetenland.

Hitler believed that regions with German speaking people should be ruled by Germany. Thus, in 1938, Hitler moved into Austria and took over the country. This event was known as the Anschluss. Some of the Allied leaders believed that if Hitler got some land, he would be satisfied and then peace would occur. Some Allied leaders also were sympathetic with Hitler’s goal of uniting Germany speaking regions under the control of Germany. The Allied leaders were also concerned that any confrontation with Hitler could lead to the start of World War II, something the Allies were not prepared to tackle in the 1930s for various reasons. The Allies were in the midst of dealing with the Great Depression, and they had not yet recovered from the effects of World War I militarily, economically, and psychologically.

However, after Hitler built up his military, moved it into the Rhineland, and then took Austria, the Allied leaders in France and Great Britain became concerned when Hitler announced he wanted to annex the Sudetenland, a region in northwest Czechoslovakia where many German-speaking people lived. It appeared war might be avoided when the leaders of Great Britain and France, Neville Chamberlain and Edouard Daladier, appeased Hitler by giving him the Sudetenland in return for a promise to take no more land. This agreement was known as the Munich Pact. Neville Chamberlain believed he saved the world from war and created what would be a lasting peace. Unfortunately, appeasement rarely works because a person gets what he or she demands without having to earn it. All Hitler had to do was a make a promise in order to get this land.

Appeasement failed in March 1939 when Hitler took over the rest of Czechoslovakia. The Allies responded by saying that any more aggression would lead to war. An ominous sign occurred when Germany signed a non-aggression agreement with the Soviet Union in late August 1939. When Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, it led to the start of World War II two days later. The Allied attempts to prevent World War II were not successful.

What is the name of the process of urea formation?

Urea is produced naturally in the body via the ornithine cycle of excretion. Excretion is a detoxification process.

Excretion helps to eliminate harmful toxins from the body. For example, excretion helps to eliminate nitrogenous substances, such as urea.

The liver is an important organ in the process of excretion. Here, amino acids are metabolized. Ammonia ions are produced upon the breakdown of amino acids. Some of these ions are used to form nitrogen-containing particles within...

Urea is produced naturally in the body via the ornithine cycle of excretion. Excretion is a detoxification process.

Excretion helps to eliminate harmful toxins from the body. For example, excretion helps to eliminate nitrogenous substances, such as urea.

The liver is an important organ in the process of excretion. Here, amino acids are metabolized. Ammonia ions are produced upon the breakdown of amino acids. Some of these ions are used to form nitrogen-containing particles within the body. However, too many ammonia ions can be toxic to the body. In a process known as the ornithine cycle, these excess ammonia ions are converted into urea.

Once produced, urea and water leave the liver and are transported to the kidneys via the bloodstream. In the kidneys, the blood is filtered. Urea then leaves the body via urine.

Do you have a guide for Mike Lupica's book Game Changers?

Game Changers centers on a young football player named Ben McBain, who is talented and flexible enough to play several positions. He also has a huge drive to win. His hero is former NFL quarterback Doug Flutie, a man who was physically on the small side, like Ben, but who could play beyond his size. Ben dreams of becoming quarterback, but the coach, Coach O'Brien, considers him too small. More importantly, O'Brien wants his own...

Game Changers centers on a young football player named Ben McBain, who is talented and flexible enough to play several positions. He also has a huge drive to win. His hero is former NFL quarterback Doug Flutie, a man who was physically on the small side, like Ben, but who could play beyond his size. Ben dreams of becoming quarterback, but the coach, Coach O'Brien, considers him too small. More importantly, O'Brien wants his own son, Shawn, to be quarterback, because he is trying to live through Shawn. O'Brien was once a pro and now he is pressuring Shawn to follow in his footsteps.

Ben is disappointed and feels it is unfair that he cannot be quarterback, but he is a strong person so he deals with it. Shawn, however, is being pressured too hard by his father to win and this is making him a poor quarterback and, ironically, threatening the season. Ben has an influence on Shawn and helps guide him to better quarterbacking, but then Coach O'Brien begins to interfere. 

One theme of this book is that parents should avoid putting too much pressure on their children. Ben's father, for example, supports him but doesn't make unrealistic demands, whereas Shawn's father has too much emotional energy invested in his son's success at football.