In The Hiding Place, why did Corrie especially worry at mealtime about the possibility of their underground operation being discovered?

The Beje had become "the center of an underground ring that spread now to the farthest corners of Holland".  Dozens of people came by daily with reports and appeals of those needing help, and Corrie feared that "sooner or later (someone was) going to make a mistake", and their operation would be noticed.  She reflects,

"It was mealtimes especially when I worried.  There were so many now for every meal that we had to set the chairs diagonally around the dining room table...the dining room was only five steps above street-level, a tall passerby could see right in the window".

Corrie was afraid that, because so many gatherered at the Beje at mealtime, their situation might look suspicious and their underground network discovered.  Her fears were possibly potentially realized when one day, at the noon meal, when "seventeen of (them) were squeezed around the dining room table", one of the workers noticed that someone was looking in the curtain.  Although no one had requested the service, a man was on a ladder washing the windows, and had a full view of the proceedings.  To allay suspicion, the group spontaneously began to sing "Happy Birthday", to make the large gathering appear innocent.  Corrie went outside to ask the man what he was doing, and he responded that he had been hired to do Kuiper's windows, which was across the street.  Corrie was never sure whether the man was a spy or had simply made an honest mistake (Chapter 8).

What is the secret referred to in "The Secret" by Denice Levertov?i have no clue

We don't know what it is, so don't feel bad for having no clue!  Even the author herself states in the poem, "I who don't know the secret wrote the line", and she loves the two girls for "finding what I can't find".  So, two girls read a line in one of her poems, and were so moved by it that they felt that they had discovered "the secret of life in a sudden line of poetry."  But Denise doesn't know what that secret is, or even what line it was in, because the girls don't tell her.

The main point of the poem isn't what the secret is, it is that people who read poetry interpret it differently; they read their own lives into the poems, and interpret them in ways that are meaningful to them.  We filter the poem through our own perceptions, so a line that  poet wrote (like Denise Levertov did) means something completely different than what the poet was thinking when they wrote the poem.  That is okay with Denise, who states that she is happy that they can rediscover that secret "a thousand times...in other happenings" and that they felt such a profound connection to her poem in the first place.

In "A Perfect Day for a Bananafish," does Seymour's name symbolize that we should "see more" in him than what the mother and daughter see? Should...

It can be noted that Sybil Carpenter is the only one who is able to "see more" in Seymour Glass. Seymour's distinct issues should be apparent to the everyday world; however, it takes the eyes and understanding of a child to show the readers who Seymour actually is. He seems to have stunted and reverted psychosexual development after being released from the military hospital, and thus we can only "see" him through the eyes of Murial and Murial's mother -- who are actually quite shallow and materialsitic. Seymour is trapped in his own perception of reality, as he seems to "see more" than the other characters as well -- such as his "tattoo." While the superficial characters scoff at him because he does not have an apparent tattoo, we as readers can understand that this is clearly Seymour's way of demonstrating the marking that has been left behind. Such as the story of the bananafish, foreshadowing the demise of Seymour. While most adults would disregard the story as a lewd, and perhaps grotesque fairy tale about overconsumption, Sybil, the only one able to "see more" "sees" a bananafish indulging in six bananas. This vilifies Seymour, thus further emphasizing the tragedy of the story--that he will forever be trapped inside a child's mental existence in a grown man's body.

In "A Good Man is Hard to Find" what is a critical analysis of the grandmother's part in her family's death?

If you want to pin things on her, she is the reason that the family went off-route to go to find an old haunt of hers; she is the one that upsets the basket with the cat, which sends the cat launching, and causes the car crash. All of this puts them in the pathway of the Misfit and his gang. After that, I don't think that anything that she could have said or done would have saved her family; the Misfit was merciless in his killings, and even she did not escape that fate. But, she definitely was the reason that the family was in that area in the first place. So that is the role that she led in the unfortunate demise of her entire family. It is a very haunting, disturbing, and violent story that has as its main character an unlikeable old lady that we have a really hard time not being really angry towards. So, it is easy to get mad at her for her family's death, even though technically, it was the Misfit and his gang that pulled the trigger.

I provided some links below to more critical analyses of the story, and that should hopefully help you out some also. Good luck!

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In the play "Macbeth", what do the ingredients in the cauldron in Act 4, Scene 1 represent?

Great question. There are three main properties to the ingredients:

The first witch puts in ingredients which are hallucinogenic, creating (presumably) the apparitions which appear to Macbeth. 

The second witch adds animal parts dismembered from animals, and with a particular emphasis on the disgusting (eye of newt, toe of frog).

The third witch initially adds parts of animals which are a little weirder than the second witch's (scale of dragon!) but then adds in human body parts all of which have an anti-Christian theme: the Jew,the Turk and the Tartar are all non-christians.

So, in short, the ingredients represent things which bring on hallucinations, disgusting parts of supposedly poisonous, or magical, animals, and finally, things which specifically make the witches' brew a heathen, unChristian potion.

The website below has fantastic information about all of the individual ingredients that the witches put in. I recommend it.

Hope it helps!

In "Fahrenheit 451" how do firemen "keep everyone happy." ?

According to Beatty, firemen keep everyone happy because they burn books.  And, according to him, books make people sad.  This is shown later on as Montag reads the poem "Dover Beach" to Mildred's friends and they end up sobbing from the "hurtful words".  Because their society is so dumbed-down, so in denial about their happiness, making them think on any level whatsoever is earth-shattering for them.   Montag himself is certainly thrown for a loop once he starts questioning everything.

The reasons that books make people sad, other than stated above, is because they have content that offends the "minorities" in their civilization.  Everyone was offended by something in the books, so, burning them makes it so that people don't have to read "offensive" material.  For example, Beatty states, "Someone's written a book on tobacco and cancer of the lungs?  The cigarette people are weeping?  Burn the book."  So many people found something offensive that all books should just be burned so that people can be happy; and that is where the firemen come in.

What is the symbolism of the scaffold, poisonous plants, weeds, and forest?

In The Scarlet Letter, the weeds that grow from the grave – sprouting from the heart of the sinner – are visible manifestations of his sin. For Dimmesdale, who notices these weeds, they represent his worst fear and, strangely, his greatest longing – exposure. He comes to believe that his sin will also sprout from his heart somehow, that his sin will reveal itself to the town without his knowledge, as the weeds grow from the sinner’s grave without his permission. He makes his fears manifest when he carves the A upon his own breast, and flagellates himself in the night, marking his body with the evidence of his sin. Likewise, the poisonous plants that grow uncultivated in the wilderness can be viewed as the product of sin, which will gradually poison the sinner and even cause his death if it is not rooted out. Dimmesdale’s failing health is evidence of the gradual death his unrevealed sin is bringing about.

The forest has two symbolic values in the novel. For the townspeople, it is the dark, wild place where the devil dances and where witches’ covens congregate under the light of the moon. The wild natives are at home in the forest, but no civilized Christian would ever feel safe there, or make the forest his home.

For Dimmsedale and Hester, the forest is a place to hide from the prying eyes of the townspeople and from Chillingworth. They can relax in the dimness of the woods, knowing that their tormentors won’t follow them. It is also a place of release for them and for their daughter, Pearl. They can be together as a family, speak openly with each other and the sun even shines through the canopy of the trees and onto them like a blessing. Hester can take off her A and let her hair down, and Pearl – the imp of evil, the symbol of their sin -- can frolic and play, almost like a normal child.

Dimmesdale is almost envious of the fact that Hester’s sin was publicly revealed on the scaffold. Though it is a humiliating punishment, it also unburdens the sinner by exposing the sin. He pleads with Hester, in his sermon, to reveal the name of her partner in sin, but she won’t. He is too weak to reveal his guilt; she is too strong to do so. So Dimmesdale visits the scaffold in the night, hidden by the darkness, although the reader sees his longing for the release that exposure would bring. He finally gets his opportunity at the end of the book when he, Hester and Pearl gather on the scaffold as he dies.

So though he is drawn to the forest where sin can be hidden, he longs for the scaffold where sin can be revealed. He fears the unbidden growth of weeds signaling his sin, yet the toxins that build up from that lack of release finally kill him.

Who convinces Brutus to join conspiracy in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar?

Cassius is the main conspirator who convinces Brutus to join the conspiracy, even though Brutus must come to the realization that while he loves Caesar, he loves his country (Rome) more before he agrees to become part of the plot to end the life of his leader. 

Cassius uses an array of rhetoric, including a tale in which Caesar and he are swimming across the river, and while he makes it fine, he has to go back and rescue Caesar who isn't strong enough to fight against the current and bear the weight of his own armor.  Cassius claims that Caesar is too weak, and his envy/jealousy shines through in his examples.  However, Brutus eventually weighs the pros and cons, and decides that Caesar truly is a danger to the system of government and way of life that his country enjoys currently.

How does Usher's attitude and mood seem to switch back and forth while talking to the narrator in "The Fall of the House of Usher"?

Although it is not something that the reader readily notices, Usher does change his attitude and mood many times throughout the story as he speaks to the narrator especially when the two first meet, when Madeline passes away, and when Madeline rises again.  First, when the narrator meets Usher for the first time after many years, Usher's voice is described as having "varied rapidly from a tremulous indecision."  However, it is in the very next paragraph that Usher changes his mood and attitude entirely:

It was thus that he spoke of the object of my visit, of his earnest desire to see me, and of the solace he expected me to afford him.

Suddenly Usher is no longer voicing his "tremulous indecision" and is speaking with great decision, indeed.  Second, when Madeline dies, Usher "informed me abruptly that the lady Madeline was no more," but then goes on to extensively explain the "wheres" and "whys" of temporary entombment as well as the request for help with the process.  Again, a major change in mood to move from being blunt to being extensive.  Finally, Usher's countenance changes vastly within his last conversation with the narrator.  When the narrator first sees Usher in this instance:

His eyes were bent fixedly before him, and throughout his whole countenance there reigned a stony rigidity.

However, Usher builds to an unbelievable creshendo as he reveals to "have put her living in the tomb!"  This is an incredible difference from the "stony rigidity" and silence reported in just the paragraph before and marks the most astounding difference of attitude and mood as Usher speaks with the narrator.  What is important to note is that these instances of mood change indicate that Usher does not simply have a physical malady.  Instead, Usher has a very serious and, as we eventually see, very deadly mental malady as well.

What is a good thesis statement and two good topic sentences for the theme persecution in Night be Elie Wiesel?

I think that a thesis statement that connects persecution and Night would be that persecution thrives on silence.  I think that you could go about in proving this in several ways.  The first would be the discussion of Moshe the Beadle, and how his claims that the Jewish people of Sighet were murdered were dismissed by the townspeople.  Eventually, he stops telling his story. The silence of the townspeople towards Moshe along, through no fault of his own, Moshe's silence allows persecution to continue.  I am not suggesting that this act of silence was responsible for the persecution during the Holocaust, but Wiesel is very adamant in his assertion that silence and indifference contributed to the Holocaust.  The townspeople feature silence out of indifference, something that emboldens the perpetrators of cruelty, according to Wiesel.  The second example I would use would be the execution of the little boy in Chapter 4.  Pay attention to how Wiesel describes the silence of the people the camp as they watch this atrocity.  Their silence is out of fear, which is precisely why persecution thrives on silence.  They are not indifferent, but rather shocked and dismayed at their condition.  This causes them to retreat to a silence of horror and sad astonishment.  This is another example of how silence contributes to persecution.

Please give a description of the island in William Golding's Lord of the Flies.

In the opening paragraph of William Golding's Lord of the Flies, the author makes it clear that this is a tropical island. It is lush and green and beautiful--and running right through all this beautiful green lushness is a "scar" left by the cabin of the airplane when it crashed last night. This prepares us for both beauty and ugliness on the rest of the island.

This is an island, so of course there is a beach; this particular beach also has a lagoon. This will become the meeting place for the boys throughout the novel.

[T]he beach was interrupted abruptly by the square motif of the landscape; a great platform of pink granite thrust up uncompromisingly through forest and terrace and sand and lagoon to make a raised jetty four feet high. The top of this was covered with a thin layer of soil and coarse grass and shaded with young palm trees. There was not enough soil for them to grow to any height and when they reached perhaps twenty feet they fell and dried, forming a criss-cross pattern of trunks, very convenient to sit on. The palms that still stood made a green roof, covered on the underside with a quivering tangle of reflections from the lagoon.

Here the boys will make plans and have some fun, but it will also be the last place where civilized behavior will exist. Eventually the lagoon will be abandoned altogether.

The island also has a mountain. When Jack, Ralph, and Simon explore the mountain, they discover an entirely different terrain than the jungle or the beach. Here there are large rocks and boulders, and they form a kind of structure with a bridge which the boys call a "fort." It is this fort which will eventually become the headquarters for Jack and his tribe of "savages."

Clearly this is a beautiful tropical island; however, it is a flawed beauty, symbolic of the evil which comes from having no restraints or authority. 

In Macbeth, what is the significance of Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking and handwashing scene?How is the history of Macbeth's crimes repeated in the...

First, we the audience get to witness first-hand how the guilt of murdering Duncan has played on Lady Macbeth's conscience.  We see her washing her hands in an attempt to get the blood of her victim off the hands which held the daggers and helped carry out the deed.  We hear her speaking of "the Thane of Fife had a wife...where is she now?" and of the guards in Duncan's bedchamber, and of her own statement to her husband, "a little water clears us of the deed.  Put on your nightclothes! It must look like we have slept!"  She was the one in charge, and now she is riddled with guilt to the point that she can not be in the dark, always carries a candle with her, and sleepwalks all the while chattering away about the crimes she and her husband have committed.

The second reason it is significant is that the nurse and the doctor are witnessing this horrible confession.  The nurse responds with, "I would not have such a heart in my bosom for the dignity of the whole body."  So, the rumors are put to rest, at least as far as these two are concerned.  The truth is known about the crimes and foul play of the Macbeths ascent to the throne.

Other reasons this scene is significant is to carry out two important themes in the play.  One of those is that of sleep or lack of.  Macbeth "murdered" sleep when he killed Duncan. His wife is now sleepwalking.  Another is that of reality vs. illusion--"her eyes are open...but their sense is shut".

Discuss Virginia Woolf's narrative technique in the novel Mrs Dalloway?

Woolf's narrative technique in Mrs. Dalloway is stream-of-consciousness but a different form than, say, James Joyce. In Mrs. Dalloway, she is thinking a lot and the reader is privy to her constant stream of thoughts. (But it's not written in the first person narrative.)  It feels very self-conscious when you read it; because the things written down on the page are what most people think--inside their heads--however they would never say out loud. This is her narrative style and it shows in Mrs. Dalloway how aware she was of her limited role in society and in her way of seeing herself in an almost objective way. Mrs. Dalloway was a character unto herself. She was herself and , at the same time, she was a character that she could observe.

Was Brutus truly the main character in the play? I get the feeling that he was.

When you "get a feeling," it's good to explore it by returning to the text. I am going to help steer you to defend your "feeling" (let's call it an interpretation) by asking you some guiding questions so that you can build your own analysis.

First, let's ask, what makes a character "main" -- a protagonist? Ask these questions: Does Brutus face a key conflict in the story? Does he take important actions that have big consequences?

Note in act 1 how Cassius approaches Brutus with a very important observation -- that he hates Caesar and wonders why a man who is clearly not a "god" should be such a Colossus." This is in response to Brutus expressing a fear that the people want Caesar to be their king. So, there is the conflict for Brutus, and I would advise you to return to that first conversation between Brutus and Cassius to see the two fears Brutus expresses. I've shared the first one with you; can you find the other? These two fears create a struggle, or conflict, for Brutus.

How does Brutus act upon those fears? What choices does he make? Look at acts two and three for the answers.

The other person who posted a response here says that Caesar is the main character because the title of the play is "Julius Caesar." That's a strong piece of evidence, but you might have got your feeling that Brutus is more important because Brutus is still alive before the end (but not at the very end) of act 5, while Caesar died in act 3.

In literary analysis, we can argue many different interpretations, but the question you face as a student is, How can I best defend my answer? So, after you finish defending the idea that there is a big conflict Brutus faces (prove that), and then you prove that he takes important actions that render significant consequences (again, find evidence to prove), what's next is to look at other pieces of evidence:

-- what others say about Brutus. A character's reputation is important, and what others say and do regarding another character can tell you just how important s/he is (for example, how good or evil on a grand scale. The more virtuous or villainous, the more the character is "larger than life" and thus an important or main character.) What do the other conspirators say about Brutus when they are plotting Caesar's murder in both acts 1 and 2? (Look at Cassius's words to Casca about Brutus's reputation, and look at what Caius Ligarius says to Brutus when he comes sick with illness to Brutus's house.) What does Antony say about Brutus in the final lines of the play?

-- Also examine this question: is it possible that Shakespeare's play might have two main characters, or is there only room for one? Critics often point to the complexity of Shakespeare's characterizations, so that lets us know there may be room for two starring figures.

If you visit the Julius Caesar discussion boards, I respond there with a note about what Elizabethans already knew and believed about Julius Caesar as a heroic historical figure. Shakespeare could have made Brutus and Cassius very minor figures in the story and spent more time on Caesar, but instead he made all three men quite interesting. Hmmm....

Good luck answering these questions. There's a lot of rich material to explore in this play, so enjoy!

Why is the quote, "I bore my chalice safely through a throng of foes," significant and what literary device does it show?

He is in the middle of the marketplace where he and his aunt are walking "through the flaring streets, jostled by drunken men and bargaining women, amid the curses of labourers, the shrill litanies of shop-boys."  These types of people are considered sinners.  From the beginning of the story, Joyce makes the boy out to be some religious hero who will save and win over the perfect girl.  The theme of religion is sprinkled throughout the text. The books he holds most dear were left there from the priest who lived there before he did.  When Mangan's sister leaves, she is going on a religious retreat of some sort.  Even Araby is a "church-sponsered bazaar."

This quote is significant because it's at the beginning when he sees himself as this religious hero.  He's making his way through the "throng of foes" who are the sinners.  His "chalice" is he himself and his innocence. This is simply a metaphor showing how he must be strong to make it through such a rough place without getting "dirty."

Were Nationalism and Imperialism the main causes for WWI?

Nationalism and imperialism were two of the causes. Europe’s major powers were trying to protect themselves and they distrusted one another, so they were continually shifting alliances. At the same time, there was a large armaments race driven by competition and the struggle for international stature. This armaments race and military planning only heightened the suspicion and fear brewing among the nations. It also made national leaders feel ever more dependent on their allies in case of war. They had joined alliances and felt bound by them, so they got into a war that they might not have entered on their own. Here is what happened:

i.      Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary was killed and Austria-Hungary believed that Serbia had something to do with it, so they wanted to crush Serbia.

ii.      Germany was an ally of Austria-Hungary and promised to take their side and help them if they needed it.

iii.      Russia was an ally of Serbia, so they declared war on Austria-Hungary, so Germany declared war on Russia.

iv.      Germany knew that France would not stay out of a war between Germany and Russia, so Germany declared war on France also.

v.      Germany wanted to surround France, but to do so they had to go through Belgium. They asked permission and Belgium said no, so Germany declared war on Belgium too.

vi.      Great Britain was an ally of Belgium, so they declared war on Germany. And so began WWI.

What is the plan Jonas and The Giver come up with in The Giver? And how does it change?

In their original plan, The Giver and Jonas planned for Jonas to escape from the Community in two weeks, on the night before the December Ceremony.  During those weeks, The Giver would transfer his memories of courage and strength to Jonas, so he could use them to find Elsewhere.  Jonas would sneak out of the house at midnight, when no one would be out on the streets.  He would take his bike to the riverbank and leave it there with some folded clothes, to make it look like he had gone for a swim in the river and drowned.

Jonas would then go to the Annex, where he would hide in a vehicle The Giver would have ordered to transport himself to one of the outlying communities he frequently visited.  Jonas would ride the vehicle until he was well away from his Community, and then make his way on his own (Chapter 20).

The plans change when, that night, Jonas' Dad announces that Gabe is scheduled to be Released the next morning.  In a desperate attempt to save the child, Jonas steals away that night, taking his father's bike and Gabe along with him.  There is no time to say good-bye to The Giver, but Jonas feels he will understand.  Peddling frantically by night and hiding by day, Jonas eludes the seach planes which have been sent to find him.  He and the baby approach what Jonas believes is their destination with the last remaining strength remaining within them.  The book ends ambiguously; finally, it is not clear whether Jonas and Gabe make it to Elsewhere or not (Chapter 21).

In The Giver, why did Jonas risk the humiliation of public chastisement for taking an apple from the recreation area?

Jonas was fascinated enough by the apple to be willing to steal it from the recreation area.  When he and his friend had been playing catch with the apple, Jonas had noticed that it seemed to change in midair.  At the time, he couldn't explain that change, but he was very curious about it and wanted to find out more or see if he could make it happen again, so he took the apple home.

Later in the book, when he meets The Giver, Jonas realizes that he is seeing the color red.  This is what the Elders call "the seeing beyond," and in Jonas's case it manifests itself in the ability to see color.  In their society, no one else has the ability to see colors at all; everything is bland and neutral.  But Jonas begins to see the color red in the apple, and later in the faces of the community members and in Fiona's hair.  This is an indication that he will make a good Receiver.

How does Wiesel’s understanding of God change throughout the book?Eliezer expresses sympathy for Job, the biblical figure who experienced...

When the novel begins Eliezer is a strong believer in God but, through his ordeal in the concentration camps, his faith begins to crack. He does not totally reject God, but by the end of the war he says he cannot accept "God's silence". He "had ceased to be anything but ashes, yet I felt myself to be stronger than the Almighty." He says he is now determined to live just as a man and to survive. He does not want to die because, "survive—something within me revolted against death." He no longer believes that God is just and merciful but he is also determined to survive because the believes the concentration camps are "madness". His experience has made him question his faith, and in the end he survives but feels like he is a corpse "just waking up from the long night."

Explain the incident with the Breastplace in The Scarlet Letter?

The breastplate, which belongs to the Governor, is a symbol of his and the state's authority:

"This bright panoply was not meant for mere idle show, but had been worn by the Governor on many a solemn muster and training field, and had glittered, moreover, at the head of a regiment in the Pequod war. For, though bred a lawyer, and accustomed to speak of Bacon, Coke, Noye, and Finch, as his professional associates, the exigencies of this new country had transformed Governor Bellingham into a soldier, as well as a statesman and ruler."

When Hester sees herself reflected in it, she sees herself and her "A" as the state sees her: "Hester looked, by way of humoring the child; and she saw that, owing to the peculiar effect of this convex mirror, the scarlet letter was represented in exaggerated and gigantic proportions, so as to be greatly the most prominent feature of her appearance."

This short incident reminds us of how officialdom sees Hester; it is not how the population sees Hester as she begins the transformation from adulteress to "Able" or "Angel."

What happened to Roberto, in The Giver?

Roberto was an old man, living in the separate housing for older people.  When Jonas went there to volunteer, he learned that Roberto had recently been released.  They had had a celebration of his life, and told all about the things he had done for the community.  Then he had gone into the releasing room, and he was gone forever.  What they (and we, as the reader) didn't realize at the time was that to be released, he would have been given a lethal injection and killed.

Discuss the character of Doctor Faustus.

Faustus in the world of Marlowe

First, you need to observe Faustus in his element to be able to decipher him. He lived in 16th century (Renaissance) Europe. These were times when academia began to rebel against the accepted Medieval notion that everything, especially knowledge, is centered around God. Therefore, Marlowe wrote Faustus in times of philosophical and religious debate, and when people for the first time began to openly explore the supernatural as a way to think outside the parameters of the previous Medieval times. You will find that, as we discuss Faustus, he might very well be a product of his times, and a victim of his weaknesses.

Doctor Faustus himself

Doctor Faustus is a complex, confused, and tragic protagonist whose extreme intelligence brought on to him both glory and doom. It brought him glory because his wit and brilliance made him famous and respected among his peers and in academia, even in the circle of magicians that he wanted to enter. But it brought him doom because his ego got too big for his own good,and led him to a stubborn battle against the conventions of the time under his own premise he was way ahead of everyone else.

Ultimately, his ego, stubborness, ambition, and greed for more intelligence and power led him to make a pact with the devil for 24 years of service. The resultof this was a waste of everything: his so-called intelligence, his life, and his soul. This clearly shows that Faustus was indeed intelligent, but blinded by ego: The ultimate example of the typical genius who is brilliant enough to do amazing things, but who cannot tap on common sense for the most basic. In the end, he wasted it all.

Faustus' Tragedy

He wasted his intelligence because, once he began to receive the powers and gifts of Lucifer, we can clearly see that he does not use them wisely, nor can think of productive ways to make use of them. Instead, he wastes them in silly and unneccesary feats such as poking tricks at the Pope, and summoning characters from history for no important reason.

He wasted his life because, throughout his adventures, we still cannot see a genuine, or ultimate purpose to his actions. We  unveil a man who has a thick crust made of brains and wit, but inside this crust, he is ultimately empty. When his 24- year pact comes to an end, he had had more than plenty opportunities to repent and turn everything around. Yet, his personality was too egotistical, stubborn and nonsense to even come do that for his own good. In the end, he asks to burn his books in an ultimate demonstration of a life utterly wasted.

Faustus and his reality

Like in the beginning, Faustus is a representation of the mind wondering outside the box and tapping onto sources for which it is not prepared, and guided exclusively by the same weakess that was, ironically, his strength:  An intelligence he was not ready to absorb in full.

In The Lion in Winter, what does the title of the play mean?

The Lion in Winter, a play written by James Goldman who also wrote the screen play has the dramatic style of huberis and many twists and turns that go all of the way back to when plays were first written in ancient Greece.

Henry the II is the King of England that places him in a position of power but this is as close as it gets to huberis, though he is arrogant, demanding, and the decisions he makes are not questioned, except by his family members, three sons, the King of France, and Alais who is the second cousin of the King of France. Eleanor is the Queen of England that Henry does not trust and confines her all year long until Christmas, so there is the influence of dysfunction of family embedded in the plot.

Any artist, literary or visual has one goal in mind and that is to create an emotional response in the audience - a cathartic cleansing of conflicting emotions. The audience sometimes empathizes with one of the characters such as Alais who loves Henry but Henry uses her as a pawn in the game that takes place in this play. The play also elicits emotional responses from the audience because of the change of the personalities of the characters that are sudden and not expected. The end of the play gives the audience hope for Henry and Eleanor as there are some scenes that show the love they once had for one another and Eleanor does not seem to mind her return to isolation. The most interesting aspect of the play is that the audience has been emotionally manipulated and in the end there is not a resolution about who should be King of England - this is another literary device that writers sometimes use to influence the audience to release their pent-up emotions in their own social surroundings.

In what ways are Mercutio and Tybalt true to their personalities up to their deaths?

Mercutio has always been between the two houses of Montague and Capulet.  He is related to the Prince of the city, and therefore is not allied to either house.  He is friends with Romeo, but he is not his kinsman; he is not Tybalt's friend, but has no personal quarrel with him.  He fights with Capulets easily, however, and, upon being wounded mortally, emphasizes that he is not of either house by the famous line "A plague o' both your houses" (III.i.90).  But after that Mercutio, true to his name (allied to the Roman god Mercury, the god of theives and tricksters) makes grim jokes about his grievous hurt. 

No, 'tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church
door; but 'tis enough, 'twill serve. Ask for me to-morrow,
and you shall find me a grave man. I am peppered, I
warrant, for this world. (96-9)

Mercutio has been verbally brilliant throughout the play, thus far, and he is no less in his death.  His jokes are meant to hurt Romeo, who he blames, partially, for his death.  Mercutio, in some respects, represents authority, because of his relationship to the Prince. Because Romeo is flouting both civic and familial authority (by fighting with the Capulets, and courting the daughter of a rival family,) Mercutio's death is, to a certain extent, a consequence of his actions.  Mercutio reminds Romeo of his foolhardiness, even as he dies.

Tybalt, on the other hand, does not lie in between the two houses.  He is a member of the Capulet clan, and is fiercely partisan.  Tybalt, when taunted by Mercutio, is spoiling for a fight, and, though Romeo speaks soothing words to him, Tybalt will not forgive Romeo for the perceived "injuries" (65) that Romeo has done to him.  This fiery and unforgiving nature is similar to his uncle Lord Capulet.  He is also very ready to hate someone simply because he consorted with his enemies (the Montagues).  Tybalt had no quarrel with specifically with Mercutio, but after he killed him Tybalt does not express sorrow or guilt.  He is still angry with Romeo for consorting with Mercutio, and implies that Romeo is to blame for Mercutio's death.

Rom:  Alive in triumph, and Mercutio slain?
Away to heaven respective lenity,
And fire-ey'd fury be my conduct now!(125)
Now, Tybalt, take the ‘villain’ back again
That late thou gavest me; for Mercutio's soul
Is but a little way above our heads,
Staying for thine to keep him company.
Either thou or I, or both, must go with him.(130)

TYB: Thou, wretched boy, that didst consort him here,
Shalt with him hence.

Tybalt shows that he is a man with the kind of blind loyalty that a clan like the Capulets would require.  His only thought is of his honor and his family, not of consequences to others, or remorse over his actions.  Romeo almost says outright that he has become his kinsman, but Tybalt takes no time for introspection or reflection.  Tybalt, the man of action for the Capulets, dies by the sword.

Why does Slim say, "You hadda, George. I swear you hadda"?

Slim is consoling George after George has shot Lennie. It seems that only Slim understands why George has done what he has  in taking his friend's life. George has had to make a hard choice, and he has chosen to sacrifice the dream by saving Lennie from a cruel death at the hands of Curley and the mob. Because Lennie has killed Curley's wife--even though unintentionally--Curley is set on avenging her death as cruelly as possible, by shooting Lennie in the stomach so that his death will be slow and painful.

George, on the other hand, takes Lennie's life as painlessly as possible, by shooting him in the back of his "head, at the place where the spine and skull were joined." George encourages Lennie to talk about their dream of the farm and the rabbits so that Lennie is happy and distracted when George pulls the trigger. George has to be the one to take Lennie's life in much the same way that Candy lamented that he should have been the one to shoot his dog. Slim is the only one of the ranch hands on the scene who comprehends George's actions.

In Lord of the Flies, on what page does Jack say, "I ought to be chief"?

It is also on page 28 in both my print edition and the online text. I highly recommend checking your edition and the online text, to see if they match up. 

It is interesting to me the way that Jack is so confident that he ought to be the leader. It is particularly interesting because Golding points out that he is arguably correct. There is something about Ralph that makes the boys feel more comfortable choosing him despite the more obvious choice being Jack.

Jack eventually goes on to demonstrate that he has a clearer understanding of how to gain power over the boys because he is the one that sees how he can use their fear to bring them to his side.

In Act 2, Scene 2 of Romeo and Juliet, what does Romeo overhear Juliet saying about him and about her feelings for him?

Quite simply, Romeo overhears Juliet proclaiming her very famous "What's in a name?" speech and, in doing so, declaring her love for Romeo.  Ironically, Juliet's speech stems from the age-old feud between the Montagues and Cauplets.  Juliet says, "Deny thy father and refuse thy name! / Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, / And I'll no longer be a Capulet."  This, in a nutshell, is what Juliet is saying here:  refuse your name of Montague, Romeo, or I will refuse my name of Capulet; in this way, we can become lovers.  In regards to Juliet's feelings for Romeo, although she doesn't use the word "love" here, she does say, "Take all myself."  Of course, perhaps she would have uttered the word "love," but Romeo interrupts her before she can do so.

In Macbeth, who shows the best leadership qualities and who shows the worst?

If you define "best" as most effective, then Lady Macbeth demonstrated some strong leadership skills, at least in the beginning of the play. She was very effective is overcoming Macbeth's reservations about killing Duncan and spurring him on. She figured out the details of the murder, drugged the drinks of Duncan's attendants, and laid out the murder instruments. She instructed Macbeth as to how he must behave, before and after Duncan's murder. Duncan's death was accomplished according to her plan and Macbeth soon claimed the crown.

Macbeth's leadership skills were horrendous. After gaining power, he had no workable plan for disarming his critics and gaining the support of his people. Instead of leading Scotland, he punished his countrymen, murdering those who threatened his position. He succeeded only in making himself a despised tyrant rather than a leader. At the conclusion of his life, the only Scots who fought for Macbeth were those who had no choice.

Duncan's legitimate heir, Malcom, does demonstrate the potential to be a good leader. He recognizes reality, assesses danger, and acts quickly, leading him and his brother to flee Scotland when Duncan is murdered, thus saving their lives. In Malcom's conversation with Macduff, Malcom shows that he is astute and understands the dynamics of the political situation in his country. He does not jump to conclusions or make snap judgments. These traits will serve him well as Scotland's true king.

What is the theme of the poem "somewhere i have never travelled" by e.e. cummings?

I absolutely love this poem by e.e. cummings.  At heart, it is a love poem.  It has themes of love, faith, and nature, and he melds them all to relay the message of how he feels completely exposed, vulnerable, and in her power whenever he is with her.  Though that may not seem like a good thing, he uses such beautiful images to describe it, and matches it up with his profound feelings for her, that it all works together to be a beautiful and deep testament of his love.  This message of vulnerability and being in her power is exemplified as he compares his life to flower petals:

"your slightest look easily will unclose me though i have closed myself as fingers,
you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens
(touching skilfully, mysteriously) her first rose"

He feels that his life is a flower that is being opened and exposed by something as simple as her look. Along the same lines, he is completely within her power:

"or if your wish be to close me, i and my life will shut very beautifully, suddenly,
as when the heart of this flower imagines
the snow carefully everywhere descending;"

Both of these stanzas emphasize the vulnerability he feels in her presence, but it's okay, because it is a beautiful and amazing thing to him. He is deeply moved by her; he feels that she "renders death and forever with each breathing", and he finishes off with the great last lines, stating,

"the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)
nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands"

It's a very unique and thought-provoking love poem with the message of turning your entire life over to your loved one, for them to do with it-close or unclose-as they like, and how that is a beautiful and moving act of faith and love, all described using beautiful images from nature.

How does Chris see Joe in the play?

In the beginning of the play, Chris believes that his father is innocent.  He trusts that his father was exonerated because he was not guilty of the crime and Steve Deever was guilty.  Chris believes in the system, he is idealistic in his view of life, he trusts that people, especially his father, would not lie. 

That is why when Chris finds out about his father's guilt, his deception, he is stricken, sick, he runs off.  He can't bear the thought that his father is dishonest, he equates his father's mistake in judgement with a lack of integrity, saying if Joe has no integrity, then he has no integrity.  He feels dirty by Joe's behavior, he feels betrayed at the deepest level.

Chris is still in shock, absorbing the fact of Joe's guilt; he is so affected by this news that he feels that he must leave the house, go into a self-imposed isolation away from the neighborhood, away from Ann.  He feels so changed by the news that when he hears that his brother killed himself over the discovery of Joe's behavior, Chris understands, this is expressed through his own intentions. 

Like Larry's fated decision to end his life, Chris will end the life he knows in reparation for the deaths his father caused.  At the end of the play everything happens so fast.  Before Chris has a chance to truly react to the news, Joe Keller shoots himself. 

In Toni Cade Bambara's short story "Raymond's Run," what was one of Hazel's epiphanies in the story, and what changes did it make in her?

In this wonderful story, the major epiphany is a central theme of the story.  Hazel (also known as "Squeaky" because of her voice) knows what is important in the world: being yourself, and running.  Hazel has only one job: to watch over her brother Raymond who, as she puts it, is "not quite right."

Hazel spends her time going everywhere with Raymond.  She avoids walking when she can trot instead because she loves to run.  (She notes that the only one who can beat her is her father, but that's a secret.)  She stands up for her brother with the other kids and makes sure he doesn't get into any trouble.  And while she trots along, Raymond lopes along beside her, sometimes pretending to be driving a string of horses.

On this particular day, Hazel and her brother are going to the May Day ceremonies.  Included will be the 50-yard dash in which she will participate, and which she always wins.

However, on this day, as she runs, feeling like a bird soaring through the air, Hazel notices Raymond running on the other side of the fence, keeping up with her.  She notices that although Raymond does not run with the usual runner's grace, he has his own style and that he is very quick.  When the race is over, she notices how beautifully he climbs the fence.  Like Raymond himself, who does not fit the mold of a "normal" person--neither does his running--Hazel sees a wondrous beauty in his movements, and even more so, in him.

We witness Hazel's epiphany as, with celebration (which she is sure others believe is caused by her win), she delights in the realization that her brother is a really fine runner, able to carry on the "family tradition."  Instead of planning on her own future as a track star, she turns her attention to coaching her brother to be a great runner.  After all, she reflects, Hazel has plenty of medals, but what does Raymond have "to call his own?"

Hazel has left a world that revolves around her, to enter a new place where Raymond is the center of her attention. Now she will help him experience the joy of running, to find something that he can "call his own."

In MacBeth who is the villain and who is the hero, MacBeth, Macduff, or Banquo? How are all 3 alike, how are they different?

To start, Macbeth is a true hero, distinguishing himself on the battlefield to protect King and country.  He is truly courageous, brave and is rewarded by the king for his efforts. He does not sustain his hero status for very long, in fact, he becomes a villain, a murderer very shortly after this event. 

Murdering the king makes Macbeth a villain, he becomes truly evil, consumed with ambition and desire to protect his position once he is crowned king.  As king, Macbeth is still a villain, a tyrant who threatens the survival of Scotland, even nature rejects Macbeth as king.

Macduff emerges as a hero, a defender of Scotland, who is responsible for slaying the dragon, King Macbeth.  Macduff makes a great sacrifice to save Scotland.  He leaves his family unguarded as he journeys to England to meet with Malcolm and the King of England.  While he is away his entire family, his household is murdered. 

Macduff rises above his grief, his pain, his deep sorrow at losing his entire family to Macbeth's killers.  He is inspired to pursue the dreaded Macbeth for revenge and to restore order in Scotland.

Banquo is not a villian, not really a hero either, more of a victim.  He is murdered to soothe Macbeth's rising paranoia.  He was Macbeth's friend, who shared his experience of the witches prophecy, but does not survive very long after his friend is crowned king. 

He is killed by Macbeth's thugs in order to prevent him from being father to kings as the prophecy stated.  However, his son Fleance escapes, and survives.  In this regard, saving Fleance, he is definitely a hero, but otherwise, Banquo distinguishes himself by diaplying a sense of morality regarding the prophecies, never acting on them, something  that Macbeth lacks.  

The three men are different in how they allow their ambition to lead them.  Macduff is honest, noble and passionate about correcting what is wrong with Scotland.  Banquo is also honest and moral, never acting on the prophecy he was given. Macbeth starts out as having similar qualities to both Banquo and Macduff, but turns away from good, inspired by evil and becomes a villain.   

What are the relationships between Richard II, Aumerle and Bolingbroke in "Richard II"?

Richard, Aumerle, and Bolingbroke are all cousins. Have you seen the movie "Braveheart"? Do you remember the wimpy prince whose father was a mean and brutal king? That wimpy prince would end up being the grandfather of these three men. And that caused a problem. The mean old king in "Braveheart" had only one son, and he in turn had only one son. But that son, Edward III, had 8 sons, and most of them had sons of their own.

Richard II was son of Edward, called the Black Prince. Because he was the firstborn son, he would inherit the crown; however, he died when Richard was just a small boy. But that didn't keep Richard from becoming king. It did cause jealousy and resentment among the other males in the family.

Bolingbroke's father was the 4th son, John of Gaunt, who was also Duke of Lancaster. He thought Richard was a weak and ineffectual king and that he would be a better king himself.

Aumerle was the son of Edmund, Duke of York, the 5th son of this family. Aumerle and Bolingbroke will start the famous Wars of the Roses, so-called because the Lancasters were represented by the red rose and the Yorks by the white rose.

Whew! Wasn't it Richard II who said in this play, "Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown"? There's always someone else who thinks it would look better on his head.

See the links below for more information.

In the story The Westing Game, who killed Sam Westing?

The answer is: no one!  Sam Westing died of old age, although he lived the last years of his life under a pseudonym (and in disguise, for part of the time, as Sandy McSouthers the doorman.)  Turtle Wexler is the one who discovers that Sam Westing is not really dead, and has been among the "heirs" all this time masquerading as Sandy.  After the "game" is ended, Turtle, who becomes a business tycoon, befriends the aging Mr. Westing.  He actually had lived under four different names

The heir who wins the windfall will be the one who finds the fourth.  It was so simple once you knew what you were looking for.  Sam Westing, Barney Northrup, Sandy McSouthers (west, north, south).  Now she was on her way to meet the fourth identity of Windy Windkloppel.  She could probaby have figured out the address, too, instead of looking it up in the Westingtown phone book -- there it was, number four Sunrise Lane. (174-5)

Turtle never tells anyone that Sam Westing is alive, but she visits him weekly until he dies peacefully of old age.  The corpse she had found in the beginning of the book was a wax copy, and Sam Westing's personal doctor had been in on the conspiracy to make people believe that Sam was actually dead.  The whole ruse was created by Sam to bring his "heirs" together and right some past wrongs.  The game actually helped all of the heirs realize their true potentials, and take the proper direction in their lives.

Source: Raskin, Ellen.  The Westing Game.  New York: Avon Books, 1978.

In The Kite Runner, is Baba a hero or a hypocrite?Please provide a couple of examples to support your answer.

Like most people Baba is a mixture of several layers. He is a decisive and generous man who tries to help his people.   He has heroic moments, one is when he stands up for the man and his wife as they are fleeing Kabul.  The soldiers are harassing and going to harm a female passenger and Baba stands up and prevents this from happening at the risk of his own life. The fact that he is willing to take his son and flee Kabul, begin again in America and raise his son with the opportunity for a college education is also in some ways heroic. 

Yet, like all human beings Baba is also a hypocrite.  He is a hypocrite because he denies a birthright to his other son, Hassan, his birthright because he is the result of an adulterous affair with a servant.  Baba is never honest with Amir or with Hassan, yet he demands honesty from them.  Baba can't relate to Amir because he doesn't see Amir as a "courageous boy" yet Baba demonstrates a lack of courage in his relationship with his son and Hassan by not being honest.

In A Separate Peace do you believe that Finny's theory of the war has an element of truth in it? Use contemporary or historical events to explain.

Finny, in reaction to the fact that he can't get into the war because of his leg, concocts a fictional scenario about how the war wasn't real, but just some fat old men conspiring in a room together, in order to get all of the good food and supplies, getting fatter and richer off of the profits.  The rationing that occurs during the war as seen as suspicious, and a way for the rich men to get all the good stuff for themselves and leave the rest of the world without.  Finny states,

"There isn't any real food shortage, for instance. The men have all the best steaks delivered to their clubs now."

So, is there any truth to this conclusion about war?  In every war, there are certainly people that profit; in fact, people have been made millionaires by wars, either through the legal market, or the black market.  Think of tire manufacturers, clothing factories, railways and other resources that wars throughout history have relied heavily upon in order to function.  Soldiers need uniforms--clothing companies get rich off of the contracts. They need weapons--artillery companies get rich.  On the black market, people who can get their hands on rationed goods make a killing.  So, in that sense, there are definitely people profiting from wartime.

As for the deeper root of the conspiracy, that it was just a bunch of political figures that invented the war, if you look at it as them being the ones responsible for declaring and manuevering wars, there is some truth to that.  Hitler certainly aimed to create wars and dominate, and manipulated circumstances to have that happen.  Often, wars haven't been initiated by the people, but by their leaders in conjuction with the leaders' ambitions.  I hardly think that they made the wars up, however.  They were real, unfortunately.

I hope that those thoughts helped a bit; good luck!

In Act 1, Scene 5 of Romeo and Juliet, what are 3 things to which Romeo compares Juliet. What does his language tell us about his feelings?

Being a true romantic lover, Romeo uses fine figurative language to compare Juliet to a jewel, a dove, and even a shrine.  First, Romeo uses simile when he says, "It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night / Like a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear."  Juliet, then, is therefore beautiful as well as high-class.  Second, Romeo uses simile again when he says, "So shows a snowy dove tropping with crows / As yonder lady o'er her fellows shows."  I suppose that Paris is the main crow here, which makes me laugh.  Juliet, of course, is the dove:  beautiful, pure, white, and heavenly.  Finally, it isn't until Romeo actually speaks to Juliet that he approaches metaphor:  "If I profane with my unworthiest hand  / This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this: / My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand / To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss."  Now Romeo approaches the spiritual using metaphor in calling Juliet an actual "shrine."  Juliet, then, is more than just heavenly, now she is holy.  It is this last comparison that approaches the answer to your second question in that Romeo's actual first conversation with Juliet is largely a metaphor of religious pilgrims going to a holy shrine to pay homage:  so does Romeo pay homage to Juliet.  Romeo reveals, then, that his feelings are not merely physical, but spiritual as well.

Does the potion cause Demetrius to feel real love for Helena, which he had earlier supressed, or is the potion creating an illusion of love?

Great question. It's one of the things that you can either see as Shakespeare being a bit lazy, or as one of the things that really complicates the play.

Firstly, Demetrius does not love Helena at the start of the play. Shakespeare has Lysander tell us that he's slept with her, but then decided to marry Hermia:

Demetrius, I'll avouch it to his head,
Made love to Nedar's daughter, Helena,
And won her soul; and she, sweet lady, dotes,
Devoutly dotes, dotes in idolatry,
Upon this spotted and inconstant man.

Demetrius then pursues Hermia to the forest. And when Puck eventually gets the potion on his eyes, he sees Helena, and responds with very, very, very passionate language. It doesn't sound like an illusory love:

O Helen, goddess, nymph, perfect, divine!
To what, my love, shall I compare thine eyne?
Crystal is muddy...

But then again, he never felt it before. And when he wakes up again at the end (still under the potion's spell) he tells Theseus

...the object and the pleasure of mine eye,
Is only Helena. To her, my lord,
Was I betroth'd ere I saw Hermia.
But, like a sickness, did I loathe this food;
But, as in health, come to my natural taste...

Is it "health" - is it his "natural taste"? Or is it just the potion talking? The answer is, there's no way to tell, and it's up to you to come up with your interpretation. For me, I've always found Demetrius' magical-love at the end of the play really quite disturbing! I want to know what he really feels!

After Scout begs Atticus not to make her return to school, what advice does he give her for getting along with people?

Scout doesn't want to go to school because she and the teacher cannot get along.  Scout is proud that Atticus has taught her to read, but Miss Caroline Fisher is not impressed and tells Scout, "Your father doesn't know how to teach" (22).  Ms. Fisher continues to show her ignorance of the southern town, Maycomb by insulting both Walter Cunningham and Burris Ewell.  When Scout tries to explain to the her the situation with Walter, Scout is called to the front of the class, and Ms. Fisher slaps her hand. 

In Chapter 3, not Chapter 1, Scout begs Atticus not to send her back to school.  Atticus uses this moment to introduce one of the motifs of the novel.  He tells Scout, "You never really understand a person until you walk around in their skin," indicating to Scout to consider things from the other person's point of view.  He also tells her that sometimes it is necessary to bend the law, but she must obey the law.  He then instructs her that it is sometimes better to ignore things.  He uses the example of Jem in the tree house.  He tells Scout that if she would just ignore Jem, he would come out.

At the end of the Chapter 3, Atticus and Scout reach the compromise that if she will go to school, they will continue to read at night.  He also instructs her not to tell the teacher, reinforcing two of the lessons of this chapter:  sometimes you need to bend the rules, and sometimes you need to ignore things.

What symbols are used in "Araby" by James Joyce?

Any physical item can serve as a symbol in a great literary work, since great authors choose those details that reflect and resonate with the whole of the work. So keep in mind the global question of why Joyce is even telling us this story, why it matters, and that focus will allow the symbols rise to the surface. Why does this story of a boy and his desire matter to readers today?

A question that is good to ask is, How much is it a symbol versus a functional object? We can get carried away by seeing too much meaning in tiny details. But those that get mentioned often or that are rendered with powerful description -- those objects we should spend our time on analyzing. Objects can be functional. For example, the florin in the boy's pocket is a means to get him into Araby, the bazaar. On a symbolic level, what does money really mean in this boy's life? How much wealth does this boy have to begin with? Answer that, and then the florin takes on a new significance: it represents an idea of povery, wealth, or aspirations.

The florin is functional in another way, by enabling him to get inside Araby and buy...what? (Now remember Mangan's sister and what the protagonist thinks of her.) What is his goal once he's inside Araby? Here is a second, symbolic significance to the florin: the emotion and desire it represents. You will need to search earlier paragraphs where the boy is practically trembling with emotion, if you need to pull evidence for his feelings, and then attach it to the mission he's on while at Araby.

The home where the boy lives has symbolic potential as well. Note who once lived and died there. What are the first things you think of when you think of a priest? Explore those connotations. An example: the first thing I think of when I see the color red is love, hearts, Valentine's, blood, etc. So, if you think of the priesthood, what words come to mind? Brainstorm a long list of associations, then circle the ones that might have some relation to a boy who is lovesick for a girl he barely knows. There's your significance, or symbolism: the themes that the image of priesthood raises. Remember that Joyce did not have to give the history of this house, that it was once occupied by a priest, nor mention it a second time. This setting is symbolic in a number of ways, but homing in on the home's prior occupant will lead you down a thematic path with some rewards.

Araby itself, the place the boy hopes to visit to achieve his mission, has symbolic potential. What will going to this place achieve for the boy? Why might it be called Araby? (Note that the uncle asks his nephew if he knows the poem, "The Arab's Farwell to His Steed," a ballad about an Arab who sells his favorite horse and then in a fit of regret, tosses away the money he gets for the horse and takes the horse back.) What does Arab culture represent to these Irishmen? To this Irish boy in particular? And how, like the priesthood, might you connect Arab culture (or the Irish stereotype of it) to this boy's infatuation with Mangan's sister?

Money, house, and bazaar: this object and two elements of setting can help you in probing the symbols of the story. Remember, symbols are vehicles of the story's larger idea.

What is the overall plot of this story, "In the Penal Colony"?

The plot of the story is fairly straight-forward. What is potentially confusing about the narrative is its resistance to predictability. From beginning to end, the story seems to move in ways that are unexpected though the events are far from "fantastic" and remain rather banal. 

The story follows a foreign intellectual who is visiting a penal colony island on his travels. This character is known as "the traveler" in the story. He is invited to watch an execution that is to be carried out by "the officer" and a soldier. The man to be killed is known as the "condemned man" (he is a guard at the penal colony but lapsed in his duties and so is to be put to death). 

There is a machine that is to be used in the execution. This machine, the officer explains to the traveler, is designed to "write" a message on the body of the condemned man by essentially etching it into his body over a period of twelve hours. When the process is finished the man dies and is slid into a pit. 

After explaining the machine, the officer places the condemned man onto the machine. He then talks with the traveler about why the traveler has been invited to witness the execution. There is a discussion here about changes that are to be made on the penal colony regarding this mode of execution. The traveler tells the officer that he is against this form of punishment, for several reasons. 

The officer then removes the condemned man from the machine, recalibrates the device, and puts himself in.

The officer, having failed to procure an ally, abruptly releases the prisoner and takes his place on the bed after readjusting the machine to inscribe the sentence "BE JUST" on his body. 

The machine is turned on and the officer is killed by the device. 

The traveler then goes to town, visits the grave of the officers former mentor - the former commandant of the penal colony - and then boards a ferry that will take him to his boat, which will bear him away from the island the next day.

Why are the deltas educated to hate flowers?

Lower classed citizens of the BNW are conditioned to hate books and flowers because a love of nature does not consume resoures, does nothing to increase the economy, and is a pastime that does not contribute to social stability or the good of the BNW. Books are also a part of the conditioning because through books one can gain knowledge, get more intelligent, and become unhappy with one's station or caste in the BNW. An appreciation of nature and beauty is not essential to the economy, survival, or each of the castes.

How does Ibsen convey through the play the position of females at his time?

Your question is a key one that lies at the very heart of this interesting play, which challenged the notions of gender roles in its time. In A Doll's House, the position of females in Ibsen's time is examined and he presents his hope for feminism and equality through the character of Nora and her realisation of her situation and her choice to embark on a search for her own identity.

At the beginning of the play, the relationship of Nora and Torvald is examined. It is clear that their relationship has more in common with a father and daughter relationship than with a husband and wife, and we discover that Nora relates to her husband and is treated exactly the same way that she related and was treated by her father. In response to her husband's insulting comments and patronising remarks, Nora cajoles, begs and acts like a child (or even a "doll"). Torvald even says: "Has my little sweet tooth been indulging herself in town today by any chance?" Nora responds using childish phrases: "Oh. Pooh!" It is clear that Torvald possesses Nora and regards her as nothing more than a belonging to make him look good.

Nora, too, at the beginning of the play, is caught up in this "Doll's House", as we can see in her definition of freedom which she gives to Mrs. Linde: "Free. To free, absolutely free. To spend time playing with the children. To have a clean, beautiful house, the way Torvald likes it." She is unable to perceive her situation as being caged inside her "Doll's House" and plays a part of the perfect wife according to her husband's wishes.

Of course, the action of the play, and in particular the realisation of Torvald that Nora has deceived him and his response, triggers the epiphany that Nora needs to realise the truth of her situation and give her the desire to escape this "Doll's House". In his response to this realisation, Torvald shows himself to Nora for who he really is: a self-centred, petty man who is concerned only about keeping up the facade of marriage: "From now on, forget happiness. Now it is just about saving the remains, the wreckage, the appearance." It is this unmasking that gives Nora self-understanding of her situation. She says to Torvald, "I've been performing tricks for you Torvald. That's how I've survived. You wanted it like that. You and Papa have done me a great wrong. It's because of you I've made nothing of my life." By the end of the play then, she becomes a stronger, tougher more independent individual, determined to make her own life free from the constricting gender roles that have been imposed upon her.

In A Separate Peace, when Gene puts on Finny clothes, he sees himself as Finny "to the life" and this comforts him. Why?

There are a couple of reasons why the clothing comforts Gene. First, he is far more humble and quiet than Finny is, and wishes he sometimes exuded the confidence and waggish ways of Finny himself. By assuming the clothing, Gene feels that he more easily possesses those traits he finds admirable in Finny.

Also, it is comforting to Gene to wear the clothing of Finny since he still feels responsible for the accident on the tree branch. It seems a bit like a way of honoring him, and that is why he finds contentment in the clothing choice.

In "Fahrenheit 451" what role do jets and war play in the book?

The war, which mostly occurs in the background of the story, is meant to show two things; that this society has not solved all of its problems, and that its people don't seem to care.

Much of the exposition we are given, such as that from Beatty, suggests that we are meant to envision this society as a reasonable, if irrational, evolution of our own. This society is primarily concerned with feelings; if people feel good, they are content, and if they feel bad they are discontent. Since discontent leads to problems, it is better for people to feel good, at all costs. However, the fact that this society has participated in wars (Montag even specifies that they started two of them) suggests either that this society is obscenely delusional or has simply insulated itself against its own hypocrisies. 

The jets are an immediate and physical reminder of the war, which might otherwise be argued away as a voice on the radio or a picture on a screen. The jets embody the swift, deadly and impersonal side of this society, all the elements that are the result of focusing too much on conformity and efficiency. The jets exist as if to dare observers to ignore them. Montag points this out rhetorically asking "how did they get up there every hour of the day without us noticing?" and indeed, Mildred doesn't seem to notice or care.  

What does "taboos including incest and miscegenation" mean in relation to To Kill a Mockingbird?

Taboos are practices that people engage in that are not socially acceptable.  During the time and in the place that To Kill A Mockingbird is set, neither incest nor miscegenation would be acceptable practices.

Incest refers to intimate (sexual) relations between near relatives (father:daughter; mother:son, etc.) and during the Depression era, many smaller southern societies and communities even frowned on intimate relations between further distanced relatives (cousin:cousin).  In our society incest between near relatives is still illegal and definitely taboo.

Miscegenation refers to intimate relations(sexual intercourse, co-habitation, marriage) between people of different races.  In the setting of To Kill A Mockingbird miscegenation is not tolerated and can lead to mob justice and legal action being taken.  In society today, miscegenation is not really taboo in larger, metropolitan cities, but some smaller southern societies and communities outside of mainstream America would still consider miscegenation taboo.

Explain two poems from William Blakes' Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience. How does he connect the two poems?

As a romantic poet, William Blake distrusted the government and its institutions.  He believed in the basic goodness of man.  Preferring nature to the civilized world, he senses a restorative property in the natural world.

Songs of Innocence was published five years before Songs of Experience.  Eventually, Blake combined the two works emphasizing parallel poems in each book. 

Songs of Innocence celebrates the hope and innocence of a child.  In these poems, Blake writes about a world where fear can be conquered and life can be instinctive without complete the domination of the soul.

Songs of Experience portrays a lonelier world.  He examines what happens to a child when the complications of life and society take over.   

The parallel poems of “The Chimney Sweeper” illustrates the differences between the two approaches of innocence versus experience.

Songs of Innocence---"The Chimney Sweeper" The poem is narrated by a boy whose mother dies and is sold by his father to become a chimney sweeper. He was so young that he could barely talk or cry. 

He tells about his friend Tom Dacre who is also a sweep. The topic issed from the poem is the abuse that the sweeps suffer.

The boys get up before sunrise and begin to work in the chimneys.  There is no love, sympathy, or parenting for these boys.

Tom cries when his white hair is shaved.  The nameless narrator tris to point out the positive about it: the soot will not spoil his white hair. 

Tom has a dream that night about the sweeps going to heaven. All of the sweeps were locked in their coffins working.  An angle opened the coffins and set the boys free.

The boys begin to run and play.  They are able to go to a river and wash all of the soot away.  The boy’s naked and clean rise on the clouds to heaven.  The angel tells Tom that if he is good, God will be his father and he will be happy the rest of his life. 

When the boys awaken in the morning, despite all of the hardships which are the same as before, Tom appears happy.  His courage and strength have been renewed. The narrator is inspired by Tom and his new outlook. 

The Songs of Experience—“The Chimney Sweeper”

It is winter and the little sweeper covered with soot cries out:

Where are my father & mother? Say? They are both gone up to the church to pray…

This poem attacks the abusive parents who have left their child to work while they go to church to pray.  What hypocrites!  The child is left outside in the wintry weather trying to find work.  His parents are inside the warm church praying.  There is not hope or pleasant dream in this poem.

The reader will feel sympathy for the child and disdain for his parents who go to talk to God.  What do they feel when their child is begging for work? His parents are described as seeing their boy happy and playful.  They dress him in black clothes for cleaning and then they taught him to sing sad songs to get the attention of the adults as they pass by the boy.

In the third stanza, the boy indicates his unhappiness with his parents.  He tells them that just because he acts happy and plays outside they believe that he is not being hurt by this abuse.  They go to pray and praise God who rules over the world of the sweeper’s misery.

In The Great Gatsby, why does Nick call Gatsby "great" and "honest" when Gatsby is a bootlegger with criminal ties?I've been lost on this subject...

The answer to this contradiction can be found in Nick's opening remarks in the novel as he remembers Gatsby and the events of that summer in 1922. Nick does not excuse Gatsby for his illegal activities. Nick says that Gatsby "represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn." Nick's scorn, his condemnation, of Gatsby's criminal ties is "unaffected," meaning sincere or deeply felt.

In spite of his scorn, however, Nick explains what there was about Gatsby that earned his respect. It was Gatsby's romanticism, his idealism in how he approached his life. Gatsby was honest in that he identified his life's dreams and never abandoned them. When Daisy became his dream, he never betrayed Daisy or waivered in his love for her. He was faithful to the end. Nick says in the novel's coda that at the end of Gatsby's life, "his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him . . . ."

Gatsby was "great," Nick believed, because his dreams were so huge. In reference to Daisy, Gatsby's dream was to wipe out the reality of time--five years--so that he and Daisy could go back to the beginning of their romance and start over, to repeat the past. Nick was awed by the complete romanticism of this idea, what he called Gatsby's "colossal" dream. According to Nick, Gatsby's methods of making money were corrupt, but his romantic heart was pure.

How can you recognize the loss of Ralph’s authority?And why does he lose his authority?

Ralph begins to lose his authority over the boys in chapter 2 when, despite his attempt to create order and establish rules, by the end of the chapter, one of the littluns has been lost.  Ralph tries to lead by appealing to reason.  He fails to realize that he is dealing with children who do not necessarily respond to reason; they respond to more concrete leadership. Jack's style of leadership, which is to command the boys to act, is what the boys respond to (see Jack's meeting in chapter 10).  By the end of chapter 9, with the death of Simon, Ralph has lost complete control, Jack's tribe is fully savage, and Jack is the leader.  Ralph continued, even as his authority continued to disintegrate throughout the novel, to appeal to reason to get the boys to obey him and follow his lead.  That was Ralph's downfall as a leader and what made him ineffectual.

What is the punishment for the sodomites in Cantos 15-16 of Inferno?

Dante puts the sodomites at the bottom of the seventh circle of hell. That's bad. Within the seventh circle, there are three rings. In ring number 1, Dante puts people who killed for their own material gain: so you have empire-builders, gluttons, and robbing travellers on the highway. People tend to get appropraite punishment, depending on the severity of their sins. So Alexander, a mass murderer, is in the boiling blood up to his eyebrows; highway robbers are only up to their ankles.

In ring number 2, we have people who killed themselves. They are worth than people who kill others, as they broke Nature's rule of self-preservation. Yet in ring number 3 - so even further down and deeper in hell - are the sodomites. Sodomy is even worse as an offence to nature than killing yourself, or killing other people. It's a pretty extreme judgement.

How does he punish them? They have to run, together, forever, in a group, across sands which burn alight:

For hark! on yonder plain what clamours swell!
And see! in tempests roll’d, the burning sand,
Mingled with smoke, ascends the glowing sky!

The burning sand on which they run is supposed to represent their sterility: their inability to have children. It's not gay-friendly stuff.

Where is the Plaza Hotel, and what does it symbolize?

The Plaza Hotel in New York City is located at the prestigious address of Central Park and Park Avenue. It has symbolized the ultimate in luxurous living since in opening in 1907. It was recently renovated and has renewed and restored the original opulance.

It is the setting for the Eloise children's books and has been designated a national literary landmark.

How are both Things fall Apart and Death and the King's Horseman examples of tragedy?

The Renaissance Shakespearean definition of a tragedy revolves around a good and moral hero who is much to be admired but who has an iner flaw in his character traits or who makes an unintended error in judgement. The definition is a drama in which the hero's fatal inner flaw or fatal error in judgement leads to circumstances so terrible that the only possible outcome is the hero's death. [Greek tragedy does not require the hero's death in the end.]

In Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo has an inner flaw in his character traits. He has only a mediocre chi, the "god force" within him and the resulting weakness make him imbalanced between both female qualities of kindness and male qualities of assertiveness. As a result he thends to choose violence as a means of controling his family and this choice for ciolence accidentally displays itself through accidents in the village, like when his gun explodes and kills Ezeudu’s son. In the end, the troubles Okonkwo causes because of his inner fatal flaw must and do result in his death.

In Death and the King's Horseman, the hero Elesin makes a fatal error in judgement that delays his ritual preparations for his ritual death that will allow him to accompany his dead King in the King's burial and journey through death. As a result of Elesin's distraction and delay, the colonizing British officials here of the impending ritual death and determine that, since ritual suicide violates British law and would therefore cause trouble while the English Prince is visiting, they will stop the ritual. Elesin is duly arrested and prevented from carrying out his duty and imprisoned. A great tribal wrong is thus committed because great consequences rest on the fulfillment of the ritual.

To rectify the wrong Elesin's son acts as substitute and slays himself in his father's place at which Elesin finds a way to slay himself in his prison cell in order to join son and King. In the end, Elesin's fatal error in judgement leads to his death after first causing the death of his son.

What was used as bait in The Old Man and the Sea?

The old man uses a large hook which is inserted into a bait fish.  The bait fish is fairly large; on the day he goes after the big fish, he has four lines, two baited with fresh small tunas that the boy has secured for him, one with a big blue runner, and the last with a yellow jack.  Both the blue runner and the yellow jack had been used before, "but they were in good condition still", and so could be used again.  The bait fish hangs head down from the shank of the hook, and the parts of the hook which protrude outside of the bait are covered with fresh sardines.  Each sardine is "hooked thorugh both eyes so that they (make) a half-garland on the projecting steel".  No part of the hook is left exposed; to the great fish, the entire device would be "sweet smelling and good tasting".

The baited hooks are attached securely each to a line "as thick around as a big pencil".  These lines are looped onto green-sapped sticks so that any touch on the bait would make the stick dip obviously.  Each line has two forty-fathom coils which could be made fast to the other spare coils.  In this way, if it were necessary, "a fish could take out over three hundred fathoms of line".

What is the atomsphere of the ranch and bunk house in Of Mice and Men?

The atmosphere of the ranch and bunkhouse is lively. Many of different characters are present and everyone has a story to tell.

Physically:

• The bunk house is long and rectangular with bunks on the sides. It is low lit.

In terms of dynamic:

• Slim is the leader.


• The boss and his son Curely are seen as the authority figures.


• Curley's wife is the only female character who represents forbidden fruit.


• Candy is the old swamper who is useless.


• Crooks is the stable buck who everyone picks on.

In A Raisin in the Sun, why does George say "Good night Prometheus?"

In addition to that stated above, George is criticizing Walter for always thinking that he has the best plan of action.  Walter wants to talk business with George; however, Walter really has no idea what a "business talk" would entail.  Similarly, Prometheus believes that he is clever and that he can trick the gods.  For a while he gets away with his theft, but eventually he is caught and punished.  Walter is also punished for trying to be "clever" and disobey all the good sense that is around him.  Mama opposes the liquor store, but Walter believes that his dream and plans are more important than Mama's reservations about this deal.  So in the end, Walter suffers.

What role did the Navigation Acts play in Great Britain's mercantilist policies toward the American colonies?

Mercantilism is an economic policy between the colonies and the mother country. The system was based upon the accumulation of gold and silver, collecting natural or raw materials, denial of any colonial manufacturing, and restricting colonial trade with any other nation other than the mother country. The Navigation Acts were a series of laws which established a framework for this economic system between great Britain and her colonies. Most of these acts promoted the mercantilistic policies and in addition restricted shipping policies. Although these laws date from as early as 1650 they were not strictly observed until after The French and Indian War, which England won in 1763 but had left the country bankrupted. The renewed enforcement of these acts led to colonial discontent that ultimately changed the course of British history.

In "The Crucible", what accusation does Hawthorne make of Martha Corey?

Martha Corey stands before Judge Hathorne in the beginning of Act III.  She is accused of reading fortunes, technically she is accused of witchcraft.

"Hathorne: Now, Martha Corey, there is abundant evidence in our hands to show that you have given yourself to the reading of fortunes. Do you deny it."

"Martha: I am innocent to a witch.  I know not what a witch is."

"Act Three is set in the side room of the Salem meeting house, which has now become the General Court. The proceedings of the court, taking place in the next room, are audible. Judge Hathorne questions Martha Corey, who has been accused of reading fortunes and harming the accusing children."

Martha is also accused later on of bewitching Mr. Walcott's pigs.  Martha Corey raises pigs and sold pigs to Mr. Walcott, unfortunately for Walcott, the pigs he bought from Mrs. Corey died.  His subsequent pigs died, and he has accused Martha Corey of putting a spell on them.

Martha's response is that Walcott does not take proper care of his pigs, and if you don't feed a pig properly it will die.

Who are the main characters in "A Woman on a Roof" by Doris Lessing?

How far will a man go to get the attention of a woman? “A Woman on a Roof” by Doris Lessing evaluates this question.  If the woman does not respond to the man’s overtures, good sense would tell the man that she is not interested. Apparently, to some men, rejection has to hurt before it can be accepted.

The story’s narration is third person point of view.  The narrator is an involved limited omniscient narrator. The setting of the story is London in June in a building complex.  It is hot and the men find the working conditions uncomfortable.

The only distraction for the men  is a lady who is sunbathing on a nearby roof almost in the nude.  The woman comes out every day to lay out in the sun, so the men begin to watch for her.  Their obsession goes to the extreme of moving around on the roof top so that they can see more of her. 

There is no clear protagonist until the end of the story. The young workman Tom then asserts himself as the character that the reader follows with interest to see how he handles himself in the sexual conflict with the woman on the roof.

Tom, a young worker, is at his sexual peak. Tom seems to have little experience with females. He romantically dreams about naked women.  The woman on the roof becomes his sexual focus.  

After having several nights of these pornographic dreams, Tom goes up on the roof where the woman is lying.  He tries to start a conversation with her but is completely rejected.  She tells him to get lost.  With his feelings hurt, he joins the other men and gets drunk.  Now, he hates the woman.

When Tom comes to try to get to know her, she completely rejects him:

…if you get a kick out of seeing women in bikinis, why don’t you take a sixpenny bus ride to the Lido? You’d see dozens of them, without all this mountaineering.’

Then she totally ignores him.

The other two men are involved with the whistling and yelling at the woman. Stanley has just been married and keeps asserting that he would never let his wife do what the woman is doing. However, he also, tries to get her attention.  Stanley feels the rejection by the woman more intensely and personally.

Harry, the older man, stays on the fringes of involvement with the woman.  He wants to get the job done.  As the voice of reason, he tries to get the other younger men to concentrate more on work and less on the woman. 

Little is known about the woman.  Apparently determined   to get a tan, she comes out every day.  She is aware that the men have been running around on the roof based on her comment to Tom.

With no one there to hold the reigns of common decency, the men continue to try to get her attention. It does not matter how foolish they look.  The men are upset by the fact that she chooses to ignore their demonstrative behavior.  

The theme of the story stems from the male perception of women.  Men too often think it is okay to objectify women. The whistling and yelling to the men were complimentary to the woman.  To the men, a woman should feel glad that they men find her sexually attractive.

Of course, most of the time, this is not the case.  A woman wants to be accepted as a total person, not just  for her outward persona. It has never been okay to stereotype a woman as a sexual object.  Just as a man wants to be perceived as a total person, so does a woman.  Kudos to this woman, who despite the challenges presented by the men for privacy, she ignores them and takes care of herself. 

In The Lord of the Flies how does Jack give the boys a feeling of protection?When they join in Jack’s tribe why are they less scared?

I think the answer to this question comes most clearly at the assembly when Jack breaks off from Ralph and starts his own tribe, installing himself as chief. Ralph shouts...

“Because the rules are the only thing we’ve got!”
But Jack was shouting against him.
“Bollocks to the rules! We’re strong—we hunt! If there’s a beast, we’ll hunt it down! We’ll close in and beat and beat and beat—!”
He gave a wild whoop and leapt down to the pale sand. At once the platform was full of noise and excitement, scramblings, screams and laughter.

Fear has gripped the boys: they are all terrified of the beast, and of danger - though, ironically, not at all terrified of the prospect of never being rescued: it's only Piggy and Ralph who really understand that fear.

Ralph's insistence on the signal fire and on being rescued is rational, and, in fact, the best way to get them rescued. But it doesn't address the boys' fear of the beast.

Because Jack can hunt and kill pigs, he's in a position to claim he can better defend the boys against the beast. He's got violence on his side: he can "hunt it down! We’ll close in and beat and beat and beat—!”". He draws the boys together into a strong team of hunters.

And that's why Jack's tribe seems to provide more security against the beast - and reduce fear.

How do Edgar Linton and Heathcliff compare and contrast in Wuthering Heights?

The contrast of these two characters, Edgar and Heathcliff, really exemplifies a common conflict in literature, that of forbidden love.  Simply put, Edgar's love for Catherine provides her with safety, security, and a comfortable lifestyle; he can even be credited, perhaps, with having turned her into a lady during her stay at his home.  Heathcliff loves her in a way that borders on the obsessive, and he isn't really capable of the empathy, commitment, and/or sacrifice required to make a long term relationship, i.e. marriage, work.  However, this very quality in him seems to draw Catherine to him, as well as the romantic notion that they were/are/will always be soulmates.  Catherine didn't seem to have much interest in the notion that they were soulmates when she first returned from her stay at the Lintons', but when Heathcliff returns after a three year absence as a handsome and strapping man, she seems to have an epiphany of sorts.

The conflict in this novel is not unlike the conflict found in Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence, where Newland Archer marries one woman for reputation, appearances, and social stability, while he secretly adores another.  It is also similar to the conflict found in the pop culture phenomenon of the Twilight vampire saga by Stephenie Meyer; Bella struggles throughout much of the series with her feelings for Jacob, which tend to be platonic in nature, versus her passion-to-the-point-of-obsession for Edward.

In Hard Times, who are the "little pitchers" waiting to be filled with facts?

This question relates to one of the key central themes of the novel, which is the educational philosophy of Thomas Gradgrind and how he hopes to educate his charges as well as his children using an extension of his Utilitarianism philosophy, that only focuses on facts. This philosophy is summarised effectively at the very beginning of the novel:

"Now, what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else..."

Chapter 2, then, in which your quote occurs, humorously refers to Mr. Gradgrind readying himself to pour forth his facts and describes him as a "cannon loaded to the muzzle with facts" and ready to "blow them [his students] clean out of the regions of childhood at one discharge." Dickens uses a metaphor to describe his students as "little pitchers" who are "waiting to be filled full of facts." Note how this approach to children imagines that they are "empty" and needing to be "filled." It does not identify or accept that children have their own way and approach to life and rather treats them as empty vessels in need of being filled.

It's been years since I've read Jane Eyre and I wanted to ask how long it should take a student to read it? Thanks in advance!

What level of students are you having read this book? For my AP English class I generally assign them about 75-100 pages per week of outside reading. I would probably count on it taking them 6 or 7 weeks assuming that you are getting deep into character development, setting, theme and symbolism. The book can be read more quickly if you are not planning on getting so in depth though. I also assign "guided reading" questions, so that the students can be aware of the plot, character, symbols etc...on which I need them to focus. Such a good book!

What news did Wilse bring in Across Five Aprils?

Wilse brings "news of the Kentucky country where (Jethro's mother) had been born, and of the relatives from whom she so seldom heard".  He also brings news of the feelings of the Kentuckians towards the Civil War which seems imminent.

Wilse Graham is Ellen Creighton's sister's son.  Ellen and the family are glad to see him, and to hear what has been going on with the family back home.  At supper, "the talk for a while (is) of family affairs...there had been a death of someone in Kentucky who (is) only a name to Jethro, but a name that (brings) a shadow to his mother's face...there (are) reports of weddings and births, of tragedies, and now and then a happy note of good fortune".  After sharing the news of the everyday lives of the relatives, however, Wilse and the Creightons begin to talk about what is on everybody's mind during these times - "the troubles of the nation".

Wilse says it is likely that Kentucky will "go secesh".  He makes a good case for his own opinions on the matter, voicing the Confederate stance that the South only "wants...the right to live as it sees fit to live without interference".  Although he cannot quite justify slavery, he points out that the North has no plan about how to take care of the slaves if they were all of a sudden to be set free.  Matt Creighton admits that, in Southern Illinois, a majority of the people have roots in the South, but his own feeling is that dividing the union of states is wrong.  Wilse argues that a division is inevitable, because "half of the country has growed rich...but (is) jealous and fearful that the other half is apt to find good fortune too".  Wilse expresses the Southern belief that it is the arrogance of the North towards the South that is the underlying cause of the conflict (Chapter 2).

Summary of the poem "Gus The Theatre Cat" by T.S. Elliot?

Gus, although not one of my favorites from Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, is an interesting character nonetheless.  After reading this summary, I would suggest watching the excerpt from the movie adaptation of Cats, or at least listening to the musical version of the song.  It's worth it. 

Gus could always be found at the theatre door.  His name is really "Asparagus," but too many people couldn't pronounce that, so his nickname became "Gus."  Gus is an old cat: shabby, thin, and shaky.  He was supposedly quite a cat in his youth, though.  The exploits of his old days are what Gus likes to talk about with his friends, especially his adaptation of "Firefrorefiddle, the Fiend of the Fell."  He boasts of the roles he played in his prime.  And if someone gives him a bit of gin, he'll go on and on about roles he doesn't usually speak of.  He is "old school" theatre (as it were), and he doesn't trust these young lads that "do not get trained."  He thinks that naught can compare to his greatest role (which he repeats many times) and admits that "Theatre's certainly not what it was." 

What is a related sentences for this equation? a - +5 =+35

Do you mean a minus a positive 5 and it will equal to a positive 35.

If that is so, then it is simple, you need to find the unknown (a) by making it as a subject and removing other numbers to one side like this:

a-(+5)=+35

a-5=+35

a=+35+5

= +40

So, a equals to a positive 40/ plus 40

What mistakes did Ralph make that led to his loss of power?

Ralph made several mistakes in the novel, leading to his alienation from the other boys. First, he underestimated Jack and the power of mob mentality. Essentially, Ralph didn't know how to deal with Jack. He tried to force the hunters to his will, but Jack convinced them to form their own group. Once the meat was offered, the other boys couldn't resist. Ralph's logical desire to keep the fire going seems unreal to the boys, unlike the meat which they can smell and taste. He also fails to rally the boys in any way. Unlike Jack, he has no concrete results to show. The fire goes out, he can't fight the terror of the "beastie", his shelters collapse, the boys lose all sense of hygiene, etc. Jack, on the other hand, offers a real alternative; in his group, you can do whatever you want, and eat as much meat as you want. You just have to be willing to obey Jack. The other boys are willing to do this, and it almost seems as though they've been waiting for someone to step in and take control. Ralph tried to be democratic in his leadership, but Jack's empirical rule works much better on the island.

In Antigone, what does Creon's exchange with Teiresias reveal about Creon's view of himself and others?

In his conversation with Teiresias, Creon reveals himself to be arrogant, stubborn, and cynical. Because the prophet advises him to reverse himself, bury Polyneices, and free Antigone, Creon assumes that Teiresias has been bribed and hurls insults at him:

Teiresias, it is a sorry thing when a wise man

Sells his wisdom, lets out his words for hire!

Creon also shows his arrogance when he declares that "if the great eagles of God himself" should intervene, he would not change his ruling: "I would not yield."

Teiresias tries again, warning Creon that his prophecy is so awful that Creon would not want to hear it. Even in this, Creon's arrogance asserts itself as he challenges Teiresias: "Whatever you say, you will not change my will." After hearing the prophecy, however, and remembering that Teiresias has never been wrong, Creon relents. It is very difficult for him to overcome his enormous pride. He declares, "Oh it is hard to give in!"