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.