How might Shadow Lines by Amitav Ghosh be considered a post colonial novel?

Shadow Lines is an amazing story that transgresses multiple borders, one of the key themes of the story. This is also a concern of postcolonial criticism, that examines and criticises man-made boundaries and borders as attempts to define a particular group as against another group ("the other"). Postcolonial criticism attempts to rupture these apparently secure boundaries by examining those who live on the margins of these boundaries and also deconstructing (taking apart) the notion of the other. This is particularly true of the "invention" of India the nation, with the Partition of 1947 which drew imaginary lines across India, creating the countries of Pakistan, Bangladesh and India and also causing much death from the resulting riots.

The narrative in Shadow Lines is constantly transgressing boundaries of space and time, thus giving the novel its title, as the lines that divide places and even times are shown to be easily transgressed - "Shadow Lines."

Consider this quote regarding the inherent fragility of boundaries:

[About seeing the border from the air] But if there aren't any trenches or anything, how are people to know? I mean, where's the difference then? And if there's no difference both sides will be the same; it'll be just like it used to be before, when we used to catch a train in Dhaka and get off in Calcutta the next day . . . (151)

In "Fahrenheit 451" what has Montag's wife done?

When Montag gets home after first meeting Clarisse, he discovers that she has overdosed on sleeping pills.  She is barely breathing; just a faint thread of life is keeping her hanging on.  As he walks towards her, he kicks the empty pill bottle with his foot and realizes what she has done, and it is as that moment that the jet bombers flew over the house, rattling everything and hurting his ears.  Bradbury probably had that happen at that exact time as a sort of connection--they live in a society that breeds unhappiness and war.  Just as Mildred keeps trying to kill herself, war is also constantly on the horizon.  Mildred hasn't succeeded as of yet, just like war hasn't been fully declared yet.  But, the suicide attempt, and the jet bombers flying overhead are both foreshadowing of the events to come.  People are so unhappy that they eventually will succeed in ending their lives, either through suicide or war.  The jet bombers going off are also just a great literary tool to use as Montag discovers his wife's barely alive body; it is earth-shattering, it is huge, and it is that moment that he finally realizes how miserable he and his wife really are.

Can some summarize what happens from Chapter 10 to the end of The Devil's Arithmetic?

Chapter 10: Hannah and the others had been in the truck riding when they came to a train station. They are shoved into a train car and crammed as tightly as possible. They have to stand. Hannah's face is pressed against boards which allows her a little air. People start screaming. Hannah screams as well. Their belongings are taken from them. Fayge sees her grandmother's items. She panics.

Chapter 11: The people on the train ride for four days. They are hungry and thirsty. They can not go to the restroom. The unit smells and is hot.A child dies and several old people die. They arrive at the concentration camp. Hannah is terrified. She knows they are death camps. A woman in charge takes her blue hair ribbons. They are stripped naked, showered, and their heads are shaved.

Chapter 12: Hannah is forced to choose a dress from a pile of clothing. The arm pits are stained and it has a funny odor. There is an awareness that the clothes were worn by others who perished in the camp. A man recognizes the dress that Hannah had chosen. He says it was his daughters. Tzipporah dies in the bunk during their first night. Gitl confronts a guard about food, but is only told that when they do get food they should eat it.

Chapter 13: While being given their Every Bowls the girls meet Rivka. She tells them about the things that they need to know to survive. The reader does not know it yet, but Rivka will be Aunt Eva in the future, Hannah's aunt.

Chapter 14: Rivka teaches Hannah what the numbers mean. She lost all of her family, except one brother, through the death in the camp. She tells the girls about the doors into a cave where people are put to death, which is really a gas chamber. She also explains about the garbage heap where the children in the camp hide during routine inspections. Rivka explains that she has one brother left and he calls himself a zero because of the things the soldiers make him do. She has been in the camp for over a year.

Chapter 15: The Rabbi has been killed. He was beaten first and while in the hospital he had made a remark that was unfavorable. They tell Fayge. She starts to scream and her mouth is covered by the other women. They pray for the Rabbi. Hannah learns about the responsibility of saying the death prayer.

Chapter 16: Rivka continues to remain the strength of the others. She helps keep their hopes alive. Rivka tells them that God is with them. She wants them to know that even though it seems like God is not there, if Satan is there, God is there. Fayge begins to speak again.

Chapter 17: Shmuel escapes from the camp and leaves his wife behind. He knows she is already numb to everything and worries only about the food that is scarcely given.

Chapter 18: Rivka and two others are chosen to go to Lillith's cave where they will be put to death. Hannah switches places with her by taking off Rivka's kerchief and putting it on. She knows she is going to her death when the doors to the room opens.

Chapter 19: Hannah turns wound to find her at the table during the Sedar. She is talking about the memories. She and Aunt Eva go off to talk alone. Aunt Eva tells her that her name in the camps was Rivka and Hannah was named after her friend Chaya (Hannah) from the camps who had died in her place. Hannah now has an understanding of the importance of her heritage.

Describe the language and style of Rudyard Kipling in his novel Kim.

There are many points to consider when thinking about Kipling's use of language and his authorial style of writing. One point in his use of language is his reliance on verbs and prepositions. Kipling innovated a heavy use of verbs to make his narrative more sleek and action oriented. His contemporaries were still writing with descriptive flourish, like Robert Louis Stevenson (Kidnapped and Treasure Island) and Sir H. Rider Haggard (Cleopatra and She). An example of Kipling's preference for verbs occurs the opening words: "He sat,..."

The questions Kipling continually orients his narrative to, after using verbs to address What?, are Where? and When? This is also visible in the opening line: "He sat, in defiance of municipal orders, astride the gun Zam Zammah on her brick platform opposite the old Ajaib-Gher...." Along with the verb "sat," there are five locative (location orienting) or other relationship prepositions: in, of, astride, on, opposite (functioning as a preposition). Another reliance Kipling has is on proper nouns to indirectly establish location: Zam Zammah, the old Ajaib-Gher, Lahore Museum all reveal the location of the narrative to be India for those familiar with the form of Indian words or somewhere exotic for those not familiar.

Regarding authorial style, Kipling introduces Kim in the second paragraph and his description of Kim is woven in with a deeper characterization that establishes his background: "Though he was burned black.., though he spoke the vernacular (language)...,...Kim was white." For descriptive additions to characterization, Kipling weaves descriptors, like the adverb confusedly, into dialogue or action: "...she said, confusedly remembering O'Hara's prophecies...." Character background in Kim is given by way of flashback that leads back to present time narrative:

...Sometimes there was food in the house, more often there was not, and then Kim went out again to eat with his native friends.
As he drummed his heels against Zam-Zammah...

As with characterization, movement forward in the narrative streaks ahead with almost no descriptive words but rather with one fact after another joined together with coordinating clauses, subordinate clauses, independent clauses and relative clauses as in: "The half-caste woman who looked after him (she smoked opium, and pretended to keep a second-hand furniture shop by the square where the cheap cabs wait) told the missionaries that she was Kim's mother's sister; but his mother had been nursemaid in a Colonel's family and had married Kimball O'Hara, a young colour-sergeant of the Mavericks, an Irish regiment." this sentence gives information about three people and the information is joined by three relative clauses (who, where, that), one subordinte clause ("opium, and pretended "), one independent clause ("sister; but his") and one dependent coordinting clause  ("and had married").

Why are birds after Smaug's death important, what happens when the goblins join the battle, and what is "dragon-sickness?"

  I think that the significance of the birds gathering after Smaug's death is twofold.  First it is noted that many of the birds are the kind that eat carrion; they have come to feast on the Dragon.  They do not come to the mountain itself, but are off in the distance where the dragon was killed.  The other birds: the starlings, thrushes, and finches have come back to signify the rebirth of life there in the mountain, now that the dragon is dead.  For as long as Smaug had lived there the mountain was is if dead.  Living things could not approach it without fear of being killed by the Dragon hoarding his lifeless jewels.  Since the dragon is dead, life can now come to the mountain again.

 As for your second question, when the goblins join the battle, the two armies who had been fighting over the dragon's hoard have to unite to fignt the Goblins effectively ending the war between them

 Dragon sickness is greed which the dwarves begin to suffer from as soon as they realize Smaug is dead.

What do you suppose the dramatic purpose of a comic relief scene is? Why is the porter's soliloquy in prose rather than poetry?The porter's scene,...

Well, the clue to some extent is in the question. It is comic relief - a relief from the seriousness of the main drama for a second, and an opportunity to release the tension which has built up through the play.

More than that though, Shakespeare, more than most other writers, is aware of the advantages of juxtaposing comedy and tragedy. An audience, just after they've laughed, are actually much more vulnerable to being shocked or moved (the theatrical construct of "The Woman in Black" by Stephen Mallatratt is one excellent example of this!).

One more thing: a comic relief scene often replays themes of the serious play in a comical way. So the porter, for example, thinks about hell and damnation, as well as about equivocation (and that last is key to the play).

The porter speaks in prose simply because it is more colloquial. It is a generalisation to say that all Shakespeare characters speak in prose, and all noble character in verse: and one that isn't true (Toby Belch, for instance, in "Twelfth Night" is just as noble as Olivia, but speaks entirely in prose). But when Shakespeare wants things to sound more like everyday speech, he quite often switches to prose. Prose, just like comedy against tragedy, when put next to verse provides a contrast. And contrasts make people listen.

Bawdy humour? How about this bit, about how alcohol prevents erections:

...much drink may be said to be an equivocator with lechery: it... makes him stand to and not stand to.

In "A White Heron," is there symbolism in Sylvia's climbing the tree near the end of the story?

Like beauty, symbolism is in the eye of the beholder, or in this case, the reader. In one way, the tree serves a function in the story. Climbing the great pine allows Sylvia to spot the white heron from high above the forest. She climbs the tree to find the heron's nest so that she can tell the hunter, thus pleasing him and earning the money her grandmother needs.

However, Sylvia's climb up the tree is quite difficult and dangerous, requiring much bravery and strength. Once she reaches the top, she experiences the natural beauty of the world in a way that she never would have known had she not made the climb. She leaves her own world and lives for a little while in the heron's world. What she sees and feels at the top of the pine tree changes Sylvia in a profound way, and she can no longer give the heron up to destruction at the hands of the hunter.

The fact that the story's climax concerns Sylvia climbing the pine tree suggests that it has a meaning greater than its literal fact. Sylvia's climb might be interpreted as her growing up, finding her own identity and values. This isn't easy, but the rewards are great. After climbing the great pine, Sylvia has realized something important about herself and how she will live her life.

In "The Lottery", if the protagonist is Tessie, who is the antagonist?

If you are looking at the entire story of “The Lottery” and are using Tessie Hutchinson as the protagonist, than there are two options as to who or what the antagonist of the story is.  First, you could say that all of the other characters – the entire village including her family -- are the antagonists because at the end of the story, they are all in opposition of her.  The second option is more symbolic; the whole idea of tradition and keeping traditions alive can be considered the antagonist.  The town continues a tradition that they do not know how it began and do not even practice every ritual as it was originally supposed to be practiced.  But, because of this tradition and the town’s belief that this tradition must continue, Tessie ends up dying in the end; therefore, making her the protagonist and tradition the antagonist.

In "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" what Huck takes seriously Twain often means to be comic. List examples.

1.  In chapter one, Huck dismisses the Bible because once he finds out that Moses has been dead "a considerable long time" he states, "I don't take no stock in dead people."  Huck is completely serious; however, anyone else can see the humor in this statement.  It is quite funny, and I'm sure Twain meant it to be.

2.  In chapter 17, Huck is describing Emmeline Grangerford's pictures and states, "I didn't somehow seem to take to them, because if I ever was down a little they always give me the fantods...I reckoned with her disposition she was having a better time in the graveyard."  Here Huck is trying to be respectful to the morbid pictures of the deceased Emmeline, but really struggles; they give him the creeps and he figures she's happier in the ground.  As a kid, he's serious when he says these things, but this is a great chance for Twain to make fun of those ultra-serious poetic types that are so absurd.

3.  In chapter 3, Huck is pondering everything that the widow and Miss Watson have told him about heaven, and figures, "there was two Providences, and a poor chap would stand considerable show with the widow's Providence, but if Miss Watson's got him there warn't no help for him any more."  Here, Huck is seriously thinking that there are 2 types of heaven, a nice one and a mean one-based on the two versions from his care-takers.  We can see how this is funny; Twain here is satirizing people and their varying opinions on heaven, and how God, according to people, has such polar opposite personalities.

Those are just a few examples, and I hope it helps!

The weather on the island grows increasingly more hostile and ominous when Simon kills. But why?

It's called pathetic fallacy. It's when a writer uses elements of the natural world (weather, nature, animals, and so on) to reflect what happens in the book.

Golding uses the weather and the island to suggest or foreshadow events in the novel throughout. So, right at the start, we learn that the plane ominously was shot down during a storm:

Some act of God— a typhoon perhaps, or the storm that had accompanied his own arrival—had banked sand inside the lagoon...

And, after Simon's death, as the storm clears, there's an unusual section at the end of the chapter in which the weather clears and nature seems to almost reabsorb Simon: in the sky, the anger/aggression of JAck becomes Simon's relaxed sensitivity:

Towards midnight the rain ceased and the clouds drifted away, so that the sky was scattered once more with the incredible lamps of stars.

One last example. On the first page, Golding includes an ominous little image which gives the impression that the island might turn out to be negative, though it seems like paradise:

He was clambering heavily among the creepers and broken trunks when a bird, a vision of red and yellow, flashed upwards with a witch-like cry...

"A witch-like cry". Read the paragraph again, and feel the spookiness of that image. Golding wants you to be spooked - but does it subtly through pathetic fallacy.

How do you determine the greastest common factor of 540 and 132 using the Euclidean Algorithm?I need an example of how you got the answer. I have...

First and foremost do not panic about the size of the bigger number. Since you are in search of the Greatest Common Factor, you are looking for the "math facts" of each of the numbers and you want the largest one that apply to both. Do you know your rules of divisibility? If so, that is of great benefit. If not, you will want to familiarize yourself with them.

Begin with 132.

132 X 1 66 X 2 (it is even so it 2 has to work)

44 X 3 (the sum of the digits is divisible by 3 so it is divisible by 3 -- 1 + 2 + 3= 6)

33 X 4 (it is divisible by 4 because the last two digits are divisible by 4)

22 X 6 (6 has to work because 2 and 3 work)

12 X 11 (this is the last pair of factors because they are right next to each other numerically. This doesn't hold true always but when it does work out that way, it is a great clue to let you know you have all the factors)

Now 540 is our other number. The greatest common factor of 540 and 132 cannot be any larger than 132. I know from the list of 132 that the GCF is larger than 10 because 10 X 54 is 540 and 54 is not a factor of 132. The only two factors left from 132 are 11 and 12. Nothing multiplied by 1 will give me anything ending with 0 (the ones place of 540) so it has to be 12.

Enjoy math. It really can be fun.

A ticking clock is good for adding suspense. What device does Lessing use to create a sort of "ticking clock" that increases our anxiety?its about...

There are two ways Lessing creates a "ticking-clock" effect in the story. The first is the realization by Jerry that he must learn to hold his breath at least two minutes. Each day he counts the number of second he can stay underwater. "Fifty-one, fifty-two...His chest was hurting" The counting intensifies the feeling of time passing by. In addition, Jerry is up against a time deadline because he knows he and his mother will leave the seashore at some time and he will not be back until the next year. Therefore, he is in a hurry to learn to hold his breath so he can accomplish his task before he and his mother return home. Both of these techniques suggest time passing quickly for Jerry. It's the time he has left of childhood before he begins growing into a young adult.

For how many days did the old man go without fish?

I believe he actually went 87 days without catching fish.

"Santiago," the boy said to him as they climbed the bank from where the skiff was hauled up. "I could go with you again. We've made some money."

The old man had taught the boy to fish and the boy loved him.

"No," the old man said. "You're with a lucky boat. Stay with them."

"But remember how you went eighty-seven days without fish and then we caught big ones every day for three weeks."

"I remember," the old man said. "I know you did not leave me because you doubted."

"It was papa made me leave. I am a boy and I must obey him."

"I know," the old man said. "It is quite normal."

"He hasn't much faith."

"No," the old man said. "But we have. Haven't we?"

What are bones and joints and what are their functions?

Bone is an organ which is part of the skeletal system. It is made up of two types of tissue that differ in density, namely compact bone and cancellous bone. It has its own blood supply. There are three types of cells that contribute to bone homeostasis - osteoblasts, osteoclasts and osteocytes.

The functions of the bone are to provide support to the body, protect vital organs, movement, storage of minerals (mainly calcium and phosphate) and maintain blood calcium level, stem cells present in certain bone marrow bring about blood cell regeneration.

A Joint is where two adjacent bones or cartilages or combinations thereof meet. They provide the mechanism that allows the body to move. They are classified according to their degree of movement as movable, partially movable and immovable joints. The three main parts of a joint are articular cartilage, a bursa or joint capsule and a synovial or joint cavity.

In The Scarlet Letter, how does Nathaniel Hawthorne use the forest as a symbol?

In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne takes the simple idea of a forest and turns it into a symbol that creates the sense of a supernatural presence of evil around the small township in which his characters live.

Writers use symbols in their work to represent key ideas that go beyond the actual physical reality of the objects (or sometimes people, places, or events) they include in their narratives.

In The Scarlet Letter, today’s reader may not be able to fully relate to the social conditions that forced Hester Prynne to live as an outcast and Reverend Dimmesdale to punish himself with guilt, but because of Hawthorne’s effective use of symbolism in depicting the forest that borders the town, they can get still a strong sense of the evil that hides in the community, and this social evil is something that most readers probably can relate to in some way.

One night, about halfway through the story in chapter 12, Reverend Dimmesdale is overcome with guilt over his role in Hester’s predicament (he is the unknown father of Pearl--the man who committed adultery with her). He ascends to the scaffold, where Hester had stood in shame before the town as part of her punishment in chapter 2. In his misery, he lets out an involuntary cry.  He believes that this cry will alert the town to his presence on the scaffold and thus reveal his guilt. But there is very little reaction to the cry; a few people come to their windows but do not see Dimmesdale on the scaffold. However, one important character’s perception of the scream is detailed by Hawthorne—the Mistress Hibbins, suspected by many of witchcraft:

"Beyond the shadow of a doubt, this venerable witch-lady [Mistress Hibbins] had heard Mr. Dimmesdale’s outcry, and interpreted it, with its multitudinous echoes and reverberations, as the clamor of the fiends and night-hags, with whom she was well known to make excursions into the forest."

With this passage, Hawthorne links Hibbins, the witch-lady, to the forest, along with “fiends” and “night-hags.” This establishes the idea that the people of the town are surrounded by a presence of evil. The reader by now also has gained a sense that this evil can infect the town, as we see how the good-hearted Hester is vilified by some of the townspeople.

A little later, in chapter 16, Hester and Pearl venture into the forest, hoping to encounter Dimmesdale. Pearl asks her mother to tell her a story about the Black Man who supposedly lives in the forest:

". . . he haunts this forest and carries a book with him—a big, heavy book, with iron clasps; and how this ugly Black Man offers book and an iron pen to everybody that meets him here among the trees; and  they are to write their names with their own blood."

That fact that Pearl, a young child who has little communication with the other children of the town, knows this story reveals how important the idea of this forest-evil is to the town. They see themselves as a people surrounded by the danger of evil, but at the same time are unaware of their own evil thoughts and actions, as evidenced by their treatment of Hester and Pearl.

Because he has characterized the forest in this way, Hawthorne has created a symbol that enables the reader to feel the presence of this evil every time he mentions the forest.

What are some metaphors in Anthem by Ayn Rand?

"Anthem (1938) is a science fiction novelette of a future primitive society in which the word "I" is forbidden. Rand's point in this work is that the individualism which had built a complex technological civilization has been smothered by collectivism."

Ayn Rand’s Anthem is a drama about a society in which there is no individual ego.  Everyone is given a label on a metal band.  They are given titles like Liberty 5-3000 and Equality 7-2521.  Equality 7-2521 is the protagonist of the drama and is the character that Rand uses to promote the concept of the individual against altruism.  The whole story of Anthem is a metaphor.  The society is a complete socialistic and altruistic society.  Every department within the society is given labels.  One specific example is the Home of the Useless where the Old Ones live.

“At forty, they are sent to the Home of the Useless, where the Old Ones live. The Old Ones do not work, for the State takes care of them.” chapter 1.

One special metaphor Rand uses is when Equality is watching  Liberty 5-3000 plant seeds in the fields.  He says, “the earth was a beggar under their feet.” (chapter 2), meaning that she was so special and so beautiful that even the ground would beg to have her walk on it.  She is different like him and he knows this as soon as he sees her.   
Another telling metaphor in the drama is when Equality has finally discovered the meaning of the word I.  He writes, “I need no warrant for being, and no word of sanction upon my being. I am the warrant and the sanction.” chapter 11 Anthem.

What is Jocasta's reaction to the divine prophecy?

Jocasta does not believe in the divine prophecy and tells Oedipus not to trust in the words of the oracle.  She is less inclined to believe in the prophecy, first because she says that whatever happens is not the fulfillment of fate, but occurs by chance through a series of events that are unforeseen.

Second, Jocasta has the most to lose by the revelation of the prophecy, she does not want to delve into understanding it, she prefers to ignore it, leave it alone.  She is married to Oedipus, has four children with him, he is the king, she does not want the life to be disturbed, disrupted or ended. She is suspicious of the prophecy, and fears it enough to appeal to Apollo, making a sacrifice to him, praying that the prophecy is not true.

"She assures Oedipus that the oracle proclaiming Laius's murder by his own son was false, since Laius was killed by highwaymen, and his son had been left "to die on a lonely mountainside." Rather than placating Oedipus, her words haunt him, he recalls "a shadowy memory,'' and asks her to give details about Laius's death."

When Jocasta realizes what the truth is, she begs Oedipus to look no further,

"May you never learn who you are!" In her final speech she calls Oedipus "miserable and says she will have no other name for him."

 he of course must find out the truth for himself, when all is revealed, it is more than she can bear, and she commits suicide.

Explain how variable and fixed pay elements of the total compensation program work.

When people work for a company, they expect to receive from the company something in return for their efforts. Compensation plan refers to how companies compensate and reward their employees.

The compensation to employees can be broadly divided in two types. The first is monetary compensation, which is also called pay, is their earning from the company to be spent by them as they please. The second is the job facilities provided to them to improve their effectiveness and comfort on the job. These can be provides in physical form such as company car, or as payment of expenses like travel, lodging, dining and entertaining incurred while performing company work.

The pay can have two components. A fixed pay independent of the performance levels of individual or groups of employee, and a variable pay linked to the performance levels. Fixed amount is to satisfy need for income stability, and the variable component is to stimulate and reward greater effort.

The fixed pay may be paid in several different forms and under different names – like basic salary, dearness allowance, city compensatory allowance, and house rent allowance. Here it will be useful to clarify that although dearness allowance varies with the price index, it forms part of fixed component of earning as it is not linked to on the job performance.

The variable pay is also paid by companies under different names like incentive, commission, and bonus. The variable pay can be of different types, and can be linked to different performance indicators such as achievement of sales targets, production levels achieved, and achievement of required targets.

What are the main symbols in The Call of The Wild?

A symbol is normally a tangible, concrete item that represents something more abstract. For instance, in Call of the Wild, the man in the red shirt is wearing a symbol -- the red shirt. The color red can be used to symbolize a number of different emotions or signals: danger, rage, intense hatred, or even the idea of stopping, such as when we see a red light.

The red shirt is symbolic of the lesson learned by Buck at the hand of the man in the red shirt -- he is the man who beats Buck and other dogs severely using a club, and Buck learns "man's law" through the violence of the man in the red shirt, who is never given another name. Hence, the red shirt is symbolic of the above mentioned emotions -- rage, hatred, and intense distrust.

The club itself could also be considered symbolic, as it represents man's abuse and torture of animals in the Yukon. It isn't until Buck meets John Thornton that he is treated with the civility and respect he deserves. All his other masters, including Perrault and the others, may have treated him somewhat kindly, but not with the love and compassion that Thornton exhibits. 

Compare and contrast the issues about gender that are implied in "Trifles" and "Sure Thing"?

In each of these plays, "Trifles" and "Sure Thing," the relationship between women and men is examined. 

In "Trifles," the men are clearly in charge, pursuing their heavy-handed and rather obtuse investigation without any of the more subtle observations the women make.  They are dismissive at every turn, and they fail to see any importance in "woman stuff"--the "stuff" which could actually make and solve their case.  They are equally dismissive of the women.  The roles are clear, and the men win.

In "Sure Thing" the woman is not so easily dismissed.  Betty is the first to change her answer in this exchange, while Bill just keeps asking her until he gets the reply he wants.  Eventually, though, they both change their answers, beliefs, positions about everything at the ringing of a bell--presumably trying to somehow appease the other in order to be found more acceptable.  Here, both of them compromise their integrity in the face of acceptance. No one wins.

I'm not so sure there's a whole lot of comparison here, except the women are clearly seen in the weaker position. In contrast, the men in "Trifles" never waver from their position of rightness and their stereotypes of women as the weaker, lesser, unintelligent sex.  Bill and Betty both change, watering down anything they might truly believe in order to avoid racism or sexism or anything else which might be considered offensive, as in this exchange:

“I believe a man is what he is. (Bell) A person is what he is. (Bell) A person is ... what they are.”

They've obviously devolved to believing nothing, in contrast to the men who only believe or see what they think is worth believing or seeing.

What are some "reasons" for natural selection?

A study of the animal world easily provides answers.  With deer, for example, the weaker ones are caught and killed by predators such as wolves.  In this way the weaker traits are not reproduced.  Also, the weaker and the sick will die in the harshness of winter. Only the larger, hardier deer survive in frigid winter conditions in such places as Canada, for instance.

Disease, too, plays a role in natural selection.  Those most able to withstand infection thrive while others fall ill and even die.  Nowadays, modern medicine often interferes with the process of natural selection as people and animals both survive certain conditions when heretofore they may not have thrived.

In other instances, certain species of animals were so frail that the introduction of other species into their environment resulted in their extinction.  A famous example is that of the do-do bird which could not fly, and, thus was vulnerable to any predatory animal introduced into its environment.

Because there is such a delicate balance of Nature, this balance is easily disrupted.  In the efforts to control a balance, man has often interfered.  However, this intervention has reaped devastating effects at times.  A science-fiction author such as Ray Bradbury, in his "A Sound of Thunder" and "Harrison Bergeron" portrays the effects of interfering with nature and natural selection.  And, Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" is a profound examination of what happens when science controls human nature.  Of course, the most infamous case of finding a "reason" for selective breeding and the elimination of natural selection in human affairs is in the history of Adolf Hitler.

I need help withthe Pardoner from "The Canterbury Tales". Does he have a physical defect? If so, what is it and what does it say about him?

Although it is not fact that the Pardoner has a physical defect, our Host certainly hints at it.  The Host passes judgement in this line from "The Prologue":  "I judge he was a gelding, or a mare."  A gelding is a castrated male horse, and a mare is a fully mature female horse; therefore, the Host is accusing the Pardoner of being either a castrated male or a female!  This judgement is preceded, by the way, by a description of the Pardoner's very smooth face: one that would never need a razor.  Suddenly it all makes sense.  What does this physical defect say about the Pardoner?  It says that the Pardoner is not only vastly effeminate but also someone to be ridiculed and laughed at from the male perspective. 

As for other defects (can there be anything worse than castration?), one might mention that "he had bulging eye-balls like a hare."  I laugh when I think about this being possible glaucoma, but I suppose it could be.  I also suppose that I would be wrong not to mention that the Pardoner also "had the same small voice a goat has got."  A defect as well?  Perhaps. 

Luckily, the Pardoner is commonly known as the scum of the earth in that he sells pardons from the Church ("Brimful of pardons come from Rome, all hot") and doesn't have the best hygiene in the world ("hair . . . hanging down smoothly like a hank of flax").  Anyway, don't be too concerned with the Pardoner's physical defects.  If anything, find the humor in them.  There are many other more honorable characters for the reader to worry about in Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales.

What is the theme of Countee Cullen's poem "Yet Do I Marvel"?

A proclaimed poet of the Harlem Renaissance, Countee Cullen (1903-46) uses his poem, "Yet Do I Marvel," to send a very strong and passionate message. Using the sonnet form, Cullen discusses his effort to understand "the acts of God."  Cullen also uses a variety of tones- confusion, anger and sarcasm- to portray his message. Through the use of metaphor and allusion, Cullen allows the readers to put themselves in his shoes. Through his poetry, the reader is presented with the struggle and the underlying true message- the harshness and cruelty towards the African Americans- the reality of racism.

The first twelve lines of the sonnet portray the paradoxical nature of a "good and kind God." Cullen remarks that if God were really good and kind then why did he create the mole as a blind animal? Why should we all die?  Why do our best efforts often end in frustration and failure and unhapiness? Cullen answers these rhetorical questions by stating that God's ways are mysterious and can never be fully understood by ordinary human beings.

The final couplet, however, reveals his anger and frustration at the plight of talented and sensitive black poets like him who are suppressed and oppressed by the white majority, making him to doubt god's goodness and kindness.

What chapter can you find Atticus having to shoot the rabid dog in "To Kill A Mockingbird"?In the novel, Atticus is called upon when there is a...

This scene with the rabid dog appears in Part I, Chapter 10 of the book.  The metaphor is something akin to the "underdog".  Tom is the underdog for several reasons--he is black, he is poor, and he is shunned for considering himself above the Ewells when he says he helped her because he "felt sorry for her."  Of course, Tom, much like a caged and sick animal (not unlike the rabid dog), does not do well in prison.  He attempts to escape and is shot in the process.  Unfortunately, Atticus is forced to shoot and kill the defenseless dog (which didn't ask to be infected with rabies), and Tom Robinson is shot in much the same way.  Neither the dog nor Tom Robinson asked for their situations nor did they deserve them.  It's just the way the cards fell for them.

Bravery is exhibited on many levels in this chapter.  Atticus was brave to step out into the middle of the street and face this rabies-infected dog, and he also showed another kind of courage by hiding a talent he isn't particularly proud of--his sharp-shooting.  Scout and Jem are equally impressed and surprised to learn something new about Atticus.  Scout admires him for his shooting ability; Jem admires Atticus for his restraint and respect for the animal.

In A Separate Peace, what are Gene and Finny studying on the night of the "trial," and how does this foreshadow what happens to Finny?

The night that Brinker and three others come to Gene and Finny's room to "take them out" in prelude to the trial in the First Academy Building, Gene is helping Finny with his Latin. Gene works to translate a passage  about Caesar and the Gallic War as Finny waits and listens. At one point, Finny asks if anything exciting was happening in what Gene was reading in Latin. Gene responds:

This part is pretty interesting . . . if I understand it right. About a surprise attack.

When Finny wants to hear about it, Gene's translation explains how Caesar was defeated in one battle through several surprise attacks by "a selected band of foot soldiers in ambushes." These references to "surprise attacks" and "ambushes" foreshadow the trial Brinker has arranged, using other students, including Leper, as his "foot soldiers."

Gene and Finny are caught completely by surprise when Brinker and the other students hustle them out of their room and take them to the scene of the trial. Gene believes at first it must be some kind of student prank; the sight of ten seniors sitting on a platform in black robes makes him think of "some masquerade with masks and candles." This notion fades quickly, however, when the tone of the proceedings becomes grave and "witnesses" begin their "testimony." In a short period of time, Brinker's ambush of Gene and Finny and his surprise attack brings out the truth of Finny's first fall and results in his second, fatal injury.

In "The Necklace" how are the things that Madame Loisel values different from what her husband values?

Madame Loisel values materialistic possessions, the idea of being admired and loved for being beautiful and having beautiful things.  Because of this, "Mathilde suffered ceaselessly, feeling herself born to enjoy all delicacies and all luxuries."   Her husband is a bit more realistic about their circumstances, and has his priorities more in the realm of reality. While she scoffs at their meals and the simplicity of the diningware, he "uncovered the soup tureen and declared with a delighted air, 'Ah, the good soup! I don't know anything better than that'".  He is grateful for and values what they have, and feels that it is enough.  Of her nice theater dress he states, "It looks very well to me" while she weeps at its plainness.  After whining about the dress, she whines about how "It annoys me not to have a single piece of jewelry".  Her husband, more simple and pragmatic states that ""You might wear natural flowers...They're very stylish at this time of year."  He values a practical approach to fulfilling desires.  In all of these examples we see a selfish, materialistc woman and a practical, pleasant husband.

In the end though, it is Madame Loisel's materialistic desires that ends up shaping and fashioning their entire existence; she drags her husband along in the difficult quest to pay for the necklace, which just goes to show how greed is a hungry animal that impacts everyone around it.

What are the differences between Daisy in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Daisy in Daisy Miller by Henry James?

Daisy Buchanan is not innocent, but she makes every effort to appear innocent.  In fact, Daisy Buchanan is downright guilty, even murderous.  After committing a fatal hit and run, she sacrifices Gatsby in order to retain her innocence -- and her enormous wealth. By contrast, Daisy Miller's innocence is far more pure, natural, and unprotected; certainly, Daisy Miller never kills anyone knowingly only to plan and execute a cowardly escape that sacrifices an innocent man.  Daisy Miller does not pretend to be a forthright flirt; she doesn't need to.  She simply is.  She acts honestly and exactly as she wishes with Winterbourne.  Daisy Buchanan, on the other hand, is hardly convincing when she puts forth the visible effort to be the innocent flirt she claims she once was.  In short, Daisy Buchanan is guilty, cynical, world-weary, surprisingly wise, oppressed, pessimistic, 'fake', and jaded.  Daisy Miller is optimistic, energetic, eager, fresh, new, young, and surprisingly untouched by a world that seeks to limit her.  Daisy Miller is more innocent, open, and simple than Gatsby's Daisy ever was -- even back in her imaged idyll, her "glorious white youth," in Louisville.

In A Christmas Carol, what is the warning that Marley gives Scrooge?

Marley comes to warn Scrooge of the future that is waiting for him if he does not change his ways. He says that it is the job of men to live among and help their fellow man when they are alive. If they do not do so, they are condemned to do so in death. They will wander through the world and see the hurting and suffering in the world, wanting to interfere and do good, but being unable to do anything but observe. As he speaks, Scrooge sees that Marley wears a chain and he asks about it. Marley says that he wears the chain that he created in his life. “I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it. Is its pattern strange to you?” Scrooge sees that it is made of “cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses wrought in steel.” In other words, the tools of his business. The chain is created by caring more about money than people. To further make his point, Marley allows Scrooge a glimpse of the ghosts who are wandering and wailing in emotional pain just outside his own window.

In "The Raven" how does the narrator's emotional state change during the poem?

He starts off just sitting in his chair, reading a book, and he describes himself as "weak and weary."  He was so weary that he didn't even get up to answer the knocking at his door.  He then describes, in more detail, his emotional state.  He is longing for his lost love, a bit depressed, and had sought an escape from that longing in his book.  He says, "eagerly I wished the morrow," and he has "sorrow for the lost Lenore".

But then, he starts to become alarmed and scared.  He says the knocking "filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before" and he gathers courage to go open the door.  He stands there, describing his emotional state.  He is "wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming."  He is really disturbed now, and getting a bit freaked out.  He stays pretty scared.  Later he opens the door again "with many a flirt and flutter" of his heart.

Once the raven appears, his fear turns to awe and amazement as it speaks the words, "Nevermore."  He says, "much I marvelled", and he was "startled much that the stillness was broken".  He then turns ponderous.  He sits down and "betook myself to linking Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore—...Meant in croaking 'Nevermore.'"  But then, he gets anxious and angry that he can't figure out what the bird means.  He demands to know, he yells, he frets, "implores", "shrieks", to no avail.

So, throughout the course of the poem he goes from weary, to terrified, to startled and awed, to ponderous, to angry and demanding.  I hope that helps!