Faulkner employes italics as a visual clue for the reader. What does this form of punctuation always signal in "Barn Burning"?

This question is more complicated than it sounds. Even though Italics are usually pretty reliable to indicate a break with the narrative in general (they may indicate an internal monologue for instance), a lot depends on who has edited the text.Italics are not a form of punctution like commas or hyphens, but a change in font that denote a change in the pattern of expression.

Especially when it comes to Faulkner, publishers and editors have tackled his writings in different ways. I think one can only answer this question in a careful and comparative fashion by looking at the publication of a certain text and by comparing it to Faulkner's original. Most of his publicicized works keep his Italics, but some insert different forms of punctuation ( Absalom,Absalom for instance).

That being said, there is no sure way of reading Faulkner's Italics.

What are two incidents in the book that illustrates times when bonds of love have been destroyed?I Have One About Elie & His Father. Meaning, I...

One of the key incidents to me at least is towards the end of the novel when the survivors have been evacuated from the camp and are placed in cattle carriages again. When German passerbys toss bits of bread into the car, fierce fights break out. Elie, observing the chaos, watches as an old man manages to snatch up a bit of bread, and then is killed for it by his son:

He collapsed. But his fist was still clutching a small crust. He wanted to raise it to his mouth. But the other threw himsel fon him. The old man mumbled something, groaned, and died. Nobody cared.

This example demonstrates how treating the Jews inhumanely had dissolved their humanity - the son willingly kills his father for a scrap of bread.

The other example that comes to mind is when the Jews are being transported to the camp at the beginning of the novel, and they beat up Mrs Schachter when she talks about fires and flames, foreshadowing their fate. Even though she was a friend and well-known in the community and had her son with her, the Jews applaud the young men who beat her up:

"Keep her quiet! Make that madwoman shut up. She's not the only one here..."

She received several blows to the head, blows that could have been lethal. Her son was clinging desperately to her, not uttering a word. He was no longer crying.

Again we see another example of how the treatment the Jews receive makes them in turn inhuman to each other. In spite of the friendship and comradeship they shared with this women they beat her - probably to death - in front of her small son.

In "A Separate Peace", do you think that Gene is telling the truth when he agrees with Finny that the accident in the tree wasn't anything personal ?

I think that the answer to this is yes, and no.  I am not sure that Gene actually wanted to cause physical harm.  It was, as he stated, "a blind impulse".  We have all experienced blind impulses, where we reach out and do something without thinking about it beforehand.  We may regret it afterwards, and are puzzled as to why we did it.  So, I believe that to a certain extent, his actual jouncing of the limb might have been one of those situations-his body just did it.

However, Gene was excruciatingly jealous of Finny.  As a result, he found sinister intentions in everything that Finny did.  Any time that Finny took him away from his studies to go play games, there was some resentment, and Gene even concludes later on that "Finny had deliberately set out to wreck my studies."  When Finny saved him from falling from the tree, Gene even found malintent in that:

"He had...practically lost [my life] for me.  I wouldn't have been on that damn limb except for him."

Even in Finny's selfless act of steadying Gene in the tree, Gene felt he was being selfish.  So, Gene has bitter reserves built up, based on jealousy and envy.  I am sure that some of those reserves drove his action on the tree that day.  There had to be some of that bitterness behind the instinctual action that occurred.  In his mind, he had reason to do it, even if he didn't expect the disasterous results, just as someone in anger lashes out and says or does things they regret later on.  In the end, I feel that there was a bit of both-the initial action was spurned by Gene's anger, but it happened before his rational filter could stop it from happening.

Why is Goodman’s dying hour gloom, as the final line of the story tells us? Why should his dying hour be so filled with despair and devoid of hope?

After Goodman Brown awakes in the forest alone he can not tell if what he experienced in the wood with his wife, Faith, and the devil was real or a dream.  No matter which it was he becomes suspicious of everyone.  He can no longer go to church and listen to the hymns the same way.  He had discovered that night that everyone is suseptible to sin and everyone falls.  He begins to treat everyone differently and he has lost his love and his "faith."  Because of what happened that night in the woods, he experiences a terrible and gloomy life.  So suspicious and angry that when he dies Hawthorn writes:

"And when he had lived long, and was borne to his grave, a hoary corpse, followed by Faith, an aged woman, and children and grand-children, a goodly procession, besides neighbors, not a few, they carved no hopeful verse upon his tombstone; for his dying hour was gloom."

There is a lot more great information about this story at the following links.

What does Crooks mean by the following remark in "Of Mice and Men": "Nobody never gets to heaven and nobody gets no land."

Crooks is a very cynical man because of the way that he has been treated during his life. Because he is a Black man, he is forced to live in a separate room on the ranch away from the other men. He reads books to pass the time but has no real relationships with the other men who work on the ranch. His cynicism has made both his belief in God and in dreams disappear. So when Lennie first tells him about the dream he and George have of a farm, Crooks simply doesn't believe it can happen. That's why he says," Nobody never gets to heaven and nobody gets no land." In other words, heaven doesn't exist for Crooks and neither do the fulfillment of dreams. He is sure Lennie and George will never achieve their dream of a farm or land.

In The Great Gatsby, why do you suppose that Tom decides to let Wilson finally have the car he has been promising him?

There are essentially two reasons Tom decides to acquiesce to George Wilson's request at this point. Firstly, he just discovered that his wife and Jay Gatsby are involved in an affair.

"She had told him that she loved him, and Tom Buchanan saw. He was astounded. His mouth opened a little and he looked at Gatsby and then back at Daisy as if he had just recognized her as some one he knew a long time ago."

This incident occurs in the Buchanan's dining room, after lunch. Tom has just been contacted by a determined George Wilson who wants to buy the car Tom had promised to sell to him. Tom was been upset by his demand, stating that:

 "Very well, then, I won't sell you the car at all. . . . I'm under no obligations to you at all. . . . And as for your bothering me about it at lunch time I won't stand that at all!"

Because of what Tom had just seen, he realized that he had much to do to restore his relationship with Daisy, for it was under threat. He had to consider ending his relationship with Myrtle. He had left George hanging and unsure because it provided him with an excuse to visit the garage and make arrangements to meet with Myrtle but in this context, the car issue has now lost its importance.

Furthermore, George emphatically informed Tom later that:

"I've been here too long. I want to get away. My wife and I want to go west."

"She's been talking about it for ten years."

"And now she's going whether she wants to or not. I'm going to get her away."

The realization that he would probably never see Myrtle again made Tom's mind up for him and he finally relented, telling George that:

"I'll let you have that car, I'll send it over tomorrow afternoon."

What sports that have translational or rotational or combination of both motions?Give the sport and then label it if it is translational,...

I was originally a physical education teacher and majored in this subject before moving on to other areas.  If I am remembering correctly, a translational motion in sports would be the act of stepping out.  Rotational motion would be pivoting.  Most sports have these motions included in one way or another.  Basketball comes to mind right away because there is a great deal of a combination of both of these motions.  When a ball player is holding the basketball and wants to pass or maybe shoot and the basket or player is behind them, they must pivot on one foot being careful not to pick up their pivot foot.  This causes a great deal of rotational torque on the knee.  The transitional motion comes into play when they step out to dribble or pass.

Football also uses a combination of the two motions.  The stepping up into the pocket to pass the football would be transitional motion, and the turning, or the pivot to lateral to another player would be rotational.  Bowling would be transitional because you don’t pivot the foot when you bowl, but the ball itself is thrown in a transitional motion, and it also has rotational motion.  Volleyball would be transitional motion but again, there would be some rotational motion when pivoting for a dig, or a spike.  I honestly can’t think of any sport where both transitional and rotational motion would not be used. 

Is the "stranger" in "To a Stranger" by Walt Whitman really a stranger? Explain.

I think that the stranger is probably literally a stranger passing by; however, Whitman feels a connection to him or her, or at least wants to feel a connection to them.  The message of the poem is the potential friendship or connection that we could have with each human being we encounter.  We often seek companionship, affirmation, love, and closeness in others, but pass by so manyopportunities to have that relationship.  So Whitman states "how longingly I look upon you,/You must be he I was seeking" for exactly that type of companionship.  If you have ever sat in a crowded place and looked at people that you don't know, and wondered about their lives, then you can relate to what Whitman felt.  He wonders if that stranger is the person that could fill the longing that he has for that closeness to another person.  He feels of the stranger that "You grew up with me, were a boy with me or a girl with me,/I ate with you and slept with you, your body has become not yours only nor left my body mine only, You give me the pleasure of your eyes, face, flesh, as we pass, you take of my beard, breast, hands, in return."  This potential connection with a stranger is the point of his poem, that we could be that close, that we might be missing out on opportunities of friendship every day if we don't take them.

In Chapter 6 of The Great Gatsby, what does Gatsby want from Daisy?

Chapter 6 concerns Tom and Daisy’s first visit to Gatsby’s mansion, for one of his splendid parties.  Daisy is impressed at the celebrities in attendance, but overall doesn’t have a very good time.  “She was appalled by West Egg,” Fitzgerald writes, and despite her politeness it was very clear how she felt, for when the party was over Gatsby approaches Nick and says, with no prelude, “She didn’t like it.”  He wanted desperately for Daisy to be impressed by his party, by his lavish guests and his lavish decorations; he wanted her to fall in love with his extravagance, and by extension be overwhelmed with admiration and love for him, for Gatsby himself.  Nick states soon after this initial interchange that “He wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say:  ‘I never loved you.’” 

In Chapter 6, we see that Gatsby wants Daisy’s admiration, and he wants her love.  He wants her to become dissatisfied with the life she has, he wants her to leave Tom and run to him.  And he has lived with his illusions for so long he is surprised when these things do not happen immediately.  “And she doesn’t understand,” he laments – “She used to be able to understand.”  He is clinging desperately to a long-gone era of his life, so much so that he rejects Nick’s reality-check and says that of course you can repeat the past.  Of course.  As if it were the most logical thing in the world.  As if it were the founding principle of the world.  And he becomes overfull with the determination to recreate everything, to make Daisy fall in love with him by making everything as it was before – it is an obsession, and here we see the first fruits of that obsession, and the first real insight into Gatsby’s emotional disfigurement.

Please define these terms: body paragraph, introductory paragraph, Desciptive essay, Narrative essay, Argumentative essay

Introductory Paragraph sets the tone by stating the main topic of the essay in a topic sentence and hinting at the writer's stance on the topic. It may include an anecdote, quotation or background information to lightly highlight the topic to the readers.

Body Paragraph usually three or more, gives supporting details to the topic put forward in the introduction. 

Descriptive Essay expresses the characteristics of an object such as what it looks like, the sounds it makes, and what it feels, smells and tastes like. It appeals to the five senses of the reader through the use of literary devices: imagery, comparison and spacial words.

Narrative Essay seeks to present an event to the reader as if they were there witnessing the incident. In order to check if an article is a narrative one should be able to answer the following: how, what, where, when, who. Essentially one should be able to recount what happened at a particular event. It uses devices such as transitional words/phrases, definition, cause and effect and examples.

Persuasive/Argumentative Essay is an attempt to convince or persuade a reader that a particular topic/subject is true by means of appeal to reason or emotion. In order to check if an article is argumentative one should be able to cite evidence from the essay.

What incident late in Act 5 of Macbeth best echoes Malcolm's "Nothing in his life / Became him like the leaving of it"?

Malcolm, of course, is talking about the Thane of Cawdor who went to his death nobly in Act One. Though, were his lines in Act 5, he might well have been talking about Young Siward, who bravely challenges and fights Macbeth in Act 5, Scene 7:

YOUNG SIWARD
Thou liest, abhorred tyrant; with my sword
I'll prove the lie thou speak'st.

Siward is slain by Macbeth, and lies dead on the battlefield. Ross tells Siward (Young Siward's father), after Macbeth's death, that Young Siward has been killed:

Your son, my lord, has paid a soldier's debt:
He only lived but till he was a man
The which no sooner had his prowess confirm'd
In the unshrinking station where he fought,
But like a man he died.

Young Siward only lived to be a man by seconds: his "unshrinking" bravery made him a man ("his prowess confirm'd") and then he was immediately killed. Nothing in his life, indeed, became him like the leaving it. And that, indeed, is more or less what Siward says:

Had I as many sons as I have hairs
I would not wish them to a fairer death.
And so his knell is knoll'd.

In The Kite Runner, what is the significance of Amir's dream about Baba and the bear?

When Amir returns to Afghanistan to recue Hassan's son, Amir endures a terrible, life-threatening beating in order to save the little boy. While he recuperates in the hospital, he has a dream in which his father Baba wrestles a great and fearsome bear. Baba overcomes the bear through strength, courage, and determination. In Amir's dream, he sees Baba's face as the bear is defeated, then he realizes he is looking not at Baba's face, but his own.

This is a moment of redemption for Amir. Since childhood, he has lived with guilt and shame and fear. He has loathed himself for his lack of courage and integrity, most of it resulting from his shameful betrayal of Hassan in their childhood. By returning to Afghanistan and saving Hassan's son Sohrab, Amir has overcome his fear, finally, and acted with courage and honor. For Amir, finally, he has become his father's son, deserving of self-respect.

What is John Steinbeck suggesting about the U.S. economic system in Chapter 5 in The Grapes of Wrath. no

The Grapes of Wrath, is a great novel on the American culture and life back during one of the darkest times in US history: The Great Depression. As you mentioned in your question, the Economic System was certainly responsible for helping us get out of the Depression, but it is also what contributed to getting us there.

Throughout the novel, readers get insight into the Joad family and their struggles as they make their way across Route 66 to get to California. The US economic system throughout this book, mentions a great deal on the suffering of the lower class, the inability to find work (aka high unemployment), and the inequality of the higher and lower classes in society. The Joad family is a great example that details this economic system.

As the family travels across the country, we get witness into not only the suffering of the family, but also the people they run into throughout the book. The lower class is always suffering, while the higher class who owns property rights and the means to all the capital, are striving. Unfortunately, this inequality was inescapable in the majority of the Great Depression. Since unemployment was so high, people were desperate to take any possible job that came there way. Before minimum wage laws, this lead to a very low wage for these type of workers simply because they had no other option. 

The inequality that the economic system caused in The Great Depression, is well seen throughout this whole novel. I hope my explanation helps you a little bit with your question.

When typing a letter, is the "Sincerely" part of it indented, or left justified?

The answer depends on your overall letter style.

In the block style, everything is left justified. So, your letter might be:

February 3, 2009

Dear Sue,

Hi, how are you?

Sincerely,

Lizzie

Many prefer to write their letters with some indentation. Basically, if you indent anything you should indent the Sincerely and the signature.

So, you might indent just the date and the Sincerely, etc.

February 3, 2009

Dear Sue,

Hi, how are you?

Sincerely,

Lizzie

Another style is to indent the date, the beginning of each paragraph and the Sincerely, etc.

February 3, 2009

Dear Sue,

---Hi, how are you?

Sincerely,

Lizzie

[I can't format correctly here. Imagine that the dashes before Hi are spaces. The point is that the paragraph indent would be less than the date and closing indent.]

What do you think about Atticus' reaction to Bob Ewell's challenge in Chapter 23 of "To Kill a Mockingbird"? Thank you...

If I were to hand-pick the perfect dad, Atticus Finch would be him.  Not only does he have to raise these two children without their mother, he also is a role model for an entire town.  His most outstanding trait is courage -- that is why he is able to shrug off Bob Ewell's threats to his own person.  However, when it comes down to Bob attempting to kill his children, Atticus becomes the proverbial "mother" bear.  Atticus does understand Bob's world, however, in the gentle way he treated Bob's daughter, Mayella, at the trial.  If we were all able to emulate Atticus in his reaction to the town "bully", Bob Ewell, and shrug it off, the world would certainly be a more peaceful place.

Miss Mags

Where do we see supernatural forces having an impact in "Macbeth"?

The impact of the supernatural forces in "Macbeth" are the motivations for the actions of the main characters throughout the play. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth and Banquo encounter the three witches who predict three things.

1. Macbeth, who is currently Thane of Glamis will be Thane of Cawdor.

2. Macbeth will also be king of Scotland

3. Banquo will not be king himself, but will be the father of kings.

When Macbeth returns to Duncan, he is quickly named Thane of Cawdor. Then he and his wife plot to make second prophecy come true by killing Duncan, the king. Then, he kills Banquo to prevent him from being "the father of kings". The play continues to show the sad consequences of Macbeth's actions.

Then, In order to secure a wicked ending for Macbeth, the witches return and again predict three things.

1. Macbeth should be wary of Macduff.

2. Macbeth will not be killed by " no one given birth to by a woman".((V,i,90)

3. Nothing will happen to Macbeth unless " Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill/ Shall come against him. ( V,i, 104-105)

This supernatural prediction gives Macbeth the mistaken belief that he has nothing to fear, except from Macduff, whose family Macbeth kills. Then Macduff flees to England and Macbeth believes he is safe. However, as is often the case with witches in Elizabethan times, their words have double meaning.In the end, Macbeth's false sense of security because of the witches supernatural predictions eventually lead to his downfall

In “Indian Camp,” what is the effect of the young husband’s death on Nick Adams?Thank you very much

I like Ms Mc's answer. Other things to think about:

EH shows Uncle George to be a coward. Read "Three Shots" which originally was a single story with "Indian Camp". EH does not like his uncle who would not lend financial support to Dr. H.

Suicide and untimely death are two big Hem themes. When I teach EH short stories, I use  Indian Camp, The Short Happy..., and Cap of the World.

pops 

What are the differences and similarities between Portia and Calphurniain Julius Caesar?

Though both women are wives of noble men, the way they are treated by their husband (and the way they treat their husbands) is quite different, as depicted by Shakespeare.

Portia is depicted a strong-willed and stubborn. She knows there is something troubling her husband and is relentless in her pursuit to find out what is it. She uses different persuasion techniques to prove that despite the fact she is a woman, she is strong enough to be placed in his confidence. Portia sees herself as an equal to Brutus--someone Brutus chose to be his equal--rather than the traditional subservient role as a wife. Later, Porita plays into the stereotype of the hysterical woman. Brutus has obviously told her the assassination plan. She is frantic about what is happening at the Capitol, even mentioning that her woman's heart is weak.

Calphurnia, on the other hand, is shown as subservient to her husband from the beginning. She refers to Caesar as "my Lord", and does what he commands her to do (stand in Antony's way so he can touch her and cure her of her infertility during the foot races). When she has foreboding dreams about Caesar's death, she begs him not to go to the Capitol. Rather than giving in to her because she is his wife and his equal, Caesar treats her like a child who's had a bad dream--he is condescending and agrees to stay home to make her happy. He is quick to change his mind, however, when he is convinced it will make him look weak to submit to his wife's wishes.

Who are the main characters in Kipling's "Captains Courageous"?

The first main character is fifteen year old Harvey Cheyne who is traveling to Europe from the U.S. He begins his trip with a chip on his shoulder, but the work involved in the trip helps him to become self reliant.

Dan Troop is the captain's son. He has doubts about Harvey

Disko Troop is the Captain of "We're Here", a schooner. He is a good and respectful captain.

Mr. Cheyne is Harvey's proud father.

Other crew members include Long Jack, Manuel, Salters, Pennsylvania, and The Cook.

In Flannery O'Connor's short story "Revelation," what is the turning point, the climax, the conclusion?

Almost certainly the key “turning point” in Flannery O’Connor’s short story titled “Revelation” is the moment when Mary Grace, boiling over with anger, literally throws the book at Mrs. Turpin, hitting her squarely in the head. The book, appropriately enough, is titled Human Development, and the fact that Mrs. Turpin has been hit with it will indeed help her develop more fully as a human being by the very end of the story. (It is also ironic, however, that Mary Grace, of all people, should be reading such a book, since she is so under-developed as one of God’s creatures.)

In any case, the attack on Mrs. Turpin – including Mary Grace’s memorable admonition (“Go back to hell where you came from, you old wart hog”) – is a definite turning-point in the story and in Mrs. Turpin’s life. From this point on, she undergoes a slow and painful spiritual transformation. For a long time she resists this transformation, but it ultimately results in the full-blown “revelation” she receives at the end of the story.

Mrs. Turpin's spiritual evolution is shown in a way that is not true of evolution (if any) of The Misfit, in O’Connor’s story “A Good Man is Hard to Find."  O’Connor once suggested that The Misfit, having experienced his own revelation just before shooting the grandmother, had the potential to develop into the prophet he had the capacity to become.  Yet she said that that kind of development was “another story.” In a sense, in “Revelation” we get to see what such a development might have involved.

To say this is not suggest, in any way, that at the end of “Revelation” Mrs. Turpin has been transformed into a prophet – not at all.  It is simply to suggest that she is led to a far more explicit kind of “revelation” than even The Misfit experiences.

The “climax” of the story, then, is the revelation itself, which occurs when Mrs. Turpin perceives a “vast horde of souls . . . rumbling toward heaven.” At the front of the line are many of the kinds of people whom Mrs. Turpin has spent much of the story condemning, including “white trash” and blacks. O’Connor then continues:

And bringing up the end of the procession was a tribe of people whom she recognized at once as those who, like herself and Claud, had always had a little of everything and the God-given wit to use it right. . . . Yet she could see by their shocked and altered faces that even their virtues were being burned away.

The paragraph in which these sentences appear might be called “the climax” of the story because they make explicit the whole “point” of the story. They reveal the deepest meanings of the tale, with its extended rebuke of pride. Everything in the story, including the “turning point,” was designed to lead up to this moment.

Mrs. Turpin’s “revelation” continues right up until the last words of the story. O’Connor rarely concluded a work of fiction with such an explicit explanation of the meaning of the work as she offers here.

In The Cask of Amontillado, why is the narrator happy to meet Fortunato?

The narrator is happy to meet Fortunato because he has been planning to kill him for some time. The story begins with a statement for the narrator that "A Thousand injuries I have borne the best I could but when he ventured on insult, I vowed revenge." The narrator continues to say that he did not let on to Fortunato that he planned to kill him. Instead he continued to "smile" at his "friend" and never let Fortunato even know he was angry with him. However, when he comes across him at carnival time, Montresor has already sent out his servants and the trap is set. Thus when he meets Fortunato he says, "we are luckily met". The narrator is being sarcastic because what he is really saying is, "I'm so glad to see you because I've just set my trap for your death."

Uncertainty is one of the themes of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. How far is it true?

Rosecrantz and Guildenstern spend almost the entire play in a state of uncertainty.  Since the play is absurdist, the constant questioning of the two courtiers, who are at turns knowing and completely ignorant of their fate, the uncertainty is presented humorously.  For example, in Act One Rosencrantz and Guildenstern play the ridiculous game of "Heads/Tails" flipping a coin.  Though in the real world the outcome of a coin toss is truly uncertain  -- there is a fifty-fifty chance it could be heads or tails --when Rosencrantz flips the coin it is always Heads, except for the very last flip that sends them into Hamlet.  What does this suspension of chance, or uncertainty, mean?

Since Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead  is a play inserted inside another play of which the ending is known to a great many people (Hamlet), the characters are trapped within a framework in which there is no uncertainty.  Hamlet is still Hamlet in this play -- with the same characters and the same unavoidable ending every time.  That's where Stoppard's idea of uncertainty comes in.  In art, Stoppard is saying, we can manipulate reality so that it is the same every time, like the coin flip, and therefore we can control what the audience sees.  Since the depiction, and the audience's understanding, of death is a central theme of the play, it is necessary, within the controlled world of the play, to eliminate uncertainty. 

But life, we are continuously reminded, is not like a play.  We are uncertain -- we do not, usually, know when we are going to die.  We do not know if, when the coin falls, it will be heads or tails.  So, within the controlled environment of the play Hamlet, Stoppard has Rosencrantz and Guildenstern question everything, including their own identities.  This most basic uncertainty (such as in Act One, when Rosencrantz and Guildenstern first meet the Player, and they are unable to even decide which one of them is which: “Rosencrantz: My name is Guildenstern, and this is Rosencrantz, (Guildenstern confers briefly with him) (Without embarrassment) I’m sorry – his name’s Guildenstern, and I’m Rosencrantz)) is meant to show the human condition. 

The clever use of tertiary – but well-recognized and pivotal – characters in one of the most famous plays in the English language is meant to show that we, no matter how predictable or humdrum we think our lives are, are in the same sort of uncertainty that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are.  The illusion of art gives the audience the ability to look at that uncertainty from a distance, and see the absurdity of it.

But as far as a theme of the plot, there is no actual uncertainty for the two characters.  There is no doubt in the audience (and The Player's) minds that the end is coming for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern -- their fate is in the title.  The uncertainty can be whether Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are experiencing the events leading to their death after they are dead, or before, or perhaps only in the imagination of The Player.  This is an added level of uncertainty in the play, but on some level it is for the audience and not the characters.

Which two characters change throughout "The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn"?

I'm not sure you can say that 2 characters change--seems to me that Huck is the only dynamic character in this story and that the rest of them stay static or unchanged.

Huck goes from a simple child that does not question the morality and/or ethics behind the practice of slavery to having an adult realization that slavery is wrong. Along this journey, Huck realizes that just because everyone is doing it doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. He begins to question the practice of slavery because he begins to see Jim as a human being, as a father figure, and as a friend. Huck feels so strongly about ensuring Jim's freedom that he even is willing to go to hell for being an "abolitionist"--the worst thing a southern man can be.

I guess you can say that Jim changes, but it's not really him that changes, it's more Huck's PERCEPTION of Jim that changes (and the reader's perception too). In the beginning Jim is portrayed as this comical, ignorant slavehand, but as we get to know him we learn about his family and about how much he cares for Huck. The reader and Huck get to see Jim's personal side. But as I said, Jim was this way all along--always caring, helpful and kind--so it's how Jim is viewed that changes, but not Jim himself.

In "To Kill a Mockingbird", why does Atticus ask Bob Ewell to write out his name? What does the jury see when he does this?(In Chapter 17 of 'To...

Atticus Finch makes Bob Ewell sign his name to prove in court that Ewell is left-handed. As Tom's own left hand has been useless ever since a farm accident a few years earlier, this proves that Mayella's aggressor is someone left-handed (such as her own father). For the bruises inflicted on her have been done by someone who had use of both his hands and who was in proximity at the time of the incident.

Atticus catches Ewell off guard, who does not see into what the lawyer is driving at until it is too late.

Describe Scout’s family background and her present household in To Kill a Mockingbird.

The Finches represent an old, southern family who has lived in the area of Maycomb for generations.  Because of their ancestry, they are well respected in town. Simon Finch first came to the area around Maycomb searching for his fortune by trapping animals and fur trading. He later bought land around what is now called Finch Landing and built a plantation on the site. Aunt Alexandra still lives on the plantation with her husband and son, Francis.  Atticus’ brother, Jack, left the area to become a doctor, and of course, Atticus lives in their modest home in Maycomb with Jem and Scout.  The family, however, spends holidays on the old family plot of land at Finch Landing. 

Because Scout and Jem’s mother died when Scout was little, Atticus hired Calpurnia to do household chores and look after the children while he is busy in his office as a lawyer or at the state capitol as a representative.  Although Calpurnia is strict and has “epic” battles with Scout, Atticus considers her one of the family. 

Throughout the novel, we see Atticus’ valiant efforts to raise his children as a single father who doesn’t always know what he is doing but is, however, a wonderful role model to his children.

In The Scarlet Letter, what gesture does Reverend Dimmesdale make throughout the book?

Dimmesdale would often grab his chest, especially when particularly difficult or painful experiences come up.  Here's an example from Chapter 10:

"Then why not reveal them here?" asked Roger Chillingworth, glancing quietly aside at the minister. "Why should not the guilty ones sooner avail themselves of this unutterable solace?"

"They mostly do," said the clergyman, griping hard at his breast, as if afflicted with an importunate throb of pain.

Ironically, although Hester's "A" on her breast cannot be covered up, and that very fact makes her suffering lighter in the long run, Dimmesdale's is covered, and that just increases his suffering.  (This is based on the unproven assumption that he also had an "A" on his breast).

How does each man shape, change, encourage, or stifle Janie as she searches for her voice?If you can, please include page numbers and quotes. Thank...

MaudlinStreet
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High School Teacher

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(Level 2) Senior Educator

Posted on December 1, 2009 at 3:11 PM

What are 12 major events of The Giver in chronological order?

1. Jonas starts seeing beyond (color).

2. He gets stirrings (feelings) and has to take pills to control them.

3. At the Ceremony of Twelve, Jonas is announced the new Receiver of Memory.

4. He receives his first memory: sledding downhill in the snow.

5. Jonas receives the memory of a colorful rainbow.

6. Seeing that the giver is not well, Jonas offers to receive the memory. He gets the memory of war and is forced to watch a comrade die slowly while feeling the awful sensation of being shot in the arm. It's the first time he's ever felt real pain.

7. He receives the amazing memory of love.

8. Jonas doesn't want to play good guys and bad guys with his friends because he is the only person that realizes that it's a game of war and he knows how horrible that can be.

9. The Giver tells Jonas about the last receiver(Rosemary)who failed and requested for release.

10. Jonas and The Giver watch his dad release a baby. Jonas is shocked, terrified, and feels betrayed at the same time.

11. Jonas is forced to escape the community at night with Gabe because he found out that Gabe was going to be released in the morning.

12. They are exhausted and starving, but finally they make their way up a snow-covered hill and see the warm glow of a little town.

Why do Daisy and Tom Buchanan invite Nick to dinner?

Nick is Daisy's second cousin and Nick had known Tom in college. Daisy lived in Louisville, the same town Nick was from until she married Tom and they moved to the East coast. In fact, when Nick first sees Daisy again, she asks playfully , "Do they the people of Louisville) miss me? Nick answers, "The whole town is desolate. All the cars have the left rear wheel painted black..." Daisy retorts, "How gorgeous! Let's go back, Tom. Tomorrow!" Of course, Tom and Daisy will never go back to the Midwest because they have throughly accustomed themselves to the East Coast and its values.

In "To Kill a Mockingbird", what type of man did Alexandra marry?

Uncle Jimmy, Aunt Alexandra's husband, is part of the story's "background" characters -- that is to say, he never really appears, but we hear mention of him and his personality throughout the book, and Scout's opinion is none too high regarding him.

His only words to her in the past have been of a corrective or near-disciplinary nature ("Get off the fence"), and when he doesn't show up with Aunt Alexandra to stay with Atticus and family, his wife shows no great remorse.

As Scout put it, Uncle Jimmy present or absent made no difference (paraphrase). When Alexandra is asked if she will miss him, she shirks off the question by simply ignoring it. The reader is led to infer all kinds of things about Uncle Jimmy: He could just be insensitive, but we might also speculate that perhaps he goes beyond being emotionally cold, which is why Aunt Alexandra does not miss his presence. 

Who is the protagonist in Hemingway's "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place"?

American Heritage Dictionary explains protagonist as coming from the Greek word protagnists, which is the Greek combining form proto-, meaning first in rank or first in time, plus the root agnists, meaning actor. So, the definition of protagonist to work with, so as to recognize a protagonist, is that a protagonist is the character (or sometimes characters) who is the first in importance and, sometimes, the first presented. How does this fit in with Hemingway's "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place"?

Hemingway starts by drawing attention to "an old man who sat in the shadow the leaves." While he is the first in time, being the first individual mentioned, he is not first in importance. He does, nonetheless, act as a catalyst for the inner conflict, the self versus self conflict of the protagonist, who is the waiter and the next character mentioned. The waiter is the at once a second narrative voice (""Last week he tried to commit suicide," one waiter said. ... "He was in despair.") and the voice through whom the conflict is analyzed and described, thus giving him greatest importance.

It was a nothing that he knew too well. It was all a nothing and a man was a nothing too. It was only that, and light was all it needed and a certain cleanness and order. Some lived in it and never felt it, but he knew it all was nada y pues nada y nada y pues nada.

The young waiter can't qualify as the protagonist--even though it is his life we are given most intimate details for--because he leaves while the first waiter continues his conversation by himself. He speaks to himself of existential angst, about despair, about nada, and about the importance of a clean, well-lighted place that lends to the illusion of keeping the inner conflict at bay. For these reasons, the waiter who hopes his sleeplessness is only insomnia, is the protagonist.

A clean, well-lighted cafe was a very different thing. Now, without thinking further, he would go home to his room. He would lie in the bed and finally, with daylight, he would go to sleep. After all, he said to himself, it's probably only insomnia. Many must have it.

Which quotes in "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" support the theme of generational differences?

Although quite brief, "A Clean-Well-Lighted Place" is full of interpretative possibility.  One theme is indeed generational difference--a conflict that was also mirrored in 1920s American and Western European culture.

This theme is introduced early in the text.  The young waiter is unable to understand how the old man in the story could be depressed since he had "plenty of money."  Of course in Hemingway's fiction, a closely examined life reveals a long list of depressing realities.

The young waiter in the story is more concerned about his late nights than with the old man's difficult existence.  Unable to think beyond his immediate needs of money and companionship, the waiter notes that "An old man is a nasty thing."

The older waiter is more sympathetic to the old man's plight.  Hemingway describes him as "unhurried" (hurry is generally not positive in any of Hemingway's fiction as at implies an inability to stop and savor life's brief moments of beauty and goodness).  The older waiter tells his colleague that he has "youth, confidence, and a job."  The younger waiter has "everything," but he lacks wisdom. The young waiter rushes home to his wife; the older waiter recognizes that "there may be someone who needs the cafe."

The two waiters represent two different approaches to living.  The younger waiter is rash, egotistic, and naive.  The older waiter, like the old man, has seen the dark side of life--the death, decay, and loss that is "nada" : "a nothing that he knew all too well."  The cafe--bright and dignified--could offer a respite from nada.

It is this awareness of nada that separates the waiters and is here dramatized as a generational difference.  This awareness of nada is not only a function of age and wisdom, however, but in this story, the confidence and youth of the younger waiter insulates him from nada.  It is, however, a false insulation.  In Hemingway, nothingness is pervasive.

What would happen if wood where no longer available?

This is a great question.  First of all, we have to consider all the things that could no longer be constructed using wood as a main material--log cabins, other types of housing, sheds, etc.  These items would need to be made out of other materials or a wood "lookalike". 

We also need to consider heat sources for those who live in cold climates and depend on wood for fuel.  These individuals would need to depend on other sources--coal, solar energy, propane, kerosene, gasoline, or some other fuel source.

There would also be the hundreds of thousands of species of animals which would be effected by the absence of their homes, food sources, and sources for building nests, burrows, shelters.  Many would be extinct which would further disrupt and effect the ecology of the world.

Think of the the flooding and erosion that we would not be able to control for the lack of trees.  There is also the issue of more polluted air worldwide since trees make up the bulk of our natural air filtering system.

I'm sure I'm missing something, but that's a good start for now.  Of course, these are not in order of importance...just in the order that they came to mind.

Check out the links below for more information on the importance of trees and wood in our society and worldwide.  Good Luck!

In chapter 2 of "Lord of the Flies", how do the boys start the fire?

The boys go to the top of mountain. They gather dried wood and make a huge pile. For kindling, the twins Sam and Eric find dried leaves and pile them on top of the wood. Once this is accomplished, they are unsure of how to start the fire. Jack suggests rubbing two sticks together, and Roger says something about making a bow and spinning the arrow. Finally, when Piggy makes it up the mountain, Ralph asks him if he has any matches. Jack is suddenly struck with the ideas to use Piggy's glasses to make a fire. Jack takes the glasses from Piggy's face and kneels. Ralph takes the glasses and tries to start a fire.

Ralph moved the lenses back and forth...till a glossy white image of the declining sun lay on a peice of rotten wood. Almost at once a thin trickle of smoke rose...and a tiny flame appeared...[it] enveloped a small twig, grew, was enriched with color...[and] the flame flapped higher.

This is significant because if the fire goes out, Piggy is the only person who has the ability to relight it.

How did Jonas feel about knowing more than his family in The Giver?

Jonas often feels angry and frustrated about knowing more than both his family and his friends.  Now that the Giver has transferred some memories to him, his life has taken on a beauty and energy that he never before could have imagined.  Instead of greyness and sameness, he is beginning to see color, and he is developing concepts about ideas and realities far beyond anything he has ever experienced in the Community.  Jonas feels angry, irrationally angry, that his family members and friends are "satisfied with their lives which (have) none of the vibrance his own (is) taking on...and he (is) angry at himself, that he (can) not change that for them".

On the day when the Giver transfers the memory of elephants to him, in all their majesty even in tragedy, Jonas goes home and sees Lily playing with her comfort object, a stuffed elephant.  He longs to be able to give her an understanding of what an elephant really was like, and even though it is against the rules, he tries to transfer a piece of the memory to her.  Jonas wants give Lily a sense of "the being of the elephant, of the towering, immense creature", and the tenderness with which it is capable of showing towards others of its species despite its great size.  Lily, however, is oblivious, and even gets annoyed that he is touching her in trying to pass the memory on to her.  Like Lily, Jonas's parents and friends are incapable of sharing the knowledge Jonas now has, and Jonas feels isolated, angry, and alone (Chapter 14).

What is one of the themes in "Janus" by Ann Beattie?

One of the themes in "Janus" is that of aesthetics. Most successful authors have a personal theory of aesthetics, a philosophical theory that describes the nature of beauty. As Cambridge Dictionary Online puts it: "the formal study of art, especially in relation to the idea of beauty." Dictionary.com offers a more elaborate and revealing definition of aesthetics:

1.
the branch of philosophy dealing with such notions as the beautiful, the ugly, the sublime, the comic, etc., as applicable to the fine arts, with a view to establishing the meaning and validity of critical judgments concerning works of art, and the principles underlying or justifying such judgments.
2.
the study of the mind and emotions in relation to the sense of beauty.

Ann Beattie is a minimalist, and since minimalism in literature opposes the traditional mimetic view of literature--that literature conveys divine truths that human hearts desire but can't find on their own without the inspired help of poets/writers (Aristotle, Sydney)--Beattie was heavily criticized by those looking unfavorably upon the new style of minimalism. Therefore, one of the themes that pro-minimalist critics find in "Janus" is a thematic statement of Beattie's theory of aesthetics.

This view equates the bowl with Beattie's minimalist style: it is perfect though not obtrusive and, yes, perhaps overshadowed by other more splendid bowls, yet it has dazzling qualities that catch the eye and hold the attention and beg to be studied, like the surprising flecks of sparkling color in the glaze of the bowl. This theme shows that Beattie's theory of aesthetics is the epitome of the "less is more" theory.

Why does different samples of water have different pH values? Please I need to know right away.

The request of question is vague since it does not specify if the source of samples of water is the same or it changes with each sample collected.

The pH of samples of water can vary even if the source remains unchanged, because the pH of water can fluctuate over a 24 hours cycle because of the process of photosynthesis of aquatic plants. During night, the pH decreases because the aquatic plants release the CO_2 in water, in the process of respiration. There exists also seasonal fluctuations of pH in summer time than winter time because, in summer, the increasing of temperatures and light generate higher respiration rates of aquatic plants.

If the samples of water are collected from various sources, then there exists a great number of factors that can produce fluctuations in pH of water.

For what reason does the wife keep asking Robert if he’d like to go to bed in "The Cathedral"? What effect does Robert’s reply have on the...

The most straightforward reason why she keeps asking is that she herself is tired and wants to go to bed, but can't until her guest goes to bed.  If you have ever had guests over, and wanted to go to bed, a good way to hint around is to hint politely, as she did, "Your bed is made up when you feel like going to bed, Robert. I know you must have had a long day. When you’re ready to go to bed, say so."  But, he doesn't go to bed and neither does her husband, so she eventually just dozes off right there on the couch.  The story really doesn't indicate that there is any reaction from the husband whatsoever.  She asks Robert twice to tell them when he was ready to go to sleep, and neither time does the narrator react. He has other comments throughout though.  For example, when she goes upstairs to change and takes a long time he states, "I wished she’d come back downstairs. I didn’t want to be left alone with a blind man".  Then, when she falls asleep, he states, "I wish my wife hadn't pooped out."  So initially he is resentful that he has to be there with Robert, alone, playing host.  It is uncomfortable for him.  He does it though, and in the end, has a really neat experience drawing the cathedral, so it wasn't too bad after all.

In "Battle Royal", what does it mean to the narrator to have the superintendent of school at the hotel give his speech?

The narrator is at first quite honored to find that the superintendent of schools is among the men at the gathering in the hotel. Then when the white men's behavior becomes rude and offensive because of their blatant racism, the narrator is appalled and then disgusted by them. The superintendent is among those who are drunk, and this fact shocks the narrator as well. His view of the community leaders is shattered because the white men behave so abominably toward the young black men. Only when he is given the briefcase and scholarship does he feel some sense of appreciation, but even then his reaction is mixed because he has been humiliated, beaten, electrically shocked, and told to deliver his speech after this ordeal.

In chapter 9, what are the particular benefits of a belief in Sugarcandy Mountain?

Marx's famous quote that religion is the "opium of the people" is presented in"Animal Farm" as Sugarcandy Mountain.  It's interesting that both of the words used to describe the Mountain, "sugar" and "candy" refer to sweetness, perhaps relating to sugarcoating a bad situation.

SugarCandy Mountain, in Christian terms heaven, is the reward that the animals will receive after their life of misery on the Farm.  Critics of religion have often noted that those in charge of the state have often used religion to deflect concern from the citizens' present situation (since, after all, life is short) and turn their attention toward an eternal reward where they will  be rewarded with eternal happiness while they can watch their tormentors on earth suffer the eternal punishment of hell.  This has led to some horrible arrangements between Church/State as typified by the revolt against both the State and the Clergy in the French Revolution.  In the words of Denis Diderot, "Man will never be free untill the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest."

The key benefit of Sugarcandy Mountain, therefore, seem to devolve upon the state which can use the promise of eternal reward to keep the Animals "accepting" of their rule in this life.

How does Marlowe's Doctor Faustus compare to Shelley's Frankenstein?

Both Christopher Marlowe's play Doctor Faustus and Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein treat some of the same themes, specifically the question of intellectual pride.  In Doctor Faustus, the title character, after seeking power in the knowledge available in the normal courses of study (philsophy, theology,natural philosophy, et al.), makes a bargain with Mephistopheles, a representative of the devil.  According to this bargain, Doctor Faustus would have access to the forbidden knowledge of magic - the only kind of knowledge that grants him power - for the period of 24 years. Doctor Faustus feels that he deserves to have this knowledge; he expresses no gratitude for having it.

The power that Doctor Faustus has as a result of this bargain is literally the power to shape the world - to alter God's creation.  He even goes so far as to alter the course of the river Rhine.  In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, the title character seeks comparable knowledge.  In the search for that knowledge, he displays the same kind of intellectual pride that Doctor Faustus does.  In successfully reanimating human tissue, Frankenstein assumes the power of God to create life.  Ultimately, like Doctor Faustus, Frankenstein alters God's creation. 

The respective demises of the two characters serve as warnings to the readers.  Doctor Faustus squanders his "power," and in the last lines of the play, finally expresses regret for what he has done, going so far as to warn the reader to heed his example.  Frankenstein, in a very similar way, is made to regret his presumption, as his creation kills him.  His pride, or the result of that pride, punishes him.

In "Julius Caesar", what reasons did Brutus provide to justify assassinating his best friend?

Brutus is a somewhat "philosophical" character.  He is generally regarded as a good, perhaps noble, man deeply in love with the concepts of freedom and republican government.  He kills Caesar not because he does not love him, but because he loved freedom more.  As Anthony says:

This was the noblest Roman of them all:
All the conspirators, save only he
Did that they did in envy of great Caesar,
He, only in a general honest thought
And common good to all, made one of them.
His life was gentle, and the elements
So mix'd him that Nature might stand up
And say to all the world: "This was a man!"

 There was no envy in Brutus, no evil in Brutus.  If he had a fault it was his idealism that could not compromise with the idea of a Caesar as dictator.  It is up to you as reader to decide whether there are any other factors "clouding" his judgment.

I want to know the objective correlative in "Hamlet".

Well, if you were T.S. Eliot, you would say that there was no objective correlative in "Hamlet".You would also say that makes Hamlet an "artistic failure".  An objective correlative is "a set of objects, a situation, a chain of events which shall be the formula of that particular emotion." In other words, there needs to be something concrete that leads a character to a specific emotion. Eliot says that Hamlet is  "dominated by an emotion which is inexpressible, because it is inexcess of the facts as they appear". In other words, Hamlet's emotions are too  much given the actual events that occur in the play. I suppose that losing your father, and having your mother marry your uncle very shortly thereafter, and then seeing your father's ghost which tells you your uncle murdered him is not enough for Eliot to believe that Hamlet would become very upset, and almost suicidal,when trying to deal with all of this. Perhaps that's why Eliot said in a lecture in 1956 that the term "objective correlative" was one of '‘'a few notorious phrases which have had a truly embarrassing success in the world’."

In "Julius Caesar" how do the conspirators plan to proceed with the murder? Explain in details.

First, they plan to have Decius go to Caesar's house to make sure he goes to the meeting. It's a good thing they decided to do this because Calpurnia almost has Caesar convinced to stay home, but Decius appeals to his vanity by telling him that people will say he is ruled by a woman's fears and by telling him that the senate plans to ask him to be king (see Act II, scene 2).

Second, once Caesar arrives at the meeting place, the conspirators surround him so that no one can warn him of what is to come or protect him when it happens. They make sure Antony is not around when they do the deed (Act III, scene 1).

Then they have Metellus ask for a pardon for his brother, who has been banished from Rome. That is their pretense for showing Caesar's unreasonableness and tyranny. When some pretend to bow to him, Casca raises his dagger and says, "Speak, hands, for me!" And they all proceed to stab him to death, proclaiming that they have done a good deed for Rome and its citizens.

What does the professor give Montag? How does he get the professor to help him?

In the second part of the story, "The Sieve and the Sand", Montag remembers Faber, a professor he once saw in the park whom he suspected had books.  Montag goes to Faber's house and convinces him that he is serious about wanting to change things; about wanting to bring down the system that made owning books illegal.  He convinces Faber that he is serious, in part by showing him the book he has - the Bible.  Montag wants Faber to help him but Faber is reluctant and full of reasons why he can't help. He tells Montag to be patient; that the war will bring an end to many of their problems by killing off so many people that are a part of the current system.  Montag wants to begin taking action now, however.  He finally gets Faber to help him by threatening to rip up the pages of the Bible.  The plan then is that Montag will go home, get whatever money he can give that money to Faber.  Faber will give the money to a man he knows who owns a printing press and this man will print books which Montag and Faber will plant in the homes of firemen.  To help Montag stay focused and in touch, Faber gives Montag a two-way ear radio so that Faber can hear what goes on around Montag and speak to Montag as well. 

What were some meanings of the word "wit" in John Donne's day, and how are those meanings relevant to his poetry?

The word “wit,” in John Donne’s day, had many more connotations than it tends to have today.  Whereas we tend to think today of “wit” as mental or verbal cleverness, in the time of Donne and Shakespeare “wit” had far broader meanings.  For example, David Crystal and Ben Crystal, in their extremely valuable book Shakespeare’s Words (London: Penguin, 2002) list the following definitions of wit in Shakespeare’s time (and the Oxford English Dictionary would be even more thorough):

• 1. Intelligence, wisdom, good sense.  Many of Donne’s poems would have seemed, at least to his contemporaries, to display this kind of wit.  Thus “The Good-Morrow” suggests that true love can last if the lovers remain committed to such an ideal:

If our two loves be one, or thou and I

Love so alike that none do slacken, none can die. (20-21)

In other words, if the two can remain truly committed to one another, their love will not perish.  But notice the “if”: Donne is a realist because he recognizes that the love the poem celebrates may not survive if the lovers give in to baser passions.

• 2. Mental sharpness, acumen, quickness, ingenuity. This kind of “wit” is fully on display in Donne’s poem “The Flea,” especially in the last three lines, when the woman responds that she feels no weaker now than she did before killing the the flea:

'Tis true; then learn how false fears be:

Just so much honor, when thou yieldst to me,

Will waste, as this flea's death took life from thee. (25-27)

• In these lines, the lustful speaker continues to refuse to take “no” (actually, several “no’s”) for an answer; he continues to try to use his ingenuity to try to persuade the woman to have sex with him when she obviously isn’t interested.  In this sense, he displays wit in the second sense but not in the sense described in # 1 above.


• 3. Reasoning, thinking, deliberation. This kind of deeply thoughtful wit is very much in evidence in such poems by Donne as “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” (for instance, in the opening eight lines) or “Satire 3.” The speakers in these poems wrestle with serious issues. In “Satire 3,” for instance, the speaker memorably describes the difficulty of reaching truth:

. . . On a huge hill,

Cragged and steep, Truth stands, and he that will

Reach her, about must, and about must go,

And what the hill’s suddenness resists, win so . . . . (79-82)

• 4. A cunning plan or ingenious design.  Again, “The Flea” displays this kind of wit, although the speaker in that poem isn’t nearly as clever or ingenious as he thinks he is. Donne, however, is cunning and ingenious in the way he designs the poem to mock the self-consciously “witty” speaker.

Insofar as “wit” suggests great intelligence, great inventiveness, and a marvelous ability to express such intelligence and inventiveness in highly skillful and appropriate language, then practically every poem Donne ever wrote might accurately be described as “witty.”

What is the structure, themes, thoughts, setting and diction of "Endgame" by Samuel Beckett?

"Endgame" by Samuel Beckett has a continuous structure that is not broken into scenes or acts. It is set in a post-apocalyptic world where four characters live together in a nebulous setting (a mother and father live in an ashbin, having lost their legs in a bicycle accident, and a crippled man and his servant live together in the same space with the parents in the ashbin). Main themes of the play are life and death, human conflict, and interdependence. All of the characters are stuck together in the same room, living and waiting for a questionable end. They are all reliant on each other, and they seem to be somewhat aware of being characters in a play, announcing things like, "I’m warming up for my last soliloquy.’’ They question the existence of God, the meaning of life, and the worth of life. The play is written in a very stripped-down manner, lines are short and to the point, often abstract and in a quick, staccato-like rhythm.

How has Hester changed physically? Describe how her change is both positive and negative.

It is notable that with the diminishing of her physical beauty, Hester's mental strength improves in "The Scarlet Letter."  For, when Hester is younger and of striking beauty, she is contolled by her passionate nature and, thus, acts upon its dictates.  As a result, her marriage with the cerebral older man fails as he is not a suitable partner for her.  And, of course, her passionate nature leads her to ignore the mores of her strict Puritan society and love the Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale.

However, after Hester suffers the ignominy of confinement in prison and the labeling of the scarlet letter, she transfers her passionate urges to her daughter, "a lovely and passionate flower," whom she dresses in rich "velvet [with] strength of color...abundantly emtroidered with fantasies and florishes of gold-thread."   Having transfered this passion into the offspring of hers, Hester becomes grey in appearance:  her luxurious hair loses much of its color and her beauty is lessened by a controlled heart.  Yet, while the physical appearance of Hester wanes, her inner strength waxes. In Chapter XIII, Hawthorne writes,  

Much of the marble coldness of Herter's impression was to be attributed to the circumstance, that her life had turned, in a great meansure, from passion and feeling, to thought 

It is this strength of thought that leads Hester to become altruistic and help others in the community.  It is this strength of thought that makes Hester the equal of Chillingworth when she confronts him in her effort to save Dimmesdale, and in her defeat of the physician in the final scaffold scene:  "Thou hast escaped me!"

Macbeth is promoted from Thane of Glamis to Thane of Cawdor. What does a thane do? Why was it a promotion?

The position of thane in Scotland at the time of the setting of the play was a position of honor. The role of a thane was to serve the king, most usually in terms of military service. A thane fought for his king.

A thane was one who had been granted land by the king in recognition and appreciation of his loyalty and service. This grant of land and rights to the castle upon it represented wealth as well as honor.

At the beginning of The Tragedy of Macbeth, Macbeth is Thane of Glamis. He is a general who fights valiantly for King Duncan in the Scottish war against Norway. When news of Macbeth's feats of exceptional bravery and military prowess reached Duncan, the King rewards Macbeth by naming him Thane of Cawdor, in addition to his being the Thane of Glamis. The Thane of Cawdor had committed treason against King Duncan and had been executed; thus, his lands and castle were given to Macbeth.

When Macbeth became Thane of Cawdor, he remained Thane of Glamis, also. This gave him even more honor, land, and wealth. Being named Thane of Cawdor wasn't really a promotion. It was an additional reward Macbeth had been given by King Duncan.

Why does Cassius profess friendship to Brutus in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar? What sort of person is Cassius?

Cassius knows that Brutus is an honorable man, and someone that the people of Rome would believe to be so as well.  It is no secret that Cassius is not a fan of Caesar, and he even admits this to Brutus early on, citing such instances as Caesar not being able to swim across the river without crying for help, while he himself had no problems whatsoever. 

This being said, Cassius knows that any attempt on his part to publically incite anger against Caesar would be seen as nothing more than a personal vendeta with little to no political value.  The city isn't going to rise up against the most powerful man in the empire without a good deal of proof as to why it's necessary.

This is where Brutus comes into play.  If Cassius can convince Brutus to join the cause, his conspiracy will gain instant credibility.  Other political players will join with less reservation if they see a powerful figure such as Brutus on Cassius' side.  While he is not an honorable person, and admittedly has flaws, Cassius is definitely not lacking in his cunning and intellect. 

Finally, convincing Brutus that he is a friend solidifies the pact between the two.  Brutus is initially against the idea of a secret pact, noting that such agreements are generally needed only for dark or illnoble deeds.  The bond of friendship, however, goes much deeper than an agreement based upon mutual goals; even when things turn sour, friendship will remain.

In Jane Eyre, can we call Jane a gothic heroine?"There is usually a mood of mystery or suspense, and an innocent heroine is almost always...

Jane Eyre as a novel does have shades of the Gothic horror genre especially in its changing spatial frames from Gateshead to Thornfield to the burnt Thornfield later. The Red Room experience early on as well as the entire stay at Thornfield Hall with the spectre of Bertha Mason haunting the Gothic mansion, the novel does make use of this genre, but to call Jane a Gothic heroine would be isolating one element in her figure and turning it into an absolute.

She is like the Gothic heroine, a damsell in distress, but the odds she faces are not psychic or supernatural odds, but social odds too. Recently, Gothic heroine has also been seen as a representation of the patriarchal power system, but in Jane Eyre, whether it is the psychological or the paranormal or sociological level of Jane's quest, hers is a real success story. The Gothic element brings in an element of metaphysical justice to her achieved condition at the end of the novel. Bertha is like a potential Other, she has to overcome as a spectral figure to become the non-Bertha, a proto-feminist success-story.

What are the pilgrims using for transportation?

You don't always get a description of the horse, but the pilgrims are riding on horseback to Canterbury. The General Prologue mentions the need for stables, and several of the pilgrims are actually specifically described as being on horseback. The Oxford Clerk, for example, specifically described as being thin, rides on a very thin horse. The Cook, in the prologue to the Manciple's Tale (toward the end of the tales) actually almost falls off his horse.

In "The Crucible", what does Parris propose to Danforth and what might have motivated Abigail to leave Salem?

Parris is afraid that if people like Rebecca Nurse get hung, in conjunction with rumors of Andover's rebellion and Abby's bailing, that people will turn against him and the courts, and declare them frauds.  So,  he proposes that they should "postpone these hangin's for a time."  Danforth refuses, but compromises by saying if Elizabeth can get John to confess, then maybe the people will be struck by a man of such "weight" actually confessing, and maybe John's confession will prompt the others to confess too.   

Parris thinks that Abby and Mercy left because "they fear to keep in Salem any more", which means that they fear that people will turn against them.  Since the rumors that Andover had overthrown the courts and turned against the accusers, Abby was fearful that would happen to her, so she bolts, stealing Parris' money first.

What elements indicate that the Story of The Masque of Red Death occurs only in Prince Prospero's mind?

It is as if the Prince, stricken with the red death, has gone mad and in his stupor from the illness, has a long series of hallucinations in which he imagines the entire plot of the story. The seven rooms represent the various stages in the Prince's life, the giant clock is representative of the time that ticks by as the Prince slowly dies, until it chimes for the last time.

"The seven chambers of the abbey, according to critic H. H. Bell, Jr., in his article '‘‘The Masque of the Red Death': An Interpretation,’’ represent the seven decades of a man's life, so that the final chamber, decorated in red and black, represents death. Bell interprets the seven chambers as ‘‘an allegorical representation of Prince Prospero's life span.’’

"This view is supported by the fact that the first room is located in the East, which symbolizes birth, because it is the direction from which the sun rises, and that the last chamber is located in the West, which symbolizes death, as the sun sets in the West. Bell interprets each of the colors of the seven rooms—blue, purple, green, orange, white, violet— as symbolic of ‘‘Prospero's physical and mental condition in that decade of his life."

All the guests are dressed in ghoulish costumes, chosen by the Prince.  The Prince valiantly confronts the Red Death near the end of the story, only to succumb, along with all his guests. 

What is the setting of "The Necklace"?

We cannot know more than the author himself tells us, but the story first appeared in a Parisian newspaper (Le Gaulois on February 17, 1884)  and had instant success. Could it be presumed, then, that "gay Paris," the City of Lights, would be the most appropriate setting for such a tale?

As for its inspiration, here is an interesting sidenote:

Certain connections may be made between ‘‘The Necklace’’ and the novel Madame Bovary, written by Maupassant's mentor and friend, Gustave Flaubert. Both stories feature a young, beautiful woman in a social situation that she finds distasteful. Like Madame Bovary, Mathilde Loisel attempts to escape her social station in life, but her scheming actions ultimately doom her.

See the enote reference below concerning the Guy de Maupassant's life and influences over his works.

In Girl With a Pearl Earring, how would you describe Vermeer?

Vermeer, a converted Catholic, marries his wife, Catharina, and lives in the home of his mother-in-law in what is called the Papist Corner.  There are two aspects of his life that I think contributed to his style and choice of subject in his painting. 

Vermeer and his wife had a reasonably good marriage, they had 15 children, 11 survived.  But his wife was prone to outbursts.  His mother-in-law really ruled the home, and paid the bills.  With so many children to care for, and the fact that Vermeer did not support himself very well financially through his painting, history suggests that he painted for a patron, Pieter van Ruijven, who collected about half of his work.  So, perhaps he painted to please van Ruijven.

Or perhaps, he painted to capture on canvas the domestic bliss that eluded him in life.  His wife was unstable and prone to flashes of temper, having had a childhood marked by a violent father.  So, when I look at Vermeer's work, I see women who are serene in settings of simplicity, something that the painter captured on canvas, which he envisioned in his mind.  He enjoyed the solitude of his studio, and the silence of his subjects. 

The Girl With the Pearl Earring, if you believe the book and film, suggest that the painting was commissioned by his patron, and arranged by his mother-in-law, against the express wishes of his wife, who tried to destroy the finished work with a knife to the canvas out of jealousy. 

In "Of Mice and Men", where did the bus drop off George and Lennie?

The bus drops George and Lennie off miles from where they asked to be dropped off.  It is hinted that George told the bus driver where they were headed but the bus driver left them probably about ten miles from where the bunkhouse was that they were trying to get to.  The area is described in the first fiew pages of the novel as a wooden area near beautiful hills and little mountains.  As the description continues, the reader realizes that George and Lennie have been dropped off near the Salinas River in a rural area of California.  This area will become extremely significant in Section 6 of the novel.

What is the meaning of the metaphor of The Jungle?

The metaphor recalls the "law of the jungle" where survival by all and any means is what controls behavior.  It is also a metaphor for the city, where things are impersonal, people do not get to know each other, and live is generally hard, to say the least.  Jurgis, the main character, comes to the city a healthy young man, willing to work, to do what he has to so that his family will have a good life.  Instead of the chance to realize the financial dream of America, he meets totally intolerable work conditions in the slaughter house, gets laid off when business is slow, sees his wife raped, assaults the man who raped her and goes to jail, gets out of jail time to see his wife die in childbirth, sees his son drowned in a street flood ... well, you get the picture and can get additional examples at the enote site below

Since Capitalism is presented as a jungle where the economically weak have little chance at success, it is no surprise that, at the end of the book, we find Jurgis looking to socialism for answers.  This provides an interesting link to today where we seem to be electing socialism as an answer to our economic "jungle."

Do you know anything on the history of euthanasia and what do you think about it? i'm doing an essay on euthanasia and it needs to be in for...

Euthanasia is the ending of life to prevent further suffering.

"I will give no deadly medicine to any one if asked, nor suggest any such counsel" Hippocrates 400 B.C. The Hippocratic Oath taken by many physicians firmly declares that assisted suicide or euthanasia is not allowed.

1939 Aktion T 4: the Nazi Euthanasia program intended to eliminate life not worthy of life. This program killed untold thousands of mentally ill, mentally retarded and otherwise physically handicapped children.

Nurses were active participants and killed over 10,000 people in these involuntary "euthanasia programs". After the war was over, most of the nurses were never punished for these crimes against humanity although some nurses were tried along with the physicians they assisted. One such trial was of 14 nurses and was held in Munich in 1965. Although some of these nurses reported that they struggled with a guilty conscience, others did not see anything wrong with their actions and believed that they were releasing these patients from their suffering.(http://www.baycrest.org/Winter%202002/article4.htm)

My personal thoughts are mixed. I do  not believe that it is ever alright to kill another human being for any reason. However, if my animals (horses, dogs, or cats) are suffering, and there is nothing I can do for them, then I will take them to the vet for the "big sleep".

I saw my father suffer horribly through bone cancer, and I would not for one minute wish him to live another day in that kind of pain, so I could justify giving him something to end his suffering.

I think that if you begin a euthanasia program, you run the risk of doing what the Nazis did and deciding for others whether or not their lives are worth living.

Do you think the title fits the book? Why or why not?In the book "FAHRENHEIT 451" -Ray Bradbury

"Fahrenheit 451" is an excellent title for this book.  Bradbury is being very sly in using this title.  If you consider when the book was published and how far in the future these concepts would have been at this time it is not only sly but also very clever.  If you remember your high school science classes you will know that 451 degrees Fahrenheit is the temperature that paper burns.  Since the theme of the "firemen" is to burn books instead of put out fires, then you can see how appropriate this title is for the novel and it's theme.

How would you explain the irony and satiric qualities in "A Modest Proposal"?

In this essay Swift uses verbal irony to get his point across. Verbal irony is a disparity between what is said or written and what is really meant - we use verbal irony all the time in our lives when we comment upon things, for example, "I can't wait to get back home so I can start on my homework", whereas, obviously that is anything but the truth.

To convey verbal irony when we speak we can rely on our tone of voice to alert our listeners to the verbal irony in our speech. Writers cannot depend on tone of voice, so include so many examples of verbal irony that the reader cannot miss the point.

This essay is a classic example of verbal irony stretched to its very limit, from the title, "A Modest Proposal", which is anything but modest, to its ridiculous suggestion of eating Irish babes and comments on the relationships between the Irish and their English overlords. This excerpt is one of my particular favourites:

I grant that this food will be somewhat dear, and therefroe very proper for landlords, who, as they have already devoured most of the parents, seem to have the best title for the children.

Here, the humour is based on the multiple meanings of "devoured", which in one sense refers to how the Irish adults have been made poor by rents, but another sense refers to a metaphorical devouring that clearly establishes Swift's opinion of how the English are acting in Ireland. Eating infants, therefore, is the only logical conclusion to such a policy.

In addition, the irony is increased by a constant reasonable tone of modesty, combined with the assumption of a voice of a practical economic planner. The speaker pretends to be full of common sense and completely objective, and at times, even sensitive and kind. This disparity between tone and content gives the essay a real bite.

What happened to Ponyboy on the way home from the movie in "The Outsiders"? Why did this happen?My question is about the movie or book called THE...

As explained in the above answer, Ponyboy, part of the Greaser gang, is jumped by a group of Socs, a rival gang, on his way home from the cinema, and saved by his brothers and other Greasers.

The incident is important in that it establishes important themes of the book very early on. It shows the never-ending rivalry and violence between two urban youth gangs who hail from different social classes and opposite ends of town, and who, moreover, sport different fashions. It is significant that the Socs who attack Ponyboy declare their intention of giving him a haircut, which is a derisive reference to a vital aspect of the Greasers' look: their long hair. In fact, long hair is perhaps the most important visual marker of a Greaser's identity. The Socs scorn this look and the Greasers' lower-class status, while priding themselves on being smarter, richer, and more sophisticated.

Gang loyalty as well as well as gang rivalry is also made manifest in this opening incident of the novel. Ponyboy is rescued by his brothers and other Greasers whom he also regards as family. The appearance of Ponyboy's brothers is also important in itself, as the sometimes volatile relationship between the three brothers is overall a major aspect of the story.

Why does Gene return to Devon after fifteen years in A Separate Peace, and what does this suggest about the novel's plot and structure?

Generally, I agree with "mshurn"'s point, but I would add that the return to Devon in the novel adds an essential dialectical element in the novel between the past and the future.  The primary story of the novel is set on the backdrop of WWII, which, for the adolescent protagonists, orients the world toward the future:

"When you are sixteen, adults are slightly impressed and almost intimidated by you.  This is a puzzle, finally solved by the realization that they foresee your military future"

The protagonists--Gene, Finny, Leper--also can foresee their military future (conveyed in subtle hints, such as the summer session, or the one-month September vacation which serve to expediate the graduation process).  Most of them respond to this with qualified excitement (even Leper is capable of finding "a recognizable and friendly face to the war").

However, by communicating this through the more nuanced vision of the older Gene Forester, Knowles gives the readers a point of view which is independent of any youthful idealism.  It is not a voice that condemns the horrors of war either, because, as Gene notes in the closing paragraphs, he never saw any action in the war and probably spent most of the time in Florida, but it does, nonetheless, communicate that the future which they had envisioned for themselves was actually much more real than they had hoped: the visions of the future, in the novel, depict the way that things should have been, the past the way that they were.