What are some of the words Dickens uses to create the mood of the paragraphs 79-83 in Stave 4? What is this mood?

The Phantom, the Ghost "whose province was the Future" allows Scrooge to see his room plundered by the rag pickers; there on the bare, uncurtained bed his body lies "gereft, unwatched, unwept, uncared for."  Then, it as though Scrooge hears a message which tells him that the dead man would be untouched by "dreadful Death" if he had been kind and generous, for he would be long remembered by those he loved.  These loved ones would "sow the world with life immortal."

Words such as the "loved, revered, and honoured head" suggest that even though dead, the man would not be remembered as "odious."  Instead, people would remember that "the hand WAS open, generous, and true; the heat brave, warm, and tender; and the pulse a man's."  In other words, the man would live in the hearts of those whom he loved and those who love him.  The mood of these words is one of warmth, a warmth that offers consolation.

As Scrooge looks again at the image of his corpse, he perceives a cat scratching and rats gnawing.  The miser realizes that his body will be ravaged by scavenger animals if no one cares for him.  Shuddering at this thought, Scrooge asks the Spirit to remove him from such a "fearful place."  He tells the Phantom that he will leave, but not forgot its lessons.

Does any punishment exist that is suitable for Keller's crime?

Joe Keller exacts the ultimate punishment on himself, he commits suicide.  He is driven by his own guilt over the loss of not only his son, Larry, but the other pilots that died.  Therefore, Joe, who is consumed with guilt and shame, commits a horrible act, shooting himself. 

In my view, Joe Keller has suffered, even before he commits suicide, because he knows that he is a fraud.  He has set up Steve Deever to take the blame for his crime, and lives with this knowledge day in day out.  When Ann Deever comes for a visit, Joe's sense of guilt is heightened.  He starts talking about Steve, telling Ann that he wants her father to know that he will have a job waiting for him when he gets out of prison. 

Keller, by the time he decides to take his life, has been punished with the reaction of his outraged, and disturbed wife, the anger of George Deever, and most of all, the loss of Chris's love and respect. 

Joe Keller has received the ultimate punishment, he lost everything that mattered in life, then he surrenders his life.

What connections between education and freedom does Douglass make in his narrative?

In Chapter Six, Douglass is staying with the Aulds.  Sophia Auld, initially a kind woman, starts to teach him how to read.  Mr. Auld stops the lessons as soon as he realizes what is going on.  He says that teaching a slave to read would spoil the slave (he doesn't use those exact words...).

Douglass realizes that since Mr. Auld doesn't want him to learn to read, he determines to do so.  He finds school copy-books and secretly traces the words inside it.  He finds poor white boys and bribes them with bread in order to teach him how to read.  He finds a copy of The Columbian Orator and begins to read it.  The book contains a famous speech between a master and a slave, in which the master lists the reasons that slavery is justified and the slave refutes each and every one.  The speech moves Douglass emotionally.

After he has learned to read, Douglass realizes that the slaveholders do not teach their slaves to read because it is only then that the slave can realize just how unfair their lot is.  He starts reading abolitionist newspapers.  Douglass experiences an existential crisis because he realizes that while learning to read has set his mind free, he is still a slave, and that he wishes that he were uneducated again, because he believes his plight is worse off than an uneducated slave.

In The Kite Runner, what lessons did Amir learn about life and humanity by the end of the book?

Amir learns through experience that life is, as playwright Thornton Wilder once wrote, "a terrible, wonderful thing." For instance, Amir suffers as he watches his father die of cancer, but his life is deeply enriched by his marriage and Soraya's abiding love for him. Throughout his life, Amir has observed human behavior, including his own. He has witnessed courage and cowardice, as well as selfishness and sacrifice. In returning to Afghanistan, he experienced the tyranny of corrupt power as exercised by the Taliban and the desperation of the powerless under their rule.

Amir's most profound insight, however, concerns the basic nature of human beings, including himself. Amir learns that people are flawed creatures--even Baba, whom Amir had always viewed as being beyond reproach. In discovering that Hassan, too, was Baba's son, Amir gains an understanding of his father as a man, not an icon. This knowledge makes it easier for Amir to accept himself, including his own flaws. 

The most affirming truth that Amir realizes, the one that enables him to achieve self-respect, is that human beings can be redeemed through courage, integrity, endurance, sacrifice, and wisdom. In returning to Afghanistan to save Sohrab, Amir saves himself.

Could I have a summary of the play "Riders To The Sea"?

The following links will guide you through the characters and summary very easily.  In a nutshell, the play is about a mother who has lost all of the men in her life.  She lost her husband, her father-in-law, 4 of her 6 sons, and the last two end up drowning as well in the course of the play.  She has lost them all to the sea, and tries to keep the youngest from leaving her, knowing she will have to fend for herself and her two daughters.  He goes anyway and ends up being knocked into the sea by his pony.  The daughters are the ones who find the drowned brothers and help to tell the story from outside the mother's point of view.

In "The Lady of Shalott", what does the Lady spend her time doing?

The lady spends her time weaving a tapestry.  She cannot look directly out the window, so instead she looks at the reflection of the items outside in a mirror.  Eventually she sees Sir Lancelot, and falls in love with him, but he does not know who she is. When she realizes that she cannot look out the window, she decides to put herself in a boat and float to her death.

On a side note, if you like this poem, you should read Meg Cabot's novel, Avalon High.

What caused the fire and what is its significance in the story "Everyday Use"?

I do not believe that what started the fire is stated specifically, but it is significant that the house that burned down had a shingle roof, unlike the tin roofs that are used now.  Shingle is more natural, and has more beauty and character, while tin is cold; shingle, however, is more vulnerable to destruction, it burns, while tin does not.  I think that the roofs might be a metaphor for Black heritage, and what it means to truly appreciate it, according to the author.

Maggie was burned and scarred in the fire.  Her mother remembers carrying her away "with her hair smoking and her dress falling off her in little peppery flakes", while Dee stood apart, watching the house burn from "under the sweet gum tree".  Maggie was always the one who lived her heritage in the simple things of everyday, while Dee never touched its richness, looking upon it with scorn. 

Dee wants only to escape her past, denying the good along with the bad of the Black experience.  She thinks that she can keep her heritage alive through artifacts.  Her concept of her rich African American roots is sterile, like the tin roofs on the houses.  Maggie, on the other hand, has captured the spirit of her culture.  Even though, like the shingle roof, its outward manifestations are subject to destruction, its essence lives on in people like Maggie, who are not afraid to proclaim their heritage through "everyday use".

In "The Crucible", how and by whom are the other villagers accused of witchcraft?

In the beginning of Act One of “The Crucible” it is revealed that the young, teenage girls of Salem had been in the forest the night before the incidents of this act have occurred.   While in the forest they were suspected of conjuring up spirits and Abigail actually drank blood which she though to be a charm that would kill John Proctor’s wife.  After this occurs, the girls are afraid that they are going to get into trouble when Betty Parris and Ruth Putnam are found in a trance and can not wake up.  Therefore, the girls, in an effort to protect themselves and save themselves from being called witches begin to accuse people of the village.  This is how the witchcraft accusations begin and who begins the accusations.

In Romeo and Juliet, what is the importance of Juliet's ring?

It's actually only mentioned very briefly, after Romeo's been banished. Juliet sends the Nurse to find Romeo, and sends the ring as a token of the fact that she does not think of Romeo, even though he has killed Tybalt, as an "old murderer", but as her "true knight":

O, find him! give this ring to my true knight,
And bid him come to take his last farewell.
(3, 2)

In the next scene, the Nurse and Friar Laurence try - without much success - to counsel Romeo and calm him down, but he actually is wavering about whether he can face Juliet again until he receives the token from the Nurse, right at the end of the scene: these are the Nurse's line:

Here, sir, a ring she bid me give you, sir:
Hie you, make haste, for it grows very late.
(3, 3)

And Romeo is brought back to life by the thought that Juliet still loves him.

How well my comfort is revived by this!

 Secondly, and importantly, the ring represented the female genitalia to the Elizabethans (so that's what that last act of "The Merchant of Venice" is about). There's also some sexual play going on: particularly as, when Romeo does come to Juliet's room that night, they consummate their marriage.

Hope it helps!

How do you say it is not ok to do something in a National Park in Japanese? e.g. It is not ok to litter in a national park.For example, "It is not...

The answer from dymatsuoka is a perfectly good one, but I would like to offer another way to translate/express this sentiment.

Depending on the situation and the person being addressed, Japanese people often like to mould the way they say things to make it as nice and unassertive as possible. As a result, we get phrases like the one above.

If you click on the first link in the references section, you will see a sign which reads:

「ゴミは各自でお持ち帰りください」

or in roman letters (using wa for the ha particle)

"Gomi wa kakuji de o mochi kaeri kudasai"

This translates to:

"Please take your litter (home) with you"

To make it even more friendly and polite (and a bit shorter), you can change the above sentence to,

「ゴミは持ち帰りましょう」

"Gomi wa mochi kaeri mashou"

Which gives it a feeling of,

"Let's all be sure to take our litter (home) with us"

I see this phrase used most often in public parks so I recommend it!

Thanks for the question!

With whom does Lennie have his imaginary conversations, and why does Lennie needs to imagine these people?

After killing his puppy and Curley's wife, Lennie knows he has done something extremely bad. He runs to the place George had told him to go if he got in trouble, again. Sitting by a clearing near the Salinas River, Lennie is extremely agitated and he is waiting for George. At this one time in the novel, he is really all by himself. He begins to hallucinate first about his dead Aunt. As he talks to her imaginary image, she scolds him in the same way George would scold him. She says, "All the time he[George] coulda had such a good time if it wasn't for you." Lennie is using the vision of his aunt as a way for his conscience to communicate with him. When the aunt disappears, a giant rabbit tells him "You ain't fit to lick the boots of no rabbit." Again the vision is reminding Lennie of all the things George had told him. This is Lennie's way of dealing with his behavior. He does not quite comprehend the seriousness of actions, but the visions are authority figures who talk to him just like George because, at this point, facing George himself is almost impossible.

Who are the main characters in the story "The Hound of the Baskervilles"?

The main character in the book, of course, is the famous detective Sherlock Holmes.  Holmes is a brilliant thinker and delights in the excitement of "the chase".  In addition, he is rather an eccentric character who takes only those cases which interest him, has a penchant for dramatic flair, and is capable of forming amazing deductions from seemingly insignificant clues.

Dr. John Watson is Holmes's friend and assistant.  He provides a good balance for the detective's quirky personality, being himself intelligent, energetic, courageous, and loyal.  It is Watson who narrates the story, as he does almost all of Sherlock Holmes's adventures.

Sir Henry Baskerville, the last known heir in the Baskerville line, has a fiery temper and a mind of his own.  Although he is an impeccable gentleman, he is independent and tends to follow  his own inclinations, sometimes making it difficult for Holmes to both ensure his safely and solve the case.

Dr. James Mortimer is a young country physician and a friend of Sir Henry.  It is he who first appeals to Sherlock Holmes for help in keeping the heir of the Baskerville family safe.

The villain in the story is Stapleton, a respected naturalist and a reknowned authority in entymology.  Despite his innocuous appearance he has a keen mind, and has devised an ingenious way to use the legend of the Hound of the Baskervilles to his advantage.

In Shakespeare's Hamlet, what does the Player King reveal about love and success?

I think he basically reveals that love is just a word, four symbols put together, to point at something --- but we can rarely, if ever, agree on what it is that it points to.  At the height of infatuation, we think this is what "love" refers to.  But the very intensity of this passion often causes it to burn out quickly and what we thought was love is gone.  When people say "I love you," who knows what they are talking about:  passion, sex, self-sacrifice (greater love than this no man has)?

So often love ends ...  because it was something other than love that we named "love."  Shakespeare thinks that love doesn't change.  In Sonnet 116, he writes "Love is not love/ Which alters when it alteration finds/Or bends with the remover to remove."  It doesn't depend on passion; it doesn't depend on success.  This is not to say what it is, just what it is not.

What are the poetic qualities of Wordsworth's "I Wander'd Lonely as a Cloud?"

In his "Preface" to the "Lyrical Ballads" Wordsworth outlines his theory of poetry thus:

"The principal object, then, proposed in these Poems was to choose incidents and situations from common life, and to relate or describe them, throughout, as far as was possible in a selection of language really used by men, and, at the same time, to throw over them a certain colouring of imagination, whereby ordinary things should be presented to the mind in an unusual aspect; and, further, and above all, to make these incidents and situations interesting by tracing in them, truly though not ostentatiously, the primary laws of our nature: chiefly, as far as regards the manner in which we associate ideas in a state of excitement."

The daffodil is a common flowering plant found growing abundantly in England. Once, Wordsworth and his sister came across a long belt of these beautiflul plants in full bloom when they had gone out for a walk on 15th Aril 1802. Wordsworth later  wrote this  poem in 1804 and first published it in 1807.

Wordsworth in the same  "Preface" to the "Lyrical Ballads" later remarks that, "I have said that poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity: the emotion is contemplated till, by a species of reaction, the tranquillity gradually disappears, and an emotion, kindred to that which was before the subject of contemplation, is gradually produced, and does itself actually exist in the mind."

Both these quotes clearly reveal the poetic qualities inherent in "I Wander'd Lonely as a Cloud."

1. The daffodil is a "common" flower."

2. The laguage used in the poem is very simple, there is nothing of 'poetic diction.'

3. However, the simple language is used very creatively and imaginatively by Wordsworth to cast a magical spell over the entire poem which makes the ordinary daffodills to appear very extradoridnarly beautiful.

4. The poem describes very vividly Wodsworth's spontaneous joy in seeing the daffodils, "A poet could not but be gay/In such a jocund company."

5. The last stanza of the poem, clearly reveals how "emotion recollected in tranquillity," regenerates the same emotion he experienced when he first saw the daffaodils.

How did the Columbian Exchange change the lives of the people involved?

First, please note that this exchange is the Columbian Exchange and not the Colombian Exchange.  It is named after Christopher Columbus and not after the country of Colombia. This is one of the very few instances in which “Columbian” is the proper spelling.

The Columbian Exchanged affected some people’s lives tremendously and others’ lives in relatively less significant ways.   The people who were most strongly affected were the natives of the Americas and those of Africa.  The American natives were affected tremendously, mostly in negative ways.  It is possible to say that they were helped by the Columbian Exchange because the exchange brought new species of animals (most importantly horses) to the New World. This arguably improved the lifestyles of many native groups, most notably the Plains Indians. However, the natives of the Americas were devastated by the germs that came to the New World as part of the exchange.  Infectious diseases like smallpox are believed to have killed up to 90% of the native population since that population had no resistance to those diseases.

The Columbian Exchange also harmed natives of Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly those from the west coast of that continent. This is true because the slave trade is generally seen as part of the Columbian Exchange.  The slave trade took millions of Africans and changed their lives by bringing them to the New World where they were enslaved.  It changed their lives by taking their freedom and by removing them from their homelands.

The Columbian Exchange had mostly positive, though less important, impacts on Europe.  Europeans’ lives were generally enriched by the exchange. Europeans got new foods like tomatoes and potatoes.  They got corn and tobacco and chocolate.  All of these new foods diversified their diets and made them more interesting. Other Europeans enriched themselves monetarily.  Many Europeans came to the New World and made their fortunes.  In these ways, Europeans were generally helped by the Columbian Exchange.

Why does Esperanza admire Marin in The House on Mango Street?

Esperanza admires Marin because "she is older and knows lots of things".  Marin is worldly, and flaunts a sense of sexuality that the younger girls are only beginning to discover.  Marin also has dreams of escaping Mango Street, and appears to the others to have options which will allow her to do that.  She has a boyfriend in Puerto Rico, whom she plans to marry when she goes back, and if she stays in Chicago another year, she will "get a real job downtown...(where) you always get to look beautiful and get to wear nice clothes and can meet someone in the subway who might marry you a dn take you to live in a big house far away".

Marin lives in an environment tightly controlled by her cousin's family.  She must babysit her little cousins all day, and can only come out in the evenings, and only in the front yard.  Yet even within such strict boundaries, she rebels, smoking and "flirting with the neighborhood boys", and her audacity is appealing to the less sophisticated Esperanza.  Marin's dreams of escaping Mango Street are unrealistic.  They are dependent upon finding someone to marry her who will provide her with what she does not have, and as she admits, her boyfriend in Puerto Rico "didn't get a job yet".  She does not see that her avenues of release will only bind her further in the constricting life she abhors, and neither do the younger girls, who are mesmerized by her seeming worldliness and sophistication ("Marin"_.

Why does Portia inflict upon herself a "voluntary wound" in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar?

Portia wounds herself because she wants to show that she can tolerate pain and handle difficulties.  This is because she wishes to convince her husband, Brutus, that she is worthy of being privy to the secret burdens he must carry.  Women are cast in this time period as being weak and unable to deal with the same sorts of pressures that men handle on a daily basis; by stabbing herself in the thigh, she attempts to make Brutus believe that she's "tough enough" to be part of the the secrecy. 

It should be noted that even though she did this and Brutus agrees to tell her what's going on, she also succumbs to the pressure (just as the men around her who were involved end up doing!)  by swallowing burning coals.  Sometimes, ignorance is bliss!

In Twilight, Bella doesn't like to be called Edward's fiancee, but what does she like to be called ?

Bella is Edward's girlfriend in private, but she dislikes acknowledging this in public.  Why?  She is not a vampire and Edward is...having this become public knowledge is damaging to their relationship to the point that they would be forced to remain apart.  The vampire society is a secret one, and cannot be illuminated.  Bella considers them to be "good" vampires since they have pledged to survive on animal blood and not the blood of humans; however, it is important to recognize that Edward, in spite of this, considers the vampires doomed as a result of their dark lifestyle. 

Edward's vampire friends knows about the relationship, but Edward encourages Bella to keep their status secret from the human community.  His motto?  Better to meet and love in secret for as long as possible...forever, perhaps...than to be forced apart by two communities who don't understand their passion.  "Fiancee" puts a target on her back, so they choose not to use it or any other term of endearment when they don't consider themselves safe to freely express themselves.  Sounds a little like Romeo and Juliet, doesn't it?

When Danforth hears that Elizabeth is pregnant, what does he allow in "The Crucible"?

Danforth allows Elizabeth a stay of execution until her unborn baby is born.  She is set free from prison until the birth.  Unfortunately, the same does not apply to John Proctor, Elizabeth's husband and the child's father.  He is hanged along with Rebecca Nurse as the community watches.  Luckily for Elizabeth, in the time it takes to wait for the child to come into the world, the truth of the matter is recognized.  The whole silly mess of witch hunting in Salem is put to a stop, and consequently, Elizabeth and her baby survive. Ironically, Abigail has escaped the matter and without John Proctor--the whole reason she began the accusations in the first place.  Abigail targets Elizabeth hoping she would be moved out of the way and Abby and John could live happily ever after.

What does atticus find in the kitchen on the moring after the trial?

In Chapter 22 as Atticus enters the kitchen, he sees the table "loaded with enough food to bury the family."  The food has been brought to the Finch's in a gesture of gratitude for Atticus's actions.  Atticus Finch has defended a black man, an act of good conscience, not without risks.  Because the black people understand and admire the courage that it has taken for Atticus to do this, they bring him gifts as signs of their appreciation.  Even Miss Maudie calls Atticus over to eat a big cake, a gesture to say that "nothing has changed."  She tells Atticus that at least they have taken a "step--It's just a baby step, but it's a step."

Later on, as Atticus and the children descend Miss Maudie's steps, there is a commotion.  Mr. Avery and Miss Stephanie appear and Miss Rachel hurries Dill homeward.  Miss Stephaie informs Atticus that Mr. Bob Ewell has spat in Atticus's face at the post office and threatened him.

Here, then, the reader is confronted with the contrast of the appreciation of the blacks who have lost a battle, yet move "a baby-step" and the animosity of the whites who have won a battle at the cost of their integrity.  And, as so often happens, people turn their hatred upon the person who simply reminds them of what they are. So, Bob Ewell threatens Atticus, tellling him he "will get him if it takes him the rest of his lfe."

How did Shakespeare come up with the idea for the play Romeo and Juliet?

Although my heart would love to believe that the basis of Romeo and Juliet was presented in truth through the movie Shakespeare in Love, that is simply not the case.  I'm afraid the real story behind Romeo and Juliet is a lot less romantic in nature.  The basic story of two tragic lovers was taken from a poetic drama by another English contemporary of Shakespeare's named Arthur Brooke.  It was originally published in 1562 and again in 1587 under a new title:  The Tragically Historye of Romeus and Juliet.  In fact, Brooke didn't take the ideas from his own head either.  Brooke relied heavily upon a French version of the same story by Pierre Boaistua.  Ironically, though, it was Luigi Da Porto (undoubtedly from Italy) who set the story of the fated lovers in fair Verona of his own country.  Of course, their names were originally "Romeo" and "Guiletta," and that was way back in 1530.  However, the stories of feuding families go back even further than this.  Roman and Greek mythology is full of stories of that sort.

How do you do add fractions

To add fractions, you have to convert the fractions into the same family.  This is also called ‘finding the common denominator’ – the denominator is the bottom number (or family) and ‘common’ means they are the same.   If you have

½ + ¼   

it is easy to convert, because ½ is the same as 2/4.  So, you get

2/4 + ¼

Now just add the numerators – you have 2 of something and add another 1 of the same thing, you have 3 of them all together.

2/4 + ¼ = ¾

What if you can’t change one of them to be the same as the other?  For example,

1/3 + ¼

You have to find a third number that they both CAN go into – this is called finding the ‘lowest common multiple’.  The new number has to be a multiple of both 3 and 4.  You want the smallest number that works. 

3 x 1 = 3 no

3 x 2 = 6 no

3 x 3 = 9 no

3 x 4 = 12 yes!  4 goes into 12 evenly too

To convert 1/3, multiply TOP AND BOTTOM by how many times 3 goes into 12 -- which is 4.  You get 4/12.  

To convert 1/4, multiply TOP AND BOTTOM by how many times 4 goes into 12 -- which is 3.  You get 3/12. 

4/12 + 3/12 = 7/12 

The key thing to remember is to multiply top and bottom by the same thing. 

In chapter 2, "The Mail," what imagery indicates that something bad is about to happen?Charles Dickens is well known for the way his imagery sets...

There are numerous instances where Dickens uses the landscape to alter the mood of this chapter and make it more foreboding. In the third paragraph of the chapter, Dickens describes a "steaming mist in all the hollows" that was moving "like an evil spirit, seeking rest and finding none." This statement is meant create a feeling of uneasiness within the reader. Dickens furthers this by describing the mist as rippling like "the waves of an unwholesome sea," adding unrest and unpredictability to the scene. After the messenger, Jerry, appears and delivers his message to Mr. Lorry, the mist is described as enclosing the coach as it moves toward Dover. The fact that the coach is enveloped in this mist is meant to insinuate that the danger or uneasiness of the moment will continue with Mr. Lorry to Dover.

In Beowulf, what are the differences between Beowulf and Wiglaf?

Both Wiglaf and Beowulf are brave fighters. The young Wiglaf even reminds one of the young Beowulf. But Wiglaf does not seem to be as solitary as Beowulf. When Wiglaf loses his shield, he turns immediately to Beowulf, fully expecting Beowulf will share the shield. This is contrary to what Beowulf might have done. Beowulf acts alone. In the 50 years in which the story takes place, there is no mention of wife or family or friends. He dies with no heir. Wiglaf, also questions whether Beowulf should have even attacked the dragon, or simply let the dragon sleep. However, once Beowulf begins to fight, Wiglaf is the only person to stand with him. Wiglaf risks his own life to help the king. When Beowulf is dying, Wiglaf comforts him and brings some of the treasure to the dying Beowulf. Beowulf asks Wiglaf to be the next king because he has no heirs. However, Wiglaf's actions signify he will be more willing to work with people and open himself to others than Beowulf. The end of the solitary hero seems to be coming to an end.

In "Dante's Inferno", why does Virgil speak of "false and lying gods?"

The previous post is quite eloquent and also right, but I think that there is an extra element to Virgil's adress of the ancient Greek and Roman Gods as lying. Remember that Dante's Inferno has a strong Biblical theme, and so, naturally, Dante tries so portray Christianity as the one 'true' religion, and what better way to do so than by demeaning the others? The other reason is of course that, like the above post highlighted, the classical ancient Gods were given human like attributes such as greed, lust, wrath and so on.

In "The Pit and the Pendulum", to what fate has the narrator been sentenced? How does he react to his sentence?

He faces several different fates.  At first, he is sentenced to "the dread sentence of death" and his reaction is brief (as he is drugged), but "dread" speaks it.  When he comes to, he discovers himself in total blackness; his reaction is fear that he is in a tomb.  This is horrific enough that it  "drove the blood in torrents upon my heart", he passes out, wakes, and upon discovering it isn't a tomb, he is greatly relieved.  But then he discoveres the pit, and "congratulated myself upon the timely accident by which I had escaped."  He is grateful he didn't fall into it, but fears they are everywhere, and trembles in the corner.  Later, he finds himself tied to a board with the blade slowly descending.  His reaction to this is varied:  "I prayed—I wearied heaven with my prayer for its more speedy descent. I grew frantically mad, and struggled to force myself upward against the sweep of the fearful scimitar. And then I fell suddenly calm, and lay smiling at the glittering death".  Once he formulates his plan for escape, he feels "joy", and no wonder, considering what he's been through!

In "A Rose for Emily" what is Emily striving to achieve and why?

When her father died, she was traumatized; she had lived for so long with only him as her closest companion, so his death was a shock to her system.  In fact, she is in denial about it for quite some time:  "She told them that her father was not dead.  She did that for three days, with the ministers calling on her, and the doctors, trying to persuade her to let them dispose of the body. Just as they were about to resort to law and force, she broke down, and they buried her father quickly."  Here we see a behavior that she repeats later, which is staunch denial in the face of someone she cares about abandoning her.  She repeats this pattern with Homer Barron, who probably denied any possible romantic feelings she had for him, because "he was not the marrying type", and it was hinted that he was gay.  When faced with losing yet another man that is going to leave her, she sets about achieving what she truly wants:  companionship that will never fail her again.  She strives to achieve a way to fill the gap that has existed in her life since her father died. Unfortunately, this striving manifested itself in a rather perverse way, and ended in Homer's unfortunate demise.  But, she got her wish, and the iron-gray strand of hair next to his body indicates that she, after all these years, still found some form of comfort in her achievement.

There is a paradox in "My Heart Leaps Up When I Behold" in line 7: "The child is father of the man." Please explain.explain " the child is...

This line of Wordsworth from his "Ode:  Intimations of Immortality," appears to be contradictory, but within the context of the poem, it is not, which, of course, is what a paradox is.  Physically, the boy cannot be the father of a man, but emotionally, and spiritually, he can. 

As he aged, Wordsworth became concerned about the loss of "secret sharers," parent-substitutes from whom and with whom a person creates.  However, he later realized that he was not deprived of his sharers, for he could draw from youth with whom he also had immortal ties:

Ye blessed Creatures, I have heard the call/Ye to each other make.../My heart is at your festival.../The fulness of your bliss.  I feel--I feel it all

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting/The Soul that rises with us,our life's Star/Had had elsewhere its setting...

O joy! that in our embers/Is something that doth live.../Of the eternal Silence truths that wake/To perish never...

Our Souls have sight of that immortal sea....

Thanks to the human heart by which we live.

In his ode, Wordsworth realizes that Youth can be inspiration to Age, and through Youth, man acquires the immortality of his ideas and truths.

How can one define or describe the poetic style of Thomas Hardy?

The term "poetic style" may be aptly applied to prose as well as poetry, "poetic" being a word applicable to style as well as genre. There can be no debate that Hardy's descriptive style as employed in his novels is often poetic, often transcending the boundaries of simple prose and becoming long form poetry in its own right.

This is particularly true for Hardy's descriptive passages focusing on natural landscapes, which often provide a symbolic or metaphorical accompaniment to the emotions, thoughts and actions of his characters. Hardy's novel The Return of the Native contains many such examples of poetic prose. For example, this passage from the opening chapter contains alliterative ("pickaxe, plough or spade") and picturesque phrases and internal rhyme (Distilled by the sun, kneaded by the moon, it is renewed in a year, in a day, or in an hour"), as well as lofty speculative thoughts ("Who can say of a particular sea that it is old?"), all lending a poetic quality to the chapter.

To recline on a stump of thorn in the central valley of Egdon, between afternoon and night, as now, where the eye could reach nothing of the world outside the summits and shoulders of heathland which filled the whole circumference of its glance, and to know that everything around and underneath had been from prehistoric times as unaltered as the stars overhead, gave ballast to the mind adrift on change, and harassed by the irrepressible New. The great inviolate place had an ancient permanence which the sea cannot claim. Who can say of a particular sea that it is old? Distilled by the sun, kneaded by the moon, it is renewed in a year, in a day, or in an hour. The sea changed, the fields changed, the rivers, the villages, and the people changed, yet Egdon remained. Those surfaces were neither so steep as to be destructible by weather, nor so flat as to be the victims of floods and deposits. With the exception of an aged highway, and a still more aged barrow presently to be referred to—themselves almost crystallized to natural products by long continuance—even the trifling irregularities were not caused by pickaxe, plough, or spade, but remained as the very finger-touches of the last geological change.

Explain 5 immediate and subsequent nursing care intervention with rationales for a patient in a POP cast.

1-Assess the distal part of cast for neuro-vascular function

2-Assessed for capillary refill by applying pressure to one of client’s toenails or fingernails. after stopping pressure, observed nail to see

how rapidly color returned. 

3-Used ONLY palms of my hands on cast when turning and positioning until cast is dry.

4-Avoided handling over joints where nerves and blood vessels are superficial.

5-Supported cast with pillows as necessary, with extremity elevated above level of heart.

6-If cast edges were rough or crumbly, pulled inner stockinet over edge of cast and secured with tape

What does Atticus say is a great leveler in To Kill a Mockingbird?Please, I need the answer soon!!!!! Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Atticus is speaking about the integrity of the courts when he refers to the "great levelers".  He means that in the courts, every man should be able to perform on a "level playing field", and have a fair chance of winning.

Atticus makes this statement in his closing arguments before the jury in the Tom Robinson case.  Tom Robinson is a black man accused by a white woman, and although the evidence shows that he is clearly innocent, Atticus knows that the truth has little chance of being upheld in Maycomb County because of an atmosphere of racial stereotyping and prejudice which goes back for generations.  Still, Atticus makes this final appeal before the court, reminding all present that no matter what conditions may exist in communities at large, men should be judged as equal at least in the courts.  Atticus says,

"there is one way in this country in which all men are created equal - there is one human institution that makes a pauper the equal of a Rockefeller, the stupid man the equal of an Einstein, and the ignorant man the equal of any college president.  That instituti0on...is a court.  It can be the Supreme Court of the United States or the humblest J.P. court in the land, or this honorable court which you serve.  Our courts have their faults, as does any human institution, but in this country our courts are the great levelers, and in our courts all men are created equal" (Chapter 20).

How can I get images from the themes, historical context, and characteristics from The Harlem Renaissance period?

http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/harlem/harlem.html is a great link as well as the ones listed below this post.

The movement of Southern blacks to Northern cities, the emergence of radical thought, and the publication of black magazines set the stage for the Harlem Renaissance. The emergence of African American literature, art, and music in the 1920s marked the beginning of the Harlem Renaissance. From this came the creation of great literature by African American writers. They wrote poetry, prose, plays, and novels. The literature made race and racial identity was a common theme.  Most of the figures well known as part of the Harlem Renaissance were men: W.E.B. DuBois, Countee Cullen and Langston Hughes.  Opportunities that had opened up for black men had also opened up for women.  African American women began to demand that their view of the human condition be part of the dream, too.   Jessie Fauset edited the literary section of “The Crisis” and hosted evening gatherings for the black intellectuals of Harlem: artists, thinkers, writers. Ethel Ray Nance and her roommate Regina Anderson also hosted gatherings in their home in New York City. Dorothy Peterson, a teacher, used her father's Brooklyn home for literary salons. These women were integral parts of the Harlem Renaissance for these roles they played. As organizers, editors, decision-makers, they helped publicize, support and thus shape the movement.

Identify a specific detail or examples from Chris McCandless’ childhood that seem to predict his later behavior.Identify a specific detail or...

In high school, instead of going out to football games and dances on Friday night, McCandless would buy hamburgers and hand them out to homeless people. His great concern and respect for those in poverty would continue to grow, and he became one of those (by choice) as he graduated from college.

Also, his poor relationship with his father played a huge role. In high school/early college he travels to his original neighborhood and there finds that his dad and mom had an affair together while his dad was still married! He also discovers he has half-siblings in the world--people he never knew existed.

What is the effect of the knocking at the end of Act 2 Scene 2?

The knocking designates the actual arrival of Macduff and Lennox, but its powerful effect is to startle Macbeth, who has just killed Duncan.  Macbeth's first response to the knocking is: "Whence is that knocking? / How is 'twith me, when every noise appals me?"  That is, "Where is that noise coming from and why does it bother me so much?"  The noise piques his conscience.  The pragmatic Lady Macbeth says they need to get dressed for bed (as if they were awakened by the sound), but Macbeth expresses remorse when he ends the scene with "Wake Duncan with thy knocking! I would  thou couldst!"  The knocking heightens an already suspenseful scene.  At this point, the suspense is so high that Shakespeare introduces comic relief with the porter, who answers the door and jokes about the knocking.  But as he is "the porter of hell gate," we don't forget about the gruesome murder that has just taken place.  

In "Macbeth", what does Macbeth say to Macduff about his mortality? What is Macduff's response? How does Macbeth react?

MACBETH
Thou losest labor.
As easy mayst thou the intrenchant air
With thy keen sword impress as make me bleed:
Let fall thy blade on vulnerable crests;
I bear a charmed life, which must not yield
To one of woman born.

Macbeth tells Macduff not to waste his time. It would be as easy, Macbeth says, to make a cut ("impress... with thy keen sword... the intrenchant air") on the air, as to make Macbeth bleed. Macbeth has a "charmed life", he says and no-one born of a woman can kill him.

MACDUFF
Despair thy charm,
And let the angel whom thou still hast served
Tell thee, Macduff was from his mother's womb
Untimely ripp'd.

Macduff tells Macbeth to forget about his "charmed life". Macduff was, he explains, cut out of his mother's womb before he could be naturally born ("untimely ripp'd... from his mother's womb").

MACBETH
Accursed be that tongue that tells me so,
For it hath cow'd my better part of man!

Macbeth is defeated - and cowed - by this information. He despairs of the witches' advice and prophecies. Eventually, he resolves to fight ("Lay on Macduff!") anyway - and is killed.

What life lessons does Jane learn in "Jane Eyre"? How are they difficult lessons?

"Jane Eyre," traces the development of a young woman as she struggles to attain her identity against forces working against her.  As an orphan she goes to live with her aunt, Mrs. Reed, who treats her cruelly.  Forbidden to sit by the warm fire, Charlotte must be seated at the window where she insulates herself against the cold with the curtains.  Blamed for her cousin's deeds, Charlotte is made to stay in her dead uncle's gloomy room.  At night Charlotte must sleep in a closet.  Eventually, Jane becomes ill and is then sent to an orphan asylum named Lowood.  Later, when her aunt is dying, the aunt confesses that she has deprived Jane from being adopted by her uncle and has deprived her of her inheritance.

At Lowood Mr. Brocklehurst, cruelly makes the girls survive on a meager diet and made to wear their hair short. When Jane drops a slate, she is made to stand on a stool for hours. After being at Lowood, Jane becomes a teacher there.  Thanks to a friendly teacher, Jane procures a position as governness to the daughter of the owner of Thornfield.  There Jane is moderately comfortable, but she wonders at the strange nature of Mr. Rochester who is rather abrupt with her at first.  Later, she is engaged to him, but learns he is already married. Sick and deprived after leaving Thornfield, Jane is rescued by cousins.  Reluctant to marry her passionness cousin, Jane returns to Rochester. 

Why did Henry Clay group resolutions in pairs during the compromise of 1850?

Five questions were disputed between the pro and anti slavery factions, three developing as a result of the land conquered from the recent War with Mexico--Should California enter the Union as an antislavery state, should the remaining unorganized western territory allow slavery, should the western border of Texas, which abutted the newly conquered territory, be moved east to disallow slavery, should the slave trade be abolished in the District of Columbia, and should a new fugitive slave act be passed.  Henry Clay presented a resolution which would concede two questions to slave states, two questions to antislave states, and compromise on the fifth question.  These resolutions were passed as 5 separate bills, and collectively became the Compromise of 1850.  Concessions to the North were that California came in as an antislave state, and the slave trade was abolished in DC. The western territories were allowed to determine the slavery question for themselves and a strict fugitive slave law enacted; these were concessions to the South.  Texas was compelled to move its border East. The balancing act postponed the outbreak of civil war for a decade, but also planted the seeds of the Compromise's destruction, notably in deferring the question of slavery in the Territories, which lead to "Bleeding Kansas" 4 years later.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th ed., vol. 6,  pg. 814.

What was the most frightening moment in "The Monkey's Paw"?

The most frightening moment in the story occurs at the very end when Mr. and Mrs. Smith hear the knocking at their downstairs door, late on a very dark night. From the details developed throughout the story, the reader infers it is their dead son Herbert knocking to come in. Herbert is not perceived here to be a ghost, but a living corpse who has come out of his grave.

The mood of this scene adds to the suspense. The darkness of the night is “oppressive.” A stair creaks. A clock ticks in the silence. The knocking at the door is “quiet and stealthy.” Mr. Smith goes down the stairs with the light of a burning match that soon goes out. When the knock is repeated, Mr. Smith flees back to his room, terrified.

After the knocking has continued and grown louder and more insistent—even angry-sounding—Mrs. Smith rushes downstairs to the door and struggles with the bolt. She tries desperately to let her son in. Upstairs, Mr. Smith struggles to find the monkey’s paw to make his final wish, that Herbert go back to the peace of the grave.

The moment of greatest fear is then achieved when Mrs. Smith finally manages to get the door open: No one is there.

In The Odyssey, how do Odysseus and his companions expect to be treated by the Cyclops?

In The Odyssey, the concept of "xenia," the moral code involving a civic duty in which any traveler or visitor can always rely on a friendly reception from any host, has often served Odysseus well, although he has had his fair share of hardship and has lost men when he angered the gods.

In some instances, he has lingered far too long. Calypso wants to keep Odysseus with her and immortalize him. She only lets him go because she is ordered to do so. Later, when Odysseus reaches Aeaea, some of his men are turned into swine by the goddess Circe after eating and drinking their fill. Furthermore, on the island of the Lotus-Eaters, any man who eats the flowers forgets his duty to return home. Even back home, and unknown to Odysseus at this point, civil order is not being upheld and this will have disastrous consequences when Odysseus does, in fact, reach his home only to witness the treachery of the suitors, whereupon he will kill them. 

Odysseus is fascinated by the land of the Cyclopes and observes them from a nearby island until he feels compelled to investigate personally. He is aware that the monster may be inhospitable and not receive him willingly; he may have no respect for "right nor law." On the island, the "huge monster" is away tending his flocks, giving Odysseus time to look around. His men encourage him to take from the vast stocks but still Odysseus wants to test the boundaries and, despite all the visible warning signs and his men's pleas, Odysseus waits to see if the Cyclops will give him "a present," as would be customary in Odysseus's world. It will soon become apparent to Odysseus that it was a mistake to expect such a hideous being to uphold the principles of decency and the "wretch" laughs at Odysseus's reminder of the rules of hospitality. Odysseus will have to use all his cunning to escape.  

Please define each: a paragraph, topic sentence, supporting sentences, concluding sentences, unity,coherence, and essay definition

paragraph - a series of sentences, ranging in number, focused on the development of a specific topic.

topic sentence - the sentence within a paragraph that presents the topic, or main idea, of that paragraph. That topic is usually in support of the thesis, or main argument, of the essay.

supporting sentence - these are the sentences within a paragraph that support the topic sentence (therefore, the main idea of that paragraph). These sentences could include examples, direct quotes, explanations, details, etc.

concluding sentence - a concluding sentence is usually the final sentence at the end of a paragraph which completes that paragraph. It often sums up or reaffirms the main idea of that paragraph.

unity - this literally means the coming together of different parts. This is an important element to achieve in a paragraph because it is important that every sentence work to achieve the same purpose, which is to develop the main idea.

coherence - this means consistency, or actual "unity" of ideas, within a written text. Achieving coherence means showing a connection within all the ideas presented in an essay, or within the examples and support in a paragraph.

essay - an essay is a short (often a five paragraph model) composition of ideas meant to explicate and develop a given topic and usually prove something on that topic (the argument).

In Chapter 4 of To Kill a Mockingbird, the children played a game called "Boo Radley."Give a brief outline of the game and how it develops, and...

To while away their free time during the boring summers in Maycomb, the children turned to play-acting. They had been acting out imaginary scenes of the Rover Boys--Tom, Sam and Dick--but Scout was tired of that, so she asked Jem to invent a new game. He decided that they should act out scenes from the life of Boo Radley. Scout was assigned the role of Mrs. Radley, one that at first she refused to play. Dill would be Mr. Radley, and Jem would play Boo. Scout mostly swept the porch; Dill walked up and down the sidewalk and coughed; and Jem shrieked and howled from under the porch.

    As the summer progressed, so did our game. We polished and perfected it, added dialogue and plot until we had manufactured a small play upon which we rang changes every day.

Dill was a "villain's villain," playing any character that Jem assigned. Scout expanded to various female roles (though she claims it "wasn't as much fun as Tarzan"), while "Jem was a born hero." When Atticus found out what they were doing, he strongly discouraged their production. But the children had another audience: From inside the Radley house

... I heard another sound... Someone inside the house was laughing.

What is the summary for Chapter 1 of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone?

Chapter One:  The Boy Who Lived

The Dursleys lived at number four, Privet Drive, and were happy to say that they were a very "normal" family with one son named Dudley.  It was Mrs. Dursley's sister, Mrs. Potter, who was the strange one.  The Dursleys lived in fear that this secret would get out.

One evening, strange things begin to happen on Privet drive regarding cats and owls and people in cloaks.  Mr. Dursley gets worried only when he hears a reference to "the Potters" and "their son, Harry."  A stranger even hugs Dursley on the street, proclaiming that "You-Know-Who has gone at last!"  The Dursleys continue to worry into the night that these new strange happenings could somehow affect them.

Meanwhile, a very tall, old man in a purple cloak appears on the street.  He puts out the lights with a strange contraption and begins speaking to a tabby cat that turns into a stern looking witch named Professor McGonagall.  The begin discussing the infamous "You-Know-Who" named Voldemort and reveal that he has killed Lilly and James Potter.  Voldemort, however, did not succeed in killing little Harry Potter who somehow survived with only a scar on his forehead while Voldemort, a very powerful and evil wizard, lost all of his power.

Dumbledore (the old wizard in the purple cloak) and Professor McGonagall have come to bring little Harry Potter to his aunt and uncle (the only family he has left):  the Dursleys.  McGonagall is disgusted Harry has to be left with these horrible "Muggles" (non-wizard folk), but Dumbledore reveals that it will be good for Harry to grow up where he is not so famous for destroying Voldemort.

Suddenly a huge motorcycle falls out of the air and lands in front of them.  Hagrid, a large man with bushy black hair, has brought Harry Potter safely to Privet Drive.  The three look a little sad as they leave Harry Potter on the doorstep with only simple note of explanation for the Dursleys.

What function in the story, The Outsiders, does Jerry Wood serve?

In The Outsiders, Jerry Wood is the man that is there when the church is on fire. He is with the boys when they are frantically trying to save the kids when they are trapped in the burning church. After the kids are all okay, he accompanies Johnny and Pony in the ambulance and stay with them at the hospital. He is basing his opinion of the boys on their actions and not their appearance. Although they are 'hoods' or 'greasers', he still sees them as heroes for what the did. He is the proof in society that no good deed goes unnoticed no matter who you are.

This also heps Pony in his personal convictions that he and his brothers can be better than being in a gang and living in the rough neighborhoods that he talks about in chapter 9. Jerry is Pony's reason to hope for better because there is someone on the outside willing to believe in him and see him for who he is as opposed to the 'hood' he looks like.

In "Lord of the Flies", why does Ralph say that he is in charge on the island, and why does nobody refute that fact?

“We’ll take you off. How many of you are there?”
Ralph shook his head. The officer looked past him to the group of painted boys.
“Who’s boss here?”
“I am,” said Ralph loudly.
A little boy who wore the remains of an extraordinary black cap on his red hair and who carried the remains of a pair of spectacles at his waist, started forward, then changed his mind and stood still.
“We saw your smoke. And you don’t know how many of you there are?”
“No, sir.”

It's funny, isn't it. The boy who starts forwards with his extraordinary cap, red hair, and a broken pair of spectacles is Jack. And by this stage of the novel Jack is firmly established in the narrative as the "Chief". Yet when they all run out on to the sand and find the naval officer, two things happen. Firstly, the venom drains out of them, and they submit to the authority of an adult - and remember the whole idea of being rescued.

Secondly, they become little boys again - we have forgotten for the most part of the novel that they are - and so their sense of right and wrong returns. No-one challenges Ralph, I think, because he was voted in, and everyone knows in their hearts that he is the real chief. And he steps forward. He takes responsibility. It's a positive moment, I think.

Lastly, it's a little memory of Piggy: "How many of you are there?". The only person who counted the littluns, right at the start, was Piggy, and perhaps Ralph steps forward partly remembering him. At the end of the chapter he'll cry for "the true wise friend called Piggy" - and Piggy would have kept up a "better show", had he only been allowed to be heard.

It's an interpretable moment. But that's what I think.

In "Romeo and Juliet", what does it mean when Mercutio says "a plague o' both your houses?"

Mercutio's line is, put simply, a curse on both the Capulet and the Montague families.  

Mercutio's curse is because he blames the feud between the Capulets and the Montagues for his death - and he realises that he is dying. Mercutio wishes that a "plague" (a horrible illness) will fall on both of the houses of Capulet and Montague (remember, that, the prologue begins "Two houses, both alike in dignity") because he believes that it is their foolish feud that has brought about his death.

In fact, he's wrong. Mercutio's death is not because of the feud between the households, as much as because the love between Romeo and Juliet. Tybalt challenges Romeo to fight (because Romeo dared to attend the Capulet ball) and, when he refuses (because he has just married a Capulet!), Mercutio steps in. That's why Mercutio dies - the "feud", in this scene at least, doesn't actually cause any of the fighting.

One thing too often overlooked is that Mercutio's curse comes true. Friar John, in his single scene in the play, tells Friar Lawrence that he couldn't deliver a letter because of the "infectious pestilence". It is, in fact, a plague which leads to Romeo not receiving the letter - and therefore brings about the deaths of Romeo and Juliet.

How was Jeffrey able to eat spaghetti at the Pickwell's house in "Maniac Magee"?

There are ten Pickwell children, and at dinnertime each day, Mrs. Pickwell opens her back screen door and lets out a distinctive whistle which all the children recognize.   They come running in to eat from every corner of the neighborhood, "from the dump, from the creek, from the tracks, from Red Hill".  In addition, the family is of the sort that is "always helping out somebody", so visitors at mealtime are taken as a matter of course.  On the night in question, Jeffrey manages just to slip in with the Pickwell children when they respond to the call to dinner; there are, at that particular meal, in addition to the ten children, "the parents, the baby, three grandparents and great-grandparents, and "a down and out taxi driver whom Mr. Pickwell was helping out" seated around the Ping-Pong table where Mrs. Pickwell feeds spaghetti to her "small nation".  Accustomed to commotion and extra mouths at suppertime, and no one thinks to ask who "that kid" is until after the meal is over. 

When Dominic Pickwell does finally think to inquire of his brother as to the identity of the kid who sat next to them at the table, Jeffrey is long gone.   The Pickwell kids each figured that he was the friend of one or the other of their many siblings, and by the time they realize that no one actually knew the quiet visitor and rush out to see where he went, they can only catch a glimpse of him in the distance, running with a book in his hand along the railroad tracks (Chapter 6).

I would like to ask what exactly is the symbol of Tariq's headache at the start of Chapter 48 of A Thousand Splendid Suns?Surely there is some...

Thank you for answering the question although it's a year old already. I still appreciated it.

I had a book report on this chapter last year. Thankfully, I was actually praised by my literature professor.

We also made a comparative essay about it. I used the two mothers, Nana and Fariba and compared them to the women of the present Afghanistan.

I mentioned that both of these women contradict the feminism imposed by Mariam and Laila.

Here's an excerpt (sorry for the wrong grammar here and there):

A Thousand Splendid Suns narrates the reign of patriarchy and the rise of feminism in 20th-century Afghanistan through two female characters, Mariam and Laila. They recount the life Afghan women have to endure; they both have become the wives of the same cruel man, have been shunned by Afghan society, have tried to go against the Taliban, and have won in one way or another. Both of them have showed readers that feminism in Afghanistan has hope.

However, by saying that the book is about the rise of feminism in Afghanistan because of these two women is an incomplete look at the book. Mariam and Laila are not the only female characters in the story. A Thousand Splendid Suns also shows another world of feminism in Afghanistan. It also narrates the fall of feminism through two other female characters, Nana and Fariba, the mothers of Mariam and Laila.

....

On the other hand, it doesn’t mean that this really is a hopeless case for Afghan women. Remember, Nana and Fariba die in the book. Maybe along with their deaths is the false feminism present in Afghanistan.

i think i got a B+/A.. :)

Is there foreshadowing in "By the Waters of Babylon"?

Sure!  If you read the text closely, there are clues all along the way.  Near the beginning, he is talking about not being allowed to touch metal without permission and states, "After a time, I myself was allowed to go into the dead houses and search for metal. So I learned the ways of those houses -- and if I saw bones, I was no longer afraid. The bones are light and old -- sometimes they will fall into dust if you touch them."  So from this passage we learn that there are old houses with people in them that have died.  This is our first clue to some great travesty, and that they aren't the first people to exist on earth.  On John's journey, he "left the god-road -- we do not use the god-roads now for they are falling apart into great blocks of stone."  This is another instance of foreshadowing; great, huge roads existed that were now just massive hunks of broken up stones.  Later, he sees the city:  "It was there, in the red light, and they were too big to be houses. It was there with the red light upon it, mighty and ruined."  This is a very straight-forward clue; the buildings were much larger than houses, and they were ruined.  By now we should be getting a pretty good picture of a society that had been devastated; if we put that together with the clues about the metal-not touching it because of fear of death, we can piece together some sort of nuclear disaster.  This nuclear distaster is foreshadowed a bit later when he describes how the bridges were all burned and "broken in the time of the Great Burning when the fire fell out of the sky."  This great burning can be tied to the awful disaster that wiped out the civilization.

From here on out, the clues are many; the food, animals, books, statues, subways, etc.  By the time John "realizes" what has happened, we should have known for a while, because of all of the foreshadowing.

What are the summaries for Chapters 5-7 of "Belle Prater's Boy"?

In Chapter 5, Gypsy asks Mama about the time when Daddy chose her over her Aunt Belle.  Mama remembers with regret that Belle was devastated, but, "mesmerized" by the handsome Amos, she didn't pay much attention to how her sister felt.  Belle languished in her room for days, then one morning she came out of her room, "all dressed up fit to kill".  She announced her intention to "find (her)self a beau", and that night she met Everett Prater and ran off with him. 

Woodrow and Gypsy go to Sunday school in Chapter 6.  Later, they go out to Gypsy's tree house overlooking Slag Creek.  The two children discuss "what they really want" in life.  Woodrow wants his mother back, and his eyes to be straight, and Gypsy wants to cut her hair, because she feels "invisible" when people talk about her beautiful hair but never see what is underneath.  Woodrow believes his mother wanted "to get out of her life".  He will tell Gypsy later what he thinks really happened to her.

In Chapter 7, Woodrow tells Gypsy that there is a mysterious place behind their shack in Crooked Ridge where "the air is thick and it vibrates".  His mother knew about it too, and called it "where two worlds touch".  She spent a lot of time there just before she disappeared, and Woodrow believes she somehow "went across the doorsill" and entered that place.  Belle Prater felt like she was being "squeezed to death" in her life, and Woodrow thinks that "she kinda willed herself to leave it".

In "Lord of the Flies", how can you see Simon as a Jesus Christ figure?

Also at the end of Chapter 3 there is a significant connection between Simon and Jesus.  The littluns are hungry, so he takes them into the forest. 

"Then, amid the roar of bees in the afternoon sunlight, Simon found for them the fruit they could not reach, pulled off the choicest from up in the foliage, passed them back down to the endless, outstretched hands.  When he had satisfied them he paused and looked around.  The littluns watched him inscrutably over double handfuls of ripe fruit."

This is like Jesus' feeding of the thousands--right out of the Bible.  He finds the best or "choicest" fruit and makes sure all of the children have what they need (or actually more than they need). 

How can I compose a poem using iambic pentameter and all these keywords: dagger, sleep, child, candle, bells and horses? * is it possible to give...

Now child, to sleep, with rubbing eyes, you yawn more than a whale,

It's Christmas Eve, lets climb the stairs, I'll tell a Christmas tale.

About a boy who years ago went on a midnight ride,

To try to steal from Santa all toys that he could find.

Armed with sack and dagger he took his dad's great horse,

And rode bent low through wind and snow, to steal elf toys by force.

He soon was lost and cold and cross; thick fog, he could not see

His horse went lame, down came the rain and distant bells rang three. 

O! Foolish boy! Lost in the dark. This candle shines for you. 

Bad boys get zip from Santa. Just be good and he'll be true.

What do the boys determine at the top of the mountain?

There are a few possible answers to your question depending on when in the book you are referring to.

“It was furry. There was something moving behind its head—wings.
The beast moved too—”
“That was awful. It kind of sat up—”
“The fire was bright—”
“We’d just made it up—”
“—more sticks on—”
“There were eyes—”
“Teeth—”
“Claws—”

This is Samneric telling Ralph and Piggy and the rest of the boys what they have seen at the top of the mountain when they are supposed to be watching the fire: they think they have seen the beast. What they have actually seen is the silhouette of the parachutist who has landed on the top of the mountain - though what they think they have determined is that the beast is real, and that there really is something to be scared of.

Then, when they take a mission up the island to look for the beast, Jack discovers the great place for a "fort", which will later become "Castle Rock". And then Simon decides to go up the mountain on his own, and goes running off before anyone can argue.

What he determines at the top of the mountain is the truth about the parachutist and the beast:

Simon felt his knees smack the rock. He crawled forward and soon he understood. The tangle of lines showed him the mechanics of this parody; he examined the white nasal bones, the teeth, the colors of corruption. He saw how pitilessly the layers of rubber and canvas held together the poor body that should be rotting away.

The beast was harmless and horrible; and the news must reach the others as soon as possible.

But - of course - it never does: and Simon is killed before he can deliver his news.

Hope it helps!

How is the poem a ballad? There is no tragedy in it.

I find it interesting that in your question you seem to think this poem is a ballad. A ballad is a story that is told in song. Most ballads feature simple language and two classic elements of poetry: a strong meter and a repeated chorus or refrain which occurs at regular intervals throughout the poem. Folk ballads in particular, which are passed down orally through the generations, feature stories of true love or domestic violence. They feature certain cliched phrases such as "red, red lips" and "true true love" and were meant for singing.

By this definition, therefore, "The Lady of Shallot" cannot be called a ballad. It is a narrative poem, indeed, but it has not been written to be sung, and although it does have a strong meter and a repeated refrain emphasising the separation between Camelot and Shallot, it definitely does not use chliched images.

Your second assertion seems to be likewise erroneous. From one perspective there definitely appears to be tragedy in this poem. The Lady of Shallot is trapped in her tower, forced to have reality mediated to her by the mirror. When real life becomes to irresistable to be ignored, she invites the curse upon her by looking out of the window at real life (captured in the character of Sir Launcelot). It is this action that leads to her death - her action is never understood however, and her desire to live in reality is what also results in her eventual death. This tragedy therefore raises the question of whether it is better for us to truly live and truly love in the world or whether it is better to remain having half a life, or a life of shadows, even if the alternative might risk death.

How much is Nelly Dean to blame for what happens in Wuthering Heights? Is she the villain of the story?Specific examples would be appreciated.

Nelly Dean is the primary narrator in "Wuthering Heights."

She is NOT the villain of the novel.

Although she is the primary narrator, she is also a character who takes part in the action in the novel.

1. In Ch.4 Nelly tells us how she joined Hindley in hating Heathcliff: "and to say the truth I did the same."

2. In Ch.9 Cathy confesses to Nelly that she is in love with Heathcliff and Linton  at the same time. Nelly refuses to promise to keep this a secret. This is why she reveals this to the secondary narrator  Lockwood and so we the readers are able to understand Cathy's complex relationship with  both Linton and Heathcliff.

3. Ch.12 clearly reveals the dilemma  Nelly finds herself in. Cathy and Linton quarrel and Cathy locks herself up in her room while Linton ignores her and immerses himself in his books. Cathy becomes dangerously ill but Nelly thinks that nothing is seriously wrong with her and does not inform Linton. When Linton comes to know of Cathy's precarious  state of health he becomes angry and scolds Nellly to which she replies "I performed the duty of a faithful servant in telling you, and I have got a faithful servant's wages."

4. In Ch24. younger Cathy tels Nelly Dean how she made fun of Hareton Earnshaw's illiteracy. At once Nelly Dean checks her by saying that Hareton is her cousin and that she should not make fun of him, thus sowing the seeds of love between Younger Cathy and Hareton.

Can somebody please post the theme of the poem "Ode to Duty" by William Wordsworth?Click to read the whole poem-...

Wordsworth’s monumental poetic legacy rests on a large number of important poems, varying in length and weight from the short, simple lyrics of the 1790s to the vast expanses of The Prelude, thirteen books long in its 1808 edition. But the themes that run through Wordsworth’s poetry, and the language and imagery he uses to embody those themes, remain remarkably consistent throughout the Wordsworth canon, adhering largely to the tenets Wordsworth set out for himself in the 1802 preface to Lyrical Ballads. Here, Wordsworth argues that poetry should be written in the natural language of common speech, rather than in the lofty and elaborate dictions that were then considered “poetic.” He argues that poetry should offer access to the emotions contained in memory. And he argues that the first principle of poetry should be pleasure, that the chief duty of poetry is to provide pleasure through a rhythmic and beautiful expression of feeling—for all human sympathy, he claims, is based on a subtle pleasure principle that is “the naked and native dignity of man.”

Recovering “the naked and native dignity of man” makes up a significant part of Wordsworth’s poetic project, and he follows his own advice from the 1802 preface. Wordsworth’s style remains plain-spoken and easy to understand even today, though the rhythms and idioms of common English have changed from those of the early nineteenth century. Many of Wordsworth’s poems (including masterpieces such as “Tintern Abbey” and the “Intimations of Immortality” ode) deal with the subjects of childhood and the memory of childhood in the mind of the adult in particular, childhood’s lost connection with nature, which can be preserved only in memory. Wordsworth’s images and metaphors mix natural scenery, religious symbolism (as in the sonnet “It is a beauteous evening, calm and free,” in which the evening is described as being “quiet as a nun”), and the relics of the poet’s rustic childhood—cottages, hedgerows, orchards, and other places where humanity intersects gently and easily with nature.

Wordsworth’s poems initiated the Romantic era by emphasizing feeling, instinct, and pleasure above formality and mannerism. More than any poet before him, Wordsworth gave expression to inchoate human emotion; his lyric “Strange fits of passion have I known,” in which the speaker describes an inexplicable fantasy he once had that his lover was dead, could not have been written by any previous poet. Curiously for a poet whose work points so directly toward the future, many of Wordsworth’s important works are preoccupied with the lost glory of the past—not only of the lost dreams of childhood but also of the historical past, as in the powerful sonnet “London, 1802,” in which the speaker exhorts the spirit of the centuries-dead poet John Milton to teach the modern world a better way to live

In ch. 6 of "To Kill a Mockingbird" why is Scout frightened for Jem? Why he is determined to go back? What surprise does he find?

Jem, in shimmying under the fence to get away from the Radley place after they saw the shadow on the porch, gets his pants caught.  He ends up just leaving them.  So later on that night, he decides to go back and get them.  Scout is terrified, worried that he'll get his "head shot off" by Mr. Radley, or Boo, for their earlier trespassing.  Jem, however, knows that if Mr. Radley discovers the pants he'll tell Atticus, and Atticus will give him a beating.  Jem says, "Atticus ain't ever whipped me since I can remember.  I wanta keep it that way".  So, to avoid shaming himself in front of Atticus for doing something Jem says "we shouldn'a done", Jem goes to fetch them.

The surprise that he finds is that his pants are uncaught, and "folded across the fence", AND the tear had been stitched up. That means that someone saw them retreating, went out to investigate, and instead of going to Atticus with what they had done, fixed and put Jem's pants there for him to retrieve.  An ally?  Jem feels a combination of gratitude and alarm that someone would know him so well to know that he would come back for them.

Compare the similarities and differences between Gatsby and Nick in The Great Gatsby.

Both Nick and Jay come from the Midwest.  Both of them see Tom for who he is.  He is an aloof elitist who thinks only of himself and his money.  However, both of them put up with Tom and remain "gentlemen" while he acts like a jerk.  Both Nick and Jay work hard for the money that they make, although they have different goals for that money.  Unlike Tom who has everything handed to him from family money.  Both men are from modest upbringings. Both men even go out of their way to please others.  Nick makes sure to have all of the right touches waiting for Daisy when she comes to "visit"/mean Jay (even though Jay goes overboard with helping him).  Jay constantly throws parties so that someday Daisy will visit.  Both men represent the West Egg's way of thinking and their morals.

Where they differ is in how they deal with Daisy and Tom. Jay finally tells Tom that Daisy loves him and will leave Tom for him. He is confrontational from that point on.  Nick doesn't confront Tom quite like that.  He is less aggressive.  Instead, he asks Tom what he told Wilson that afternoon.  He did refuse to shake Tom's hand, but he wasn't as confrontational.  He pretty much just let Tom and Daisy go. One last thing that the two did not have in common is that Nick was always truthful. Jay was not always.  He lied about how he got his money and he lied about his past.  He was a criminal when it came down to it.  Nick wasn't.  Nick was always a good guy, but he never would have the money that Jay had.

What are some metaphors in A Separate Peace that talk about the summer?

In Chapter 2, there is "...the clean-washed shine of summer mornings..." (21), a metaphor that suggests that summer is something that is washed and polished.  In Chapter 4, Gene says, "Summer lazed on" (55), as though it were a person who could "laze."  In addition to those quotes, it is possible to look at the book's title as a kind of metaphor.  The "separate peace" is the summer before these students must go off to war.  So summer is a kind of metaphor, for the calm before the storm, the peace before the war, and the last stage of childhood before one must grow up. For most of us, summer is a kind of metaphor for carefree childhood, don't you think?

How is the quote from Huck Finn "Give a nigger an inch and he'll take an ell" an example of Twain's satire exposing hypocrisy?

Huck quotes this "old Saying" when he hears Jim start to speak about what he'd do with his freedom--buy and therefore free his wife and children.  Huck becomes alarmed at this because it undermines the social structure -- Jim is supposed to stay in place-- even though both Jim and Huck are outcasts to that structure.  In helping Jim get free, Huck sees that his actions have potentially allowed a few more slaves to get free -- and he sums up the situation with the quote.  However, the original quote was probably something like "Give an inch, and they take a mile."  But Jim isn't planning a full-scale slave revolt; he merely proposes to free his family, a much less ambitious task.  Therefore, Twain has Huck use the word "ell" (an old measure, about 45 inches) and the reader's not sure if Huck says that out of ignorance of the original "Old Saying" or if he's appropriately sizing the quote to Jim's ambitions.  

In "Maniac Magee", why did McNab's group stop at Hector Street?

Hector Street is the racial divide in the town, where the neighborhood on one side is inhabited by white people and the neighborhood on the other side is inhabited by black people. Maniac Magee is the only child who crosses these invisible barriers-- he is not deterred by race. However, the McNabs have been brought up in a racist environment and see the blacks as enemies, even playing games in which they build forts and battle the black people. Therefor, when they reach Hector Street, they do not cross it, despite all their bravado. Hector Street is important in the novel as this invisible racial divide, even Amanda Beale knows she's not supposed to go over to the white side. However Maniac crosses those lines, and eventually brings the two sides together. His actions teach the lesson that people, regardless of race, are more alike than people think. At the core of every human there is love and good.

In "Fahrenheit 451", what is the purpose of the long description of the river, the woods, and the sky?

One reason that this is a long, descriptive passage is that it gives Montag a chance to reflect on his life.  He remembers a time when he was a child and he was brought to the country to visit a farm.  The innocence amd simplicity of that time are what he feels he needs to get back to - away from the parlor's TV walls and away from mechanical hounds.  He imagines a beautiful young woman sitting in a window braiding her hair as, again, a return to a simpler and better time. This is what he yearns for.  The description also lets the reader know that this simpler world is a much better one than the world Montag is fleeing.  Even though he is alone as he drifts down the river and passes the countryside, the reader gets the sense that Montag is less alone now than he was when he was on the crowded train with its blaring commercials.  The society he is leaving isolated people, discouraging people from talking to one another and getting to know one another.  He has the chance now to think, an opportunity the noisy train with the constant "Denham's Dentifrice" jingle denied him.  The peace and beauty of the countryside is a sharp contrast to the noisy, war-riiddled world Montag leaves behind.

When quoting a book, do the page numbers go before or after the period? Example: “But we must never speak of the times before the Great...

Here is how you would quote the passage according to Modern Language Association (MLA) style:

But we must never speak of the times before the Great Rebirth…. They whisper many strange things, of the towers which rose to the sky, in those Unmentionable Times, and of the wagons which moved without horses, and of the lights which burned without flame. But those were evil times. (Rand 19-20)

Your entire paper must be double spaced. Each line of this block quote would be indented twice from the left margin (two tabs or ten spaces). Because the passage is more than three lines, it must be formatted as a block quote. Do not use quotation marks around it; the double indenting shows it is quoted material. End the quote with its appropriate punctuation mark, and after that, inside parentheses, give the last name of the author and the page number or range without a comma. No period comes after the parentheses.

If you were to quote a passage of three or fewer lines, a different rule applies. You would run the quote into the paragraph of your text, and you would place quotation marks around it. In this case, do not end the quote with a period, just end quotation marks. After the quotation marks, insert your parenthetical reference, and after that place a period. It would look like this:

"But we must never speak of the times before the Great Rebirth…. They whisper many strange things, of the towers which rose to the sky, in those Unmentionable Times" (Rand 19-20).

Whether you use a period before or after your parenthetical reference depends on the length of your quote. 

What are two ways Mrs. Dubose and Atticus Finch show acts of courage in "To Kill a Mockingbird"? Two for each person

Mrs. Dubose illustrates courage by choosing to, as Atticus says, "'to leave this world beholden to nothing and nobody'" (111).  What he means by that is Mrs. Dubose was going to break her addiction to morphine before she dies.  Ultimately, it doesn't really matter that she is addicted to morphine; she is still going to die.  But she doesn't want to die an addict.  Thus, she is brave and courageous.

Another way that she is brave is that though she is going to fight a losing batter (she will die regardless of what she does), she still chooses to put up a fight.  This is why Atticus calls her "'the bravest person I ever knew'" (112).  This, of course, foreshadows the losing fight that Atticus is going to put up in part two of the novel.

Atticus is brave in multiple ways.  But one way is how he accepts the burden to kill the mad dog Tim Johnson in chapter 10.  Though the responsibility rightfully belongs to sheriff Tate, he puts the burden on Atticus because he is a much better shot.  Though he has given up shooting and hunting, Atticus, nevertheless, does the courageous thing and kills the rabid dog to protect his family and friends.

Of course, the fact that Atticus has accepted the Tom Robinson case is the best example of courage in the novel. When very few people are willing to do the right thing, Atticus doesn't hesitate.  It will be a losing battle, but it's one he'll fight nonetheless.

In The Great Gatsby, how do the motifs of violence, colors, race, and sports relate to Daisy and Jordan?

Violence: Daisy herself is not a victim of violence, but Myrtle Wilson dies a violent death when Daisy accidentally runs over her while driving Gatsby's car, and Gatsby dies a violent death as a result of his involvement with Daisy. The violence motif does not relate to Jordan.

Colors: Daisy and Jordan both wear white dresses in Chapter 1 when Nick first sees them. They lie on a couch under a white ceiling in a room with white French windows covered by pale curtains. When she was young, Daisy dressed in white and drove a little white car. Her face is frequently described as being pale. White is a Fitzgerald motif that is associated with "the coolness" of wealth and privilege.

Race: Daisy's husband Tom is a racist. He expresses his racist views very clearly in Chapter 1, especially when discussing a book he has recently read, The Rise of the Coloured Empires.

Sports: Jordan is a professional golfer; that is her only pursuit in life, and she has been known to cheat by moving her golf ball to set up a better shot. Nick vaguely remembers her name being associated with a scandal. The sports motif relates to Daisy in that she is married to Tom, a former college football player. Tom is still husky and muscular, but he takes offense when Daisy calls him "hulking."

What are the foil characters in A Doll's House?

Christine Lind is a foil to Nora.  Because Nora is the main character, and it is her development that the play is about, Christine is brought in to demonstrate the obvious differences. It is when Kristina comes to see her old school friend that it really becomes clear to the audience what is meant by the play's title; that Nora is living in a “doll’s house," a specially created, protected environment far from the real world. This is emphasized by what we learn of Christine's life; hard-working, adult and responsible. By contrast Nora is not even able to look after her own children, let alone earn her living. Her journey from independence to marriage is a foil to Nora's journey in the opposite direction.

“Mrs. Linde. How kind you are, Nora, to be so anxious to help me! It is doubly kind in you, for you know so little of the burdens and troubles of life.

Nora. I--? I know so little of them?

Mrs. Linde [smiling]. My dear! Small household cares and that sort of thing!--You are a child, Nora.

Nora [tosses her head and crosses the stage]. You ought not to be so superior. "

The characters of Krogstad and Torvald  are also in the roles of FOIL's for each other.  One is married and the marriage is ending while Torvald is not married yet.  The links below can supply specifics.  Don't have enough room here.