In "Hamlet" what is Hamlet's purpose in describing to King Claudius how a king may travel through guts of a beggar?

Hamlet has been faking insanity since meeting his father’s ghost. He has a serious reason for stabbing Polonius. His mother is screaming for the guards, thinking her crazy son plans to kill her. Polonius starts calling for help behind the tapestry. Hamlet thinks he has walked into a trap and that he could get thrown into a dungeon--especially with his own mother accusing him of attempted murder and Polonius backing her up. (At this point Hamlet does not know whether his mother was involved in the murder of his father.) He might be imprisoned for years or even be executed. He pacifies his mother but still has the murder of Polonius to account for. Now, if ever, is the time to make everyone believe he is insane.

When Rosencrantz and Guildenstern ask where he has hidden the body, he refuses to tell. That would be admitting he knew he had committed  murder. At the end of Act 4, Scene 3, he “runs off,” according to the stage directions, calling “Hide fox, and all after.” He pretends to think they are all playing a game. Polonius actually was hiding, and Hamlet wants them to believe he thought Polonius was the fox and that now he himself is the fox. Evidently this game was different from our modern “Hide and Seek.” Instead of everybody hiding except the boy who is “It,” only one boy would hide and everybody would look for him. The boy who found the “fox” would then become the fox himself, and this was something they all wanted to be.

Claudius believes his stepson is totally mad and thinks they are playing a game. So the wily King pretends to go along with it. Instead of asking, “Where is the body?” he smiles and asks confidentially, “Now, Hamlet, where’s Polonius?” It was a real stroke of genius for Shakespeare to have Hamlet say, “At supper.” Boys typically play games like Hide and Seek after school and such games go on until they are called in at dusk for supper.

“At supper” suggests that the game is over and now things are getting serious. It also means Polonius is alive. This terrifies the King. He only knows what Gertrude told him. He suspects a coup is underway. He is unarmed and Hamlet still has his sword. Gertrude, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and Polonius may all be involved in a plot to assassinate him right here and now. Gertrude is Hamlet’s loving mother. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are his old friends and schoolmates. Polonius would love to have Hamlet marry his daughter and make her Queen Ophelia. It doesn’t matter whether Hamlet is sane or insane. If sane, he may be the leader; if insane, he may be a figurehead, a puppet, used by enemies to seize power.

Hamlet intended to frighten the King, but after enjoying the terrified reaction and the disclosure of his cowardice, Hamlet relieves the poor man by saying that the supper is not where Polonius eats but where he is eaten. It is significant that Claudius says, “Alas, alas!” He means, of course, “Alas, he’s mad!” Hamlet’s entire speech about how a man may fish with a worm that has eat of a king and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm is merely intended to carry on the pretense that he is mad. But characteristically of all his mad utterances—and characteristically of ambiguous psychotic utterances in general—there is a second possible meaning. Hamlet seems to be implying that Claudius is “a thing of nothing” and does not have long to live.

What are Jonas's rules in "The Giver"?

Jonas' rules are found in Chapter 9. His first rule tells him to report to the Annex entrance behind the house of the old each day.

His second rule tells him to go home after training each day.

His third tells him that he is exempt from rudeness, and that he may ask questions and get answers from anyone. This rule is shocking because no one in the community is free to ask rude questions.

His fourth rule instructs him not to discuss his training.

His fifth rule prohibits him from dream-telling, which is also a surprise, because telling and analyzing dreams is a routine that every family in the community does together.

The sixth rule tells him not to ever apply for medication unless it is unrelated to his job. This is a heads-up that his job might be painful, and he will not be allowed to take medicine for it.

The seventh rule says that he is not allowed to apply for release. This does not bother Jonas, as he cannot fathom ever wanting to apply for release anyway.

The last rule is the most unnerving though: "You may lie". No one in the community was EVER allowed to lie. This makes Jonas wonder, however, how many other people received this same rule, and how many people did actually lie.

Many of these rules shatter some allusions Jonas has about the community, and it is clear that his job will not be anything he might expect.

How do you work out moles?I need an explanation. My teacher isn't helping me on it...

How many moles of silicon are in 4.60 g of Si? This is the first venture into one of the most common chemical calculations, finding the number of moles present in a given mass of substance. Restate it: 4.60 g Si <=> ? mol Si                         The atomic mass (you need this for each element in your problems, too) of silicon, 28.09 (rounded from 28.0855), gives us the needed tool, because we know from the definition of the mole that the following is true about silicon.            28.09 g Si <=> 1 mol Si     Like any equivalency, this one makes available two conversion factors.  One will be the tool we need for our grams-to-mole conversion.  28.09 g Si/1 mol of Si and 1 mol Si/28.09 g Si or:

28.09 g Si  and   1 mol Si

1 mol Si           28.09 g Si

Thus if we multiply the given, 4.60 g Si, by the second conversion factor, we will obtain the answer. Solution:  We carry out the following calculation.  Notice how the units, g Si, cancel to leave the correct unit, mol Si (Draw in the cancel lines yourself).

4.60 g Si x  1 mol Si/28.09 g Si  = 0.164 mol Si

In other words, 4.60 g Si <=> 0.164 mol Si.  Now, check to see if the answer makes sense.  Is its numerical size in the right range?  Yes, because we began with 4.60 g Si, clearly less than a whole mole of silicon, so the answer has to reflect this obvious fact. The atomic mass=1 mole.

Why did Maniac have mixed feelings winning the race against Mars Bar in Maniac Magee?

Not only did Maniac win the race against Mars Bar, but he also won it running backwards.  Maniac is glad he won, but he feels bad about humiliating his opponent in the process, and wonders what it is within himself that possessed him to do that.

Maniac didn't want to race Mars Bar to begin with.  The other boy has always been belligerent towards him because he is white, and he only wants to race Maniac because he wants to show him up.  Mars Bar thinks he can beat Maniac because has been working out, and has gotten a fantastic new pair of sneakers.  There are a lot of people watching the contest, friends and neighbors of Mars Bar, so there is a lot at stake.

Maniac is not sure at first how to run the race. 

"Naturally he wanted to win, or at least to do his best...but there were other considerations...whom he was racing against, and where, and what the consequences might be if he won".

Maniac doesn't want to make Mars Bar look bad, but he doesn't want to be beaten either.  Once the race begins, however, he is caught up in the excitement, and, leading all the way, he turns at the last minute and crosses the finish line backwards.  Maniac "regret(s) it instantly", questioning himself as to why he did it.  He is afraid that he might have done it deliberately, disgracing his opponent as a form of payback "for all his nastiness".  In the final analysis, however, "his only recollection (is) a feeling of sheer, joyful exuberance, himself in celebration", doing what he does well with complete abandon (Chapter 38).

I do not understand how to slove systems of equations by elimination Example: -4x-2y=-12 and then this one goes under it 4x+8y=-24 i have my...

Falynmarie is right that you would often want to change one of the equations to positive or negative by multiplying both sides by -1. However, with this one, I think you are fine as you are.

-4x - 2y = -12

4x + 8y = -24

______________

0 + 6y = -36

or 6y = -36

Then divide both sides by 6 to isolate the y:

6y = -36

y = -6

Now substitute the -6 to find x:

-4x - 2 (-6) = -12

-4x - (-12) = -12

-4x + 12 = -12

Subtract 12 from both sides:

-4x = -24

x = 6

Let's try it with the other equation too:

4x + 8 (-6) = -24

4x - 48 = -24

add 48 to both sides:

4x = 24

x = 6

So, the end result is that x = 6 and y = -6

In regards to The Great Gatsby, is this quote right?"Before the first World war, Middle West is described as a peacefulness, traditional ,...

Yes and no.  Can the quotation be found within The Great Gatsby as it stands?  No.  Part of it does, however.  On the first few pages of the book, Nick puts the Midwest into perspective:  "Instead of being the warm center of the world, the Middle West now seemed like the ragged edge of the universe--so I decided to go East and learn the bond business" (3).  It is important to realize that this was Nick's take on the situation.  Nick expands on his original ideas about the Midwest in "Chapter IX" when he says, "That's my Middle West--not the wheat or the prairies or the lost Swede towns, but the thrilling returning trains of my youth . . ." (177). 

In addition, however, the quotation you give above (at least the beginning of it) is in fact true, although not found within The Great Gatsby.  We surmise the truth of this statement by reflecting further on the quote from the actual novel.  If Nick was rebelling from a past opinion about the Midwest, then it may in fact seem like the "ragged edge of the universe" to him.  Likewise, one can assume that before World War I the Midwest actually was seen as peaceful, moral, and honest because of what we (as readers) observe within our narrator.  Nick is, in fact, peaceful, moral, and honest.  Nick's father must have been as well, for in the first few sentences of the book, Fitzgerald's readers get some good advice from Mr. Carraway:  "Whenever you feel like criticizing any one . . . just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had" (1).  Peaceful, moral, and honest?  I think so.

How is the completeness of separation of benzoic acid and crystals from NaCl known with the addition of Silver Nitrate?what are the methods of...

AgNO3 + NaCl ----> NaNO3 + AgCl

After the reaction between NaCl and Silver Nitrate, the results are a precipitate of AgCl and aqueous NaNO3.

Silver Nitrate does not react with Benzoic acid.

Sodium benzoate reacts with Silver Nitrate but it will be less reactive in comparison to NaCl and will not precipitate.

 Good crystallizing solvent characteristics:

• The solid should be very soluble in the recrystallization solvent at high temperatures.

• The solid should be insoluble in the recrystallization solvent at room temperature or lower temperatures (i.e., an ice bath, 0°C).

•  Crystals should be obtained from the solvent as it cools.
• The solvent should have a relatively low boiling point so it can easily be removed via evaporation

What kind of closure does the Requiem provide to the play Death of a Salesman?

There are two possible ways to look at this.  For one, Willie's dream of hundreds of buyers coming to his funeral, celebrating his life, comes to the end we all knew it would come to.  No one comes; he is buried by his family and a couple friends.  It's unclear whether Linda knew this was coming; she laments that no one is there, as though she somehow expected them to come.  If there were ever any suspicion that Willie's dream may have had some substance to it, it ends at the Requiem.

The other thing that we are having a Requiem for is an idea, in a way Willie's idea, that the business world works on a handshake, that personality can carry the day, that being "well-liked" will get it done.  Bernard is the new man; Bernard has no personality and Bernard is successful.  This is (may be?) a new world, and it works on new principles.  In Willie's old world, "a man is not a piece of fruit."   In our world, he certainly is.  You can eat the fruit and throw away the peel.  Giant corporations, symbolized by the apartment houses that surround Willie's "world," relate to people differently than the corner store that might loan you money is you were short.

So we say goodbye to a man and to an idea ... all in one short act.

In Act 2, sc. 2, what's Hamlet's state of mind revealed by his soliquy? What do Hamlet's remarks to Polonius tell about Hamlet's thoughts?

The soliloquy to which you refer is the "...rogue and peasant slave.." speech.  Here, Hamlet is upset with himself because he's done nothing yet to avenge his father's death as he promised the ghost he'd do.  At the beginning of the speech, he compares himself to the actor who, delivering the lines he just gave, was so emotional, he had tears in his eyes.  Hamlet says he should be that emotional and determined to avenge his father's death. He says that he hasn't even done any planning and that if anyone were to call him a wimp or to slap him, he'd deserve it for his inaction.  Then he rants about his uncle, calling him a "bloody, bawdy villain!" among other names.  He becomes determined to take some kind of action and so, at the end of this speech, says he's heard that someone, seeing his bad deeds enacted, might react, therefore he'll have the players enact a scene depicting his father's death and see if Claudius reacts.  That way, Hamlet will know that the ghost was indeed the spirit of his dead father and not a demon trying to lure him into hell by getting him to commit murder.  Hamlet's earlier remarks to Polonius tell us that Hamlet has disdain for Polonius whom he considers a meddlesome person.  Hamlet makes caustic remarks to Polonius reflecting Hamlet's scorn for Polonius.

What devices does author Golding use to build suspense in Lord of the Flies?

One device that Golding uses in Lord of the Flies to build suspense is setting imagery, particularly that related to the weather and nature.  For example, at the beginning of Chapter 4 "Painted Faces and Long Hair," Golding opens the chapter by describing the scenic details of the course of the day.  Then he describes the sea:

Strange things happened at midday.  The glittering sea rose up, moved apart in planes of blatant impossibility; the coral reef and the few stunted palms that clung to the more elevated parts would float up into the sky, would quiver, be plucked apart, run like raindrops on a wire or be repeated as in an odd succession of mirrors.

Piggy claims that scenes like this are just mirages, but they build suspense for the reader who senses that the weather and the scenes of nature are really symbols for the events to come on the island.  The natural backdrop of the island sets the tone for the events in the novel, so unsettling scenes such as the one above suggest to the reader that something equally unsettling is coming in the novel.  And of course later in this chapter, Jack and his hunters show up with their faces painted similar to war masks, signaling the divide between his group of hunters and the boys who are still under Ralph's leadership.

In the story Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne, how is the nature of evil presented in the story?

As in others of his works, in "Young Goodman Brown," Nathaniel Hawthorne suggests an accusation of the "secret sin" of hypocrisy--the grievous evil in men's hearts.  Like so many Puritans, Goodman Brown is sanctimonious in "his evil purpose," declaring to the devilish old man who acts as his escort into the dark forest,

'My father never went into the woods on such an errand, nor his father before him.  We have been a race of honest men and good Crhistians since the days of the martyrs; and shall I be the first of the name of Brown that ever took this path and kep'--

While Goodman Brown deceives himself into thinking that he can walk with evil and not sin because he is such a good man, the devil's reply is a rebuttal of this hypocrisy and acts as foreshadowing for the double entendre, "loss of Faith," in "Young Goodman Brown":

'Such company, thou wouldst say....I have been as well acquainted with your family as with ever a one among the Puritans; and that's no trifle to say.  I helped your grandfather, the constable, when he lashed the Quaker woman so smartly through the streets of Salem; and it was I that brought your father a pitch-pine knowt,...to set fire to an Indian village....They were my good friends, both....

Yet, Goodman Brown continues his walk into the forest "applauding himself greatly, and thinking with how clear a conscience he should meet the minister in his morning walk..."  And, while an ambiguity is certainly established in Hawthorne's conclusion as Goodman Brown is uncertain the next day as to whether he actually "lost his Faith" in witnessing her joining the devil or whether he dreamt this act, Goodman Brown's Puritan heart that will admit no sin to himself, forestalls forgiveness of all who were supposedly present that night whether they actually sinned or not.  Herein, certainly lies the evil: This hypocrisy, the "secret sin" of the Puritans is what Hawthorne decries in his tale of "Young Goodman Brown."

 

What can best be described about John's character in "The Painted Door", by Sinclair Ross?My assignment is to do an analysis of John ("The Painted...

John's character is most simply described as a dull, ironically simple man.  He is perfectly content with tending to his farm, and believes that he can make the people in his life, particularly his wife Ann, happy by doing his work and 'bringing home the bacon.' However, one of John's main flaws, and his ultimate downfall in his relationship with Ann is his inability to pay attention to the people around him. 

What quotes in Macbeth reveal Lady Macbeth's ambition and desire to be queen?

Well, the obvious place to look is her first scene. W. H. Auden once said that "first things in Shakespeare are always important", and true to form, the first time Lady Macbeth appears, she reads aloud the letter that her husband has sent her detailing the witches' prophecies. The letter refers to her as Macbeth's "dearest partner of greatness" and Lady Macbeth, reading of the prophecies immediately resolves

Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be
What thou art promised. Yet do I fear thy nature;
It is too full o’ the milk of human kindness
To catch the nearest way. 

Human kindness is not going to stand in the way of their getting their hands on the crown. At the end of the same scene she makes a strong resolution to win the crown for her husband:

                           Hie thee hither,
That I may pour my spirits in thine ear,
And chastise with the valor of my tongue
All that impedes thee from the golden
Which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem
To have thee crown'd withal.

I wouldn't say that it's as much that she wants to be queen, as much as she wants her husband to be king. But ambitious? Undoubtedly.

What is the importance of tradition in "Like Water for Chocolate"?

Tradition is an important part of life during Tita's time. In fact, it is tradition that keep Tita and Pedro apart. Tita and Pedro are fiercely in love. However, because tradition dictates that the youngest daughter does not marry in order to care for her aging parents, Pedro fails to gain Tita's hand in marriage when he speaks to her mother. Instead, he is offered Rosaura, Tita's older sister. She is the middle sister and is not yet married. Tradition dictates that daughters marry in order. Pedro agrees to marry Rosaura but only because he sees this as his only chance to be near Tita, for her mother will never allow her to marry.

Tradition continues to be one of Tita's main conflicts during the course of the novel. Family tradition required Tita to remain unmarried so she could take care of her mother for the rest of her life. Similarly, Rosaura, Tita's sister and Pedro's wife, decides that she also will follow this tradition and that her daughter will care for her and remain unmarried. Tita is furious because she recognizes that the tradition is completely unfair; if she cannot marry and have children, who will support her in her old age? She tells Rosaura that she will go against tradition as long as she has to, "as long as this cursed tradition doesn't take me into account."

Discuss the dual image of fire in the novel "Fahrenheit 451."

There is the external, physical fire which destroys and takes away--the books, the houses, the characters themselves are decimated and extinguished by the hungry fire which the firemen themselves unleash.  It's power is mighty, and it is worthy of respect.

There is also the internal, symbolic fire that burns in people like Clarisse and Montag.  They "burn" to know the truth about the past; "burn" with curiosity concerning the books that they have been told their whole lives are forbidden and off-limits; "burn" to find their purpose in life and happiness in their existence.  People like Mildred and her friends never burn with discontent...they do what they are told and when they are told to do it.  Those with higher intelligence ask the burning "why" and "how" questions which reach beyond the "who," "what," and "where" questions. This fire can also be destructive, but for some--Montag, Faber, the others who memorize the books--it proves to be a sort of salvation, cathartic and cleansing. 

In "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings", how does Marquez use fantasy to reveal a human truth?

In "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" Marquez uses fantasy to reveal human truths about the new beginnings and the value of humanity. In the story, the two most prominent characters are the fantastical Spider-woman and the very old man with enormous wings.

Spider-woman had a fall from her position in life and was in fact turned into a tarantula spider, with her own head and brain function. She, although in captivity of sorts in the circus (actually it may be a more protective environment for her...), found a way to establish a new beginning, and one of worth, by telling her story and teaching children to do what she failed to do, which is to obey their parents. The old man makes a new beginning, after his captivity, when his wings grow new, healthy feathers and he relearns how to fly and thus embarks on a new beginning.

Fantasy is used to symbolically reveal the value of humanity by imbuing the repulsive marginalized old, ill, dirty, disabled man with a majesty and greatness through the agency of his enormous wings and his angel status. Even though he is repulsive as a marginalized--unacceptable--person, few dare to deny that he embodies qualities of worthwhile value.

In "A Separate Peace" what function does Brinker's father, Mr. Hadley, serve?

He is a final reminder of the war, and a way to bring the war front and central, once again, making it more of a real part of their lives.  Things are changing, and Brinker's dad serves as the embodiment of embracing that change, whole-heartedly.  There is incredible pressure from Brinker's dad to to join the war, to be part of the effort, to have glory and honor in it.  He says,

"Your war memories will be with you forever...people will get their respect for you from that."

Not only should you join up, but you should join up where the action is most intense:

"if you can say that you were up front where there was some real shooting going on, then that will mean a whole lot to you in years to come."

So not only is advocating the war, putting pressure on them to join, he wants them not to play it safe, but to go to the most dangerous fronts so that they have bragging rights later on, so that they will be more respected.  War is everything, unless they maintain a peace separate from that war, something that Gene says Finny was able to do.  Before this chapter, war was hovering on the fringes of their lives; with Finny gone, war comes to campus completely and takes over, and Brinker's dad serves to show that more thoroughly.

What social issues can be found in "A Rose for Emily" that made Emily isolate herself from the outside world?

There are several social changes that occured within Emily's life.

The society that once witnessed old-fashioned courtships, kinships, old family names, an economy by means of hand labor, and the perennial presence of the Southern way of life is, in the story, now steadily shifting towards industralism, capitalism , social expansion, racial integration, and the view of the South as anachronistic. 

Emily is there, caught in between the two clashing worlds, without the protection of her "almighty" father, and with no ties that are strong enough to help her make the transition towards the present.

The social issue in itself is the inevitable reality of change and shifting towards the future by severing the only ties you know. This is a universal problem that happens in every generation, and needs the willingness of each individual in it to make the effort and embrace change.

In the book "To Kill a Mockingbird", how do the people of Maycomb act at the courthouse?

There are a variety of answers to your question, depending on which characters your asking about. It almost seems like the trial is a spectacle now, with the way that people from all over the town and county make it to the courthouse to see the happenings. Many people pass by the Finch house on the way to the courthouse, and Jem comments on them, telling Dill and Scout about each person and the gossip he knows.

When the children sneak to the courthouse, they find it packed with people. It is here that Scout learned from the Idlers' Club (a group of men who hang around the courthouse) that Atticus was assigned the trial--he didn't choose to take it.

Because the main level of the courthouse is so full, Scout, Jem and Dill sit with the black people in the balcony. The audience of the trial acts just like the audience in a movie or at a play--they laugh, "ooh and aah", and there is even an outburst from Link Deas. For all of its seriousness, the trial is almost portrayed as a theatrical event, which is probably was to some of the people in attendance.

In The Great Gatsby what is significant in Jordan's remark that Daisy's voice has an amorous tinge? Chapter 5

The reference relates to Jordan's observation that:

" Perhaps Daisy never went in for amour at all — and yet there’s something in that voice of hers. . . ."

The conversation is between Jordan and Nick in the tea-garden at the Grand Plaza Hotel. Jordan is telling Nick about the occasion that she had seen Daisy with Jay Gatsby for the first time. She further informs him about Gatsby going to the war and Daisy's marriage to Tom, the birth of their child and the first few years of their marriage.

Jay Gatsby had asked Jordan to approach Nick and request that Nick invite Daisy over to his (Nick's) place so that Jay could meet Daisy there. This is why Jordan divulges all this information.

Jordan's remark is significant because it informs of the power and charm of Daisy's voice. Jordan suggests that Daisy was probably not a romantic at heart, but that her voice intimated romance. When one hears Daisy voice, therefore, one cannot resist being overwhelmed and drawn in. Her voice had (and has) an irresistible and captivating lure to it.

Even Nick found it difficult, at times, to exactly pinpoint wherein the charm of Daisy's voice lay. In chapter seven, whilst talking to Jay Gatsby, he remarks that:

“She’s got an indiscreet voice,” “It’s full of ——”

Jay suddenly retorts that: "Her voice is full of money."

Nick then realises:

"That was it. I’d never understood before. It was full of money — that was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, the cymbals’ song of it. . . . high in a white palace the king’s daughter, the golden girl. . . ."

What was Dickens trying to accomplish by writing A Tale of Two Cities?

I am not sure Dickens wanted to show anything. A novel is not a report or a thesis, or an attempt to demonstrate something. That is not the way great writers work. They try to convey their feelings, their emotions. They are great writers precisely because they are better and have fewer inhibitions than others in exposing their feelings and putting them in words. When successful, they achieve in this way a "truth of the heart" that readers are able to relate to, even after decades or even centuries. The creative process is a mystery, a miracle. In some cases, the trigger is a compelling experience or memory that fires the writer's imagination. Often the writing is slow and painful at the beginning, while the basic building blocks are being devised and the characters are being sketched. Then the novel and the characters may take a life of their own. Dickens was indeed very much affected by his family's experience as well as his own in his early years and was particularly sensitive to the situation fo the poor. This clearly transpires in all his work, including Tale of course. He was also aware that the poor are not necessarily "good" and may indeed become very resentful and violent when humiliated for too long. Maybe when Dickens wrote Tale in 1859, he had a feeling that history had repeated itself: France had experienced another revolution in 1848 and another Napoleon was ruling France when he was writting. This may be why he got interested in the French revolution of 1789. From this perspective, Tale may have been a cautionary tale: if you, the rich, do not pay attention to the plight of the people you may have a bloody revolution on your hands. This warning applied  to France, but could very well be extended to England where the conditions of the poor were not much better than in France.

In Chapter 8 of The Scarlet Letter, what does Chillingworth note about Dimmesdale's defense of Hester?

Chillingsworth notes that Dimmesdale presents his defense of Hester with unusual passion.  He says to him,

"You speak, my friend, with a strange earnestness".

When Hester feels that the group led by Governor Bellingham is going to take Pearl away from her, she grows desperate.  Not knowing where else to turn, she begs Dimmesdale to speak for her.  She tells him,

"I will not lose the child!  Speak for me!...thou knowest what is in my heart, and what are a mother's rights, and how much stronger they are when that mother has but her child and the scarlet letter!"

Recognizing that Hester is close to madness, and in her desperation would do anything to keep her child, Dimmesdale is moved to speak.  He eloquently argues that God does not distinguish between a child born of sin and one born of "holy love", and he suggests that God, in His wisdom, might have given the child to Hester in order to save her soul -

"as if it were by the Creator's sacred pledge, that, if she bring the child to heaven, the child also will bring the parent thither".

Dimmesdale is sincere in his feeling for Hester, but he is also most likely afraid that, in her terror at the thought of losing Pearl, she might expose him as her partner in sin, a secret heretofore kept hidden.  It is this fear that lends extraordinary urgency to Dimmesdale's appeal, an urgency that Chillingsworth, ever watchful, notes and remarks upon (Chapter 8).

In Hamlet, how does Hamlet return to Denmark even though he had been sent to England by Claudius ?

Although it seems unlikely to us, Hamlet is returned to Denmark by pirates who apparently attack the ship he is on. In a letter to Horatio that is delivered to sailors, Hamlet tells his friend the story of this pirate tale.

When the pirate ship sails alongside Hamlet's ship, he boards the pirate ship to escape. The pirates agree to help Hamlet; in return he is to do them "a good turn," or favor. He doesn't, however, explain what that favor is. Perhaps we can assume that since he is a prince, the pirates ask for safe passage or maybe even money if they deliver him successfully to Denmark.

What is the moral theme of the novel Anna and the King of Siam?

The book's theme is most certainly equality.  As the Civil War rages in America, Anna Leonowens, a British widow, travels to Siam (Thailand) to teach English as a language and British customs to the king's children.

Because the author, Margaret Landon, portrays the king as a forward-thinking individual who cares enough about "modernizing" his family and court so that they can be recognized in the world, she is able to stress the strange dichotomy between that way of thinking and the king's initial refusal to latch on to the civilized idea of equality for everyone in his country.

In the novel, Anna and the king discuss Abraham Lincoln and Lincoln's goal to bring equality to America and England's earlier abolition of slavery.

In the novel, the king eventually comes to realize that he cannot fully promote Western ideas if he wants to hold onto certain unequal aspects of his culture (owning slaves, etc.).

While the truth in the novel which is based on two memoirs by the real Anna has often been brought into question, it is interesting that all versions of the story discuss the idea of equality and that shortly after the king (who is really King Mongkut) dies, his prime minister frees all Siamese slaves and prohibits visitors from falling prostrate in front of the king.  So, even in the real-life accounts of the "King of Siam," the idea of equality is significant.

Explain how Macbeth has changed from the beginning of the play to the end of Act 2. Consider what we thought about him when we first met him.No...

In Act 1, sc. 2, the Captain describes Macbeth's victory in battle as being brave and noble.  Duncan is so impressed with the good, worthy Macbeth that he gives him the title of Thane of Cawdor and graces Macbeth with a personal visit to his home. As soon as Macbeth hears that he has been named the new Thane of Cawdor which the witches had predicted, though, his mind turns to thoughts of being king "...the imperial theme,".  By the next scene, he is asking for darkness to hide his ambition of becoming king and what it would take to become king.  In Act 1, sc. 5, when Macbeth returns to his home and his wife, we see that he is a man capable of being manipulated by his wife as she tells him later in the act that if he wants her to see him as a man, then he will kill Duncan.  In Act 2, sc. 1, he already has a guilty conscience as evidenced by the imaginary dagger.  He can't say "Amen" when he has killed Duncan because he has cut off all connection to God and his guilt is supreme.  In Act 3, sc. 1, Macbeth has become paranoid and desperate when he convinces the murderers to kill Banquo because he fears Banquo suspects him of Duncan's murder.  In Act 4, sc. 2, the killing of Macduff's wife and children show him as cold blooded.  He is sad and resolute in Act 5 as he prepares to meet his opponents.  He shows some remorse when he tells Macduff he doesn't want to fight him because he's killed enough of Macduff's family already.

What did Frederick Douglass do that was so important for black history?I just need to know basic outline of him and his life. And how he contribute...

On January 1, 1836, Douglass made a resolution that he would be free by the end of the year. He planned an escape. But early in April he was jailed after his plan was discovered. Two years later, while living in Baltimore and working at a shipyard, Douglass would finally realize his dream: he fled the city on September 3, 1838. Travelling by train, then steamboat, then train, he arrived in New York City the following day. Several weeks later he had settled in New Bedford, Massachusetts, living with his newlywed bride (whom he met in Baltimore and married in New York) under his new name, Frederick Douglass.

Always striving to educate himself, Douglass continued his reading. He joined various organizations in New Bedford, including a black church. He attended Abolitionists' meetings. He subscribed to William Lloyd Garrison's weekly journal, the Liberator. In 1841, he saw Garrison speak at the Bristol Anti-Slavery Society's annual meeting. Douglass was inspired by the speaker, later stating, "no face and form ever impressed me with such sentiments [the hatred of slavery] as did those of William Lloyd Garrison." Garrison, too, was impressed with Douglass, mentioning him in the Liberator. Several days later Douglass gave his speech at the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society's annual convention in Nantucket-- the speech described at the top of this page. Of the speech, one correspondent reported, "Flinty hearts were pierced, and cold ones melted by his eloquence." Before leaving the island, Douglass was asked to become a lecturer for the Society for three years. It was the launch of a career that would continue throughout Douglass' long life.

Despite apprehensions that the information might endanger his freedom, Douglass published his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written By Himself. The year was 1845. Three years later, after a speaking tour of England, Ireland, and Scotland, Douglass published the first issue of the North Star, a four-page weekly, out of Rochester, New York.

Ever since he first met Garrison in 1841, the white abolitionist leader had been Douglass' mentor. But the views of Garrison and Douglass ultimately diverged. Garrison represented the radical end of the abolitionist spectrum. He denounced churches, political parties, even voting. He believed in the dissolution (break up) of the Union. He also believed that the U.S. Constitution was a pro-slavery document. After his tour of Europe and the establishment of his paper, Douglass' views began to change; he was becoming more of an independent thinker, more pragmatic. In 1851 Douglass announced at a meeting in Syracuse, New York, that he did not assume the Constitution was a pro-slavery document, and that it could even "be wielded in behalf of emancipation," especially where the federal government had exclusive jurisdiction. Douglass also did not advocate the dissolution of the Union, since it would isolate slaves in the South. This led to a bitter dispute between Garrison and Douglass that, despite the efforts of others such as Harriet Beecher Stowe to reconcile the two, would last into the Civil War.

Frederick Douglass would continue his active involvement to better the lives of African Americans. He conferred with Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War and recruited northern blacks for the Union Army. After the War he fought for the rights of women and African Americans alike.

When Betty wakes up, is there actually a psalm with the words "Going up to Jesus" or is something else used instead? Can I get it on a soundtrack?

No, there is not a soundtrack to the reference of a psalm being sung in the meeting house.  The congregation is worshipping and singing praise to God.  Betty hears the song with the word "Jesus" in it, and she begins to act frantically, crying out for her mother.  You need to remember that just before this happens, Betty Parris can hear Abby talking to John Proctor about their affair.  Also, don't forget that Betty has knowledge about Abigail conjuring spirits to put a curse on Goody Proctor.  All of these instances could logically be the reason for her outburst.  So, Betty does actually hear the psalm with the words "Going up to Jesus" being sung,  but it is just a church hymnal, not a song to be placed on a soundtrack.

Bring out the contrast between childhood and adulthood in the poem "Regeneration" by Henry Vaughan.answer should be in simple language and brief

As a metaphysical poet of the 17th century, Vaughan expresses his ideas in an emotional context in  "Regeneration."  Vaughn's poem communicates his perception that as a child grows, he moves away from God, but as he becomes older he seeks this renewal of unity of the human being with the Divine Being.

In stanza one the youth "steals away" from God in the Spring (his childhood), but

Yet was it frost within/And surly winds/Blasted my infant Buds, and sin/Like clouds eclips'd my mind

The inner winter of sin continues into the second stanza, but the child now becomes a pilgrim who, wondering what he has gotten out of life, realizes that he has not kept his values.  In the Biblical allusion to "Jacob's Bed," --Jacob turned from his brother Esau and saw a ladder to Heaven-- the speaker has a "vision," too:  his spiritual enlightenment.

In the fifth stanza, then, the speaker feels "a new Spring" with "flowers" as his spiritual enlightenment brings life/Spring to his inner winter.  In stanzas seven and eight, the speaker who is near the "Fountain" seems to go through a type of baptism and arrives at a field of flowers where there is a wind, a wind much like that alluded to in Acts 2:2 on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit entered the apostles giving them spiritual rebirth and understanding.

In the final stanza, the speaker asks to "die before my death"; he wishes to die to his youthful, sinful self before he physically dies at the end of his life.

What was Lady Macbeth's reaction after receiving the letter from Macbeth?

Lady Macbeth reads the letter aloud, in the scene, perhaps for the last of many times. She is Macbeth's "dearest partner of greatness", as he puts it in the letter, and she immediately begins plotting as to how she can achieve what the letter sets out: 

Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be
What thou art promised.

 Yet Lady Macbeth knows that her husband's nature is too full of kindness to "catch the nearest way" by murdering the king.  She knows that she will have to persuade him, by pouring her spirits in his ear (an image, to the Elizabethans, of poisoning - as Claudius murders Old Hamlet in "Hamlet"), to do the deed:

Hie thee hither,
That I may pour my spirits in thine ear,
And chastise with the valor of my tongue
All that impedes thee from the golden round

Lady Macbeth, in short, needs to muster up the necessary vehemence and evil to ensure that Macbeth will become what he has been promised - the king. And so she calls on evil spirits to help her

Come, you spirits
That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here
And fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full
Of direst cruelty! Make thick my blood,
Stop up the access and passage to remorse...

Lady M immediately trusts the witches - and sets about seeing that their predictions come true.

How does the Captain Beatty lead Montag toward self-realization?

Beatty gives Montag what their society was so good at witholding:  information, things to think about, and the truth of how they got there. He gives Montag an entire history of their society, and of his profession.  This outlines why books are banned, how they all lost the ability to think, and how that-in Beatty's opinion-is better.  All of this information really answers a lot of questions that Montag has, and instead of resolving Montag's issues, the information just makes him more discontended.  He doesn't want things to be the way that Beatty described; disillusioned, he leaves home and seeks out Faber, who is more of a like mind. Beatty also gives indirect permission for Montag to keep the book for 24 hours before returning it; this helps Montag to feel more comfortable keeping it.  Beatty also hints that he himself went through a crisis of sorts before he was able to come back to work and be content with what he was doing.  This also makes Montag feel a bit better about his recent "breakdown" and gives him a chance to think about it a bit more clearly.  However, Beatty gave him that comfort with the intent that Montag would come back; unfortunately, he doesn't.  Then, when Beatty eggs him on in the firehouse, it seals Montag's rebellion; Beatty pushes him over the edge.

By giving Montag history, information, things to think about, and some breathing space, he pushes Montag into realizing just how unhappy he has been, how miserable his society is, and that he doesn't feel like he can keep being who he has been.  Although that might not have been Beatty's intent, Montag turns out to be a crusader for revolution.

In "The Crucible", why was John Proctor trying so hard to please Elizabeth?In, The Crucible, Act 2..

In Act 2, John Proctor is trying so hard to please Elizabeth because he is trying to get her to forgive him for the affair that he had with Abigail Williams.  It is clear through the interactions of these two character in the beginning of Act 2 that John has been trying to get Elizabeth to forgive him for quite a while now (over 6 months) but she is still very cold and unfeeling toward him.  Proctor does a few things in this act that tell the reader he is trying to get her forgiveness -- he tells her how well seasoned her food is after he reseasons it himself; he tells her that he is going to buy a cow from a neighbor and asks if that would make her happy; he then directly says to her, "I mean to please you Elizabeth."

Does Jem die in To Kill a Mockingbird?

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem does not die at the end of the book. Jem and Scout came close to death at the hands of Bob Ewell, but thanks to Boo, they lived to tell the story of what happened. During the course of the book, Jem and Scout learn the most valuable lessons anyone could learn. At the end of the book, after Scout walks Boo home, she thinks about all she and Jem had learned and realizes that the two of them can no longer be the innocent young kids they once were. In essence their childhood and innocence dies in the book.

The street lights were fuzzy from the fine rain that was falling. As I made my way home, I felt very old, but when I looked at the tip of my nose I could see fine misty beads, but looking cross-eyed made me dizzy so I quit. As I made my way home, I thought what a thing to tell Jem tomorrow. He'd be so mad he missed it he wouldn't speak to me for days. As I made my way home, I thought Jem and I would get grown but there wasn't much else left for us to learn, except possibly algebra.

We know by the way Scout is talking that Jem will live through the terrible ordeal, and she had so many things to tell him. As she gets home, Atticus is in Jem's room reading a book. The last lines in the book tells us that by the next morning Jem will be awake and Atticus will be there when that happens.

He turned out the light and went into Jem's room. He would be there all night, and he would be there when Jem waked up in the morning.

What are some examples that the monster in Frankenstein does not have a soul?

The nature of evil that is expressed through the monster's behavior, systematically killing those people that Victor loves suggests that he has no soul.  To be an individual without a soul, in my view, amounts to having no compassion for the pain and suffering of others.  To feel that to punish someone else is a victory for your own cause, your own pain, your own deficit.

The monster is not just killing, he is killing with the intention to punish Victor, an intentional, premeditated act, which is evil and soulless behavior.

Even though the monster has been created from the parts of human beings, he is not fully human.  I would argue that as an abused and neglected person, the monster knows what he is missing, by not having love in his life or else why would he want Victor to make him a female companion.

His deprivation, his empty lonely life leads him to behave monstrously, like some human beings who feel that the world has cheated them, therefore they must lash out and kill or destroy the lives and happiness of others.

These people would be serial killers, who do not have souls like normal people.  They have no conscience, which is where the soul resides.  No one with a conscience would be able to murder the loved ones of anyone with the thought that he had a right to cause misery and pain.

The Serial killer who chooses his victims at random to satisfy his lust for murder, believes that his need outweighs the needs of his victims.  They must sacrifice their lives in the service of his fetish, habit or obsession.  

And finally, the soul is bartered for daily between the forces of good, God if you are a believer and evil, the Devil, again if you are a believer.  Some people stay on the side of good, others choose evil, or are seduced by evil, or fall into evil because of their own stupidity, nonetheless, the forces of evil grow everyday. 

The legions of those who will kill, maim, hurt and abuse, those who have no conscience, who cannot hear the voice of their own soul, who deny the essence of a soul in their victims,  are evidenced in our society in our newspapers, news reports and all over the Internet every day. 

For me, the presence of evil is easy to see, finding the presence of good, or the presence of God, if you are a believer, seems to be getting harder and harder to find.

In "Fahrenheit 451" how do the minorities play a role in the dumbing down of America?

The minorities were offended by certain content in books; so, in order to not offend people, the books were censored and banned.  Pretty soon, all of the books were completely changed so as to not offend anyone, or just straight-up banned and considered evil.  Beatty describes this, rather aggressively:  "Colored people don't like Little Black Sambo.  Burn it.  White people don't feel good about Uncle Tom's Cabin.  Burn it.  Someone's written a book on tobacco and cancer of the lungs?  The cigarette people are weeping?  Burn the book."  Because of the reduced number of books, knowledge, and information (taken away because minorities were offended), people naturally became "dumbed-down".  They didn't read anymore; they didn't access new information.  And, as Beatty says, the "bigger the population, the more minorities," and more and more content was edited out and banned to please every type of person out there.  Pretty soon, all that was left was "comic books" and picture magazines.

Minorities just played one role; mass media and technology worked hand-in-hand to help the people "stay happy all the time," or, at least feel happy and smart when they were actually quite ignorant and in denial about their misery.

What are the names of the people who died in The Catcher in the Rye?

In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield's younger brother Allie dies from leukemia.  Also mentioned in the book is the suicide of a former schoolmate of Holden's from Elkton Hills, James Castle, who jumped out the window at school while wearing a sweater that he borrowed from Holden.

Other than these two, there are no other deaths mentioned in the novel.  The death of innocence is a main theme that preoccupies Holden throughout the novel.  He resists growing up, he resists taking responsibility for his life and would rather return to childhood.  As a 16 year old boy, this causes him to continue to fail out of one school after another for not applying himself to his schoolwork. 

Holden thinks about his own death in the novel, while sitting on a bench in Central Park, shivering with cold and wondering where the ducks have gone for the winter.  He considers sitting there and allowing the weather to give him pneumonia,  but then decides that it would hurt his little sister Phoebe if he died, so he leaves the frozen park. 

He longs to be a catcher in the rye, his dream job, where he would, literally, catch children as they reached the edge of the field of rye, symbolically representing childhood, so that they would never have to grow up.

What are the elements of fiction?

In general, the elements of fiction are

• point of view - the vantage point from which the story is told (i.e. 1st person narrator, 3rd person/ objective narrator, or omniscient narrator


• plot - the sequence of events in the exposition (beginning), rising conflicts, climax, falling action, and denouement (resolution of conflicts)


• character - the personages (these can be static/flat characters who do not change or dynamic/round characters who change in some way


• theme - the moral or lesson which the author wishes to give the reader


• setting - the time and place of the narrative

Now, concerning "A Rose for Emily," you can apply these elements to this story:  the setting is important because Emily is an anachronism, out of time and place with the modern world as she clings to the mores of the Antebellum (before) Civil War.  Raised by a plantation owner of wealth and prestige, she has enjoyed the favors of the public officials and has not paid taxes for years; however, in the modern setting of this story, she is confronted by the aldermen.  And, she is confronted with the "invasion" of loud, boisterous Northerners such as Homer Barron, a changing neighborhood, etc.  The story derives much of its Gothic quality as Emily adamantly clings to the ways of the Old South against this personal invasion. (the conflict)

A native of Oxford, Mississippi, William Faulkner once said that he both hated and loved the South.  One can understand some of what he meant by the statement after reading "A Rose for Emily." 

In what ways was Mrs. Mallard's reaction different or unusual after she heard the news of her husband's death?

Mrs. Mallard's reaction to the news of her husband's death is that of a woman freed from a long prison term.  She is shocked into silent disbelief, overcome with emotion, struck with a sense of relief at being free from the burden of marriage.  She is now a widow who will be accepted in society, free to make choices, to have friends, to attend social events, to decide each day what she will do, according to what she wants.  No more bending to the will of a husband, whom she loved most of the time.

Mrs. Mallard's reaction is not the typical hysteria, crying and grieving of a wife who has lost her husband, the man she loves. Louise Mallard sits in her room, staring out the window, imaging the life she will now have, free to choose, to explore her likes and dislikes.

Mrs. Mallard lives a lifetime in the space of one hour as she imagines what she will do with all her new freedom.  She journeys in her mind, wandering free to enjoy and appreciate the life she sees through her window. 

Sadly, her new life is brief, cut short by the abrupt return of Mr. Mallard, who was not anywhere near the train accident.  His poor wife, so overcome by his return, along with her bad heart, is so stricken, that she dies right there on the spot.  Mrs. Mallard's heart gave out, she was unable to bear the thought of living under the control of her husband, not after she imagined the life she could have alone.

What are three examples of satire in Chapter 11 of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn?

Virtually all of Chapter 11 of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has a satiric flavor to it. From the time that Huck enters the woman's cabin dressed ridiculously as a young girl, the conversation takes a humorous turn.

THE SLY PAP FINN.  The women tells Huck--who, dressed as a girl, has identified himself/herself as Sarah Williams--that ol' Pap Finn has planned the entire episode and that he will probably return in a year to claim Huck's inheritance.

"Oh, he's sly, I reckon. If he don't come back for a year he'll be all right. You can't prove anything on him, you know; everything will be quieted down then, and he'll walk in Huck's money as easy as nothing.”    

HUCK LOSES HIS NERVE.  Huck (or Sarah) is so nervous while listening to the woman's story that he picks up a needle and thread and, with a very unsteady hand, unsuccessfully attempts to thread the needle. Flustered, when she asks him what his name is he incorrectly answers "Mary Williams."

Somehow it didn't seem to me that I said it was Mary before, so I didn't look up—seemed to me I said it was Sarah; so I felt sort of cornered, and was afeared maybe I was looking it, too. I wished the woman would say something more; the longer she set still the uneasier I was.

RAMPANT RATS & YARNS.  Then the woman tells about how things there are so bad that the rats are in charge. Sure enough, one sticks his head out "every little while." She provided Huck with a twisted piece of lead with which to hit them; meanwhile, she uses Huck's upraised arms to begin her yarning. Twain has a bit of fun with the word play about rats (live ones and human ones) and yarn (another word for tall tales).

WOMANLY ADVICE FOR A RUNAWAY 'PRENTICE.  The woman realizes that Huck is no girl, but she also assumes that Huck is a runaway apprentice, mistreated by his master. The flustered Huck decides to play along with her imagined story, since he doesn't have a better one to tell.  

How does "Piano" by D.H. Lawrence convey a sense of love?

This is a very interesting question to consider. I think if there is a sense of love in this lyrical poem, it is one that focuses on the love of memory and nostalgia and how it is such an important force in our lives. Let us remember the power of the mental images that are evoked in the second stanza of this poem, as the adult speaker is ushered back into the past thanks to the music that he hears in the present:

In spite of myself, the insidious mastery of song
Betrays me back, till the heart of me weeps to belong
To the old Sunday evenings at home, with winter outside
And hymns in the cosy parlour, the tinkling piano our guide.

Such emotional expressions as "weeps to belong" and the memories of "old Sunday evenings at home" and the "cosy parlour" show the way in which the narrator loves the memories of his childhood past. He is so much in love with these memories, in fact, that the final stanza declares that his manhood is "cast / Down in the flood of remembrance," and the end of the poem leaves him "weeping like a child" for the past that is now irrevocably lost. If we think of this poem in connection with love, therefore, it is definitely a blind, rosy-tinged love of the past that is present, as the speaker wallows in overwhelming nostalgia. Love is present, but it is based around our concept of memory and our childhood, and conveniently ignores the various negative aspects of such a stage.

In The Great Gatsby, how can Gatsby, the man who represents moral failure, make us not only sympathize with him but also see him as a great person?

Most readers develop sympathy and understanding for Gatsby because Fitzgerald makes Gatsby a sympathetic character through Nick's view of the events surrounding Gatsby's life and death. In the beginning of the novel, we are told through Nick's narration that Gatsby will be the one person in his story who did not earn Nick's contempt:

No--Gatsby turned out all right at the end; it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men.

The word "preyed" suggests that Nick views Gatsby as having been a victim, and therefore worthy of sympathy. 

It is Gatsby's "colossal dream" and his faithfulness to it that earns Nick's respect. Gatsby commits crimes, that is true, but if motivation has merit, his purpose, at least, was not contemptible. Gatsby builds a fortune to bring love back into his life and to literally repeat the past. Gatsby is "great" not because he acquires wealth and all its trappings, but because he remains absolutely faithful to his love for Daisy and his dream of having her love him, too, once again. Gatsby's innocent romanticism makes him appealing because it makes him absolutely vulnerable to those who are, ironically, far less honest than he. When contrasted with the deceit, selfishness, and amorality of the Buchanans, Gatsby gains our sympathy, just as he gained Nick's.

How do the images of rot, disease, and decay that occur throughout Hamlet serve as extended metaphors for Claudius's evilness?

Perhaps it helps to think of rot, disease and decay as recurring motifs in Hamlet that inform one of the major themes of the play--the poison of humankind's baser nature seeking to contaminate or even destroy his better nature. When Marcellus says early in the play, "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark" (I:4:90), he is saying much more than he knows.

Claudius, of course, is a prime example of one who is infected with this disease and decay that has, in fact, infected most of the Danish court. Consider, for instance, the likes of Gertrude, Polonius and even Hamlet himself.  Nonetheless, it is Claudius' heinous crime driven by his apparent lust for Gertrude and his insatiable hunger for power that epitomizes the rotten and diseased character of human nature. Claudius likely typifies what is worst in humankind, and he recognizes that in a moment of illumination.  He laments, "My offense is rank.  It smells to heaven" (III:3:36).

So, while these motifs do indeed recur throughout the play (consider, e.g., I:4:36-38; III:1:45-47; III:4:42-44; III:4:147-49), they find their most sobering expression in the character of Claudius, his heinous crime and the fruit of that crime, "My crown, my own ambition, and my queen" (III:3:55).

Paraphrase the following lines from Dunbar's "We Wear The Mask": "With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,/And mouth with myriad subtleties."

This poem points specifically to the hardships and suffering of slaves.  They were placed in such harsh conditions, and yet they did not show the pain.  They did not wear their emotions on their sleeves.  The made every effort to appear happy and content, while underneath the facade, they were emotionally torn up and beaten down.  These lines emphasize the theme throughout the poem. 

"With torn and bleeding hearts we smile" translates to just that.  Although they hurt on the inside for all of the injustice of slavery and their conditions, they continue to smile.  They show strength and endurance by doing this. 

"And mouth with myriad subtleties" translates to their smiles having many different fine distinctions.  In other words, their smiles held so many different meanings than just the simple happiness that they presented.  So many other emotions were going on behind "their masks."

What is the role of friendship in "Julius Caesar"?

Friendship is hugely important in "Julius Caesar", not least as an oil which can be used to slick along political manipulation. Yet I'm not too sure how "real" the friendships in the play turn out to be.

Right at the start, to persuade Brutus on board, Cassius appeals to their friendship, as well as making clear how great he thinks Brutus. So, Brutus has to respond personally rather than just professionally: which gives Cassius the cue he needs:

BRUTUS
But let not therefore my good friends be grieved—
Among which number, Cassius, be you one—
Nor construe any further my neglect
Than that poor Brutus with himself at war
Forgets the shows of love to other men.

What does Cassius say when he turns up at Brutus' orchard with some of the conspirators? He makes it very clear that the men are known to Brutus, admirers of Brutus', and Brutus' friends:

BRUTUS:
I have been up this hour, awake all night.
Know I these men that come along with you?

CASSIUS:
Yes, every man of them, and no man here
But honors you, and every one doth wish
You had but that opinion of yourself
Which every noble Roman bears of you.
This is Trebonius. 

Moreover, in the famous quarrel scene in Act 4, Cassius and Brutus really argue with each other in the way that only two people who know each other can. Yet, tellingly, at the very end of the play, when Cassius names his best "friend", it isn't Brutus, but Titinius:

CASSIUS
O, coward that I am, to live so long,
To see my best friend ta'en before my face!

There are lots of other friendship to look at: Antony and Octavius, Antony and Caesar, Cassius and Casca, Brutus and Metellus Cimber. Yet I think you'll see that most of them, like most else in this play, have a political underbelly.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, how is Scout affected by the outcome of Tom Robinson's trial? How does Scout change after witnessing Tom Robinson's...

Before the verdict is even read, she has a bad feeling, a lonely, isolated feeling. "The feeling grew until the atmosphere in the courtroom was exactly the same as a cold February morning, when the mockingbirds were still."  She knew it was coming, and when Judge Taylor read it aloud, she shut her eyes.  When she opened them, she was in a daze.  She couldn't understand what the judge was saying after her read the verdict, she slowly saw Atticus make his way to Tom and then make his exit.  And she was confused when Reverend Sykes asked her to stand in Atticus' honor.

Scout wasn't upset enough to cry, but she knew that the jurors were wrong.  Scout wasn't old enough to really understand how unfair the verdict was.  Jem was the character who reacted to it.  Harper Lee used Scout as a lens for us to see what she was learning from the scene.  Scout learned that there were people in the community who did what they could to help out.  She learned that from Miss Maudie.  There was never a lot of reaction from Scout when the verdict or Tom's death was mentioned.  But she saw how her family members each reacted, and she learned through them how unfair the world was/is.

Who is Mr. Jaggers in "Great Expectations"?

Jaggers is first introduced as the man that tells Pip he can look forward to some "Great Expectations". He is a lawyer who is known in London for never losing cases. He becomes Pip's guardian because he is also the lawyer for Pip's benefactor. Jaggers knows many secrets and keeps them. He invites Pip to dinner occasionally and Wemmick, Jagger's clerk, tells Pip to look very carefully at Jagger's maid. Jaggers seems to like Pip, but likes a man named Bentley Drummle more. Drummle is nicknamed "the spider"  by Jaggers because his is cold and ruthless, as Jaggers once was. Jaggers also serves as Miss Havisham's lawyer so he is the clue to many mysteries in the story.

Explain how an electric motor works, including a discussion of the right-hand rule.

The Right Hand Rule is a useful mnemonic to spatially relate the force and velocity of a positively charged particle in a magnetic field.  Holding your hand as if you were going to shake someone else's, your thumb pointing up is the direction of velocity (conductor), your fingers pointing out is the direction of the magnetic field (flux), and your palm pointing to the left is the direction of the force (current). Force is thus perpendicular to velocity and magnetic field, or, if considering a motor, current is perpendicular to conductor and flux.

A motor works because 2 magnetic fields are interacting with each other, one from a fixed magnet and the other from an electromagnet.  The armature of a motor is an electromagnet with North and South polarities, and these interact with the North and South polarities on the magnet that encases the armature.  The North and South poles of the magnet repulse the North and South poles of the armature, causing the armature to spin. See graphic at the links:

Why does the sentry personally lead Beowulf and his men to Herot after hearing their reason for coming to Denmark?

The sentry are guarding the shores of Denmark, and at first challenge Beowulf  and his men as they approach the shores. There are a few possible reasons that the sentry accompany Beowulf to Herot, though the reasons are clear in the epic.The best reason is that there is always the possibility that Beowulf has lied about his reason in coming, and the sentry are still charged with protecting the land and the king. Beowulf and his men are heavily armed and very imposing, so its easy to understand why they would still be on guard. The sentry do not stand down until the king himself states that he has heard of Beowulf and welcomes him to Herot.

Why is a mathematician like an airline?

This is a fairly common math joke. The answer is, because they both use pilots. The airlines use them to fly their planes, and in math, you do pilot studies.

I didn't say it was a good joke, just a common one.

sciencenorth.on.ca/schools-educators/teacher-resources/pdf/math-trail-3.pdf

curriculum.bsd405.org/personal/gleicher,%20shaina%20l/Shared%20Documents/.../Airline%20Handout.pdf

In Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963, is Cody Kenny's saver?True or false? Please explain your answer.

Cody is not Kenny's "personal saver".  It is Cody's older brother Rufus whom Kenny hopes will fill that role.

Kenny is somewhat of a misfit at his school, both because he is smart and likes to read, and because he has a "lazy eye".  Because of these characteristics, Kenny is often teased by his peers.  Cody and Rufus are new boys at school, and Rufus is the same age as Kenny.  In Kenny's eyes, Rufus is even more of a misfit than he is.  Rufus has a country accent and mannerisms, and his clothes are exceedingly shabby.  When Kenny first sees Rufus, he is thrilled, because he thinks that the kids will direct their negative attention towards Rufus now instead of towards him. 

Kenny thinks that by becoming the new focus of the other kids' torments, Rufus will take upon himself the abuse that used to be directed at Kenny.  In this way, Rufus, not Cody, will become Kenny's "saver" (Chapter 2).

Ironically, Rufus ends up not being Kenny's "saver" either.  Although the other kids do indeed give Rufus a hard time because he is different, Kenny and Rufus end up becoming buddies of a sort, and through their interactions, Kenny learns some valuable lessons about friendship.

Has Sarty broken from "the old fierce pull of blood", if so how?

The old fierce pull of blood refers to the idea that you stay true to your family and be willing to do anything for them. Sarty detaches himself from this bond. In the beginning it is prevalant that he felt it was important when he called the man in court the enemy and was going to lie to the judge on a cont of his father. But in the end he breaks free, tells Major De Spain that his barn is going to be burnt and runs away knowing that his family will not accept him back after he betrayed them.

What is the irony in the fact that Jean Valjean broods over the address he finds carved in the garden wall and his decision not to tell Cosette...

Jean Valjean finds the address that Marius scratches into the garden wall at Valjean's house on the Rue Plumet soon after having seen Thenardier in London. Valjean feels threatened by Thenardier who can identify Valjean to Inspector Javert; plus, Valjean knows that a group of thugs have tried to rob the house. Therefore, when Valjean sees the address etched into the wall, he immediately feels that his house has been intruded upon and that there is a threat to both himself and Cosette, which he wants to spare Cosette from learning about. The result is that he moves Cosette away from the Rue Plumet sooner than she had anticipated. The irony in the situation is that when Marius goes to the Rue Plumet and finds her having been taken from him, he wants to die and goes to join his friends at the barricades. Valjean had known that a man was falling in love with Cosette because he had seen Marius, even though he has never met him. Having a man fall in love with Cosette is one of his greatest fears because to him it means that Cosette would be taken away from him through marriage to a husband. Therefore, removing Cosette from Marius and inspiring Marius to take his own life is, ironically, exactly what Valjean in his darker moment would want. We learn that Marius's death is, in his darker moment, exactly what Valjean would want when he reads Marius's letter to Cosette delivered by Gavroche. Valjean's first instinct is to feel joyful that Marius has gone to the barricades to fight and surely be killed because now he is free to continue to have Cosette for himself, as we see in the lines:

He uttered a frightful cry of inward joy ... That man had taken himself off of his own accord, freely, willingly. This man was going to his death, and he, Jean Valjean, had had no hand in the matter, and it was through no fault of his. (Vol. 4, Bk. 15, Ch. 3)

However, we know Valjean's goodness of character well enough to believe that he would not stick with these initial feelings. True to his character, Valjean realizes he could never keep from Cosette someone she loves and goes off in his National Guard uniform to find Marius and bring him safely to Cosette. In fact, Valjean finds him wounded and dying at the barricades and carries him all the way home through the sewers of Paris, saving his life. Therefore, the further irony of Valjean having seen Marius's address is that, not only does taking Cosette from Marius make Marius want to die as Valjean would want it in his temporarily darkest moment, it actually also leads to Valjean saving Marius's life, bringing Marius to Cosette, which is the one thing Valjean dreads most because he can't bare to lose her.

Therefore, finding Marius's address is ironic because it leads to both the threat of Marius's life as well as Valjean saving Marius's life, even though he wants Cosette all for himself.

In Chapter 7 of Lord of the Flies, what does Ralph do when the boys start to play, putting Robert in the part of the boar?

In chapter 7 of The Lord of the Flies, we see that Jack and the boys are tracking a wild boar. They want to find it and kill it, so they decide to hunt it. Ralph, who has never hunted before, goes along with them. We know that Jack enjoys this kind of thing, but we haven't seen Ralph take this kind of position before. Ralph has always been the one who is seen as the more responsible child. Ralph would rather be building a hut or trying to keep the fire burning, increasing their chances of being rescued, but now we are seeing a different side to Ralph.

Ralph really gets into the hunt; when he throws his spear at the boar and hits its snout, he feels pride in his ability to hit the wild animal. He gets caught up in the excitement of the other kids.

Ralph was full of fright and apprehension and pride...He sunned himself in their new respect and felt that hunting was good after all.

However, when Jack and the others suggest they play like they are hunting and make Robert play the part of the boar, the playing gets out of control. The kids seem to forget that Robert is not really an animal. Jack and the others get carried away with the playing, and Ralph joins in. This is the first time we see Ralph let the wildness take him over. He does realize what he is doing, however, and stops, but it happened nonetheless.

This whole time we have seen Jack and his group becoming wilder and wilder, yet Ralph has stayed the same. In this chapter we see Ralph begin to allow the wildness to take over. This chapter shows us that we are all capable of savagery, but we have to reign that part of ourselves in. Jack and his group don't want to reign it in, but Ralph wants to remember that he is still a human being.

Please explain the circumstances around the Louisiana Purchase.

France had claimed the Louisiana Territory in the 1600's. However, in 1763, they ceded their right to most of the territory to Spain. The U.S. had a treaty with Spain that allowed the U.S.to use New Orleans without paying a duty on their goods. In 1800, Napoleon arranged a treaty with Spain to retake the territory. This alarmed many Americans, including President Jefferson, because they were afraid of French control of such an important area to the the United States. Jefferson sent James Monroe to Paris to try to buy the area from France. At first, Napoleon was reluctant but eventually he realized he needed money because he was about to fight a war with England. He realized his troops would not be able to defend Louisiana so the Americans might simply annex the territory. So, he agreed to sell the territory to the U.S. for $15 million. The only problem was that Jefferson did not believe he had the constitutional authority to make such a purchase. Eventually, after consulting with his advisors, Jefferson agreed that the powers given to the President to negotiate treaties were sufficient to allow him to make the purchase. The U.S. Government borrowed the money from English and Dutch banks and eventually paid $27 million in loans and interest for this huge amount of land which doubled the size of the United States.

What is the topic of obsession in the book?

Obsession comes in many forms in Dracula.

1. The villagers are obsessed with religion and think that such an obsession will secure them and keep them safe from the evils of Transylvania.

2. Johnathan Harker and his band of heroes become obsessed with ridding the world of the darkness who is the count.

3. The count is obsessed by Mina, Johnathan's fiance.

4. Van Helsing is "obsessed" with his quest to rid the world of vampirism using a mixture of science and religion.

What is "The Tell-Tale Heart" about and what are the symbolisms that we can find?Narrate the story in very simple paragraphs.

The best way to do this is to read through the story, and try to shrink each paragraph down into one or two simplified sentences that summarize the main point of each. I'll give a brief summary below, along with links that will lead you to the story itself so that you can do a more detailed summary; space doesn't allow it here.

There is a man who becomes obsessed with an old man in his building with one bad eye that is filmed over.  He compares the eye to a vulture (a symbol of impending death and watchfulness) and learns to hate the eye so much that he ends up wanting to murder the old man.  He goes to the old man's room at night, opens the door a bit until his lantern can see the old man, and just watches him.  One night the old man awakes in the darkness, and the narrator goes in very stealthily and kills him.  He buries him under the floorboards in his dwelling.  The police come and start questioning him about the old man; the narrator is so confident in not getting caugh that he asks them in and sits down right on top of where the man is buried.  But then he hears what he feels is the old man's heart beating beneath the floorboards.  The beating gets louder and louder; the narrator is certain that the police can hear it!  He finally, when the beating is so loud he can stand it no longer, confesses.  The beating heart noise is a symbol of his own conscience for having murdered the man.

In the poem "Tintern Abbey" by Wordsworth, how does the poet see nature as a teacher?What does nature teach ? How can we illustrate it with the...

Wordsworth is meditating on how his relationship with nature has changed. He has returned to the Wye River Valley and comments that the memory of this beautiful valley has often lifted his spirits and inspired him to be more loving and kind. He writes,

"But oft, in lonely rooms, and 'mid the din

Of towns and citiesI have owed to them,

.."unremembered pleasure"..."Of kindness and of love."

Then Wordsworth explains how his relationship with nature has changed as he has grown older. When young, he was very passionate about nature. Now that he is older and more mature, he has a more spiritual appreciation of nature and nature has become :

"The anchor of my purest thoughts, the nurse,

The guide, the guardian of my heart, and soul

Of all my moral being. "

In other words, now that he is more mature, he has a richer understanding of nature. He sees that nature connects all living things. He now sees nature in an almost religious sense, as a basis for living.

He then turns and addresses his sister, Dorothy.

"My dear, dear Sister! And this prayer I make,

Knowing that Nature never did betray

The heart that loved her"

Wordsworth then suggests that when he is gone, and she faces problems, she should remember how they shared that place and how much more he loved the place because they shared it together.

"If I should be, where I no more can hear

Thy voice. . remember...this green pastoral landscape, were to me

More dear, both for themselves, and for thy sake."

In "The Odyssey"by Homer, what lessons did Odysseus learn after each place he visited?

In Homer's Odyssey, Odysseus' first stop after leaving Troy is the land of the Cicones. After initially defeating the Cicones in battle, the Cicones regroup and attack Odysseus and his men, who had gotten a bit drunk after their initial victory. I would suggest that in this encounter Odysseus learns that he should not assume that after someone has been defeated once that they will remain defeated.

Odysseus' next stop is the land of the Lotus-Eaters, who offer some of his crew a food that causes them to forget about their desire to return home. In this encounter, both Odysseus and Homer's audience learn to focus on what is important in life. In Odysseus' case, coming home is paramount.

Because troutmiller has already covered the encounters with the Cyclops, Aeolus, and Scylla, I shall turn to the Odysseus' encounter with the Laestrygonians, which apparently results in Odysseus' worst losses (eleven of his twelve ships are destroyed). As in the case of the encounter with Polyphemus, it appears that Odysseus' curiosity gets him in trouble: "I sent a party of my men to find out what sort of beings lived there" (Kline translation).

We should also note Odysseus' encounter with Circe. Odysseus spends a year with Circe and once again the concept of homecoming is reinforced. In contrast to the land of the Lotus-Eaters, where Odysseus had to drag some of his crew back to the ship, on Circe's island it is Odysseus' crew who have to remind their commander to "remember your native country" (Kline translation).

Finally, we cannot omit Odysseus' stay with Calypso, which takes up seven of the ten years of Odysseus' return voyage. Again, Odysseus thinks of homecoming. Even though Calypso offers him immortality, Odysseus realizes that "life’s sweetness [was] ebbing from him in longing for his home" (Kline translation).

Ultimately, Odysseus learns that the best place for him to be is where is wife and family are: at home on Ithaca.

In Chapter 9 of The Outsiders, how are the winners of the rumble determined?

This winners of the rumble were determined by who ran first.  It is true that a member of Tim Shepard's gang did break the rules but that was not a determining factor.  The point of a rumble was to show who was toughest, who could take more.  By running, the opposing gang was admitting defeat.

What is the main idea of Hatchet?

The main idea in Hatchetis: survival. Surviving in unfamiliar territory, adapting to a new environment, and utilizing the resources that are all around you. 

In the novel, the main character Brian, has his plane crashed. As a result, he is stranded in the middle of nowhere in the wilderness. He has no food, no shelter, nothing except the clothes on him and the hatchet from the plane. Throughout the book, we see a transformation of not only his character, but how he survives. The techniques, wit, and instincts he applies to his survival is what makes this novel so enticing to read. Readers are hooked from the beginning because there is so many great survival techniques Brian uses, that it's really admirable. For instance, the way he developed a spear to catch fish, as well as hunt small animals, is basic to survival. However, the way he goes about doing so, and the process of how he thinks and acts upon these survival ways, is truly the main focus of the novel. 

In The Great Gatsby, what is Daisy’s real response to Gatsby's party, according to Nick?

Daisy is a character that we want so much to like, but she proves time and again just what kind of woman she really is. According to Nick, Daisy is offended by the party because she thinks it wasn't a gesture but an emotion. We see that Daisy does not have much fun at the party, the only time she enjoyed was the few moments she was alone with Gatsby. Daisy shows her snobbish side while at the party. 

We know that Gatsby is in love with Daisy, or at least the thought of her. We want Daisy to be deserving of Gatsby's love and devotion, but she just doesn't prove that she is. Throughout the novel, we see Daisy as a snob and self absorbed. We come to learn that Daisy is selfish and self serving. She has grown up around money, so she expects people to act a certain way, and when they don't, she becomes judgmental. Gatsby has done things he probably shouldn't have done, but he did these things to prove himself to Daisy. It is a sad concept that Gatsby thinks he has to prove his worthiness to her. 

Daisy looks down on people with new money. She comes from old money and holds herself to a different standard than those who have just come into money. In one way, we can feel for Daisy. She was raised a certain way and was taught how she was suppose to act. This is the only way of life she knows, so we can see, in some small way, why she is the way she is, but when real love comes to her, she turns her back on it. This kind of love comes along so rarely, and Daisy, because of her selfishness and being a part of the elite, doesn't trust the real love that is offered to her. That is the real tragedy.

In Of Mice and Men, how does an innocent longing for human contact lead to catastrophe in Chapter 5?

In this Chapter, Lennie and George have found their way onto a ranch owned by a man named Curley.  Lennie is a large, burly oaf of man who does not seem to know his own strength. We know from the beginning of the novel that Lennie has a child-like preoccupation with petting "nice things", things that are soft like mice, rabbits and...uh oh! puppies. In his eagerness to care for these things, he often ends up injuring or killing them.

There is a horseshoe tournament going on at the ranch and while the rest of the men are out enjoying the games, Lennie is in the barn grieving over a puppy that he has accidentally killed. Curley's young bride comes in and starts a conversation with Lennie who is at first reluctant to talk to her (George had warned him not to). Eventually, the two fall into a conversation and the woman makes the mistake of inviting Lennie to feel how soft her hair is. Lennie eagerly accepts, but when the touching gets too rough, Lennie panics and covers her nose and mouth so that George would not hear her. A struggle ensues and Lennie accidentally breaks the woman's neck. He scrambles to cover her dead body with hay (like he did to the puppy) and leaves the barn to tell George of the "very bad thing" that he has done .

To what three heavenly bodies does Romeo compare Juliet at the beginning of Act II, Scene ii in Romeo and Juliet?

At the beginning of Act II, Romeo moves from the celestial to the spiritual when he compares Juliet to the sun, the stars, and finally an angel.  First, in one of the most famous lines in the play, Romeo uses metaphor to compare Juliet to the sun:  "But soft!  What light through yonder window breaks? / It is the East, and Juliet is the sun!"  Secondly, it isn't long before Romeo decides to compare Juliet's eyes to celestial orbs as well.  "Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven / Having some business, do entreat her eyes / To twinkle in their spheres till they return."  Ah, yes, Juliet has stars in her eyes.  (Is this where the colloquialism came from?)  Finally, Romeo approaches the spiritual realm by comparing Juliet to an angel, not once but twice.  "O, speak again, bright angel! for thou art / As glorious to this night, being o'er my head, / As is a winged messenger of heaven."  Here Shakespeare reminds us subconsciously of the holy love introduced even Romeo's and Juliet's first conversation where Romeo, the humble pilgrim, approaches Juliet, the holy shrine.

Why doesn't Paul's mother have any luck in Rocking Horse Winner? What does luck mean to her? When Paul asks his mother if she isn't lucky, she...

Paul's mother says she is "very unlucky" because she "married an unlucky husband".  This indicates that she does not take responsiblity upon herself, but instead blames others for her lack of happiness.  When Paul asks her if she was lucky "by herself", she responds that she "used to think (she) was, before (she) married", but when Paul looks at her closely he perceives that "she (is) only trying to hide something from him".  Paul's mother is unlucky because her values are skewed.  She is so consumed by desire for material things that she is unable to see what is really important in life.  She has a son, at least, who loves her beyond measure, but she herself can "not feel love, no, not for anybody".

Paul's mother thinks that luck is "what causes you to have money".  She says that it is "better to be born lucky than rich", because "if you're rich, you may lose your money...but if you're lucky, you will always get more money".  It is ironic when Paul is confused about the term "filthy lucker".  He has heard his Uncle use the term "filthy lucre", and since "lucker" and "lucre" are pronounced similarly, and his mother associates "luck" so closely with money, he thinks the two terms are the same.  Although his mother points out that they are not, in reality they kind of are.  Using his mother's interpretation, both refer to money and its power to corrupt and destroy.

In The Great Gatsby, in which places do the most important events occur?

First, the most important events need to be identified and that list depends on the depth of the level of importance.  A few important events and their locations follow:  Nick and Jay meeting for the first time is an important event because it helps to establish Nick's opinion of Jay.  That occurred at Jay's house.  Tom and Daisy meeting one another again for the first time in five years is important and that occurred at Nick's house.  The emotionally explosive scene that occurred in a hotel in New York City where the truth about Jay's and Daisy's relationship comes out and the truth comes out about how Daisy feels about Jay is a major scene.  Daisy hits and kills Myrtle in front of the Wilson's garage in the valley of ashes.  George Wilson kills Jay at Jay's mansion.  Other events that I would rate of slightly less importance are Nick's introduction to Jordan which occurred at Daisy's and Tom's mansion. Nick's introduction to Myrtle occurred at the Wilson garage in the valley of ashes but his glimpse into the affair between Tom and Myrtle took place in New York City which is also where Nick met Meyer Wolfshiem.  Looking into Jay's past, then an important event was his meeting Dan Cody which took place on the shores of Lake Superior and Jay's meeting Daisy which took place at her house in Louisville, KY.

What was the status of women and children in Mesopotamia?

The best place to find information about much of Mesopotamian culture is through Hammurabi's Code.  Hammurabi was a king in Mesopotamia who is most famous for creating a very strict and thorough code of laws for his empire.  Included in the code are many references to women and children which provide us with a clear picture of their status.  Mesopotamia was a very patriarchal society in which men literally owned their wives and children.  This is clear through Hammurabi's Code where it is shown in laws 170-180.  An example of this is that men could literally sell their wives and children into slavery to cover debt.

While there is patriarchy in the laws of Mesopotamia and men controlled the lives of their women and children, this is one of the first societies where women did retain some rights.  As you read through the laws pertaining to family relationships you will notice that women were allowed to retain their dowry in the event of the death of their husbands.  Children, even illegitimate children, were given rights of inheritance based on a variety of different situations.  

The family relationships defined in Hammurabi's Code show the status of women and children in Mesopotamia.  I suggest that after reading this you take some time to check out the text of the code for further examples.  I will include a link to the full text with this answer!

In "Fahrenheit 451" how do books have pores?

That description is one that Faber gives to Montag as one of the reasons that books are so wonderful.  It's an interesting phrase, and takes a bit of thinking to get your brain around.  Faber calls it quality.  He states that a book has "features.  This book can go under the microscope...The more pores, the more truthfully recorded details of life per square inch you can get on a sheet of paper."  What he means by this is that books record every detail of life, even the ugly ones.  Compare it to a magazine picture of a model, versus a snapshot you take of a friend.  The model is gorgeous, make-up on, buffed, shined, air-brushed-and hence, not a true reflection of life.  How many people actually look like that?  Now consider your snapshot of a friend.  You can see their pores, blemishes, and shiny spots-but at least it's real.  Faber is stating that books don't shy away from presenting real life, and as a result, they have more quality.  We can learn more from them because they are truthful and non-deceptive.  He goes on to say that "the good writers touch life often.  The mediocre ones run a quick hand over her."  So, good writers do a good job of relaying life and all that it has to offer-good and bad.  In Montag's society, nothing presented is quality or real; it's all fake, surface, dense, and shallow.  Nothing has pores, nothing is real, and as a result, everyone is miserable.  I hope that helps explain it a bit!

Squealer talks about "The joy of service" and the "dignity of labor". What is ironic about that in Chapter 7?

The irony is addressed by Orwell in Chapter 7 when he writes, "All that year the animals worked like slaves. But they were happy in their work; they grudged no effort or sacrifice, well aware that everything that they did was for the benefit of themselves and those of their kind who would come after them, and not for a pack of idle, thieving human beings."

It is true that they are not working for a pack of idle, thieving human beings. Instead they are working for a pack of idle, thieving pigs. The pigs have moved into the farm house and started trading with neighboring farms. When some of the animals remember the commandment that "no animal shall sleep in a bed", the commandment is simply changed to "no animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets." Squealer assures the animals that all the sheets have been removed. So the work continues and the animals "volunteer" to work up to 60 hours a week. Of course, if they don't "volunteer" their food rations are cut in half. Thus, the animals are coerced into the "joy of service" by the need for sheer survival.

What were the original prophecies given to Macbeth and Banquo?

The witches prophecy to Macbeth is straightforward:

"First Witch. All hall, Macbeth! hail to thee,
Thane of Glamis!
Sec. Witch. All hail, Macbeth! hall to thee,
Thane of Cawdor!
Third Witch. All hail, Macbeth! that shalt be
king hereafter." (Shakespeare) 

For Banquo, the message is more veiled: 

"Third Witch. Thou shalt get kings, though
thou be none:
So, all hail, Macbeth and Banquo!"

When the two of them talk about the prophecy, it is clear that Banquo will be father to kings, and therefore greater than Macbeth.

"Ban. Were such things here as we do speak
about?
Or have we eaten on the insane root
That takes the reason prisoner?
Macb. Your children shall be kings.
Ban. You shall be king." (Shakespeare) 

How do you predict the ones digit for the standard form of the number 7 to the 100 power?it's exponents

There is a pattern to this powers, if you use the base to the power of the index.

Like this:

1. 7^1=7


2. 7^2=49


3. 7^3=343


4. 7^4=2401


5. 7^5= 16807

As you can see, there is a pattern of 7,9,3,1 in the ones digit as it progress to the 100th power. For the power of 4, the ones digit is simply one. And as what cburr said above, 100 can also be divided by the number 4 (100/4=25)

So, we can say the last digit (ones) for the 100th power would be 1

In Macbeth, how does the sergeant characterize Macbeth in Act I? What images does he associate with Macbeth?

From the sergeant's description of Macbeth in battle, we can conclude that Macbeth is a strong and valiant soldier who does not retreat, despite the odds against him. Macbeth fights furiously in defense of his King and country, his sword smoking with "bloody execution." Fighting his way through the forces arrayed against him, Macbeth finds the traitor Macdonwald  and "unseamed him from the nave to th' chops, ' And fixed his head upon our battlements." Macbeth does not hesitate in battle; he is relentless in his destruction of the enemy. When Macdonwald is defeated, Macbeth's position, along with Banquo's, is then overwhelmed by a new assault of Norway's army. Rather than retreat, Macbeth fights even more furiously, winning the battle.

In his recounting of Macbeth in battle, the sergeant compares Macbeth (and Banquo) to an eagle in relation to a sparrow and to a lion in relation to a hare. Furthermore, he says Macbeth and Banquo were "[A]s cannons overcharged with double cracks [explosives]."

Approximately, how many African-Americans went to college in the 1800s?

In the 1620s and 1630s, European missionaries began efforts to convert Africans to Christianity and provide them with a basic education. The Pennsylvania Quakers began organizing educational meetings for people of African heritage in the early 1700. Then in 1774, they started a school for blacks in Philadelphia. “By the mid-1800s, the city had become a center for black learning, with public, industrial, charity, and private schools providing an education for more than 2,000 African American students.” Freedmen's organizations were formed to provide educational opportunities to former slaves. Because of the laws passed by Congress in the 1860s, more than 2,500 schools were begun in the South.  Soon, colleges began to opened their doors for Black Students and in the 1870s, religious organizations and other programs played  a part in the establishment and support of many early black institutions of higher learning. By 1900, more than 2,000 black Americans had graduated from college. That may sound like a lot but in 1790, “the black population approached 760,000, and nearly eight percent of all blacks in America were free. Free blacks, however, were bound by many of the same regulations that applied to slaves.”

Why does Hamlet say the ghost is the devil? What makes him say that?

When Hamlet says, "the devil hath power to assume a pleasing shape", he is interpreting a verse from the Bible that says "for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light."( II Corinthians 11:14). During Elizabethan times, ghosts were thought of as evil spirits. This belief is echoed by Horatio when he warns Hamlet not to follow the ghost at the beginning of the play. He says:

What if it[ the ghost] tempt you toward the flood, my lord,(75)

Or to the dreadful summit of the cliff

That beetles o'er his base into the sea,

And there assume some other horrible form,

Which might deprive your sovereignty of reason

And draw you into madness?

Act I, Scene IV, Lines 75-80

Thus Hamlet calls the ghost the devil because that was a common belief at the time.