How does Fitzgerald portray drunkeness in the end of chapter 2 of "The Great Gatsby"? having trouble getting started with this question...if anyone...

Pay attention to shifts in time, gaps in narrative, and Fitzgerald's use of descriptive language in this chapter.

Here are a few examples to help you get started:

Earlier in the chapter we are made aware of the way time is progressing strangely, and of a certain haze and fog that hangs over Nick's perspective of the party: "It was nine o'clock--almost immediately afterward I looked at my watch and found it was ten."  Later, Nick notes how people "disappeared, reappeared, made plans to go somewhere, and then lost each other, found each other a few feet away."  These kinds of passages set up the confusion and haze with which a drunken Nick views the proceedings.

The very end of the chapter really highlights these gaps and bits of missing knowledge.  I usually call this the "dot dot dot" incident.  Nick's narrative jumps suddenly from a conversation with Mr. McKee in the elevator to Nick standing beside Mr. McKee's bed.  How he got from point A to point B is narrated only with an ellipsis ("..."). The narrative shifts suddenly again, moving from Mr. McKee's bedside to the lower level of Pennsylvania Station. 

These gaps in the story augment the description of fogginess and time shifts set up earlier in the chapter when Nick was still at the party.  What indeed happens in the "..."?  Nick either can't or won't tell us.

What happens to a dwarf when his heart is weakened by gold and jewels in The Hobbit?

I think crucially the way to answer this question is to look at how Thorin changes when the company reach the mountain and when they gain the treasure. He becomes completely consumed by his greed of the treasure, not willing to part with any of it. He is willing to engage in a battle against impossible odds agains former allies (men and elves) to protect his treasure, even though he himself did not kill Smaug. He does not recognise that Bard might have some claim because it was he who killed Smaug. Also, he refuses to recognise that Smaug had added to the treasure of the dwarves from other sources, such as the men. Consider what the text says about this gold greed:

But also he did not reckon with the power that gold has upon which a dragon has long brooded, nor with dwarvish hearts. Long hours in the past days Thorin had spent in the treasury, and the lust of it was heavy on him. Though he had hunted chiefly for the Arkenstone, yet he had an eye for many another wonderful thing that was lying there, about which were wound old memories of the labours and sorrows of his race.

Thus, Thorin becomes blinded by greed which leads him to make irrational and illogical decisions, willing to court violence instead of peace as a means of keeping hold of treasure - some of which, at least, he does not actually have a claim on. Gold greed seems to weaken Thorin's heroic character, making him seem petty and selfish.

In what way do Faber and Granger teach Montag?

Faber and Granger teach Montag mostly by telling him the way life used to be before books were banned.  They enlighten him about the learning that can be obtained through reading.  Faber teaches Guy also what happens when someone does nothing.  Faber laments over the fact that he saw the trend coming; he saw the book banning on its way and he did nothing to stop it. Even now, he breaks the law by having books, but he conforms to the law by hiding the books and trying to blend into the society.  He is an example of what not to be.  Granger is the opposite in that way.  Granger shows Montag what can be done if one is determined to preserve what is right.  Granger has courage that Faber lacks.  Granger helps Montag see that there is a way out of the mess of their current society by memorizing books to preserve them and by banding together to create a new, better, and more enlightened, society.  Granger tells Montag, at the end of the book, after the city has been annihilated, that they now have a chance to rebuild civilization and to rebuild it right.  He says, like a phoenix rising from the ashes of the destroyed civilization, they can rise again, better for having learned from their mistakes of the past.

I need help finding quotes from "Into the Wild". I need the page number, the whole quote and the chapter.

On Chapter One, page five, the Alex's supplies are described:

"Alex admitted that the only food in his pack was a ten-pound bag of rice. His gear seemed exceedingly minimal for the harsh conditions of the interior, which in April still lay buried under the winter snowpack. Alex's cheap leather hiking boots were neither waterproof nor well insulated. His rifle was only .22 caliber, a bore too small to rely on if he expected to kill large animals like moose and caribou, which he would have to eat if he hoped to remain very long in the country. He had no ax, no bug dope, no snowshoes, no compass. The only navigational aid in his possession was a tattered state road map he'd scrounged at a gas station."

Chapter Sixteen, pages 161 and 162 describes McCandless's entry into the wild in this way:

"...the temperature was in the low thirties--it would drop into the low teens at night--and a foot and a half of crusty spring snow covered the ground. The boy could hardly contain his excitement. He was, at long last, about to be alone in the vast Alaska wilderness...As he trudged expectantly down the trail in a fake-fur parka, his rifle slung over one shoulder...confident he could harvest enought food to survive an extended stay in the Alaska wilderness, too."

McCandless's books and route are also described here.

What is the Reconstruction Era in African-American literature in the nineteenth century?

Historians generally agree to limit the Reconstruction period between 1865, when President Andrew Johnson began his plan to reform Southern society, and 1877, the year the Republican Rutherford Hayes won one of the most disputed elections in American history. That event is seen as the final blow to the hopes of equality between the races that Reconstruction had initially stimulated in African Americans.

The literature produced during these twelve years is being rediscovered thanks to the renewed critical attention to African American literary history in the last thirty years. A lot of works produced in this period, however, still have to be brought to light from obscurity. Obviously, one central theme is race and racism under the form of the investigation of the lives of those mulatto men and women who lived their lives "passing" for whites. Frances Hellen Watkins Harper contributed to establish the conventions of this tradition. The theme of passing and the character of the mulatto, while sometimes criticized by radical African American critics, show the high hopes for integration in the mainstream American society that African Americans had at the beginning of Reconstruction. The polemical intent of the literature of the period is never revolutionary in tone, but aims to assimilate African Americans to middle-class, bourgeois values and domestic virtues. The mulatto characters in Harper's novels and in post-Reconstruction works that she influenced are shown as virtuous in the face of aggressive racism. Their endurance is thus celebrated and, finally, rewarded. Because of their focus on resilience and domesticity, these literary works conveyed a protest that has often been described as "genteel". As the promises of Reconstruction vanished, African American authors adopted a more polemical and less assimilationist tone.

What literary technique is used by Pablo Neruda to clarify the theme of his poem "Tonight I Can Write?"

Repetition is the most obvious literary technique used by Pablo Neruda in his poem "Tonight I can Write." The line "Tonight I can write the saddest lines" is repeated thrice in the poem  to emphatically foreground his sense of loss and sadness and to express his feelings of loneliness after the woman whom he loved has left him, "Tonight I can write the saddest lines/To think that I do not have her. To feel that I have lost her." 

Throughout the entire poem he struggles to come to terms with the fact that the woman whom he loved deeply and passionately is no longer his but, "will be another's."  This particular night reminds him of his  passionate encounters with her in the past, only to reiterate the fact that she is no longer his: "Because through nights like this one I held her in my arms/my soul is not satisfied that it has lost her." And so, to highlight his sense of loss and loneliness he repeats the line "Tonight I can write the saddest lines" thrice.

In "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" why does Huck feel responsible for the carnage following Sophia's elopement?

His role in the chaos was a pretty ignorant one; he didn't know exactly what the messages between Sophia and Harney contained, but the bloodshed was so horrific that Huck narrates, "I aint' gonna tell all that happened-it would make me sick again if I was to do that.  I wished I hadn't ever come ashore that night to see such things.  I ain't ever a-going to get shut of them-lots of times I dream about them."  He regrets passing on the note, and realizes that maybe he should have "told her father about that paper and the curious way she acted."

What Huck isn't giving enought weight to is that these families have been in a feud for generations, and are always itching to find a something to shoot at each other for.  Sophia and Harney would have eloped whether Huck was there or not, and the resulting chaos was inevitable.  He gives his role in all of it too much weight, but it is understandable, since it was so traumatizing to him.  It is natural to think of the ways it might have been prevented, and this is what Huck does.

Compare and contrast Henry, Wilson, and Jim in The Red Badge of Courage. What does each character seem to represent? How is Henry different from...

HENRY FLEMING (The Quiet Soldier).  In the beginning of the novel, Henry questions his own courage and wonders how he will react when he is in combat for the first time. Will he run or will he stand and fight is a dilemma that he cannot answer for himself until the time actually comes. He yearns for his first battle so his own personal doubts can be quickly answered. Sure enough, Henry "skedaddles" when the Confederates overrun his regiment's position, but his guilt haunts him during his temporary hiatus. He is so ashamed of the cowardice that he displays that he swears to make amends if he gets a second chance. He rejoins his regiment, and his fellow soldiers assume that the injury he has received is an honorable one. With his secret safe, Henry displays true courage at the next opportunity. He is hailed as a hero by his commanding officer, but Henry knows better. He still feels guilt until he reveals the truth to Wilson. His sin unburdened, Henry's confidence is restored. Now a veteran of combat, he has no more illusions about his own abilities, but he also realizes that he is just one man among thousands on the battlefield. He can faithfully fulfill his obligations as a man and a soldier, but he realizes that he, too, may eventually receive the little red badge over which he has no control.

WILSON (THE LOUD SOLDIER).  Wilson is the direct opposite of his friend, Henry. Brimming with boastful confidence, Wilson seems to have none of the doubts that Henry possesses. He will be a hero when the time comes, he swears, and Henry wishes he could be more like Wilson. But we find later that Wilson's bravado is unfulfilled; he, too, runs when the action gets too hot. When Henry returns to the regiment, their roles have reversed. Wilson is now quiet and introspective, and he marvels at Henry's confident air. When Henry admits that he had run away during the first action of the day, Wilson is able to clear his own conscience with a similar tale. He joins Henry at the forefront of the later counterattack and is singled out by the commanding officers. But he also realizes that his actions were only a reflex--a way of redeeming himself for his earlier behavior. He and Henry are alike in the end, awaiting their next action and wondering what fate holds for them.

JIM CONKLIN (THE TALL SOLDIER).  A true hero, Jim is realistic about his abilities. He tells Henry that he may run if everyone else runs, but that he will certainly stand and fight if the regiment remains united. When Henry and Wilson run, Jim stands and fights, receiving a mortal wound in the process. Henry encounters Jim as he retires with the wounded, and Henry desires Jim's wound. Jim uses his last burst of energy to run to a secluded spot where he can die alone. His death further inspires Henry, who swears to himself that he will stand and fight like Jim if given another chance.

What indication is there that Thorin is the leader of the dwarves?

Tokien indicates that Thorin is the leader in both superficial and more complicated ways.  When Bilbo first meets the dwarves, Thorin wears a light blue hood with a silver tassle, as well as an expensive golden belt.  He asks for wine, whereas all the other dwarves ask for tea and beer.  Thus, right from the beginning, Thorin asserts his status as the rightful king under the mountain.

But Thorin's authority goes beyond his appearance and his beverage preferences.  He is unflinching in his belief that the treasure under the mountain belongs only to him and his kin, and the other dwarves do not deny this, even though some of them might be uncomfortable with his assertions.  From their encounters with the woodelves to the men of Dale, Thorin's only concern is for his companions.  At times, this loyalty is foolish, but Thorin does not sway until the end of the book, right before he dies.

Still, Tolkien makes it clear that Bilbo is the true leader of the company, as even Thorin begins to rely on him.  Once they enter the forest of Mirkwood, and lose Gandalf's guidance, it is Bilbo's wit and cleverness that gets them out of multiple scrapes.  Thus, Thorin might be making the ostensible decisions, but he really is only a figurehead.

What is the summary for Volume 3, Chapter 2 of The Monk?

Antonia is grief-stricken at the death of her mother. She is alone, with her aunt Leonella married and distant, Raymond ill and ignorant of her plight, and Lorenzo off to procure from the Inquisition an arrest order in the death of his sister. One night she wanders into Elvira’s room and sees what she takes to be her mother’s ghost. The ghost warns her that it will return in three nights and Antonia will die. Terrified, Antonia faints and is found by her landlady, Jacintha, who goes to Ambrosio, requesting him to exorcise her home.

Under Matilda’s advice, Ambrosio prepares a concoction that will induce a condition appearing to be death for Antonia. While he is attending Antonia, he slips the potion into her medicine and waits.

While he is waiting, he sees what he fears is, in actuality, the ghost of Elvira retreat across the room. He pursues it and discovers it is merely Flora, Antonia’s maid, who is spying on him on the advice of Elvira before she died. As they are speaking, Jacintha cries out that Antonia is dying, as it indeed appears.

With her "dying" breath, Antonia confesses how much she admired Ambrosio and desired his friendship, against her mother’s wishes. She leaves everything to her aunt Leonella, and releases her half-uncle Cisternas from all obligations to her, though she waited for him to come rescue her from her dire straits. Thus she appears to die.

Willy says, "I never told him (Biff) anything that wasn't decent." Is this true? What does this say about Willy?

I think there are several ways you can think about this.  If you emphasize the TOLD, then this could be an excuse for what he showed Biff by his behavior.  From here, I think it depends on how you read/judge Willie.  Willie had a lot of dreams that weren't "reality based." Biff  knows that his father had "all the wrong dreams" and that he passed them along to his sons.  Charlie notes, however, that a salesman has to dream. 

Are we supposed to blame Willie for his "dreams"?  Should he have taken the job that Charlie offered him?  Did his pride get in the way of what he should have done?  

I'm not sure.  We all have dreams that turn out to be less than we had hoped.  We also reach a point in life where we know that we have made choices, and that there probably isn't another way (think of Frost's "The Road Not Taken").  this is where Willie (to me, at least) approaches part of the definition of a tragic hero in that he inspires fear and pity in all of us who know that we can make judgments that won't work out for us in the long run ... we pity him, and we fear that we might follow a similar path.

Said in another way, "There but for the grace of God go I."

What is an example of a metaphor and a hyberbole used in the story " Raymond's Run?"

"A Hyperbole is an obvious and deliberate exaggeration or an extravagant statement. It is a figure of speech not intended to be taken literally since it is exaggeration for the sake of mphasis. Hyperbole is a common poetic and dramatic device."   One good example of a hyperbole is at the beginning of the story when Squeaky is introducing her self to the reader.  She states,  And if things get too rough, I run. And as anybody can tell you, I'm the fastest thing on two feet."  This statement is not to be taken literally, but does give the reader a good idea of the narrator's personality.

A metaphor is a comparison of one thing to another without the use of like or as. " It is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to a person, idea, or object to which it is not literally applicable. It is an unstated comparison which imaginatively identifies one thing with another."  A good example of a metaphor is when Squeaky and Raymond are walking down the street after the confrontation with Gretchen.  Squeaky states, "So me and Raymond smile at each other and he says, “Gidyap” to his team and I continue with my breathing exercises, strolling down Broadway toward the ice man on 145th with not a care in the world cause I am Miss Quicksilver herself."   Squeaky compares her self to Quicksilver however she does not use the terms like or as within the comparison. 

How do the remaining chapters of Huck Finn (after chapter 16) illustrate this pattern of contradiction and how was it ultimitely resolved?First, i...

Twain put the book away after Chapter 15. He had just written a scene in which a white character, Huck, and just apologized to a Black character. Huck has just commented, " It took me 15 minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a nigger;but I done it, and I warn't ever sorry for it afterward. That apology was something revolutionary in American literature at the time. He leaves the book for two years and when he picks it up again, it is a much darker book. In the next section, Huck and Jim are separated and Huck goes to lives with the Grangerfords. This is episode has a very sad ending with the death of Buck which causes Huck to lose much of his innocence. The episode is also a dark commentary on the civil war and the young men who died needlessly as a result of the battle between the north and south. As far as the ideal of nature is concerned, Twain continues to

romanticize it. The river, especially, continues as a place of both peace and contentment for Jim and Huck. So, ironically, even though Twain considered himself a realist, his book does contain some Romantic elements.However, that should not really be a problem because many authors cannot be pigeon-holed into one literary school or another.

In "The Scarlet Letter", Hathorne meant for the "scaffold of pillory" to represent time. How does he accomplish this purpose?

There are three scaffold scenes in the novel that occur over a period of seven years. Each scene casts a new light on the development of the main characters in the novel. In the first scaffold scene, Hester is on the scaffold for the first time as part of her punishment for adultery. At first, she seems almost haughty. She is wearing a beautiful dress, her hair is not covered as was traditional in Puritan dress and she has embroidered the letter 'A' with wonderful colors. Then she sees her husband, Roger Prynne ( Chillingworth) standing in the crowd and her demeanor changes. In the meantime, Arthur Dimmesdale is standing above her, ironically asking her to reveal the father of her child.

In the second scaffold scene, Dimmesdale is drawn to the scaffold at night, obviously suffering great guilt over his hidden sin. Hester, has changed since the first scaffold scene. She is beginning to be accepted by the town because of her good deeds and is returning from the deathbed of Governor Winthrop. She has been chosen to sew his death shroud.When Pearl asks if he will stand with her and her mother on the scaffold in the daytime, he says he will wait until "judgement day".

In the third scaffold scene, Dimmesdale climbs the scaffold with Hester and Pearl and announces his sin to the world. However, the stress of this announcement is too much for his heart and he dies. Ironically, this time he is lying on the scaffold with Hester kneeling above him.

How does the speaker respond to the rainbow? How does this response connect to the three different stages of his life?

Wordsworth believed the the "world" (all that is not nature, eg. the city) corrupted the natural piety that we were born with.  This is a key Romantic idea, and it is clearly illustrated in Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein."  The creature is created and is full of love and kindness, searching for it in return.  When he meets "society" (whether in the city or in the "society of man" in the countryside), he encounters hatred and fear.

Wordsworth remembers the joy he felt in nature when he was younger, and is thrilled that he can still experience this joy when he comes back to it ("Tinturn Abbey").   Whereas many men become "practical" and lose their sense of nature and what they can learn from it, he has not.  If the goal of human life is to grow in the moral sense, then "the child is father to the man" because the child has this wonder as part of his nature, and, in time, gives "birth" to the man who has often grown apart of the child.

In another of Wordsworth poems:

"The world is too much with us, late and soon,

Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers.

Little we see in nature that is ours."

You might want to read the notes on "Tinturn Abbey" below for a clearer sense of Wordsworth relationship to nature.

Describe the Buchanans' house in Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby?

The mansion owned by Tom and Daisy Buchanan is aptly described in the very first chapter of The Great Gatsby as Nick, the narrator, visits it for the first time:

 "Their house was even more elaborate than I expected, a cheerful red-and-white Georgian Colonial mansion, overlooking the bay" (6).

This description is quite extraordinary, considering that on the previous page Nick describes the typical homes in East Egg to be nothing less than palaces.  One must assume, then, that Tom and Daisy's home was even more dazzling than most. 

"The lawn started at the beach and ran toward the front door for a quarter of a mile, jumping over sun-dials and brick walks and burning gardens" (7). 

When one considers the vast amount of land on Long Island that the Buchanan mansion alone encompasses, that in itself is quite a monetary feet (even for the time):

 "The front was broken by a line of French windows, glowing now with reflected gold and wide open to the warm windy evening" (8). 

Fitzgerald couldn't end Nick's description without pandering to the staggering wealth of the roaring twenties.  Even the Buchanans' home "reflected gold" in more ways than one.  There is no better inhabitant for this glittering place than Daisy, as Fitzgerald's novel will go on to prove.

In A Separate Peace, Leper concludes only people who've been "evolving" the right way survive war, a test. How does this apply to Gene and Leper?

The effects of the war on Gene and Leper seem to support Leper's theory. After enlisting, Leper is destroyed by the war--or more specifically, by the demands placed upon him by military service. A gentle, introspective, and isolated individual, Leper cannot stand up to the authoritarian and regimented environment in which he finds himself. Leper had not "evolved in the right way" because he had never learned to live and function in the society of the real world. He had found sanctuary instead in a world of his own creation, whether it was playing with his snails or setting out alone to hike the snowy hills around Devon. Leper lived life just as he had played blitzball, on the periphery. When he enlisted in the army under the illusion that war could be a clean, beautiful skiing experience, he was instead drawn into the center of social chaos. He could not "evolve" fast enough to adapt and survive; he breaks emotionally and psychologically.

For Gene, however, the war becomes almost an anticlimax after the fear and turmoil of his experiences at Devon. Gene struggled with forces within and without, and in the process became stronger and more self-aware. Through Finny, Gene eventually learned how to deal with life when it became overwhelming:

During the time I was with him, Phineas created an atmosphere in which I continued now to live, a way of sizing up the world with erratic and entirely personal reservations, letting its rocklike facts sift through and be accepted only a little at a time, only as much as he could assimilate without a sense of chaos and loss.

At the novel's conclusion, Gene explains himself in relation to the war, after he had experienced it:

I never killed anybody and I never developed an intense level of hatred for the enemy. Because my war ended before I ever put on a uniform; I was on active duty all my time at school. I killed my enemy there.

According to Leper's theory, Gene had "evolved" sufficiently to survive psychologically when he emerged from one war to participate in another.

How did George Washington help the war effort?Please list specificthings he did.

The Continental Congress chose Washington as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army on June 15, 1775. Washington took command of the troops surrounding British-occupied Boston on July 3,  and devoted the next few months to training the undisciplined 14,000-man army.  He also secured urgently needed powder and supplies.  The discipline was one of the most important accomplishments for General Washington.  Up to this point, the soldiers had no discipline and morale  was  low.  Army morale was restored by the capture of Trenton, N.J., a brilliantly conceived attack in which Washington crossed the Delaware River on Christmas night 1776 and surprised the Hessian garrison.  After the arrival of the French army in 1780, George Washington was still in charge of the troops and the direction of the war.   On the battlefield Washington relied on a policy of trial and error, eventually becoming a master of improvisation.  He was sometimes accused of being overly cautious during the war, but he proved that he could be bold when success seemed possible. He learned to use the short-term militia skillfully and to combine green troops with veterans to produce an efficient fighting force. In 1781, American and French forces and a French fleet had trapped General Cornwallis at Yorktown in Virginia. Washington quick-marched the troops south, joining the armies on September 14.  It was this siege that ended the war.  

In the poem "Success is Counted Sweetest" by Emily Dickinson, what poetic devices can be found in it?

There are several techniques in the poem.  The first is rhyming The words that rhyme in her poem are "succeed/need", and "ear/clear".  She also uses imagery in the last stanza (imagery is using the 5 senses to describe something).  She describes, "On whose forbidden ear/the distant strains of triumph/Break, agonized and clear."  She is describing the sounds of triumph very descriptively, which is imagery.  She also describes the army as a "purple Host", an image that fits with imagery.

Then, for figurative language techniques, there is a metaphor.  She compares people who appreciate success the most to someone who appreciates nectar because they are starving.  She says, "To comprehend a nectar/requires sorest need."  This enhances the point that she is making, that success often is counted the sweetest to those who have fought and struggled for it, and never tasted it.

I hope that helps!

How does the mystery in The Name of the Rose differ from the mysteries of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes?

The Sherlock Holmes narrative is reflective of the classic detective story where the plot dominates.  There is an intellectual satisfaction in finding clues, putting the data together and coming up with a solution.  The reader is just as involved as the detective and there is always a closure to the mystery and the plot at the end; no loose ends.  The mystery is stereotypical, the characters are never elaborated and are usually one dimensional.

In the medieval mystery, the plot is important, however not paramount to the outcome.  The story is usually undercut by numerous sub-plots and sub-genres.   For example in the medieval murder mystery in  The Name of the Rose, the highlight is taken away from the murder by the sub-plot of the inquisition and the debate on heresy and the poverty of Christ.  There is also the sub-plot of the love interest,the debauched nature of monastic life, the interest in the language and the forbidden knowledge.

So in the medieval mystery, the characterisation is very important.  The solution is not what is driving the narrative.  The other aspects of the novel are explored and elaborated on around the mystery.  The mystery serves as a backdrop.  In The Name of the Rose, the most important element is the search for truth and interpretation of universal truths and the murder mystery is actually left up to the reader; it is not even solved!

In "Do Not Go Gentle Into that Good Night", what feelings does the poet reveal about his father's death?

The last stanza indicates that he wants his father, who is dying, to not go without a fight, without clinging fiercely to life until the very end.  He asked his father to "Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray."  This indicates he wants his father there, lucid, blessing and cursing him "fiercely" until the very end.  He wants his father to be similarly intense with death, to "rage, rage" against it. 

From these lines we can infer that he cared deeply about his father.  First of all, he felt strongly enough about his father to write a poem about his struggle against death.  Secondly, he respected his father and wanted him to have a proud, fighting end.  Thirdly, he mentiioned himself at the death bed, and that he wanted his father's love and attention until the very end (the blessings and cursings).  This indicates a very close relationship, and Thomas himself seems to rage against death, which indicates he is upset that it is taking his father away. 

How is the title of the story "The Pendulum" by O. Henry appropriate?The pendulum is not associated in any way with the story....only the routine...

A pendulum is a component on a clock that swings back and forth with every second in time.  It is often used to refer things in life swinging from one extreme to the other.  If you have a scale where on one side is John's distaste for his monotonous life, and on the other side is his regret, longing, and craving for that life back, then John swings from one side to the other quite quickly.  So, John himself is like the pendulum, swinging back and forth between two opposite extremes, very quickly.  You would not expect, that just seconds after his wife returns back home, that he would switch from feeling resolutely determined to be a better man, from fiercely longing for his wife, to wanting to immediately leave, returning back to his old ways.  So, yes, John and the pendulum are very much alike, and that is the reason for the title itself.

The Great Gatsby: Chapter 1 - How does the narrator describe Gatsby?

Nick sees Gatsby for the first time at the end of Chapter 1. He describes seeing someone emerge from the shadows of Gatsby's house and stand watching the stars, his hands in his pockets. Gatsby's movements are "leisurely." As Nick continues to watch, Gatsby raises his arms and reaches toward the ocean in what Nick calls "a curious way." Nick thinks that Gatsby was trembling. He seems to be reaching for the one thing Nick can see across the water, the green light at the end of a dock. Gatsby suddenly vanishes. We learn later that the green light Gatsby reaches toward is the light at the end of Daisy's dock. It becomes a major symbol in the remainder of the novel.

How does Satan sneak into The Garden of Eden in Paradise Lost?

ms-mcgregor
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High School Teacher

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(Level 1) Educator Emeritus

Posted on November 10, 2008 at 2:05 AM

What is hypnopaedia teaching in Brave New World?

A type of sleep and subliminal conditioning, hypnopaedia is part of the mental programming system of the New World--one of many ways in which science is used as an instrument of power. 

In Chapter 2 of Brave New World the Director explains the principle of "sleep-teaching." Contrary to what was originally believed, science cannot be taught through hypnopaedia because one "must know what science is about" the director explains. But moral education can be taught through sleep-conditioning because, the director points out, it "ought never, in any circumstances, to be rational." Therefore, the World State has children learn such things as class consciousness as they sleep. To exemplify his point, the Director has what is being broadcast to the children under their pillows:

....I don't want to play with Delta children. And Epsilons are....too stupid to be able to read or write. Besides, they wear black, which is such a beastly colour. I'm so glad I'm a Beta.

Along with Elementary Class Consciousness, the children are also taught Elementary Sex. This programming makes the children believe that "everyone belongs to everyone else." Engaging in sexual activities are merely recreational acts without any significant meaning because the residents of the New World are conditioned to believe that there are no true personal relationships. There is no such thing as love because at an early age, children are programmed in their sleep to believe that sexual engagement with others is only for recreational purposes. In addition, children are programmed in their sleep to believe that Nature is of no value, and they learn no aesthetic values because they must also be involved in the consumption of goods instead.

How do lines 63-69 (Act 2, Scene 1) of Julius Caesar reflect Brutus’ inner conflict and the overall conflict building in Act 2?

Here are lines 63-69 of Act 2, Scene 1:

Between the acting of a dreadful thing
and the first motion, all the interim is
Like a phantasma, or a hideous dream. 
The genius and the mortal instruments
Are then in council, and the state of a man,
Like to a little kingdom, suffers then
the nature of an insurrection.

The lines assert that, between doing something dreadful and planning it ("the first motion") - everything in between is like a hideous dream, a "phantasma". Man's faculties and abilities are in council - to decide the best course of action - and the "state" (of course, can mean the "nature" of something - the state of the weather, for example...) of a man undergoes a serious change.

There are lots of ways in which the ideas in this speech reflect conflicts within the play.

Firstly, what is the difference between doing something and thinking it. The assassination of Caesar might seem a good idea in the planning in the orchard scene (Brutus, you'll note, decides that the assassins rise against the "spirit of Caesar", which he claims has nothing to do with blood) - but the assassination seems rather difference when, after killing Caesar, there is blood all over the floor and chaos in the capital.

Secondly, the problem of controlling events: the way the body and the "state" of man reacts to the idea in the head shows the uncontrollable changes that can spring from an intellectual idea. In the same way, the "good idea" of the assassination produces all sorts of uncontrolled events in Rome.

And thirdly, the dream-like atmosphere of the play itself. Re-read the description of the supernatural storm, and think about the soothsayer and Caesar's ghost in Act 4. Might the whole play be a "phantasma"?

How does Shakespeare characterize Brutus in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar?

Shakespeare develops Brutus as a tragic hero. He is a good man whose fatal character flaw brings about his own destruction. The flaw in Brutus's character is that he is the complete idealist. He is often unaware of the realities of political life in Rome and of the other characters' less than honorable motives.

Brutus joins the conspiracy because he believes Caesar is a danger to freedom in Rome; he views Caesar as a potential tyrant. He is encouraged in this belief by Cassius, who plays upon Brutus's innate sense of loyalty to Rome and her democratic traditions.

Another basic characteristic of Brutus is that he is trusting to the point of being naive. He trusts Cassius, who tricks him into joining the conspiracy for Cassius's own purposes. Brutus trusts that all the other conspirators are as honorable as he. When Antony asks to speak at Caesar's funeral, Brutus trusts that Antony will abide by their agreement that Antony will say or do nothing to incite the crowd against the conspirators.

Brutus is above all an honorable man. He remains faithful to his principles even though in doing so he commits a terrible act in murdering Caesar, his friend. Ultimately, Brutus chooses to die with honor rather than be captured on the field of battle. He takes his own life by running on the sword used to assassinate Julius Caesar.

Shakespeare's final assessment of Brutus is expressed in the words of Antony at the play's conclusion: "This was the noblest Roman of them all."

In Act 3, Scene 1 of Romeo and Juliet what does Mercutio say about Benvolio's fighting habits?

It's a hot day, and the "mad blood is stirring", Benvolio says at the very start of the scene. Mercutio, it seems, is looking for a fight - actively looking for trouble, even though Benvolio has told him that the Capulets are out.

Mercutio argues that Benvolio is extremely quick to anger, and quick to quarrel:

Come, come, thou art as hot a jack in thy mood as any in Italy; and as soon moved to be moody, and as soon moody to be moved.

This theory is then backed up with several examples:

Nay, an there were two such, we should have none shortly, for one would kill the other. Thou! Why, thou wilt quarrel with a man that hath a hair more or a hair less in his beard than thou hast. Thou wilt quarrel with a man for cracking nuts, having no other reason but because thou hast hazel eyes. Thy head is as full of quarrels...

Benvolio, Mercutio says, would quarrel about the most trivial of matters. In short, Benvolio is always up for a fight.

Whether you believe this character sketch of Benvolio, who throughout the play is portrayed as a peacemaker, and whose name means good-wishing, is a different story. Personally, I'm rather inclined to think that Mercutio's claims are somewhat ironic.

In Act 2 of The Crucible, why does Miller include the conversation between Elizabteh and John? A detailed answer....can be simpleBut on point.

The beginning of Act 2 establishes the cold relationship between John and Elizabeth.  The affair he had with Abigail is known only between them.  John wants to keep it that way (as I'm sure Elizabeth doesn't want anyone else knowing in town about it either.)  Elizabeth encourages John to go to the court and explain to the men of council what Abigail's reasons really are for this "witch" talk.  He knows she's just pretending and has found power in such talk.  However, when Abigail admitted that it was only pretend, he was alone with her.  It will be his word against hers.  He is afraid that talk of their affair will come out and be used against his name/family.  He also knows that the affair will eventually come out, and his main internal struggle throughout the play is knowing he can't escape his past, and yet he wants desperately to stay out of it. 

Miller includes these details to set up what later happens when John refuses to admit his guilt to the court.  In the end he loses his life, but his actions restore his soul.  That was his struggle all along.

In Othello, why does Roderigo hate Othello?

Roderigo hates Othello because he was one of the suitors for Desdemona. He is still in love with Desdemona and hates Othello because she chose Othello over him. One can see why Desdemona rejected him because he is so gullible and easily duped. Iago tells Roderigo that Desdemona is only physically attracted to Othello and will soon grow tired of him. Roderigo is the one who informs her father that Desdemona has escaped with Othello, something that would not endear Desdemona to him. Then he becomes a pawn of Iago, mindlessly following every command Iago gives him. For his efforts, he is wounded by Cassio and finally murdered by Iago himself.

How CO2 and H2O get to the photosynthesising cell?

There are many different types of cells.  Many animals have skeletons to give their body structure and support.  Plants do not have a skeleton for support and yet plants don't just flop over in a big spongy mess.  This is because of a unique cellular structure called the cell wall.  The cell wall is a rigid structure outside of the cell membrane composed mainly of the polysaccharide cellulose.  The cell wall gives the plant cell a defined shape which helps support individual parts of plants.  In addition to the cell wall, plant cells contain an organelle called the chloroplast.  The chloroplast allows plants to harvest energy from sunlight.  Specialized pigments in the chloroplast (including the common green pigment chlorophyll) absorb sunlight and use this energy to complete the chemical reaction:

 6 CO2 + 6 H2O + energy (from sunlight) = C6H12O6 + 6 O2

In this way, plant cells manufacture glucose and other carbohydrates that they can store for later use.

I hope this answers your question, I was not sure what you were asking.  For more information check the links below and maybe read about the Calvin cycle.

What is the theme present in the story "Great Expectations"? How does it pertains to the story?

There is more than one theme present in Great Expectations. However, one of the main themes is Self-Improvement. This theme is seen in multiple ways throughout the text. This theme is extremely evident in the character Pip, who is very hard on himself. First he wants to improve himself morally.

Second, he wants to improve himself socially. In love with Estella, a member of a higher social class, he longs to be a part of this class. His ultimate desire is to be considered "a gentement."

Lastly, he wishes to improve himself educationally. In order to be considered "a gentlemen" in the higher social class, he must improve his education. A true gentlemen fulfills all his academic requirements. This is way out of reach for Pip and he knows this.

Of course Pip learns in the end that all of these self-improvements are not necessary to determine onces true worth.

What is the summary for Chapter 4 of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone?

Chapter Four:  The Keeper of the Keys

The knock is heard again at midnight on Harry’s eleventh birthday.  Uncle Vernon takes up his gun while a huge man with shaggy black hair knocks down the door.  It is Hagrid, the Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts:  the same man who delivered Harry to the Dursley’s house by motorcycle years ago.  Hagrid is happy to see Harry while a confused Harry is thrilled to get his first “slightly squashed” birthday cake.  Hagrid is shocked and enraged to hear both that Harry has never heard of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and that the Dursleys have never told Harry about his parents’ world. 

Harry is surprised to learn that he is a wizard, a famous one at that, and is finally allowed to read the letter of acceptance to Hogwarts, much to the chagrin of the Dursleys.  Hagrid sends a new letter by owl to inform Dumbledore that Harry has received his letter and becomes enraged again when he learns that Harry thinks his parents died in a car crash.  Hagrid then tells Harry that his parents were killed by the evil wizard, Voldemort, and that Harry himself survived with only the scar on his forehead while Voldemort lost all his power.  Harry can’t believe all of this news until Hagrid mentions all of the strange things that happen in Harry’s favor that Harry has never been able to explain. 

Meanwhile, Uncle Vernon continues to throw insults at Harry’s family, refusing Harry’s entrance into Hogwarts.  When Uncle Vernon insults Dumbledore, Hagrid snaps.  Using magic, Hagrid gives Dudley a pig’s tail.  The Dursleys leave the picture, cowering over their “injured” son.  Hagrid and Harry plan to leave in order to get Harry’s special school supplies for the year.

In "Moby Dick", what are Starbuck's misgivings about Ahab's pursuit of the great white whale?

In "Moby Dick" Starbuck realizes that the hatred which Ahab harbors for the white whale is preternatural, not merely vengeance for the loss of his leg.  For, Ahab perceives the great whale as possessing characteristics beyond its apparent nature.  Starbuck cries,

Vengence on a dumb brute!...that simply smote thee from blindes instinct! Madness! To be enraged with a dumb thing, Captain Ahab, seems blasphemous

Having heard this, Ahab replies, addressing the entire crew,

Hark ye yet again--the little lower layer.  All visible objects, man, are but as pasteboard masks.  But in each event--in the living act, the undoubted deed--there, some unknown but still reasoning thing puts forth the moldings of it features from behind the unreasoning mask.  If man will strike, strike though the mask!

In the white whale Ahab see "outrageous strength, with an inscrutable malice sinewing it."  In short, Ahab endows Moby Dick with these preternatural powers and is driven to capture him in order to "break through the mask" and understand what lies beneath.  Ahab is obsessed with the "inscrutable" whale and must kill it; he must know it.

Realizing the madness of Ahab, Starbuck murmurs, "God keep me!--keep us all!"

"Might I but moor-Tonight-/ In Thee!" What is the metaphor of those lines in Emily Dickinson?

The key to this metaphor is the word moor, which means to secure a boat or ship securely. The speaker in the poem indicates a yearning to be anchored or soundly attached to another person. In the earlier stanzas of the poem, "Wild Nights--Wild Nights," the poets includes references to ships and sailing: "a heart in port," "compass," "charts," "rowing in Eden," and "the Sea." 

In Anthem, who is the "Saint of the Pyre"?

Ayn Rand's Anthem is a novel which describes a dystopic future totalitarian culture. The lead character, named Equality 7-2521, witnesses a man being burned at the stake, whom he later describes as the "Saint of the Pyre." Equality 7-2521 gives him this name after he learns that the man was burned for discovering the Unspeakable Word, a word which Equality goes on to discover for himself.

How do I analyze a scene from a Shakespeare play? What exactly do I include in my analysis of it?

William Shakespeare needs no real introduction as his name is a world-wide phenomenon. One of the benefits of reading Shakespeare is that his plays are still relevant even to a twenty-first century reader. This is because his themes and story-lines have a universal quality and are timeless and appropriate. He talks about love in all its complexity and broaches controversial topics of race discrimination and gender roles, for example with his tragedies, such as Othello, and comedies, such as Twelfth Night being equally merited. Whilst The Tempest is categorized as a comedy it also falls into the romance category due to its serious undertones. 

To analyse a scene from any Shakespeare play, you need to place your scene in context in terms of the play itself and to have an understanding of the language used which can be confusing to a modern reader. It is a good idea to use a version of the play that includes notes which remove the potential for misunderstanding or for missed significance. You can then interpret the intention or importance of something and its relevance to the overall picture with a clearer understanding.

Shakespeare likes to leave the reader (or audience) with a degree of uncertainty in the interpretation so that that reader can draw his or her own conclusions. This allows the reader to ask and answer his own questions and ensures that he examines motives and circumstances and does not make assumptions which many Shakespeare characters do and around which the plot often revolves as miscommunication and misunderstanding is responsible for the downfall of many of Shakespeare's heroes. In Othello, Othello's assumption that "honest Iago" is in fact honest leads to his acceptance of the "ocular proof" (III.iii.364) presented to him and after which he kills his beloved Desdemona.  

In analyzing any scene of Shakespeare, give some attention to the soliloquies as they often expose contradictions, hints and they can reveal a lot about a character or theme. In Othello, the reader learns a lot about Iago which Othello is not privy to and the themes are also revealed in much of what Iago says. Consider the theme of appearance versus reality in this play which you would discuss in an analysis of Act I, scene i where Iago makes it quite clear that "I am not what I am" (65) in his soliloquy from line 41 to 65. The fact that Iago is unconcerned that Roderigo hears this statement about his duplicity speaks to Iago's character and arrogance.   

Therefore, in an analysis of a Shakespeare play

1. Consider the relevance to a twenty-first century reader.

2. Discuss whether it is a tragedy or comedy and what makes it so.

3. Briefly outline what precedes your scene so that the scene has context.

3. Clear up any difficulties with the language in the scene of your choice so that the person reading your analysis has a clear understanding of your interpretation.

4. Discuss the themes, setting, characters which appear in your chosen scene and how the message is conveyed through the dialogue, actions and so on.

5. Further to point 4, explain the contribution that this scene makes to the overall plot or which theme it supports or which characters it most develops. 

What made William Shakespeare want to become a writer?

On a Shakespeare tour in Stratford-Upon-Avon, the guide mentioned that Shakespeare became a writer because he needed to make money.  He had worked for his father who was a glove maker, but the family ran into financial trouble. 

"Legend long held that Shakespeare left Stratford because he was being pursued by the law for poaching deer on private property."

"London players would visit Stratford regularly. Some time between 1585 and 1592, it is believed that Shakespeare left Stratford for London and joined a company of actors as a performer and a playwright. It is probable that young Shakespeare could have been recruited by the Leicester's or Queen's men."

He was offered an opportunity to write and to act; he was very skilled at adapting topics that he read about and his plays became very popular with audiences and he quickly established himself as a successful playwright.

What is significant about the action with the hats in Act II of Waiting for Godot?

The significance of the hat-swapping in Act II is usually attributed to Beckett's admiration of the famous Laurel and Hardy routines in Vaudeville.  In a true representation of the Theatre of the Absurd, we are given a brief moment of true comic relief as we are immersed in this slapstick comedy.  This is evident even in reading the ever-popular online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, in its entry on Laurel and Hardy.  "Observers have found the archetypal Laurel and Hardy scenario (two tramp-like men bewildered by the simplest elements of life) to have much in common with the Theatre of the Absurd.  This is most manifested in the work of Samuel Beckett, himself a fan, and who was unquestionably influenced by the characters in works such as Waiting for Godot."  In addition, I find it interesting that it is Estragon who winds up with Lucky's hat, his special "thinking hat" from Act I, that I suspect is supposed to be a play on the "put on your thinking cap" idiom.  Perhaps this is the reason why Lucky is no longer able to talk when we see him again.  Ah, welcome to absurdist literature!

Was Ralph wise to appoint Jack the chief hunter in "Lord of the Flies"?

Here's a bit from Chapter 1, where Ralph has just been voted in as chief by the other boys:

Ralph counted.

“I’m chief then.”

The circle of boys broke into applause. Even the choir applauded; and the freckles on Jack’s face disappeared under a blush of mortification. He started up, then changed his mind and sat down again while the air rang. Ralph looked at him, eager to offer something.

“The choir belongs to you, of course.”

To allow Jack to be in charge of the choir (who then become the hunters) is not a decision Ralph makes tactically, but one he makes out of pity, because he sees that Jack is embarrassed not to be chosen as chief, and because he wants to "offer... something".

What that does is allow Jack, who Golding has already underlined as the obvious leader from the group, a whole group of boys under his control, sowing the seeds for a rebellion later. Ralph too seems slightly in awe of Jack, and perhaps it would have been a better move, rather than splitting up the choir and the other boys, for the two boys to rule jointly as chief.

On the other hand, Ralph is aware politically that Jack needs to feel in control of something - and perhaps the choir is a compromise that Jack would have insisted upon were he not offered it. It's difficult to tell - how do you control someone like Jack? How do you make sure they don't just shout "Bollocks to teh rules" and run off to anarchy?

Explain why sexual reproduction is an advantage to a population that lives in a rapidly changing environment?

The sexual reproduction is beneficial for the population due to the following reasons:

1. The environment is constantly changing and there need the change of the characteristics to sustain in the changing environment.

2. The characteristic of the living organism is that the dominant characteristic is the usually beneficial ones.

3. Due to the dipliod choice the more sustainable new generation can evolve.

4. Due to this changing characteristic of new generation may lead to mutation and development of new better species.     

In Chapter 4, why do the children make Boo's story into a game?

Jem, Scout and Dill have spent so much of their time thinking or ways to see Boo. It has become an obsession for them. By the time summer rolls around again, they are bored with the same old thing, so Jem decides to make up a story based on what they know of Boo.

Jem is still trying to prove that he is not afraid of Boo. He wants to look like he is brave. Dill looks up to Jem. Scout is getting bored with the two boys, but reluctantly gives in to them, and they start acting out the events that they have been told about Boo's life. At first, the kids seem to have fun, but Atticus catches them and tells them they are not to do this. The kids still act out the play, but their hearts in it as much.

The whole thing about Boo, for the children, is the unknown. They only hear what the towns gossips about. They are curious kids and like a mystery. They are smart and this lets them use their imaginations. Boo is one of the most important characters in the story, and Harper Lee introduces his story, right from the beginning. She grabs our attention with the mystery surrounding Boo's life. Jem, Scout and Dill, are just as curious. They think that by making a a play about his life, they might come to understand him more and maybe make him come out of his house. They have no idea just how important Boo will be in their lives.

What three important changes have occured on Animal Farm after Snowball leaves?

After Snowball leaves, the door for Napoleon to take over is wide open!  And so he does, proceeding to implement many changes on Animal Farm, including doing away with Sunday meetings, breaking more and more commandments, such as "No animal shall drink alcohol," and beginning to trade with humans to fund the windmill which he so adamantly opposed while Snowball was still on the farm, but quickly changes sides once Snowball has been exiled. 

Paraphrase Michael Drayton's sonnet "Love's Farewell."

Michael Drayton's sonnet "Love's Farewell," deals with the theme of reconcilement between two lovers who are at the brink of breaking up and parting forever, but at the last moment they decide to make up and continue as lovers.

the first eight lines, (the octave) emphasise the idea that nothing more can be done to revive the love between them both and that all that they can now do is to "shake hands forever, cancel all our vows."

In the next four lines, Drayton compares their love to a person on his deathbed who is about to breathe his last: "the last gasp of Love's latest breath."

In the concluding couplet, (the gemmel) Drayton reverses the entire situation by making an earnest and sincere plea to his lover that it is still possible to revive the almost dead love between them both and thus continue to be lovers forever: "now if thou wouldst, when all have given him over/From death to life thou mightst him yet recover!"

The poem deals with two lovers who quarrel because of their capricious nature and decide to be reconciled no sooner than they had decided to part ways forever.

What is the proper name for the mead hall where the men gather and celebrate in "Beowulf"?

Hrothgar was successful in war, and had a great mead-hall built named Heorot (Heort), where he held court, doling out rings, neck chains, and other bounty. The celebrations and carousing in the new hall provoked envy in Grendel, a grim demon descended from Cain and condemned to be an outcast, living mysteriously in the nearby fen and heath. On his first attack, he hauled off 30 men to his lair, and gruesomely killed more the next night.  The men took to sleeping in huts away from the hall, and for 12 years their king lived in humiliation as Grendel took over the hall and continued his ambushes.  The plight of the kingdom became known far and wide.

Who did Siegfried Sassoon befriend while in a military hospital in Scotland?

Siegfried Sassoon famously befriended another World War i poet - Wilfred Owen. It was in Craiglockhart Military Hospital in Scotland, during August 1917.

Sassoon was there because he had written "Finished with the war" (linked below) and - rather than court-martial him, the military tribunal decided to send him to hospital and treat him for shell-shock (rather as if opposing the war was itself a sign of mental instability!). Owen was in fact suffering from shell-shock.

Dr. William H. Rivers treated Sassoon, and also forms the fictional protagonist of Pat Barker's novel "Regeneration" which imagines this meeting between the poets and their treatment from Rivers.

Both of the men eventually went back to the Front - Owen was killed just before the end of the war in 1918; Sassoon was wounded but survived and lived for many years, writing many works of literature.

Jack and his hunters become less civilized after killing a pig in William Golding's Lord of the Flies. What activities in current culture seem to...

Civilized:

1. having an advanced or humane culture, society, etc. 2. polite; well-bred; refined.

I think it is important to start here. Every culture has different ideas about what is civilized. Even within cultures there are different norms. There are also huge differences between norms, mores and laws.

In American culture it is normal to talk on the phone anywhere and everywhere. It does not bother most people that the practice is rude or offensive to the people around them. Depending on the age or technical prowess of the surrounding people, there are different mores. You might get a dirty look from an older person for example. There are, however, no laws against using a cell phone while riding home on the bus.

One of the reasons I enjoy this novel so much is the example of choice it shows. Every person everywhere gets to wake up and choose the kind of person they want to be every day. Not everyone has a choice about the circumstances they find themselves in, but their reaction to those circumstances is their own. The excellent part about this choice is that people get to make it on a constant basis.The choice to be civilized and what exactly that means is personal.

On a personal level, I abhor rudeness. Blathering loudly on a cell phone is rude, as is taking and returning text messages in the middle of a conversation. If you use that as an example, technology, or more specifically the impersonal nature of it, can make us less civilized.

The other side of that coin is the use of technology to bring people together. Look at this site and its ability to let people reach out to each other and broaden their outlook. Choices, choices, choices.

Where is satire or irony in chapter 4 or 5?What quotes/passages are ironic or satiric?

Chapter 5 of "Brave New World" contains a parody/satire of a religious revival in the "Solidarity Service" where people are placed in groups of twelve, as the apostles were numbered.  The President of the group begins by making the sign of the T--a mockery of the sign of the cross. The Solidarity Hymn is played as soma tablets are laid on the table and strawberry soma ice cream is passed around for each to drink--a mocking imitation of communion in a religious ceremony.  As the cup is passed around again, a third Solidarity Hymn is played and the ritual begins.  The people move in rhythm, acting as though some sacred revelation will happen.  They sway and dance; then, they go off onto couches for the "orgy-porgy."  The evangelical-type of service degenerates into a sexual orgy instead of religious ecstasy.

With satiric descriptions, Orwell shows that the deep-seated need for mystic belief is still present in the New World.  But, this need has been directed into a conditioning exercise, a conditioning necessary for the New World.  However, just as some people have not found fulfillment in religious rituals, Bernard feels emptiness after the Solidarity Service.

Why does Atticus say that the law is strict for common people, but bent in some ways for Ewells?

The rules are somewhat bent for the Ewell family.  They are very poor, and the only government checks that Bob Ewell gets he spends on alcohol.  So, he is allowed (even though it is illegal) to hunt and trap out of season.  Atticus tells Scout that all of the farmers and land owners of Maycomb county agree that those kids need some sort of food, so anything he can hit, they allow him to in order to feed those kids.

Another thing that is different about the Ewells is that they only have to go to school for one day.  They are made to go that first day, but after that, the Tardy Lady doesn't bother them anymore.  They are such a poor family, and according to Atticus, "they live like animals." Most of the families don't want them in school with their kids, so they just let them get away with skipping school.

What are some key passages that contribute to the understanding or the book?The passage should explore a theme that is significant to the...

Themes of hopelessness and hope are central to the book.  In Chapter 5, Junior's teacher Mr. P tells him,

"You're going to find more and more hope the farther and farther you walk away from this sad, sad, sad reservation...you have to leave the rez forever".

Junior struggles with themes of identity throughout the story.  When he goes to school off the reservation, he

"became something less than less than less than Indian" (Chapter 12).

An outsider at his new school, Junior is villified by the Indians for trying to succeed in life.  In Chapter 18, Junior tells Gordy,

"The people at home...a lot of them call me an apple...red on the outside and white on the inside".

Gordy then astutely observes,

"Life is  a constant struggle between being an individual and being a member of the community".

Junior is at first suspicious of his white peers at Reardan High School, and in fact they torment him at first.  Despite their own personal prejudices, however, they are good people at heart, and Junior discovers that

"If you let people into your life a little bit, they can be pretty damn amazing" (Chapter 17).

Junior finally realizes that he is going to be okay when he understands that he is not alone in his search for a dream, and that he belongs to many "tribes" -

"the tribe of American immigrants...basketball players...small-town kids...poverty...beloved sons" (Chapter 28).

It is only when he can accept the many facets of his own identity that Junior is able to look forward to the future with hope.

How do Lady Macbeth’s speeches characterize her? What does the riddle “Fair is foul, and foul is fair” tell us about the play?

Lady Macbeth's speeches are concise, sharp, ambitious and finely specific and pointed. THey characterise her as concise, sharp, ambitious and dangerous. Having read the letter, she gets straight to the point: and she often speaks in these punchy lists:

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

This is a highly methodical mind, constantly speaking in antitheses used to set out her information:

What thou wouldst highly,
That wouldst thou holily; wouldst not play false,
And yet wouldst wrongly win.

Highly/holily... false/win. This is an organised, clear-thinking mind. And it is one capable of coming to a decision fast.

The raven himself is hoarse
That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan
Under my battlements.

Even before Duncan is there, she's decided he will be dead.

"Fair and foul" is precisely the nature of the play. Things are both at once. Macbeth is a loyal subject, a deserving warrior, but also a secretive, plotting murderer. Macbeth is a thuggish "dead butcher", but also someone capable of beautiful, poetic thoughts. Lady Macbeth is a great wife, an ambitious partner, but also a homicidal murderer. Lady Macbeth is a murderer, but also scared to murder because Duncan resembled her "father as he slept". Things are both good and bad.

The day of battle, as Macbeth says, has "foul" weather, but is a "fair" day because they have won the battle. And the witches' prophecies obviously follow the same pattern: Banquo will be "lesser than Macbeth and greater", "not so happy but much happier" ... and so on.

What is the dramatic effect of Act 3, Scene 2 in "Much Ado About Nothing"?

It's a key scene, I think, because it's the point at which the play seems to violently shift from comedy toward tragedy. It even opens with the sense that everything's already been wrapped up:

DON PEDRO:
I do but stay till your marriage be consummate, and then go I toward Aragon.

CLAUDIO:
I'll bring you thither, my lord, if you'll vouchsafe me.

The men are making to leave Messina. Then there's a whole barrel of jokes about Benedick, and about his new appearance. Like everything else in the play, it's based on an idea of seeming versus reality. Benedick, of course, isn't really a lover (though he thinks he is, based on his gulling - another case of seeming versus reality!) but he appears to be one. And Claudio and Don Pedro are happy to point out that Benedick isn't dressed like Benedick on this occasion:

If he be not in love with some woman, there is no
believing old signs. A' brushes his hat o' mornings. What should that bode?

It's all very comic and very good-natured. And then, in the space of one scene, suddenly Don John appears with another case of seeming versus reality. They are to see Hero seduced at her window, according to Don John:

If you dare not trust that you see, confess not that you know.

And the scene ends with an acknowledgement that it almost seems like the second part of the play - a tragedy coupled onto the comedy:

So will you say when you have seen the sequel.

Comedy into tragedy - no scene change. It's a pivotal scene.

What is the rising action in "All My Sons"?

The rising action in All My Sons begins with the arrival of Anne Deever to the Keller home.  During the night, the tree that was planted in the yard in memory of Larry, who is missing in action in WW II, falls down in a terrible storm.

Kate Keller believes that this is a message from the universe that her son is still alive.  The rest of the family cannot convince her that Larry is gone.  Kate insists that Larry will come back and with that in mind refers to Anne as Larry's girl.

We also learn of the event that occurred in Joe Keller's factory that led to both he and Steve Deever being found guilty and put in jail.  Faulty airplane parts were shipped to the military which resulted in the deaths of several pilots. 

Joe gets out of jail by implicating Steve as being solely responsible for making the decision to ship the faulty parts.  He claims that he was home sick the day that Steve made the fatal decision. Everyone believes Joe, he is free while Steve is still in jail.  Anne has not spoken to her father.

Chris is in love with Anne, and knows that Kate Keller will never accept them as a couple.  Chris discusses the fact that George Deever, Anne's brother is visiting his father in prison.  George calls to tell his sister that he is coming to the Keller's for a visit.

Kate Keller tries to convince Anne to go home with her brother.  Anne wants Chris to tell his mother that they plan to marry.  Anne says that she doesn't want to leave unmarried again.

Who attacks the steamboat as it approaches the Inner Station? Why?

As Marlow's steamship approaches the inner station in a heavy fog, arrows begin to fly out from the jungle. The "pilgrims," or white passengers, fire blindly into the jungle with their rifles. Marlow blows the steam whistle on the ship and scares off the attackers. Then Marlow realizes the helmsman has been killed. In the next chapter the Russian explains that the Africans attacked the ship because they were afraid the ship was coming to take Kurtz away from them. Later the Russian divulges that Kurtz ordered the attack himself because he did not want to be taken away from his base of power.

When Tonks and Lupin's baby is orphaned, why doesn't the child live with Harry Potter since he is still alive and is the child's godfather?

Harry Potter (the child’s godfather) and Andromeda (the child’s grandmother) becomes the surrogate parents because of the death of both the child’s biological parents (Tonks and Lupin).  During the final battle in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”, Remus Lupin leaves his wife and child to go and fight.  Tonks cannot bear to be away from the action, so she also goes and fights.  During the course of the battle, Dolohov kills Lupin and Bellatrix kills Tonks, leaving their child, Ted, orphaned.  The child is then raised by his grandmother, Andromeda, and his godfather, Harry Potter.  The text says that Harry Potter is involved in raising the child because he knows what it is like to be an orphan.  Andromeda would naturally be involved in the child’s life because she is the grandmother.  When Harry was orphaned, he also did not go and live with his godfather.  I do not believe that the “godfather” status makes a person the only choice for adoption when a child is orphaned.

What does the expression "conditioned" exactly mean?

The first answer covers the information regarding conditioning as it appears in BNW.   I would just like to add that it is not limited to BNW, but goes on everywhere.  We are all "conditioned" by our upbringing, tending to repeat behaviors that produce favorable results and to avoid behaviors that produce negative results.  In our society these experiences are somewhat "random" --- in BNW they are much more focused and focused by the society to produce a culturally desireable result.  No one escapes conditioning in one form or another.

If you are interested in seeing another kind of conditioning, you might want to look into B. F. Skinner.  His Utopian novel, "Walden II" shows how conditioning can work for society's betterment (in his vision).  His "Beyond Freedom and Dignity" provides a not.too.technical introduction to the concept behavior modification.  They're both interesting reading and will shed some light on the conditioning in BNW.

Why is Nick Carraway made the narrator of "The Great Gatsby"?

Nick Carroway is a good and logical choice for a narrator because, although the character tells the story in first person, he is able to tell us the story of Gatsby and Daisy (and others) from an objective third person point of view.  Though he is involved in the events, he is really set on the outside of everything as a onlooker and observer.

Additionally, Nick's opening lines tell us that he will be a good, neutral and objective narrator. He informs the reader about his father's advice to him: "Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone... just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had" (Fitzgerald 6). He then goes on to say, "In consequence I'm inclined to reserve all judgement" (6).  Therefore, we can assume that Nick truly does restrain from passing judgement and is more inclined to give us an open and objective viewpoint for the story.  We are then able to observe the events through his eyes, without any emotional filter that Gatsby's or Daisy's story may include in the retelling of events.

Does Ralph understand why he must be killed? Explain.

Early in the final chapter, Ralph, in hiding, watches the boys as they feast.  He notes that their savagery has increased tremendously.  There is no mistaking their similarity to uncivilized savages. As he thinks about all that has happened, he refuses, at first, to believe that the boys could have purposely become killers.  Then he encounters the skull of the sow that Jack killed and impaled on the stick.  It appears to be grinning at him regards Ralph, "...like one who knows all the answers and won't tell."  Ralph realizes, then, what Simon and Piggy knew - that the real beast, the real source of evil, was inside of each one of them.  He also slowly comes to realize that just as Simon and Piggy died for gaining this insight, he, too, is likely to die.  When he encounters Sam and Eric and they tell him that Jack and the tribe plan to hunt him like a pig and that Roger has sharpened a stick at both ends, Ralph feels even more certain that his fate is to follow Simon and Piggy.  Even though he never articulates the idea as much as Simon or Piggy, Ralph has come to realize that understanding the source of evilness comes with a price and that price is death.  At the end, when he is rescued instead of killed, he weeps for, among other reasons, the loss of innocense.  His realization of the source of evil robs him of ever being innocent again.

In Stave II of Charles Dicksens' A Christmas Carol, what does the light represent?

In Stave I of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Ebenzer Scrooge is visted by the ghost of Jacob Marley, his now-deceased former business partner who has appeared before the miserly, bitter old man to warn him of the perils to come unless he changes his ways.  It is, of course, the Christmas season, and the story of the birth of Jesus hangs in the air as a reminder of the season’s true meaning.  The ghost of Jacob Marley rhetorically inquires of himself and of Scrooge the reason he let so many holy seasons pass without acknowledging those around him:

“At this time of the rolling year,” the spectre said, “I suffer most. Why did I walk through crowds of fellow-beings with my eyes turned down, and never raise them to that blessed Star which led the Wise  Men to a poor abode! Were there no poor homes to which its light would have conducted me!”

In Stave II, after the ghost of Marley has warned Scrooge and informed him that he would be visited by three spirits, the old man waits anxiously in his bed.  At the prescribed time, the first of the three spirits announces itself:

“He spoke before the hour bell sounded, which it now did with a deep, dull, hollow, melancholy ONE. Light flashed up in the room upon the instant, and the curtains of his bed were drawn.”

Interpretations of the meaning of the light can vary, but, in the context of Marley’s acknowledgment of the true meaning of the season, and in the context of Scrooge’s imminent moral awakening, it is possible that the light represents both the “blessed Star” and the moment Scrooge’s transcendental transformation from “scrooge” to jovial, benevolent pillar of the community.

In Chapter 4 of To Kill a Mockingbird, does Scout learn anything from overhearing Atticus's conversation with Uncle Jack? And if you happen to...

Scout is writing as an adult. This point is important to keep in mind, because the story is a reflection of her childhood experiences as an adult. Based on this point, she realizes that Atticus was speaking to Uncle Jack in a way to allow her to hear. 

She therefore learned that Atticus wanted for her not to be affected by the impending trial. Atticus knew that the trial would cause social hardships for his family and perhaps even something worse. What makes this point even more powerful is that overhearing someone gives the semblance of sincerity. So, in a sense, Scout was able to listen to the inner desires of Atticus. 

From another perspective, Scout learned that Atticus was not as hands off as a parent. He had a strategy and knew what he was doing. He was guiding both Jem and her in a loving and wise way. In a word, she learned that Atticus was a great father. 

In Farenheit 451, What does the Salamander on Mantags arm and the Phoenix Disc on his chest represent?

First of all, the salamander is related to fire since there are ancient, almost mythological, beliefs that salamanders are unaffected by flames and could live in fire.  The phoenix also has its place in mythology:  it is a bird believed to have cyclically burned itself in flames, only to rise out of the ashes once again.  Literally, these symbols are both related to fire and creatures who were believed to survive fire, so it makes sense they'd find their way onto these fictional firemen uniforms.  Symbolically, they both, especially the phoenix, represent the idea of rebirth, which is what the resolution of "Fahrenheit 451" is all about - being able to rebuild.

In "The Interlopers" what causes the beech tree to fall over?

Ulrich and Georg are roaming the disputed forest on a dark, stormy night.  Saki describes a "shriek of the storm" which brings down the tree on top of the two enemies as they stand glaring at one another. So, the tree is felled by lightning, and ironically, the basic subject (a tree from the disputed forest land) traps the men together.  They are forced to work with each other, but just as they reconcile their differences, they recognize that their shared fate of death is close at hand with the sound of the wolves.

In The Odyssey, why does Odysseus offer the Cyclops the liquor he brought from the ship?

When the Cyclops returns to his cave, he closes the cave with a huge boulder. As a result, Odysseus and his men are trapped inside, and to their horror, the Cyclops turns out to be less than inhospitable. The Greeks expected guests to be treated kindly, to be offered food, drinks, and gifts, but the Cyclops disdains the customs and even declares he has no fear of the gods. He snatches up a pair of Odysseus' men and eats them! After another day, he has eaten four more men.

Realizing they are all likely to die, Odysseus puts his wily mind to use. He offers the Cyclops the potent wine so that he can make Polyphemus drunk, so drunk he will fall asleep. The wine is delicious and the Cyclops asks for more, drinking so much he does pass out. When he is soundly asleep, Odysseus and his men blind the Cyclops by stabbing him in his eye with a sharpened, heated olive pole. Although the Cyclops screams for help, because Odysseus has told him his name is "Nobody," when the other Cyclopses ask who is hurting Polyphemus, he answers, "Nobody." So they figure nothing is wrong.

Once the Cyclops is blinded, the men stand a better chance of escape. The next day when the Cyclops opens the cave to release his sheep, the men hide under the wooly sheep and leave safely.

Which poem follows the terms and requirements of an elegy better, Lycidas or "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard"?

The essential characteristics of the elegy, which are:

1. invoke the Muse


2. express the shepherd's (or poet's) grief


3. praise the dead


4. inveigh against death


5. tell the affects of death on a personified nature


6. accept death and acknowledge a hope of immortality

are missing or modified in Thomas Gray's elegy "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard," while they are all present inMilton's Lycidas.

In the first place, in Gray's there is no invocation of the Muse. On the other hand, Milton does so invoke the Muses in Line 15 in Lycidas. Gray doesn't directly express a shepherd's or the speaker's grief at the death spoken of, and Gray is speaking of many deaths, the deaths of all in the churchyard. Milton does express the grief of the shepherd lamenting Lycidas' death.

Both poets praise the one being lamented.
Likewise, both inveigh against (protest against) death. Gray's is mild in Stanza's 5 and 6, while Milton's is more pronounced in Lines 50 through 63:

"Where were ye Nymphs when the remorseless deep [ 50 ]
Clos'd o're the head of your lov'd Lycidas?"

Both lament the effects on nature of the lamented ones' deaths. Gray says: "How bow'd the woods beneath their sturdy stroke!"
Milton says:

"And all their echoes mourn.
The Willows, and the Hazle Copses green,
Shall now no more be seen,
Fanning their joyous Leaves to thy soft layes."

Gray ends with what the speaker hopes will be his epithet at his own death, which accepts death and expresses hope in Christian immortality. Milton likewise fulfills this characteristic. In Gray's elegy, the speaker reposes in "The bosom of his Father and his God," while Milton says of Lycidas, "In the blest  Kingdoms meek of joy and love./ There entertain him all the Saints above."

In conclusion, Milton's Lycidas appears to have the correct structure as it pertains to the elegiac form. Gray's elegy is highly innovative as it laments many dead, doesn't have a shepherd speaker and in the end turns out to be an anticipatory lament of his own death. Incidentally, in Lines 19 through 24 of Lycidas Milton's speaker hopes some Muse will sing a lament to his death as he is singing Lycidas' death.

Are there any examples of synecdoche for Hamlet?

During the ghost's conversation with Hamlet in Act I, Scene V, there are several uses of synedoche:a figure of speech by which a more comprehensive term is used for a less comprehensive or vice versa, as whole for part or part for whole, e.g. ‘There were six guns out on the moor’ where ‘guns’ stands for shooters; and ‘Oxford won the match’, where ‘Oxford’ stands for ‘the Oxford eleven’. In Lines 41-43, Act I, Scene V, the ghost first tells Hamlet that he was murdered and " So the whole ear of Denmark/ Is by a forged process of my death /Rankly abused. " In the quotation The "ear" stands for the country of Denmark. The ghost continues in Lines 87-90,"Let not the royal bed of Denmark be A couch for luxury and damned incest." Here the ghost is discussing the marriage of Gertrude and Claudius and uses the term royal bed of Denmark" to represent the marriage. If you look at the rest of the play you will find other example of synedoche.

In Act 1, Scene 5 of Romeo and Juliet, how does Tybalt react to Romeo's presence at the party and what does Lord Capulet say about Romeo?

Tybalt, standing true to his character, reacts very violently to the knowledge of Romeo's presence while Lord Capulet actually defends Romeo (simply because Capulet doesn't want his party disrupted).  Tybalt's violence can be seen almost immediately in that he asks for his rapier and says, "Now, by the stock and honor of my kin, / To strike him dead I hold it not a sin."  Lord Capulet approaches the subject delicately with Tybalt by simply telling Tybalt to "let him alone."  Ironically, Lord Capulet then begins defending Romeo by saying, "Verona brags of him / To be a virtuous and well-governed youth.  I would not for the wealth of all this town / Here in my house do him disparagement."  Lord Capulet tries again to stop Tybalt peacefully by saying, "Therefore be patient, take no note of him."  Of course, Lord Capulet has to descend into violence himself (with his own kinsman) mostly as a result of Tybalt not respecting his will.  "He shall be endured. . . . Am I the master here, or you? Go to! . . . You'll make a mutiny among my guests!"  In this way, Romeo is left alone to ogle over Juliet at the party.

What are translations, rotations, and reflections isometries?

The terms are related with mapping in mathematics. When you map a figure its dimension and direction changes. An enttire village can be mapped on a piece of plain paper. The distance between any two places in the village and  that on the map of the village are diffrent but bear the same proportion.

The postional shape of an object before and after a random movement,  can be treated as a mapping without change of dimension and shape of the object. But the object surely has undergone a displacement. But carefully note that  each and every identified points in the object may have different displacement from their corresponding positon in space before the displacement on account of  both translatory and rotatational  movement without our awareness.

Translation:  Imagine  a sraight line like stick in the position AB  maked with points A1,A2, A3 etc on it,move to the postion A'B' .Then if every marked point of the stick in the position A'B' bears the same distance from their corresponding postion before the move, then it is a translatory movement.

Rotation: If the  stick AB moves in a rotational movement then each of the marked points on the stick  moves in a fixed but dfifferent  circle. A1 moves in a fixed cirle. A2, the another  point moves in another cicle. Thus if A1 and A2 move in  same  plane  the two diffrent circular path of them are concentric.Otherwise, they may have the same axis of rotation.

Isometry:Both Rotation and Translation are isometric mapping.An isometric mapping is a mapping in which the relative distance between the two correpoding points in is maintained before and after the mapping. In other words The shapeand size  is maintained before and after mapping.

If you move a rigid body from position A to position B in space it gets displaced, involving both rotational and traslational movement. But any two marked point on or inside the object bear the same distance  after the movement. The property of retaining the same distane within itself after mapping is called isometry.

Hope this  non mathematical  and non pedantic  lay man's discription helps.

What is the summary for Part 1, Chapter 10 of The Underdogs?

Anastasio asks the chief to let Luis tend to his wound.  Venancio isn't thrilled with this suggestion since he is "the doctor" but eventually steps back and allows it.  The men watch as Luis dresses Demetrio's wound.  The process of fixing him up causes much pain to Demetrio.  He stifles moans at every move Luis makes.  He is able to sleep then, and he wakes the next morning much happier.  Meanwhile, the Federal troops seemed to have disappeared.  Corn and beans then became plentiful for everyone.  Demetrio is so thankful and appreciative of Luis that he makes sure that Luis gets the same treatment from his men as they give him.

The next afternoon the men lay and listen to Venancio's stories.  It's a lazy day for the men as they listen, and some even fall asleep.  Luis was so impressed with his stories that he praises him.  Luis tells him that with his intelligence, he could go to school after the revolution and truly become a doctor.  From that point on, Luis earned all of their admiration, for the men begin to call him "Louie" all the time.

In Chapter 9 of "Animal Farm", how do the conditions for the pigs improve, and how do conditions for other animals deteriorate?

In Chapter 9, "all rations were reduced, except those of the pigs and the dogs".  When all four sows gave birth to litters obviously sired by Napoleon, they were given special instruction in the farmhouse kitchen by Napoleon himself, and took their exercise in the garden.  It was decided that a schoolroom would be made in the garden just for the piglets, and that the other animals would have to labor to make it.  It was also laid down as a rule around this time that "when a pig and any other animal met on the path, the other animal must stand aside", and that "all pigs...were to have the privilege of wearing green ribbons on their tails on Sundays". 

Rations were again reduced two months after the first reduction, but "the pigs seemed comfortable enough, and in fact were putting on weight if anything'.  Later, it was announced that "all barley would be reserved for the pigs", and the news also leaked out that "every pig was now receiving a ration of a pint of beer daily, with half a gallon for Napoleon himself, which was always served to him in the Crown Derby soup tureen".

In a final chilling event, when Boxer is taken away to the horse slaughterer, the pigs have a raucous party with money they reportedly received from an unidentified source.  It is undeniable that the funds were gained from the sale of Boxer's carcass to the glue makers.

How responsible for Macbeth's actions is Lady Macbeth?

Difficult to say, really.

THe idea of murdering Duncan occurs to Macbeth before Lady Macbeth is even introduced into the play: just after he's heard the witches prophesy that he will be king, he soliloquizes:

...Why do I yield to that suggestion
Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair
And make my seated heart knock at my ribs,
Against the use of nature?

He's thinking about a murder. No prizes for guessing whose. And he writes to Lady M to tell his "dearest partner of greatness" about the prophecies. She resolves to get him "the golden round" which he is promised. And she seems to rather take over the plan, organising the means, the method, and the how-to of murdering Duncan. But Macbeth had the idea already.

The one point where she does seem key is in Act 1, Scene 7, when Macbeth backs out of the murder altogether, and she launches a ferocious assault on his manhood, on his honour, and finally, plays the card of their (recently deceased) child:

I have given suck, and know
How tender ’tis to love the babe that milks me.

Macbeth is back on board. He does the murder.

And then after that, it's Macbeth's game. She, in fact, is isolated from his decisions and his life: he doesn't ever tell her about Banquo's murder. Act 3, Scene 2 shows him openly rebutting her.

How responsible is she? Well, she has no influence late in the play, but she might well have some early on. How much? Would he have done it without her? Impossible precisely to say.

What is the poem "The Unbeliever" by Elizabeth Bishop mainly talking about?

While this poem is not, on the surface, easy to understand, a few things can be gleaned from a first reading.  Someone sleeps on top of a mast, a cloud reflects on its own situation, and a gull looks into the sleeper's dream.  What could this all be about?

As with all good poetry, there are many readings which would make sense.  One of them is a questioning of the nature of belief -- or knowledge.  Since the title of the poem is "The Unbeliever" we might infer that the sleeper is the unbeliever, and he doesn't believe, perhaps, that his unusual sleeping spot is strange or perilous.  It would be hard to imagine a less comfortable or more dangerous place to sleep than on the top of a mast; yet the sleeper sleeps, and dreams.

The cloud and the gull, too, each believe that their sites are secure.  The cloud, a most insubstantial and easily-blown entity, believes that it is "founded on marble pillars".  The gull, blown to and fro by the winds, thinks the air is "like marble".   

Bishop could be meditating on the epistemological (what is knowledge or belief?  if the sleeper believes that his place is secure is it any less so?) or metaphysical (the temporal world may seem substantial, but it is as easily dissolved as a cloud).  The poetic images are powerful, and do much to prompt a reader's thoughts in either direction -- or an entirely different one.

Why is Dill crying in To Kill a Mockingbird?

The emotions of the trial are running high for everyone. Everyone in the courtroom are hot and tired, and Tom is on the stand. Atticus does his best to show everyone that there was no way Tom could have done what he was accused of doing. The prosecutor is now getting ready to cross examine Tom.

Jem, Scout and Dill, are all sitting in the balcony with the black people of the town. They have been in the courthouse everyday. The children are so convinced that Atticus is going to get Tom free. When the prosecutor starts drilling Tom, Dill's emotions start to take over. He is just a child, and to see that the prosecutor is being mean to Tom, makes Dill feel so sad for Tom. He breaks down into tears by seeing Tom treated so badly. Scout is aware of this change in Dill.

"For some reason Dill had started crying and couldn't stop, quietly at first, then his sobs were heard by several people in the balcony."

I think it is touching that the children are sitting with the black people and they are the ones who hear Dill's cries. He is showing them that he is full of compassion for this innocent man. 

Why is Brian visiting his father in Canada, and how does Brian feel about his mother?

Brian’s parents have recently divorced. Under the court order, Brian spends the school year with his mother and the summers with his Dad. His father is in Canada, and Brian is bringing him some special equipment to assist with his work in oil drilling.

Brian’s father doesn’t understand why Brian’s mother wanted a divorce, and he is opposed to it. Brian carries the uncomfortable burden of knowing that his mother is having an affair. His mother doesn’t know that he knows, and his father knows nothing about it.

Brian’s last time with his mother was a bit uncomfortable – he didn’t want to answer her questions about what was wrong, yet he wanted to make her happy by carrying the hatchet she had given him.

What would be some very good compare/contrast points when comparing the stories "A Rose for Emily" and "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall"?

The most obvious would be the characters of Miss Emily and Granny Weatherall.  Both are very stubborn old women who are set in their ways and ho have jaded views of reality.  Both harbor resentments about their pasts, too.  Both women have also been betrayed and jilted.  Emily, for example, has been betrayed by her father because of the way he raised her.  He did not let her have a normal childhood and adolescence because he kept her so sheltered.  Granny Weatherall was jilted by George, who left her at the altar, and by Hapsy, her child who died.  There are many more similiarities and quite a few differences, too!

Another similarity is the setting. Both stories are set in Southern states.  Both women also have similar value systems that are clearly Southern in nature. 

Some of the differences include the authors' writing styles, the themes of the stories, and the tones of each story.

Give a short account of British poetic drama in the 20th Century.

I can do "English Verse Drama in the 20th Century" in four words: it didn't catch on.

Writers in English tend constantly to hark back to Shakespeare. And early in the 20th century, everyone was making a lot of fuss about the fact that Shakespeare wrote in verse. Everyone got very excited about the meaning and the import of verse, we created the phrase "verse-speaking" (even today, you will hear moronic theatregoers say entirely meaningless things like "they spoke the verse well") and there were a lot of articles written.

T.S. Eliot was the first, in an essay called "The Possibility of a Poetic Drama" in 1920 (linked below), to suggest that verse drama - drama in which the dialogue is written in a specific poetic meter - could be reintroduced. Eliot wrote a whole load of poetic plays, including "Murder in the Cathedral", and "The Family Reunion", that were popular successes. But other writers didn't really follow where Eliot led.

Later - in the 1930s/40s - Christopher Fry wrote a host more plays written in verse, including "The Lady's Not For Burning". They were successful, but again, it didn't catch on.

Even today, the poet Tony Harrison writes plays in verse, most recently a new play called "Fram". I could throw in more names before Eliot (Yeats, Synge) and after (Auden, MacNeice, Beckett) who have written poetic dramas. But, since the 16th century, verse drama has just never found its way back into the main blood of British Theatre.

How do Shylock's speeches reflect his character in "The Merchant of Venice"?Analyze Shylock's rhetoric and elements of voice paying special...

Let me first make a caveat: although we can all spot the SAME features of Shylock's language, what they tell us about his character is subjective. There's no absolute right answers.

The first thing I notice about Shylock is that he constantly repeats himself:

I will be assured I may; and, that I may be assured,
I will bethink me.

...let him look to his bond: he was wont to
call me usurer; let him look to his bond: he was
wont to lend money for a Christian courtesy; let him
look to his bond.

There are lots more examples (see the link below for a complete list of Shylock's utterances).

Shylock's motto - "Fast bind, fast find" - is, like much of his language, rhythmic, pared right down to the bone, and repetitive. His speech is full of antitheses (balancing one thing against another - as "find" is balanced with "bind" in the quote above) and with an almost obsessive need for even his words to be fitted exactly into place courtesy of a verbal pattern or rhythm. This, you might think, is appropriate for a man obsessed with his money and his things being exactly as he wants them, where he wants them.

John Gross has pointed out that Shylock's speech is full of "linguistic idiosyncracies": words like "synagogue" and "Nazarite" are not found elsewhere in Shakespeare's canon, nor is "moneys", Shylock's odd plural of "money". This, surely, is to mark out Shylock's foreignness in Venice. He is also a direct, plain-speaker in a play full of lyrical poetry.

What are some key themes in Walt Whitman's poetry?

I think that Whitman was something of a mystic in that he saw all of us as part of the whole; but it was the democratic whole.  He saw himself as the poet that Emerson called for; Emerson saw him as the poet who answered his challenge.

This yields two themes:  the unity of all being (and, if you read his endless lists of "things," none of which are subjugated to another but all treated as equal you understand where this is coming from.  The other is American as the fulfillment of the democratic idea.  This is similar to his mystical view of the unity of all things, but is more political, more based in the reality of what he saw and lived with.

Indians, blacks, Irish, gays, straighs, men, prostitutes, laborers, women, old, young ... these were all part of the theoretical unity of being, expressed in the structure of America.

In a "Rose for Emily," what was the smell that was referred to in section II. Was it Homer or her father? Please explain why.

In the short story "A Rose for Emily," the reader is not told what the smell is that is coming from Miss Emily's home.  It cannot, however, be her father.  Emily's dad passed away two years before this smell occurred and although she would not at first let anyone take her father's body, she did eventually relent to having him buried.

The reader can however infer that the smell is from the rotting body of her male friend, Homer.  Since he has disappeared, has not been seen, and shortly thereafter a rotten smell comes from her house, we are pretty safe in saying it is the decaying body of Homer. She wouldn't have told anyone because she was not about to have him taken from her.