In Farhrenheit 451, what are the symbolic meanings of the characters of Montag and Faber?I am really having trouble with this question.

Montag represents to me  knowledge and human curiosity. Montag represents every man, freedom repressed, and freedom from opression. The turning point in this novel is when Montag burns Beatty along with his own home. He is symbolically burning up the oppressive force in his life.  Montag's character shifts from being a good citizen to being in open rebellion to the oppressive regime.  Montag is now a criminal.  This brings up the question: Is there a criminal in every person?

Faber represents freedom of thought, freedom from opression, and veiled rebellion. Faber has knowledge, but he is limited in his practice of what he knows because he is living under the oppression of the current government. Faber is also a criminal, but he has managed to live in society and keep his secret.

Faber's opposite is Beatty who is also very well-read. Beatty hates knowledge, ideas and free-thought, but he is well read. This is hypocritical if you think about it. Beatty has all of this knowledge, but he's destroying it while keeping some for himself.  Faber also is well read, has stores of knowledge, but is willing to share his knowledge as long as he knows that he himself will be safe.

Faber represents selflessness and humanity. Beatty represents selfishness and the status-quo.  Beatty is a criminal, but he excuses his reading as part of his job.

This is a very subjective question. The answers that you come up with should be supported by quotes from your book.

In The Great Gatsby, what is the major conflict?

The central conflict in the novel concerns Gatsby's dream of winning Daisy back and repeating their past as if they had never been separated. Gatsby wants to wipe out the previous five years, an impossible dream. Nick tries to explain to Gatsby that no one can ever repeat the past, but Gatsby refuses to believe it:

"Can't repeat the past?" he cried incredulously. "Why of course you can . . . I'm going to fix everything just the way it was before," he said, nodding determinedly. "She'll see."

As Gatsby continues to talk, Nick begins to understand the importance to Gatsby of his dream:

He talked a lot about the past and I gathered that he wanted to recover something, some idea of himself perhaps, that had gone into loving Daisy. His life had been confused and disordered since then, but if he could once return to a certain starting place and go over it all slowly, he could find out what that thing was . . . .

The conflict is resolved when Daisy refuses to tell Tom Buchanan, her husband, that she never loved him, choosing instead to abandon Gatsby again and stay in her marriage. In the hours leading up to his death, Gatsby is still waiting for Daisy to call, refusing to recognize, acknowledge, or accept that his dream is not going to come true.

In chapter 15 of To Kill a Mockingbird, what is the nightmare that descends upon the children about?

Scout is alluding the the real start of the trial.  Though the trial is still in the future, this really marks when Scout begins to lose some of her innocence as part of seeing Atticus wrapped up in the trial.  Plus, she will see a more malevolent side of Maycomb than she has ever seen before.

The nightmare in Ch. 15, of course, is the Old Sarum bunch that come to lynch Tom Robinson, who is being held in the local jail.  Of course,  Atticus chooses to sit outside of the jail and make sure that Tom is safe.

The kids sneak out and go to visit Atticus just as the mob arrives.

Atticus attempts to reason with the mob, but, in the end, it is Scout that saves the day.  This is important because she is able to make Mr. Cunningham stand in Atticus's shoes, so to speak, for a moment.  He sees Atticus as a father and friend rather than just someone standing in their way.  Their anger is defused and they leave.

Scout saves the day and shows the reader that she was embodied one of the novel's main themes - empathy.

However, this scene serves to foreshadow the rest of the nightmare that is to come - the trial, the injustice,  the racism, and, ultimately, Bob Ewell's revenge.

What is the sex of Doug Wright? Is he female or male? Is he a gay man? I need it for my academic research paper

 Doug Wright was born in Texas.  He is a gay man who wrote the successful play "I Am My Own Wife"  and "Quills."  He was once asked if he would write more plays and why he wrote "I Am My Own Wife."  He stated, "I thought that all the negative conditioning I had endured as a young gay man growing up in Texas," Wright said, was offset by Charlotte's extraordinary experiences of survival. In the early 2000s, Wright was at work creating screenplays for Warner Brothers. When asked by one reporter if he would return to the stage, Wright answered in the affirmative. He claimed to have stored in one of his desk drawers enough material to keep him writing plays for a long time."

In "The Pigman," what does Lorraine's mother look like, and what does she think of men?

Mrs. Jensen, Lorraine's mother, has beautiful long brown hair, and Lorraine says she "is a very pretty woman when she smiles, which is hardly ever".  Mrs. Jensen, who works as a caregiver for terminal patients, always seems to be tired and complaining, and is especially critical of her daughter.  Lorraine's mother is very hostile towards men - in Lorraine's words, she's "got a real hang-up about men and boys", and she warns Lorraine to stay away from them because "they've only got one thing on their minds".  Lorraine's father cheated on her mother when she was pregnant with Lorraine, and he has since died, leaving Mrs. Jensen with the burden of raising Lorraine, with few resources, on her own.  Mrs. Jensen is obsessed with the memory of how terribly her husband treated her, and she extends her hatred to include all men in general; her bitterness has spoiled her beauty and soured every aspect of her life (Chapter 6).

Is Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis a comedy or tragedy?

The Metamorphosis is a story by Kafka that is often considered in the light of Absurdism and going by the portrayal of human condition in the existentialist-absurdist, it is a tragi-comic vision. As Chaplin would have said, from a distance where the particulars cannot be seen, it looks like comedy; the more you close in, the more it resembles a tragedy.But, this Kafka story is difficult to conceive as a comedy.

The element of ridicule operative on Gregor is entirely coming from the family, but does not get any authorial support. The illogical and abrupt transformation can be seen as a parody of the Ovidian model and hence a comedy, but the way the aftermaths of this transformation have been worked out, it is nothing but tragedy. This is tragedy in its modern sense, where there is no ethical frame at work whatsoever. It is  suffering without any doing. There are Biblically evocative scenes in the story such as the moment when the family members throw apple on the insect that Gregor has turned into. There are connotations of Original Sin and a replacement of reason with animal instinct that underlines the Fall in this tragic predicament. Gregor's tragedy also lies in him being stripped from his language. He cannot even express his condition. He is left to die a very sad and lonely death.

In "To Kill a Mockingbird", why does Atticus say Scout should ignore Jem in the treehouse?no

I think Atticus just recognises that Jem is approaching adolescence and needs occasional time on his own to think about things and figure them out. A lot is happening that Jem is picking up and worrying about more than Scout and Atticus, being aware of this, thinks the best way is for Scout to let Jem come back to her in his own time. Of course this is also part of Atticus's general parenting strategy: let children get on with their own lives with as little adult intervention as possible.

In "Oedipus Rex", how long had the plague on Thebes taken place?

The plague, along with famine, dying crops and babies being stillborn had been going on for a little while.  It never states how many years it had been happening, but it had been going on long enough that they desperately needed help from the gods.  The priests of Zeus get together to make an offering to Apollo in the beginning of the play. So the plague has been going on for perhaps a year up to several years.  They know that something is wrong because it's gone on long enough, as well as the other problems they're having adding to their demise.  It may have begun just after Laius was killed.  He and Jocasta had the two girls together, and they are described as "young daughters."  So the plague could have been going on for up to 6-7 years approximately.

What details does the author use to show the ways in which war is changing the atmosphere at Devon in "Separate Peace"?Chapters 6-10

The war first makes its incursion into the atmosphere at Devon in small ways, "beginning almost humorously with announcements about maids and days spent at apple picking" (Ch.7).  The winter session begins with the reestablishment of rigid discipline and precision.  It is announced that "maids (have) disappeared 'for the Duration'", and of the returning faculty, Mr. Pike appears "in his Naval ensign's uniform", and it is discovered that "five of the younger teachers (are) missing, gone into the war" (Ch.6). 

The war begins to touch the students' lives directly with the first snows, which approach "like noiseless invaders conquering because they (take) possession so gently".  The boys are called to help with the local apple crops, which are "threatening to rot because the harvesters (have) all gone into the army or war factories".  Then, when the railroads are paralyzed by heavy snow, "two hundred volunteers (are) solicited to spend the day shoveling...as part of the Emergency Usefulness Policy".  The reality of the war is emphatically brought home when the students, who have just finished clearing the track, stand aside to greet the first incoming train.  It is a troop train, populated by young soldiers not much older than the Devon boys, who, although they "are probably just recruits...(give) the impression of being an elite as they are carried past...drab ranks" (Ch.7).

What are the settings in A Midsummer Night's Dream?

The entire action of the play takes place in Athens.  The play begins and ends in "the palace of Theseus" (ActI Sc1 and ActV Sc1). The "rude mechanicals," Bottom and company meet and discuss their plans to entertain Duke Theseus on his wedding day at Quince's house, (ActI Sc2 and ActIV Sc2). Most of the action of the play takes place in "a wood near Athens." (ActII Sc1 to ActIV Sc1).

The three settings are arranged in the form of three concentric circles: "Theseus' palace" forms the outermost circle, "Quince's house" the next circle and "a wood near Athens" the innermost circle where most of the action takes place.

In "The Great Gatsby", why do Tom and the sloanes snub Gatsby after asking him to dinner?

The incident occurs when Tom, Sloane, and a young woman were riding horses one afternoon and they stop by Gatsby's house for some refreshment.  They stop mostly because they wanted a rest and something to drink, but also probably because Tom was curious about Gatsby and how and where he lived.  It's clear from the first comment Sloane makes that Sloane sees himself as superior to Gatsby. He is rude in his abrupt comments and in his lack of desire to join in the conversation.  The young woman, after two drinks, opens up some and is more friendly.  She asks Gatsby and Nick to join them.  Sloane does not want any part of that arrangement and whispers something to her.  When Gatsby leaves the room to get ready, the three have left.  Nick understands from the moment they arrived that they are not there because they like Gatsby.  They are simply using him as a pit stop and because Tom wanted to know more about Gatsby since he is suspicious of Daisy's activities and involvement with Gatsby.  The three snub Jay Gatsby because they see him as a nouveau-riche upstart who is beneath them in every sense.  He doesn't have the disinterested demeanor that they, and their crowd, possess. He is too eager to please because he doesn't have the long-standing past of money and all that it brings.  They, along with Daisy, Jordan and others like them, are the careless people that Fitzgerald talks about in the last chapter.

In "1984", what kinds of invasion of privacy exist in oceania?

There is total invasion of privacy.  No matter where you are in Oceania there are cameras, or people watching, listening, and reading what you do, say, and write.  Even the bathroom facilities have cameras.  Winston mentions that one of the places you can be sure Big Brother is watching is in the stall of the bathrooms.  The screens in the rooms, the cameras in the streets, at work, in restaurants, everywhere.  The only escape Winston can find is in an old junk shop.  Occasionally he and Julia also escape to the woods, but they can't make the visits in the same place twice without the fear of being followed or caught. 

Even people's children are spies for Big Brother.  The children are constantly turning in their parents.  If you write on a scrap of paper Big Brother can get hold of that.  Even your personal thoughts are not totally private from Big Brother because of the Thought Police.  The main theme of this novel is the loss of privacy and the individual thought process.

What was the attitude of the British and French nobility concerning the future of their rule (A Tale of Two Cities)?

Both the British and French nobility had very little doubt that their rule would continue just as it always had.  The rulers of both countries were secure in their beliefs that they ruled by divine right and, because of that right, they would remain in power. 

In Animal Farm, why do the dogs try to kill the rats?

The rats are first considered outsiders and enemies since they are wild instead of domesticated. But then the farm animals put it to a vote whether the wild animals are to be considered comrades or not. The vote falls in favour of wild animals, which are also to be considered comrades since they go upon four feet. (At this point the chickens protest until they are told that their wings are appendages of propulsion and therefore are under the category of 'feet.')

The role of the dogs here is a foreshadowing of their later repressive role under the tyrannical dictatorship of Napoleon, accompanied by political purges and executions.

Is "Lolita" really an innocent girl? If not, what are the circumstances that put her into the bad situation?

This answer can go either way, depending on how you want to support it. In the book, How to Read Like a Professor, Thomas Foster notes that, "every story about the loss of innocence is really about someone's private reenactment of the fall from grace, since we experience it...individually and subjectively" (49). The "fall from grace" that Foster refers to is a moment when, for the first time, a character experiences a tragic dichotomy between his expectations and reality. In other words, the character expects something but reality falls dramatically short of that expectation. Think of any story where an adolescent boy asks out a girl but realizes, either on his own or by another person, that he will not be able to go out with her. That is a moment of lost innocence.

As an isolated act, Lolita losing her virginity is not necessarily a lose of innocence. Instead, it would depend on how much insight the reader had about the character at the moment when her virginity was lost. Lolita told Humbert that she lost her virginity with another girl at Camp Q. However, the reader does not know what her sexual expectations were before that moment.

Others might say that, before any intimate encounters at Camp Q or with Humbert, Lolita was not innocent because of her general behavior; her manners were course and uncultivated. Moreover, she seemed to speak with a sardonic wit of an older curmudgeon. Nonetheless, none of this matches up with the description that Foster gives us for lost innocence.

In my opinion, she did not lose her innocence until Humbert was sexually abusing her. It was during only these times, when she would helplessly express or literally say "no," or when she conveyed a sense of doom about the approaching night and the sexual acts that Humbert was going to commit, that she experienced a true difference between her expectations and reality. Lolita eventually becomes indifferent to Humbert's abuse, conveying that the innocence is lost and a new reality is accepted.

When Rev Parris leaves, what does Abigail, Mercy, Mary & Betty's discussion reveal and how does it hint at events that will occur later?

The discussion between the girls reveals what has actually occurred in the woods. The girls were dancing around a fire. It also comes out that Abigail drank blood in order to cast a spell to kill Elizabeth Proctor. When Mary Warren pleads with the girls to confess to dancing, Abigail's ruthless nature is revealed. She threatens the girls, telling them she will come in the night and kill them if they tell of what happened. Abigail is clearly in control of the girls, and they fear her vengeance. This discussion leads us to believe that later on the girls will be too afraid of Abigail to change their stories. It also reveals that because of her ruthlessness, Abigail will eventually succeed in her original mission, to kill Elizabeth Proctor. It reveals that Abigail’s manipulation of others and powerful presence will eventually persuade the courts to take her side.

Where does alcohol originally come from and why was it ever invented?I'm am curious to find out because I have a friend in need of treatment.

Alcohol is a naturally occuring substance.

A very common microbe, the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, eats the naturally occurring sugars in fruit or grains and excretes alcohol and carbon dioxide.  This process is called fermentation.  Similar processes occur in the production of both bread and cheese.The juice contained in a bunch of grapes fallen from the vine will naturally ferment due to the yeasts endemic to the vineyard.

Wine and beer are the earliest and most common forms of alcoholic beverages that man 'discovered' and adopted as part of the lifestyle and ritual of early civilisations.

For example, the earliest evidence we yet have of winemaking is found in and around the early city of Chatal Hyuk (in what is modern-day Turkey), dating from the Neolithic B period - about 8,000BC.  This is about the same time as man was learning to make pottery.

Beer and wine particularly, were an important part of early religious ritual and continue to be even today.  In early times, the effects of alcohol were considered to be evidence of having literally taken the God within.

Distilled alcoholic beverages (spirits) came much later, from around the 12th century AD.

A note on parkerlee's answer... The effects of coffee beans have nothing to do with those of alcohol.  Coffee contains caffeine, a stimulant.  Alcohol is a sedative on the nervous system.  They are in fact opposites. 

What is the style of the poem "IF" by Rudyard Kipling?can you explain it with examples attached to it?

If is written in iambic pentameter consisting of five feet with with two syllable units. The syllable units consist of the first being unstressed and the second being stressed.

• u   /    u     /      u      /     u      /  u /      u


• If you can keep your head when all about you

The poem is written in 4 stanzas with eight rhyming lines consisting of the rhyme scheme abab cdcd.

• 
  

  If you can make one heap of all your winnings       a
  And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,         b
  And lose, and start again at your beginnings         a
  And never breath a word about your loss;            b
  If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew    c
  To serve your turn long after they are gone,         d
  And so hold on when there is nothing in you          c
  Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"       d

  
  

This poem is a didactic poem in that it is meant to give instruction or advice, which is to teach a man what the virtues of leadership are. It is a paradox written as a contradiction. For example, the fourth stanza advises the ability to “walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch” and to allow “all men count with you, but none too much.” This is used by Kipling to show the complexity of virtuous behavior.The language in the poem is informal, or colloquial.  The open lines "keep your head" is a common figure of speech.

Why does Macbeth want to see the witches after the banquet in Act III, scene 5?

Macbeth needs to know more information about the future.  So far everything that they told him has come true.  He was Thane of Glamis, he became Thane of Cawdor, and now he is the king.  However, when Banquo's ghost appears--and only Macbeth can see it--he remembers the prophesy that Banquo's sons will be kings as well.  Macbeth needs to know what is coming so he can prepare for either Fleance, or to see what is in his future.  He is becoming a killing machine at this point, and his famous line to his wife in Act III, Scene IV is "It will have blood; they say, blood will have blood."  Macbeth is very concerned that he will lose his crown and he wants to make sure he knows what is to come, which is why he goes again to the witches.

In "To Kill a Mockingbird", what does Mr. Underwood do to confront society? To what does Mr. Underwood compare Tom Robinson? Chapter 25 To Kill a...

Mr. Underwood writes a very blunt and harsh editorial about the death of Tom Robinson in the paper. He compares Tom to a songbird, and compares his death to "the senseless slaughter of songbirds." Harper Lee uses this editorial to continue to develop her theme of the mockingbird, once again concentrating on how it is a sin to kill something innocent.

What is Hale's mission in Act 4 of "The Crucible"?

Rev. Hale is devastated that so many people have been executed or are waiting in prison, accused of witchcraft. In Act IV, his mission is to put a stop to the executions and accusations. He finally begins telling people to lie and save their lives. He becomes so fanatical in his desire to save people from the gallows that he loses all credibility with Danforth. As he himself says, “I come to do the Devil’s work. I come to counsel Christians they should belie themselves.” Then he brings Elizabeth to try to convince John to sign a confession. When John refuses to sign the confession, Hale turns once again to Elizabeth who, understanding what John's good name means to him, simply says,"“He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!” Hale begins to weep because all his good intentions came too late

There are 12 boys and 16 girls in a class. What is the ratio of boys to girls? Write as a fraction in simplest form.

So there are three ways that you can write a ration : you can write it like x : y ; x to y ; x / y

So the question is that there are 12 boys and 16 girls in the classroom , and that you should write a ratio to compare the amount of boys to the amount of girls . To do this , you would have to put the amount of boys in the numerator and the amount of girls in the denominator . By doing that it should look like , 

12 / 16   ;   12 to 16 ;     12 : 16   of course both this ratio can be simplify because both 12 and 16 are able to be divided by 4

 By dividing by 4 , you should get

3 / 4    ; 3 to 4 ;   3 : 4  which is your answer 

Why is the character of Goody Cloyse an important element of the story and how do Brown's feelings for her change after the witches' Sabbath?

In the story, Goody Cloyse had been young Goodman's Brown's Sunday School teacher and spiritual guide when he was young. When he sees her in the forest going to the devil's meeting, Brown is both hurt and amazed that such a" virtuous" woman would be in league with the devil. This begins to weaken the faith that he has believed in since he was a child.

Along with the Minister and Deacon Goodkin, Goody Cloyse represents the "best of the best" of Puritan society to Brown. Their piety and righteousness are models for him and when he finds they are part of the devil's parish (no pun intended) his beliefs are shattered. What Brown never reconciles is that there is both good and bad in people, even those who are supposed to be model of goodness. Interestingly enough, both Goody Cloyse and Deacon Gookin were real people, part of the Salem Witchcraft Trials in 1692.

Is the "Red Death" a real disease that is now dead, or is it symbolic of Death itself?

The red death in the story "The Masque of the Red Death" is probably a reference to tuberculosis, a disease that claimed Poe's mother.  It is marked by coughing up quantities of blood as the victim's lungs become so congested that he cannot breathe and dies struggling for air. That is why he called it the red death, because of the blood.  There was no cure for this disease, also known as consumption, in the past. 

I think that Poe combines the basic idea of TB with the intensity of the Plague symptoms for effect.  People die within a half hour in the story, I think, for dramatic effect.

Now, TB is a disease that people are vaccinated against and in the event of infection, it is treated with antibiotics. It is a bacterial infection and therefore responds to antibiotics.

Why did the Puritans close down the Old Globe Theater in 1642?

The Puritans opposed all forms of entertainment. They believed in a very strict code of conduct and "deplored any kind of finery or flippant behaviors". In 1642, the Puritans came to powerin Parliment, dethroned the king and eventually, Oliver Cromwell became Lord Protector of England. One of their first acts was to begin demolishing theaters. The Old Globe was among the first to be destroyed in 1644. By 1648, all playhouses were ordered demolished. All actors were supposed to be seized and whipped and anyone caught attending a play was fined 5 shillings. This continued until the Restoration of Charles II and in 1660 the theaters opened once again. The Globe, however, was never rebuilt, but in the 20th century its old site was discovered and and new Old Globe Theater has been erected near the original site.

In Act 2 of "The Crucible," what is Mary Warren's attitude since going to Salem?

Mary Warren begins the play as a rather meek and timid girl. When she returns from Salem, after having been all days at the trials, she is proud and defiant. John Proctor specifically forbade her going to Salem, and Mary defied him, and told him she had to, that she was working for the courts now and doing the work of God. She also tells John Proctor she will be going back to the court and will not be doing her work around the house until the trials are over. For a woman to stand up to a man, especially her employer, like this was improper and grounds for a beating in Purtain time.

Mary saves herself a beating by telling John that Elizabeth's name has been brought up at the trials. Mary chooses a great time to reveal this information--right as John is about to beat her. Mary also gives Elizabeth the poppet, which is a strange gift for an other woman. Mary has also become sneaky and furtive, plotting and planning along with Abigail.

Mary eventually goes to bed, announcing that doing God's work was tiresome. She goes from being the lowest member of the Proctor household to announcing herself as the role of God's messenger and the voice from Salem--defying John and ignoring her household duties.

What were Alexander Hamilton's political views?

In the day, Hamilton was considered to be a Federalist, who sought to expand national governmental power, whereas Jefferson and his followers were considered Anti-Federalist, who sought to keep political power local and individual.  Hamilton, in attempting to demonstrate federal power to pioneers at the edge of the frontier, got Congress to pass a levy tax on distilled whiskey, not to raise revenue, but to anger frontiersmen.  They of course revolted in the Whiskey Rebellion, when they refused to pay the tax, and which the federal government then put down with its troops.  On a more positive note, he believed in the Freedom of the Press when he argued the Zenger case (1735) and a National bank to stabilize United States Currency.  He also promoted the full payment of government debt, and Protective Tariffs which allowed American business to grow, but which caused higher prices for imported goods.  Overall, his ideology tended to severely constrain through higher prices and taxes the small farmers whom Jefferson represented, and tended to benefit the already wealthy.

Rise of the American Nation, 1972

What is the formula for converting grams to atoms or atoms to grams?How many atoms are in 878g of fluorine?

You cannot directly convert grams to atoms.  First you must covert your grams to moles, then you can take the moles and covert to atoms.  If you take your 878 grams of fluorine and then look at the atomic mass.  You divide and find that 1 gram of fluorine is equal to 0.0525350025878 moles.  Then you multiply that by your 878 grams.  After you get that answer you can use Avagadro’s number, 6.022X10^23  to find the atoms.  To get moles from atoms, divide number of atoms by 6.022 x 10^23. To get atoms from moles, multiply number of moles by 6.022 x 10^23.

Looking at "A White Heron" from a feminist point of veiw, what would you say the white heron could represent?

This question can be easily answered in two parts.

First, white is typically the color used to represent innocence or purity. In this case, Jewett is referring to sexual purity.

Secondly, birds often represent freedom, and the ability to move from place to place on one's whim.

When you combine these two common symbols, you get an uncommon suggestion that women can maintain freedom and purity. The bird is a paradox, a seeming contradiction, and Jewett wants you to consider that contradiction and all its implications.

What does the story, now that you understand this symbol, now reveal about womens' liberation?

In Heart of Darkness, what are some other details that point to the futility of the European presence in Africa?

A key part of the text that responds to this question directly is Marlowe's account of his trip to Africa on a French steamer (beginning "I left in a French steamer, and she called in every blamed port they have our there...").

The immensity of Africa is described: "The edge of a colossal jungle, so dark-green as to be almost black...". Africa is contrasted with man's ability to penetrate its depths. Any signs of humanity on its shore are insignificant in comparison with the vastness of the unknown terrain beyond: "Here and there grayish-whitish specks showed up clustered inside the white surf, with a flag flying above them perhaps. Settlements some centuries old, and still no bigger than pinheads on the untouched expanse of their background."

In response to colonial activity, the coast and Africa appears unchanged: "every day the coast looked the same". However, the image that most strongly conveys the futility of the imperial presence is the picutre of the man-of-war who was just shelling the bush. Marlowe wryly comments, "It appears the French had one of their wars going on thereabouts". This scene is described as "incomprehensible", and the shots the ship are firing are described in such a way to exemplify the futility of such actions with words such as "pop", "small flame", "little white smoke", "tiny projectile", "feeble screech". As Marlowe concludes this paragraph, we cannot help but agree with him that "There was a touch of insanity in the proceeding...", perhaps his verdict on the imperial presence in Africa.

In "The Great Gatsby", who killed George Wilson?

The other answer I am afraid is wrong. She has taken a very simplistic view which to be honest the majority of the readers do aswell. At first glance it seems that Gatsby has been killed by Wilson when in fact Fitzgerald, the author, has disguised the murder with a few lines that point at Wolfshiem being the murderer. Read the end of chapter 8 again and try to spot how wolfshiem could have in fact been the killer. Now, it is extremely complex and many academics have failed to truly express themselves correctly when they have tried to describe the murder scene, therefore, I will try to be as simplistic as possible. Focus on this line, "The chauffeur - he was one of Wolfshiem's proteges - heard the shots - afterwards he could only say that he hadn't thought anything much about them." This suddenly changes everything, as if they had heard the shots then surely they would have done something about it. Wolfshiem as a whole is a very dodgy character, in the notes at the end of the book it states that Meyer Wolfshiem was based on the famous gambler Arnold Rothstein who Fitzgerald believed to have fixed the Baseball event. Not only is he a strange character but he also does not turn up to Gatsby's funeral having supposedly been very close to him and a "great business partner". More reason to be suspicious, the fact that Wilsons proteges were even nearby suggests that they were trying to 'set up' a murder scene. They must have shot Wilson and taken him to Gatsby where they left him "a little way off in the grass". This is proven by the fact that Wilson could not afford a rifle whereas Wolfshiem could have.  He later writes a letter to Nick explaining why he cannot attend the funeral. This is where our suspicions become real. In his letter he tries to make it very obvious that it was Wilson who shot him as well as the tone being false and insensere. He talks about "things" and "etc" which implies he is being fake. He then finishes off by making vague reasons why he could not attend the funeral, therefore putting business first. Putting business first would have been the same theory used in order to kill Gatsby.

Fitzgerald is a fantastic writer and he would not have made it as simple as Wilson just being the killer. He include Wolfshiem in the novel for a reason. Just think about it. Read over that last few pages and it should become clearer. Hope that helped!

In Lord of the Flies, where do the boys get fresh water from on the island?

Lord of the Flies examines the potential of a group of boys, stranded on an island after their plane crashes and there are no adult survivors. Ralph and Piggy are the first boys to emerge and it is Piggy's initiative which allows them to establish the whereabouts of other survivors by blowing into a conch shell they discover. 

Piggy measures everything against what his auntie might do or think and is clearly the intelligent one in the group. Ralph has a "stillness" (ch 1) about him which gives the boys confidence and the fact that he is holding the conch is what confirms his place as leader. It is Piggy who will help Ralph in his decision-making after Ralph is voted as leader because he has the capacity to reason. Now that there is a leader, the need to build shelters, find food and a good source of fresh water and build a rescue fire are the first things on Ralph's agenda. The boys start off with good intentions but with no "grown ups" they soon lapse in keeping to the rules.

The boys promise to bring fresh water to the camp from the stream leaving the water in coconut shells for drinking but they only do this for a few days, and the shells are now dry and the boys must drink from the river. Ralph calls a meeting, but not for "fun, but business" (ch 5) where they should discuss this problem of fresh water and all the other problems. Drinking from the river is fine but Ralph also feels that there should be water kept in the camp.    

What are some of Oedipus' motivations throughout Oedipus Rex (aside from the fact that he wanted to know who killed Laius)?

Oedipus deals with the vicissitudes of human fortune (ups and downs) throughout this play, and the play that follows in the Theban Cycle.  At the onset, Oedipus is motivated by hubris, excessive pride, having arrived at a town where he is claimed as a hero and its successor to King Laius. Oedipus immediately becomes defensive when confronted by Teiresias, the blind prophet (being blind is a bit of foreshadowing as well as a traditional "seer" motif), who accuses Oedipus of killing Laius and predicts he will marry his own mother. Here Oedipus is fueled by orge, or anger. Later in the play, when the accusations and predictions prove true, Oedipus blinds himself out of the shame that he has brought upon his house. He asks Creon to exile him from the land, which leads to the next play in the cycle.

What is an example of foreshadowing, dramatic irony and verbal irony in "The Lady or the Tiger"?

The title The Lady or the Tiger is a foreshadowing of the events that take place in the story.  We as the reader can guess that at some point in the story someone will have to choose between a lady or a tiger.There are many occasions of irony in this story.  The narrator says that “the minds of the king’s subjects are refined* and cultured*” by witnessing the events in the arena. This statement is ironic because a person being slaughtered is neither refining nor cultural.  We are also told that the princess finds out that the lady chosen to be behind the door just happens to be a woman the princess was already jealous of.  She has to choose whether or not to give her lover to a woman she hates, or to a tiger who will kill him.The concept of justice is dramatic irony in this story because the idea that leaving the judgment of innocence or guilt up to chance is very ironic.

What is the theme of Mary, Lady Chudleigh's poem "To the Ladies"?

It's an interesting poem, I think. And it's theme is set out in its first couplet:

WIFE and servant are the same,
But only differ in the name...

A wife and a servant are the same thing, Chudleigh argues. Why? Because once they've been married, and said "the word obey" (the marriage service calls for women to love, honor and obey), the husband changes. "All that's kind" in him disappears, and

Fierce as an eastern prince he grows,
And all his innate rigour shows :
Then but to look, to laugh, or speak,
Will the nuptial contract break.

"Rigour" is cruelty. And this cruel husband believes that his wife looking, laughing or speaking breaks the marriage contract. How is a wife to behave then?

Like mutes, she signs alone must make,
And never any freedom take :
But still be govern'd by a nod,
And fear her husband as a God...

Finally, Chudleigh's poem addresses itself directly "to the ladies":

Then shun, oh ! shun that wretched state,
And all the fawning flatt'rers hate :
Value yourselves, and men despise :
You must be proud, if you'll be wise.

Women should shun the "wretched state" of marriage, and hate all men who flatter and fawn. Instead, they should value themselves, and be proud, and wise.

The theme of the poem then, is why men are evil - and why women shouldn't marry them. Quite forward-thinking for 1703.

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

When Raymond finishes his story, Lorenzo agrees to help him elope with Agnes. He then goes to visit Elvira (Raymond’s half-sister and the mother of Antonia) to ask for permission to court Antonia. However, Elvira is very fearful of her daughter facing the prospect of being rejected by Lorenzo’s family, just as she herself was rejected by the Cisternas. Despite Lorenzo’s pleadings, Elvira suggests to both Raymond and to Antonia that they resist their love. Lorenzo promises that he will get his family’s blessing so that will calm Elvira’s fears.

In the meantime, Lorenzo tries to visit his sister Agnes in the convent, but is told that she is too ill to see him. He has sent to Rome to receive a papal bull releasing Agnes from her vows so that she may honorably marry Raymond without fear of retribution. When the prioress of the abbey is presented with the papal bull, she tells Lorenzo that his sister died several days before. Lorenzo does not believe it, but knows that is simply the prioress’s way to relieve the shame that having a pregnant nun would have on the abbey. However, after two months, there is no other word concerning Agnes. In the meantime, he has secured his family’s blessing on his hoped-for marriage with Antonia.

Compare Greek culture, values or ideals (as seen in The Odyssey) with biblical ideas.

You have to recognize the fact that Mythology was the ancient Greeks religion. In almost all societies, the moral fiber is introduced through religion be it Christianity, Catholicism, Buddhism, Taoism, Muslim, Wiccan, Pagan, etc. So, you will need to decide which values and ideals from the Bible (I will assume your teacher is referring to the Christian Bible) you would like to address and compare it to what the Greek culture deemed important and morally righteous given their religion. Think of how Odysseus prayed to the different Gods for different forms of help. How do we do this in Christian society?

Go to the link below and visit the other links for more information and facts.

I need a few secondary quotes regarding Duke and Dauphin's savage behaviours in "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn".The quotes need to have a...

I suggest looking up critical essays at your local or school library and online in scholarly journals.

I recommend the book"Twentieth Century Interpretations of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" Edited by Claude M. Simpson, which is a collection of essays. In Gilbert M. Rubenstein's essay "The Moral Structure of Huckleberry Finn," he writes, "Twain makes a sharp distinction between two types of cruelty - the deliberate callousness of the hard-hearted, and the unintentional or thoughtless indifference of the normally kind-hearted" (58). He goes on to discuss the Duke and Dauphin's deliberate cruelty towards Jim and the Wilks girls. This essay would be a good one to look at for your research.

I also recommend the following books of critical essays:
"Coming to Grips with Huckleberry Finn: Essays on a Book, a Boy, and a Man" by Tom Quirk and "Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn: Problems in American Civilization" Edited by Barry A. Marks.

At a public establishment, what is the definition of trespassing?

A person who willfully breaches the boundary of private property against the will and/or knowledge of the owner is trespassing. The same goes for someone who refuses to leave someone's premises when asked to do so. If someone must approach someone's residence to fulfill an official duty,  it is with certain restriction. For example, person delivering mail may walk up the sidewalk but may not enter the front door. Furthermore, landowners cannot intrude on the residences of their tenants even though the property belongs to them.

In some states certain public places, such as outside school basketball courts, are at the disposition of the public outside of working hours. A person who unwittingly "trespasses" cannot be convicted of such unless the property in question has made clear a "keep off the premises" policy. In other states, an intruder may be held liable for trespassing on a public or private domain even if no damage to property has been done. For example, questionable doubt concerning the intention of intruders can be established at places suseptible to theft, such as construction sites. It is likewise forbidden to tunnel underneath or to invade the territory in the space above property.(For example, very low-flying planes flying overhead).

Check out the site below for more information concerning the legal definition of trespassing and how it was first applied in law.

Has any teacher out there used the Shadow children series in their classrooms? I am interested in trying to do Lit circles using Among the...

I have used Among the Hidden as well as The City of Ember for lit. circles in the past.  I was using a common way of structuring lit. circles where each student has a specific job: Discussion Director, Super Summarizer, Literary Luminary, etc. This is a really generic method that can be used with any novel at all, so I wasn't focusing specifically on science fiction. If you're wanting to go that way, you could focus the assignments a bit more, instructing the students to look for specific features related to that genre. 

Are you planning to have each group read a different novel, but all of them science fiction? That's a cool idea. Then the groups could compare the ways in which their different novels fit the genre. Some questions along the way could be things like: How does the world portrayed in your novel differ from our own? Is the world in the novel possible? What would have to happen to cause our world to turn into a world like that? Would you have made the same decisions as the governing authorities in the book? It would be great to have the groups share with each other as a culminating project.

Both the novels you mentioned are futuristic, so you could have the kids explore different ideas of what the future will be like and have them come up with their own predictions. This could be a really cool unit.

Hope that helps. Good luck!

Why does the house beat "Safe, Safe, Safe" in the short story "A Haunted House" by Virginia Woolf?

In Virginia Woolf's story "The Haunted House," the narrator is the new resident in the house.  She is telling about the ghosts who are roaming the house seeking their "treasure" no matter what time they awaken.  They do not indicate that they are awakened by anything specifically.  In fact, the narrator says that it is not the ghosts that wake them.  This story is about being at home and being loved and safe in your home.  The remark about the "Safe, Safe Safe" description is personification.  Woolf is telling the reader that the home is safe and when you walk through the door you feel the breath of the house whispering that you are safe.  The stream of consciousness manner in which Woolf writes this story draws the reader into the mind and soul of the narrator as we are also drawn into the home that the spirits are drawn to night after night.

What new animal does Zaroff hunt in the short story "The Most Dangerous Game"?

Zaroff has become a bloodthirsty madman of sorts, and as such, decides that humans truly represent "The Most Dangerous Game," hence the title. He tells Rainsford that humans can reason, plan, and scheme, unlike many wild animals, and therefore they pose a greater challenge than the species he has already hunted.

Many of his kills have been taxidermied and placed upon the walls of his palatial home, stirring conversation between he and Rainsford. As the plot unfolds, we discover that Zaroff has evolved into a monster of sorts, trapping sailors and stragglers on his private island and hunting them for sport.

What are some similarities and contrasts between the characters in "Of Mice and Men" and "To Kill a Mockingbird"? What are some literary elements...

An interesting question. In both books, working men come to grief, even death, due to the sexual politics of the communities. In both cases, the men are innocent to one degree or another. In both cases, there is a fatalism about the men and their defenders. Both books might be considered regional American works; both comment on specific periods.

However, the differences are striking. Tom is killed due to race; Lenny is not. Tom is killed by those who hate him (or by impersonal forces driven by hate behind); Lenny is killed by someone who loves him. Lenny did kill the woman (though he didn't mean to); Tom is completely innocent.

In Invisible Man, what is ironic about the narrator's encounter with the blond man?

This encounter, which occurs in the Prologue of this novel, is important because it introduces important themes and concepts that govern the rest of the novel. Let us remember what happens: the narrator bumps into a blond white man in the dark. The blond man insults him, and the narrator tackles him, wanting an apology. He is just about to slit the blond man's throat when he realises that the blond man insulted him because he wasn't able to see him. The next day, the narrator sees the write up of this event in the newspaper but is amused to see it described as a "mugging."

The narrator believes he is an "invisible man" because he lives in a society that refuses to see him as a three-dimensional, real individual. As a result, this encounter with the blond man acts as a reinforcement of this. Because he is invisible, whites are therefore "blind" and are unable to see him, which is something that the narrator realises. It is therefore highly ironic that this incident can be refered to as a mugging, when such a term presupposes the existence of the narrator. The irony is of course that the narrator's existence is not accepted in the white-dominated society where he lives at all.

Who is John McNab in the book Maniac McGee?

I love this book~! Just finished it the other day!!  I am probably the best one to ask because my memory is still fresh!!  Well, John McNab is the baseball player in the book Mniac Magee.  He strikes out everybody until Manic shows up and hits these throws and makes them HOMERUNS!! He also hits this ball, tthat is  frog!  It is a frog that McNab got from he woods!  McNab now hates him, so him and his crew, The Cobra's go and try to find Maniac and hurt him and beat him up!  Then, Maniac is sleeping inthis abandend house in the woods, and McNab sent his little brothers to lure Maniac in so that he can beat him up.  Then, Maniac gets lured in, and McNab is nice to him!  So, Maniac walks into his house to sleep there for the night, and there is poop, cockroaches, peanut butter on the floor, and much more gross stuff in his ouse.  Then, McNab;s dad alks in and starts drinking beer and slamming stuff around and then thge Cobrrss wal in and they start drinking keep in mind they are 12 years old, then his little brothers stary drinking beer keep in mind that they are 6 or 7.  That is who McNab is in the book Maniac Magee!!!!!!!!  You are welcome~~

In "To Kill a Mockingbird" describe Bob Ewell's meeting with Atticus at the post office.

In a nutshell, at the post office, Bob Ewell "approached [Atticus], cursed him, spat on him, and threatened to kill him."  Atticus didn't retaliate; he simply "took out his handkerchief and wiped his face and stood there and let Mr. Ewell call him names."  Atticus's reaction was very calm, considering, which just made Bob more angry.  So, he asked, "Too proud to fight, you nigger-lovin' bastard?"  Atticus responded in his usual classic style by saying, "No, too old," and walked away.

The story spreads through the town like wildfire, and Miss Stephanie Crawford is the main spreader; she is highly amused by Atticus's wry response to Bob, but Scout says of the matter, "Jem and I didn't think it entertaining."  They were worried about the threats, and stressed that Bob would act on them.  Atticus doesn't seem worried though.  His response to the entire thing was, "I wish Bob Ewell wouldn't chew tobacco," referring to the nasty spit that must have ended up on his face.

What are the literary devices used in act 1 scene 3 of Hamlet? The part where Polonius is giving Laertes advice about his trip.

There are several literary devices used in this speech. First, we see a metaphor in Polonius' encouragement for Laertes to get going.

The wind sits in the shoulder of your sail,(60)
And you are stay'd for.

So he's telling him it's the proper time for him to be leaving. Next, parallelism defines much of the syntax in the speech. Parallelism is a structural balance of two or more words, phrases, or clauses. Some examples:

Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice;
Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment.

Give thy thoughts no tongue,
Nor any unproportion'd thought his act.
Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.

Finally, there are some examples of metonymy. Metonymy is the substitution of a word to describe something closely related to it. In his speech, Polonius tells Laertes, "Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice." So, listen to everyone, but be careful in whom you confide.

What is the meaning of the following lines? 1)"When care is pressing you down a bit..." 2)"Success is failure turned inside out." I would like...

The quote is from a poem called “Never Quit” some sources say it is written by Felipe Gomez, some say - Edgar A. Guest and others say unknown.  Either way, this phrase means the “cares” or worries and problems in your life have you depressed or suffering from a lack of confidence.

“When care is pressing you down a bit
rest if you must but never quit”

The second quote, "success is failure turned inside out" simply means that being successful results in something you have tried to accomplish, failed at it, learned from the mistake, did it again, correcting the mistake you made on the first attempt and then having success. 

“Success is failure turned inside out,
the silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
and you never can tell how close you are,
it may be near when it seems afar;
so stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit,
it’s when things seem the worst that you must not quit.”

What does Carton want from Solomon Pross (Barsad) in "A Tale of Two Cities"?Chapter 8 of a Tale of Two Cities

The theme of duplicity runs throughout "A Tale of Two Cities." The encounter of Sydney Carton with the brother of Miss Pross, Solomon Pross/aka Barsad is a minor example of this duplicity. Carton recognizes Barsad at the prison where Charles Darnay/Charles Evremonde is being held as the witness from the treason case against Darnay in England. (This coincidence is Charles Dicken's way of showing the workings of Providence.) Taking advantage of this knowledge, Carton tells Barsad that he will not identify him to the Red Culottes (the revolutionaries) as the double spy that he is if Barsad will provide him with access into the prison. When Sydney Carton obtains this access, he drugs Darnay and switches places with his double so that Darnay can escape Paris with his family.

How is the quote below from "The Scarlet Letter" significant?"Wherefore not; since all the powers of nature call so earnestly for the confession of...

These lines also foreshadow the manifestation of Dimmesdale's sin that is upon his chest in Chapter XXIII, "The Revelation." At this time, too, Chillingworth is present; however, again Dimmesdale does not surrender to the physician: 

Old Roger Chillingworth knelt down beside him, with a blank, dull countenance [like black weeds], out of which the life seemed to have departed. "Thou hast escaped me! He repeated more than once."Thou hast escaped me!"

While Chillingworth has desired Dimmesdale's confession, it was only to him so that he could "own" the sin of the minister and thus control him.  However, Dimmesdale escapes through his public confession; he exposes "the black weeds that have sprung up our of a buried heart."

Explain the difference between trisomy and triploidy.use diagrams to clarify your answers

Somatic (body) cells of organisms that reproduce sexually normally contain two copies of each chromosome--one from the mother and one from the father.  When gametes are being formed, the number is cut in half, so that each parent contributes one copy, and the offspring has, again, two copies.

In triploidy, all body cells have received one copy of the all chromosomes from one parent, but BOTH copies from the other.  These organisms usually do not survive.

In trisomy, the offspring receives a double copy of just one of the chromosomes.  Depending on which chromosome is involved, different conditions result; Down Syndrome is one of the most well-known examples.

What is the characterisation of Ichabod Crane in "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"?What is the characterization of Ichabod Crane in "The Legend of...

Ichabod is characterized in many different ways, the first being physical. Irving tells us that Ichabod is tall and skinny, with gangly hands and shovel-sized feet. We are also told that he is neat in his grooming and appearance, and that his nose is of considerable size, looking like a weathervane attached to the pinnacle of a barn.

The second way he is characterized is by personality. We know that he is superstitious, and that he believes in ghosts, witchcraft, and other spectral arts. We are told he is a fair disciplinarian in his classroom where he teaches, and that he is a "huge feeder," meaning he can really put away the food when eating.

He is portrayed as gentlemanly and scholarly, but at the same time, he is seen as one of the weaker characters in this story. His presence is not one that is formidable physically or situationally speaking. In fact, ladies feel most comfortable around him due to his lack of intimidating stature, among other reasons.

These are just a few of Ichabod's characterizations seen in "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." For more information, visit the link below.

What happened to California's population during the Gold Rush?

There was a lot of stuff happening in the Gold Rush.

That included Human Population in California.                                           People from all over the world came to california just to mine for gold and become rich People from Mexico,China,New York, etc came to California.                                                                                                              There were lots of gambling and stuff like that

Over 10,000,000 people live in California Today

What does this quote from "To Kill a Mockingbird" mean? "Let this cup pass from you, eh?" (p. 88)HELP!!! I BEG U

The quote is a Biblical allusion to the words of Jesus of Nazareth as recounted in the Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, and Luke.  As Jesus was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane after his Last Supper with his apostles, he suffered such agony at the knowledge of his imminent crucifixion that he entreated God to spare him from the tortures he knew he must endure.  He prayed, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me, yet not my will but yours be done" (Luke 22:42, NIV).

In "To Kill a Mockingbird", Atticus is talking with Uncle Jack about his role in the upcoming trial of Tom Robinson.  Atticus knows that he cannot possibly win, and that he will face the approbation of the community in trying to see justice done.  He confides to Jack that he had "hoped to get through life without a case of this kind", but that he had been chosen for the task by Judge John Taylor.  Jack comments wryly on Atticus's predicament by applying the words of Jesus, "Let this cup pass from you, eh?"  Atticus, like a Christ-figure, has been chosen to do something that will involve tremendous self-sacrifice, and he looks towards it with a feeling of deepest dread, but also with humble acceptance, courage, and dignity (Chapter 9).

Summarize "To A Skylark" by William Wordsworth, highlighting the good and bad points of the poem.UP with me! up with me into the clouds!For thy...

"To a Skylark" describes the sight and sound of a bird singing. From that immediate description, the narrator moves on to reflecting on the role of nature in humanity's life, and how it can change people. The strong points of the poem are the sustained mood, the elevated tone, and some of line sequences, which are quite nice. Consider this sequence, for example:
"We look before and after,

And pine for what is not:"

This sums up humanity's relationship to time and inability to live in the moment.

As for weaknesses, some of the language is a stretch ("Bird thou never wert"!), and it seems to reach too far beyond the moment. (It's just a bird, after all.)

In "The Odyssey" by Homer, why is Odysseus considered a dynamic character? Give 4 examples.

Like tpisano said, Homeric Heroes do not usually change over time. They remain steadfastly strong, courageous, determined, and skilled. While Odysseus does consistently demonstrates these traits, his journey causes him to become different in many ways. 

At the beginning of the journey (not of the epic, because the epic begins in media res), Odysseus is characterized by his arrogance. He exhibits extreme hubris, meaning that his pride causes him to overestimate his own abilities. Because he is the most clever man on the Greek expedition, and because he is the one who comes up with the winning plan (the Trojan Horse), he believes that his intelligence is infallible.

After the war, Odysseus and his men encounter several setbacks, but the biggest one comes when they land on the island of the Cyclopses (one-eyed giants). They enter a cave to find lots of provisions and food, which they begin to take. However, it turns out that this cave is the home of the Cyclops Polyphemus. He returns to the cave with his flock of sheep and captures Odysseus and his men by blocking the entrance of the cave with a boulder. Even though Odysseus tries to appeal to the laws of hospitality (which are extremely important to the Greeks and considered a cornerstone of civilization), Polyphemus ignores this and eats two of the men. They are trapped, and Polyphemus continually eats two men at a time for the next few days. Finally, Odysseus comes up with one of his usual clever plans.

He gives Polyphemus some strong and undiluted wine (another indication of Polyphemus' uncivilized side, because civilized Greeks only drank watered-down wine). Polyphemus becomes extremely drunk. He asks Odysseus what his name is, and Odysseus replies, "My name is No One." (In some translations, "No Man" or "Nobody"). Polyphemus, satisfied, tells him that he will eat "No One" last because of the wine gift. When he falls into a drunken sleep, Odysseus takes a wooden stake, heats it in the fire, and drives it into the Cyclops's eye. Polyphemus screams out to his fellow Cyclopses for help, saying: "No One is hurting me!" This, obviously, causes the other Cyclopses to ignore Polyphemus. Meanwhile, Odysseus tells his men to tie themselves to the belly of the sheep. In the morning, the blind Polyphemus leads the sheep out to graze, feeling the tops of the animals to make sure the men are not escaping. Odysseus and his men escape the cave from under the sheep, and reach their ships. 

At this point, Odysseus is feeling really full of himself. He is self-congratulatory about his own cleverness, and his arrogance causes him to make a key mistake. As they sail away, Odysseus shouts to Polyphemus to taunt him--and reveals his real name. In anger, Polyphemus prays to his father Poseidon, the god of the sea. Any other trials and tribulations that Odysseus goes through for the next ten years is because of Poseidon's wrath. 

Throughout his adventures, Odysseus learns to become a more patient and careful man. Although he is still as clever as ever, he learns how to temper his arrogance in order to control the situation better. By the time he finally gets home to Ithaca, he is a changed man. He is no longer the hotheaded and proud young man he was when he left for the Trojan War, but a wiser person in every way. 

List some of the different things that split the White forces during the Russian revolution.

The White Russian counter-revolution was initially led by former Imperial commanders, and of course the fighting was begun by the Czech Legion in Siberia.  Some White commanders wanted a democratic government; some wanted socialism but not the Bolsheviks; some wanted a government that was what we today would call fascist; and some wanted the monarchy restored.

Others wanted to set up as their own countries, or take over Russia with themselves as the new leaders.  Still others simply wanted their own regional or ethnic groups to be totally independent.  Their different political views, however, mattered less than the fact that they were widely scattered across the vast expanse of Russia, and had they wanted to cooperate they could not have.

The Bolsheviks easily put down the Right Social Revolutionaries, the Kadets and other such groups, but large armed forces in the Ukraine, the Kuban, and Siberia were far more difficult.   General M. V. Alekseev in the Don region commanded the best anti-Red forces.  Armies of Cossacks took arms against the Reds, and joined Alekseev, but their leaders were mostly clan leaders with no broad programs at all.  The Finns and the Baltic states all threw off Russian rule during the upheavals, and managed to keep their freedom during the Civil War, but they were only interested in their national independence, not in sweeping idealogical aims.  Admiral Kolchak set up a right-wing government in Siberia.  General Iudenich attacked Petrograd from Estonia, but none of these regimes by themselves were strong enough to defeat the Red Army.  Neither were the anarchist and regional ethnic militaries which rebelled against the Reds throughout the Caucases and the southern borders of Russia.  None of these groups agreed on any kind of political program.

General Denikan, Alekseev's sucessor, with a force of White Russians and Cossacks reached Orel, some 250 miled from Moscow.  His sucessor, Baron Wrangel, did best of all, consolidating power in the Crimea, but he was also eventually crushed by Trotsky's Red Army. Japanese, British and American troops held Archangel, Vladivostok and Murmansk for a time, until withdrawing in 1919.  Allied forces also kept the Reds from seizing Poland.  But Allied intervention and their support of the White forces alienated the population from the Whites, and the fact is that Lenin, Trotsky and the rest of the Bolshevik government were too adept at propaganda for the White forces.  The Whites had a half dozen ideologies, and their forces were seperated sometimes by thousands of miles.  The counter-revolution was doomed from the start.

In "Lord of the Flies", how do Ralph and Jack respond to "the beast"?

Ralph and Jack respond differently to the "beast".  Ralph, when he first hears of a beast from the air, the dead parachutist, in chapter 6, is fearful.  Sam and Eric have described what they thought they saw and their fear is contagious. Ralph fear is logical - a beast could hurt them.  Ralph realized that the beasts that the young boys mentioned earlier were not real beasts; they were just manifestations of the boys' imaginations.  Then, later, in the last chapter, when he encounters the pig's head on the stick, he comes to realize what Simon and Piggy knew much earlier, that the beast was in each of them, not in any outside force or entity.  Jack also knew the littluns' talk of beasts was just imagination talking in the early chapters.  He is excited though when he hears Sam and Eric describe what they've seen.  He wants to hunt it down.   Jack also realizes that the beast, and the fear it invokes, could prove useful to him.  He sees it as a tool he can use to his advantage.  Later, when he performs the sacrificial ritual of putting the dead pig's head on the stick as an offering to the beast, he shows that he has come to believe in the beast himself.  But, unlike Ralph, Jack feels he can control the beast by making sacrifices to it.

What do you make of Old Man Warners's saying "Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon"?

Old Man Warner makes the connection between the survival of the town and the purpose of the lottery, human sacrifice.

In many ancient cultures there was a belief that if a sacrifice, a human sacrifice was made to the gods, it would insure the survival of the village or town, suggesting that the growth of the crops was controlled by the gods. 

The lottery is a classic illustration of the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one.  For the survival of the town to continue the lottery must be held to keep the gods content and for them to continue to provide good harvests. 

Why did Arthur Miller name his play "The Crucible"?

According to the Miriam Webster dictionary there are three definitions of crucible.

 1 : a vessel of a very refractory material (as porcelain) used for melting and calcining a substance that requires a high degree of heat 2 : a severe test 3 : a place or situation in which concentrated forces interact to cause or influence change or development

Arthur Miller could have been referring to either one of these definitions.

The vessel could be a symbol of the people, courts, and town heated with fear and greed.  This creates a change of emotions and feelings that effect their actions.

The test may represent a test of the people's beliefs, morals, and values.

The last definiton seems to fit most appropriately.  The concentrated forces (people, courts,  town) interact to cause change.  The change ultimately would result in less religion in courts as well as less acceptance of hearsay

What are some examples of the theme of violence in "A Rose for Emily"?

The obvious first example lies in the fact that Emily eventually murders Homer, after attempting to court him unsuccessfully, as the readers infer from his actions that he is a homosexual.  She uses the rat poison she requests from the pharmacist in order to pull off the deed. 

However, a different example, and perhaps a more subtle one, lies in the verbal violence throughout the book.  When Emily and others would gather around to watch Homer "cuss the negroes", Homer is giving us an example of verbal violence.  He does not treat his workers with respect; rather, he uses them for their physical labor abilities, and cusses them when they begin to slack or tire. 

Finally, the townspeople are offended by the smell of what we later discover to be a rotting, decaying body emanating from Emily's house.  Rather than simply asking her to make her house smell better, they sneak over during the night and dump lyme around the basement to get rid of the stench.  This is an example of passive aggressive violence, another type that is common in many of Faulkner's works.

Discuss Gatsby the character.What are the characteristics of Gatsby?

Jay Gatsby is a primary character in The Great Gatsby. Gatsby’s parents were very poor and Gatsby never accepted his parents or his life as a child. Gatsby is always after the “American Dream”. He went to a small college and worked as a janitor to pay for college but “befriends” Dan Cody who is wealthy. Dan shows Gatsby the “good life” and Gatsby’s life is transformed from that point on.

His character is “obsessive”. He becomes obsessed with money, power, and fame. This is demonstrated by his preoccupation with Daisy, a young, beautiful socialite. His sole reason for living is wrapped up in this young woman. However, he finds himself at war and when he returns, she is married. However, his obsession does not end. After graduating from College at Oxford, his obsession with money and “competing” for Daisy’s affection, he turns to a drug ring for income.

This obsessiveness turns into excess… he throws wild parties and spends lavishly. However, the end of the book reveals that through his obsessiveness and excessive behavior, he is really insecure.

In The Scarlet Letter, how does Hester tell Pearl that Dimmesdale is her father?

In the Chapter III, when Rev. Dimmesdale speaks to Hester, her baby that she clutches to her breast turns her "gaze towards Mr. Dimmesdale, and held up its little arms with a half-pleased, half-plaintive murmur."  This reaction of baby Pearl indicates recognition of Dimmesdale as one who has held her before; she is acquainted with the minister. 

In Chapter 15, Pearl notes a connection between her mother and the minister, asking what the scarlet letter on her mother's breast means and inquiring why the minister keeps his hand over his heart. She repeats these questions, an action which suggests that Pearl senses a connection of Rev. Dimmesdale to her mother. In Chapter 19 Pearl is called from across the brook to meet Hester and the Reverend:  "Now she fixed her bright wild eyes on her mother, now on the minister, and now included them both in the same glance, as if to detect and explain to herself the relation which they bore to one another."  When the minister involuntarily puts his hand over his heart, Pearl becomes agitated until Hester reclaims her discarded letter and restores it to her heart.  It would seem, therefore, that Pearl intuitively understands the connection between her mother and Dimmesdale.  On the holiday, Pearl asks why the minister does not acknowledge them in the daylight when he walked with them in the forest and even kissed her head.  Pearl clearly senses her father as Dimmesdale; she kisses him in the end.

Explain Ponyboy's motivation for running away in "The Outsiders".

Ponyboy actually runs away twice in the novel. The first time he runs away, his motivation is the fight that he has with his brother Darry. Ponyboy is with Johnny and they end up falling asleep so Ponyboy goes home extremely late, getting Darry so mad and worried that he yells at Ponyboy. In response to this, Ponyboy and Johnny “run away” to spend the night in the park.

The second time that he runs away follows this part. While in the park a group of Socs finds Pony and Johnny and one of the Socs tries to drown Ponyboy. Johnny saves him by killing the boy who is trying to drown him. They then run away to live in an old church in Windrixville because they are wanted by the police for the murder of a Soc.

For each item in column A, write the letter of the matching item from column B.Column A_________1.recessive disorder that results from the absence...

For each item in column A, write the letter of the matching item from column B.

Column A

_________1.recessive disorder that results from the absence of an enzyme required to break lipids down.

___________2.lethal genetic disorder caused by a dominant allele.

_________ 3.most common genetic disorder among white Americans.

__________4.recessive disorder that results from the absence of an enzyme that converts one amino acid into another one.

___________5. window's peak and hitch hiker's thumb.

Column B

a. cystic fibrosis

b. simple dominant traits

c. tay-sachs disease

d.huntington's disease

e. phenlketonuria

In "Fahrenheit 451", what are the effects of the war as Montag imagined them?

As the jets are screaming overhead, Montag imagines the destruction.  He imagines Faber on his bus heading out of town, hopefully safe, but for sure "its destination would be meaningless, and its point of departure changed from metropolis to junkyard."  Then he imagines Mildred in her hotel room, watching the t.v. walls "where the family talked and talked and talked to her", and then when the bombs strike, Montag imagines that he "heard her screaming, because...she saw her own face..and it was such a wild, empty face,...starved and eating of itself" before the hotel collapses on her.  It's a sad imagining, of Mildred realizing the emptiness that she has become, and that emptiness seems to scare her more than the impending doom of the bombers.  In the second that it takes the jets to bomb the city, Montag imagines these scenes, then is, with the other men, literally bowled over by the impact of the bomb.  This leaves them alone, left to rebuilt the city, hopefully better.

In "The Lady or the Tiger," what words best describe the lover of the Princess?

In "The Lady or The Tiger" the courtier is said to be "brave above everyone in the kingdom," but the only proof we have of that is when he walks into the arena to face the consequences for his impulsive relationship with a "higher-born" princess. This impulsiveness also displays his defiant behavior toward the King. 

The characteristic which most defines the courtier is loyalty.  He is so trusting and so loyal to the princess that he puts his life in her hands.  He looks to her to save his life by telling him which door to choose.  He believes that the princess will tell him the door with the lady behind it and steer him away from certain death from the tiger.

What is the most striking symbolic element in "Ethan Brand" by Hawthorne?

There is a lot of symbolism in Ethan Brand.  From the Jewish man symbolizing the devil, to the dog chasing a tail he can never catch.  One symbol I believe to be the strongest is the “heart of marble.”  Brand is described as “simple and loving man, watching his fire in the years gone by, and ever musing as it burned. He remembered with what tenderness, with what love and sympathy for mankind, and what pity for human guilt and woe, he had first begun to contemplate those ideas which afterwards became the inspiration of his life; with what reverence he had then looked into the heart of man, viewing it as a temple originally divine, and, however desecrated, still to be held sacred by a brother.... (Hawthorne 796-806)

By the end of the story he is described as fiend and after he commits suicide his bones are found as a half a bushel of a good quality of lime.  And his heart was a stone of marble.  The Symbolism of the heart turning to stone in the fire is strong imagery of what can happen when we stop caring about what other’s feel or think.  When we use people as our puppets with no care for their souls then our heart becomes as stone.

What is the significance of the rosy wreath in the poem "Song: To Celia"?

But might I of Jove's nectar sup, I would not change for thine.

Jove's nectar makes one immortal. But Jonson's speaker would rather have Celia's nectar to ensure immortality.

I sent thee, late, a rosy wreath, Not so much honouring thee, As giving it a hope, that there It could not withered be.

Celia's beauty is so amazing, Jonson's speaker argues, that it can give immortality. So he sends her a wreath of roses, not so much to honour her, but because it (and he) hoped that, by being near Celia it wouldn't die - it wouldn't wither. Because she has this power of immortality, hopefully the roses would live.

But thou thereon did'st only breath, And sent'st it back to me: Since when it grows, and smells, I swear, Not of itself, but thee.

Celia did simply breath on it, and sent it back to the speaker. Since she did that, the wreath is now growing, and smelling - not of itself (i.e. of roses) but of Celia.

Hope it helps!

What had Bernardo seen at a prior watch?

Bernardo saw what appeared to be the ghost of the late King Hamlet, the young Hamlet's father.  I say "appeared" because they cannot be certain it is really Hamlet's ghost, or a spirit pretending to be Hamlet.

Marcellus thinks Horatio should speak to the ghost because he is an educated scholar and may be able to discern whose ghost it is as well as what its purpose is on this earth.

What is the summary for Chapter 17 of The Kite Runner?

Amir asks Rahim Khan whether Hassan is still staying  in Baba's house in Kabul. Rahim Khan hands him an envelope which contains a polaroid  photograph of Hassan and his son and Hassan's letter addressed to Amir. The photograph was taken by Rahim Khan on the eve of his departure to Peshawar in Pakistan.

In that letter, Hassan describes his difficult life under Taliban rule and the hardhips he and his family face. Hassan writes in that letter, "kindness is gone from the land, and you cannot escape the killings. Always the killings." He tells him how Farzana was assaulted by a Taliban youth just because she spoke loudly in the bazaar.  Hassan concludes the letter saying, "I dream that someday you will return to Kabul to revisit the land of our childhood. If you do, you will find an old faithful friend waiting for you."

Amir is shocked to hear of the brutal manner in which the Taliban officials shot and killed Hassan and Farzana a month after Rahim Khan had left for Pakistan. The Taliban officers came to take possession of Baba's  house and when  Hassan resisted  he and his wife were shot dead.

Rahim Khan asks Amir to go to Kabul and bring 10 year old Sohrab who is now in an orphanage in Karteh Seh. Rahim Khan wants to place Sohrab in a charitable organisation run by an American couple Thomas and Betty Caldwell. Amir refuses saying that it is too dangerous to go to Kabul now and that he is ready to pay for someone to go to Kabul and bring Sohrab to Peshawar. Rahim Khan becomes angry and remarks that it is not a question of money and that there is another very important reason for Amir and only Amir to go and fetch Sohrab from Kabul.

He then reveals to Amir that Ali had been sterile and that Hassan was actually Baba’s son through Sanaubar. Hassan had all along been unaware that  Baba was actually his biological father.When Amir hears this he is too shocked and angry and storms out of Rahim Khan's apartment.

In The Hobbit, why do the dwarves want to go to Lonely Mountain? Is it true that dwarves want to go to lonely mountain to find the secret site of...

The dwarves are interested in reclaiming their old family stronghold, but they are dwarves and are mostly concerned with what is in the stronghold - old family treasure. This is especially apparent at the end of the book, when the allies are getting ready to fight each other. The dwarves refuse to share their treasure with their allies; they risk losing this important family stronghold because of greed. Obviously, the family wealth is more important than the family home, which is why I would say that "yes, they want to find the family stronghold, but not as much as they want to find the family treasure." 

In Kidnapped, how was David's time spent aboard the brig the Covenant a learning experience?

It's a bit strange to think of a time of being kidnapped, bashed on the head, sent to sea, threatened with banishment as a slave in the Virgina Colony tobacco plantations, seeing a demented ship's cabin boy's life brutally snuffed out, being made a servant to the Captain's table (to replace the boy), and slaying attacking sailors as a learning experience.

But we'll agree for the moment that this is not an offhand and narrow-minded perspective and examine what "learning experience" David may have had. Well, for one thing we know he did not learn to swim or sail while aboard the Covenant. We also know that he did not learn to shanghai and maim people. We know he did not learn to drown himself in drink the way Mr. Shaun did. He did learn to shoot a pistol. He did learn that being the rightful heir of an estate did not mean that he would obtain that estate. He did learn that some sailors could be cutthroats, thieves and murderers. He, a Loyalist Whig, did learn how to get along with an exiled Jacobite Tory soldier.

Then on a philosophical level, David learned that his values and morals and religious beliefs taught to him at his father's knee were not only true and right but that they were so deeply rooted in his mind and heart that even calumny and villainy and treacherousness were not enough to snuff them out (like Ransom was snuffed out) nor to shake their foundations. He learned that these foundations would lead him rightly in his judgments of who was a friend and who was a foe. He also learned that to preserve life and limb, self-defense that contradicts some of the virtuousness taught him is necessary. This is how David's time aboard the Covenant was not and yet was a learning experience.

"High above us in the darkness a solitary.." (Lee 254) Why does Harper Lee include this quote? What is the purpose?

The quote finishes with "...mocker poured out his repertoire in blissful unawareness of whose tree he sat in...."

The theme of "it's a sin to kill a mockingbird" has not only been established by chapter 28, but back in chapter 21, Tom became a mockingbird symbol when he was convicted of something he did not do.  He did nothing but help Mayella and had the "nerve" to feel sorry for her.  That was his demise.  So in this chapter, which is only a couple hours before Boo becomes a mockingbird symbol, this "mocker" is significant because Lee is pointing him out.  Not only do the kids hear the bird singing, Scout's narration tells us that he's in Boo's tree.  This may in fact be foreshadowing the upcoming events.  That is most likely Lee's overall purpose of putting the bird in this scene.

In "The Odyssey", what survival qualities does Odysseus exhibit in his conflict with Polyphemus?

Well, for one thing, Odysseus shows wit.  He listens and learns about the responses Polyphemus gives his brothers, "No man bothers me" or "This man bothers me."  Odysseus then tells Polyphemus that is name is, in fact, "No Man".  Because of this, the brothers do not think that Polyphemus is being harrassed by a particular person or individual, and therefore, Odysseus has only the one Cyclops with which to deal.  He is also able to put out the eye so that the Cyclops is blinded, making it easier for Odysseus to slip away from the giant, but not before losing six of his men in the fray.  His conceit also possibly puts the rest of his men in danger when Odysseus, before leaving the cave for good, properly identifies himself as "Odysseus."  It stands to reason, that protected by the gods or not, Polyphemus and his brothers will eventually want a little revenge for the treatment they have received at the hands of the famed warrior.

What are the forces that cause rock to break down?nothing

In a word, erosion. The action of the weather on exposed rock surfaces exposes them to water in its various states (solid ice, liquid water, and if you deep enough underground where the temperature increases, steam) and the transition of water from one state to another causes it to expand (solid ice) and contract (liquid water.) So when water gets into a rock's crevices, the climate changes can slowly begin splitting it apart. On the surface, the water can begin to wear away the rock face and expose another layer, which in turn may be worn away. Where there is not a lot of weather variation, there's less erosion, and therefore older rocks. An extreme case are the rocks on the moon--with no weather, there's no erosion, and no wearing away--so moon rocks are nearly as they were when the moon was formed.

What are some key passages in The Road by Cormac McCarthy that indicate the theme of journey?

Wow, where to start.  Journey is a good theme to discuss with this novel, but journey can be expressed and explored in many different ways where McCarthy's story is concerned, so let me give you a few quotes and ideas to explore, along with some key passages that reflect this theme.

Can I ask you something? he said.
Yes. Of course.
Are we going to die?
Sometime. Not now.

Life is a journey too, even in the best of circumstances.  Life in The Road is not the best of circumstances, by any means, but the boy's father is quite certain that he's not done living yet, that some of his life journey is yet to be played out.

It took two days to cross that ashen scabland. The road beyond fell away on every side. It's snowing, the boy said. He looked at the sky. A single gray flake sifting down. He caught it in his hand and watched it expire there like the last host of christendom.

There is literal, physical journey: the long march through the days of attempted survival, trying to reach the ocean.  I like this passage because everything, the landscape and the seasons themselves seem to be just barely hanging on to the edge of existence.  It is one of the strongest themes of the story, in my opinion.

He walked out into the gray light and stood and he saw for a brief moment the absolute truth of the world. The cold relentless circling of an intestate earth. Darkness implacable. The blind dogs of the sun in their running. The crushing black vacuum of the universe. And somewhere two hunted animals trembling like ground-foxes in their cover. Borrowed time and borrowed world and borrowed eyes with which to sorrow it.

This is a mental journey.  The slow, relentless realization that all is for naught.  It is the journey his wife completed before him, and that led to her death by suicide.

There are certainly more to choose from, but that will get you started.

What do Shakespeare's sonnets 18 and 19 mean?at least 1 quote that relates to wat you think Shakespeare is expresses.

In the first two quatrains of Sonnet 18, the speaker wonders if he should compare his love to a summer's day.  But, he reflects that the beauty of Nature is too temporal:  "Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,/And summer's lease hath all too short a date."  In addition, sometimes the heat of summer is oppressive or its beauty "decline."

Then, in the third quatrain, the speaker declares that his lover's "eternal summer," or soul, "shall not fade/Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest/Nor shall Death brag thou wanderest in his shade."  Even when his love has died, the speaker avows, the beauty of his love will endure.  The final couplet explains, "So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,/So long lives this[my poem], and this gives life to thee.

A truly beautiful declaration of eternal love!

Sonnet 19 reiterates this same declaration that the speaker's love will be eternally young and beautiful because "My love shall in my verse ever live young" no matter how much Time carves "thy hours my love's fair brow."

Who was almost thrown off of the train because he looked dead in Night?

Eliezer's father was almost thrown off of the train because he looked dead.

After months of abuse and deprivation at Auschwitz, the prisoners learned that they were to be deported to the center of Germany because the Russian front was approaching.  The starving prisoners were loaded into "an infinitely long train, composed of cattle wagons, with no roofs...(they were) pushed...in, a hundred to a carriage, (they) were so thin". In the packed wagon, Eliezer's father huddled, wrapped in his blanket, wasted and inanimate (Chapter 6). 

At intervals the train stopped, and the prisoners were ordered to throw out the dead.  Desperate and deprived past caring, they were maniacal, eagerly tossing out bodies so that there would be more room for the living, stripping the corpses first and fighting over their thin scraps of clothing.  At one of the stops, two men came up to Elieazer's father, thinking he was dead .  Just as they were about to toss him out, Eleazer threw himself on his father's body, shouting and slapping him and rubbing his hands, trying to rouse him.  As the men attempted to pull Eleazer away, his father's eyelids moved slightly and it was evident that he was still breathing weakly.  Disappointed that Eleazer's father was not yet dead, the two men moved away (Chapter 7).

In "The Scarlet Ibis", why does the narrator set such demanding goals for Doodle?

What Brother really wants is a "normal" sibling. Thus, he sets high goals for Doodle because he doesn't want a "crippled" brother. At first, this seems admirable because Brother is able to teach Doodle tasks that no one ever thought he would be able to do. But as the time for Doodle to enter school gets closer, Brother's demands become even greater. Brother does not want the other children at school to make fun of him or Doodle. So, he demands too much from his brother and his brother dies of exhaustion.

What is Romeo's mood at the beginning of Scene IV in Act I?

ROM: Give me a torch. I am not for this ambling.
Being but heavy, I will bear the light. (I.iv.12=3)

Romeo is, in a word, depressed.  He has been sorrowing all of this Act, so far, over the fair Rosaline, with which he has had a failed (or perhaps never-started) love affair.  All of his friends are, in the manner of young men, ready to crash the party of their rivals the Capulets.  This is a dangerous proposition, but also an act of bravura which would win them admiration among their friends.  But Romeo is dragging his feet, and barely agrees to go along.  He calls himself "heavy", meaning sad, and continues the metaphor later by saying that his soul is made of lead, and therefore is too heavy to go dancing at the Capulet's house.  When Mercutio mentions that Romeo is of an amorous bent, and, presumably, there will be young ladies at the Capulet's, Romeo retorts that he has been too badly wounded by Cupid's arrow to carry on as a lover.  Mercutio and Benvolio try very hard to cheer Romeo up, but he is having none of it.  In addition, Romeo has a premonition of something happening on this day:

ROM: I fear, too early; for my mind misgives
Some consequence, yet hanging in the stars,
Shall bitterly begin his fearful date(115)
With this night's revels and expire the term
Of a despised life, clos'd in my breast,
By some vile forfeit of untimely death.
But He, that hath the steerage of my course,
Direct my sail! On, lusty gentlemen! (I.iv.113-20)

In the manner of many Shakespearean tragedies, the end of the play is foretold.  Romeo is not just sad about his love for Rosaline, but is actually feeling that something will happen that night which will end in his early death.  We, the readers, will find out that this premonition comes true.

How do you solve and graph a simple y=mx+b equation?For example: y=5x+-6 I don't get how to graph any of it, and I don't get how to...

Hey Shelly,

All of these answers are great, but unless you get a better conceptual understanding of the basic parts of a slope intercept equation you will continue to struggle with these equations in the future.  In y=mx+b the two parts that we focus on are m, which represents the slope or slant of the line, and b, which represents the y-intercept.

Let's start with b, the y-intercept. The y-intercept-b-, and more specifically the number that will be in the place of b in the actual equation you want to graph, represents a point on the y axis itself. Think of it like an interception in football. The quarterback throws the ball to his player, and the path of the ball is a line from the quarterback to his receiver. To intercept the ball, the defender from the opposing team has to cross that line between the quarterback and his intended receiver. This is like the y-intercept, or b, in our equation. It is the exact point where the line you graph will intersect with the y axis, or vertical axis.  When your equation is in slope intercept form, or y-intercept form if you prefer, you can quickly find that point by simply knowing where to look. First you have to be sure the equation is in slope intercept form, here is a quick guide. You can easily tell if an equation is in slope intercept form by looking for a couple of quick details: first, y has to be all by itself on 1 side of the equal sign; second, the x term will be first on the other side, followed by a constant (a number without a variable) that is being added or subtracted.Consider the following example:     actual equation y=2x+3

generic form y=mx+b

Notice how the parts line up. Positive 2 is where the m is located in the generic form, and  positive 3 is where the b is in the generic form. That means positive 3 is our y-intercept. To locate this on your graph, you simply find the positive 3 on the y axis, which will be up 3 places from the origin of the graph, or where the x and y axis intersect one another.  Put a dot there where you found the y- intercept. If the number in place of b were negative, say -3, then you would simply go down on the y axis 3 spaces from the origin.  Try looking at a few different slope intercept equations and just spot the y intercepts to get familiar and comfortable with this step, then proceed to the next part: Slope.

The 2 in our example represents the m, or slope of the line. Slope is rise over run, or change in y over change in x. More simply though, it is the slant of the line. Is the line steep, does it rise quickly, or is the line more flat? It is easier for us to use slope in the form of a fraction, so first let's change the 2 into its equivalent fraction, 2/1.  2/1 represents a rise of two (how far you go straight up from your y-intercept), and a run of 1(how far you move left or right from your y intercept).  If your slope is positive, you will count up and then to the right(or inversely down and to the left). If your slope is negative you will count up and to the left(or inversely down and to the right). Our slope is positive, so starting from your y-intercept of 3 you will count up 2 times, and then to the right 1 time. That should put you at the coordinates (5,1). Plot this point by putting a dot there, and then simply connect that point to your y-intercept point with a straight line. If you run out of room on your graph counting up for your slope, start over at your y-intercept and go down 2 and to the left 1. I hope this helps. Good Luck

Where is the nucleolus located in the cell? What molecule does the nucleolus produce and what is the function of this molecule?

The nucleolus is located within the nucleus of the cell.  It produces the components for ribosomes, which then move out of the nucleus to produce proteins.  Cells differ in the amount of protein they need to produce.  In cells that have to produce alot of protein, the nucleolus can be as big as a quarter the size of the whole nucleus in order to generate lots of ribosomes.

In "The Garden Party," why is Laura said to be a difficult character?

Laura may be considered a difficult character for two reasons. The first is that she is young and impressionable and doesn't yet have her own mind fully under her own control. The second is that the exact nature of her epiphany and character change at the end of the story is open to examination because she never clearly states her final idea beyond "isn't life--?" although there are some very distinct clues to what she is thinking and experiencing.

Since Laura is young as described above, she has neither the strength of her moral convictions nor the power to enforce her moral convictions. So, while she has a good moral impulse when she hears of the death down the lane, she can't hold to it in the face of a black hat with velvet ribbons nor can she exert her moral convictions over the rest of the household and actually impose what her convictions tell her to be a correct response. This brings up another point related to her youth. Laura doesn't have an idea of what is appropriate and possible and what isn't, in addition to which, she isn't calloused by previous encounters with death: this is her first encounter.

The ending of the story narrates Laura's experience with the dead carter apart from any previous personal or emotional ties to him, so Laura can see his death as purely a metaphysical or spiritual experience, whereas his widow feels his death as a physical, emotional, temporal, psychological experience of the here-and-now. Laura has revelations, awakenings, or epiphanies of two sorts. The first sort is expressed by her request that the dead man "Forgive my hat," and relates to her revelation that vanity and "charm" are frivolous and earth-bound whereas he is significant and spiritual. The second sort is expressed by her barely begun thought expressed to Laurie, "Isn't life..." This relates to her revelation that in the midst of music, vanity and hats, the young man brought something "marvelous" to the neighborhood in the form peace and restfulness, the form of spiritual purity,  there, in the midst of darkness, gloom, and misery.

What is the overall message about luck as it relates to happiness in "The Monkey's Paw"?

The overall message in this story has more to do with wanting material possessions than it does with luck.  Clearly, the White family is much happier, much luckier, at the beginning of the story before they possess the monkey's paw.  Once the monkey's paw comes into the White home, you can say that their luck in life ended.

Mr. White is intrigued by the monkey's paw and seems to ignore Sergeant Major Morris's story about the first owner of the magical charm and the fact that the Major wants to get rid of it.  Unfortunately, Mr. White does not realize the depth of danger, the tragic consequences that will ensue once he personally wishes on the monkey's paw.

The story of the first owner's third wish for death and his friend's warning does not dissuade him from salivating over the potential material wealth that he can accrue by wishing.

The monkey's paw does not bring luck, or good fortune, just the reverse, it brings misery and misfortune.  The paw is cursed with the ability to turn a simple wish into a deeply troubling, tragic moral lesson.  Mr. & Mrs.  White learn all too well what the real cost of wishing on the monkey's paw is, the price is their only son's life. 

After they make the three wishes, needing to use the third wish to return whatever form of their dead son that has risen from the grave back into the cemetery, Mr. & Mrs. White are very, very unlucky, indeed.  Not only did they lose their son in exchange for 200 pounds, now they realize the folly of their desire to make a wish at all, but it is too late.

In "To Kill A Mockingbird", how did Scout get in trouble at Christmas time?

Scout and her family go to Finch's landing, to spend Christmas with Aunt Alexandra, and unfortunately, Francis, who Scout describes as "the most boring child I had ever met."  But, Francis gets a little bit intense when he calls Atticus "a nigger-lover" and that "he's ruin' the family, that's what he's doin'".  So, Scout defends her dad's honor by giving him a good punch that "split my knuckle to the bone on his front teeth."  She continues to punch him until Uncle Jack stops her.

Defending her father's honor might seem like a good thing, but Atticus had strictly forbid her to fight anyone who said anything about him.  She had done really well, until good ol' Francis came along. 

What happens everyday in the east and what color is the sky? What happens in the west and what color is the sky? What's the connection of the two?

In the story the descriptions are not talking about the eastern sky or the western sky. The author is talking about the decor of the rooms and their windows.

“The apartments were so irregularly disposed that the vision embraced but little more than one at a time. There was a sharp turn at every twenty or thirty yards, and at each turn a novel effect. To the right and left, in the middle of each wall, a tall and narrow Gothic window looked out upon a closed corridor which pursued the windings of the suite. These windows were of stained glass whose color varied in accordance with the prevailing hue of the decorations of the chamber into which it opened. That at the eastern extremity was hung, for example, in blue -- and vividly blue were its windows. But in the western or black chamber the effect of the fire-light that streamed upon the dark hangings through the blood-tinted panes, was ghastly in the extreme, and produced so wild a look upon the countenances of those who entered, that there were few of the company bold enough to set foot within its precincts at all.

There are seven rooms which represent the seven stages of life. The Eastern room would seem to represent the beginning of life, and the Western room represents death. How ironic that no one goes to the Western room but the death occurs in the Eastern Room.

What does Macbeth mean when he says, "The worm that's fled Hath nature that in time will venom breed, No teeth for the present"?

Macbeth speaks that line as part of speech that's a bit longer in Act III, Scene IV. He's talking about the fact that Banquo is dead, but, unfortunately, his son Fleance got away. He refers to Fleance as a worm because he thinks of him as treacherous and likely to turn on Macbeth, but, because of his youth, doesn't think Fleance is likely to be a problem for a while. That's the part about having "no teeth for the present."  Pretty poetic response for a man hearing a report about paid assassination.

What does Kino give Juana when she tries to throw the pearl back in the sea in "The Pearl"?

Kino gives Juana a beating when she tries to throw the pearl back in the sea.  A "rage surge(s) in Kino...and his brain (is) red with anger when he hears his wife get up in the darkness of the night and take the pearl from its hiding place.  He follows Juana down to the water, and just as she raises her arm to hurl the pearl into the sea, he leaps at her and "catch(es) her arm and wrench(es) the pearl from her...he (strikes) her in the face with his clenched fist and she (falls) among the boulders, and he kick(s) her in the side".

Juana, on her part, just stares at him "with wide unfrightened eyes, like a sheep before the butcher".  She had known he would be angry because she had suggested throwing the pearl away the night before, and he had said no, emphatically stating, "I am a man", and vowing to fight for what was his.  Juana had known that "there was murder in him, and it was all right, she had accepted it, and she would not resist or even protest".  To Juana, Kino's stubbornness and rage are part of what makes him a man, "half insane and half god", and although she "might be puzzled by (the) differences between man and woman, she knew them and accepted them and needed them".  So, after Kino has finished venting his anger and has left in disgust, she drags herself up painfully and follows him (Chapter 5).