what defense does socrates offer against the charges of impiety and corruption of athens's youth?how, if at all, does pericles' speech provide...

What defense does Socrates offer against the charges of impiety and corruption of Athens's youth?

Socrates had two kinds of charges against him. 

1) The Informal charges: He lead youth to investigate the physical world, so that they would not believe in the gods. He was accused of intentionally using bad arguments to do this. He was also accused of taking money for teaching others how to use this bad reasoning.

2) The Formal Charges: He was charged with corrupting the minds of the youth, and introducing them to new gods.

Socrates defense to these charges were:

1) Socrates claimed that he had no interest in physical speculation, so he could not lead the youth to investigate the physical world. 

2) He also claimed that he never accepted money from any one, and the young followed of their own will. 

I am not familiar with the second question, so I suggest that you post it again as a separate question and let someone else answer it. Good Luck!

Can someone please explain the poem, "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd" by Sir Walter Raleigh?

Sir Walter Raleigh wrote this poem as a response to Christopher Marlowe's poem, The Passionate Shepherd to His Love. In Marlowe's poem, the shepherd woos his love by making promises of an idyllic pastoral life and all sorts of material benefits if she chooses to be with him.

In The Nymph's reply to the Shepherd, Raleigh's nymph rejects the shepherd's advances since she finds his promises unsatisfying and hardly commensurate to her expectations of what an ideal relationship is like. Her comments clearly indicate that she finds the shepherd's promises limited since they are restricted to material values and do not relate to true commitment and loyalty at all.

The nymph is critical of the shepherd's honeyed tongue and suggests that it could disguise an acid and cold heart. The words promise much, but are only that. The shepherd hardly mentions what he actually feels and he might be devoid of true passion.

A honey tongue, a heart of gall,
Is fancy's spring, but sorrow's fall,

The nymph rejects each of the shepherd's promises and emphasises the transient nature of all that he mentions. None of the promised delights he mentions are permanent and all are bound to die, fade away or lose their value over time.

What the nymph needs is something permanent, greater than the transitory, something that transcends the periodic nature of things. In her reply she states:

But could youth last and love still breed,
Had joys no date nor age no need,
Then these delights my mind might move
To live with thee and be thy love.

The nymph therefore rejects the shepherd's appeal. She desires things which, one may believe, are impossible to attain: (ever)lasting youth, a regenerative love, permanent, timeless and inconsequential joy. However, although her request may seem paradoxical, her wish is not an unrealistic one. She seeks true happiness throughout her lifetime, i.e. her desire is that these qualities should endure during her stay on earth with the shepherd as her companion, and this is a promise he does not, or is unwilling, to make. 

In "The Kite Runner", why is the following moment so important in Amir's Journey?On Amir's trip back to Afghanistan, he stays at the home of his...

This moment is important because it emphasized the theme of redemption. When he leaves the money, he leaves a sort of security for the people who live there. When he planted the watch, he took that security from Hassan. There is a specific parallel here that centers on the theme.

Also, we are able to see that Amir has matured. In his childhood he would not have done something so charitable. We do see, however, that his age and experience has caused him to see things in a different light; he is able to sympathize with the other characters.

What are the various figures of speech used in Shakespeare's "Sonnet 116"?

The sonnet is a veritable feast of metaphors!  Shakespeare compares love to symbols of constancy:

"an ever fixed mark" - love is permanent and cannot be changed or removed.

"star" - a guide to follow, to avoid becoming lost.

It also uses personification, saying that even as love ages (as a person does), it does not change.  Love will even last beyond death.

What points can I make about the theme of deception in "Macbeth"?

"Deception" is one of the themes Shakespeare has portrayed in Macbeth.

Macbeth was supposed to be a loyal subject to the king. However, he betrayed this loyalty by murdering him. Macbeth himself said, initially, "as his host, who should against his murder shut the door, not bear the knife myself". However, he deceived his ruler and assassinated him.

Macbeth also deceived his best friend Banquo. Macbeth was so possessive about his kingship that he even betrayed his best friend by killing him. He would not let friendship stand in the way of his throne. To protect his crown, he betrayed his friend.

When he meets the witches for a second time, they trick Macbeth by showing him prophecies which he deciphers in another way. He thought it was impossible for a man to be produced in any other way but from a woman. He thought is was not possible for a forest to move on its own. The witches presented to him the prophecies in a way such that he could be tricked, probably to teach him a lesson to not be blinded by ambition. The witches taught deceived Macbeth.

In Fahrenheit 451, why does Montag read "Dover Beach" aloud to the ladies?

"Dover Beach" is a poem about the instability of life. It speaks of loss of faith and trust.  Montag had previously read it to his wife.  When he brought the book out in the open in front of Mildred's friends she tried to excuse his having a book.  She told the ladies that once a year the firemen were allowed t bring a book home to share with their families and remind them how silly the words were.  Mildred took the book and said, "Here read this one.  No, I take it back, Here's that real funny one you read out loud today.  Ladies, you wonn't understand  a word.  It goes umpty-tumpty-ump.  go ahead, Guy, that page, dear."  So he read part of "Dover Beach" to the ladies.  He read,

"Ah, love, let us be true
To one another! for the world, which seems
To lie before us like a land of dreams,
So various, so beautiful, so new,
Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,
Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;
And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night."

They had been talking about the coming war and the ladies were making light of it.  Montag had been trying previously to get his wife to understand the poem so all this collided and the same poem was read to the ladies.  Montag was frustrated and angry. Faber kept telling him not to do it, but he could not stop himself.

How might I paraphrase "The Lamb" by William Blake?

Who made you, Lamb? Do you know who made you and fed you by the stream? Do you know who gave you such beautiful clothes and such a sweet voice? Who made you, little lamb? Do you know? I'll tell you. The man who is called "the Lamb" made you. He is good and sweet too. He was once a child. I am a child, and you are a lamb, so we have him in common. God bless you, Lamb.

This poem expresses the innocence of childhood. It is to be contrasted with poems of experience in "Songs of Innocence and Experience".

In Chapter 5 of "1984", who is looking at Winston during lunch?

Although he does not know her by name yet, it is Julia who is looking at Winston at lunch in Chapter 5.

Julia is sitting at the table to the left of Winston with a man who talks so incessantly that his mindless prattle is compared to the quacking of a duck.  After a dramatic announcement from the Ministry of Plenty, Winston notices that

"...the girl at the next table (has) turned partly round and (is) looking at him...it (is) the girl with dark hair...she (is) looking at him in a sidelong way, but with curious intensity...the instant that she (catches) his eye she look(s) away again".

Winston is unnerved by the girl's observation of him.  He wonders why she is watching him, and thinks that although she is most likely not a member of the Thought Police, she might be an "amateur spy", which would be even more dangerous.  Winston "(does) not know how long she (has) been looking at him, but perhaps as long as five minutes".  He is afraid that during that time he might have allowed his thoughts, which have not been orthodox, to have been visible on his face.  Winston has noticed the girl sitting near him "for two days running", and is suspicious that she might be following him.  When she turns her back on him, however, he wonders if it is all just a coincidence (Part I, Chapter 5).

In Chapter 7 through 9 of The Midwife's Apprentice, what activities were revealed by the presence of the strange footprints?

The first activity that was revealed by the presence of the strange footprints was the miller, "caught in the act of putting some of Dick's granny's grain into his own sacks".  Since the theft was believed to be caused by the Devil, the miller was dealth with mercifully, having to stand for a day in the rain with his millstone around his neck.

The second activity revealed was Grommet cuddling in the hay with the pig boy from the manor.  The boy escaped punishment, but Grommet was made to "spend the night in prayer and fasting", and suffered much embarrassment.

The third activity revealed was Wat finishing off William Reeve's dinner.  Again, since the Devil was faulted more than the boy, Wat was not branded, but made to care for "Reeve's bad-tempered pigs" instead.

The fourth activity revealed was Jack and his friends sleeping while they were supposed to be clearing Roger Mustard's field.  The boys were soundly thrashed for their laziness.

The final activity revealed was the baker being caught bringing gifts to a young woman.  He was left to the wrath of his wife.

Each of the characters whose indiscretions were exposed had in some manner mistreated Alyce, the midwife's apprentice.  After the last one had received punishment for his or her "secret sins", the mysterious footsteps ceased to appear in the village (Chapter 7).

In "The Outsiders", how did Ponyboy feel about fighting?I just want to see what he feels about fighting.

Ponyboy doesn't seem to enjoy the violence that the other greasers indulge in, but then again he doesn't shy away from it. The violence in the novel, at least from Ponyboy's point of view, all seems to come for a point of necessity. he is either defending himself or his friends. He does not seem to take any amount of pride or joy in fighting. Indeed, after he threatens a particularly aggressive soc away with a broken bottle, he cleans up the glass shards so as not to hurt anyone.

So in that regard, "How does Ponyboy feel about  fighting?" I would have to say that he views it something that has to be done, but not something that he enjoys. To him, fighting is simply something to do. Self-defense is needed, naturally, but it is not something that he can enjoy.

What is an example of depression in "Fahrenheit 451" and where can it be found in the book?

One of the best examples of depression in the book is when Montag comes home and finds his wife near death.  She has taken an overdose of sleeping pills.  It is found in the first section of the book.  He comes home, finds his wife, calls the emergency services and they revive her.  The next day she doesn't remember a thing.  In my edition of "Fahrenheit 451" it is on page 18-19.  Montag asks one of the men from emergency services why they didn't bring a doctor with them and the man replies, "Hell! We get these cases nine or ten a night.  Got so many, starting a few years ago, we had the special machines built."  This quote indicates that there is a great deal of depression in the world of Montag.

In "Twilight," Edward takes Bella to play baseball. Why does he tell her she shall be the death of him? I still don't understand. I think it's...

Bella and Edward are going to a field to play "Vampire Baseball," not soccer.  He is going to run through the forest because they can't drive.  He is intending to carry Bella on his back.  Before they leave for the clearing, Edward kisses her.  He has told her in the past not to move, but she can't help herself and grabs him around the neck.  As they kiss each of them becomes more aroused.  Edward tells Bella that she is going to be the death of him because he wants her so much he feels like he is going to die unless he takes her.  She replies,

"You're indestructible," I mumbled, trying to catch my breath. 

"I might have believed that before I met you. Now let's get out of here before I do something really stupid," he growled."

He knows that if he loses control he will begin to drink her blood and might not stop until she is dead.  The stress is strong for hinm and the quote he uses is a figure of speech to indicate to Bella how difficult she makes things for him when she gets so passionate.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, how are Atticus and Aunt Alexandra different from each other?

While Atticus concerns himself with the pragmatics of any given situation, including child-rearing, Aunt Alexandra is more concerned with upholding the social customs and values of the time.

For instance, even though Atticus allows Scout to roam freely in overalls or pants, Alexandra considers such clothing and behavior to be "un-ladylike." Alexandra spends a good deal of her time in this novel trying to convert Scout from her tomboyish ways, and attempting to get her to transform into a more feminine girl, clad in dresses and lace rather than denim and leather.

Atticus's attitude toward Scout's personal development is a bit more open-minded, and he allows her to become her own person without the interference of outdated customs. He may be concerned with her manners and her interaction with others, but outside those two areas, Atticus takes a fairly "hands-off" approach to directing his kids. 

What are the similarities between "Eveline" and "The Boarding House"?

The most striking similarity between the stories is the stifling gender roles under which the women live in each.  Eveline and Polly both live in households where women must do all that needs to be done with little help from drunken, "disreputable" fathers.  The only escape available to the young girls is marriage.

Both Eveline and Polly are carefully regulated in their courtships by their family members and society as a whole.  When Eveline's father found out about Frank, he "had forbidden her to have anything to say to him", and though Polly's mother's intention was to give her the run of the young men", she steps in with all the fury of "an outraged mother" when her daughter is compromised.  Society also plays a singular role in limiting a woman's freedom.  When Eveline muses about leaving with Frank, she worries, "what would they say about her...when they found out that she had run away with a fellow", and Polly's mother "had all the weight of social opinion on her side".  Men do not labor under the same restrictions as women.  Frank has seen the world, and Mr. Doran has, "as a young man...sown his wild oats".

Eveline and Polly harbor "intricate...hopes and visions" of a better life, but neither of them are able to reconcile their nebulous dreams with reality.  Eveline is completely unable to take the steps to escape, and Polly proceeds with a sense of foreboding.

In "Fahrenheit 451", what memory does Montag's encounter with Clarisse arouse?

Fahrenheit 451 is set in the near future, a world where there is no real happiness anymore. Guy Montag is a fireman, who instead of putting out fires, sets them to books. In this reality, reading is a crime, and thinking for oneself is looked down upon. When Guy encounter Clarisse, he is struck by the life inside of her. Clarisse is a girl of seventeen, who enjoys nature and thinking outside of the box. When Guy walks Clarisse home, he is struck by a memory from his childhood. 

 But the strangely comfortable and rare and gently flattering light of the candle. One time, when he was a child, in a power-failure, his mother had found and lit a last candle and there had been a brief hour of rediscovery, of such illumination that space lost its vast dimensions and drew comfortably around them, and they, mother and son, alone, transformed, hoping that the power might not come on again too soon...

Clarisse is the one character who starts the transformation in Guy. She makes him begin to think about things in the past, and think about things for himself. Her young carefree spirit is appealing to Guy. He lives a life where everything he does is dictated to him, and he has to do it. His wife is a cold miserable woman. They spend any spare time constantly watching the wall sized TV sets, only to be "programmed" by what they watch. Clarisse opens Guy's eyes to the real world and makes him start his path of rediscovery of who he really is.

What organelles and regions of the cell are involved in cell respiration?

There are three parts to cell respiration, each of which take place in different areas of the cell.  The first stage, glycolysis, takes place in the cytosol (the liquid part of the cytoplasm).  Glycolysis breaks glucose molecules down into smaller ones of pyruvate.  Then the pyruvate moves into the matrix of the mitochondrion, where the Krebs cycle takes place.  This creates chemical energy.  The energy is released in the third part of respiration, which takes place along the inner membranes of the mitochodria.

Why did Angela point the gold box containing the bomb towards herself in The Westing Game?

This episode was during Angela's wedding shower, when she was receiving unwanted gifts from a lot of her mother's friends:

"Get away!" Angela cried, jerking the gift up and away from her sister as the lid blasted off with a shattering bang.  Bang!  Bang!  A rapid ra-a-tat-tat. Rockets shooting, fireballs bursting, comets shrieking, sparks sizzling.  Two dozen framed flower prints falling off the wall. (96-7)

Angela pushes her sister away from the gift just in time, because Angela knows that the gold-wrapped gift is the bomb.  The only way she could have known that was if she was the bomber herself.  Turtle figures this out, and lets her sister know that she'll keep her secret.  She talks to Angela, who is getting her bombing injuries tended to in the hospital:

"Just thanks.  The fireworks would have gone off in my face if you hadn't pulled the box toward you. ....But, wow, that sure was a dumb thing to do." (100)

Angela was so desperate to escape marrying Denton Deere that she set the bombs herself.  She couldn't just talk to her mother and tell her that she wanted to go back to college rather than become a young bride.  This was her dysfunctional way of derailing her mother's plans.

Source: Raskin, Ellen.  The Westing Game.  New York: Avon Books, 1978.

What are the similarities and differences between Emerson's philosophy and the religious thought of the Second Great Awakening?

Both Emerson's philosophy and the Second Great Awakening were highly moralistic movements .Both were faith-based But the basic beliefs of each movement differ greatly. Emerson believed in the ideals of self-reliance. This means that whatever your personal intuition and feeling told you was true, that itself made it true for you. It didn't matter if others believed differently, you were the ultimate determiner of truth. Thus truth becomes relative to each individual. The self becomes its own god. In addition, there was no need to be consistent in own beliefs. As Emerson said, "Consistency is the hobgobiln of little minds." So, if you belief one truth one day and another truth on another day, that was fine. The beliefs of the Second Great Awakening, although based on faith, are almost entirely opposite of Emerson's philosophy. The believers of the Second Great Awakening believed in one ultimate truth that did not originate from one's self but from God. Knowing God and knowing the Bible were keys to knowing truth. And the truth is universal, not subject to individual interpretation. They were also consistent, because, they reasoned, God does not change. Emerson believed a person was born with God inside of him. The believers in the Second Great Awakening believed one had to repent and ask God to come inside of them. Then, by following God's spirit, not their own thoughts, they would come to know ultimate truth.

Sequence the steps Communists took to turn Russia into a centralized state dominated by a single party. if you could organize them in numeric...

It sounds like you are doing an essay. This should be fun. 

1.  Created a revolution.

2.  The leadership formed with Lenin leading the group.

3.  The Bolsheviks kicked out the Mensheviks and disallowed them part in the party.  The Mensheviks were the more moderate of the two groups in the COmmunist party. 

4.  Lenin had a cult-like following.  Some scholars feel that this allowed him more power.

5.  At the death of Lenin, Stalin started purges that brought the Communist party in fear of him and brought more unity because of the fear of the party and Stalin's purges. 

In "The Crucible" how would you describe the encounter between Danforth and Abigail? Who “wins”? Why?

The argument between Danforth and Abigail can be described as two people struggling for ultimate control.  Danforth is a proud man, especially of his courts and their "justice". He likes to be in control of the courts and who has their say.  Abigail is the master orchestrator of many of the accusations; for quite some time she has had free reign and total power-when she writhes, people are arrested. 

So, Danforth, when presented with the possiblity that Abby might be faking, questions her, and it becomes very tense.  Abby, when asked if it is true that she had an affair responds indignantly with "If I must answer that, I will leave and I will not come back again!"  Danforth doesn't like that, and as she prepares to storm out, demands that she stay put.  Danforth brings Elizabeth in and questions her about the affair.  After Elizabeth's lie, Danforth very quickly turns against Proctor, and then Abby and he work in conjunction together to discredit Mary, and eventually John Proctor.  So, Abby "wins", but Danforth sure makes it easy for her by very quickly believing her "bewitchments" and not accepting the idea that Elizabeth would have lied to protect her husband's honor.  He is probably grateful, because if she had been proved a fraud, it would have also proved his court, and all of his judgments, false and cruel.

In chapter 10 of "To Kill a Mockingbird," why does Heck Tate not want to shoot Tim Johnson?

On page 104 Lee writes, "Take him Mr. Finch."  Mr. Tate handed the rifle to Atticus; Jem and I nearly fainted,

"Don't waste time, Heck," said Atticus. "Go on."

"Mr. Finch, this is a one-shot job."

Atticus shook his head vehemently:"Don't just stand there, Heck! He won't wait all day for you -"

"For God's sake, Mr. Finch, look where he is! Miss and you'll go straight into the Radley house!  I can't shoot that well and you know it!"

"I haven't shot a gun in thirty years-"

Mr. Tate almost threw the rifle at Atticus.  "I'd feel mighty comfortable if you did now," he said.

What is the cotton gin and who invented it?I can't find anything about him at the library, and there are no good web sites about him.

The cotton gin is a machine where harvested cotton is placed into it and it will separate the seeds out. This was extremely helpful when it was invented because it cut down a lot of time that was needed when people would have to pick through the cotton to get the seeds out by hand. This helped spur on the Industrial Revolution since it sped up cotton production.

The inventor of the cotton gin is said to be Eli Whitney because he patented it. However, it has been speculated that someone else either came up with the idea beforehand or someone helped him but they were not credited. So as time goes on, historians have questioned who really invented the cotton gin, but in school history textbook questions, Eli Whitney would be the answer. He was the first to PATENT it, but may not have been the sole inventor. 

What could Arnold's drawing of an X in the air symbolize?

There may be a number of symbolic interpretations of this gesture. The previous answer discusses Arnold Friend as a possible representation of 'the devil." I personally don't think this is a literal intention of the story, but perhaps one that has some subtle symbolic intrigue to add. The 'X' friend draws in the air may have any number of prosaic meanings for him. For example he may be 'marking' Connie as his next conquest or property. The proverbial 'X' on treasure maps means he considers her a treasure, and given her beauty this interpretation makes sense. The 'X' may also signify Friend's intention to seduce Connie, making her another 'notch' in his belt. Finally, the symbol could also show that Friend intends to harm or kill Connie, eliminating her or 'crossing her out.' In any case, it's a very chilling moment both for the reader and for Connie. Interestingly, in the film version (Smooth Talk) the 'X' becomes a kind of curvy 'S' or figure 8 design.

Compare Antony to Cassius in Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar".

Antony, like Cassius, is underestimated by other characters. For the first half of the play, Shakespeare makes it clear that he's Caesar's right-hand man - and that he enjoys masques and revels. Brutus and Cassius are scornful about him. Yet he alone seizes the political moment after the assassination and turns the tide against the conspirators in his inspired speech at Caesar's funeral.

Unlike Cassius, he seems to deeply care for Caesar (in fact, Cassius doesn't really seem to care for anyone - where is Mrs. Cassius? Never mentioned). Yet he's not simply the golden boy. He's actually a very, very canny politician. How, for example, does he know where Brutus' and Cassius' daggers ran through Caesar's mantle - he's not in the scene with the murder? And, though he has the will at the funeral, he sends Lepidus to get it in the next scene in which he appears, Act 4, Scene 1:

But, Lepidus, go you to Caesar's house,
Fetch the will hither, and we shall determine
How to cut off some charge in legacies.

Read carefully. Antony wants to cut down Caesar's legacies - why? Is it to accommodate the promises he made at the funeral? Was Antony's "will" a fake? It's never answered.

Note too that Antony, who in his funeral speech hammers home the point that Brutus is dishonourable, finishes the play by calling him "the noblest Roman of them all". Like Cassius, Antony is a canny political contriver.

In "The Miracle Worker", to what does Annie compare "obedience without understanding"?

At the end of the two weeks' stay in the cottage, Annie has taught Helen to obey, but she says that isn't enough. She doesn't understand. Throughout the play, Annie compares and contrasts Helen and the family's treatment of her to that of a dog. Even a dog you housebreak, though Helen is allowed to run all over the place, taking food from everyone's plate. On her return, Helen tries to spell words into the dog's paw. Again, she understands the concept of the game, but not the understanding of the words. Only when she makes the connection of water to her infant memories, when she was still "human," does she grasp the concept of words having meaning.

In "Fahrenheit 451" why does Montag run to Faber's house?

To give a bit more detail to the previous answer, Montag runs there because he is fed up with his society, confused, and needing answers.  It hasn't been too long since Captain Beatty invaded his home and gave him the entire history of their society, explaining the reasons why they burn books, and why people are so busy and violent.  This gives Montag a lot to think about, but he really has no experience thinking things through; it befuddles him.  Then, he has tried-and failed miserably-to bring Mildred along with him on his journey of knowledge in reading books.  Her lack of cooperation and her frustration with the entire experience leaves him feeling even more alone hin his struggle.  If she won't try to understand with him, who will?  What pushes him out the door in the first place is her friends; he quotes poetry at them and they end up sobbing with misery, and storming out of his house, angry at the "hurting words".  He runs out onto the subway, and is trying to memorize some scripture, but the persistent "Denham's Dentrifice" commercial keeps playing on the subway, blocking out his thoughts.  Pushed over the edge by the realization that his society was designed to keep him from thinking at all for himself, and to keep him busily miserable, he goes to Faber's house.  He feels Faber-who he barely knows-can somehow sort all of this out for him, help him to think it through, give him answers, and help him to not feel so alone.

Explain one example of irony from either "A Voyage to Lilliput" or "A Voyage to Brobdingnag."

"Gulliver's Travels" is a satire of the flaws that Jonathan Swift saw in manking in general and of the English government specifically.  Irony is abundant throughout all four books that comprise the work.  One of the bigger examples of irony, though, in "A Voyage to Brobdingnag" occurs in chapter 6 when Gulliver, trying to get in the good graces of the king, describes the English system of government.  Gulliver is certain that his description will show the king how developed and civilized the English people are.  He is sure the king will have a higher opinion of him when he finishes his description.  The king, however, has a very low opinion of the English and Gulliver's race of people. The king says of them, "I cannot but conclude the bulk of your natives to be the most pernicious race of little odious vermin that nature ever suffered to crawl upon the surface of the earth."  Not what Gulliver expected, thus irony.  Swift is, of course, pointing out the flaws in his country's government.

On Oct. 20, 1847, little William Nelman poisoned his grandpa. Who is this person and why did he do it? Why is it significant?

This appears to be a reference to the murder of Samuel Nelme by his grandson William Allnutt in England on October 20, 1847.

William, age 12, tended to be dishonest and often angered his grandfather. On one occasion, his grandfather hit William so hard that he fell down and knocked his head. Determined to have revenge, William stole arsenic (used to kill rats) and put it in the sugar bowl which his grandfather used liberally due to a sweet tooth. Even though William had ample opportunity over the next few days to reconsider this act and get rid of the arsenic, he did not and Samuel died about a week later.

This case was famous not only because it was shocking, but because the defense argued that William suffered from moral insanity -- that is, the part of his mind that knew what he was doing was not connecting to the part that knew murder to be wrong. Only 4 years earlier, the landmark McNaughton rule had defined the scope of the insanity defense. In his charge to the jury, the judge in this case attributed William's crime to "indulging habitually in a moody, resentful disposition" rather than true insanity, and instructed them that this was not a form of insanity that should relieve William of responsibility for his crime. The jury found William guilty.

What are the characteristics of Carlson in Of Mice and Men and how can I study literature more efficiently?

The fact that Carlson owns a German Luger seems intended to show that he is a World War I veteran who brought the handgun back from Europe as a souvenir. He keeps it loaded, as we see after he shoots Candy's dog. Those were tough times and tough men traveling on freight trains, living in hobo jungles, and picking up odd jobs whenever and wherever they could. Carlson keeps the gun for protection. If he was in his twenties when he served in World War I, then he would be close to forty by 1937. He sees no future for himself but hard work, low pay, and old age. He exists mainly because Steinbeck wanted to show a cross-section of the types of men who did the unskilled farm labor in the 1930s. Some were young, some were middle aged like Carlson and Slim, and some were old and used up like Candy and Crooks.

Carlson is bothered by the bad smell of Candy's old dog because it reminds him of all the bunkhouses he has had to live in for the past twenty years. It is the bad smell of his own life. He is aloof and surly. He is fed up with life and with the kind of men he has to live with. His life had a purpose when he was in the war, and he was young enough to have illusions about the future. But Steinbeck uses the incident of killing the dog for a more important reason. He had to establish that there was a gun available and that George would know how to use it when the time came to kill Lennie. When the Luger is first shown, it is what in Hollywood is called a "plant." If a weapon is going to be used at some point in a film, that weapon is customarily shown earlier to establish where and what it is. George saw where Carlson kept his German pistol and how the mechanism worked. It had to be a distinctive-looking gun. Steinbeck intended to turn the novella into a stage play immediately, and the audience would need to recognize the gun as Carlson's when George pulled it out of his pocket. They would realize that George had stolen it with the intention of killing Lennie at the place where he knew Lennie would be hiding. A German Luger is a very distinctive-looking automatic pistol. It had to be a pistol, of course, because George could hardly produce a rifle, and if he tried to strangle Lennie or even stab him to death, he might end up getting killed himself by the bigger, stronger man.

World War II changed everything for white male farm workers. The U.S. government started spending billions on ships, planes, guns, munitions, supplies, etc., even before America was drawn into the conflict. The white males were able to get good defense jobs in or near cities and never went back to the California farms again. Farm labor was taken over by men and women from Mexico, who were pretty much excluded from defense work because of the language barrier. 

What did the name "Pocahontas" mean?Pocahontas was converted to Christianity and baptized. What was her Christian name?

Pocahontas’ real given name was Matoaca, but most of her tribe called her Pocahontas, which means "playful one," or “little wanton,” which means she was playful and willfull.  Often she was a little hard to control and didn’t listen very well.  “There are also recorded accounts of her having the names Amonte and White Feather. When she converted to Christianity and was baptized in 1614, she was given the Christian name Rebecca. For as many names as she had, there are as many interpretations of her role in American history: savior, victim, peacemaker, mother of the new world, pawn, ambassador, first Christian convert in America.”

What famous moral figure does Oliver Twist represent, and for what reasons?

Oliver in Oliver Twist is a thoroughly good character as Dickens' goal was to show how goodness could be be sustained through a life of tragic adversity and triumph in the end due to a change in situation as a result of unaltered goodness. Oliver has very few moments in the story when he acts in a way that might be contrary to goodness, such as running away to London, but even these are based in goodness because they are motivated by a higher good, such as self-defense, which is what prompted him to run away.

Since Oliver embodies uncorrupted inner goodness and actions based on a higher order of good, some might say he represents the historical figure of Jesus who is the emblematic embodiment of goodness. Yet Jesus too acted in ways that went contrary to overt goodness, for example, when he crashed the goods in the sacrifice market at the Temple and whipped the merchants away from the Temple steps or when he castigated and verbally condemned the Jewish religious leaders for being "vipers" and for misleading the Jewish people.

However, Dickens himself doesn't suggest that he intends for Oliver to be recognized as any historical moral figure; he only claims Oliver is the representation of goodness that triumphs despite rampant social ills:

"I wished to show, in little Oliver, the principle of good surviving through every adverse circumstance, and triumphing at last."

What is Mathilde Loisel like physically and psychologically in the story, "The Necklace"?

In the beginning of de Maupassant's tale, Madame Loisel is stunning.  Although she had to scrounge to find just the right accessories fpr the party, when she makes her appearance,

She was prettier than anyone else, stylish, graceful, smiling and wild with joy.  All the men saw her and asked her name, sought to be introduced.  All the important administrators stood in line to waltz with her.

Psychologically, we see that she is already something of a mess.  Her desire to be in the circles of the elite is overwhelming.

By the end of the story, the pressure of trying to fit into the social circles to which she has no purchase has taken its toll (along, of course, with the trauma of the lost "gems"). 

Mrs. Loisel looked old now.  She had become the strong, hard, and rude woman of poor households. Her hair was unkempt, with uneven skirts and rough re hands, she spoke loudly, washed floors with large buckets of water....sometimes, when her husband was at work, she sat at the window, and she dreamed of that evening so long ago, of that party, when she had been so beautiful and admired.

As you can see, Mathilde's mental state declines in steady measure with her fading beauty. 

In "To Kill A Mockingbird" explain Mr. Underwood's editorial. What is he trying to say? How does this tie in with the title?

Mr. Underwood, in a fiery judgment against the shooting of Tom Robinson as he escaped, declares that "it was a sin to kill cripples, be they sitting, standing, or escaping."  He likened Tom's death to the senseless slaughter of songbirds by hunters and children. He is basically saying that it doesn't matter that Tom was escaping; he was handicapped, and to shoot him was an awful and senseless atrocity, just as killing songbirds for sport is an atrocity. 

This relates to the title, because earlier in the book Atticus had told the children that to shoot the Mockingbird was "a sin".  To shoot an innocent bird, for no reason, that was just singing its song, was an awful sin. In essence, that is what happened to Tom-not only in his death, but also in his unfair conviction.

In "Animal Farm", how does Clover help the other animals at the meeting?

Clover, being a motherly mare was trying to help the other animals when rules and changes were made. When it was discovered the pigs moved into the farmhouse and were now sleeping in the beds, Clover questioned if they were breaking a rule.  She asked her friend, Muriel to read the commandment to her, as she was not able to read it herself.  Muriel proceeded to recite the Fourth Commandment to Clover, "No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets".  This puzzled Clover because she didn't remember the part about "with sheets", but wasn't confident enough to question it further; especially since she saw Squealer was approaching.  Squealer could see Clover was not completely satisfied with the issue, and tried to further explain the law, “The rule was against sheets, which are a human invention. We removed the sheets from the farmhouse beds, and sleep between blankets”.

This justification is another form of manipulation the pigs continually perform with the other animals.  By giving an answer, despite it being vague or twisted, the pigs were aware this would satisfy the other animals enough to where they would continue on with their lives and not trying to revolt against them.  By stating the pigs are only using blankets, makes the other animals feel like they are not comfortable and they are still sacrificing for the greater of the farm.  Also, they go on to make the other animals feel sorry for them because as the leaders and decision makers they should be able to rest, if not they will not be sharp-minded enough to make decision which would then in turn mean the return of Mr. Jones.  Because the other animals did not want the humans to return or be responsible for the downfall of the farm, they turned their heads to the changes once again.

What would be the conclusion to the poem "The Chimney Sweeper"?I'm writing a paper and down to the conclusion. Not sure. Needs to be right.

In the Chimney Sweeper (songs of Innocence) the conclusion of the poem would be when he wakes from his dream.  He wakes up, gets back to work in the soot, and although it's cold, he feels warm because he knows that if he's good, he'll make it to heaven.  You can go a couple different directions with this ending.  It can be seen as the acceptance of Christianity in a boy's life.  That can be backed up by the references to washing in a river (baptism) and the opening of coffins and setting the boys free (freeing their souls). 

Another angle is on the theme of innocence.  Little Tom accepts all that he is told.  He sees an angel and accepts that.  He doesn't question whether or not an angel is real.  He just accepts it.  He also accepts that he can have God as his father.  The beginning of the poem mentions how his biological father sold him.  But he accepts God immediately without question.  He is still naive.  That exploration would be an interesting ending to a paper.

How might the impact of this story be different if Bierce revealed the events in chronological order?

By presenting the story in the order he does, and by changing the perspective of the narration, Bierce skillfully draws readers along so that he is able to trick them into believing that the action of Part III is real, rather than imagined. Using Part II as a flashback interrupts the present time scene of the preparation of the hanging. It allows readers to understand Peyton Farquhar's motivations as well as the Union Army's motivations for hanging him without getting bogged down in information that isn't the point of the story. Starting with the hanging scene immediately draws readers into the drama. It creates emotional involvement as well as curiosity, making the reader want to keep reading. Breaking away from the intense scene to a calmer background story gives readers time to decide how they feel about this hanging, and many may come away rooting for Farquhar because he was the target of a "sting" operation, having been deceived into trying to destroy the bridge by the "Federal scout."

Now that Bierce has enticed readers emotionally and further cemented their commitment to the main character, he can maintain their buy-in through the next section, despite the implausibilities it presents. The objective narration of the second section seems to carry over to the third, and readers assume the detached third person point of view is continuing, when in fact readers are experiencing Farquhar's thoughts rather than reality.

It is possible the same effect could have been achieved by changes in narrative point of view only, even if the story had been related sequentially. However, the flashback puts readers off balance, making the trick of narration more difficult to detect. The story would have been less emotionally engaging and the surprise ending would have been less effective if the story had been written in chronological order.

Describe the setting of the play "A Raisin in the Sun" by Lorraine Hansberry.

The setting of the play is the Younger family apartment.  It's a very crowded place.  Walter Lee and Ruth have one bedroom, Beneatha and Mama have the other; Travis is relegated to sleeping on the couch in the living room.  They share a bathroom with other tenants in the building.  They have lived here a long time, but all have versions of a dream of moving to a bigger and more sun-filled place, especially Mama and Ruth in terms of the latter dream.  The play is set in Chicago, in the late 1950s.  

The family characters (referencing your second post) include:

Mama/Lena Younger - the matriarch of the family, is preparing to retire from domestic work on the strength of the insurance check of her late husband, Walter Senior.

Walter Lee Younger - her son, works as a chauffeur but wants to open a liquor store.

Ruth Younger - Walter's wife, works as a domestic, is pregnant (but this is not known at the beginning of the play).

Travis Younger - Walter and Ruth's son.

Beneatha Younger - Walter's sister, goes to college, wants to be a doctor.

Other characters include:

George Murchison - a college boy who is dating Beneatha, painted as an assimilationist.

Joseph Asagi - also a college boy who is dating Beneatha, from Africa, wakens Beneatha's interest in her heritage.

Mr. Linder - representative of the Clybourne Park neighborhood association.

What are a few examples of symbolism from Canto 3 of "Dante's Inferno"? Were doing that story in English class and I just can't find it! I found a...

The cries of the dead souls Dante encounters in this canto are referred to as being like grains of sand. Sand has traditionally been transitory and weak. Each grain is also tiny; no one remembers it. This shows how tiny the individual soul is in relation to God—and how small the suffering is. The souls' response to their current situation symbolizes the potential fate of the unbeliever, and the mingling of deceased humans with cowardly angels is a direct portrayal of how little regard Dante (or, by extension, anyone in his society) had for the uncommitted. This symbolizes that existence is a war; you must choose a side.

In Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo's life is dominated by fear. What is he afraid of?Chapter 2

Okonkwo's life is dominated by "the fear of failure and of weakness".  In the patriarchal hierarchy of his tribe, honor and respect are measured in strength and courage, and Okonkwo's constant fear is that he will not measure up.  On the surface, there appears to be little basis for Okonkwo's feelings of inadequacy.  He has a prosperous household with three wives and his crops provide an abundant yield.  He has also proven his bravery in battle many times over, having personally captured numerous human heads.  Despite all this, Okonkwo's fear runs deep.  It is "not external but (lies) deep within himself".  He is constantly on guard never to show any sign of weakness in all his relations and endeavors.

Okonkwo's father, Unoka, had been a gentle man with little ambition.  He abhorred warfare and so was considered a coward, and, spending his days in idleness, he never took a title to prove his manhood.  Unoka was scorned by the others in his tribe, and Okonkwo, having been teased because of his father when he was young, deeply "resented his father's failure and weakness".  As an adult, then, the basis of Okonkwo's constant fear is that "he should be found to resemble his father".

In his eyes, Okonkwo's first son, Nwoye, is prone to laziness.  Terrified that Nwoye will end up like his grandfather Unoka, Okonkwo harrasses the boy mercilessly to shape up.  Because of Okonkwo's fears, his relationship with his son is in shambles; "Nwoye (is) developing into a sad-faced youth" (Chapter 2).

What is being compared in Emily Dickinson's poem "Part Four: Time and Eternity: XXXIX"?

This is the text of the poem (provided by Bartleby.com):

Part Four: Time and Eternity

XXXIX

I SHALL know why, when time is over,

And I have ceased to wonder why;

Christ will explain each separate anguish

In the fair schoolroom of the sky.

He will tell me what Peter promised,

And I, for wonder at his woe,

I shall forget the drop of anguish

That scalds me now, that scalds me now.

In this poem, the narrator is addressing the issue of suffering and how no matter what she suffers now, it will be all worth the glory she will see in Heaven once she dies.

She uses several comparisons here. First, in the first stanza, she compares God to a schoolteacher. She says that God will tell her why he had to put people through difficulties in their lives. The narrator is happy that she will have answers, no doubt, when that time comes.

She also compares the difficulties and painful times she has encountered to scalding liquid when she says that the woes sha has experienced scald her as hot water or hot coffee might.

These comparisons work well because they make something so abstract (religious beliefs and the vision of Heaven, for example) very concrete, believable, and common to humankind.

What is Phineas' opinion of authority in "A Separate Peace"?

Throughout the story, Finny demonstrates his adverse relationship with authority in general. While he tends to abide by the given rules in most "official" situations, when he is on his own or spending recreational time, his attitude and actions reflect his dislike of boundaries and structure.

Remember, Phineas is the one who instigates most of the hazardous adventures that he and the narrator enjoy. While Finny's life tends to be one without borders or confinement, he speaks of authority with a healthy degree of respect, at the same time. 

In Around the World in Eighty Days, what is the answer to this question? Mr. Francis decided to _______ to widow. --love --marry --fight --rescue

Mr. Francis decided to rescue the widow.

Sir Francis Cromarty, a corpsman, was traveling across India by elephant with Phileas Fogg and Passepartout when they came upon an elaborate funeral procession deep in the "savage territory...in Bundelcund".  The procession was led by Brahmin priests, who were surrounded by "men, women, and children, who sang a kind of lugubrious psalm".  Behind them was a cart carrying "a hideous statue with four arms, the body colored a dull red, with haggard eyes, dishevelled hair, protruding tongue, and lips tinted with betel...it stood upright upon the figure of a prostrate and headless giant". The statue was a representation of "Kali, the goddess of love and death".

Following the statue, some Brahmins, "clad in all the sumptuousness of Oriental apparel", were leading a woman

"who faltered at every step".  The woman was young, and as fair as a European...her head and neck, shoulders, ears, arms, hands, and toes, were loaded down with jewels and gold and gems...with bracelets, earrings, and rings, while a tunic bordered with gold, and covered with a light muslin robe, betrayed the outline of her form".

At the end of the procession was a palanquin on which the corpse of an old man was borne.  The woman was the widow of the deceased, a suttee, or human sacrifice.  She would be burned alive tomorrow, "at the light of day".

Sir Francis explained to the others that the barbaric practice of human sacrifice still existed unchecked in the "savage" areas of India, and that quite often the victim offered herself up voluntarily rather than endure the abuse directed upon one who had to continue in life as a widow.  The group's guide, however, at this point revealed that in this case, the sacrifice was not a voluntary one.  The victim had tried many times to escape her fate, but in the end the influence of the family had prevailed, and, forcibly intoxicated, she was being taken against her will to her death.  It was actually Phileas Fogg who first suggested, "suppose we save this woman", but he immediately found in Sir Francis "an enthusiastic ally" (Chapters 12-13).

Can someone please help me with the tone, structural style and theme of the poem "Ode on the Poets" by John Keats?

The tone of Keats' poem "Ode On The Poets" is one of cheerful, optimistic enlightened enthusiasm. It's an uplifting poem because the poet is uplifted and inspired by his contemplation of the great Bards of the past, those who wrote of "Passion and of Mirth." You can tell this is the poetic speaker's tone of voice because he starts out with a triumphant proclamation that the great poets have left their souls on earth: they live yet and cast their spells yet. He follows it up with a question about their heavenly souls. In a paraphrase, Keats asks : If your souls are on Earth, are they in Heaven too? Do you have two souls for a double-lived spiritual life? The tone is then confirmed as he goes on to list one beautiful or lovely thing after another: they "commune" with "sun and moon" by "fountains wondrous" and "heaven's trees" on "Elysian lawns" with "blue-bells ... daisies ... rose" and a "nightingale" sings "melodious truth."

The structural style or form of the poem is that of an ode. Keats takes some liberties with the form and varies it for his own purposes. The first stanza is the strophe, with 22 verses (lines). It identifies the thing the ode is meant to praise: the great bards of the past. The second stanza is the antistrophe, which gives a turn to the subject that provides a balancing point of view to the praising strophe. In Keats' antistrophe the balancing effect can be seen is the mildly negative language Keats uses, which stands in contrast to the bright words of the strophe. He uses words and phrases that have subtle negativity to them, like "cloying," "little week," "sorrows," "spites," "shame," and "maim." The last four lines form the epode of the ode in which he completes the strophe and antistrophe and brings both together. The epode is actually a variation of a repetition of the four opening lines. He completes the ode by asserting the answer in the last four lines to the question he asked in the first four: Yes, the bards do have souls in heaven. Yes, they are "Double-lived" in heaven as on earth.

The rhyme scheme is an original one for an ode. The rhymes are  couplets, none of which repeat a rhyme. This means that each couplet is assigned a different letter designation from a through r, which ends the 14 verse antistrophe. The rhyme scheme is aa bb cc dd ee ff ... oo pp qq rr. The exception to the pattern is the last four lines, which repeat the aa bb scheme of the opening lines. Once you have tone and structure figured out, the theme becomes evident: Keats, who is the poetic speaker in this poem, is celebrating and praising the bards of old who still lend beauty and strength to the world of its poets because their souls still inhabit this plane.

Briefly describe the torturing memory that the Giver gave Jonas in Chapter 15 of "The Giver".

The torturing memory that the Giver gives Jonas in this chapter is the memory of war.

When Jonas arrives that day, he finds the Giver sitting rigid, in extreme distress.  The Giver, unable to bear what he is feeling alone, entreats Jonas to "take some of the pain".  When the old sage lays his hands on Jonas, Jonas finds himself lying in a field in the aftermath of a fierce battle.  It is "a confused, noisy, foul-smelling place...the air (is) thick with smoke...aound him, everywhere...(lie) groaning men".  Near him lies "a boy who seem(s) not much older than himself...sprawled, his gray uniform glistening with wet, fresh blood".  The boy stares at Jonas and begs for water; Jonas, discovering that he is wounded himself, painfully opens his own canteen and "extend(s) his arm slowly across the blood-soaked earth...and (holds) it to the lips of the boy".  The boy sighs, and falls back, dead.

Meanwhile, "the noise continue(s) all around...the cries of the wounded men, the cries begging for water and for Mother and for death...horses lying on the ground shriek(ing)".  Jonas hears "the thud of canons" in the distance, and lies there, "overwhelmed by pain...in the fearsome stench for hours, listen(ing) to the men and animals die".  The scene is from the American Civil War, but it could be any battle throughout history (Chapter 15).

Throughout the story, Charles Dickens constantly uses fire as a motif, especially in Chapter 49. What's the symbolic/thematic significance of fire?

An integral part of life in the setting of "Great Expectations," fire is a necessity as food and heat are made.While fire provides a livelihood for Joe on the forge, Joe relaxes in its comfort in the evenings.Yet, while fire provides comfort at times, it is also destructive.  In Chapter 36, before Jaggers advises Pip of his destructive recklessness with his allowance in London, the lawyer gets up and stirs the fire, just as Joe has stirred the fire before he counsels with Pip as a child. 

Fire begins and ends things; it can cleanse an area for new growth, but it can also destroy.  In Chapter 49 both these meanings of fire are present.  When Pip calls upon Miss Havisham she sits brooding into the fire.  Without leaving her fixation upon the fire Miss Havisham asks Pip what she can do for him; finally, after writing instructions to Mr. Jagger, she asks Pip to write "I forgive you" with her tarnished pencil. Pip looks sympathizes 

seeing her punishment in the ruin she was,,,in the vanity..of penitence...of remorse...of unworthiness, and other monstrous vanities that have been curses of this world.

Pip leaves, but has a premonition that he should check on her.  Her back to him, Miss Havisham faces the fire too closely, and her gown ignites. Pip wraps his cloak around her, but she "shrieked and tried to free herself..."  Fire is the cleanser of her vanities that she has long contemplated.

In Act II, Cassio cries, “I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial.” How does this sentence apply to Othello?

Because Othello similarly loses the immortal part of himself, leaving something far more uncivilised, savage, animalistic and  bestial.

What do we mean by the immortal part of himself? Well, it could mean lots of things. The part of you which doesn't die. Is that the soul? The religious awareness - the bit that goes to heaven? Or is it just simply a person's goodness?

In any of these cases, it's obvious that, as Othello submits to Iago's suggestions, and believes that his good, noble, angelic wife has cuckolded him, the veneer of his Christianity vanishes into a bleaker more fundamentally bestial worldview. "Why did I marry?" he asks, and - by the end of the play, he is calling for "blood", and raving about "goats and monkeys".

Describe what happened to Tom Robinson at the end of chapter 24. Where did it happen? What was the situation? Who did it?

In Chapter 24 of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Tom Robinson, improperly convicted of raping a white woman by a racist jury in this southern Alabama town, has been sent to the Enfield Prison Farm where he awaits the final disposition of his sentence.  As Atticus points out to Jem, “You know rape’s a capital offense in Alabama,” clearly implying that Tom will be executed for a crime he didn't commit.  Once at the prison farm, Tom apparently has had enough of the racism that has ruined what life he had and understandably has no confidence in a criminal justice system that has railroaded him on the basis of flimsy, contrived circumstantial evidence.  Even though Atticus is confident that he can win an appeal of Tom's conviction, the framed inmate cannot conceptualize such an outcome and -- according to the prison guards -- decided to make a run for it.  As Atticus describes the chain of events,

“They shot him,” said Atticus. “He was running. It was during their exercise
period. They said he just broke into a blind raving charge at the fence and started climbing over. Right in front of them—”

Tom was shot seventeen times by the guards and died.

What are examples of internal and external conflicts in "The Lovely Bones"?

Susie's mother, Abigail Salmon, can be used as an example of both internal and external conflicts.

Abigail struggles internally with dissatisfaction with her life. She loves her husband and children, but she does not want to be a wife or a mother. She studied English literature in college and had plans to become a teacher. She sat in cafes and smoked European cigarettes and thought of herself as avant garde. But she fell in love and got married instead, and soon she had two small daughters. But she still held on to her dream of teaching and planned to do so when both girls were in school, but she became pregnant again and put away her dreams. Susie talks about seeing this dissatisfaction only once while she was alive, on the morning of her birthday, when she got up early, discovered that she had gotten a camera, and noticed her mother sitting on the back porch. Susie describes her as the real Abigail, as if the mother she was used to seeing was only a facade.

The external conflict that Abigail and all the characters must deal with is Susie's murder. At first, Abigail is unwilling to admit that Susie is dead. She keeps holding out hope. But when Susie's hat is found, she has to realize that Susie is gone. This conflict sparks Abigail to act on her internal conflict and make a change in her life.

What is Alonso's role in "The Tempest"?

The father of Ferdinand, Alonso is also the King of Naples. He is representative of the rich and civilized society folk who wait aboard the ship after the storm. Alonso is also a villain, and while his men go mad around him, he stubbornly treks around the island,  dismayed by his son's fondness for Prospero's daughter. Alonso is eventually remorseful and begs forgiveness from Prospero.

In "The Tempest," what are Prospero's strengths and weaknesses?

One of Prospero's major strengths is that he can do magic. We don't know precisely why—not all humans do magic, obviously, even those on a magical island—and he seems to be able to do so immediately, even before the book and staff. (Look at when he frees Ariel from the cloven pine, for example.) I would call his love for his daughter a strength. As for weaknesses, well, those will vary by period. I see his drive for power and revenge as a weakness, and his suspicion of other people, but I'm not sure Shakespeare's period would have. He seems brusque with Ariel at times, as in this line, when he threatens Ariel: "I will rend an oak / And peg thee in his knotty entrails till / Thou hast howl'd away twelve winters"

How was "Popular Sovereignty" appealing as a solution to the emotional debate about the future of slavery in the United States?

Popular Sovereignty was appealing as a solution to the very emotional and controversial debate about slavery before the Civil War because it was a compromise approach that allowed each state to decide its position on slavery rather than making slavery a federal issue.  Basically it was seen as a way of avoiding this controversial and potentially ruinous issue at the Federal level.  The idea of Popular Sovereignty was conceived during the 1840's but it was Stephen Douglas who pushed the concept in the Compromise of 1850 and the Kansas-Nebraska Act.  The concept was not really effective at preventing war however.  In Kansas, for example, men who were concerned with slavery as far away as Massachussets sent settlers there to fight for the territory to be anti-slavery while southerners who were pro-slavery also sent their own representatives to the area resulting in bloody battles.  Furthermore, the status of slaves whose owners travelled to the North became a flashpoint for both slave owners and abolitionist.  The biggest problem with Popular Sovereignty was that it never attempted to answer the moral question of slavery which could not change with state boundaries.  This answer would never be acceptable to the true abolitonist who believed that all slavery was wrong.

Why does Isabel Archer in Portrait of a Lady go back to Gilbert Osmond in the end?

You have asked a question that has been debated for many years with no definite answer! We can tell only so much from the book and from there on in we have to surmise and infer Isabel's reasons for returning to her marriage with Gilbert Osmond. What we do know for sure is that her embrace with Caspar Goodwood was the trigger that propelled her back to Rome: there is "a very straight path" for her.

The main ideas therefore are as follows:

1) Some critics argue that Isabel Archel is not a tragic character, although she is in a bad situation. She resolves at the end of the novel to bring her full character and resources to bear on her marriage and her duty to her husband and step daughter. She therefore is rejecting the ways of the corrupt European circle that Gilbert Osmond and Madame Merle are part of and takes a more principled stand.

2) Some critics argue that Isabel returns to fulfil her duty because she does not want to end up with the same "empty independence" of her aunt that she has seen through being her protoge.

3) Others argue that Isabel is afraid of public shame and disgrace - public awareness of her mistake in marrying Gilbert Osmond. She made a vow of marriage to him that she will carry out, whatever the price.

4) My own personal view is that Isabel throughout the novel has displayed a fierce independence and determination, which says a lot about her strength of character. For her to run off with Gilbert Osmond would be the "easy" path - she could do it, but she is so resolute a character that I don't think she would have made this choice - picking the harder path is entirely in her character, and makes her all the more admirable and a heroine that lingers on in your mind long after you have finished the book. It appears that there are some choices in life where once you have made your choice you have to stick to it.

What was the status of Emily's family when her father was still alive?

The family had once been prominent members of the town. This is exemplified by the fact that Colonel Sartoris, a member of the Old Establishment, knew her father and, in order to remit her taxes, said that her father had once let money to the town By remitting Emily's taxes, they were paying her father back. No one really believed the story, but the fact that she got away with it implies people's respect for the family. According to the narrator, people in the town believed that "the Griersons held themselves a little too high for what they really were." In other words, the family must have had money at one time, but that money was all spent during her father's lifetime. Despite this, "None of the young men were quite good enough for Miss Emily." and she never married. The only image that was left suggests that her father was rather overbearing and clung to old Southern traditions. The narrator writes,"We had long thought of them as a tableau, Miss Emily, a slender figure in white in the background, her father a spraddled silhouette in the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip..." In fact, when her father died, people said that all she had left in the world was the house and they believed she would become "humanized" by learning the value of money. Ironically, Emily seemed to ignore both the townspeople and her lack of money, preferring her own fantasy world to the real one.

"A plague O' both your houses! I am sped. Is he gone, and hath nothing?"Can you translate that quote into something understandable.

In his death throes, Mercutio says this after being stabbed by Tybalt. He is cursing both the Capulets and the Montagues - that is the "plague o' both your houses" he refers to. Had it not been for their feuding, he would not be dying.

"I am sped" reflects his awareness that he is dying.

The last question refers to Tybalt. He wants to know if he has run away, and if he was hurt at all. I suppose it makes it more bitter for him to have been killed without striking a blow in defense. Of course, the fatal blow was made possible by Romeo's stepping between Tybalt and Mercutio, which sets up Romeo's next move of killing Tybalt out of guilt and revenge.

Why does Napoleon begin holding many celebrations and spontaneous demonstrations in "Animal Farm"?

His intentions are two-fold. He wants to embue the animals with a feeling of patriotism to make them want to sacrifice all for the farm; he also channels their collective attention in the direction he wants it to go as to allow no place for individual thinking and reflection.

These tactics are a combination of 'bread and circuses' (for diversion and gratification) and outright brainwashing (for conformity and obedience).

What advice does Polonius give to Laertes in "Hamlet"?

In Hamlet, Act 1 scene 3, Laertes is getting ready to go to France. He warns his sister, Ophelia, to not to become in love with Hamlet. Laertes cares deeply for his family and worries about his sister getting hurt by Hamlet. As he is getting ready to leave his father comes in to offer some advice to his son before he sets off to France. His advice is fatherly advice because he wants the best for his children.

Yet here, Laertes! aboard, aboard, for shame!
The wind sits in the shoulder of your sail,
And you are stay'd for. There; my blessing with thee!
And these few precepts in thy memory
See thou character. Give thy thoughts no tongue,
Nor any unaproportioned thought his act.
Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.
Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel;
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment
Of each new hatch'd, unfledged comrade. Beware
Of entrance to a quarrel, but being in,
Bear't that the opposed may beware of thee.
Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice;
Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgement.
Costly thy habit as thy pursue can buy,
But not express'd in fancy; rich, not gaudy;
For the apparel oft proclaims the man.
And they in France of the best rank and station
Are of a most select and generous chief in that.
Neither a borrower nor a lender be;
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry,
This above all: to thine own self be true.
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst no then be false to any man.
Farewell! my blessing season this in thee!

Laertes is seen to be the complete opposite of Hamlet. If only Hamlet had a father who had given him this same kind of advice, how would the tale had ended?
 

What is a sentence using sensory details in "The Night the Ghost Got In" and how are the details used to heighten the humor in the story?

The story is filled with sensory details because it centers around some sounds that were mistaken for something other than what they were and the confusion caused by that mistake. One paragraph filled with sensory details begins with the sentence: "Downstairs, we could hear the tromping of the other police."  The paragraph describes the sounds the police made as they searched the apartment for supposed burglars.  The paragraph immediately following that one (fifth from the end), tells about how the police accidentally roused the narrator's sleeping and befuddled grandfather.  The humor is in the exaggeration of everyone's actions and reactions, especially the grandfather's reactions.

Did Juliet fake her death?

Yes - sort of. It's not like she just closes her eyes and lies very still: she's taken a potion which she was given by Friar Laurence, which makes her seem dead. When you've taken this potion, your blood stops pumping, and there's no medical way to tell that you're not dead. But she wakes up after 48 hours.

Juliet gets taken to the tomb, there's a funeral, and then they leave the "dead" body there. And, when Romeo arrives to kill himself (thinking she is actually dead), he arrives only minutes before Juliet wakes up from the drug - knowing nothing about what's happened in the last 48 hours. She sees her husband's body, has a short argument with the Friar (who tries to get her to run for it - and go into a nunnery) - and kills herself. But this time, it isn't a fake.

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

The most frightening moment in the story "The Monkey's Paw" may well be the moment when, after the representative of Maw and Meggins speaks to Mr. and Mrs. White and disclaims liability for the accident that has killed their son Herbert, he informs the Whites that they are to receive "a certain sum as compensation," a sum that the Whites fear is one for which they have asked. 

... His dry lips shaped the words, "How much?"
  "Two hundred pounds," was the answer.
  Unconscious of his wife's shriek, the old man smiled faintly, put out his hands like a sightless man, and dropped, a senseless heap, to the floor.

Having learned that their son has been killed at work, Mrs. White's face has blanched, her eyes stare blindly, and her breath is "inaudible" while her husband's face has the look a soldier "might have carried into his first action." They fear that something terrible is going to be said next, something connecting Herbert's death with their actions of the previous night as they recall the sergeant's warning. So, when the representative of the company offers "[T]wo hundred pounds," they know with horror that the first wish made upon the monkey's paw has come true. Because they have not stipulated conditions and sources from which the money may not come, the Whites have inadvertently brought about the death of their son. This fateful knowledge is so horrific that Mrs. White shrieks, and Mr. White, who has made the wish for two hundred pounds, drops, "a senseless heap, to the floor."

What do you think factors of production for a retail clothing store would be?This is Introduction to business 100.

I assume that you are asking about work activities in a retail clothing store, because no real "production" actually takes place in a retail environment. However, "productivity" in a retail store is very important to measure and monitor. (More on retail store productivity later.)

Work activities in a retail clothing store include Receiving, Stocking, Replenishment, Sales, Customer Service, and Management. Price Marking may also be a function performed in the store. Each of these is briefly defined below.

Receiving is the process of getting the retail merchandise into the store. Included in this activity is movement of the retail merchandise from the delivery truck into the store, recording the items (by Stock Keeping Number, or SKU) and quantity of each style/type/color received. Often  a check is made to be certain that the merchandise received is actually what was ordered. A check is also made to determine that the merchandise is not defective and has not been damaged in shipment. If the received merchandise has not already been "marked" with a price, the Receiving function is also charged with that task before it is moved to the sales floor or stockroom.

Stocking is the movement of the merchandise from the receiving area to storage, usually in the stockroom of the retail store. When merchandise can be immediately placed on the sales floor, it is moved directly from the receiving area to the sales floor without the intermittent Stocking step.

Replenishment includes the physical movement of merchandise from the stockroom to the sales floor and positioning it for sale. Presentation guidelines often exist to assist in positioning merchandise in a way that is expected to appeal to the retail customer. Replenishment may also include documenting/ordring the quantity of merchandise (by SKU) that is needed to bring the merchandise inventory up to the desired level.

Sales is the function of assisting customers in selecting and purchasing merchandise. Sales also usually includes the actual sales transaction, including ringing the register and collecting payment for the merchandise being purchased by a customer.

Customer Service is a function that may or may not be a separate function in a retail clothing store, depending on the size of the store and the desired level of customer service that is intended. When it is not a separate function, customer service activities are usually handled by a salesperson of Manager. These activities include processing/approving merchandise returns, answering customer inquiries/complaints, and other special services (such as gift wrap, layaways, special orders, etc.).

Management in a retail clothing store is responsible for the overall operation of the store. Some of the tasks of Management include hiring, employee training, money management, oversight of store maintenance and cleaning, financial reporting, and staffing.

In each of the functions described above, performance indicators can be established to set expectations and monitor productivity of the activities. Examples of productivity measures include: items received or stocked per hour; items price marked per hour; items replenished per hour; sales $$ per hour; customers per hour; sales per square foot; and many others.

The above functions and indicators of productivity within those functions can correspond to budgeted sales and employee costs for running the store.

How long have Mildred and Montag been married in the book "Fahrenhiet 451"?

After burning Mrs.Blake's house, Montag goes home very upset, and is lying in bed next to Mildred, trying to remember when they met.  He can't, and neither can she.  To justify her lack of memory, she states, "It's been so long," but Montag responds with, "Only ten years, that's all, only ten!"  So, they either were married ten years ago, or first met ten years ago, and that is the time-frame that we are given in the book.  They both conclude that when or how they met "doesn't matter" but Montag is still disturbed.  He realizes that,  despite being together for ten years, Montag feels that "she was so strange he couldn't believe he knew her at all."  Even more sad was that "if she died, he was certain that he wouldn't cry." This alienation and indifference is, unfortunately, typical in their society, and one of the things that prompts Montag to try to find answers.

In "Hamlet", what is the purpose of Act V, Scene 1 with the gravedigger and his helpers?

The first purpose of this scene is what we call "comic relief". Many of the events leading up to this scene have been filled with drama and sadness. We have just learned Ophelia killed herself, Laertes and Claudius are planning to poison Hamlet, Hamlet has returned to Denmark and the audience is trying to adjust to all of this. In order to lighten the mood and give the audience a chance to absorb everything that is happening, Shakespeare inserts the comical grave digger's scene. This offers relief from all the sad events that have been occurring Yet is also offers some serious thoughts on life, its brevity and final outcome. This helps prepare the audience for the final scenes of the play.

How does Dimmesdale's, Chillingworth's, Hester's and Pearl's Personalities change from the beginning to the end?All of the characters in The...

The character who changes the most dramatically is Hester. As she stands on the scaffold at beginning of the novel, her attitude is haughty and she seems oblivious to the consequences of her "crime". However, as soon as she spots Chillingworth in the crowd, her behavior begins to change. She uses the scarlet letter and her position as an outcast to learn. She helps the poor, acts as a midwife and generally does such good work that the meaning of the letter "A" changes from adultery to able and finally to angel.

Dimmesdale, while trying to hide his sin, suffers tremendous guilt.He mutilated himself an his guilt causes him untold mental pain. By the time he confesses, the stress of the confession causes him to die.

At the beginning of the novel, Chillingworth was described as a good man. However, his search for revenge, turns him into a deformed "leech". When Dimmesdale mounts the scaffold, Chillingworth has become so dependent on his revenge that he tells Dimmesdale, "thou hast escaped me." A year later, the "leech" has shriveled up and died because he has nothing to live for.

After seven year of being denied by by her father, Pearl is finally acknowledged by him. Before that, she is known as an "elf-child" whose behavior is so odd that people think her father is really the devil. However, at the end of the novel, she inherits Chillingworth's money, goes back to England with Hester and marries well. Thus the trauma of her childhood ends and she lives a happy life.

In "The Crucible" what reasons does Abigail give Parris for her discharge as the Proctors' servant?

She states that it was Elizabeth who had some sort of vengeful hatred for her, and that was the only reason why.  She states, very angrily, to Parris, "She hates me uncle, she must, for I would not be her slave.  It's a bitter woman, a lying, cold, sniveling woman."  She hints that Elizabeth wanted a slave, not a servant, and tries to convince Parris that Elizabeth hated her.  However, it is Abby's hatred of Elizabeth that comes through more clearly.  It escalates as Abby ends by yelling-in a temper-"Good Proctor is a gossiping liar!"  All of the name-calling that Abby hurls at Elizabeth is pretty intense.  Later, we find out why; she is jealous of Elizabeth.  SHE wants to be married to John Proctor, instead of Elizabeth.  And the real reason that she was discharged from the Proctor household is because she had an affair with John, Elizabeth found out, and kicked her out of the house (as she should have).  Unfortunately, Abby's hatred for Elizabeth is a catalyst that creates most of the resulting disasters in the witch trials.

In the story "Paul's Case", was he driven to his fate by the destructive values of America.

Since the story by Willa Cather is titled "Paul's Case" instead of "Paul's Life" or "Paul's Situation", we are instantly advised that the story that we are about to read is extremely unique and particular to a specific person.

Secondly, to assert that American values (ALL American values) are destructive would be to reduce our society to philosophical barbarism, which is not the case at all. Moreover, Paul does not observe any values that we, as Americans, are brought up to cherish. Therefore, the element that drives Paul to his fate is much simpler to identify: Paul is driven to his fate because he is not born nor raised in the element that is inherent to his nature. Paul is simply in the wrong body, and living at the wrong time.  

Paul is born an elusive aesthete with an enormous sensitivity and a feeble nature that separates him from the rest of the boys of his same age. With this predisposition, he is prone to feel emotionally overstimulated as well as understimulated unless there is a clear motivation in sight. Since he has a fascination for delicate and beautiful things, he cannot tolerate the commonalities of everyday life such as the smell of cooking, dinginess, or anything he would consider "ugly". To the common eye, these things are trivial. To Paul, they are a necessity.

Hence, when "his bone" is removed as concierge at Carnegie Hall and he is forced to undergo the menial job of a clerk in a common firm, he embarks in his ultimate manifestation of the aesthete ideal, which is to elope to New York on stolen money and live the way he deserves.

In Paul's mind the money was simply a conduit for the acquisition of beauty and lovely things. He is not greedy about it, nor he plans on have it to keep it for no purpose. He simply yearns something that he believes is his property. Beauty is all he wants to achieve. He is like the rose that he buries in the snow: Once beauty begins to welt, it is best to do away with it altogether.

In "The Crucible", what is John Proctor complaint against Parris' sermons?Which two men does Proctor have an argument with?

At various points in the novel, Proctor reiterates his opinion that he does not see the "light of God" in Parris. Particularly during this time frame, ministers were thought to have near-supernatural connections with the almighty, and Proctor feels that Parris is not as connected with God as he should be.

His complaint against Parris's sermons is that they smack of greed and corruption. He points specifically to his constant railings about damnation and brimstone, and also asserts that he has preached about worldly gains like the golden candlesticks he wanted just so that he could get them.

The character of a corrupt minister is not confined to The Crucible, however. Throughout history, from stories like "The Minister's Black Veil" all the way to the present, we are shown preachers, priests, Levites, and religious figures who, for one reason or another, are of questionable character.

Proctor also argues with Putnam and other church members during this story as he attempts to defend women accused of witchcraft.

How does Bram Stoker provide in the text of "Dracula" ways in which people can overcome becoming evil?

I completely agree that being united and that emphasizing solidarity are lessons we can learn from Dracula.

Although Stoker is inverting the traditional Christian "I offer you this blood as a symbol of my sacrifice" with his  blood sucking monsters, he gives us the tools to ward off the "creatures of the night" and protect us as we journey through the world and into the heart of darkness. The first is Christian Charity (please note that although I specifically mention Christian, I am convinced that every good religion espouses "charity"). While Harker waits for the coach that will carry him hence, he is begged by the caring old woman not to travel. She frets and urges him not to go since it is the eve of St. George's Day. Christian charity is fully evident here as the old woman tries to help a complete stranger and demonstrates love for her fellow man. The allusion to St. George, i.e. hagiography, is another way we can shore ourselves against the tide of evil.

We can also resort to the use and study of Christian iconography since the old woman gives Harker a cruxifix to help him ward off evil. By using such religious symbols Stoker  provides the reader with another way we can ward off evil, protect us from evil, and even bring us back from a shadowy existence if we fall prey to it. 

There are many other examples of things we can do to ward off evil in the novel. We've given you a start.

I know Peck drank himself to death in How I Learned to Drive; however, did he fall down stairs or shoot himself while drinking too much?

In How I Learned to Drive, by Paula Vogel (who, by the way, won a Pulitzer Prize for Drama for this work), Li'l Bit is a youngster who has been repeatedly molested by her Uncle Peck (a recovering alcoholic) from a young age.

There are two reasons that "set the stage" for this to occur.  First, Peck and his wife, Li'l Bit's aunt, are among the adults living in the family home.

Second, Peck and Li'l Bit are both outsiders.  Peck has married into the family. Li'l Bit feels like an outsider because she receives no support from her family, specifically about her dream for college; when her mother suspects that Peck's interests in Li'l Bit aren't purely platonic--but she still allows them to be together unsupervised; and, even when her breasts become the open topic of discussion around the dinner table.  (In this already unhealthy environment, her uncle promises that he will not have sex with her until she says it's okay.)

Perhaps because of her uncle's behavior, Li'l Bit is not very well adjusted.  In college she drinks a lot, but the drinking started in the company of her uncle when she was 16.  (Ultimately, she is expelled from college.)

When she turns 18, Peck shows up with the intention of taking their relationship to the next level, now that she is of legal age to give her consent--he even plans to divorce his wife to marry Li'l Bit.  However, Li'l Bit confronts him and tells him that she is breaking off the relationship and does not want to see him again.

Li'l Bit now reveals that at that point, Peck starts drinking, and it takes him seven years to drink himself to death.  This conveys the sense that his death is not a sudden occurrence, but one that takes place over years of alcoholic abuse.  It is the drinking itself that ultimately kills Peck.  One could argue that this long period of "self-abuse" seems an apt punishment for a predator like Peck.

In "Hamlet" what is the cause and effect of Hamlet's antic- dispositon?

The reason or cause that Hamlet puts on an antic disposition in the first place is that he wants to be able to discover the truth behind his father's death, without creating too much suspicion.  If he's just going around acting goofy and crazy all of the time, people won't be alarmed, if, in the midst of that goofiness, he gets near the truth of the matter.  They'll just think that he is a harmless crazy-man.

However, the effects of his antics are more than he possibly could have imagined.  His kooky conversation with Polonius prompts him to set up a meeting with Ophelia.  This meeting really throws off Ophelia; his "get thee to a nunnery" conversation with her was really just a show for his mother and uncle, whom he suspected were watching.  He wanted to express some of his pent-up anger at his mother's "o'er hasty marriage".  But, his rant ends up being one of the factors that catapults Ophelia into madness.  His elusive and insensitive comments regarding Polonius's body make his uncle suspicious; orders for his removal and death are dispatched.  This leads to Hamlet's most overtly cruel act:  the murder of his friends.

In the end, his antics end up drawing him more attention than if he had discreetly gone about making inquiries and gathering clues.  It alarms his friends and family, making them keep a closer eye on him, and the cruelty associated with his antics only bring disaster on the ones he loves.

What are Nat's political views in "The Witch of Blackbird Pond"?

Although his viewpoint is somewhat different from that of the Connecticut colonists who want to rebel against the British Crown's attempt to take away their Charter, Nat is sympathetic to the Patriot cause.  He tells Kit,

"If the King respects our rights and keeps his word to us, then he will retain our loyalty.  But if he revokes the laws he has made and tacks and comes about till the ship is on her beam ends, then finally we will be forced to cut the hawser".

Nat believes that when all is said and done, "A man is loyal to the place he loves".  While he is a New Englander of sorts, Nat's first loyalty is to the sea and his sailing vessel.  The Dolphin, and the right to manage it as he sees fit, are as precious to him as the colony is to Matthew Wood and those who would stand up against Governor Andros.  Nat says,

"My father would give his life for the right to sail (the Dolphin) when and where he pleases and so would I...'twould do little good...to wait for orders from His Majesty in England.  I suppose it's like that for these people in Wethersfield.  How can a king on a throne in England know what is best for them?  A man's first loyalty is to the soil he stands on".

Because of the difference in his lifestyle as a sailor, Nat is not as involved as the others in the debate over colonists' independence.  His sympathies lie, however, with those who would defend their land (Chapter 12).

Who was Lord Alfred Douglas?

Lord Alfred Bruce "Bosie" Douglas (“Bosie” is short for his childhood nickname “Boysie”) was the third son of John Sholto Douglas, 9th Marquis of Queensberry and Sybil Montgomery. He was born in England and attended the prestigious Winchester public school as a child, followed by Magdalen College, Oxford. His family has a long, ancient Scottish heritage that dates back to the days of Alfred the Bruce.  In the same time, the Queensberry's were also associated with family illnesses, early and tragic deaths, mental issues, and dangerous temperaments. Bosie himself was always famous for his amazing looks, which made him popular in Oxford, and around the London literary circle.

What made Bosie Douglas famous was that, as a young Oxford undergraduate,  his cousin, the poet Lionel Johnson, introduced him to the Irish poet and playwright Oscar Wilde.  Wilde met Bosie in 1892 when Bosie was about 21 years old. As Oscar's homosexual ideal, Bosie became the most beloved of all of Oscar's disciples, and their relationship was as strong as it was wicked, since Bosie displayed bouts of neurotic attacks as well as sexual, financial, and behavioral excess.

Bosie has produced a body of work. His favorites were Scottish ballads. His most notable (or notorious) poem was “Two Loves” in which purportedly homosexuality was referred to as “The Love that Dares Not Speak Its Name.”  This poem was literally put on the stands during the trials of Oscar Wilde, when he was asked to define it as part of his defense. In the end, Wilde went to Holloway, Wadsworth, and Reading Gaol to prison as we was found guilty of committing "acts of gross indecency" according to Section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment act of 1885. This addendum to the act treated homosexual associations as a felony.

It is important to note that it was Bosie Douglas’s father, the coined “Scarlet” Marquis who eventually led Wilde to prison. He had left a libelous note at Oscar Wilde’s club calling him publicly a “ponce and sodomite”, so that Wilde would accuse him of libel and, in turn, the Marquis could bring out the situation between Oscar, his son, and many other males.  The Marquis accomplished his goal, supposedly “to save Bosie.”

Aside from “Two Loves”, Bosie Douglas has created poetry, written books about his association with Oscar Wilde, and was also one of the translators of Wilde’s Salome.

He reunited with Wilde after the 2-year hard labor imprisonment, but their complex love affair ended shortly after this reunion. Upon Wilde’s death, Bosie wrote a poem which has been referred to as his finest: The Dead Poet.

Bosie died in 1945, possibly bankrupt, and claiming a hatred for all things homosexual. He often contradicted Oscar Wilde’s role in his life, and often we find his memoirs to also contradict each other. Either way, Bosie has found a place in history, whether famous or notorious, yet always overpowered by the biggest dramatist of the Victorian Era.

What is the significance of the word "double" in "Macbeth"?

I actually think that the word is quite a fascinating one in the play. Ms-mcgregor gives you a good gloss of it above, and its meaning in the prophecies scene. Yet it also comes up lots of other times, and when it does, it seems to me often to imply its opposite: that is, "doubling" something in Macbeth seems to mean that it isn't there at all.

He's here in double trust;
First, as I am his kinsman and his subject,
Strong both against the deed; then, as his host,
Who should against his murderer shut the door,
Not bear the knife myself. (1.7)

Duncan trusts "double" - he should actually not trust at all. And here's Lady Macbeth talking about how much she wants him to come to the house (she's going to murder him!):

All our service
In every point twice done and then done double
Were poor and single business to contend
Against those honours deep and broad wherewith
Your majesty loads our house... (1.6)

Later, Macbeth decides not to kill Macduff because of the prophecy that he himself can't be killed:

Then live, Macduff: what need I fear of thee?
But yet I'll make assurance double sure,
And take a bond of fate. (4.1)

This "assurance", of course, doesn't actually involve killing Macduff. It doesn't assure anything at all. And finally, Macbeth realises that the "doubleness" of the witches' advice makes it entirely useless:

And be these juggling fiends no more believed,
That palter with us in a double sense. (5.8)

Strange, isn't it?

What is the summary of the story "Oedipus Rex"? Are the events of the play in chronological order?

In brief: the Oedipus story existed before Sophocles' play. The events of the story are not all dramatised by the play.

Here's the story:

Laius is King of Thebes, and an oracle predicts, before the birth of his son, Oedipus, that Oedipus would one day be his father’s murderer. When born, Laius and Jocasta give Oedipus to a herdsman, ordering him to take him out beyond the city and kill him. Out of pity for the child, the herdsman gave the baby to another herdsman. This herdsman took Oedipus to Polybus, who adopted him.

Oedipus, now adult, is told that he is not the son of Polybus, and seeks help from an oracle, who tells him he is destined to kill his father and sleep with his mother. Oedipus flees from Corinth to Thebes in an attempt to escape the fate the oracle has predicted for him. As he is travelling, he gets involved in a dispute at a crossroads with a man in a chariot (Laius, his birth father) – and kills him.

As he approaches Thebes, Oedipus is approached by the Sphinx, who has been plaguing Thebes, and solves her riddle. In gratitude, the Thebans appoint Oedipus the king of Thebes, and reward him with the dead king’s wife, Jocasta (mum).

It is at this point that Sophocles' play begins: and all that happens in it is that Oedipus, through various witnesses, works out exactly what has happened to him and who he is. Jocasta, realising too, kills herself, and then Oedipus blinds himself. The events of the story have happened BEFORE the play begins.

How does Shakespeare in “King Lear”, and Sophocles in “Oedipus Rex”, follow the three unities of time, action and place?

One  of  the  most  difficult  plays to analyze with  reference  to the  minor  unities  of  time  and place is  the tragedy of  King Lear.  Unlike  most  of Shakespeare's  plays there  is  not  even  a hint  as  to time,not  a single reference being  made  to  it throughout  the  whole play. Critics  have  estimated  that  the play itself covers  ten days, with  an  interval  between  Act I, scene 2,  and Act I, scenes 3  and  4,  of something less  than  a fortnight,  with the possibility of  an  interval  of  a day or  two  between  Act IV, scene 2,  and  Act IV, scene 3.  This  would  make  the longest period,  including  intervals, that  can  be  allowed  for  this play, one month.  This  can  be  but  a matter  of interpretation and  inference,  however, for  there  is nothing  which  can give definite proof of  it.  To the average reader  the  time  seems  much longer. Such intensity of action, such multiplicity of  events  seems  to  demand many  months  or  even years. As to place, that,  too, is  uncertain.  We are quickly trans ported from palace to palace, from castle  to heath, from  the British  to  the  French camp.  But we scarcely realize  it.  Never do  we stop to ask, " Now just where  is  this palace,  camp, or heath  situated?"  We  do  not know, and  we  do  not  care.  Evidently  Shakespeare himself thought it  of  little consequence, since  he  made  no  effort  to  reveal  it  to  us. In King  Lear,  again, we  have  a  somewhat complicated  plot, but  essential unity is maintained. 

Why does Mr. Jaggers advise Pip against revealing to Estella her parents' identity or telling Magwitch and Molly of their daughter's identity?

Revealing true family names would do no good for anyone involved.  Estella has been raised thinking that she has known nothing but wealth and prosperity her whole life.  To find out would link her to Magwitch, a convicted felon, and Molly, a woman who should have been convicted for murder.  That would only bring embarrassment to Estella. 

As for telling either of the parents involved, they would want to contact Estella.  They would be proud of her and want her in their lives.  She, however, would want nothing to do with them.  It would only bring misery to all of them.  So Pip keeps his mouth shut.  The only person he reveals it to was Magwitch before he dies.  All he said was that he knew his daughter and he loved her.

In "The Most Dangerous Game", why does Rainford deny the existence of feeling in the animals he hunts?

As he proves himself at the end of "The Most Dangerous Game," Rainsford is a true predator--"I am still a beast at bay" he tells Zaroff.  Then, the last line of the narrative confirms his enjoyment of his having finished off General Zaroff:  "He had never slept in a better bed, Rainsford decided." 

The "most dangerous game" has taught Rainsford much about himself.  In the exposition he does not concern himself with whether a jaquar feels pain, telling Whitney who poses this thought, "Bah!  They've no understanding."  What predator does care about the feelings of his prey?  Rainsford continues, "Be a realist.  The world is made up of two classes--the hunters and the huntees." Clearly, at the story's end, Rainsford expresses his pleasure at being the hunter.  He decides this is what he is.

Why wouldn't Chris sign the check in "The Westing Game"?

Chris knows that once he signs the check and his partner Denton Deere gets his share of the $10,000, he will no longer keep visiting him to play the Westing Game.

Chris, confined to a wheelchair, must spend a lot of time alone in his room, and he gets lonely and bored.  He is delighted when he is paired up with Deere for the game; "all he want(s) (is) to play the game with the intern".  Chris looks forward to his partner's frequent visits, and spends many hours poring over their clues and "practic(ing) his recitation over and over, hour after lonely hour", so that he can share them with Deere.  Chris withholds insights he has discovered about the clues, doling them out one by one, so that "his partner would have to visit him a next time, and a next time".  Chris knows that Denton will continue to come and see him and work with him, "as long as he (doesn't) sign the check" (Chapter 14).

What are 10 puns in Romeo and Juliet and what do they mean?

"Romeo and Juliet" begins with a triple pun on the word collier (coal vendor) which sound like choler (anger) and collar(hangman's noose). (I,i,1-4)

Here are some others:

Give me a torch.  I am not for this ambling./Being but heavy(sad, weighing much) I will bear the light (brightness, weighing little). (I,iv,1-2) 

Not I, believe me You have dancing shoes /With nimble soles.  I have a soul of lead/So stakes me to the ground I cannot move. (I,iv,4-6)

...What dost thou make us minstrels? An thou makes mistrels of us, look to hear nothing but discords (off-key notes/disagreements). (III, i, 34-35)

We see the ground (earth/reason) whereon these woes do lie,/But the true ground of all these piteous woes/We cannot without circumstance descry. (V,iii,179-181)

Discuss O. Henry's short story, "The Cop and the Anthem".

It would be helpful if you asked a specific question about this story. Generally speaking, the story is a typical O. Henry one, full of irony. Soapy tries unsuccessfully to get arrested six different ways so that he can spend "three months on the Island," assuring him of a warm place and food during the winter. In each instance, he commits a minor crime, but the results are not what he expects or wants. Just after he hears organ music coming from a church, he decides he will get a job the next day; however, a cop accosts him and arrests him for loitering. A judge sentences him to three months on the island, so ironically Soapy gets his wish after all in this surprise ending, another characteristic of O. Henry's stories.

Another characteristic of the story is O. Henry's use of figurative language. For instance, in the story's exposition, he uses personification and metaphor "Jack Frost's card" to refer to an autumn leaf, a signal to Soapy that he needs to find a place to spend the winter. At another point, O. Henry describes a "street damaged by improvements" in an example of oxymoron.