What are the main charaters of A & P like?

Sammy and Lengel are the two main characters of John Updike's "A & P". Sammy is a nineteen-year-old teenager who is on the threshold of adulthood and is beginning to see life with a bitterly critical eye. But he also still sees life out of the other side of his vision with the idealism of someone who could have been raised on tales of the chivalry of King Arthur's Knights. When alone, his thoughts do battle with the other working people he sees and the successes, failures and puzzles who walk through his check-out lane.

But when Queenie and her friends walk in, all he sees is fair damsels who make his head swim so that he can't remember whether he has has done his job correctly or not. When the manager points out to the three teenage barefoot swimsuit clad young ladies that they are in violation of acceptable standards and therefore must vacate the premises, making the dear damsel Queenie blush a lovely red, Sammy metaphorically sees dragons to fight and in an act of heroism defends the damsels' honor by shedding his attire (clerk's apron) and quitting his job. He discovers the rashness of his action and the life altering error of his choice when he walks out and discovers that his heroism was not noticed, claimed, wanted, recognized or lauded by the young ladies who had already vanished leaving him quite alone.

Manager Lengel is a compassionate man who is a friend of Sammy's and a friend of his parents'. He sincerely likes Sammy and wants the best for Sammy. He doesn't judge or condemn Sammy. He does however remind him that as the manager, he represents something larger than his personal feelings and beliefs and he must faithfully represent the larger reality. He also warns Sammy that his act of self-sabotage will make things much harder on Sammy hereafter, suggesting as this warning does that other employers will think twice about hiring Sammy if he walks off his A & P job for three barefoot girls who blush because they are reminded that they are violating public safety policy.

The poem "Annabel Lee" is a love story, but what makes it sound like a fairytale?

In "Annabel Lee" much of the phrasing and vocabulary is reminiscent of fairy tales.  For instance, the poem begins as do many tales with the idea of "long ago/once upon a time":

It was many and many a year ago,/In a kingdom by the sea

The repetition of key phrases is also typical of fairy tales for children. In Poe's poem there are several phrases repeated:  "In a kingdom by the sea," "of the beautiful Annabel Lee"; this repetition lends a musical quality to the poem just as some fairy tales have a rhythmic pattern.  In addition, there seems to be a simplicity to each stanza which contains one single idea that is also somewhat like a child's narrative.

In "The Fall of the House of Usher", what is exactly meant by "sentience" and why is this idea important in the story?"The Fall of the House of...

A sentient being is one with consciousness. It thinks and exists as its own entity. This is important because the house in this story is sentient; it understands the incestuous nature of its inhabitants and essentially commits suicide as a result. Only a sentient being can consciously destroy itself out of disgust.

In "A Tale of Two Cities", why is Lorry going to Paris, and why does Gabelle request Charles to return to France?This can be found in Chapter 24...

Tellson's Bank has one office in London and another in Paris.  Now, the books and papers of the Paris branch are in peril and Mr. Lorry is traveling there to retrieve these books and papers, preventing them from falling into the hands of the revolutionaries (the Jacqueses).  In addition, such a passage of these documents and papers is very dangerous at this time.

While Darnay is in the bank, he hears talk of a letter addressed to the Marquis St. Evremonde, his French name.  This name, in agreement with Dr. Manette, is to be kept secret. Saying that he knows the man, Darnay takes the letter; he walks away and opens it.  In this letter, Gabelle, who was like an overseer of the Evremonde estate, has remitted the imposts and collected no rent.  Yet, he has been arrested and his house razed to the ground from fire.  Gabelle is charged with treason against the people and for "acting for an emigrant [Darnay]."  He begs the Marquis to return to Paris on his behalf.

After witnessing the sneers of the Monseigneur and the bruskness of Stryver, Darnay reflects

Upon those, had followed Gabelle's letter, the appeal of an innocent prisoner in danger of death, to his justice, honour, and good name.

Darnay feels compelled to return.

How does Frederick Douglass rebuke the romantic image of slavery in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass?

In his narrative, Frederick Douglass rebukes the romantic image of slavery by using vivid imagery to describe situations that he has witnessed.  Additionally, Douglass uses specific diction to develop these scenes.  For example, in the fourth chapter of the narrative, Douglass tells the reader about Mr. Gore who replaced Mr. Hopkins as overseer on Great House Farm.  Mr. Gore was a tyrant and felt that the lives of slaves were meaningless when compared to the reputation of the overseer.  Douglass recounts the story of Demby, a slave who waded into a nearby creek to soothe the pain of a whipping given by Mr. Gore.  When Demby refused to come out of the water, Gore shot and killed him.  Douglass writes, "His mangled body sank out of sight, and blood and brains marked the water where he had stood."  This line paints a vivid picture in the mind of the reader and is all but romantic.  By painting the harsh image of reality, Douglass is able to rebuke the romantic image of slavery.

In the essay "Shooting an Elephant," how does George Orwell feel about imperialism? What would be a good thesis?

Orwell makes it clear that he has very strong feelings against British imperialism as it existed in Burma during his residence there as a British policeman. He was obeyed grudgingly by the Burmese who felt hatred and contempt for him and his uniform. Sometimes he was mocked by them in ways that made him hate in return, a feeling he did not enjoy or approve of in himself. He shoots the elephant, not because he wants to or needs to, but because the large crowd around him expects him to do it. He can't look weak to these people; he has an image to maintain. We can infer, also, that because he was outnumbered, he felt vulnerable in this situation. Also, the setting of the story as Orwell describes it shows that the Burmese lived in poverty. His attitude might be summed up as this: He believed British imperialism adversely affected all who lived under it, Burmese and British alike.

I think any thesis that makes it clear that Orwell rejected imperialism would be a good one, however you might choose to phrase it.

How can you see that the boys get more and more savage?

Golding really charts out the points on the line of savagery. There are several ways you could pin together the evidence - and see the line from civlisation down to savagery. Have a look at painted faces, at the savage dances after the pig's hunt, or at the breakdown of meetings and the assemblies.

I'm going to show you another way. Here's Roger, throwing stones to miss in Chapter 4:

Roger gathered a handful of stones and began to throw them. Yet there was a space round Henry, perhaps six yards in diameter, into which he dare not throw. Here, invisible yet strong, was the taboo of the old life. Round the squatting
child was the protection of parents and school and policemen and the law. Roger’s arm was conditioned by a civilization that knew nothing of him and was in ruins.

That last line is the really interesting one: Roger is still governed by the rules of the society he has come from. He is still civilised, even though it is apparently subconscious.

Later, Roger is among the boys who takes real pleasure in rolling rocks off a cliff, sometimes causing damage to the jungle, which seems to infuriate Ralph:

A knot of boys, making a great noise that he had not noticed, were heaving and pushing at a rock. As he turned, the base cracked and the whole mass toppled into the sea so that a thunderous plume of spray leapt half-way up the cliff.

Then, even later, it is Roger who stabs the sow "right up her ass":

Roger ran round the heap, prodding with his spear whenever pigflesh appeared. Jack was on top of the sow, stabbing downward with his knife. Roger found a lodgment for his point and began to push till he was leaning with his whole weight. The spear moved forward inch by inch and the terrified squealing became a highpitched scream.

Golding describes it savagely - it's clear that, even though he's not yet hurting humans, Roger is becoming less and less civilised. This is a cruel, undignified slaughter of an animal. Then, by the time of the scene at Castle Rock, Roger has become entirely undignified. As Samneric approach, he first throws stones to miss, as he did back in Chapter 4:

Roger took up a small stone and flung it between the twins, aiming to miss.

As the pressure builds, Ralph notices that someone is throwing several stones:

Someone was throwing stones: Roger was dropping them, his one hand still on the lever.

Finally, Roger throws caution to the wind and rolls a massive rock down from his platform:

High overhead, Roger, with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever... The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee... Piggy fell forty feet and landed on his back across the square red rock in the sea. His head opened and stuff came out and turned red. Piggy’s arms and legs twitched a bit, like a pig’s after it has been killed.

I think you see from the build up of rocks and of pig-killing how Roger's savagery builds. This is just one of the boys: but I think he encapsulates the descent into violence, fear and savagery extremely well.