What's the theme of the short story "The Ransom of Red Chief"?

This is a highly entertaining story about how 2 hardened criminals come up against a situation that they can't handle, in the unexpected form of a precocious little boy.  There is a strong theme of the underdog coming out on top.  You have a kid-a bit imaginative and irritating, but a kid nonetheless, that drives the characters so completely insane that they end up paying the kid's father to take him back.  It is a complete reversal of their best-laid plans, and Bill, after the kid is gone, states,

"In ten minutes I shall cross the Central, Southern and Middle Western States, and be legging it trippingly for the Canadian border."

and he gets out of there as fast as he can before little chief can somehow get back into his life.  The underdog in this situation was the supposed victim, the small, innocent child that is so cruelly kidnapped and held prisoner.  But, he wins out in the end, because he is not your average ten-year-old kid.  He isn't a "country bumpkin" as they had been expecting, so the slick city criminals are bested by this extraordinary underdog of a kid.

I hope that helps a bit; I provided a link to a more thorough discussion of the "underdog" theme, and that should be useful also.  Good luck!

How does Dill's quote "I'm little but I'm old" apply beyond just its simple context when he says it very early in To Kill a Mockingbird?

Dill Harris has been through a lot for a kid "going on seven."  He's been sent away from home to live with his Aunt Rachel, and doesn't have a father.  When Scout brings this up, he simply lowers his head, but Jem quickly corrects her rudeness.  Unaware that some children have fathers who have left the family, Scout cannot comprehend the level of discomfort in the situation, although Jem has a better idea.

Later on, Dill sneaks on a train to come visit Scout and Jem, traveling to Maycomb, Alabama from Meridian, Mississippi, all by himself.  This shows that he has some maturity.  Not to mention the fact that he's seen so many movies at the theatre using the money he won from the "beautiful child contest" in Meridian.

The "I'm little but I'm old" line says a lot about his life experiences, even though he's under the age of seven at the time we are introduced to him early in the novel.

How would you describe the position of women in Maycomb with details and examples at the time represented in "To Kill a Mockingbird"?

Women at large in Maycomb County still held true to the idea that women should be "ladies;" that is, they should either be homemakers or occupy a "feminine" profession like secretary, teacher, telephone operator, or seamstress. What's more, they tend to believe that women should be submissive to men, and should fulfill "biblical" roles inside and outside of the home. These ideas are the very thing that sparks controversy at the ladies' society gatherings, where they determine whose behavior has not been meeting societal standards.

Most of the women in Maycomb fall into the first category of homemaker. Of all the women mentioned, however, Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose probably best exemplifies the "extreme" of how women are perceived (and how they perceive each other) in Maycomb.

She tells Scout that it's a shame her father allows her to simply "run loose" and wear un-feminine clothing like overalls, among other things. In fact, she goes so far as to tell Scout that she needs to put on a dress to be more ladylike. She also considers the word "Hey" rude in contrast to more formal greetings (Good morning, good evening, hello, etc.). 

The other women of the town are gossips (Miss Stephanie Crawford, in particular). They are most concerned with the appearance and lifestyles of others, as indicated by story dialogue.  

Why does the fire play such an important role in the novel?

Well, Ralph and Piggy reiterate the main reason for the fire's importance throughout the novel. Here's Ralph speaking in Chapter 2 about the importance of keeping a signal fire going:

“There’s another thing. We can help them to find us. If a ship comes near the island they may not notice us. So we must make smoke on top of the mountain. We must make a fire.”

“We’ve got to have special people for looking after the fire. Any day there may be a ship out there“–he waved his arm at the taut wire of the horizon–“and if we have a signal going they’ll come and take us off.

In fact, later in the novel, Ralph even goes so far as to say

The fire is the most important thing on the island.

The fire plays a secondary role: it provides hot food, and it allows Jack to cook the pig meat he provides. Of course, part of the importance of the fire to the novel is about the tension between the two roles: its role with Jack as a food-cooker and an atmosphere-builder (as well as, later as a violent threat) - and its role with Ralph as a signal.

As the novel continues, the boys shift from Ralph to Jack, and from signal fires towards pig hunts. Ralph has to try and restate his case:

“Look at us! How many are we? And yet we can’t keep a fire going to make smoke. Don’t you understand? Can’t you see we ought to—ought to die before we let the fire out?”

The first sign that the boys aren't going to control the island is when they create a big fire they cannot control. One of the earliest tension points between Jack and Ralph is when Jack lets the signal fire go out. And, at the end, the fire - and this is its other key purpose, as a symbol - swallows the whole island. What does the fire symbolise? Hell, the devil, the darkness of man. The fire, in the end, turns the paradisical island into a figurative burning hell.

What are the main ideas of The Tempest?

The main message of any play or novel is called the theme.

One of the themes in "The Tempest" is that of justice and the reality or falseness of it. Characters deal with questions about what is just verses what is fair. What does justice really mean for humanity, and how do we cope with it?

A second theme is that of the monstrous nature of humanity. It is difficult at some points in the play to distinguish between men and monsters. We can see humanity in Caliban, and we can see monstrous behavior in some men. Prospero notes,

"If I should say, I saw such islanders,—

For, certes, these are people of the island,—

Who, though they are of monstrous shape, yet, note,

Their manners are more gentle-kind than of

Our human generation you shall find

Many, nay, almost any"(Act III Scene III lines 30-35).

A third theme is that of colonialism. Should one culture invade another and have authority over it? What makes one culture superior to another?

Most plays have several themes or main ideas.

What kind of irony is found in "The Necklace"?

In The Necklace, the irony is called irony of situation.  There is a great difference between what is expected and what occurs.

When Madame Loisel borrows the diamond necklace from Madame Forestier she believes that it is worth a lot of money.  Therefore, when she loses it, she is stricken with the burden of what it will take to replace it, they borrow money to buy a new necklace, effectively giving Madame Forestier a real diamond necklace.  They are then bound to a life of drudgery to pay back the loan.  She does not know, nor do we, the reader, that the necklace is fake. 

Madame Loisel and her husband work very hard to earn money to pay back the loan, believing what they did was noble and honorable.  When they discover that the necklace was fake, they have wasted their time and effort put themselves into a cycle of drudgery for nothing. 

In fact it is ironic that Madame Loisel longs to be rich, a fake existence really, and ends up having her life shaped by a fake necklace. Situational irony.

What can you infer about Phoenix from her words and actions in "A Worn Path"?

By observing Phoenix’s words and actions, the reader can infer at least three things about the main character.  First, the reader can infer that Phoenix has made her trip many times before.  The first clue to this is the story’s title:  “A Worn Path.”  Further, however, are some of her comments along the way such as “seem like there is chains about my feet, time I get this far.”  Another example is when Phoenix says, “Nobody know who made this well, for it was here when I was born.”  When she is asked about why she comes to town, she replies, “The time come around.”

The reader can also infer that Phoenix knows the value of money, but is too proud to ask for charity.  Phoenix has a keen eye to spot the hunter’s nickel fall to the ground and wastes no time in stooping to pick it up.  When someone offers to give her some money, her reply is, “Five pennies is a nickel.”  This money, of which she had none when she began her journey, is used to buy a pinwheel for her grandson.  Phoenix wisely uses extraneous money to buy an extraneous item.  The irony here is that her entire trip is made to procure free medicine for her grandson.

Finally, the reader can infer that Phoenix has fallen victim to condescending attitudes before and has become brave as a result.  The hunter is the first character that has a condescending attitude towards Phoenix, calling her “Granny” and continually laughing at her as she lay in a ditch.  When he “laughed and lifted his gun and pointed it at Phoenix.  She stood straight and faced him.”  This is bravery at its finest.  Not only can we assume that she has met this kind of condescension before, but also we can infer that her years of experience have taught her how to react.  The nurse and the attendant at the doctor’s office have the same attitude toward Phoenix.  They demand answers and tell her that she “mustn’t take up our time this way.”  Her persistence provides the bravery here, and she leaves with the medicine for which she came.  One can even infer that Phoenix has been treated similarly by the same people in this same office before.  Again, her years of experience have taught her how to react in order to get the result she wants.