What are the best and worst aspects of the city in Sandburg's poem "Chicago"?

The worst comes in the form of judgments passed on the city.  Sandburg refers to these judgments, listing them as someone speaking them out loud:  "They tell me you are wicked...crooked...brutal."  He admits that "they" are in fact correct; he doesn't deny it.  Chicago is wicked, crooked and brutal.  He describes those traits in more detail:

"painted women under the gas lamps luring the farm boys...gunman kill to go free and kill again...the marks of wanton hunger" on the "faces of women and children."

So, those traits are the worst of the city.  However, despite this, Sandburg also describes much about the city that he loves.  The best sides of it is its

"lifted head singing/so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning."

He emphasizes that even in the dire, poverty-stricken misery of the city that people are "strong", "fierce", "laughing", "bragging", and happy to be alive. He emphasizes the strength of the working class of Chicago, and how they are proud to be who they are, and happy in their station, full of vivacity and life. So, Chicago is a lively, strong, intense city, and those are its best traits, mixed right in there with its worst.

Were the reformers of the late 19th century and feminists of the early 20th century one in the same? Explain?

The short answer to your question is "yes". The feminist movement began with a group of reformers who saw that women were treated differently under the law and wanted to reform the legal status of women under the law.

The women of the late 19th Century attended an organized feminist gathering in 1848 at Seneca Falls, New York. John Stuart Mill brought the subjection of women to light in his work titled "The Subjugation of Women". Many women in the late 18th Century were jailed for being involved in the Women's Movement.

Women's issues ranged from voting rights, divorce rights,  labor rights, and rights to family planning and birth control. Notable feminists of the 19th Century were: Emma Goldman, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Margaret Sanger.

The feminist movement in Egypt gained ground in 1899 in a book written by Qasim Amin, the author of the 1899  Women's Liberation (Tahrir al-Mar'a). In his book, he criticized some practices regarding the treatment of women in the Arab world as un-Islamic.

In the United States, Woodrow Wilson's 14 points helped the women's movement gain ground in the rights of self-determination. These 14 points propelled the states toward granting women the vote and right to property.

During the 1920s women lost the jobs that they had previously held during WWI. The pendulum swung back during WWII when the iconic "Rosie the Riveter" was the image of the woman who went to the factory while her husband went off to war.

After WWII ended, women were more reluctant to leave the workplace and go back into their homes and be good domestic partners. Socialistic and Communistic philosophies furthered the cause of feminist movements by holding up the cause of the "worker". Women had learned to be wage earners as well as housekeepers.

Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of Franklin D. Roosevelt,  was awarded a posthumous Nobel Peace Prize, the Norwegians refused and she was never so honored. In 1968 she was awarded one of the Human Rights Prizes. Mrs. Roosevelt did more as First Lady during the 1930s and 1940s to advance the cause of women, but she stopped short of supporting the "Equal Rights Movement".

The battle cry of the 1970s feminist was "equal pay for equal work." During the 1940s women had proved they could do any job that a man could do, but they were paid less than men were typically paid for the same job.

During the 1960s and 1970s women had access to modern birth control that was more reliable than any previous birth control method. Public education and family planning freed women from their roles as wife and mother.  However, the turbulent 1960s and 1970s also accelerated the rise of single parent families often with a female head of household.

So while women had more freedom, rights, and access to reproductive health care; the plight of women regarding their ability to advance economically has not progressed as much as many feminists would like.

What are three hints Montresor gives to Fortunato for what he intends to do in a "The Cask of Amontillado"?

In the beginning, Fortunato says, “I shall not die of a cough.” Montressor answers him with the words, “True-true.” Montressor knows exactly how Fortunato is going to die- starvation and dehydration behind the wall that he intends to build. Later Fortunato makes a secret sign of the Masons. Montressor does not know the hand sigh, but he tells Fortunato that he is a “mason” and shows him his trowel. They are going to look at a cask of wine. Why would Montressor need a trowel? Then, before they enter the catacombs, Montressor puts on a black silk mask and a cape which represents the devil or death.  Also of interest is the family crest of Montressor. It showsa human foot crushing a serpent whose fangs are imbedded in the heel of the foot. The motto is “Nemo me impune lacessit” which means, “No on wounds me with impunity.” In the eyes of Montressor, the heel is his and the serpent is Fortunato. Montressor believes that he has been wronged and that he must have revenge.

What is the main conflict in "Roman Fever"?

The main conflict in "Roman Fever" is between Mrs. Slade and Mrs. Ansley over Delphin Slade.  When the two women were young they were both in love with the same man, even though he was engaged to Alida, Mrs. Slade.  The story takes us back to a winter the two women spent in Rome.

Mrs. Ansley was in love with Delphin Slade and Alida thought she was going to try to steal him away from her.  So she sets up a rouse, writing a phony letter to Grace, Mrs. Ansley, from Delphin, but the letter was really written by Alida, Mrs. Slade.

Grace, Mrs. Ansley, actually responded to the letter, writing to Delphin Slade, who arranged for the two of them to be let into the Collesium.  Mrs. Slade did not know about this, and she accuses her of lying. The twist to the story is that Mrs. Ansley's daughter, Barbara, is actually Mr. Slade's daughter.

Alida married Delphin Slade as planned, but Mrs. Ansley, who had a brief affair with him, had his daughter.

How does the theme of honesty answer the question “What is The Great Gatsby really about”? Explain the importance of this theme and why it...

Although I'm not sure that any one theme in Gatsby should take over the others, I think I can help with this question! And perhaps maybe the theme is better stated as, "DIShonesty is the root of all tragic events".

In this book, everyone lies. There is no honesty or truth anywhere, even in Nick, the narrator.

The lack of honesty leads both Daisy and Tom to have affairs, leads Nick to set up Daisy with Gatsby all these years, leads Tom to kill Gatsby and leads Gatsby to suffer the consequences of Daisy's actions.

This book is about the importance of honesty for anyone that is wants to avoide tragedy being invited into their life.

In Siddhartha, what lessons do the Samanas teach Siddhartha?

Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha is about a young man who, growing up as privileged person, feels a discontent with the lifestyle of his family and with his potential future. Although he could live the life of the upper class if he wished, he decides to go off with his friend Govinda in search of meaning. This search will take him down several roads and on several philosophical journeys.

Early in the story he joins a group called the Samanas. Samanas are Buddhists who are learning how to live according to the Buddhist philosophy. Their philosophy, at least as it is presented in the novel, requires its adherents give up most worldly pursuits and desires. The novel describes Siddhartha’s learning this way:

Instructed by the oldest of the Samanas, Siddhartha practised self-denial, practised meditation, according to new Samana rules.

While that doesn’t sound particularly exciting, Hesse does give some vivid examples of what Siddhartha did during this process:

 A dead jackal was lying on the sandy bank, and Siddhartha's soul slipped inside the body, was the dead jackal, lay on the banks, got bloated, stank, decayed, was dismembered by hyaenas, was skinned by vultures, turned into a skeleton, turned to dust, was blown across the fields. And Siddhartha's soul returned, had died, had decayed, was scattered as dust, had tasted the gloomy intoxication of the cycle, awaited in new thirst like a hunter in the gap, where he could escape from the cycle, where the end of the causes, where an eternity without suffering began.

Though Siddhartha stayed with the Samanas for several years and became very accomplished and even met Gotama, the perfected one, he still felt something missing and decided to leave the Samanas and head off on his own.

In Oedipus Rex, how is Oedipus led to commit the sin of killing his father and marrying his mother?

Oedipus is a victim or a tool of fate, a destiny that he cannot escape.

Oedipus, who is abandoned to die by his real parents, is rescued by a herdsman and given to the King and Queen of Corinth.  Growing up a Prince, Oedipus learns that the King and Queen are not his birth parents.  Seeking the help of the oracle at Delphi, he learns of the prophecy of killing his father and marrying his mother and is so horrified, that he is determined to outwit the prophecy.  He leaves Corinth.  

As he travels near Thebes, he is assaulted by an old man and his servants, he strikes back, killing the man.  Oedipus does not know that the old man is Laius, his real father.

He confronts the monster Sphinx, answers the riddle and is hailed as a champion.  Approaching the widow, Jocasta, Oedipus seeks advice about the prophecy.  She does not believe in prophecies, since the one told to her did not come true, her child died.

When he discovers that his father, the King of Corinth has died from natural causes, Jocasta tells him that it is proof that the prophecy is never going to come true. The two marry and have four children.  Oedipus has married his mother.

Events in the story unfold to make Oedipus believe that he has avoided fulfilling the prophecy, when in fact, his fate is a set path, a road he cannot avoid.