What is the similarity between paragraphs and essays?

A paragraph is a miniature essay. The same rules that
apply for a well written essay apply for a well crafted
paragraph.

A paragraph  must contain only one
idea.

It must be made up of at least three
sentences.

The first sentence is known as the topic
sentence. The topic sentence must introduce the idea which is to be elaborated in the
paragraph.

The next two or three sentences must expand the
main idea of the paragraph.

The last sentence must conclude
the paragraph and look forward to the next paragraph.

Each
paragraph is a unit of the larger essay. Each paragraph must be linked to the main theme
of the larger essay.

Each paragraph must be coherent and
contribute to the coherence of the essay of which it is a part.

In Fahrenheit 451, why does Montag feel "fat"?

This is something that Guy says to Millie when he is
trying to describe why he does not feel contented.  I believe that it is somewhat of a
metaphor.  He is doing two things.  First, he is saying that he does not feel content
and comfortable.  Second, I think he feels like he is more weighed down by things than
he had been not too long ago.

When you start to gain
weight, you don't really feel comfortable.  If you are aware of the weight gain, you
feel more sluggish and your clothes don't fit and such.  This would make you feel
discontented and upset.  I think Guy feels this way.

More
metaphorically, I think that Guy feels weighed down emotionally.  He is starting to care
about things he didn't care about before.  He is starting to think.  The thoughts he has
are pressing down on him in a way that he has not experienced before.  I think that
this, too, makes him feel fat.

In Macbeth, Banquo says: "I dreamt last night of the three weird sisters: to you they have showed some truth." How is this an example of irony?

I think if you are looking for irony in this direct quote
of Banquo's you need to explore what Banquo is really saying to Macbeth in this passage.
Let us remember that Act II scene 1 opens with Banquo, who, like Macbeth, is unable to
sleep because of his meeting with the witches. Note what he
says:

A heavy
summons lies like lead upon me,

And yet I would not sleep:
merciful Powers!

Restrain in me the cursed thoughts that
nature

Gives way to in
repose!

This is a fascinating
speech because it shows that Banquo, just like Macbeth, is haunted by the promises of
the witches and what they have prophesied. The key difference, of course, is that
Macbeth chooses to act on those prophecies to make them real, whereas Banquo does not.
However, Banquo is wondering in this scene how Macbeth is responding and reacting to
these prophecies, especially because the first prophecy they gave him has been confirmed
with Macbeth's title of the Thane of Cawdor. The irony in the quote you have highlighted
therefore is that Banquo is trying to work out what Macbeth is thinking, planning and
plotting. If Banquo is so plagued by what has happened, then how will Macbeth be
responding, who was promised the crown?

Define intertextuality. Discuss three examples that have helped you in reading specific works.

Intertextuality is complex and involves different levels. 
I'll try to simplify it a bit. 

Basically, it is the idea
that no text is independent, that all texts are amalgams or mixtures of texts that have
come before them.  A text may be directly influenced by another text, or may indirectly
use language and ideas that have been previously established by other
texts. 

For instance, the Anglo-Saxon epic
Beowulf is related to what came before it--Greek epics. 
Shakespeare used numerous sources to write Macbeth and
Hamlet that are well documented.  Milton imitates Greek epics in
Paradise Lost.  The romantics drastically reacted to the
neoclassicists and rejected virtually everything the writers who immediately preceeded
them believed--and rejection is a reaction:  it's intertextuality.  The moderns reacted
to the Victorians, the postmoderns to the moderns, and on and on.  No text is
isolated. 

Concerning the second aspect of intertextuality,
any literary work that deals with good and evil, for instance, is dealing with ideas
that have been previously established.  There's a reason why The Lord of the
Rings trilogy seems medieval and somewhat Old Testament-like.  It's been said
that every love story written since Shakespeare owes a debt to his Romeo and
Juliet.  And love stories, of course, did not originate with
Shakespeare. 

At its simplest, intertextuality is evident
everytime a novel is made into a movie.  The novel and the movie are both texts, of a
sort.  Allusions are also simple examples of intertextuality.  As pointed out in my
favorite literature handbook, The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary
Terms, when a character on Lost is shown reading an
actual novel, that is an allusion.  It is intertextuality.

What are the health benefits of Wine?

Excessive alcohol consumption in all forms including wine
has very bad effects on human health. But a moderate consumption of alcohol especially
in the form of wine has been found to be beneficial for
health.

There are many chemicals in found in wine which are
beneficial for the body. This includes polyphenols which have been found to reduce the
incidence of heart disease. A chemical called resveratrol has been found to have anti
aging properties in mice. These protect against cancers and many illnesses that result
from old age. Other beneficial compounds in wine include other polyphenols,
antioxidants, and flavonoids.

Wine consumption by people in
the Mediterranean and France has been correlated to their good health in spite of
consuming other food that is generally high in saturated fats and bad for
health.

My essay thesis statement is: "Atticus is a good, respectful and calm person throughout the novel." What should my introduction be?

Before you jump into this essay's introduction, you should
outline the body using this thesis.  Once you've done the bulk of the work, the
introduction need only contain 3-4 sentences:

1. a
   hook (easily written once the essay's core is planned
   out)


2. your thesis - which here actually
   contains your three categories so you might want to add a
   sentence


3. a seque into the body of your paper (perhaps
   introducing the ultimate point of your paper as you will see
   below).

Right now it looks like your three body
paragraphs will focus on character traits of Atticus Finch.  You might mention THAT
somewhere in the intro.  Also, you might want to make some final conclusion about these
three character traits.  What does being "good, respectful, and calm" actually
do for Atticus in the novel?  Are these the secrets to his success?
 Are these reasons he is a good father?  Are these reasons he is
respected?

Finally, I'm going to encourage you to come up
with a different adjective in your thesis to replace "good."  Most teachers agree that
"good," used anywhere in an essay is a bad word.  There has to be
something more specific you are driving at.  Is he a good listener?
 Or perhaps you are aiming at good hearted?  In this case, perhaps
you mean to say he is compassionate.  At any rate, good is far too
common to base an argument on.  Consider alternates.

Account for the use of the pronun "we" by the narrator in "A Rose for Emily".

In "A Rose for Emily," the pronoun "we" refers to Miss
Emily's neighbors.  I believe they are people who have lived their lives in the same
town and have become accustomed to Miss Emily's idiosyncrasies.  Those who lived before
and remember her father, family and early history provide information that members of
contemporary society would not have been alive or old enough to
witness.

The "we" that speaks is a part of the culture in
which the present day story takes place.  Because Miss Emily's neighbors are used to
life in the South, some of the things they mention would not raise
their eyebrows, but simply provide background that is steeped in
seemingly trustworthy observations which outsiders could not notice or
appreciate.

Eventually, these same casual observations
provide information that cause the reader to ask
the important questions and draw the
essential conclusions at which Faulkner hopes the reader will finally arrive--so that
the story's classically shocking twist will not be lost or overlooked but, instead,
cause the reader to pause in alarm, with a sickeningly sweet horror that repels
and arrests our attention at the same time.  The final sentence
leaves us to deal with the truth of the moment, where all of the clues leading to this
instant gain brilliant clarity and chilling purpose.

In The Autobiography of Malcolm X, does author Alex Haley explain or describe in the "Epilogue" the purpose for writing the autobiography?I only...

Alex Haley met and worked with Malcolm X a couple of times
before they sat down to start the interviews for the
book.

The interviews eventually covered Malcolm X's life
and his first religious conversion to the Nation of Islam, which dramatically changed
his life, his subsequent disillusionment with his faith, and conversion to Sunni Islam,
as well as his travels.

However, when the interviews
started, Malcolm X only wanted to speak about his religious beliefs, and Haley had to
remind Malcolm X that the story was supposed to be about his entire
life, and the reminder angered Malcolm X.  However, after several meetings,
Haley asked about his mother, and Malcolm X started to describe his life story.
 This was the primary reason for the writing of the book, and the
book is based on over 50 in-depth interviews between Haley and Malcolm
X.

The epilogue Haley wrote took place after Malcolm X was
assassinated.  It summarized the end of Malcolm X's life, as well as his
death.

Who is the antagonist in "Animal Farm" ?

I think that this is a matter of opinion since, in this
story, there is not really a clear protagonist.  In my opinion, the real antagonist in
the story is Napoleon.

I say this because I think that the
main conflict in this book is between those who are exploited and those who do the
exploiting.  This means that, for most of the book, the conflict is between all the
animals of the farm (except for most of the pigs) and Napleon.  I think that the
majority of the animals are seeking freedom and liberty.  I think that Napoleon is the
antagonist because he is the one, for the most part, who is preventing them from
achieving that freedom.

Express the weight of a "Quarter Pounder" in grams, given 2.205 pounds (lb) is equal to 1 kilogram (kg).

The answer here is that a Quarter Pounder weighs about 113
grams.  Here is how we find this answer.

First, we start
with the assumption that a Quarter Pounder is truly .25 of a pound.  Then we find out
how many kilograms are in .25 pounds.  We can do this by setting up the following
equation:

2.205/1 = .25/x

When
we do the math, we will get the answer for how many kilograms are in .25
pounds.

First, we cross multiply and
get

.25 = 2.205x

We then
divide by 2.205 to solve for x and we get

x =
.113

So we know that .25 pounds is .113 kg.  So now to get
to grams, we move the decimal point three places to the right because there are 1000
grams per kilogram.  This gives us 113 grams.

So we know
that .25 pounds is about 113 grams.

Determine the area of the surface between the lines x=0,x=1 and the curve f(x)=(3x^2 + 3)/(x^3 + 3x).

The area which has to be determined is bounded by the
given curve f(x), the lines x = 0 and x = 1, also the x
axis.

To calculate the area, we'll use the
formula:

S = Integral (f(x) - ox)dx=Int f(x)dx = Int(3x^2 +
3)dx/(x^3 + 3x).

We'll calculate the integral, using
substitution technique.

We'll note x^3 + 3x =
t.

We'll differentiate x^3 +
3x.

(x^3 + 3x)' =
t'

(3x^2+3)dx = dt

We notice
that the result of differentiating the function is the numerator of the
function.

We'll re-write the
integral:

Int dt/t = ln t = ln (x^3 + 3x) +
C

Now, we'll calculate the value of the area, using
Leibnitz Newton formula::

S = F(1) - F(0),
where

F(1) = ln (1^3 + 3*1) = ln
4

F(0) = ln (0^3 + 3*0) = ln 0
impossible!

S = ln 4 - infinite,
impossible!

What is the author's message in The Book Thief ? What is he trying to get across to the reader?

When we talk about "take home messages" as they pertain to
literature, what we are talking about is themes of the novel.  This
novel has several.

One is the value of
literature.  Leisel learns quickly the power of knowing how to read and write
- and learns late at night with her foster father, Hans.  It is as she gains these
skills that Leisel develops more courage and strength as an
individual.

Another theme is the power of
humanity to come together in a time of crisis.  The book is set before and
during WW2.  Leisel's own parents give her younger brother and her away to a foster
family in order to save their lives.  The foster parents take Leisel (her brother dies)
in and even show her love and worth - despite the fact that she is not related to them. 
Later, they house a Jew in hiding because he is a man who saved her foster father's life
in WW1.  Despite the constant threat of death, this family is one that courageously
chooses humanity and life through the risk of their own
death.

Another prevalent theme is the overall idea of the
inevitability of death.  The book is told by Death as the
narrator.  Many of the characters die throughout the book - but through this point of
view - loss of life is not necessarily mourned nor is death glorified.  It is simply
presented as a reality of life.  Because of this perspective, though this is largely a
"war book" it is not really seen as a tragedy.

In The Scarlet Letter, what is Dimmesdale's "A" a symbol of?

Arthur Dimmesdale's letter on his chest is a manifestation
of his guilt since for seven years he has kept his secret sin within his heart.  As he
has told Roger Chillingworth in Chapter X, some people conceal their sin because they
yet possess a zeal for God's glory and man's welfare:

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...they shrink from displaying themselves black
and filthy in the view of men; because, thenceforward, no good can be achieved by them;
no evil of the past be redeemed by better
service...."

Thus, the hidden
mark upon his bosom is this "black and filthy" conscience that he possesses.  Even when
he goes in the night to stand on the scaffold, Dimmesdale cannot bring himself to
confess. And, his watching Hester suffer alone for the sin which he has committed with
her tortures him until his flesh manifests this terrible
guilt. 

In Chapter X when Chillingworth seeks to elicit
from Dimmesdale a confession, knowing that the minister's sickness is a manifestation of
his spiritual illness, he tells the minister that some black herbs have grown out of a
man's heart whose hideous secret he did not reveal. But, Dimmesdale is unable to reveal
"the secrets that are buried in the human heart." So, eventually, his guilt rises to the
surface of his flesh and manifests itself. This manifestation of his guilt is what gives
the evil Chillingworth such delight:

But, with
what a wild look of wonder, joy, and horror!  With what a ghastly rapture...Had a man
seen old Roger Chillingworth, at that moment of his ecstasy, he would have had no need
to ask how Satan comports himself, when a precious human soul is lost to heaven, and won
into his kingdom.

Calculate the difference 1/(5+2i) - 1/(5-2i) .

For the beginning, before calculating the difference
of the 2 ratios, we have to transform the denominator of each ratio into a real number,
instead of complex numbers.

We'll multiply the complex
number from denominator by it's conjugate.

If the complex
number is z=a+b*i, it's conjugate is z'=a-b*i.

So, if the
complex number is 5+2i, it's conjugate is 5-2i.

We'll
multiply the first ratio by the conjugate number (5-2i) and the second ratio by
(5+2i).

(5-2i)/(5+2i)(5-2i) - (5+2i)/(5-2i)(5+2i) =
(5-2i)/(25+4)-(5+2i)/(25+4)

(5-2i)/(25+4)-(5+2i)/(25+4) =
(5-2i-5-2i)/29

We'll reduce like
terms:

(5-2i-5-2i)/29= (-4i) /
29

So, the result of the difference between
the 2 ratios is the complex number (-4i) /
29.

1/(5+2i) - 1/(5-2i) =
(-4i) / 29

How is a memorandum different from a letter?

A memorandum or memo is a means of business communication
within an organization, unlike a letter which is used for communication between two or
more different organizations or between a business and its
clients. 

A memo is used to convey a message when
word-of-mouth is not sufficient. It is often prepared somewhat informally as compared to
a letter, which is generally very formal. Memos have less attention to structure,
grammar, formatting and quality of paper. Letters, on the other hand, are written
formally, proof-read to ensure accuracy and avoid even the smallest
mistakes. 

A letter can be as long as needed, whereas a
memo is generally kept short and to the point. 

A memo
generally has a header that states where it is from and the intended recipient, along
with the date and subject. It does not need to be on company stationary. A letter is
always written/printed on business stationary and includes the date, the recipient's
name, designation/title, his/her address, and starts with an appropriate
salutation. 

A memo does not, generally, conclude or
summarize anything and finishes with a work action (a to do activity). A letter
summarizes or concludes the communication, asks the recipient to contact the writer and
ends with thank you to the reader. The sender's name and address are also
included.

Hope this helps. 

What factors in Julia's personality make her attitude different?any specific events pertaining to the text are welcomed.

I think that one of the underlying intentions of Orwell,
despite the harshness of the overall tone of the novel, is that he intends to assert
that there are 'higher' or 'deeper' instincts and drives in the human spirit. Even
though Julia is seemingly a product and a victim, her spirit drives her to somehow
maintain something genuinely human and sensitive, even if it is her 'sub' or unconscious
response to do what she does. She is to the Party, subversive, in that she is also a
member of one of the Party's tools that strives to supress anything that is genuinely
human and sensitive, as it poses a threat to their power. By sleeping with party
members, she also serves to illustrate the falsity and prententiousness of those who try
to control others for their own sake of maintaining power and control over the masses
while not 'practicing what they preach'.  Her liasons with Winston are not just for
sexual contact. They talk, listen, share food, and so on. One may say that possibly
Orwell shows that there is a 'chemistry' between the two that they were drawn to because
of some remnant or intuitve sense of 'goodness' that is still there, even though they
will never recognize it as such, amidst the brutally controlled and maintained political
and social (so called) order.  

What production techniques in the film "A Beautiful Mind" communicate the themes of individuality/love? I'm writing an essay on the film "A...

In my mind, I would pay attention to some of the
cinematography offered in the film.  The opening scene where Nash is at the luncheon and
holds the glass in different positions and at different angles to create different
results of refraction from the sun might be one instance where the filming technique
helps to bring out the idea of individuality.  Nash is an individual through such a
photographic technique because he sees things that are not there.  In a world where
individuals are driven by what is there, Nash is animated by what could be there and
what might exist.  It is through this scene that we begin to understand his
individuality.  I thought that the scene where he and Alicia are staring at the stars
and through this begin to grasp the infinite nature of both their love and the universe
is another production technique that helps to bring out the subjective and the objective
experience.  In this scene, the photography of the immensity of the night sky helps to
bring to light that their love is as expansive and helps to bring their love as a
natural consequence of the world in which they live.

Discuss the plot of "An Ounce of Cure" by Alice Munro.

What happens when a girl gets dumped?  This is the problem
faced by the main character in Alice Munro’s “An Ounce of Cure.”  The narration is first
person point of view with the protagonist, an unnamed teenager, serving as the
narrator.

Exposition-

The
setting is a conservative southern town in 1960s.  The town does not really like
drinking.  When the narrator was in the seventh grade, she signed an alcohol abstinence
pledge.  Her mother never drinks and her father has an occasional beer outside of the
house.  Surprisingly, almost no teens drink either.

The
narrator babysits and has been labeled as really reliable.  She primarily babysits for
some new people in town who do keep alcohol in their
house.

Rising
Action

At the beginning of the school year,
the narrator goes crazy about a boy named Martin.  She thinks of him as her Prince
Charming.  He gives her the “first kiss.” In two months, he dumps her for another
girl.

The narrator is heartbroken.  She cries and thinks
about him constantly.  One night, she tries a half-hearted suicide attempt. She takes
six pills and stops.  Each pill represented her feelings: sorrow, anguish, depression,
heartbreak, confusion, and frustration.   Mom notices something is wrong.  She tells her
mother about Martin. Without thinking about the daughter’s feelings, she just tells the
narrator that it was for the best. 

The
Conflict Intensifies

The next weekend, the
narrator babysits for the new people, the Berrymans.  She spots the alcohol in the
kitchen.  It is like a hidden treasure that might help her heart.  She pours  a glass
full of vodka with a half ounce of scotch.  She drinks the entire thing and is satisfied
that it has helped ease the hurt. Of course, then it hits
her.

The
Climax

She is drunk.  She vomits everywhere
including on the new rug and herself.  She has friends come over who help her.  The
Berrymans come home early, and she is fired on the spot.  She tells the Berrymans
everything from the boy to the suicide attempt to the drinking to the throwing
up. 

The Falling
Action

Mr. Berryman takes her home and makes
her tell her mother everything.  Her mother tells a friend and all of the narrator’s
friends tell their friends.  By Monday morning, the narrator has earned a new reputation
which makes it sound like she is totally irresponsible and sinful.  The incident changes
her.

Resolution

In
the end, she forgets about Martin.  What changes her?  It was the reality of the
situation. If what happened to her happened at parties, it was not worth
it. 

I had
had a glimpse of the shameless, marvellous, shattering absurdity with which the plot of
life, though not of fiction, improvises.  I could not take my eyes off it.  I suffered a
great deal from all of the
exposure.

The girl goes off
to college and gets married. She comes back home for a funeral. Martin has become an
undertaker.  They see each other and give each other a knowing
smile.

The narrator is a dynamic character.  As the story
evolves, she changes and matures after her horrible drinking experience.  She faces the
problem of accepting who she is and learning to live in the present and make good
choices.  She is able to survive that Saturday night and make a new
beginning.

How does repetition and The slowing down of action create suspense in The Tell Tale Heart?

Repetition is what lets the reader understand the level of
anxiety and obsession that the narrator feels. By pointing out the same thing, by
repeating himself so much, and by consistently making the same point one realizes that
this person is out of his own control, and that an outside force is what is driving
him.

Added to this, the slowing of the action gives the
reader a sense of emptiness that invites the idea that something big is about to happen,
like the calmness prior to the storm. The rythm winding down, the narrative slowing
down, and the energy of the story slowing down makes us curious, and immediately after
something unexpected will happen. It is like a scary movie: Suspense, then
action.

What conclusion does Ralph come to about being a chief and his own ability?This question is in chapter 5 of the novel, Lord of the Flies

In Chapter Five of Lord of the Flies,
Ralph walks down a narrow path, concerning about the late-afternoon meeting that he has
called:

He
found himself understanding the wearisomeness of this life where everything was an
improvisation and a considerable part of one's waking life was spent watching one's
feet.

It is apparent that the
pressure of having to act like an adult all the time is wearing upon Ralph.  He realizes
the importance of the meeting, the necessity to be prepared.  But, Ralph also realizes
his inadequacies.  For instance,

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The trouble was, if you were a chief you had to
think, you had to be wise,  And then the occasion slipped by so that you had to grab at
a decision.  This made you think; because thought was a valuable thing, that got
results...

But, Ralph knows,
he cannot think as the more mature appearing Piggy can, logically going step by step in
his analyses of situations.  Ralph knows that his physical presence and his charisma are
what made him chief, but he is inferior to Piggy, who "had brains."  But, he does know
that the assembly is needed "to put things straight."  After the boys assemble, Ralph
uses the opportunity to reinforce the importance of the fire as their only means of
rescue; he says that the fire must remain on the
mountaintop.

When others such as Jack and Piggy attempt to
speak, Ralph asserts himself and does not allow them.  Finally, Jack grabs the conch and
speaks, calling the boys cry-babies for their fear of the beast.  When Ralph interrupts
because he worries that Jack is putting ideas in the boys' heads, Jack berates him for
personifying the beast in the first place.  Then, in a show of his physical prowess,
Jack declares that there is no beast; were there such a beast he and the hunters would
have seen it.

At this point, Ralph feels his leadership
being threatened; he interrupts Jack,but the boys applaud Jack instead.  Still, Ralph
fights for control over the group, asserting himself against the others.  But, when Jack
asserts his strengths in hunting and singing (Jack is leader of the choir), Ralph is
defeated in his call to following rules.  "Who cares?" shouts Jack and Ralph's reminder
of the importance of the rules is also shouted down.  Here Ralph also realizes the power
of brute force, even against the thinking Piggy.  Ralph's advantage as chief has been
lost. 

What is Herbert's fiance's father's ailment?Herbert's fiance is Clara.

In Charles Dickens's Great
Expectations, Pip meets Herbert's fiancee, Clara in Chapter XLVI when he goes
to Mill Pond Bank to locate the boarding house where Provis is staying.  There he is
greeted by Herbert and Clara, whose father lives upstairs because he rendered an invalid
with gout.  Herbert tells Pip,

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"I am afraid he's a sad old rascal....Don't you
smell rum?  He's always at it....and you may suppose how mild it makes his
gout."

Clara's father has
gout, a painful form of arthritis, in several parts of his body.  So, he "keeps his
provisions" upstairs with him; to relieve the tremendous pain, he drinks heavily. 
Because of the pain, he is exceedingly cranky, as Pip remarks that he becomes aware of
an alarming growling overhead. Nevertheless, the sweet-tempered Clara waits upon him
solicitiously. 

The example of Clara's attendance upon Mr.
Barley parallels the temperate nature of Joe as he has lived with his termagent, Mrs.
Joe. Both Clara and Joe illustrate the true meaning of love as does Wemmick who cares
lovingly for his father and in contrast to the distorted idea of Miss Havisham that love
is "blind devotion" to the injury of oneself.

What is the answer to the question Thoreau asked in Chapter 2 about the poem of a shepherd?"There was a shepherd that did live, And held his...

When Henry David Thoreau went into the woods and lived at
Walden Pond, he went into nature in order "to live deliberately" and to see if
he

"could not
learn what it [nature] had to teach, and not, when I came to die discover that I had not
lived."

While in these woods,
Thoreau experiences the majesty and infiniteness of the heavens and ponds that reflect
these heavens.  And, he learns what it is to live freely where
the

winds
which passed over my dwelling were such as sweep over the ridges of mountains, bearing
the broken strains, or celestial parts only, of celestial
music.

In contrast to Thoreau
who feels no confinement or restraint and feels that his little
house

was at
an equal remoteness from the life which [he] had left behind dwindled and twinkling with
as fine a ray to my nearest neighbor, and to be seen by my nearest neighbor  only in
moonless nights by him

the
shepherd must remain close to his sheep and his thoughts can rise only as high as his
sheep mount: 

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and held his thoughts as
high

As were the mounts whereon his
flocks

Did hourly feed him
by.

Dependent upon some other
force to elevate him, the shepherd is much like the sheep himself as he is led by
another force.  Thoreau, as a Transcendalist found this idea anathema, for he believed
in the importance of individualism and the integrity of the self.  For both Thoreau and
his contemporary Ralph Waldo Emerson, self-expression was paramount.  Man should,
according to Thoreau, "march to the beat of a different drummer," not be like the
shepherd, who has lost his humanity and individuality as he merely follows his sheep
even in thought.

What do you learn about Polyphemus in The Odyssey?Give some conclusion please. I need that now. Thanks! :D

Polyphemus is the name of the Cyclopes who Odysseus
encounters on his adventures after the Trojan War, as he attempts to find his way
home.

Odysseus lands on an island, and he and some of his
men set out to explore.  Polyphemus imprisons Odysseus and his men in the Cyclopes'
cave.  There, the monster eats some of our hero's best men.  Knowing they are doomed to
be eaten as well if they do not escape, Odysseus and his men get Polyphemus drunk and
blind the Cyclopes with a log they have sharpened.  Odysseus tells the ogre that his
name is "Nobody."

Once blinded, Polyphemus ventures out to
rouse help from his neighbors, bellowing that "Nobody" has blinded him.  The other
Cyclopses ignore Polyphemus, confused as to how "nobody" has harmed
him.

Unable to see, the Cyclopes must remove the gigantic
stone from the cave's entrance to let his sheep out to graze, but anticipates that
Odysseus and his men may try to escape.  Odysseus and his men tie themselves to the
underside of the sheep within the cave.  As the animals leave, the Cyclopes leans down
to feel their fleece to make sure it is an animal that passes him and not one of his
prisoners.  He does not notice the man concealed beneath each animal.  In this way,
Odysseus and his men escape and flee back to their ship.

As
Odysseus sails away, he torments and insults Polyphemus who is throwing boulders into
the water in an attempt to drown Odysseus and his men.  Odysseus is less than heroic in
his behavior with Polyphemus as he identifies who he really is and
boasts that he has beaten the hulking creature.  Furious, the Cyclopes calls upon his
father Poseidon to curse Odysseus; Poseidon does use his powers to
wreak havoc on the water and elements at sea to hinder Odysseus' progress in reaching
his homeland.

What is Formalist criticism?

Formalist criticism is one way that a reader can approach
his understanding of a text.  When a reader looks at a poem, play, story or novel from a
formalist perspective, he is looking solely at the work as something to be dissected, so
he looks for all of the literary techniques and devices that an author uses to create
the text and its meaning.  He does NOT look at the author's life, he does NOT consider
the text from a historical or psychological perspective; he does NOT consider how this
text is like other texts -- those are all other modes of literary
criticism.

Think of "Twinkle Twinkle" as an example.  With
formalist criticism the reader would notice the repetition of the word twinkle and
consider connotation and denotation of the word.  It would notice the first person
speaker of the poem.  He would note the use of simile in the 4th line (like a diamond in
the sky). He would note the refrain of the first two lines in lines 5 and 6, and he
would mark the meter and the ryhme scheme.  Once the poem was literarily dissected, then
the reader can consider how those elements work together to create the meaning of the
poem as a whole. 

You can read more about this mode of
criticism at the site listed below.

How does alveolar surface tension affect pulmonary ventilation?

Alveolar surface tension is regulated by the spread of
pulmonary surfactants, a lipid and protein mix that keeps the surface tension of the
alveoli consistent across the lungs. Because oxygen transference is harder with high
surface tension (oxygen molecules cannot easily pass through a membrane with high
surface tension), the surfactants allow lower the surface tension to facilitate
transfer. Breathing expands the alveoli, spreading the surfactants across the membrane
and increasing surface tension; as the alveoli become larger, their ability to transfer
oxygen decreases. When the alveoli are contracted, the surfactants are concentrated and
so it is easier to transfer oxygen. In this manner, the alveolar surface tension is
directly related to pulmonary ventilation (respiration) because it regulates the speed
and consistency of alveolar oxygen transference.

What are the symptoms of exposure to mercury and arsenic?

Exposure to mercury can cause symptoms which include
insomnia, nervousness, tremors, muscle twitches, mood swings and deficits on cognitive
tests. At higher amounts, it may affect the respiratory system and the kidneys and could
result in death. In fetuses, infants and children, it can cause neurological problems.
Exposure in the womb can affect the developing nervous system and brain. Therefore,
children are most vulnerable. Arsenic exposure has been associated with certain types of
skin cancer. Studies  show a possible link with lung, bladder, liver, colon, and kidney
cancers. Tremors, headaches and numbness as well as stomach upsets, diabetes and blood
pressure can all be affected. If children are exposed, they have a risk later in life of
developing respiratory diseases, lung cancer and it may adversely affect their
I.Q.'s.

Geographically speaking what part of the country does the story take place--a large city or small town?"I Stand Here Ironing" by Tillie Olsen

I believe the story, "I Stand Here Ironing," takes place
in a large city.  The clues are found in the following
words/phrases:

The narrator (Emily's mother) races home
from the streetcar after work; streetcars are found in big cities, not in small
towns.

The woman who cares for Emily when she is little
lives downstairs.  High rise apartment buildings, especially during the time this was
written, are found in cities, not in small towns, and it was not unusual for neighbors
who lived somewhere in an apartment building to provide daycare for working mothers who
lived in the same building, in the cities.

Nursery schools
in small towns tend to be more intimate and nurturing.  In this story, the nursery
school a "parking place for kids."  The reference to parking places could indicate a
large number of cars (as in a city), but the sense of a daycare being a place for
youngsters to be "stored" during the day indicates large numbers of kids and not enough
people to care for them--they would only have the resources to house them, not to teach
or nurture them.  This speaks of a big city.

The mother
takes her daughter to the clinic when she is sick.  Generally clinics are found in big
cities, especially where people do not have a lot of money for health care, as clinics
provide the basic kind of health care at a lower price than a doctor's office, which
charges more.

Finally, Emily is sent to a convalescent home
to recuperate from her illness.  It looks nice on the outside, but the space inside is
at a premium and Emily cannot even keep letters from home.  The food is unappetizing and
cheap, and money to run the home is raised by rich people running charity events to keep
the home afloat financially.

How do you make a stem-and-leaf diagram for this data: 27, 19, 35, 28, 25, 16, 40, 39, 32, 29, 31

The purpose of the stem and leaf  diagram to make the data
visually reprenting. We can have the knowlege of spread , centre and shape and out line
of of variation.

The representation contains the stem which
are usually the leading ( ot the digits in highest pklace ) and the trailing digits are
treated as on the leaf).

Example : In the given data  if
you rearang the data  could be classified as:

10 to 19
group : 16,19

20 to 29 proup: 25, 27,
28,29

30 to 39 group: 31, 32 , 35,
39

 40 to 49: 40.

We can
represent  the 10 to 16, in 10 to 19 group  as below:

We
show  16 and  19 in the stem 1 , as 1 is the leading digit in 16 and 19. The 6 in 16 and
9 in 19 wil be in leaf.

Similarl we write other groups .
The stem and leaf representation of the given data is as
below:

Stem       :     
leaf

1             :    6  ,  
9

2             :    5  ,   7  , 8  ,  
9

3             :    1  ,   2  , 5  ,  
9

4             :    0

The
representation also helps identify  the quartiles , median
easily.

At one point, John Proctor identifies revenge as the true evil that is affliciting Salem Village. What evidence is there to support Proctor's claim?

The primary support for John's claim is the incident of
the poppet found in the Proctors' household. The little doll belongs to Elizabeth, and
when questioned, she does not hesitate to claim it because she is innocent of any
wrongdoing. However, a needle is found in the poppet, evidence to those in the drama
that Elizabeth had been practicing witchcraft, stabbing the poppet to cause pain for
someone she wished to harm.

Elizabeth, however, had not
pushed the needle into the poppet; Abigail Williams had done it to incriminate
Elizabeth, to see that she is condemned and executed. Abigail hates Elizabeth and wants
John Proctor for herself, even though he ended their affair. John knows this, and Mary
Warren, when she is telling the truth, confirms that Abigail is misleading the court.
John tells the court that vengeance is afoot in Salem, but his protests are
ignored.

Why is Oberon angry with his queen?A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare

In Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream,
love is a prevalent motif.  Love can be blind, fantasy, reasonable, warlike. 
With Oberon and Titania in Scene I of Act II, Oberon and his fairy queen, Titania, argue
over each other's infidelities.  Titania accuses
Oberon

readability="23">

Playing on pipes of corn, and versing
love

To amorous Pillida.  Why art thou
here,

Come from the farthest steep of
India?

But that, forsooth, the bouncing
Amazon

Your buskin'd mistress and your warrior
love,

To Theseus must be wedded, and you
come

To give their bed joy and prosperity.
(1.2.67-73)

When Oberon
denies her charges, he is accused of lying by Titania.  Then he charges her with  "I
know thy love to Thesus" (2.1.77)  She also denies his accusation.  They then argue over
a changeling boy; Oberon says he wants the boy to be his "henchman."  Fearing that
Titania's attentions are already turned elsewhere, Oberon sees the boy as as a further
threat to his getting Titania's love.  In addition, if he can get this changeling boy,
Oberon will have established his dominance in their relationship.  For, at this point
there is much jealousy and need to dominate the other in the relationship between the
fairy king and queen.  With the jealousy of the two fairies, Shakespeare shows that all
of Nature is at odds since even the king and queen of fairies are arguing.  This
reinforces the Elizabethan thinking that the elemental forces--the fairies and other
supernatural beings--are the controllers of Nature, especially in the
woods.

Why does the author of A Thousand Splendid Suns make the change in the fourth part of the novel to present tense while the rest is in past tense?

Excellent question! In the fourth part of the novel, the
tone finally turns to a more hopeful one.  Laila discovers that Tariq is alive; she and
Mariam escape Rasheed (though it is through violence), and Laila and Tariq not only
begin to recognize a more optimistic future for themselves and their family, but they
also hope that Afghanistan might once again demonstrate the civilized and cultured
nature that it possessed during its Golden Age.  Present tense for this portion of the
novel illustrates the characters' ability to put the past behind them and live in the
present.

In contrast, Hosseini's use of past tense for the
earlier parts of the novel can be interpreted in several ways.  First, Afghanistan under
Taliban rule is a country chained to the oppressive ways of the past.  After the Soviet
withdrawal and the rise of the Taliban, the nation literally goes back in time,
something that has not occurred often in global history. Women are treated as
possessions.  Their clothing changes from the modern westernized clothing of the 1970s
to burqas, and technology that was once readily available in Afghanistan is banned or
sold as contraband.

Similarly, Hosseini most likely writes
most of the novel in past tense to demonstrate how one's past affects his or her
future.  In Mariam's case, her mother's past and her own past with her father dominates
everything in her married life--from her lack of self-esteem to her relationship with
Rasheed.  Laila's happier past with a doting father allows her to maintain a more
hopeful outlook on life.  Even though she endures much at the hands of Rasheed, Laila is
able to recall fond memories of her father and of Tariq which sustain her until the
book's fourth section. The author's presentation of two very different backgrounds (or
pasts) demonstrates that an individual's history influences his or her present and
future. Hosseini doesn't use past tense to argue that a person's past
controls his or her future--for Mariam is able to stand up for
herself and prove her self-worth--but he certainly illustrates the significance of past
influences.

Why is Tom Dacre compared to a sheep in Blake's "The Chimney Sweeper"?

Blake's "The Chimney Sweeper" is a powerful indictment of
a society that puts making money above its virtual enslavement and abuse of its
children.  Though the boys are not to blame--they are children, after all--their naivete
leads them to accept what society tells them and allows them to be pacified.  If ever
there was a good example of Marx's idea that religion is the opiate of the people, the
chimney sweeps in this poem are that example.

Tom's hair is
like that of a lamb, in that he is innocent and, like lambs are traditionally thought
of, a victim (a lamb being led to slaughter).  He will spend his days in confining,
black, dark chimneys (the coffins of the dream) and his only escapes are dreams and
death.  And the soot in his lungs will almost certainly lead to an early death.  The
sweeps are sold into servitude and made to think that it is okay, since their
imprisoned-like state will guarantee them a place in heaven.  If they behave in this
life (go along with the abuse without arguing) they will be rewarded in the next life: 
very convenient for those in power.

Blake condemns society
in this poem.  The children are mistaken in their naive, childish acceptance of their
fate, though again they are not to blame:  business people, political leaders, and the
church are to blame. 

Which of these statements about dialects is most correct?Out of the four below which one is the best true 1. Dialect is uncomplicated version of...

Your question is not as easy as you may think because
dialect has to do with vocabularly, grammar and pronunciation. Also, there are different
kinds of dialect. Some dialects are regional, and these dialects have to do with the way
language is pronounced as well as the different vocabulary terms from region to region.
However, dialect can ALSO refer to one's educational level or social-economic level. In
this case, numbers #3 and #4 could be true. However, in the strictest definition of
dialect, I would have to choose #2 if I could ONLY choose one. Dialect can be very
complicated, so #1 is not true, and #3 and #4 seem to be the same thing to me, so I am
going with #2.

The people in the southern United States
speak a regional dialect that is accented in a much different way than those that live
in the northern United States. In fact, people from these regions often cannot
understand each other if the pronunciation is especially pronounced, or "thick" as we
say. A person with a "thick" Texas accent, for example, often cannot be understood by
someone from the Bronx, New York, with a "thick" Bronx accent. But dialect is more than
just accent. The vocabulary is different as well and based on various elements that are
different in the culture, geography and history of the South and the
North.

Solve for x, f'(x)=0 if f(x)=x/(x^2+1).

The given function is a ratio and we'll determine it's
derivative using the quotient rule:

(u/v)'=
(u'*v-u*v')/v^2

f'(x)=[x/(x^2+1)]'=[x'*(x^2+1)-x*(x^2+1)']/(x^2+1)^2

f'(x)=
x^2+1-2x^2/(x^2+1)^2

f'(x)=(1-x^2)/(x^2+1)^2

We've
noticed that, at numerator, we have a difference of
squares:

a^2-b^2=(a-b)(a+b)

(1-x^2)=(1-x)(1+x)

So,
the solution of the equation f'(x)=0
are

(1-x)(1+x)=0

We'll set
each factor as zero:

1-x=0,
x=1

1+x=0, x=-1

What's the theme of " Address to the Slaves of the United States of America" by Henry Highland Garnet?

In my opinion, the major theme of this speech is that
slaves need to rebel against the system of slavery.  Garnet did not necessarily mean
that slaves should actually rebel violently, but he did advocate that they should resist
their oppressors.

The point here is that Garnet is not
telling slaves to make the best of their situation.  He is also not telling them to wait
until someone else comes to rescue them from slavery.  In other words, he is not telling
them to hope for abolitionists to get them freed.  He is telling them to take it upon
themselves to gain their freedom.

So I think what is
distinctive about this speech, its main theme, is the idea that slaves themselves must
get up and do something to free themselves.

Here is a quote
to support this:

readability="6">

Let your motto be resistance!
resistance! RESISTANCE! No oppressed people have ever secured their
liberty without resistance.

What does Elizabeth Proctor learn about herself?

Elizabeth actually learns many things in Arthur Miller's
The Crucible.  Her husband John had an affair with their former
servant Abigail.  Elizabeth finds out about it, confronts John, and then stays with him.
Clearly she learned how to forgive.  Another thing Elizabeth learned is that, despite
his moral failing, she loves her husband very much.  She understands and loves him
enough to let  him die at peace with God.  She learns that life isn't fair and that
jealousy is a powerful emotion, for she is unfairly punished because of a false
accusation made by Abigail.  Finally, among other things, Elizabeth is able to
understand it was her own insecurities which prompted her husband, at least in part, to
temporarily forsake her.  The last time she speaks to John she asks his forgiveness,
saying it's a cold woman who prompts her husband to lechery.  This is an epiphany of
sorts, and she is willing to take her share of the blame for John's adultery.  This
story is, indeed, a journey of self-discovery for Elizabeth. 

Which title is better and why--American Hunger, or Black Boy? In what sense does the publication of Black Boy reflect a fear of books present...

Richard Wright's autobiographical novel, Black
Boy, chronicles his life, his hunger for knowledge and acknowledgement both
in his own family and in society.  But, it is also the story of anyone who is socially
and economically deprived who wants to be able to have the opportunities to which he/she
is entitled as a human being. Wright's search for self is universal and, withing the
context of America, it is, indeed, a search for the "American
Dream."

The posthumously published American
Hunger takes off from where the earlier biography ends, chronicaling not only
his disillusionment with the Communist party with which Black Boy
deals, but also the difficulties that Wright experienced as a poor black in the urban
North.  At the end of this book Wright asks a question reflective of many that he has
asked in Black Boy:

readability="6">

What had I got out of living in America?....I
paced the floor knowing that all I possessed were words and a dim knowledge that my
country had shown me no examples of how to live a human
life.

Because
American Hunger, a more thorough autobiography, poses harsh
criticisms of Communism, Wright's publishers urged him to only release the "Southern"
version and not include his life in the North because the Book-of-the-Month Club
objected to his criticisms of the Communist party and threatened to withdraw its
support.  Black Boy was published in
1945.

A look back in history somewhat explains the urgings
of the publishers in the wake of the second world war and the stirring of the "Communist
Scare" of the 1950s with McCarthyism.  However, it is only right that Wright's
autobiography include all the significant events and influences of his life.  Thus,
American Hunger is a better title, for it is more comprehensive and
more fitting.  Wright's autobiography is a book that all Americans can read and relate
to in their own desires for improvement and advancement of
themselves.

What is a definition of apocalyptic literature? Why is this a form of writing that appears during extremely hard times?religion

Apocalyptic literature surfaces regularly when times are
tough because a great number of people still cling to widely held beliefs in the bible
which is still a best-seller after about 2000 years.

This
type of literature arises out of a response to books in the bible that foretell or
prophesy about events to come in the future. Since the book was written by a variety of
authors and a variety of years ago to be specific, it actually occurs about every
generation that apocalyptic literature re-emerges. The book of Mark in the bible
references the growing expedience of great storms and quakes as signs of the end of the
age. Many writers today would cite that all around us there are signs that the end is
near.

The link below has further information for your
perusal.

What is the exposition of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens?

As part of the plot in a work of literature, the
exposition gives readers information about characters, setting, and initial conflicts. 
In the early chapters of Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
introduces readers to his protagonist, Pip (who is a young child at the time), and the
people who influence his life. 

From the moment we meet Pip
in the graveyard, we understand that he is an extremely sensitive child who is clearly
upset by being alone and in the presence of his deceased, buried parents and siblings. 
Already shivering and about to cry, Pip is accosted by a convict, who demands that Pip
return the following day with food and a file and that he not tell anyone of this
encounter.  Traumatized, Pip returns home to his abusive sister, who is raising him "by
hand," and her husband Joe. 

As Dickens is a master of
character development, the exposition he provides in first few chapters of the novel
(with the focus on Pip's fear of the convict and fear of his sister) establishes Pip as
an overly-sensitive child who obsesses over things that are seemingly beyond his
control.  This information, though it may seem to accompany the isolated incident with
the convict, is essential to readers' understanding of Pip's character--and will also
help readers understand Pip's reactions to his interactions with Miss Havisham, Estella,
Magwitch, Herbert, Biddy, and Joe, among others.  Thus, Dickens is able to lay the
groundwork for his bildungsroman--with the focus on his protagonist, Pip, from page one
of the novel. 

What does the author of the poem "The Wanderer" miss most?

Twice the speaker in "The Wanderer" mentions the loss of
dear friends and confidants. In lines 9 through 16 he laments not having anyone to tell
the troubles of his heart and mind to. His suggests that it is the way of the warrior to
unburden his thoughts to his dearest friends because a "Weary mind" can not withstand
the ills of "fate" nor can a "troubled thought" provide "help" to anyone (15,
16).

Later on in the poem, near the end, the Wanderer says
the wose mind remembers many wars and because of his recollections he asks where are the
"horse ... the young warriors ... the gift-giver ... the feast seats .. the hall joys"
and the "bright cup" of flowing wine. From these two excerpts, it seems that the thing
the Wanderer misses the most are the beloved friends and family who know his heart, who
listen to his troubled thoughts, and who give him his joy.

List three embellishments or exaggerations made by Miller between the real Salem Witch trial and The Crucible

This is a good question, as we tend to take this
fictionalized work as exact historical truth.  Miller himself tells us, to some
degree, which elements of The Crucible are true and which he's
embellished, changed, or fabricated. 

In general terms, he
says, he has created each of the primary characters out of what can be surmised from
actual court documents, letters, news letters, and any references he was able to find
from others' writings.  Each of the characters who died in the play suffered the exact
fate as recorded in history. These are people who actually existed (I've been to Salem
and seen their graves), but not everything in the play is exact
history.

Miller tells us, in "A Note on the Historical
Accuracy of This Play" (found just before Act I in my copy of the play), what he changed
to suit his dramatic purposes. 

1. More girls than
   the few in this play were responsible for the "crying-out."  Obviously few is better for
   an audience to keep track of on stage.


2. More than two
   judges presided at the trials, all of equal standing.  Here, Miller uses two
   representative judges, one of whom is the more dominant spokesman for the
   court.


3. The actual Abigail was much younger than Miller's
   Abigail.  That means the whole affair with Proctor is not historically accurate; Miller
   tells us he gave his audience this motive for Abigail because anything more like what
   was real would have seemed too unbelievable for modern audiences to accept.  We
   understand why she wants to stir up trouble in the play; in reality, she was probably
   just trying to keep herself out of trouble for some minor (in our view) transgression. 
   The idea of such severe Puritanical punishments for such minor offenses is just too far
   removed from today's audience.

What led to the poverty increase during Reagan's years as president?

There are at least three different possible answers.  We
cannot know for sure which of them (or other possible answers) is the true answer. 
There is simply no way to know for a fact what causes something like this because there
are too many factors that could be involved.

Liberals, who
of course did not like Reagan, tend to blame the poverty on Reagan's cuts in government
programs.  They say that by cutting welfare and job training programs and such, he
failed to help people get out of poverty.

Another possible
explanation is that the economy became more globalized during the '70s and '80s.  This
led to rising poverty as relatively uneducated people (who used to be able to work for
good wages in factories) lost their jobs to countries with cheaper
wages.

Finally, you can say that it was all the liberal
programs of the '60s and beyond that caused the poverty.  Conservatives like to argue
that the poor in the '80s were poor because government programs had encouraged them to
be poor (by allowing them to survive even though they remained uneducated and without
job skills).

In Alias Grace, what do the images of jellyfish and birdcages used to describe the ladies imply?

Margaret Atwood's novel, Alias Grace
tells the story of a murder from the perspective of one of the accused murderers.  Grace
Marks has been institutionalized because she has no recollection of participating in the
murder.  A young doctor interviews her in the hopes of discovering her innocence, and we
learn the story through her words and memories.

The images
you mention, those of jellyfish and birdcages, occur in the first chapter of the book.
 Grace is describing the ladies that come to visit the home of the Governor.  She is in
charge of cleaning up the parlor after the visiting ladies have left, a job that she was
given because of her good behavior at the institution.  Grace describes the ladies in
their billowing dresses, saying:

readability="7">

They are like swans, drifting along on unseen
feet; or else like the jellyfish in the waters of the rocky harbour near our
house.

She first thinks of
jellyfish because its shape is like that of the skirts of the upper-class ladies.  But
she extends the metaphor:

readability="8">

They were bell-shaped and ruffled, gracefully
waving and lovely under the sea; but if they washed up on the beach and dried out in the
sun there was nothing left of them.  And that is what the ladies are like: mostly
water.

The ladies, like
jellyfish, are delicate and only able to survive in a very contained environment.  The
metaphor of the birdcage is similar.  Grace begins by using the birdcage to describe the
ladies' crinolines and underclothes, then extends the metaphor
again:

They
are like birdcages; but what is being caged in?  Legs, the legs of ladies; legs penned
in so they cannot get out and go rubbing up against the gentlemen's
trousers.

Again, the image of
the birdcage is used to emphasize the ladies confinement, both physically in the hooped
skirts, and metaphorically into a certain mode of behavior.

Analyze the first ­­­­paragraph of the novel. Who is telling the story and what does he think of Don Quixote?Don Quixote by Miguel de...

In his essay, "Cervantes as Narrator of Don
Quixote, Howard Mancing states that one critic, Parr, attributes the voice of
the narration to what he calls a "dramatized author." On the other hand, another
critic, John Weiger, calls this narrator a "prologuist," a voice separate from the
others of the novel, stating,

readability="8">

Few doubt that the prologuist's friend is a
fictional character.  Virtually no one doubts that the conversation is fabricated. It
follows that the fictitous friend's interlocutor, the prologuist is equally
fictitous.

Still, Allen
continues, some attribute the narration to the author since some of the historical
truths are consistent with those of the author himself.  And, since the author
fictionalizes himself at time, it is easiest for readers to make this final assumption. 
Alberto Poqueras Mayo, who has studied the prologue as a literary genre in sixteenth and
seventeenth century Spain, contends that the prologue is the author's direct link to the
reader; so, therefore, it is Cervantes who is the narrator.  As further evidence, there
are other works by Cervantes when he apparently is the author of the
prologues.

Since the main theme of Don
Quixote is the conflict between reality and fiction, it follows, Allen
continues, that there should be some confusion about who is the narrator of his
prologue, the author contends.  In the prologue to Part I, Cervantes pretends to discuss
with his friend the nature of prologues.  He states that he is not the
padre, but the padrasto of the book. That he is the
editor seems verified by his claim to have search archives of La Mancha for the data in
the narrative.  But, this may be Cervantes having a bit of fun at the convention of
books of chivalry which were purported to be historical
documents.

This irony sets the tone for the text: lightly
satiric, festive, and "intellectually subtle."  Cervantes's voice--whichever it may
be--accomplishes what prologues are meant to do:  It sets the readers' expectations and
gives them a concept of the narrative to follow.

Determine a and b and solve the equation x^4-7x^3+21x^2+ax+b=0 if 1+2i is the root of equation.

x^4-7x^3+21x^2+ax+b = 0 has a root 1+2i
.

Therefore the conjugate of 1+2i is also a root of the
given equation.

The conjugate of 1+2i is
1-2i.

Therefore , (x-(1+2i)) and (x-(1-2i)) are the factors
of x^4-7x^3+21x^2+ax+b by remainder
theorem.

(x-1-2i)(x-1+2i) = (x-1)^2 - (2i)^2 = (x^2-2x+1+4)
= (x^2+5x+5) is also a factor.

Therefore the x^2-7x^3+21x^2
+ax+b  should be divisible by  (x^2-2x+5).

So we divide
x^4-7x^3+21x^2+ax+b by
x^2-2x+5.

x^2-2x+5)x^4-7x^3+21x+ax+b(
x^2

                x^4 -2x^3
+5x^2

------------------------------------------

x^2-2x+5)
-5x^3+16x^2 +ax+b ( x^2-5x

                  -5x^3 +10x^2
-25x

-------------------------------------------------

x^2-2x+5)6x^2+(a+25)x+b
(x^2-5x+6

                 6x^2 -12x
+30

---------------------------------------

                            (
a+25 +12)x +(b-30)

So the remainder  =  (a+37)x +(b-30)
.

Since x^2-2x+5  is factor of  x^4-7x^3+21x^2+ax+b, the
remainder (a+37)x +(b-30)  should be zero.

Therefore  the
coefficient of x , a+37= 0 and  the contant term b-30 =
0.

Therefore a = -37  and  b =
30.

So the given equation should be
x^2-7x^3+21x^2-37x+30

What are some quotes related to the theme Appearance vs Reality?Lord of the Flies by William Golding

William Golding's Lord of the
Flies the theme of Appearance vs. Reality runs throughout the narrative.  It
is introduced as Ralph looks around and is

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forced at last to believe in the reality of the
island laughed delightedly again and stood on his head....Here at last was the imagined
but never fully realized place leaping into real
life.

This delight and "vivid
phantoms of his day-dream" stands in sharp contrast to the reality of Ralph's tearful
acknowledgement of the loss of innocence at the novel's
conclusion.

Later in Chapter One as the boys explore the
island, Golding writes that they come upon a pink
granite

stack
of balanced rock projecting through the looped fantasy of the forest creepers.  Where
the pink cliffs rose out of the ground there were often narrow track winding
upwards.

This illusion of
tropical beauty is later disturbed by the reality of hunting the pigs who have made
these trails, and the killing of Piggy by the jetting of one of the great pink boulders,
just like the one  which shakes "as with the passage of an enraged monster"
when the boys push it off onto his head in this chapter.  The forest creepers, "the
curtain of creepers," are not a fantasy, but rather symbolic of the insidious evil of
the atavistic evil lying in the souls of the civilized
boys. 

This theme of Appearance vs. Reality runs throughout
Golding's narrative:  In Chapter Two Jack "passes like a shadow under the darkness of
the tree."  Also representative of the theme are the references to the bright beach
where the sun is blinding, the "illusions of the lagoon" in Chapter Three and the
bathing pool where the boys meet in comaradery.  In fact, the prevalent light/dark
imagery suggests the dfference between illusion and reality. For instance, Golding
alludes to the reflection of light upon Piggy's glasses ("the flash of Piggy's glasses
in Chapter Four) and the "opaque look in Jack's eyes" (4) In this same chapter, Golding
writes,

They
grew accustomed to these mysteries and ignored them, just as they ignored the miraculous
throbbing stars.  At midday the illusion merged into the sky and the sun gazed down like
an angry eye....menaced by the coming of the dark.  When the sun sank, darkness dropped
on the island like an extinguisher and soon the
shelter...

In other passages,
Golding alludes to the flash of Piggy's glasses in contrast to the
opaque 

Certainly the description of the sadistic Roger in
Chapter Four underlies the deception of civilization.  For, while Roger does not hit
little Henry at whom he throws stones--"that object of preposterous time"--once the
vestiges of civilization erode, the reality of Roger's intrinsic evil is evidenced in
his slaughter of Piggy, the rational being.

The recognition
of the dilemma of what is real and what is not is clearly evidenced in Ralph's thoughts
in Chapter Four as he rolls on his stomach and

...pretended
not to see.  The mirages had died away and gloomily he ran his eye along the taut blue
line of the horizon.  In Chapter Five, Ralph waits as he has called a late afternoon
meeting:

They
had never had an assembly as late before.  That was why the place looked so different. 
Normally the underside of the green roof was lit by a tangle of golden reflections, and
their faces were lit upside down [appearance]...But now the sun was slanting in at one
side, so the shadows were where they ought to be
[reality]

Again he fell into that strange mood of
speculation....If faces were different when lit from above or below--what was a face? 
What was anything?

Of course,
the Beast, the Lord of the Flies, is the most salient emblem of the theme of Appearance
vs. Reality.  For, the boys attribute different forms to him:  a snake, something in the
sky, and the pig's head.  Only Simon recognizes the true nature of the
"beast":

"You
knew, didn't you?  I'm part of you?  Close, close, close!  I'm the reason why it's no
go?  Why things are what they
are?" 

Write the character sketch of Bill Driscoll in "The Ransom of Red Chief.""The Ransom of Red Chief" by O. Henry

Bill Driscoll of "The Ransom of Red Chief" is a con-man
who, along with his partner Sam, decides to kidnap the son of a prominent citizen of the
small town of Summit, Alabama.  With Sam, Bill assumes that the residents to such a
"deleterious and self-satisfied class of peasantry" will be easy prey.  However, when
they approach the freckled son of the town's banker, the child throws a piece of brick
into Bill's face.  This action is the beginning of Bill's role reversal into
terrorized victim.

From this
point on in O. Henry's humorous tale, Bill is terrorized by the boy who calls himself
"Red Chief, the terror of the plains."  He "never closed an eye again in sleep as long
as that boy was with us."  At one point Red Chief attempts to scalp Bill after tying
him.  After this incident, Bill's anxiety increases to the point where he begs Sam to
not leave him alone with the boy; he begs Sam to reduce the amount of the ransom so that
the father will assuredly take the boy back.

With his
characteristic ironic twist upon the stories that he writes O. Henry has Bill and Sam
are reduced from con-men to "desperate men" who pay Dorset to reclaim his son.  After
the father takes the boy, Bill apprehensively asks how long he can hold him so that he
can flee:

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

Are there any objections between theory and practice in the context of Asian teaching situations? If so, what are they?

There is much within this question that poses some
challenges in answering effectively.  The most primary of them in my mind is the term
"Asian teaching situations."  Attempting to make a blanket statement about all of the
teaching in Asia might be a bit too reductive for my tastes.  Additionally, it presumes
that there is a standard model, accepted and standardized all over the continent.  This
might not be the best way to go on this.  The other issue is the use of the word
"objections."  Perhaps, it might be better to focus on the idea of theory and practice
as well as the gap between the two.  With these in mind, I guess that I will try to
forge an answer that might only confuse the issue even
more.

I think that the teaching models all over the world
are being questioned and reexamined in light of the 21st Century workplace our students
will be entering.  No one knows what this is going to be like.  Not many were able to
make the call ten years ago that the current wave of education would so heavily involve
technology in the manner it does right now.  In America, not many would have been able
to foresee the specific challenges schools are facing in meeting the demands of
legislation of "No Child Left Behind."  Ten years ago, few would have grasped how strong
the reality would be of "the rise of the rest," as Zakaria says, in articulating the
growth of nations like India, China, and Brazil on the world economic stage.  All of
this is to say that few people have a full understanding of where the job market's
direction will be and even fewer have an iron clad vision of how education will change.
 The one thing that is known that all of the paradigms that teachers all over the world
have embraced for years will have to be reassessed in making sure that we are preparing
our students to be competitive in this undefined and, frankly, unknown workplace
setting.  This will mean that our traditional models of testing and assessment,
curriculum and pedagogy, approaches to theory and practice will all have to undergo
severe examination in making sure that they are preparing students for the future
workplace, as opposed to workplaces that no longer exist.

What Christian element is emphasized in "The Seafarer"?

The second part of "The Seafarer" contains many references
to the speaker's relationship with god.  God is an entity to be feared.  He is the
Creator:

He
turns the earth,

He set it swinging firmly in
space,

Gave life to the world and light to the
sky.

In return, god expects
men to remember him.

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Death leaps at the fools who forget their
God.

He who wants to live
forever must "live humbly."  He must not be overly concerned with material wealth.  He
must not harm others even if wrong is done to him.  These tenets sound very similar to
Jesus' "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" or "Turn the other
cheek."

God is mighty and capable of giving us eternal
life.  But if we get caught up in the riches of the world, if we forget to live humbly
or if we forget to praise our god, we will not have the "hope of Heaven." or "eternal
joy."

In The Crucible, explain why Giles Corey ''would not answer aye or nay to his indictment.''

This part of the play comes in Act IV, when Elizabeth and
John have their final meeting. They talk of how, having tortured John Proctor, they want
his life, and how others have confessed, all except for Rebecca Nurse and Giles Corey.
Elizabeth tells John how Giles died and how he did not hang, like so many others that
would not confess to their supposed crimes. Note how he
died:

He were
not hanged. he would not answer aye or nay to his indictment; for if he denied the
charge, they'd hang him surely, and auction out his property. So he stand mute, and died
Christian under the law. And so his sons will have his farm. It is the law, for he could
not be condemned a wizard without he answer the indictment, aye or
nay.

So here we see the
dilemma that Giles faced due to the absurd law of the Salem witch trials - if he
confessed to "wizardry", he would lose his name and self-respect (the same choice that
John Proctor needs to make), but if he denied the charge he would hang and the law would
seize his farm. To avoid making that decision, he was crushed to
death, undoubtedly making Elizabeth's assessment of his life
correct:

It
were a fearsome man, Giles
Corey.

Note how the life of
Giles Corey foreshadows the kind of decisions that John Proctor needs to make in the
play.

In Act 3, after the assassination, the protagonist appears who drives the rest of the action through the rest of the play. Who is this person?What...

The character who comes to the forefront in Act Three is
Marc Antony.  After the conspirators leave the scene of the crime, Marc Antony plots his
revenge and then carries it out through the rest of Act Three.  He uses his ability to
command the language and his ability to persuade the commoners to get revenge on the
conspirators, specifically Brutus and Cassius.  Marc Antony is able to induce the
conspirators to action so he doesn't have to be guilty of an unfavorable
action.

He are prepared for Marc Antony and his tactics by
his brief appearance in Act Once, scene two.  He has few lines, but his loyalty to
Caesar is evident:  "When Caesar says do this, it is
performed."

However, I would argue that Marc Antony is not
the protagonist of this play.  The play centers around Brutus and his decisions and
consequences thereof.  Brutus desires are better Rome, and figures that Rome will be
better under the rule of himself or others, not Julius Caesar.  Marc Antony is what
stands in Brutus' way of establishing a new Roman republic.  However, an argument can be
made either way.

How can you get trichinosis?

Trichinosis is a parasitic disease caused by infection
with a tiny worm called Trichinella spiralis.

The human is
infested eating pork, wild boar, and sometimes horse meat, insufficiently heat
prepared.

Symptoms - appear after a few days or weeks after
ingestion of the meat: high fever, diarrhea, fatigue, pain and
cramps.

To confirm diagnosis of trichinosis blood tests and
muscle biopsy are necessary  to detect larvae.

If the
infection is found in the intestinal phase, it is used the anthelmintic treatment but
for the muscles' infection is no longer
effective.

Mortality is low, infected patients being
usually asymptomatic, those with clinical  symptomsgetting better in 2-3 weeks. If the
infection is severe clinical symptoms may take up to 2-3
months.

Factors affecting morbidity
include:

- the amount of larvae
ingested,

- the species to which they belong, spiralis
having the highest degree of infectivity 

- the immune
status of the host

Patients die because pneumonia,
pulmonary embolism, encephalitis or heart failure with or without arrhythmias. Death
occurs at 4-8 weeks, but also in 2-3 weeks.

Children seem
to be more resistant to infection, however, their symptoms are more intense, also  they
develop complications of fever and they recover more quickly.

How do you write an equation of the line that passes through 3,4 and is parallel to y = -2?

Two parallel lines have equal slopes. To find the slopes
of the 2 lines, we have to put the equation of the lines in the standard form, which
is:

y = mx + n, where m represents the slope and n is the y
intercept.

We know, from enunciation, that the equation of
one of the 2 lines is y = -2. From this equation, we conclude that the y intercept is
-2, meaning that n = -2 and the slope is m = 0.

According
to the rule, the slopes of 2 parallel lines are equal, we conclude that the slope of the
other line is also m = 0.

We know that the line is passes
through the point (3,4).

That means that the coordinates of
the point verifies the equation of the line: y  = mx+n.

4 =
0*3 + n (we've put the slope m = 0)

n =
4

So, the equation of the line, which is parallel to the
line  y = -2 and it passes through the point (3,4)
is:

y =
4

EXPLAIN "Cassio's a proper man. Let me see now:/ To get his place and to plume up my will/ In double knavery."I am explaining how Iago is killing 2...

This quote, which occurs in the final scene of Act 1,
shows the beginnings of Iago's plan to get back at Othello.  In reading this soliloquy,
we learn that Iago hates Othello not just because Othello promoted Cassio to the
position of lieutenant, but also because Iago suspects that Othello has slept with
Emilia.  He admits that he knows "not if 't be true," but will assume it is to justify
his own actions. 

The first part of the quote you're
referring to ("Cassio's a proper man") is actually an acknowledgement of Cassio's good
looks, as in this case, "proper" means "handsome."  This is significant because, as we
learn just a few lines later in the soliloquy, Iago will "abuse Othello's ear/that he
(Cassio) is too familiar with his (Othello's) wife"--meaning that Iago tell Othello that
Desdemona and Cassio are having an affair.  Iago determines that because Cassio is so
handsome, Othello will be more likely to believe that Desdemona is in love with
Cassio. 

By telling Othello this story, Iago will
presumably win Othello's trust, and will cause a divide between Othello and Cassio at
the same time.  Obviously, then, "to get his place" refers to Iago's hope that once he
tells Othello of these fabricated infidelities, Othello will dismiss Cassio as
lieutenant and promote Iago in his place. (Further, "plume up my will" is typically
footnoted to translate to "put a feather in one's cap" or "glorify.")  Thus, Iago, a
master manipulator, will be able to "kill two birds with one
stone."  

In "A Streetcar Named Desire," why does Blanche find subduing her lust and sexual appetite so difficult?How do we describe her form of desire ?...

Blanche, in "A Streetcar Named Desire", finds it very
difficult to control her sexual appetite and lust. We must remember that she was let go
from her teaching position for having an inappropriate relationship with a student.
(This shows two things: 1) Her appetite surpasses her morality; and 2) Her internal
conflict with aging.)

Many times throughout the text
readers, or viewers of the play, see her actions as sexual. She is constantly bathing
herself and complaining about light.  She is trying to maintain a youthful appearance by
masking her true one.

One example from the text where we
can see her indiscretions is her meeting with the boy collecting for the paper.  Blanche
literally throws herself at him and refuses to allow him to leave before getting a
kiss.

As for her past, Blanche survived by prostituting
herself. Therefore, the only way she knows how to survive is through the promise, or
allusion, of sex.

In the end, everything Blanche knows
about sex comes to a blistering end when she is raped by Stanley.  While sexual tension
has existed between them (and most of the other men in the play), any rape should not be
warranted. Regardless, the one thing (sexuality) that helped her to survive became the
main part of her ultimate destruction.

In Chapter 8 of Great Expectations, how do Pip and Estella interact?Is there proof?

When Pip is escorted by Uncle Pumblechook to Manor House,
also called ironically, Satis House, Estella is short with Pumblechook and condescending
to Pip.  Sarcastically, she tells Pip who looks around him that he could drink without
hurt all the strong beer that is brewed there now, for everything is in decay.  Then,
although she is almost the same age as Pip, she calls him "boy."  When Pip tries to be
polite, telling her she may precede him as he readies himself after ascending the
stairs, to enter a room, she says, "Don't be ridiculous, boy.  I'm not going
in."

Pip enters and encounters Miss Havisham for the first
time.  When she tells him to call Estella, he is uncomfortable in calling out her name,
but does so.  Estella responds and Pip narrates that she came along "like a star."  When
Miss Havisham tells her she can play with Pip, Estella haughtily responds, "With this
boy?  Why, he's a common labouring boy!"  However, Miss Havisham has her sit down to
play cards with Pip.  While doing so, Estella ridicules him:  She remarks that he calls
knaves "jacks," and he has coarse hands and thick boots.  Then, as Estella wins the card
game, she throws down the cards as though she despises
them.

As she escorts Pip out, she provides him with a meal,
but Pip is disconsolate at the scornful way that she has treated him.  He finds himself
crying and Estella mocks him for it.  Then, when Estella returns later with the keys to
let him out, she asks him mockingly why he does not cry then?  When he tells her he does
not want to, Estella again laughs contemptuously,

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"You do.  You've been crying till you're half
blind, and you are near crying
now."

Estella laughs with
contempt again, pushes him out the gate, and locks it.

How to solve inequalities with absolute value?I actually know how to solve it for the one problem I have has fraction in it so can someone help me...

To solve  |x-3 over|+2
<6

Solution:

|(x-3)/2|
+2 < 6.

Subtract 2 from both
sides:

|(x-3)/2| +2 - 2 <
6-2

|(x-3)/2| < 
4.

Case i:

If (x-3) >
3, then  (x-3)/2 < 4. Multiply by 2 both sides:

x-3
< 4*2 = 8 . Add 3 to both sides:

x < 8+3
=11

x
<11............................................................(1)

Case
ii:

If x -3 < 0, then LHS |x-3)/2| = (3-x)/2. So the
inequality becomes:

(3-x)/2 +2 < 6. Subtract 2 from
both sides:

(3-x)/2 < 
6-2

(3-x)/2 <  4. Multiply by 4 both
sides:

3-x < 4*2 =
8

3-x  < 8.  Subtract 8 from both
sides:

3-8 -x <
8-8.

-11-x < 0. Add x to both
sides:

-11< x. Or

 x
>
-3..........................................(2).

Combining
the inequalities at (1) and (2), we get:

-11 < x
< 11

So x  is a number  between -11 and
11.

Or x belongs to the open interval (-11 , 11)  or x
belongs to  the open interval  ] -11 ,11[ .

Summarize Chapter 6 ("Of the Training of Black Men") in The Souls of Black Folk.

The chapter advocates the importance of higher education
of African Americans not only for themselves but for American civilization as a whole.
DuBois claims that African American college graduates have been "conservative, careful
leaders". Their education has allowed them to understand the importance of cooperation
between the races. Thus, they have not become mob agitators, but are performing much
needed work to construct a fairer and more peaceful society. To DuBois, denying
education to the nine million African Americans that live in America would lead them to
brood "over the wrongs of the past and the difficulties of the present" preventing them
to apply their talent to a constructive cooperation with the whites to the advantage of
American civilization.