Explain what is meant by this phrase from the novel A Separate Peace: "Nothing endures, not a tree, not love, not even a death by violence."

In A Separate Peace," the narrator
returns to the scene of the crime, so to speak, years after the events that he relates
to the reader in the novel take place.  The statement you ask about refers to the
narrator's reaction to those events.

The tree is only a
tree, when Gene returns and sees it again.  The associations and mythical-like qualities
the tree held for him those years ago are no longer present for him.  The tree is no
longer threatening or "bigger than life."  Also, he did not despair over what he did to
Finny.  He has learned to live with it.  And his love for Finny was very much envy and
jealousy and obsessive suspicion.  Gene's statement is a sophisticated response, in that
he doesn't try to explain away what he's done, or try to give some moralistic one-liner
to demonstrate some lesson in all this:  he doesn't try to assign some cosmic
significance to the events.

Time has passed and nothing
lasts.  Life continues.  Gene has moved on, as, of course, we might assume other
characters have--except Finny. 

What is Atticus' view on capital punishment as revealed by his conversation with Scout in chapter 23?Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird

The view that Atticus Finch has toward capital punishment
is that of an honest and conscientious lawyer: 

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"The law says 'reasonable
doubt,'but I think a defendant's entitled to the shadow of a doubt. 
There's always the possibility, no matter how improbable, that he's
innocent."

As an illustration
of Atticus's cogent points, the famous actor, Henry Fonda, produced a movie that is
shown often on the classic movie channel; this movie is a film adaptation of a play
entitled Twelve Angry Men and the narrative involves the trial of a
youth who has apparently stabbed his father to death.  Most of the action takes place in
the jury room as the jurors first vote 11 to 1 on a guilty charge.  But, Henry Fonda's
character insists upon closely examining all the evidence and reviewing the testimony of
the witnesses, their credibility, etc. for reasonable
doubt.  Finally, after several votes and more examination and discussion,
Henry Fonda's character convinces ten of the others that there is 'reasonable
doubt'--the other juror begrudgingly goes along--and the youth is acquitted.  Were it
not for Fonda's objectively reasonable character, the youth would have been found
guilty, just as Tom Robinson's has been.

What do we mean by deconstruction and structuralism? Give short and comprehensible definitions of both.

Both concepts have to do with what a text has to offer as
compared to how you read a text ( feminist criticism for instance is a way of reading a
text). Deconstruction originates in the 60s with Jaques Derrida's
work Grammatology. While Derrida never gives a precise definition
of Deconstruction, he argues that it is impossible to pinpoint the meaning
of a text because the text is full of internal contradictions. This does
not mean that characters contradict themselves, but rather
that a text is structured in a way that does not permit closure for a reader because it
is not a discrete whole.

Structuralism had already been in
use when Derrida wrote and it influenced his thinking. Structuralism originates with the
thinking of Ferdinand de Saussure who is considered the first semiotician. But the
foundational work of Structuralism was done by the Formalist School in Russia, the
Prague School and in France by Roland Barthes. There are other adherents though.
Structuralism derives from an attempt to give literary criticism a more scientific mode
of looking at a text.While it can be understood to be an intellectual movement, in terms
of literary analysis it means that a text reflects cultural structure,
which in turn is modeled on language. Hence, a text is reflective of the
culture it was produced in. Later on, Marxist critics would make use of this idea and
begin to argue that a text is reflective of
ideology.

Structuralism is very specific and formulaic at
times, forcing  close engagement with a text. Hope this helps.

log (2x) - log (x+4) = log 5

We'll impose the constraints of existence of
logarithms:

2x>0

x>0

x+4>0

x>-4

The
common interval of values that satisfies both constraints is (-0 ,
+inf.).

Now, we'll solve the equation. First, we'll add log
(x+4) both sides:

log (2x) - log (x+4) + log (x+4) = log 5
+ log (x+4)

log (2x) = log 5 + log
(x+4)

Now, we'll use the product property of the
logarithms:

log (2x) = log
5*(x+4)

Because the logarithms have matching bases, we'll
use the one to one property:

2x = 5x +
20

We'll subtract 5x both
sides:

2x-5x = 20

-3x =
20

We'll divide by -3:

x =
-20/3 < 0

Since the solution is negative, is not
admissible, so the equation has no solutions!

Explain the significance of the title?

I can only assume that Flannery O'Connor's title for "A
Good Man is Hard to Find" is meant to coexist with the mood of her sometimes humorous
but ultimately terrifying short story. None of the male characters in the story are good
men; thus, the title. The Misfit is pure evil, and his accomplice is no better. Son
Bailey is henpecked and indecisive; he wears a yellow shirt--a flag for his cowardly
behavior. Grandson John Wesley follows in his weak father's footsteps; he is overweight
and wears glasses. Red Sammy, who remarks that "a good man is hard to find," is a
seemingly likable fellow, but he treats his wife like a slave and revels in the past.
The title displays its ironic intent at the end of the story when the family finds their
way into the hands of the anything but good Misfit.

Write a critical and explanatory note on Mrs. Sparsit and Cecilia Jupe.

In Hard Times, Dickens embodies a
villainous conniving female in Mrs. Sparsit and a heroic warmhearted female in Cecilia
Jupe, also called Sissy. In typical Dickensian fashion, Mrs. Sparsit's name gives away
her characteristics. She is sparse in human compassion and goodness; rather like an "it"
more appropriate for the facts and figures of Gradgrind's school than a human
appropriate for living in the world with other humans. Cecilia's namesake is the blind
virgin Christian martyr of the second or third century whose name means one who is
blind. Taken in Dickensian terms, this indicates a noble blindness to judging others
weaknesses and errors. Cecilia the blind is a patron saint and Sissy became like a
patron to Louisa when she came to Louisa's rescue by ordering Harthouse out of
town.

Mrs. Sparsit is a malicious woman with no
lovingkindness in her bitterly disappointed soul. She desires to ruin Bounderby's
marriage to Louisa in order to fulfill her own desire of marrying Bounderby herself,
thereby re-elevating her financial and social position; she is an elite aristocrat who
fell from society and wealth through a bad marriage that went very bad and ended.
Deceitful, dishonest and manipulative, Mrs. Sparsit has no trouble falsly accusing
Louisa of immoral behavior with Mr. Harthouse, which she does partly out of revenge for
Louisa for spoiling her pleasant situation with her marriage to Bounderby and partly out
of a ploy to get rid of Louisa so her own dreams of marriage can be
fulfilled.

Cecilia Jupe's surname probably hearkens back to
the Middle English word "jubbe," which is a metonymic name for a person whose occupation
is that of a cooper and which refers to a four-gallon barrel. This reinforces, in
Dickensian style, the concept of Cecilia being full of human kindness and compassion.
The deserted daughter of a circus performer, Mr. Gradgrind gives her shelter and an
education at his school that advances the primacy of facts and figures over the higher
human qualities of the heart, which are the only qualities that Sissy has in abundance.
She is not only warmhearted but also courageous since she faces up to Harthouse and
prevents him from bothering Louisa any further than he has already
done.

When Armand rejected Desiree, were his actions deliberate or was he ignorant of what she might do?When Armand rejected her, did he know she would...

There is not enough evidence in the story to suggest that
Armand would drive his wife to suicide knowingly, but there is enough evidence to
suggest that he was quite careless about what she and her child would do, even if it
would involve death. What this means is that he cared so little about them that whether
they were dead or alive, as long as they were out of his life, he was
agreeable.

However, it would be too easy to declare that he
would be ignorant of how much pain he would cause, and how much he was taking away from
her. This being said, Armand's selfishness would stop at nothing, and he did intend to
inflict pain due to his inner anger. Yet, its not too arguable that he wanted her to
kill herself.

Please describe the mining boom that swept the West in the late 1800s.

Mining played an important part in the development of the
western U.S. especially during the 1800s. Gold was discovered in California in 1848 and
in Colorado in 1858. The price for gold and silver was quite high, so thousands of
people rushed to these areas to stake a claim and mine their land. Some of the mineral
deposits were in placer mines, meaning that they had been deposited by silt and water
and had to be sifted out to be collected. Although mining is often associated with gold
and silver, coal was also a very important mineral because it was used in
industry.

The Colorado “Gold Rush” is sometimes called “The
Pike’s Peak Gold Rush”. Participants were called “The Fifty-Niners.” The Gold Rush in
Colorado and in other western states created a host of what were called “Boom Towns.”
Usually the Boom Towns were run by the mining companies and often were places of
lawlessness. In some of the mining towns, the gold and silver veins were not very good
and when they were depleted, the towns became “Ghost Towns”. Also, towards the end of
the 1800s, the price of silver plummeted and many people who had become rich were soon
bankrupt. Here in Colorado where I live, we have all sorts of colorful characters that
were involved in the gold and silver mining business such as silver baron Horace Tabor
and his infamous wife Baby Doe Tabor who lived in Leadville, Colorado. Creede, Colorado
is also a famous former mining town.

Mining is a dangerous
endeavor and in order to find good mineral deposits (for gold, silver, coal or whatever)
mines often must be dug deep into the ground. This creates a lot of danger for the
miners and the west is fraught with stories of miners revolting over dangerous
conditions and then being massacred by the mine owners. If you do some research, you can
find out a lot more about this interesting subject.

What were the social climates, philosophical attitudes, and political climates of J.D. Salinger's formative years?especially in regards to The...

J. D. Salinger was born and raised in Manhattan. His
formative years were shaped by the philosophies of what is called The Lost Generation.
These were a group of writers and artists that lived and worked in Europe after World
War I and up to The Great Depression. While Salinger was too young to really be one of
them (he was born in 1919), he was greatly influenced by their work – the hopelessness
that came from witnessing “the war to end all wars.” These writers included Hemingway,
Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, John Steinbeck, Ezra Pound, and T. S. Eliot, among others.
Salinger in fact met and carried on a correspondence with Ernest Hemingway, whose
writing particularly influenced him.

Salinger was drafted
during World War II and served as an interrogator because he spoke French and German. He
was involved in liberating a concentration camp. His experiences during the war caused a
mental breakdown (we might call it PTSD today) and he was hospitalized for awhile
because of this. He had some early relationship issues with women (like Holden), but
eventually married when he was in his
mid-30s.

The Catcher in the Rye was
published in 1951, during the Cold War. His anti-hero, Holden, is a classic
representation of the alienated adolescent and became insanely popular with young people
growing up in the 1950s and 1960s. Salinger became a recluse in his later life and
stopped publishing stories in 1965.

Like many of his
contemporaries, he became interested in different religions and became a Buddhist for
awhile as well as a Christian Scientist and Scientologist. His life cannot really be
described as happy – perhaps “searching” would be a better word. His alienation comes
out as a theme in many of his writings and almost all of his stories, novellas and
novels are about innocents, children. He died in 2010 in New
Hampshire.

Discuss the nature & significance of morale? Describe the relationship between morale and productivity?no

One of the most fundamental elements of morale is the idea
of a purpose larger than simply that of bringing home a paycheck, adding a sense of
purpose or a particular goal to the motivations for an employee or a company in order to
increase productivity.  The fact is that when a reward (in most cases in the form of
compensation) is attached to a task, intrinsic motivation generally
decreases.

So if you can instill a sense of purpose in the
workings of a company or in the mind of an employee, the intrinsic motivation to be
productive or to do a good job with the tasks being given them increases, thus
increasing productivity.

How were Walton, Frankenstein and the Monster all “imprisoned” in some way throughout Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, each
of the main characters, Walton,Victor Frankenstein, and the creature, is consumed by an
idee fixe.  That is, they are obsessed with one
idea. 

With Walton, it is the exploration of the North Pole
that is his idee fixe. For, it is not until the crew beg him to turn back that he does. 
Still, like Victor, he listens to the creature's poignant tale and lets him
live. 

With Victor Frankenstein, his "vaulting ambition"
and pride that drives him to "play God" and create his own being.  Then, after he
has given life to an aberration, he is repulsed and flees.  After he learns of the death
of his brother William, Victor's ego will not permit his being honest and claiming
responsibility for the deaths of two people.  Instead, he vows to pursue the "monster"
he has created, allowing him to kill more people in his path of revenge against Victor.
Finally, the creature becomes obsessed with avenging himself against Victor after he is
rejected by the DeLaceys.  He blames Victor for giving him life and making him hideous
to others; when Victor reneges on his promise to make a mate, the creature continues in
his obsession by killing Elizabeth on her wedding night when Victor leaves the
room. 

WHAT CAUSES INGROWN TOENAILS?

Ingrown toenail is a condition in which nails of a toe,
particularly in the big toe, grows such a way that sharp corners of the toe edges grow
into the flesh at the side of the nails. Ingrown toenails cause pain and inflammation in
the toe. The pain varies in severity depending on the extent to which the nail digs in
the flesh. This area can get infected also causing further pain and problems, including
abscess.

The causes of ingrown toe nails
include:

• Tight fitting shoes or shoes with high
  heals.


• Improper trimming of toe
  nails.


• Fungal infection of the toe
  nails


• In injury or repetitive impact on the toes, for
  example the impact caused by kicking a football.


• Shape of
  toes and the toe nails. This is influenced by heredity. Thus some people may have
  greater tendency to have ingrown
  toenails.

How is the Salinas River relevant to Of Mice and Men and John Steinbeck (his personal life)?

Steinbeck grew up in Salinas, CA, and many of his works
are set in the Salinas River Valley area, most likely because he knew the area so
well. Steinbeck stressed realism in his writing. He lived among migrant workers to study
their dialect and to be able to sympathize with their plight. He wanted to expose the
struggles of the outcast or downtrodden, and visiting areas around his hometown allowed
him plenty of opportunities to get to know those whom he
championed.

The Salinas River does play a literal and
figurative role in Of Mice and Men. During the Great Depression,
the Salinas River Valley was one of the few places in the country where work could be
found. The land there was not barren from drought, and people from across the country
migrated there. Thus, it is realistic for George and Lennie to wander from job to job
and even for them to be from somewhere that is most likely far away from the Tyler
Ranch. Figuratively, a river is where the novella begins and ends, and it represents a
peaceful, soothing place for both George and Lennie. By the river, they are able to be
"their own boss," and no one harasses Lennie or forces George to defend him. In this
aspect, the river plays a similar role as the Mississippi River in Huck
Finn--it's a place free of social and cultural disdain or
rules.

What is the theme of the play, A Midsummer Night's Dream? Is it love? Dreams?

In considering how fantasy versus reality operates as a
theme in A Midsummer Night's Dream, one needs to look at the role
of location as an important signpost in how this theme is made
manifest.

The world of reality is represented by Athens,
where all is law and order and everyone knows (or should know) his or her place.  The
opening scene in which the ruler, Theseus, must render a judgement of law is a great
example of how this real world operates.

On the other hand,
the woods, are a place of fantasy, of magic, and this world is open to topsy-turvy
events that have an air of chaos about them.  Notice the opening scene in the woods. 
Titania and Oberon don't speak with the same accord that Theseus and Hippolyta do. 
Titania doesn't treat Oberon as the ruler he is; she doesn't give in to his rightful
supremacy as the male leader.  This absence of law and order gives much room for the
fantasy and magic that transpires in the woods.

Truly, the
woods are such a magical place that Bottom and Demetrius remark on the wonder and magic
of the events that have transpired there.

There is an
interesting combining of these two worlds at the end of the play when the fairy King and
Queen (and Puck) make an appearance at the Duke's palace after the wedding celebration. 
It suggests that these two worlds of fantasy and reality are maybe a little more
connected that we might have expected.

How have antibiotics been misused?

The previous post covers a lot of ground, all of it well
documented at this point.  Anti-biotics were also misused in the US and other developed
nations after they were first developed.  The ability to combat bacterial infections so
effectively was fantastic for doctors and they were able to cut down the length of
certain sicknesses, etc., before people started to realize that the constant use of the
drugs was not only creating resistant germs but also compromising people's own immune
systems.

One of the things that doctors have realized is
that the body's own immune system needs to be worked out, almost like the rest of the
body, in order to be healthy and maintain effectiveness.  So treating anything with
anti-biotics, especially for long periods of time, compromises the body's own ability to
fight for itself, a very dangerous prospect in the long run.

Whats the difference between a genotype and phenotype?

A genotype is an organism's
genetic makeup. In other words, what genes it has for a particular trait. For example,
if you are referring the trait of height in a pea
plant,  there are two different genotypes that can produce a tall pea plant. One
genotype is TT ( the capital T stands for the tall gene or allele) therefore, two
capital T's could produce a pure or homozygous tall pea plant. Another genotype for
tall, is Tt (the capital T refers to a tall gene and the lower case t, a short gene).
Although the plant has one of each type of gene for height, because the tall gene is
dominant over the short gene, this will still produce a tall offspring. That is because
the dominant gene (T)will be expressed and the recessive gene(t) will be hidden in this
case. A third genotype exists for height in pea plants and that is two lower case t's,
or tt. This genotype will produce a short pea plant.  To summarize,
genotype is the pair of genes an organism has for a particular trait. 

Phenotype is the observable
trait present in the organism. For example, if you were to see the pea
plants in a garden, the TT and Tt will both appear tall.  And, if you saw the tt plant,
it would appear short. So, basically  if a plant is TT or Tt, you will see both as tall
plants and would have no way of knowing what genetic makeup each one had, through simple
observation. 

Another example can be handedness in humans.
There is the trait of right-handedness and left-handedness. The gene for right
handedness is dominant over left handedness. Therefore, three genotypes exist- RR, RL,
LL.  The person with a genotype of two R genes is a righty.  The person with a genotype
with a righty and a lefty gene, RL is also a righty. That is because the right handed
gene is dominant. The last genotype, LL is a lefty. The only way to produce the
recessive left-handed person is two have to L genes. Therefore, there are
three genotypes for handedness in
people.

However, there are
only two phenotypes:  A person is either a Righty or
lefty.   

Question: Which person's genotype
is always the same as their phenotype?

Answer: A
lefty- if someone is a lefty(which is their phenotype), you always know their genotype
must be LL!

How did Washington Irving's life affect his writing in The History of NY?

Washington Irving lived in Tarrytown N.Y. (slightly north
of N.Y.C.) however he did travel to many places within the state. One of the best
examples of how Irving's writing was affected by his experiences in N.Y. is reflected in
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. While in Staten Island N.Y. Irving
attended a local church service and decided to walk through the church graveyard. There
he noticed a tombstone inscribed with the name Ichabod Crane. Irving thought the name
strange, eerie and unforgettable.

In addition, Irving's
writings actually gave N.Y. and for that matter, the new nation a literature Americans
could call their own. His work really described what N.Y. looked like and sounded like.
Through his work Americans were able to read about the place that they lived in....not
some place in Europe.

F.Y.I.- As a Staten Islander I can
tell you although local historical groups have replaced the original limestone tombstone
(limestone weathers badly and letters fade with time) Ichabod Crane's marker is still in
that same church graveyard. Washington Irving's story immortalized that local Staten
Island name.

Using the same noun and verb from a simple sentence, go one step further and turn it into a compound sentence.

A simple sentence may have a compound subject or even a
compound predicate. Sometimes, it might have both.

Jim ate
the peanuts. Simple sentence with one subject, Jim, and a simple predicate,
ate.

Jim and Janice ate the peanuts. simple sentence with a
compound subject, Jim and Janice

Jim and Janice ate and
burped the peanuts. simple sentence with a compound subject and predicate , ate and
burped- both subjects doing both actions

To make a compound
sentence, take two sentences and join them together with with a comma and an appropriate
conjunction OR put a semi-colon between the two
sentences.

Jim ate the
peanuts, but Janice burped in sympathy for
him.

Jim ate the
peanuts;Janice burped in sympathy for
him.

In Act III, what remedy corrects the crossed-loved couples?

The answer to this is that the remedy is the exact same
thing that caused all of the trouble in the first place.  As you know, all of the
trouble (all of the people falling in love with the "wrong" partners) was caused by
Puck.  He was the one who put the potion on the eyes of various people, causing them to
fall for the wrong person.

In Act III, Scene 2, Oberon
tells Puck to fix all the trouble.  So Puck gets Lysander and Demetrius to fall asleep
and then annoints their eyes.  When they wake, they see the "right" women and everything
is back to how it should be.

What are the steps to solving for x in this equation? 2x + 6 = - (-8)I'll understand it better if I see it worked step by step

The aim of any equation is to find out the value or values
of the variable that cancel the given expression.

The first
step is to re-write -(-8) = 8. The double negative sign makes a value
positive.

2x + 6 = 8

Now,
we'll subtract 6 both sides in order to isolate the variable x to the left
side:

2x = 8 - 6

2x =
2

Now, we'll divide by 2 and we'll
get:

x = 2/2

x =
1

So, the solution of the equation is x =
1.

We'll verify the solution into equation, substituting
the variable by the value 1:

2*1 + 6 =
8

2 + 6 = 8

8 =
8

So, the solution is x =
1.

Please analyze the structure of the story "The Lady with Pet Dog" by Chekhov?

"The Lady with the Dog" is an excellent story for the
study of structure. The conflict is between Gurov’s reluctance to love and become
involved, on the one hand, and his being drawn into love with Anna Sergeyevna and
finally being consumed with it, on the other. Chekhov neatly divides the story into
parts, so that Part I comprises an exposition, and Part II the beginning of the
complication. The divisions after this point are more concerned with the time sequence
and locations of the story, so that the crisis does not occur until paragraph 119, with
the climax in paragraph 120. Some readers might claim that the crisis and climax occur
earlier, at the intermission of the concert, in paragraphs 90-104. Either possibility
would offer a reader the opportunity for comment about the shaping of the
story.

For which works of Tagore is he most famous?

Rabindranath Tagore was a highly talented multifaceted
person. Many people think of him only as a poet and a writer. But he was much more than
a person with Ideas and ability to express them in words. He was a man of action. He not
only expressed his ideas in words but actually developed and lived new ways of living.
He also spread his ideas about life and living in this way for the benefit of others. In
this process he created an educational setup called Shanti Niketan
based on practical activities that has now flourished in to a big
university.

His personal life as well as the activities of
Shanti Niketan included thins like composing music and singing,
staging dramas, painting, making handicrafts, and designing and wearing new kind of
clothes for greater comfort.

However he we go by the
international awareness, Tagore is best known for collection of poems called
Gitanjali, for which he received a Nobel Price in literature in
1913.

What is the inverse of f(x)=3x+1

The inverse of the function f(x) is
f^-1(x).

To prove that f(x) is invertible, we'll have to
prove first that f(x) is bijective.

To prove that f(x) is
bijective, we'll have to prove that is one-to-one and on-to
function.

1) One-to-one
function.

We'll suppose that f(x1) =
f(x2)

We'll substitute f(x1) and f(x2) by their
expressions:

3x1 + 1= 3x2 +
1

We'll eliminate like
terms:

3x1 = 3x2

We'll divide
by 3:

x1 = x2

A function is
one-to-one if and only if for x1 = x2 => f(x1) =
f(x2).

2) On-to function:

For
a real y, we'll have to prove that it exists a real x.

y =
3x + 1

We'll isolate x to one side. For this reason, we'll
add -1 both side:

y - 1 =
3x

We'll use the symmetric
property:

3x = y - 1

We'll
divide by 3:

x = (y - 1)/3

x
is a real number.

From 1) and 2) we conclude that f(x) is
bijective.

If f(x) is bijective => f(x) is
invertible.

f^-1(x) = (x -
1)/3

Find the number of ways in which 12 children can be divided into 2 groups of 6 if two particular boys must be in different groups.

The number of ways of choosing 6 boys from the 12 to form
the two groups of 6 boys is given by C(12,6)

In the case
where the two boys are in one group, the number of ways of forming the groups is C(10,
4). This is due to the fact that 2 boys are taken together for a group, so now we need
to choose another 4 boys from the 10 remaining to complete the
group.

So the number of ways of forming the groups where
the two boys are in different groups can be calculated by subtracting the case where
they are together from the general case: this is given by C(12, 6) - C(10 ,
6)

= 12! / (6!* 6!) - 10! /
(6!*4!)

= 924 - 210

=
714

Therefore the number of ways the children
can be divided is 714.

To what is Goethe refering in the following: What you have inherited from your parents, earn over and over again for yourself or it will not be...

I think that Goethe is suggesting that individuals have
and must use their own sense of freedom and autonomy in defining their identity.  This
is a highly Romantic idea, in which Goethe believed.  Individuals cannot expect their
past to fully define their own sense of self.  The Romantic thinkers were strong
advocates of self definition, of utilizing one's freedom to break the shackles of social
conformity.  Goethe is arguing this point.  What has been inherited from one's parents
is good, but if one simply lives their life through this, one is not living their own
life, but rather the life of someone else.  Reflect on it in this manner.  If someone
inherits a large sum of money and they don't do anything to add to it, then they are not
living their own life, but the life someone else has given to them.  Their life, their
sense of being, is not their own.  On this level, Goethe is saying use what others have
given you, but stand on your own and carve out your own identity so that one's life is
one's own and not the extension of someone else's.

Discuss Haroun's growth throughout the story in "Haroun and the Sea of Stories."

Here are some questions I am using with my
ninth graders. (some similar to other posted). 

1. In
the opening pages of the book, Haroun looks up at his father and asks the question that
propels the reader into the central conflict: “What’s the use of stories that aren’t
even true?” According to the novel, what is the answer to this question? Please be
comprehensive in your approach, meaning, please address all the many answers the book
suggests. Examine every time a story is told. What are the many different powers a
made-up story can possess?

2. At the beginning of our study, we
discussed the literary term, allegory. In what sense is the novel an allegory? What
social, cultural, and political issues of our times does the book comment on and how?
You may want to organize your paper around the key social, political, and cultural
issues the book explores.

3. A central motif in the novel is the idea
of two worlds. The reader begins in Haroun’s home of origin Sad City, and then takes off
on an adventure to the Earth’s second moon, Kahani. Although the reader is initially
struck by the oppositional nature of the two worlds, the reader begins to notice a
series of parallels between them. Why does Rushdie choose to organize the novel in this
way? What does each world represent and why create the parallels? How does this
structure relate to the central themes of the text?

4. According to
the novel, what is the role of the artist in society? What can the artist accomplish and
what obstacles does the artist face? Why are artists essential to
communities?

When they visit O'Brien, what does he tell them about the Brotherhood?

In Part 2, Chapter 8, Julia and Winston go to visit
O'Brien to learn more about the Brotherhood.  They are finally going to actually do
something to oppose the Party.

At O'Brien's apartment, they
are told many things about the Brotherhood so I am not really sure which thing you are
asking about.

I think that the two most important things
are these.  First, they are told that the Brotherhood exists and that Goldstein is its
leader.  Second, they are told that the group is not really as they might imagine it. 
It is not some big organization where all the members can know one another and act
together.  Instead, it is very shadowy and no one really knows who else is in it.  It is
pretty much a hopeless thing because there is no one to support a member and the members
are all going to get caught and killed.

So they learn that
the Brotherhood exists but that it is a pretty suicidal thing to
join.

In "Just Lather, That's All", can you give three reasons for why Captain Torres is crazy?

You need to remember that in this chilling short story the
narrative mode used is first person point of view, therefore we see everything and
everyone, including Captain Torres, through the eyes of the narrator - the barber, who
is anxiously deciding what he should do as he begins to shave the enemy of the rebels. I
find your question interesting, because you appear to be making an assumption that
Captain Torres is "crazy". Certainly it is never made explicit in the text. The story
makes evident his role in quashing the rebel forces and his inventive methods of dealing
with captured rebels. Consider how he is introduced:

At
that moment he took off the bullet-studded belt that his gun holster dangled from. He
hung it up on a wall hook and placed his military cap over
it.

This description of him hanging up his military
equipment confirms him as a man who is an experienced soldier and used to violence. We
later find out that he has just returned from an expedition capturing some of the
rebels. His conversation with the barber makes it clear that he is a man who feels no
compunction about violently and horrendously suppressing the rebels, calling their
slaughter "a fine show" and saying "The town must have learned a lesson from what we
did." The barber also recognises that he is a creative
man:

A man of
imagination, because who else would have thought of hanging the naked rebels and then
holding target practice on their
bodies?

As the conversation
continues, it is clear that he takes great delight in planning the torture and death of
rebels, talking about planning something "a little slower" than a firing squad to
dispense with the latest prisoners.

However, what is
interesting is that the barber describes him also in a way that is not violent. He says
that a beard would suit Captain Torres, making him look like a poet or priest. The
barber also comments on how his work transforms Captain
Torres:

The
beard was now almost completely gone. He seemed younger, less burdened by years than
when he had arrived. I suppose this always happens with men who visit barber shops.
Under the stroke of my razor Torres was being rejuvenated - rejuvenated because I am a
good barber, the best in the town, if I may say
so.

This is a highly
interesting quote because it shows the pride the barber takes in the work he is doing
and also a kind of pleasure in the transformation he is able to achieve in his customer.
It appears although he is on the "other side" from Torres, he also wants to do a good
job as a conscientious barber.

However, it is the final
paragraph that really establishes Captain Torres as a fascinating character who is
definitely not just a crazy, blood-driven military
Captain:

In
the doorway he paused for a moment and said, "They told me that you'd kill me. I came to
find out. But killing isn't easy. You can take my word for it." And he turned and walked
away.

This is not an action
we would expect from such a violent man - he knowingly goes into the barbershop and runs
the risk of having his throat cut, and then leaves without killing or capturing the
barber. His character is clearly deeper than we have been lead to believe, and we leave
the story with a renewed sense of respect for Captain Torres. So therefore, not "crazy"
at all.

What is Whitman's understanding of the "self" in Section 1 of "Song of Myself"?

I think one prominent truth that is established in section
one (and carried out throughout the rest of the poem) concerning Whitman's view of
"self" is that although he is speaking about himself (this is
definitely an autobiographical/philosophical poem), he does not speak for himself
alone. This part is made obvious in the last line of the first
stanza:

And
what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs
to you.

Besides the evidence
that "self" is supposed to be a collective word, in this first section, Whitman next
establishes a tone of appreciation for life - the fact that he did not come from nothing
and thankful for the things that he is made up of.  In this way "self" is not
selfish but rather, a grateful self that knows where it came
from.

Finally, Whitman establishes a very obvious tone that
death is inevitable.

readability="7">

I, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health
begin,
Hoping to cease not till
death.

The majority of the
rest of "Song of Myself" revolves around this idea - the inevitability of death as a
reason for appreciating life.  By using the idea of "self" - Whitman shows how he
considers all men (mankind) to be connected through the element of death, and as a
result, we should all be thankful for life - and live it to the
fullest.

What ways do you expect Hulga or Joy to change after her Manely P. experience?

When Manley Pointer steals Hulga's leg, he steals her
identity, her beliefs and part of her soul. The wooden leg has been what has made her
unique, but also one of Flannery O'Connor's characteristic "grotesque" characters.
Hulga's belief system, however, has been very negative - she firmly believes in
"Nothing" so the irony of Manley Pointer stealing her leg is that he steals "Nothing"
from her. That leaves a clean slate for her to accept grace, to replace "Nothing" with
something positive. Hulga has placed so much of who she is in that wooden leg, but so
much of who she is, is a negative young woman full of pride, who thinks she is better
than everyone else. With the stealing of the leg, Manley Pointer is actually doing her a
favor. Now that she no longer has the basis of her belief in "Nothing" she is open to
believe in something, and this would be grace and
love.

O'Connor's Catholic faith taught her that mankind had
to be humbled and had to get rid of pride before being redeemed, and often she brings
her characters to the point of death before they realize this (like the grandmother in
"A Good Man is Hard to Find") but in this story, Hulga is not killed, but she comes face
to face with her sin, and she has the chance to be redeemed. She has a chance to choose
JOY over the other ugly name she chose for herself,
HULGA.

When Mrs. Hopewell and Mrs. Freeman see the Bible
salesman leaving in the distance, they both say that he was simple. Mrs. Hopewell says
"He was so simple, but I guess the world would be better off if we were all that
simple." O'Connor was a Bible student, and she knew that in the Bible, Jesus tells
everyone that if they want to enter the kingdom of heaven, they must be like little
children, i.e. "simple" and "innocent". When Hulga has her leg stolen, Pointer forces
her to revert back to this state, and she now can start over again if she
wishes.

Do you think she WILL change? Ah, that is a
rhetorical question and I have given you some background so that you can answer this
question for yourself. My view, which is purely extrapolating, is that Hulga has not
died, and she is going to have to rely on people to get her down from that barn loft
where Manley Pointer left her. She is helpless, so let's hope her experience WILL change
her, will humble her, and turn her back into JOY. O'Connor probably would have hoped for
the best for Joy, so we can, too. We can pretend her mother finds her after several
hours, and while she is up in the barn loft, she will reevaluate her life and realize
what a stinker she has been. Then, she will become Joy Hopewell ("hoping" to be "well"
again).

About how old is Beowulf when he fights his last battle in Beowulf?

In the last section of the story, after Beowulf returns to
his homeland, it is revealed that after Hygelac's death, the "kingdom came into
Beowulf's hand for fifty winters."  With this piece of information it would be safe to
assume that Beowulf is at least 70 to 80 years old when he faces his last foe -- the
fire breathing dragon.  When you consider the average life expectancy of a male 1500
years ago it is actually quite remarkable that he is alive at all -- especially
considering how dangerous his life would have been.  It is additionally remarkable that
Beowulf fearlessly goes into battle to save his people from the danger of the dragon. 
He is a very old man, yet he and only one other man are emotionally strong and brave
enough to face this enemy.  He dies from wounds received, but he faces his death with
valiant dignity.

Should one write "English teacher" or "english teacher"? I am wondering if "English teacher" has a capital letter for the "E" in English.

The phrase should be "English teacher" with a capital "E"
as the term "English" here refers to a language of national origin/affiliation. The
names of languages are, as a rule, capitalized as in the case of French, German,
Japanese, etc. 

If the teacher happened to be from England,
we would also capitalize the word "English" in the phrase "English teacher" even if that
teacher taught French or geometry, as the term "English" would then be referring to
nationality, another capitalized category in the language conventions of
English. 

There is a version of the word "English" that is
not apparently directly related to the language or the people of England, but this term
too is often capitalized. This version of the word refers to spin or applying spin to an
object. Used in the parlance of games like billiards (and pool too) and bowling,
"English" describes the "side-spin" on the ball that causes a curvature of the ball's
path. This version of the word is sometimes written without a capital "e" but often
appears with the capital too. 

Thus using a capital "E" on
all version of the term "English" will put you in safe
territory. 

What differentiates their fundamental frequency? In a guitar all the strings are of the same length, they have the same mass per length and the...

The formula for the fundamental frequency of a stretched
string is given by:

sqrt [ T/ (m/L)]/ 2*L , where T is the
tension in the string, m is the mass per length and L is the length of the
string.

We have been told that all the strings are of the
same length, they have the same mass per length and the same tension is applied to all
of them. So if we substitute the values in the formula for fundamental frequency we see
that it is the same for all of them. Nothing differentiates it except the factors that
have already been mentioned.

To get different fundamental
frequencies either the length, the tension or the mass/ length of the strings has to be
altered.

What is a summary of "Ode to Evening" (1746) by William Collins?

Ode to Evening appeared in "Odes on Several Descriptive
and allegorical Subjects"(1747).It is the one of the finest lyrics of the 18th century.
It is written in unrhymed stanzas of four lines.

In "Ode to
Evening" the poet is seen at his best.It is a masterpiece creation of Collins. Evening
has been personified. It is not just a time of dusk. It is the spirit of Evening
appearing as Nymph. She is described as reserved by nature. She is peaceful and simple.
In her tent sun sets and resets.She has been imagined as a maid composed. The poet would
like to sing his songs to soothe her modest ear. He would like to learn some softened
strain from Evening herself so that when he sings it , she is
pleased.

The poem begins with an invocation to the spirit
of Evening to teach the poet to sing a soft strain to it. She is not just a part of dead
nature. Sometime she appears as pensive Eve. She likes to hear the poet's songs. Her
hours are fragrant. Fairies who sleep in the buds during daytime, come out in the
evening and make the atmosphere fragrant.

His song should
be as soft as the murmur of the streams or the dying winds. The poet says that barring
the cry of the bat and the beetle , there is complete calm all around in the evening. He
wishes to go to some solitary and barren spot or some ancient ruined building among
lonely valleys in the evening to watch its beauty.But if he is prevented from doing so
by "chill, blustering winds or driving rain", he would like to go to a lovely cottage on
the mountain side to watch the dark colored evening gradually descending over the
surrounding landscape with the "gradual dusky veil" .

The
poem ends with the poet's conviction that the evening shall continue to inspire fancy
(poets), friendship (friends), science (men of learning), and smiling peace (lovers of
peace) throughout the seasons of the year.

Analysis of Poem Lament by Gillian ClarkeI didn't understand these particular stanzas... Stanza 3 "For the ocean's lap with its mortal stain....

For Gillian Clarke's poem "Lament," the stanzas shown use
imagery and metaphors to describe the realities of what occurred in the Gulf War.
(Poetry is very subjective, speaking to different people in different ways. These are my
perceptions only.)

"For the ocean's lap with its mortal
stain" refers to the blood of those killed that fills the water. (See note
below.)

Gillian Clarke comments on her poem in the
following lines:

readability="16">

‘Lament’ is an elegy, an expression of grief. It
can be a sad, military tune played on a bugle. The poem uses the title as the start of a
list of lamented people, events, creatures and other things hurt in the war, so after
the word ‘lament’, every verse, and 11 lines, begin with ‘for’."For the ocean's lap with
its mortal stain" refers to the blood of the dead in the
water.

"For Ahmed at the
closed border" may simply refer to someone who cannot return home because of the
war.

"The soldier in his uniform of fire" brings to mind a
soldier who is on fire, perhaps the result of a the crash of a vehicle, or being hit by
mortar fire.

"The gunsmith...armourer, The boy fusilier"
(soldier who carries a light musket...gun) all refer to those responsible for making the
trappings of war, or using them. The poet laments (mourns) for
them.

"The farmer's sons, in it for the music" may refer to
young men who lived in the country and wanted to be a part of something bigger, drawn
perhaps by radios other soldiers carried, or even for the idea that people might sing of
their exploits as has been done in the past for
soldiers.

"For the burnt earth and the sun put out" could
speak to the bombing of the earth that has scorched its surface, and the rising smoke
from this that blocks out the sun because it is so
thick.

"The scalded ocean and the blazing well" brings to
mind the terrible heat from missile fire that destroys wells, and the ocean's surface
because Kuwait (where this fighting takes place) rests on the shore of the Kuwait
Bay/the Persian Gulf).

The last line refers to vengeance,
and the sorrow the poet feels for death caused by a need for it; she also mourse for the
loss of language, or the loss of voices to speak the language, perhaps the loss of the
opportunity to find words of peace to stop the fighting.

When would it be beneficial to choose one discount instead of the other? (Single trade discount versus trade discount series)I am trying to do a...

The advantages or disadvantages of trade discounts will be
different for the buyers. I will discuss here theses benefits and limitations of the two
types of discounts from he viewpoint of the seller.

The
most obvious advantage of single trade discount over the multiple trade discount is its
simplicity. The single trade discount is easy to calculate and does not require
additional record keeping effort for obtaining data for its
calculation.

However, the biggest advantage of multiple
discount is that it enables the seller to offer different levels of discount to the
buyers in line with the company's cost structure and attractiveness of business of
buyer. This kind of discount structure, is better able to motivate buyers in ways that
benefit both the buyers and the sellers. For example, a discount for cash payment rather
than credit, enables a buyer with ready cash to reduce its cost. It the same time it
enables seller to reduce its working capital requirements. Similarly, a flat discount on
sales price makes no distinction between the profit potential of small and big buyers.
In contrast a multiple discount, linked to different levels of total purchase volume,
permits extension or higher total discount to high value
customers.

Some people think that multiple discount enables
a seller to trick buyer into believing that the discount given is higher than the real
discount. For example, a discount advertised as 25+20 percent makes it appear like a
total discount of 45 percent. However, in reality the first discount of 25 percent is
calculated on the full price, and the second discount of 20 percent is calculated on the
remaining 75 percent of price after first discount. This result in real discount of 40
percent. However,the effectiveness of this tactics is really
questionable.

In 1984, what are some rhetorical techniques employed by the telescreens to encourage hatred of Goldstein?

Many of the rhetorical strategies from the Two Minutes
Hate relate to propaganda techniques.  Below are several specific
techniques.

1. Pinpointing the
Enemy--This technique helps the speaker(s) unify a group against one
specific foe.  During "the Hate" in 1984, the Party features
Goldstein in every "episode."  The people of Oceania have been conditioned to hate the
sound of Goldstein's voice and his appearance because they associate him with hate, and
while Goldstein's face appears on the telescreen, footage of seemingly neverending
columns of marching Eurasian soldiers appear in the background.  The audience
automatically associates Goldstein with the enemy army and focuses all of its animosity
upon Goldstein.

2. Appeal ad Populum
(Produces the Bandwagon Effect)--Many marketing agencies seek to induce
consumers to buy a product or take action simply because everyone else is doing so. One
of the most common techniques used to produce the bandwagon effect is appeal ad populum
(a speaker/writer convinces the audience that something is true because everyone
believes it). The Party relies on this technique throughout 1984,
especially during the Two Minutes Hate. Winston notes to himself in Chapter 1 that even
when he is thinking insubordinate thoughts about Big Brother
that

"the
horrible thing about the Two Minutes Hate was not that one was obliged to act a part,
but that it was impossible to avoid joining in"
(16).

Winston finds himself
jumping out of his chair during the Hate, shouting at the screen. This is precisely why
the Party requires the workers to gather together in front of the telescreen--they
realize the power of peer pressure and mob mentality and that once an individual gives
in to their rhetoric, many will follow.

3. 
Scare Tactics--Though a logical fallacy in rhetoric, scare
tactics work surprisingly well because of the technique's ability to induce fear. Near
the end of the Hate, Goldstein's voice becomes more like a sheep's bleating, and his
face fades into the figure of a huge advancing Eurasian soldier.  Not only is this the
use of the transfer technique which causes one to transfer emotion or thoughts about one
subject to another, but it is also an effective employment of scare tactics.  The
soldier becomes bigger and bigger, and his machine gun seems like it might explode into
the crowd at any minute.

4. Paradox and
Parallel Structure--At the end of the Hate, the Party's three slogans
appear on the screen along with Big Brother's face. The slogans themselves are examples
of a paradox--they are seemingly contradictory, but when Winston reads Goldstein's book,
he sees the "truth" of the statements. The parallel structure of the slogans is
effective in making them rhythmic and perfect for repetition.

In Act 3, scene 1, what reasons does Kent give for the dissension between the Dukes and what implication does he leave in the mind of the Gentleman?

In this scene, Kent isn't so much discussing with the
Gentleman the ways in which the Dukes of Cornwall and Albany are against each other, as
the ways that it is suspected that they, together, are against the good of the land.  He
does say that:

readability="8">

...There is
division,

Although as yet the face of it be
cover'd

Wtih mutual cunning, 'twixt Albany and
Cornwall.

Yet, he goes on to
spend much more time explaining how both houses are being watched by spies from France
(where Cordelia is Queen).  It is trying to be discovered what might be at the bottom of
the "snuffs and packings" (quarrels and intrigues) that have been discovered in both
households.

Are they just picking on the old king, or do
they have something "deeper" in mind?  The implication he leaves the Gentleman with is
that this something "deeper" is treason against the country and that France will march
against the Dukes to prevent it.

Kent will not reveal his
identity to the Gentleman but gives him a ring to take to Dover to give to Cordelia, who
will confirm that all that Kent has said is true.

So,
though, Kent does not give reasons for the Dukes' dissension in this scene, he does warn
the Gentleman that France is on the march to protect the realm against Albany and
Cornwall, and that he (the Gentleman) must travel to Dover to meet Cordelia there in
order to be of assistance to the King.

Differentiate y wrt x y=2^-x*cos2x y=tan[sqrt(x^2-2)] .

To differentiate  y with respect to
x

(1) y = 2^-x*cosx (2) y = tan
(x^2-x).

Solution:

(1)

y
= 2^(-x) * cos2x.

We know that y'  = (u*v)'x = u'(x)*v(x)
+u(x)*v'(x).

u(x) = 2^-x. u'(x) =  2^(-x)*
ln2.

v(x) = cos(2). v'(x) = -(sin2x)*(2x)' =
-2sin2x

Therefore ,

y' =
{(2^-x)*cos2x}' = (2^-x)'*cos2x + (2^-x)(cos2x)'

=
(2^-x)(ln2) cos2x+ 2^-x * (-2sin2x)

y' = 2^-x{ ln2 * cos2x
-2sin2x}

(2)

y = tan
{sqrt(x^2-2)}

We know that if y = u (v(x) ,  then y' =
{u'(v(x)}*v'(x)

So

(x^2-2}' =
2x

{sqrt(x^2-2)}' = {(x^2-2)^(1/2)
}'

= (1/2) (x^2-2)^(1/2 -1 ) *
(x^2-2)'

= (1/2) (x^2-2)^(-1/2) *
2x

=  -x/(x^2-2)^(1/2).

tan
(sqrt(x^2-2) = {sec^2 [sqrt(x^2-2)] } {sqrt(x^2-2)}'

=
{[sec(sqrt(x^2-2))]^2} {-x/(x^2-2)^(1/2)}

tan {sqrt(x^2-2)}
= {-x/(x^2-2)} { [ sec (sqrt(x^2-2))]^2}

What does Tim O'Brien say about heroism in his novel The Things They Carried?I wanted to know what teachers think about heroism in O'Brien's novel?

O'Brien debunks male heroism in the novel.  In "On the
Rainy River," he admits, "I was a coward, I went to war."  He feels extreme guilt in
"The Man I Killed" and "In the Field" regarding Kiowa's
death.

Instead, he idealizes the role of females as his
ideal audience and, mythologically, as superior warriors (Mary Anne Bell) in the story
"The Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong."

Tim O'Brien revisits
the female warrior, albeit an American, in Mary Anne Bell, a seventeen year-old
"blonde"..."kid"..."barely out of high school" who arrives in Vietnam wearing "white
culottes and a sexy pink sweater" (O'Brien 90).  By the story's end, she becomes a
phantom Green Beret assassin wearing a "necklace of human tongues," "dangerous" and
"ready for the kill," a transformation that, according to the civilian reader seems
overly-dynamic, but in the context of Vietnam war mythology seems
plausible.

It is my contention that O'Brien intentionally
writes Mary Anne's story so full of fantasy that her transformation cannot be
rationalized by the (male) reader as much as intuited by the female (or at least
androgynous male) one.  Intuition implies the spiritual, and Mary Anne's conversion is
certainly a mystical one, as she becomes the prototypical warrior, an uncommunicative
male who lives only for the hunt.

What would you say is the overall tone of The Glass Castle?

When I describe The Glass Castle the
first thing I say is that it is tragically funny.  This is how the author comes across -
though probably not intentionally.  The thing about this story is that it is a tale of
the author's childhood as she remembers it.  The crazy things her parents said, did, and
got away with were so common place to Jeanette and her siblings that as children they
never considered an alternative.

She writes about them with
the knowledge as an adult that much of what she dealt with as a child could very likely
be classified as either abuse or neglect - but ironically, she never
felt abused nor neglected as a child (in fact, she seemed content
growing up in this environment of tough love).  She knew her life was different from
other kids' lives - but she also found her parents' differences to be as endearing and
unique as they were strange and somewhat scary.

In this
way, I might describe the intended tone to be straightforward and as honest as
possible.  She doesn't paint her parents in a light of particular respect or
disrespect.  Instead - she shows things the way they were, and allows her readers to
come up with their own opinions.  It was a bold approach to this memoir - one that the
author feared would alienate her from a fan base.  Instead, it probably made her more
successful.

How does George's character change/develop throughout the story?quotes wanted if possible

In Of Mice and Men, George plays the
following roles:

Traveling Companion,
Caregiver, and Dreamkeeper for Lennie. Early in the novella, George must
care for Lennie's survival and basic needs (food, shelter).  The two are migrant
workers, and while George must find the jobs, Lennie is a capable worker.  Also, George
must remind Lennie of the Dream Ranch, and he tells the story of how Lennie will tend
the rabbits.  George also perpetuates the dream for
Candy.

Rogue Mercy Killer.
Later in the novel, George must resort to secret crime (stealing Carlson's gun) in order
to prevent Lennie from becoming the victim of vigilante revenge.  He re-tells the dream
to Lennie and shoots him, giving him a somewhat quick and relatively painless death.
 Throughout, George has used the Dream Ranch tale in order to pacify Lennie, and one
wonders if he ever believed it was possible.

Justify the title of the story, "The Postmaster", written by Rabindranath Tagore.

I think that the title of the work is relevant.  Although,
I feel it is relevant for different reasons that traditionally held.  Tagore’s work
forces the reader to examine the moral and ethical standing of the postmaster.  At the
start of the work, the reader understands, to a certain extent, the difficulties endured
with this cosmopolitan postmaster being transferred to this village where he is,
literally, foreign to its way of life.  Yet, Tagore plays off of this and forces us to
really change our understanding of the postmaster through his depiction of Ratan.  In my
mind, the reason why the title is justified is because when we understand more of Ratan,
we end up viewing the postmaster differently than when we did at the outset of the
work.  Whereas we had sympathy for the postmaster at the start, we end up having more
respect for Ratan .  She proves to be stronger, more durable, and a heck of lot more
loyal than the postmaster.  She may be “just an orphan,” but she possesses more
redemptive qualities than the postmaster, who comes across as kind of a jerk by the end
of the story.  Hence, the title is something that is almost reflexive in that it shows
us, in an odd way, how our perceptions have changed over the course of reading the
story.

What is Spenser's greatness as a writer?

Two of the multiple things that set Spenser apart as a
great writer among his peers, like Shakespeare and Jonson, and in contemporary times are
his genius for allegory and his uncanny ability to incorporate calendrical (pertaining
to the calendar) and astronomical (pertaining to astronomy) elements in his poetry. A
brilliant example of the first is The Faerie Queene while an
equally brilliant example of the second is Epithalamion.
The Faerie Queene has been well lauded for the detail and
excellence of its allegorical representations. Spenser uses characters, like the Red
Cross Knight--a religious crusader--to uncover and discussion religious and political
truths of his day. He also pays a noble and great tribute to Queen Elizabeth by
incorporating her greatness into his allegory in the character of the Faerie
Queene:

That
greatest Gloriana to him gave,    (20)
That greatest Glorious Queene of Faerie
lond,
To winne him worship, and her grace to have,
Which of all
earthly things he most did
crave;

Epithalamion,
once thought by critics to be unrelated to Spenser's Amoretti
sonnet collection, is now recognized as the continuation, indeed the culmination, of the
great love chronicled in the Amoretti as Spenser sought to win the
love of the younger and higher born Elizabeth Boyle. Epithalamion
is exceptionally great for the way the underlying structure progresses through the
calendar cycles and astronomical cycles. There are 23 stanzas and a final envoy for the
24 hours in a day.

According to Hieatt, the stanzas of 18
lines each correspond to Midsummer's Day, the summer solstice (St. Barnaby's feast day):
"This day the sun is in his chiefest height, / With Barnaby the bright" (470-471). In a
mock lament, Spenser alludes to the winter solstice (St. Lucy's feast day) saying the
longer night is surrounded by the symbols of the death of nature in winter: "'Tis the
year's midnight, ... / Lucy's [with] scarce seven hours ... / The sun is spent" (69-71)
(Edgecombe). There are 365 long lines for the days of a year. There are 68 short lines
for weeks plus months plus seasons of the year (52 + 12 + 4 = 68). When considered with
the amazing structure of the echo refrain with its 17 variations (John B. Lord),
Spenser's Epithalamion is a stellar tribute to his greatness as a
writer and poet.

An additional point is Spenser's mastery
of language. He wrote in a modified imitation of Middle English so that the language of
his works has a much older feeling to it although Spenser was a contemporary of
Shakespeare and Sir Philip Sidney. Spenser also used the smallest components of
language, the individual sounds (the phonemes) to create mood. With a simple change of
dominant sounds, for example from /p, t, d/ to /s, m, n/ sounds, Spenser can calm a
heightening tension, set a scene of soothing tranquility--or by reversing the example,
Spenser can instantly move the reader from tranquility to suspense and tension. In the
quote below from The Faerie Queene, note the change--and its
effect--from dominant /f, l, w/ to a newly dominant /f, g, d,
t/:

Canto
I
XIII
Therefore I read beware. Fly fly (quoth then   
(116)
The fearefull Dwarfe) this is no place for living
men.
XIV
But full of fire and greedy hardiment,
The
youthfull knight could not for ought be staide,
But forth unto the darksome
hole he went,    (121)
And looked in: his glistring armor made
A
litle glooming light, much like a shade,
By which he saw the ugly monster
plaine, ….

Solve for x : x^(1+log 2 sqrtx) = 16

This is a logarithmic
equation.

We'll take logarithms both side of the equation
and the logarithms will have the base 2:

log 2 [x^(1+log 2
sqrtx)] = log 2 16

We'll use the power property of
logarithms and we'll write 16 = 2^4:

(1+log 2 sqrtx) * log
2 x= log 2 2^4

[1+log 2 (x)^1/2] * log 2 x= 4*log 2
2

{1 + [log 2 (x)]/2}* log 2 x=
4

We'll remove the brackets form the left
side:

log 2 x + [(log 2 x)^2]/2 - 4 =
0

2*log 2 x + (log 2 x)^2 - 4 =
0

We'll substitute log 2 x =
t

t^2 + 2t - 4 = 0

We'll apply
the quadratic formula:

t1 =
[-2+sqrt(4+16)]/2

t1 =
(-2+2sqrt5)/2

t1 = -1+sqrt5

t2
= -1-sqrt5

 log 2 x =
t1

x1 =
2^-1+sqrt5

x2 =
2^-(1+sqrt5)

x2 =
1/2^(1+sqrt5)

What is the influence of Puritanism on the literature of "British America" and its aftermath?style,charecteristics of Puritan writers,example of...

The next generation of American novelists were more
accomplished and,on the whole, more assured in their craft. Nathaniel Hawthorne
(1804–64),educated at Bowdoin College and born in Salem, Massachusetts, of old
NewEngland stock—and indeed, the lineal descendent of one of the notoriouswitch-hunters
of Salem—was a writer to whom, understandably, the Puritanpast loomed large, as he
revealed not only in his short stories but in TheScarlet Letter (1850), probably his
most celebrated work, and in The Houseof Seven Gables (1851) as well. There is one
foundational element that works against British/American greatness in the arts.Namely,
The Puritanism of New England was not favorable to the development of the arts. American
theater offers emotional rather than intellectual pleasures.1. Puritans did not think
much of the theater.

Hawthorne also employed the historical
perspective of the Puritans to reflect on the continuing subservience of American women
under the law.  Generally speaking, in the first third of the 19th century, women
accepted that their role was to provide a moral and emotional center to the man’s public
life. Women were supposed to cherish their differences from men and endeavor to attain
an ideal condition.

What is Plato's Socrates and Aristophane's Socrates idea of Justice and law? Are they the same or do they differ?

Both the Platonic and Aristophanic Socrates expose the
difference between justice and law through situational
ironies.

In Plato's Apology, Socrates is condemned to death
by the Athenian democracy for the crimes of asebeia (impiety) and corrupting the youth.
Although Socrates argues that he was not guilty of either crime, he actually does not
fully answer the charges. When asked to name a lesser penalty, he mocks the system by
proposing a reward. Later, in Crito, he explains his views that it is just for him to
obey the laws whether the law is good or bad. Combined with the argument from Gorgias
that it is worse to commit than to suffer injustice, one can deduce that Plato
attributed to Socrates the position that human laws were imperfect, but that justice for
the individual involved obedience to existing laws -- and that since the laws affect
only external circumstances rather than the soul, that they are only minimally relevant
to the ideal justice which occurs in the individual
soul.

Aristophanes has a more conventional view of justice
in Clouds in which the Old Logos sees good laws and consonant with justice and the New
Logos, Socratics, and sophists articulate the position that laws are inherently
conventional, having nothing to do with any form of natural
justice.

The position of Socrates in Clouds is probably
closer to that of the historic Protagoras than that of the historic
Socrates.

In The Scarlet Letter, what is ironic about Dimmesdale's reaction to Hester's refusal to name the father of her child?

If you are in the beginning of the book, about chapter 3,
this scene occurs with great irony. First of all, we know Dimmesdale to be a Reverend.
Thus, he has a moral duty and obligation to the Puritan society to ensure that sin goes
noticed. This effort of public mockery when great sin occurs was regular for Puritans
and they believe it helped deter others from committing like crimes. What actually
happens is that he moves through the ceremony of public mockery very quickly and the
audience almost feels that he is letting her off the hook. Her punishment for the crime
is not severe enough for them. Dimmsdale is acting more like a modern day minister who
allows forgiveness (it is indeed a premise of the bible, but Puritans regularly
overlooked it). It would have been ironic for a minister of that day and age to actually
act that way.

What is more ironic is the identity of the
father. Wait til you find that one out. There's a reason she's keeping such a big
secret.

How does Jem become a hero in Scout's eyes in chapter ch.4 of To Kill a Mockingbird?

Scout actually encounters many frustrations with Jem
during the chapter. After having been rolled to fast in the tire, the tire spits her out
in the Radley's yard where she hears something inside that frightens her, but she
doesn't tell the boys.

For her to consider Jem heroic, she
must have seen evidence of his bravery. This occurs twice earning Jem a new respect in
Scout's eyes. First, Jem overcomes his great fear of the Radley's place in order to
retrieve the tire. Because Scout feels partially responsible for this, his gesture is
even more heroic and brave because it relieves her
responsibility.

As the children are playing the Boo Radley
game, Jem takes the heat from Atticus and lies to him about the game protecting both
Scout and Dill.

Why have cities in the Western world grown so much in the last century?

Cities have grown so much because the more rural areas
can't, or at least aren't, sustaining their current populations. People have to move
where the jobs are.  Rural industries, such as agricultural pursuits, have shifted from
smaller, family-owned operations to conglomerations which require fewer workers and
certainly limit those who want to work for the love of the land.  Non-agricultural
enterprises need to be near population centers to find their work
forces.

Cities have also grown because of a lack of
services in less-populated areas.  Medical facilities and expertise can generally only
be found in larger population centers.  Wireless phone, cable, and internet services are
not always consistently available in the more remote rural areas.  Cultural
opportunities generally flourish in the city environment.  All of these are strictly
financial issues; services must be cost-effective to turn a profit, and the smaller
numbers prohibit cost-effectiveness outside of larger
cities.

Life in the city, while it certainly has its
trade-offs, is often more convenient to shopping and entertainment and transportation
and all the other things which take more time and effort in the more rural
places. 

I'm certain there are plenty of other reasons for
this pattern of migration, but this should help you get started.

What possible connection might it have with anything in the past or the future ?Orwell creates an element of suspense when the smell of chocolate...

The larger implication of the memory is that it is the one
element of consciousness that lies outside of the reach of Big Brother.  Winston's
memory of something that is "moving vaguely around the edge of his consciousness," is
one that exists without the approval or sanction of the external government.  This is
significant because it proves to a great extent that while Big Brother does control
every other aspect of consciousness in Oceania, there are some experiences in the
internal, in the subjective realm, that lie outside the control of the government.  As
this idea is present, the second half of the statement is even more jarring.  The idea
of possessing "some action which he would have liked to undo, but could not," reflects
how Orwell is going to categorize resistance and the attempts of freedom in the setting
of Oceania.  Winston is seeking to rebel against Oceania, but, such attempts are gong to
be futile. The results of both of these visions are that there can be no totality
experienced by either the external or the subjective.

How do i find the domain of the function f(x) = ln(cos(x))?

f(x) = ln(cos(x)

The domain
is  when cos(x) is a positive value.

 (cos(x)) >
0

We know that:

cos0 =
1

cos pi/2 = 0

cos pi =
-1

cos 3pi/2 = 0

cos 2pi=
1

Then cos(x) values are between -1, and
1

in order for the function to be defined, then the domain
is when cos(x) > 0  which are the interval:

(0,
pi/2) ( 3pi/2, 2pi)

Then the domain is
:

x = (0, pi/2) U (3pi/2,
2pi)

In Oedipus Rex, what clue does Jocasta give to Oedipus concerning the central problem of the play?

We need to remember the central dramatic irony that runs
throughout this play. Oedipus is trying to find out who has killed the former king of
Thebes, Laius, and by so doing has brought down the plague upon Thebes which is killing
its citizens. However, having pledged himself to discovering the murderer, Oedipus finds
more and more clues to suggest that it was actually him who killed Laius, his father,
and then married his mother.

In the part of the play you
are referring to, Jocasta tells her husband/son that an oracle told Laius that he would
be killed by his own son. Jocasta then says that Laius had his son abandoned to die on a
lonely mountainside, so therefore, Laius could not have been killed by his son. Instead
Laius was killed "By marauding strangers where three highways meet". It is this precise
description of the manner and location of Laius's death that forces Oedipus to remember
something that greatly disturbs him. Note how he responds to
Jocasta:

How
strange a shadowy memory crossed my mind,

Just now while
you were speaking; it chilled my
heart.

Oedipus doesn't fully
remember yet, but as the play progresses and he assembles more and more clues, he
discovers that the prophecy was fulfilled - it was he who killed his father and is the
cause of the punishment of Thebes for this unnatural act of patricide and then the act
of marrying his mother.

Please give five real life examples in India for the terms monopoly, monopolistic competition and oligopoly. Detailed examples which are still...

Given below are some examples of monopoly, monopolistic
competition and oligopoly in
India.

Monopoly

• Indian
  Railways has monopoly in Railroad transportation


• State
  Electricity board have monopoly over generation and distribution of electricity in many
  of the states.


• Hindustan Aeronautics Limited has monopoly
  over production of aircraft.


• There is Government monopoly
  over production of nuclear power.


• Operation of bus
  transportation within many cities.


• Land line telephone
  service in most of the country is provided only by the government run
  BSNL.

Monopolistic
Competition

• Some restaurants
  enjoy monopolistic competition because of their popularity and
  reputation.


• Demand for some specific models of
  automobiles outstrips the production capacity. This creates situation of monopolistic
  competition. Similar monopolistic situation develops for some given periods for
  different capital goods product from time to time.


• Some
  newspaper in some places enjoy almost monopolistic position in spite of existence of
  other competitors.


• Manufacture of some high precision
  products, such as multi-cylinder diesel engine fuel injection pumps, enjoy monopolistic
  competition because their competitors are not able to match their
  quality

Oligopoly

• Airlines
  industry


• Petroleum
  refining


• Power generation and supply in most of the parts
  of the country


• Automobile
  industry


• Long distance road transportation by bus. Many
  of there routes have buses operated by limited numbers of
  operators.


• Mobile
  telephony.


• Internet service
  providers

Why has the poet compared the nightingale's song to that of the solitary reaper's?

In line 9, the inclusion of the nightingale might be
considered to be very significant.  In starting the second stanza, the speaker,
presumably Wordsworth, has heard the song of the woman in the field.  He is enchanted
with it and cannot quite make out the meaning of the song because he doesn't understand
it, but he knows that its beauty is enchanting.  The melody is so entrancing that he is
able to project it into meaning different elements, and representing different
experiences.  The nightingale is the first image he uses to convey the beauty of the
song.  Traditionally in literature, the nightingale is one of those symbols that has
come to meant perfection.  It sings a solitary song in the dead of night, punctuating
the silence or others sounds present and within its notes lies a sense of musical
perfection that captures and expands the individual's moral and artistic imagination.
 It is this image that Wordsworth uses to compare the reaper's song to what lies in his
mind's eye, an attempt to make the subjective an external experience.  If we reflect on
it, the speaker/ Wordsworth has a daunting task.  The personal and subjective experience
of art is a challenge to convey to others.  We understand and experience art differently
than others, subjectively.  The question then becomes how can we communicate our
personal experience of art to a larger group.  How can Wordsworth/ the speaker bring to
light the "overflowing" sound of the song?  He decides that seeking to bring out images
in which others could share would be the best way to do this.  Hence, the nightingale
image.

Why is Pip unhappy despite his great fortune? What does he mean by this?Great Expecations by Charles Dickens

In Chapter XVIII of Great
Expectations, Pip is visited by Mr. Jaggers, whom he recognizes from his
being at Miss Havisham's once.  The barrister tells Pip that he has "Great
Expectations.  Then, he sets down the stipulations to this announcement and offers to
pay Joe Gargery for Pip to be released from his
apprenticeship.

After Mr. Jaggers departs, Joe sits
pensively before the fire with Pip joining him:

readability="8">

The more I looked into the glowing coals, the
more incapable I became of looking at Joe; the longer the silence lasted, the more
unable I felt to speak.

When
Pip finally asks Joe if he has told Biddy of his fortune, Joe replies that he left this
to Pip.  But Pip insists, so Joe tells Biddy who congratulates him, but, like Joe, has
some sadness in her voice.  Then, Pip says that he will order his new clothes and keep
them at the shop of Trabb, the tailor. There he will change before taking the coach to
London so that he will not be stared at--"such a coarse and common business--that I
couldn't bear myself."  But, despite Pip's airs, Biddy asks him if he would not
"showing" himself to Mr. Gargery and his sister and her, after all.  To this, Pip
agrees, but with some resentment.  Biddy and Joe go outside while Pip goes into his
little room which now appears as

readability="5">

a mean little room that I should soon be parted
from and raised above
forever.

As he raises his
window, Pip espies Joe outside; Biddy brings him a pipe and lights it for
him

He never
smoked so late, and it seemed to hint to me that he wanted comforting, for some reason
or other.  I drew away from the window...feeling it very sorrowful and
strange that this first night of my bright fortunes should be the loneliest I had ever
know.

I put my light out and crept into bed;
and it was an uneasy bed now, and I never slept the old sound sleep in it
any
more.

Despite
his good fortune, Pip considers how lonely he will be
without his father-figure, Joe, whom he loves and who loves him dearly.  Also, Pip is
sorry for the ingratitude that he has shown Joe, who has
released Pip from his apprenticeship and who merely wants to see Pip dressed as a
gentleman before he parts.

Why does Montag assume the TV show will have a happy ending in Fahrenheit 451?

I think that Montag assumes that the show Millie is
"watching" will have a happy ending because that is what would be expected in their
society.  Their society gives people stuff that will make them superficially happy, not
things that will make them think.

If you think about it,
great literature tends to be fairly sad.  This is because it is meant to make us think
about the human condition and all the issues that people face in their lives.  But the
society in this story does not want people to think.  It wants them to go along
blissfully even if they are only blissful because they are
ignorant.

A sad ending would be too much mental work.  It
would be like literature and it might make people think.  This goes against what the
society is about and so you would not expect anything but a happy
ending.

Why is Joe compared to horses?

In paragraph 7, Joe Pervin, the eldest of the
family, is compared to the massive draft horses. These are slow but strong (having a
“slumberous strength” [paragraph 6]), and are in harness, as Joe will be once he marries
the daughter of the steward of the nearby estate. In paragraph 20, Joe is also compared
to horses because of his appearance when walking and speaking. In addition, another
brother, Fred Henry (paragraph 11), is compared to horses, for he is under the control
“of the situations of life,” even though he masters horses easily. Because the horses,
though strong, need the external control of reins, the idea seems to be that those
without love are without the strength they need to guide their own destinies.

"Oration on the Dignity of Man" by Pico della Mirandola was written in what year?

"Oration on the Dignity of Man" was written by Pico della
Mirandola who was a Renaissance philosopher. In it Pico addresses key ideas pertaining
to humankind's mode of existence including the insatiable quest for knowledge and the
ability to climb to higher plains of being by exercising intellectual prowess. In
correlation with these two, in the oration Pico posited what is called Pico's 900
Theses, which enumerate the ways to discover knowledge and physics and in which he
combined wisdom from past great philosophical teachings such as Platonic, Aristotelian
and Kabbalic teachings. In addition, he spoke of the "mystical" quality of humankind's
quest for vocation and the ability to achieve. Further, he contradicted the clergy's
opinion by advocating the pursuit of "liberal arts," such as mathematics and philosophy
(as opposed to purely clerical religious study), and by propounding the position that by
pursuing the rational, humankind makes itself like the angels, creatures of Heaven
instead of creatures of Earth. This oration, written and first delivered in 1486, was
controversial because of the highly religious milieu of the Renaissance
era.

How is Voltaire's statement that "it is dangerous to be right in matters about which the established authorities are wrong" correct?

This statement is correct if it refers to areas in which
the established authorities are more interested in retaining their power than they are
in finding truth.  In such cases, the authorities will generally be very much on the
defensive because they will feel endangered by someone who is questioning their mistaken
beliefs.

In areas where truth is not as valued as power,
the people in power want to keep their position.  Because of this, they will often stop
at nothing to destroy those who are a threat to this power.  Someone who can prove their
ideas wrong is clearly a threat to that power and they will react
strongly.

I would say this is especially true when the
authorities know (or suspect) that they are wrong.  In those cases they will be
particularly worried about dissent for fear that their mistakes will be
exposed.