What is the theme of the short story "The Necklace" ?by Guy de Maupassant

One very pervasive them in the story The Necklace is the
consistent preocupation with appeareances and the idealism about what happiness
is.

In Mme Loiselle's case, she is consistently
complainting about not having what she deserves. To her, however, what she deserves is
simply showing off a big house, servants, a lot of money, and
success.

She is taking for granted the things she DOES have
such as health, a home, food on the table, and a husband that cares for
her.

Therefore, the necklace itself (a fake copy of an
expensive diamond necklace), is something that, to her, prepresents all that she wishes
for: A glitzy and shiny attractive lifestyle - albeit, one that gives her a fake sense
of happiness.

What is the author's purpose in writing Kaffir Boy?

In my opinion, Mark Mathabene's main purpose in writing
this book was to highlight the ways in which apartheid was an evil and inhumane
system.

When you think about this book, you should remember
that it was published in the United States in 1986.  At that point, the issue of
apartheid was just starting to be relevant to many Americans.  We did not know a whole
lot about how apartheid affected the lives of black South Africans like Mathabene and
his family.

I believe that Mathabene wrote the book in
hopes of educating Westerners and in hopes of getting them to pressure the South African
government to end apartheid.

Besides the ironies of the title and of the ending, what other ironies are in the stroy? Is verbal irony the same thing as sarcasm?

The title, "The Guest," is ironic.
 The Arab is a prisoner, however Daru refuses to treat him as one, opening his home and
caring for him as if he were a guest.

It is ironic that in
this land of desolation, where the sheep have died by the thousands, men have died
without anyone knowing, where the rocks break because it is so dry, and the people must
rely on relief from another country, that Daru feels like a lord in his small home,
though it is humble, little more than a room, and he is alone.  He loves the land, he
has what he needs to survive minimally, and does not begrudge the land its inhospitable
treatment of those who live in the region.

It is ironic
that someone familiar with war would be so reticent (hesitant) to carry a weapon, even
if it means saving his own life.

There is a certain irony
that the Arab has the means to escape and he still journeys to the jail.  One would
expect him to run away and take the gift Daru offers at a second chance, but the Arab
continues on, to deliver himself to the authorities.

I
don't think verbal irony is the same as sarcasm.  Irony refers to the difference between
what we expect to happen and what really happens.  (Though some
sources will say it also refers to the difference between what is said and what is
meant.) If a fireman's house burns down, it is ironic.  If a thief is robbed, it is
ironic. It can be expressed verbally when what is said is not what is meant, but it may
be presented simply as a statement of fact.  "Physician, heal thyself" is a famous line
that expresses an irony, but it is not necessary sarcastic.  It points out an
inconsistency which is often what irony is.

Sarcasm is
defined as "a sharp, bitter, cutting expression."  It can be most obvious based upon the
tone used by the speaker.  "Do you think you'll have a good day at school?"  "Yeah,
right!" What is said and what is meant in the response to the question is not ironic.
 It is sarcastic.  The tone is biting; there is a negative component in the
response.

If someone said something sarcastic to me, I
would never respond with, "Don't be ironic."  I would say, "Don't be sarcastic."  The
original Greek suggested that irony meant "one who dissembles" or lies.  However, if we
see irony in the thief who is robbed, there is no lie present.  If the original use of
the word referred to the act of lying, I think it has altered over time and that today
we use the term "sarcasm."

This is my opinion.  There are
people who will say they are the same, and others who are certain they are
not.

In The Outsiders, how does the quote, "Sixteen years on the street, you can learn a lot...," apply to each greaser boy's life.

Ponyboy and Sodapop have learned to live without the
nurturing of their parents, who were killed in a crash. They rely on older brother Darry
for guidance and adult supervision. Johnny has learned to live without the support of
his parents, who fight all the time. He discovered through a beating at the hands of the
Socs that a knife was necessary for protection. Dallas lives alone; his parents are not
a part of his life. More than any of the boys, he has learned the life of the mean
streets--first in New York and then in Tulsa. Dally, like Two-Bit, resorts to small-time
thievery when necessary. All of the boys find the support they need from one another,
and they come to each other's rescue when the need arises. 

Why is Vera referred to as "a very self-possessed young lady" in "The Open Window"?

Saki emphasizes that Vera is
"self-possessed."

readability="10">

"My aunt will be down presently, Mr. Nuttel,"
said a very self-possessed young lady of fifteen; "in the meantime you must try and put
up with me."

Here the child's voice lost its self-possessed
note and became falteringly
human.

Vera is calm, cool,
poised, relaxed and sophisticated for her age. The main purpose for presenting the
character this way is for the sake of contrast. When the three hunters appear outside
the house, all heading towards the open window with their guns, Vera's apparent loss of
her self-possession is all the more effective. It is also believable, because we know
that Vera is not really as self-possessed as she is trying to
appear. 

The
child was staring out through the open window with a dazed horror in her
eyes.

This goggle-eyed,
open-mouthed look of "dazed horror" convinces Framton that these are the very same three
men who were supposedly killed three years ago.

readability="6">

"In crossing the moor to their favourite
snipe-shooting ground they were all three engulfed in a treacherous piece of
bog."

They are the same three
men that Vera's rattle-brained aunt has supposedly been expecting to return for tea for
all those years. It is the look of horror on the heretofore self-possessed young girl's
face that communicates fear to Framton and makes him flee for his
life.

Vera can talk about the men being engulfed in a bog
without showing much emotion, because she was not there when it happened and claims to
know only what her aunt told her.

readability="6">

"Poor dear aunt, she has often told me how they
went out..."

But when the
three hunters actually appear outside, Vera can act incredulous and horrified for
Framton's benefit. The girl knew she was going to have to fake such a look when the time
came. Maybe she had already practiced it in the mirror and was just waiting for the
proper opportunity to arrive.

What is the idea of parliamentary sovereignty from the American and British point of view?

Strictly speaking, the UK has parliamentary sovereignty,
but the United States does not.  This is due to the technical definition of this
concept.  Parliamentary sovereignty occurs when the Parliament or legislature is the
supreme legal body in the country.  It can, essentially, create any law it likes and
change any law it likes.  No other body can override its
will.

In the UK, as you can see in the link, Parliament is
actually sovereign.  There is no independent executive branch that can veto its actions
and no judicial branch that can rule them
unconstitutional.

In the US, Congress is not sovereign in
this same way.  The President can veto laws passed by Congress (though Congress may
overrule the veto).  The Supreme Court may strike down laws passed by Congress.  These
other parts of government have a check on Congress.  The US Constitution is set up this
way because the people who wrote it did not trust any one body of government -- they
wanted each body to have the power to check and balance all the
others.

What is the value of m in 4x^2+44x+m=0 so that the 2 roots are equal?show steps please

We are given the equation
4x^2+44x+m=0.

We'll use the relation that for an equation
ax^2 + bx +c = 0

The roots are given by : [-b
+sqrt(b^2-4ac)] / 2a and [-b - sqrt(b^2-4ac)]

Now as the
roots are equal it implies that sqrt(b^2-4ac) = 0

we have a
= 4 , b = 44 and c =m

substituting we
get

sqrt [ 44^2 - 4*4*m]
=0

=> 44^2 - 4*4*m
=0

=> 44^2 = 16
m

=> m = 44^2 /
16

=> m =
121

Therefore the value of m for the equation
having equal roots is 121.

[ We can see
that the root of the equation 4x^2 + 44x + 121 =0 is only -5.5 ]

Critically comment on the following lines from ON LIBERTY."If all mankind minus one were of a opinion,and only one person were of the contrary...

Quotations such as these prove how strongly passionate
Mill was on the notion of individual choice and liberty.  The inclusion of the idea of
"silencing that one person" helps to bring this out.  Mill was driven by the idea that
the tyranny of the majority is an absolute wrong, something that political
establishments must strive to avoid.  In an era where industry was emerging throughout
the world, doing its best to ensure that all voices were moderated by wealth and social
condition, Mill's writing reminds us that there are some transcendent values that have
to be revered in the modern political setting.  The idea of ensuring that all opinions
are heard, and that the contrary ones, small as they might be, could not be silenced is
a powerful one.  Its implications are that if one voice is silenced today, more will
follow.  The development of the "slippery slope" argument concerning individual rights
takes hold in Mill's ideas such as the one featured.

From The Crucible, what is the literary device present in the section below?As Hale is about to leave, Giles Corey and Francis Nurse enter. Their...

The literary device used from this selection from Arthur
Miller's The Crucible is a
metaphor.

A
metaphor is an analogy between two objects or ideas,
conveyed by the use of a word instead of
another.

The metaphor occurs
in the quotation of the final sentence: Francis Nurse beseeches, " 'My wife is the very
brick and mortar of the church.' " The metaphor actually works on two levels. The author
is comparing the wife to the foundation of the church: She is solid and firm.
Additionally, Francis Nurse knows that his wife is a moral and spiritual woman--devout
and highly religious. Had Miller chosen to use the word "like" ("My wife is
like the very brick and mortar of the church"), it would have
reverted to a simile. 

What are the negative impacts on Tess and in general in Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles?

Of the negative influences are upon Tess, the most
significant one is actually fate.  In Tess of the D'Urbervilles,
Hardy promotes the idea of Fatalism--that no matter what one does in life, he or she has
a predetermined destiny that is useless to fight against.  In Hardy's novels, that fate
is almost always negative and increasingly difficult; this is certainly true in Tess's
case.  She is an innocent, kind character at the book's beginning, and she does nothing
to bring on most of the circumstances that end up ruining her
life.

In addition to an all-powerful fate, Tess is
influenced significantly by Alec.  He takes advantage of her naivety and desire to
please.  Even after Tess initially leaves Alec, she is not able to escape him, and his
treatment of her, of course, plays an important part in her
execution.

Similarly, while many would argue that Tess
finds love with Angel, it is also logical to stress that Tess might have been able to
live a better life it she had not met Angel in the first place.  He does not love Tess
in the way that she loves him and demonstrates on several occasions that he is not
willing to sacrifice his own desires and goals to help Tess.  This turns her to
hopelessness, and like Alec's treatment of Tess, is part of what drives her to her final
act.

In general, the negative influences of the novel are
common ones for most Hardy novels--a harsh physical environment (where Tess grows up),
poverty (which causes characters to act in desperate ways), and class warfare (which
causes some to feel superior and to treat others inhumanely and which results in
some--such as Tess and her family--being willing to endure such treatment because they
have been conditioned to do so).

Why does the moon appear to change its shape everyday?Relate the moon changes in its shape to how to calculate the days by looking at the moon.

Changing shape of the moon, also called phases of the moon
is caused by changes in the part of the moon illuminated by the sun facing the
moon.

We see moon because of the sunlight reflected by
towards the earth. At any time the sun is able to illuminate only half part of the moon.
The other half of the moon does not receive any sunlight because of its spherical shape.
Depending on the relative positions of sun, moon, and the earth, different proportions
of the semi-sphere-shaped illuminated half of the moon faces the earth, causing the
shape of the moon visible from the earth to change.

On a
full moon day, when the moon appears as a complete circle, the earth is positioned
directly between the moon and the sun. Because of this the illuminated surface of the
moon fully faces the earth, making the moon appear round. At other the earth is
positioned away from the direct connecting sun and moon. Further the earth from this
line, smaller is the illuminated part of the moon directed towards, and visible from
earth. On a new moon day the earth is positioned farthest from this line joining sun and
moon. AS a result the moon is seen as a thin crescent only.

Evaluate the derivative of y^3 where y = x/(x^3+3)^1/3

Y = x/(x^3+3)^(1/3)

To find
the derivative of y^3 with respect to
x.

Solution:

We know d/dx(y^3)
= 3y^2* dy/dx.............(1).

dy/dx = y' ={
x/[(x^3+3)^(1/3)]}' = (u/v)' form

(u/v) ' = {u'*v
+u*v'}/v^2.

u = x, u' = 1

v=
{(x^3+3)^(1/3)}' , v' = {(x^3+3)^(1/3)}' = (1/3){x^3+3) ^(1/3-1) *
(x^3+3)'

v' = (1/3)(x^3+3)^(-2/3) *
(3x^2)

v' =
x^2/(x^3+3)^(2/3).

Therfore y '= (u/v)' = {1 (x^3+3)^(1/3)
+ x^2/(x^3+3)}/(x^3+3)^(2/3)  = {(x^3+3)
+x^2}/(x^3+3)^(4/3)

y' =
(x^3+x^2+3)/(x^3+3)^(4/3)

We  substitute this value of the
value of y' in (1) and we get:

dy^3/dx = 3 y^2 {
(x^3+x^2+3)/(x^3+3)^(4/3)

d/dx(y^3) =  3 {x/x^3+3)^(1/3)}^2
{(x^3+x^2+3)/(x^2+3)^(4/3)

= 3x^2(x^3+x^2+3)/
(x^3+3)^(6/3)

d/dx(y^3) =
3x^2(x^2+3)/(x^3+3)^2.

What are three changes that might cause an environment to change-- that might alter the availability for resources in an environment.

If the water table is depleted, this could have far
reaching effects. In some areas, water is diverted to cities for use and the water table
becomes very low. The environment would dry up. Water is a necessary resource.Plants
adapted to a certain amount of water might not be able to withstand a lack of water and
could die off as a result.  The herbivores in turn, would die off and then carnivores
and omnivores would also become diminished. Another change in the environment that could
alter the amount of resources would be light availability. For instance, if there is a
volcanic eruption spewing much ash and debris into the atmosphere, this could cut down
on light penetrating to the Earth's surface. A lack of light would alter the amount of
producers that could live and grow. This shortage of plants in turn, would affect oxygen
levels which would decrease and also, it would affect food chains, as plants are the
basis of all food chains. Another environmental change is deforestation. When land
developers cut down trees to develop housing and other projects, this causes less oxygen
to be produced and more carbon dioxide to remain in the atmosphere. This can lead to
global warming. Less trees means less roots to absorb precipitation. This causes
flooding and runoff. When water runs downhill, it carries topsoil away, another resource
needed for plants to grow. It can take hundreds of years to produce more topsoil. These
are some examples of changes that could affect the environment and alter the
availability of resources within that environment.

Please discuss The Alchemist by Ben Johson as an allegory.How is The Alchemist by Ben Jonson an allegory?

A discussion of Ben Jonson's The
Alchemist as an allegory is, in truth, a little difficult. The reason why
this is so is that The Alchemist is in the genre of
farce not that of allegory. However, while a work may not
be definitively an allegory, through the process of allegoresis it
may be critically read as an allegory in part or in whole.

Allegoresis is
the process by which a work that is not written as an allegory--like for example the
allegorical works The Faerie Queene and The Pilgrim's
Progress--may be critically and analytically read and understood as an
allegory or as having parts that are allegorical. An
allegory is a work (or a section, passage or line of a
work) that has universally representative characters and experience. title="Allegory: Literary Terms and Definitions. Kip Wheeler, Carson-Newman College"
href="http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_a.html">For instance, if a
folk fable that has the characters Tommy the Toad and Bobby
the Billy Goat and in which they say, "We are creatures of the wild, aren't we?" is
modified so that Tommy the Toad becomes Toad the Teacher and Bobby the Billy Goat
becomes Stubborn Student Bobby Billy and they talk about "We are creatures of rational
reason, aren't we?", then the fable about individuals has become an
allegory about all of humankind through the universality of
character and experience.

In constructing The
Alchemist, which some critics say is the most perfect play in English
literature, Ben Jonson didn't draw on old stories for his storyline and plot; he created
the story and plot himself. To do so, he used character
types, not allegorical characters. This is what classifies The
Alchemist as farce instead of allegory. Type, or
"typical," characters are standard characters or archetypal characters that everyone has
experience with and therefore can understand even though a particular type may not be
universally representative in the way allegorical characters are. For example, not
everyone is the swindler type though many people have experience of that type of person.
Another example is that not everyone is the giddy girl type though many people have
experience of that type of person. Which points out another difference between typical
characters and allegorical characters: Character types lend
themselves to humor, farce and satire while allegorical
characters are serious characters meant to be taken in
earnest.

So--this said--an allegoresis
reading of The Alchemist could interpret the
character types as universal allegorical representations portraying an underlying
earnestly serious message. Therefore in an allegoresis the characters would be The
Puritan Ananias, The Law Clerk Dapper, The Rich Young Man Kastril, and The Master
Lovwit, etc., and the themes might be woven together to teach a serious lesson, perhaps
about Morality and Order in a Disordered world that requires vigilance against
Victimization through right-minded Religion. Furthermore, in allgoresis, the satire that
Jonson writes would undergird the delivery of the earnestly serious
theme.

Compare characterization techniques for "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien and "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker.

“The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien and “Everyday
Use” by Alice Walker present characters which the reader will not forget.  Both skilled
writers use specific character development plans.

“The
Things They Carried” employs a unique approach to character development.   Using props,
the character is recognized by the things that he has in his back
pack. 

One of the ways that O’Brien develops his characters
is by the  role each person plays in the platoon.  For example, Kiowa is the moral
leader and Rat Kiley is the story teller.

Kiowa is the
nicest of all the soldiers in the platoon.  As a Native American Christian, he  loves to
be in church.  His prop is his grandfather’ hunting hatchet and a Bible.  These objects
represent an emotional tie to home and something to hold on to when fear overcomes him.
He also carries moccasins with him to be able to walk
silently.

The story teller is Rat Kiley.  His occupation in
the platoon is the medic.  His props include M&Ms.  He loves to tell stories but
he also adds a lot information to the stories to make them interesting.  He is a good
soldier and carefully cares for his wounded. 

readability="8">

As a medic, Rat Kiley carried a canvas
satchel filled with morphine and plasma and malaria tablets and surgical tape and comic
books and all the things that a medic must carry…for a weight of twenty
pounds.

In “Everyday
Use” by Alice Walker, the writer uses the narrator to provide characterization.  There
are three women who play an important role in the purpose of the
story. 

In creating her characters, Walker focuses on the
personalities of the women.  Through Mama’s honest narration, the reader learns what
separates these women in their views of life.

Mama’s
personality is gentle and strict.  Mama does not have many valuable material things’
yet, her greatest possessions are those that have been made by her mother and
grandmother, particularly the quilts that they made for her.  They are her family
legacy.  Dee wants to take these things for herself to show them off to illustrate her
black heritage.

Maggie’s character centers on her injury
and burns that she received when the house burned down.  Her mother describes her as
nervous about her sister coming to visit and ashamed about her scars.  Her mother
describes her as homely. It is obvious that Mama compares Dee to Maggie, and Maggie does
not come close to Dee in looks or intelligence. In the end of the story, Mama will
realize that Maggie who desperately wants and deserves her mother’s love and
attention.

Dee was named after her grandmother. Since she
has been away at college, she has taken on the role of a black activist.  She has
changed her name to Wangero.  Dee has never liked her home---it was not good enough for
her. She watched and did not try to help Maggie when the house burned.  Now she has come
back to get things to decorate her home to show off her black heritage.  When she wants
the quilts made by her ancestors, for the first time, Mama tells Dee “no.” She promised
the quilts to Maggie. 

Dee is incensed by this because she
knows that Maggie will use them for everyday use. When she realizes that she will not
get her way, Dee leaves telling her mother and sister that they do not understand what
their heritage is. Walker’s purpose is to show the different generations of characters
illustrating that change is not always good.

What are the secular influnces on the Early English Drama?

The earliest English Drama that we note as wholly English
would be the Mystery, Miracle and Morality plays of the Middle Ages.  Though they were
meant as teaching tools of the Church, meant to convey stories and lessons of
Christianity to a largely illiterate populace, they, of necessity, bore the marks of
secular influence, most notably in the use of theatrical
device.

These plays, in many ways, need to be considered as
secular events because of the context in which they would be performed -- NOT in a
church.  Wagons traveled to an open area -- an inn courtyard or open street -- opened
their doors and performed.  It was the necessities of a theatrical rather than
liturgical environment that sparked the secular
influence.

Actors want to keep an audience engaged, and one
of the easiest ways to do that is through humor.  So a great deal of the secular
investment into these plays was through comic actors inventing action and text which
diverged from the Biblical story or moral being presented.  Comic actors or clowns, were
know all the way up to Shakespeare's day for their ability to improvise humorous action
and remarks, sometimes to the detriment of the plot of the
play.

The Vice character of Morality plays was another
ultimately secular influence.  Though meant to show the audience the downfall of
behaving badly, Vice was often a funny, wily character, whose charm proved very
seductive to the audience he was meant to repel.  Shakespearean villains like Iago and
Richard III are direct descendants of the Vice
character.

Though there are other influences, I would
suggest that humor and the power it affords an actor in winning and maintaining the
audience's attention is a major secular addition to Early English Drama.  More secular
influences can be found at the links given below.

In Night, what are 6 events that are examples of hopelessness and death and what are 6 examples of hope and life?In Chapters 6 - 9.

Well, with a story like this one there are plenty of
examples of hopelessness, and I am certainly not going to give you an example of all six
for both, as I really think you should be reading this excellent, life-changing
narrative for yourself. I will, however, point you towards one event that encapsulates
both the hope but also the despair of these last few chapters. This is the violin of
Juliek.

Let us remember that Elie and the other prisoners
are on the withdrawal with their German captors. They are all in a barrack and there are
so many prisoners that they are struggling to sleep, as literally there was danger of
suffocation and crushing from so many bodies. In the midst of this chaos and suffering
and sadness, like a note of hope, Juliek begins playing his violin, in what turns out to
be his last concert.

readability="12">

He was playing a fragment of a Beethoven
concerto. Never before had I heard such a beautiful sound. In such
silence....

...The darkness enveloped us. All I could hear
was the violin, and it was as if Juliek's soul had become his bow. He was playing his
life. His whole being was gliding over the strings. His unfulfilled hopes. His charred
past, his extinguished future. He played that which he would never play
again.

Juliek's impromptu
concert therefore sums up the capacity of man to survive and thrive in the most hideous
of situations and to find beauty in the most ugly of surroundings. In spite of all that
has happened to him, Juliek has not had his ability to create beauty extinguished. This
is something that gives hope, and as the author says, it was an unforgettable
performance:

readability="5">

How could I forget this concert given before an
audience of the dead and the
dying?

Of course, this great
symbol of hope is short lived, as the next day Elie sees Juliek "hunched over, dead"
with his trampled violin next to him, which is described as "an eerily poignant little
corpse." It is clear that Juliek literally played his life out, and the "death" of the
violin represents the death of his talent and his potential. A bleak moment following
the uplifting music of the night before.

Hope this example
helps you find other such contrasts. And do read the book - it is
life-changing.

What is the race of Scout's family? Black or white?

Scout's family is white, as are most of the families in
Macomb that Lee focuses on. The point of the story is to draw attention to racism in the
South and Harper Lee does this by telling the story from the perspective of an adult
white woman remembering her childhood in Maycomb.

The story
follows Scout as she recounts the time that her father, Atticus, took on the case of Tom
Robinson, a black man. Tom was wrongly accused of raping a white woman, Mayella Ewell.
Although the Ewell family was not a respected one, and Tom Robinson was a respected back
man, the town is still enraged that a black man has raped a white woman and they call
for his conviction. Atticus takes the case and defends him with everything he has, but
Tom is still convicted. This shows that that despite being Tom innocent, the town was
unwilling to admit that the white man in this case (Mayella's abusive father) could have
been to blame and that the black man was correct. This would have had far-reaching
connotations and consequences in the South at that time, and we get the impression from
the book that most people in two believed Tom had to be guilty anyway simply because he
was black.

Although Scout and her family are white, her
father Atticus "tries to love all people" and earnestly attempts to teach this to both
of his children throughout the book. The underlying message of the novel is that racism
is a choice.

How were the Native Americans in the Powhatan Confederacy different from those confronted by the Spanish?

The Powhatan Indians were located in Virginia. They get
their name from an important chief, Powhatan, who was the father of Pocahontas. These
tribes had established a complicated chiefdom in which many sub-tribes were ruled over
by the major tribe, controlled by Powhatan. These Indians built houses out of trees.
They grew crops, mostly maize (corn), and they fished and hunted for meat. The men were
tall, thin and handsome. The women were shorter, but strong because they worked hard
growing crops and making bread out of the corn flour that they had to pound for hours.
Both sexes had their different roles, but they all worked hard. They tended to stay
where they were until the land could no longer produce enough to support them, and then
they would move to another location.

The English needed to
get along with these Indians to ensure their survival, but they made many mistakes. They
tried to buy Powhatan’s favor by giving him a lot of worthless trinkets and making him a
vassal of the English king, but in order to do this, he had to kneel before the English
in submission, and this he naturally refused to do. He was already a king in his own
nation. There was a lot of fighting between the Indians and the colonists. There was a
brief period of peace when tobacco farmer John Rolfe married Powhatan’s daughter,
Pocahontas, but when they both died, the wars continued as the English continued to
encroach on the Indian land. 

Spanish explorers such as
Coronado and DeSoto had even worse luck with the Native Americans. They encountered
hostile natives almost everywhere, which caused them to change direction often. Since
most of the Spanish conquests were in South America and Mexico, when they encountered
resistance in Florida and in the Southern U.S., they gave up and turned around. They did
not find any gold, so they were not interested in settling down and farming like the
English were. They had different goals in mind than the English
settlers.

None of the Native Americans were very pleased
about the arrival of the Europeans, but Native Americans believed that no one could own
the land and if the Europeans were willing to co-exist, that was fine. The problem was,
the Europeans had a different culture and different views about the land. They believed
that God meant man to subdue the land and use it for himself. The Native Americans
believed that the people and the land were one so when they were forced to leave their
land by the Europeans, they fought back.

In Great Expectations, how many of Pip's earlier expectations have been realized, and what does he conclude after his visit to Miss Havisham's?

In many ways, Pip's anticipation, or expectation, of
events and acquisitions has been disappointing. Having been influenced by the reactions
of his covetous Uncle Pumblechook and sister, Mrs. Joe, Pip comes to believe that
somehow the wealthy are superior.  For instance, when he is invited to go to the house
of Miss Havisham, much ceremony in his home takes place and he is virtually baptized
with water as his sister bathes him excessively at the pump.  With ceremony his clothes
are laid out and Uncle Pumblechook coaches him on his math before Pip makes his
appearance at Satis House.

Of course, the contrast between
what Pip has expected of this house and what he sees is marked.  Satis House is in
ruins, the interior is dark with no sunshine allowed to peep through the heavy curtains,
the clocks have all been stopped at the same time, his escort is curt and impolite,
ridiculing his appearance:  "Why, he's a common laboring boy!"  Rather than being
received graciously as a guest, Pip is made to feel like a servant who must follow
Estella and be the butt of her despairing remarks about his coarseness.  Nevertheless,
Pip is taken with Estella's beauty and, as for many, that which seems unattainable to
him becomes most desirable.  Thus, he leaves Satis House as the occupants
are--dissastified.  He is most disappointed in his expectations as he has been ridiculed
for his coarse boots and common [meaning low-class] way of calling knaves in cards
jacks.  Pip's return home is miserable, but he dissembles to Pumblechook and Mrs. Joe
because he knows that they have somehow elevated Miss Havisham to almost royalty,
telling them of velvet coaches and games with flags as though he were, indeed, with a
queen and a princess.

Pip's disappointment illustrates the
theme of Appearance vs. Reality in Great Expectations, a theme that
serves to elucidate the lesson that false values lead to falsity with oneself.  For,
later in the novel as Pip has pursued his false values, he berates
himself:

All other swindlers upon earth are
nothing to the self-swindlers, and with such pretenses did I cheat
myself.

Can someone help me consider and discuss how education is connected to social stratification and social mobility.Debate the issue of education and...

There are several factors that produce those results. One
is the advantage that a high school diploma has over not finishing high school. Then
there is the advantage of finishing college over someone who has not. Then, there is the
difference between an Ivy League school, and a middle tier or lower school (though not
in quality, merely by reputation and historical age.) The difference generates
difference in earning power, earnings over a lifetime, and the power to obtain upward
mobility in the chosen career field. the higher one goes, the more education one needs.
This, in the end, creates if you will a caste system that is hard to change, but ti can
be done. There will always be parts of society that can purchase personal and
professional educational assistance over others that can not even afford basic living
items.

What are the main characteristics of Atticus' speech to the jury?

I think one of the most profound things about this speech
is that Atticus does not necessarily do nor present anything in a way that is
particularly "showy" or outstanding.  His tone is firm and straightforward.  Sadly, the
case is cut and dry, yet he knows the jury will not be unbiased in their decision.  He
outlines exactly what must have really happened to Mayella, and essentially, why Tom has
been incriminated but could not possibly be guilty.  He restates the evidence in a very
list-like and simplistic way.

At the very end however,
Atticus dares address the so-called "elephant in the room" when he addresses the common
white assumptions about "all negroes."  He basically defines the
blatant prejudice that clearly exists in this town and this case.  He then sums
everything up with a reminder that "all men are created equal" and that a United States
courtroom should be the one place that this is
true.

The entire speech is just perfectly delivered by the
one man in town who has practiced as much integrity as he's asking
for.

How does the speaker feel about Richard Cory?

The surprising last line of the poem is ultimately where
the whole poem is headed.  As the previous post noted, the pace of the poem is driving
us through this description of Cory and of the regular people of the town, and we are
getting a very clear description of a very fine man, but his suicide comes as a shock. 
We immediately ask ourselves, "Why would he, who seems to have everything, kill
himself?"  That is EXACTLY what the speaker / poet intends for us to do.  The speaker is
purposely establishing the irony of the last line, and it ends up being his judgement of
Richard Cory, even though it is unstated.  The speaker recognizes that there must have
been a shallowness in Cory, or an appearances vs. reality problem in Cory's life for the
man to decide to kill himself.  All of the previous lines establish the outward
appearance and behavior of Cory, or of the people he passed by, but the speaker and we
never know the inner workings of the man himself.

What does the Doctor mean when he says of Lady Macbeth, "Therein the patient/ Must minister to himself" (5.3.45-46)?(Act 5 in Macbeth)

The doctor, here is giving an answer to Macbeth's
question. Macbeth had asked him if was not capable of addressing a sick mind. Is he only
capable of ministering physical sickness? Can he not come up with a calmative for the
sick and sorrowful mind? Can he not uproot from the horrifying passages of a
gulit-ridden memory, the cause of inner-grief, that seems to madden Lady
Macbeth?

It is in the form of an answer to this question
that the doctor says that in such cases of mental trouble, it is only self-ministering
or self-conducting or to use a modern Freudan term, 'self-analysis' is the only way to
go.

Most of the psychological problems can only be solved
by the patient and this is a psychoanalytic truth spoken by the doctor in Shakespeare.
The process does not lie in a removal of the symptom but rather an acknowledgment and
emptying out of it.

Why is public opinion important in a democracy?

I would answer just slightly differently from the previous
post.  The people are not, in my mind, the ultimate source of power, but it is important
to maintain that illusioni.  Ideally of course, in a democracy the people vote to decide
their future, but in the case of a representative democracy, like ours with its party
system dominated by just two parties, public opinion is more important when it comes to
the perception of things rather than actually informing policy decisions,
etc.

So political parties must maintain a certain level of
positive public opinion but it can be relatively well manipulated through the media and
other sources and used to maintain the status quo and allow the representatives to make
decisions based on their interests.

Around election time it
becomes vital of course, but again, manipulation through the media and various other
methods counts for more than any kind of referenda or real reference to public
opinion.

What is the theme of the poem "Night of the Scorpion' by Nissim Ezekiel

I am going to focus on a different theme of this poem and
say that the theme of "selfless motherhood" is paramount.  In order to understand this
theme, we need only to look at the beginning and the end of the
poem.

At the beginning of the poem, we learn that the
speaker is the child of the mother who is stung.

readability="5">

I remember the night my mother
was
stung by a scorpion.

It is
the middle of the poem that contains the actions of the villagers all gathering around
the mother in order to pray and to chant and to perform certain rituals and to use
certain herbs.  Despite all of the actions taken above, "after twenty hours / it lost
its sting."  This implies that none of the things the neighbors did (even the "holy man"
with his "incantations") did anything to help this mother.  In the end, she has only one
thing to say:

readability="5">

My mother only said
Thank
God the scorpion picked on me
And spared my
children.

Now THAT is true
selflessness of a mother.  She endured lots of pain and hardship (not to mention
onlookers!), and ended in a prayer of thanksgiving to God.  Even though we are not told
this in the poem, if the scorpion stung one of the children, a death may have been
imminent.  (Think of Kino's little boy in The Pearl.)  The lives of
her children was worth the pain of "my mother twisted through and through / groaning on
a mat."  Why?  Her children, her legacy, are more important than her own
life.

What is the story arc?what is the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and the resolution of "the wedding" by nicholas sparks

The exposition of the story starts as
Wilson wonders if he can change—he still loves his wife, but believes he has taken her
for granted for much too long, something that becomes glaringly clear when he forgets
their twenty-ninth wedding anniversary.

The
rising action of the story tells about the year that follows the missed
anniversary.  Jane decides to visit their son, out of town, and alone. This convinces
Wilson that their marriage is in crisis.  Wilson goes to visit Jane's father, Noah, who
had a wonderful marriage until his wife Allie died. It is Wilson's intention to change
how he acts towards Jane so that she will know how he feels.  So Wilson decides he will
begin change how he acts towards her.

About a week before
their thirtieth anniversary, their daughter announces that she and her boyfriend want to
get married on her parent's anniversary.  As the quick plans are made, Wilson can see
that Jane has regrets about their wedding: it had not been what she had hoped
for.

As the plans for the wedding progress, Wilson is much
more attentive to Jane.  He also spends time with Jane's father, Noah, and even puts
time and energy into bringing the family home back to its former glory, even though Noah
lives in a nursing home.  It is also decided that Anna's wedding will be held at Noah's
house.

Wilson does all he can to be supportive of Jane
during this time, and to help with the wedding plans.  His is generous with his time and
money.  Noah ends up in the hospital when he falls and hits his head, and the family
visits.  Through all of this, Wilson is involved in deep introspection, remembering
things he unfairly asked of his wife, that he never made up to her or even conveyed that
he appreciated.

Wilson courts Jane now the way he did when
they fell in love.  Jane asks him if he is having an affair—all this special attention
is confusing her.  He assures Jane that he is not having an affair.  The next night,
Wilson plans a special date, complete with limo and a secret destination, which turns
out to be Noah's house, now completely renovated.  They spend a romantic evening
together, and it seems that their relationship is back on
track.

The climax of the story occurs
when the wedding day arrives. Flowers, caterer and family start to appear at the house.
 Finally Anna enters, not in a wedding dress, but in a bridesmaid's dress, with a veil
behind her back—the veil is for Jane, and for the last year, Wilson has been planning
Jane's wedding as surprise so she can have the wedding she never had.  He has done all
of this out of his love for her.

The falling
action occurs when Wilson decides that a man can change,
if he really wants to.  He makes up his mind to continue to show Jane how much she means
to him, making sure he never takes her for granted again.

What is “willing suspension of disbelief”?

The "willing suspension of disbelief" is defined as the
following:

The
temporary acceptance as believable of events or characters that would ordinarily be seen
as incredible. This is usually to allow an audience to appreciate works of literature or
drama that are exploring unusual
ideas.

This term refers to
actions or happenings which happen in literature, or other narratives (such as film), in
which the reader decides to forgo previous thought on an idea and replace it with a
willingness to accept the action as simply being what it is for the duration of the
work.

This allows readers to accept ideas of an author as
acceptable based upon the fact that they understand the the work is a piece of fiction.
This allows a reader to more fully enjoy the work, by allowing the reader to "let go",
given all concern for reality is temporarily released.  This being said, the imagery and
actions associated must be considered by the reader as
believable.

What instances in the Bible do prophets or others argue with God?I'm aware of the obvious ones such as with Abraham and Moses, who debate with God...

Both Job and Jonah come to mind in thinking about how to
answer this question full enough for you to develop an essay. Neither of them are the
obvious prophet, but both blatantly argued with God. The book of Jonah in the old
testament would recall the story of his denial to God. God wanted him to travel to
Ninevah to tell the people about their sin. No one likes to be the bearer of bad news.
The book of Job likewise tells the story of his argument with God. The Devil asked God
if he could tempt God's servant Job. God conceded, and Job suffered dearly for the Lord.
From about a third of the way into the book until the end, Job grows from whole-hearted
understanding to argument to once again pure devotion. He is a model of struggle for all
to emulate.

Critically appreciate the poem "The Road Not Taken."

The poem is about choices.  "Two roads diverge in a yellow
wood"--the speaker has to make a choice between two paths that seem to be equal.  He
tells us three times in the poem that the paths are about the same.  In the last stanza
of the poem,though, he claims that he will be recounting his choice "with a sigh."  We
don't know if this is a sigh of contentment or regret.  Then he claims that he took the
road "less traveled by."  This claim is only in retrospect.  At the time of the choice,
the two roads seemed to be the same.

He claims that his
choice made "all the difference."  Yet, he does not tell us what this difference is.  We
don't know if the difference is positive or negative.  Most likely, the speaker does not
know either.  All the speaker knows is that this choice led to others.  Because he
cannot live in an alternate universe, he only knows that the path he took made some kind
of difference in his life.

Perhaps in an attempt to make
meaning of his choice, he can claim "ages and ages hence" that he took the road "less
travelled by," but this is probably fantasy, an attempt to rationalize the choice he did
make.

This poem appeals to many, but most likely for the
wrong reasons.  Many people read this poem as a affirmation of individualism and not
following conventional choices.  However, even Frost himself called this poem a "tricky"
poem.  The poem does express a universal truth that even the small choices in our life
can make a difference.

Do you find the poem "Five Ways to Kill a Man" to be realistic or pessimistic in tone?

Thank you for ruining my evening with this poem
(;.

I would have to vote for "pessimistic" regarding this
poem. 

In the first four stanzas, the poem describes
several ways of killing a man: crucifixion, lancing, gassing, and
bombing.

To me, the stanza about bombing is especially
frightening, because all it requires is the "pressing [of] one small switch."  It is so
impersonal that there is no reason to believe that the bomber has any feelings of anger
or hatred toward you.

The last stanza, of course, seals the
pessimism:  

readability="11">

These are, as I began, cumbersome ways to kill a
man.
Simpler, direct, and much more neat is to see
that he is living
somewhere in the middle
of the twentieth century, and leave him
there.

This leaves us with
nowhere to escape to (except that we're now in the 21st century, which doesn't seem much
better than its predecessor).  The poet is saying that the very conditions of life in
the twentieth century can (and do) kill people.  Noise, pollution, overcrowding,
mechanization, mass political movements, rapid communications--all of these are
killers.

The poet could have mentioned some of the benefits
and conveniences of modern life, but he doesn't.  That's because he is a pessimist, at
least in this poem.

What typical themes of Shakespeare's comedies are used in Much Ado About Nothing?Please specify with examples from the text.

Shakespeare re-examined certain themes over and over, in
both his tragedies and comedies.  One of the predominant themes is appearance versus
reality, and another common theme is jealousy.  All of Shakespeare's comedies revolve
around love relationships, since, by definition, a comedy must end in at least one
marriage, but a twist on the traditional love relationship that Shakespeare often
employs as a theme is the battle of the sexes (mostly as a witty war of words) as a sign
of true love.

Appearance versus reality is announced as a
theme of this play in the very title:  Much Ado about
Nothing (or Noting, which is
how the word would have been pronounced).  Many characters are taken in by scenes
enacted by other characters in order to fool them into believing something that is
potentially false.  In Act II, scene iii, Benedick is duped by Leonato, Don Pedro and
Claudio into believing that Beatrice is desperately in love with him.  Act III, scene i
has Ursula, Hero and Margaret pulling the wool over Beatrice's eyes about Benedick, and
the end of Act III, scene ii suggests that Don John will show Don Pedro and Claudio a
scene in which Hero will enact her unfaithfulness.  This scene is not enacted onstage,
but all of these scenes highlight the theme of appearance versus
reality.

Jealousy is thematically examined in the responses
of Claudio to what he suspects is Hero's involvement with other men in both the dance
sequence of Act II, scene i and the scene mentioned above, but also in the actions of
the comic villain, Don John, who is jealous of the place that Claudio holds in her
brother Don Pedro's affections.

The battle of the sexes in
this play is enacted (famously) between Beatrice and Benedick who, even as they are
pledging their troth to each other in Act V scene iv, are still finding ways to battle
each other, and must have a truce signaled by Benedick's line, "Peace!  I will stop your
mouth," after which he kisses Beatrice.

For more on these
and other themes, please follow the links below.

In "The Cask of Amontillado," several times Montresor asks Fortunato to turn back. Why would he do this when he is deliberately plotting his murder?

You have asked a great question that to me highlights the
criminal genius of Montresor in his deliberate plotting and leading on of Fortunato to
his death. Montresor is trying to make himself sound reasonable and to not let Fortunato
suspect any foul deeds are in the offing, so he deliberately tries to appear to persuade
Fortunato to turn back. However, if we examine what he says closely, we know that
Montresor knows the weakness of his enemy and is using it against him to lead him on to
his doom.

Let us consider what Montresor tells us about
Fortunato:

He
had a weak point - this Fortunato - although in other regards he was a man to be
respected and even feared. He prided himself on his connoisseurship in
wine.

It is this fatal
weakness, this Achilles heel, that Montresor exploits. Note how he uses the Amontillado
as bait to lure Fortunato down. What he cunningly does is to suggest that he should go
to Luchesi, another noble, instead of Fortunato, as Fortunato is obviously so busy. Of
course, suggesting that somebody else give information on what is Fortunato's area of
expertise only strengthens Fortunato's determination to go with Montresor. Any further
doubts that Montresor expresses are clear to use the same
strategy:

readability="16">

"Come," I said, with decision, "we will go back;
your health is precious. You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as
once I was. You are a man to be missed. For me it is no matter. We will go back; you
will be ill, and I cannot be responsible. Besides, there is Luchesi
-"

Note the final four words.
You see, part of Montresor's cunning is that, whilst ostensibly being concerned for his
"friend's" health, he is actually showing that concern in a way which can only tempt
Fortunato to go further into the catacombs with Montresor to his
doom.

In Pride and Prejudice, do you think Austen makes it possible to feel sympathy for Mrs Bennet?

Absolutely!  Mrs. Bennet is saved from being condemned
solely as a flighty, social climbing scatterbrain through the love she has for her
family.  Austen is a master of character, which means that she sees all aspects of a
person, and doesn't leave him or her to be received by the reader as a two-dimensional
cartoon.

Mrs. Bennet is redeemed because, in her own mind,
all her worry and striving for position is for the good of her girls, her family.  Even
today, mothers are often caught up in worry and over concern for the welfare of their
children.

In Austen's day, a house full of daughters was of
real importance and concern for a family.  The girls needed to be married and to marry
well, and how they were received in society would tell all about their future
prospects.  So, in the same way that parents worry today about what college a child
might get in to, even beginning to think about this when their child is only 5 or 6, the
Bennets had to consider the prospects of marriage for their daughters.  It was vital to
whether their daughters would have a "successful"
future.

So, if it is possible to justify at least some of
Mrs. Bennet's point of view as genuine parental concern, then it might be a bit easier
to see that, in essence, she is acting from love.

Paraphrase Sonnet 29 by William Shakespeare.

In order to take a look at paraphrasing this 14 lines, I
am going to break it into 4 sections: 1. the first 4 lines, 2. the next 4 lines, 3. the
third 4 lines, and 4. the last two lines.

1. During the
lonely times in life when I realize how low I am in the eyes of men, my own eyes, and my
own luck in this world, I pray to God and I curse
myself.

2. I compare myself to one who has a better
outlook, a better look, more friends, a better job, and better talents, wishing in my
job and life I could have such things.

3. In the midst of
these despressing thoughts about myself, I begin to think about you [insinuating a
lover], and that thought lifts me up like an early morning songbird lifts their voice,
making me want to sing praise to God.

4. The chance to
remember how you love me makes my state much better than I thought it was and I would
never want to change my life since I have you.

Why do you think Coelho chose a crystal shop in The Alchemist?Why would Paulo Coelho choose crystal over other occupations such as a baker or a...

The crystal shop was a good set up for an occupation for
Santiago because it gave him a way in which to learn more about his enthusiasm. He did
this by seeing ways that he could improve on the shop's situation.  First, he improved
the income of the shop by putting crystal on shelves outside of the shop to catch
travelers' attention.  Then, he capitalized on the crystal shop being at a major point
on a hiking trail by serving tea in the crystal to thirsty hikers.  This gave the hikers
a different and unique experience. If the shop keeper had sold hookahs at that point on
the trail, the demand would not have been strong at that location. If the shop were just
another tea shop, it would not have been unique without the crystal. Among other
lessons, it is through selling crystal that the boy practices his knowledge about
following omens in order to capitalize on his creativity.

In the play Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, who is the character of Roo?

Roo is Olive's sometimes-lover, a working man who spends
most of the year in the fields performing manual labor. He is a member of an older class
of men, preferring to work with his hands instead of pursuing higher education,
learning, or business; this gives him an air of rugged masculinity, despite his obvious
devotion to Olive. The text describes him in a fairly complete
manner:

ROO:
Pleased to meet yer. (Smiles slowly at her and PEARL relaxes a little. He is a
man's man with a streak of gentleness, a mixture that
invites confidence... recent experiences have etched a faint line of bewilderment
between his eyes, a sign of the first serious mental struggle he has ever had in his
life...
(Lawler, Summer of the Seventeenth
Doll, Google
Books)

Roo is a member of the
Australian "bush," the collective of working men who see each other as "mates," people
with a personal connection deeper than family. His connection to the working class makes
it hard for him to fit in with Olive and her upper-class friends; however, harsh
economic times have forced Roo to abandon his mates and work in the city. In his inner
heart, Roo believes that he will marry Olive and live in happiness; in reality, his
actions and their shared deceits prevent them from ever reaching that romantic end. Roo
discovers that he cannot compete with the city, and similarly cannot compete with the
younger generation.

In The Great Gatsby, does the author seem to punish any of the female characters for being a bad person?

In The Great Gatsby, the female
characters are arguably despicable people because they treat others with little regard. 
As a result, all are punished to a greater or lesser extent.  For example, Daisy runs
through Gatsby and toys with his feelings throughout the entire story.  In the end, she
leaves with Tom which in itself is punishment because Tom has already had affairs with
other women (and will presumably continue), so a life with him brings little joy. 
Jordan has remained cold throughout the story, and she too is criticized for being less
than honest in her golfing.  Finally, Myrtle has dishonored her marriage to Wilson and
has shunned him for not being rich--her death is her punishment.  Fitzgerald seems to
punish these characters for falling prey to prejudice and disregarding humanity and
common decency.

Discuss how "foregrounding” is a major stylistic device amongst creative writers.Please provide examples where possible.

The concept of href="http://www.sil.org/acpub/repository/31879.pdf">foregrounding is an
interesting one that emerged from the critical school of Russian Formalism, the
proponents of which relocated to Prague when Stalin determined Formalism to be a
literary "heresy." In reaction to the literary theories that preceded, which lacked
rigorous standards and guidelines, Russian Formalism undertook a scientific examination
and description of the literary devices that comprise literary language and make it
distinct from non-literary language. An important component of this literariness
associated with literary language is the concept of foregrounding. title="Linguistic Formalists. John Holcombe. TextEtc.com"
href="http://www.textetc.com/theory/formalists.html"/>

title="Linguistic Formalists. John Holcombe. TextEtc.com"
href="http://www.textetc.com/theory/formalists.html">Foregrounding is the
use of devices, most notably patterning (e.g., repetition), ambiguity, diction,
metaphor, tone, parallelism, along with theme, character and plot, to create
defamiliarization through linguistic dislocation, a concept that opposes the preceding
theoretic position that literature reflects the world. In other words, the formalist
concept of foregrounding, further developed by Jan Mukařovský, asserts literary language
creates a "making strange" that puts the world in a new perspective that opposes a
theory of a reflected perspective. Mukařovský's concept of
aktualisace, translated as foregrounding,
focused on the use of devices to emphasize what Formalism considers nonreflective
features, elements, or concepts associated with literary
language.

Having thus laid the groundwork, it is clear to
see how foregrounding, though the concept and its notions were unknown to early writers,
is an important stylistic element for creative writers going back even to Homer. In
Homer's Iliad patterning is a prime device as he repeats passages
and descriptions that are of paramount importance to understanding the lives of the
characters, for example, "strong greaves," and "greatest kindness." Diction is a
paramount element to both Edmund Spenser and Shakespeare. In addition Spenser produced a
brilliant example of patterning in his Epithalamion. Metaphor wis
an inseparable part of literariness in literary language for the Romantics and continues
so today.

Foregrounding, this major component of creative
writing, this linguistic technique that dislocates language into defamiliarization, is
and has been a major stylistic device through all ages--which incidentally corroborates
the validity of the approach of Russian Formalism.

In Great Expectations, why does Wemmick give advice at Walworth that contradicts what he has said on Gerrard Street?

The character of John Wemmick is recognized by critics as
one of Charles Dickens's most successful split characters.  Some even term him Dickens's
"most modern man."  For, as he tells Pip in Chapter
25,

The office
is one thing, and private life is another. When I go into the office, I leave the Castle
behind me.

So, when Wemmick
speaks to Pip at Walworth, he talks to him as a friend.  But, when he talks with him in
Mr. Jaggers's office, Wemmick is the clerk of Mr. Jaggers and does not overstep his
position or even indicate that he has any personality or warmth.  Much like Mr. Lorry of
A Tale of Two Cities, he is strictly "a man of business" in
London.

Perhaps, by protraying Wemmick as such a totally
different person at Walworth, which is outside London, Dickens wishes to underscore
Pip's first impression of the city as "ugly, crooked, narrow, and dirty" (Chapter
19). 

Are there any examples of anecdotes, allusions, analogies, or irony in this book? I need help ASAP!!!

There are definitely examples of each of the four literary
terms you mentioned (anecdotes, allusions, analogies, and irony) in the novel
  Into the Wild.  Irony plays a powerful role in the story of
Christopher McCandless; his death in the Alaskan wilderness is incredibly ironic.
 McCandless worked and longed for so long to reach a place of solitude in the Alaskan
setting, yet his presence there resulted in his death.  That, in and of itself, is an
irony.  It appears that, prior to his death, McCandless recognized his innate need for
love, yet he had placed himself in a situation that would not allow him to act upon that
recognition.  It is also ironic that, had McCandless simply researched what would become
his surroundings in the wild and accepted information, he probably would have been aware
of a means by which he could have survived his ordeal.

Are the characters in Animal Farm stereotypes?If so, explain the usefulness of employing stereotypes in the book. If they are not, explain how they...

To a certain extent, there is some level of stereotyping
in the book.  This is done to bring out a couple of elements.  The first would be that
in stereotyping the animals, it helps to bring out aspects of their humanity, reflecting
specific groups in our own setting.  If the driving force of Orwell's work is to create
a world that strongly parallels our own, then Orwell has to stereotype or group specific
behaviors into singular characters in order to effectively forge this link.  At the same
time, I think that this stereotyping is critically important in order reflect how each
particular animal represents some behavior in our own condition that is worthy of
critique or better understanding.  For example, in making Boxer one dimensional, a
stereotype of the working man, the reader is able to understand how those who are
working blindly for the government and place their trust implicitly within it can be so
easily misled and manipulated.  Napoleon is the stereotype of the evil genius and the
autocrat so that the reader can sense these traits in their own leaders and be able to
make connections that exist.

Do you think Macbeth would become a great warrior instead of a tyrant if he did not meet the three witches and did not follow his wife's...

Of course, you know that what you are asking is pure
subjective supposition.  There is no "right" answer to a question such as this, since
the play, as it is written is all that we have.  It should be made clear that
Shakespeare set out to write a Tragedy here, and by the classical definition, the hero
of the tragedy must fall from a great height due to his own flawed perception of the
world -- his tragic flaw.

For Macbeth, this flaw is his
ambition, and it is in place in his nature whether he meets three witches and has a
pushy, power-hungry wife or not.  Shakespeare makes sure that the speech in which
Macbeth actually commits to his course of action, his soliloquy in Act I, scene vii, has
him alone onstage.  He considers all the very good reasons that it is a bad idea to kill
Duncan and then he decides to do it anyway.  His
reason:

...I
have no spur

To prick the sides of my intent, by
only

Vaulting
ambition...

and it is his
ambition that drives him throughout the play.  Shakespeare has also show how Macbeth
both moves away from his wife's influence and even decides to kill Macduff (though
Macduff eludes this) even though the witches' apparitions seem to suggest that Macduff
is not a threat.  Both of these actions show how he picks up more and more steam for his
own ambitious, murderous behaviour regardless of those around
him.

So, no, I do not think that the character Macbeth
would act in any other way.  If he did, we have a mildly pleasant story, but not the
great Tragedy that Macbeth is.  It is his fall, his all-too human
hubris, that the audience is meant to witness and pity.  Without this course of action,
there is no Tragedy of Macbeth.

As for
his being a great warrior.  Shakespeare goes to some trouble, at the opening of the
play, to have Duncan reward his actions in the most recent battle.  He praises Macbeth's
skills as a warrior:

readability="12">

O worthiest
cousin!

....Would thou hadst less
deserved,

That the proportion both of thanks and
payment

Might have been mine!  Only I have left to
say

More is due than more than all can
pay.

It is important also to
the Tragic form of the play that Macbeth begin in this very noble and rather exalted
position.  This gives him the opportunity, through his own behaviour, to fall from a
great place.  He, himself, is not a king at the beginning of the play, but like Othello,
is a great warrior, praised and decorated for his skill and
bravery.

I think that a careful reading of the play and an
understanding of the classical requirements of a tragic hero will show that Macbeth is
already a great warrior and that he must act in the way that he does for the play to
fulfill itself as a Tragedy.

Nadine Gordimer's story "Once Upon a Time" discusses the bleak and complex realities of life while retaining elements of a fairy tale.Elaborate.

I think that one can look at the style of Gordimer's
writing to see how fairy tale elements can be integrated into a very sad tale of
modernist failure.  There is complexity revealed in the fairy tale notion of
composition.  Even in the basic idea of Gordimer writing a fairy tale, she explores
complexity and divergence in making the argument that the artist should never be told
what to write or what to compose.  The complexity is that despite her assertions, she
feels the need to write the fairy tale as a response to her own fears and panic.  Notice
here that the fairy tale is motivated out of a desire to placate doubt and confusion.
 The resultant tale is actually one that causes more doubt and fright, completely
inverting the idea that the fairy tale is something that is meant to comfort.
 Gordimer's style of her fairy tale creates the family as an almost mythically regal
family with the father, mother, and child being king, queen, and prince. The protection
of their home and their life is the kingdom.  The ending where the boy tries to climb
over the barricade (inspired by a fairy tale) is one where the gallant prince tries to
cross over challenging physical obstacles and barriers.  The subtleties that Gordimer
brings out in her fairy tale style do not take away from the basic idea that the story
is a modernist fable about a family trying to appropriate the world in accordance to its
own subjectivity and actually causing more destruction and pain in the process.  The
fact that such a complex theme is brought out through fairy tale form is only a
testament to Gordimer's innovative style and her sheer brilliance in understanding
intricate concepts within supposedly simple presentation.

1. Identify the numerator and denominator of the fraction 5/19. 2. What fraction of the first twelve natural numbers are prime numbers? few...

. Identify the numerator and denominator of the fraction
5/19.

5 is numerateor

19 is
denominator.

2. What fraction of the first twelve natural
numbers are prime numbers?

First 12 natural numbers are 1
t,2,3,...12.

The primes within 12 are 2,3,5,7,11 are the  5
primes.

So 5/12 are the fraction of primes within 12  first
natural numbers.

few
more.

 3. Find two factors of 6 whose sum is
5.

 3*2  = 6 and  3+2 = 5. So 2
factors.

4. Find the greatest common factor of 66 and
68.

66= 2*3*11 and 68 =2*2*17
.

 So 2 is the grearest common
factor.

4. The manufacturer of a certain machine claims
that the machine will produce 6 parts in 8 hours. At the end of a 40 hour work week in
which the machine was in use the entire 40 hours, a supervisor noted that the machine
had produced 30 parts. Does this production rate dispute the manufacturer's
claim?

 Yes.. The machine @ 6product per 8 hr, should
produce (6/8)40 = 30 and it did produce 30
products.

5. Simplify
-21/-66

6.Write the fraction  as an equivalent fraction
with a denominator of 36.

 4/9 = x/36. So x =
4*36/9 = 16

So 4/9 =
16/36

7. Multiply. Be sure to
give the answer in simplest form.

No questions to answer
under this number.

What are the factors that contribute to the problem of pornography, including how pornographic and obscene materials affect men, women, and children.

Just like any addiction, an addiction to pornography has
the potential to splinter families and ruin lives.  Recently, the U.S. military
conducted a study on pornography because they had seen a rise in porn-related problems
in the past decade.  What researchers found is that when someone begins viewing porn on
a regular basis, the habit actually acts as a stimulant to specific parts of the brain. 
A porn addiction can be similar to drug dependencies because addicts not only feel the
need for more, they also build up a tolerance of sorts and begin getting into types of
pornography that they probably would have never once considered.  The military cited
several examples of marriages, careers, and lives ruined because officers and enlisted
men had become so addicted that they had begun viewing child pornography.  While this
does not mean that everyone who views pornography will choose that path, the study was
quite clear in identifying the strong lure of pornography upon its
addicts.

While women can, of course, be addicted to
pornography, they make up a very small minority of identified porn addicts.  Admittedly,
the argument exists that porn objectifies and degrades women, but there is also another
more individual effect of pornography upon women and children.  When someone is addicted
to pornography, he will often lie about and hide his habit from loved ones.  Wives and
partners feel betrayed by their husbands' problem, and it is difficult to regain trust
in a relationship when such an addiction exists.  Similarly, children can be neglected
when adults focus solely on their "drug."

Finally, and most
importantly, children around the world have been and are being used in the porn
industry. Not only is this reprehensible and life-altering for the children involved,
but it is also physically dangerous.  Child pornography has created a seedy underworld
in which kidnapping, neglect, and exploitation play a part.  Sadly, many of the child
pornography cases brought before the courts involve family members' exploiting their own
child relatives.

In The Chrysalids, what are the events that cause David to have any character changes within the novel?

Certainly Chapter 1 when David befriends Sophie and
catches a glimpse of her feet causes the child David to find a discrepancy between what
he has been taught and the truth as he experiences it. Consider how he thinks about it
at the end of Chapter 1:

readability="11">

Clearly there must be a mistake somewhere.
Surely having one very small toe extra - well, two very small toes, becuase I supposed
there would be one to match on the other foot - surely that couldn't be enough to make
her "hateful in the sight of God...?"

The ways of the world
were very puzzling.

David
begins to question and secretly doubt the rules and culture of his world. Of course, his
befriending of Sophie and the discovery of her genetic "deviation" foreshadows his own
discovery.

Chapter 4, with Uncle Axel's stern insistence
that David and the others promise never to talk about their "gift" to others represents
another milestone in David's development:

readability="12">

There had been no acknowledged, co-operative
policy among us. It was simply as individuals that we had all taken the same
self-protective secretive course. But now, out of Uncle Axel's anxious insistence on my
promise, the feeling of a threat was strengthened. It was still shapeless to us, but it
was more real.

As David goes
on to comment, this decision they make together was what began their collective
consciousness as a group - "it made us into a group." From this point on, the group
thinks and acts as a group, working together (except of course when one of them chooses
to marry outside of the group).

The discovery of Sophie and
her fleeing and capture, combined with the suicide of David's Aunt Harriet and
presumably the death of her baby in Chapter 7 equally serves to reveal to David what is
at stake if their "gift" becomes known. As he comments, "And I went on being very
frightened." David even prays to be "normal".

When Anne
chooses to marry outside of the group and in Chapter 10 is found hung after the death of
her husband, it is clear that this fear they have of discovery is heightened. It was
just by chance that Rachel managed to obtain Anne's note of confession and thus saved
the group from discovery. The group live in a dangerous world where at any moment they
could be found out with horrifying consequences, as displayed by Sophie and Aunt
Harriet. These really are the key events that form David Storm and prepare us for the
group's discovery of Petra, which of course equally destroys the group and gives some of
them hope for the future.

Explain how this story can be thought of as having a double ending?

If you think about it, the story really does have two
separate endings -- one when the hunting party comes home and Nuttel runs away and we
find the men aren't ghosts, and one at the actual end of the story.  Here's why I see it
that way.

For most of the story, we are thinking about
Vera's poor aunt and how hard it must be for her to deal with the deaths of husband and
brothers.  So then when the men come back, that part of the story is done.  We know what
has happened to the men and we know that Nuttel has been
fooled.

But then we might wonder "what's going to happen to
Vera now?"  Surely she'll get in trouble.  Then we get a second ending that resolves
that issue -- she makes up another story to avoid getting in trouble for making up the
first.

Can red and black be 2 colors that describe Edmond Dantes?The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

If the question means which colors describe the
personality and emotions of Edmund Dantes, red and black can, indeed, be indicative of
the character of the anti-hero of Alexandre Dumas's The Count of Monte
Cristo.  For, according to studies, red evokes feelings of intensity.
passion, and excitement; black, the most powerful and mysterious of colors,  often
indicates something or someone who is powerful, ominous and sinister.  As the Count of
Monte Cristo, the man who has suffered imprisonment for a decade and a half, Dantes is
determined to seek revenge upon those who sent him to the Chateau d'If.  As Monsieur
Morrel tells his son when he considers suicide, "Blood washes out dishonor!"  Monte
Cristo believes this statement, as well, and seeks through his own devices to wash out
dishonor in his enemies with their blood. Yet, his passionate love of those who have
been good to him are demonstrated in his generosity to M. Morrel in his time of
financial disaster.  Filling the old red purse that Morrel once left for his penurious
father, Monte Cristo repays Morrel for the kindnesses he has
committed. 

With his many disguises and machinations, Monte
Cristo is extremely mysterious, as is the color he often wears--black.  As the "cloaked
man of the Colosseum," for instance, Monte Cristo arranges for the kidnapping of Albert
de Morcerf during the Carnival in Rome. Nevertheless, whenever he is in public, he wears
a simple, but impeccable plain black coat devoid of any trimmings with a white
unembroidered waistcoat.

There is a marked contrast, of
course, between the Count of Monte Cristo and the youth, Edmund Dantes.  When Edmund
Dantes first appears in the novel as the ingenuous young sailor, the color white and
brown would probably better describe his personality.  Ingeuous and pure of heart, the
first mate of M. Morrel's ship harbors no ill to anyone, nor does he suspect any.  And,
the color brown complements his personality early in the novel as he is loving and loyal
to his dear father, his employer, M. Morrel, and his darling
Mercedes.

A rectangle has two parallel sides 4y+8 and 20x-16. The other parallel side are x^2 and yFind the perimeter if one side has an odd integer length.

Multiplication by an even number makes an odd number
even 
so, if y+8 and 20x-16 are even we need y^2 and x^2  to be
odd.

We'll put the lengths of parallel sides in the
relations:

4y+8 = 20x-16
(1)

and

y=x^2
(2)

We'll work over the relation
(1):

We'll subtract 20x and 8 both
sides:

4y - 20x = -8 - 16

4y -
20x = -24

From (2), we'll have
y=x^2.

 4x^2- 20x = -24

We'll
add 24 both sides:

4x^2- 20x + 24 =
0

We'll divide by 4:

x^2 - 5x
+ 6 = 0

We'll apply quadratic
formula:

x1 =
[5+sqrt(25-24)]/2

x1 =
(5+1)/2

x1 = 3

x2 =
(5-1)/2

x2 = 2

We'll re-write
the quadratic as a product of linear factors:

 x^2 - 5x + 6
= (x-2)(x-3)

If x1 = 3 => y = x1^2 => y1 =
9

If x2= 2=> y = x2^2 => y2 =
4

We'll choose the odd length for y: y =
9.

The perimeter is:

P =
(4y+8) +(20x-16)+y+x^2

P = (4*9 + 8) + (20*3 - 16) + 9 +
9

P = 44 + 44 + 2*9

P = 88 +
18

P = 106
units

Why did John Oakhurst choose the two of clubs to bear his epitaph?

Throughout the Bret Harte story, "The Outcasts of Poker
Flat," there are metaphors about cards that used by Mr. Oakhurst.  For one, he hides the
cards when the situation worsens.  Then, he tells Tom that they have had a streak of bad
luck since they left, but he says, "If you can hold your cards all along, you're all
right."  Finally, Harte writes,

readability="5">

Mr. Oakhurst set himself coolly to the losing
game before him...."There's one chance in a
hundred"

he tells Tom Simson,
and intends to stay, but his better self urges him to go, as well, for help. But, his
luck has remained bad and Mr. Oakhurst has "turned in his chips."  He has written his
epitaph on the deuce of clubs perhaps because it is the low card in the deck, usually a
losing card.  And, sometimes too, it is a wild card; Mr. Oakhurst hoped he had a wild
card, but it was dark and solitary, so it had no value, no luck attached to it.  Mr.
Oakhurst leaves a symbol that he cannot play against the odds.

Why is "Home Soil" by Irene Zabytko so complicated for such a short story?

The complexity of the story is indicated by the tears of
the narrator’s son, Bohdan. The two, father and son, have obviously had parallel
experiences with wartime atrocities, although we do not learn the precise nature of what
Bohdan has been through.

In light of the story’s
first-person point of view, we cannot learn what Bohdan has done because Bohdan does not
speak to the narrator about his experiences. The parallel is made complete in paragraph
30, when the narrator observes that Bohdan may never tell him what happened in Vietnam.
The narrator then confesses, “I never told anyone
either.”

Some ideas that underlie this commonness of
wartime experience are that fighting is never over, that people are called upon in
warfare to engage in hostilities that produce death, that they can never forget that
they have caused death even though they may find excuses for their actions, and that
people and governments never learn from past experience to avoid the future guilt that
state warfare creates in its citizens who participate in such
warfare.

If f(x) = 5x^4 - 4x - 3/x. F(x) = integral f(x), find F(1)= 0 find f(x)

f(x) = 5x^4-4x-3/x.

To find
F(1) = 0

Solution:

F(x) =
Intf(x) dx = Int {5x^4-4x-3/x} dx.

We use Int x^n dx =
(x^(n+1))/n. And Int dx/x = lnx

F(x) = (5x^5)/5 -(4x^2)/2
-3lnx + C, where C  is constant

F(x) = x^5 -2x^2 -3lnx +
1.

Put  x =1

Put F(1) =  1^5
-2*1^2 - 3ln(1) + C

0 = 1-2-3*0 +C, as  F(1) = 0 by data . 
ln(1) = 0.

0 = -1+C

C=
1.

Therefore F(x) = x^5-2x^2-3/nx

Solve for x sqrt(2x+5) = sqrt(x+2) + sqrt(2x-3).

Before solving the equation, we'll set the constraint of
existence of the sqrt.

2x + 5
>=0

2x>=-5

x>=-5/2

x+2>=0

x>=-2

2x-3>=0

2x>=3

x>=3/2

The
interval of admissible values for x is [3/2 , +inf.)

Now,
we'll solve the equation, raising to square both sides, in order to eliminate the square
root:

[sqrt(2x+5)]^2 = [sqrt(x+2) +
sqrt(2x-3)]^2

2x + 5 = x + 2 + 2x - 3 +
2sqrt(x+2)(2x-3)

We'll keep only the sqrt to the right
side, the rest of the terms we'll move them to the left
side:

2x + 5 -x - 2 - 2x + 3 =
2sqrt(x+2)(2x-3)

We'll eliminate like
terms:

6-x =
2sqrt(x+2)(2x-3)

We'll raise to square
again:

(6-x)^2 =
4*(x+2)(2x-3)

We'll expand the square and we'll remove the
brackets:

36 - 12x + x^2 = 8x^2 + 4x -
24

We'll move all terms to one
side:

36 - 12x + x^2 - 8x^2 - 4x + 24 =
0

We'll combine like
terms:

-7x^2 - 16x + 60 =
0

We'll multiply by -1:

7x^2 +
16x - 60 = 0

We'll apply the quadratic
formula:

x1 = (-16 + 44) /
14

x1 = 2

x2 = (-16 - 44) /
14

x2 = -60 / 14

x2 =
-30/7

Since the value of the first root
belongs to the interval of admissible values of x, the equation will have only one
solution, namely x = 2.