Is Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre a feminist novel?

Feminism advocates that social, political, and all other rights should be equal between men and women. Bronte's Jane Eyrediscusses many of the struggles and prejudices that nineteenth century middle-class women faced. All rights were not equal between men and women at that time, and Jane's greatest desire is to have a family and to feel accepted and loved. This does not necessarily mean that the novel is not feminist, but the main character's goal...

Feminism advocates that social, political, and all other rights should be equal between men and women. Bronte's Jane Eyre discusses many of the struggles and prejudices that nineteenth century middle-class women faced. All rights were not equal between men and women at that time, and Jane's greatest desire is to have a family and to feel accepted and loved. This does not necessarily mean that the novel is not feminist, but the main character's goal is not to change the legal and political world in order to gain equal rights for women. However, by the end of the story, she does not settle for anything less than the most equal relationship and living circumstances possible for the time period. And at the time, it must have seemed pure fantasy for a governess to acquire her own money and marry higher than her social class. 

Erica Jong's introduction in the Signet Classic edition provides great insight into how Jane Eyre could be considered a feminist novel by saying the following: 

"And indeed she cannot marry Rochester until he knows he is as dependent on her as she is on him. Their odysseys have equalized them: Jane has become an independent woman and Rochester has been cured of entitlement. Only thus can a woman and man become equals in a patriarchal society" (ix).

Bronte portrays Jane as a traditional woman who wants a husband and family while also maintaining her value as an individual in her own right. Many women today want the same things--to have a family and career. However, even though Jane isn't seeking social or political equality, she does find equality in marriage. This could be a big part of the message that Bronte wanted to convey, which would mean that her desired results would have, in fact, been one of the first feminist novels. 

What are two major events in Maniac Magee?

Two major events are the race with Mars Bar and Amanda’s book being destroyed.

Maniac Magee is very episodic, meaning that the book is really a series of loosely connected events.  Two that can be considered important are when Maniac made an impression on the neighborhood by beating Mars Bar in the race, and when Maniac left the Beales because someone destroyed Amanda’s favorite book, the encyclopedia Volume A.

Maniac ran away from home when his parents died and he was left with a feuding aunt and uncle.  He just started running one day and didn’t stop.  He ended up in Two Mills, a town strictly divided by race.  Maniac is white, but he does not seem to notice what color other people are.  He is homeless after all.  In Two Mills, there is the West End and the East End.  If you are white, you should stay on the West End, but Maniac somehow ends up on the East End.

Maniac meets a kid named Mars Bar in the East End.  His name comes from his love of candy bars, and he considers himself tough.  Maniac baffles him by taking a bite out of his candy bar.  One day Maniac ends up racing him, and he doesn’t know what to do so he runs backward.  Mars Bar is humiliated that Maniac beats him running backward.

Maybe it was that simple. After all, who asks why otters toboggan down mudbanks! But that didn't make it any less stupid or totten a thing to do. The hatred in Mars Bar's eyes was no longer for a white kid in the East End; it was for Jeffrey Magee, period. (Ch. 38)

Maniac has no meanness in him, and he really did not intend to embarrass Mars Bar.  Maniac just doesn’t seem to really understand how to be normal.  He may have made an enemy out of Mars Bar, but he thrilled the neighborhood kids. 

The second incident actually happens first, but it is more important thematically.

Maniac ends up living with the Beale family for a while.  He loves to read, and especially gets along well with Amanda Beale, who loves books so much that she carries her entire library with her so that her siblings won’t ruin the books.  She lends Maniac a book and Mars Bar tears a page out of it, so she beats him up.

Maniac loves the Beales.  They understand that he desperately needs a place to belong.  Unfortunately, there are some that just do not understand the concept of a white boy living with a black family.  The Beales are targeted, and the last straw for Maniac is when Amanda’s favorite book, Volume A of the Encyclopedia, gets destroyed as a message to him.

More than anything, Maniac wanted to hug Amanda and tell her it was okay. He wanted to go inside, be with his family, in his house, his room, behind his window. But that wasn't the right thing. The right thing was to make sure the Beales didn't get hurt anymore. He couldn't keep letting them pay such a price for him. (Ch. 21)

Maniac leaves because he doesn’t want the Beales to be the targets of racism or violence.  It breaks his heart, but he cares more about them than anything.  He ends up fluttering around, even living at the zoo with the groundskeeper until the old man dies.  Finally, Maniac returns to his real family, the Beales.

In Act One, what motivates Tituba to suddenly offer names of alleged witches after having denied being under the spell of the devil?

Tituba, a slave in the Parris household, has no power and is the most susceptible to punishment when people start to make accusations of witchcraft. Initially, Tituba and the other girls, led by Abigail, maintain that when Parris caught them in the woods, they were only dancing. But when the adults start to speak about witchcraft, they bring in Reverend Hale, an expert on witchcraft, to investigate. Hale begins to question Abigail, and in order...

Tituba, a slave in the Parris household, has no power and is the most susceptible to punishment when people start to make accusations of witchcraft. Initially, Tituba and the other girls, led by Abigail, maintain that when Parris caught them in the woods, they were only dancing. But when the adults start to speak about witchcraft, they bring in Reverend Hale, an expert on witchcraft, to investigate. Hale begins to question Abigail, and in order to save herself from suspicion, she accuses Tituba of working with the devil and making her drink blood, among other acts. With this, Hale turns to Tituba and begins questioning. As he does so, Parris says to her, "You will confess yourself or I will take you out and whip you to your death, Tituba."

At this point, Tituba likely realizes that she has little choice but to confess. It doesn't matter that she was not involved with the devil; she is a slave, and the moment Abigail decides to accuse her, she is considered guilty. If she stays with the truth, she will die. When Hale then turns to her and offers her the opportunity to confess, she knows confession equals protection, and she makes the choice to save her own life.

Explain if the country had a right to grow from coast to coast ?

The concept of Manifest Destiny refers to our desire to expand from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. We had a right to expand across our continent from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.

It is normal for a country to want to grow. As our population grew, we needed more land on which to live. We also needed to make sure the needs of our people were met. For example, the farmers...

The concept of Manifest Destiny refers to our desire to expand from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. We had a right to expand across our continent from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.

It is normal for a country to want to grow. As our population grew, we needed more land on which to live. We also needed to make sure the needs of our people were met. For example, the farmers in the West around 1800 needed to get their goods to the marketplace. When Spain and France restricted our use of the Mississippi River, we needed to try to get the land that would allow us to use the Mississippi River and the port of New Orleans. It was natural for us to agree to make the Louisiana Purchase.

Other opportunities allowed us to grow. Texas wanted to join our country as a state. Many Americans lived in Texas, so this would be a natural fit for us. We also had claimed the Oregon Territory along with Great Britain. It made sense to agree to divide this land with Great Britain so we could have part of that territory. While our methods of getting the southwestern part of the United States might be questioned, it was normal for a growing country to seek new opportunities for expansion and for growth. The war with Mexico gave us an opportunity to get this land.

Thus, we did have a right to expand from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. It was something that was natural for us to want to do.

"I will live in the past, the present, and the future": Scrooge's redemption proves that destinies may be changed. Discuss.

Crucial to this story is the idea that individual actions can transform the future, for good or ill. Supernatural events—the multiple appearances of ghosts—break into Scrooge's life, causing him to change his behavior. 

The ghosts can be seen as metaphors for memory, empathy and the imagination. As Scrooge remembers the better self of his past and the people who touched him emotionally through the ghost of Christmas Past, his heart softens, opening him to emotions...

Crucial to this story is the idea that individual actions can transform the future, for good or ill. Supernatural events—the multiple appearances of ghosts—break into Scrooge's life, causing him to change his behavior. 

The ghosts can be seen as metaphors for memory, empathy and the imagination. As Scrooge remembers the better self of his past and the people who touched him emotionally through the ghost of Christmas Past, his heart softens, opening him to emotions he had shut down. As he regains the capacity to feel, he views the present through new, more compassionate eyes. With the help of the ghost of Christmas Future, he can imagine the bleak scenario of Tiny Tim's death. He can also imagine his own death being celebrated rather than mourned. 

This new—or old—way of seeing leads Scrooge to take control of changing his destiny, as is illustrated at the end of the novel: Scrooge makes the conscious choice to act generously and benevolently, using his wealth to improve the general good, and more particularly, the circumstances of the Cratchit family. Scrooge's redemption leads to changed destinies: so can anybody's redemption change destinies. This hopeful message is a key to the book's popularity. It is also typical of Dickens' belief that touching individual hearts and motivating people to acts of kindness and compassion can transform society.

Why has the narrator returned to her childhood home in "The Leap" by Louise Erdrich?

In the first paragraph, the narrator notes that her mother is sightless as a result of cataracts. Her mother was a trapeze artist in her younger days and this probably accounts for the graceful way her mother feels her way around the house and doesn't knock anything over. However, her mother loved to read as well and with no sight, she can no longer read. This is the biggest tangible reason the narrator returns to...

In the first paragraph, the narrator notes that her mother is sightless as a result of cataracts. Her mother was a trapeze artist in her younger days and this probably accounts for the graceful way her mother feels her way around the house and doesn't knock anything over. However, her mother loved to read as well and with no sight, she can no longer read. This is the biggest tangible reason the narrator returns to her home: 

Since my father's recent death, there is no one to read to her, which is why I returned, in fact, from my failed life where the land is flat. I came home to read to my mother, to read out loud, read long into the dark if I must, to read all night. 

The daughter mentions her "failed life," so this return is also somewhat of an escape or a retreat. But perhaps the largest motivating factor is that the narrator loves her mother and feels indebted to her. Note that the story is structured around the three times the narrator owes her life to her mother. The first instance is when her mother saves her own life in the trapeze accident and subsequently goes on living to eventually give birth to the narrator. The second is when her mother meets the narrator's father in the hospital. (This is the man who teaches the mother to read.) And the third time is when her mother saves the narrator from the fire with the aforementioned "leap." So, the narrator returns as a result of a failed life, but her main motivation is that she loves her mother and is gladly obliged to read to her. 

Pick the change that is NOT unique to entering formal operations. (A) being able to logically argue both sides of an issue (B) being able to...

The formal operations stage of human cognitive development is the latest stage in Piaget's theory, and generally begins around the age of 11 or 12, shortly before the onset of puberty. During this stage, children acquire the capacity to engage in abstract reasoning, separating the concrete content of ideas from the abstract logical relations between them.Before the formal stage, kids learned to interact with the environment (sensorimotor stage), experience self-awareness and learn to speak...

The formal operations stage of human cognitive development is the latest stage in Piaget's theory, and generally begins around the age of 11 or 12, shortly before the onset of puberty. During this stage, children acquire the capacity to engage in abstract reasoning, separating the concrete content of ideas from the abstract logical relations between them.

Before the formal stage, kids learned to interact with the environment (sensorimotor stage), experience self-awareness and learn to speak language (preoperational stage), and finally to reason about the world in concrete terms (concrete operational stage). But it is not until the formal operational stage that children figure out how to separate the form of ideas from their contents.

A great example of a problem that kids get wrong in the concrete operational stage but get right in the formal operational stage is something like this:

Is this a valid argument? All whales are green and all green things are fish, therefore all whales are fish.

The answer is "yes"; this argument is formally valid. But in order to do that you've got to think of it in abstract terms like "all W are G, all G are F, therefore all W are F". If you were focused on the concrete stuff about whales and fish, you'd say it was invalid because whales aren't fish.

With all of this in mind, the best answer is clearly (D); while logical argument, scientific reasoning, and thinking about unreal ideas are all part of using formal reasoning and thus the formal operational stage, learning new words was something kids acquired a long time ago in the preoperational stage.