I want to know how I can be specific and write a great book report about Paul Zindel's The Pigman.

When writing a book report, consult the teacher's requirements first. If the report is simply to summarize the reading, then focus on the main points of the story that move the plot forward. If, on the other hand, the assignment is to compare and contrast characters, show cause and effect, or argue a point, then your report will be structurally different.

For The Pigman, though, show how the interaction between John, Lorraine, and Mr. Pignati...

When writing a book report, consult the teacher's requirements first. If the report is simply to summarize the reading, then focus on the main points of the story that move the plot forward. If, on the other hand, the assignment is to compare and contrast characters, show cause and effect, or argue a point, then your report will be structurally different.

For The Pigman, though, show how the interaction between John, Lorraine, and Mr. Pignati developed into a loving and respectful friendship. Then, consider what obstacles their friendship faces as the story progresses and identify the climax and resolution. Create a thesis statement that will drive your essay forward towards the main point of the essay. For example, a thesis statement could be: "John and Lorraine learn that not all adults are difficult to be with as Mr. Pignati laughs with them, gives them gifts, and creates a safe environment for them."

The next step after creating a thesis is to structure your paragraphs to explain and support it. In the above example, there are three items to address in your essay that could also be topics for three different paragraphs. Remember to provide quotes with citations for each topic addressed because this solidifies your main idea and thesis statement.

Don't forget to provide a strong conclusion that elaborates on why your topics and thesis are important to understanding the book. Discuss how the book can help to address social issues for teenagers based on the topics you mention.  The following are quotes that could go with the topics given in the above thesis statement example:

He laughs with them:

"We must have looked just like three monkeys. The Pigman, John, and me--three funny little monkeys" (97).

He gives them gifts:

"'I don't want you spending all that money, Mr. Pignati,' I said.

'Nonsense,' he insisted.

But I really didn't. And still it felt good. No one had ever bought me stuff like this before--something I just liked and didn't need and didn't even ask for" (90).

He provides safety:

"Lots of times I'd cry myself to sleep, but more and more I felt myself thinking of the Pigman whenever I felt sad. Sometimes just after I put the light out, I'd see his face smiling or his eyes gleaming as he offered me the snails--some little happy detail I thought I had forgotten--and I'd wish my mother were more like him. I'd wish she knew how to have a little fun for a change" (86).

What was John F. Kennedy trying to persuade the audience to do during his inaugural address?

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country.

My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.

John F. Kennedy's inaugural speech is widely considered one of the best ever delivered. The most famous part, quoted above, illustrates the tenor of the speech, which was a...

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country.

My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.

John F. Kennedy's inaugural speech is widely considered one of the best ever delivered. The most famous part, quoted above, illustrates the tenor of the speech, which was a call to service for Americans. As president, Kennedy created a variety of program including the Peace Corps that allowed Americans to serve others, both at home and abroad. He asks the American people to serve their country and other countries that are struggling. His plea is for selfless service without the expectation of reward. At the end of his speech, he asks Americans to pray for strength and for God's blessing but quickly states that here on earth, the work of God is the work of the American people. Kennedy also lays out a similar plan for the United States in the world, that American foreign policy should serve the needs of freedom in the world.  

Describe the key features of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

The Cold War included a number of "proxy wars" between the US and the USSR, where instead of openly fighting each other (which could have led to full-scale nuclear war), the two superpowers armed and supported various intermediaries to do battle with one another in order to gain influence and control over different parts of the globe.

The Soviet-Afghanistan War was one such proxy war--actually more direct than most. In 1979 the USSR invaded Afghanistan with several thousand troops, immediately capturing Kabul and trying to set up a new Communist government there. This was actually the culmination of efforts for the last 20 years to establish a Communist government by subtler means. The result was a civil war.

In response to the invasion, the US (under President Jimmy Carter) boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics as a symbolic gesture. But the Soviets kept troops in Afghanistan and continued to try to maintain control of the country. When Ronald Reagan became President in 1981, he took a much more aggressive approach, arming a group of Islamist rebels known as the Mujihadeen to fight a guerilla war against the Soviets. He gave them high-tech US weapons such as M16s and Stinger missiles, which were used to great effect.

In hindsight we now know this was a mistake: The leader of that group was named Osama bin Laden. The United States helped create the Taliban and Al Qaeda by our short-sighted aggressive response to the Soviet proxy war.

Ultimately in 1989 the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan because they realized they could never hold it. Afghanistan was freed from Soviet control, only to be taken over by the Taliban a few years later. Afghanistan has gone through a series of tyrannical governments and bloody wars ever since.

What is the significance of this quote from To Kill a Mockingbird: "That Calpurnia led a modest double life never dawned on me. The idea that she...

Calpurnia is considered to be more educated than other African Americans in Maycomb, largely because of her ability to read and the way she speaks. And when they go to the First Purchase African M.E. Zion Church, Scout sees how Cal's demeanor is different from what she is used to. Scout begins to finally recognize that Cal is a real person with a life of her own.

There is a distinct class divide and racial divide in Maycomb.  Due to racial segregation, most African Americans were not given the opportunity to learn how to read in formal educational settings. Calpurnia is different.  She was educated by the Finch household, and most of the time she speaks in the same way as any white person with a formal education.

Your grandaddy said Mr. Blackstone wrote fine English—”

“That’s why you don’t talk like the rest of ‘em,” said Jem.

“The rest of who?”

“Rest of the colored folks. Cal, but you talked like they did in church…” (Ch. 12)

When Calpurnia takes Scout and Jem to church with her, they get a unique glimpse of her life when they are not with her.  She takes part in the African American church activities, but she also speaks like the other African Americans. This is a different speech pattern than Scout is used to hearing from Calpurnia, and they think that she seems to speak two languages.  As part of her "double life," she speaks standard, formal English with the Finches and the African American dialect with her community members.

The Finch children ask Calpurnia why she talks this way when it is not correct.  She explains it to them.

“It’s right hard to say,” she said. “Suppose you and Scout talked colored-folks’ talk at home it’d be out of place, wouldn’t it? Now what if I talked white-folks’ talk at church, and with my neighbors? They’d think I was puttin‘ on airs to beat Moses.” (Ch. 12)

Calpurnia does not want people to think that she feels she is better than them. It is, as Scout acknowledges, the unique speech of her people. It would not be appropriate or comfortable for her to speak to them as she would to a white person.

This quote, and the scene at the church as a whole, demonstrates the ways in which segregation separates and distinguishes people into categories. 

Why did Darwin believe that all organisms on Earth are united into a single tree of life by?

Darwin believed that all organisms on Earth are united into a single tree of life by common decent. In other words, Darwin believed that all organisms on Earth arose from one common ancestor. Over time, this common ancestor divided and produced additional cells. Eventually, the cells evolved and became adapted to their environments via. Thus, the diversity amongst today’s living organisms arose.

The first cell was thought to be a simple single-celled...

Darwin believed that all organisms on Earth are united into a single tree of life by common decent. In other words, Darwin believed that all organisms on Earth arose from one common ancestor. Over time, this common ancestor divided and produced additional cells. Eventually, the cells evolved and became adapted to their environments via. Thus, the diversity amongst today’s living organisms arose.

The first cell was thought to be a simple single-celled prokaryote about 3.8 billion years ago. One theory is that the first cell was the result of self-replicating RNA becoming enclose in a phospholipid membrane.

The endosymbiotic theory suggests that eukaryotic cells arose from symbiotic relationships amongst prokaryotes.

Today, phylogenetic trees are used to display suspected evolutionary relationships amongst the organisms that are currently found on Earth.  

What does Montresor admit is his motive for the crime in "The Cask of Amontillado"?

Montresor says that his motive for killing Fortunato was that Fortunato had insulted him.

We actually do not know what Montresor thinks Fortunato did, but we can assume it was nothing significant because he is not specific, and because Fortunato does not seem to be aware that there was an injustice done at all.

The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge....

Montresor says that his motive for killing Fortunato was that Fortunato had insulted him.

We actually do not know what Montresor thinks Fortunato did, but we can assume it was nothing significant because he is not specific, and because Fortunato does not seem to be aware that there was an injustice done at all.

The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge. You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that gave utterance to a threat.

Fortunato goes with Montresor down into the catacombs at night.  No one would do that if he felt that a person was out to get him for revenge.  You just do not go underground with people you have mortally insulted!

Yet Fortunato has no idea that he ever insulted Montresor or that Montresor is harboring a murderous rage because of it.

It was about dusk, one evening during the supreme madness of the carnival season, that I encountered my friend. He accosted me with excessive warmth, for he had been drinking much.

Would you really show someone excessive warmth if you thought they were holding a grudge against you?  No, you would more likely be very cautious.  Montresor gets away with murder because Fortunato has no idea that he is even angry.

The hyperbole in saying that Fortunato committed a “thousand injuries” and the fact that Fortunato is not suspicious adds up to the idea that Fortunato did not really do anything.  Montresor imagined it.  There was probably some minor slight that no one else would have noticed, which Montresor blew out of proportion. 

Montresor is clearly a madman.  Madmen do not make very good friends.  He is having some kind of delusion about Fortunato, and because of that Fortunato has to die.

Is there a gender gap in academic achievement? If so, what other factors lead to this gender gap? What are the short-term and long-term effects...

In generations past, a gender gap existed in educational achievement in that men graduated from college at greater rates than women. This gap has now reversed, as women graduate from college in greater rates than men. 

In 1960, twice as many men graduated from college as women (statistics come from Lehigh University College of Education). Women caught up by the mid-1980s and surged ahead, as women now make up about 57% of college graduates. According...

In generations past, a gender gap existed in educational achievement in that men graduated from college at greater rates than women. This gap has now reversed, as women graduate from college in greater rates than men. 

In 1960, twice as many men graduated from college as women (statistics come from Lehigh University College of Education). Women caught up by the mid-1980s and surged ahead, as women now make up about 57% of college graduates. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, women earn college degrees at a rate one third greater than that of men.

Experts continue to debate the factors resulting in this gender gap. Some believe that the attention focused on the educational achievement of girls in recent decades has detracted attention from boys. Others argue that education is not a zero-sum game and that attention devoted to girls doesn't mean attention isn't paid to boys. Other experts believe that schools are more attuned to the educational needs of girls than to those of boys. In other words, schools are more friendly to the needs of girls than boys, who may need more active kinds of learning. Boys are now suspended from school at greater rates than girls, and they are more often diagnosed with attention problems than girls are. Finally, other experts believe that educational achievement is more about race and socio-economic status and that the gender gap is smaller or even not present when factors like race and socio-economic status are considered.

The short-term effects of the gender gap are that more women are graduating from college (as stated above, 57% of college graduates are women). The longer-term effects are harder to figure out for now. For example, even though women graduate with a bachelor's degree at higher numbers than men, women still earn less than men. For each dollar a man earns, a woman earns an average of 77 cents. In addition, top management jobs in Fortune 500 companies are mostly held by men (less than 5% are held by women). However, the education gap is starting to affect men. In the recent recession, the majority of the layoffs affected men, not women, as men held the types of manufacturing jobs that did not require college degrees and that were unfortunately subject to layoffs. Therefore, the economy might be shifting more towards favoring jobs held by women (including jobs such as nursing and education). 

What does Mayella really mean in her final statement to the jury in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird?

During her testimony in Chapter 18 of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Mayella makes several different claims in her final statement to Atticus, the judge, and the jury.

First, it has become very clear to Mayella that Atticus's cross-examination has uncovered all of the holes in her story. One hole is that Tom Robinson is crippled in his left arm and hand, whereas Mayella had been bruised in her right eye, which only a left-handed man would have been capable of. As soon as she sees the flaw in testifying, contrary to Sheriff Tate's testimony, that Robinson had bruised her "left eye with his right fist," she gives the ridiculous argument, "I ducked and it--it glanced" (Ch. 18). A second hole in her story Atticus uncovers is that, though Mayella doesn't dare fully admit it, her father is abusive, as well as left-handed, making him the most likely suspect of abuse, not Robinson. Yet, Mayella, knowing she must defend herself against her father's wrath, sees she must stick to her story of Robinson abusing her; therefore, one thing she says in her final statement is, "That nigger yonder took advantage of me," which she means very literally even though she is lying.

She next makes the following claim in her final statement:

[I]f you fine fancy gentlemen don't wanta do nothin' about it then you're all yellow stikin' cowards, stinkin' cowards, the lot of you.

The word yellow can be used idiomatically to mean being to mean being "cowardly"; therefore, Mayella is calling Atticus, Judge Taylor, and the jury members cowardly if they refuse to convict Robinson (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs). The irony is that Mayella is truly the one being cowardly for refusing to speak the truth and have her father indicted rather than Robinson.

Finally, she declares to Atticus, "Your fancy airs don't come to nothin'--your ma'amin' and Miss Mayellerin' don't come to nothin', Mr. Finch--." By this statement, she is saying that his educated displays of civility don't amount to anything if he is a coward. But, again, the irony is that she herself is the one who is cowardly due to the fact that she has never been treated civilly her whole life and has no education to help her make better judgements.

Hence, though she appears to be insulting Atticus and the rest of the court in her final statement, ironically, everything she says actually applies to herself.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem tells Scout that when he retrieved his pants from the Radleys they were folded across the fence like they were...

This is an example of personification.

Personification is a type of figurative language where something inanimate is described as animate or given human-like qualities.  In this case, the quote can be interpreted as personification because the pants seem to be waiting for Jem to come back for them.

“When I went back for my breeches—they were all in a tangle when I was gettin‘ out of ’em, I couldn’t get ‘em loose. When I went back—”...

This is an example of personification.

Personification is a type of figurative language where something inanimate is described as animate or given human-like qualities.  In this case, the quote can be interpreted as personification because the pants seem to be waiting for Jem to come back for them.

“When I went back for my breeches—they were all in a tangle when I was gettin‘ out of ’em, I couldn’t get ‘em loose. When I went back—” Jem took a deep breath. “When I went back, they were folded across the fence… like they were expectin’ me.” (Ch. 7) 

What is actually happening here is that Boo Radley saw Jem’s pants and knew that he would come back to get them.  He took the pants and stitched them up, and then left them for Jem because he did not want Jem to get into trouble.  As Jem observes, the stitching is uneven and does not appear to have been done by a woman.  In those days, more women would be sewing than men. 

This incident serves to foreshadow Boo’s later involvement in the children’s lives.  Previously, he left them presents in the tree.  When Miss Maudie’s house caught on fire, Boo Radley again tried to protect one of the Finch children by leaving a blanket on Scout’s shoulders. 

This is when Jem realized that Boo Radley was the one who left the presents and the pants.  He spills everything to Atticus so that he won’t tell Nathan Radley what Boo has done. 

“…Mr. Nathan put cement in that tree, Atticus, an‘ he did it to stop us findin’ things—he’s crazy, I reckon, like they say, but Atticus, I swear to God he ain’t ever harmed us, he ain’t ever hurt us, he coulda cut my throat from ear to ear that night but he tried to mend my pants instead… he ain’t ever hurt us, Atticus—” (Ch. 8) 

Atticus agrees with Jem’s assessment of Boo Radley’s harmlessness.  He agrees not to return the blanket and get Boo in trouble.  This is a turning point for Jem and Scout.  They begin to realize that Boo Radley is not the neighborhood villain after all.  He is their friend, and he is looking out for them.

How did the Westward Expansion affect the lives of Americans in the United States?

Westward expansion had a tremendous impact on the lives of people in the United States.  Of course, it impacted different people in different ways.  Let us examine a few of these impacts. 

The Americans who were most negatively impacted by westward expansion were the Native Americans.  The Indians had their land taken from them and were (if they survived the wars) pushed on to reservations.  They lost their way of life as well.  This was...

Westward expansion had a tremendous impact on the lives of people in the United States.  Of course, it impacted different people in different ways.  Let us examine a few of these impacts. 

The Americans who were most negatively impacted by westward expansion were the Native Americans.  The Indians had their land taken from them and were (if they survived the wars) pushed on to reservations.  They lost their way of life as well.  This was a terrible impact on a large group of Americans.

Americans who moved west were affected in different ways.  Some lost their lives to the sometimes harsh conditions.  Some were able to make good lives for themselves as farmers or merchants.  Westward expansion helped them because it allowed them to have more opportunities than they would have had in the more crowded eastern part of the country.

Westward expansion helped to increase economic opportunities for those who stayed in the East as well.  The “opening” of the West gave Americans access to much more in the way of resources than they previously had.  The new sources of metal ores, timber, and other things allowed the economy to grow.  This provided more jobs for working people in the East and more money-making opportunities for the wealthier people there.

For Americans as a whole, historians often argue that westward expansion helped to create a national ethos.  It helped cause us to see ourselves as a nation of pioneers, of people who bravely and independently worked hard to improve their lives.  It helped us to see ourselves as a nation of individuals who could fend for themselves.  All of this helped (they argue) make us more democratic and it helped to shape the way we Americans see ourselves.

How much of the personality is a social product versus a product of biology?

Great question! Anthropologists like to say that in humans, anything which isn't biological is cultural. This means that whatever behaviours we may have, including those which make up our personality, much of it is shaped by social and cultural learning. Behavior does have its roots in biology and our instinctive drive to fulfill certain needs- food, drink, sleep, shelter, and reproduction. Socialization, too, can be considered a need. Humans are highly social creatures, and socialization...

Great question! Anthropologists like to say that in humans, anything which isn't biological is cultural. This means that whatever behaviours we may have, including those which make up our personality, much of it is shaped by social and cultural learning. Behavior does have its roots in biology and our instinctive drive to fulfill certain needs- food, drink, sleep, shelter, and reproduction. Socialization, too, can be considered a need. Humans are highly social creatures, and socialization is so engrained in humans as an adaptive strategy that we do very poorly without it.

There have been some studies done on children who were deprived of social contact during their development. The most famous case is that of Genie, who spent almost all of her early life by herself in her room. In cases like this, where socialization does not play a significant part in development, biology takes charge. Genie has fascinated anthropologists and psychologists alike because she had essentially not learned any culture. Even her language capacity was minimal.

Where personality is influenced by biology, some behaviours or mannerisms are easy to explain. When we feel threatened emotionally or physically, we tend to act defensive so as to protect ourselves. Similarly, how outgoing or introverted someone is can be based on the amount of stress or feel-good hormones in response to socialization. It is difficult to draw many direct lines between personality and genetic programming towards increasing fitness. At our very cores, that is really what humans are trying to do in every action- survive. Culture and socialization serve to shape the unique ways we tackle the challenge of survival.

Because all humans have the same basic, biological needs, one could say that personality is almost entirely shaped by culture. There is some biological variation which can influence personality, as in someone with an anxiety disorder caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. Beyond such physiological variation, personality is almost entirely cultural or social.

What elements appear in the poem "The Ruined Maid"?

"The Ruined Maid" is a poem by Thomas Hardy about a "fallen" or "ruined" woman, that is, one who engaged in premarital sex, something that could destroy a woman's chances of marriage in that period. Many such "fallen women" ended up being prostitutes or courtesans, supporting themselves by their sexual work. While many Victorian moralists condemned this behavior, others realized that the lack of other economic opportunities forced many women into prostitution. 

The poem is...

"The Ruined Maid" is a poem by Thomas Hardy about a "fallen" or "ruined" woman, that is, one who engaged in premarital sex, something that could destroy a woman's chances of marriage in that period. Many such "fallen women" ended up being prostitutes or courtesans, supporting themselves by their sexual work. While many Victorian moralists condemned this behavior, others realized that the lack of other economic opportunities forced many women into prostitution. 

The poem is a dialogue between a country girl visiting town and the "ruined maid" of the title, who was once a poor country girl but now is a wealthy prostitute living in "Town" (possibly London or another major metropolis). It consists of six four-line stanzas, with each stanza rhymed AABB. The basic meter of the poem is anapestic tetrameter, but with several metrical substitutions.

The most dramatic elements of the poem are the two central comparisons, those between the ruined maid's past and her present and those between the country girl and her former friend. In both cases, rather than the "ruined" girl appearing to have been "ruined," everything from her manners to her appearance to her financial situation appear to be a significant improvement both over her past life and the life of her friend.

Thus another key element of the poem is irony. Every time we encounter the word "ruined" in the final line of a stanza, the situation which is called "ruin" looks increasingly like success and prosperity, or more like a traditional picture of salvation than ruin.

What assumptions did Andrew Carnegie in his essay "Wealth" make about the rich and the poor?

One of the fundamental assumptions that Carnegie makes in "Wealth" is that there will always a be division between those who have access to power and financial resources and those who do not.

Carnegie suggests that a social hierarchy predicated upon wealth acquisition is inevitable.  He suggests that some people will always possess more advantage than others: "It is well, nay, essential for the progress of the race, that the houses of some should be...

One of the fundamental assumptions that Carnegie makes in "Wealth" is that there will always a be division between those who have access to power and financial resources and those who do not.

Carnegie suggests that a social hierarchy predicated upon wealth acquisition is inevitable.  He suggests that some people will always possess more advantage than others: "It is well, nay, essential for the progress of the race, that the houses of some should be homes for all that is highest and best in literature and the arts, and for all the refinements of civilization, rather than that none should be so."  Carnegie believes that universal fairness is akin to universal "squalor."  He believes that "the old conditions" are ones where everyone was kept in financially dire straits, a reality that "would Sweep away civilization" and its advances.  One of Carnegie's primary assumptions is that there will always be a structure where some will be above others. Carnegie feels that this is natural to all social construction.

From this assumption lies his idea that the rich should try to make the best out of this situation.  He argues that the real challenge of the modern setting is not how to eliminate wealth inequality, but rather how to ensure that the "proper administration of wealth" can maintain "the ties of brotherhood."  He assumes that the wealthy will want to find and develop ways to create "harmonious relationships" between those who have economic power and those who lack it.

What can be compared and contrasted in The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare?

There are many comparisons and contrasts in The Witch of Blackbird Pond. Two more obvious contrasts are Mercy and Judith Wood.  They have many things in common, but their personalities are very different.

Mercy and Judith are sisters. They are devoted to their mother. Both hope to marry someday. They both welcome Kit as part of their family.

Judith is confident and prideful. She is beautiful, and she is aware of this.  Judith dislikes hard...

There are many comparisons and contrasts in The Witch of Blackbird Pond. Two more obvious contrasts are Mercy and Judith Wood.  They have many things in common, but their personalities are very different.

Mercy and Judith are sisters. They are devoted to their mother. Both hope to marry someday. They both welcome Kit as part of their family.

Judith is confident and prideful. She is beautiful, and she is aware of this.  Judith dislikes hard work, and she desires to marry a wealthy man.  Judith is often unaware, such as when she thinks John Holbrook wants to marry her. 

Mercy is content and humble.  When she was very young, she became ill with a fever. She recovered, but her leg was damaged. She limps and uses crutches to walk. Mercy is content with her life despite her disability.  She is fond of John Holbrook, but she does not object when he becomes engaged to Judith. She is kind and gentle to Kit. Mercy shows compassion to Kit upon her arrival:

Kit found Mercy's eyes and was steadied by the quiet sympathy she saw there (Chapter 3). 

In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie watches a band of people leave the Muck. Who are they?

In Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie and Tea Cake spend a great deal of their life together in the Florida Everglades, or "the Muck." Here they work together, build friendships with those around them (including some Bahaman workers that share a new culture), and have what is perhaps the best life they ever know with one another. However, the Muck is also the place where their life together begins to...

In Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie and Tea Cake spend a great deal of their life together in the Florida Everglades, or "the Muck." Here they work together, build friendships with those around them (including some Bahaman workers that share a new culture), and have what is perhaps the best life they ever know with one another. However, the Muck is also the place where their life together begins to come apart. 

In Chapter 18, Hurston describes the life that Janie and Tea Cake built in the Muck. They play games and hold dances regularly, enjoying nearly every moment of the time. However, one afternoon a band of Seminoles passes by.  Hurston writes,

The men walking in front and the laden, stolid women following them like burros. She had seen Indians several times in the 'Glades, in twos or threes, but this was a large party. They were headed toward the Palm Beach road and kept moving steadily. About an hour later another party appeared and went the same way. Then another just before sundown.

Janie asks one of the men where they are going. He says they are headed to high ground because a hurricane is coming. This becomes the major conversation of the evening, and continues the next day as more Native Americans travel past, but nobody gets alarmed. Work is good and the evening fun is better, so the characters stay put. The next day, animals such as rabbits, snakes, and even deer start to travel past, and "[a] thousand buzzards held a flying meet and then went above the clouds and stayed," suggesting that the scavengers are going to wait out the storm and then pick over the remains. Finally, some of the Bahaman workers begin to get concerned and head toward higher ground, but Janie, Tea Cake, and a number of other people stay, planning to ride out the storm. This decision sets in motion the major tragedy for Janie and Tea Cake, when Lake Okechobee overflows and floods the Muck and the two are forced to try to escape. 

Describe the mysterious nature of the raven in Poe's poem, "The Raven."

The raven in this poem is very mysterious for a number of reasons.  First, the fact that he appears to rap at the narrator's door at midnight is both odd and unsettling, especially considering that both ravens and midnight are associated with death (and the narrator just lost his lover, Lenore, to death).  When the narrator goes to answer the door, no one is there.  

Next, he hears a tapping at the window, and...

The raven in this poem is very mysterious for a number of reasons.  First, the fact that he appears to rap at the narrator's door at midnight is both odd and unsettling, especially considering that both ravens and midnight are associated with death (and the narrator just lost his lover, Lenore, to death).  When the narrator goes to answer the door, no one is there.  

Next, he hears a tapping at the window, and when he opens it, the raven steps in with "mien of lord or lady" (line 40).  So, the raven conducts himself like a person of noble bearing, possessing a "grave and stern decorum" (44).  The bird speaks only one word: "'Nevermore.'"  At first, the speaker assumes that the bird's master must have lived through a great deal of tragedy, and thus the raven learned the word because he heard it spoken so many times.  

However, the longer the bird stays, the more the narrator seems to think him a "'devil'" (85), and he imagines the bird to be a messenger sent from the land of death to tell him that he will never again see his lost love, Lenore.  By the end of the poem, the bird is still there, "never flitting, still is sitting" (97).  It appears that he will remain forever to torment the narrator.  

Therefore, whether or not the bird is sentient is a mystery.  Whether he is simply a bird or actually a messenger or prophet of death is also a mystery.  His continued presence in the speaker's study is also a mystery.  Finally, the morbid affect the raven has on the speaker is mysterious: the narrator feels that his "soul from out that shadow [...] / Shall be lifted - nevermore!"

In The Crucible, who or what has been abandoned as a result of the witch trials?

As a result of the trials, in Act Four, Cheever first mentions that "There be so many cows wanderin' the highroads, now their masters are in the jails [...]."  In other words, so many people are in jail, have been accused and/or convicted or have confessed, that there is no one to care for their farms or their animals.  The cows, in need of milking, would be especially desperate for human assistance.  

Worse, Mr....

As a result of the trials, in Act Four, Cheever first mentions that "There be so many cows wanderin' the highroads, now their masters are in the jails [...]."  In other words, so many people are in jail, have been accused and/or convicted or have confessed, that there is no one to care for their farms or their animals.  The cows, in need of milking, would be especially desperate for human assistance.  

Worse, Mr. Hale (after he returns to Salem) tells Danforth that "there are orphans wandering from house to house; abandoned cattle bellow on the highroads, the stink of rotting crops hangs everywhere [...]."  It's not only cows and crops that are abandoned, but the children of the accused have nowhere to go, no one to care for them.  It is really a very tragic picture that these images paint: animals wandering the roads with no one to care for them, food going to waste on the stalks and vines, frightened children with no one to feed or dress them.  The trials don't just affect those accused and convicted; in the play, at least, the trials are making orphans out of a generation of children.

What is the formula for calculating the tangential speed?

I will assume you're talking about the tangential speed of a particle following a circular trajectory. But you can also give sense to the tangential speed of arbitrary trajectories by the use of derivatives and tangent vectors.

A formula for the tangential speed, for a circular motion, can be constructed based on the data available to you. For instance, if it the centripetal force `F_{cp} ` acting on the particle is given to you, then you can find the tangential speed of the trajectory as a function of the radius of the trajectory and the mass of the particle.

`v = sqrt({F_{cp}R}/{m})`

In this answer, I will assume the values of the radius of the trajectory and the angular speed (that is, the number of revolutions per unit time made by the particle) are given to you. So, for a circular motion of constant angular speed `w` and constant radius `R` , the tangential speed is given by the following formula:

`v=wR`

But remember, this is only one of the many ways of obtaining the tangential speed of a circular trajectory. It all depends on the context and values given to you. As an example, there are problems in which the angular speed is not constant with time, and this changes the formula.

If the angular speed is not constant, and the angular acceleration `alpha` and the radius `R` are constant with time, then the tangential speed will be given by the following formula:

`v(t)=(w_0 + alpha t)R` ` `

Notice that the tangent speed is now a function of time.

In general, you should analyze your problem and construct a formula for calculating the tangential speed, or any other variable. Try to avoid these specific formulas for specific cases and focus on the construction of them.

How does this story reflect the darker side of the Romantic view of human nature?

Often, Romantic writers focused on the wonderful things of which humankind is capable. We have an enormous capacity for generosity and creativity and love, as well as the ability to find truth in and be healed by nature. However, the Dark Romantic writers tended to focus a great deal more on the darker side of humankind: the terrors or evils or vice of which we are also capable. Thus, in "The Minister's Black Veil," the...

Often, Romantic writers focused on the wonderful things of which humankind is capable. We have an enormous capacity for generosity and creativity and love, as well as the ability to find truth in and be healed by nature. However, the Dark Romantic writers tended to focus a great deal more on the darker side of humankind: the terrors or evils or vice of which we are also capable. Thus, in "The Minister's Black Veil," the commonality that Hawthorne finds among all of us is not only our inherent propensity toward sin but also our shared desire to hide our sinfulness from everyone else: dark stuff indeed.

Mr. Hooper's first sermon after donning the black veil takes as its subject "secret sin, and those sad mysteries which we hide from our nearest and dearest, and would fain conceal from our own consciousness, even forgetting that the Omniscient can detect them." The minister has begun to wear the veil in an effort to be honest about the figurative veil that we all wear when we portray ourselves to others as sinless creatures. We all hide behind such a veil, and so, to represent this sad state of humanity -- a state where none of us is ever truly honest with anyone else or even ourselves -- he wears a material veil. Given, then, that the story focuses exclusively on our sin, without reference to our goodness, it is much more in line with Dark Romanticism.

Are religious rituals or religious beliefs more important?

The answer to your question depends almost entirely on which religion you are talking about! In Christianity, especially in the protestant tradition, beliefs tend to be valued more than rituals. During the Protestant Reformation and beyond, faith took on an extremely important role in protestant culture that contrasted with the Catholic Church’s emphasis upon rituals— sacraments, fasts, etc.

Judaism, on the other hand, is considered by most Jewish scholars to be a religion that places...

The answer to your question depends almost entirely on which religion you are talking about! In Christianity, especially in the protestant tradition, beliefs tend to be valued more than rituals. During the Protestant Reformation and beyond, faith took on an extremely important role in protestant culture that contrasted with the Catholic Church’s emphasis upon rituals— sacraments, fasts, etc.

Judaism, on the other hand, is considered by most Jewish scholars to be a religion that places a far greater emphasis on practice than on belief. In observant Judaism, the most important element of religious practice is the fulfillment of mitzvoth, or commandments that connect the Jewish practitioner to a relationship with God. While some Jewish thinkers like Maimonides did place a significant emphasis on belief, most observant Jews value ritual much more highly, and many Jewish thinkers agree that one can be a religious Jew and not even believe in God! An often quoted principle among the observant is “Na’aseh v’nishma,” or we will do and then we will understand--- this Torah verse flips the expected order of understanding before doing, and is often interpreted as indicating that deeds are more important than intentions in Jewish religious practice.

Similarly, Buddhism tends to be a religion of practice rather than belief (a notable exception to this is the Chinese and Japanese sect of Pure Land Buddhism, which places an enormous amount of emphasis on perfect faith in Amida Buddha, which will lead to reincarnation in the Pure Land). The Buddha is famously quoted as responding to a man who asked about the nature of God and the Universe— “You have been shot with a poison arrow--- and now you want to ask about who the shooter was? Work first on pulling the arrow out!” This story is told to bring home the point that Buddhism places more emphasis on the following of the Eightfold Noble Path as a means to eliminating suffering than on any kind of metaphysical conjecture. Indeed, it is very possible to be a Buddhist practitioner in many sects (Zen Buddhism especially) without having any belief in a higher power whatsoever.

What did the family have to do in order for Gabriel to be allowed a second year of nurturing in The Giver?

Jonas’s father petitions the Elders to allow Gabriel to stay with Jonas’s family for an extra year.

In Jonas’s community, babies are normally released if they do not meet certain growth and development targets during the first year of life. This basically means that the baby is euthanized, or killed by lethal injection, for being inferior. The community needs everyone to be the same, so there can’t be any substandard babies.

For some reason, Jonas’s...

Jonas’s father petitions the Elders to allow Gabriel to stay with Jonas’s family for an extra year.

In Jonas’s community, babies are normally released if they do not meet certain growth and development targets during the first year of life. This basically means that the baby is euthanized, or killed by lethal injection, for being inferior. The community needs everyone to be the same, so there can’t be any substandard babies.

For some reason, Jonas’s father is just a little bit more sentimental than other citizens. As a Nurturer, he sees babies released all of the time. He always finds it a little sad, though. He seems to get attached to Gabriel. He even breaks the rules to peek at his name, thinking that secretly calling him by a name instead of a number will help his development.

"He's a sweet little male with a lovely disposition. But he isn't growing as fast as he should, and he doesn't sleep soundly. We have him in the extra care section for supplementary nurturing, but the committee's beginning to talk about releasing him." (Ch. 1)

Jonas’s father sees potential in Gabriel. All family units consist of a boy and a girl. It is against the rules to have more children. All infants remain at the Nurturing Center for the first year of life. However, Jonas’s father manages to get Gabriel a reprieve. At first, he just brings him home at night for “something extra.” Then Jonas’s father decides that Gabe could be successful if he just had a little more time.

He had been given an unusual and special reprieve from the committee, and granted an additional year of nurturing before his Naming and Placement. Father had gone before the committee with a plea on behalf of Gabriel, who had not yet gained the weight appropriate to his days of life nor begun to sleep soundly enough at night to be placed with his family unit. (Ch. 6)

All children born in a year “age” on the same day in December. This means that some babies have been born very recently, where others are really closer to a year old.  However, the babies have to meet certain requirements before they are given to families. If they don’t, they get released instead of assigned.

Jonas’s family gets attached to Gabriel. Jonas, especially, comes to view the new child as his brother. When he learns the real meaning of release by watching his father give a lethal injection to a newborn, he is horrified. Worse still, after Gabe's year is up he learns that Gabriel still has not satisfied the community, and even his father voted to release him. Jonas takes Gabriel and flees.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, does the setting in which this story takes place make Mr. Cunningham's "blind spot" understandable? What is the...

Mr. Cunningham’s blind spot is common to people in Maycomb because they have grown up experiencing racism as normal.

Racism and prejudice is a part of life in Maycomb.  Most of the citizens believe that African Americans are inferior to white people.  It is not considered backward or bigoted to feel this way.  It leads to Mr. Cunningham and his mob attempting to lynch Tom Robinson, and willing to hurt Atticus for protecting him.

When Scout, Jem and Dill see their father sitting outside the jail, they go to see what is going on.  They soon find themselves in the middle of a dangerous situation, as the mob faces off against Atticus.  The Cunningham mob wants to take out Tom Robinson because, like most people in Maycomb, they believe he is guilty.  They think he raped a white woman, and they do not want to wait for the trial.

When Scout asks Atticus why Mr. Cunningham would try to hurt Atticus when he was his friend, Atticus explains.

Atticus placed his fork beside his knife and pushed his plate aside. “Mr. Cunningham’s basically a good man,” he said, “he just has his blind spots along with the rest of us.” (Ch. 16)

Jem disagrees, believing that Cunningham was trying to kill Atticus.  His father tells him that Cunningham would only try to hurt him, not kill him.  He still believes that Cunningham is basically a good man.  He tells his on that Cunningham was part of a mob, and a “mob’s always made up of people, no matter what.”

Scout’s intervention reminded Cunningham of where he was and what he was doing.  To injure or kill a black man and his lawyer is one thing, but to do so in front of three children is another.

“So it took an eight-year-old child to bring ‘em to their senses, didn’t it?” said Atticus. “That proves something—that a gang of wild animals can be stopped, simply because they’re still human….” (Ch. 16)

Scout wants to fight Cunningham’s son, Walter Jr., but Atticus tells her not to.  He doesn’t want her to hold a grudge against the Cunninghams for what happened.  The best thing to do is to forget about it and move on with the trial.

Just because Atticus understands Walter Cunningham does not mean he is telling his children that his actions are okay.  He does tell them that Cunningham had a blind spot.  However, it is important for his children and the reader to understand that the Cunninghams were not bad people, they were just acting according to society's norms.  It does not excuse what they did, but it does explain it.

What is the difference between a mineral and an ore?

A mineral is a mineral if it fits the following five criteria:

1. naturally occurring (not man made)


2. inorganic (not living, which means biomass can not ever be a mineral)


3. Solid (no liquids, no gasses)


4. crystal structure (regular repeating molecular structure/pattern)


5. definite chemical formula (i.e. Halite is always sodium and chlorine; quartz is always silicon and oxygen)

A mineral must have all four characteristics, or it is not a mineral.  Ore, is a mineral deposit that...

A mineral is a mineral if it fits the following five criteria:

1. naturally occurring (not man made)


2. inorganic (not living, which means biomass can not ever be a mineral)


3. Solid (no liquids, no gasses)


4. crystal structure (regular repeating molecular structure/pattern)


5. definite chemical formula (i.e. Halite is always sodium and chlorine; quartz is always silicon and oxygen)

A mineral must have all four characteristics, or it is not a mineral.  Ore, is a mineral deposit that is large enough to make it economically worthwhile to extract.  If you find a chunk of quartz in your backyard, that's a mineral.  But a square mile of quartz could be considered quartz ore.  

Another way to think about it is to say that ore is always made of minerals, but not all minerals can be called ore.  

Why does Mrs. Sleet "whop" her father, Lefty Lewis, on the head with a wooden spoon?

In Chapter 11, Lefty Lewis drives Bud Caldwell to his daughter's house in Flint, Michigan. Bud spends the night at Mrs. Sleet's house and joins her family for breakfast the next morning. Lefty Lewis makes fun of his grandchildren and daughter's cooking during breakfast, and the family jokes with each other throughout the meal. Towards the end of the meal, Lefty says that he once brought a friend back to Flint, and he ate four...

In Chapter 11, Lefty Lewis drives Bud Caldwell to his daughter's house in Flint, Michigan. Bud spends the night at Mrs. Sleet's house and joins her family for breakfast the next morning. Lefty Lewis makes fun of his grandchildren and daughter's cooking during breakfast, and the family jokes with each other throughout the meal. Towards the end of the meal, Lefty says that he once brought a friend back to Flint, and he ate four of Mrs. Sleet's pancakes. Lefty says his friend held his stomach the entire ride back to Grands Rapids, and his friend told Lefty that Mrs. Sleet made "paincakes," and not pancakes (Curtis 128). Mrs. Sleet laughs then goes into the kitchen. Kim urges her grandfather to tell Bud how many times his friend vomited on the ride back. Before Lefty Lewis can answer, Mrs. Sleet walks out of the kitchen and "whops" him on the head with a wooden spoon. Mrs. Sleet was sick of her father cracking jokes about her cooking and decided to hit him on the head with a wooden spoon to make him quit telling jokes.

What is the significance of the title of Bharati Mukherjee's story, "The Management of Grief"?

The title "The Management of Grief" encapsulates the plot of a story that is about how people, particularly the main character, Shaila Bhave, manage grief, and yet it is ironic too: it is only when Shaila gives up trying to "manage" and "assess" her situation and accept uncertainty that she is free to move on with her life.

As the story opens, a Canadian social worker named Judith Templeton has been hired to help the...

The title "The Management of Grief" encapsulates the plot of a story that is about how people, particularly the main character, Shaila Bhave, manage grief, and yet it is ironic too: it is only when Shaila gives up trying to "manage" and "assess" her situation and accept uncertainty that she is free to move on with her life.

As the story opens, a Canadian social worker named Judith Templeton has been hired to help the Indians who have lost their loved ones in a plane disaster. Her goal is to help them manage their grief: she fully believes grief can be "managed" and will later talk to Shaila about the stages of grief. Judith has little idea what to do, as she freely admits: she has never dealt with a disaster of this magnitude and she doesn't understand the Indian culture of the survivors. She is critical of the ways the Indians manage, calling some of the women "hysterical" and later wondering that some of the men remarry so quickly. When Judith asks Shaila for help in helping people to cope, Shaila responds that "we must all grieve in our own way." 

Shaila tries denial, hoping that somehow her husband and sons managed to survive the plane explosion, and even refusing to identify what obviously must be the photo of her dead son Vinod. As her friend Dr. Ranganathan says, "it is a parent's duty to hope." After she accepts the deaths, she begins to bond with other survivors and she travels to India. In India with her wealthy parents, she realizes that she "flutter[s] between two worlds." 

Shaila finds some comfort and "management" through her faith, in which she communes with the spirits of her dead loved ones. Her dead husband tells her to go on with the work they began together. 

Back in Canada, Shaila continues to try to manage her grief. While "deep in the Toronto winter, grey skies, icy pavements," Shaila tries to "assess my situation, how best to live my life." Some of her Indian friends have literally moved on to Vancouver or to Texas. One "rare, beautiful, sunny day," Shaila walks through a park. She looks through the still barren branches up at "the clear blue sky." Against this clarity of nature, which mirrors the inner clarity she now experiences, she hears the voices of her family a final time, telling her "your time has come ... Go, be brave." At this point, she drops the idea of managing her grief and of needing to "assess my situation." This liberates her: "I do not know where this voyage I have begun will end. I do not know which direction I will take. I ... started walking." 

"While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping." Identify the effect of the alliteration in this passage from "The Raven." ...

Alliteration is the repetition of initial consonant sounds in words that are close to each other in the text. Here the words "nodded, nearly napping" all begin with the /n/ sound, and the three words occur in sequence. The alliteration ties the three words together by their first sound. The /n/ sound is a soft, smooth sound; it is a nasal consonant. To make the /n/ sound, air is stopped from coming out of the...

Alliteration is the repetition of initial consonant sounds in words that are close to each other in the text. Here the words "nodded, nearly napping" all begin with the /n/ sound, and the three words occur in sequence. The alliteration ties the three words together by their first sound. The /n/ sound is a soft, smooth sound; it is a nasal consonant. To make the /n/ sound, air is stopped from coming out of the mouth because of where the tongue is placed and is forced to come out of the nose. Interestingly, this sound is the same sound that someone might make inadvertently while sleeping--a deep breathing sound that is not quite a snore. So using the repeated /n/ sound to describe someone who is about to fall asleep helps the reader experience that state simply through the sounds of the words. In addition, the fact that the three words have identical rhythm--a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable--reinforces the effect. One can almost feel the sensation of the man's head starting to droop and the man catching it with each new stressed /n/ syllable. The use of alliteration and rhythm in this way helps the reader enter into the mood and action of the poem.

What are some advantages of social media?

Though people may disagree over whether social media is a positive or negative influence in our lives, it certainly offers some benefits that cannot be found elsewhere. Social media websites and applications like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn help millions of people get connected and stay connected.

The biggest advantage social media offers in my mind is the ability to stay in touch with people who are far away. People who may not have access...

Though people may disagree over whether social media is a positive or negative influence in our lives, it certainly offers some benefits that cannot be found elsewhere. Social media websites and applications like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn help millions of people get connected and stay connected.

The biggest advantage social media offers in my mind is the ability to stay in touch with people who are far away. People who may not have access to a phone or postal service can use social media to stay up to date with friends, family, and colleagues. Even if someone does have the means to communicate in other ways, using a website like Facebook helps people to stay in touch even when they have different schedules. In my own experience, I have a very busy family and it can be difficult to know when is the best time to give grandma a call. With Facebook, I can send her a message and know that she will respond on her own time. It's also a great, low-cost way to share photos with family and friends.

Applications like Instagram offer a significant advantage to people interested in the arts. Free social media websites create a platform where artists of all levels of experience who work in all mediums can share photo or video of their creations. Many artists can't afford fees to rent space in a gallery, or may not be able to market themselves locally. Representing oneself on the internet makes art available to an exponentially larger audience than sharing art locally. Because apps like Instagram are intended for smartphones, it significantly cuts down on a photographer's monetary investment if they can combine their equipment (a camera) and art-sharing (online) into one item!

Businesses may find an advantage in using social media. Having a company profile with services like Facebook and LinkedIn can help businesses look for new employees and stay in touch with customers. Customers may find it easier to voice questions and concerns to businesses through platforms like Facebook rather than by phone, email, or a hand-written letter. Many businesses even choose to offer special deals to customers who engage with them on social media, such as offering discount codes only on a particular platform. 

Social media also really open up many people's global consciousness. Millions of people from all over the world use social media, and though that comes with a certain level of language barrier(s), it opens up the possibility to connect with people from very far away. Thanks to social media, it is possible to stay in touch with events from across the globe as soon as they happen and often before official news reporters or journalists have arrived on the scene. 

In Night by Elie Wiesel, what happens after Wiesel’s father stays behind at the camp?

When author Elie Wiesel is forced to leave his father behind in Buna after Mr. Wiesel had been selected for extermination, Elie worries all day long while at work. He does not know if he will go back to camp to find that his father is gone or still alive. His friends Yossi and Tibi spend the day trying to reassure Elie, and he is given lighter work than usual. 

"I did not know myself...

When author Elie Wiesel is forced to leave his father behind in Buna after Mr. Wiesel had been selected for extermination, Elie worries all day long while at work. He does not know if he will go back to camp to find that his father is gone or still alive. His friends Yossi and Tibi spend the day trying to reassure Elie, and he is given lighter work than usual. 

"I did not know myself what I wanted--for the day to pass quickly or not. I was afraid of finding myself alone that night. How good it would be to die here" (Wiesel 72)!

When finally the prisoners begin their march back to camp, Elie hopes for orders to run, but they do not come. He marches back to Buna with the others, and as soon as he passes through the gate, he begins to run as fast as he can to his father's Block.

The men had gone through another selection that day, and to his great relief and joy, his father had not been selected this time. Earlier Mr. Wiesel had given Elie his belongings, specifically his spoon and knife. Now Elie is able to give these back to his father.

Though Mr. Wiesel escaped death, Akiba Drumer was not so lucky. He had been telling the others he could no longer go on, and the Nazis made sure he would not.

At what age do children get freedom in Lois Lowry's The Giver?

Each December in Jonas's community marks a transitional period for children up to age twelve. Two days in December are celebrated as holidays and the whole community turns out to witness each year's coming-of-age ceremony. There are defining clothing, hairstyles and opportunities that signify each growing year. For example, at age Eight kids receive volunteer hours, lose their comfort objects and get pockets in their jackets to signify that they are responsible enough to keep...

Each December in Jonas's community marks a transitional period for children up to age twelve. Two days in December are celebrated as holidays and the whole community turns out to witness each year's coming-of-age ceremony. There are defining clothing, hairstyles and opportunities that signify each growing year. For example, at age Eight kids receive volunteer hours, lose their comfort objects and get pockets in their jackets to signify that they are responsible enough to keep track of small personal items. Lily, Jonas's sister is turning eight, and he encourages her as follows:

"'There are good things each year. . . This year you get to start your volunteer hours. And remember last year, when you became a Seven, you were happy to get your front-buttoned jacket?'

The front-buttoned jacket was the first sign of independence, the first very visible symbol of growing up. The bicycle, at Nine, would be the powerful emblem of moving gradually out into the community, away from the protective family unit" (40-41).

Therefore, as stated above, Sevens get a jacket they can unbutton themselves, rather than needing someone else to unbutton them from the back during ages four through six; so, it is at age seven that kids receive their first stage of independence, or freedom. Each year thereafter receives a level of responsibility along with more freedom. Eights get the freedom to choose where they will volunteer their service time as well. The freedom to choose is very valuable under such a strict society.Then by age nine, the bicycles give the children even more freedom to travel where they want to go and more quickly; but with the bicycles also comes the responsibility to take care of them properly. 

What is the main source of conflict in The Outsiders?

The main source of conflict in The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton, is described very early in the story in chapter 1. The conflict described is a a conflict between social classes. In The Outsiders, this conflict occurs between two groups, the Socs, short for "the Socials" (Hinton p2), and the Greasers, a group that the main character, Ponyboy, is a member of. The Socs are described as "the jet set, the West-side rich kids."...

The main source of conflict in The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton, is described very early in the story in chapter 1. The conflict described is a a conflict between social classes. In The Outsiders, this conflict occurs between two groups, the Socs, short for "the Socials" (Hinton p2), and the Greasers, a group that the main character, Ponyboy, is a member of. The Socs are described as "the jet set, the West-side rich kids." (Hinton p2), while the greasers are "poorer than the Socs and the middle class" (Hinton p3). This is further expanded upon when Ponyboy explains that the Socs "get editorials in the paper for being a public disgrace one day and an asset to society the next." (Hinton p3). Oppositely, Ponyboy describes the greasers as "like hoods; we steal things, and drive old souped-up cars and hold up gas stations and have a gang fight once in a while." (Hinton p3). As the reader can see from these descriptions, each group lives a very different lifestyle, with the Socs driving fancy new cars, getting drunk, and jumping greasers for fun, while the greasers struggle to get by and are looked at negatively by society as a whole. 

Hope this helps!

Is the relationship between Katniss and Peeta real in the first book of The Hunger Games series?

Interesting question! In the book The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, the relationship between Katniss and Peeta develops in an unusual way. Throughout the book, different viewpoints are shown about the authenticity of Katniss and Peeta’s relationship. In some scenarios, the relationship seems less real, while other moments reveal a different perspective.

Foremost, there are several instances in the book where their relationship appears insincere. For example, after Peeta’s declaration of love to Caesar, the...

Interesting question! In the book The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, the relationship between Katniss and Peeta develops in an unusual way. Throughout the book, different viewpoints are shown about the authenticity of Katniss and Peeta’s relationship. In some scenarios, the relationship seems less real, while other moments reveal a different perspective.

Foremost, there are several instances in the book where their relationship appears insincere. For example, after Peeta’s declaration of love to Caesar, the audience seems deeply moved. However, Katniss responds by thinking, “I know better [than to believe his feelings].” Consequently, this aspect of their relationship appears fake to Katniss.

However, other components of their relationship appear more real. For example, Katniss feels a deep gratitude and debt to Peeta for sharing bread with her after the loss of her father. As Katniss’ thoughts reveal:

“To this day, I can never shake the connection between this boy, Peeta Mellark, and the bread that gave me hope, and the dandelion that reminded me that I was not doomed . . . I feel like I owe him something.”

As the book continues, the authenticity of the relationship becomes even more complex. Katniss begins to struggle with remembering that the relationship is simply part of her survival plan. Her confusion furthers when she realizes that Peeta’s feelings of love are genuine. Subsequently, Peeta asks Katniss if the whole relationship was merely a “strategy” to her. Katniss replies by stating that “Not all of it” was part of a plan. She continues to think that:

“I want to tell him that he’s not being fair. That we were strangers. That I did what it took to stay alive, to keep us both alive in the arena . . . That if I do have feelings for him, it doesn’t matter because I’ll never be able to afford the kind of love that leads to a family, to children.”

Furthermore, she illustrates that:

“I also want to tell him how much I already miss him. But that wouldn’t be fair on my part.”

Thus, although the relationship initially appears inauthentic, the events inspire a change (especially with Katniss). Her feelings toward Peeta become more complex and she seems to exhibit genuine emotions towards him. However, her own fears prevent her from sharing these feelings and pursuing a deeper relationship.

In "Contents of the Dead Man's Pocket," what incident starts the conflict?

Jack Finney includes both external and internal conflict in his short story “Contents of the Dead Man’s Pockets.”

The external conflict is initiated when Tom Benecke, the protagonist, watches as his slip of yellow paper fly out the window. The yellow paper contains work which consumed Tom’s spare time for months. He had a grand plan to achieve wealth and fame as he advanced his employment even if it meant short changing his relationship with...

Jack Finney includes both external and internal conflict in his short story “Contents of the Dead Man’s Pockets.”

The external conflict is initiated when Tom Benecke, the protagonist, watches as his slip of yellow paper fly out the window. The yellow paper contains work which consumed Tom’s spare time for months. He had a grand plan to achieve wealth and fame as he advanced his employment even if it meant short changing his relationship with his wife. The protagonist watches as the paper lands outside on the ledge of his eleventh story apartment building on Lexington Avenue in New York City. Tom’s efforts to retrieve the paper by balancing on the ledge overhanging the street create great physical challenges.  As he makes his way along the ledge, he faces a series of physical obstacles until the paper is retrieved and he is able to return to his apartment.

The internal conflict arises within Tom as he is balancing on that ledge and faces death. He realizes how skewed his view of life is. His obsession on advancing at work takes his focus off of his lovely wife whom he loves dearly.

Both the internal and external conflicts provide parallel themes in the story.  Tom is physically trying to save himself while balancing on the ledge while having a revelation about finding balance in one’s life.

In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, is Scout racist?

Throughout Harper Lee’s classic coming-of-age novel set in the American South during the 1930s, To Kill a Mockingbird, the story’s main protagonist and narrator, Jean Louise “Scout” Finch uses the word “nigger” in casual reference to individuals and concepts. When her older brother Jem is frightening Dill with stories of ghosts—Hot Steam—wandering the woods at night, Scout innocently cautions her friend not to believe Jem’s stories: “Don’t you believe a word he says,...

Throughout Harper Lee’s classic coming-of-age novel set in the American South during the 1930s, To Kill a Mockingbird, the story’s main protagonist and narrator, Jean Louise “Scout” Finch uses the word “nigger” in casual reference to individuals and concepts. When her older brother Jem is frightening Dill with stories of ghosts—Hot Steam—wandering the woods at night, Scout innocently cautions her friend not to believe Jem’s stories: “Don’t you believe a word he says, Dill,” I said. “Calpurnia says that’s niggertalk.” Later, as Jem and Scout are enjoying the very rare occurrence of a snowstorm in their southern town, they decide to build a snowman. Lacking sufficient snow, however, Jem proceeds to augment their limited supply by using common dirt, which is obviously making the white structure much darker, prompting the following comment by Scout:  “Jem, I ain’t ever heard of a nigger snowman.”

Is Scout racist? No, she isn’t. Scout is a product of an extremely racist culture that permeated the American South, and that would continue to do so for decades to come. Her use of clearly-racist language is not a reflection of her soul, but a sad indication of the depth of the racism that dominated the culture in which she lived. At the beginning of Lee’s novel, Scout is not quite six-years-old, an age at which language and perceptions are overwhelmingly influenced by those around her. Fortunately, the single most influential individual in her life is her father, Atticus, a learned and intelligent lawyer who dislikes the culture of racism in Maycomb, but who has learned to navigate his way through it in order to do as much good as he reasonably can. Atticus’ passionate defense of the crippled, poor African American Tom Robinson, and, more importantly, his respect for Calpurnia, the family’s African American housekeeper, bespeak an individual of integrity and tolerance that is in desperately short supply in Lee’s fictitious but realistic Southern milieu. Scout does not like or dislike anybody on the basis of their skin color; she uses the morally abhorrent “n-word” loosely because that is the society in which she lives. She is otherwise a young, innocent and loving little girl who, through the course of Lee’s story, evolves into an intelligent and wise young woman. She is not, however, a racist.

Provide an example of an argumentative analysis essay that could be written without research based on "Woman Hollering Creek."

One essay you could write about Sandra Cisneros' short story "Woman Hollering Creek" would be to argue that the creek can represent either women's disempowerment or women's empowerment. I will walk you through how to set up a 5-paragraph essay for this persuasive analysis.

Paragraph 1: Introduction

Start the paragraph with a hook, such as a question to grab the reader's attention. "Is a holler a signal of pain or a signal of triumph?" could be one opener. Then give background information about the story and the author. Then present your thesis statement, which would be: "The creek in this story represents two states that women can live in, either a state of disempowerment or a state of empowerment."

Paragraph 2: First Body Paragraph

In this paragraph, discuss how the true origin of the creek's name is a mystery in the story. Paraphrase or quote passages that discuss how Cleofilas tries to ascertain the meaning of "Woman Hollering." Point out that since the true meaning of the name is obscure, it can represent more than one thing.

Paragraph 3: Second Body Paragraph

In this paragraph, present the idea that the creek can represent pain or rage, two disempowered states that the women in the story find themselves in. Point to Cleofilas' neighbors, who spend their time mourning their lost men, and Cleofilas herself, who is being beaten and cheated on by her husband. Cleofilas assumes the creek represents this state because that is the state she sees women in all around her, even in the news articles of women who have been murdered by their mates.

Paragraph 4: Third Body Paragraph

In this paragraph, show the contrast of Felice's explanation of and reaction to the creek. She hollers like Tarzan, drives a pickup, and takes control of her life. She also helps Cleofilas take control of her life by helping her return to her family in Mexico. To Felice, and now to Cleofilas, the creek represents empowerment for women.

Paragraph 5: Conclusion

Restate your thesis statement. Summarize your points from the body paragraphs. Add why you think this is a significant message for readers. Conclude with a statement that ties back to your hook, such as, "A holler can be a signal of triumph if a woman chooses to make it so." 

This essay makes an argument using evidence from the story and requires no outside research. 

In "A Psalm of Life," by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, what is not life's goal?

“A Psalm of Life” is a poem about living in the moment, about seizing the day and taking control of one’s life.  The poem is written as a young man’s thoughts on the words of a psalmist.  A psalm is a usually religious hymn or song of praise, and as such is often focused on the afterlife.  Here, we have a young, spirited dissention, asserting that life is not to be wasted, focusing endlessly on...

“A Psalm of Life” is a poem about living in the moment, about seizing the day and taking control of one’s life.  The poem is written as a young man’s thoughts on the words of a psalmist.  A psalm is a usually religious hymn or song of praise, and as such is often focused on the afterlife.  Here, we have a young, spirited dissention, asserting that life is not to be wasted, focusing endlessly on the far future, but rather to be experienced to the utmost, right now.  Indeed, by designating the poem as a psalm, Longfellow is informing us before we even begin to read that the piece is praising life.

 “Life is real!” the speaker says, “Life is earnest!/And the grave is not its goal.”  The grave is not its goal.  The goal of life is not to placidly await death, or whatever may come after death – the speaker is here exclaiming that the point of life is to be lived.  It is not simply to exist, or to passively experience – it is to explore, to learn, to change!  Consider the following lines:

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Finds us further than to-day.

Here we see a further emphasis on this concept – life is defined by action and personal growth.  It is not stagnation, and it is “not enjoyment” or “sorrow” – it is not simply these reactionary feelings, but rather something that must be kindling within oneself.  A bit later in the poem, our young speaker implores the listener to, “Be not like dumb, driven cattle!/Be a hero in the strife!”  Life is not to be lived in a herd, following the crowd and mindlessly absorbing your environment; it is instead a battle to be fought and won. 

So, life’s goal is not to follow the herd, and it is not passive experience.  It is instead action, the creation of experiences rather than the witnessing of them.  Living, rather than awaiting death.

What historical, philosophical and religious paradigms influenced T.S. Eliot to write "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock?

"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T. S. Eliot was first published in June 1915 issue of Poetry magazine. Although the narrative is that of a middle-aged man worried about whether he should begin an affair with a woman, it responds more generally to what Eliot would have considered the problems of the modern, secular world.

Prufrock is not just an individual adrift, but rather emblematic of a period and generation. He is...

"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T. S. Eliot was first published in June 1915 issue of Poetry magazine. Although the narrative is that of a middle-aged man worried about whether he should begin an affair with a woman, it responds more generally to what Eliot would have considered the problems of the modern, secular world.

Prufrock is not just an individual adrift, but rather emblematic of a period and generation. He is a moderately wealthy and successful member of the upper middle classes who is imbued with the social conventions of his time and period, and is inordinately concerned about how he appears to others. His obsession with how he appears and how people react to him signal the absence of an internal compass. He seems to care about conventions but to lack certain values. Politeness has become a substitute for morality. 

Several great certainties had been undermined. First, the social class system was shifting, leaving class identity uncertain and the bourgeois in particular undermined by Marxism, no longer secure and assured in their position. Next, Darwin had undermined the notion of humanity as somehow special and separate from nature. Freud had undermined the notion that we can know our own motives and desires, suggesting instead that much of our acts and beliefs are grounded in the unconscious mind. Higher Criticism had undermined the old certainties of religion. 

As modernity undermined the great certainties of the Victorian age, Eliot worried that it has not created anything that could substitute for them. The manners which were once grounded in a complete belief system seem to Eliot to have lost their ideological grounds and become empty and the people like Prufrock without purpose. Prufrock states:

I am no prophet — and here’s no great matter;

I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker,

And I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker,

And in short, I was afraid.

In other words, the lack of grand, prophetic certainties leaves people adrift and afraid. For Eliot, the eventual answer to this was a return to the Anglican Church and literary tradition. 

What does the speaker compare to the stars in William Wordsworth's poem "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud"?

William Wordsworth's poem "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" is a wonderful tribute to the scene he witnesses one day while out walking near his English Lake District home. Wordsworth is considered one of the greatest English Romantic poets and often wrote about nature. While he originally appreciates the beauty of the field of daffodils, he realizes later how profoundly they had touched him.

Wordsworth uses both simile and personification to describe the allure of...

William Wordsworth's poem "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" is a wonderful tribute to the scene he witnesses one day while out walking near his English Lake District home. Wordsworth is considered one of the greatest English Romantic poets and often wrote about nature. While he originally appreciates the beauty of the field of daffodils, he realizes later how profoundly they had touched him.

Wordsworth uses both simile and personification to describe the allure of the flowers. A simile is a comparison of two things using like or as. In the title and opening line he compares himself to a wandering cloud. In the second stanza he compares the daffodils to the stars, because they are so numerous:

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the milky way

A personification is when human qualities are given to non-human things. He personifies the daffodils by suggesting they are dancing:

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

The last stanza of the poem tells how the image of the flowers has a lasting effect on Wordsworth as he often thinks about them when he is alone or in deep thought.

What was the role of the federal government in the acquisition of the west?

The federal government played a dominant role in acquiring the west of what is now the United States.  The federal government acquired all of the land west of the Mississippi by treaty, war, or purchase.

The federal government started to acquire land west of the Mississippi with the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.  When the government purchased the Louisiana Territory, it doubled the country’s land area.  The new territory included all of the land in the...

The federal government played a dominant role in acquiring the west of what is now the United States.  The federal government acquired all of the land west of the Mississippi by treaty, war, or purchase.

The federal government started to acquire land west of the Mississippi with the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.  When the government purchased the Louisiana Territory, it doubled the country’s land area.  The new territory included all of the land in the Mississippi River basin up to the crest of the Rocky Mountains.  All of this was bought from France for about $15 million.

Next, the federal government acquired the land that is now the Southwest of the US.  Most of this land was acquired through war.  The US took most of this land from Mexico after the war with that country in the 1840s.  Technically, the US got Texas not through the war but by annexing the area, which had declared independence from Mexico about ten years earlier. 

The federal government completed the acquisition of the Southwest in 1853.  In that year, the government bought land that is known as the Gadsden Purchase from Mexico.  This was land that is now in New Mexico and Arizona.  It was bought for the purpose of building a transcontinental railroad.

Finally, the federal government acquired the Oregon Territory in 1846.  This land had been jointly held by the US and Great Britain.  In 1846, the federal government struck a deal with Britain to divide the territory, with the boundary being set at the 49th parallel.  In these ways, the federal government was the entity that acquired all of the lands of the American West.

Where is Rosicky at the beginning of the story?

At the beginning of “Neighbour Rosicky,” the title character is in a doctor’s office in town.  Our first clue is in the line, “Doctor Burleigh swung round in his desk-chair….”  This is further substantiated by the doctor’s actions:  he writes Rosicky a prescription, and examines a stethoscope; and when Rosicky places the doctor’s fee “behind the desk-telephone.”  The doctor has informed Rosicky, an old friend, that his heart is weakening, and warns him against any...

At the beginning of “Neighbour Rosicky,” the title character is in a doctor’s office in town.  Our first clue is in the line, “Doctor Burleigh swung round in his desk-chair….”  This is further substantiated by the doctor’s actions:  he writes Rosicky a prescription, and examines a stethoscope; and when Rosicky places the doctor’s fee “behind the desk-telephone.”  The doctor has informed Rosicky, an old friend, that his heart is weakening, and warns him against any intense physical activity on the farm.

When Rosicky leaves the doctor’s office he lingers in town to run some errands, going to the hardware store and to a general store to pick up some fabric for his wife to make pillows and quilts out of.  Here, his interactions with his favorite store clerk are further clues as to just how liked Mr. Rosicky is in town, and how pleasant a character he is to talk to.  These early actions therefore do not only provide a hint to the overall setting of the story, they also provide a solid characterization for Mr. Rosicky and set everything up early-on for the central conflict of the story.

When did Montag meet Faber in Fahrenheit 451? Please provide page numbers.

Montag met Faber in a park a year before the story started.

The first time Montag mentions Faber, it is very brief. He does not say who Faber is or what happened during the encounter that made it so memorable.

What a strange meeting on a strange night. He remembered nothing like it save one afternoon a year ago when he had met an old man in the park and they had talked... (Part I, p....

Montag met Faber in a park a year before the story started.

The first time Montag mentions Faber, it is very brief. He does not say who Faber is or what happened during the encounter that made it so memorable.

What a strange meeting on a strange night. He remembered nothing like it save one afternoon a year ago when he had met an old man in the park and they had talked... (Part I, p. 8)

This is very early in the book, so at this point the reader has no idea what Montag is talking about. He remembers the encounter with Faber when he is thinking about Clarisse. He clearly associates the two because both of them make him question himself, his profession, and his society.

We learn later that Montag saw Faber in the park, and also saw him quickly hide something. Montag stopped to talk to him, and eventually Faber let his guard down and they had a conversation.

The old man admitted to being a retired English professor who had been thrown out upon the world forty years ago when the last liberal arts college shut for lack of students and patronage. His name was Faber, and when he finally lost his fear of Montag, he talked in a cadenced voice, looking at the sky and the trees and the green park... (Part I, p. 70)

The meeting ends with Faber quoting “a rhymeless poem.”  Faber tells him that he talks “the meaning of things” and is alive. The meeting clearly made an impression on Montag. When he finally got up the nerve to look Faber up in order to further explore the world of books, Montag knew he was in very deep. Montag seeks him out because he himself can steal books, but is not really educated enough to read them.

Please note that editions of books vary. These page numbers are from the 2011 edition (ISBN 9781439142677).

What is an antonym of estimation?

In mathematics we define estimation is a guess or finding the closest answer to the actual value through though or rough calculation.  Rough calculation includes rounding off, using round figures such 100s and 1000s. 

In math, the antonym of estimation is calculation. In mathematical terms this would be defined as determining the answer of a problem using mathematical  methods including addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and other mathematical equations used to find the actual answer. 

...

In mathematics we define estimation is a guess or finding the closest answer to the actual value through though or rough calculation.  Rough calculation includes rounding off, using round figures such 100s and 1000s. 

In math, the antonym of estimation is calculation. In mathematical terms this would be defined as determining the answer of a problem using mathematical  methods including addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and other mathematical equations used to find the actual answer. 

Let's illustrate this through an example. In an exam if we were to count the amount of words in the essay we would generally count every single word in each line, write them at the end of the margin in pencil and sum it up at the end of the essay. This is called calculation.

However, your examiner has 120 exam essays to mark and will not be able to count each line and tally the amount of words. The examiner will count the amount of words in the first line of the essay and multiply by the amount of lines in the essay. This is called estimation.

From the above example the estimation is an approximate answer to the true value, but calculation can give you the exact answer. (always read the context of the question or the use of the word in order to understand what is required)

What was the federal government's involvement in the United States economy from 1900-1945?

This is a relatively long time period that you are discussing in this question. The federal involvement in the economy ebbed and flowed during this period. The early part of the Twentieth Century, until the American involvement in the Great War, was a period of progressive reform. The government was very active during this period in terms of regulation. Efforts were made to regulate monopolies and workers were granted unprecedented rights. These rights included the...

This is a relatively long time period that you are discussing in this question. The federal involvement in the economy ebbed and flowed during this period. The early part of the Twentieth Century, until the American involvement in the Great War, was a period of progressive reform. The government was very active during this period in terms of regulation. Efforts were made to regulate monopolies and workers were granted unprecedented rights. These rights included the right to collective bargain and form unions. Banking reforms, including the Federal Reserve Act, were also made during the Progressive Era.

As the United States entered World War I, the federal government took drastic steps to regulate the economy and mobilize it for war. The government went as far as to fix prices, wages, and even told certain companies what to produce. After the war, the federal government was controlled by Republican presidents during the 1920's and took a laissez-faire approach to the economy. Private companies enjoyed a period of autonomy that had not existed in the Twentieth Century. The stock market crash of 1929 would end the era of economic conservativism.

Franklin D. Roosevelt's overwhelming victory in the 1932 election marked a key turning point in the role of the federal government. Because of the drastic economic depression, the American public wanted the government to act. Roosevelt responded with a program of federal intervention on the economy that was not seen to that point in history. The National Recovery Act fixed prices and wages but was eventually declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. The New Deal, as it was called, also made the federal government a major employer by offering major public works programs that hired hundreds of thousands of Americans. The New Deal also regulated banks and corporations in a major way. During World War II, similar mobilization efforts were made to prepare the nation for war.  It could be considered a striking success as the United States economy was fixed by the war effort. While there are still ebbs and flows with regards to federal government's role on the economy, the New Deal was a turning point in this area.

In the story, "The Open Window" was Vera's joke funny and why?

The prank Vera plays on Mr. Nuttel is, if anything, creative and calculated.  Vera appears to be a precocious, young teenager bored with staying at her aunt’s house.   She is a smart girl who has found a way to entertain herself by playing a joke on an unsuspecting stranger. Saki describes Vera as “self-possessed”, indicating that she is self-centered and perhaps doesn’t care about other people’s feelings.  When Mr. Nuttel says he doesn’t know anyone...

The prank Vera plays on Mr. Nuttel is, if anything, creative and calculated.  Vera appears to be a precocious, young teenager bored with staying at her aunt’s house.   She is a smart girl who has found a way to entertain herself by playing a joke on an unsuspecting stranger. Saki describes Vera as “self-possessed”, indicating that she is self-centered and perhaps doesn’t care about other people’s feelings.  When Mr. Nuttel says he doesn’t know anyone in the area, Vera pounces on the opportunity to fray the nerves of the already jumpy Mr. Nuttel who has come to the country to seek a cure for his anxious behavior and “moping”.

The story that her aunt keeps the window open thinking her dead husband and brothers will return from hunting makes the man uneasy, and when the husband and brothers do return (and aren’t really dead), Mr. Nuttel freaks out and runs away for he thinks they are ghosts.

Vera’s prank is funny if you think it’s okay to fool an emotionally sick man who is about to “go off the deep end” already. Vera is a “mean girl”, but, personally, one I can’t help but like a little for her creativity and spirit.

In The Canterbury Tales, why does the narrator join the pilgrims?

In the General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, the narrator starts by telling the reader that pilgrims often go on trips to the martyr's shrine in April. The martyr he is referring to is Thomas Becket, the slain former Archbishop of Canterbury.

At this time, the host is already at the Tabard Inn in Southwark, as evidenced by these lines:

It happened in that season that one day

In Southwark, at The Tabard,...

In the General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, the narrator starts by telling the reader that pilgrims often go on trips to the martyr's shrine in April. The martyr he is referring to is Thomas Becket, the slain former Archbishop of Canterbury.

At this time, the host is already at the Tabard Inn in Southwark, as evidenced by these lines:

It happened in that season that one day

In Southwark, at The Tabard, as I lay

Ready to go on pilgrimage and start

for Canterbury . . .

Apparently, the narrator is there alone and about to begin his journey. Pilgrims sometimes made the journey alone, but also often went in groups for company and safety. We can imagine that the narrator would prefer to have companionship for the long trek across the English countryside. He was probably glad when . . .

At night there came into that hostelry

Some nine and twenty in a company

Of sundry folk happening then to fall

In fellowship.

After meeting these fellow travelers, the narrator approached them and undoubtedly struck up some conversations in hopes of joining their group. It must have been quite a task, but he says that he spoke to each of the twenty-nine pilgrims . . .

And, briefly, when the sun had gone to rest,

I'd spoken to them all upon the trip

And was soon one with them in fellowship,

Pledged to rise early and to take the way

To Canterbury, as you heard me say.

When the journey begins, the host then describes each pilgrim with their own prologue, followed by the story that they tell to the group. He is an unassuming, self-effacing narrator who professes to be nothing out of the ordinary, and something less in status than some of the other pilgrims.