How would you describe the role of the playwrights as heroic in their staging of The Trial of Dedan Kimathi?

Ngugi wa Thiong’o and Micere Githae Mugo’s influential Kenyan play The Trial of Dedan Kimathi was an exceptionally daring stage production for the two to produce, especially when one considers the subject matter and the time period in which the play was produced. The Trial of Dedan Kimathi examines the trials and hardships of a key figure in the Mau Mau Uprising, an attempt from a number of Kenyans to challenge the colonial rule of...

Ngugi wa Thiong’o and Micere Githae Mugo’s influential Kenyan play The Trial of Dedan Kimathi was an exceptionally daring stage production for the two to produce, especially when one considers the subject matter and the time period in which the play was produced. The Trial of Dedan Kimathi examines the trials and hardships of a key figure in the Mau Mau Uprising, an attempt from a number of Kenyans to challenge the colonial rule of the time. Kimathi was, at this point, a polarizing figure; to base an entire play on this man, and then to equate his story in with the Kenyan population as a whole, was a daring, heroic role for the playwrights to take on. In the preface to the play, Thiong’o and Mugo acknowledge that this was their ultimate aim for the play:

“We agreed that the most important thing was for us to reconstruct imaginatively our history, envisioning the world of the Mau Mau and Kimathi in terms of the peasants’ and workers’ struggle before and after constitutional independence.”

They offer a vivid portrayal that considers Kimathi as both a man and a myth. By examining Kimathi, Thiong’o and Mugo heroically challenge the norms and values inherent with British imperialism, and give a compassionate story to a figure that has been maligned in the West.

How does Dianna help Lyddie in Lyddie?

Diana helps Lyddie learn to use her loom and makes her feel at home.

Diana is the mother figure for all of the factory girls. She has endless patience, and whenever a new girl comes to the factory she shows her how to operate the machinery so that she won’t get hurt. When Lyddie starts at Lowell, she has no idea what she is doing. It is Diana who shows her the ropes.

Lyddie is...

Diana helps Lyddie learn to use her loom and makes her feel at home.

Diana is the mother figure for all of the factory girls. She has endless patience, and whenever a new girl comes to the factory she shows her how to operate the machinery so that she won’t get hurt. When Lyddie starts at Lowell, she has no idea what she is doing. It is Diana who shows her the ropes.

Lyddie is given the machine next to Diana. It never seems to bother Diana that she has to maintain her own machines and help the newcomers learn theirs. She doesn’t complain about reduced productivity or slow learners. She is only patient and supportive.

Diana asks Lyddie if she likes to read, and Lyddie admits that she hasn’t had much schooling.

"Well, you can remedy that," the older girl said. "I'll help, if you like, some evening."

Lyddie looked up gratefully. She felt no need with Diana to apologize or to be ashamed of her ignorance. "I'm needing a bit of help with the regulations..." (Ch. 9)

Diana does help Lyddie with reading and writing. She gives her paper and encourages her to write to her mother and brother. No one in Lyddie’s family is well-educated, and Lyddie left school when her father left. She just couldn’t trust her mother with the farm or her younger siblings.  Diana carefully helped Lyddie write the letters and insisted on giving her postage. Before that, Lyddie’s brother and mother had no idea where she went when she left the tavern.

Diana is a force of comfort for Lyddie. Since money is so valuable to her, Lyddie worries about signing Diana’s workers’ rights petitions, but Diana is so important to her that she eventually goes to a meeting. Diana confides that she is going to have a baby, and the father is married. She has to leave so she won’t hurt their cause. It is a terrible blow to Lyddie, who feels like she is losing another family member.

Is world peace possible? |

The world has undergone periods of relative peace, but absolute world peace, no.  At times when the world has only one superpower, whether it is Rome, Britain, or the United States post-Cold War, the world is not in any danger of major conflict, i.e. war between two or more large states.  However, all states use war to enact their policies, and even when there has been one major power, there has still been times of...

The world has undergone periods of relative peace, but absolute world peace, no.  At times when the world has only one superpower, whether it is Rome, Britain, or the United States post-Cold War, the world is not in any danger of major conflict, i.e. war between two or more large states.  However, all states use war to enact their policies, and even when there has been one major power, there has still been times of war.  When Rome was the major power after their war with Carthage, there were always rebellions in Gaul and Germany to put down.  Britain fought several little colonial wars during the time of Queen Victoria, a time of relative world peace between 1856 and 1914.  America sent troops to Somalia, Bosnia, and Iraq after the Cold War with the Soviet Union.  In addition to wars over state interests, there are also wars of religion; these have been going on for thousands of years and show no signs of abating.  One could make the argument that today the world is more unstable than ever before, as non-state actors such as ISIS and Al-Qaeda and their associate organizations have worldwide impact and seem to attack nations and people indiscriminately with more destructive weapons.  Using purely secular answers, I do not believe absolute world peace is possible.   

What does Darry call Pony that proves that they have settled with each other in The Outsiders?

Darry calls Pony “little buddy,” a pet name usually reserved for Soda.

Darry and Pony have some problems.  In fact, it is Darry hitting Pony when he came home late that caused Pony to run away and end up in the park where the fight started.  Pony always feels that Darry is too hard on him.  After he returns, however, he and Darry start to make up.

When Randy the Soc comes to check on...

Darry calls Pony “little buddy,” a pet name usually reserved for Soda.

Darry and Pony have some problems.  In fact, it is Darry hitting Pony when he came home late that caused Pony to run away and end up in the park where the fight started.  Pony always feels that Darry is too hard on him.  After he returns, however, he and Darry start to make up.

When Randy the Soc comes to check on him, Pony tells Randy that the hardest thing about the trouble he is in is that they might take him away from Darry.  Darry has been his guardian ever since his parents died.  Pony and Darry have had their problems, but Pony does not want to be separated from his brothers.

Darry is a good guardian; he makes me study and knows where I am and who I'm with all the time. I mean, we don't get along so great sometimes, but he keeps me out of trouble, or did. My father didn't yell at me as much as he does." (Ch. 11)

Randy tells Pony that it was Johnny and not him who killed Bob, and Pony gets upset.  He overhears Darry saying to Randy that Pony is mixed up about the incident with Bob.  Pony gets angry, because he doesn’t want anyone to say anything bad about Johnny, and he doesn’t quite understand that Johnny is dead.

After Randy leaves, Darry tells Pony to put out his cigarette because he is concerned that Pony will fall asleep smoking and die.  Pony has spent almost all of his time in bed since the incident.

"Maybe you can be a little neater, huh, little buddy?"

He'd never called me that before. Soda was the only one he ever called "little buddy."

"Sure," I said, "I'll be more careful." (Ch. 11)

This conversation shows Pony that Darry really does care about him.  The combination of the fact that he does not want to be taken out of Darry’s custody and Darry calling him “little buddy” helps him realize that they will be okay.  It is the first step in making up with Darry.

An arrow is fired straight upwards at a speed of 50.0m/s from the top of a building 100m above the ground. How long does it take to strike the...

Hello!

Using Newton's Second Law, one can obtain the known formulas for such a movement:

`V(t)=V_0-g t,`  `H(t)=H_0+V_0t-g t^2/2,`

where `t` is the time from the start, `V_0` is the initial speed, `H_0` is the initial height and `g approx 10m/s^2` is the gravity acceleration. `V` is the speed of an arrow as a function of time, `H` is its height.

The time `t_1` until an arrow strikes the ground must be positive and satisfy...

Hello!

Using Newton's Second Law, one can obtain the known formulas for such a movement:

`V(t)=V_0-g t,`  `H(t)=H_0+V_0t-g t^2/2,`

where `t` is the time from the start, `V_0` is the initial speed, `H_0` is the initial height and `g approx 10m/s^2` is the gravity acceleration. `V` is the speed of an arrow as a function of time, `H` is its height.

The time `t_1` until an arrow strikes the ground must be positive and satisfy the equation `H(t_1)=0`  (ground level is assumed zero). This is a quadratic equation. In numbers it is:

`100+50t-5t^2=0,` or `t^2-10t-20=0.`

So `t_1=5+sqrt(25+20) approx 11.7(s).` I used the quadratic formula here. The solution before the root is negative.

Next, the maximum height is when an arrow finishes its rise and will begin to fall, i.e. when `V(t)=0.` This is  `t=V_0/(g)=5(s).` The height above the ground is `H(5)=100+250-125=225(m).`

And the final speed is the speed at `t_1,`  `V(t_1)=50-10*11.7=-67(m/s).`  This means  `67m/s`  downwards.

So the answers are: an arrow strikes the ground after about 11.7 s, its speed before that moment will be about 67 m/s downwards, and the maximum height above the ground will be about 225 m.

Why is Beneatha going to college?

Beneatha wants to become a medical doctor in the play, A Raisin in the Sun. This is a progressive choice for a black woman in the 1950’s because of the lack of opportunity for blacks to achieve their dreams.  Her desire to become a doctor requires some of the inheritance her father leaves her mother when he dies.  This becomes a conflict with Walter, who wants the money for a liquor store. No one...

Beneatha wants to become a medical doctor in the play, A Raisin in the Sun. This is a progressive choice for a black woman in the 1950’s because of the lack of opportunity for blacks to achieve their dreams.  Her desire to become a doctor requires some of the inheritance her father leaves her mother when he dies.  This becomes a conflict with Walter, who wants the money for a liquor store. No one really thinks Beneatha’s dreams are serious or obtainable, except for Mama Younger, who ends up giving Beneatha a portion of the inheritance.  It is at college that Beneatha meets Asagai, a student from Africa who changes her life. Beneatha becomes more self-aware, starts questioning race relations, and becomes a more independent thinker who begins to embrace her African roots.  Even though she has a rich boyfriend, George, who will take care of her, Beneatha wants more.  She even speculates that she will go to Africa with Asagai and practice medicine there.  Beneatha’s character in the play shows the rising awareness of African American woman who are searching for their purpose and identity on the cusp of the Civil Rights Movement.

In the book Angels and Demons, what is the writing style? What passages demonstrate this style?

Angels and Demons by Dan Brown is a great book! It seems like you might be reading it in school, which is really cool.

The genre of the book is mystery-thriller. I would describe the writing style as popular. The book is meant to be easily accessible to most readers and fun! This isn't esoteric or allegoric. I've occasionally heard the book described in a derrogatory fashion as an "airplane novel." Essentially, that it's so...

Angels and Demons by Dan Brown is a great book! It seems like you might be reading it in school, which is really cool.

The genre of the book is mystery-thriller. I would describe the writing style as popular. The book is meant to be easily accessible to most readers and fun! This isn't esoteric or allegoric. I've occasionally heard the book described in a derrogatory fashion as an "airplane novel." Essentially, that it's so easy to read you could pick it up in the airport and be done by the time you land. The term is considered a bad thing, and I don't necessarily agree with it. Just because something is written in a way that's easy for most readers to appreciate, doesn't make it bad!

As you probably have experienced from reading it, the book is a page turner. It's a mystery, as Langdon and Vittoria follow the clues through Rome to try to save the cardinals who are being mysteriously killed. It's also a thriller, throwing suprises at you left and right! Like its companion, the Da Vinci Code, it's also full of puzzles, riddles, and references to secret societies and cults. And of course, all of this takes place in a race against the clock, just to ramp up the drama! All of this makes it more fun.

If I were you, I would focus on any scene in which Langdon is confronted with a puzzle he needs to solve as part of his race around Rome on the Path of Illumination to save the cardinals. Perhaps the scene in the Santa Maria della Vittoria would be best, as it highlights many of the aspects of Brown's style I've mentioned.   

How does Jesse feel about Leslie's father when the Burkes first start working on renovations to the house in Katherine Paterson's Bridge to...

When Leslie and her dad first start working on renovations to their house, Jesse feels awkward and uncomfortable around Bill (Leslie's dad, otherwise known as Mr. Burke) and even feels a kind of vague dislike toward him.

The main source of all these negative feelings toward Mr. Burke is that he's taking up Leslie's time, making Jesse feel jealous. Jesse would much rather be playing with Leslie, having fun in Terabithia together, but instead she's...

When Leslie and her dad first start working on renovations to their house, Jesse feels awkward and uncomfortable around Bill (Leslie's dad, otherwise known as Mr. Burke) and even feels a kind of vague dislike toward him.

The main source of all these negative feelings toward Mr. Burke is that he's taking up Leslie's time, making Jesse feel jealous. Jesse would much rather be playing with Leslie, having fun in Terabithia together, but instead she's busy with her dad. For that reason, Jesse resents Mr. Burke. We can understand his feelings: we'd also be annoyed if someone took away our best friend, resulting in our own boredom and loneliness.

Another reason for Jesse's awkward, slightly angry feelings toward Bill is that he can't understand why Leslie is so interested in spending quality time with and getting to know her dad. It's sad to realize this, but Jesse barely has a relationship with his own dad, so he doesn't understand it's normal to hang out with your parents and learn more about them. Deep down, then, Jesse may be feeling jealous of the mutual affection between Leslie and her dad. Jesse would love to have more approval and attention from his own dad; since he doesn't, it makes him vaguely unhappy to see Leslie bonding so well with her dad.

Happily, the tension between Jesse and Leslie's dad resolves itself when the two men get to know each other as Jesse joins the Burkes to work on the home renovation projects with them. It's the perfect solution: Jesse gets to hang out with his best friend Leslie again, and Jesse also gets to know Leslie's dad well enough that he no longer feels angry or awkward around him.

How did Alfred du Pont provide relief to the unemployed in Jacksonville, Florida?

Alfred du Pont poured money into the economy in Jacksonville, which provided relief during the Great Depression.  His efforts also created many jobs for the unemployed.  After his death in 1935, a trust was created in his name.  This trust protected the assets he already had, and it also provided for the creation of a company that employed many.

In the year 1926, Alfred du Pont settled in Jacksonville.  He initially made investments in real...

Alfred du Pont poured money into the economy in Jacksonville, which provided relief during the Great Depression.  His efforts also created many jobs for the unemployed.  After his death in 1935, a trust was created in his name.  This trust protected the assets he already had, and it also provided for the creation of a company that employed many.

In the year 1926, Alfred du Pont settled in Jacksonville.  He initially made investments in real estate.  Within a few years, he switched his focus to banks.  In the year 1929, there was a bank run at the Florida National Bank.  Du Pont opened a bank account at the Florida National and deposited millions of dollars.  This kept the bank afloat during the bank run, protecting the money of many people.  He eventually became more involved with the bank.

Knowing that unemployment was a growing problem in the city of Jacksonville, du Pont "established a private public works program."  Jobs that were part of the program included street sweepers and park maintenance workers.  Workers were paid a minimum wage for their work by du Pont.

A few years after du Pont died in 1935, the trust in his name established the St. Joe Paper Company, which created many jobs.  By this time, the country was still feeling the impact of the Depression.

What central idea is presented in both "I felt a Funeral, in my Brain," by Emily Dickinson and "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allen Poe?

This is a great pairing. To me, the thing these two texts share is a descent into madness, or the idea that there is an understanding of things that transcends reason. Both texts share the theme of death: Dickinson is writing about a funeral, and Poe is writing about a murder. Both texts use a kind of monotonous rhythm to highlight this movement from reason to madness. Both texts seem to suggest that once you give into this alternate way of thinking, there is no going back.

In the Poe story, the narrator murders the old man because of his "vulture's eye" -- 

His eye was like the eye of a vulture, the eye of one of those terrible birds that watch and wait while an animal dies, and then fall upon the dead body and pull it to pieces to eat it. When the old man looked at me with his vulture eye a cold feeling went up and down my back; even my blood became cold. And so, I finally decided I had to kill the old man and close that eye forever!

In the Dickinson poem, the funeral inspires a similar kind of dread: 

I felt a Funeral, in my Brain,
And Mourners to and fro
Kept treading - treading - till it seemed
That Sense was breaking through -

And when they all were seated,
A Service, like a Drum -
Kept beating - beating - till I thought
My mind was going numb -

Dickinson's "numbness" and Poe's narrator's "cold feeling" at seeing the eye both suggest a kind of falling away from reason or the real world. For Poe, the case would seem to be one of simple insanity, but it is worth noting that for the narrator the "reasoning" behind the killing is self evident; the eye gives him the shivers, "and so" of course the old man must die. In the Dickinson poem, monotony of the funeral, whether it is an actual funeral she is attending, or a kind of "funereal feeling," brings on a similar quality of "numbness" which results in the "Plank in Reason" breaking

And I dropped down, and down -
And hit a World, at every plunge,
And Finished knowing - then -

The "beating - beating" of the drum in the poem, like the beating of the old man's heart in the Poe story, precipitates a similar fall from knowledge in each text. When Dickinson says she "finished knowing," that can be taken to mean that either she is "finished" with reason, or that she has finally understood something. In the Poe story, the beating of the old man's heart causes the narrator to confess. This confession could be understood as either the narrator giving in to a guilty conscience, or as his final capitulation to the irrational desires that drove him to murder in the first place.

Is there any humor in the story "A Rose for Emily" or is it mainly grimly?

The Glossary of Literary Terms defines humor as:

The quality of a literary or informative work that makes the character/and or situations seem funny, amusing or ludicrous. 

A "quality" is a standard of something measured against something else. In turn, a standard is assigned the value that is desired by whoever is determining it.

This essentially means that it is up to you, and the contextual or personal connections that you make as you read, what determines whether something is "funny," "amusing," or "ludicrous."

Note that something humorous does not have to fit all three of these variables. Hence, to find something amusing, even to a minor degree, implies eliciting humor. 

This being said, there are several things in the story "A Rose for Emily" that are described in ways that befit any of the three descriptors just mentioned. 

1. That nosey narrator

Take, for example, the fact that the narrator is not a narrator per se, but the combination of the voices of the townsfolk.  To a reader who has been raised in a small town or county, such as Emily's Jefferson country, the compilation of observations made by the townsfolk regarding Emily may seem amusing.

It is interesting to observe how people who grow up and live close together acquire a collective identity that leads them to want to look out for "their own."

In "A Rose for Emily" this townsfolk collective of voices knows everything that goes on it he lives of the Grierson's: They know that aunt Wyatt went crazy, that Emily's family thought they were better than everyone else, that there were aunts in Alabama no different than Old Man Grierson, that Old Man Grierson was territorial with Emily, and every kind of information that can only be known when told from person to person.

It is, indeed, amusing (it does not have to be "funny" to be humorous) to see how these dynamics occur. 

2. A modern-day slave?

Another example of humor may experienced by a reader who finds it ludicrous that Emily has managed to keep the equivalent of a modern-day slave serving in her household, up to the day when she died. How in the world do you get to that point in servitude, whether it is a fictional story or not? It may elicit a sarcastic chuckle to even think of this being plausible. Then again, it may come to a shock to other readers to find out that the type of relationship between Tobe and Emily was, actually, possible. 

3. No taxes

Finally, there is the humor that comes from something being actually funny. This quality is also open to interpretation, temperament, and personal connection. Some readers may find it funny that Emily did not flinch and said, plainly and simply, that she isn't paying any taxes in Jefferson country. To someone who has been audited by the Internal Revue Service (IRS), or someone who has been overtaxed in this country, those words from Emily surely would have caused humor. 

4. Dark humor

Let's not forget also another type of humor, not mentioned yet, which is "dark humor."  This one is described by The Free Dictionary as 

...the juxtaposition of morbid and farcical elements (in writing or drama) to give a disturbing effect...

Now, think about this as you read the story "A Rose for Emily." Aren't there enough elements of dark humor, particularly in situations that are, both, ludicrous and amusing (interesting)? Doesn't the end of the story cause, indeed, a very disturbing reaction?

Think about: 

• Emily, a traditional Southern girl from a haughty family, selecting none other than Homer Barron, a loud, brash Yankee, as her lover. 


• Emily's refusal to give up the body of her father even days after he died (she has a penchant for the dead, apparently). 


• Emily's secret: She lived as a married woman for decades, with the decaying corpse of Homer Barron, whom she presumably killed herself by poisoning him. 


• The entire town had lived by Emily without even knowing that this was going on until the moment that she died and the room was finally opened. 

Aren't these amusing things? They are, indeed, dark and morbid, but nevertheless it is impossible to deny that they are interesting tidbits of life to look into, and ask many, many questions. 

Therefore, there is plenty of humor in the story "A Rose for Emily." Humor does not have to be funny. It simply has to induce amusement, interest, and even curiosity. 

`a_4 = 16, a_10 = 46` Write the first 5 terms of the arithmetic sequence.

`a_4=16 `  

`a_10=46`

To determine the first five terms of this arithmetic sequence, consider its nth term formula which is:

`a_n=a_1+(n-1)d`

To apply this, plug-in the given nth terms.

Plugging in a_4=16, the formula becomes:

`16=a_1 + (4-1)d`

`16=a_1+3d `          (Let this be EQ1.)

Also, substituting a_10=46, the formula becomes:

`46=a_1+(10-1)d`

`46=a_1+9d `          (Let this be EQ2.)

Then, use these two equations to solve for the...

`a_4=16 `  

`a_10=46`

To determine the first five terms of this arithmetic sequence, consider its nth term formula which is:

`a_n=a_1+(n-1)d`

To apply this, plug-in the given nth terms.

Plugging in a_4=16, the formula becomes:

`16=a_1 + (4-1)d`

`16=a_1+3d `          (Let this be EQ1.)

Also, substituting a_10=46, the formula becomes:

`46=a_1+(10-1)d`

`46=a_1+9d `          (Let this be EQ2.)

Then, use these two equations to solve for the values of a_1 and d. To do so, isolate a_1 in the first equation.

`16=a_1+3d`

`16-3d=a_1`

Plug-in this to the second equation.

`46=a_1+9d`

`46=16-3d+9d`

`46=16+6d`

`30=6d`

`5=d`

Then, solve for a_1. To do so, plug-in d=5 to the first equation.

`16=a_1 + 3d`

`16=a_1+3(5)`

`16=a_1+15`

`1=a_1`

Then, plug-in these two values a_1=1 and d=5 to the formula of nth terms of arithmetic sequence.

`a_n=a_1+(n-1)d`

`a_n=1+(n-1)(5)`

`a_n=1+5n-5`

`a_n=5n-4`

Now that the formula of a_n is known,  use this to solve for the values of a_2, a_3 and a_5.  (Take note that the values of a_1 and a_4 are already known.)

1st term: `a_1=1`

2nd term: `a_2=5(2)-4=6`

3rd term: `a_3=5(3)-4=11`

4th term: `a_4=16`

5th term: `a_5=5(5)-4=21`

Therefore, the first five terms of the arithmetic sequence are {1, 6, 11, 16, 21,...}.

In the novel Lyddie by Katherine Paterson, what led to Lyddie's dismissal from the mills? In modern terms, what would we call Mr. Mardsen's...

Lyddie is dismissed for stopping Mr. Marsden from what today would be called sexual assault on Brigid.

Mr. Mardsen, the mill supervisor, is a predator.  He uses his position at the mill to take advantage of young girls like Brigid who either do not know what is going on or are afraid of saying anything for fear of losing their jobs.  Lyddie is very protective of Brigid, one of the young Irish girls she has...

Lyddie is dismissed for stopping Mr. Marsden from what today would be called sexual assault on Brigid.

Mr. Mardsen, the mill supervisor, is a predator.  He uses his position at the mill to take advantage of young girls like Brigid who either do not know what is going on or are afraid of saying anything for fear of losing their jobs.  Lyddie is very protective of Brigid, one of the young Irish girls she has trained.  One day she sees Mr. Marsden acting inappropriately toward her.

"Please‐no‐‐" She ran down the aisle between the looms toward the voice and saw in the shadows Brigid, eyes white with fear,and Mr. Marsden's back. His hands were clamped on Brigid's arms.

"Mr. Marsden!" (Ch. 20)

Lyddie sees Mr. Marsden trying to force himself on Brigid.  She stops him, acting without thinking.  She attacks him with the water bucket to stop what he is doing to Brigid.  Mr. Marsden gets his revenge by having Lyddie dismissed, ironically for acting immoral. He is the one who was being immoral.

 “[It] is not her work as such. Indeed," and here, he gave a sad little laugh, "I at one time thought of her as one of the best on the floor. But"‐he turned back to the agent, his voice solemn and quiet‐"I am forced, sir, to ask for her dismissal. It is a matter of moral turpitude." (Ch. 21)

When Lyddie looks up the meaning of "turpitude" and realizes that he is accusing her of acting immorally, she is upset.  She reacts by writing a letter to his wife and giving it to Brigid, while also warning Mr. Marsden to leave Brigid alone.  She tells Brigid to send the letter if she has any more trouble with him.

In modern times, we would call what Mr. Marsden did sexual assault.  It is not just illegal but also immoral for a man to force himself on a woman or even make unwanted advances (which is called sexual harassment).  Women have a right to have control over their bodies.  It is even worse when an employer behaves this way toward a woman in his charge.

Where do references to the Civil War occur in the story? How does the war play a part in the story?

The story "A Rose for Emily" and the title character Emily Grierson show the world of the South as it experienced a fundamental shift, from the days of slavery and aristocratic plantation owner families (of which the Griersons are one) that is coming to an end when Emily is born to the new, post-Civil War world, where antebellum chivalry is lost to the push for progress. The war comes up, explicitly and implicitly, when these conflicts...

The story "A Rose for Emily" and the title character Emily Grierson show the world of the South as it experienced a fundamental shift, from the days of slavery and aristocratic plantation owner families (of which the Griersons are one) that is coming to an end when Emily is born to the new, post-Civil War world, where antebellum chivalry is lost to the push for progress. The war comes up, explicitly and implicitly, when these conflicts between old and new and tradition and progress come to the surface.

Emily Grierson experiences the changes that the Civil War and its outcome makes on the South and her hometown of Jefferson. Cast as an aging Southern belle domineered by a controlling father, Emily has few chances to break the mold of tradition, and she doesn't until her affair with Homer Barron in her thirties. When that fails to lead to the appropriate marriage and fulfillment of her traditional role, she clings to the other antebellum option for unmarried ladies: that of a haughty, mysterious spinster.

It is note-worthy that when Emily chooses to follow her own heart and pursue a man sexually, she chooses Homer Barron. First, he is a Northerner, and so emblematic of the changes caused by the war. Second, he's in town for a sidewalk construction project, making him an example of the sweeping changes of the North coming in to change the nature of the South. That Emily chooses him suggests an even deeper rebellion against the traditional Southern ways and ties in to the conflicts set up by the Civil War.

Another way the war sets up a conflict between the old ways and new is in the townspeople's interactions with Emily. Men like Colonel Sartoris and Judge Stevens still subscribe to Southern chivalry and they see Emily as a damsel in distress, a woman who must be protected, and so they remit her taxes and refuse to confront her about the smell coming from her house, respectively. As time goes on, however, and the post-war changes continue, new aldermen, who don't follow the same rules of chivalry, come to try to collect Miss Emily's taxes. This event shows the conflict of the new South, where progress is king, and the old. 

Why were the metaphysical poets given that name?

It was Samuel Johnson who first referred to certain 17th-century English lyric poets as “metaphysical.”  The group is most readily defined by such writers as John Donne, Andrew Marvell, George Herbert, and Henry Vaughan.  Johnson’s appellation stuck as an appropriate moniker due to the heavy use of metaphysical conceits in these poets’ works – at a time when poetry was mostly composed of mythological allusions and natural imagery, these artists were focusing on more spiritual motifs, weaving religious and philosophical contemplations into their works.  They examined the soul as subject, from the perspectives of classical philosophy and also from a more occult spiritual viewpoint.  Johnson described the movement as being characterized by a “discordia concors” -- the use of seemingly incongruous images and comparisons which nonetheless work together to create an almost ethereal emotive image and challenge the reader to view the subject from a wholly new perspective.  A popular example is the extensive comparison of two lovers’ souls to a draftsman’s compass in John Donne’s “A Valediction:  Forbidden Mourning:”

If they be two, they are two so
As stiff twin compasses are two,
Thy soul the fixed foot, makes no show
To move, but doth, if the other do.
And though it in the center sit,
Yet when the other far doth roam,
It leans, and hearkens after it,
And grows erect, as that comes home.

Metaphysics is the philosophy of human experience; it attempts to understand the nature of our existence and the limitations of our perception.  The metaphysical poets struck out to address these questions in verse.  In addition, metaphysical poetry is generally very witty and clever, taking an intellectual approach to often very sensual themes.  “The Flea,” also by John Donne, is a prime example, in which he writes,

Oh stay! three lives in one flea spare
Where we almost, yea more than married are.
This flea is you and I, and this
Our marriage-bed and marriage-temple is

Here the speaker is attempting to convince his new bride to sleep with him, though she has reservations.  He uses a flea that has already bitten them both as a persuasion –  within the creature their blood is already mixed, and they are therefore already as one.

So we can see that these poets, though they were only loosely affiliated in real life, separated themselves from the standard of their era with their intellectual, philosophical contemplations on love, God, the human condition, the true nature of things, and the relationship between all of these ideas.  They were bold and unpredictable in their metaphors and sought to explore the spiritual in verse.

According to Aristotle, what is the relationship between a thing's excellence and its good?

The first thing to realize is that, in Greek, a thing's excellence (arētē) and the good (to agathon) are closely linked in meaning. However, in his function argument (Nicomachean Ethics Book I, Chapter VII), Aristotle argues that the excellence for something is for it to perform its function (ergon) well. I take it that this is the argument to which you are referring. To summarize: The function argument states...

The first thing to realize is that, in Greek, a thing's excellence (arētē) and the good (to agathon) are closely linked in meaning. However, in his function argument (Nicomachean Ethics Book I, Chapter VII), Aristotle argues that the excellence for something is for it to perform its function (ergon) well. I take it that this is the argument to which you are referring. To summarize: The function argument states that everything, animate and inanimate, has a characteristic function. When something X has a function Y, then the function of a good X is to Y well.

For instance, the good of an axe is to chop wood well. Our organs also have characteristic function —  the good of our eyes is to see well, the good of our ears is to hear well, and so on. This can also be applied to tools, for instance. Consider a knife — the function of a knife is to cut and the excellence and good for a knife will be for it to cut well. The function of a bullock is to plough a field and so the excellence and the good for the bullock will consist in its ploughing the field well. 

The ultimate argument, of course, is that human beings as a whole have a function and in order to be good human beings, they must perform that characteristic function well. 

In The Giver, what is the difference between an annex and a dwelling?

In Lois Lowry's The Giver, the community doesn't call their homes "houses," they call them "dwellings." People don't live with their blood relatives because people are scientifically placed together for maximum effectiveness of rearing children. For example, parents are not in love with each other. They are placed together as if they were business partners given the duty to raise children who will obey the rules of the community. Hence, the word "dwelling" seems...

In Lois Lowry's The Giver, the community doesn't call their homes "houses," they call them "dwellings." People don't live with their blood relatives because people are scientifically placed together for maximum effectiveness of rearing children. For example, parents are not in love with each other. They are placed together as if they were business partners given the duty to raise children who will obey the rules of the community. Hence, the word "dwelling" seems to create a more business-like sound to it than the emotionally charged word "home." Furthermore, the dwellings are all the same around the community in order to represent Sameness, the philosophy upon which the society exists.

An annex is an additional section of building added to an already existing one. The Giver lives in an annex, or addition, to the House of the Old. In chapter 10, Fiona and Jonas are reporting to their assignments and Fiona goes in the front door of the House of the Old. Jonas heads around back to the annex, or the newer addition to the building which happens to be living quarters for the Receiver of Memory. The evidence is as follows:

"Jonas nodded, waved to her, and headed around the building toward the Annex, a small wing attached to the back. He certainly didn't want to be late for his first day of training. . ." (72).

What is an example of alliteration in "On Being Brought from Africa to America" by Wheatley?

On Being Brought from Africa to America

BY Phyllis Wheatley

'Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land,

Taught my benighted soul to understand

That there's a God, that there's a Saviour too:

Once I redemption neither sought nor knew.

Some view our sable race with scornful eye,

"Their colour is a diabolic die."

Remember, Christians, Negros, black as Cain,

May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train.

I copied the poem...

On Being Brought from Africa to America

BY Phyllis Wheatley

'Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land,

Taught my benighted soul to understand

That there's a God, that there's a Saviour too:

Once I redemption neither sought nor knew.

Some view our sable race with scornful eye,

"Their colour is a diabolic die."

Remember, Christians, Negros, black as Cain,

May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train.

I copied the poem for you to visit as I explain the examples of alliteration in Wheatley’s writing.  First of all, alliteration is the repetition of like consonant sounds usually found at the beginning of words.  Writers use alliteration to give meaning or rhythm to their words. The repetition of sound will emphasize words for the reader. 

In this poem, there are several examples. 

In the first three lines, we have the repetition of the “T” sound in the words, “Twas”, “Taught”, “That”, “There’s”.

In Line 5, we see the repetition of the “S” sound in the words, “Some”, “sable”, and “scornful”.

And, line 6 uses the words, “diabolical”, and “die” to repeat the “D” sound.

The use of repeating sounds not only causes the words to stand out, but it also creates a rhythmic quality to the poem.  Wheatley's uses of the figure of speech, alliteration, shows her desire to write formally and use the classic conventions of poetry in her writing.  

How did the Treaty of Versailles help Hitler to rise to power?

The Treaty of Versailles helped Hitler rise to power in Germany because it humiliated Germany and made Germans resent it and the people who forced it on them. 

The Treaty of Versailles treated Germany very harshly.  It took away much of their territory including all overseas colonies.  It forbade them to have a full-scale military.  It required them to pay reparations to the countries that had defeated them.  It forced them to state that the...

The Treaty of Versailles helped Hitler rise to power in Germany because it humiliated Germany and made Germans resent it and the people who forced it on them. 

The Treaty of Versailles treated Germany very harshly.  It took away much of their territory including all overseas colonies.  It forbade them to have a full-scale military.  It required them to pay reparations to the countries that had defeated them.  It forced them to state that the war had been their fault.  All of this made Germans very angry.  Germans felt that they had been treated unfairly because they did not think the war was all their fault.  They felt that the victors were simply being vengeful.  They hated the idea that they were forced to give up their power and to become a weak and helpless country.

In the wake of WWI and the Treaty of Versailles, political upheaval broke out.  This included violent clashes between rival factions.  It seemed as if the democratic government could not keep order or unity in the country.  This was exacerbated by the coming of the Great Depression in 1929.  Because conditions got to be so bad, Germans were completely disenchanted with the Weimar Republic.  They wanted change and they were willing to listen to people who could promise to make Germany great again, regardless of how radical those people were.  It was in this context that the Nazis were able to become popular.  They told people what they wanted to hear.  They seemed to offer the people a way out of their troubles and a way that they could regain what they felt they deserved.

Thus, the Treaty of Versailles helped cause anger and resentment in Germany.  That anger and resentment helped allow Hitler to come to power because he and the Nazis promised to fix all of their country’s problems and make Germany great again.

In The Merchant of Venice, why is fortune treated as blind?

Fortune in this period was often portrayed as a woman, the "Lady Fortuna" spinning a wheel. This iconography indicates the random and unpredictable nature of Fortune or luck and its lack of connection to intrinsic merit or skill. The Prince of Morocco points this out in his statement:

If Hercules and Lichas play at dice

Which is the better man, the greater throw

May turn by fortune from the weaker hand ...

On the most simple...

Fortune in this period was often portrayed as a woman, the "Lady Fortuna" spinning a wheel. This iconography indicates the random and unpredictable nature of Fortune or luck and its lack of connection to intrinsic merit or skill. The Prince of Morocco points this out in his statement:

If Hercules and Lichas play at dice

Which is the better man, the greater throw

May turn by fortune from the weaker hand ...

On the most simple level, this means that many things depend on chance and cannot be foreseen. Because we cannot understand why certain people get rewards and others not, we could imagine Fortune as a blind woman spinning a wheel to choose whether we get good or bad luck. Fortune is not earned, but seems entirely random. As the Preacher says in Ecclesiastes:

 ...the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all ...

This resulted in a religious problem of how one could reconcile a benevolent, omniscient, omnipotent God with the apparent randomness of Fortune. In Shakespeare's time, the widely accepted solution was Boethius' distinction between Providence, the ordering of the world as God sees it from an eternal perspective, and Fortune, our limited understanding of the world. According to Boethius, because mortal minds cannot perceive Providence, we see as random and irrational Fortune things that are actually part of a divine plan we cannot grasp. 

Each of the following questions references Shakespearean sonnets: 1. How many syllables are in each line? 2. What is the rhyme scheme ? 3. Find...

I'll address each portion of your question individually: 

1. A Shakespearean sonnet is written in iambic pentameter, a type of meter. "Iambe" is a foot, or a unit of measurement in language, that contains two syllables. "Pentameter" is a unit of measurement for lines in poetry that means "five", measuring the number of feet in a line. Therefore, a line of Shakespearean sonnet has five iambes, or a total of 10 syllables. 


2. The rhyme scheme of a Shakespearean sonnet is split across the four different stanzas in the sonnet. It reads as such: ABAB/CDCD/EFEF/GG


3. It seems that you may be working with a collection of sonnets, so answering this question for you would be redundant. What I can do is this: define each literary device and attach several links where you can find more examples, if need be. 

   Alliteration: the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of several words appearing in close proximity to one another (Peter piper picked a peck of pickled peppers)

   Consonance: the repetition of consonant sounds within words appearing in close proximity to one another (all mammals named Pam are clammy)

   Euphony: words or phrases that are distinguished as having particularly soothing or beautiful sounds, usually with repeated vowels and smooth consonants (Seasons of mists and mellow fruitfulness)

What are the similarities between Mama and Dee in "Everyday Use"?

Mama and Dee are both strong-willed and determined; Mama's determination is reflected in how she meets the challenges in her life headlong. On her own, she can kill and butcher a hog, endure freezing weather outdoors, and kill a bull calf and hang it to preserve its meat. She perseveres after a fire claims her home and scars her other daughter, and she works to raise money to educate Dee in the city. She raises two daughters on her own. She is indomitable.

Dee is also strong-willed and determined; however, her determination is expressed differently than her mother's. In fact, her mother describes Dee as "determined to stare down any disaster in her efforts." Dee is determined to reinvent herself. She adopts an African name, telling her mother that she didn't want to be "named after the people who oppress me."

Inevitably, these two strong-willed women clash. Dee wants to take some family heirlooms, including handmade quilts, as cultural artifacts to be displayed. This offends her mother, who gives the quilts to Dee's younger sister, Maggie, who will put them to "everyday use."

What is the plot diagram for chapter 4 in To Kill a Mockingbird?

A plot diagram is a graphic organizer that looks like the top of a triangle or a peak of a mountain. On the bottom left there is the exposition, setting, and characters. Climbing up the hill is the escalation of events that move the plot forward towards the climax, which is at the very top. Then, down the right-hand side, after the climax, is the resolution. Fill in the information according to what happens in the story, or in this case, chapter 4 of To Kill a Mockingbird.

Chapter 4 mostly deals with Jem, Scout, and Dill (characters) trying to fill up their days of summer vacation with something interesting to do. They generally play in the Finch's yard (setting) and are very interested in the myths and legend surrounding the mysterious Boo Radley (exposition). The children's goal, then, is always to be doing something interesting or fun; but when it has to do with Boo Radley, or the Radley home, things get intense (plot).

The first event that surprises the children is Jem pushes Scout so aggressively in the tire that she rolls down the street and right up to the Radley front porch. Legend says that the Radley place means death, so Jem yells at Scout to get out of there quickly, but also to bring back the tire with her. She runs, but leaves the tire and tells Jem to go get it. 

"'Go on, it ain't far inside the gate. Why, you even touched the house once, remember?'

Jem looked at me furiously, could not decline, ran down the sidewalk, treaded water to the gate, then dashed in and retrieved the tire.

'See there?' Jem was scowling triumphantly. 'Nothin' to it. I swear, Scout, sometimes you act so much like a girl it's mortifying'" (38).

Tensions are high between brother and sister because of their relationship, but also having to face the Radley house. In an effort to further show how brave he is, Jem declares that they will play out the life of Boo Radley in their yard--like a game. They end up playing out the story of when Boo supposedly stabbed his father in the leg with scissors, which the whole neighborhood knows about. Scout is afraid that Boo will see them playing out his life's story and haunt them during the night (the plot thickens). 

The story that the kids play out gets more dramatic as the summer goes on. Jem always runs into the house and gets the real scissors in order to play the part where Boo stabs his father. One day, Atticus comes home and asks why they are playing with scissors (climax). He asks Jem if they have something to do with the Radleys and Jem lies. Atticus says, "I hope it doesn't" and goes in the house (40). The kids aren't sure after being caught by their dad if they should continue playing the Radley story. Scout doesn't want to, though, because the day that she rolled into their yard, she heard Boo Radley in the house laughing (resolution). Scout knows that Boo watches them play and she doesn't want to offend him and make him want to haunt her during the night.

What is the climax of the book Peter Pan?

The climax of the book Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie is Peter's rescue of Wendy from Captain Hook and his pirate crew. The book is a short book, so the story moves along quite quickly, which means a reader will move through the basic plot chart diagram in short order.  

On opposite sides of the climax will be the rising action and the falling action. In Peter Panthe rising action includes Peter...

The climax of the book Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie is Peter's rescue of Wendy from Captain Hook and his pirate crew. The book is a short book, so the story moves along quite quickly, which means a reader will move through the basic plot chart diagram in short order.  

On opposite sides of the climax will be the rising action and the falling action. In Peter Pan the rising action includes Peter introducing himself and Tinkerbell to the Darling children, their flight to Neverland, Wendy's interactions with the Lost Boys, and Wendy's capture by the pirates and Captain Hook.  

The falling action of the story includes the Darlings' return to their home in the real world and Wendy saying her final goodbye to Peter Pan.

To what length did totalitarianism exist in Nazi Germany and in the Soviet Union under Stalin?

"Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not let our enemies have guns, why should we let them have ideas." -Joseph Stalin

Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler ran their regimes in very similar fashions. It is hard to imagine at any point in history that anybody else was as destructive in their practice of total control as these two despots. Both dictators used a secret police to brutally suppress their political opposition or any...

"Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not let our enemies have guns, why should we let them have ideas." -Joseph Stalin

Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler ran their regimes in very similar fashions. It is hard to imagine at any point in history that anybody else was as destructive in their practice of total control as these two despots. Both dictators used a secret police to brutally suppress their political opposition or any citizens that they felt were a threat to their regimes. In this way, both dictators were responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of their own citizens.
A characteristic of all totalitarian regimes is the control of information. Hitler and Stalin controlled the media agencies and reported to the people exactly what they wanted them to believe. This started at a young age as the dictators sought to indoctrinate children. Both countries had youth programs that looked to glorify the actions of the dictator in the eyes of the children.
The end result of these actions was that the dictators exerted complete control over their citizens. They utilized fear and misinformation to gain complete and total power in their countries.

How can I find out information about books (plot, conflict, climax, etc.) that my son is reading in 6th grade? He is reading NERDS: M is for Mama's...

There are a number of ways to inform oneself of the contents of a book, in addition to going to a library or book store and perusing it for yourself. In the case of Michael Buckley's young adult novel NERDS: M is for Mama's Boy, researching details of this book is quite easy. As noted, the most obvious way to get information about a book is by picking up a copy. Most book stores...

There are a number of ways to inform oneself of the contents of a book, in addition to going to a library or book store and perusing it for yourself. In the case of Michael Buckley's young adult novel NERDS: M is for Mama's Boy, researching details of this book is quite easy. As noted, the most obvious way to get information about a book is by picking up a copy. Most book stores include "young adult" sections, where books like those by J.K. Rowling, Robert Kirkman, and many others can be found. In the case of Buckley's book, however, the children's section is where his NERDS series can be located, as these novels are written for younger children than those categorized as "young adults," in effect, teenagers. 

Short of going to a library or book store, one can also research a book online, through websites and retailers like Amazon and goodreads.com. Amazon, in particular, provides professionally-written summaries and reviews as well as reader-provided reviews of the book in question. The link to Amazon's page dedicated to M is for Mama's Boy is provided below. In addition, the Wikipedia entry for Buckley's series of N.E.R.D.S. novels is provided below, and you can read brief "plot synopses" for each of the volumes in the series, and also read the descriptions of each character who appears in the novels. 

Finally, a link is provided below to the federal Library of Congress's National Book Festival discussion of Michael Buckley, who was a featured author during the 2015 event. This website provides a useful interview with Buckley that should help to put your mind at ease with respect to his validity.

What were the possible reasons for Brown taking such a night's journey?

Hawthorne's story initially obscures the purpose and nature of the journey. Brown states to his wife:

My journey, as thou callest it, forth and back again, must needs be done 'twixt now and sunrise. 

This image of an urgent journey which must be done under the cover of darkness, the nature of which is not initially shared with Faith or readers of the story, creates suspense. We read on to discover what the errand is...

Hawthorne's story initially obscures the purpose and nature of the journey. Brown states to his wife:

My journey, as thou callest it, forth and back again, must needs be done 'twixt now and sunrise. 

This image of an urgent journey which must be done under the cover of darkness, the nature of which is not initially shared with Faith or readers of the story, creates suspense. We read on to discover what the errand is and why Brown must do it.

We immediately discover that Brown thinks of the errand as having an "evil purpose." As he meets with the mysterious shadowy figure who guides him, he states his belief that the evil in which he is participating is one that neither his family, nor his community would countenance, a statement that is disproven when he finds the entire town, including his wife, participating in dark rituals in the woods. 

His purpose is not directly stated, but, as this is a strongly religious story, we should view it theologically. It seems that curiosity is a driving force as is the influence of the Devil. Given the Puritan background of the story, we can argue that all men are naturally susceptible to temptation (and are fallen due to Original Sin). Salvation is only possible through faith, and yet, in rejecting Faith's request that he not go on the journey, Brown gives up his one defense against the inherent fallen nature of humanity and thus falls prey to the Devil.  

In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, how are the Ewells described?

The Ewells are those often referred to as "white trash." When Jem decides in Chapter 23 that there are four kinds of folks, the Ewells are the last kind. "Sorry folks" is another term used by Southerners for such people.

Bob Ewell is a reprobate; he drinks continuously and is so indolent that he has even been fired by the WPA (Works Progress Administration - an agency of the New Deal that put people to work on public projects during the Great Depression). A sexually and physically abusive father to Mayella, he is also irresponsible as he drinks away his welfare check instead of providing for his family. Moreover, he is often absent for long stretches. Therefore, Mayella must help raise her siblings since her poor mother has died and there is no one else to care for them.
The family lives in a shack, whose windows have no glass and the roof has been fashioned with flattened tin cans gleaned from the city dump where the children also scour for food. It is only Mayella who demonstrates that she would like a better life as she tends diligently and lovingly to some red geraniums that brighten the dismal dirt yard.

However, in her efforts to gain some attention, Mayella flirts with Tom Robinson. When he rejects her advances, which would have given her some power over someone, and Mayella's father learns of this, he presses charges against Tom. This action of Bob's is done mainly because Tom is black and Ewell hopes to deflect any suspicion that Mayella may have initiated an action so socially forbidden. In addition, he aspires to attain some positive attention from the townspeople as he helps to "put a Negro in his place."

When Scout asks her father how Burris Ewell is allowed to only come on the first day of school, Atticus tells her that 

... the Ewells were members of an exclusive society made up of [only] Ewells. In certain circumstances the common folk judiciously allowed  them certain privileges by the simple method of becoming blind to some of the... activities.....Mr. Bob Ewell, Burris’s father, was permitted to hunt and trap out of season.

Under certain circumstances the authorities have found that the Ewells are so recalcitrant that conflicting with them on certain issues takes far too much time and money. This is the case with the truant officer, who would be occupied all year in chasing down the Ewell children who do not desire an education. In Chapter 3, for instance, the ignorant and impudent Burris tells Miss Caroline "I done done my time for this year" as he prepares to leave.

Clearly, the Ewells are an "exclusive class" as Atticus so diplomatically words their indolent, irresponsible, anti-social, and slovenly ways.

How can Macbeth's famous "Is this the dagger which I see before me" soliloquy be adapted into a modern-day scenario?

One of the most important aspects of this soliloquy is that Macbeth only hallucinates the dagger, clean at first and then bloody, because he is so internally conflicted about killing Duncan.  He recognizes that it is a hallucination of his "heat-oppressed brain" because when he tries to grab it from the air, he cannot.  Shortly after he hallucinates this dagger, he tells Lady Macbeth that they "will proceed no further" with their plan.  Thus, we...

One of the most important aspects of this soliloquy is that Macbeth only hallucinates the dagger, clean at first and then bloody, because he is so internally conflicted about killing Duncan.  He recognizes that it is a hallucination of his "heat-oppressed brain" because when he tries to grab it from the air, he cannot.  Shortly after he hallucinates this dagger, he tells Lady Macbeth that they "will proceed no further" with their plan.  Thus, we know that Macbeth feels very guilty about killing Duncan, his friend, relative, guest, and king.  

So, if you can come up with a modern scenario in which someone really doesn't want to kill someone else (and even sort of feels guilty about it) but is ultimately willing to do it because it would confer a great deal of power on them, this would be appropriate.  Perhaps you could consider the recent big lottery winners as a starting point.  What if one of the winners (Duncan) has a greedy brother (Macbeth) who really doesn't want to commit murder (maybe he even loves his brother) but he really badly wants to get that money.  He thinks that, once he gets the money, he can pay off all his debt and pay for his kids to go to college and improve his life so significantly that he is, finally, willing to commit the murder because he believes the money will improve his life so greatly.

How do Jem and Scout grow up differently in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird? What are some specific examples?

During the trial in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout expresses some views that align with the racist views she is exposed to by her society. In contrast, during the trial, Jem shows he has not been affected by society's racist views but rather, due to his optimistic view of social justice, Jem naively believes his father will win the case. The outcome of the trial crushes Jem, whereas it doesn't crush Scout. The result is that Scout matures to openly reject all racist and prejudiced views, including prejudices against Arthur (Boo) Radley, whereas, in contrast, Jem clams up about such views and even grows violent.

Scout inadvertently displays she has been influenced by society's racist views when talking with Dill after he must leave the courtroom because he has broken down sobbing during Tom Robinson's cross-examination by the prosecuting attorney, Mr. Gilmer. When Dill explains he was crying because he found Mr. Gilmer's antagonist treatment of Robinson to be sickening, Scout displays society's typical racist view when she responds, "Well, Dill, after all he's just a Negro" (Ch. 19). Yet, after the trial, Scout displays a complete transformation when she becomes very offended by the hypocritical views of her third-grade teacher, Miss Gates. During class, Miss Gates tirades against Hitler's treatment of the Jews. Yet, Scout vividly recalls hearing Miss Gates say to Miss Stephanie Crawford, while exiting the courtroom after the trial, "[I]t's time somebody taught 'em a lesson, they were gettin' way above themselves" (Ch. 26). In other words, Scout recalls hearing Miss Gates express pleasure at Robinson having lost his trial, despite all evidence proving his innocence, because Miss Gates felt Robinson's loss put all African Americans in their proper place of subordination. What's more, Scout is so upset by this hypocritical behavior that she goes to talk to her brother about it, whereas before, when she was younger, she probably would not have noticed such hypocritical behavior. Scout's transformational response shows that, as a result of the trial, she has matured to the point that, like Atticus, she is willing to speak out against racism and social injustice.

In contrast, during the trial, Jem shows he has not been influenced by society's racism as he makes comments such as, "[W]e've won it ... Don't see how any jury could convict on what he heard--" (Ch. 21). Therefore, when he hears the jury's guilty verdict, his naive innocence is shattered, resulting in him shedding tears, unlike Scout, whose eyes remain dry. Also, unlike Scout, Jem bottles up his feelings, and when provoked to face his feelings, he bursts out in a violent rage. Scout inadvertently provokes him to face his feelings when she goes to talk to him about Miss Gates's hypocrisy. Jem's response is to shake Scout by the shoulders and shout at her, "I never wanta hear about that courthouse again, ever, ever, you hear me? You hear me?" (Ch. 26). Atticus explains to Scout that Jem thinks he is trying to forget about something, but he is actually "storing it away for a while" until he can sort out his feelings. Regardless, as a result of witnessing the trial, Jem matures to become hardened, unable to deal with his feelings, and even violent, whereas Scout matures to become more aware of the injustice around her and able to speak out about it, showing us that they both grew up very differently.

What drug was Mrs. Dubose on in To Kill a Mockingbird?

Mrs. Dubose was addicted to morphine, a pain killer.

Mrs. Dubose is a horrible old woman who likes to shout insults at Scout and Jem as they walk by. One day she insults Atticus with racist remarks about his defense of Tom Robinson, and Jem gets stressed out and can’t take it anymore. Jem destroys all of Mrs. Dubose’s camellia flowers.

Atticus punishes Jem by requiring him to read to Mrs. Dubose every day. She...

Mrs. Dubose was addicted to morphine, a pain killer.

Mrs. Dubose is a horrible old woman who likes to shout insults at Scout and Jem as they walk by. One day she insults Atticus with racist remarks about his defense of Tom Robinson, and Jem gets stressed out and can’t take it anymore. Jem destroys all of Mrs. Dubose’s camellia flowers.

Atticus punishes Jem by requiring him to read to Mrs. Dubose every day. She sets an alarm clock timer and he reads to her for several weeks, reading a longer amount of time each day. One day, Atticus goes to see her and when he comes back he tells the children that she just died.

“Mrs. Dubose was a morphine addict,” said Atticus. “She took it as a pain-killer for years. The doctor put her on it. She’d have spent the rest of her life on it and died without so much agony, but she was too contrary—” (Ch. 11)

Mrs. Dubose became addicted to morphine, and it is terribly painful. She wanted to wean herself off the drug, and she needed help to do it. When the children were reading to her, it was just to distract her. The alarm clock was the signal that she was going longer and longer without morphine, until eventually she did not take it at all.

“Did she die free?” asked Jem.

“As the mountain air,” said Atticus. “She was conscious to the last, almost.

Conscious,” he smiled, “and cantankerous. …” (Ch. 11)

Atticus tells Scout and Jem that Mrs. Dubose was one of the most courageous people he knew, and he wanted them to get to know her so they could see that real courage is “when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.” This is an important lesson for them to learn, because it is analogous to Atticus’s position with the trial. He knows that it is a hopeless case, and there is little chance of his winning because of the racism toward Tom Robinson. However, he still has to try.

How does Shakespeare want us to feel about Katharina being tamed by Petruchio?

It is always difficult to determine authorial intent. We are not able to ask Shakespeare what he wants us to feel; even then, audiences might react very differently to what the author intended. Also, The Taming of the Shrew is a particularly controversial play due to this very question. Whether Petruchio’s taming of Katharina is meant to be funny, disturbing, ironic, or earnest is a widely debated topic, and directors and scholars come down on different sides of the discussion.

Some say that there is actually a great deal of respect between Petruchio and Katharina. They are both wayward individuals whom society rejects. Petruchio is the only one to stand up to Katharina, and the two of them have a fierce battle for control. When they first meet, they make suggestive jokes and seem equally matched in terms of wit:

PETRUCHIO: Come, come, you wasp; i' faith, you are too angry.

KATHARINA: If I be waspish, best beware my sting.

Petruchio mistreats his servants and Katharina, showing her how unfair it is to constantly disrespect others. All the while, he swears he loves her. When Petruchio insists on calling the sun the moon, Katharina finally gives in:

And be it moon, or sun, or what you please:
An if you please to call it a rush-candle,
Henceforth I vow it shall be so for me.

Those who believe we are supposed to feel joy or humor at Katharina’s behavior tend to argue that the two of them finally become partners. Both remain mischievous, but now they team up together against others. Petruchio makes a bet that Katharina is a most obedient wife. She comes when he calls and chastises the other wives for being disobedient. Perhaps this is simply part of a scheme the two have devised in order to win money.

Others say Katharina needs to learn her lesson, whether she is a woman or man. The play is not as much about a man dominating a woman as it is about teaching a rude person to behave politely. Therefore Katharina’s long speech at the end about how women should be docile is more about how people in general should appreciate their partners.

Alternately, the taming of Katharina can be portrayed as disturbing. Petruchio, as a man who holds the power, breaks her will and basically brainwashes her into submission. Whatever the intention of Katharina’s “taming,” her final speech is a long one. It stops the play in its tracks. I would argue that Shakespeare wanted us to feel something, whether the speech is meant to be humorous, wise, or sad.

In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, what are the similarities between Onkonkwo and his father, Unoka?

This is an interesting question in part because Okonkwo despises his father Unoka and strives to be the exact opposite of him in every meaningful way. However, despite Okonkwo's best efforts, Okonkwo and Unoka are similar in one key way: both men's actions negatively affect their children's lives. Throughout Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo laments how his father's laziness put him at a disadvantage. Unoka's unwillingness to be a hard worker placed him at the...

This is an interesting question in part because Okonkwo despises his father Unoka and strives to be the exact opposite of him in every meaningful way. However, despite Okonkwo's best efforts, Okonkwo and Unoka are similar in one key way: both men's actions negatively affect their children's lives. Throughout Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo laments how his father's laziness put him at a disadvantage. Unoka's unwillingness to be a hard worker placed him at the lowest rung in Umuofia's society, and this had an adverse effect on Okonkwo's ability to obtain titles, wives, and property:

"With a father like Unoka, Oknonkwo did not have the start in life which many young men had. He neither inherited a barn nor a title, nor even a young wife. But in spite of these disadvantages, he had begun even in his father's lifetime to lay the foundations of a prosperous future. It was slow and painful. But he threw himself into it like one possessed. And indeed he was possessed by the fear of his father's contemptible life and shameful death" (18).

Despite his desire to be the successful, masculine individual his father could never be, Okonkwo places his family in a difficult position when he is cast into exile. His family goes into exile and they wait seven years before they return. When they return to Umuofai, the entire region has changed, and Okonkwo's family is unable to recover socially:

"It was the wrong year too. If Okonkwo had immediately initiated his two sons into the ozo society as he had planned he would have caused a stir. But the initiation rite was performed once in three years in Umuofia, and he had to wait for nearly two years for nearly two years for the next round of ceremonies" (183).

Unoka and Okonkwo are more alike than Okonkwo would like to admit, and this is largely because the two men's actions have detrimental effects on their families.

Was Emily Dickinson a feminist poet?

Whether Emily Dickinson was a feminist poet depends on the definition of feminism one uses. In one sense, "feminism" means to participate in organized activity advocating for women's rights and interests. In another sense, "feminism" means simply a belief in equal rights and opportunities for women. There is no indication that Emily Dickinson was a feminist in the first sense of the word. Since she lived most of her adult life in a semi-reclusive state, she did not become involved in public efforts for women's suffrage, for instance.

However, one could build a case that Dickinson was feminist in the second sense of the word. Dickinson's poetry deals with a wide variety of topics that affect women and men equally. Her poems about death, grief, nature, faith, and other philosophical topics reflect a woman of high intelligence who was the equal of any male poets writing in her day, or any other day. Interestingly, Dickinson was not beyond assuming a male persona in her poems, as evidenced by "A narrow Fellow in the Grass" (1096), but there are other poems in which the speaker is obviously feminine, such as "I'm wife - I've finished that -" (225). Because of her primary subject matter, her poetry could be considered feminist because it treats men and women equally in that all are equally affected by the issues she writes about.

As far as Dickinson's personal life, she never married but devoted her life to her writing career. Although she published only a few poems in her lifetime, she was an assiduous author, producing nearly two thousand poems. Upon her death, her family found 40 volumes of poems she had bound into fascicles by hand, so she was pursuing her writing career intentionally, even though no one understood at the time to what extent. 

By looking at the subject matter of Dickinson's poetry and considering her personal life, one could make the case that Dickinson was a feminist writer who believed in the equality of the sexes. 

Comment on The Emperor Jones as a modern tragedy.

Looking at The Emperor Jones as a tragedy, we will ask questions regarding the inevitability of the protagonist's downfall. Is Brutus Jones bound to destruction from the outset due to the essential nature of his character? Also, is Jones in control of his own core self (or is he a figure made by the world and so destined to suffer in that world even as he strives to rise above it)? 

These questions can help us answer the question of whether or not the play presents us with a tragedy and a tragic hero.

O'Neill's Brutus Jones seems to participate in some of the standard elements of tragic character. In order to be a tragic hero in the traditional sense, a character must be in some ways noble, occupying a position from which a fall is possible.

Jones displays a number of attributes of the Aristotelian hero. His status is elevated, and he is intelligent. He has learned the native language and has skillfully used the opportunities that have presented themselves.

The play opens with Jones' position as ruler already in jeopardy, but the fact is he has attained great status here on this island. He is certainly endowed with a forceful confidence and an ability to intimidate. 

Jones also demonstrates the typical pride, and his hamartia, or tragic error in judgment, is clear. He has adopted the “garments” of the white civilization that had oppressed him in the United States, cutting himself off from his own culture.

We should note here that Jones' pride is not only self-defeating in the end, it also functions as the vehicle for his ironic choice to adopt the role of authority on the island in ways that mirror the exploitative and persecutory authorities of his American home during Jim Crow. Jones invests himself with the same cruel power that has shaped his life before arriving on the island, molding him into a servant, then into a criminal.

Instead of using the lessons of his past to change for the better, Jones instead snatches at an opportunity to subjugate others as he has been, in various ways, subjugated, enslaved, exploited and imprisoned. 

Jones’s fall becomes more tragic when one considers that, if Jones had resisted the values of white American society, he might have provided positive leadership for the natives on “his” island, thus advancing his people.

The structure of the play suggests that, as a criminal overlord, Jones has been built, step by step, over the course of his personal and racial history. His character is largely a response to circumstances. While weakness and avarice are certainly triggers that contribute to Jones' behavior, we might recognize that his life has been one devoid of opportunities for developing in alternative ways.

We might wonder if, for Jones, there was ever a choice to be humble without also being servile. When could he choose to be honest without also being victimized? Given the background O'Neill depicts for Jones, an argument can be made that a constant force pushed Jones to the margins of society. He has been cheated and beaten. In refusing to accept this treatment, Jones becomes violent.

"When I cotches Jeff cheatin' wid loaded dice my anger overcomes me and I kills him dead! Lawd, I done wrong! When dat guard hits me wid de whip, my anger overcomes me, and I kills him dead. Lawd, I done wrong! And down heah whar dese fool bush [folks] raises me up to the seat o' de mighty, I steals all I could grab. Lawd, I done wrong!" 

The encounters with the slave ship in the forest and with the pulpit support the idea that a cultural history has made Jones the person he is. His opportunities have been delimited by a specific social reality that determined his character (and defined his potential with a promise of powerlessness). The passage quoted here indicates that Jones feels that he is responding to circumstances and also, importantly, Jones sees a continuity between being cheated himself and becoming the cheater.  

Shaped by a history of slavery, oppressive religion, and servitude, Jones can be seen as a product of his times. (The extent to which you agree with this idea may go a long way in determining the extent to which you view this play as a tragedy.) 

Jones is ultimately responsible for his choices. He is strong enough to face down an entire history of regrettable events, some of which were within his ability to control. He succumbs in the critical moment to a desire to finally be the one to shape other men's destinies and in doing so starts down the path to his demise. 

The additional question here concerns a view of the play not only as a tragedy but as a modern tragedy. This idea may look to identify modern elements in the play vis a vis literary modernism or may ask instead if the play is interested in issues of social/political life in the modern era (roughly 1900-1950). Finally, the concept of modern tragedy might simply be concerned with whether or not the play is a tragedy written and set in more-or-less contemporary times. 

• The play can be seen as an example of literary modernism for its interests in psychoanalytical theory and psychoanalytical symbolism.


• Issues of Jim Crow social policy (and outcomes of that policy) are examined here, tying the modern era to a legacy of slavery and exploitation. 


• Whether or not the play is a tragedy, again, depends on how we view Brutus Jones and his character. If he is fated to destruction due to his essential nature (the composition of which he is only partially able to control), then this is a tragedy. The setting of the play is modern and there are mentions of international banking and trade made in the play.

Attempt a Marxist reading of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

Marxists argue that inequality is part of the structures of both agrarian and capitalist economic systems. Pride and Prejudicetakes place, historically, at the juncture of both systems, with Darcy representing the agrarian "landed wealth" economic system, and Bingley representing the "new money" of capitalism (he is the son of a wealthy industrialist father from the "North," the word "North" a short-hand for a mill owner). Both economic systems oppress women and force them into...

Marxists argue that inequality is part of the structures of both agrarian and capitalist economic systems. Pride and Prejudice takes place, historically, at the juncture of both systems, with Darcy representing the agrarian "landed wealth" economic system, and Bingley representing the "new money" of capitalism (he is the son of a wealthy industrialist father from the "North," the word "North" a short-hand for a mill owner). Both economic systems oppress women and force them into a situation where they must sell themselves to the highest bidder in order to survive. We see this throughout the novel: Mrs. Bennet spends most of her time in desperate matchmaking because she knows her husband's death will throw the family into genteel poverty. Charlotte likewise understands that she must make a match with a man she thinks ridiculous or live at the mercy of her brothers, who may not want to support her. Elizabeth recognizes the Lydia is ruined if she does not marry Wickham, for a non-virginal bride is "damaged goods" in a culture that sees a woman as a commodity to buy on the marriage market. 

Beyond female oppression, we see in the many protestations of the housekeeper at Pemberley, Mrs. Reynolds, that Darcy is a "liberal" (financially generous) master, that this behavior is not necessarily the norm. The agrarian aristocracy can easily oppress the people--farmworkers--on whom its wealth is based. In both worlds, upper-class women are denied the opportunity to work for a living while lower class women are exploited, leaving both groups with few options. 

A Marxist reading would argue that in a post-revolutionary Marxist state, women and workers would not have to live in fear of poverty or humiliation, because all people would be guaranteed respect, the chance to work and sufficient resources to live. Money would no longer corrupt and deform human souls as it threatens to do in Pride and Prejudice. 

What are some descriptions and examples of the innocent youth archetype in literature?

The innocent, or the youth, is typically naïve, honest, and morally upright.  The innocent plays a large role in helping others to maintain their course; they encourage and inspire others when despair kicks in, and their unwavering optimism is their greatest weapon.  This is in contrast to other characters who are weighed down with the burdens of life (consider the difference between a happy child and a cynical adult who has faced loss and other...

The innocent, or the youth, is typically naïve, honest, and morally upright.  The innocent plays a large role in helping others to maintain their course; they encourage and inspire others when despair kicks in, and their unwavering optimism is their greatest weapon.  This is in contrast to other characters who are weighed down with the burdens of life (consider the difference between a happy child and a cynical adult who has faced loss and other extreme challenges – their outlooks on life will be polarized).

However, the innocent’s naivete is also their greatest curse, and can lead to gullibility; they are easily taken advantage of.  They can be so idealistic as to deny the realities around them, and may rely on others to a damaging extent.  As with all archetypes they have positive and negative qualities, which can be assets, or can get them into trouble, depending on the context and the characters they interact with.

Good examples of the innocent from literature are Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, Peregrin Took from The Lord of the Rings, and Tiny Tim from A Christmas Carol.  Buddy from the movie Elf is another perfect example, as well as Prim from the Hunger Games series.

What does Atticus mean when he says that Mr. Cunningham has blind spots?

One of the main themes of To Kill a Mockingbird is the ways in which Scout's perception of people changes over time. In the early chapters, she sees the world very much as a child - people are either good or bad, friendly or unfriendly. When she sneaks out to find out why Atticus is sitting outside of the jailhouse, she is confused by why Mr. Cunningham and other members of the mob are angry...

One of the main themes of To Kill a Mockingbird is the ways in which Scout's perception of people changes over time. In the early chapters, she sees the world very much as a child - people are either good or bad, friendly or unfriendly. When she sneaks out to find out why Atticus is sitting outside of the jailhouse, she is confused by why Mr. Cunningham and other members of the mob are angry with Atticus for representing Tom Robinson, particularly because the Cunninghams have also sought Atticus' help and because she is friends with Walter Cunningham, Jr.

In general, Scout sees people as more or less the same, often failing to understand how their lives have been shaped by race or class. In this case, she can't understand why Mr. Cunningham would be grateful for Atticus' help on previous occasions but be angry when he represents Tom Robinson. Atticus explains to her that Mr. Cunningham has "blind spots," meaning that he has certain prejudices and biases against African-Americans.

After the scene outside the jailhouse, the children have difficulty understanding how people they thought they knew could act so differently and become a threat. By saying that Mr. Cunningham has "blind spots," he is attempting to explain to them that people are often very complicated. Mr. Cunningham, for example, is "basically a good man" but he is also a product of his time and circumstances, which is a way of explaining his racial prejudices.

It's important to note that Atticus isn't necessarily calling Mr. Cunningham racist; rather, he is trying to impress that all people have biases and perspectives that influence their behavior.

A company produces cigarettes which it believes have a low price elasticity of demand. What is meant by price elasticity of demand? What effect...

Price elasticity of demand measures how sensitive consumers are to changes in the price of a good or service. For example, regarding a product, such as a food item, a 30-ounce package of ground coffee of a certain brand may sell for approximately $15.00. The company may sell 200,000 units a month in a particular geographic location.

However, the company decides to raise its price in this region to $15.75 for a 30-ounce package. As...

Price elasticity of demand measures how sensitive consumers are to changes in the price of a good or service. For example, regarding a product, such as a food item, a 30-ounce package of ground coffee of a certain brand may sell for approximately $15.00. The company may sell 200,000 units a month in a particular geographic location.

However, the company decides to raise its price in this region to $15.75 for a 30-ounce package. As a result, upon studying sales figures for the next few months it finds that monthly sales have dropped to 160,000 units. This is a vivid picture of price elasticity of demand.  Many consumers have made it clearly known that they are balking at this price increase. Therefore, they are refraining from buying this company’s coffee with its new increased price. It’s apparent that these consumers have switched their allegiance to other less expensive brands.

Essentially, if the coffee company is experiencing a change in demand because of this somewhat modest price increase then this coffee product is deemed elastic. Its demand is dependent on its price and any changes in that price.

On the other side of this equation, this coffee product would be deemed inelastic if there were a big price change—if, for example, the coffee now costing $17.75 for the 30-ounce package and the demand staying the same at 200,000 per month (quantity sold monthly). It would be apparent that consumers are loyal to this brand because of its quality and also the lack of a comparable product, and a significant price increase would not change their buying habits for this particular coffee brand.

What would have been clarified or different if Fortunato had told the story "The Cask of Amontillado"?

Point of view is important to telling a story.  The point of view controls what information the reader gets, and frames it a certain way.  This story has what we call an unreliable narrator.  Montresor is crazy.  He does not really think rationally, so we have no idea whether or not we can trust what he says.

The biggest question of the story is: What did Fortunato do?  We are told by Montresor that he was insulted by Fortunato.

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. At length I would be avenged …

If Fortunato was telling the story, we would not know that a murder was planned.  We might find out what Fortunato did to anger Montresor though, if he even feels like mentioning it.  The insult must have been something very slight for Fortunato to go into the catacombs.  You do not follow a man you have grievously injured underground.

The other information the reader would get from Fortunato would be whether or not, or when, he became suspicious.  Montresor seems to be doing a very good job of manipulating Fortunato. 

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

It would be interesting to see Fortunato’s mindset here.  Obviously he does not want Luchesi to look at that wine.  Why?  Is it just because he is conceited and wants to prevent anyone else from getting the glory?  There could be another reason.

Changing narrators would certainly be a twist on this story.  It would confirm that Montresor really is crazy.  Fortunato might confess to the injury.  What if he really did do something to Montresor?

In "Who Gets to Graduate?" Paul Tough examines a problem: low-income students are much less likely to graduate from college than students from...

Reasons for lower graduation rates among lower-income students are multi-faceted.

In the United States, school systems are not created equally. Middle- and upper-class students have access to safe and modern schools equipped with excellent facilities, information technology, Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs, and classrooms with smaller student to teacher ratios. Higher-income students are also able to afford test preparation courses, which give them an advantage on the SAT. It is no wonder, then, that these students arrive at college far better prepared and more confident in their knowledge and abilities than their peers from lower-income backgrounds.

However, a lack of sound secondary school preparation does not doom a student for failure in college. Instead, Tough argues that it is the feeling of not belonging, coupled with an inability to find a support network, that leads many students -- some of whom were high-achievers in high school -- to drop out in their first or second years. 

In his essay, Tough focuses on intervention experiments conducted at the University of Texas--Austin. Though Austin is the most prestigious public university in Texas, and one of the nation's best public universities, it suffered from a 52 percent graduation rate in 2014. According to a 2012 report, only 39 percent of first-generation college students managed to graduate from the institution. 

The first intervention involved chemistry professor David Laude. Dr. Laude was the first to notice a correlation between a student's background and the student's performance in class. Lower performing students were often first-generation students from lower-income and/or minority backgrounds: black students from lower-class sections of Dallas and Houston, Latinos from the Rio Grande Valley, and white students from rural West Texas. 

Laude's solution was to offer these students more personalized help. He redirected troubled students out of his usual class of 500 and into a class of 50. He insisted that they complete the same material as his other students, but gave them additional practice exercises and paired them with tutors. This resulted in many of the students improving their grades in chemistry.

Laude went further and created the University Leadership Network, a scholarship program to assist students who are at risk of academic failure, and those who have unmet financial need. These students are thus enrolled in various internships, attend lectures on subjects such as time management, and are groomed for paid leadership positions, such as residence-hall advisers.

Psychiatrists David Yeager and Greg Walton examined how incoming students respond to negative messages. While it is true that all students face disappointment while at college. They realized that disadvantaged students were less able to cope with those messages. Yeager and Walton thus conducted an experiment in which they considered ways in which those negative messages could be less decisive on students' futures.

They found that when incoming students, particularly those who were first-generation, lower-income, and/or minority, received messages reminding them that they belonged and that everyone experiences adversity, those students' chances of completing their semesters significantly improved. It wasn't simply a matter of replacing one message with another (people are not so easily persuaded anyway), but of reminding them that they are not as isolated as they feel.

The conclusion to be drawn from Laude's efforts and Yeager and Walton's experiments is that American culture, unfortunately, still sends many students the message that they are less likely to succeed. This message is reinforced by the students' experiences in substandard schools and the common presumption, at the college-level, that they belong in remedial programs. As a result, otherwise minor failures (e.g., failing a test) can send less advantaged students into a downward spiral that often results in their dropping out of school altogether. The experiments show that when these students are given similar levels of support and reinforcement as that which is shown to their well-to-do white peers, they can be just as successful.