What can be learned from the story?

What we learn from "The Cop and the Anthem" is very similar to what we learn from O. Henry's story "A Retrieved Reformation." Once a person has started down the wrong road in life, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to turn around and go back. O. Henry himself had served several years in prison for embezzlement, and he never got over it. He wrote under an assumed name (his real name was William Sydney Porter), and he lived in fear that his past would become known. He had a truly terrible drinking habit, which must have been at least partly attributable to his memories and fears. He was said to be drinking two quarts of whiskey a day, and he died at the early age of forty-seven of alcohol-related diseases. Soapy in "The Cop and the Anthem" decides to reform but finds it is too late. Jimmy Valentine in "A Retrieved Reformation" actually does reform, but his past catches up with him and almost destroys his new identity and his new life completely.

Nathaniel Hawthorne starts his excellent story "Wakefield" by stating that he is seeking a moral to an actual event he read about in a newspaper.

If the reader choose, let him do his own meditation; or if he prefer to ramble with me through the twenty years of Wakefield's vagary, I bid him welcome; trusting that there will be a pervading spirit and a moral, even should we fail to find them, done up neatly, and condensed into the final sentence. Thought has always its efficacy, and every striking incident its moral.

At the end of the story Hawthorne states his moral explicitly, and that moral can easily be applied to "The Cop and the Anthem" as well as to the message of life itself.

Amid the seeming confusion of our mysterious world, individuals are so nicely adjusted to a system, and systems to one another, and to a whole, that, by stepping aside for a moment, a man exposes himself to a fearful risk of losing his place forever. Like Wakefield, he may become, as it were, the Outcast of the Universe.

Soapy heard an old familiar anthem being played on a church organ and felt inspired to become a respectable member of society once again. But he ended up serving three months on Riker's Island, which was what he had wanted in the first place. It was a lot easier to get sent to jail, even though he had had a few setbacks this time, than to turn his whole life around. Life is a lot like a road with many twists and turnings, as Robert Frost suggests in his famous poem "The Road Not Taken." Frost recalls a choice he made many years earlier and describes it as a fork where two roads led in different directions.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

And Omar Khayam expresses the same sobering truth centuries earlier in the Fitzgerald translation of "The Rubaiyat."

The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all your tears wash out a word of it.

We would be lucky indeed if we could learn the whole lesson of life from one man's short story, but unfortunately we have to learn a lot of lessons for ourselves over the years; and "The Cop and the Anthem" is just one illustration of a general truth. Once a person has started down the wrong road in life, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to turn around and go back.

In A Wrinkle in Time, how does Meg react when the Happy Medium shows the children Calvin's family?

When the Happy Medium shows the children Calvin's family, they witness a sad scene: Calvin's mother, unlike the lovely Mrs. Murry, is "unkempt," with long, stringy gray hair and no teeth. She screams at her children and hits one child with a wooden spoon. When Meg sees the disorder of Calvin's family life, she feels for him, and recognizes that rather than leaning into him for security and safety, as has been her way so...

When the Happy Medium shows the children Calvin's family, they witness a sad scene: Calvin's mother, unlike the lovely Mrs. Murry, is "unkempt," with long, stringy gray hair and no teeth. She screams at her children and hits one child with a wooden spoon. When Meg sees the disorder of Calvin's family life, she feels for him, and recognizes that rather than leaning into him for security and safety, as has been her way so far, she needs to offer him support. She takes his hand in sympathy,

trying to tell him by the pressure of her fingers what she felt. If anyone had told her only the day before that she, Meg, the snaggle-toothed, the myopic, the clumsy, would be taking a boy's hand to offer him comfort and strength, particularly a popular and important boy like Calvin, the idea would have been beyond her comprehension. But now it seemed as natural to want to help and protect Calvin as it did Charles Wallace.

Meg's vision of the world has begun broadening, and she is maturing. She is beginning to understand that other people, even if they seem popular and confident, have problems and sorrows of their own. She begins to recognize that she can offer strength and support to others outside of her own family.

In the novel The Devil's Arithmetic, where do Gitl and Shmuel live?

When Hannah gets transported to another time and place during the Seder, she meets Gitl and Schmuel. Gitl and Shmuel are brother and sister, and aunt and uncle to Chaya.  Chaya is Hannah’s Hebrew name.  Gitl and Shmuel live in a “shtetl” in the country in Poland.  Shtetls are “the small villages in which Jews lived for centuries in Eastern Europe.” (Source 1). When Chaya’s parents married, they moved to the city of Lublin which...

When Hannah gets transported to another time and place during the Seder, she meets Gitl and Schmuel. Gitl and Shmuel are brother and sister, and aunt and uncle to Chaya.  Chaya is Hannah’s Hebrew name.  Gitl and Shmuel live in a “shtetl” in the country in Poland.  Shtetls are “the small villages in which Jews lived for centuries in Eastern Europe.” (Source 1). When Chaya’s parents married, they moved to the city of Lublin which is located in Eastern Europe.  Her parents died there of disease, and Chaya was very ill for a long period of time.  Gitl says,

"I swear, Shmuel, city living does damage to the soul.  When our brother Moishe and his wife --- may they rest in peace ---left for Lublin, they had happy souls.” (pg 29)

The name of the village where Gitl and Shmuel live is never specifically mentioned, the characters just refer to it as “our shtetl”.   On her first day in the other world, Schmuel is getting married to Fayge, and they have to travel to her village of Viosk for the wedding ceremony.   Viosk no longer exists, but you will find Lublin, the city, on the map and may visit there today. The article  below documents the structure of the shtetls.  It also says,

" And while shtetl life was inexorably changed by industrialization and modernization, it was destroyed by the Holocaust. Thus, shtetl life is sanctified with an aura of martyrdom." (See Source 1)

How do prokaryotes obtain energy?

Prokaryotes are composed of cells that do not contain a nucleus or membrane-bound organelles. Prokaryotes can be either autotrophic or heterotrophic. Each process is explained below.

1. Autotrophic prokaryotes make their own food. Autotrophic prokaryotes obtain energy through either photosynthesis or chemosynthesis. Each process is briefly explained below.

• Although prokaryotes do not contain organelles such as the chloroplast, they may contain chlorophyll that is housed within vesicles. Photosynthetic prokaryotes use this chlorophyll to make their own...

Prokaryotes are composed of cells that do not contain a nucleus or membrane-bound organelles. Prokaryotes can be either autotrophic or heterotrophic. Each process is explained below.

1. Autotrophic prokaryotes make their own food. Autotrophic prokaryotes obtain energy through either photosynthesis or chemosynthesis. Each process is briefly explained below.

• Although prokaryotes do not contain organelles such as the chloroplast, they may contain chlorophyll that is housed within vesicles. Photosynthetic prokaryotes use this chlorophyll to make their own food via photosynthesis. During photosynthesis, sunlight energy is captured by the chlorophyll in order to convert carbon dioxide gas and water into a sugar known as glucose and oxygen gas.  


• Chemosynthetic prokaryotes use chemosynthesis to obtain energy. During chemosynthesis, organic compounds are synthesized using the energy from the oxidation of inorganic compounds. Prokaryotes that lie along the hydrothermal vents at the base of the seafloor use the hydrogen sulfide that is produced from the hydrothermal vents to produce energy via chemosynthesis.

2. Some prokaryotes are heterotrophic. These prokaryotes must consume organic compounds in order to obtain energy. Prokaryotes do not have mitochondria to convert the organic compounds into ATP via cellular respiration. Instead, prokaryotes utilize to produce ATP.

Literature admits conflicts between good and good, as well as good and evil. How do these conflicts appear in Wiesel's Night and why might both...

In Elie Wiesel’s memoir, Night, Elie attempts to keep his humanity while trying to survive within a series of ghettos and concentration camps. Elie’s struggle reflects that of every other prisoner. For prisoners, the conflict of good and evil comes down to resisting evil in a way that will not endanger their lives. For example, the Jewish prisoners at Auschwitz continue openly practicing their religion. 10,000 prisoners praying during the Jewish New Year, Rosh...

In Elie Wiesel’s memoir, Night, Elie attempts to keep his humanity while trying to survive within a series of ghettos and concentration camps. Elie’s struggle reflects that of every other prisoner. For prisoners, the conflict of good and evil comes down to resisting evil in a way that will not endanger their lives. For example, the Jewish prisoners at Auschwitz continue openly practicing their religion. 10,000 prisoners praying during the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, is a clear message to their Nazi guards that despite enduring inhumane treatment, they have not lost their humanity.

The conflicts between good and good in Night are subtler, but readily apparent to the observant reader. These conflicts arise due to the extreme conditions that camp prisoners live under. The most important example is the internal conflict that Elie has about his father. Elie is a good person, yet even his subconscious suggests that he cast his ailing father aside; supporting a dying man only lowers Elie’s chances of survival. Fortunately, Elie does not act on these urges.

Both types of conflicts are important because they show that the Holocaust was not a simple matter of good versus evil. In prisoner’s lives, conflicts were internal just as much as they were external.

How have people throughout history used shadows cast by the sun as a way of measuring time?

Before the invention of clocks (and even for some time after) people mostly relied on the shadows cast by the sun to keep track of time. Using shadows to tell solar time involves keeping track of the position of shadows in relation to a stationary object. Tools like a sundial, shadow stick, or even simply the shadow cast by a tall building can all be used to measure time. Bear in mind that these means of telling time by shadows tell us the solar time, which may not match up perfectly with our standardized systems of time. In solar time, the Sun reaches its highest point in the sky at midday, but this isn't always precisely at twelve noon. Another important thing about telling solar time is that it can only be done during the daytime! Of course, most people throughout history lived agricultural subsistence lifestyles and didn't have much concern for the hours of night. 

In Ancient Rome, sundials were a favored method of telling time. Some sundials were installed in public places so that any person nearby could approximate the time, which the Romans split into twelve hours. A few wealthy families even kept sundials in their homes, but most people either relied on public sundials or making an estimate from the shadows of nearby objects. Some people who worked in the fields or otherwise did not have ready access to a sundial may have used methods like this one to approximate the hours before sundown based upon the position of the Sun in the sky.

All of these methods rely on the apparent motion of the Sun through the sky. We now know that the Earth and Sun are both engaged in constant motion, with the Earth rotating on an axis and revolving around the Sun. This creates differential lengths of days during the revolution and the experience of individual days and nights as we turn on our axis. To us, it looks like the Sun is rising and setting above us, and the shadows cast during this journey may be used to approximate the time of day. In the morning and evening, shadows appear quite long due to the positions of the Sun and the stationary object. Approaching midday, shadows seem to grow shorter and may even adjust to the right or left. At midday, there may appear to be no shadow at all, and then throughout the afternoon, shadows lengthen again.

You could try to experiment with telling time on your own, even without a sundial. When you are outside during the day, take note of how long or short your shadow is. You can make a guess to the time and compare with the solar or standard time for the day!

How is Willy Harris important to Walter's goals and ambition?

Walter has goals and ambitions like anyone; however, he feels emasculated or less than a man because being black in the 1950’s has limited his opportunities to succeed.  Walter works as a chauffeur for a white man, a service job that limits his earning power and his ability to get ahead.  Walter feels stuck, and in order to feel like the man of the family, Walter thinks up “get rich quick” schemes in hopes of...

Walter has goals and ambitions like anyone; however, he feels emasculated or less than a man because being black in the 1950’s has limited his opportunities to succeed.  Walter works as a chauffeur for a white man, a service job that limits his earning power and his ability to get ahead.  Walter feels stuck, and in order to feel like the man of the family, Walter thinks up “get rich quick” schemes in hopes of being his own boss.  Walter wants to provide for his family and be a role model for his young son.  Along with Willy Harris and Walter’s friend, Bobo, they learn of an opportunity to buy a liquor store. The only catch is that Walter needs $10,000 from his father’s life insurance policy to become a partner in the venture.  Mama Younger does give Walter some money, but Willy Harris runs off with it dashing Walter’s dreams to be his own man. 

Willy Harris represents another disappointment for Walter because Walter is unable to fulfill his dreams.  Willy is just another person in society who mistreats and takes advantage of Walter.  Walter can’t even count on his friends for a break, and it is extremely disappointing because all Walter wants is to feel important and powerful in his family and society. 

What is your response to the last line?

Given that the last line contains the only metaphor in the poem -- all of the other comparisons that came before are similes -- and because metaphor is generally believed to be the strongest method by which a comparison can be drawn, the last line of the poem seems to be the most truthful, communicating the inevitable eventuality of a certain deferred dream.

Because a metaphor says that one thing isanother, instead of saying...

Given that the last line contains the only metaphor in the poem -- all of the other comparisons that came before are similes -- and because metaphor is generally believed to be the strongest method by which a comparison can be drawn, the last line of the poem seems to be the most truthful, communicating the inevitable eventuality of a certain deferred dream.

Because a metaphor says that one thing is another, instead of saying that it is only like another, a metaphor is more forceful than a simile.  The narrator suggests several possible outcomes for a dream deferred (and it seems to be the specific dream of racial equality, based on the title of the poem), all via simile, before he reaches the final metaphor.  The final line compares the deferred dream to a bomb by describing it as something that would be able to "explode."  The implication, here, is that if the dream of racial equality continues to be denied to African Americans, then the result with be both violent and dramatic, and it will impact everyone, not just the African-American community.  

Further, because this line is italicized, and we typically italicize words that we wish to emphasize, it seems that this comparison is underscored as the truth in three ways: it is the only metaphor in the poem, it is visually different from the others by being the only line that is italicized, and it is the only line in the answer to the initial question that stands by itself.  For these reasons, I believe that the final line of the poem, then, is the inevitable outcome of the deferred dream.

What effect do these adjectives from A Christmas Carol have on the reader? Scrooge is "a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching,...

By putting this list adjectives describing Scrooge so close to the beginning of the story, Dickens establishes our impression early on of Scrooge as a distinctly unpleasant man. As for particular techniques Dickens uses, the first relies on the sounds of the words—all have a guttural, grinding quality. These are words you can hear and feel—harsh words. As such they convey a physical sensation of what Scrooge's hard soul is like. Second, they symbolize the rough, scraping, heavy chain that we will soon find out that Scrooge has been forging all these years, just as Marley did, through his behaviors of grasping and clutching at money. 

We can also see that this pile up of adjectives reflects the metallic piling up of money that Scrooge has amassed over the years. Further, by putting this list of adjectives in the context of the paragraph in which they appear, we perceive Dickens' use of another technique: alliteration, or using the same first consonant repeatedly in the same line or lines:

Oh! but he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice. A frosty rime was on his head, and on his eyebrows, and his wiry chin. He carried his own low temperature always about with him; he iced his office in the dog-days; and didn't thaw it one degree at Christmas.

In this larger context, we read the alliteration in grindstone and grasping, and in Scrooge, squeezing, scraping, sinner, steel, struck, secret and self-contained.

All of these words have a relentlessly harsh or hissing effect, which leads the reader to understand Scrooge as a hard-hearted man through and through.

Explain the victory in Old Sarum almost causing an acquittal during the jury deliberations.

In Chapter 15, the Old Sarum bunch surrounds Atticus while he is reading outside of Tom Robinson's cell. They are a lynch mob who plan to kill Tom Robinson before the trial. Fortunately, Scout unexpectedly runs out into the circle of men and attempts to have a conversation with the familiar Walter Cunningham. She catches Walter's attention, and he is able to see the situation from Atticus' perspective. Walter tells the rest of the Old...

In Chapter 15, the Old Sarum bunch surrounds Atticus while he is reading outside of Tom Robinson's cell. They are a lynch mob who plan to kill Tom Robinson before the trial. Fortunately, Scout unexpectedly runs out into the circle of men and attempts to have a conversation with the familiar Walter Cunningham. She catches Walter's attention, and he is able to see the situation from Atticus' perspective. Walter tells the rest of the Old Sarum bunch it's time to leave, and the mob drives away without harming anybody.

Following Tom's wrongful conviction, Jem loses his innocence and becomes jaded about the community members of Maycomb. In Chapter 23, Jem is discussing the trial with his father. They begin talking about juries and Jem wonders why no righteous people such as Atticus or Maudie ever serves on them. Atticus tells him that Maudie can't serve on a jury because she's a woman, and the other upright community members are too scared that their decision will affect their reputation. Jem comments, "Tom's jury sho' made up its mind in a hurry" (Lee 297). Atticus disagrees and says to Jem and Scout that there was one fellow who "took considerable wearing down" and was arguing for an outright acquittal. Atticus doesn't say the name of the person but tells them that he was part of the Old Sarum bunch. Jem is shocked that one of the Cunninghams was in favor of Tom Robinson, considering the fact they tried to kill him the night before the trial. Jem says, "I'll never understand these folks as long as I live" (Lee 298). Atticus explains that once you earn the Cunninghams' respect, they are for you tooth and nail. He surmises that they earned their respect by not backing down in front of the jailhouse that night.

Even though Tom Robinson was still wrongly convicted of raping Mayella Ewell, there was a moral victory in getting one of the Cunninghams from Old Sarum to argue for his acquittal. Changing the mind of a violent racist illuminates the slow changes taking place in Maycomb in regards to racial injustice.

In the Merchant of Venice (Act 4, Scene 1), explore the balance between justice and mercy in the major characters' contributions to the scene and...

In The Merchant of Venice’s trial scene, Shylock cries for justice: “If you deny me, fie upon your law!” Antonio owes him money, and the bond they drew up allows Shylock to take a pound of his flesh if he did not pay him back on time. Antonio’s friend Bassanio has more than enough money to repay Shylock, but Shylock insists that he stands “for judgment” and “crave[s] the law.” He will have nothing less than his bond.

Portia disguises herself as a lawyer, and both she and the Duke, who is presiding over the case, beg Shylock for mercy (hence, Portia’s famous speech on “the quality of mercy”). However, they also refuse to compromise justice for mercy because they will not break the law in order to grant Antonio a reprieve. Fortunately for Antonio, Portia finds a way to save his life without breaking the bond. The document allows a pound of flesh but “no jot of blood.” It would be impossible for Shylock to take flesh without shedding blood.

Shylock backtracks and asks for the money instead, but Portia uses his sense of justice against him in order to show how cruel justice can be:

For, as thou urgest justice, be assured

Thou shalt have justice, more than thou desirest.

On top of this, Portia points out that Shylock, because he is Jewish, is considered an alien, and it is illegal for an alien to conspire to kill a citizen. She directs Shylock to beg for his life, which the duke grants in order to demonstrate “the difference of our spirits.”

Antonio then shows a kind of mercy to Shylock by allowing him to keep half of his goods, as long as the other half goes to Lorenzo, a Christian who ran off with Shylock’s daughter, and Shylock’s money should go to Lorenzo after his death. In a final blow, Shylock must convert to Christianity. Shylock reluctantly agrees.

In the end, the characters are able to save everyone’s life and even livelihood by combining mercy and justice. However, it is questionable as to how much Shylock’s fate is merciful and how much it is a self-righteous sense of justice.

Arrange O, F, and S in order of increasing atomic radius. Explain using the following terms: shielding, nuclear charge, attraction, atomic radius?

The atomic radius of an atom is the distance between the nucleus of an atom to its outermost electron. Atomic radius is an example of a periodic trend. Periodic trends are patterns of properties that can be found on the periodic table. Periodic trends enable us to predict certain properties of elements based upon their location on the periodic table. 

The Atomic Radius Trend Across Periods:

• Atomic radius tends to decreaseas you move from...

The atomic radius of an atom is the distance between the nucleus of an atom to its outermost electron. Atomic radius is an example of a periodic trend. Periodic trends are patterns of properties that can be found on the periodic table. Periodic trends enable us to predict certain properties of elements based upon their location on the periodic table. 

The Atomic Radius Trend Across Periods:

• Atomic radius tends to decrease as you move from left to right across a period (row) on the periodic table. As you move from left to right across the periodic table, the number of positively charged protons in the nucleus increases.This causes the overall positive charge of the nucleus to increase.


• At the same time, the number of negatively charged electrons also increases as you move from left to right across the periodic table. When electrons are added to elements in the same period, they are all added to the same energy level.  


• As the nuclear charge increases, the attraction between the positively charged nucleus and the negtively charged electrons increases.


• The atomic radius gets smaller because the nucleus is able "pull" the electrons in tighter. 


• Therefore, since O is located to the left of F in the same period on the periodic table, we can predict that O will have a larger atomic radius than F.

The Atomic Radius Trend Down Groups:

• Atomic radius tends to increase as you move from top to bottom down a group (column) on the periodic table.


• As you move down a group on the periodic table, the number of positively charged protons and negatively charged electrons increases; however, the valence electrons are added to different energy levels farther away from the nucleus. This means that the atom's negatively charged valence electrons will be less attracted to the positively charged nucleus. The farther an electron is from the nucleus, the lower the attraction of the nucleus for the electron.


• At the same time, there are more electrons present between the nucleus and the valence electrons. The presence of other electrons between the nucleus and the valence electrons, "shields" the valence electrons from the pull of the positively charged nucleus. Because of this, the positively charged nucleus has less attraction for the valence electrons. 


• Therefore, since S is located below O in the same group on the periodic table, we can predict that S will have a larger atomic radius than O.

Based on our understanding of atomic radius periodic trends, and the relative location of S, O, and F on the periodic table, we can predict that the correct order of these elements based on increasing atomic radius is: F, O, S.

What is the lucky day for people born under the sun sign of Virgo?

This is a tricky question to answer, especially as many people may consider certain days their personal "lucky days," even if it is at odds with what might be suggested by their astrological chart. There is also some disagreement as to the dates for the Western astrological calendar due to the fact that planetary bodies are constantly in motion and changing positions relative to one another. Currently, most people who practice astrology believe that those who are born between the 23rd of August and the 22nd of September are born under the sun sign of Virgo.

This web article by amateur astrologer Keith Abbott suggests that a Virgo's luck may be dependent upon when they were born during the month of Virgo. Beginning with the start date of August 23rd, each week corresponds with a quarter of the moon's cycle. This means that whichever week of Virgo you were born during may correspond to increased luck during the first, second, third, or fourth quarter of the moon. He also mentions that Virgos may be especially lucky on days of the month which are divisible by the number three.

This webpage offers an alternate means of finding out your lucky days in life. The author suggests that when the total sum of numbers for a date is the same as the total sum of numbers for your birthdate, you will have a lucky day. The author also offers dates during each month which may be especially lucky for Virgos-- click the link to check out more detailed descriptions.

Another web astrologer states that Wednesday is an especially lucky day for Virgos.

While it can be a challenging task, if you want to get a really in-depth astrological analysis for your personal relationship with the stars, I recommend having someone draw up your star chart. Alternately, you can use this website to generate one, as long as you know the time and place of your birth.

I would like to mention that I am only knowledgeable about the basics of the traditions of astrology, and there is much variation and disagreement of what is accurate in a practice. I hope that through observation of when you feel most lucky in life, you can determine your "lucky day."

What meanings are associated with the names Desiree, La Blanche, and L'Abri, and how do they relate to the story?

In French, the name, Desiree, means desired one, and Desiree is, in many ways, the desired one of the story. When she is found, as a baby, by Monsieur Valmonde at the entrance to his home, she is claimed by Madame Valmonde as her own. She believes "Desiree had been sent to her by a beneficent Providence to bet the child of her affection, seeing that she was without a child of the flesh."...

In French, the name, Desiree, means desired one, and Desiree is, in many ways, the desired one of the story. When she is found, as a baby, by Monsieur Valmonde at the entrance to his home, she is claimed by Madame Valmonde as her own. She believes "Desiree had been sent to her by a beneficent Providence to bet the child of her affection, seeing that she was without a child of the flesh." It seems that she was even named Desiree because a child had been so desired by the Valmondes. The little girl grew up to be kind, lovely, and beautiful, and everyone adored her.

Armand Aubigny seemed to fall in love with her in the same way; it was as if he'd been "struck by a pistol shot." In fact, he seemed to love Desiree so much that he didn't care if her background was unknown. Perhaps, even, her unknown background made her even more desirable to him: not only is she beautiful and lovely, but with an obscure origin, any child of theirs who didn't look like white could be attributed to Desiree's background and not Armand's. Thus, not only was Desiree desired for her beauty and personality but also for her unknown history which could be used to shield Armand's own origins, if necessary.

La Blanche is one of the slaves on Armand's plantation.  Because she is so fair-skinned, she is most likely the product of rape between a black (or part-black) female slave and a white master, and her name means the white one, referring to her skin tone. It seems possible that Armand is actually raping her. Desiree tells her mother that "'Armand heard [the baby crying] the other day as far away as La Blanche's cabin.'" But what reason would he have to be in a slave woman's cabin? I can think of only one. Often, fair-skinned slaves were thought to be more desirable than darker-skinned ones to white masters, and it was not an uncommon practice for masters to rape their slaves.

If this is true, and it's not possible to know for sure, then this casts more doubt on Armand's character. He's already a slave-owner, which makes him morally repugnant. If he is having sex with a slave, then he is a rapist. If he's having sex with anyone, then he is cheating on his wife, a wife that he seemed to desire so greatly. Can we put it past such a man to marry a woman whose unknown heritage could protect his own? I don't think so.

Further, the name of his plantation, L'Abri, means the shelter, and it certainly is a shelter for Armand, if not Desiree. His family property and name, one of "the oldest and proudest in Louisiana," protects him from suspicion about his race despite his "dark . . . face." No one questions Armand's heritage as a result of his shelter, his family's plantation and name, and so its name seems quite appropriate.

How does the title of the story "Lionizing" by Edgar Allan Poe correlate with the plot?

The word "lionize," in general usage, means to treat an individual or an object "as an object of great interest or importance." 

We see through the story that the narrator and main character, introduced as Robert Jones, is lionized throughout his entire life.  In fact, from the very beginning of his life ("before I was breeched") we see his parents praising him for grabbing onto his nose with two hands.  This act causes his parents...

The word "lionize," in general usage, means to treat an individual or an object "as an object of great interest or importance." 

We see through the story that the narrator and main character, introduced as Robert Jones, is lionized throughout his entire life.  In fact, from the very beginning of his life ("before I was breeched") we see his parents praising him for grabbing onto his nose with two hands.  This act causes his parents to begin praising him immediately, and leads to his father's giving him a "treatise on Nosology."  Eventually Robert Jones grows up to become (if we are to believe the story) a highly acclaimed expert on the subject of "nosology."  Poe shows several instances of people praising Robert Jones for his skill and knowledge:

"Wonderful genius!"

"Superb physiologist!"

"Clever fellow!"

"Fine writer!"

"Profound thinker!"

"Great man!"

"Divine soul!"

These, and others, are the adjectives that people use to lionize the main character.

If I had read this story without being told the author, I would have guessed that it was Mark Twain.  This is much more in the satirical style of Mark Twain than the usual gothic horror style of Poe.  Poe is poking fun at society's habit of lionizing individuals with little reason.  There is, of course, no such field as "nosology," but at the time that Poe was writing, the world was experiencing many advances in medical treatment, and people were often too quick to lionize even minor discoveries. 

The story has little conventional plot to speak of.  It is not a traditional sort of story, but there is an overall emergence and climb to celebrity by Robert Jones.  Then, in the final section of the story, the narrator appears to be insulted by The Elector of Bluddenuff.  They exchange words, then "exchange cards," which implies the preparations for a gentleman's duel, and then the next morning they meet and Jones shoots off the Elector's nose.  For this act, he quickly loses his own celebrity and place in the spotlight, and the lionizing comes to an abrupt end just as the story comes to an abrupt end.

In this ending, Poe is also satirizing the practice of dueling, which was at its high point in this country at about the time this story was written (early 19th century).  No doubt Poe would not have approved of the practice, and by having his character shoot off his opponent's nose, he ridicules what many people considered a serious charge of honor. 

Calpurnia comes into the courtroom to hand a note to Atticus. What does the note say?

Calpurnia comes to the courthouse with a note from Aunt Alexandra to let Atticus know that Scout and Jem are missing, and she can’t find them.  This happens at the conclusion of Atticus’ closing arguments in the trial. Ironically, Scout and Jem have watched the entire trial from the Negro section of the balcony with Reverend Sykes. The trial has affected Jem and Scout (and Dill) tremendously as they watched the testimony of Mayella Ewell,...

Calpurnia comes to the courthouse with a note from Aunt Alexandra to let Atticus know that Scout and Jem are missing, and she can’t find them.  This happens at the conclusion of Atticus’ closing arguments in the trial. Ironically, Scout and Jem have watched the entire trial from the Negro section of the balcony with Reverend Sykes. The trial has affected Jem and Scout (and Dill) tremendously as they watched the testimony of Mayella Ewell, Bob Ewell, and Tom Robinson unfold.  Jem is sure Atticus will win the case.  When the jury goes into deliberation, Atticus sends Jem and Scout home with Calpurnia but later agrees to let them see the verdict since he can’t hide the outcome from them anyway.  Aunt Alexandra isn’t happy about the kids being at the courthouse, but it is a life-changing lesson for Jem and Scout to experience how the prejudice and racist views of white society affects an innocent man’s life.  

What is instructional design?

To put it clearly, instructional design is the design, development and delivery of instructional materials (books, instructions, lectures, courses, educational systems, etc) with the goal of making the action of learning a certain subject more efficient. All of this practice is supported by learning and cognitive theories as well as behavioral psychology.To understand it better, let's imagine the following situation. Suppose you have a private university and you want to make your students acquire...

To put it clearly, instructional design is the design, development and delivery of instructional materials (books, instructions, lectures, courses, educational systems, etc) with the goal of making the action of learning a certain subject more efficient. All of this practice is supported by learning and cognitive theories as well as behavioral psychology.

To understand it better, let's imagine the following situation. Suppose you have a private university and you want to make your students acquire skills and knowledge more efficiently. To do so, you'll look for an instructional designer. He will be responsible for applying a methodology with the goal of making the process of learning more efficient, of applying the instructional design.

To accomplish this goal, the instructional designer will apply a model of instructional design. These models are responsible for establishing a list of steps to follow, in order to assist the instructional designer in obtaining its goal. The most common one being the ADDIE model which consists of five phases:

1. Analysis (determining who are the learners, the context, the delivery options, etc);


2. Design (planning the lessons, the objectives, subjects, etc);


3. Development (creation of the tools and content based on what was planned);


4. Implementation (application of all the tools and material to the learners and possible teachers);


5. Evaluation (this occurs during all the process and at the end of it).

At the present-day, instructional technologies (such as websites, online tools, computers, the internet, etc) are also being used to support learning.

I hope my little imaginary situation helped you in understanding the definition of instructional design!

Was Joseph Stalin an effective leader?

The answer to this question depends on how you define an effective leader.  In the short run, you would have to say Stalin was effective because he led his country to some pretty impressive achievements.  In the long run, you could say he was ineffective because he did not help to build a system that could last.  You would also say he was ineffective if you believe that an effective leader has to treat his or her subjects well.

On the one hand, you can argue that Stalin was clearly an effective leader.  Stalin came to power in the Soviet Union in 1929.  At that point, the country was only about a decade old and was rather backwards and weak.   By the early 1940s, the country had industrialized enough that it was a major world power.  In fact, it did most of the fighting against Germany in WWII, doing much to defeat a military that overwhelmed Western Europe with ease.  After WWII, Stalin led the Soviet Union to the point where it was, at least in military terms, one of the two strongest countries in the world.  You can argue that only an effective leader could take a newborn, backwards, poor country and make it into a world power.

On the other hand, you can say that a truly effective leader would not have done the things Stalin did.  Stalin committed all sorts of human rights abuses as he drove the USSR to modernize.  His policies were responsible for the death of millions.  You can say that a truly effective leader has to treat his people well.  On that measure, Stalin was completely ineffective.

In addition, you can say that an effective leader has to build something that will last.  Stalin did not really do this.  This is partly due to the brutality with which he ruled.  He helped to create a system that could only remain in place through coercion.  This meant that his system was not able to last very long at all.  The Soviet Union collapsed about 60 years after Stalin took power, largely because of the fact that he pushed for military power with no regard for the welfare of the masses of his people.  Thus, you can say that Stalin was only effective (if at all) in the short term.

What is the most important metaphor in The Way to Rainy Mountain?

Because Momaday does not actually name the "most important metaphor" for his readers, we are left to decide for ourselves. Your question, then, is an opinion question.  In my opinion, the most important metaphor in The Way to Rainy Mountain can be found in the significance of the title itself. Rainy Mountain becomes a metaphor for the myth, history, and personal experience of the Kiowa tribe of Native Americans.

We can use a few pertinent...

Because Momaday does not actually name the "most important metaphor" for his readers, we are left to decide for ourselves. Your question, then, is an opinion question.  In my opinion, the most important metaphor in The Way to Rainy Mountain can be found in the significance of the title itself. Rainy Mountain becomes a metaphor for the myth, history, and personal experience of the Kiowa tribe of Native Americans.

We can use a few pertinent quotations to further explain the above idea in The Way to Rainy Mountain:

A single knoll rises out of the plain in Oklahoma, north and west of the Wichita Range. For my people, the Kiowas, it is an old landmark, and they gave it the name Rainy Mountain.

The metaphor of Rainy Mountain is furthered by Momaday's description of "the way" to this Kiowa landmark. There is an explanation given for that as well:

I returned to Rainy Mountain in July. My grandmother had died in the spring, and I wanted to be at her grave.

If you put these two quotations together with the organization of the book, the metaphor becomes even more clear. The book contains three main parts: "The Setting Out," "The Going On," and "The Closing In." These main  parts are divided into twenty-four numbered sections written in three separate voices: one about myth, one about history, and one about personal experience. 

Every single part, section, and voice leads directly back to the main metaphor: Momaday's "way" back to "Rainy Mountain" as Momaday's research and discovery of his own Kiowa heritage and religion. Momaday's metaphor becomes complete as he learns about the Kiowa myths, researches the dates of Kiowa history, and listens to his own grandmother, Aho, as she tells her own personal stories about the Kiowa tribe.

What was the past of the ghost?

The ghost that your question is referencing is Sir Simon de Canterville.  He was one of the first owners of the Canterville Chase, which is the mansion that the Otis family has just bought.  The text tells the reader that Sir Simon owned the home in 1575.  He was married at the time, but wasn't married for the following nine years.  The reason for that is because Sir Simon murdered his wife that year.  He...

The ghost that your question is referencing is Sir Simon de Canterville.  He was one of the first owners of the Canterville Chase, which is the mansion that the Otis family has just bought.  The text tells the reader that Sir Simon owned the home in 1575.  He was married at the time, but wasn't married for the following nine years.  The reason for that is because Sir Simon murdered his wife that year.  He lived for another 9 years after that, disappeared mysteriously, and was never seen or heard from again.  

"His body has never been discovered, but his guilty spirit still haunts the Chase."

Sir Simon has been haunting the Canterville Chase ever since, and has successfully scared off every owner.  That is until the Otis family arrives, and he is incapable of scaring them off.  Virginia Otis eventually gets Sir Simon to explain why he mysteriously disappeared.  

Sir Simon killed his wife for being too plain. Of course her brothers didn't take too kindly to Sir Simon killing their sister, so they killed Sir Simon in revenge.  

"However, it is no matter now, for it is all over, and I don't think it was very nice of her brothers to starve me to death, though I did kill her."

He has been haunting the house ever since his own murder. 

Why is Mr. White afraid in "The Monkey's Paw"?

When Herbert was killed at the textile mill where he was employed, his father had to come down and identify the body. Herbert was horribly mangled by the machinery. Mr. White tells his wife that he could only identify his son by the remnants of his clothing. In Part III of the story when Mrs. White gets the inspiration to have her husband use the second wish available on the monkey's paw to bring their son back to life and back to their home, Mr. White is aghast. He tells her:

"He has been dead ten days, and besides he—I would not tell you else, but—I could only recognize him by his clothing. If he was too terrible for you to see then, how now?"

White makes the wish under duress, but he is secretly hoping that the two hundred pounds he received from his first wish was only the result of a coincidence. He knows that Herbert would look truly horrible after being mangled beyond recognition and then decaying in his grave for ten days. Mrs. White may want her boy back in any condition, but Mr. White has seen his actual condition and feels horrified at the thought of having such a monster move back into their little house to live with them again.

When there is no immediate result from his second wish, Mr. White begins to believe that the monkey's paw has no real power at all. The reader, too, is beginning to have the same opinion as Mr. White. Even Mrs. White has given up hope. But later in the night, Mr. White has to get out of bed and go downstairs to get another candle. It is at this point that something really creepy occurs.

At the foot of the stairs the match went out, and he paused to strike another; and at the same moment a knock, so quiet and stealthy as to be scarcely audible, sounded on the front door.

Mr. White tries to ignore it, but his wife hears it too. The knocking which was "so quiet and stealthy as to be scarcely audible" increases in intensity until its booming seems to fill the entire house.

A perfect fusillade of knocks reverberated through the house, and he heard the scraping of a chair as his wife put it down in the passage against the door.

He is not about to open that door, and his wife is having trouble because she cannot reach the top bolt. Who could it be at this time of night in this lonely setting but their son Herbert come back from the dead in response to the second wish? Mr. White made his first wish at his son's suggestion. He made his second wish at his wife's insistence. But he makes his third wish on his own initiative.

He heard the creaking of the bolt as it came slowly back, and at the same moment he found the monkey's paw, and frantically breathed his third and last wish.

The reader is probably just as relieved as Mr. White that he doesn't have to see the person—or thing—that was doing all that knocking. Earlier in the story Mr. White had repeated to Herbert what Sergeant-Major Morris had told him about the monkey's paw:

"Morris said the things happened so naturally," said his father, "that you might if you so wished attribute it to coincidence."

So the person doing all the knocking at the end might have been some lost traveler who was only trying to get directions. In that case, why was he knocking so persistently? There are only two houses occupied in this isolated new housing development and he must have already tried at the other house without success. This hypothetical traveler would know the Whites' house was occupied because he would have seen their light all over the neighborhood.

The talisman fell to the floor, and he regarded it fearfully. Then he sank trembling into a chair as the old woman, with burning eyes, walked to the window and raised the blind.

He sat until he was chilled with the cold, glancing occasionally at the figure of the old woman peering through the window. The candle-end, which had burned below the rim of the china candlestick, was throwing pulsating shadows on the ceiling and walls, until, with a flicker larger than the rest, it expired.

You have the option to add a new product line to your facility, with capacity to produce 1000 widgets per month. Initial analysis shows that the...

A new product line can be added to the facility with capacity to produce 1000 widgets per month. Information obtained from an early analysis places the break-even point at 500 widgets per month. The demand is estimated at 400 widgets per month at a sales price of $30.

The question does not provide any details on how demand for the widget changes with sales price, the cost of setting up the new product line and...

A new product line can be added to the facility with capacity to produce 1000 widgets per month. Information obtained from an early analysis places the break-even point at 500 widgets per month. The demand is estimated at 400 widgets per month at a sales price of $30.

The question does not provide any details on how demand for the widget changes with sales price, the cost of setting up the new product line and other fixed and variable costs involved in producing the widgets.

Considering only the fact that estimated monthly demand is lower than the that required to break even, the new product line should not be added. To increase demand by 100 widgets per month, the sales price would have to be lowered. This would decrease the total earnings from selling the widgets and as a result will further increase the number required to be produced to break even. As demand for the widget is not likely to go up by a large extent, adding the the new product would not benefit the facility.

What does the name Weatherall have to do with Granny's nature (or her life story)? What other traits or qualities do you find in her?

Granny’s last name, Weatherall, suggests that she is resilient and able to overcome obstacles and hardships in her life. She has the ability to weather whatever comes her way.  For example, when her husband, John, dies young, Granny must raise the children on her own. However, the one incident in her life that still haunts her is when she is left at the altar by her first love, George.  Although Granny went on to marry...

Granny’s last name, Weatherall, suggests that she is resilient and able to overcome obstacles and hardships in her life. She has the ability to weather whatever comes her way.  For example, when her husband, John, dies young, Granny must raise the children on her own. However, the one incident in her life that still haunts her is when she is left at the altar by her first love, George.  Although Granny went on to marry and have children, she hasn’t been able to totally get over the embarrassment of being jilted. In her dying moments, she even rejects the priest giving her last rites because it reminds her of being left alone with the priest at the altar.  The inability to forgive George causes her to be jilted once again, but this time by God at the end of her life.  She asks God to give her a sign that she will be saved, and God doesn’t give her that sign.  She dies remembering only the extreme grief she had because she could not forgive George for an incident that happened 60 years ago.  In essence, Granny weathered all the grief and sorrow the jilting caused her throughout her life and never let go of it.  This grief left her paralyzed, a theme shown in the story through the setting in the tight confines of Granny’s bedroom. She is no longer able to act or express herself well in the final throes of death even though she wants to put her affairs in order before she dies.  It’s too late, however, for Granny has wasted a lot of time drowning in the memories of what could have been.

Other characteristics that describe Granny are that she is ornery, feisty, and bossy.  She harasses the doctor and her daughter, Cornelia, for doting over her too much.  She “plagues” Cornelia and plays with her emotions and feelings.  She is also angry and seems to take it out on Cornelia the most. Cornelia is George’s daughter; and therefore, Granny blames Cornelia for some of her misery. Granny does show strength when she tries to talk herself into getting over George.  She says, “Plenty of girls get jilted.  You were jilted, weren’t you?  Then stand up for it.”  Even though in her mind she wants to get over George, Granny never does.  At the end of the story and with her last breath, she refuses to forgive George, and it is her downfall.

What was a hard decision the Little Prince had to make?

The Little Prince makes the difficult decision to travel from his asteroid planet, because it means leaving behind his beloved rose. He departs the tiny planet because he feels he needs to broaden his horizons, but also because he can't bear to be with the rose anymore, even though he loves her. He wants to escape how demanding she is. It is also difficult for him to understand her. He feels he always has to protect...

The Little Prince makes the difficult decision to travel from his asteroid planet, because it means leaving behind his beloved rose. He departs the tiny planet because he feels he needs to broaden his horizons, but also because he can't bear to be with the rose anymore, even though he loves her. He wants to escape how demanding she is. It is also difficult for him to understand her. He feels he always has to protect her and put her under her dome, and yet she often makes cutting remarks to him: he doesn't understand that this is her way to show she loves him. He has to go away to gain perspective and understand why the rose matters. Because of this difficult decision to leave he learns how important his asteroid is, when before he thought it was trivial.

Another hard decision the Little Prince makes is to let the snake bite him so he can go back to the asteroid. His body is too heavy to make the trip back, so he has to get rid of it. The Little Prince himself calls this act "difficult" and says it will look as if he is dead, but notes that the "important thing is what can't be seen." 

What happened that made George stop playing tricks on Lennie in Of Mice and Men?

George stopped playing tricks on the childlike Lennie after Lennie entrusted his life to George and nearly died. 

When George Milton and Lennie Small arrive at the ranch where they have been hired to work, they meet old Candy, the boss, and his son Curley. Later, they meet the skinner named Slim, who possesses great understanding because his ear "hear[s] more than [is] said to him." As they converse, Slim remarks that it is odd that...

George stopped playing tricks on the childlike Lennie after Lennie entrusted his life to George and nearly died. 

When George Milton and Lennie Small arrive at the ranch where they have been hired to work, they meet old Candy, the boss, and his son Curley. Later, they meet the skinner named Slim, who possesses great understanding because his ear "hear[s] more than [is] said to him." As they converse, Slim remarks that it is odd that George and Lennie travel together. However, George tells Slim, "It ain't so funny, him an' me goin' aroun'" with each other because he and Lennie are from the same town. George explains that Lennie's Aunt Clara took care of Lennie until she died. After his aunt's death, Lennie started to go along with George as he went "out workin'." George adds that they "got kinda used to each other after a little while."

Then, George tells Slim that he used to tease Lennie and play jokes on him because doing so made him seem very smart in comparison. He adds:

"Used to play jokes on 'im 'cause he was too dumb to take care of 'imself. But he was too dumb even to know he had a joke played on him. Why he'd do any damn thing I tol' him....If I tol' him to walk over a cliff, over he'd go."

George took advantage of this faith one day. Since he had an audience of several men, he boasted of his power over Lennie. To demonstrate this power, he told Lennie to jump into the river below where they were standing. Lennie jumped, but only then did George realize that Lennie could not swim. Lennie nearly drowned before the men could reach him. When George finally managed to get Lennie pulled out,

"...he was so...nice to me for pullin' him out. Clean forgot I told him to jump in. Well, I ain't done nothing like that no more."

George feels responsible for nearly killing Lennie, and he no longer teases the childlike man. Also, he has become "used to goin' around with a guy," so Lennie and he are now friends.

What evidence is there that the sniper is a risk-taker in Liam O'Flaherty's short story "The Sniper"?

Obviously any individual who would place themselves alone on a rooftop in the middle of a pitched battle between two bitter foes can be considered a risk-taker. The Republican sniper risks his life in Liam O'Flaherty's short story "The Sniper" for a cause he is committed to. He is called a "fanatic" early on in the story. A fanatic is someone with extreme dedication to a cause. His actions on the Dublin rooftop during the height of the Irish Civil War prove he is not only a fanatic but also a risk-taker as he is surrounded by enemies who would like to kill him. 

At one point he risks revealing his position by lighting a cigarette. O'Flaherty writes:

He paused for a moment, considering whether he should risk a smoke. It was dangerous. The flash might be seen in the darkness, and there were enemies watching. He decided to take the risk.

His risk is met with a bullet from an opposing sniper hiding on a nearby rooftop. Rather than staying out of sight, the sniper risks his life again as an armored car and an "informer" appear in the street below. He shoots both the armored car commander and the woman but is hit by a bullet from the enemy sniper. After performing first aid on himself the reader may feel he should hide until things calm down. Instead he devises a plan to defeat his enemy.

He risks losing his rifle as he fakes being killed and drops it to the street. The "ruse" works and his enemy shows himself, giving the Republican sniper a clear shot, which he takes and kills his Free-State opponent. Unfortunately, this final risk not only leads to a killing but it also leads to intense remorse on the part of the sniper even before he knows he has killed his own brother.

Who is the the protagonist in "Raymond's Run"?

The protagonist is Squeaky, whose real name is Hazel Elizabeth Deborah Parker.

The word "protagonist" means the main character of the story, or the person the story is mostly about.  It is the hero of the story.

This story's protagonist, Squeaky, is a very interesting character.  She is strong-willed, but empathetic.  Squeaky has two passions in life—running, and her older brother Raymond.  Squeaky is very protective of Raymond and looks out for him.  Raymond has...

The protagonist is Squeaky, whose real name is Hazel Elizabeth Deborah Parker.

The word "protagonist" means the main character of the story, or the person the story is mostly about.  It is the hero of the story.

This story's protagonist, Squeaky, is a very interesting character.  She is strong-willed, but empathetic.  Squeaky has two passions in life—running, and her older brother Raymond.  Squeaky is very protective of Raymond and looks out for him.  Raymond has mental handicaps.  He is big, but has a younger child’s mind.  This often leads people to tease him, and Squeaky stops them.

In addition to taking care of her brother, Squeaky’s hobby is running.  It is more than just a casual pastime for her.  She is a very good runner, and she practices constantly so that she can get even better.  All Squeaky thinks about is beating the other kids in the May Day race.

There is no track meet that I don’t win the first-place medal. I used to win the twenty-yard dash when I was a little kid in kindergarten. Nowadays, it’s the fiftyyard dash. And tomorrow I’m subject to run the quarter-meter relay all by myself and come in first, second, and third.

Squeaky’s nickname is Mercury because she is so fast.  She trains for running by running often and practicing special moves that make her mother embarrassed to be around her.  For Squeaky, running is easier than being around other girls.  She just doesn’t quite get along with the neighborhood children and isn't close to any of them.  She thinks the girls are disingenuous. 

The race turns out to be the key to getting Squeaky to realize that other girls can be her friend.  She admires Gretchen, previously a sworn enemy, for coming in second. 

“In second place— Miss Gretchen P. Lewis.” And I look over at Gretchen wondering what the “P” stands for. And I smile. Cause she’s good, no doubt about it. Maybe she’d like to help me coach Raymond; she obviously is serious about running, as any fool can see.

Squeaky realizes that people other than her like running, and running can be a good common ground for her.  Since she watched her brother run a race of his own parallel to her, she sees running as a way to get closer to him too.   She and her brother finally have something in common, and it is the same thing she has in common with Gretchen.

How did the country change after the War of 1812?

The United States changed significantly after the War of 1812. One big change is that we had only one political party for a period of time. Towards the end of the war, the Federalist Party was viewed as selfish and unpatriotic because they were against the War of 1812. After the War of 1812 ended, the Federalist Party disappeared. Only the Democratic-Republican Party existed after the War of 1812 as we entered the Era of...

The United States changed significantly after the War of 1812. One big change is that we had only one political party for a period of time. Towards the end of the war, the Federalist Party was viewed as selfish and unpatriotic because they were against the War of 1812. After the War of 1812 ended, the Federalist Party disappeared. Only the Democratic-Republican Party existed after the War of 1812 as we entered the Era of Good Feelings.

The power of the federal government grew after the War of 1812. The court case of McCulloch v Maryland stated that a loose view of the Constitution was legal. The case of Gibbons v Ogden stated the federal government controls interstate trade. The American System developed. This allowed for protective tariffs, having a national bank, and improving and building our roads and canals.

After the War of 1812, our industries began to grow. More factories were built, and people moved to or settled in the cities to work in them. Protective tariffs gave our industries a chance to compete against the more established and more efficient European businesses.

There were many changes in the United States after the War of 1812.

How does the community react to Mrs. Radley's death in To Kill a Mockingbird? How is her death disappointing to Jem and Scout?

At the beginning of Chapter 8, Mrs. Radley dies of natural causes. Scout mentions that her death had a small effect on the community of Maycomb and people hardly noticed. The Radleys were "foot-washing Baptists" who did not socialize with their neighbors like the majority of citizens in Maycomb. Scout says that the only time the neighbors saw Mrs. Radley was when she was watering her cannas. Scout and Jem are upset when Atticus tells...

At the beginning of Chapter 8, Mrs. Radley dies of natural causes. Scout mentions that her death had a small effect on the community of Maycomb and people hardly noticed. The Radleys were "foot-washing Baptists" who did not socialize with their neighbors like the majority of citizens in Maycomb. Scout says that the only time the neighbors saw Mrs. Radley was when she was watering her cannas. Scout and Jem are upset when Atticus tells them that she died of natural causes. They figured that Boo Radley had finally killed his own mother. At this point in the novel, Jem and Scout are still under the impression that Boo Radley is a violent individual who wreaks havoc throughout the neighborhood and is capable of harming his family members.

Summarize Thomas Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia.

It is difficult to summarize Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia because it does not unfold in traditionally narrative fashion.  Rather than offering a story, or sequence of tableaux, Jefferson divides the book into answers to twenty three queries.  He begins with "An exact description of the limits and boundaries of the State of Virginia" and concludes with "The histories of the State...".  Though many of the chapters present rather dry--at least by contemporary standards--accounts of geographical features of the state, Jefferson's text contains several noteworthy and oft-quoted moments.

In Chapter V, "Its Cascades and Caverns," Jefferson recounts his experience at the Natural Bridge, "the most sublime of nature's works":

Though the sides of this bridge are provided in some parts with a parapet of fixed rocks, yet few men have resolution to walk to them and look over into the abyss. You involuntarily fall on your hands and feet, creep to the parapet and peep over it.  Looking down from this height about a minute, gave me a violent head ache.  If the view from the top be painful and intolerable, that from below is delightful in an equal extreme.  It is impossible for the emotions arising from the sublime, to be felt beyond what they are here: so beautiful an arch, so elevated, so light, and springing as it were up to heaven, the rapture of the spectator is really indescribable! 

This passage is a textbook example of the sublime, as Jefferson becomes overawed by this natural feature, the view being both "painful and intolerable" and "beautiful."

In Query XIX, "The present state of manufactures, commerce, interior and exterior trade?" presents perhaps Jefferson's most detailed account of his vision for the republic.  Instead of industrial manufactures (which were developing in Europe), Jefferson contends that,

Those who labour in the earth are the chosen people of God, if ever he had a chosen people, whose breasts he has made his peculiar deposit for substantial and genuine virtue. It is the focus in which he keeps alive that sacred fire, which otherwise might escape from the face of the earth.

On moral grounds, Jefferson believes in a kind of yeoman republic in which all citizens "labour in the earth" to cultivate "substantial and genuine virtue," as opposed to manufacture which degrades employees and employers alike.

Finally, Notes is often quoted for Jefferson's articulation of his racial theory, which quickly devolves from the scientific language of the Enlightenment to aesthetic discourse:

 The first difference which strikes us is that of colour.  Whether the black of the negro resides in the reticular membrane between the skin and scarf-skin, or in the scarf-skin itself; whether it proceeds from the colour of the blood, the colour of the bile, or from that of some other secretion, the difference is fixed in nature, and is as real as if its seat and cause were better known to us.  And is this difference of no importance?  Is it not the foundation of a greater or less share of beauty in the two races?  Are not the fine mixtures of red and white, the expressions of every passion by greater or less suffusions of colour in the one, preferable to that eternal monotony, which reigns in the countenances, that immoveable veil of black which covers all the emotions of the other race?  Add to these, flowing hair, a more elegant symmetry of form, their own judgment in favour of the whites, declared by their preference of them, as uniformly as is the preference of the Oranootan for the black women over those of his own species.

In this passage, Jefferson justifies his racist denigration of African Americans though a discourse of beauty.  He contends that the "greater or less share of beauty" between blacks and whites depends on color, posing questions of racial difference in terms of aesthetics.

We know that most liquid substances decrease in volume when they become solids; however, water increases in volume when it becomes a solid. Why...

Most substances decrease in volume when they change from a liquid state to a solid state. This occurs because most solid substances form a crystal latticestructure composed of tightly packed particles. The particles in the solid state of most substances are closer to one another than the particles in the liquid state. The closeness of the particles in most solid substances results in a smaller volume. 

Water molecules are held together by a type...

Most substances decrease in volume when they change from a liquid state to a solid state. This occurs because most solid substances form a crystal lattice structure composed of tightly packed particles. The particles in the solid state of most substances are closer to one another than the particles in the liquid state. The closeness of the particles in most solid substances results in a smaller volume. 

Water molecules are held together by a type of intermolecular force called hydrogen bonding. Hydrogen bonding occurs when the positive hydrogen side of one water molecule is attracted to the negative oxygen side of another water molecule. When water becomes a solid, the hydrogen bonds between the water molecules cause them to form a crystal lattice structure containing multiple empty spaces. The increased space in the crystal lattice structure of solid water results in a larger volume.

Since solid water has more volume than liquid water, solid water also has a lower density than liquid water. The lower density of ice compared to liquid water explains why ice is able to float on water.

Why do you think Walter Mitty always imagines himself as a brave and bold character?

In his daydreams, Walter Mitty imagines himself as an important, successful person because in reality he is the exact opposite. Mitty is a character who fits the trope of the everyman and the henpecked husband; he is an ordinary, average, middle-aged man with a nagging wife and a very dull life. Mitty's daydreams are the only way for him to escape reality and pretend that he is that bold, brave man he so desperately wishes...

In his daydreams, Walter Mitty imagines himself as an important, successful person because in reality he is the exact opposite. Mitty is a character who fits the trope of the everyman and the henpecked husband; he is an ordinary, average, middle-aged man with a nagging wife and a very dull life. Mitty's daydreams are the only way for him to escape reality and pretend that he is that bold, brave man he so desperately wishes to be.

Although Walter is deeply unsatisfied with his mundane life, he never makes a real attempt to change or to challenge his wife's control over him. For example, at the beginning of the story, when his wife pesters him about getting overshoes and putting his gloves on, all Mitty can muster is a weak "I don't need overshoes." He then complies with his wife's request to put his gloves on. To further demonstrate Mitty's inability to make a significant change in his behavior and become the bold man of his fantasies, Mitty gripes to himself about the parking lot attendant: "They're so damn cocky...they think they know everything." Rather than take charge of the situation and accept responsibility for his mistake, Mitty is content to let the attendant take control and fix the problem.

The only way Mitty can be a man of importance and show courage and action is through his fantasies. Throughout the course of the story, Mitty pretends he is a doctor saving a very prominent man's life, a skilled gunman, and a heroic bomber pilot. He even imagines himself facing a firing squad "undefeated" at the end of the story, further emphasizing the gap between Mitty's fantasy and his reality and his desperation to be the courageous hero of his dreams.

How were the Industrial Revolution and European imperialism connected during the nineteenth century?

The Industrial Revolution and European imperialism were connected in several ways. One was that the Industrial Revolution created a demand for raw materials, including oil, rubber, timber, and iron, to name a few. Europeans sought cheap sources of these raw materials, and looked to colonies as a means of securing a steady supply. Another way was that the Industrial Revolution created what many saw at the time as a need for captive, secure markets. Many...

The Industrial Revolution and European imperialism were connected in several ways. One was that the Industrial Revolution created a demand for raw materials, including oil, rubber, timber, and iron, to name a few. Europeans sought cheap sources of these raw materials, and looked to colonies as a means of securing a steady supply. Another way was that the Industrial Revolution created what many saw at the time as a need for captive, secure markets. Many economists warned of the dangers of overproduction, which would be the inevitable result, they thought, of increasing efficiency in industry. Overproduction, it was argued, would lead to economic depression (as many thought it had during both the 1870s and 1890s). Securing markets for surplus European manufactured goods (China was especially inviting) was thus a major motive for imperialism. Finally, industrialization created the technology, especially weapons, that gave Europeans such a decided advantage over peoples around the world. In short, it made it possible for Europeans to colonize distant lands. It might also be argued that the Industrial Revolution gave some Europeans an ideological motive for imperialism. They interpreted their technological power as evidence of moral and even racial superiority, both of which justified conquest and colonization.

What do George Wilson's interactions with Tom reveal about him in The Great Gatsby?

Wilson allows Tom Buchanan to bully him. His poverty makes him lose all self-respect and bow to Tom's supercilious and patronizing attitude. He is clearly reliant on the arrogant Buchanan for small favors, as is so pertinently illustrated in the following extract:

“Hello, Wilson, old man,” said Tom, slapping him jovially on the shoulder. “How’s business?”

“I can’t complain,” answered Wilson unconvincingly. “When are you going to sell me that car?”

“Next week; I’ve got my man working on it now.”

“Works pretty slow, don’t he?”

“No, he doesn’t,” said Tom coldly. “And if you feel that way about it, maybe I’d better sell it somewhere else after all.”

“I don’t mean that,” explained Wilson quickly. “I just meant—”

And later, in chapter 7, Tom is clearly bullying him:

“Let’s have some gas!” cried Tom roughly. “What do you think we stopped for—to admire the view?”

Wilson's quick apology in the extract indicates how desperate he is and how much he is prepared to sacrifice his own dignity to ensure that he does not lose whatever benefit (in material terms) Tom can provide. It is truly ironic that George does not realize that Tom is playing him for a fool in more ways than one. He is not only holding him on the line about selling his car but is also involved in an extramarital affair with his wife, Myrtle.

When Myrtle is accidentally killed by Daisy as she drives Jay Gatsby's car, it is Tom who later convinces George that Jay was the one she had been involved with. The distraught Wilson sees Tom as some kind of a savior in this instance, for he allows him to vent his grief and find closure by avenging his wife's death and killing the one, he believes, is his wife's murderer. 

George Wilson was clearly overwhelmed by his circumstances and constantly found himself in desperate situations. Tom's wealth offered him at least some hope. If Tom could help him, he could go West as he and Myrtle had discussed. It is ironic that he shares this information with the very man who would not want to see Myrtle leave: Tom Buchanan, her lover. Furthermore, Tom is also the man indirectly responsible for George's poor health because when he discovered that Myrtle "had some sort of life apart from him in another world," he became physically ill.

In the end, Tom remorselessly implicates Jay in Myrtle's death and is, therefore, directly responsible for his murder by George. Later, in chapter 9, he tells Nick about having spoken to George:

“What if I did tell him? That fellow had it coming to him. He threw dust into your eyes just like he did in Daisy’s, but he was a tough one. He ran over Myrtle like you’d run over a dog and never even stopped his car.” 

Tom had found a way to rid himself of Jay and the embarrassment and complication of living with an unfaithful wife who, for all intents and purposes, might still have continued her illicit affair with Jay Gatsby if he had remained alive. 

How is Penelope an archetype of an intelligent female?

The theory of archetypes began with the work of psychologist Carl Jung as an attempt to explain the relationship between myth and the subconscious mind by positing a "collective unconscious" in which we all participate and which is expressed in enduring myths, legends, and archetypes. Two major figures who have applied Jungian psychology to myth and literature are Joseph Campbell and Northrop Frye. In none of these is there an "intelligent female archetype". In fact,...

The theory of archetypes began with the work of psychologist Carl Jung as an attempt to explain the relationship between myth and the subconscious mind by positing a "collective unconscious" in which we all participate and which is expressed in enduring myths, legends, and archetypes. Two major figures who have applied Jungian psychology to myth and literature are Joseph Campbell and Northrop Frye. In none of these is there an "intelligent female archetype". In fact, one feminist critique of these theorists is that they were so focused on the male hero that their female archetypes are quite limited and mainly engage the theme of motherhood. 

Penelope is one of the earliest exempla of a positive, intelligent female character in literature, and as such has been very influential in the literary tradition. Her main characteristic is unswerving loyalty to her husband. Despite women lacking power to act directly within a patriarchal society, she uses her intellect to outwit the suitors, weaving a shroud during the day that she unweaves at night. Her intelligence is also shown in the recognition scene, in which she shows herself to be smart and skeptical, her raising of Telemachus, and the way she helps ensure Odysseus' victory over the soldiers. 

Analyze how the United States began to modernize and how many Americans clung to traditional values in the 1920's?

The 1920's was a dynamic time in American culture.  It was a time of great social change as women exerted their political and social rights and finally exercised their right to vote.  African-Americans also pursued economic and political opportunities and created organizations like the NAACP and UNIA to protect and pursue their interests.  Technological innovations made the country smaller as more and more Americans could afford to purchase an automobile and air travel was a...

The 1920's was a dynamic time in American culture.  It was a time of great social change as women exerted their political and social rights and finally exercised their right to vote.  African-Americans also pursued economic and political opportunities and created organizations like the NAACP and UNIA to protect and pursue their interests.  Technological innovations made the country smaller as more and more Americans could afford to purchase an automobile and air travel was a reality.  The Twenties was also the birth of the radio age as the first station, KDKA, made the airways.  The 1920's also saw the rise of the consumer economy as household technologies like the washing machine and refrigerator became more available and made household chores easier.  Despite the rapid nature of change evident in the 1920's many Americans resisted.

The 1920's can also be considered a decade of resistance to change.  There was a fierce wave of nativism and xenophobia that saw the Ku Klux Klan become more popular than ever.  The movement was aimed at slowing down the flow of new immigrants from south and east Europe.  The Prohibition Amendment, which outlawed the manufacture, sale, and distribution of alcohol, was another attempt to cling to traditional American values.  The most popular trial of the decade dealt with the issue of teaching evolution in America's schools.  While the Scopes Trial did not decide this issue, it did point to a major conflict that existed between traditionalists and modernists in the 1920's

In "Blues Ain't No Mockingbird," what might have happened if Grandaddy Cain were not to have come home as he did?

If Grandaddy Cain were to not have returned home, it is probable that the two men filming for the government would not have left the property for some time because they have ignored Granny's request and been disrespectful to her by calling her "Aunty," a term used to move her to a category of "doddering older-other."

After Granny has asked the cameraman to shut his machine off and he has not complied, she retreats into the...

If Grandaddy Cain were to not have returned home, it is probable that the two men filming for the government would not have left the property for some time because they have ignored Granny's request and been disrespectful to her by calling her "Aunty," a term used to move her to a category of "doddering older-other."

After Granny has asked the cameraman to shut his machine off and he has not complied, she retreats into the house slamming the screen door. Once inside, she goes back to her making of cakes for Christmas. but the young narrator describes her as

...mumblin real low and grumpy and holdin her forehead like it wanted to fall off and mess up the rum cakes.

Further, the narrator explains that whenever similar incidents like this one have occurred in the past, Granny has become so disgruntled that

...she'd get up in the night and stant packin....wakin everybody up sayin, "Let's get on away from here before I kill me somebody."

So, if Grandaddy Cain were not to have returned, something drastic like moving would likely happen. Instead, after he does return and Granny asks her husband, "Get them persons out of my flower bed...." as she moans in a low tone, much as she does at funerals, he finishes what he is doing with the hawks. Then, he turns and says, "Good day, gentlemen," while also holding out his hand for the camera. Frightened, the men put the camera into that "great hand." Finally, Camera asks for his machine back, and adds, "Please, sir." But, Granddaddy strikes the camera as though he is cutting a melon and breaks it open; Camera desperately gathers up the broken parts. When Granddaddy calmly says, "This is our own place," the two men back away and hurry down to the meadow far from the Cain's place.

What is the poem "Harlem," by Langston Hughes, about? Write about what you think each line means.

First, the speaker asks, "What happens to a dream deferred?"  By this, he seems to be asking the fate of a dream that has been put off or postponed.  The poem is sort of an exploration of all the things that such a dream might feel like, ending in what seems like an inevitable eventuality.

Then, he lists several comparisons, mostly similes in which he points to the similarity between dream deferred and something else....

First, the speaker asks, "What happens to a dream deferred?"  By this, he seems to be asking the fate of a dream that has been put off or postponed.  The poem is sort of an exploration of all the things that such a dream might feel like, ending in what seems like an inevitable eventuality.

Then, he lists several comparisons, mostly similes in which he points to the similarity between dream deferred and something else. The line "Does it dry up / like a raisin in the sun?" compares the put-off dream to a hard little dry raisin that is no longer enjoyable or even edible.  It was once probably sweet and tasty.  Then he asks, "Or [does it] fester like a sore -- / And then run?" comparing the dream to an open wound that has putrefied and begun to ooze pus.  So, this wound is something that could have been taken care of, but instead of healing, it has become infected and painful.  Next, he asks if the deferred dream "stink[s] like rotten meat?"  Again, something that could have been nutritious and delicious has become unusable, a nuisance, something that everyone in its vicinity is aware of because the smell is so grotesque.  Finally, he asks if the dream "crust[s] and sugar[s] over -- / like a syrupy sweet?"  Here, he compares the dream to something that might once have been tasty and choice but has become kind of sickening over time.

In the final simile, he suggests that the dream "sags / like a heavy load."  This means the dream would weigh one down rather than lift one up.  The dream, put off or to the side, is not an inspiration, the way we typically think of dreams, but a burden to bear.  Finally, in the only metaphor of the poem, the speaker suggests that the dream deferred will "explode," like a bomb.  In this comparison, the dream does damage and affects everyone with a violent force.  If a person, then, is forced to ignore their dreams, or if they are constantly told that their dream cannot be achieved just now, they are eventually going to get angry, and that anger could boil over in such a way that their dream can no longer be ignored.  Because the poem is called "Harlem" and because the poet is African American, many people interpret the dream, here, as the dream of racial equality in America, although it could apply to many different dreams.

What general observations about the society that Faulkner depicts can be made after reading "A Rose for Emily"?

The first general observation we can make is that there were distinct gender roles in this society. Miss Emily, as a southern woman, is expected to be generally passive and to fulfill her destiny by marrying a man who can support her. She is expected first to be taken care of, guided, and supported by her father and then by a husband. Her remaining single is considered an eccentricity or failure. Another part of her...

The first general observation we can make is that there were distinct gender roles in this society. Miss Emily, as a southern woman, is expected to be generally passive and to fulfill her destiny by marrying a man who can support her. She is expected first to be taken care of, guided, and supported by her father and then by a husband. Her remaining single is considered an eccentricity or failure. Another part of her gender role involves physical attractiveness, viewed as a sort of female obligation, which she displays as a young woman and then loses after she is jilted. 

Next, we see strong elements of racial segregation. Blacks appear in the story only as servants. As well as racial segregation, we see strong class distinctions, in which certain roles and behaviors are considered class-appropriate and social interactions are restricted by class.

Finally, we see a South that is changing rapidly, with Miss Emily (and Colonel Sartoris) representing the Old South and Homer and the aldermen belonging to "the next generation, with its more modern ideas," representing the New South.

Name the following compounds: |

The names of these compounds are:

a) 4,4-dimethylhexanoic acid and,

b) Propyl heptanoate

Lets discuss how we name these compounds. The very first step is the identification of the functional group in any given compound. In the case of compound (a), the functional group -COO- is the carboxyl group and hence it is a carboxylic acid. For the naming of carboxylic acids, all the carbons including the carbon in the functional group is counted and...

The names of these compounds are:

a) 4,4-dimethylhexanoic acid and,

b) Propyl heptanoate

Lets discuss how we name these compounds. The very first step is the identification of the functional group in any given compound. In the case of compound (a), the functional group -COO- is the carboxyl group and hence it is a carboxylic acid. For the naming of carboxylic acids, all the carbons including the carbon in the functional group is counted and a suffix of "-oic acid" is used. Here, we can see that two methyl (-CH3) groups are attached to the carboxylic acid at carbon number 4 (counting from the carboxyl group) and hence the use of 4,4-dimethyl. There are 6 carbon atoms on the main chain, and hence the name hexanoic acid. Together, the compound is named 4,4-dimethylhexanoic acid. 

For compound (b), one can easily identify that the form of the compound is R-COO-R', which is the form of esters. These compounds are formed by the reaction between a carboxylic acid and an alcohol. The compounds are named by placing the name of the alkyl group (propyl, in this case) further away from the carbonyl group first and then the name of alkane group on the side of carbonyl group (including the carbonyl group). The alkane group's name is augmented with "-oate". And hence the name of compound (b) is propyl heptanoate. 

Hope this helps. 

Describe the events that lead to the hanging of the dead albatross around the mariner's neck.

The "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge is an embedded narrative. The "present" of the poem is a wedding party at which one of the wedding guests is stopped by the "ancient mariner" (an old sailor) of the title. The sailor recounts the story of a past voyage during which his ship was blown off course towards Antarctica. 

During this voyage, the mariner's ship is trapped in the ice and the sailors...

The "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge is an embedded narrative. The "present" of the poem is a wedding party at which one of the wedding guests is stopped by the "ancient mariner" (an old sailor) of the title. The sailor recounts the story of a past voyage during which his ship was blown off course towards Antarctica. 

During this voyage, the mariner's ship is trapped in the ice and the sailors are in great danger from the ice. While they are so trapped, an albatross, traditionally believed to be a sign of good luck, visits the ship. The sailors see this bird as a good omen and feed it. The ship is freed from the ice and begins to sail north. The albatross continues to follow the boat north and the sailors see it as the cause of favorable winds. The ancient mariner, though, in an act of random violence, shoots the albatross with his crossbow, bringing bad luck to the ship and its crew. As a result:

Instead of the cross, the Albatross

About my neck was hung [by fellow sailors].

This is done to punish him for killing the bird that had brought the ship good luck.

In Thanatopsis, how does the speaker present death in a positive way?

"Thanatopsis" is presented as an elegy, a type of poem that starts with a melancholy tone but ends in a more uplifting way.  There are several key shifts in tone in the poem that indicate the speaker views death more positively.

The first shift occurs at lines 31-33 when the speaker states, "Yet not to thine eternal resting-place / Shalt thou retire alone, nor couldest thou wish / Couch more magnificent."  While the previous section...

"Thanatopsis" is presented as an elegy, a type of poem that starts with a melancholy tone but ends in a more uplifting way.  There are several key shifts in tone in the poem that indicate the speaker views death more positively.

The first shift occurs at lines 31-33 when the speaker states, "Yet not to thine eternal resting-place / Shalt thou retire alone, nor couldest thou wish / Couch more magnificent."  While the previous section speaks about the approach of death and how death is the great equalizer, taking both poor and rich, young and old, popular or not, this shift begins to comfort the audience about how our destinies are tied together with those who have gone before us.  The speaker states that we will be buried "With patriarchs of the infant world,--with kings, / The powerful of the earth,--the wise, the good, / Fair forms and hoary seers of ages past" (34-36).  So it does not matter our station or position on this earth alive, we will all be equal in death.  

The second shift occurs at the end of the poem when the speaker tells the audience:

So live, that when thy summons comes to join

The innumerable caravan which moves

To that mysterious realm...

                                       approach thy grave

Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch

About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams. (73-81)

The speaker's advice is to live our lives, not waiting to die, but living instead.  We should not worry about our position in life or who we have in our lives because we have so much waiting for us in death.  He also suggests that Nature will be our guide and our comfort, both in life and death. 

What is the climax of the play The Diary of Anne Frank?

The play The Diary of Anne Frankwas written by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hacket. It does a good job of establishing the serious mood of hiding from the Nazis for 25 months of Anne's young life. The conflict, then, is person vs. society as Anne's goal is to survive World War II without being sent to a Nazi concentration camp. Every event builds upon the question of if the Franks, the Van Daans, and...

The play The Diary of Anne Frank was written by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hacket. It does a good job of establishing the serious mood of hiding from the Nazis for 25 months of Anne's young life. The conflict, then, is person vs. society as Anne's goal is to survive World War II without being sent to a Nazi concentration camp. Every event builds upon the question of if the Franks, the Van Daans, and Mr. Dussel will come off conquerors by not getting caught. They must walk around in socks, not use the bathroom, and not talk during the day while people work downstairs. They suffer hunger, fatigue, and bickering amongst themselves, but the climax centers around the families getting captured by the Nazis because it was their ultimate goal to avoid this. Therefore, the climax is when the Nazis show up, pound on the door, yell orders, and ultimately capture the families hiding in the secret annex.

Right before the Nazis enter the annex, Mr. Frank says, "For the past two years we have lived in fear. Now we can live in hope" (Act IV). Anne writes one last passage in her diary, as follows:

"And so it seems our stay here is over. They are waiting for us now. They've allowed us five minutes to get our things. We can each take a bag of whatever it will hold of clothing. Nothing else. So, dear Diary, that means I must leave you behind. Goodbye for a while" (Act V).

The resolution to the play comes in Act V as Mr. Frank, Miep, and Mr. Kraler remember their time in the secret annex and those they have lost in the Nazi concentration camps. Of course the play ends with Anne's voice saying, "In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart."