Notes: January 2015

Saturday, January 31, 2015

I have to make a brochure for a school project. What topic should I write about?

In general, a brochure advertises a specific type of product or service. The more familiar you are with the product or service, the easier it will be for you to create a brochure that communicates well with potential customers.

One subject to choose might be a service that you or one of your siblings might actually offer such as babysitting or lawn mowing. Because this is something you do yourself, you can speak from knowledge...

What services you provide

Prices

Testimonials from clients

Why you are the best choice

Photos (perhaps before and after lawns)

Details about the task

Another easy type of brochure would be one for a restaurant or pizza place, which might include testimonials, address, contact information, hours, a map of delivery areas, and a menu. In general, small local retail outlets make good subjects as it is fairly obvious what information customers would want to know.

Friday, January 30, 2015

In The Outsiders, why was Ponyboy upset with Cherry? Explain Cherry’s rationale of Bob’s behavior.

In Chapter 8, after Ponyboy and Two-Bit come back from visiting Johnny and Dally at the hospital, they run into Cherry Valance sitting in her Corvette near a vacant lot. Cherry tells Ponyboy that the Socs will fight fair without weapons and that Randy will not be showing up to fight. Cherry asks, "How's Johnny?" and Pony tells her that he's not doing so good. Ponyboy gets upset with Cherry for telling him she wouldn't visit Johnny in the hospital. Cherry claims that she couldn't look at Johnny because he was the person who killed her boyfriend. She explains to Ponyboy that Bob was a really nice person who was sweet and friendly. Cherry blames Bob's actions on alcohol and says, "when he got drunk...it was that part of him that beat up Johnny" (Hinton 128). Ponyboy understands that Cherry was attracted to Bob's good side, but is still upset that she won't see Johnny. He mentions that it's not Johnny's fault that Bob was a drunk and that Cherry only went for guys who caused trouble. Ponyboy then tells Cherry that he doesn't want her to see Johnny anyway. He calls her a traitor and says,

"Do you think your spying for us makes up for that fact that you're sitting there in a Corvette while my brother drops out of school to get a job? Don't you ever feel sorry for us. Don't you ever try to give us handouts." (Hinton 129)

Ponyboy feels that Cherry pities them, and that is the only reason she is helping. Pony is prideful and would rather have someone's hate than their sympathy. Cherry explains that she wasn't trying to show them sympathy, but was only trying to help because she thought Pony was a nice kid. Ponyboy realizes that Cherry is telling him the truth and is honestly trying to help them as a friend. The two share a connection after Ponyboy asks whether she can see the sunsets good from the West Side. Cherry says, "Real good" and Ponyboy tells her he can also see sunsets from the East Side real good.

What are the character traits of Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet ?

Tybalt, of course, is Juliet's cousin, which makes him the sworn enemy of Romeo, a Montague who is about his age. Tybalt is hot-headed and fiercely protective of his honor and that of the Capulet clan. He is constantly looking for a fight. We first see evidence of this in Scene I, when he enters the fray that is already occurring between some of his kinsmen and two Montagues. When Benvolio, a Montague, tells Tybalt...

What, drawn, and talk of peace? I hate the word
As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee.
Have at thee, coward!

This quote summarizes Tybalt's personality fairly well. Later, when he recognizes a masked Romeo at Capulet's ball, he wants to kill him, and is only restrained by Capulet himself. His anger and quick-tempered nature are his undoing when he is killed by Romeo after fighting and killing Mercutio (with whom he protests that he has no quarrel) in the streets. Tybalt is the embodiment of the long-standing hatred and violence that existed between the two feuding houses.

What important literary devices are used in chapter 8 of Great Expectations?

Important literary devices in chapter 8 include satire, shifting the narrative point of view and foreshadowing.

In the opening portion of the chapter, Pip stays with his Uncle Pumblechook. This section satirizes, or makes fun of, the way the shopkeepers, including Pumblechook watch other people work, rather than work themselves:

Mr. Pumblechook appeared to conduct his business by looking across the street at the saddler, who appeared to transact his business by keeping his eye...

Important literary devices in chapter 8 include satire, shifting the narrative point of view and foreshadowing.

Mr. Pumblechook appeared to conduct his business by looking across the street at the saddler, who appeared to transact his business by keeping his eye on the coachmaker, who appeared to get on in life by putting his hands in his pockets and contemplating the baker, who in his turn folded his arms and stared at the grocer, who stood at his door and yawned at the chemist.

This section also satirizes the insensitivity of Uncle Pumblechook, who eats a fine breakfast himself while the hungry Pip is given a piece of bread with a tiny bit of milk. Pumblechook then quizzes Pip on math before he can even get a bite of food into his mouth. Dickens disliked the kind of petty cruelties that children were subjected to by people like Pumblechook:

I was hungry, but before I had swallowed a morsel, he began a running sum that lasted all through the breakfast. "Seven?" "And four?" "And eight?" "And six?" "And two?" "And ten?" And so on. And after each figure was disposed of, it was as much as I could do to get a bite or a sup, before the next came; while he sat at his ease guessing nothing, and eating bacon and hot roll, in (if I may be allowed the expression) a gorging and gormandizing manner.

At Miss Havisham's, Dickens is famous for moving back and forth between narrating the scene through the child Pip's eyes as he moves closer and closer to Miss Havisham and the older Pip's mature reflection on the scene. The younger Pip sees, "She had not quite finished dressing, for she had but one shoe on,—the other was on the table near her hand,—her veil was but half arranged, her watch and chain were not put on, and some lace for her bosom lay with those trinkets" while the adult Pip thinks back and writes, "It was not in the first few moments that I saw all these things, though I saw more of them in the first moments than might be supposed."

Finally, as Estella is called in to play cards with Pip, foreshadowing occurs: Miss Havisham tells Estella to break Pip's heart, and she also tells Estella to "beggar him" at cards. Estella will break Pip's heart and beggar him.

What, according to chapter 6 of The Great Gatsby, is the major rumor about Jay Gatsby's past and present associations?

There isn't one particular rumor that stands out regarding Jay Gatsby. There are actually a number of them, the most persistent being that he was living in a houseboat and secretly traveling up and down the Long Island shore. Most of the gossip revolved around his notoriety—that he was, in some way or another, connected to the criminal underworld. Another rumor which was also making the rounds was that he was attached to what was dubbed an "underground line to Canada"—probably some or other smuggling operation.

These stories obviously interested the tabloids, and one reporter, keen to make a name for himself, responded to one such rumor and approached Gatsby, who dismissed him without providing any detail. Jay, however, did not seem much bothered by the rumors and apparently actually enjoyed them.

When Tom and Daisy attended one of Jay's parties, Tom hinted at what he believed was Jay's involvement with crime:

“Who is this Gatsby anyhow?” demanded Tom suddenly. “Some big bootlegger?”

“Where’d you hear that?” I inquired.

“I didn’t hear it. I imagined it. A lot of these newly rich people are just big bootleggers, you know.”

Nick came to Jay's defense and Daisy later did the same after Tom suggested that he was going to investigate Jay's activities. She mentioned that he had made his money by starting a chain of drug stores. We learn throughout the novel that Jay definitely had criminal connections, the most obvious being Meyer Wolfsheim, who had, according to Jay, fixed the 1919 World Series.

When Nick later confronts Wolfsheim after Jay's death, he takes much pride in acknowledging that he had been Jay's mentor and had started him in business.

“I raised him up out of nothing, right out of the gutter. I saw right away he was a fine-appearing, gentlemanly young man, and when he told me he was at Oggsford I knew I could use him good. I got him to join up in the American Legion and he used to stand high there. Right off he did some work for a client of mine up to Albany. We were so thick like that in everything.'—he held up two bulbous fingers—'always together.'”

It is, therefore, ironic that Wolfsheim does not want to attend Jay's funeral since he had been the one responsible, in part, for his success. He disassociated himself from Jay, probably fearing that he would be scrutinized if their relationship were discovered.

Further irony lies in the fact that although Jay Gatsby had built up such notoriety, his death is not the result of a criminal act on his part, but of another. He is murdered by the vengeful Mr. Wilson, while the real perpetrator, Daisy Buchanan, escapes without even a blemish to her name.

Thursday, January 29, 2015

How does Harper Lee uses the symbol of the mockingbird to communicate meaning and theme?

In Chapter 10 of To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem and Scout are practicing with their air-rifles, and Atticus, their father, tells them to shoot cans instead of practicing on birds. However, if they have to shoot birds, he tells them to shoot bluejays, but says that "it's a sin to shoot mockingbirds." Scout is confused about what Atticus means, and she asks Miss Maudie, who says:

“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird" (page 93; page numbers vary by edition).

Miss Maudie means that mockingbirds are the essence of innocence. They don't prey on anything, and their main purpose is to create beautiful music for people to enjoy. Miss Maudie reiterates that it's wrong to kill anything so innocent.

The mockingbird is a symbol for characters in the book. For example, Boo Radley is a harmless man who largely isolates himself inside his house. The townspeople, including initially Jem and Scout, believe he is creepy and perhaps evil, but in reality, he is harmless and entirely innocent. In that way, he is similar to a mockingbird. Tom Robinson, the African-American man who Atticus defends against charges of rape, is also innocent. He is only targeted because of his race, while in reality, he is an honest, well-meaning man. He is also like a mockingbird, and the theme of the book is that it is sinful to target such innocent people simply because they are in weak positions in society, much as the mockingbird is an easy target for shooting.

According to Montresor, what makes the perfect crime?

For Montresor, the perfect crime -- or, more specifically, the perfect revenge -- requires that the avenger not get caught. He says, "I must not only punish but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong." In other words, he must punish his enemy, Fortunato, in such a way that he cannot be caught and punished in return for it because when the revenge actually ends up hurting the person who's already been wounded, and thus needed to seek revenge, revenge has not actually be accomplished. Further, he says the revenge is also incomplete when the one seeking revenge does not make it known to his victim that the revenge is punishment from him for some earlier slight. So, the victim must understand who is injuring him or the revenge doesn't really count.

Where did Julie spend her childhood in Julie of the Wolves?

This is not really a fair question because Julie is still technically a child throughout the entire book. In fact, Julie is forced into an arranged marriage once she turns thirteen and experiences all of her adventures with the wolves during this same year. However, because of the way your question is worded, I assume you mean Julie's very early childhood. Therefore, Julie spends most of her childhood in or near the Alaskan village of Mekoryuk.

...

Before Julie is four years old, she has both of her parents to care for her. Her father has a "regular" job in Mekoryuk village, and the family is fairly happy. After Julie turns four, her mother dies. This changes everything. In his grief, Julie's father, Kapugen, abandons all of their material goods and moves them to a "seal camp" near Mekoryuk in a "little house of driftwood, not far from the beach." It is here, near Mekoryuk at the seal camp that Julie's life is "infinitely good" because she is learning the "old ways" of the Eskimos in harmony with nature.

Julie's idyllic life with her father is cut short when Aunt Martha appears. Martha complains that Julie should be in school. Therefore, Julie is taken back into the village of Mekoryuk to live with her aunt. Although Julie enjoys school, she is unhappy with the care of her stern Aunt Martha. Therefore, when the opportunity arises to escape that situation through an arranged marriage (when Julie turns thirteen), Julie feels compelled to choose that route.

In Saki's "The Open Window," please describe the author's tone and purpose behind 4 details from the text.

The first important detail is the fact that Mr. Framton Nuttel is suffering from a nervous condition and is visiting the country in an effort to become healthy. The tone suggests that people should treat him delicately because he is sensitive to stress. The author's purpose behind this detail is to create a sense of empathy for Nuttel as he nervously meets new people.

Next, after introducing Vera, the narrator says that she first confirms with...

Next, after introducing Vera, the narrator says that she first confirms with Mr. Nuttel that he doesn't know anyone in the area, and then waits for them to be completely alone before divulging the tragic events that allegedly fell upon the house three years earlier. The tone for this detail seems secretive and deceptive. The purpose is to create an atmosphere for telling secrets in a confidential way. If Nuttel feels as if Vera is telling him a secret, he will be less likely to ask the aunt about the truth of it.

Another very important detail is the fact that the large French widow is open in October. Without this open in October, there would be no mystery from which to derive a tragic story. The tone behind the detail is ambiguous, yet creepy. The author's purpose behind the open window is to create a specific, concrete image for Nuttel (and the reader) to focus on as Vera tells the horrific story. The window changes from a mere inanimate object, to a symbolic gateway for tragedy and possibly ghosts.

Finally, the detail about the song lyrics, "Bertie, why do you bound?" signals to Nuttel and the reader that Ronnie is coming. Because he sings those words when he comes home from hunting, the tone behind this detail is ironic, eerie and spooky. The purpose is to help validate Vera's story and the possibility that ghosts exist. It is a major factor behind Nuttel believing the story as well.

What are some examples of situational irony in Part 1 of To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee?

There are two examples of situational irony in part 1 of To Kill a Mockingbird. The first is Scout's teacher's reaction when she realizes the extent of Scout's education. The second is Atticus's ability to shoot a rabid dog.

Situational irony occurs when there is a major difference between what a reader expects and what actually happens. It is usually based on a contradiction between expectation and reality.

Miss Caroline is a teacher at Scout's school. She asks Scout to read the alphabet and then asks her to read through a series of texts. When Scout is able to, Miss Caroline is not pleased. Scout says, "she discovered that I was literate and looked at me with more than faint distaste. Miss Caroline told me to tell my father not to teach me any more, it would interfere with my reading." Scout argues that her father didn't teach her; Miss Caroline refuses to believe her and repeats the order.

This is situational irony because a reader would expect a teacher to celebrate a pupil's ability to read well. Instead, Scout's teacher is unhappy that she is able to read and instructs her to try to learn less at home. She says that Atticus, Scout's father, doesn't know how to teach.

Another example of situational irony occurs in chapter 10, which opens with Scout explaining how feeble her father is. She says that he is old at nearly 50, never interested in playing football, and wears glasses because he is almost blind in his left eye. This sets up the idea that Atticus is not capable of physical pursuits.

Scout goes on to say that Atticus wouldn't teach Jem or Scout to shoot, leaving it to their Uncle Jack. So it is a surprise when Atticus is the one to shoot Tim Johnson, a local dog who went rabid. Heck is preparing to shoot and at the last second insists that Atticus take the shot. He does, and he kills the dog with one shot. Scout and Jem later find out that Atticus used to be nicknamed Ol' One-Shot for his marksmanship skills.

This is situational irony because Atticus is set up to look like a physically weak person with bad eyesight and no experience with guns. In reality, however, he chooses not to shoot and is still excellent with a firearm after not shooting one for thirty years.

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

How can an unbalanced force can cause an object’s motion to change?

An unbalanced force is one which is not balanced or counteracted by another force of equal magnitude and opposite direction. In absence of a counteracting force, this force causes motion (from rest) or a change in motion (of an already moving body) of an object. For example, a ball at rest, perhaps sitting in the grass, has two forces acting on it: Earth's gravity pulling it down and the normal force pushing it up. These two forces counteract each other. Due to these balanced forces, the ball stays at rest. When we hit the ball with a golf club, a force has been imparted to the ball and friction will help to stop the ball (by opposing the motion). How far and in which direction the ball will go depends on which force is stronger. Thus, the ball will experience an acceleration. An unbalanced force causes a change in the state of motion of an object by accelerating it. Note that deceleration (by say, friction) is also acceleration, with a negative value.

In general, an unbalanced force can cause a change in the state of motion, speed and/or direction of an object.

Hope this helps.

What were the social and political consequences of the Vietnam War?

The Vietnam War was a very unpopular foreign venture that dramatically changed the political and social landscape of the United States. Some basic political changes that resulted as a result of the war was the introduction of an all-volunteer military and the lowering of the voting age to 18. The government abolished the draft for the practical reason that it would be easier to commit troops to foreign lands if they had volunteered for service versus making citizens serve. The draft was never really popular in the history of the United States, and this disdain reached new heights during the war in Indochina. Lowering the draft age from 21 to 18 was done through a Constitutional amendment (26th) because many believed if 20-year-olds could die for their country, they should have some say in who its leaders would be.

The war also brought a great distrust of the government and its leaders. This is especially true of the Democratic Party that escalated the war. The party lost the White House in 1968 and would only hold the presidency for four years in the next quarter of a century. This war undermined promising social programs instituted by Presidents Kennedy and Johnson and dramatically hurt the U.S. economy. It can also be stated that the Vietnam War slowed the momentum of the Civil Rights and Women's Rights movements.

The Vietnam War also brought a wave of counter-culture activity amongst the youth. Hippies, as they were called, resisted government, political, and parental influences and sometimes lived in communes together. Many turned to illicit drug usage. College campuses were disrupted by organized protests and sit-ins and started to lean even further to the left politically. Also, the War brought over 125,000 new immigrants to the United States in the form of Vietnamese political refugees. Finally, the war was the first "televised" conflict in the history of the United States, if not the entire world. The public was updated with video images from the front line, on an almost nightly basis. In this way, many people were disillusioned about warfare and could better understand its brutal consequences.

What are the differences between President Lincoln's reconstruction plan and the reconstruction plan of Congress known as the Wade-Davis Bill?

Both President Lincoln and Congress presented a plan for Reconstruction before the war ended. President Lincoln believed the President should be directing the reconstruction process. There were some differences between the two plans.

President Lincoln’s plan was known as the Ten Percent Plan. It required that 10% of the voters of a state had to agree to be loyal to the United States. Then the state could develop a new constitution that banned slavery. The Wade-Davis Bill required over 50% of the voters of a state to agree to be loyal to the United States. The only people who could be involved in writing the new state constitutions were white males who indicated they had not fought against the Union. President Lincoln’s plan didn’t address this issue. President Lincoln’s plan also offered forgiveness, or amnesty, to white southerners who promised to be loyal to the United States. However, this offer of amnesty didn’t apply to the leaders of the Confederacy. The Wade-Davis Bill had to be signed by President Lincoln in order for it to go into effect. However, he vetoed the Wade-Davis Bill.

Both President Lincoln and Congress had reconstruction plans before the Civil War ended.

What must occur before the pollination of an angiosperm can happen?

A flower is the reproductive organ of an angiosperm. The anatomy of a flower contains both male and female parts. Pollen is the male reproductive cell of a flower. Pollen is contained in the anther of a flower. An anther is located on top a stalk called a filament. In order to fertilization of the plant to occur, pollen must be transferred from the anther to the female part of a flower called the stigma. ...

Before pollution can occur, pollen needs to be made. The pollen grains of an angiosperm are produced within the pollen sacs of an anther. Each sac contains a special chamber in which microspore mother cells are located. These microspore mother cells undergo meiosis. As a result, four haploid microspores are formed. It is from these microspores that pollen grains develop after subsequent mitotic divisions. There is a generative cell that is located in each pollen grain. It is this generative cell that will divide into sperm cells.

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

In 1984, describe the scene from the war film that Winston recounts.

In 1984, Winston goes to see a war film characterized by graphic violence. He writes about it in his journal in great detail. In one scene, a ship of refugees is being bombed and a fat man, trying to escape, is chased by a helicopter and shot "full of holes," while the sea around him turns pink. Winston records the audience "shouting with laugher" as the man sinks.

Winston then recounts a scene in...

Winston then recounts a scene in which a mother on the same refuge ship under attack tries to protect her screaming three-year-old boy from the helicopter. The helicopter bombs her and the child, and Winston describes "a wonderful shot of a child's arm going right up in the air." Winston notes that in the Party member section of the theater, many people cheer at this sight, but that a female prole has to be dragged out for protesting that they shouldn't show such a scene in front of children.

Winston's journal account of the film shows how callous and dehumanized people, especially Party members, have become, taught to applaud graphic violence and to channel their aggressions into watching innocent people suffer.

What is Lord Capulet's reaction when Juliet says she will marry Paris?

Lord Capulet is a father who demands to exercise his right to marry off his daughter to whomever he pleases. By law, Lord Capulet owns his family and may dispose of anyone in any manner he sees fit. At the end of Act III, Juliet is told that she must marry Paris on Thursday--just a couple of days away. She panics and asks for more time, but this only infuriates her father who threatens to kick her to the streets if she doesn't marry Paris. Since Juliet is already married to Romeo who is banished, she seeks help from Friar Laurence. The Friar devises a plan to get Juliet out of marrying Paris, but she must pretend that she is now willing to marry him. Hence, Juliet goes back to her father and says that she repents of her disobedience and will be ruled by him now. Capulet's first response is to send for Paris and move the wedding date up, as shown in the following passage:

"Send for the County; go tell him of this.

I'll have this knot knit up tomorrow morning" (IV.ii.22-23).

Lord Capulet must not want to give Juliet time to change her mind about marrying Paris, so moving the wedding to the next morning becomes his solution. Lord Capulet is happy that he seems to be getting what he wants and he even appreciates the Friar for (seemingly) setting his daughter straight. Lord Capulet tells his wife that he will not sleep this night because he will take care of everything for the wedding celebration. Capulet is so happy he also says, "My heart is wondrous light,/Since this same wayward girl is so reclaim'd" (IV.ii.46-47).

Monday, January 26, 2015

In some country the average annual growth rate of GDP was 5% in each of the first 42 years, and in each of the next 35 years was 6%. By how much...

Hello!

If a constant annual growth rate `p%` of GDP is known, the rule of 70 gives an approximation of how many years `n` it will take to double GDP. Specifically,

`n approx 70/p.`

As you understand, actually `(1+p/100)^n=2,` take `ln` of both sides and obtain `n ln(1+p/100)=ln2,` or `n=(ln2)/ln(1+p/100).` For small `p`'s it is approximately `(ln2)/((p/100))=(100 ln2)/p approx 70/p.`

In our problem, `p_1=5%,` so GDP will double after about `70/5=14` years. It will double...

Hello!

If a constant annual growth rate `p%` of GDP is known, the rule of 70 gives an approximation of how many years `n` it will take to double GDP. Specifically,

`n approx 70/p.`

In our problem, `p_1=5%,` so GDP will double after about `70/5=14` years. It will double `42/14=3` times, i.e. will be multiplied by `2*2*2=8.`

After that, `p_2=6%` and GDP will double after about `70/6=35/3` years. Thus GDP will double `35/((35/3))=3` times and will be also multiplied by `8.`

The combined growth will be `8*8` = 64 times (using the 70 rule). Actually it will be `(1+5/100)^42*(1+6/100)^35 approx` 60 times.

And putting this in terms of percents we get growth by 64 times equals:

`(64-1)*100% =` 6300%.

Or growth by 60 times is 5900%

How is Okonkwo's downfall caused, in part, by circumstances beyond his control?

In Chinua Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart, the protagonist Okonkwo experiences a fall from grace caused, in part, by his own means. However, there are factors that contribute to his downfall that are completely beyond his control: namely, imperialism, or colonialism.

During the context of the novel, Nigerians are for the first time interacting with white people. This historical period was characterized by white people going into non-European cultures and appropriating their land, resources, people, and culture. Europeans acted in an ethnocentric manner, meaning they believed that their way of life was inherently superior to all others; this affected their perspectives on others' religions, traditions, cultural norms and mores, relationships, political structures, economies, and more.

In part, Okonkwo's downfall is directly related to the rise of white imperialism, which he was powerless to prevent and was directly affected by.

Sunday, January 25, 2015

What is a summary of Chapter 4 of The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck?

Chapter 4 takes place on Holy Saturday, the day between Good Friday and Easter. Almost all of the chapter takes place at the grocery store, where Ethan has a series of conversations with other people:

his wife Mary, before he leaves for work

Stonewall Jackson Smith, the cop

Joey Morphy, who works at the bank next door

Margie Young-Hunt, who flirts with him

Mr. Baker, the banker

Marullo, Ethan's boss

the salesman who has already offered Ethan a bribe

and Mary, his wife, again, this time on the phone

This is not counting the long speech that Ethan gives to the groceries when no one else is around.

In each of these conversations, we see foreshadowing of the transformation that Ethan is preparing to go through. For example, with Stonewall Jackson and with Joey Morphy, Ethan discusses a bank robbery (something he will later attempt). To Stonewall Jackson, Ethan also mentions his childhood friend Danny Taylor, now a pitiful drunk, whom Ethan will later betray in order to get his family's land. In talking to the groceries, Ethan discusses how people can mentally prepare themselves to do things they know are wrong, how his ancestors got their money through piracy (rationalized as patriotism), and how all money, if you keep it long enough, becomes respectable. When talking to the salesman who earlier tried to bribe him, Ethan still turns him down, but this time with words ambiguous enough to make the man think he is actually bargaining for a bigger kickback.

Ethan begins the chapter talking about his Aunt Deborah, who instilled in him a fresh and immediate belief in Jesus' death and resurrection. He also recalls a time when he mentally consulted his grandfather, the Cap'n, for strength to do something difficult, and the Cap'n gave it to him. This is the person that Ethan has been until now: reverent, upright, willing to do the hard thing even though it may not benefit him, and filled with love and respect for his older relatives and the morals they taught him.

But in the rest of the chapter, we see him laying the groundwork so that he can become a very different person: deceptive, conniving, willing to use other people in order to get himself some money and status in the world. He is ready to learn not from his upright ancestors, but from the cynical Joey, the corrupt Baker, and the salesman. He will become like them and beat them at their own game.

The perceptive Margie notices that Ethan doesn't "seem like the same man. ... What caused it?" Ethan responds, "Maybe I'm sick of being a grocery clerk."

In the first chapter of The Hobbit, when Gandalf is talking to Bilbo, has Bilbo asked to go on an adventure?

Bilbo gets excited about Gandalf’s previous adventures, and Gandalf interprets that as Bilbo asking to take him on an adventure.

Respectable hobbits do not go on adventures. The Shire frowns upon anything exciting, and doesn’t approve of Gandalf because he has taken a few especially adventurous hobbits out adventuring. The Baggins family does not go on adventures, but the Took side has. Gandalf is relying on the Took side of Bilbo to get him going.

...

Bilbo gets excited about Gandalf’s previous adventures, and Gandalf interprets that as Bilbo asking to take him on an adventure.

In this exchange, Gandalf is being playful and creative in order to get Bilbo to go on the adventure with the dwarves. He twists his words so that Bilbo gets very confused and frustrated. Basically, Gandalf takes advantage of the fact that Bilbo is trying very hard to be polite. He gets him all muddled.

“ …Indeed for your old grandfather Took's sake, and for the sake of poor Belladonna, I will give you what you asked for."

"I beg your pardon, I haven't asked for anything!"

"Yes, you have! Twice now. My pardon. I give it you. In fact I will go so far as to send you on this adventure.” (Ch. 1)

When Gandalf says that Bilbo asked to go an adventure, he is taking a few liberties with the conversation. Bilbo did get a little excited to hear Gandalf’s name, because he has heard stories of some fun adventures. He starts to say that life used to be interesting.

"Not the Gandalf who was responsible for so many quiet lads and lasses going off into the Blue for mad adventures. Anything from climbing trees to visiting Elves or sailing in ships, sailing to other shores! Bless me, life used to be quite inter- …” (Ch. 1)

Gandalf turns his words back on him, and tells him that he will give him what he asked for—an adventure. Bilbo never asked for it outright, but Gandalf thinks from his reaction to the wizard’s name that he will be ready for one. Gandalf won’t take no for an answer. He will figure out how to get Bilbo there one way or another.

Discuss Bois Sauvage from Salvage the Bones and its deprivations--the poverty, unemployment and housing. How does the area shape the people,...

Bois Sauvage is a fictional town on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and the setting of the novel Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward. The name of the town means wild or untamed woods and signifies the way in which life in the area is harsh and differs from that of wealthier parts of the United States. The novel is set in 2005, during the preparation for and arrival of Hurricane Katrina, the event that inspired Ward to write the story.

The first type of deprivation that affects the characters of the story is lack of access to medical care. Mama bears her children at home with no medical assistance and eventually dies in childbirth. Daddy is an alcoholic with no access to counselling or rehabilitation, and when he injures his hand lacks proper follow-up care. Esch is 15 years old, has been sexually active since she was 12, and seems to be following her mother's path in lacking access to sexual education, birth control, and prenatal care. She also has not been taught that she is in control of her own body and free to make her own choices; instead she allows herself to be sexually molested:

“And it was easier to let him keep on touching me than ask him to stop, easier to let him inside than to push him away, easier than hearing him ask me, "Why not?" It was easier to keep quiet and take it than to give him an answer.”

The children's opportunities are limited by their poverty. As a pregnant teen, Esch is unlikely to complete her schooling and find a good job. Randall cannot afford the basketball camp that might lead to a college scholarship.

On the other hand, the youngsters form close bonds with each other, and develop considerable initiative in foraging for food and preparing for disaster. They collaborate to take care of the dog China and her puppies. The community is close knit, with people helping each other as much as they can.

What is the meaning of lines 10 and 11 in "The Old Woman's Message" by Kumalau Tawali?

To answer this question, let's take a look at the whole stanza:

Let them keep the price of their labor [10] / but their eyes are mine. [11] / I have little breath left [12] / to wait for them. [13] / I am returning to childhood. [14]

Line 10 refers to what the old woman's sons do for a living. She acknowledges the importance of her sons' labors; however, she isn't interested in monetary considerations...

To answer this question, let's take a look at the whole stanza:

Let them keep the price of their labor [10] / but their eyes are mine. [11] / I have little breath left [12] / to wait for them. [13] / I am returning to childhood. [14]

Line 10 refers to what the old woman's sons do for a living. She acknowledges the importance of her sons' labors; however, she isn't interested in monetary considerations for herself ("price of their labor"). All she desires is to see her sons before she dies. Now, line 11 is interesting. We can interpret this in one of two ways. The sons have their mother's eyes, both as a hereditary trait and in a symbolic way. If we want to be technical about it, the mother's chromosomes are directly responsible for the eyes her sons use in their labor; therefore, those eyes "belong" to her at this juncture of her life when she needs them. In some religions, the eye is the seat of wisdom, knowledge, and conscience. Therefore, in all good conscience, the sons' eyes must "lead" them back to their mother in her time of need if they are to perform their filial duty.

The mother has little time left on earth. She is reverting to childhood, where she must be taken care of instead of being the one to provide care. The poem suggests that the sons are not accustomed to taking on the role of caretakers, as their mother has never needed them to fulfill this role until now. Taken in this light, the old woman's words become significant in their poignant appeal. Hope this helps!

Saturday, January 24, 2015

What are some examples of allusion in Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury?

An allusion is when an author makes a reference to an outside source that the reader might know about. Allusions can be historical, mythical, political, etc. This helps the reader make a mental connection from the outside world to a message that the author wants to send. In Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, many different types of allusions can be found. One allusion that Captain Beatty uses is about the Pierian spring, which is known as a fountain...

"A little learning is a dangerous thing. Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring; There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, and drinking largely sobers us again" (106).

The above passage shows Beatty making an allusion to Pope, who makes an allusion to the Pierian spring. If readers follow the line of thinking in the quote, then they will understand the connection between the spring of knowledge and what is going on with Montag in the story.

Another allusion is when Captain Beatty reacts to Montag returning to the firehouse after taking a day or two off to explore books. Beatty says, "Well... the crisis is past and all is well, the sheep returns to the fold. We're all sheep who have strayed at times" (105). When Beatty mentions sheep, he is alluding to the Bible and the parable that mentions returning a sheep to its fold. Readers who know this would make the connection that Beatty sees Montag as a sheep returning to his fold—the firemen at the firehouse.

One final example of an allusion is the one Granger mentions about a phoenix. The city Montag escapes from is blown up by an atomic bomb. Granger hopes humanity will recover from this catastrophe like a phoenix who is reborn from the ashes of fire. Granger explains as follows:

"There was a silly damn bird called a phoenix back before Christ, every few hundred years he built a pyre and burnt himself up. . . But every time he burnt himself up he sprang out of the ashes, he got himself born all over again. And it looks like we're doing the same thing" (163).

After an atomic bomb levels the city, that city is probably smoldering with coals and ashes. This helps to provide a mental image for the reader about what Montag and the other men see in the aftermath. The allusion to the phoenix also gives readers hope that maybe humanity will be reborn and be able to rebuild a better society than what Montag lived in.

Why is chapter 17 of Bud Not Buddy so important?

It is amazing to me that chapter 17 can be described as important. It is an important chapter, but it always shocks me how important it can be with how very little stuff actually happens in the chapter. The story starts off with Bud cleaning tables and mopping floors. He turns it into a sort of game in order for the work to not be monotonous. The members slowly file in and begin to play their instruments in an informal jam session. They are all impressed with Bud's hard work, and Bud is equally impressed by their playing. That's it. That's the entire chapter.

But lack of action doesn't mean a text can't be pivotal. Chapter 17 is important because it marks a change in attitudes for Bud and Herman. Until chapter 17, Bud has never really experienced music before. He's so mesmerized by it that he can't find the words to express himself. The chapter is important because it transforms many of Bud's preconceived notions about music and Herman. Additionally, the chapter transforms how the band views Bud.

How does Poe add tension to "The Pit and the Pendulum?" Use text examples to support your analysis.

One way that Poe is able to build tension in the "Pit in the Pendulum" is by making the narrator of the story the victim and protagonist of the story. It's written in first person, so the reader only knows as much as the narrator. Sadly, the narrator, and by consequence the reader, knows very little. The vagueness and absence of detail is done by having the narrator swooning in and out of a stable state of mind. For example, one minute he sees candles, the next he sees angels, and then everything fades out again.

And then my vision fell upon the seven tall candles upon the table. At first they wore the aspect of charity, and seemed white slender angels who would save me; but then, all at once, there came a most deadly nausea over my spirit, and I felt every fibre in my frame thrill as if I had touched the wire of a galvanic battery, while the angel forms became meaningless spectres, with heads of flame, and I saw that from them there would be no help.

Soon after he passes out. When he finally awakes, he's in a new, unfamiliar location. Have you ever woken up in a new, unfamiliar place? I have, and there is always that moment of panic that rises up inside of me. Then my brain catches up. For the reader, that is what Poe has done by having the narrator wake up in a new location. To make matters worse, the darkness is so complete that it feels tight and oppressive.

At length, with a wild desperation at heart, I quickly unclosed my eyes. My worst thoughts, then, were confirmed. The blackness of eternal night encompassed me. I struggled for breath. The intensity of the darkness seemed to oppress and stifle me. The atmosphere was intolerably close.

I went down into the Carlsbad caverns a few years ago. The tour guide shut off all of the lights at one point. Even though I knew where I was and that the lights were going to come back on in a minute or so, it was still very creepy. The darkness was so complete, that it felt hard to breathe. That's what Poe describes in the above lines of text. The darkness creates tension, because deep down, people are afraid of the dark.

Poe also uses repetition to create tension in the story. He repeats certain words or phrases to build tension in the reader. The best example, I believe, is when the pendulum is working its way down to the narrator.

Down—steadily down it crept. . . Down—certainly, relentlessly down! . . . Down—still unceasingly—still inevitably down!

Every time I read this story, I feel myself beginning to read faster and faster as Poe repeats the downward movement of the pendulum. Part of my brain is always screaming "just get there already!" so that I can know what happens. Poe narrates inches of movement over paragraphs of space, and the tension just builds and builds, because Poe doesn't immediately answer the reader's main question. "Will he live or die?" That sense of unknown is a huge tension builder and Poe is a master at crafting it.

Friday, January 23, 2015

What is annexation? |

Webster’s Dictionary defines “annexation” as “The act of annexing; process of attaching, adding, or appending; the act of connecting; union; as, the annexation of Texas to the United States, or of chattels to the freehold.”

(The language is a bit outdated in this particular definition with the use of “chattels” and “freehold” - terms and subjects with which students today may not be familiar - so focus on the example of Texas being annexed to...

Since the definition uses the word “annexing”, it is also necessary to look up its base verb, “annex”, which is defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary in this way: “To add (an area or region) to a country, state, etc. : to take control of (a territory or place).”

The answer to the question, therefore, should be something similar to the following:

“Annexation is the act of annexing, or adding, an area or region to the territory of an existing national or political unit. A good example would be when Texas, a region of Mexico, was annexed to the United States, a different national unit, in 1845."

How does the blind man, Robert, give "Bub," the sighted narrator, new vision and new perspective in Carver's "Cathedral"? Describe "Bub's"...

Robert provides the narrator with a "new vision" by uniting with him in the drawing of a cathedral, an act in which they closed their eyes and moved their hands together, connecting in spirit to one another.

Before Robert arrives the narrator is a man who is discontent. He is dissatisfied with his job, socially awkward, lacking in religious faith, without friends and without children. Most of all, he is unable to communicate with his wife with the openness and intimacy that the blind man can, and he is envious of the man's connection with his wife. "It was beyond my understanding" he remarks.
Truly, there is a certain sarcasm to the narrator. For instance, when he first meets Robert, the narrator jokes about the blind man's eyes, saying that one eye made an effort to keep in one place, but the other eye "was on the roam without his knowing it or wanting it to be." For the most part, however, the narrator spares Robert from his sarcasm; instead, he sits passively and listens. That is, until his wife falls asleep, and then the narrator is left to entertain Robert himself.

The two men begin to drink, and then Robert agrees to "smoke some dope" with the narrator. As the night progresses, there is little on the television, so the narrator watches a program about cathedrals. This sparks the blind man Robert to ask the narrator if he is religious, and he tells Robert, "I guess I don't believe in...anything." Then, as the program continues, Robert asks the narrator to describe a cathedral. But, the narrator refuses, "It just isn't in me to do it." Still, Robert insists, so the narrator goes to his wife's room and finds some pens; he goes to the kitchen and finds a shopping bag. When he returns, the men sit on the floor and Robert puts his hand over the narrator's in an encouraging manner.
While the narrator draws, he taps into something he has not felt before: his artistic/spiritual side. At first, he draws a box, but then he elaborates by sketching a roof, flying buttresses, and great doors. About this time, the narrator's wife wakes up and asks what they are doing. Robert replies, "We're drawing a cathedral." He tells the narrator to close his eyes, and he does.

"Keep them that way," he said...."Don't stop now. Draw."
So we kept on with it. His fingers rode my fingers as my hand went over the paper. It was like nothing else in my life up to now.

The man who does not believe in anything, the narrator, finally finds something to believe in. His spiritual experience with Robert is "like nothing else" he has ever felt. Finally, the narrator connects with the spirit of another; he is in communion with Robert.

What influence does the time of day have upon the way the meeting in chapter 5 goes?

In chapter 4, the hunters, led by Jack, have killed a pig at last, but in doing so, they have neglected the signal fire, allowing it to go out just when a ship passed within sight of the island, thereby ruining their chance of rescue. Ralph is furious, but he is also "envious and resentful" of the attention Jack receives for killing the pig. He proclaims they must have a meeting, "even if we have to go on into the dark." This statement foreshadows that the meeting may not go well. In fact, having a meeting in the dark turns out to be counter-productive and sets up the first major crisis of leadership Ralph experiences.

The meeting starts out with Ralph forcefully laying down rules about labor, cleanliness, and keeping the fire going. About these things Ralph allows no discussion, and he squelches any laughter or opposition. However, by the time the topic of fear comes up, "what sunlight reached them was level," in other words, it is nearly sunset. This is the worst possible time of day to begin talking about fear, to the littluns especially. As Piggy is giving his big speech denying the validity of fear, "the sun had gone as if the light had been turned off."

Now, in the dark, a littlun comes forward and describes his recent nightmare and something he saw moving in the trees. That turns out to have been Simon, but then Percival comes forward. He begins to cry, and his sorrow is contagious, spreading to other littluns. Finally, Percival suggests the beast comes up from the sea, and "in a moment the platform was full of arguing, gesticulating shadows."

Then the subject of ghosts is brought up. Ralph states, "We ought to have left all this for daylight." The wind picks up, adding to the eerie atmosphere. Ralph admits he was wrong "to call this assembly so late," but instead of postponing the discussion until the morning, he takes a vote on ghosts, asking the question the worst possible way. Ralph has to strain into the darkness to see that many hands are raised in response to, "Who thinks there may be ghosts?"

Jack uses the cover of darkness to empower his rebellion against Ralph and the rules. In the bright sunshine, when things were more reasonable and controlled, he may not have dared opposing Ralph so directly, but with the children shuddering in fear and Ralph not providing proper leadership, Jack cries, "Bullocks to the rules!" and leads all the boys but Ralph, Piggy, and Simon away in a "discursive and random scatter."

This leads Ralph to lose confidence, and he laments, "I ought to give up being chief. Hear 'em." The entire meeting may have turned out much differently if it had been held in daylight. The darkness allowed the boys' fear to run amok and encouraged Jack to rebel against the rules and Ralph.

Thursday, January 22, 2015

How is color significant in The Giver? What is the true meaning of color?

What's your favorite color? As a matter of fact, what's your favorite movie or TV show? These are questions unknown to the people in The Giver because they don't have these things. People use these questions to get to know another person better; but in Jonas's world, they live under Sameness, a philosophy that eliminates preference. When people have preferences then they act like individuals rather than parts to a communal whole. The whole premise behind the way the community is structured is if preferences are gone, then people will focus more on the success of the community's goals rather than living life for individual dreams or aspirations.

When Jonas receives memories from the Giver, he is also able to discern between colors. He asks the Giver why everyone can't see colors and the response is as follows:

"Our people made that choice, the choice to go to Sameness. . . We relinquished color when we relinquished sunshine and did away with differences. . . We gained control of many things. But we had to let others go" (95).

From the answer Jonas receives, to the other clues from the text, it seems that color is significant because it leads to people desiring preference. Once people have preferences, then they see that there is a choice; and when they discover the power that comes with making one's own choices, they'll want to choose other things, such as their jobs, families, and dreams. For example, Jonas catches glimpses of Fiona's hair color--red. If he could differentiate between her hair color and another girl's hair, he could start to prefer Fiona to another girl. As a result, he might be tempted to stop taking the pills each day that suppress sensual feelings as well. If everyone in the community preferred one person over another, then people would want to choose their spouses and that's not what the community wants. The community wants to be able to control family units without emotional ties so the ebb and flow of the community will always support Sameness and not individuality.

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

What would be a good title for chapter 4 in Lois Lowry's The Giver?

When determining what to call a chapter with no name, consider the themes found therein. What happens to the characters in this chapter? Is there anything in the chapter that moves the plot forward? Is anything revealed that was not known to the characters or the reader before this point in the book? Chapter 4 in Lowry's The Giver shows Jonas volunteering at the House of the Old along with his friends Fiona and Asher. The reader is informed of the following aspects of their community: First, Elevens need to have finished a certain number of service hours before the Ceremony of Twelve in order to receive an assignment; there are also rules about not looking at other people's nakedness and bragging; and, as Jonas bathes the old woman Larissa, they discuss that morning's Ceremony of Release for Roberto. Jonas and Larissa discuss his release as follows:

"'What happens when they make the actual release? Where exactly did Roberto go?'

She lifted her bare wet shoulders in a small shrug. 'I don't know. I don't think anybody does, except the committee. He just bowed to all of us and then walked, like they all do, through the special door in the Releasing Room'" (32).

The above passage reveals that people don't know that Release means death. Jonas learns later that people who are released actually get injected with a drug that kills them. But for the purpose of creating suspense and mystery, this information cannot be divulged in the title of the chapter.

Possible chapter titles for chapter 4 might be:

The House of the Old

Bathing Larissa at the House of the Old

Service Hours at the House of the Old

Learning about a Ceremony of Release

Jonas Learns about the Ceremony of Release

Jonas Meets Larissa

Which symbols are used to represent different Bohr's orbit?

In an atom the nucleus is made of particles known as protons and neutrons, electrons orbit around the nucleus.

Bohr proposed a model in which the electrons had discrete values of energy, as a result of which they could only orbit in circular orbits at a particular distance from the nucleus. When electrons in an atom were excited they could absorb energy in certain fixed quantities to move to the next orbit. The amount of energy was not continuous but discrete in nature. Bohr only suggested the principal quantum number that was later denoted n and could have values represented by the numbers 1,2,3,4... or the letters K,L,M,N,O,P.

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

How was Soapy planning to cope with winter?

Soapy has obviously had years of experience surviving as a homeless man in New York. He sleeps on a park bench which, because of his seniority and dignity, is considered reserved for him by the other homeless men who sleep in Washington Square. But Soapy cannot sleep outdoors in the winter. The temperature at night can fall below zero, and many homeless people freeze to death in the New York winters. Soapy intends to do what he has done regularly in winters past. He will get himself arrested and sentenced to three months in jail on Riker's Island.

The hibernatorial ambitions of Soapy were not of the highest. In them there were no considerations of Mediterranean cruises, of soporific Southern skies drifting in the Vesuvian Bay. Three months on the Island was what his soul craved. Three months of assured board and bed and congenial company, safe from Boreas and bluecoats, seemed to Soapy the essence of things desirable.

O. Henry treats Soapy's situation with characteristic humor. This way of dealing with a serious or even tragic subject in a humorous fashion was originated by Charles Dickens, who had started his literary career as a humorist with his Pickwick Papers. O. Henry was undoubtedly inspired by the great Charles Dickens, whose humorous treatment of the plight of Ebeneezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol is an excellent example of Dickens' style. The humor seems to have the intended effect of assuring readers that the problem may be extremely serious but that things will come out all right in the end.

Soapy's situation is very serious. As O. Henry illustrates it in graphic terms:

On the previous night three Sabbath newspapers, distributed beneath his coat, about his ankles and over his lap, had failed to repulse the cold as he slept on his bench near the spurting fountain in the ancient square. So the Island loomed big and timely in Soapy's mind.

Abandoned newspapers are plentiful and cost nothing. They make excellent insulation, and many homeless men will pack multiple pages under their vests and coats, under their sleeves, down the back of their trousers and all along their trouser-legs for protection during the night. If they sleep outdoors they will use more newspapers in place of blankets. But even with three big Sunday editions of the newspaper insulating and blanketing him, Soapy still feels the bite of winter. He has a life-or-death problem to solve--but O. Henry makes it seem funny and makes Soapy himself seem funny.

O. Henry creates characters to fit his stories. Soapy is a bum, but he is obviously descended from a higher station in life. He has middle-class tastes, middle-class dignity, and a middle-class vocabulary. He tries very hard to get arrested for vandalism, disorderly conduct, petty theft, vagrancy, loitering, and every misdemeanor he can think of. His uncanny failure to get arrested for the first time in many winters, along with the favorite old church anthem he happens to hear during his wanderings about Manhattan, create an epiphany.

An instantaneous and strong impulse moved him to battle with his desperate fate. He would pull himself out of the mire; he would make a man of himself again; he would conquer the evil that had taken possession of him. There was time; he was comparatively young yet; he would resurrect his old eager ambitions and pursue them without faltering. Those solemn but sweet organ notes had set up a revolution in him.

But, ironically, it is just at this moment that a uniformed cop finally takes some notice of him. Soapy is led away to jail, and the next morning he is sentenced to three months on Riker's Island--just what he had wanted in the first place. The moral of O. Henry's story might be derived from the moral Nathaniel Hawthorne invented for his excellent story "Wakefield."

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.

What imagery is present in Old Major's song about Utopia and is this imagery effective in persuading Old Major's audience? Explain why.

In the first chapter of Animal Farm, Old Major gathers the animals in the barn and gives a rousing speech on equality and the tyranny of man. As part of this speech, he teaches the animals a song called "The Beasts of England" which is immediately popular with his listeners because of a number of strong and provocative images.

Firstly, the song has a strong image of a "golden future time;" a future in...

Firstly, the song has a strong image of a "golden future time;" a future in which man has been replaced as the ruler of the world. Instead, animals from all parts of the country, including Ireland, are united and free to roam the land. This image of a "golden" era is reinforced by words like "fruitful" and "riches" which emphasise the abundance of produce available to the animals, once Man has been overthrown. This imagery works so well because it is reminiscent of the animal's heaven, a place called Sugarcandy Mountain, which is first mentioned in Chapter Two.

Secondly, this song uses images of cruelty which are contrasted against ideals of freedom. This is best expressed in the third verse of the song which talks of the removal of rings from the animal's noses and the end of cracking whips. Given the circumstances of life under Mr Jones, the animals recognise and identify with these powerful images of animal cruelty, as soon as they hear the words. In the minds of the animals, then, this image comes to represent their plight and is effective because it gives them hope that Mr. Jones' rule will soon come to an end.

Monday, January 19, 2015

How does Prince Prospero invite death into his home in the story "The Masque of the Red Death"?

The Prince invites death into his home simply by virtue of his being mortal. Further, his proud belief that he can somehow render himself invulnerable to death is even greater reason for death to enter his home and take him.

When the prince retires to the abbey with one thousand of his healthiest and most amusing lords and ladies, he stocks the residence with enough supplies to last as long as necessary. "The abbey was amply provisioned. With such precautions the courtiers might bid defiance to contagion." Thus, despite the fact that "no pestilence had ever been so fatal," the prince and his friends believe that they can hold themselves apart, that their fortune and position entitle them to life when half of the kingdom has already perished of this disease. The prince, especially, is incredibly proud and arrogant, and people who believe that they can escape death are always wrong. His pride makes him a ready target for death's attentions because death always wins, and it does not care about one's position or wealth.

How does Jem’s perception of Boo Radley change over the first seven chapters of To Kill a Mockingbird?

Jem's curiosity regarding Boo Radley increases and leads to increasingly bold actions. As you may remember, Jem and Scout are initially quite frightened of Boo Radley and the Radley house. They make sure they walk extra fast when passing the house. However, especially from chapter 4 onward you start to see a change in Jem's behavior, which is spurred on in part by Dill's enthusiasm and by the fact that Jem is getting older and thinks he must be braver in his behavior. Instead of being frightened of Boo, he decides he wants to meet him. In chapter 4 the kids start playing a game called Boo Radley, which shows their increasing fascination with the mystery surrounding the Radleys. In chapter 5 Jem and Dill try to leave a note for Boo, inviting him out for ice cream. Atticus accuses the boys of tormenting Boo and tells them to leave Boo alone. Jem disobeys, however, and in chapter 6 he sneaks towards the Radley house to peek through the shutters, but gets scared when a shotgun is fired. What these actions show is that for Jem, Boo Radley is changing from a frightful monster into a fascinating person who Jem wants to meet.

What's the difference of who draws the slip of paper with the black spot in the two rounds of the lottery, in significance to the outcome of the...

This is an interesting and unusual question, assuming you mean, "What difference would the outcome of the story have if somebody other than Tessie Hutchinson ended up with the black spot?" Everyone participating in the lottery--something like three hundred people--stands a chance of getting stoned to death at the end. This would include children, even little Davie Hutchinson, who is only about two.

The author herself must have given a lot of thought to selecting...

The author herself must have given a lot of thought to selecting the victim, since it was she and not the lottery that did the real selecting. Shirley Jackson must have decided that the victim should be a woman, since the story seems to allude to the incident recorded in the New Testament in which a woman was going to be stoned to death for adultery under the archaic law of Moses. The victim should be articulate and put up a lot of vocal resistance. Some victims--little Davie, for instance--might just stand there and get stoned to death by everyone, including Tessie and her husband, without a protest. His father Bill Hutchinson would undoubtedly be stoical and just let himself be bombarded until he fell to the ground. As your question seems to intimate, the outcome would not really be very different. Someone would die and the others would go on living for another year. This is what happens in real life anyway. Some people die and the others go on living.

It would be interesting to see how Old Man Warner would react if he drew the black spot. He is strongly in favor of preserving the good old traditional lottery, but he might have a sudden insight if he got the black spot. He might start telling the crowd it was time to abandon this old superstition and follow the example of some of the other more enlightened neighboring towns. In Old Man Warner's case, there would probably be only one round of drawings, because he probably lives alone and he and his household are one and the same. In fact, he might use that as a defense, saying everybody else got two chances and he got only one.

The outcome would be very important to the person who got the black spot, but it would have little significance for most of the other members of the community.

How does the family's house reveal that the Hoodhoods are not as perfect as Mr. Hoodhood would like people to believe?

Holling's father, Mr. Hoodhood, wants to project the image of perfection to his community. He wants to be the perfect architect, have the perfect family, and of course, have the perfect house. Holling even refers to his home as "Perfect House."

But the Hoodhood family isn't perfect, and neither is the house. Every little thing that goes wrong with the house makes Mr. Hooodhood mad. But, as Holling points out, nothing makes his father madder...

The Hoodhood's living room ceiling acts as a symbol for the problems within the family. In the "February" chapter, the ceiling that Mr. Hoodhood had just "fixed" comes crashing down. Afterwards, the entire family looks at the destruction:

All four of us stood in the hall, the sickly smell of mold in our nostrils.

The failure of the ceiling to stay fixed mirrors the cracks that are also beginning to develop within the family—especially in the relationship between Mr. Hoodhood and Holling's sister, which is beginning to strain. Like the ceiling, we can guess that soon the relationship will break—and perhaps will prove to be even more difficult to repair than the ceiling.

Read more about the significance of the family's house to the novel .

I need help with a thesis statement comparing Aksionov in The Long Exile to Andy in The Shawshank Redemption.

"The Long Exile" is a short story by Leo Tolstoy. It was published in 2008 as part of the collection of short stories in the book The Long Exile, and Other Short Stories. Comparatively, The Shawshank Redemption is a 1994 movie adaptation of a novella, by Stephen King, titled Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption.

I feel it would be counterproductive to simply provide you with a thesis statement. However, I can provide you with...

I feel it would be counterproductive to simply provide you with a thesis statement. However, I can provide you with similarities and contrasts to help you grasp a good pathway to such a statement.

Both stories involve the lengthy incarceration of a wrongly accused innocent man. Does that injustice, or the subsequent imprisonment, prevent either from trying to live a meaningful life?

Both men come face-to-face with the reality of the circumstances that truly occurred and led to their being found guilty and sentenced to a life of incarceration. Does the truth set them free?

One prisoner uses the information that clears him to try and obtain legal freedom. However, in the end, he dies anyway. By contrast, the other is denied the ability to use the discovery of the truth to free himself. Instead, he becomes a true criminal to find the ability to be free.

Are circumstances always as they seem? Is truth always the pathway to justice? Can we escape destiny? Does it limit a person's abilities to positively influence others when we restrict their ability to interact with people?

What are ten characteristics which could be attributed to Doodle and his brother and five characteristics of the ibis in the short story "The...

James Hurst's short story "The Scarlet Ibis" is about two brothers growing up in coastal North Carolina in the first part of the 20th century. The narrator, who is never named, is six years older than his brother Doodle. Doodle is born with physical problems and at first the family believes he may die. Although he doesn't, he is physically challenged and doesn't learn to walk until he is five. The ibis, which dies in...

The narrator could be considered active because he is a young boy who loves more than anything to run, swim and box. He's adventurous as he loves to explore the swamps around the family farm. He's confident in himself and, despite serious obstacles, is able to teach Doodle how to walk. He is at first independent and doesn't like taking Doodle with him on his adventures. He could definitely be considered masculine and he often clashes with his more sensitive brother. He's also sometimes mean and cruel:

There is within me (and with sadness I have watched it in others) a knot of cruelty borne by the stream of love, much as our blood sometimes bears the seed of our destruction, and at times I was mean to Doodle.

He is prideful and cannot accept that his brother will be different and maybe even laughed at by other boys at school. So, he is determined to make Doodle as physically fit as he is. He is also impulsive as he lets his pride get the best of him when he runs away from Doodle in the rainstorm. In the end, the reader may also assume that the narrator is loving and ultimately regretful at losing Doodle.

Doodle's chief characteristics include sensitivity and fragility. He is physically challenged and often not able to keep up with his brother. He is sensitive about things, as when his brother shows him his coffin. He could be considered submissive to his brother and wants, more than anything, to please him.

Doodle also shows a very imaginative mind. He makes up fantasy stories. Within these stories he displays a wishful mentality. While, he is barely able to walk, the heroes in his stories can fly. This wishful thinking might also show a level of optimism on Doodle's part. He is extremely caring and devoted to his brother. He shows these same traits when he buries the dead ibis and sings a hymn at the bird's grave. Doodle is ultimately out of place. He does not fit into the hard, active world of his brother. He is too soft and fragile. It's not surprising that the rare and fragile ibis is a symbol for the boy.

The ibis is, above all, beautiful and delicate with its scarlet feathers and long neck. The narrator describes the bird:

Its long, graceful neck jerked twice into an S, then straightened out, and the bird was still. A white veil came over the eyes and the long white beak unhinged. Its legs were crossed and its clawlike feet were delicately curved at rest. Even death did not mar its grace, for it lay on the earth like a broken vase of red flowers, and we stood around it, awed by its exotic beauty.

The bird is rare in this part of North Carolina, having traveled many miles from its home in the tropics. Like Doodle, it is out of place in an environment it is not used to. Also, like Doodle, it is fragile. It cannot handle its long, physically taxing journey and dies not soon after it's discovered in the bleeding tree. Doodle, of course, also dies after pushing his body to the limit chasing his brother in the rainstorm.

Are there any Romantic concepts in the final stanza of "Ode on a Grecian Urn?"

Romanticism, a literary movement spanning the years 1785 - 1830, emphasized the following: awe of nature, individualism, interest in the common man, imagination, and emotion. The final stanza of John Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn" portrays Romantic thought by incorporating the last three of these five.

The first lines of the stanza speak of the "marble men and maidens" that decorate the urn, and the fifth line of the stanza exclaims, "Cold Pastoral!" The...

The first lines of the stanza speak of the "marble men and maidens" that decorate the urn, and the fifth line of the stanza exclaims, "Cold Pastoral!" The figures on the urn for the most part are common people, those rustic men and women that would be celebrated in a "pastoral" poem, that is, one that focuses on a rural countryside.

The entire poem, but certainly this stanza, emphasizes the imagination. Seeing the figures and scenes depicted on the urn can "tease us out of thought as doth eternity." That is, it captures our imagination to an extent that we can never exhaust all the thoughts it inspires. At the end of the stanza, the poet imagines the urn speaking to the observer, and he imagines future ages past this one when the urn will continue to speak to people.

The exclamations in the stanza convey emotion: "Oh Attic shape! Fair attitude!" and "Cold Pastoral!" The urn has provoked an emotional response in the poet. The poet takes emotional comfort from the fact that the urn will live on, even as people age and generations pass on to "other woe." The last two lines of the poem are an emotional, rather than rational, statement. To say that "beauty is truth, truth beauty" is all one knows or needs to know is another way of saying that reason is not necessary--as long as one is convinced emotionally of the relationship between truth and beauty.

By emphasizing the common man, imagination, and emotion, the final stanza of "Ode on a Grecian Urn" reflects tenets of Romanticism.

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Why did the narrator want Doodle to walk in "The Scarlet lbis"?

Once the narrator, Brother, learns that his physically deformed brother, Doodle, is not mentally disabled, he begins to challenge Doodle to walk and be “normal.” Brother admits it is because of his pride that he pushes Doodle to walk. He is not only embarrassed by Doodle’s disabilities, but he is also tired of hauling him around in a cart. Brother also wants someone to play with on the farm and in Old Woman’s Swamp.

Brother...

Brother says, “When Doodle was five years old, I was embarrassed at having a brother at that age who couldn’t walk, so I set out to teach him.” Once Brother accomplishes the task of teaching Doodle to walk, he cries when Doodle shows his parents. He says, “They didn’t know that I did it for myself, that pride, whose slave I was . . . and Doodle walked only because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother.”

It is Brother’s pride and embarrassment that Doodle is different than everyone else at school that leads him to teach Doodle not only to walk but also to climb ropes and run and jump. As an adult looking back on his childhood when the story begins, Brother admits that it is his pride and cruelty that eventually led to Doodle’s death.

Act ll:i What are three things Brutus and Cassius have disagreed upon so far?

Over the course of the conspirators' meeting in Act II, scene i, Brutus ends up supplanting Cassius as the leader of the conspirators. Their first disagreement occurs right at the beginning of the meeting. Cassius suggests to Brutus that the conspirators all make an oath to one another, but Brutus disagrees, saying that their motives and purpose for the conspiracy are strong enough to bind them together.

As the meeting continues, the conspirators, Cassius included,...

As the meeting continues, the conspirators, Cassius included, suggest bringing the persuasive orator Cicero into their conspiracy, in order to gain positive public opinion. Again, Brutus disagrees, saying Cicero "will never follow any thing / That other men begin."

The third disagreement comes to whether or not they will kill Antony. Cassius thinks this is the wisest course of actions, as Antony is a known supporter of Caesar and will likely cause trouble after the assassination. Brutus, however, fears their "course will seem too bloody" if they kill Antony as well. Brutus, haunted by the fact that he will soon be a murderer, is reluctant to get more blood on his hands, despite the fact that Cassius's plan is safer in the long run.

Saturday, January 17, 2015

In Night by Elie Wiesel, what is Elie's job at Buna?

After being processed at Birkenau and spending three weeks at Auschwitz, Nightauthor Elie Wiesel, his father, and other Jews from the camp are transported to yet another camp--Buna. Elie feels lucky when he gets into what is considered a good unit there. His job is to work in an electrical warehouse where he is responsible for sorting and counting electrical parts like bulbs and bolts as well as electrical fittings. For the most part...

After being processed at Birkenau and spending three weeks at Auschwitz, Night author Elie Wiesel, his father, and other Jews from the camp are transported to yet another camp--Buna. Elie feels lucky when he gets into what is considered a good unit there. His job is to work in an electrical warehouse where he is responsible for sorting and counting electrical parts like bulbs and bolts as well as electrical fittings. For the most part the workers are left alone to complete their tasks, but new friends Yossi and Tibi tell Elie to watch out for their Kapo Idek who is known to have fits of violence.

Even though the work Elie had to do was not difficult, all of the Jews were treated as slaves. They did not get to choose the work they did and were killed if they did not do it to the satisfaction of the Nazis. Elie felt lucky because so many others had to do the back breaking labor of digging trenches for graves or moving huge rocks from one place to another and other such strenuous work.

What are 3 messages that emerge from the story "Two Kinds"?

One theme in this story has to do with the American Dream. Jing-mei's mother wholeheartedly believes in the American Dream. She pushes her daughter to go out and grab it in any way possible. This story deals with the mother trying to motivate her daughter to become a piano prodigy. The task proves too arduous and forced for the narrator. This is in part because it is a hard instrument to master. But it is also born out of their strenuous relationship and the fact that they are immigrants in America. Beneath these relationships (mother/daughter, Chinese/American), lies the message that the American Dream is illusive and, for some, an illusion.

Jing-mei's mother has sacrificed her own dreams so that her daughter can thrive in the New World. Therefore, she feels a right to choose and push her daughter in the direction she sees fit. But in the process, Jing-mei becomes more independent. This results from her maturation but also from the influence of American culture which is more encouraging of individuality and even rebellion in young people. This creates a cultural conflict and shows how the immigrant experience is more complicated than one would think. This is another message. The immigrant experience is complex and conflicts can manifest in many ways.

At the end of the story, Jing-mei plays the song from her recital, "Pleading Child." She notices a song on the next page called "Perfectly Contented." She concludes, "And after I had played them both a few times, I realized they were two halves of the same song." This poetically encapsulates her conflicted relationship with her mother. She loves her mother but can only be happy if she is given the chance to be herself. The mother/daughter relationship has a dual nature here, an ongoing balance between love (the connection) and individuality (free will).

Describe the organizational structure of the story "There will come soft Rains". What effect does the structure of the text create on the story...

Bradbury uses a ticking clock and a voice calling out the time to count down the final moments and hours in the destruction of the dead family’s house. Like the nuclear bomb’s countdown to destroying the citizens in the story, the house that survived the nuclear blast is on limited time as well. Many paragraphs use the repetition of “tick tock” to signal the end is coming or near. This repetition builds suspense and panic...

This pattern does stop twice in the story. When Bradbury describes the dog outside trying to get in and when the house is in its final throes of the fire destroying it, the clock seems to temporarily stop. The dog and the house are the last two “living” things in the story. The house is “alive”, almost “motherly”, because of how it lovingly takes care of the family’s needs.

Bradbury achieves an effective mood in the story through repetition, suspense, and the mystery surrounding the whereabouts of the family.

What are the opinions of others about Mrs. Hutchinson?

Tessie Hutchinson is a well known and fully accepted member of the community. She seems to be on good terms with everybody until her husband Bill draws the slip with the black spot for the Hutchinson family. Then a change takes place in Tessie, and a comparable change takes place in the opinions and attitudes among her assembled friends and neighbors. Even her husband's attitude changes towards her when she starts making an embarrassing scene and threatening to disrupt this age-old community ritual.

Suddenly. Tessie Hutchinson shouted to Mr. Summers. "You didn't give him time enough to take any paper he wanted. I saw you. It wasn't fair!"
"Be a good sport, Tessie." Mrs. Delacroix called, and Mrs. Graves said, "All of us took the same chance."
"Shut up, Tessie," Bill Hutchinson said.

From this point on Mrs. Hutchinson seems like an outsider even in her own community; and when it turns out that she has drawn the black spot, she seems like an outsider even to the members of her family. Little Davie Hutchinson has no idea what is going on, but the two older children are only thinking about themselves.

Mr. Graves opened the slip of paper [for little Davie] and there was a general sigh through the crowd as he held it up and everyone could see that it was blank. Nancy and Bill. Jr.. opened theirs at the same time. and both beamed and laughed. turning around to the crowd and holding their slips of paper above their heads.

Nancy and Bill, Jr. both beam and laugh, although they should realize that their escape narrows the chances down to their mother or father. What is happening to Tessie would presumably happen to any other member of the community if his or her prospects for drawing the black spot increased from one in about three hundred to one in five and then to one in two. Tessie has become a different person under the stress, and her friends and neighbors seem to see and hear a different person. Just as they see her as a different person, she sees all of them as different persons too. They are withdrawing from her while she continues to beg for their attention.

Tessie Hutchinson was in the center of a cleared space by now, and she held her hands out desperately as the villagers moved in on her. "It isn't fair," she said. A stone hit her on the side of the head.

Tessie has finally become a non-person. Nobody cares about her at all. She is just a target. They may wish she would stop making such a racket and just hold still. The narrator doesn't say what her family members are doing, but presumably they are all participating in the stoning--even little Davie, who has been given a few pebbles to throw at his mother.