Source 7 contradicts the common understanding of how the Holocaust happened. To what extent were Hitler and the Nazis responsible for the Holocaust?

If we are supposed to use this secondary source to shape our answer to this question, we should look at the last paragraph in the source.  This gives us a good, neat answer.  Hitler and the Nazis were responsible for the Holocaust in that it would never have happened without them.  However, they were not fully responsible for it because (according to Goldhagen, at least) many Germans were terribly anti-Semitic and were therefore happy to...

If we are supposed to use this secondary source to shape our answer to this question, we should look at the last paragraph in the source.  This gives us a good, neat answer.  Hitler and the Nazis were responsible for the Holocaust in that it would never have happened without them.  However, they were not fully responsible for it because (according to Goldhagen, at least) many Germans were terribly anti-Semitic and were therefore happy to help Hitler and the Nazis to achieve their evil goals.

At least according to this secondary source, the usual explanation for the Holocaust is that the Nazis were the only ones responsible.  Most Germans did not really know what was happening and those who did know were forced to accept it and even to help carry out the Holocaust.  This source contradicts this idea.  It tells us that Germans from all social strata participated in the Holocaust and that they did so willingly.  They knew that they did not have to kill Jews and yet they did so anyway because they hated the Jews.

Assuming that this is true, we can then say (as Goldhagen does in the last paragraph) that the Nazis are still mostly responsible for the Holocaust.  The German people might have been willing to help kill Jews, but there was no sign that they would have actually done so if Hitler had not come along.  Hitler and the Nazis, then, are responsible for the Holocaust because it was their idea.  They preached that it was necessary.  They created the organization that made it happen.  They encouraged people (even if they did not, according to Goldhagen, force them) to participate.  Without them, the Holocaust would never have happened.

Where can you find American idealism in the novel The Great Gatsby?

The green light at the end of Daisy's dock symbolizes American idealism, the belief in the American Dream: that one can have it all—the money, the house, the girl one loves—if one only works hard enough and believes it. When Nick first sees Gatsby, "[Gatsby] stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, [and] he was trembling. Involuntarily, [Nick] glanced seaward—and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far...

The green light at the end of Daisy's dock symbolizes American idealism, the belief in the American Dream: that one can have it all—the money, the house, the girl one loves—if one only works hard enough and believes it. When Nick first sees Gatsby, "[Gatsby] stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, [and] he was trembling. Involuntarily, [Nick] glanced seaward—and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away [...]." For a long time, this light is all Gatsby sees of Daisy, its visibility the only connection he has to her. And the fact that green is often associated with money—”and money is a vital part of both the American Dream and Gatsby's particular dream of winning her back—is likewise relevant.

Further, at the novel's end, Nick again considers "Gatsby's wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy's dock. He had come a long way [...], and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it." This line more explicitly links the light to Gatsby's, to many Americans', dreams of a better life, the best life they can imagine.

Moreover, Nick says, "Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter—to-morrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms father . . . . And one fine morning— So we beat on, boats against the current [...]." Despite the fact that the dream seems to get farther away from us each year, eluding us time and time again, we continue to chase the dream, continue to hope that some day we will catch it, just as Gatsby hoped. However, the implication is that we will never be able to catch it, and so our continued hope amounts to idealism only, not realism.

`1/3, 2/9, 4/27, 8/81` Write an expression for the apparent nth term of the sequence. (assume that n begins with 1)

Numerator contains powers of 2 starting with `2^0=1` while the denominator contains powers of 3 starting with `3^1=3.` Therefore, the `n`th term is

`a_n=2^(n-1)/3^n`                       

Numerator contains powers of 2 starting with `2^0=1` while the denominator contains powers of 3 starting with `3^1=3.` Therefore, the `n`th term is

`a_n=2^(n-1)/3^n`                       

How does Fredrick Douglass portray the Fourth of July?

This speech, given in 1852 by Frederick Douglass to the Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society in New York in commemoration of the Fourth of July, is one of the most powerful of all the abolitionist speeches. Essentially, Douglass uses the Fourth of July, when Americans celebrate their independence and their freedoms, to illustrate what he says is the "immeasurable distance" between enslaved people and the rest of Americans. He juxtaposes the ideals of America, celebrated on...

This speech, given in 1852 by Frederick Douglass to the Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society in New York in commemoration of the Fourth of July, is one of the most powerful of all the abolitionist speeches. Essentially, Douglass uses the Fourth of July, when Americans celebrate their independence and their freedoms, to illustrate what he says is the "immeasurable distance" between enslaved people and the rest of Americans. He juxtaposes the ideals of America, celebrated on the Fourth, with the reality of slavery. As a result, he says, to him the Fourth is not a reminder of American liberty, but a reminder of how his people are separated from this liberty:

What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim.

To the enslaved person, American boasts of liberty sound like "hollow mockery." Freedom is a "sham." Indeed, Douglass tells his audience, "[t]here is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices...more shocking and bloody, than are the people of the United States." So Douglass portrays the Fourth of July as a holiday that simply underlines the hypocrisy of a nation that, though espousing freedom, continues to allow the existence of an institution that is in every way the antithesis of freedom. 

Whose nickname was Pim? |

"Pim" was the nickname of Otto Heinrich Frank, father of Anne and Margot. Otto was born in Frankfurt am Main in 1889 and grew up to study ecomomics. After serving in the First World War, he worked in his family's bank, and married Edith Hollander in 1925. Together they had two daughters, Margot (born 1926) and Anne (born 1929).

In 1942, the Frank family went into hiding in Amsterdam to avoid capture and punishment by...

"Pim" was the nickname of Otto Heinrich Frank, father of Anne and Margot. Otto was born in Frankfurt am Main in 1889 and grew up to study ecomomics. After serving in the First World War, he worked in his family's bank, and married Edith Hollander in 1925. Together they had two daughters, Margot (born 1926) and Anne (born 1929).

In 1942, the Frank family went into hiding in Amsterdam to avoid capture and punishment by Nazi officials. During this time, Anne kept a diary, which Otto inherited after the war and had published.

In her diary, Anne referred to her father as "Pim," which is a Dutch nickname for people called Willem. Anne presumably gave her father this nickname to create some amount of anonymity or secrecy.

Please summarize "The Charge of the Light Brigade" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote "The Charge of the Light Brigade" on  December 2, 1854, and published it in the December 9, 1854 volume of The Examiner. The subject of the poem is a charge by a brigade of light cavalry (thus the "light brigade") during the Battle of Balaclava on 25 October 1854. The charge was actually due to a miscommunication, as light cavalry was completely unsuitable for a frontal assault on a heavily defended...

Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote "The Charge of the Light Brigade" on  December 2, 1854, and published it in the December 9, 1854 volume of The Examiner. The subject of the poem is a charge by a brigade of light cavalry (thus the "light brigade") during the Battle of Balaclava on 25 October 1854. The charge was actually due to a miscommunication, as light cavalry was completely unsuitable for a frontal assault on a heavily defended position. As might be expected, the brigade suffered very high casualties.

The poem consists of six stanzas with a dramatic rhythmic pattern that suggests the sound of hoof beats and the drama and intensity of the desperate charge of lightly armored horsemen straight into the awaiting canons. The poet describes the British charging the cannoneers with swords with great bravery, but both men and horses dying to the canon fire. The poem concludes with the retreat of the small number of British survivors. 

Perhaps the most scathing denunciation of the tactical mistake that commanded the light brigade is in these lines from the second stanza:

“Forward, the Light Brigade!”

Was there a man dismayed?

Not though the soldier knew

Someone had blundered.

What is the significance of the title the Lord of the Flies?

The literal Hebrew translation of the name Beelzebub is "The Lord of the Flies." Beelzebub is another name for the Devil, and William Golding's ominous title represents the wickedness that takes place on the abandoned island. One of Golding's themes throughout the novel deals with the aspect of evil. Golding suggests that humans are inherently evil throughout the novel, and the severed pig's head that Jack leaves as a sacrifice to the beast is...

The literal Hebrew translation of the name Beelzebub is "The Lord of the Flies." Beelzebub is another name for the Devil, and William Golding's ominous title represents the wickedness that takes place on the abandoned island. One of Golding's themes throughout the novel deals with the aspect of evil. Golding suggests that humans are inherently evil throughout the novel, and the severed pig's head that Jack leaves as a sacrifice to the beast is named "The Lord of the Flies." The Lord of the Flies speaks to Simon while he is hallucinating and essentially tells Simon that the "beast" is actually inside of each child. The idea of original sin is explored throughout the novel and correlates with the Biblical tale of the serpent, which is Satan, tempting Eve. According to Biblical tradition, humans have been born into sin ever since the fall of man. Golding analyzes and examines human behavior without societal restrictions. He suggests that man's evil instincts will thrive without boundaries. Satan, also known as The Lord of the Flies, encourages this wicked behavior throughout the novel.

Explain three reasons why the character B.B. Underwood in To Kill a Mockingbird posseses courage.

Braxton Bragg Underwood is one of the few minor characters in To Kill a Mockingbird who changes during the story. He was the chief editor of the Maycomb Tribune, making him an influential man throughout Maycomb. Scout observes, “He rarely gathered news. People brought it to him.”

At the time Tom Robinson is charged with raping Mayella Ewell, Mr. Underwood is racist. Atticus says at one point, “He despises Negroes. He won’t have one near him.”  Underwood has adopted the common social viewpoint. He has even taken it to more of an extreme. Other white members of Maycomb society may tolerate African Americans near them if they are servants or segregated to different areas of the store or bus, but Underwood doesn’t want  an African American anywhere in his vicinity, as if they are somehow disgusting or dangerous.

Nevertheless, Underwood learns that his attitudes and opinions are wrong.

His first courageous act reflecting this reformation occurs when he protects Atticus during the mob scene. Atticus knows the townspeople will come to lynch Tom Robinson, and so he stations himself outside the jailhouse door.  Scout eventually unknowingly diffuses the situation, but after the crowd is gone, we discover Underwood has been hiding across the street in an upper window, a gun cocked and ready to defend Atticus and Tom Robinson from the mob. “I had you covered all the time,” he tells Atticus. He was ready to stand against the town as well to defend a man that before he would not have wanted near him.

This is actually two brave acts in one. First, he is physically present against a mob to make sure Atticus and Tom Robinson are safe. However, he also reflects the same kind of courage Atticus has: he is standing against his friends and neighbors, risking their disrespect and even wrath. However, he chooses to stand for true justice, the kind that does not differentiate based on a person’s skin color.

After the prison guards kill Tom, Underwood uses his influence as a highly respected newspaper editor to pen a scathing editorial sure to anger the townspeople. Scout sums it up this way:

“Mr. Underwood simply figured it was a sin to kill cripples, be they standing, sitting, or escaping.  He likened Tom's death to the senseless slaughter of songbirds by hunters and children, and Maycomb felt he was trying to write an article poetical enough to be printed in The Montgomery Advertiser.” He did not care if he lost advertisers or money because of his opinion. He had the courage to speak the truth whether people wanted to hear it or not.

What's wrong with Piggy and Ralph's plan to confront Jack?

In Chapter 11 of Lord of the Flies, Piggy's glasses have been stolen, and Jack controls all the boys on the island except Ralph, Piggy, and Samneric. Piggy is in a desperate situation since his eyesight is so bad; he will be almost completely disabled now. Piggy and Ralph decide they must confront Jack with the immorality of what he has done. They plan to take the conch and call an assembly; they will try...

In Chapter 11 of Lord of the Flies, Piggy's glasses have been stolen, and Jack controls all the boys on the island except Ralph, Piggy, and Samneric. Piggy is in a desperate situation since his eyesight is so bad; he will be almost completely disabled now. Piggy and Ralph decide they must confront Jack with the immorality of what he has done. They plan to take the conch and call an assembly; they will try to reason with Jack through logic and appeals to "what's right." Ralph's idea is to make themselves look respectable--to wash and appear civilized. They want to draw a contrast, to display visually the superiority of civilization and rules to savagery and chaos. 

The error of this plan is that Jack and the boys who follow him have regressed beyond the point where morality and authority can influence them. They have formed a new society that no longer recognizes the rules that once bound them. Thus, although they come at the sound of the conch, they reject the order that it once represented to them. They have no sympathy for the terrified, disabled Piggy who kneels before them. When Ralph shouts, "Thief! Thief!" if produces anger from Jack, not remorse. Piggy's attempt at reasoning with them through rhetorical questions fails completely. Each time he presents the two alternatives, civilization or savagery, the boys respond by throwing rocks. They respond to negotiation and reason with violence. The reason Piggy and Ralph' plan does not work is that Jack's society has deteriorated to the point where normal arguments based on logic and morality cannot affect them anymore.

Compare the gooseberry garden and the lumber room.

Both the gooseberry garden and the lumber room are forbidden territory in “The Lumber Room” by Saki. Due to being “in disgrace” Nicholas is told he is not to enter the gooseberry garden. The garden surrounded by walls with a door at either end. Within those walls are natural delights such as artichokes and fruit bushes. The vegetation is thick and easy for a child to hide in. The aunt is sure Nicholas will attempt to access the garden, but he has another idea.

While the aunt is preoccupied with her gardening tasks, Nicholas gains access to the forbidden lumber room by using the hidden key. Much to Nicholas’ delight, the room is filled with mysterious objects. Much like the garden, the room has high walls, and its only source of light is a window that opens to the gooseberry garden. While in the lumber room, Nicholas examines a tapestry depicting a hunt scene that alludes to the image of his aunt who is on the hunt for him. As he moves through the room, he examines other curiosities stored away in the dark, dusty room.

In comparison, the gooseberry garden and the lumber room are similar in that they are both forbidden territory filled with delights. Both have high walls and limited access. One is filled with natural delights while the other is filled with material items that are valuable to the adults but off limits to the children. On this particular day, the gooseberry garden is restricted territory for Nicholas, the only child at home.  

Identify the narrative style of "The Yellow Wallpaper." What is the effect of this style of narrative in developing the main character? How does it...

Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote "The Yellow Wallpaper" in a narrative style known as epistolary fiction. This type of fiction unfolds via the writings of one or more characters. In this case, the main character, Jane, journals her thoughts while she is undergoing a "rest cure" for depression. Epistolary fiction creates a subjective point of view. In this story, we only know what Jane tells us, and because of her mental state, she is a highly...

Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote "The Yellow Wallpaper" in a narrative style known as epistolary fiction. This type of fiction unfolds via the writings of one or more characters. In this case, the main character, Jane, journals her thoughts while she is undergoing a "rest cure" for depression. Epistolary fiction creates a subjective point of view. In this story, we only know what Jane tells us, and because of her mental state, she is a highly unreliable narrator. The reader does not realize that at the beginning of the story, but it becomes clearer and clearer as the story develops. Epistolary fiction, because of its subjective perspective, is ideal for the genre of psychological realism. Gilman allows the reader to accompany her main character in her descent into insanity, but the reader must pay close attention and read between the lines because Jane does not understand everything that is happening to her.

For example, when Jane lapses into long-winded rants about the wallpaper, the reader begins to suspect that her perceptions are not normal. Jane obviously has too much time on her hands, which is causing her to perseverate. She moves from perseveration, to paranoia, to hallucinations, to severe psychosis, but she herself doesn't realize the extent of her worsening condition. It is up to the reader to take what Jane is saying and translate it into the world of normality, where it is seen to be completely unhealthy. The condition of the room and home as Jane describes it requires careful interpretation by the reader as well. Jane remarks that there are bars on the window, that the bed is nailed down, that the other furniture in the room has been removed at one point, and that there are teeth marks on the bed frame. These details could be seen to show that the family is concerned that Jane may commit suicide and that she is displaying highly abnormal behaviors. Near the end of the story Jane finally records that she has bitten off a piece of the bedpost; that makes the reader suspect that the other bite marks mentioned previously may have also been her doing.

The epistolary narrative style of this story allows us to sympathize with Jane and understand Jane better, but it also can hide some truths about her. Therefore, the reader must take everything Jane says with a grain of salt and read between the lines to extrapolate the truth about Jane as she becomes more and more mentally unstable.

What is the role of women in As For Me and My House?

As For Me and My Houseby Canadian author Sinclair Ross was first published in 1941 and reflects the position of women in Canadian society during the period just before the second world war. Set during the Great Depression, the novel is the story of the lives of Mrs. Bentley, the protagonist and viewpoint character, and her husband Philip, a minister of the United Church in a small town of Horizon. The title emphasizes the...

As For Me and My House by Canadian author Sinclair Ross was first published in 1941 and reflects the position of women in Canadian society during the period just before the second world war. Set during the Great Depression, the novel is the story of the lives of Mrs. Bentley, the protagonist and viewpoint character, and her husband Philip, a minister of the United Church in a small town of Horizon. The title emphasizes the way religion has become not so much a calling as a duty to the couple; it is taken from a Biblical passage: 

And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, ... but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:15)

This suggests that there is a religious rationale for both Mr. and Mrs. Bentley to suppress their own talents, interests, and desires in favor of serving the church. This is even more the case for Mrs. Bentley as she is doubly subordinated both to the church and the interests of her husband. She suggests that her marriage has deprived her of the opportunity to pursue her career in music:

Before I met him I had ambitions too ... But he came and the piano took second place ... I forgot it all, almost overnight ...  For right from the beginning I knew that with Philip it was the only way. Women weren't necessary or important to him ... Submitting to him that way, yielding my identity -- it seemed the way life was intended ....

The society described is a patriarchal one in which women are subordinated to men. Both Mrs. Bentley and Judith have as their roles primarily catering to masculine needs. Although parishioners enjoy Mrs. Bentley's piano playing, it does not provide her with a career or the economic independence that would make her marriage more equal. She is also judged as a failure by the ladies of the parish because of her inability to provide children for her husband. Her subordination is emphasized by the fact that we do not discover her first name but that she is only known to us as Mrs. Bentley, the wife of Philip.

What is the most interesting line we should begin with, while giving an autobiography speech?

There is no single best line or standard format for the opening line of an autobiography.  As with any speech, the opening should grab the attention of the audience and draw them into your story.  Your opener will depend heavily on the tone of your speech.  Is it humorous? Serious? Dramatic?  Once you have decided the tone of your speech, you can begin to devise an opening line.

One common quality among great opening lines is that they...

There is no single best line or standard format for the opening line of an autobiography.  As with any speech, the opening should grab the attention of the audience and draw them into your story.  Your opener will depend heavily on the tone of your speech.  Is it humorous? Serious? Dramatic?  Once you have decided the tone of your speech, you can begin to devise an opening line.

One common quality among great opening lines is that they leave the recipient wanting more, sometimes by introducing a cliffhanger.  A cliffhanger is simply a situation or line that provides or hints at conflict without giving the resolution to it.  This introduces an internal conflict in the listeners that most people want to settle for themselves by finding out the rest of the story. 

A humorous opener will often challenge the audiences notion of what they are about to hear.  It does not have to be readily apparent to the audience what the challenging line means, so long as it is quickly explained.

• "The sky was a blinding white, someone was screaming, and I was cold and naked.  I had just been born." 

• "Most people call me Jim, mainly because that's my name." (paraphrase from Blazing Saddles)

One of my personal favorites is the opening line to The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger, 1951).  It is a work of fiction, but written in an autobiography format, narrated by Holden Caulfield.

"If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth."

Dramatic introductions depend more on a cliffhanger to get the audience engaged.  They can be simple or complex, each work equally well.  Moby Dick (H. Melville, 1851) is a great example of a simple dramatic introduction; "Call me Ishmael."  The beauty of the sentence is it practically demands the reader to investigate further, almost as a challenge.  Richard Nixon used something similar in his autobiography RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon, "I was born in a house my father built".

There are many ways to begin your story, and only you can determine the most interesting part of your life to tell and the tone it calls out for.

What warning does Friar Laurence give Romeo, foreshadowing future events of the play?

In Act II, scene 6 of Romeo and Juliet, Romeo and Friar Laurence are waiting for Juliet, as Romeo and Juliet plan to be married. The Friar warns Romeo that he is moving too quickly in marrying Juliet. He says:

"These violent delights have violent ends/And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,/Which as they kiss consume: the sweetest honey/ Is loathsome in his own deliciousness/ And in the taste confounds the appetite:/...

In Act II, scene 6 of Romeo and Juliet, Romeo and Friar Laurence are waiting for Juliet, as Romeo and Juliet plan to be married. The Friar warns Romeo that he is moving too quickly in marrying Juliet. He says:

"These violent delights have violent ends/And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,/Which as they kiss consume: the sweetest honey/ Is loathsome in his own deliciousness/ And in the taste confounds the appetite:/ Therefore love moderately; long love doth so; /Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow."

The friar uses the word "violent" to express that Romeo's love for Juliet is violently strong but can also lead to violence. He compares a hasty love to a fiery death. His words foreshadow the death and destruction that await Romeo and Juliet and their families, as the friar compares their love to kisses that consume (meaning that their own kisses consume or destroy them). He also compares their love to honey that is so sweet that it makes one sick and destroys the appetite. Friar Lawrence urges Romeo to "love moderately," as love that lasts a long time is moderate, or not so passionate. It is just as bad to be fast, Friar Laurence tells Romeo, as it is to be too slow. 

What are some specific life values and perspectives that connect Meursault to his mother? How can Meursaults private thoughts and memories of his...

This is a difficult point to argue for, because Meursault himself struggles to articulate it in a satisfactory manner both to himself and to others. 

As with nearly all elements of the narrative of "The Stranger", absurdism and its nihilistic perspectives rule over many decisions. While Meursault says he loved his mother "as anyone would", he seems to think this way more out of social obligation than any true emotion. Further, his "practical" approach to...

This is a difficult point to argue for, because Meursault himself struggles to articulate it in a satisfactory manner both to himself and to others. 

As with nearly all elements of the narrative of "The Stranger", absurdism and its nihilistic perspectives rule over many decisions. While Meursault says he loved his mother "as anyone would", he seems to think this way more out of social obligation than any true emotion. Further, his "practical" approach to rationalizing the way in which he put her in the elder care facility in Marengo is driven purely by a pragmatical perspective; that she made him uncomfortable, that she had no friends, that he didn't have the time or money to care for her. This is further compounded by the fact that he hadn't visited her, largely because of the inconvenience of the trip.

The specific life value, if it can be called that, which is illustrated by his mother is his principle of thinking only of his immediate physical needs. If his mother makes him uncomfortable, he seeks to remove the discomfort by removing her, rather than taking a more humane approach. This is pointed out by the overzealous prosecutor at his trial, in large and small forms, such as his acceptance of a cup of coffee while sitting in vigil by his mother's body; according to the prosecutor, a good son might be offered a cup of coffee, but he should refuse it as a means of observing respect for the person that brought him into this world. The minor pleasure of a cup of coffee ought to pale in comparison to the social duty one is obliged to observe.

As far as having a deep connection with his mother, Meursault simply didn't. Meursault clearly struggles to find any meaning in emotional gestures; with both his mother and his girlfriend, he offers negative or tepid responses to emotional prompts, and says they don't really matter anyway. When he learns that others think badly of him for putting his mother in a home, and that his mother herself was angry with him for it, he seems surprised.

What might indicate a deeper "connection" is the fact that his mother's death is the first of numerous deviations from a normal pattern, which is intended by Camus as a catalyst for absurdist analysis. This is probably the first time that Meursault has been faced with a situation where he knows emotion is expected of him, and is being displayed in generous amounts by others around him, and yet his apparently inability or unwillingness to feel anything becomes his primary identifier. 

What is your first impression of Romeo?

While this question is rather suggestive, I can speak generally about the first impression offered when we "meet" Romeo in Act 1, Scene 1 of the play Romeo and Juliet. 

We are introduced to Romeo as he is wandering among some sycamore trees- his cousin Benvolio has been entrusted by Romeo's parents to find out what has kept their son so preoccupied. Romeo tells Benvolio that he is in love with a girl, Rosaline, who...

While this question is rather suggestive, I can speak generally about the first impression offered when we "meet" Romeo in Act 1, Scene 1 of the play Romeo and Juliet. 

We are introduced to Romeo as he is wandering among some sycamore trees- his cousin Benvolio has been entrusted by Romeo's parents to find out what has kept their son so preoccupied. Romeo tells Benvolio that he is in love with a girl, Rosaline, who does not return his affections. Because of this, he has sworn himself to chastity. Benvolio tries to persuade Romeo to move on, but he is steadfast in his denial that he will ever love anyone other than Rosaline. 

Bear in mind that Romeo is just in his teenage years. Shakespeare never tells us how old Romeo really was, but he is described as a young man, and presumably a few years older than Juliet, who is thirteen.

Based on the fact that Romeo has been spending time thinking among the sycamores, and his parents worry about the change in his mood, one might describe Romeo as pensive or thoughtful. One might also think Romeo a little dramatic, as he has sworn to Benvolio that he will never love again and live a chaste life. Surely, if Romeo is just in his teens, it is not unthinkable that he might find love again. But no- he will not, can not! Romeo's dramatic display of self-denial might also be considered a pretentious attempt to seem  more mature than he actually is. My interpretations aside, Romeo acts much as all teens do when their heart has been broken for the first time. Pain is relative, so such a display of drama might seem appropriate to someone who has never suffered a heartbreak before.

In Julius Caesar, Caesar says, "Remember that you call me on today: Be near me, that I may remember you," to which Trybonius replies, "Caesar, I...

Caesar is being gracious and condescending with everyone. He obviously has the highest opinion of himself. He knows that when he gets to the Capitol he will be the center of attention. He is delighted to have all these important Romans calling on him to serve as escorts. He does wish to talk to Trebonius, but he is such a busy man, not unlike our American President, that he may get so involved with other...

Caesar is being gracious and condescending with everyone. He obviously has the highest opinion of himself. He knows that when he gets to the Capitol he will be the center of attention. He is delighted to have all these important Romans calling on him to serve as escorts. He does wish to talk to Trebonius, but he is such a busy man, not unlike our American President, that he may get so involved with other matters he will forget about Trebonius. So he does what many busy men do in our day: he makes it incumbent on the other person to remember and remind him. This is understandable, but it is also somewhat insulting. Caesar is implying, in effect, that Trebonius is so relatively unimportant that he could easily forget about him. Trebonius might get lost in the crowd Caesar expects to be clamoring for his attention. Trebonius feels stung by Caesar's patronizing and condescending manner, and this only strengthens his desire to take part in the blood-letting that is scheduled to take place when Caesar arrives at the Capitol.

Caesar loves the power and popularity he is enjoying. This is the greatest moment of his illustrious career. He likes being surrounded by flatterers and petitioners. When he tells Trebonius to "be near" him, he is adding to the number of men who will be crowded around him. He may have already told a number of other men to "be near" him, so that he will be sure of having a large retinue. In modern times some men will ask others to call them on the phone just so that their phone will keep ringing all the time, making them look and feel important. Caesar is a cunning man. He knows how to manipulate other men. Unfortunately for him, he thinks everyone holds the same high opinion of him that he has of himself. 

His supreme hubris does not come out until just before he is stabbed to death. He shows his egotism and ambition when he compares himself to the North Star.

I could be well moved, if I were as you;
If I could pray to move, prayers would move me;
But I am constant as the northern star,
Of whose true-fix'd and resting quality
There is no fellow in the firmament.
The skies are painted with unnumber'd sparks;
They are all fire and every one doth shine;
But there's but one in all doth hold his place.
So in the world, 'tis furnish'd well with men,
And men are flesh and blood, and apprehensive;
Yet in the number I do know but one
That unassailable holds on his rank,
Unshaked of motion; and that I am he,
Let me a little show it, even in this;
That I was constant Cimber should be banish'd,
And constant do remain to keep him so.    
Act 3, Scene 1

Right after this speech he is encircled and stabbed to death.

How does Shakespeare use Banquo's ghost to present Macbeth in Act 3, Scene 4?

In Act 3, Scene 4, Macbeth's response to seeing Banquo's ghost gives the audience a good picture of his mental state at this point in the play.  When he first sees the ghost, he says to his guests, "Which of you have done this?" (3.4.59).  He is immediately suspicious of those men to whom he should feel closest: they are his lords, his advisers, those closest to his crown.  However, this -- his first response...

In Act 3, Scene 4, Macbeth's response to seeing Banquo's ghost gives the audience a good picture of his mental state at this point in the play.  When he first sees the ghost, he says to his guests, "Which of you have done this?" (3.4.59).  He is immediately suspicious of those men to whom he should feel closest: they are his lords, his advisers, those closest to his crown.  However, this -- his first response -- indicates that he is guarded even against them.  His suspicious nature is confirmed later in the scene when he tells his wife that "There's not a one of them but in his house / I keep a servant fee'd" (3.4.163-164).  In other words, he has a spy in each of his closest advisers' homes!  This also helps to convey his growing paranoia: his conscience is so guilty at this point that he feels himself to be suspected by everyone around him.

We also get to see how badly Macbeth wants to keep up appearances.  He tries to seem confident and controlled and powerful to all, and so he lies, saying, "I have a strange infirmity, which is nothing / To those that know me" (3.4.104-105).  In other words, he throws responsibility on the lords, insisting that he only has a minor, though odd, health concern, and they should consider it nothing if they want to remain close to him.

Further, his inability to control his immediate response to seeing the ghost also shows that he is not really as brave as he'd like to think.  This fact is conveyed to readers in other ways as well: it doesn't take a big man to order the killings of Banquo and his young son, and, later, Lady Macduff and her children.  He has to have others do his dirty work because he was too shaken by his one experience with murder to repeat it.  Lady Macbeth points out his cowardice in this scene as well: she asks him, "What, quite unmanned in folly?" (3.4.88), and says that Macbeth is "Shame itself!" (3.4.79).  Even when Macbeth tries to confront the ghost, he does so quite emotionally and fearfully, and it is only when the ghost exits that he says, "Why so, being gone, / I am a man again" (3.4.130-131).  The ghost "unmans" him, and this feels pretty shameful to both his wife and himself.

The appearance of Banquo's ghost shows us Macbeth's guilty conscience, his lack of courage, his desire to maintain appearances, and his growing suspicion and paranoia.  He is beginning to come unhinged.

How does Gulliver characterize doctors in speaking to Dapple Grey?

Gulliver tells Dapple Grey that doctors "get their Livelihood by attending the Sick [...]," a concept that is completely foreign to the Houyhnhnms because they really do not suffer from diseases.  He says that we eat when we are not hungry, drink when we are not thirsty, sleep with a lot of people and contract diseases, and get drunk quite a bit, also causing disease; in short, we make ourselves ill with the terrible way...

Gulliver tells Dapple Grey that doctors "get their Livelihood by attending the Sick [...]," a concept that is completely foreign to the Houyhnhnms because they really do not suffer from diseases.  He says that we eat when we are not hungry, drink when we are not thirsty, sleep with a lot of people and contract diseases, and get drunk quite a bit, also causing disease; in short, we make ourselves ill with the terrible way we treat our bodies. Thus, a doctor will force the patient's body to purge whatever is hurting it, either by inducing vomit, bleeding the patient, inducing the evacuation of the bowels, etc., and he describes the medicines as being the worst-tasting stuff imaginable, filled with disgusting ingredients that turn the stomach.  

Gulliver also says that doctors have "invented imaginary Cures" for the "imaginary" diseases to which we are subject; such diseases most often affect females. Further, he states that if a doctor has predicted that a patient will die, and then that patient begins to recover, "they know how to approve their Sagacity to the World by a seasonable Dose." In other words, he says that, rather than appear to be wrong, a doctor will instead poison his patient!

What will probably happen to the rabbit population over the course of a year

Unlike money, populations of rabbits do grow continuously. The same applies to other animals, people and people. The population of rabbits are dynamic. This means that the population of rabbits are changing in size and demographics.

Rabbits give birth to new babies and when rabbit gets old, gets sick or injured or is affected by drought, fire or hunted by another animal it will die. These all affect the population. 

Mathematically we can use a...

Unlike money, populations of rabbits do grow continuously. The same applies to other animals, people and people. The population of rabbits are dynamic. This means that the population of rabbits are changing in size and demographics.

Rabbits give birth to new babies and when rabbit gets old, gets sick or injured or is affected by drought, fire or hunted by another animal it will die. These all affect the population. 

Mathematically we can use a basic model to determine the population of rabbits over a year: 

`N_t = N_0 + B - D + I - E`

where: 

`N_t` : Population of Rabbits (or any other species)

`N_0` : Number of Rabbits at the beginning of the year

`B` : Number of Births 

`D` : Number of Deaths

`I:` Number of Immigrants

`E` : Number of Migrants

If the population is a closed system one can ignore immigration and migration in the above equation.

SUMMARY: 

The population of rabbits can be determined using this formula:

`N_t = N_0 + B - D + I - E`

"Mao Zedong was an idealist who had lost touch with reality." How much do you agree with this statement?

The previous answers display an almost absurd level of charitableness toward Mao. Substitute "Hitler" in the above and you may have some grasp of what I mean. "Differing opinions on Hitler's legacy"? "some may not support his ideas"?

Mao's failed policies killed at least twenty million people. Possibly forty million.

Mao's insanity killed as many people as the population of Greater Los Angeles. This is not controversial among serious historians.

The question really is only what manner Mao was insane. He was either a delusional idealist, as the quote would imply, or a murderous psychopath. Those are the only two options when we're trying to explain a man who killed 20 million people.

I actually lean toward the theory of the quote, that Mao was an idealist who honestly believed he was making China better, but became completely detached from reality and continued to believe his policies were working even as millions of people starved.

You can compare him to Stalin, another communist tyrant whose decisions caused millions of deaths. Stalin was obviously a murderous psychopath; while he put out propaganda saying he was making the Soviet Union better, almost everything he did either advanced his own interests or suppressed dissent against him. He was paranoid, but not otherwise delusional---and certainly no idealist.

But Mao seems different in many ways. Many of his policies don't seem corrupt and tyrannical the way Stalin's did; they just seem... nonsensical. Why would anyone think that industrial factories could suddenly be replaced by homemade furnaces constructed by uneducated farmers without any loss of production of either industry or food? Why would anyone think that workers would produce better with guns to their head than they did when they were selling for profit? His goal of a more equal society may seem benevolent enough, but his methods for doing so don't make any sense.

Stalin even warned Mao that the USSR would stop supporting him if he continued with the madness of the Great Leap Forward, but he did it anyway. (And sure enough, Stalin cut off aid.) That doesn't seem like something a rational psychopath would do; it seems like something a delusional fanatic would do.

Which type of wave has points called nodes that do not move ?

A standing wave, also known as a stationary wave, is a wave that has a point called a node and does not move. Stationary waves are formed when two opposing waves that have identical frequencies and are traveling in mediums that are moving in opposite directions combine. In a stationary wave, each point on the axis has a constant amplitude. The nodes of a standing wave are areas at which the amplitudes are at a...

A standing wave, also known as a stationary wave, is a wave that has a point called a node and does not move. Stationary waves are formed when two opposing waves that have identical frequencies and are traveling in mediums that are moving in opposite directions combine. In a stationary wave, each point on the axis has a constant amplitude. The nodes of a standing wave are areas at which the amplitudes are at a minimum. The locations on a standing wave where the amplitude is at a maximum are called antinodes. Standing waves can be formed by transverse waves, such as those created along a string. However, standing waves can also be formed by longitudinal waves, such as those formed within an air column.

Explain three unities related to Oedipus Rex.

Aristotle's three unities are unity of place, unity of time, and unity of subject.  Oedipus Rex, Sophocles's tragedy, achieves all three of the Aristotelian unities.  

First, it achieves unity of place because all of the action happens only in one place: in front of Oedipus and Jocasta's royal residence.  Whenever the characters need information, they call someone to them rather than leaving this place; or, when events occur inside, someone comes out...

Aristotle's three unities are unity of place, unity of time, and unity of subject.  Oedipus Rex, Sophocles's tragedy, achieves all three of the Aristotelian unities.  

First, it achieves unity of place because all of the action happens only in one place: in front of Oedipus and Jocasta's royal residence.  Whenever the characters need information, they call someone to them rather than leaving this place; or, when events occur inside, someone comes out to tell the characters.

Second, the play adheres to the unity of time because everything takes place within twenty four hours.  For example, instead of having Oedipus decide to send Creon to the oracle during the course of the play, and then having to wait several days for him to return with his news, Sophocles has Oedipus think ahead and send Creon several days before anyone suggests it; that way, Creon can return at just the right time to deliver his information so that the play can promptly continue.

Third, the play achieves unity of subject by only focusing on Oedipus's tragedy.  There are no subplots or story lines that focus on other characters to distract us from Oedipus's immense pride and tragic end.

What is a summary of the story "The Stolen Bacillus" by H. G. Wells?

When the story opens, we are in the home lab of a bacteriologist. The bacteriologist has a visitor, a “pale-faced man” with “lank black hair and deep grey eyes…[a] haggard expression and nervous manner.” The bacteriologist is showing his visitor a slide of dead cholera bacteria, and the man shows such a keen interest that the scientist shows him a vial of the living bacteria. The scientist begins to wax apocalyptic about the effects of even a single drop of the vial finding its way into London’s water supply, and at this tale of devastation his visitor’s eyes gleam with a poorly-veiled desire. At this moment the bacteriologist’s wife calls him into the hall for a quick word, and when he returns his visitor takes his leave.

It is only after the visitor has departed that the bacteriologist realizes the tube of cholera bacteria is missing. After frantically searching and patting his pockets, he comes to the conclusion that his visitor must have taken it—and he flies out the door in pursuit, still wearing his dressing robe and his house slippers, one of which he loses along the way.  His visitor spies him coming just as the former is getting into a cab (horse-drawn, in this era), and with a word to the cabbie he gallops down the street. The bacteriologist himself catches a cab and gives chase. Minnie, his wife, having witnessed this whole episode from the window of their home, thinks her husband mad for leaving without a proper hat, coat, or shoes, and catches her own cab to take them to him. We have a Victorian three-cab chase on our hands.

During this chase we learn that the pale-faced man is in fact an anarchist intent on wreaking havoc throughout London with the stolen cholera (he expresses disbelief at the beginning of the story that anarchists would resort to bombs when they had access to this sort of physical devastation). In the midst of a bumpy ride, the man accidentally shatters the vial in his hand, and faced with the failure of his plan he drinks the few drops left, stops the cab, and climbs out.  Spying the bacteriologist pull up behind him, he cries, "'Vive l'Anarchie! You are too late, my friend, I have drunk it. The cholera is abroad!’" and retreats to single-handedly infect the city.

The bacteriologist watches contemplatively as his guest jostles and coughs all over pedestrians, finding the scene more curious than concerning. When his wife catches up, he thanks her for bringing his things and tells her that what the man has drunk is not actually cholera—the scientist, noting the man’s interest in the dead strain of the disease, decided to add a bit of intrigue to the tour, telling his guest that what was actually a disease that turned monkeys blue was cholera. A harmless but unsightly disease. The results of the ordeal the scientist can only guess, but in any case the anarchist will be sorely disappointed.

This story is a brilliant exercise in irony; we have a man who is not who he seems, and a disease that is not at all what it seems. And as the story unfolds we have a situation that could morph into a devastating comedy before our eyes.

Who gets accused in the Salem witch trials at first?

The first person to be accused, albeit unofficially, is Tituba, Reverend Parris's Barbadian slave who conjured spirits with the girls in the woods at Mrs. Putnam's request on the night before the play begins.  When Abigail feels that Reverend Hale is cornering her, is suspicious of her, she immediately turns on the one person who she knows she can scapegoat: Tituba.  Abigail says, "She made me do it!  She made Betty do it!  [....] She...

The first person to be accused, albeit unofficially, is Tituba, Reverend Parris's Barbadian slave who conjured spirits with the girls in the woods at Mrs. Putnam's request on the night before the play begins.  When Abigail feels that Reverend Hale is cornering her, is suspicious of her, she immediately turns on the one person who she knows she can scapegoat: Tituba.  Abigail says, "She made me do it!  She made Betty do it!  [....] She makes me drink blood!"  This effectively turns the attention away from her and onto the slave.

The first "official" accusation, made by Tituba at the end of Act One, is Sarah Good and then, immediately following, Goody Osburn.  When Parris threatens to beat her and Putnam wants to hang her, Hale speaks to her gently and kindly, telling her that God has a special purpose for her.  He clearly wants a confession, and so she gives him one.  She accuses Good and Osburn, and Abigail immediately confirms that she too has seen them as well as Bridget Bishop with the Devil.  The girls, together, accuse eight more people by the time Act One ends. 

What is a memorable line/quote from chapters 7 and 8 of To Kill a Mockingbird?

In Chapter 7 and 8, Jem comes to understand Boo Radley but Scout is still wary of him.

One of the most memorable events from this chapter is the finding of the soap dolls.  Scout and Jem have been getting friendly with Boo Radley, but from a distance.  Boo leaves the soap dolls in the tree’s knothole for them to find.

I pulled out two small images carved in soap. One was the figure of...

In Chapter 7 and 8, Jem comes to understand Boo Radley but Scout is still wary of him.

One of the most memorable events from this chapter is the finding of the soap dolls.  Scout and Jem have been getting friendly with Boo Radley, but from a distance.  Boo leaves the soap dolls in the tree’s knothole for them to find.

I pulled out two small images carved in soap. One was the figure of a boy, the other wore a crude dress. Before I remembered that there was no such thing as hoo-dooing, I shrieked and threw them down. (Ch. 7)

Scout is still uncertain about Boo Radley.  As this chapter demonstrates, Jem is growing up and Scout is still in childhood.  Scout is afraid that the soap dolls are voodoo dolls at first.  However, the presence of the dolls is very touching.  It shows that Boo has been watching them and cares about them.

The children want to leave a thank you note in the hole, but when they go back to it someone has filled it with cement.  Nathan Radley is trying to prevent Boo from having further communication with the children.

When Scout finds a blanket on her shoulders during Miss Maudie’s fire, and doesn’t remember who put it there, Jem realizes that Boo Radley put the blanket there.  He gets upset, because he is afraid Atticus will report it to Nathan Radley and Boo will get in trouble.

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

This quote demonstrates that Boo Radley is indeed a benevolent force.  It also shows that Jem is more mature than Scout.  Scout is afraid when she realizes that Boo put the blanket there.  There is plenty of evidence that Boo is a friend, but it takes Scout longer to connect the dots than Jem.

You have been asked to conduct research on the reasons for the increasing involvement with youth in serious crimes in a named Caribbean society. ...

Qualitative methods are things like interviews and case studies, in which you have a small number of people and get a great depth of information from each one, learning their whole story and all its ramifications.

Quantitative methods basically always mean statistical analysis in some form, either using statistics that are already collected (such as by the government) or by collecting new statistics through surveys or in an experiment. Surveys actually somewhat straddle the line...

Qualitative methods are things like interviews and case studies, in which you have a small number of people and get a great depth of information from each one, learning their whole story and all its ramifications.

Quantitative methods basically always mean statistical analysis in some form, either using statistics that are already collected (such as by the government) or by collecting new statistics through surveys or in an experiment.

Surveys actually somewhat straddle the line between qualitative and quantitative methods, depending on whether the survey is a very long, detailed survey given to a small number of participants or a very short, simple survey given to a large number of participants.

A couple of advantages of qualitative methods to consider:
1. You're not very dependent on a particular hypothesis. You can explore the subject in great detail and try to formulate new ideas.
2. Detailed, holistic information allows you to place findings in context and know that you aren't missing out on important information or pigeonholing your participants into your own preconceived ideas.

A couple of advantages of quantitative methods to consider:
1. You can get much more precise, replicable results. Other researchers can check your math, repeat your study, or even conduct their own studies to see if they get the same results.
2. Quantitative results are often much more useful in the real world than qualitative results. Often we already know that there is some effect of a particular factor, but what we really want to know is which factors have the biggest effect, or what the effects of a given policy change might be. This is particularly true in economics, where the difference between a good tax policy and a bad tax policy can be as simple as a few percentage points.

Generally speaking, qualitative methods are best when we first approach a new subject and really don't have our bearings. They help us formulate hypotheses. Then, once we have established sufficient background knowledge about the subject, quantitative methods allow us to precisely test our  hypotheses and determine which ones are correct.

Of course, each advantage for a given method can be articulated as a disadvantage for the other method; quantitative results being more precise means that qualitative results are less precise, etc.

Did Charlie die at the end of Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes?

It is suggested that Charlie dies at the end of the short story "Flowers for Algernon" (as well as the novel of the same novel), as he is following the same process as Algernon, the mouse. Algernon dies after his motor activity slows and he loses coordination. A dissection after death shows that the mouse's brain had lost weight. Charlie realizes at the time that Algernon and he are both subject to the Algernon-Gordon Effect,...

It is suggested that Charlie dies at the end of the short story "Flowers for Algernon" (as well as the novel of the same novel), as he is following the same process as Algernon, the mouse. Algernon dies after his motor activity slows and he loses coordination. A dissection after death shows that the mouse's brain had lost weight. Charlie realizes at the time that Algernon and he are both subject to the Algernon-Gordon Effect, which is the idea that intelligence that is increased artificially slows down at a rate that is proportional to the increase. That is, as Charlie's intelligence improved rapidly, he will inevitably lose intelligence quickly.

At the end of the short story version of "Flowers for Algernon," Charlie is showing all the signs of decline that Algernon the mouse did. He loses coordination, and he begins to slow down. He also loses the intelligence that he had gained and shows signs of decline, suggesting that he will die. At the end of the novel, Charlie returns to the Warren Home School, and, in his last letter, he asks someone to put flowers on Algernon's grave, also suggesting that he knows he is going to die soon. 

How many years was Boo Radley locked inside his house in To Kill a Mockingbird?

Boo Radley did not leave his house for fifteen years.

The town of Maycomb holds many secrets, and one of them is Boo Radley. He was famous for once having stabbed his father in the leg with scissors. 

When Boo was a child, he got into some trouble.  He was called Arthur then. He ran with a gang of trouble-making juvenile delinquents.  Boo and his trouble-making friends finally went too far when they resisted arrest and...

Boo Radley did not leave his house for fifteen years.

The town of Maycomb holds many secrets, and one of them is Boo Radley. He was famous for once having stabbed his father in the leg with scissors. 

When Boo was a child, he got into some trouble.  He was called Arthur then. He ran with a gang of trouble-making juvenile delinquents.  Boo and his trouble-making friends finally went too far when they resisted arrest and locked the town beadle in an outhouse.

The judge decided to send the boys to the state industrial school, where boys were sometimes sent for no other reason than to provide them with food and decent shelter: it was no prison and it was no disgrace. Mr. Radley thought it was. (Ch. 1)

Instead of going to jail, he got a sort of house arrest.  However long that was supposed to have lasted, Boo became a recluse as an adult and simply never left his house.

The doors of the Radley house were closed on weekdays as well as Sundays, and Mr. Radley’s boy was not seen again for fifteen years. (Ch. 1)

It was after this that the incident with the scissors supposedly took place.  Boo stabbed Mr. Radley, and his mother went for help, screaming that he was killing them all.  When the sheriff arrived, thirty-three year old Boo was sitting on the floor cutting up a newspaper.  His father refused to send him to an asylum, so they locked him in the church basement.

Eventually, Boo returned home and became the town recluse.  His story was so well-known and sensationalized that he became the local boogeyman, blamed for being a peeping tom and accused by children of all kinds of scary deeds.  In reality, Boo was just quiet and shy.  He didn’t leave his house because he had no friends and was afraid to.

How is Elizabeth characterized as a wife, a daughter, and a sister in Pride and Prejudice?

Daughter: Elizabeth Bennett, the protagonist of Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice, is an unusually independent-minded young woman for her period. She clearly sees the faults of both her mother and father. She is frustrated by her mother's lack of culture and intellect and finds her public persona embarrassing. She is more tolerant of her father's faults and has more sympathy for him, perhaps because they are intellectual equals, with a tendency towards enjoying...

Daughter: Elizabeth Bennett, the protagonist of Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice, is an unusually independent-minded young woman for her period. She clearly sees the faults of both her mother and father. She is frustrated by her mother's lack of culture and intellect and finds her public persona embarrassing. She is more tolerant of her father's faults and has more sympathy for him, perhaps because they are intellectual equals, with a tendency towards enjoying and mocking the foibles of their fellow creatures.

Sister: Elizabeth is seen as a loyal and loving towards her sister Jane, bravely undergoing considerable discomfort to nurse her when she falls ill. Jane is her friend and confidant as well as her sister, although despite their closeness, Elizabeth tends to consider herself smarter and more perceptive than her more trusting sibling. She is less close with her younger sisters and is often a bit embarrassed or frustrated by their behavior. 

Wife: As the marriage of Darcy and Elizabeth occurs at the end of the novel, we do not really see it in much detail; however, through their courtship Elizabeth expresses eloquently that she believes that marriage should be based on mutual respect and affection, and she and Darcy share many interests and beliefs in common.

How do the magazine photographs affect Sidi's perception of Baroka?

One of the village girls asks Sidi if she's seen the book with her images inside it. Sidi tells her that she has not seen it yet, and the girl begins to describe how beautiful Sidi looks in the magazine. The girl says that Sidi's image takes up the entire cover of the magazine, and another girl tells Sidi that Baroka is jealous but pretends to be proud of Sidi. Sidi asks if Baroka's image...

One of the village girls asks Sidi if she's seen the book with her images inside it. Sidi tells her that she has not seen it yet, and the girl begins to describe how beautiful Sidi looks in the magazine. The girl says that Sidi's image takes up the entire cover of the magazine, and another girl tells Sidi that Baroka is jealous but pretends to be proud of Sidi. Sidi asks if Baroka's image is in the magazine, and the girl tells Sidi that it is, but it occupies a small corner of a page. The girl also tells Sidi that Baroka shares his image with one of the village latrines. Sidi comments that if that is true, then she is more esteemed than Bale Baroka. Sidi becomes conceited and says, "This means that I am greater than The Fox of the Undergrowth" (Soyinka 11). She believes that she is more important than Baroka because she is famous. Sidi loses respect for Baroka and becomes over-confident after seeing her images in the magazine.

Describe "The Canterville Ghost" as a story.

"The Canterville Ghost" makes fun of (parodies) the typical ghost story. In the typical story, a frightening ghost haunts an ancestral English hall, terrorizing the people who live there. In this story, Wilde turns that idea on its head: a practical American family terrorizes a ghost. They are not afraid of it at all. When it leaves bloodstains on the library floor, they simply rub the stains out with a new cleaning formula. When the...

"The Canterville Ghost" makes fun of (parodies) the typical ghost story. In the typical story, a frightening ghost haunts an ancestral English hall, terrorizing the people who live there. In this story, Wilde turns that idea on its head: a practical American family terrorizes a ghost. They are not afraid of it at all. When it leaves bloodstains on the library floor, they simply rub the stains out with a new cleaning formula. When the ghost tries to scare them, the young Otis boys shoot at it with a pellet gun and make a water slide so it will slip and fall. 

But beneath the comedy, Wilde has a more serious purpose. He raises our sympathy and compassion for the ghost. The ghost is not simply a "thing" that is out there and must be destroyed, but a human being (albeit one existing between the living and the dead) with emotions and problems. In encouraging the reader not to stereotype an "other," such as a ghost, Wilde calls into question the ways we stereotype people who are not quite like us. 

Pick 10 numbers between 1 and 255 convert each of them into their binary equivalent.

Hello!

Let's make a list of decimal numbers: 4, 5, 10, 15, 49, 71, 100, 111, 189, 255.

And convert them into their binary representation. A hope you know that binary number system is a positional one and has only two digits, 0 and 1. Each next (to the left) one "costs" twice as the previous digit.

So 1_dec=1_bin but 2_dec=10_bin, 3_dec=11_bin and so on.

There are at least two ways to convert decimal to...

Hello!

Let's make a list of decimal numbers: 4, 5, 10, 15, 49, 71, 100, 111, 189, 255.

And convert them into their binary representation. A hope you know that binary number system is a positional one and has only two digits, 0 and 1. Each next (to the left) one "costs" twice as the previous digit.

So 1_dec=1_bin but 2_dec=10_bin, 3_dec=11_bin and so on.

There are at least two ways to convert decimal to binary. The first starts from the least significant digit and moves to the left, the second is vice versa. In the first method we consecutively divide by 2 and watch for the remainder, In the second consecutively determine the most degree of 2 which is not greater than our number.

Use the first method for the first five numbers.

1. 4 is divisible by 2, so it has 0 at the end (no ones), the quotient is 2. 2 is also divisible by 2, so 0 again, the quotient is 1. And 1 isn't divisible by 2, so 1.
The answer is `100_(bi n).`

2. 5 isn't divisible by 2, so the remainder is 1 and the quotient is 2. 2 gives the remainder 0 and the quotient 1, 1 is 1. So the answer is `101_(bi n).`

3. 10: 0, 1, 0, 1, i.e. `1010_(bi n).`

4. 15: 1, 1, 1, 1, i.e. `1111_(bi n).`

5. 49: 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, i.e. `110001_(bi n).`

Use the second method for the second five numbers.

6. 71: `2^7=128gt71gt=64=2^6,` so 1 at the 7-th position (for `2^6`). 71-64=7, so zeros for 32, for 16 and for 8. Then 1 for 4, 7-4=3, so 1 and 1.
So the answer is `1000111_(bi n).`

7. 100: 1 for 64, 100-64=36. 1 for 32, 36-32=4. 0 for 16, 0 for 8, 1 for 4, 4-4=0 so 0 for 2 and 0 for 1.
The answer is `1100100_(bi n).`

8. 111: 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1. The answer is `1101111_(bi n).`

9. 189: 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1. The answer is `10111101_(bi n).`

10. 255 is `11111111_(bi n)` (try it yourself :) ).

In "Thank You M'am" what is interesting about Hughes' description of Mrs. Jones' purse?

The description of Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones’ purse is symbolically interesting in Langston Hughes’ short story, “Thank You M’am.” Both the purse and the woman are described as being “large." The purse holds “everything in it but hammer and nails.” In other words it holds the contents of the woman’s life.  Mrs. Jones walks down the street with the pocketbook held close to her for safety. As Roger attempts to break away with the...

The description of Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones’ purse is symbolically interesting in Langston Hughes’ short story, “Thank You M’am.” Both the purse and the woman are described as being “large." The purse holds “everything in it but hammer and nails.” In other words it holds the contents of the woman’s life.  Mrs. Jones walks down the street with the pocketbook held close to her for safety. As Roger attempts to break away with the purse, he falls to the ground due to its heaviness. Based on the contents of her purse, Mrs. Bates is ready for any occasion.

The purse is a metaphor for Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones. The author describes her as being large, and the reader learns through the events of the story, she is a woman of action and conviction. She is prepared to address any situation. While she deals with Roger, she reveals things from her past, in essence she unpacks her purse. In the end, she opens it to give him money for the shoes he dreamed of; the shoes he craved badly enough to commit a crime. Although the purse is an icon of her size and strength, it also symbolic of her kindness to Roger.

Who is the protagonist in the short story of "The Management of Grief"?

The protagonist in, and narrator of, Bhatari Mukherjee's short story "The Management of Grief" is Shaila Bhave, the widow of a Indian-Canadian man who was among the hundreds murdered--a death toll that also included Shaila's sons--when Sikh terrorists planted a bomb on the plane carrying him back to India from Canada. Based on the real-life bombing of Air India Flight 182 on June 23, 1985, Mukherjee's story is a reflection on the nature of orthodox...

The protagonist in, and narrator of, Bhatari Mukherjee's short story "The Management of Grief" is Shaila Bhave, the widow of a Indian-Canadian man who was among the hundreds murdered--a death toll that also included Shaila's sons--when Sikh terrorists planted a bomb on the plane carrying him back to India from Canada. Based on the real-life bombing of Air India Flight 182 on June 23, 1985, Mukherjee's story is a reflection on the nature of orthodox Hindu culture and on the struggles among Indians to reconcile their own culture with an increasingly multicultural world. An early indication of Shaila's emotional state when Mukherjee's story begins is her comment regarding the loss of her husband and her "failure" to assure him of her love:

“I never once told him that I loved him,” I say. I was too much the well-brought-up woman. I was so well brought up I never felt comfortable calling my husband by his first name.

Shaila, surrounded by caring but sometimes inadvertently pretentious members of her community--a community bound by the size of the Indian expatriate community residing in Canada--struggles with the demands of her culture and the need to mourn while also being tasked to help bridge the cultural and language gap between the Indo-Canadian community and the Canadian authorities investigating the bombing while also attempting to connect with relatives of the dead. Among Shaila's mental burdens is the expectation that, despite her horrific personal losses, she will be available to help communicate with and even console the other relatives of the dead. Being presented with a Sikh couple, since the group responsible for the terrorist act were Sikh in faith (Sikhs are a distinct religious minority in India, practicing their own religion and, among very few, agitating for independence from India), Shaila is forced to walk that cultural and social tight-rope, building the metaphorical bridge through the notion of shared grief:

"We converse a bit in Hindi. They do not ask about the crash and I wonder if I should bring it up. If they think I am here merely as a translator, then they may feel insulted. There are thousands of Punjabi speakers, Sikhs, in Toronto to do a better job. And so I say to the old lady, 'I too have lost my sons and my husband, in the crash.' Her eyes immediately fill with tears. The man mutters a few words which sound like a blessing. 'God provides and God takes away,' he says. I want to say, but only men destroy and give back nothing. 'My boys and my husband are not coming back.' I say. 'We have to understand that'.”

Mukherjee's protagonist serves as a focal point for the myriad conflicts, emotional as well as physical, that separate peoples of a common heritage. Her grief at the loss of her husband, Vikram, and sons is enormous, but circumstances dictate that she serve a role for which she may not be well-suited. As with all such crises, time passes and participants move away. Life goes on. It is only some time later, when walking alone through a park near her apartment in Toronto, that Shaila finally allows herself to confront her loss and move on.

In a pack of 90 cards, each card was marked with a different number among 110 to 199. A card was selected at random. Find the probability that the...

(Please disregard my previous posts.)

Take note that probability is a measure/estimate that an event is likely to happen. To compute, apply the formula:

               number of favorable outcomes

P(A) =  -------------------------------------------

             total number of possible outcomes 

From 110 to 199, there are a total of 90 numbers present (see attached). Among the numbers present, only four of them have perfect square...

(Please disregard my previous posts.)

Take note that probability is a measure/estimate that an event is likely to happen. To compute, apply the formula:

               number of favorable outcomes

P(A) =  -------------------------------------------

             total number of possible outcomes 

From 110 to 199, there are a total of 90 numbers present (see attached). Among the numbers present, only four of them have perfect square factors. These are:

`11^2 = 121`

`12^2=144`

`13^2=169`

`14^2=196`

This means that there are 86 numbers that are not prefect squares.

So out of 90 possible outcomes, there are 86 favorable outcomes in getting a number that is not a perfect square.

Applying the formula above, it will yield:

`P(A)= 86/90=43/45`

Therefore, the probability that the number selected is not a perfect square is `43/45` .

What does the judicial branch of government do exactly?

The judicial branch of government, at the federal trial court level and at the state trial court level, rules on cases and controversies when lawsuits are filed by people and/or entities against one another and also rules on the guilt or innocence of a defendant in criminal prosecutions.  In both the federal and state judiciary, there are two appellate levels as well, such that the losing party has an absolute right to appeal to the...

The judicial branch of government, at the federal trial court level and at the state trial court level, rules on cases and controversies when lawsuits are filed by people and/or entities against one another and also rules on the guilt or innocence of a defendant in criminal prosecutions.  In both the federal and state judiciary, there are two appellate levels as well, such that the losing party has an absolute right to appeal to the next level and have a review of the decision and a right to ask the highest court if it will review the decision, which is left up to the highest court to decide.

It is important to understand that no court can rule on anything unless there is an actual case and controversy to rule on. In other words, if someone thinks that a law is unconstitutional, at the federal or state level, that person cannot go to the court and ask for a ruling. There must be a lawsuit or an appeal from a lawsuit before the court, or a criminal prosecution. Additionally, the party filing the lawsuit, the plaintiff, must be able to at least plead that he or she will be harmed in some way if the court does not rule in favor of the plaintiff. This is called standing, and this is another reason one cannot simply ask a court to rule on anything that is not before the court as a lawsuit or prosecution. 

What are some of the challenges facing democracy and governance in Africa?

Africa consists of many different countries, ranging from the generally Islamic countries of North Africa to more pluralistic countries in sub-Saharan Africa. As Africa consists of 54 different countries in a landmass of 11.7 million square miles (or 30 million square kilometers) in size, there is substantial variation among countries.

North Africa consists of Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, and Tunisia. Of these Sudan and Libya verge on being failed states, riven by internal conflicts. Algeria, Egypt,...

Africa consists of many different countries, ranging from the generally Islamic countries of North Africa to more pluralistic countries in sub-Saharan Africa. As Africa consists of 54 different countries in a landmass of 11.7 million square miles (or 30 million square kilometers) in size, there is substantial variation among countries.

North Africa consists of Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, and Tunisia. Of these Sudan and Libya verge on being failed states, riven by internal conflicts. Algeria, Egypt, and Morocco are generally run by authoritarian governments, with the Moroccan one in a gradual process of liberalizing. Tunisia is a functioning democracy and the great success story of the Arab Spring. The main obstacles to democracy in these countries are the strength of strongmen and factionalism and the rise of militant Islam.

The country of South Africa has a functioning democracy, which is somewhat under threat by the increasing amount of cronyism and corruption in the ANC. Many of the other sub-Saharan countries tend to have entrenched leaders who use the power of patronage to retain a strong grip on the economies and governments of their states. 

Tribalism and cronyism are two major threats in many countries as are entrenched leaders unwilling to vacate positions of power. 

What is the organization of the plot in John Steinbeck's "Flight"? I need to discuss exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and...

Like many of John Steinbeck's stories, "Flight" is set in the area of California around Salinas and Monterey. In the exposition of the story Steinbeck describes a meager farm "on the wild coast." It is a simple homestead on "sloping acres" with a modest house and barn that are set low on the landscape. The reader may get the impression that this is difficult land to make a living on.

The Torres family consists of a mother, a 19-year-old son, and two younger siblings. Mama Torres is described as "lean" and authoritarian as she brings up her children after the death of her husband ten years earlier. The son, Pepé, is described as lazy and the mother says she must have encountered a "coyote" when he was born because the animal is "sneaking lazy." In Native American folklore the coyote often symbolizes a trickster and can take on both positive and negative character traits. In some stories he is reckless, lazy, and arrogant.

The conflict of the story revolves around Pepé's figurative journey to manhood. When we meet Pepé he is just a boy playing with a knife which the mother calls "toy-baby," representing Pepé's childish nature. When Pepé claims he is a man, the mother scoffs and calls him "peanut" and "little chicken." Nevertheless, she sends him on a man's errand to Monterey for salt and medicine. He is allowed to wear his father's hat and ride on his father's saddle.

The rising action begins with Pepé riding off to Monterey. After he leaves, his mother comments that when he returns it will be nice to have a man on the farm again. In Monterey, Pepé's newfound manhood is challenged and he kills a man with his knife in a bar fight.

When he returns, his mother outfits him for a "flight" away from the law that will eventually track him down. But, unlike the man he proclaims to be, he makes numerous mistakes as he flees. He takes a "well worn path" which makes him easy to track. He loses his knife and then leaves his hat under a tree where he stops to water his horse. He ascends high into the mountains above Monterey and never seems to have a set destination.

He is plagued by fear as he continually looks back along the trail and sometimes sees shadowy figures far away. Early the next morning as his horse climbs the steep trail in an open area, a shot from the valley drops his horse from underneath him. He has now lost his horse and becomes almost animal-like as he crawls and "wriggles" his way out of sight. He then discharges his rifle at something he imagines seeing along the trail. He gives away his position and a bullet from below causes a "sliver of granite" to pierce his hand. 

After losing his rifle he is reduced to a primitive state and has lost the manly dignity he had bragged of in the beginning of the story. His hand becomes badly infected and he knows he will eventually die from the wound. Instead of allowing himself to die a miserable death like a rabid animal, he makes a decision to go out as he envisions a man would.

In the story's climax he crawls to the top of a rock and makes himself clearly known to the men below. Steinbeck writes, "He braced his feet and stood there, black against the morning sky." In the final moments of his life, and the resolution of the story, he affirms what he believes is manly behavior by dying a proud death confronting his attackers.  

What are elements of prose?

The basic elements of prose are: character, setting, plot, point of view, and mood. Character refers to: biographical information; personality traits; social roles, and psychological factors such as aspirations, fears, and personal values. Setting includes: physical environment, social situation, time period, and location. Plot is what happens: characters' actions and important events. Plot progresses through the three stages of rising action, climax, and resolution. Point of view is a technical term that identifies the narrator's...

The basic elements of prose are: character, setting, plot, point of view, and mood. Character refers to: biographical information; personality traits; social roles, and psychological factors such as aspirations, fears, and personal values. Setting includes: physical environment, social situation, time period, and location. Plot is what happens: characters' actions and important events. Plot progresses through the three stages of rising action, climax, and resolution. Point of view is a technical term that identifies the narrator's position relative to the story being told. Mood means the dominant feelings and emotions evoked.

Prose uses of everyday, descriptive speech. It is written in sentences and paragraphs. Prose generally does not make use of structural poetic elements such as meter or rhyme scheme. However, literary prose does sometimes make use of more flexible poetic elements such as metaphor, simile, and rhythm. 

In the fourth stanza of his poem "A Prayer for my Daughter" Yeats refers to 'Helen' and 'that great Queen'. How do these mythological references...

In this poem, written to his infant daughter as a storm howls outside, Yeats fears for her in the new, post-World War I world, and hopes that can she can grow into a woman of beauty, good manners, kindness and independence who can marry into a stable and traditional home. In the third stanza, he muses on his wish that she be beautiful, but not so beautiful that it makes her vain or proud. Thoughts...

In this poem, written to his infant daughter as a storm howls outside, Yeats fears for her in the new, post-World War I world, and hopes that can she can grow into a woman of beauty, good manners, kindness and independence who can marry into a stable and traditional home. In the third stanza, he muses on his wish that she be beautiful, but not so beautiful that it makes her vain or proud. Thoughts of beauty no doubt recall to Yeats' mind Helen of Troy, who was considered the most beautiful woman in the ancient world. She is the "Helen" who opens the fourth stanza. Thinking of Helen's fate, married to the "fool" Paris, Yeats hopes his daughter will end up with a better choice of husbands. Paris married Helen because he was besotted with love for her beauty, but this choice--this "being chosen"--led to the disastrous Trojan war and Paris's death. 

Yeats then thinks of another figure who had a less-than-perfect marriage, "that great Queen, that rose out of the spray," Venus (known in Greek mythology as Aphrodite), the goddess of love who chose to marry Vulcan, the "bandy-legged smith." However, Aphrodite cheated on him (after all, she was the goddess of love) and the two could never have children. This is another fate Yeats would like his daughter to avoid, as he muses on the marriage pitfalls women can fall into. He notes at the end of the stanza that the "Horn of Plenty is undone" by the "crazy salad" of marriage problems.

This poem was written only a few months after Yeats' famous poem "The Second Coming," in which he fears that anarchy and chaos is coming into the world. Wishing his daughter to be safe from some of the problems faced by Helen and Aphrodite fits well with the theme of a poem that "prays" for a sane life and future for her. At the end of the poem, Yeats returns to the image of the "Horn of Plenty" that he mentions Helen and Aphrodite not having in stanza four, now calling it a "rich horn" and finding it in an orderly, ceremonial married life. 

Describe the setting of the novel Uglies. How is it different from our society today?

The novel Uglies is a dystopian novel, which means that it is set in a future where society has undergone significant changes from the society we know today. The story is supposed to take place 300 years from now, after some unnamed disaster has destroyed our civilization.

Setting a novel in the future like the author does here allows him to comment on issues we face today in a more extreme, urgent way. The focus...

The novel Uglies is a dystopian novel, which means that it is set in a future where society has undergone significant changes from the society we know today. The story is supposed to take place 300 years from now, after some unnamed disaster has destroyed our civilization.

Setting a novel in the future like the author does here allows him to comment on issues we face today in a more extreme, urgent way. The focus of the novel is an obsession with superficial beauty and people's willingness to sacrifice intelligence and free will for that beauty and the acceptance and admiration it brings. Though a preoccupation and dissatisfaction with how we look is certainly a problem today, Westerfield blows that problem up in the world of Uglies, where the normal people and those who have been artificially made Pretty are physically, mentally, and emotionally separated. Therefore, the most important difference is how he took one aspect of our society and made it a much more critical focus of the setting of the story.

There are plenty of other differences too, which make Tally's life completely different from our own. Tally is taken care of by technology, rather than parents. She brushes her teeth with a pill and applies sunscreen with a patch. Instead of going to college, young adults all get plastic surgery and go party in the city, 24/7. 

What does the narrator say about the machines at the hospital?

The narrator of Hemingway's short story "In Another Country" has been wounded in World War I and is recuperating at a hospital in Milan. Hemingway himself was wounded in the war as he served as an ambulance driver for the Red Cross. The narrator is rehabilitating on new machines which the doctor guarantees will allow the narrator to once again play football. Every day he works on the machines next to an Italian major, who...

The narrator of Hemingway's short story "In Another Country" has been wounded in World War I and is recuperating at a hospital in Milan. Hemingway himself was wounded in the war as he served as an ambulance driver for the Red Cross. The narrator is rehabilitating on new machines which the doctor guarantees will allow the narrator to once again play football. Every day he works on the machines next to an Italian major, who has a terrible hand injury which has rendered his hand small and withered. The doctor shows the men before and after photographs of another injured hand. Hemingway writes, 

The doctor went into his office in a back room and brought a photograph which showed a hand that had been withered almost as small as the major's, before it had taken a machine course, and after was a little larger.

Later in the story the narrator reports that photographs appear on the walls near the machines which show perfectly regenerated limbs that have been restored by using the machines. Next to the major's machine there are "three photographs of hands like his that were completely restored." The narrator finds it odd that there should be so many photographs since he believed that he and the other men were the first to use the machines. The narrator concludes that the pictures made no difference to the major who had recently lost his wife to pneumonia. Once a great fencer, the major scoffs at the machines, thinking they are virtually worthless:

The major came very regularly to the hospital. I do not think he ever missed a day, although I am sure he did not believe in the machines. There was a time when none of us believed in the machines, and one day the major said it was all nonsense. The machines were new then and it was we who were to prove them. It was an idiotic idea, he said, "a theory, like another."

The photographs made no difference to the other men either who knew they would never be the same as they had been before the war.

What is the role of gender and social status in "Patriotism" by Yukio Mishima?

The role of gender and social status is to reinforce the underlying message in Mishima's text: his unyielding confidence in and loyalty to ancient Japanese values and martial ethics.
Interestingly, Mishima, like his protagonist, Lieutenant Shinji Takeyama, also committed ritual seppuku or suicide. Both author and protagonist are so intertwined in their pledged loyalties to Imperial Japan that it is difficult to separate fact from fiction in this area.

In the story, Mishima portrays masculinity as the embodiment of every sacred virtue in Imperial Japan. Mishima's own preoccupation with the masculine ethos is well-documented. During his last years, he often grieved the loss of Japanese prestige on the global stage, a loss he felt was precipitated by a corresponding bleeding of traditional, Japanese masculine values from the social fabric. He felt adrift in post-war Japan, bewildered by the increasing materialism and worldliness of his fellow citizens.

In Patriotism, Mishima's portrayal of the lieutenant and his wife reinforces his dual fascination with Apollonian and Dionysian traditions. The Apollonian tenets fueled his obsession for the rational, while the Dionysian virtues inspired him to embrace his intoxicating and irrational side. Both come together in a brief, aesthetic communion of perfection before dissolving in violent tragedy in the story; the lieutenant makes love to his wife and both relentlessly attain the heights of sexual ecstasy before subjecting themselves to the horrors of ritual suicide.

The importance of gender in supporting social status cannot be underestimated in Mishima's Japan; this is apparent in his story. The wife of a soldier must know her place; if her husband is to die a courageous death, she is to follow without reservation. To Reiko, her husband is 'the sun about which her whole world revolved.' When she hears the news that her husband's fellow soldiers have been implicated in a rebellion against the Imperial forces, she prepares to die. Reiko meticulously sorts through her belongings and tries to determine which of her beloved treasures she will bequeath to friends and family after her death.

Reiko knows that her husband's social status is predicated on his resolution to die a courageous death should circumstances demand it. Her own acquiescence to follow in his deadly footsteps will further reinforce his masculine prestige and his legacy. When Lieutenant Takeyama proclaims that he will need her to witness his death, Reiko is touched by her husband's profound trust in her. He knows that she will follow him through the gates of death regardless of his ability to ascertain this fact.

When the moment of truth approaches, we realize once more the intersection of the rational with the irrational.

Was this seppuku?—he was thinking. It was a sensation of utter chaos, as if the sky had fallen on his head and the world was reeling drunkenly. His will power and courage, which had seemed so robust before he made the incision, had now dwindled to something like a single hairlike thread of steel, and he was assailed by the uneasy feeling that he must advance along this thread, clinging to it with desperation.

Lieutenant Takeyama is very much aware that his masculine stoicism is the only thing that propels him forward, as his resolve begins to fracture. Reiko, too, must do her part. She must witness to the very bitter end the violent demise of her husband, and she must stifle every impulse to flinch from the trial by fire she has agreed to share with him. To be fearless in the face of death is to cement her position and legacy as a worthy soldier's wife, a legacy based on traditional Japanese ideals. The description of Reiko's suicide is couched in reverent, almost religious language.

Reiko sensed that at last she too would be able to taste the true bitterness and sweetness of that great moral principle in which her husband believed. What had until now been tasted only faintly through her husband’s example she was about to savor directly with her own tongue.

In Mishima's story, we witness the convergence of the masculine and the feminine to reinforce the social status of those who do not flinch from the duties of ritual suicide in the face of defeat and national disgrace.

Why hadn't the sniper eaten since morning?

The text of the story answers that question in the sentence following the detail about him not eating.  The story tells readers that the sniper had not eaten, because he was too excited to eat.  

He was eating a sandwich hungrily. He had eaten nothing since morning. He had been too excited to eat.

Unfortunately, the story does not elaborate on why the sniper was so excited.  One possible reason that he had been...

The text of the story answers that question in the sentence following the detail about him not eating.  The story tells readers that the sniper had not eaten, because he was too excited to eat.  

He was eating a sandwich hungrily. He had eaten nothing since morning. He had been too excited to eat.

Unfortunately, the story does not elaborate on why the sniper was so excited.  One possible reason that he had been so excited is because he was excited about his current position.  He's on a rooftop, which means that he is firing from a concealed, elevated location.  He has a good firing position, which is likely exciting for a sniper. 

I also believe that the sniper might excited at the prospect of violence.  The sniper is thrilled at the power that he holds.  The text says that the sniper is used to killing.  

They [his eyes] were deep and thoughtful, the eyes of a man who is used to looking at death.

More importantly though is the detail in the sentence just prior to the sentence explaining that the sniper has seen a lot of death.  

His face was the face of a student, thin and ascetic, but his eyes had the cold gleam of the fanatic.

The word fanatic carries a lot of meaning.  It connotes passion and pleasure, which tells me that the sniper is a man who loves doing his job—or perhaps fighting for his cause.  The sniper is too excited to eat because he knows he has work to do later that day.