How do Mike and Bryon feel about school in That Was Then, This Is Now?

Throughout the novel, Bryon is characterized as intelligent and educated, while Mark is portrayed as being irresponsible. In Chapter 4, Bryon mentions that Mark goes to school simply because it is the only thing to do. Mark doesn't like school the way that Bryon does, and Bryon says that they don't see each other often in school because they aren't in the same classes. There are several moments in the novel that depict Byron's affinity...

Throughout the novel, Bryon is characterized as intelligent and educated, while Mark is portrayed as being irresponsible. In Chapter 4, Bryon mentions that Mark goes to school simply because it is the only thing to do. Mark doesn't like school the way that Bryon does, and Bryon says that they don't see each other often in school because they aren't in the same classes. There are several moments in the novel that depict Byron's affinity for literature and he is obviously in more challenging classes than Mark. Byron even says, "I'm a smart kid, so I was put in classes with other smart kids" (Hinton 33). Mark doesn't care about succeeding in the classroom and doesn't take school seriously, while Bryon tries his best to earn good grades. Byron even discovers that Mark routinely borrows the principal's car to meet his probation officer during school hours which illustrates his nonchalant attitude towards the public school system. Bryon also mentions that they go to a huge high school and that he really doesn't fit in with the Socs and recognizes their insincerity. Socially, Bryon seeks to be well liked and Mark enjoys the attention he received after the fight at the school dance.

What were the political and environmental impacts of the National Road?

The National Road, which was the first major highway constructed by the Federal Government of the United States beginning in 1811, was a part of a much broader political program to improve American infrastructure and therefore trade, by building bridges, damns, waterways and roadways. Like the Eerie Canal, the National Road became an alternate route for trade that went east to west, instead of north to south. Before the construction of east-west routes like the National Road, the westward expansion away from the Atlantic Coast was severely limited because the trek into states such as Pennsylvania, Ohio and Illinois was so long, difficult and treacherous.

Yet the American System, envisioned and championed by Henry Clay and other influential politicians after the War of 1812, helped to accelerate trade and migration between states on the Atlantic Coast and the newer, more interior states, such as Ohio and Illinois. Once these states and others like it came into the union, their political power began to rival that of the southern states, and their economies, based on family farming, fur and lumber trading, as well as manufacturing, began to rival the economies of the southern states. The southern states in turn saw the increased political clout of non-slave states as a grave threat to their ability to national policy, and to advocate for the expansion of slavery in the west.

Many of the political dogfights that took place for the next forty years (Missouri Compromise, Fugitive Slave Act, Homestead Act, Compromise of 1850, et cetera) involved issues related to westward expansion, the future of slavery in the west, and the waning influence of Plantation owners and slave states in Congress.

From an environmental perspective, the National Road and the railroads that followed decimated animal populations, particularly buffalo, upon which many Plains Indians relied for sustenance. The road also decimated forests and polluted rivers. As the National Road carried more and more American settlers into the heartland of the country, those settlers ground that rugged and pristine terrain into farmable land, but they didn't know much about farming, so they often used methods that dried up water tables and cut off or rerouted fresh water supplies (like rivers and streams) in order to increase their crop yields. In the process, these settlers caused mass extinctions of countless species of plants and animals, whose habitats were destroyed before they could be catalogued. 

The land that these settlers took had for thousands of years been sparsely populated and lightly farmed. Native Americans had taken great care to preserve it. Within one hundred years, much of that land had been rendered unrecognizable. Moreover, a political system that had been designed to ensure that citizens lived close to their representatives so that they could hold them accountable had shifted to a system in which citizens were governed by a federal government that most of them had never seen, and would never see. This lack of contact between the federal government and its citizens led to a chasm of understanding and a lack of responsiveness to people’s daily needs, which undercut the very notion of a representative democracy. It took another century for the Progressive Movement to give some semblance of control over the government back to the people.

What Progressive political reforms changed the political influence of immigrants?

There were two significant factors in Progressive politics and ideology that led to a decline in immigration and a decline in the influence of immigrants.

The first of the two is one likely to be repugnant to many people of the twenty-first century. Due to their interest in science and the potential of science and technology to improve the world, many of the Progressives embraced eugenics, arguing that just as we can breed horses to...

There were two significant factors in Progressive politics and ideology that led to a decline in immigration and a decline in the influence of immigrants.

The first of the two is one likely to be repugnant to many people of the twenty-first century. Due to their interest in science and the potential of science and technology to improve the world, many of the Progressives embraced eugenics, arguing that just as we can breed horses to improve racing performance or cattle to improve meat production, so selective breeding can improve the human race. This effort had two prongs. The first was attempts, especially on the state level, to sterilize people deemed unfit to breed, especially the mentally disabled. The second was an effort to restrict immigration, especially by people from "inferior" races. This attitude that certain races were by nature inferior led to negative attitudes towards immigrants, restrictions on immigration, and reduction of immigrant influence. 

The second anti-immigration aspect of the Progressive movement resulted from its strong connections with labor movements and unions. Many unions were opposed to immigration because they believed that an influx of unskilled Asians willing to work for extremely low wages would depress salaries and reduce the negotiating power of unions to improve working conditions. The unions allied politically with Prohibitionists who thought that immigrants from certain countries brought with them a culture of drinking that contributed to immorality. Religious prejudices of a Protestant majority against Jews and Catholics played into this anti-immigrant sentiment. One resulting policy was that of Americanization, in which the public school system was used to instill American values and fluency in English into the children of immigrants. This policy of assimilation reduced the influence of immigrants by causing younger generations to assimilate and to consider themselves primarily as "Americans" rather than as members of an immigrant community.

What are the similarities between Lakunle and Baroka?

Although the characters of Lakunle and Baroka have many differences, they happen to share several similarities throughout the play The Lion and the Jewel. Both Lakunle and Baroka wish to marry the village belle, Sidi.Lakunle confesses his love, yet refuses to pay the bride-price and does not marry her. However, Baroka is able to deceive Sidi into believing that he is impotent and successfully woos her after promising Sidi that her face will be...

Although the characters of Lakunle and Baroka have many differences, they happen to share several similarities throughout the play The Lion and the Jewel. Both Lakunle and Baroka wish to marry the village belle, Sidi. Lakunle confesses his love, yet refuses to pay the bride-price and does not marry her. However, Baroka is able to deceive Sidi into believing that he is impotent and successfully woos her after promising Sidi that her face will be on every printed stamp coming from Ilujinle. Throughout the play, Lakunle is a proponent of modernization and values progress over maintaining traditional customs. Baroka values traditional customs but accepts progress towards modernization. He tells Sidi that he and Lakunle are alike and believes that change is a good thing. Both characters are also intelligent. Lakunle is educated and values reading and writing. He is considered the village madman for the "big words" he uses as well as his affinity for Western culture. Baroka is also viewed as smart and cunning throughout the play. He is known as the Fox, and Sadiku warns Sidi of his wit before she attends his dinner. Baroka outsmarts both Sadiku and Sidi into successfully getting what he wants.

What role does education play in Jane Eyre?

Many people have argued that Jane Eyre is a Bildungsroman, or novel of education. Education is a major theme in the novel -- Jane is first a student at Lowood, then an instructor there, then a governess at Thornfield, then a schoolmaster at a school for working class children. One of Bronte's points is that men and women are equals intellectually, and advocates for education for women. But aside from that, the novel is also about Jane's education about herself. This coming into self knowledge is intertwined with her formal education.

Take, for example, Jane's experience at Lowood. When Mr Brocklehurst introduces her to the school as a "liar" and tells the other students to shun her, this is but one example of many of the ritual shaming that is confused for discipline at the school (Helen Burns is also a victim of this shaming, as is Miss Temple, who must stand by while Jane is humiliated and offer tacit approval). In many ways, the harshness of the school prevents learning, rather than encourages it -- sometimes quite literally, when the students begin to die. However, despite this, Jane still finds her learning community at Lowood -- in Miss Temple and Helen -- and the lessons she learns from them, about forgiveness, kindness, and faith shape her for the rest of the novel. Most importantly, what she learns from them is some measure of self respect.

This self respect carries over to her dealings with Mr Rochester, and becomes a sticking point in her relationship with St John. Rochester recognizes Jane as his intellectual equal; St John does not. Jane's final rejection of St John for Rochester is in part the result of her realization that she can only be truly happy with someone who values her whole self, and who sees her as true equal, as opposed to someone who is merely useful. In this way, Jane Eyre argues that the basis for any right love relationship is equality and mutual respect, rather than obedience and dependence.

I think, for Bronte, education was the path for women to achieve that sort of equality. Jane finds her work in the schoolhouse fulfilling because she has the opportunity to teach her students the same lessons about self respect. This need to serve is exploited by St John when he pressures Jane to come with him to India. Jane is able to reject him because she realizes that St John does not love her and only values her intellectual talents insofar as they are useful in helping him achieve his goals. St John claims that his goals are, in fact, God's goals, and that Jane, in obeying him, is obeying God. But Jane ultimately is able to resist that logic. St John may be "a good man," as Jane and his sisters keep saying, but the lesson Jane learns is that his "goodness" and suitability as a husband are two different things. This is another case in which the personal moral truth Jane has learned -- that women are equal to men -- trumps conventional (masculine) morality.

Describe George's and Lennie’s new living conditions in chapter two of Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men.

In the beginning of each chapter in Steinbeck's novella Of Mice and Menthe author describes the setting. The first and last chapters are set in the peaceful area between the Gabilan Mountains and the Salinas River. The second and third chapters are set in the bunkhouse of the ranch where George and Lennie come to live while they "buck barley." Chapter four takes the reader to Crooks's room in the barn and chapter five...

In the beginning of each chapter in Steinbeck's novella Of Mice and Men the author describes the setting. The first and last chapters are set in the peaceful area between the Gabilan Mountains and the Salinas River. The second and third chapters are set in the bunkhouse of the ranch where George and Lennie come to live while they "buck barley." Chapter four takes the reader to Crooks's room in the barn and chapter five is also set in the barn where Lennie is sitting with his dead puppy before Curley's wife comes in.

Chapter two takes place in the bunkhouse as the reader meets all of the important characters of the book. Steinbeck uses the entire first paragraph to describe the bunkhouse. The opening lines read:

The bunk house was a long, rectangular building. Inside, the walls were whitewashed and the floor unpainted. In three walls there were small, square windows, and in the fourth, a solid door with a wooden latch. 

It is a typical housing area for working men with beds, shelves, personal items, and a table for playing cards, a major pastime for the men when they are not working.

When George examines his new bed he becomes upset when he finds a can of bug repellent. Steinbeck writes:

George stepped over and threw his blankets down on the burlap sack of straw that was a mattress. He looked into his box shelf and then picked a small yellow can from it. “Say. What the hell’s this?”

Candy explains that the bunkhouse isn't "ticky," it's just that the worker who had the bunk before was very clean.  

In "The Lottery," who is in charge in the town?

Shirley Jackson does not tell the reader who is in charge of the town in her story "The Lottery." What the reader does know is that Mr. Summers is in charge of the lottery event and proceedings. It is unclear if he has any official government leadership role.  

The lottery was conducted—as were the square dances, the teen club, the Halloween program—by Mr. Summers, who had time and energy to devote to civic activities.

...

Shirley Jackson does not tell the reader who is in charge of the town in her story "The Lottery." What the reader does know is that Mr. Summers is in charge of the lottery event and proceedings. It is unclear if he has any official government leadership role.  

The lottery was conducted—as were the square dances, the teen club, the Halloween program—by Mr. Summers, who had time and energy to devote to civic activities.

The above quote makes it clear that Mr. Summers is in charge of the lottery. That line cracks me up every single time that I read it, though. It says that Mr. Summers conducts all of the civic activities because he has time and energy for them. I too would have the time and energy if being in charge of those things made me exempt from the lottery. I would do an awful lot of things if it guaranteed I could never be stoned to death.

Mr. Summers is instrumental in changing the "chips" that the lottery uses. He convinces everybody that strips of paper are better than the wood pieces that were used when the village was small. Based on pieces of evidence like that, it's clear that Mr. Summers is the main man in charge of the lottery.

Because so much of the ritual had been forgotten or discarded, Mr. Summers had been successful in having slips of paper substituted for the chips of wood that had been used for generations. Chips of wood, Mr. Summers had argued, had been all very well when the village was tiny, but now that the population was more than three hundred and likely to keep on growing, it was necessary to use something that would fit more easily into he black box.

Explain the dramatic irony of Duncan's reaction when he arrives at Macbeth's castle.

Dramatic irony is used whenever the audience knows more than the character, and by the time Duncan arrives at Macbeth's castle, we certainly know a great deal more about his fate than he does. He compliments their home, saying, "This castle hath a pleasant seat. The air / Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself / Unto our gentle senses" (1.6.1-3). He would not think this castle so "pleasant" and sweet if he knew that its occupants,...

Dramatic irony is used whenever the audience knows more than the character, and by the time Duncan arrives at Macbeth's castle, we certainly know a great deal more about his fate than he does. He compliments their home, saying, "This castle hath a pleasant seat. The air / Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself / Unto our gentle senses" (1.6.1-3). He would not think this castle so "pleasant" and sweet if he knew that its occupants, his friends and subjects, were planning to murder him that night. 

Further, Duncan calls Lady Macbeth his "Fair and noble hostess" (1.6.30). He is unaware that she is, even now, feigning her loyalty and desire to serve him. She claims to be grateful for "those honors deep and broad wherewith / [His] Majesty loads [their] house" (1.6.21-22). But, as the audience knows, she is in the process of plotting how best to stab him and frame his chamberlains so that her husband can ascend to the throne.

Dramatic irony here (as is often the case) is used to heighten the tension for the audience. We know the truth, and we know how completely trusting Duncan is, and so this really ramps up our anxiety as the evening progresses.

How did Miss Maudie feel about her house burning down in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird?

Contrary to what you might expect, Miss Maudie seems relatively unfazed when her house burns down. In fact, she seems almost glad that it collapses in a fiery inferno. This unconventional reaction shows that Miss Maudie is different from the average Maycomb citizen, thus setting her up to be an important ally later on in the novel. 

When Scout asks Miss Maudie if she's mourning her recently burned-down house, the Finch's neighbor surprises her by...

Contrary to what you might expect, Miss Maudie seems relatively unfazed when her house burns down. In fact, she seems almost glad that it collapses in a fiery inferno. This unconventional reaction shows that Miss Maudie is different from the average Maycomb citizen, thus setting her up to be an important ally later on in the novel. 

When Scout asks Miss Maudie if she's mourning her recently burned-down house, the Finch's neighbor surprises her by replying, "I hated that old cow barn. Thought of settin' fire to it a hundred times myself" (77). This is obviously an unusual reaction, but it shows how little Miss Maudie cares for the things that other, so-called "normal" people care for. Rather than seeing her house as a financial asset or as a symbol of her social status, she merely saw it as a nuisance, as one more burden to shoulder. Given her independent attitude, it's no surprise that Miss Maudie becomes an important ally when the Finch children struggle to navigate the prejudices of Maycomb's citizens during the Tom Robinson trial.

What does Mayella accuse Tom Robinson of doing? What does she think happened? Describe Mayella's attitude toward everyone in the courtroom.

In Chapter 18, Mayella Ewell takes the witness stand and accuses Tom Robinson of assaulting and raping her. Mayella's testimony is completely fabricated and contradictory. She tells Mr. Gilmer that she offered Tom Robinson a nickel to "bust up" an old chiffarobe. When she walked inside to retrieve the nickel, Mayella says that Tom followed her inside and choked her from behind. Once Tom grabbed Mayella around the neck, he began to hit her. Mayella...

In Chapter 18, Mayella Ewell takes the witness stand and accuses Tom Robinson of assaulting and raping her. Mayella's testimony is completely fabricated and contradictory. She tells Mr. Gilmer that she offered Tom Robinson a nickel to "bust up" an old chiffarobe. When she walked inside to retrieve the nickel, Mayella says that Tom followed her inside and choked her from behind. Once Tom grabbed Mayella around the neck, he began to hit her. Mayella says he "chunked" her on the ground and "took advantage" of her. Mayella claims that she does not remember the events that took place after she was assaulted.

When Atticus questions Mayella as to whether she remembers Tom beating her in the face, she says, "No, I don't recollect if he hit me. I mean yes I do, he hit me" (Lee 248). When Atticus asks her to identify the man who beat and took advantage of her, Mayella points at Tom Robinson. Tom Robinson has a crippled left arm, and Atticus simply asks, "How?" (Lee 249). Mayella claims that she doesn't know how it happened because it all happened so fast. Mayella finally testifies that Tom's punch glanced off her face because she ducked. She then says she started to kick, punch, and scream. Atticus then begins to rapidly question Mayella about why no one was able to hear her screams, and she does not respond.

Mayella's attitude is hostile and indignant the entire time she is on the witness stand. She views Atticus with contempt and is hesitant to answer his questions. Mayella cries as a way to gain the audiences' sympathy. When Atticus makes her recant her testimony she becomes extremely angry and even calls the jury, judge, and lawyers cowards for not believing her.

How do the colonial subjects repay their masters in Rudyard Kipling's poem "The White Man's Burden?"

One of the major themes of “The White Man’s Burden” is the idea that the white people go out and have to work hard to civilize the non-white people without any gratitude and often without much success.  This is how the colonial subjects repay their masters.  They repay them by resenting them instead of appreciating what they do.  They also repay them by destroying (even if they do not do so on purpose) the things that the masters are trying to achieve.

One of these ways that the subjects repay their masters is found in the third stanza.  There, Kipling tells us that all the work that the white people do will end up being for nothing.  They will work hard to try to end famine and war, but it will not work. The reason for this is because the subject people will ruin what the masters are trying to accomplish.  Kipling tells his white audience that

when your goal is nearest
The end for others sought,
Watch sloth and heathen Folly
Bring all your hopes to nought.

In other words, he is saying, the subject people will repay their masters by spoiling everything they have been working for. The subjects are lazy and foolish and they will therefore ruin all the good work the whites are doing.

The second way in which the subjects repay their masters is found in the fifth stanza.  There, Kipling warns the white audience that their subjects will not appreciate their efforts.  The white people will try to pull the subjects “(Ah, slowly!) toward the light.”  This means that they will try to civilize their subjects even though that is difficult and it takes a long time.  However, the subjects will not be grateful.  Instead, they will resent the efforts of their masters.  As Kipling says, they will hate and blame their masters and ask

"Why brought he us from bondage,
Our loved Egyptian night?"

From these two stanzas, we can see how the subject people will repay their masters.  They will repay them by ruining (even if they do not mean to) all the things the whites are trying to do.  They will also repay the masters by hating and resenting them.  This is part of why, Kipling says, imperialism is such a burden on the white people.

What is the setting of the poem "The Road Not Taken"? That is, where is the poet and what time of the year is it?

The poet is walking in a forest, and the time of year is Autumn.

Since the poem was published in 1916 only shortly after Frost left England where he would often take walks with his close friend, Edward Thomas, the forest is probably near Gloucestershire, where Frost owned a cottage. However, since he had already returned to New England at the time of the publication of his poem, Frost could have just as easily used...

The poet is walking in a forest, and the time of year is Autumn.

Since the poem was published in 1916 only shortly after Frost left England where he would often take walks with his close friend, Edward Thomas, the forest is probably near Gloucestershire, where Frost owned a cottage. However, since he had already returned to New England at the time of the publication of his poem, Frost could have just as easily used a New Hampshire forest as his setting. The time of the poem is probably between 1912 and 1915 while he was a close with the indecisive and troubled Thomas. For, Frost himself declared that the poem was composed with Thomas in mind. With the description of a "yellow wood," the time of the year would be the fall. 

While a description of the indecisiveness of Edward Thomas may be the objective of the poem, there have been many metaphoric interpretations of this popular verse, especially one that involves faltering at an important time of one's life. This interpretation may still return to Thomas who chose to go to war rather than accompany Frost to New Hampshire. So, just as the speaker of the poem hesitates--

And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Thomas faltered in his friendship, the most important of either man's life, and remained in England, enlisting as a soldier.

In Romeo and Juliet Act III, Scene 3, what does "There is no world without Verona walls" mean?

In Act III, Scene 3 of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Romeo is hiding in Friar Lawrence's cell because of the tragic events in Scene 1 in which he killed Tybalt in revenge for the killing of Mercutio. When the friar informs Romeo that he has been banished from Verona for his part in the violence he immediately becomes passionate in his refusal to consider the decree. He has recently been married to Juliet and...

In Act III, Scene 3 of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Romeo is hiding in Friar Lawrence's cell because of the tragic events in Scene 1 in which he killed Tybalt in revenge for the killing of Mercutio. When the friar informs Romeo that he has been banished from Verona for his part in the violence he immediately becomes passionate in his refusal to consider the decree. He has recently been married to Juliet and claims that the outside world holds nothing for him if he cannot be with her. Furthermore, everything he knows and loves is in Verona. To be banished from the city is therefore worse than death. He cries to Friar Lawrence:

There is no world without Verona walls
But purgatory, torture, hell itself.
Hence “banishèd” is “banished from the world,”
And world’s exile is death.

Romeo refers to banishment as being like purgatory, a place in between life and the afterworld, torture or even hell. He carries on for quite a while about his fate in exile until the friar reminds him that he could have been put to death, as was the Prince's original declaration. Friar Lawrence eventually persuades Romeo to accept the law, go and see Juliet, and then leave for Mantua. He further encourages Romeo to look on the bright side of things and claims that once tempers have quieted Romeo may return to Verona and be reunited with Juliet:

Go, get thee to thy love, as was decreed.
Ascend her chamber. Hence and comfort her.
But look thou stay not till the watch be set,
For then thou canst not pass to Mantua,
Where thou shalt live till we can find a time
To blaze your marriage, reconcile your friends,
Beg pardon of the Prince, and call thee back
With twenty hundred thousand times more joy
Than thou went’st forth in lamentation.

 

Is ignorance bliss in Alice Walker’s short story “The Flowers”?

One may be happier in certain situations when one’s oblivious to the truth, but calling ignorance bliss wouldn't, perhaps, be right.  

In the story “The Flowers,” Myop’s existence, until she encounters the disturbing truth, can certainly be described as blissful. However, the bliss disappears as soon as the horrid truth is revealed to her.

Indeed, Myop had been very happy and content. With wildflowers, "silver ferns," the woods, the stream, the harmless creatures like chickens and...

One may be happier in certain situations when one’s oblivious to the truth, but calling ignorance bliss wouldn't, perhaps, be right.  

In the story “The Flowers,” Myop’s existence, until she encounters the disturbing truth, can certainly be described as blissful. However, the bliss disappears as soon as the horrid truth is revealed to her.

Indeed, Myop had been very happy and content. With wildflowers, "silver ferns," the woods, the stream, the harmless creatures like chickens and pigs, "the warm sun" and her mother, Myop’s world was untouched by the miseries of life. Hers was a paradisiacal world, unblemished by suffering or sorrow.

Myop was absolutely clueless about the darker aspect of the world surrounding her. This made her all the more vulnerable.

Myop’s accidental stepping upon the skull of a man who had been lynched is her epiphanic moment. It takes her a little while to make sense out of the skull, "the rotted remains of a noose” and the “frayed, rotted, bleached, and frazzled” piece of rope hanging to an oak tree.

The truth about the world is out before her. It’s not a perfect place because in it there’s violence, bloodshed, hatred and agony. The aghast and stunned Myop drops the flowers from her hand in dismay.

So, we see that Myop’s bliss rested on her illusionary idea of the world around her. Her inexperience and ignorance kept the truth away from her. 

So, if you call Myop’s earlier existence blissful, you’ll have to admit that it was very short-lived. It had always stood on the verge of getting shattered, and it does get shattered at last, causing her great disappointment.

Hence, the bliss that ignorance offers is unreal and, therefore, ephemeral.

If you go up a P5th from D, which note do you land on?

It looks like you are asking about going up a Perfect 5th from D on the keyboard. From D, the tonic note, you will end up on the note A if you want a Perfect 5th chord.

Perfect 5ths are made up of seven half steps. So, if you follow on the keyboard, you will see a progression like this: D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A. (# symbolizes sharp).

Also, here's an easier...

It looks like you are asking about going up a Perfect 5th from D on the keyboard. From D, the tonic note, you will end up on the note A if you want a Perfect 5th chord.

Perfect 5ths are made up of seven half steps. So, if you follow on the keyboard, you will see a progression like this: D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A. (# symbolizes sharp).

Also, here's an easier way to recognize perfect 5ths if you prefer not to count half steps. All fifths are perfect without sharps or flats unless you are referring to B and F. To get a perfect 5th here, you will need B and F sharp. The progression will look like this: B, C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#. (To check, you can see that it's seven half steps from B to F sharp).

For notes with no sharps or flats:

1)From C to G is a perfect 5th.

2)From E to B is also a perfect 5th.

If both notes are sharped or flatted, they will still be Perfect 5ths. Try these:

1)From C sharp to G sharp ( C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#).

2)From A flat to E flat ( A flat, A, B flat, B, C, D flat, D, E flat).

Try other combinations if you like, but the principle still holds the same. Happy playing!

Discuss Dickens' role as social critic in Great Expectations.

In what has been acclaimed his best novel, Charles Dickens, who was a strong advocate of social reform, attacks several aspects of his Victorian society in Great Expectations:

• The plight of orphaned and abused children.

Both Pip and little Biddy are orphans who are mistreated. Pip often suffers from the lashings of Tickler at the hands of his sister, Mrs. Joe, who resents having to raise him. Biddy, a ward of Mr. Wopsle's great-aunt, is little more than a servant, with her tangled hair and torn dresses. She works in the little general store of this aunt, keeping accounts of all merchandise sold. At other times, Biddy fills the role of servant, as well. In the great-aunt's story, it is Biddy who actually teaches Pip in the great-aunt's school. 

• Abuses in the legal and penal systems

Soon after he comes to London, Pip learns that there is a justice for the rich and a different one for the poor. As he waits for Mr. Jaggers, he looks around at the people waiting outside the barrister's office. Mr. Jagger's asks these clients if they have paid Mr. Wemmick, and exhibits no sympathy for them.

"Oh, yes, sir! Every farthing."
"Very Well. Say another word--one single word--and Wemmick shall give you your money back.

Further, he simply dismisses them if they cannot pay his fee.

Perhaps, the most defining instance of the inequities of the Victorian system of justice exists in the history of Magwitch--who was a product of poverty and forced to steal to keep from starving--and in the story of the trial of Magwitch (the wretch of the streets) and Compeyson, a supposed "gentleman." Even though Magwitch has been guilty of lesser crimes, he has been given the severest of punishment, while the designer of the crimes, dressed in fine clothes, has been dealt a lesser sentence.

• Social class privilege and snobbery

One of the best examples of the snobbery of the upper class comes from the attitude and the words of Estella when she is told to play with Pip: "...with this boy! ...he is a common-labouring boy!" (Of course, the irony is that Estella is the child of two lower class criminals).

The relatives of Miss Havisham are always disdainful of Pip, worried that he may be given money by Miss Havisham. 
Even Pip falls into the attitude that the rich are somehow superior: When he learns that Miss Havisham is not his benefactor--a woman who is so eccentric that, were she not rich, she would be ridiculed--and that Magwitch is, Pip is repulsed and appalled.

That social privilege and snobbery is exalted in Victorian society is lampooned by Dickens in Chapter XXIII in which the ridiculous Mrs. Pocket spends all her time trying to locate an aristocrat as an ancestor while her children tumble over her feet, nearly swallowing dangerous items, with the maid rescuing them from accidents.

Also, within the element of farce are the thespian ventures of Mr. Wopsle who fancies himself a Shakespearean actor after he moves to London and aspires to elevate himself.

• The adulation of a rising middle class for a frivolous aristocracy

Uncle Pumblechook best exemplifies a fawning middle class that aspires to be associated with the rich, who are unconcerned with the conditions of poverty and poor health and crime in their country. 

When Pip receives his wealth, suddenly Uncle Pumblechook likes Pip and tries to take credit for Pip's rise in social class as he has an article printed the local paper.

• Alcohol abuse

Orlick, who is representative of the dangers of drunkenness in Chapter LIII, attacks Pip with a hammer at the old sluice-house. In drunken ramblings, Orlick tells Pip that he knows Compeyson and that he was on the stairway on the night Magwitch appeared at Pip's. Pip cries out just as the drunken Orlick, taking a swig of liquor, picks up a hammer to attack with, but Herbert and others intervene to save Pip. 

Provide a character sketch of the ghost from "The Canterville Ghost."

Sir Simon, also known as the ghost, is one of the main characters in the story, "The Canterville Ghost." One of the strongest impressions of Sir Simon is that he has criminal tendencies. When he was alive, for example, he murdered his wife, Lady Eleanore, in the library of Canterville Chase because she was "very plain" in appearance and not a good housekeeper. 

In addition, Sir Simon is very proud of his earthly achievements. This...

Sir Simon, also known as the ghost, is one of the main characters in the story, "The Canterville Ghost." One of the strongest impressions of Sir Simon is that he has criminal tendencies. When he was alive, for example, he murdered his wife, Lady Eleanore, in the library of Canterville Chase because she was "very plain" in appearance and not a good housekeeper. 

In addition, Sir Simon is very proud of his earthly achievements. This is supported by his affections towards the suit of armour. He proudly recalls how he wore this at a tournament in Kenilworth and that Queen Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen, had complimented it. This feeling of pride also extends to his achievements in the afterlife. He is gleeful, for example, when he recalls some of the people he has frightened at Canterville Chase. He appeared to the Dowager Duchess, for instance, by placing his skeleton hands on her shoulders as she dressed for dinner. She was so terrified that she fell into a "fit" for some weeks after. Similarly, Madame de Tremouillac was "confined to her bed for six weeks" after Sir Simon appeared to her as a skeleton while reading her diary by the fire. 

But Sir Simon exhibits vulnerabilities, too. He is easily hurt and humiliated by the Otis family, for example, when his attempts at scaring them completely fail. The twins fire their pea-shooters at him, Mrs Otis offers him a tincture for his throat and Washington hems him in with a "garden syringe." Despite donning his most infamous and scary costumes, he cannot make them frightened of him and this causes him to experience a deep depression. 

But this depression leads to the story's climax because it forces Sir Simon to confront his bad deeds and seek redemption in the Garden of Death. To do this, he successfully appeals to Virginia Otis who follows him through the wall of the Tapestry Chamber. There, she sheds tears for Sir Simon and he is granted the gift of eternal rest. 

How did microscopes change our ideas about living things?

Microscopes are devices that allow us to view extremely small objects and features. A compound microscope is a common feature of school laboratories and is generally used to look at small features of leaves, animals, etc. 

Before the advent of microscopes, it was really tough to believe that extremely small and practically invisible (at least to our naked eye) organisms exist and that smaller parts make up larger organisms. It was only after we started...

Microscopes are devices that allow us to view extremely small objects and features. A compound microscope is a common feature of school laboratories and is generally used to look at small features of leaves, animals, etc. 

Before the advent of microscopes, it was really tough to believe that extremely small and practically invisible (at least to our naked eye) organisms exist and that smaller parts make up larger organisms. It was only after we started using microscopes that we could confirm the existence of microorganisms such as bacteria, algae, viruses, etc. More powerful microscopes allowed us to view cells and their organelle and confirmed cell theory. Microscopic observations have also helped us distinguish between benign microbes and pathogens and helped us develop medicines.

Thus, our view of life at the smallest scale (nano and micro scales) has been completely revolutionized by the microscope.

Hope this helps.  

I need help understanding Lillian Stewart's poem in Spoon River Anthology.

Lillian Stewart introduces herself as "the daughter of Lambert Hutchins." We know then, right away, that her life has been defined by him and his legacy. 

Lillian was "born in a cottage near the grist-mill," which indicates that she was born to modest means. She ends up in a mansion that her father built. She describes its splendor. The fifth and sixth lines employ anaphora, emphasizing "how proud" her parents were of the mansion --...

Lillian Stewart introduces herself as "the daughter of Lambert Hutchins." We know then, right away, that her life has been defined by him and his legacy. 

Lillian was "born in a cottage near the grist-mill," which indicates that she was born to modest means. She ends up in a mansion that her father built. She describes its splendor. The fifth and sixth lines employ anaphora, emphasizing "how proud" her parents were of the mansion -- an indication of "[her] father's rise in the world." 

There is a shift in the ninth line: "But I believe the house was a curse / For Father's fortune was little beside it..." We learn that the mansion is unlucky, primarily for Lillian, because her father only had the house he had built, not the wealth people assumed went with it. Thus, when she marries, her husband is disappointed that he married "a girl who was really poor." Focus on those lines. What does this say about her husband and his true intentions for marrying Lillian?

He calls the house "a fraud on the world / A treacherous lure to young men..." Both of those lines are interesting and slightly different in meaning. The first is more of a social betrayal, while the latter is a personal one. 

She goes on, speaking, it seems in her husband's voice: "And a man while selling his vote / Should get enough from the people's betrayal / To wall the whole of his family in." "Vote" here is used as a metaphor. One could say that the reference is to her husband's "loyalty" or the taking of vows. "The people's betrayal" is a reference to her own family. Clearly, he expected them to offer him enough "of a dowry" to care for his own kin. 

The poem ends with Lillian tormented by her husband until she chooses to go back home to be "an old maid," to "[keep] house for father." Notice how "old maid" has a double meaning here. Also, the mansion takes on new connotations. It has transformed from a source of pride to one of torment.

Explain the connotations of the vivid words and phrases in the first stanza of part 31 of "Song of Myself."

The first stanza of section 31 is one of the most lyrical sections of Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself." It introduces the reader to a variety of images of the natural world, all of which culminate in a celebration of simplicity and "insignificance."

Consider, for instance, that all of the images that Whitman uses refer to small pieces of nature that are often overlooked in favor of things deemed more dramatic. In lines 663-69, Whitman...

The first stanza of section 31 is one of the most lyrical sections of Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself." It introduces the reader to a variety of images of the natural world, all of which culminate in a celebration of simplicity and "insignificance."

Consider, for instance, that all of the images that Whitman uses refer to small pieces of nature that are often overlooked in favor of things deemed more dramatic. In lines 663-69, Whitman celebrates "a leaf of grass," a "pismire" (an ant), a "tree-toad," "the narrowest hinge in my hand," and, last but not least, a "cow crunching with depress'd head." Whitman celebrates all of these humble images of the natural world, although his assessment of the "leaf of grass" is perhaps his most significant, as he compares the vegetation to "the journey-work of the stars" (663).

It's apparent, therefore, that Whitman wants to assert the inherent importance of all things, of all the myriad pieces of the world. Furthermore, he deliberately equates humble and seemly insignificant things, such as grass and toads, with the glamour of the cosmos to argue that the infinite complexities and wonders of the universe are found even within the smallest of things. As such, this section becomes one of the most important parts of the poem, as it advances Whitman's thesis that each individual organism is "a kosmos" (497).

What is a quote in Fahrenheit 451 that symbolizes the Phoenix? Why does it symbolize the Phoenix?

The Phoenix is a bird from Greek mythology that could regenerate or experience rebirth after being burned up. There are a few times in Fahrenheit 451 when books are being burned and they are likened to birds. For example, the first page describes the burning of books as follows:

"He wanted above all, like the old joke, to shove a marshmallow on a stick in the furnace, while the flapping pigeon-winged books died on the porch and lawn of the house" (3).

The above passage is taken while Montag, the protagonist, is burning books as a part of his job as a fireman in a futuristic society that values pleasure over literacy. Firemen are called out to burn people's books, along with their houses, if they are suspected and reported as owning them. During a scene when Montag is shown burning a woman's house, the text uses the symbolic images of birds to describe the books as they burn.

"A book lit, almost obediently, like a white pigeon, in his hands, wings fluttering. . . like a snowy feather" (37).

By the end of part three, an atomic bomb levels the city. Granger, someone Montag meets outside of the city, speaks of the Phoenix while watching a piece of paper burn in the campfire. Montag asks Granger what a phoenix is and he is told the following:

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

Books are described as dying birds when they are burned, which can be connected to the symbolism of the phoenix. The city is completely destroyed, too. Granger makes the allusion to the phoenix because after all of the fires and bombs, he hopes that people will rise above the ashes and experience a rebirth. He hopes that the next civilization that rises from these ashes will appreciate literacy and bring back books. Granger also says that people are smarter than a phoenix because we can learn from their mistakes; so, his hope is that humanity will grow and become better than the last society that Montag lived in.

I am working on a speech about social media and its pros and cons. I am having some trouble on how to start it with an introduction and need help.

The introduction of a speech is generally intended to do two things, capture the interest and the goodwill of your audience. 

One way to engage people's interest is to begin with a striking quotation, unusual fact, or interesting anecdote. These types of openings make people curious and make them likely to wish to hear more about your topic.

For anecdotes, you could use an interesting experience of your own or one of your friends. As...

The introduction of a speech is generally intended to do two things, capture the interest and the goodwill of your audience. 

One way to engage people's interest is to begin with a striking quotation, unusual fact, or interesting anecdote. These types of openings make people curious and make them likely to wish to hear more about your topic.

For anecdotes, you could use an interesting experience of your own or one of your friends. As you do your research, you will find many strange facts. For example, according to the Huffington Post, "The fastest growing demographic on Twitter is the 55-64 year age bracket." This could be an interesting way to start a speech as many people associate social media primarily with young people.

Another possibility for an introduction is showing how your paper could be useful to your audience. For example, if one of the "cons" against social media use is the expense of data plans, and you promise to discuss ways to avoid this expense, people will listen because they can benefit directly by paying close attention to what you have to say. 

How does "The Devil and Tom Walker" end? Why did the author end it this way?

"The Devil and Tom Walker" ends when Tom is shouting at his customer, whom he's about to ruin financially to make a profit for himself, even though they are supposed to be friends. When this customer begs for help and points out how much money Tom has already made from him, Tom shouts this:

"The devil take me," said he, "if I have made a farthing!"

The devil is happy to oblige! He shows up with an impatiently stamping black horse, snatches Tom up, and gallops off with him into a thunderstorm. Even more theatrically, they gallop into a swamp, the swamp gets struck by lightning, and it turns into a giant blaze of fire.

There are a few paragraphs after that, as the narrator describes the townspeople's reactions, the mysterious destruction of all of Tom's stuff, and the notoriety of this whole "true" story. But that grand theatrical ending with Tom being carried off by the devil is the real meat of the ending, and it sure is a show-stopper!

Why did Irving end the story in this way? 

First, Tom is described as a horrible human being, rotten to the core, greedy and mean and selfish, and hypocritical on top of all that. He's got to get what's coming to him.

Second, Tom entered into the deal with the devil while knowing full well what that deal was, even though it wasn't stated in exact words. He knew he was selling his soul, and so that soul had to be collected by the end of the story.

Third, Tom was warned well in advance by the devil about what would happen if he took what wasn't his and then focused on other people's sins instead of his own. These warnings were issued to him the first time that Tom and the devil meet in the swamp. Because he doesn't pay attention to them, he has to suffer the consequences.

Fourth, you can think of Tom as not so much an individual person but as the embodiment of human greed, wickedness, or hypocrisy. By sending Tom's soul to hell in the story, the author is making a statement about the ultimate result of those terrible human qualities.

Fifth, the ending makes for a great story. The whole time we're reading, we totally hate Tom. He's awful! Look at how he treats his wife, his horses, his friends, and strangers! We can't wait for him to get his punishment, and Irving delivers that to us, making for a gleeful ending.

These are all the reasons I can think of, but others might chime in with more. 

What happens after the police stop Mead walking on the street?

One of the two robot police cars left in the city stops Leonard Mead walking the city streets because his behavior is suspicious. No one walks at night in this society because they are locked up in their homes watching hundreds of channels on television. Leonard Mead is different, however.  He use to be a writer, an occupation no longer needed in this society because no one reads when there is television to entertain them....

One of the two robot police cars left in the city stops Leonard Mead walking the city streets because his behavior is suspicious. No one walks at night in this society because they are locked up in their homes watching hundreds of channels on television. Leonard Mead is different, however.  He use to be a writer, an occupation no longer needed in this society because no one reads when there is television to entertain them. Mead is from a different time when people socialized and enjoyed taking walks or sitting on their porches talking. As Mead takes his nightly walks, he notices that all the houses are dark and compares it to walking through a graveyard. He also notes that he has never met another person walking in all the years he has been doing it.

The police car stops Mead, and when Mead tells the police car during their questioning of him that he use to be a writer and he is unmarried (only married men would be walking at night to get away from their wives), it seems to be enough for the police to take him away to the Psychiatric Center for Research on Regressive Tendencies where he will be re-indoctrinated with the “normal” behavior of society. In the final scene, Mead says “good-bye” to his home, for he will never remember his former life once the “doctors” at the psychiatric center reprogram him.

What does John Proctor mean when he says that "God is dead" in Act 3 of The Crucible?

Proctor says this horrifying line after he has seen the awful power that Abigail, "a whore" (to use his word), has over Danforth and the court, after his wife, Elizabeth, has lied to save his name (making it appear that he was lying when he explained Abigail's ulterior motives for accusing Elizabeth), and after Mary Warren, his servant who he brought to the court to confess that the girls were actually "sportin'" when they made...

Proctor says this horrifying line after he has seen the awful power that Abigail, "a whore" (to use his word), has over Danforth and the court, after his wife, Elizabeth, has lied to save his name (making it appear that he was lying when he explained Abigail's ulterior motives for accusing Elizabeth), and after Mary Warren, his servant who he brought to the court to confess that the girls were actually "sportin'" when they made accusations, has turned on him and told the court that Proctor is "the Devil's man."  

When Proctor says that "God is dead," he means that God is no longer the ruling force in Salem anymore.  The Devil is now in charge, and he is working through these lying girls and this corrupt court to take innocent victims. Further, Proctor says,

A fire, a fire is burning!  I hear the boot of Lucifer, I see his filthy face!  And it is my face, and yours, Danforth!  For them that quail now when you know in all your black hearts that this be fraud-- God damns our kind especially, and we will burn, we will burn together!

Not only is the Devil, then, working through the girls and Danforth, but also through men like Proctor (and even, perhaps, Hale), men who knew (or suspected) early on that it was not witchcraft but spite and greed at the root of these accusations, and said nothing.  They have all welcomed the Devil in, and he lives now in Salem, not God.

What does the author mean by "when he and himself agreed upon anything, the thing was done"? Why has he expressed the meaning in this way?

The story was originally published in 1882. The author Frank R. Stockton's style of writing may seem old-fashioned by contemporary standards. He is simply being facetious when he says of the king, "He was greatly given to self-communing, and, when he and himself agreed upon anything, the thing was done," it is a whimsical way of saying that the king was an autocrat and never had a need to consult anyone else about his edicts....

The story was originally published in 1882. The author Frank R. Stockton's style of writing may seem old-fashioned by contemporary standards. He is simply being facetious when he says of the king, "He was greatly given to self-communing, and, when he and himself agreed upon anything, the thing was done," it is a whimsical way of saying that the king was an autocrat and never had a need to consult anyone else about his edicts. He might be compared to King Henry VIII or even to the Roman emperor Caligula, or to another Roman emperor, Nero, who thought of the idea of feeding Christians to lions and tigers in arenas seating many thousands of spectators.

He was a man of exuberant fancy, and, withal, of an authority so irresistible that, at his will, he turned his varied fancies into facts.

Stockton's tongue-in-cheek humor is deliberately intended to make light of a gruesome subject. If the author were to describe the defendant's ordeal in straightforward prose, it would only make it seem vile and loathsome. But using a rather fanciful and somewhat antiquated prose style, as well as setting the story far back in time, have the effect of softening the grim actuality. The story would not have been as popular as it has been over all these years if the tone had not given it a sort of fairy-tale quality. In fact, the author seems to have chosen exactly the right stylistic approach as well as the right ending.

It is noteworthy that while the king is an ogre and is responsible for the lover's plight and his daughter's distress, the king himself is the least important character. He remains mostly in the background, while attention is focused on the princess and her lover. 

How is the plot of Chapter Two related to the rest of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay?

Have you read the book in full?  It is often difficult to see how a certain scene or plotline fits into the overarching plot of a book until you have read a bit further, and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay is no exception.  The first few chapters of any book are intended to be setup for the action that unfolds later on.  So keep this in mind as you read, if you find any confusing elements – perhaps they will be recalled and explained later in the story.

In Chapter 1, we are introduced to our first main character – the Clay of the title, Samuel Klayman, a second-general Czech Jew living in Brooklyn.  A few pages in Sammy meets Joe, his cousin from Prague – Josef Kavalier, our second eponymous character.  We know by Chapter 2 that the story begins in 1939, at the very outset of World War II, a time of intense unrest in Europe and a period of increasing danger if you’re a Jew in Hitler’s domain.  We know that Joe has managed to escape the danger – he has made his way to America, to share Sam’s bed, though the rest of his family has remained in Prague.  In Chapter 2 we get the beginnings of an explanation as to how and why Joe made it out of the country.  We learn that “it was only through the persistence of an American aunt [Sam’s mother] and the geographical fluke of his birth in the Soviet Union that Josef has been able to obtain a U.S. entry visa.”  But the entry visa was not the problem – his exit visa had been deemed incomplete, and so, rather than return to his family and face the shame of his predicament (his family has spent all the money they had, and then some, to free him from the country), he has gone to his old teacher, the escape artist Bernard Kornblum, to help smuggle him out of the country.

In this chapter we are being set up for the miracle of Joe’s escape from Prague, as well introduced to the symbol of the Golem that will crop up several times over the course of the story.  Later we will learn that the Golem’s fate and Joe’s own are intertwined, and Kornblum, at least at first, is the proprietor of both.  Kornblum has played a very important role in Joe’s life already, and with his introduction in Chapter 2 we will soon get a further explanation as to what this role truly means for Joe’s past and for his future. 

Kornblum is an escape artist, remember, and on the very first page of the novel Sam mentions The Escapist – the fruit of his imagination, yes, but grounded in reality.  There are several mentions of Harry Houdini already in the book, and in the first chapter Chabon reveals that Sammy “dreamed the usual Brooklyn dreams of flight and transformation and escape.”  Likewise, at the beginning of Chapter 2, we learn that “It was a caterpillar scheme…that had ultimately carried Josef Kavalier across Asia…to his cousin’s narrow bed.”  So in the first two chapters we are getting introduced to the most consistent and important theme of the novel – escapism and metamorphosis.

Keep reading!  It will all come together – this is an deftly ingenious, beautifully written book, and the plot is tightly woven.  The more you read the clearer everything will become.

How does documentation affect immigrants' rights in the United States?

Documentation is everything. Permanent resident aliens with valid green cards have most of the same rights and privileges as citizens, and naturalized citizens have all of them (except for running for President, for some reason). Permanent residents can work here permanently, use public schools, and apply for services such as Social Security and Medicaid. Naturalized citizens can do all these things as well as even vote and run for office.Undocumented immigrants, however, can do...

Documentation is everything. Permanent resident aliens with valid green cards have most of the same rights and privileges as citizens, and naturalized citizens have all of them (except for running for President, for some reason). Permanent residents can work here permanently, use public schools, and apply for services such as Social Security and Medicaid. Naturalized citizens can do all these things as well as even vote and run for office.

Undocumented immigrants, however, can do none of these things. In most states they are ineligible for all government services except for emergency services (though in some states they can use public schools). They can be arrested, detained, and deported, essentially whenever Immigration and Customs Enforcement wants to do so. While most undocumented immigrants try to find work, they cannot legally work for formal employers and so they usually end up working under the table for below minimum wage.

Knowing this, why would anyone not become documented? Because it's simply too difficult. The multiple layers of bureaucracy, high costs, and absurdly long delays (on the order of years or even decades) to obtain permanent residency or citizenship prevent millions of immigrants from obtaining citizenship even though they desperately would like to and should be eligible.

What would be the tone and the theme of the poem "Legal Alien" by Pat Mora?

In this poem, Pat Mora talks about the cultural identity of Hispanic Americans, about how, despite belonging both to an American community and a Mexican community, one can never really be fully integrated into the other. To be constantly “sliding back and forth/between the fringes of both worlds,” is tiring and disaffirming. The speaker states that he or she must always be putting on a front, to hide the fact that he or she is...

In this poem, Pat Mora talks about the cultural identity of Hispanic Americans, about how, despite belonging both to an American community and a Mexican community, one can never really be fully integrated into the other. To be constantly “sliding back and forth/between the fringes of both worlds,” is tiring and disaffirming. The speaker states that he or she must always be putting on a front, to hide the fact that he or she is “being pre-judged/bi-laterally.” This is a parallelism of the first line, which consists of two words:  “Bi-lingual, bi-cultural.” Rather than being fully accepted by two communities, the speaker is “An American to Mexicans,/A Mexican to Americans,” facing stereotypes from both sides. The poem emphasizes the irony of this situation.  The title itself is a good representation of this: “Legal Alien.” Though the speaker is a citizen of the United States, he or she is still “other,” is still an alien.  Despite belonging, she doesn’t belong.

The poem is resigned in tone, and somewhat withdrawn. The speaker feels his or her identity to be suspended, to be caught in a nothing place – to be “American, but hyphenated” – American with stipulations. And this results in a helplessness that comes from being defined predominantly not by your personality or your job or your achievements, but by your race. 

Who are Ponyboy's brothers? |

Sodapop and Darry are Ponyboy's brothers in The Outsiders.Sixteen-year-old Sodapop Curtis is a happy-go-lucky kid who works at a gas station.Sodapop is known for his good looks and positive personality. He gets along with Ponyboy and acts as a buffer between their older brother Darry. Behind Sodapop's cheerful character is a young man who has endured difficulties throughout life. Sodapop dropped out of school to help support the family and is going...

Sodapop and Darry are Ponyboy's brothers in The Outsiders. Sixteen-year-old Sodapop Curtis is a happy-go-lucky kid who works at a gas station. Sodapop is known for his good looks and positive personality. He gets along with Ponyboy and acts as a buffer between their older brother Darry. Behind Sodapop's cheerful character is a young man who has endured difficulties throughout life. Sodapop dropped out of school to help support the family and is going through a rough break up with the love of his life, Sandy. Soda's complex character is examined throughout the novel.

Darry is Ponyboy's oldest brother who is twenty years old. Darry is extremely rough on Ponyboy because he is Pony's primary caretaker. Darry was forced to decline an athletic scholarship in order to work two jobs to support the family. Ponyboy views him with contempt for the majority of the novel because he feels Darry is too hard on him. At first, Ponyboy misinterprets Darry's good intentions, but realizes that his brother loves him by the end of the novel. Darry is a buff, smart, hard-working kid, who is loyal to his friends. Ponyboy mentions that Darry is nothing like a Greaser and should be a Soc, but Darry loves his friends, so he stays faithful to the Greasers.

What are selective representation and virtual representation?

If you're an optimist, they are alternative ways of approaching representative democracy. If you're a cynic, they are excuses you make for not having representative democracy even though you're supposed to.virtual representation was a doctrine proposed by the British government, spearheaded by Prime Minister George Grenville in the mid-1700s. It said that despite the fact that the colonies (particularly the colonies we now know as the United States) were in fact "represented" by Parliament,...

If you're an optimist, they are alternative ways of approaching representative democracy. If you're a cynic, they are excuses you make for not having representative democracy even though you're supposed to.

virtual representation was a doctrine proposed by the British government, spearheaded by Prime Minister George Grenville in the mid-1700s. It said that despite the fact that the colonies (particularly the colonies we now know as the United States) were in fact "represented" by Parliament, because even though they could not actually vote for members of Parliament and had no actual formal authority to make decisions in the British government, nevertheless Parliament was wise and responsible enough to take the interests of all British citizens into account worldwide.

As you may recall, this line of argument did not convince the US colonists, and led to the American Revolution.

selective representation is when some groups of people are represented more in government than others. In the extreme case, selective representation can mean that whole groups of people are made ineligible to vote; in the US women could not vote before 1920, for example. In other cases, it simply means that some groups are represented disproportionately---most of Congress is comprised of rich White men, despite them being a small fraction of our overall population. It is also possible to use selective representation intentionally, such as requiring a certain number of seats in the legislature be held by members of a particular ethnic group, even if that is not how the vote would have turned out. This disenfranchises some voters, but (it is hoped) for a greater good. In this way, one form of selective representation is used to try to combat another.

Why did the Canterville ghost give the jewel box to Virginia?

In Chapter Six of "The Canterville Ghost," Virginia returns to her family after a brief disappearance, holding a box of jewels. She then explains how she came to be in possession of the jewels:

I have been with the ghost...He had been very wicked, but he was really sorry for all that he had done, and he gave me this box of beautiful jewels before he died.

The jewels, therefore, are a gift from the...

In Chapter Six of "The Canterville Ghost," Virginia returns to her family after a brief disappearance, holding a box of jewels. She then explains how she came to be in possession of the jewels:

I have been with the ghost...He had been very wicked, but he was really sorry for all that he had done, and he gave me this box of beautiful jewels before he died.

The jewels, therefore, are a gift from the ghost to express his gratitude to Virginia. In Chapter Five, Virginia agreed to accompany the ghost through the Tapestry door. Here, she fulfilled the prophecy that is written on the library window by shedding her tears so that God would forgive the ghost. In return, the ghost received redemption and a place in the Garden of Death.

On a deeper level, the jewels are more than just a symbol of gratitude. They also a function as a symbol of reconciliation. Thanks to Virginia, the conflict between the ghost and the Otis family is finally over. The ghost is now at peace in the Garden of Death and the Otis family are free to enjoy Canterville Chase, without any supernatural disturbance. 

What is the swineherd's name in the Odyssey? What is the difference between him and Polyphemus?

The swineherd's name is Eumaeus, and he could not be more different than Polyphemus. In addition to being a normal person rather than a hideous Cyclops, Eumaeus actually obeys the laws of hospitality, rather than flouting them like Polyphemus.

The laws of hospitality were especially important in Homer's day, as traveling was much more difficult than it is now. Additionally, there weren't any Motel 6's in Ancient Greece, or many inns at all, and so...

The swineherd's name is Eumaeus, and he could not be more different than Polyphemus. In addition to being a normal person rather than a hideous Cyclops, Eumaeus actually obeys the laws of hospitality, rather than flouting them like Polyphemus.

The laws of hospitality were especially important in Homer's day, as traveling was much more difficult than it is now. Additionally, there weren't any Motel 6's in Ancient Greece, or many inns at all, and so it was very important for people to open their homes to wayward travelers. As such, Polyphemus' decision to devour Odysseus' crew, rather than offer them food and lodging, was a major breach of etiquette. 

Conversely, Eumaeus over delivers in the hospitality department. The trusty swineherd insists that Odysseus stay for an extended period of time, even after the king offers to leave early and support himself on his own. In that case, Eumaeus does not merely provide the minimum hospitality, but provides far more than necessary, offering a foil for Polyphemus' gruesome manners.

What was life like during the Dust Bowl? How did the people live their lives?

The Dust Bowl was a major ecological disaster in Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado and New Mexico. When a drought started in the early 1930's the land became incredibly dry and barren. This was the result of years of abuse of the land through improper farming methods. Agricultural production declined. Powerful windstorms swept across the flatland sweeping millions of tons of topsoil into the air. The scenes of these dust storms were quite menacing. They were also...

The Dust Bowl was a major ecological disaster in Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado and New Mexico. When a drought started in the early 1930's the land became incredibly dry and barren. This was the result of years of abuse of the land through improper farming methods. Agricultural production declined. Powerful windstorms swept across the flatland sweeping millions of tons of topsoil into the air. The scenes of these dust storms were quite menacing. They were also quite dangerous, causing serious respiratory illness and even death if proper cover was not taken. Many animals perished as dust filled their lungs and stomach.

Around a quarter of the population moved west, most heading to California. These people came to be called Exodusters, a clever reference that combined the name of the event with the story of Moses leading his people out of Egypt. Those that stayed behind endured a decade of hardship. The people that stayed had to take extraordinary precautions to keep the dust out of their homes. They hung wet sheets up to cover the screens and all openings. They continued to plant, waiting for the rain that did not come. Farmers banded together to encourage one another. Despite the major difficulties they faced, most stayed and started to utilize new techniques to conserve the topsoil. The rains finally arrived in 1939, putting an end to everybody's misery.

Can you please suggest a good thesis statement for my project? My project is about the effects of terrorism on the education sector in Pakistan.

A good thesis statement will summarize the argument of your paper. Think of it this way: your thesis should guide the reader throughout the body of your essay, and help them contextualize the information you provide.

That being said, your thesis statement should reflect the specific argument you will be making in regards to terrorism and the education sector in Pakistan. Will you be arguing that terrorism has a negative effect? If so, a good...

A good thesis statement will summarize the argument of your paper. Think of it this way: your thesis should guide the reader throughout the body of your essay, and help them contextualize the information you provide.

That being said, your thesis statement should reflect the specific argument you will be making in regards to terrorism and the education sector in Pakistan. Will you be arguing that terrorism has a negative effect? If so, a good thesis statement might be: "Terrorism has had a negative impact on the education sector in Pakistan." You don't have to provide a great deal of information here; remember, you are just laying the groundwork for the rest of your paper, where you will support your claims with evidence. However, it is always a good idea to follow up your thesis statement with a brief outline of the points you will make. For example: "Specifically, terrorism contributes to poverty, and therefore the inability of families to pay for school tuition. Also, the anti-education attitudes of terrorists, combined with their penchant for violence, causes many to forgo education out of fear."

Last, you may want to narrow your topic down to a specific terrorist group or ideology. "Terrorism" is, after all, an extremely broad topic. A more specific thesis statement could be: "Taliban terrorism has had a negative impact on the education sector in Pakistan."

Hope this helps!

In The Giver what is the setting?

The setting of The Giver is a dystopia in the future.

A dystopia is a place that is supposed to be perfect, but is actually repressive or abusive.  The name comes from the word “utopia,” which means a perfect world.  Jonas’s world may seem perfect at first, but it harbors dark secrets.

Setting is time and place, but it also involves customs and values.  The setting is so important in this book that it is practically its own character.  The events that happen here could never happen anywhere else.

We know that the story takes place in the future because they have technology we simply do not have.  They have somehow eliminated color and completely controlled the weather and the landscape.  It is our world though, because they use the same months and have some of the same basic structures.  We have families, they have family units.  Theirs are just artificial.

Jonas’s community is very restrictive.  Every single choice is made for the citizens, down to the smallest detail.  There is no color, for example, because the community prefers everything to be the same.  This is a concept known as Sameness.  Sameness extends to ensuring that everyone in the community follows strict rules of behavior, and has choices made for them.

When Jonas begins his training as Receiver of Memory, The Giver explains to him that the community gave up a lot in the name of Sameness.

"Climate Control. Snow made growing food difficult, limited the agricultural periods. And unpredictable weather made transportation almost impossible at times. It wasn't a practical thing, so it became obsolete when we went to Sameness. (Ch. 11)

The Giver also tells Jonas that the community got rid of hills, different skin tones, and a bunch of other things in the name of Sameness.

The community has strict requirements for behavior of all kinds.  No one does anything that is against the rules.  Rule-breaking has serious consequences.  The community has something called release, which means lethal injection.  It is used on more than just rule-breakers.

There were only two occasions of release which were not punishment. Release of the elderly, which was a time of celebration for a life well and fully lived; and release of a newchild, which always brought a sense of what-could-we- have-done. (Ch. 1)

Release is terrible, but it is not the only abuse of human rights used by the community.  All citizens have to take Stirrings pills from the onset of puberty.  These pills are designed to prevent attraction between the sexes, but they prevent any kind of adult feelings.

As a result, no one in the community actually has emotions.  The people are controlled through strict rules of language, rituals, and the Stirrings pills.  This is why they do not complain or revolt.  They do not realize what they are missing out on in life.  Everyone is perfectly obedient.

Are these considered secondary sources for an analysis?

I did not see any sources attached to your question, so I will explain how to determine whether a source is primary or secondary. You have categorized your question under "Literature," so I assume you are writing a literary analysis. For a literary analysis, the literary work you are analyzing, whether it is a poem, short story, play, or novel, is the primary source. In your analysis, you will be quoting from, summarizing, and paraphrasing...

I did not see any sources attached to your question, so I will explain how to determine whether a source is primary or secondary. You have categorized your question under "Literature," so I assume you are writing a literary analysis. For a literary analysis, the literary work you are analyzing, whether it is a poem, short story, play, or novel, is the primary source. In your analysis, you will be quoting from, summarizing, and paraphrasing the piece of literature you are analyzing. Whenever you refer to the work itself, you are using a primary source.

Anything that has been written by others about the primary source you are analyzing is a secondary source. That could be an article of literary criticism in a literary magazine, a source that gives biographical information about the author of the work, or a history textbook that helps you understand the time period that the work was written in or is set in. The articles and answers to homework questions that you find here are secondary sources. You should always check with your teacher to find out what types of sources he or she will accept for an analysis. Different teachers and different assignments will require varying levels of documentation. A secondary source is not always reliable; other criteria are involved in evaluating secondary sources. The term "secondary" only reflects that it is one step removed from the primary source; it does not evaluate the quality of the source. 

Discuss the factors that led to the rise of medieval universities, their organisation and the Muslim contribution to their development.

Medieval universities were founded in European countries such as Spain, England, Italy, and France from the 11th to 16th centuries. One of the factors that led to their rise was the earlier foundation of cathedral or monastic schools taught by monks and nuns. Pope Gregory VII instituted the so-called Gregorian Reforms during the 11th century that sought to teach the clergy Canon law as well as to verse in them in areas such as logic and finance to help them run their parishes. In addition, this type of learning helped the clergy form the necessary arguments to promote religion in Europe. Medieval universities became centers to train clergy for these purposes, and to train students in other courses of study, including arithmetic, geometry, Latin, music, astronomy, and other areas. Students and professors formed guilds or corporations, similar to other guilds, called universitas. Pope Gregory IV gave his blessing to these corporations in the 13th century, further promoting their rise. The universitas was self-regulating and free from church and civil law. 

The Muslim contribution to medieval universities was that many Arab scholars had re-discovered the works of Aristotle and other classical scholars. In addition, the Arab world had made several discoveries in medicine and technology. Their scholarship spread to Europe, furthering the development of learning and medieval universities. 

"Conversation with My Father" analysis.

"A Conversation with My Father" is a story-within-a-story. The one story, of course, is about the relationship of the daughter and her dying father; the other is a story composed by the daughter which the father critiques.

Initially, the father asks his daughter to write a story for him, one that describes life without sympathy and with recognizable characters in the manner of Maupassant and Chekhov. So, the daughter writes a bare-bones story that is,...

"A Conversation with My Father" is a story-within-a-story. The one story, of course, is about the relationship of the daughter and her dying father; the other is a story composed by the daughter which the father critiques.

Initially, the father asks his daughter to write a story for him, one that describes life without sympathy and with recognizable characters in the manner of Maupassant and Chekhov. So, the daughter writes a bare-bones story that is, as she describes it, "an unadorned and miserable tale." But, the father is displeased, feeling that his daughter has left out too much detail because he was a physician and then an artist who has always been interested in craft and technique. So, she writes another story that includes much more detail, but since she feels that "everyone real or invented deserves the open destiny of life," she ends the story in a manner that is again dissatisfying to her father, although he agrees that the mother meets her end. "You were right to put that down. The end."

In response, the daughter tells her father that "it is not necessarily the end, Pa. It doesn't have to be." Because of his being on oxygen and clinging to life with a debilitated heart, the father contradicts her, contending that all life is a tragedy. Still young, his daughter disagrees, telling him that the mother in her story can yet find a job and move on with her life. Irate, the father declares, "Tragedy! You, too, will you look it in the face?" 

The underlying message here, then, is that the father struggles to make his daughter accept his imminent death.

In the poem "Dulce et Decorum Est" by Wilfred Owen, what is the condition of the gassed soldier after he was thrown in a wagon?

The gassed soldier serves as both a refutation of and antidote to the lines quoted in the title of this poem, taken from the writings of Horace, a Roman poet:  “dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.” Meaning, It is sweet and glorious to die for one’s country.  In Owen’s poem we have proof that it is indeed neither sweet nor glorious to suffer as the soldier in the wagon suffers, for one’s country or not.  If the reader could “watch the white eyes writhing in his face,/His hanging face, like the devil’s sick of sin,” he or she would understand the folly of this ancient phrase.  The soldier’s face is slack and numb from the gas, only his eyes belying the intense, insufferable pain he is experiencing – this disconnect between the eyes and the face is a potent and distressing image.  In addition to this,

“at every jolt, the blood/Come[s] gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,/Obscene as cancer….” 

The integrity of the soldier’s lungs has been compromised by the gas, and now he froths at the mouth with blood at each bump in the road.  The soldier is completely incapacitated, at the mercy of the movements of the wagon and the gas in his system; the other soldiers “flung him” bodily into the vehicle, because he was unable to control his own movements.

The soldier was suffering from the horrendous effects of chlorine gas, which the Germans used in WWI as a more powerful alternative to tear gas.  The chlorine was not always deadly, and the Allied forces soon discovered the intricacies of mitigating its effects, but exposure to the gas can cause intense damage to the eyes, nose, throat, and lungs, and in high concentrations it can cause death by asphyxiation.  We cannot be sure as to what fate the soldier in Owen’s poem is heading, but we do know that whatever the outcome, the road is torturous. 

Owen emphasizes the incomprehensible pain of the soldier by having the speaker assert that the reader could only imagine it “in some smothering dream;” the image is too gruesome for waking life, too horridly imaginative for conscious thought.  And if any one of us should think that war is glorious, or that death is glorious, no matter what ideal one might die for, the sobering truth is the opposite.  Is what this gassed soldier going through glorious?  No.  It is horrid.  And this truth must displace the propaganda of clueless ideals.

How were relations between the sexes characterized in traditional Native American societies?

We should remember that the phrase "Native Americans" describes a vast array of people from Chile to the Arctic Circle, so any generalizations about gender roles have to be prefaced with the stipulation that they do not apply to all Native American groups. However, many Indian societies--indeed most that English settlers came in contact with along the Atlantic coast--were what anthropologists refer to as "matrilineal." This meant that one's standing in society, and especially their...

We should remember that the phrase "Native Americans" describes a vast array of people from Chile to the Arctic Circle, so any generalizations about gender roles have to be prefaced with the stipulation that they do not apply to all Native American groups. However, many Indian societies--indeed most that English settlers came in contact with along the Atlantic coast--were what anthropologists refer to as "matrilineal." This meant that one's standing in society, and especially their clan affiliations, were "passed down" from the mother. This, of course, was dramatically different from European societies, which were without exception patrilineal, with young men inheriting titles, property, and social standing from their fathers. Indian societies also featured a different gendered division of labor than European societies. Native women in many groups performed agricultural labor in particular with little help from men. This was viewed by Europeans as evidence of the laziness of Indian people, and was used as an excuse to expropriate their lands. Among many Native societies, women played prominent political roles as well. They participated in councils of war, and they were the final word on whether to adopt or execute war captives, a role that carried immense prestige. So while we cannot generalize about all Native peoples, many North American Indian societies featured gender roles that were very different from Europeans.

What is the point of paper chromatography?

Paper chromatography can show that different substances are in an apparently homogeneous substance. In general, a sample of a substance is applied near the bottom of a paper chromatography strip. The bottom is then positioned so that the very bottom of the paper is touching a small amount of a liquid solvent; care must be taken not to immerse the sample itself, or it will dissolve into the solvent. When the liquid touches the paper,...

Paper chromatography can show that different substances are in an apparently homogeneous substance. In general, a sample of a substance is applied near the bottom of a paper chromatography strip. The bottom is then positioned so that the very bottom of the paper is touching a small amount of a liquid solvent; care must be taken not to immerse the sample itself, or it will dissolve into the solvent. When the liquid touches the paper, it slowly moves upwards. If the components of the sample can be dissolved by the liquid, they will start to move as well. The higher the solubility of the molecule in the sample, the further up the paper it will move. Those with lower solubility will not be carried as far up the paper. When the liquid reaches the top, it is removed and dried, bands of the different components can be seen.

Although it is not used often in research labs, in my first job post-college I used paper chromatography. The doctor for whom I worked, P.S. Rao, was researching a way to differentiate a type of enzyme released from damaged muscle into types released from heart muscle, as opposed to that released from skeletal muscle. Since even a needle used to take a blood sample would cause a rise in the overall level of the enzyme (creatine phosphokinase, or CPK), the total alone could not be used to show that someone had suffered a heart attack. He had realized that a blood sample treated with specific chemicals, then run on paper chromatography, would show an extra band when the patient had had a heart attack. This is now run as a purely chemical test kit (which we were also developing), and is a standard, easy test to determine whether someone has had a heart attack or not.

How does Dante utilize the depiction of characters in The Inferno to express social satire and satirical commentary?

It's awesome that you're reading Dante's Inferno—it's a great and super important work! 

Satire is the use of irony, humor, and exaggeration to expose hypocrisy, stupidity, or evils. Social satire is when you do this in the context of your own society. 

If you are familiar with the Daily Show and the Colbert Report, this is a great way to think about satire. In the Daily Show, Jon Stewart directly makes fun...

It's awesome that you're reading Dante's Inferno—it's a great and super important work! 

Satire is the use of irony, humor, and exaggeration to expose hypocrisy, stupidity, or evils. Social satire is when you do this in the context of your own society. 

If you are familiar with the Daily Show and the Colbert Report, this is a great way to think about satire. In the Daily Show, Jon Stewart directly makes fun of issues in our society. But in the Colbert Report (so sad it was cancelled!), Stephen Colbert would pretend to believe in the issues he was intending to mock, and would exaggerate them in a funny way to make his point. 

Dante does the same thing in the Inferno. He exposes the hypocrisy and malice in Florentine society by showing how the people atone for their sins in hell—it's pretty extreme. He does this for groups in general, like in the third circle where the gluttons are punished. He also does it to specific people, like Filippo Argenti, in the fifth circle, where anger is punished. 

Argenti was someone who had wronged Dante, and rather than just talk about that directly, Dante goes to an extreme and shows Argenti paying for that sin in hell. 

Look for more examples like this—there are a lot of them! 

How does the plot of Fahrenheit 451 contribute to the development of the character Montag?

Great question! In Fahrenheit 451, Montag’s character develops throughout the book.

Initially, the book presents Montag as a fairly basic character. Montag works, goes home, and lives out his life. He laughs off questions and does not seem to notice or question his environment. As the text reveals:

“He walked toward the corner, thinking little at all about nothing in particular.”

Subsequently as the book progresses, Montag becomes more aware of his environment. Within...

Great question! In Fahrenheit 451, Montag’s character develops throughout the book.

Initially, the book presents Montag as a fairly basic character. Montag works, goes home, and lives out his life. He laughs off questions and does not seem to notice or question his environment. As the text reveals:

“He walked toward the corner, thinking little at all about nothing in particular.”

Subsequently as the book progresses, Montag becomes more aware of his environment. Within the story’s plot, he meets a young girl who encourages him to question and think. Furthermore, his wife’s almost death encourages his thoughts as well. He begins to consider the purpose or reasoning of his life and his society. Montag becomes unable to laugh off different situations. As Montag explains:

“I’m so mad and I don’t know why. I feel like I’m putting on weight. I feel fat. I feel like I’ve been saving up a lot of things, and don’t know what. I might even start reading books.”

Finally, after the death of his young friend and time in contemplation, the plot encourages Montag to act. His boss discovers Montag’s hidden books. He is forced to act on his thoughts and run. Soon, he becomes an outcast and finds a group of men who also have questioned the current society. He joins them in hopes that the culture will soon become aware of reality.

Thus, through the plot, Montag’s character develops from an average citizen to an outcast of society. He originally accepts his environment with no hesitation and later becomes more inquisitive. Although this change does not happen immediately, Montag is gradually transformed through the plot.

What advice did Brian's English teacher, Perpich, give him in school in Hatchet?

Brian’s English teacher always told him to stay positive and get motivated.

When Brian’s plane crashes, the pilot dies and leaves him stranded alone in the Canadian wilderness. He remembers the advice that one of his teachers gave him.

Brian had once had an English teacher, a guy named Perpich, who was always talking about being positive, thinking positive, staying on top of things. … All Perpich would say is that I have to get...

Brian’s English teacher always told him to stay positive and get motivated.

When Brian’s plane crashes, the pilot dies and leaves him stranded alone in the Canadian wilderness. He remembers the advice that one of his teachers gave him.

Brian had once had an English teacher, a guy named Perpich, who was always talking about being positive, thinking positive, staying on top of things. … All Perpich would say is that I have to get motivated. He was always telling kids to get motivated. (Ch. 5)

It is very hard to stay positive in a situation like this, but Brian does his best to stay motivated. He realizes that he only has himself, and there is no one there to help him.

Brian has a hatchet, and not much else. He has his clothes and his shoes. He thinks about his teacher and feels like he would trade all of it for a hamburger. His biggest concern is that he is hungry.

He frowned. No, wait—if he was going to play the game, might as well play it right. Perpich would tell him to quit messing around. Get motivated. Look at all of it, Robeson. (Ch. 5)

It is only natural to be scared and feel hopeless in Brian’s state. He is all alone and desperate for food and shelter. His other concern is to signal any planes that might come by searching for him. He does this by building a smoky fire.

I suppose teachers never really know how they are going to be able to influence their students.  In a time of trouble, Brian uses the guidance of his English teacher to help him stay focused and motivated. The advice to stay positive and motivated might be common, but a teacher who shows his students that he cares will be able to make a difference.

What is an interpretation of sonnet 133 by William Shakespeare?

In this angry sonnet, the narrator curses the Dark Lady he is in love with because she has also trapped the heart of the young man the narrator is also in love with. The narrator feels enslaved and imprisoned by his feelings for the woman, and also angry and betrayed. He calls her "cruel" and speaks of "torture," "torment" and wounds. He feels she has robbed him of everything by stealing his young man: she...

In this angry sonnet, the narrator curses the Dark Lady he is in love with because she has also trapped the heart of the young man the narrator is also in love with. The narrator feels enslaved and imprisoned by his feelings for the woman, and also angry and betrayed. He calls her "cruel" and speaks of "torture," "torment" and wounds. He feels she has robbed him of everything by stealing his young man: she has robbed him of herself, the young man and his own sense of self, for what is he without his loves? As he puts it:

Of him, myself, and thee [you] I am forsaken,

A torment thrice threefold thus to be crossed.

In the end, however, the poet cannot break from his lover, no matter how cruel she is, for "I ... am thine [yours], and all that is in me."

While many poems dwell of the beauties and joys of the beloved, this poem reveals love's dark side. The love the poet feels for the woman who is treating him badly is ripping him apart, yet he can't break away from her.