What is the zika virus? Where did the zika virus come from? How is it being spread and how can we stop it?

According to the European Center for Disease and Prevention Control, the Zika virus is a Falviviridae. It is related to other flaviviruses such as West-Nile, dengue, and yellow fever. However, the symptoms of the Zika viruses are mild when compared to these other viruses.

As its name implies, the Zika virus was discovered in the Zika forest of Uganda in 1947. It is common to areas in the continents of Asia and Africa. Since 2007,...

According to the European Center for Disease and Prevention Control, the Zika virus is a Falviviridae. It is related to other flaviviruses such as West-Nile, dengue, and yellow fever. However, the symptoms of the Zika viruses are mild when compared to these other viruses.

As its name implies, the Zika virus was discovered in the Zika forest of Uganda in 1947. It is common to areas in the continents of Asia and Africa. Since 2007, there have been some breakouts reported within the Pacific.

The Zika virus is being transmitted to humans by mosquitos. Transmission via sexual intercourse has also been reported. About one out of five infected people will show symptoms of the virus. Symptoms include fever, rash, joint pain, muscle aches, headaches, and/or red eyes.

There is currently no vaccine for the Zika virus. However, the Zika virus can be prevented by avoiding mosquito bites, abstaining from sex, or using protection during sex.

What did Jean Jacques Rousseau write about?

Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a social philosopher who was born in 1712 and died in 1778. He is most well known for his political theories and writings on human nature. His writings were influential to the French Revolution.

Most of Rousseau's writing was focused on the values of equality and liberty. He believed that when left to their own devices, most groups of humans opted for an egalitarian society. He believed that in the earliest days...

Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a social philosopher who was born in 1712 and died in 1778. He is most well known for his political theories and writings on human nature. His writings were influential to the French Revolution.

Most of Rousseau's writing was focused on the values of equality and liberty. He believed that when left to their own devices, most groups of humans opted for an egalitarian society. He believed that in the earliest days of man, all societies were egalitarian and free of values which serve to discriminate against or stratify the people. He was very interested in what he called Primitive societies (as in hunter-gatherer societies) and felt that their lifestyles were the best representations of the origins of human society. Rousseau felt that the root of stratification of people began with the notion of property or ownership.

You may be familiar with a quote of Rousseau's- "Man is born free but everywhere is in chains." This means that Rousseau felt that at birth, humans are free beings, but as we grow up we learn the restrictions of society. This is a good example of the kind of philosophy Rousseau wrote on and pushed for in religious, social, and political reform.

What led to the creation of the Jim Crow Laws?

What led to the creation of Jim Crow laws were the withdrawal of a federal presence from the South after the Civil War and a South that sought vengeance for its losses and wished to maintain what it had had before the Civil War, complete subjugation of African-Americans. 

After the Civil War, when slavery was banished, the federal government sent personnel to the South to be sure that that former slaves were given a fair shake and integrated into society. This was the era of Reconstruction.  When Reconstruction was over, the Southern states, still angry over the loss of the war, the end of slavery, and the decimation of their plantation economy, took revenge on the former slaves and made it nearly impossible for them to be equal citizens, much less to succeed in any way. They were accustomed to considering African-Americans as property, not as people, and they made every effort possible to prevent African-Americans from integrating into society.

These laws covered every conceivable aspect of life in which African-Americans might try to be treated equally. Included were separate drinking fountains, separate bathrooms, separate schools, which African-Americans had to build themselves, no use of "white" facilities such as restaurants or hotels, space only at the back of the bus, and poll taxes to make it impossible for African-Americans to vote. African-Americans were not permitted to marry white people. It was difficult, if not impossible in some places, for them to own land. There were hundreds of such laws across the southern half of the country. I sometimes think that southerners believed that if things were dreadful enough for African-Americans, they would volunteer to become slaves again.  Reading about some of these laws really could give a person that impression. 

In all fairness, it should also be pointed out that there were such customs in the northern states, too, separate schools, the barring of African-Americans from various public facilities such as hotels, for example. Generally, though, none of this was a matter of law. This is, though, why a distinction is made between de jure segregation and de facto segregation, the former being southern segregation by law and the northern segregation being a matter of fact and custom. 

It is sad enough that such situations were customary, but the fact that there were laws on the books in the southern states, laws that were strictly enforced, I might add, makes for a very sad chapter in American history, one that the country has not really ever recovered from. The Civil War seems to be a war that the southern states still want to fight, ever-seeking to get back their "property." 

In Othello, to what extent do you agree that if Cassio had remained sober, Iago’s plan would not have succeeded?

Iago's plan to have Cassio dismissed would not have worked, yes, but only at that particular point. The sly Iago would definitely have come up with a different approach. He was absolutely intent on having his revenge and nothing would have stopped him. This much is evident from earlier events in the play.

When he and Roderigo, for example, failed to have Othello dismissed by approaching Brabantio and accusing the general of having kidnapped his daughter, Desdemona, Iago quickly came up with an alternative - play on Othello's insecurities. He systematically manipulated the general and led him to believe that his wife was having an affair. The fact that he suggested that her lover was Cassio shows how devious he was. It was a matter of 'killing two birds with one stone' for he despised both men with a passion. 

Iago had no difficulty in winning trust. Practically every character in the play called him trustworthy and followed his advice. He could, therefore, play on their emotions and provide them with guidelines which would neatly fit into his pernicious plan to destroy them. He cleverly used the idea of 'hold your friends close, but your enemies closer' to devastating effect. 

In this context then, the masterful puppetmaster would have been able to steer anyone into doing his bidding, as he did with Emilia who actually stole a precious possession, Desdemona's handkerchief, to please him. He did the same with Roderigo by directing the poor lovesick fool into whatever direction he wished him to go with the promise that he would win Desdemona's affection as his reward. 

We furthermore witness Iago's determination when he declares, without even a bit of remorse or irony:

O, sir, content you;
I follow him to serve my turn upon him:

He says this when Roderigo asks him why he continues to be obedient to Othello after the general had refused to appoint him as his lieutenant. He also later states:

In following him, I follow but myself;
Heaven is my judge, not I for love and duty,
But seeming so, for my peculiar end:

He equivocally declares his malevolent intent in this instance. When he decides to punish Cassio for the humiliation that he suffered, since Cassio, an outsider, had been granted the position he so much desired, he is unstoppable. Cassio's dismissal is not enough, he actually wants him killed and uses Roderigo for this purpose. The big prize is, however, the general. He turns him into a blustering, angry and vindictive fool whom he will supposedly help in achieving his revenge.   

Of all the characters whom Iago manipulates, it is ironically only Roderigo who challenges him on realising that the malevolent puppeteer is leading him on. Tragically, Roderigo's enlightenment arrives too late. The scene has already been set for Iago's malevolence to prosper and when he fathoms that Roderigo can jeopardise his master plan, he kills him.

So, therefore, all things considered, Iago's malice and perverse desire for revenge were forces greater than any situation or person to stop him. He would have found some other way in which to carry his malice through to its rancorous conclusion.   

why did several regiments march on philadelphia after the war ended

The Continental Army had not gotten paid in months.  These people were working men and farmers who had signed up for the war in order to protect their homes and way of life.  Many had not gotten paid or were underpaid when the war was underway.  Now that the war ended, the former soldiers demanded payment.  The states were unable to come up with the debt, and even if they were, there was the question...

The Continental Army had not gotten paid in months.  These people were working men and farmers who had signed up for the war in order to protect their homes and way of life.  Many had not gotten paid or were underpaid when the war was underway.  Now that the war ended, the former soldiers demanded payment.  The states were unable to come up with the debt, and even if they were, there was the question of which states would pay for which soldiers.  It was almost like when a large group of people split a check at a restaurant--New York questioned why it had to pay South Carolina's war debt when New York had already paid it's part of the bill.  Even when the soldiers were getting paid, the Continental dollar was worthless due to inflation; there was a popular saying where something that was worthless was called "not worth a continental."  Something Americans take for granted today is that the American system of government was inevitable, but not really.  What the Founders were creating was novel in the history of the world and often revolutions had many counterrevolutions.  The regiments marched on Philadelphia in order to force the national government to pay them.  Ultimately, this led to the formation of the Constitution where the federal government would take on the states' revolutionary war debt.  The soldiers were ultimately paid in land in the West, which was one of the main assets of the new nation.  

“There are linkages between deforestation and desertification”. Elucidate

Deforestation and desertification are closely related. Deforestation is the practice of cutting down trees. And desertification is the development of desert like conditions in place, where none existed before. 

Tree roots bind the soil in its place and hold it against the forces of nature, such as blowing wind and flowing water. When tress are cut down, the soil is no longer held in its place and is open to wind and water erosion. When...

Deforestation and desertification are closely related. Deforestation is the practice of cutting down trees. And desertification is the development of desert like conditions in place, where none existed before. 

Tree roots bind the soil in its place and hold it against the forces of nature, such as blowing wind and flowing water. When tress are cut down, the soil is no longer held in its place and is open to wind and water erosion. When the topmost soil layer, which is also the most fertile, is lost further vegetation growth becomes difficult. Loss of trees and top soil cover results in desert like conditions, since newer vegetation growth does not take place, native animal species have to migrate to newer places, rapid water loss and changes in land use take place.

Thus, deforestation is one of the key factors for desertification, the others being, overgrazing, over cultivation, poor irrigation systems.

Hope this helps.  

Are we the pre-moderns to which Mond refers in Brave New World?

We are the pre-moderns, living in the time of Henry Ford.

The community we see in the novel is considered modern because they have complete control of the population.  Everything is on an assembly line, including people.  When the world of the pre-moderns is described, it sounds pretty much like ours.

Mother, monogamy, romance. High spurts the fountain; fierce and foamy the wild jet. The urge has but a single outlet. My love, my baby.  No...

We are the pre-moderns, living in the time of Henry Ford.

The community we see in the novel is considered modern because they have complete control of the population.  Everything is on an assembly line, including people.  When the world of the pre-moderns is described, it sounds pretty much like ours.

Mother, monogamy, romance. High spurts the fountain; fierce and foamy the wild jet. The urge has but a single outlet. My love, my baby.  No wonder these poor pre-moderns were mad and wicked and miserable. (Ch. 3)

The biggest clue that we are talking about the same populace is the reference to Henry Ford, who invented the assembly line.  The moderns worship Henry Ford and industrialism just as we worship God.  They revere Ford, and have incorporated him into their date system and religious imagery.

"The case of Little Reuben occurred only twenty-three years after Our Ford's first T-Model was put on the market." (Here the Director made a sign of the T on his stomach and all the students reverently followed suit.) (Ch. 2)

We are considered pre-moderns because we still have babies the old-fashioned way, through birthmothers instead of cloning.  The concept of the assembly line society has not yet taken us over.  In the modern age, there is no such thing as love—only sex.  People live off of drugs and partying.

Huxley’s message is clear.  People are happy in this modern society because they are kept numb.  They are drugged and able to seek pleasure wherever they want.  Everything is about control.  The caste system keeps them in line, and the multiple outlets for pleasure keep them happy and unintellectual.  They never question the ways things are.  Anything remotely unpleasant has been removed from their society.  Our way of life, with love and mothers looking after their children, is actually considered blasphemy by these "modern" people.

In the book Night, how do the prisoners manage to go on to run for miles, in deep snow?

The prisoners had prior information about their evacuation from Buna. It was winter, and the Russian army was advancing towards the camp. In the morning, on the day of their evacuation, the prisoners prepared for the journey. They wore layers upon layers of prison clothes to keep warm.

IN THE MORNING, the camp did not look the same. The prisonersshowed up in all kinds of strange garb; it looked like amasquerade. We each...

The prisoners had prior information about their evacuation from Buna. It was winter, and the Russian army was advancing towards the camp. In the morning, on the day of their evacuation, the prisoners prepared for the journey. They wore layers upon layers of prison clothes to keep warm.

IN THE MORNING, the camp did not look the same. The prisoners
showed up in all kinds of strange garb; it looked like a
masquerade. We each had put on several garments, one over the
other, to better protect ourselves from the cold.

They also stocked up on their ration of food. At nightfall, the prisoners were asked t fall into ranks, and the journey out of Buna commenced. Fear of death significantly motivated the prisoners to move faster in the deep snow. The SS had orders to shoot anyone who slowed down, and they did not hesitate to carry out the orders. The journey started with the prisoners walking, but on orders of the SS, the prisoners were forced to increase their pace.

In summary, it was mostly their will to survive that motivated them to proceed with the journey under harsh conditions.

In The Lovely Bones, what is George Harvey thinking and why might he pursue those actions?

In Alice Sebold’s novel The Lovely Bones, the character George Harvey is the antagonist in the story. He is a 36-year-old sexual predator, a serial killer, and a rapist. He has raped and murdered Susie Salmon not far from her home. It is difficult to say for certain what George would be thinking because the psychology of a criminal and a pedophile is a complicated one. However, Susie gives information on George’s past that...

In Alice Sebold’s novel The Lovely Bones, the character George Harvey is the antagonist in the story. He is a 36-year-old sexual predator, a serial killer, and a rapist. He has raped and murdered Susie Salmon not far from her home. It is difficult to say for certain what George would be thinking because the psychology of a criminal and a pedophile is a complicated one. However, Susie gives information on George’s past that may help the reader understand what might have shaped him into the person he became. His mother taught him to shoplift and commit petty crimes at a young age and his father wasn’t typical but taught him how to build things. The family was always on the move, so young George had little security. George missed having a steady and safe home life, and this can be seen in his job of building dollhouses. Therefore, his actions of building and killing women come in part from his unhappy childhood and his lack of control over his own world.

Analyze how the spread of nationalism and imperialism shaped state behavior in China, Russia, and Japan and to what extent did each state adapt to...

The spread of imperialism provoked nationalist responses in China and Japan, while imperialist impulses by the Russian tsar provoked an internal response. Imperialist European countries and the U.S. had long tried to trade with China and Japan. In 1853, the American Commodore Matthew Perry arrived in Japan, which was then isolationist, and the Japanese eventually had to give in to American trading demands. The U.S., Russia, Britain, and other countries forced Japan to sign unequal...

The spread of imperialism provoked nationalist responses in China and Japan, while imperialist impulses by the Russian tsar provoked an internal response. Imperialist European countries and the U.S. had long tried to trade with China and Japan. In 1853, the American Commodore Matthew Perry arrived in Japan, which was then isolationist, and the Japanese eventually had to give in to American trading demands. The U.S., Russia, Britain, and other countries forced Japan to sign unequal treaties that granted them the right to have their citizens live in Japan and not to charge high tariffs on their exports. During the Meiji Restoration that followed, the Japanese emperor was restored to the throne, and Japan embarked on a period of rapid industrialization. Japan also became very militaristic, and they became an imperial power in themselves. They gained control over Taiwan in the First Sino-Japanese War of 1895 and defeated the Russians in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, fought over control over Korea and Manchuria. Hence, imperialism by western powers in Japan led to their own nationalist response and the development of Japanese imperialism over time.

China was also subject to imperialism. After the First Opium War (1839-1842) and the Second Opium War (1856-1860), European powers gained unequal trading rights in China, which had attempted to remain isolationist. Eventually, the Qing Dynasty became so weak that they were toppled in 1911, leading to the establishment of the short-lived Chinese Republic under the Nationalists. The terms of the Treaty of Versailles at the end of World War I, in which China gave territory to Japan, led to the May Fourth Movement in 1919, an expression of Chinese nationalism against the Japanese. This nationalist sentiment would grow as Japan took over parts of China, such as Manchuria, during the 1930s. Rival factions in China, including the Nationalists and the Communists under Mao, worked together to expel the Japanese during the Sino-Japanese War of 1937-1945. In 1949, the Communists took over China and expelled all foreigners, an expression of nationalism. Hence, Japan and China adapted to imperialism by developing their own nationalist movements over time.

Russia is a different story. After their loss in the Russo-Japanese War of 1905, a war that was motivated by Russian imperialism, there were revolutions against the tsar, Nicholas II. Russia fought in World War I, but the troops were so badly armed that the effort led to widespread revolt, culminating in the Russian Revolution of 1917. In addition, there were widespread food shortages and poverty. The Russian Revolution was nationalist at its core. It sought to restore Russia to greatness in a Communist system. Eventually, after defeating its internal opposition, the Russian Communists established the Soviet Union in 1922. The Soviet Union would go on to become a powerful empire in its own right during the 20th century, so the Russian Revolution led to a new form of nationalism. 

How many points should it take to write a summary?

A summary is a brief account of the main ideas of a work. 

The length of your summary depends upon the work you are summarizing and how many main ideas the piece has.  You want to keep a summary short and not just rewrite the piece but find the main ideas of the piece and then rewrite them being careful not to plagiarize.  A rule of thumb is that each paragraph can have a new...

A summary is a brief account of the main ideas of a work. 

The length of your summary depends upon the work you are summarizing and how many main ideas the piece has.  You want to keep a summary short and not just rewrite the piece but find the main ideas of the piece and then rewrite them being careful not to plagiarize.  A rule of thumb is that each paragraph can have a new main idea depending on if you are summarizing an article, essay, or textbook.  A piece of literature may have less and instead have main ideas suggested by the author’s themes and messages for the whole work.

To effectively summarize, I suggest you do the following:

1.   Read the article underlining or writing down the main ideas presented in it. If it’s non-fiction, follow the one idea per paragraph rule although it may not be structured exactly that way. 


2.   Take that outline and put the main ideas in your own words making sure you include some signal words or phrases like, “The article also states . . . “ or “Another main idea of the article is . . . “


3.   Make sure you include the title of the work and the author at the beginning of your summary. 


4.   Don’t present your own personal opinions since a summary is just a writing that outlines another work’s main ideas.


5.   Make sure you cite your source correctly if asked to include a bibliography.


6.   I tell my students that a summary should be one-fourth to one-third the length of the original work.  Keep your summary short and sweet, but remember to summarize the entire work. You can also combine ideas with the use of sentence variety.

How do the seasons of spring and winter play out in the narrative of the story "A Sorrowful Woman"?

The story opens in the winter: "One winter evening she looked at them: the husband durable, receptive, gentle; the child a tender golden three," the first line states. During this winter season, the woman retreats into a room of her own, unable any longer to cope with the demands of being a wife and mother. This room becomes a safe haven for her. She has "a fire in the hearth" and wears a familiar old sweater from her high school (ie, premarried) days. She watches the snow-covered branches from a room that is white like the season. She reads novels about "other people moving through other winters." She takes care of herself, and returns to a virginal premarital state, symbolized by both the white room and the white snow. 

However, as "the snow was melting from the branches," life slowly begins to change for the woman. She doesn't read as much. When spring comes, she even leaves her room, entering her kitchen in order to see it "in daylight." She notes that "Things were changed." Coming out of her winter white bedroom, out of her retreat, she bakes a loaf of bread and leaves it on the counter. 

The full return of spring leads the woman out of the bedroom and into a frenzy of domestic activity. Suddenly "the days were too short. She was always busy." She has no time to take care of herself: "no time for hair brushing." Once again, her life revolves around taking care of others.

Spring is associated in this narrative with her final burst of domestic activity. She bakes bread, turkeys, glazed ham and pies, does piles of laundry, leaves love sonnets for husband and creates "watercolor beasts" stories for her son. At the end of this activity, "the house smelled redolently of renewal and spring."

But this "spring," this outpouring of her energies and creativity for the sake of her husband and child, does not renew the woman. Instead she dies.

In a reversal of our usual associations of spring with life and fertility--"renewal"--as the story calls it, spring doesn't bring new life to this woman. Her "rebirth" into domesticity instead brings her death. The virginal "winter" state of girlhood she lived in her bedroom may not have solved her problems, but at least it allowed her to survive.

What does Helen Stoner tell Holmes about her stepfather in "The Adventures of the Speckled Band"?

Helen Stoner tells Holmes that her stepfather is a violent and quarrelsome man.

Helen Stoner comes to see the detective Sherlock Holmes when her sister is killed.  She feels that her sister died in suspicious circumstances, and she worries that something might happen to her too.  They lived with her stepfather, and the man is not a nice man.

Helen explains to Holmes that her stepfather married their mother, but their mother died and the...

Helen Stoner tells Holmes that her stepfather is a violent and quarrelsome man.

Helen Stoner comes to see the detective Sherlock Holmes when her sister is killed.  She feels that her sister died in suspicious circumstances, and she worries that something might happen to her too.  They lived with her stepfather, and the man is not a nice man.

Helen explains to Holmes that her stepfather married their mother, but their mother died and the three of them returned to the family’s estate, Stoke Moran.  There he immediately began to fight with the neighbors and generally behave in a horrible manner.

Dr. Roylott suffers from what Helen Stoner refers to as “violence of temper.”  He gave up his medical practice and settled into the family estate, but at this time a terrible change came over him.

Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our neighbours, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in his house and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious quarrels with whoever might cross his path. 

Helen has a lot of examples of how her stepfather has been violent and gotten into fights with the neighbors and others.  He seems like a perfectly horrible man.

A series of disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of immense strength, and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger.

It does not seem impossible that someone like this would try to kill his stepdaughters for the inheritance.  Dr. Roylott killed one and tried to kill the other.  Fortunately, she hired Holmes and he figured out that Roylott was using a snake to commit murder.

Holmes says that when a doctor goes bad, it is the worst thing.  Doctors are supposed to help people, not hurt them.  However, they are possessed of a great deal of intelligence and cleverness which can be used to commit their crimes, should they go bad.

What is the significance of Freedmen's Bureau?

The Freedman's Bureau was a federal agency created immediately after the Civil War to help the South's ex-slaves by giving them educational opportunities, health care, and job training.  The organization was also helpful in uniting families that had been separated in slave sales.  This was one of the largest federal agencies that offered aid to the less fortunate--other than the military, the federal budget in 1865 was quite small as people did not believe it...

The Freedman's Bureau was a federal agency created immediately after the Civil War to help the South's ex-slaves by giving them educational opportunities, health care, and job training.  The organization was also helpful in uniting families that had been separated in slave sales.  This was one of the largest federal agencies that offered aid to the less fortunate--other than the military, the federal budget in 1865 was quite small as people did not believe it was government's job to provide direct aid to people.  The Freedmen's Bureau also was the federal government's first foray into public education as it sent teachers to the South in order to teach the former slaves how to read; it was illegal to teach a slave this before the war.  The Freedman's Bureau was controversial in the South as ex-Confederates called the Northerners coming south "carpetbaggers" because they saw them as opportunists.  The program ultimately closed to due a lack of Congressional funding.  Radical Republicans in Congress wanted the program to be larger, but the Johnson White House wanted the program cut.  This would be the first of many flashpoints between the administration and Congress.  

What passages show willingness to want to do a certain act in Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird?

To be willing to do something is not necessarily synonymous with wanting to do something. Instead, to be willing can be defined as being "prepared to do something, or having no reason to not want to do it" (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English). In other words, one can know something is the right thing to do and be ready to do it without wholeheartedly emotionally desiring to do it. The importance of willingness is certainly a dominant theme all throughout Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird.

One key example of willingness is seen in Atticus's attitude towards his role of defending Tom Robinson. While Atticus knows defending Robinson is the morally correct thing to do and is ready to fulfill his duty, he cannot fully desire the responsibility of defending Robinson because he knows just how much hardship it will cause him and his children; he especially fears what his children will go through. We see Atticus expressing both his resistance and his willingness in his discussion about the case with his brother Jack in Chapter 9.

Atticus expresses his resistance to fulfilling the task of defending Robinson by stating to his brother that he had "hoped to get through life without a case of this kind," meaning a case doomed to failure due to the racial bias of the jury, despite the fact the case should have never been brought to trial due to lack of evidence. Atticus further explains that he is obligated to defend Robinson, regardless of his sense of doom, partially because "Judge Taylor pointed at [Atticus] and said, 'You're It'" (Ch. 9). Jack expresses he understands just how much of a sacrifice Atticus is making, how much of a burden Atticus is shouldering, by putting his all into Robinson's defense case when Jack makes an allusion to the biblical Jesus by asking Atticus, "Let this cup pass from you, eh?" (Ch. 9). Atticus's agreement with his brother's statement further shows us just how much Atticus dreads the task he is undertaking, even if he is also completely ready to fulfill the task.

Atticus also expresses his complete willingness, his complete readiness, to fulfill the task when he rhetorically asks his brother, "But do you think I could face my children otherwise?" (Ch. 9). Atticus knows he has a strong sense of dignity and would not be able to hold his head up or continue to raise his children if he does not fulfill what he sees as his moral responsibilities. He sees defending Robinson to be his moral responsibility because he knows Robinson is unjustly being brought to trial with absolutely zero concrete evidence proving that the crime Robinson is being accused of actually took place.

Hence, Atticus is very willing, as in ready, to put his all into defending Robinson even though he dreads the consequences.

How does a cell obtain energy?

Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP)

ATP molecules are used for energy by cells. You can think of ATP as a molecule that stores energy in its bonds. When ATP bonds are broken, energy is released for cells to use. Cells are able to create ATP molecules for energy through the metabolism of glucose.

Origins of Glucose

• 
  Plant Cells: Plant cells can produce glucose molecules through the process of photosynthesis. During photosynthesis, plant cells...

Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP)

ATP molecules are used for energy by cells. You can think of ATP as a molecule that stores energy in its bonds. When ATP bonds are broken, energy is released for cells to use. Cells are able to create ATP molecules for energy through the metabolism of glucose.

Origins of Glucose

• 
  Plant Cells: Plant cells can produce glucose molecules through the process of photosynthesis. During photosynthesis, plant cells are able to convert light energy from the sun into glucose molecules. The process of photosynthesis occurs in a plant cell organelle called the chloroplast.


• 
  Animal Cells: Animal cells acquire glucose through the consumption of food by the organism. 

Metabolism of Glucose into Energy Stored in ATP Molecules

1. 
   Glycolysis: Glycolysis begins the process of glucose metabolism. The process of glycolysis occurs in the cytoplasm, fluid which fills the innercellular space. During this process, each glucose molecule is converted into two molecules of pyruvate. 


2. 
   Cellular Respiration: Cellular respiration occurs in the mitochondria. During this process, oxygen from the environment is used to convert a pyruvate molecule into three molecules of carbon dioxide. The energy that is created during this process is stored in ATP molecules. There are three sub-pathways that occur during cellular respiration: pyruvate oxidation, the citric acid (Krebs) cycle, and the electron transport chain.


3. 
   Fermentation: Fermentation occurs in the cytoplasm of the cell in the absence of oxygen. During this process, a pyruvate molecule is converted to lactic acid or ethanol. These reacctions result in the production of ATP molecules. The process of fermentation is much less efficient at producing ATP molecules than the process of cellular respiration. 

How did the U.S. government end Reconstruction?

Reconstruction went through different phases, including Presidential Reconstruction under Andrew Johnson in 1865-1866 and Radical Reconstruction under the Radical Republicans in Congress starting in 1867. Johnson's Presidential Reconstruction reflected his belief in states' rights and was relatively lenient, so southern states starting passing "Black Codes," which tied freed slaves to plantations and prevented their unrestricted movements. Under Congressional Reconstruction, the former Confederate states were divided into 5 military districts, and they had to pass the...

Reconstruction went through different phases, including Presidential Reconstruction under Andrew Johnson in 1865-1866 and Radical Reconstruction under the Radical Republicans in Congress starting in 1867. Johnson's Presidential Reconstruction reflected his belief in states' rights and was relatively lenient, so southern states starting passing "Black Codes," which tied freed slaves to plantations and prevented their unrestricted movements. Under Congressional Reconstruction, the former Confederate states were divided into 5 military districts, and they had to pass the 14th Amendment, granting citizenship to all people born in the United States. In 1868, the Congress also passed the 15th Amendment, giving African-American men the right to vote. 

By 1870, all of the former Confederate states had rejoined the Union. At this point, the Ku Klux Klan and other organizations repeatedly interfered with African-Americans' ability to vote and exercise other civil rights, and Ulysses  Grant, then President, passed legislation to attempt to curb the activities of the Klan and other organizations that were attempting to intimate freed slaves. However, Grant refused to send federal troops to enforce the law and end violence in states such as Mississippi. 

The election of 1876 put an end to Reconstruction. Rutherford Hayes, the Republican candidate, was in a disputed election with the Democrat, Samuel Tilden. In exchange for his ability to become President, Rutherford told the Democrats he would end Reconstruction. They agreed, and what followed were decades of "Jim Crow" legislation that effectively limited voting and other civil rights for African-American people in the south, largely until the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

How did da Vinci influence inventors of the 20th Century?

Leonardo da Vinci, the great Italian painter, was also an innovator in the field of mechanics.  He created many sketches which were the predecessors to several important 19th and 20th century inventions.  Da Vinci created a sketch of a primitive tank.  His tanks looked more like flying saucers on wheels.  A boxier war tank was later created and used during World War I.  He also sketched an early version of a helicopter, which "is said...

Leonardo da Vinci, the great Italian painter, was also an innovator in the field of mechanics.  He created many sketches which were the predecessors to several important 19th and 20th century inventions.  Da Vinci created a sketch of a primitive tank.  His tanks looked more like flying saucers on wheels.  A boxier war tank was later created and used during World War I.  He also sketched an early version of a helicopter, which "is said to have inspired Igor Sigorsky" as he invented the modern helicopter.  It also could have been the model for which the screw propellor, which is found on modern boat motors, was based on.  He also sketched models of ball bearings, which are found in everything from airplanes to computers.  They are also essential to manufacturing.  He created sketches of scuba diving gear.

How did the littluns spend their day in Lord of the Flies?

The Littleuns spend their day eating and playing around.

The littleuns are the smallest children on the island.  Most of the older kids never bother to learn their names.  They defer to the older children and consider Ralph like an adult because he is bigger than they are. 

The littleuns are ignored most of the time.  When tasks need to be performed, it is assumed they have no value.

“They’re hopeless. The older ones aren’t...

The Littleuns spend their day eating and playing around.

The littleuns are the smallest children on the island.  Most of the older kids never bother to learn their names.  They defer to the older children and consider Ralph like an adult because he is bigger than they are. 

The littleuns are ignored most of the time.  When tasks need to be performed, it is assumed they have no value.

“They’re hopeless. The older ones aren’t much better. D’you see? All day I’ve been working with Simon. No one else. They’re off bathing, or eating, or playing.” (Ch. 3)

Ralph has a point. The little kids spend their days playing on the beach, swimming, or eating fruit from the trees.

They ate most of the day, picking fruit where they could reach it and not particular about ripeness and quality. … Apart from food and sleep, they found time for play, aimless and trivial, in the white sand by the bright water. (Ch. 4)

The littleuns are always dirty, but they cry for their mothers less and less as time goes on.  They obey the conch when one of the older boys blows it, but otherwise they pretty much ignore the older boys and the older boys ignore them.

When the signal fire gets out of control and burns a swatch through the island, one of the littleuns is never seen again. It is assumed that he died.  He has a mulberry-colored birthmark, or other older kids may never have noticed him at all.  No one really cares that he is dead either.  The younger kids do not really understand, and the older ones just seem to take it as a normal occurrence.

The division between the children with names and the littleuns demonstrates the society developing on the island.  The children are broken into classes.  The older boys do not seem to feel responsible for the younger ones.  No one takes care of them, so they just cry for their mothers and eat themselves sick.  The older kids have plenty of leisure time too, but they also engage in more serious pursuits like the signal fire and hunting.

In "The Necklace," what are two examples of alliteration?

Alliteration is a sound device where the initial consonant sounds of a word are repeated.  This creates a musical effect and often adds a subtle emphasis in a sentence. 

Mathilde is a woman who feels that she deserves a better life.  Her husband is only a lowly clerk, and cannot take care of her with the level of comfort she feels she deserves.  When he tries to please her by getting an invitation to a ball, he expresses his excitement through alliteration.

I had tremendous trouble to get it. Every one wants one; it's very select, and very few go to the clerks. You'll see all the really big people there.

The alliteration is the repetition of the “t” sound in “tremendous trouble” and helps the reader appreciate the importance of the ball.

Mathilde does not respond well, however.  Alliteration is used again to demonstrate his confusion at her reaction.

He stopped, stupefied and utterly at a loss when he saw that his wife was beginning to cry. Two large tears ran slowly down from the corners of her eyes towards the corners of her mouth.

The words “stopped, stupefied” are alliteration of the “st” sound.  Mathilde’s husband was surprised that she wasn’t excited about the invitation to the ball.  He thought she would be glad, but she is just complaining about the fact that she doesn’t have anything she considers appropriate to wear.

After he gives up all of the money he has saved to buy her a new dress worthy of the ball, she is still not happy.  She is worried about her jewelry.

"I'm utterly miserable at not having any jewels, not a single stone, to wear," she replied. "I shall look absolutely no one. I would almost rather not go to the party."

Mathilde uses alliteration to emphasize the fact that she does not have any jewelry she considers worthy of wearing to the ball. Her husband suggests flowers, which she rejects.  He finally recommends asking a wealthy friend to borrow a necklace.  This Mathilde agrees to, and of course that is what gets her into all the trouble.

Did the US have the right to come to the aid of the Cuban people?

This question is most likely referring to the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, which was framed in the United States as a war to liberate the Cuban people from Spanish oppression. This narrative was especially powerful in the New York press, where rival publishers Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst sought to out-do each other through "yellow journalism": the lurid depiction of alleged Spanish atrocities against Cubans in the war for independence on that island....

This question is most likely referring to the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, which was framed in the United States as a war to liberate the Cuban people from Spanish oppression. This narrative was especially powerful in the New York press, where rival publishers Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst sought to out-do each other through "yellow journalism": the lurid depiction of alleged Spanish atrocities against Cubans in the war for independence on that island. Whether the United States had a "right" to intervene, is, of course, open to interpretation. Some people argued at the time that it was the morally correct thing to do, and indeed the Spanish-American War enjoyed considerable popular support. But it should also be noted that the United States had other motives in entering the conflict than simply freeing the island of Cuba. Americans desired what was left of the once-mighty Spanish Empire, particularly the Philippines, as part of a new push for imperial expansion. At the same time, some congressmen, who opposed imperialism, stipulated in what became known as the "Teller Amendment" that the United States would not take possession of Cuba as a result of the war against Spain. However, once the war was over, the United States imposed an amendment known as the "Platt Amendment" to the Cuban constitution that authorized American intervention in Cuban domestic affairs. The United States would do so in different ways a few times in the twentieth century. Although the Platt Amendment was repealed under Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy authorized a failed covert operation involving Cuban exiles to overthrow Cuban communist leader Fidel Castro in 1961. So whether or not the United States had the right to intervene in Cuban affairs, the nation has done so more than once, with the aim of protecting American interests there as much as aiding the Cuban people. 

How did Sylvia change after the lesson by Miss Moore?

Sylvia has had a socioeconomic awakening after going to Manhattan. She realizes that America is a land occupied by people who inhabit places and live on an economic level about which she has never even dreamed.

It is interesting that Toni Bambara published her story "The Lesson" in 1972. It was after the Civil Rights Act of 1964—and especially during the 1970s—that racial quotas were restored.  There was a growing awareness in America of the socioeconomic disparities and the need to provide opportunities for minorities. At the time of the setting of this story, there were probably many in Harlem who still had little chance of leaving their neighborhoods. Perhaps, then, the educated Miss Moore, who is not from Harlem, has come there in the hope of making the children aware that other parts of New York are much different from their neighborhood.  She may wish to plant seeds of discontent and the desire for a better life in the children.

Miss Moore takes the children to Manhattan (a wealthy section) so that they can gain an insight into how other citizens of the United States live. On the way, she talks to them about economic disparity. Sylvia remarks,

She’s boring us silly about what things cost and what our parents make and how much goes for rent and how money ain’t divided up right in this country.

After they arrive, the children enter a store where the price tags on various items are astronomical in comparison to the things that they purchase in their neighborhood. On a beautiful sailboat, the tag reads,

Handcrafted sailboat of fiberglass at one thousand one hundred ninety-five dollars.

“Unbelievable,” I hear myself say and am really stunned. I read it again for myself just in case the group recitation put me in a trance. Same thing. For some reason this pisses me off. We look at Miss Moore and she looking at us, waiting for I dunnno what.

“Watcha bring us here for, Miss Moore?” Sylvia asks her, angrily. Miss Moore observes that Sylvia sounds angry and asks her why she is upset, but Sylvia refuses to respond. 

It is not long before Sylvia arrives home, following her and her classmates' uncomfortable excursion to the exclusive shops. On the trip back to Harlem, Miss Moore has asked them to consider the fact that people purchase toys that cost as much as it does to provide for a family of six or seven in Harlem. Sylvia's friend Sugar responds,

This is not much of a democracy if you ask me. Equal chance to pursue happiness means an equal crack at the dough, don’t it?

“Anybody else learn anything today?” Miss Moore asks.

Sylvia steps on Sugar's foot to stop her from talking. She refuses to give Miss Moore any answer. However, after she arrives home, Sylvia declines to go with Sugar "to Hascombs" for sodas. Instead, she goes to a favorite spot:

To think this day through. She [Sugar] can run if she want to and even run faster. But ain’t nobody gonna beat me at nuthin.

Like Sugar, Sylvia has become aware of socioeconomic inequalities, but she also wants to understand what has caused such conditions and how to overcome them. She never again wants to feel inferior to anyone.  

What qualities are revealed in Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet?

With an appropriate name, Mercutio is, indeed, mercurial; that is, he demonstrates much changeable emotion.

• Imaginative and Witty

His Queen Mab monologue, which is pivotal to plot, theme, and character, certainly exemplifies his flights of imagination and his inconstancy of emotion. When Romeo stops him, saying, "Thou speaketh of nothing," Mercutio replies, "True, I talk of dreams" (1.4).

Mercutio is a critic of stale custom. When the Nurse arrives with yards of clothing, Mercutio ridicules...

With an appropriate name, Mercutio is, indeed, mercurial; that is, he demonstrates much changeable emotion.

• Imaginative and Witty

His Queen Mab monologue, which is pivotal to plot, theme, and character, certainly exemplifies his flights of imagination and his inconstancy of emotion. When Romeo stops him, saying, "Thou speaketh of nothing," Mercutio replies, "True, I talk of dreams" (1.4).

Mercutio is a critic of stale custom. When the Nurse arrives with yards of clothing, Mercutio ridicules her outfit, taking the lengths of cloth and shouting, "A sail! A sail!" And, when the Nurse puts her fan before her face, Mercutio says in humorous alliteration, "...but her fan's the fairer face" (2.4).

• Clever and playful

After Benvolio and Mercutio depart from the Capulet masque, they call to Romeo. Mercutio tries to conjure Romeo by recalling to him Rosaline's attributes--"bright eyes," "scarlet lip," "fine foot," and "quivering thigh," but Romeo does not answer. When Benvolio tells Mercutio he will anger Romeo, Mercutio defends his mockery by saying that Romeo would only be angry if he were to insult Rosaline, which he actually is doing, though with subtlety.

Often Mercutio plays on the meanings of words, using puns. While there are any number of these in the play, here are three examples:

1. "Any man that can write may answer a letter." (2.4) [the pun is on answer= verbally and physically respond ]


2. Sure wit: follow me this jest now till thou hast
   worn out thy pump, that when the single sole of it (2.4)
   is worn, the jest may remain after the wearing solely singular. [sole of a shoe, and solely=by itself]


3. No hare, sir; unless a hare, sir, in a lenten pie,
   that is something stale and hoar ere it be spent [pun on "whore" as Mercutio uses the sound of the word "hoar," meaning moldy or rotten.]

Mercutio does not have a high opinion of love. In Act II, Scene 4, Benvolio and Mercutio are again looking for Romeo. Benvolio says that he is not at his father's and Mercutio again comments upon Rosaline:

Why, that same pale hard-hearted wench, that Rosaline.
Torments him so, that he will sure run mad (2.4).

In Act III, Mercutio moves from being playful to becoming volatile. In the beginning of the act, he teases Benvolio. In fact, Shakespeare switches from formal verse in his speech to common prose:

Thou art like one of those fellows that...enters the confines of a tavern claps me his sword upon the table and says 'God send me no need of thee!" and by the operation of the second cup draws him on the drawer, when indeed there is no need. (3.1.)

However, shortly after these playful words, Mercutio becomes inflamed by the intrusion of Tybalt, and although he employs his puns, Mercutio curses Tybalt and challenges him. fights, and is killed.

What is some evidence of comedy in ''The Mouse'' by Saki?

While Saki writes social satire that is often biting, frequently it is amusing as it is in his short story "The Mouse." Demonstrating both sparkling wit and good humor, this story deals with a rather unconventional subject and practical jokes on the main character. As such, Saki's light-hearted ridicule of the foibles of human nature is an experience many enjoy.

It is the fastidious nature of Theodoric Voler, who is part of an Edwardian society which has screened him from "the coarser realities of life," that Saki satirizes so humorously in his story. When he is forced to help the vicar's daughter with harnessing the pony to the carriage which will carry him to the railroad station, Voler is repulsed by the "ill-lighted building called a stable" that smells of hay and mice. A narrative voice that is imitative of the supercilious Voler describes his thoughts, exemplifying how sanitized his life has been, and especially, how superior he has felt himself:

Without being actually afraid of mice, Theodoric classed them among the coarser incidents of life, and considered that Providence, with a little exercise of moral courage, might long ago have recognised that they were not indispensable, and have withdrawn them from circulation.

After having boarded the train, Theodoric worries that he may have inhaled mold from the hay. Then, too, he is concerned about his privacy as he notices a woman occupying the compartment with him. Even worse, he realizes that he is not alone with the sleeping lady; "he was not even alone in his clothes," Saki adds, with humor.

Theodoric worries about how he will get the mouse out of his clothes in front of another passenger because he has "never shown so much as his work socks in the presence of the fair sex." He tries to remove the rodent from his clothing by hanging his railway rug between him and the sleeping woman. Then, as the mouse scampers up and down his body, Theodoric struggles to extricate the pest "in violent haste." Finally, it falls from his clothes, but the mouse knocks down the rug between the woman and him. The modest Theodoric is mortified, of course, but the woman seems undaunted. He quickly pulls the rug over him. Then he notices that the train is about to arrive at the station. Theodoric must dress somehow. With satiric humor, Saki writes,

Like a hunted beast breaking cover and dashing madly toward some other haven of momentary safety he threw aside his rug, and struggled frantically into his disheveled garments.

Afterwards, Theodoric feels a choking and pounding feeling in his throat; there seems to be an icy stare pointed toward him, but he is afraid to look. Then, as the train slows, the woman asks if he would be so kind as to find her a porter who can get her into a cab, as she is blind. Certainly, this ironic twist adds much humor to the tale as all Theodoric's fastidious efforts at concealment of his person have been superfluous.

In Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, what does Lucentio's opening speech reveal about his character?

In Act 1, Scene 1 (after the Introduction) of The Taming of the Shrew, we meet Lucentio and Tranio, two men recently arrived in Padua. Based on Lucentio's opening speech, we can assume much about his character. First of all, he gives off the impression that he's a young man setting out on his own for the first time, as he says, "I have Pisa left / And am to Padua come, as he that...

In Act 1, Scene 1 (after the Introduction) of The Taming of the Shrew, we meet Lucentio and Tranio, two men recently arrived in Padua. Based on Lucentio's opening speech, we can assume much about his character. First of all, he gives off the impression that he's a young man setting out on his own for the first time, as he says, "I have Pisa left / And am to Padua come, as he that leaves / A shallow plash to plunge him in the deep / And with satiety seeks to quench his thirst" (21-4). In this quote, it seems like Lucentio is characterizing himself as someone who has recently been relegated to the shallow end of the pool (adolescence) and is now ready to plunge into the deep end (adulthood). Furthermore, it seems as if Lucentio is preparing to study in academia, as he declares, "Here let us breathe and haply institute / A course of learning and ingenious studies" (8-9). Clearly, Lucentio is preparing to enroll in school or university. Finally, Lucentio appears to come from a significantly privileged background, as he characterizes his father as a successful merchant and says he plans "to deck his fortune with his virtuous deeds" (16). All in all, based on his opening speech, we can assume that Lucentio is an ambitious and privileged young man setting out from home to pursue success in school and beyond. 

Help! I did a laboratory on how to separate a mixture of sand and salt from each other. To do this i decided to add water and dissolve the salt...

The explanation is probably a lot simpler.  You correctly added water to the sand and salt mixture.  The salt dissolves in the water but the sand of course does not.  The sand is then removed by pouring the mixture through a sieve.  The saltwater solution passes through the sieve while the sand is trapped and separated.  Then, the salt is isolated by boiling away the water to leave behind solid salt.

The boiling action of...

The explanation is probably a lot simpler.  You correctly added water to the sand and salt mixture.  The salt dissolves in the water but the sand of course does not.  The sand is then removed by pouring the mixture through a sieve.  The saltwater solution passes through the sieve while the sand is trapped and separated.  Then, the salt is isolated by boiling away the water to leave behind solid salt.

The boiling action of the water is inherently kinetic due to excess thermal energy from the heat source (stove).  A rolling boil splashes saltwater solution around.  If any splashes out of the bowl, then when it contacts the hot stove surface the water will quickly evaporate and leave solid salt residue behind.  If you are using a kitchen type bowl to heat the water in then it has a large opening at the top which is perfect for boiling water to splash out of.  Next time, boil the saltwater solution in a beaker or similar piece of glassware.  They have a much narrower mouth at the top, thus keeping the salt water better contained during the boiling process.

Considering the religious, economic, social and political factors before the Reformation, would you say the Reformation was an accident of history?

Thinking counterfactually about history is always more an exercise in science fiction or fantasy than something realistic, mainly because the variables aren't independent. For example, you can't really adjust an economy independent of social and political structures as they are all interdependent.

That being said,  I think that the Reformation was not entirely an accident, but that the factors that led to the Reformation could equally well have led directly to the Counter-Reformation or other...

Thinking counterfactually about history is always more an exercise in science fiction or fantasy than something realistic, mainly because the variables aren't independent. For example, you can't really adjust an economy independent of social and political structures as they are all interdependent.

That being said,  I think that the Reformation was not entirely an accident, but that the factors that led to the Reformation could equally well have led directly to the Counter-Reformation or other forms of reform. The factors leading to the Reformation were not simply accidents but rather resulted from many underlying causes. 

The most important political and economic factors, especially in the English Reformation, were the tensions between the role of the papacy in reinforcing the authority and legitimacy of rulers and the desires of rulers to control the vast wealth of the Church within their lands. The growth of nationalism added to this a stance that the papacy was a foreign power, controlling the Papal States and allied to various different national powers, and thus shifting alliances within Europe tended to make some rulers wish for a church not subjected to the control of a potentially hostile foreign power.

On a religious level, there had been many late medieval movements which rebelled against the clericalism of the church and which saw Roman Catholicism as corrupt and worldly. Movements such as the  Lollards and the Albigensians (or Cathars) were agitating for a more pure church before Luther.

Finally, the rise of the middle classes created a strong alternative to the alliance of the aristocracy with the church and a desire for a religion less mediated by clerical authority. As the educated middle classes began to read the Bible for themselves, they became less willing to subject themselves to a church hierarchy they saw as exclusionary and authoritarian. 

How does Harper Lee portray courage in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird?

There are several scenes which depict characters acting courageously throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee uses these characters to portray and define courage.

Atticus Finch, the novel's morally upright character, displays courage by defending Tom Robinson in front of a prejudiced community and jury. Atticus realizes that the challenge he faces is nearly impossible and does not expect to win the case. Despite the threats and insults from the community, Atticus...

There are several scenes which depict characters acting courageously throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee uses these characters to portray and define courage.

Atticus Finch, the novel's morally upright character, displays courage by defending Tom Robinson in front of a prejudiced community and jury. Atticus realizes that the challenge he faces is nearly impossible and does not expect to win the case. Despite the threats and insults from the community, Atticus displays courage by representing Tom Robinson and trying his best to have him acquitted. Before the trial, Atticus' daughter asks why he is defending Tom when he knows that he will not win. Atticus says, "Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win" (Lee 101). This comment displays Atticus' determination and courage entering the trial.

Another scene where Atticus displays courage takes place in Chapter 15 when he chooses to sit in front of Tom Robinson's jail cell. When the Old Sarum bunch arrives to lynch Tom Robinson, Atticus refuses to leave. Atticus put himself in a dangerous position in order to protect Tom, which was a very courageous thing to do.

Harper Lee uses other characters such as Little Chuck Little and Mrs. Dubose to portray courage. In Chapter 3, Little Chuck Little stands up for Miss Caroline when Burris Ewell disrupts the class. Despite his small stature, Chuck puts his hand in his pocket and threatens Burris. Burris leaves the room, but not before yelling insults directed at Miss Caroline.

In Chapter 11, Harper Lee uses the character of Mrs. Dubose to portray courage. Mrs. Dubose suffers from a chronic disease, and she uses morphine to alleviate her pain. Mrs. Dubose wishes to break her addiction before she dies. With the help of Jem's reading to distract her mind from the pain, Mrs. Dubose successfully breaks her addiction before she passes away. Atticus explains to his children that Mrs. Dubose is the most courageous person he's ever met for battling her addiction at the end of her life. He says,

"I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what" (Lee 149).

What is the theme of "The Furnished Room" by O. Henry?

The theme of "The Furnished Room" is that New York is a cold, heartless city that devours people and destroys their dreams. Many people are drawn here because it is possible to achieve spectacular success, as Carrie Meeber does, for example, in Theodore Dreiser's great novel Sister Carrie. But the majority of people with artistic talents of one kind or another find that the competition is overwhelming. They get worn out with living in the horrible conditions described by O. Henry when the young man follows the housekeeper up the stairs and into the furnished room. Such rooms seem designed to create despair. They get discouraged by all the running around they have to do trying to find a little paying work, whether it be in acting, singing, dancing, writing, drawing, or whatever else. Johnsy and her friend Sue are both good examples of aspiring artists in O. Henry's story "The Last Leaf." Sue is struggling desperately to make living expenses by doing sketches "on spec" for some magazine. Johnsy has given up the struggle and is only waiting to die. The girl the young man is searching for in "The Furnished Room," whose name is Miss Eloise Vashner, came to New York with high hopes, but she gave up just a week ago and committed suicide by the then standard means of turning on the gas without lighting it.

The furnished room in the story is beautifully described in all its ugliness. It symbolizes the lives of the many aspirants who come and go--

Homeless, they have a hundred homes. They flit from furnished room to furnished room, transients forever—transients in abode, transients in heart and mind. 

This rooming house is the end of the line. You can't get any lower than that. And when a person moved into one of these gritty, smelly rooms, it is a good indication that suicide may be the next step down. 

It would seem that Eloise Vashner had enough talent to make her ambition plausible. When the two housekeepers are talking about her at the end of the story:

“She'd a-been called handsome, as you say,” said Mrs. Purdy, assenting but critical, “but for that mole she had a-growin' by her left eyebrow. Do fill up your glass again, Mrs. McCool.”

The mole serves a dual purpose. It identifies her positively as the girl the young man had been seeking. It is also a tiny defect that may have been responsible for her inability to succeed in her chosen career as an entertainer. The competition in show business is so fierce that anything short of perfection is a nearly insurmountable handicap. Today there are countless thousands of talented people, including beautiful girls from every corner of America, flocking to New York and Hollywood with nothing but youth and hopes. They will find that the competition exceeds their worst expectations. 

Another related theme in "The Furnished Room" is that Eloise Vashner should have stayed in whatever small town she came from, married this young man who so obviously loved her, and settled for a simple life in a little house with a family, a rose garden, and some friendly neighbors.

In chapter ten of To Kill a Mockingbird, what does Atticus do that makes him a hero to his children?

Atticus's children are impressed when he shoots a rabid dog with one shot.

Atticus’s children do not find him very impressive. To them, he is “nearly fifty” and feeble. He does not play tackle football with Jem. They find themselves wishing for a younger father, or at least a more interesting one.

Besides that, he wore glasses. He was nearly blind in his left eye, and said left eyes were the tribal curse of the Finches....

Atticus's children are impressed when he shoots a rabid dog with one shot.

Atticus’s children do not find him very impressive. To them, he is “nearly fifty” and feeble. He does not play tackle football with Jem. They find themselves wishing for a younger father, or at least a more interesting one.

Besides that, he wore glasses. He was nearly blind in his left eye, and said left eyes were the tribal curse of the Finches. Whenever he wanted to see something well, he turned his head and looked from his right eye. (Ch. 10)

It takes a major event for the children to realize that Atticus is not worthless after all. When he gets them guns for Christmas, he tells them to only shoot cans and not mockingbirds. He also tells them never to aim their guns at people when he catches them aiming at Miss Maudie. He is not very excited about the guns, but is only bowing to the inevitable. Every Southern child learns to shoot!  

However, Atticus can shoot a gun remarkably well himself when he has to. One day a rabid dog named Tim Johnson threatens the town of Maycomb. Heck Tate, the sheriff, gives the gun to Atticus because Atticus is a better shot, and the dog needs to come down with one shot.

Atticus shook his head vehemently: “Don’t just stand there, Heck! He won’t wait all day for you—”

“For God’s sake, Mr. Finch, look where he is! Miss and you’ll go straight into the Radley house! I can’t shoot that well and you know it!” (Ch. 10)

Atticus first objects that he has not shot a gun in thirty years, but he is still One-Shot Finch. He shoots the dog in one shot and ends the danger to the town. His children have an enormous newfound respect for him. Their father is not boring after all!

The dog is symbolic. Atticus is the only one that can shoot it, just as he is the only one who can take Tom Robinson’s case. While Atticus does not win the case, he does make people stop and think. In doing so, Atticus makes some headway against killing what really threatens Maycomb—racial prejudice.

Who are Piney Woods and Tom Simspon?

Piney Woods and Tom Simpson are a young and in love couple in the short story "The Outcasts of Poker Flats."  They are on their way to Poker Flat to elope.  In addition to their romantic attraction to each other, they are the only two characters that have not been kicked out of Poker Flats.  Uncle Billy has been kicked out because he's a violent drunkard.  Duchess and Mother Shipton have been kicked out for...

Piney Woods and Tom Simpson are a young and in love couple in the short story "The Outcasts of Poker Flats."  They are on their way to Poker Flat to elope.  In addition to their romantic attraction to each other, they are the only two characters that have not been kicked out of Poker Flats.  Uncle Billy has been kicked out because he's a violent drunkard.  Duchess and Mother Shipton have been kicked out for prostitution.  John Oakhurst is a gambler, but I doubt he was kicked out for gambling; more than likely he was kicked out of Poker Flat for winning.  

Tom Simspon is also called "The Innocent."  That about sums it up.  He's completely clueless as to what kind of people Oakhurst and the others are.  He even thinks that Oakhurst is married to Duchess.  

"Piney can stay with Mrs. Oakhurst," said the Innocent, pointing to the Duchess, "and I can shift for myself."

Oakhurst tries to encourage Piney and Tom to hurry on toward Poker Flat before nightfall, but they decide to share their provisions and mules with the group.  The mistake will cost Piney her life. 

Do you think that Farquhar's dream made it easier for him to face death? Why?

I think that sounds like a romantic attitude--and Ambrose Bierce was certainly not a romanticist. Far from it. He was noted for being a realist, a cynic, a pessimist. If Farquhar thought he was dying for a noble cause, it didn't prevent him from having all sorts of regrets and concerns about self-preservation. In what he thought were his last moments, he was thinking about escaping and getting back to the heaven on earth represented...

I think that sounds like a romantic attitude--and Ambrose Bierce was certainly not a romanticist. Far from it. He was noted for being a realist, a cynic, a pessimist. If Farquhar thought he was dying for a noble cause, it didn't prevent him from having all sorts of regrets and concerns about self-preservation. In what he thought were his last moments, he was thinking about escaping and getting back to the heaven on earth represented by his beautiful wife and his lush, sunny plantation. He must have also regretted his stupidity in allowing himself to walk right into a trap with his big can of kerosene and  pocketful of kitchen matches. 

The narrator tells us in Part I what is going through Farquhar's mind:

He closed his eyes in order to fix his last thoughts upon his wife and children.

He unclosed his eyes and saw again the water below him. "If I could free my hands," he thought, "I might throw off the noose and spring into the stream. By diving I could evade the bullets and, swimming vigorously, reach the bank, take to the woods and get away home. 

As these thoughts, which have here to be set down in words, were flashed into the doomed man's brain rather than evolved from it the captain nodded to the sergeant. The sergeant stepped aside.

Farquhar is not thinking about dying for a noble cause. He is thinking about his wife and children and wishing it were only possible for him somehow to escape from this horrible situation. The last words of Part I are intended to set the reader up to believe for most of the rest of the story that what Farquhar was wishing really happened. The rope broke and he landed in the swift waters of Owl Creek. It took the soldiers some time to get organized and start firing. He managed to free himself. The reader is completely engaged in Farquhar's hopes and problems because it is natural to identify with any character when we are held in his point of view and share his motivation, which in this case is simply self-preservation, a feeling we all have all our lives. Even though we may not sympathize with Farquhar's politics and ideals, we identify with his desire to stay alive and to get back home.

He is not thinking about dying for a noble cause but about saving his life and getting back to what he has sacrificed for an idea. Ambrose Bierce, the cynic, the realist, has us believing that Farquhar has almost made it into the outstretched of his beautiful, loving wife--and then:

As he is about to clasp her he feels a stunning blow upon the back of the neck; a blinding white light blazes all about him with a sound like the shock of a cannon--then all is darkness and silence!

Peyton Farquhar was dead; his body, with a broken neck, swung gently from side to side beneath the timbers of the Owl Creek bridge.

Ambrose 

What do you think of Odysseus's plan for escaping Polyphemus?

I think Odysseus's plan to escape Polyphemus is pretty ingenious.  He first considers killing the Cyclops by stabbing him in the liver while he sleeps, but then Odysseus correctly realizes that they need Polyphemus to roll the stone away from the door because it is too big for his crew to move.  If he kills the monster, there will be no one to let them out of the cave and they will all perish.  Despite...

I think Odysseus's plan to escape Polyphemus is pretty ingenious.  He first considers killing the Cyclops by stabbing him in the liver while he sleeps, but then Odysseus correctly realizes that they need Polyphemus to roll the stone away from the door because it is too big for his crew to move.  If he kills the monster, there will be no one to let them out of the cave and they will all perish.  Despite the danger they're in, Odysseus still exercises rationality and forethought and cunning.

Therefore, when Odysseus comes up with the idea to blind Polyphemus so that he can still roll away the stone door, it is quite shrewd and intelligent.  He gets the monster really drunk, he and his men plunge an olive stake into his one eye, and then they ride out of the cave tied underneath the sheep so that Polyphemus will not be able to feel them.  Further, Odysseus had told Polyphemus that his name was "No man," so that when other Cyclopes came to check on him, he would have to tell them that No man had hurt him.  Hearing this, they left him alone. 

Finally, the plan succeeds, and all but the six men Polyphemus ate escape the cave, so it must have been pretty sound!

In the story "The Last Leaf," is there any evidence in the story that Sue and Johnsy are gay?

A comment by Sue might be taken, or mistaken, as an indication that she and Johnsy are gay and are living together as lovers. When the doctor tells Sue that Johnsy needs something to live for and asks,

"Has she anything on her mind worth thinking about twice—a man, for instance?”

Sue makes it clear that this is out of the question.

“A man?” said Sue, with a jew's-harp twang in her voice. “Is a...

A comment by Sue might be taken, or mistaken, as an indication that she and Johnsy are gay and are living together as lovers. When the doctor tells Sue that Johnsy needs something to live for and asks,

"Has she anything on her mind worth thinking about twice—a man, for instance?”

Sue makes it clear that this is out of the question.

“A man?” said Sue, with a jew's-harp twang in her voice. “Is a man worth—but, no, doctor; there is nothing of the kind.”

But O. Henry is not suggesting that these young women are gay. He wants to introduce a painter in the story who will save Johnsy's life by painting a fake ivy leaf on the wall of the adjacent building. If he introduced a young painter who was in love with Johnsy, this would raise some readers' suspicions that the payoff in the story would be precisely that this young lover would get the idea of painting a fake ivy leaf on the brick wall, either sacrificing his own life in doing so or saving Johnsy so that they could both be happily married. O. Henry wanted and needed a male painter but he didn't want to risk his surprise ending. So he has Sue sharply deny the existence of any man who might be a lover, and instead he creates an alternative in Old Behrman who is a painter but could not possibly be a romantic lover.

Old Behrman deceives the reader by making it seem physically and psychologically impossible that he would consider painting a fake leaf to fool Johnsy into wanting to recover from pneumonia. Behrman is too old to be considered a lover, and he is too old to go out in the middle of the blustery night, climb a twenty-foot ladder, and paint an ivy leaf on the building next door. Besides that, he tells Sue specifically that he considers Johnsy's fantasy about dying when the last leaf falls to be nothing but a lot of nonsense.

“Vass!” he cried. “Is dere people in de world mit der foolishness to die because leafs dey drop off from a confounded vine? I haf not heard of such a thing. No, I will not bose as a model for your fool hermit-dunderhead. Vy do you allow dot silly pusiness to come in der prain of her? Ach, dot poor leetle Miss Yohnsy.”

This dialogue is inserted specifically to obviate the possibility that Behrman would think of doing what he actually ends up doing. The fact that he speaks in such broken English adds to the confusion. He may be saying exactly the opposite of what he means. And furthermore, O. Henry makes it clear that Old Behrman is a heavy gin drinker, so he is obviously not even sure of what he thinks, feels, and means to say himself.  O. Henry is successful in deceiving the reader. The surprise ending is successful because no one would think that an old man who was heavily intoxicated and who had no faith in girlish fantasies could or would drag a twenty-foot ladder over to another building, climb to the top with brushes and paints in the middle of a freezing, tempestuous night, and paint a single ivy leaf on the wall.

There had to be a character who would do it. O. Henry couldn't just introduce some stranger at the last moment who decided to do Johnsy a favor. That might be a surprise but not an artistic surprise, not a legitimate surprise. O. Henry was good at introducing characters without really introducing them in toto. In "After Twenty Years," as another example, he introduces Jimmy Wells and records a long conversation between him and his old friend Bob without the reader ever realizing that the cop Bob was talking to was really Jimmy Wells. 

Why does Holling Hoodhood enjoy The Tempest in Gary Schmidt's The Wednesday Wars?

In Gary Schmidt's The Wednesday Wars, one reason why Holling loves The Tempest so much, which he reads during the month of November, is because of the elements of the plot. As Holling explains, The Tempest contains "a storm, attempted murders, witches, wizards, invisible spirits," drunkenness, and even a monster by the name of Caliban. Because of these plot elements, Holling thinks the play is even better than his favorite book, Treasure Island...

In Gary Schmidt's The Wednesday Wars, one reason why Holling loves The Tempest so much, which he reads during the month of November, is because of the elements of the plot. As Holling explains, The Tempest contains "a storm, attempted murders, witches, wizards, invisible spirits," drunkenness, and even a monster by the name of Caliban. Because of these plot elements, Holling thinks the play is even better than his favorite book, Treasure Island. But, what Holling likes best about the play is the "list of colorful curses" said by Caliban.

Holling likes those curses so much that he sets about memorizing them and even tells his sister, "A southwest blow on ye and blister you all o'er." Throughout the rest of the book, any time something goes terribly wrong for Holling or he experiences a severe disappointment, Holling recites his very favorite curse from the play: "Toads, beetles, bats, light on you!"

However, Holling takes away much more from the play than what he likes about it at surface level. For example, in a discussion about Caliban's unhappy ending in the play, one thing Mrs. Baker explains is Shakespeare's message that defeat is necessary for growth. Holling at first disagrees with this statement, saying, "Defeat doesn't help you grow. ... It's just defeat." But, as the book progresses, Holling comes to understand his belief about defeat is incorrect. Holling is defeated many times throughout the book such as the time when Mr. Kowalski steals Hoodhood and Associate's design for the new junior high school after he innocently shows off his father's design to Meryl Lee Kowalski while on their Valentine's Day date. Yet, Holling also overcomes these defeats by facing them bravely and maintaining his integrity.

What does each different place/setting show about managing grief in Bharati Mukherjee's short story?

One of the central motifs in "The Management of Grief" is grieving. For the main character, Shaila Bhave, grief is both an expression of sorrow and love, and a way of coming into self knowledge. This process is intimately connected to place. Her life as an immigrant in Canada in a way is not a new life; she is still bound by the expectations of her culture, bonds that only begin to break in the aftermath of the horrific airline disaster that claims the lives of her husband and children.

Bhave's journey from Toronto to India and back mirrors her internal journey through the stages of grief. Toronto, where they first hear the news, is a claustrophic environment. Bhave cannot bring herself to express the grief she really feels, as can be seen when she is interviewed by the social worker, who commends her for her calmness. Bhave says that she wishes she could not be calm. In fact, she says, her calmness makes her feel like "a freak."

Later, after they travel to Ireland to identify bodies, Bhave finds a place that is more welcoming:

"The Irish are not shy; they rush to me and give me hugs and some are crying. I cannot imagine reactions like that on the streets of Toronto. Just strangers, and I am touched. Some carry flowers with them and give them to any Indian they see."

The Irish arrange a trip for them to the shore, where they can be close to their dead loved ones. They find comfort imagining that they might still be alive, speaking about their children in the present tense. They float remembrances on the water, in the hopes that maybe they will reach their loved ones somehow. Bhave floats a poem to her dead husband, telling him how much she loves him.

After Ireland, Bhave travels with the coffins to India. There she is transformed again: "In India, I become, once again, an only child of rich, ailing parents." Her life in Toronto, her family and husband, fade away as she is forced back into the role of daughter, and the spectre of returning to Canada, only with a new husband from an arranged marriage, hangs over her. Bhave is "trapped between two modes of knowledge. At thirty-six, I am too old to start over and too young to give up. Like my husband’s spirit, I flutter between worlds."

While travelling in the Himalayas, at a temple, Bhave has a final mourning experience, and her husband's spirit descends to her:

My husband takes my hands in his. You’re beautiful, he starts. Then, What are you doing here? Shall I stay? I ask. He only smiles, but already the image is fading. You must finish alone what we started together. No seaweed wreathes his mouth. He speaks too fast, just as he used to when we were an envied family in our pink split-level. He is gone.

In this place, Bhave begins to find a kind of closure and acceptance. She begins to understand her place in the world, independent of her identity as a wife or as a daughter. She returns to Toronto, to help others, a final expression of her grief.

If a Na atom were to become an ion, would the ion be bigger, smaller or the same size as the neutrally-charged atom?

Sodium ions are smaller than neutrally charged sodium atoms.

An ion is a charged atom. Ions are charged because they gain or lose electrons. Electrons are negative subatomic particles that move around the small, dense central nucleus of an atom. Because electrons are negative, the charge of an atom changes when electrons are gained or lost. Cations are positively charged ions that have lost electrons. Anions are negatively charged ions that have gained additional electrons.

...

Sodium ions are smaller than neutrally charged sodium atoms.

An ion is a charged atom. Ions are charged because they gain or lose electrons. Electrons are negative subatomic particles that move around the small, dense central nucleus of an atom. Because electrons are negative, the charge of an atom changes when electrons are gained or lost. Cations are positively charged ions that have lost electrons. Anions are negatively charged ions that have gained additional electrons.

Atoms gain or lose electrons in order to obtain the octet rule. The octet rule states that, in order to feel stable, all main-group elements want to have eight valence electrons. Valence electrons are the electrons found in the outermost orbital of an atom.

Neutrally charged sodium atoms have one valence electron. In order to fulfill the octet rule, this single valence electron is lost. In this way, sodium drops to the next lower orbital that is full.

Because a sodium atom loses an energy level (orbital) when becoming an ion, sodium ions are smaller than neutrally charged sodium atoms.

How does the sniper's seemingly contradictory "cry of joy" and feeling of "remorse" contribute to the character's development?

There are contradictions or paradoxes in this story. The sniper has characteristics of innocence as well as violence. He is, or once was, a student. But engaged in the Irish Civil War, he has become a competent soldier. He still has some of that innocence and respect for human life. But he must suppress it because on the field of battle, he must condition himself to put those feelings aside to concentrate on killing the...

There are contradictions or paradoxes in this story. The sniper has characteristics of innocence as well as violence. He is, or once was, a student. But engaged in the Irish Civil War, he has become a competent soldier. He still has some of that innocence and respect for human life. But he must suppress it because on the field of battle, he must condition himself to put those feelings aside to concentrate on killing the enemy in order to keep himself alive. Thus, he has no immediate remorse when he kills the old woman and the man in the turret. He is in a disciplined mode of self-preservation and carrying out orders. 

When he kills the enemy sniper, he does utter a "cry of joy." He is proud that his ruse has worked in tricking his enemy. But his joy is mostly the result of the preservation of his own life. He is fighting for his life. If he does not kill the enemy sniper, then it is possible that he will be killed. So, the joy is a relief that he has, once again, prolonged his own life by dispatching his enemy. 

Upon seeing his enemy double over and thud on the street below, the sniper's humanity resurfaces. This is when he feels that remorse. The sniper is in a kind of "back and forth" development. Prior to the war, he'd had "the face of a student." This suggests his innocence. Once adapted to the war, he loses that innocence and becomes "used to looking at death." He kills his enemy and experiences joy and relief. But then his humanity comes back and the remorse is there. This repeating contradiction shows the conflicted mental aspect of war, especially a civil war. 

Has anyone taken really hard, yet basic, American history quizzes?

There are some quizzes on this site that I have written. These are tests/quizzes that I used to give my students. They are broken into five question segments. These tests/quizzes cover the main ideas for the topic indicated on the test or quiz. Feel free to look at them to get an idea of how to answer these questions. They may even cover the same topic or topics you are studying.

When taking an American...

There are some quizzes on this site that I have written. These are tests/quizzes that I used to give my students. They are broken into five question segments. These tests/quizzes cover the main ideas for the topic indicated on the test or quiz. Feel free to look at them to get an idea of how to answer these questions. They may even cover the same topic or topics you are studying.

When taking an American history test, you hopefully are given a study guide by your teacher. Be sure to know the information that is on the study guide. It is very likely much if not all of that information will be on the test. If you have an essay or short answer section, try to look for the main themes or ideas covered by the question. Be sure to support your points with solid evidence and facts. Spread your studying over several nights. Avoid trying to study it all the night before the test or quiz. The more review you do, the more you will remember and learn the information.

For true/false questions, be careful of any questions that use the words always or never. Those questions are usually answered as false. Also, be sure to read the question completely. Go with your first instinct if you have any doubt about the answer. Don’t overthink the question. If you have any doubt about what the teacher is asking or about what the question is requiring, be sure to ask for clarification.

Go look on your tests and quizzes.

What is the relationship between the surface area of rhubarb and how fast it decolorises potassium permanganate?

Rhubarb is a plant that contains oxalic acid. A common laboratory experiment for school students is the decoloration of potassium permanganate solution through the addition of rhubarb. When we add stalks of rhubarb, the purple color of potassium permanganate solution disappears because the oxalic acid reduces the manganate ion. In this experiment, students are taught the relationship between the surface area of rhubarb and rate of decoloration of the solution. Higher surface area results in...

Rhubarb is a plant that contains oxalic acid. A common laboratory experiment for school students is the decoloration of potassium permanganate solution through the addition of rhubarb. When we add stalks of rhubarb, the purple color of potassium permanganate solution disappears because the oxalic acid reduces the manganate ion. In this experiment, students are taught the relationship between the surface area of rhubarb and rate of decoloration of the solution. Higher surface area results in faster disappearance of color.

One way to check this is by using increasing amounts of rhubarb stalks (of equal length) in different containers containing the same amount of potassium permanganate solution and measuring the time taken for decoloration. More rhubarb stalks will cause faster decoloration.

A mathematical relationship between the surface area of rhubarb and rate of decoloration is a function of the oxalic acid content of the particular stalk we are using. Thus, it would be difficult to determine an exact and generalized relationship. However, we can simply observe that increasing the surface area of rhubarb will reduce the time taken to decolorize the solution. In other words, surface area is proportional to the rate of decoloration.

Hope this helps. 

What from the prologue to Theodore Rex should I focus on to teach it to a class?

The prologue to Theodore Rex by Edmund Morris focuses on a re-telling of the assassination of President McKinley in 1901 and the ascendancy of Teddy Roosevelt (TR) to the Presidency. While the prologue is told in a narrative format, it also emphasizes several themes of TR's life and his future presidency that you could focus on while teaching. 

When President McKinley was shot, TR was in the Adirondacks, and Morris uses this passage to emphasize...

The prologue to Theodore Rex by Edmund Morris focuses on a re-telling of the assassination of President McKinley in 1901 and the ascendancy of Teddy Roosevelt (TR) to the Presidency. While the prologue is told in a narrative format, it also emphasizes several themes of TR's life and his future presidency that you could focus on while teaching. 

When President McKinley was shot, TR was in the Adirondacks, and Morris uses this passage to emphasize how TR developed his physical courage. He writes, "Although his physical courage was now legendary, it was not a natural endowment" (page 6). This passage allows readers to focus on TR's upbringing and his concerted effort to advance himself, first by lifting weights when he was a child and then by moving up the ladder of political life. This passage is an insight into TR's past, including his stint as "Rough Rider" in the Spanish-American War.

As TR boards the train to Buffalo, where McKinley was shot, Morris concentrates on several of the problems TR will face. His train is like his own presidency, which is now under steam. He first thinks about how to handle anarchism and the problems posed by people like Czolgosz, the anarchist who shot McKinley. He then thinks about America's destiny in the new century. 

After taking the oath of office and reassuring McKinley's cabinet that they will retain their positions for now, TR takes a train to Washington. The point of this part of the narrative is in part the energy of the U.S. at the turn of the century, and this is what you might focus on in this part. As the train gathers speed, Morris writes about the productivity of the nation and the global reach of its manufactured goods.

The other themes that Morris touches on in this part of the narrative are the foreign policy situation TR will face (including his partnership with Edward VII in Great Britain against the German Kaiser and the Russian Tsar and TR's desire to build a canal in Panama). As TR's train heads to Washington, TR also thinks about combating the powers of the great monopolies in American business and, as he passes through Pennsylvania, TR thinks about how to help miners and American labor. Finally, he focuses on how to help reform the situation of America's working class to bring about reform. His thoughts as he travels to Washington cover several themes of TR's presidency, including foreign policy, the Industrial Revolution, his eventual trust-busting activities, and his reforms to help labor and the poor. These are points you could focus on while teaching.