Name three characters and discuss why they are blind to the truth in The Crucible.

In the beginning of Act Two, John Proctor is blind to the truth.  He doesn't seem to believe that Abigail would be heartless enough or is capable of murdering his wife, Elizabeth.  Even after Mary Warren tells them that Elizabeth's name was "Somewhat mentioned" in the court, Proctor says, "There'll be no noose."  Elizabeth sees immediately that "[Abigail] wants [her] dead."  However, John denies it, saying that the court dismissed the mention of Elizabeth, and he implores her to "sit down" and "be wise."  She senses that he has hesitated to tell the court what Abigail said to him because it would mean accusing Abigail of lying and getting her in some serious trouble; even now, she feels that he agrees to speak to Abigail "unwillingly."  It seems that John still has some feelings for Abigail, and though he is trying to quell them, they still compel him to protect her.  In Act One, he told Abigail that he "may have looked up" at her window and that he "may think of [her] softly from time to time."  Even Abigail can sense that he "loved [her] then and [he does] now."  These feelings seem to blind him to the truth of what Abigail is capable of in order to possess him.

Mr. Hale is also blind to the truth for a long while.  In Act Two, although he says, "God forbid such a one [as Rebecca Nurse] be charged," when he learns that she has been taken to the jail, he defends her arrest.  He says,

There is a misty plot afoot so subtle we should be criminal to cling to old respects and ancient friendships.  I have seen too many frightful proofs in court -- the Devil is alive in Salem, and we dare not quail to follow wherever the accusing finger points.  

He came to Salem so ready to find the Devil there that he believes anyone who confirms this belief.  By the end of the play, however, he begs Elizabeth to counsel John to lie and confess in order to save his own life.  Hale has realized that he "came into this village like a bridegroom to his beloved, bearing gifts of high religion [...]; and where [he] turned the eye of [his] great faith, blood flowed up."  Hale was arrogant due to his immense knowledge and faith, and he was thus blinded by it and unable to see the truth.

Finally, Danforth is blinded by his desire to retain authority and power.  Even in the end, when he's realizes that Parris is a "brainless man" and Abigail has run off (making her seem guilty) he will not even postpone the hangings to investigate more fully.  He says,

Postponement now speaks a floundering on my part; reprieve or pardon must cast doubt upon the guilt of them that died till now.  While I speak God's law, I will not crack its voice with whimpering.  If retaliation is your fear, know this -- I should hang ten thousand that dared to rise against the law, and an ocean of salt tears could not melt the resolution of the statutes.

Though doubt has been cast on the guilt of the convicted, Danforth is unwilling to reconsider it because he would look weak.  It would also call into question the guilt of those he's already convicted and hanged.  He is so concerned about maintaining the court's authority and power that he is blinded to the truth that the court has been corrupted from the beginning.

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

One distinct theme of this story is that things are not always as they appear.  At the beginning of the story we are introduced to our two main characters:  a bacteriologist working in a lab in London, and his visitor, a man who has displayed some vague interest in the lab’s proceedings and been invited to come see the lab for himself.  This man is intensely fascinated by the dead strains of cholera shown him by the bacteriologist, and his eyes gleam with a strange fervor when the scientist produces a tube of live bacteria.

The bacteriologist finds his visitor harmless, despite his ” lank black hair and deep grey eyes, the haggard expression and nervous manner, the fitful yet keen interest” in the subject at hand.  And the scientist, who “had been told rhetoric was his weakness,” after describing in great detail the absolute destruction of the city should even the smallest drop of live cholera bacteria infect the water supply, notices his guest completely transfixed by the concept.  Soon after, we discover that this apparently harmless man is in fact an anarchist, intent on ravaging the city and bringing its people to ruins – with a strain of stolen bacteria.

And yet that bacteria itself is not what it appears – even though the bacteriologist begins a harrowing chase for the anarchist through the streets of London to retrieve his stolen test tube, and facing defeat the pale villain drinks the contents of the tube himself, to personally infect the people of London, it is revealed at the end that all his efforts were in vain.  The bacteriologist, whether to impress the man or just as a joke, we don’t know, misled him into believing the bacteria was actually cholera; it turns out it was actually a newly-discovered bacteria that, by all intents and purposes appears to turn its host blue.

So here we have a man who was not what he seemed – a harmless guest who turns out to be a psychopathic anarchist; and a bacteria that is not what it seemed – a deadly disease that is in fact merely the cause of a very embarrassing discoloration.  And, to delve deeper into the moral of the story, we can say that it seldom works to our advantage to deceive others, however nefarious or harmless the motive may be.

What was Christopher Columbus' main accomplishment?

Christopher Columbus' primary accomplishment was claiming America for Spain. Columbus was not the first European to sail to America--this accomplishment belonged to Leif Erikson, a Norse Viking--but his discovery of America in 1492 provided Spain with vast natural resources (gold, silver, sugar, etc.) and wealth. This wealth helped Spain build a huge army and navy (the Spanish Armada) and become the most potent empire in the world.

Columbus, of course, had not set out to do this. Rather, he had intended to find a western trade route to India and the Spice Islands of the East. He initially believed he had found India (hence the Spanish referred to the natives as Indians), but people slowly realized he had actually found a new continent.

The description of the Oklahoma plains is one of the most powerful parts of the story. How does the book's setting reflect Billie Jo's Journey?

Oklahoma at the time of the Dust Bowl was a horrific time for America, as one of the largest man-made disasters torn through the Mid West. On the Oklahoma panhandle in 1934-5, Billie Jo and her family are right at the center of the tragedy, in both time and space. Aside from the dust storms and tornados, the failing crops and starving people, the family (and the nation) is also in the grips of the Great Depression and so must struggle with additional hardships. 

The purpose of a setting so full of strife is not only to provide conflict and tragedy for the Billie Jo and her family. Rather, the horrors and hardships of the land and the nation act as a mirror to Billie Jo's personal losses and tragedies. The gruesome death of her mother and newborn brother from kerosene fire, the guilt and blame Billie Jo holds for herself and her father, the loss of her piano-playing abilities – all these are a reflection of the larger scale turmoil and loss. 

Billie Jo's journey doesn't end in loss, however. Through pain and empathy, she is able to forgive herself and, especially, her father for her mother's death. She is able to build some semblance of a relationship with him and accept his new fiance. She even believes she may recover from the burns on her hands and play piano again. The possibility of hope and recovery in Billie Jo's life give a possibility to the recover of the dusty earth as well. 

In "Ode to the West Wind" by Percy Shelley, paraphrase the meaning of the image in line 55 that the poet uses to depict the pains of aging.

Here is what I think Percy Bysshe Shelley is saying in lines 55 and 56 of "Ode to the West Wind":

"Although I was once in my youth--and even now in my spirit continue to be--wild and forceful with my philosophies, the personal sorrows that have piled upon me with each passing year are acting like a ball and chain, weighing down my motivation and enthusiasm and limiting my ability to be the effective communicator of world-changing ideas that I long to be."

I don't believe that the phrase "a heavy weight of hours" refers to the pains of aging. Shelley was only 27 when he wrote this poem, and although it is possible he could have been assuming a persona and not writing in his own voice, what we know about Shelley suggests that the poem reflects his personal thoughts and desires. Taking biographical information about Shelley into account, we can easily see that the "weight" he refers to is a weight of grief. Within the few years prior to 1819 when this poem was penned, Shelley had suffered several personal tragedies, including the death by suicide of his estranged wife, Harriet; the loss of custody of his two children from that marriage; the death of his first child by Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin; and the death of two subsequent children born to Mary after they married. Those last two deaths occurred within a year of his writing this poem. Certainly Shelley still longed for his philosophies to be borne around the world as this poem describes, but his sorrow and grief were an anchor or ball and chain that tied him down, interfering with the message he wanted to impart to his fellow travelers on this globe.

How do Sutton's observations about chromosomes support the chromosome theory of inheritance?

In 1902, Walter Sutton recognized that the way genes behaved during the production of gametes in peas, was identical to the way chromosomes behaved during meiosis. Among his observations were:

• Genes and chromosomes are both found in pairs.

• The alleles of a gene are distributed equally in gametes. Homologous chromosomes are also distributed equally in gametes.

• Genes and chromosome pairs both act independently.

These observations led Sutton to theorize that genes are actually located on chromosomes. Numerous studies by others in subsequent years provided further supporting evidence that genes are located on chromosomes. Finally, genetic studies on fruit flies provided convincing evidence that chromosomes carry genes. Sutton's observations were the basis for the chromosome theory of inheritance. The chromosome theory of inheritance states that chromosomes are composed of linear sequences of genes. 

What is the relevance of studying comparative politics?

There are at least two main reasons for studying comparative politics.  One has to do with gaining a better understanding of the world outside your own country. The other has to do with learning more about how politics works in general.

One reason to study comparative politics is to learn things about countries that are not your own.  Most of us know very little about the political systems of foreign countries.  We know something about our own system but we do not think that other countries’ systems are important.  This type of ethnocentrism limits us and makes it harder for us to understand other countries.  If we study comparative politics, we learn about other countries and come to understand them better.  This is important since we live in a world that is globalizing rapidly and where other countries’ politics can affect our own lives fairly easily.

A second reason to study comparative politics is to understand more about politics in general (which can also help us learn about our own political system.  When we study comparative politics, we learn something about how different political systems work.  From this, we can extrapolate rules about how well various aspects of various political systems work.  We can compare different systems and think about them sort of as if they were experiments that tell us what types of political institutions are good in what situations.  This can be of interest to us if we are just interested in politics in general.  It can also be of interest if we want to think about how to improve our own political system.

Thus, the study of comparative politics is useful if we want to learn more about foreign countries, more about politics in general, or more about our own country’s political system.

When Pahóm receives news of a new commune, what plan forms in his mind?

When Pahom hears of a new commune beyond the Volga, he plans to sell his present homestead and to begin afresh at the new settlement. Pahom's decision is based on the fact that he has recently quarreled with his neighbors.

Because of a need for more pasture, Pahom's neighbors continue to let their cows and horses wander onto Pahom's land. On one occasion, someone even cut down five of his lime trees for bark. Even though Pahom thinks that Simon is the culprit, the judge and jury decide that there is not enough evidence against Simon to convict Simon for the crime. This greatly upsets Pahom; therefore, when the peasant tells Pahom that a man will be given twenty-five acres at the new commune, he jumps at the opportunity.

First, Pahom decides to venture to the new commune to ascertain matters for himself. What he sees there greatly pleases him. Aside from the twenty-five acres he will get at the new commune, Pahom discovers that he can purchase free-hold land for fifty cents an acre.

When he returns home, Pahom begins selling off his belongings. He is able to sell his land for a profit and to withdraw his membership from the present commune. After selling off his homestead and his cattle, Pahom moves his family to the new settlement in the spring.

Why is Huckleberry Finn considered the realist of the story?

In Mark Twain's time romanticism (books about adventure, exotic places, extreme emotions, etc...) was popular. Twain was interesting in that although he was critical of romanticism, he also wrote it in the form of his stories about Tom Sawyer. This novel contrasts the different values of realism and romanticism through the characters of Tom and Huck. Tom is a romantic. He wants to create a gang of bandits to go on adventures like he has read about in his romantic novels. At the end of the story he even creates an elaborate plot to rescue Jim, even though he knows that such a plot is entirely pointless. This ends up getting him shot. 

Huck, on the other hand, is the realist. Huck is less interested in glory or adventure. He leaves home not for adventure but to escape his father. While he naively believes some of Tom's stories, as the story moves on he starts to see things from a more realistic perspective. For example, he aims to stop the Duke and King from pulling their scam. This is because he sees them for the criminals they are. Tom might have gone along with the performance, simply because it was exciting. While Huck is superstitious and naive at times, he does almost everything he does for practical purposes, not because he is recreating something he has read in an adventure story.

In the Great Gatsby, why is it that nobody comes to Gatsby's funeral? What does this mean?

After Gatsby's death, Nick, his only true friend, arranges for the funeral and tries desperately to get other people who knew Gatsby to come and show their respects. The only ones who show up are Henry Gatz, Gatsby's father, the owl-eyed man, who Nick had met in the library at one of Gatsby's parties,  the minister and a few servants. None of the hundreds of guests who had attended Gatsby's parties bothered to come, which is significant because it shows that while he was alive they were very happy to drink his liquor, dance to his music and enjoy his benevolence but now that he is dead, they have no more use for him. Even Gatsby's business partner, Meyer Wolfsheim, doesn't attend and his words to Nick were:

"Let us learn to show our friendship for a man when he is alive and not after he is dead."

It is more likely that Wolfsheim wants to hide his association with Gatsby, especially after the scandal surrounding the death. Most upsetting to Nick is that Daisy does not come to the funeral, nor does she bother to call. She and Tom had quickly left the country for an extended trip abroad, in order to avoid any repercussions regarding Myrtle Wilson's death.

In the end, Gatsby's funeral, unlike his parties, was a somber and lonely affair. No one showed up because Gatsby hadn't really cultivated friendships or personal relationships with anyone, except for Nick and of course, Daisy.

What are 2 physical differences between Caesar and Antony mentioned in "Julius Caesar"?

Antony is a strong man, able to run in the Lupercalian ceremonies at the beginning of “Julius Caesar”, and in some productions strong enough to carry Caesar’s body during his crucial funeral oration. Caesar is portrayed as physically weaker and more compromised: he mentions that he is deaf in one ear, Cassius remarks that Caesar once exhausted himself trying to swim a distance Cassius could swim easily, and we also learn that Caesar has the “falling sickness”, i.e. epilepsy. His physical frailty stands in contrast to the ruling authority he possesses and complicates the opposition to him in the play: he is on the one hand potentially in a position to become a tyrant, but on the other hand is not himself physically strong or intimidating. In many productions, Caesar looks unimpressive enough that it’s hard to see why he so threatens the conspirators, which makes their decision to assassinate him more difficult for the audience to support.

What evidence is there to prove that Sook is like a child?

Throughout this story, which is a semi-autobiographical portrait of Truman Capote's own childhood, the reader is given suggestions that Buddy's cousin Sook is like a child. In the third paragraph, after Buddy has described what she looks like he explains why she calls him Buddy:  

She calls me Buddy, in memory of a boy who was formerly her best friend. The other Buddy died in the 1880's, when she was still a child. She is still a child.

When Buddy relates memories of things they've done, he describes their activities as if they are things two children have done. For example, he describes the money they made with a "fun and freak museum" that had a three-legged biddy chicken:  "Every body hereabouts wanted to see that biddy: we charged grown ups a nickel, kids two cents." In saying "we charged grown ups a nickel" there is a sort of camaraderie and intimacy suggested in these words, since Sook is not included with the "grown ups" but rather is, like Buddy, a child who is making money from selling grown ups a ticket to the museum.

When Christmas morning arrives, Sook and Buddy are both like children, unable to sleep and eager to open presents. Sook mischievously makes noise to wake up everyone in the house, so they can get their Christmas morning started:  

Possibly we doze; but the beginnings of dawn splash us like cold water: we're up, wide-eyed and wandering while we wait for others to waken. Quite deliberately my friend drops a kettle on the kitchen floor.

This is another example of Sook behaving in a childlike way, and Buddy's fond remembrance of her youthful energy and happiness.

How does the speed-up affect Lyddie in Lyddie? How does it affect the other girls?

Lyddie does not complain about the speedup, but she does get hurt and sick.

Lyddie becomes a factory worker after her mother leaves.  She does not last long working at a tavern before she gets fired, and she has learned that she can make more money at the factory.  She needs the money to pay off the family debts so that her family can be re-formed.

Lyddie picks up how to do the factory work quickly.  She is a fast learner and a hard worker.

So it was that when the Concord Corporation once again speeded up the machinery, she, almost alone, did not complain. She only had two looms to tend instead of the four she'd tended during the summer. She needed the money. (Ch. 12)

While many of the other girls are going home because they can’t keep up the pace, Lyddie just keeps taking on more looms.  Many girls are getting sick, and some are just worn out.

Betsy explains why she is considering signing the petition for a ten-hour work day.

"… When I started in the spinning room, I could do a thirteen‐hour day and to spare. But in those days I had a hundred thirty spindles to tend. Now I've twice that many at a speed that would make the devil curse. I'm worn out, Amelia. We're all worn out." (Ch. 12)

No matter how much the machines speed up and how many she is assigned, Lyddie keeps up the pace.  She has become one with the machines.  With four machines to tend, Lyddie has to remain focused on her work.  The overseers get rewards for producing more goods.

As the New England workers leave, they are replaced with Irish immigrants.  These girls live in tenements in a rough part of town.  Rumor is that they work for lower wages.

One day Lyddie gets hurt when a shuttle from the machine hits her right temple.  She does not even want to go home from work.  Diana takes her to her doctor friend.  Later, Lyddie gets very sick.  After many days with a fever she recovers.  Many girls do not.

How were Jewish people's rights slowly taken away by the Nazi Party?

Before World War II began, the Jewish people of Germany slowly saw their rights being taken away by the Nazi Party. In 1935, a series of laws were passed called the Nuremberg Laws. These laws restricted what the Jewish people could do. For example, marriage between Germans and the Jewish people was forbidden. The Jewish people lost their citizenship meaning they couldn’t run for political office or vote. Eventually, the Jewish people were banned from working in certain professions including journalism, education, law, medicine, and government. The Jewish people couldn’t hire women under the age of 35 as servants. These laws eroded many of the rights the Jewish people had as citizens of Germany.

The situation worsened in 1938. An event called Kristallnacht occurred. This word means the night of the broken glass. On this night, there was a massive destruction of anything Jewish. Jewish homes, property, and synagogues were destroyed in Germany. Many Jewish people died and were injured. The secret police stood by and did nothing. Many Jewish people were arrested the next day.

Eventually, the Jewish people were rounded up and placed in concentration camps. Six million Jews were killed in these camps. This is known as the Holocaust. The Nazi Party tried to eliminate the Jewish people from lands they controlled.

What is your opinion on abortion?

Abortion is one of those topics where feelings and emotions of every kind surface.  I have very mixed feelings on abortion.  Those who callously use it as a form of birth control are way over the negative line for me.  Yet, I know several people for whom an abortion was the only choice. One woman's choice was because the twins were defective and would not live at all.  To preserve her ability to have another baby, the twins were aborted.  For another, the woman was mentally ill and could not deal even with the idea of pregnancy.  For her stability and ability to recover, the pregnancy was aborted.  I had a student whose father had gotten her pregnant, and it was her choice to abort.   I know that each agonized over the decision, and that is why I think the government should stay out of such a personal decision.  I don't like abortion at all but believe that the woman should have a choice.  I don't believe that most women make the choice lightly.

Where can the impact of the Great Depression be seen in To Kill a Mockingbird?

In Chapter 1, Scout (the first-person narrator), talks about what it was like to live in Maycomb when she was a child. Everyone seemed to move slowly; no one was in a hurry. There was "nowhere to go, nothing to buy, and no money to buy it with" (6). People were vaguely optimistic, though; they'd recently been told that they had "nothing to fear but fear itself," meaning Franklin Delano Roosevelt had just taken office, which would place the setting of this novel around 1933.

Another way we can see the effects of the Great Depression on Maycomb is how people pay Atticus and the doctor for their services. Most people don't have money, so they trade what they do have--chickens, eggs, sacks of flour and nuts--until the debt is considered paid. 

What was the most popular version of the play Romeo and Juliet?

There are several versions of the play Romeo and Juliet. The play has been set in different times and places. It is often taken from its Renaissance setting and placed in a different historical period. It's impossible to determine objectively which is the most popular. I can simply give you my opinion as I review three versions of the play which have been turned into movies. 

1. The first big screen version of Shakespeare's classic was done in 1936 starring Leslie Howard, Norma Shearer and John Barrymore. It is an excellent adaptation using actors who were well versed in delivering Shakespeare's lines. The fact that the actors are way too old is somewhat of a drawback. Barrymore is well into his 50's when he played Mercutio. Basil Rathbone, who often played the villain, is excellent as the "fiery" Tybalt. Overall, this version is very much worth watching even if it is quite dated.

2. Baz Luhrmann's 1996 filming of the play takes us away from Verona to Verona Beach, a futuristic setting which seems to be almost like a parallel universe. Instead of swords the actors use guns, which are named "Sword." Luckily, Luhrmann preserves Shakespeare's original dialogue in this fantastical interpretation which includes a Latina Nurse, a black Mercutio and ultra violent scenes involving explosions and gun fire. Leonardo Di Caprio and Claire Danes play the two young lovers and they do a nice job of reflecting the youthful love of the main characters. The ending is quite disconcerting as Juliet awakens just before Romeo dies and Romeo realizes he has made a terrible mistake. The modern settings are exotic and the acting, especially Pete Postlethwaite as Friar Lawrence, is engaging.

3. By far the best version is Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 classic which was nominated for Best Picture during that year's Academy Awards. It takes us to a luscious Verona with colorful costumes and excellent acting all around. John McEnery's Mercutio is one of the best acting interpretations of any Shakespearen character on film (maybe only Olivier's Hamlet is better). Olivia Hussey is a quite young Juliet (she was only 15) and radiates the immediacy of her first encounter with love. She is particularly brilliant in the balcony scene. The fight scenes are the best ever filmed. Act III, Scene 1 is an intense spectacle that takes us through the streets in a fast paced brawl which features lively sword play between Mercutio and Tybalt (Michael York) before it turns deadly and vicious after Mercutio dies and Romeo challenges Tybalt.

There is also a newer version (2014) which got very poor ratings, but I have not seen. One of the best alternate renditions of the play is the Broadway hit "West Side Story" which is set in New York City in the 1950's. It replaces Shakespeare's language with songs.  

Who was Herbert Hoover?

Herbert Hoover was President of the United States from 1929-1933. He won the election of 1928 by defeating Al Smith. Prior to becoming President, he was the Secretary of Commerce for the Republican presidencies of Harding and Coolidge.

Herbert Hoover believed in a laissez-faire economic philosophy. He believed the federal government should stay out of economic affairs and let events run their course. He believed businesses would do the right things to get the economy going again if the economy slowed down. President Hoover believed the economy goes through good cycles and bad cycles. Thus, when the Great Depression started, President Hoover believed things would work themselves out without government interference.

Unfortunately, this policy didn’t work as the depression worsened under President Hoover’s leadership. President Hoover reluctantly agreed to get the government more actively involved in ending the Great Depression. The National Credit Corporation formed to help troubled banks loan money. The Reconstruction Finance Corporation and the Emergency Relief and Construction Act tried to provide aid to businesses to create jobs. These actions weren’t enough to reverse the downward spiral, and President Hoover lost his reelection bid in 1932 to Franklin D. Roosevelt.

What does going into exile mean in "The White Man's Burden?"

If you Google “exile” you will find that part of its definition is “to bar someone from their native country, typically for … punitive reasons.”  In other words, a person who is exiled is forced to leave their country and cannot come back.  They are away because they are being punished.  This is not exactly how the term is used in Kipling’s poem “The White Man’s Burden.”  It does refer to people being forced to leave their country, and it is a bad thing, but they are not really being punished.  Instead, they are enduring punishing and negative conditions, but not because they are being punished for having broken the law.

In “The White Man’s Burden” Kipling emphasizes how hard it is for white people to go out and colonize other countries.  He says that they have to go and “wait in heavy harness” on their subjects.  He says that they have to work hard to help the natives.  They have to build roads and ports they cannot use.  They have to work hard while living and they have to “mark” the roads and ports “with your dead.”

They have to work hard to help the natives even though the natives will just ruin everything.  The natives’ “sloth and heathen folly” will wreck all the things they are trying to achieve just as they are about to reach those goals.  Moreover, the natives will resent them for all this.  They will resent the whites for trying to civilize them.

What all this means is that it is very unpleasant to go out and be a member of an imperial administration.  It is almost like being punished.  The people who do this are being sent away from their native country.  While abroad, they have to endure difficult conditions that are like what you would experience while being punished.  This is what exile means in the context of this poem.  It means being experiencing very unpleasant conditions while being away from your own home and country.

What are some literary devices and elements in chapters 24-26 of To Kill a Mockingbird?

In Chapters 24-26 of To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses several literary devices or elements, including irony and figurative language. Irony is a literary device or element in which an author uses language or events that are the opposite of what is expected to convey humor. In Chapter 24, for example, there are some wonderful examples of ironic humor when Aunt Alexandra, Mrs. Merriweather, and the other ladies of Maycomb gather for a tea party. They are discussing missionary activity, which they consider very benevolent, but which Scout, as a young child, does not understand. Here is the description of part of their party:

"Today Aunt Alexandra and her missionary circle were fighting the good fight all over the house. From the kitchen, I heard Mrs. Grace Merriweather giving a report in the livingroom on the squalid lives of the Mrunas, it sounded like to me. They put the women out in huts when their time came, whatever that was; they had no sense of family—I knew that’d distress Aunty—they subjected children to terrible ordeals when they were thirteen; they were crawling with yaws and earworms, they chewed up and spat out the bark of a tree into a communal pot and then got drunk on it.

Immediately thereafter, the ladies adjourned for refreshments" (page 232; page numbers vary by edition).

What is ironic about this passage, and what is also humorous about it, is that the ladies think their activities are very well intentioned. However, the way Scout overhears the conversation makes their activities seem ridiculous. Even the way she understand the name of the people the ladies are trying to help--the Mrunas--is a mistake that is funny. Again, instead of sounding very religious, these women sound silly.

Another literary device that Harper Lee uses in this chapter is figurative language, more specifically metaphors. Figurative language involves using figures of speech, including metaphors and similes (types of comparisons), to make language more vivid and descriptive. Here is an example:

"I was reminded of the ancient little organ in the chapel at Finch’s Landing. When I was very small, and if I had been very good during the day, Atticus would let me pump its bellows while he picked out a tune with one finger. The last note would linger as long as there was air to sustain it. Mrs. Merriweather had run out of air, I judged, and was replenishing her supply while Mrs. Farrow composed herself to speak" (page 236; page numbers vary by edition).

In this passage, Mrs. Merriweather is being compared through a metaphor to the old organ in the church, as she has just run out of air from talking too much (just as the organ ran out of air). In addition, there are also several uses of similes, which is a comparison that uses the words "like" or "as." An example is "the events of the summer hung over us like smoke in a closed room" (page 242). In this example, the events of the summer, including Tom Robinson's death, are compared to vapors that linger in a room without ventilation. This type of writing imparts vivid descriptions that help the reader understand the emotions behind the events in the novel. 

How does Steinbeck use language and objects to present Crooks?

Crooks' possessions tell us a lot about him. In Chapter 4, we see the inside of his room, which he has all to himself because he is a permanent fixture of the farm, as opposed to the rest, most of whom are itinerant workers. This is clear also because he has plenty of possessions since he doesn't have to carry everything he owns on his back, like those of the drifters who have to roam from town to town finding work. 

From the mending tools and broken harnesses by his window, we can see that he's good with his hands; he repairs various stable gear. 

He has "a range of medicine bottles, both for himself and for the horses," which tells us that he not only needs various medications, but can afford them, suggesting he makes decent money. Also, he appears to be the farm veterinarian to some extent. He has the cans of saddle soap, as well, meaning he maintains barn materials in addition to repairing them. The drippy can of tar is also for repairing things, like the roof. 

Unlike most of the others, he has several pairs of shoes, used for different tasks. He is something of a jack-of-all-trades, then. He has an alarm clock as well, which suggests that he keeps his own schedule and helps the stable hands keep theirs. He also has a single-barreled shotgun; despite being a black man, he is trusted with this weapon and probably uses it to shoot varmints. 

He also has glasses and books. Not just any books, either; he has a dictionary and a much-read copy of the California civil code for 1905. This is not an easy read, and probably not a particularly pleasurable one. Crooks, then, is an educated man.  

He is clean. Despite the various tools and objects around, he keeps the room clean and well-swept. 

Finally, he keeps his distance and expects--or even requires--that everyone else keep theirs. This is probably because he is a black man and knows most of the men would not accept him as one of them, so he responds by keeping his own company, rejecting them before they can reject him. This suggests that he is lonely, not by choice so much as necessity. 

How can I compare the political systems of two states? I have to use at least four dimensions of the political system and find correlations between...

Although it is slightly ambiguous, I will assume the question isn't specifically referring to the US. Hence, by "states," the question is not referring to US states (e.g. Ohio, California, etc.), but to nation-states (e.g. United States, South Africa, China, Brazil), or what is commonly called "countries” in the US.

One way to think about the dimensions of political systems between states is to bracket your investigation into solely "democratic regimes." Within the political system of democracy, there are multiple dimensions of variability including the make up of the executive branch (head of government or head of state), the legislative branch (unicameral or bicameral), the judiciary branch (concrete or abstract review), legislative-executive relations (parliamentary or presidential system), and electoral systems (multimember districts or proportional representation). In addition to democracies, other political systems include those such as personal dictatorships, military regimes, one-party regimes, theocracies, communist regimes, corporatism, clientism, and totalitarian regimes.

One way to think about political performance is to think about the intended functions of particular political structures. Many textbooks use the following dimensions as a classification/evaluative schema: 1) political socialization, 2) political recruitment, 3) political communication, 4) interest articulation, 5) interest aggregation 6) policymaking, 7) policy implementation and adjudication.

What is the speaker saying from 00:17-00:20 in the following video? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RIoXC_7Tuc

From 00:17-00:20, the speakers says that: "Some feel all progress is good." The larger context for this statement is that some people think that the progress which technology brings is beneficial, but other people think that technology can sometimes do more harm than good.

For example, the video mentions water purification and modern medicine. These technological innovations are being used to dramatically improve the quality of life for millions of people around the world. Technologies like these have raised life expectancy in developed nations by decades.

However, some technologies are not so beneficial. One glaring example is nuclear weaponry. Although nuclear weapons have only been detonated twice on civilian populations, they have resulted in countless deaths (both directly and indirectly, through radiation). Moreover, the world now sits under the constant threat of all-out nuclear war. The danger of this technology indicates that technology is not automatically beneficial to humanity.

What is the reason George and Lydia buy the house?

In the short story "The Veldt" by Ray Bradbury, the parents, Lydia and George Hadley, buy their children the a magic nursery, part of a futuristic "Happylife Home." This home has everything the family could ever want, including a nursery to entertain the children and to channel their energies. The nursery can read a child's mind and re-create what he or she is thinking. As Lydia says, "It's supposed to help them work off their neuroses in a healthful way." In other words, the nursery is intended to encourage the children's curiosity and to set them to roam free without their parents in a productive way.

The nursery is supposed to help parents and others understand the children. As David McLean, the psychologist in the story says, "One of the original uses of these nurseries was so that we could study the patterns left on the walls by the child's mind, study at our leisure, and help the child." In other words, psychologists created the nursery to help parents and professionals understand what is going on in children's minds. What the children imagine appears in the nursery, so that the parents and professionals can see the children's innermost thoughts, understand their desires and motivations, and channel the children's thoughts and desires in the right way. This is the goal the parents, Lydia and George, had in mind when they bought the nursery.

However, the nursery has not turned out as the Hadleys had hoped. As David McClean says, "In this case, however, the room has become a channel toward destructive thoughts, instead of a release away from them." In other words, the children, Wendy and Peter, have been allowed too much freedom, and their thoughts have turned to destruction, including the creation of man-eating lions. Rather than channeling and controlling the children's destructive thoughts, the nursery their parents bought them has only amplified these thoughts. 

Henderson says that Multivac is no better than the data fed into it. What does he mean?

Henderson tells Swift and Jablonsky that the data used to program the super computer Multivac, which supposedly provides the title of story, had increasingly become "unreliable" and "meaningless." The data used came from several different sources and was often impossible to consolidate. The data also went through the filters of the men who programmed the computer who "had their own skins to think of and competitors to stab." The data which came from the planet Titan was "delayed" and "would introduce an unexpected bias." Since Henderson could not rely on the data, he "corrected" it through "intuition." In other words, the data was based on Henderson's totally subjective ideas and not really based in science. Thus, the war that was presumably won by technology was actually successful because Henderson, Swift, and Jablonsky guessed correctly. Jablonsky even admits he didn't use educated guesses, but rather flipped a coin for most of the important decisions. 

What are the grotesque elements of "A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift?

In literature, the "grotesque" refers to that which invokes a feeling of uncomfortable bizarreness as well as sympathetic pity. It is used to describe anything that is strange, ugly, unpleasant, or disgusting. Swift's "A Modest Proposal" is full of the grotesque. 

He sets out to establish himself as a well-meaning, level-headed citizen interested in finding a solution to Ireland's poverty. In particular, he's about to suggest a way to deal with the children of the poor who tend to become beggars and thieves in the streets, in such a way that everyone would benefit. The way he sets himself up as a reasonable man only exaggerates the grotesqueness of what he actually suggests: 

I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee or a ragout.

What he is suggesting is, in itself, strange, unpleasant, and even disgusting. Another element of the grotesque present here is the apparent calm, matter-of-fact way he goes about making his case. He suggests roasting an entire infant for company or simply a hindquarter with a little salt and pepper for a family--as though he is a chef suggesting what dish people in a fine restaurant might order. This is entirely incongruous with the subject matter, which makes it grotesque. 

Further, he suggests flaying the carcass to produce ladies' gloves--as if ladies would wear such a thing. 

His apparent assumption, throughout, is that simple economics and the tables of the rich and cleaning up the streets are far more important than the lives of the poor. The thing is...this is absolutely true, which is the heart of his masterpiece, the soul of his wit. He's simply using grotesque exaggeration to point out this sad fact. 

What are some key moments in the early nineteenth century when federal authority clashed with state authority?

There were many clashes between federal and state authority in the early 1800s (if by that we mean the period before 1850). Here are a few examples:

• A debate over a federal appropriations bill in 1817 that would have set aside funds for internal improvements like roads and canals. The construction of these things was held by some to be a power reserved to the states, and many Republicans opposed it on these grounds. President James Madison vetoed it though he supported the idea of internal improvements. He thought that a Constitutional amendment needed to be passed to grant such a power to Congress, however.


• The issue of federal laws and state laws that emerged from interstate navigation. This was a longstanding issue that came to its conclusion in the Supreme Court's decision in Gibbons v. Ogden (1824). This case involved contradictory monopolies, or charters, granted by the state of New York and the federal government. The Supreme Court sided with the federal government, which alone has the power to regulate interstate commerce according to the Constitution.


• The Nullification Crisis of 1832. This crisis stemmed from several federal "protective" tariffs that benefited Northern manufacturers more than Southern planters. The state of South Carolina, with John C. Calhoun as its spokesman, claimed the right to "nullify" the tariff along with any other legislation that was damaging to its interests, and suggested that they could leave the Union if this right was not respected. A compromise was reached wherein tariffs would be lowered over the next decade, but the event was the most significant, and most dangerous clash of federal and state authority in the early nineteenth century. 

Of course, as time went on, the sectional tensions between North and South became more severe, and many more clashes between federal and state authority ensued. 

What choice is Jerry faced with that presents him with an internal conflict in the beginning of "Through the Tunnel"?

As the story opens, Jerry is faced with a dilemma. He wants something different on this vacation. Looking down at the 'wild and rocky bay,' Jerry sees promise and adventure. Although he is old enough to wonder at the possibilities the bay presents to his boyish eyes, he is still young enough to be ambivalent about leaving his mother's side.

Jerry's mother is a widow, conscious of her need to protect her son as well as her son's need to savor the kind of independence every boy his age longs for. On the first day of their vacation, Jerry decides to stay with his mother; his consideration of his mother's feelings is a 'sort of chivalry' on his part. However, the next day, the call of the mysterious bay beckons him, and his mother consents to let him explore the bay by himself. Although he is ecstatic at this opportunity, he finds it sad that his mother, who he has always accompanied, must walk back by herself.

However, he does not change his mind, and this fateful decision seals Jerry's fate and strengthens his resolve to swim the tunnel. By the end of the story, all his work and discipline bears fruit: Jerry manages to swim the tunnel just like the bigger boys did earlier. The sense of accomplishment is palpable.

What other devices, such as stanzas or punctuation, does Tennyson use in "The Eagle"?

"The Eagle" is a poem by Tennyson consisting of two three-line stanzas. The meter of the poem is iambic tetrameter. The rhyme scheme is AAA BBB. The punctuation follows the normal conventions of English grammar. The capitalization of the initial word of each line is also a standard convention in English verse.

The most obvious poetic device used in the poem is alliteration, or repetition of consonant sounds. The most dramatic instance of this occurs early, in the first two lines of the poem, with the repetition of the hard "c" sound in the sequence of words: "clasps ... crag ... crooked ... close." In the second line we encounter another example of alliteration in the words "lonely lands".

One interesting metrical feature of the poem is the initial trochaic substitutions in the second and third lines. The second line scans (stressed syllables in boldface):

Close to the sun in lonely lands

The third line of the first stanza also has an initial trochaic substitution:

Ring'd with the azure world, he stands.

In traditional English prosody, initial trochaic substitutions are often seen as adding surprise or drama to a line.

The poem as a whole personifies the eagle, describing, for example, his claws as "crooked hands." The final line uses a simile in the phrase "like a thunderbolt he falls."

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Miss Maudie says that Mr. Radley had been a ''foot-washing Baptist." What does she mean?

Both Miss Maudie and the members of the Radley family are Baptists. Some Baptists in the South, such as Primitive Baptists, practice ritual foot-washing. The rite of foot-washing is done because Jesus had washed the feet of his disciples. The was done as a sign of humility.

Scout finds the act of foot-washing to be strange. She asks Miss Maudie about it. She asks her neighbor if all Baptists practice the rite of foot-washing. Miss Maudie says they all wash their feet in the bathtub. Then Miss Maudie gives Scout more insight:

"Foot-washers believe anything that's pleasure is a sin" (To Kill a Mockingbird, Chapter 5).

Some Primitive Baptists in the area even think that Miss Maudie's beautiful flower garden is sinful. These Baptists "take the Bible literally" and "think women are a sin by definition." Mr. Radley had been a foot-washing, or Primitive, Baptist before his death. Scout wonders if this is why he stayed inside his house most of the time. Miss Maudie tells Scout that she does not know.

What are some reasons that Paul Revere was an important American patriot?

There are several reasons why Paul Revere was an important American patriot, most of which dated to the period before the outbreak of the Revolutionary War. He was a Boston metalsmith, and this was really his claim to fame during his life--his work was well-known in Boston and elsewhere. But like many artisans and businessmen in Boston during the 1760s, he was active in public life, and when the imperial crisis developed after the French and Indian War, he became an active leader in the resistance. He was an early member of the Sons of Liberty, formed to protest against British taxation and other policies, and used his talents as an engraver to produce anti-British propaganda in Boston newspapers and for leaflets and broadsides. For example, his engraving of the "Bloody Massacre," which grossly exaggerated the events at the Boston Massacre, became essentially the official Patriot account of the event. Obviously, he played a role in the "ride" that alerted the area militia that the British were marching on Lexington and Concord, and it is for this that we most remember him. He served briefly in the Continental Army, and would remain prominent after independence. 

Why were the Aztecs open to deception by the Spanish conquerors?

The Aztec civilization practiced human sacrifice and usually any surprise visitors were captured then sacrificed to the gods. However in 1500s when Cortes, the Spanish conquistador, arrived in the Aztec territory with a small party of men the Aztec’s did not realize the true purpose of their visit. The Aztecs thought that the Spanish were sent by Quetzalcoatl, their god. Quetzalcoatl was an important god for the Aztecs, they believed that the god was going to reappear when the world was coming to an end and save the Aztec people. At the time the Aztecs were under the impression that the world was coming to an end which is one of the reasons they were performing many human sacrifices. The sacrifices were believed to keep the god happy which might persuade him to put off ending the world for a time. When the Conquistadors entered the capital city of the Aztecs they had no idea that they were lucky just not to have been captured and sacrificed. The true reason for the Spanish being there was to see if there was gold and riches to be had and to convert the people to Christianity. The Spanish were welcomed by the Aztecs and even stayed as guests of the emperor. However, the longer the Spanish stayed in the capital city the more suspicious the Aztecs became. First of all the Spanish behaved nothing like the Aztec gods. They did not go to the sacrifices made in their honor. Eventually the Aztecs decided it was time for the Spanish to leave, they did not want to kill them however because they believed there was still a chance they actually were gods. The Spanish did leave but they returned they brought with them horses, dogs, weapons, and many men. They were also able to rally the support of the other tribes in the area who didn’t realize how horrible they would be treated by the Spanish. These other tribes just wanted to rid themselves of the Aztecs. Eventually the Aztecs were defeated but it was disease that caused it. The Aztecs did not have the same immunities that the Spanish had, when exposed to diseases like measles the Aztecs were decimated.

How is the theme the importance of family shown at the point when Ponyboy and Sodapop might get put in an orphanage in The Outsiders?

Ponyboy is worried about losing his family because his brothers are all he has.

Ponyboy’s parents died in a car accident, leaving his older brother Darry guardian of Soda and Ponyboy.  Darry is only twenty, and not much older than his brothers.  Pony and Darry are constantly arguing, but the most important thing for the Curtis family is to stay together.

When Pony and Johnny are attacked by a group of Socs in the park, Johnny kills one that is drowning Pony.  The two boys go on the run, and end up in an abandoned church.  The church catches fire and they get hurt trying to rescue a group of children who get caught in it.

The incident puts an end to their running.  Johnny is badly injured, so he is never charged.  Pony, Johnny, and Dally get a lot of publicity.  Pony worries about what the close scrutiny could do to their family.

If the judge decides Darry isn't a good guardian or something, I'm liable to get stuck in a home somewhere. That's the rotten part of this deal. Darry is a good guardian; he makes me study and knows where I am and who I'm with all the time. (Ch. 11)

Darry certainly grew up fast.  He got a job and took care of his brothers.  Soda dropped out of high school, but Soda was never much of a scholar.  Pony, the youngest, got A’s in school and was in honors classes.  As far as he was concerned, the three of them were doing just fine.

Darry and Pony often argued.  In fact, it was a fight where Darry hit Pony that led him to that park in the middle of the night in the first place.  After all that happened, Pony wants to avoid fighting so much since they are back together.

We couldn't do anything to hurt Soda. Sodapop would always be the middleman, but that didn't mean he had to keep getting pulled apart. Instead of Darry and me pulling me apart, he'd be pulling us together. (Ch. 12)

Family is very important to Pony and to his brothers.  They are a family, even though there are no parents.  The loyalty the greasers have for each other is also a type of family.  They have to stick up for each other, because no one else will.

In the story "The Piece of String," do you think Malandain really believes Hauchecorne found the wallet? If not,why does he lie?

Maitre Malandain probably does not truly believe that Maitre Hauchcorne has stolen the wallet, but having "the tendency to hold grudges," he takes advantage of an opportunity to deal misery to his foe.

Just as Saki satirized those of the Edwardian Age in England, Guy de Maupassant mocked the pettiness of the peasantry of Normandy, a province in northwestern France. In the exposition of his story, Maupassant describes the Norman women in the market who stubbornly held to their prices in the market and would only relent when a customer began to walk away. Then, they would shout after him or her, "All right...It's yours."

It is this same obstinate and petty personality that Hauchcorne and Maladain exhibit. So, when Malandain is asked by the authorities if he has noticed any suspicious behavior, he readily mentions that he has seen Maitre Hauchcorne bend and pick up something, then stoop again sweeping the dirt with his hand as though searching for something else. 

When the authorities interrogate Maitre Hauchorne he explains that he merely bent to pick up a piece of string; however, he is too proud to admit that his brushing the ground with his hand afterwards has been done only to make Malandain believe that he was searching for something he lost. Instead, he protests that he has done nothing wrong, but Maitre Malandain confronts him and even repeats the statement he has given to authorities under oath.

They hurled insults at each other for a full hour. Maitre Hauchecorne was search at his own request. They found nothing on him.

When the villagers question Hauchecorne out of "good-humored curiosity," he retells his story, but then they begin to not believe him. The more he protests, the more they begin to doubt his honesty because of their ingrained suspiciousness. They now call him "a sly old rascal" because Maitre Malandain, has fed suspicions that grow each time his foe protests the accusations. He does this with what the peasants perceive as unintentional paralipsis.

How believable is the play The Bear?

The play The Bear is pretty unbelievable, when you really think about it. Here is a man who is owed money, a woman who has locked herself up in her house because her cheating husband died, and they go from hate to love in a total of about ten minutes.

Smirnov comes to the house angry. He is a businessman owed money from pretty much everyone, and he owes money to the bank. So he goes from customer to customer demanding his money, and each has a more ridiculous reason for not paying him. He comes to Popova, who is in herself a pretty ridiculous character. After her husband's death, she finds out he has been cheating on her, so to prove to him what real love is, she locks herself in her house, refusing to come out for anyone.

Is this realistic? Parts of it are, of course. But the chairs all break under Smirnov, her servant is a bit outrageous, and then there's the whole idea of the duel. Smirnov is so enraged that he decides to duel Popova, a woman, and she accepts, then asks how to shoot a gun. Would someone get into a duel who never shot a gun? Of course not.

Then there's the fact that they fall in love, which is pretty ridiculous as well. Smirnov goes from wanting to kill this woman to love in about a minute, and she eventually accepts his love.

In short, the play is a farce.

How many 25 g bags of crisps would a child need to eat to get the guideline daily amount of energy (for a child)?

The guideline amount of energy for children is 1500-2000 calories. The amount of calories in a pack of crisps vary between 57 calories (for a pack of Shapers Cheese and Onion Rings) to 133 calories (for a pack of Walkers Ready Salted Crisps). The high end of daily needs (2000 calories) can be fulfilled by eating about 15 packs of Walkers Ready Salted Crisps and the lower end (1500 calories) can be fulfilled by about 11.3 packs (or 12 packs) of the same. If we choose the low energy crisps, that is, Shapers Cheese and Onion Rings, the child will need to eat about 35 packs to get 2000 calories and 26.3 packs (or 27 packs) to obtain 1500 calories. Thus, the number of packs will vary depending on the specific type of crisps one chooses. Should one actually eat that many packs of crisps a day is another matter!

Hope this helps. 

What do the silhouettes on the wall suggest about the family?

In "There Will Come Soft Rains," the silhouette on the wall is the most haunting image Ray Bradbury presents because it shows the instant a nuclear blast killed the unsuspecting family. Each member of the family was in the middle of some activity: the father was mowing the lawn ("the silhouette in paint of a man mowing a lawn," the mother was gardening ("Here, as in a photograph, a woman bent to pick flowers."), and a boy and girl were playing catch with a ball ("a small boy, hands flung into the air; higher up, the image of a thrown ball, and opposite him a girl, hands raised to catch a ball which never came down."). 

This image helps Bradbury develop his theme that nuclear annhilation will destroy everyone. And that this annhilation can happen at any time.

This image also helps explain the absence of people in the house. It explains why the food the house makes goes uneaten and the cards go unplayed. In addition, the absence of people makes the house meaningless. 

In general, this idea of a silhouette after a nuclear blast comes from reports of nuclear shadows on walls after the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

What does the language in the description of Ralph foreshadow?

The first sentence of the novel describes Ralph as "the boy with fair hair." As a leader, Ralph will prove to be "fair." He has the best intentions and uses the conch to give everyone who wants a chance to speak the opportunity to do so. He is the "fair" leader whereas Jack will prove to be the tyrant. In the opening paragraphs, before he meets Piggy, Ralph continues to be named "the fair boy." 

Ralph has the appearance of being between childhood and adulthood. He has "lost the prominent tummy of childhood." He is in a maturing stage. He looks athletic but not in a threatening way: 

You could see now that he might make a boxer, as far as width and heaviness of shoulders went, but there was a mildness about his mouth and eyes that proclaimed no devil. 

This description suggests that Ralph is physically fit, having a look other boys might be intimidated by or would admire. This is confirmed when Piggy watches him in the pool. "Piggy appeared again, sat on the rocky ledge, and watched Ralph’s green and white body enviously." Given the "mildness" Ralph expresses, this shows he is, again, a "fair" and reasonable boy. Physically, Piggy is Ralph's opposite. Ralph is lean and moves with confidence. Piggy is fat and awkward. Ralph is a natural and fair leader in physicality and mindset. He is someone the boys would look up to for the way he looks and someone the boys will respect because he is a fair, mild leader. 

How can you compare and contrast Act I Scene 3 to Act V Scene 5 of Macbeth? How do both hint at Macbeth's downfall because of his desires and the...

In Act I Scene 3, Macbeth and Banquo learn of their fortunes thanks to their "chance" meeting with the weird sisters upon the heath. Neither really believe the prophesies given them. It has already occurred to Macbeth to murder Duncan, but the idea disturbs him greatly. He settles his mind (for the time being), but noting: "If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, / Without my stir." That is, if he is fated to be king, it'll happen to him even if he does nothing to make it happen quicker. He's still a good man here. He knows he could "play foully" for the crown, but he doesn't have to; that's how fate works--it comes true no matter what you do. 

Compare this, then, to his attitude in Act V Scene 5, where he no longer feels much of anything. For example, he hears the cries of women from within the castle, and says: 

I have almost forgot the taste of fears;
The time has been, my senses would have cool'd
To hear a night-shriek; and my fell of hair
Would at a dismal treatise rouse and stir
As life were in't: I have supp'd full with horrors;
Direness, familiar to my slaughterous thoughts
Cannot once start me.

His conscience has been seared, and nothing bothers him anymore. He's no longer concerned with being good and holy. Even when they tell him his wife is dead, he seems oddly unmoved. He merely notes that it would have happened at some point, anyway, but he doesn't have time to grieve now, anyway. He does, however, note (in possibly the most poetic expression of this idea in the English language) that life is ultimately meaningless. He has lost his religion, his belief in goodness and loyalty and doing what is right. Everything meaningful to him is lost, except perhaps his own life. 

His desires were for power, and his lady pushed him to do the unthinkable to get it. The lessons he has learned is that what he has done to get that power and to keep it ultimately were not worth it. 

Describe the nurse in Romeo and Juliet in one word.

Loving.  Whatever else Juliet's nurse may be, she certainly loves her charge a great deal, and her greatest desire is Juliet's happiness.  

The fact that she can recall precisely when Juliet stopped nursing, when she could stand on her own, and so forth, shows that she's been more present in Juliet's life than Juliet's own mother has been.  The nurse wants Juliet to be happy, more than anything else, and she acts as go-between when the young couple are arranging their plans to marry and also after Romeo has slain Tybalt, incurring the punishment of exile from Verona.  The nurse even goes to find a ladder that she can prop up against the house so that Romeo can climb up to his bride's bedroom on the night of their wedding.  After Romeo is exiled, and Juliet's parents insist that she marry Paris, the nurse eventually agrees with them, but only because she thinks that Juliet will be "happy in this second match, / For it excels [her] first, or, if it did not, / [Her]  first is dead [...]" (3.5.235-237).  What happiness can Juliet have with Romeo as her husband, hated by her family, and exiled from Verona forever?  It's not what Juliet wants to hear, certainly, but it is the truth, told lovingly by a friend who only wants what is best for her.

How are Dravot and Carnehan’s adventures representative of the British Empire in Rudyard Kipling's novella "The Man Who Would Be King"?

In Rudyard Kipling's novella "The Man Who Would Be King," Dravot and Carnehan behave like the British Empire by trekking about all over India swindling the natives out of money. What's more, after they meet the narrator of the story, they make their way into Kafiristan at the "top right-hand corner of Afghanistan" to, as they declare, become kings. In Kafiristan, they actually do temporarily fulfill their wish.

In Kafiristan, they first begin to establish themselves as rulers by forcing 10 natives with bows and arrows into subordination by use of their guns and resolving a conflict between two villages. Soon enough the villagers begin worshiping them as gods. Dravot and Carnehan also realize that some of the natives they have met practice Freemasonry, yet the tribesmen know nothing of the highest order of the Craft; therefore, Dravot easily convinces them that he is the Grand-Master. Since the tribesmen see Dravot as the Grand-Master and both Dravot and Carnehan as gods, they make Dravot king and Carnehan Commander-in-Chief of their army. In other words, Dravot and Carnehan take advantage of what they see as being the ignorance of a native society in order to make them their subordinates and place themselves in a position of authority, which is the exact same behavior exhibited by British imperialists.

British imperialists conquered native peoples because they believed natives to be inferior. British imperialists made natives their subordinates under the pretext that the imperialists were civilizing the natives when, in reality, all the imperialists were doing was exploiting the natives of their wealth and resources.

In The Hobbit, what mistakes do the dwarves make about Durin's Day? What does this tell you about them?

After much searching, the dwarves and Bilbo find a narrow shelf on the western side of the Lonely Mountain that leads to a flat smooth surface. They recognize it at once as being the secret entrance, but they have forgotten the translation provided to them by Elrond that the passage can only be opened with the key when the last light of Durin's Day strikes the door. The dwarves try to force the door open and to break the rock from which it was made, but their weapons prove to be useless against it. No amount of pushing or prying causes it to move in any way. The dwarves become discouraged, giving up on the door. It is only Biblo who eventually remembers the translation, and as the sun sets on Durin's Day a ray of light strikes the door, revealing the keyhole that can be used to open it.

This series of events speaks of the general character of the dwarves in the mythology of Tolkien. The dwarves are talented craftsmen and have a great knowledge of the value of things, but they are also rather blunt and stubborn. It is only the patient thoughtfulness of the hobbit that allows them to gain entry to the mountain and continue on their quest.

Y=6x-11 -3x-2y=7 solve by substitution

When simplifying  equations that are done simultaneously it is important to make one variable the subject of the formula to simplify solving the equations. 

We already have y the subject of the formula of the one equation:

`y = 6x -11`

Now we can make y the subject of the formula for the next equation: 

`-3x -2y = 7`

`-3x-7 =2y` (apply inverse operations)

`(-3x-7)/2 = y` (apply inverse operations)

Since we have two equations, we can now equate the two equations and solve for x: 

`6x - 11 = (-3x-7)/2`

`2(6x -11) = -3x -7` (inverse operations)

`12x - 22 = -3x -7` (multiply out)

Now get the variable x on the one side, and the constants on the other side:

`12x + 3x = -7+22` (apply inverse operations)

`15x = 15`

`x =1`

Since we know what x is, we can substitute it in the first equation as it is the easiest equation: 

`y = 6(1) -11`

`y = -5`

SUMMARY: `x = 1, y =-5`

3.3) I'm not sure whether it is correct or not. I'm am confused because of the Applied Force being at an angle. Am I only working out Fx and would...

Hello!

There are some mistakes in your solution. First, the transition from `F_f` to `mu*mg` is incorrect. We know that `F_f=mu*N,` where `N` is the reaction force. But in this case `N!=mg` because `F` acts partly upwards. We have to consider the both projections, vertical and horizontal.

For the vertical axis we obtain  `N-mg+F*sin(alpha)=0`

and from the horizontal  `F*cos(alpha)-F_(f) =F*cos(alpha)-mu*N=0.`

Express `N` from the first equation and substitute it into the second:

`N=mg-Fsin(alpha),`

`Fcos(alpha)=mu(mg-Fsin(alpha))=mu mg-F mu sin(alpha).`

So  `F(cos(alpha)+mu sin(alpha))=mu mg`  and the final formula is

`F=(mu mg)/(cos(alpha)+mu sin(alpha)).`

Now recall that `alpha`=20°, `mu=0.4,` `m`=50 kg and `g`=9.8 `m/s^2,` and compute:

`F approx (0.4*50*9.8)/(0.94+0.4*0.34) approx 196/1.08 approx` 181 (N). This is the answer for 3.3. Now you can easily solve 3.4 and 3.5.

Note also that 0.4*50*9.8 = 196 and not 16 as you wrote (maybe you simply omitted 9).

Why are writing systems and paper important inventions?

The invention of writing divides time into pre-history and history. Writing has many forms and purposes, but all written material has something in common: the transmission of information. Prior to the invention of writing, all communication of information was verbal or based on body language. Writing has the benefit of being more inclusive with regards to content — speaking often demands that we leave some information out — as well as the possibility to share information throughout time and across space. The major reason we know so much more about history than pre-history is because historical time is defined by having been recorded in some form of writing. 

Writing first developed in Ancient Sumeria, but was also independently developed in Mesoamerica and China. Early written material in Sumeria was primarily for accounting and administrative purposes, while in China, writing developed out of divination practices. Regardless of where writing systems developed, people rapidly began keeping track of what was happening around them as well as sharing narrative histories and myths. 

Writing and paper to write on are fundamental parts of most people's education. It is really wonderful that information can be recorded in or on some material and preserved for others to learn. Having an intermediary form of information, like a book, changes the nature of information exchange between people. The human brain is not perfect when it comes to retention, and it is highly unlikely that any one person could remember as much as they wanted or needed to. Those early Sumerian accountants certainly wanted to keep track of all of their goods and stores, but found writing to be more efficient than trying to remember it all.

I would argue that paper is a less important invention than writing, as many materials have been used to record information. Vellum, cotton, hemp, clay, stone, wood, and even papyrus have all been used for writing surfaces. Wood-pulp paper is certainly a major industry in our world, and most texts are printed on wood-pulp paper. If wood-pulp paper had never been invented, we might just read books printed on hemp instead.

Writing is a dynamic and expressive form of information that enables the intellectual pursuits of people throughout time and across space.

Why was Common Sense important?

Common Sense articulated in clear, lucid prose the reasons why the colonies ought to declare independence from Great Britain. Published in early 1776, Common Sense was written at a time when an increasing number of Americans were beginning to feel that the war with Great Britain had made the idea of continued union with the mother country untenable. Too many people had perished for the war to be about asserting the rights of the colonists as British subjects. It is difficult to measure eighteenth century public opinion, so it is possible that Paine's Common Sense was expressing the general spirit of the times more than persuading an unwilling people to part with Great Britain. Either way, there can be no doubt that Common Sense was a phenomenon from the moment it was first published. Hundreds of thousands of copies were distributed throughout the colonies. The Americans read within its pages a searing critique of Britain and of monarchy in general, an argument for the economic necessity of independence, and a vision for beginning a new nation founded on the principles of liberty and republicanism. With the publication of Common Sense, independence had an eloquent and persuasive spokesman.

How does Harper Lee show that Tom Robinson's treatment is cruel and unfair?

Lee shows that the treatment of Tom Robinson is unfair in many ways. 

First, there is a mob of people that comes to harm Tom Robinson for being on trial.  The injustice of this comes to light further when we consider that the trial did not even take place.  So, a bunch of white men have come to harm or kill him based on hearsay.  This shows pure hatred and blind racism.

The trial itself also shows the treatment of Tom Robinson is unfair.  Even though Atticus gives an incredible defense of Tom, the jury is not moved at all.  To put it another way, he is guilty before the trial even begins. Jem says it best when he says "it is not fair." Here is a quote:

“It was Jem’s turn to cry. His face was streaked with angry tears as we made our way through the cheerful crowd. ‘It ain’t right,’ he muttered, all the way to the corner of the square where we found Atticus waiting.”

Finally, Tom dies in prison.  We do not know the details, but he is shot by guards, who say that he tried to escape.  Hence, the story of Tom Robinson ends even more tragically.

If fusion could provide earth with clean energy for thousand of generations, why don't we start using it now?

Nuclear energy can be harnessed by two ways, either we can break larger atoms into smaller atoms or we can rely on the formation of larger nucleus from smaller nuclei. The first process is known as the nuclear fission, while the second is known as nuclear fusion. In this process, smaller nuclei such as hydrogen combine together to from helium. This is the process that powers our Sun and other stars. To initiate this process, extremely high temperatures are required. It is simply not possible to generate such high temperatures for extended duration to maintain the process of nuclear fusion for longer time scales. This is the reason why nuclear fusion is not yet the answer to our energy crisis. Even in extremely controlled conditions of laboratory, nuclear fusion cannot be maintained for more than a small fraction of a second or so.

Till we can sustain the nuclear fusion for longer duration, nuclear fission is the only possible and practical solution of harnessing nuclear power. But yes, once we can sustain fusion, it can provide us clean energy for a really long time.

Hope this helps. 

What is the purpose of NAFTA?

Established in 1994, the purpose of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is to eliminate trade and investment barriers between its member countries, specifically the United States, Canada, and Mexico. By reducing and eventually eliminating tariffs, the signatories hoped the NAFTA would better the American, Canadian, and Mexican economies.

Evidence seems to indicate that all three member countries have experienced benefits from the NAFTA. In addition to having the ability to export more items to the other two countries, each nation has experienced an increase in direct foreign investment from citizens of its fellow NAFTA signatories.

However, the NAFTA has been criticized for several reasons. First, the NAFTA has resulted in a number of job losses in the United States as some U.S. companies have relocated factories to Mexico (however, the increase in free trade has enabled more small businesses to operate, recouping some net jobs). The NAFTA also hurt Mexican corn farmers. Because the U.S. government subsidizes corn production, U.S. farmers could export it to Mexico at prices far cheaper than the local Mexican farmers could afford to compete with.

How would one prove that "The Eagle" is not a mere description of an eagle?

First, the eagle is personified, described as having "hands," and this is a big clue that he represents more than just an eagle (line 1).  In addition, the fact that his hands are described as "crooked," a word with two pertinent denotations, is another clue: "crooked" can mean "bent" (as an eagle's talons would be) as well as "corrupt" (as an unethical or immoral person would be) (1).  Further, the eagle is described as "stand[ing]" and "clasp[ing]" instead of perching, two more word choices that hint at his power and strength (especially compared to the "crawl[ing]" sea in the second stanza) and suggest that he is not just a bird.

Moreover, the description of the sea as "crawl[ing]," a movement associated with the weak or powerless, helps to show that this is, ultimately, a poem about power: who has it, how they keep it, and who doesn't.  Finally, the speaker says, in the last line, that the eagle "falls," not that he dives, and this compels us to consider the poem as a comment on absolute power and, perhaps, how it changes hands (6).

Therefore, by choosing words that more often describe human features or activities, Tennyson forces us to reflect on the way in a human being could acquire and exploit absolute power, as the eagle does.

Was it fitting for Montag to plant books in Fireman Black's home?

When Montag goes to Faber for help to understand books, Faber doesn't see the point because literacy is hated and illegal in their society. Montag suggests that the two of them actually start printing books again, and Faber says that wouldn't be possible unless society supported literacy. Faber also argues that if he were to start printing again, even without the support of the community, he would like to see something else happen first.

"The only way I could possibly listen to you would be if somehow the fireman structure itself could be burnt. Now if you suggest that we print extra books and arrange to have them hidden in firemen's houses all over the country, so that seeds of suspicion would be sown among these arsonists, bravo, I'd say!" (85).

This is where Montag gets the idea to plant books in firemen's houses. This act of sabotage would help to break down the structure and authority of firehouses. Since firehouses are the strong arm of the law, if people started to view the men running them as hypocrites, then the firemen would lose credibility in society. If the firemen lose credibility in society, then people would be less afraid of them as a whole. Then, if people weren't so afraid of the firemen, those who have books might be more inclined to come out of hiding and maybe literacy could come back again. Therefore, the point behind planting books in Mr. Black's house is that he is a fireman. He is one of the first to be on the receiving end of Faber and Montag's plan. This act is fitting because it is directly related to their plan. It is also ironic because no one would expect a fireman to have books and then be caught with them.

Do Shumel and Bruno die in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas?

Yes, it seems that the two boys die in the gas chamber. Once Bruno has his hair cut off and he dons the "striped pajamas," there is little apparent difference among him and the Jewish prisoners who are marched into large, dark room that is airtight.

In Chapter 16 Bruno has lice in his hair and must have his head shaved; as a result, he more closely resembles Shumel. Then, in Chapter 17 Bruno learns that everyone in his family but his father are returning to Berlin, so he goes to see Shumel in order to inform his friend that he will be leaving. Outside the fence that confines Shumel, Bruno is saddened that they have not had an adventure. Then, he has a "brainstorm" and tells Shumel that if he could come inside the fence, he could help him look for his father as the boy is very worried about what has become of his parent. Shumel says that he knows where the uniforms are kept and that he will try to take one.

The next day, then, Shumel provides Bruno with a uniform, and after donning it, Bruno crawls under the fence. Bruno's next words, a quote of his actress grandmother's, ring with a terrible irony:

"You wear the right outfit and you feel like the person you're pretending to be."

Together, then, they search to no avail for Bruno's father. Just as Bruno is about to return to the spot where earlier he crawled under the fence so he can now return home, a loud whistle blows, and ten soldiers surround them. Because he has the outfit that makes him look like a Jew, Bruno is herded with Shmuel into a long room. Suddenly, everyone gasps as a loud metallic sound is heard from the outside.

From this description, the reader infers that the boys and others are sent into a gas chamber. For days, Bruno's father searches for him, but all he finds are his clothes by the fence; since there is no sign of Bruno anywhere on the camp or in the villages or towns nearby, Bruno's father deduces the terrible fate that befell his son.

What is the effect of calling the character in the story, "The Pedestrian", by his full name and title, Mr Leonard Mead?

I think calling Mr. Leonard Mead by his complete name indicates two things.  First, Bradbury may be pointing out that by using his full name, Mead is an individual in a world where everyone is the same.  Mead does not stay at home and plant himself in front of the television like other citizens in this society.  Instead, he wanders the streets at night enjoying the sites and fresh air.  At the end of the story it is Mead’s house that is lit up, unlike his neighbor’s house that are dark.  Again, this shows him to be an individual.

Another reason his complete name is used could be to show how the world in which he live in impersonal.  It is very formal to call someone “Mr.” with his full name.  Mead is not seen as an individual, but as a rebel who needs to be taken to the nearest psychiatric hospital for his “bizarre” behavior of walking.  The police car doesn’t give Mead time to explain himself, and it just assumes that he is insane.  No personal human connection is made between the robotic police car and Meade. 

The reasons are an oxymoron and contradict each other, a unique message by Bradbury.

What are the risks of using computers in our society?

Computers have made numerous significant contributions to our society, but there are disadvantages of it as well. Computers have resulted in automation of various processes and this has reduced the amount of labor required to carry out various operations. While this has sped up the process, reduced losses and resulted in sustained quality; the introduction of computers to manufacturing has also resulted in job loss for unskilled or semi-skilled labor. With the internet connectivity and adoption of social media platforms on large scale, face to face interaction has reduced and we have more regular friends on Facebook than in real life. Our communication patterns have also changed due to IMs (instant messengers) and Twitter, and we have resorted to using shorter messages and abbreviations of several words. There are also health risks associated with long and sustained use of computers. Data security and privacy invasion are other risks of too much dependence on computers.

Hope this helps. 

What are some basic reasons for studying anatomy?

Anatomy is the study of the body's external and internal structures and functions. Studying human anatomy is beneficial for the following reasons.

1. Medical professions- In order to treat patient ailments quickly and efficiently, medical practitioners need a clear understanding of the functioning of the human body. Additionally, future medical advancements and pharmaceutical developments rely on a strong understanding of all parts of the body.

2. Maintaining Personal Health- Understanding how the body works will enable individuals to make healthy decisions for their own bodies and the bodies of their loved ones.

3. Athletics- Trainers, coaches, and athletes all need a firm understanding on how the body functions in order to prevent overtraining and ensure the highest level of performance from an individual or team.  

Is the location of Brussels, the capital of Belgium, relatively good or problematic?

The location of Brussels is good in most instances. Brussels is, for the most part, in the center of Belgium. This makes it easily accessible. It is fairly easy to get to Brussels. This is good for trade and for tourism. Several international groups, including NATO, have their headquarters in Brussels. Brussels isn’t very far from major cities in nearby countries. Being near water influences the climate of Brussels. The oceanic climate keeps Brussels from getting too warm in the summer and too cold in the winter.

One disadvantage Brussels faces is that a good part of the country, including Brussels, is very flat. This was a disadvantage during World War I and during World War II. Germany found it much easier to move its army through the flat land of Belgium than to move it through the mountainous border between Germany and France. In both World War and in World War II, the location of Brussels proved to be a disadvantage because it was fairly easy to invade.

For the most part, Brussels is in a very good location.

Why does the government handicap George but not Hazel?

In this story, which takes place in a futuristic dystopia, people are handicapped according to their abilities. If you are slightly intelligent, you are slightly handicapped. If you are extremely intelligent, your handicaps are extreme and even more debilitating. The same prescription goes for physical ability. The stronger you are, the stronger your handicaps will be. The goal is to make everyone equal. The government wants to bring the smart people down to a certain socially common level of intelligence. They also want to make everyone equal in terms of physical ability and looks. 

Hazel is completely average. She has a "perfectly average intelligence" and since she is right at the common average, she doesn't need a mental handicap. If she was a bit smarter, she would require a mild handicap. George, on the other hand, has a much higher intelligence. So, in order to bring him down to the common, average level, he is given a handicap in his ear that disrupts his thinking whenever his thoughts get too profound or intellectual.

Their son, Harrison, is profoundly gifted, mentally and physically. This is why he is given the most severe handicaps the H-G men can come up with.

How does "Soldier's Home" relate to contemporary crises or conditions we face today?

It could be argued that the protagonist in Hemingway's short story "Soldier's Home" suffers from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). His experience in the trenches of World I has changed Harold Krebs. He comes home and is at first unable to talk about the war and then, when he does, no one wants to hear it. He has become figuratively paralyzed and finds it difficult to act. He says he wouldn't mind going out with a girl but doesn't want to go through the trouble of actually talking. Hemingway writes,

It was exciting. But he would not go through all the talking. He did not want one badly enough. He liked to look at them all, though. It was not worth it.

He also clashes with his mother over getting a job and when she asks him to pray with her, he refuses. He has become lost in a familiar world and the title of the story is ironic.

There are no studies about the overall mental condition of returning World War I veterans, but, judging by several of Hemingway's characters, novels like All Quiet on the Western Front, and the war poetry of Rupert Brooke, Siegfried  Sassoon and Herbert Asquith, we may assume that assimilation back into society was difficult for those who had witnessed the horrors of what might be considered the first modern war, replete with machine guns, tanks and airplanes.   

Likewise, tens of thousands of recent returning veterans have gone through the same experience. A war in Vietnam and two wars in Iraq have caused health officials to coin the term PTSD. Troops who suffer from PTSD have suffered some extreme emotional trauma triggered by witnessing or living through a terrifying event.

In Vietnam, troops were traumatized by jungle warfare and being attacked by an enemy they often could not see. In Iraq many of our troops were wounded by remote explosives from an enemy they never saw. Unfortunately, statistics released by the Wounded Warrior Homes website (see link) estimates that 22 veterans commit suicide each day in the United States. According to some sources (see link), tens of thousands of returning World War I British troops who spent up to four years in the trenches committed suicide after the war, and many more were committed to mental institutions. 

While Harold Krebs doesn't commit suicide, the reader may feel that his emotional state is far from normal and his life forever affected by his experiences in the war. Today, in America, we have tens of thousands of veterans who can certainly relate to Hemingway's story.

What form of potential energy is stored in reactants?

The potential energy stored in the reactants of a chemical reaction is called chemical energy or chemical potential energy.  It's released during a chemical reaction. Energy is absorbed when chemical bonds are broken and released when new chemical bonds are formed in the product molecules.  

It's somewhat of a simplification to say that energy is stored in the bonds of the reactant molecules. There's a net release of energy by a chemical reaction if the forming of new bonds releases more energy than that absorbed to break the bonds in the reactant molecules. This is called an exothermic reaction. In this case the products have less energy than the reactants.

An endothermic reaction occurs when the enegy absorbed in breaking bonds is greater than the energy released when new bonds form, resulting in a net absorption of energy. The products have more energy than the reactants.

Chemical potential energy can be thought of as the difference between the energy states of the products and the reactants. 

What is the symbolism/metaphorical use of albatross in literature?

An albatross can be a symbol of good luck, or a symbol of some psychological or emotional burden.  The albatross plays a key role in Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s 1798 poem “Rime of the Ancient Mariner.”  At sea, being followed by an albatross is generally considered good luck for the voyage, and in this poem the mariner’s ship becomes stuck amid the ice of the Antarctic when an albatross appears and leads them out of their predicament.  The mariner then shoots the bird, and when the ship is driven to the balmy reaches of the Equator and becalmed, and the crew is dying of thirst, they turn against the mariner, and see the shooting of the albatross – of their savior – as bad luck indeed.  Thus:

Ah! Well a-day! What evil looks
Had I from old and young!
Instead of the cross, the albatross
About my neck was hung.

The albatross was hung around the mariner’s neck as a testament to the burden of the ship’s new predicament, which he, being the cause of the bad luck, must bear. 

After the poem was published, “having an albatross around one’s neck” became an idiomatic expression in English to mean “bearing the weight of some burden,” and carrying the mental strain that comes with such.  So, an albatross live at sea is a symbol of good luck – however woe to the man who kills the beast! 

How has Armand reacted when the baby is first born?

After the baby is born, Armand is "the proudest father"; in fact, he is so happy that he becomes more lenient with his slaves.

As Désirée talks with her mother who pays her a visit, she answers her mother's question about Armand's first reactions upon seeing their baby, declaring that Armand is so proud because his baby is a boy. Apparently, however, Madame Valmondé has seen something in the baby for her to have asked this question. This is something that Désirée already has noticed; for, when the baby was nearly three months old, Désirée sensed that there was something subtle "menacing her peace." There were many far-off neighbors who came to see the baby, and her husband does not look her in the eye anymore.  

He absented himself from home; and when there, avoided her presence and that of her child, without excuse. And the very spirit of Satan seemed suddenly to take hold of him in his dealings with the slaves. Désirée was miserable enough to die.

When a quadroon (one-fourth African) boy who fans her one day, Désirée notices that he bears a strong likeness to her baby, and she begins to understand what has caused others to peer at the child.

“Armand,” she panted once more, clutching his arm, “look at our child. What does it mean? tell me.”

Her husband bluntly tells her that the baby is not white; she is not white. Poor Désirée believes him because she was a foundling. But, the irony of the story is that it is Armand who is not white. Even though the story of Armand's baby ends badly, when the baby is first born, Armand is happy and sees a happy future. 

Compare Scout and Atticus to Burris and Bob Ewell. What can we conclude about the relationship between adults and children in To Kill a Mockingbird...

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, we see two distinct parent-child relationships that couldn't be in sharper contrast to each other. The relationship between Scout and her father, Atticus, is one of tenderness and love, mingled with moments of paternal wisdom taught during important stages of Scout's childhood. He teaches her compassion and caring for others less fortunate, as well as great empathy. He does this by way of his actions and through his own words.

“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.”

In several instances throughout the novel, Atticus turns many situations into teachable moments and Scout learns valuable lessons about integrity, respect for others, as well as an understanding of society, both the good and the bad that affects everyone. As a result of her father's positive guidance, Scout matures and grows into a more thoughtful person, who learns, among other things, to embrace people in her community as individuals, with all of their flaws and complexities.

In sharp contrast, we see the relationship of Bob Ewell with his children as one of a bullying, neglectful and abusive father. Ewell is the opposite of Atticus, who is gentle, civilized and noble in character. Bob Ewell is an ignorant, ignoble drunk, who threatens and intimidates his own children, as well as the other townspeople. It is no wonder that his son Burris rarely comes to school and when he does, he is sent home by the teacher because his hair is infested with "cooties." Mayella, his young adult daughter, feels so very lonely and abused that when Tom Robinson shows kindness to her she responds effusively, which leads to the tragic event of Tom's trial and subsequent killing. While Atticus is shown as a nurturing parent, Bob Ewell is a brutish, dysfunctional one.  

What are 10 questions I could ask John F. Kennedy in an interview if he was alive today?

The world might be a very different place if John F. Kennedy had survived his 1963 assassination. Stephen King has written an interesting and entertaining novel about that subject. The book, 11/22/63, is about a man who goes back in time and kills Oswald before the fatal shot. King's prediction, however, is that the world went totally out of control because Kennedy lived. Of course, King's forecast has more to do with what happens when the past is changed than any condemnation of Kennedy.

Anyway, if I were to ask JFK ten questions, some might involve events that happened in the aftermath of his death and some about more recent history. These ten questions are in no particular order as to importance.

1. Mr. President, you wrote an excellent book called Profiles in Courage about American senators who displayed great bravery or integrity in the service of the country. If you were to rewrite the book and only include senators from the last 60 years, who might they be?

2. The Revenue Act of 1964 (which you originally campaigned for and supported although it was passed after your death) cut the top tax rate from 91% to 65%. Today the top tax rate is 39%. Do you think this is a positive or a negative for the country?

3. You were the first president to have a poet read at the inaugural address. It was Robert Frost, who is considered one of the greatest poets in American history. The tradition has been carried on by recent presidents. If you were to be inaugurated in 2016, which living poet might you choose to read?

4. OK, here's the big question I'm sure you've been waiting for. If you had been alive in August of 1964 when the USS Maddox was attacked by North Vietnamese ships in the Gulf of Tonkin, what would have been your immediate response? Do you agree that Johnson did the right thing in escalating the American presence in Vietnam, or was he wrong?

5. Here's another question about Johnson. Would you have favored Johnson's war on poverty? It has been much debated in the last several years. Some say it worked, but most conservatives say it led to more problems. What would you have done differently to help the poor in America?

6. If you had been alive in 1968, just finishing your second term as president, would you have encouraged your brother Robert to run for president?

7. On a similar note, what do you think of the fact that, like the Kennedy's, the Bush's and Clintons seem to be always present in the run for president? In fact, either a Clinton or a Bush has run for president in every election (except 1984 and 2012) since 1980.

8. Your favorite poem was "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." One line of the poem reads, 

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep

If you had lived, what promises would you have kept and what would have been your top priorities if you had won a second term as president (as you probably would have)?

9. One of your biggest mistakes as president was the Bay of Pigs invasion. It was a failure and helped legitimize the Cuban regime of Fidel Castro. In 2015 the United States has finally diplomatically recognized the island country. What do you think of that decision in light of the last 60 years?

10. Finally, you know I had to ask it. The tabloids really want to know. Did you really have an affair with Marilyn Monroe, as has been reported by several sources? If it's true, do you think her death had anything to do with you?