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.