Wednesday, December 30, 2009

The compound magnesium phosphate has the chemical formula Mg3(PO4)2. In this compound, phosphorus and oxygen act together as one charged particle,...

D is correct, there are two phosphate ions in a molecule of magnesium phosphate,


`Mg_3(PO_4)_2`


This is an example of a polyatomic ionic compound. Your description of phosphorous and oxygen behaving as one charged particle is the definition of a polyatomic ion, in this case the phosphate ion.


The subscript 4 on PO4 indicates that four oxygen atoms are bonded to each phosphorous atom in the polyatomic ion. The subscript 2 outside the parentheses indicates two phosphate ions. Parentheses are used to show that the subscript applies to the entire charged particle.


The reason there are two phosphate ions is that the phosphate ion has a charge of -3 and the magnesium ion has a charge of +2. The formula results in a neutral compound with six positive charges cancelling out six negative charges:


(3)(+2) = (2)(-3)


It's more correct to say that there are two phosphate ions in a formula unit of magnesium phosphate because ionic compounds don't exist as individual molecules.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

What is the simile used in the first verse of the poem "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" by William Wordsworth?

The simile of course is the the poet’s comparison of himself to a cloud. The simile has a double purpose: on the one hand, it assigns a human emotion (loneliness) to an inanimate object (the cloud), but on the other hand, it assigns the attributes of a cloud (floating, aimless, unconfined by earthly obstacles) to the poet’s activity (wandering). In this way poet and nature are combined poetically.


This is important when we consider the rest of the poem. The poet sees a “host of golden daffodils” “fluttering and dancing” beside a lake. The flowers, like the cloud, are assigned a human activity (dancing), as are the waves of the lake (“The waves beside them danced; but they / Out-did the sparkling waves in glee"). The entire scene – flowers, water, and the cloud/poet witnessing it -- is one of delight and harmony, inspiring a similar feeling in the poet (“A poet could not but be gay, / in such a jocund company”).


Wordsworth is not arguing that he “is” a cloud or that the flowers really are “dancing,” but the shift in tone (and scene) at the end of the poem – “when on my couch I lie / In vacant or in pensive mood” – underlines the importance of his vision nevertheless. It “flashes on his inward eye” – his imagination – and recalls him from his cares.

Sunday, December 27, 2009

What is an example of figurative language in "The Scarlet Ibis"?

The author uses figurative language to characterize Doodle.


Figurative language is non-literal description. That means it does not describe something as it is, but in comparison to something else. The most common types of figurative language are similes and metaphors. Writers like to use figurative language to add depth and interest to a story, including characterizing (describing) important characters.


A simile is an indirect comparison, where the author is saying that something is like something else. An example from the story is the description of Doodle’s name.



They named him William Armstrong, which is like tying a big tail on a small kite. Such a name sounds good only on a tombstone.



It means that name is too big for him. The author could have just said the name seemed foolish because Doodle was so tiny and the name seemed serious and grown-up, but the author makes the point, instead, with this wonderful comparison of tying a big tail on a small kite. We imagine it, and it helps us picture Doodle.


A metaphor is another type of figurative language, when you say one thing but mean something else. Here is the narrator’s description of what he hoped for when Doodle was born.



… I wanted more than anything else someone to race to Horsehead Landing, someone to box with, and someone to perch with in the top fork of the great pine behind the barn, where across the fields and swamps you could see the sea. I wanted a brother.



When the narrator says he wanted a brother, he means it metaphorically and not literally. He means that he wants someone to do all of these things with. He wants a friend.  Doodle is too weak and small to be able to do these things, so while he is literally the narrator’s brother, he is not metaphorically. He does not live up to the image that the narrator had of what a brother should be able to do.


Figurative language is like helping the reader see what is in the author’s mind. It makes a story richer, and makes details of characterization and setting clearer. In this story, we see how the similes and metaphors describe Doodle in a much more complex way than just saying he was small and could not do much.

Saturday, December 26, 2009

How did Soviet plans for Eastern Europe differ from those of the other allies?

The Soviet Union and the Allies had different opinions about what should happen in Eastern Europe after the end of World War II. We made some agreements with the Soviet Union that ultimately weren’t followed and led, to some degree, to the Cold War.


One area of difference was in Poland. Before World War II began, Poland had its own government. At the end of World War II, there was a Soviet-backed government in place. We had agreed with the Soviet Union to have free elections in Poland after the end of World War II. We expected some of the members from the pre-war Polish government to be members of the newly created post-war Polish government. However, there was little evidence of free elections and most the new officials in the new post-war government were from the Soviet government at the end of the war.


We agreed with the Soviet Union to let the people of Eastern Europe choose their form of government after World War II ended. However, the King of Romania indicated he received a great deal of pressure from the Soviet Union to have a communist government. This violated the Declaration of Liberated Europe agreement we had with the Soviet Union.


As a result of these actions and subsequent ones, the Cold War began and then intensified after World War II ended. 

How does Lyddie's first full day in the weaving room affect her in Lyddie?

Lyddie feels nauseous and exhausted after her first full day in the weaving room.


Lyddie tries her best to do well as a factory worker, but it is difficult and dangerous work.  After her first full day in the weaving room, Lyddie is barely coherent.  She can’t even bear the smell of food, and her mind is not working.



She longed only to get to the room, take off her boots, massage her abused feet, and lay down her aching head. … Lyddie dragged herself from the table and up the stairs. (Ch. 10)



The weaving room is very noisy, so Lyddie can’t stand the sound of supper talk and clinking dishes.  She also can barely eat.  Betsy teases her about thinking she is a “strapping country farm girl who could do anything.”  However, she also helps her massage her sore feet and reads to her from Oliver Twist.


Lyddie suffers because she wore boots that were too new, and she is not used to the loud noises.  Of course, as time goes on she will learn how to survive the factory, and even get pretty good at it.  She also develops an interest in books.



Betsy did not give any explanation of the novel she was reading, simply commenced to read aloud where she had broken off reading to herself.  Even though Lyddie's head was still choked with lint and battered with noise, she struggled to get the sense of the story. (Ch. 10)



The story of Oliver transports Lyddie from her current misery.  Even though she is too sick and exhausted to stay awake, she finds herself wanting to hear the story.  She begs Betsy to keep reading until her voice is hoarse.  Lyddie has discovered that she can take refuge in literature.


Factory work was dangerous and difficult.  Girls like Lyddie had to be tough, intelligent, and strong.  Although Lyddie has already been through many hardships, the factory serves as both a challenge and a source of pride. She is determined to do well, and pay off her debts.

Friday, December 25, 2009

In "The Negro Speaks of Rivers", what aspect of human biology does the speaker compare to rivers?

Langston Hughes’ beautiful poem about the journeys that African-Americans have taken uses a metaphor to describe how the river, as a source of travel, is like “the flow of human blood in human veins.” Using rivers as a metaphor for the journey of life in Africa as well as the United States is a theme that runs throughout many writings by African Americans. Because slave trade often involved the shipping of slaves up and down rivers like the Mississippi, it becomes a poignant historical symbol for the many journeys Africans have taken. Hughes mentions the rivers in Africa like the Euphrates, the Congo, and the Nile when life and survival revolved around the river environment. 


Being enslaved and transported across the Atlantic Ocean during the time of the Middle Passage also symbolizes the journey or Diaspora of the African. Their many journeys continued with the selling of slaves. The saying, “being sold down the river” has particular meaning as well. For a slave, the further south the slave was sold, the harder the environment and the further they were from family. It was catastrophic for the slave, and the transport on rivers shows this.


The importance the river has had in African American history and as a symbol in literature, allows Hughes to compare it to blood flowing through his veins. The river is so much a part of the African American experience that even the souls of slaves have “grown deep like the rivers.”

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

How can one describe the shape of fire? How can one convert this element into abstract fashion design elements?

It is common for fashion designers to take inspiration from nature. Fire is an unusual element to consider in this way since it does not really have form, even though it is visual. Its shape is always moving, and if it stops moving it stops burning. What it does have is energy, and color, and these two aspects can easily be translated to fashion design elements.


The energy of fire can be interpreted with emotional concepts, which are also commonly used in fashion design. Passion, heat, aggression, sexuality, all of these correspond to fire and can be suggested in a fashion design. One interesting example of the use of the fire element in fashion design occurs in the book and the film adaptation of The Hunger Games. Katniss is to wear a gown designed by Cinna, and he wants to capture the element of fire for her personality, since her district is the one of coal. The undergarment is a black leather catsuit (the black leather being reminiscent of the coal) but the top is a cape that will be set on fire during the performance/presentation before the games begin. 


The colors of fire are usually the warm colors of red, yellow and orange, but one can often see traces of blue, violet and even green in fire at times. Fire is the element associated with the astrological signs of Leo, Sagittarius and Aries, so these symbols could also be used to interpret the idea of fire in a fashion design. Sagittarius, the Archer, carries a bow and arrows like Katniss. The sign of Saturn is ruled by the planet Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system, associated with travel, learning and adventure. Leo, the Lion, is ruled by the Sun, associated with youth, beauty, courage and vigor. Aries, the Ram, is ruled by Mars, planet of war and aggression, and is associated with boldness, confidence, initiative and action.

How does Elsa respond when she learns the true nature of her husband's job in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas?

When Elsa learns of the move, she takes on the role of the good Nazi wife and agrees to the move. As Kommandant, his father has been stationed to supervise a concentration camp. We do not know how much Elsa knows about the reasons for this move until she becomes unhappy.


The reader is aware that Elsa knows what is occurring when Bruno realizes that “over the course of the next few weeks Mother seemed increasingly unhappy with life at Out-With…” We also know that she is aware of what is occurring when Bruno overhears her arguing with his father, exclaiming: “‘It’s horrible…Just horrible. I can’t stand it any more.” When his father protests her desire to move back to Berlin, she exclaims “‘Work? You call this work?"


We then learn that she takes medicinal sherry, which could be an indication of her attempts to cope with what she knows is occurring behind the fence. Bruno recognizes that his mother is unhappy. He states, “mother kept very quiet during the day and was having an awful lot more of her afternoon naps, some of them not even in the afternoon but before lunch, and Bruno was worried for her health because he’d never known anyone to need quite so many medicinal sherries.”


Then one day their father summons them to his office and relays the good news. They are moving to Berlin with their mother. Surprisingly, Bruno is unhappy to hear the news.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Of all the characters in Momaday's book, only two voices speak for themselves. Who were they and why were they allowed to do so?

This is an interesting question simply because it is clear that each section has three different "voices": one mythological, one historical, and one personal. However, it can be said that only two of these voices are actually "characters" and speak for themselves: legend and author.


In regards to legend, the first part of every section is an explanation of a very important myth of the Kiowa tribe.  Here, myth is truly given a voice and made a character for the first time. For example, the first section is the Kiowa tribe's creation myth, which involves the small tribe coming up out of the earth through a fallen log. The tribe is small because a pregnant woman gets stuck in the log (due to her belly); therefore, some of the tribe is left in the earth. 


In regards to the author becoming a voice or a character, the third (often italicized) part of each section is about Momaday's personal story. This part often involves his grandmother, Aho, and her life in reference to the original legend. The creation myth, however, is about Momaday.  Because we find out that "Kiowa" actually means "coming out," we learn through Momaday's voice that the first time he "came out" onto the great plains was a magical moment for him.


In conclusion, it is important to note that it is the Kiowa language that truly connects all the parts and all the sections of this book. In other words, it is language that is of primary importance. Ironically, it is language that allows Momaday to share the two voices you ask about with the world.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

I need to compare and contrast narrative and description in novels. Can you give examples of descriptive passages and narrative passages in...

To be effective, descriptive passages usually incorporate the five senses in imagery: taste (gustatory), smell (olfactory), hearing (auditory), touch (cutaneous or tactile), and sight (visual). Also, other senses include kinesthetic (movement), vestibular (balance and eye coordination), and organic/subjective (sensations such as fear, joy, anger, etc).


Narrative passages, on the other hand, tell a story of some sort. The story may be told from the vantage point of personal experience, or an author may present the private thoughts of a character to his/her readers. Either way, these literary aids help move the plot forward or allows us to learn something significant about the character in question.


On to Germinal:


Descriptive passages: Bolded words in the two passages below are mine.



The distant hammer struck (auditory) regular blows in the pit, and the wind passed by with its moan, like a cry of hunger and weariness (auditory) coming out of the depths of the night.


Etienne, who forgot himself before the stove, warming his poor, bleeding hands (visual) looked round, and he could see each part of the pit: the shed tarred with siftings,, the pit frame, the vast chamber of the winding machine, the square turret of the exhaustion pump. This pit, piled up in the bottom of a hollow, with its squat brick buildings, raising its chimney like a threatening horn, seemed to him to have the evil air of a gluttonous beast crouching there to devour the earth. (auditory, visual, kinesthetic, subjective/organic). 



Narrative passage:



M. Hennebeau, who was at this hour returning home mounted on his mare, listened to these vague sounds. He had met couples, long rows of strollers, on this beautiful winter night. More lovers, who were going to take their pleasure, mouth to mouth, behind the walls. Was it not what he always met, girls tumbled over the bottom of every ditch, beggars who crammed themselves with the only joy that cost nothing? And these fools complained of life, when they could take their supreme fill of the happiness of love? Willingly would he have starved as they did if he could begin life again with a woman who would give herself to him on a heap of stones, with all her strength and all her heart. His misfortune was without consolation, and he envied these wretches.



In the story, M. Hennebeau is a part owner of the Le Voreux mining operation. The mine is the setting for the strike; throughout the novel, the mine is characterized as a place of misery, degradation, and oppression. However, the passage above gives us an insight into M. Hennebeau's character, his personal trials, and his desires. The thoughts above show a man, vulnerable in his private moments, far from being only the inexorable manager who refuses to allow any concessions to his workers. Narratives like the above tend to humanize an unlikable character.


Hope this helps! There are more such passages in the novel. With the above as a guide, you should be able to recognize many more on your own.

Was the USA/USSR Cold War of 1947-1991highly probable? Why or why not? Explain carefully.

Based on events after World War II, it is fair to say that the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union was highly probable. Right at the end of World War II and immediately after, the Soviet Union violated some of the agreements they made with the United States and with Great Britain. The King of Romania felt pressured to have a communist government. The new Polish government looked very much like the communist one in Poland at the end of World War II.


It was clear the Soviet Union wanted to spread communism. They tried to bring it to European countries such as Greece and Turkey. They tried to force the Allies out of West Berlin by instituting the Berlin Blockade. The goal of the communists was to spread their system around the world. Our goal was to keep communism from spreading. This was bound to lead to indirect conflict and confrontation. When China became communist in 1949, and when North Korea invaded South Korea to make it communist in 1950, our beliefs about their intentions were more than confirmed.


As time passed, confrontation and competition spread to nuclear weapons and space. We were surprised when the Soviet Union developed an atomic weapon as fast as it did. We then entered a competition where each side increased its nuclear arsenal significantly. Both countries also wanted to beat each other in the space race. When the Soviets launched the first satellite into space before we did, there was panic in our country. We were the first to land a person on the moon.


More threats occurred as confrontations developed over missiles in Cuba with the Cuban Missile Crisis. There were confrontations in the Middle East and Latin America. Since we didn’t want communism to spread, and the goal of communism was to spread it as much as possible, it was natural for an event like the Cold War to exist. Not until one side could no longer afford the costs associated with the military buildup, the stockpiling of weapons, and the constant placement of troops in various locations would the Cold War come to an end. That happened in the late 1980s and early 1990s when the system of communism collapsed in most places across the world.

Is this quote, "If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me/ Without my stir," an example of metaphor, simile, personification, or...

This quote is an example of personification.


Personification is a type of figurative language where something nonhuman is described as human or given human characteristics.  It is used to add emphasis or help the reader (or audience) appreciate an important thematic point.  In this case, the personification of chance emphasizes Macbeth’s ambition, but also his hesitancy.


When Macbeth gets a visit from three witches, they tell him that he is about to get a promotion.  He will become Thane of Cawdor, and then king.  Macbeth is skeptical but excited about this development. 



MACBETH


Your children shall be kings.


BANQUO


You shall be king.


MACBETH


And thane of Cawdor too: went it not so?


BANQUO


To the selfsame tune and words. …  (Act 1, Scene 3)



Macbeth wants to be king, but as you can tell from your quote he doesn’t want to do anything himself to make that happen. Instead he personifies chance, and expects chance to do it for him.  In other words, if he just happens to be made king, without his having to do anything, that’s great!


When Macbeth finds out that Malcolm has been named King Duncan’s heir, he is annoyed.  He wanted to be king, and was just getting used to the idea.  The fact that he is promoted to Thane of Cawdor, having just killed the former man of that title in battle, inspires him. 



The Prince of Cumberland! that is a step
On which I must fall down, or else o'erleap,
For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires;
Let not light see my black and deep desires (Act 1, Scene 4)



Although this little aside is a big show, Macbeth doesn’t really have the follow-through to match his ambition.  The personification of chance emphasizes Macbeth’s inability to do anything himself.  His wife talks him into it, and plans everything out for him.  Otherwise he never would have been able to kill Duncan, and would have waited around for chance to make him king.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

What is Ralph's main conflict in Lord of the Flies?

Ralph's main conflict in the novel Lord of the Flies is competing against the savage human nature while he attempts to maintain a civil society focused on survival and rescue. Ralph struggles to lead and convince the group of boys to maintain the signal fire and other essential elements of civilization. Ralph's plans are undermined by Jack, who is the tyrannical leader of his tribe obsessed with hunting and violence. Rather than complete menial labor like building huts and maintaining the signal fire, the majority of the castaway boys follow Jack and decide to hunt. Hunting is exciting and rewarding, unlike the tasks Ralph attempts to advocate for. Rather than focus on the importance of a signal fire and its potential to increase their probability of rescue, the boys focus on their immediate physical desires. Ralph's conflict is symbolic of mankind's struggle between morality and primitive human instincts. Containing one's savage instincts is fundamental in establishing and contributing to a civil, organized society.

Hamlet: How would you characterize the relationship between Gertrude and Claudius throughout the whole tragedy?

The relationship is something of a strange one. Based on the way Hamlet describes it and the way his father's ghosts relates his betrayal, it appears that this is a passionate and lustful relationship, and yet this is not exactly supported by the characters' actions. The couple gets married shortly after the death of Hamlet's father. This is certainly strange behavior and a sign of disrespect to Hamlet's father. Some might suggest that the two had even been engaging in a sexual relationship before the death of Hamlet's father. This could possibly be one of several motivations for the king's murder.


This does not appear to be the case, however. The play shows several signs (such as Hamlet's play, and Gertrude's own actions) that Gertrude was unaware of the plot against her former husband. While this does not mean a relationship did not occur, it at least removes the possibility that the two planned the treachery together. It seems more likely that Gertrude's role in the play is somewhat passive. She naively closes her eyes to the crimes of her new husband and tries to pacify her son to hold everything together. She remarries quickly, not because she is so in love with Claudius, but because of a desire to keep things in order. 


After a lifetime of obeying her royal husband she appears simply to allow Claudius to fill the vacant role in her life. She trusts him to help her discover why her son is acting so strangely, and she hopes that Hamlet will view him as a father figure. There is little sign of any lustful passion on her part, and she even attempts to save Hamlet at the end of the play. For this reason, it seems that while Claudius might view marrying Gertrude as a part of his treachery, Gertrude is merely passively trying to continue life as it was before. She wants things to remain as they were and for Claudius to continue in the role her husband left behind.

Friday, December 18, 2009

You are planning a major production: “MACBETH” – THE HORROR MOVIE. In a presentation to potential funders (MGM, Fox, etc), what are all the...

This sounds like a fun assignment!  There are countless examples you can use in these two acts to convince someone Macbeth is a horror story.  The play has all the trappings:  witches, ghosts, insanity, suspense, fear and suspicion, and plenty of blood and gore.  In the opening scene of Act IV, we have three witches in their “haunt,” likely before a backdrop of all kinds of dark, twisted, ungainly, rotting things, and as an ominous peal of thunder roars in the distance they’re chucking severed animal parts, entrails, organs, venoms, all kinds of hideous things into a cauldron.  Even a “finger of birth-strangled babe/Ditch-delivered by a drab.”  Show the severing of that finger and you’ve likely got an automatic R-rating.  There is evil music playing, and when Macbeth comes on the scene there is more thunder and the apparition of ghosts, one of which is “a bloody child.”  Classic horror.  When the witches disappear they leave Macbeth agitated, confused, and frightened.


In the opening scene of Act V we are confronted with Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking and her descent into madness.  Imagine this scene:  the dark stillness of night, total silence, and Lady Macbeth entering in a trancelike state.  “…her eyes are open…but their sense are shut.”  A haunting look.  And she rubs her hands as if washing them, compulsively and at length.  This sort of unusual, repetitive behavior has the power to make the skin crawl – the Lady is herself haunted desperate, and unstable.  In this scene we have the famous line, “Out, damned spot!  Out I say!”  And then, “Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?”  A foreboding, mysterious, troublesome line, the atmosphere descending into something fearful and ominous as she mutters to herself about her sins.  She has secrets, and they are murderous. 


Macbeth’s own denial and anger in Scene 2 are disconcerting to the reader, and would make one fidget uncomfortably – he is in a nervous rage, suspicious yet clinging to the witches’ augurs, confused still and riled.  He lashes out at messengers and barks despairing orders, trivializes life in his famous “tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow” speech – he shows all the signs of a dreaded and reckless madman.  Who knows what he might do?  He could turn against his own, he could turn against himself -- or worse, he could win.


These Acts as well are rife with murder – in Act IV we see MacDuff’s entire household murdered unceremoniously in his absence, Lady Macbeth, ravaged by remorse, commits suicide, and of course in the final scene of the play the same MacDuff emerges bearing Macbeth’s severed head aloft for all to see.  And Malcolm further contributes to the beastly, homicidal, irredeemable characterization of the villain, referring to the Macbeths as “This dead butcher and his fiendlike queen.”  The word “butcher” calls to mind a sociopathic killer – indeed the stuff of nightmares.

Explain how the Enlightenment ideologies and the Great Awakening influenced the growth of Christian church denominations during the last-half...

The Enlightenment was a movement founded on reason and science over superstition and tradition. Begun in Europe, the Enlightenment witnessed an improvement in science, a belief in the importance of experiments, and an awareness of natural law. In addition, many philosophes (or French philosophers) such as Voltaire applied these ideas to government, and they argued that reason and laws should govern the way rulers led their people. In America, many of the Founding Fathers, such as Jefferson, were followers of Enlightenment ideals. While many were raised in the Anglican Church (the Church of England), they began to turn to Deism. This is essentially the idea that God exists, but that God created the universe, as a watchmaker would, and then let people run the world themselves. This belief system allowed religion to co-exist with a belief in science. Deism also began to threaten or at least question the beliefs of the Bible and established religion.


There were two Great Awakenings in America. The first, which occurred in the 1730s and 1740s, returned to a belief in predestination, or the idea that one's fate was decided before birth, and it swept over New England. Many traditional preachers and teachings were abandoned in favor of a more spiritual approach to religion, and the Methodist, Baptist, and other religions gained popularity in the New World. The Second Great Awakening, which took place around 1800, featured an emphasis on good works, and led to the popularization of church revivals as well as reform movements such as abolitionism. Preachers began to try to include everyone in their revivals, whatever their background, race, or gender. As a result, many women became adherents in these new, more spiritual forms of religion, as did slaves and freed African-Americans. As a result, religion became more democratized, as these religions afforded a more powerful role to formerly marginalized groups. 

Explain how life in California before the arrival of the Spanish could be viewed as a terrestrial paradise.

California before the Spanish could be considered a paradise for a number of reasons. First, the California Indians were a very peaceful group. Because they were isolated by the many geographic features of California (deserts, coastlines, marshes, mountains,) they did not feel the need to form large military alliances with other tribes. The geography of the land was their greatest protection. Instead of creating military alliances, the Indians focused on trade alliances that greatly improved their economic and social lives.


The tribes organized into very small political units, which allowed for local rule and decision-making. This allowed the people a great deal of autonomy and freedom. The Indians of California were experts at utilizing the land. They understood the wildlife and plant species that existed in their area. For this reason, they were self-sufficient and did not have a need to raid their neighbors. Because they did not have to waste time and energy on warfare, the Indians built homes that were comfortable and sturdy. The Indians did not need to resort to a nomadic existence because they understood how to hunt different animals at different times of the year.


All of these advantages were made possible by the diversity of land, wildlife and plant life that existed in California before the arrival of the Spanish.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

What are the names of the mountains on the Oregon trail?

The Oregon Trail, which spanned over 2,100 miles, crossed right through the Rocky Mountains.  The Rocky Mountains are the largest mountain range in North America and presented one of the most formidable challenges of the entire trail.  In 1812, Robert Stuart and his entourage discovered the South Pass in Wyoming.  The South Pass made the trip through the Rocky Mountains more manageable.  The first group of wagons would not make the voyage over the pass until 1832.  Benjamin Bonneville brought his party of 100 men and 20 wagons through the pass.  Soon afterward, the South Pass became a popular route along the Oregon Trail.  Today, Wyoming Route 28 goes through the South Pass of the Rocky Mountains, a testament to the importance of this geographical feature for travel and trade.

What artists were inspired by Claude Monet's art?

Claude Monet was an influential painter and a founder of French Impressionist painting. Monet lived between 1840 and 1926, and some of his most notable works include Impression, Water Lillies, Haystacks and Poplars. Monet mostly resided in the city of Giverny, and many of his landscape paintings reflect the nature of this area. 


The impact of his work is still felt to this day, although there are some specific artists that were particularly inspired by Monet's work. Monet himself was inspired by Eugene Boudin, Jean-Francois Millet and J.M.W. Turner. His style of painting was influenced by Realism, Neo-Classicism and Japonisme. Monet's work helped create the movements of Impressionism, Symbolism, Pointillism and Fauvism, and he influenced artists such as Vincent van Gogh, Georges Seurat, Edgar Degas and Paul Cezanne.

What does the narrator think about death in the second period of "The Pit and the Pendulum"?

My copy of “The Pit and the Pendulum” is not divided into periods, so while I cannot address that specific aspect of your question I’ll try for an overall analysis of death.


Death is obviously a major theme within the story (as it is within much of Poe’s works), and its relationship with human consciousness is emphasized in this particular instance. On an initial and obvious level, death is something to be feared:



“The sentence—the dread sentence of death—was the last of distinct accentuation which reached my ears.”



Here the narrator is so horrified by his decreed fate that at least one of his senses fails him. Yet on its own this is a reductive explanation—it is not necessarily death itself that he finds so repugnant—it is the means of death that he fears, how and when it arrives:



“The mode and the hour were all that occupied or distracted me.”



With this the narrator reveals that it is the unknown which, when added to the equation, lends the concept of death such horror. He mentions all the rumors and tales told about the creative cruelty utilized in the Inquisitorial monks’ punishments. So on a physical level, death is inconsequential. It is natural, and can even be a preferable state due to its simple finality:



“And then there stole into my fancy, like a rich musical note, the thought of what sweet rest there must be in the grave.”



On a mental/psychological level, death can be something to be feared. The narrator mentions moments where his body is physically restrained, hampered or unconscious but his mind’s activity continues. The main character is actually quite clever, a very quick and intellectual individual. This trait serves him well in that it helps him comprehend his situation and create solutions for his problems (measuring the dimensions of his cell, freeing his bonds via ratty ministrations). However, it is his abstract and overactive thinking that prolongs and emphasizes the terror he feels concerning his demise. One could even consider that it was the narrator’s active mind that landed him in the clutches of the Inquisition, an organization notorious for its tendency to kill off intellectuals and free-thinkers.


So as it pertains to the story, death is a sentence, a state, a destination, a relief, a motivator and yet at the end is avoided. Perhaps the overarching message is an irony: that something so ultimately simple and infinite can create such vast strife within ourselves and our society.

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

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


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


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

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

What are the social causes of the American Revolution?

When the American colonists declared independence from Britain in 1776, they were inspired by a wide range of factors. Here are some social reasons for you to consider:


  • At the time of the revolution, less than two-thirds of the colonial population were English citizens. Since their inception, the colonies had become a melting-pot of people from across Europe and Africa and, slowly, these different cultures and values had blended together to create an American identity - completely separate and distinct from the idea of being British.

  • Britain's policy of taxing the colonies in the 1760s was done to assert British authority and to pay off debts as a result of fighting the French and Indian War. But this policy actually had the reverse effect: Americans were extremely angered by the onslaught of new taxes and this helped to create the revolutionary spirit and a strong desire to protect American liberty and freedom. 

  • The publication of Thomas Paine's pamphlet, Common Sense, in 1776 convinced many Americans to support the idea of independence and to take up arms, if necessary. 

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

How did the Civil Rights Movement motivate the American people to change?

The American Civil Rights Movement occurred over several phases, the most dramatic occurring after World War II. While African-Americans had been granted the right of citizenship, voting, and other rights after the Civil War, federal and state governments did not enforce these laws until the 1950s and 1960s. The change in the federal government's willingness to enforce laws granting African-Americans equality, along with the powerful tactics used by Martin Luther King and his followers, began to motivate people to change.


In 1896, the Supreme Court ruled in the case Plessy v. Ferguson that African-Americans could have separate but equal facilities, such as schools and sections of trains. This remained the law until the important 1954 Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education, in which it was ruled that separate but equal was inherently unequal. The Supreme Court ordered all schools in the nation to desegregate and the ruling was met by massive resistance in the south and some parts of the north. As a result, the federal government under Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson sent troops at times to enforce the law. Over time, schools and universities in all parts of the country were desegregated.


In addition, Martin Luther King, Jr. led the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and early to mid 1960s with peaceful tactics. His non-violent protests began with the bus boycott to desegregate buses in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955-1956. His use of non-violent tactics was effective because it won over public opinion, as people were more likely to support protestors who were not violent. 


The other factors that finally motivated people to change were that many African-Americans had served their countries in several wars, including World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. Also, in the years after Hitler, it became very distasteful to support ideas that were seen as racist or anti-Semitic. Finally, as part of the Cold War, or the proxy wars the U.S. fought with the Soviet Union, the U.S. wanted to make sure that the world did not see us as racist. As a result, the country began slowly to change its attitudes about race, and the Civil Rights movement gained some victories, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, among others.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

In The Birds, how does Jim react to the birds?

In the story, Jim is the cowman; both Nat and Jim work for the farmer, Mr. Trigg. When Nat asks Jim whether he has had any trouble with the birds, Jim brushes Nat off.


Nat then begins to describe how an invading group of birds forced their way into his children's bedroom the night before, but Jim is still curiously nonchalant. The cowman answers that he's never heard of birds acting savagely before. However, he does think that sometimes, birds will be tame enough to come right up to the windows. Jim maintains that the best thing to do when that happens is to feed the birds some breadcrumbs.


Overall, Jim does not appear to be perturbed or the least bit distressed about the avian invasion that has been happening all across the country. Even after Nat argues that the birds fiercely attacked his young children, Jim appears to disbelieve Nat's story. He tells Nat that the birds were quite possibly just hungry or cold, and he again advised Nat to put out some breadcrumbs for the birds.

How did The Opium Wars change the traditional Chinese society by forcing China to embrace the modern world?

The Chinese fought two Opium Wars: the first, in 1839-1842, was against the British, while the second (from 1856-1860) against the French and British. The result of both wars was that the Chinese, under the Qing, were forced to open up trade and and grant territories to foreigners. As a result, the Qing began to lose power.


In the First Opium War, the Chinese tried to prevent the British from trading opium in China, as the drug was having a disastrous effect on Chinese society and trade. The Chinese destroyed opium stored in Canton, and the British later destroyed a warship that was trying to enforce a blockade of the Pearl River in Hong Kong. The British were victorious in the war, and the resulting Treaty of Nanjing (or Nanking) gave the island of Hong Kong to the British and increased the number of treaty ports where the British could live and trade from one to five. The British gained the port of Shanghai, which became a major international city, and the Qing began to lose power to foreigners. In a later supplemental treaty, the British gained the right to try their citizens in their own courts and gave Britain most favored nation status--a right that was later given to other foreign powers, including France and the United States.


In the Second Opium War, the British attacked again while the Chinese were trying to quell the Taiping Rebellion, and the British were joined by French forces. The resulting treaties of Tianjin allowed foreigners to take residence in Beijing and opened up trade and travel at several more ports and into the interior of China. Christian missionaries were allowed into China, and the trade in opium became legal. The overall effect of the wars was to weaken the Qing and permit foreigners to begin to trade and travel widely in China. 

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

In The Gods Are Athirst, does Father Longuemare lose his faith? Why or why not?

The Gods Will Have Blood (or The Gods Are Athirst) by Anatole France is a historical fiction set during the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution. It was originally published in French in 1912 as Les Dieux ont soif.


The author attended a Roman Catholic boarding school where the strict disciplines of the priests contributed to his permanent dislike of Christianity, although his distaste for intolerance was far greater. When the atheist Brotteaux teases Father Longuemare in the novel, it is good-naturedly: "The Père Longuemare, who was religious by profession, never talked about religion, while Brotteaux was for ever harping on the subject. He was conscious of a bond of sympathy between himself and the Barnabite, and took a delight in embarrassing and disturbing his peace of mind with objections against divers articles of the Christian faith."


The monk, Father Longuemare, accepts refuge from Brotteaux when the monk loses his ability to find employment; he cannot secure the necessary certificate of citizenship. The monk's loyalty is with the Vatican and he refuses to accept lay control of the church.


Longuemare is very devout and Brotteaux, an atheist, engages him in verbal combat over religion. An example of an exchange is



"Sir," said the Père Longuemare, "do not talk of Nature; you do not know what Nature is."


"Egad, I know it as well as you do, Father."


"You cannot know it, because you have not religion, and religion alone teaches us what Nature is, wherein it is good, and how it has been made evil. However, you must not expect me to answer you; God has vouchsafed me, to refute your errors, neither eloquence nor force of intellect. I should only be afraid, by my inadequate replies, of giving you occasion to blaspheme and further reasons for hardening your heart. I feel a strong desire to help you; yet the sole fruit of my importunate efforts would be to...."



Longuemare's great spiritual weakness is his pride of being a Barnabite, directly descended from St. Paul. He also regrets his cowardice at the outset of the Revolution and admires Brotteaux's convictions, though they be at odds with Longuemare's own beliefs. However, Longuemare does not lose his faith during the novel. Even when brought low, he reverts to his faith.


But as they could not conceive, either one or the other, of anybody being so absurd as to believe in any revealed religion, seeing that the Père Longuemare was no fool, they took him to be a knave. By way, no doubt, of preparing for martyrdom, he made confession of faith at every opportunity, and the more sincerity he displayed, the more like an impostor he seemed.

France uses Longuemare, as he does most of the novel's characters, to fulfill a stereotype. Longuemare is the simple and devout, unflinching man of God.



The Père Longuemare referred himself purely and entirely to God's will. He had not even brought his written defence with him. [...] At the question, the Père Longuemare raised his eyes sorrowfully to heaven, but made no answer; his silence expressed the surprise of an unsophisticated mind and the gravity of a man of religion who fears to utter empty words.



Even at the last, as he and Athenais get into the cart to be taken away, he offers her sacramental rites and urges Brotteaux to pray for him:



"Sir," said the Père Longuemare to the Epicurean philosopher, "I ask you a favour; this God in whom you do not yet believe, pray to Him for me. It is far from sure you are not nearer to Him than I am myself; a moment can decide this. A second, and you may be called by the Lord to be His highly favoured son. Sir, pray for me."



Our last sight of Longuemare is his lips moving as he recites the prayers of the dying, faith intact.


Anatole France was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1921.

Monday, December 7, 2009

If price rises, what happens to demand for a product?

Short answer: It goes down.

Long answer:

The Law of Demand says that, all other things equal, if price goes up then demand will go down. The percentage that quantity demanded goes down for a 1% increase in price is the price elasticity of demand.

But in the real world, it's not quite so simple. The Law of Demand is like the Pirate Code: It's really more like what you'd call a "guideline". It's probably true for 90% of goods, maybe even 95%.

But what about the rest?

There are some goods for which price is basically irrelevant, at least within a wide range; these are perfectly inelastic. If the price of salt quadrupled, would you buy less salt? Probably not---you need salt to live, and salt isn't that expensive anyway.

There are also some goods for which an increase in price will result in an increase in demand.

This is weird and counter-intuitive, so it bears some further explanation.

The first way this can happen is called a Giffen good. The idea is basically that if a good is an inferior form of a vital necessity, there are some circumstances for which raising its price will have an income effect of reducing the total amount of stuff you can buy that is larger than the substitution effect of making that particular good more expensive, and as a result you buy more of the inferior good.

As a hypothetical example, suppose you have $20 and you need four bags of grapes for a party.

Green grapes are $2 per bag and red grapes are $8 per bag. You like red grapes better, but you can't buy all red grapes because you only have $20. So you buy 2 bags of red grapes ($16) and 2 bags of green grapes ($4).

But now suppose that the price of green grapes rises to $4 per bag. You still can't afford to buy all red grapes. But now you can't even afford to go half-and-half like before. Your best choice is now to buy 3 bags of green grapes ($12) and 1 bag of red grapes ($8). The price of green grapes went up, but you bought more green grapes---because you couldn't afford to buy anything else.

Giffen goods are pretty rare in real life. The more common reason why rising price can result in rising demand is a Veblen good, which is a good that people buy simply to show off how rich they are. These are all over the place, from clothes to houses to cars---and arguably even lattes.

Why do people buy Lamborghinis? Is it really because Lamborghinis are such great cars that they're worth paying the price of a house? Probably not. The reason people buy Lamborghinis is to show that they can. If Lamborghini decided to lower the price of their cars to something more sensible, they might actually lose business, because it would no longer be as impressive a status symbol to own a Lamborghini. Thus making the price go down might actually result in less demand.

Finally, there is a third reason why rising price might not result in reduced demand, and that is speculation. The most obvious examples are stocks and gold. If the price of Apple stock goes up, do you buy less Apple stock? Not necessarily. If you think this is part of a coming trend, you might buy more Apple stock, hoping that the price will continue to rise and you can make money that way. You could be wrong---speculation is risky---but there are people who make huge amounts of money betting on price swings like this.

Friday, December 4, 2009

In a triangle ABC, AC = 40 cm, BC = 4 cm. Find AB.

Given triangle ABC, AC=40 cm, BC= 4 cm.


To find AB=?


We know triangle inequality theorem :-


The sum of any two sides in a triangle is always greater than third side.


1. a+b>c;


2. b+c>a;


3. a+c>b.


Here a=BC=4 cm, b=AC=40 cm, c=AB=?


So we could write following :-


4+40>c;


40+c>4;


4+c>40.


Solving these inequalities, we get


c<44; c>-36; c>36.


side c could not be negative, it would be positive only.


So, 36<c<44


The final answer would be :-


36<AB<44 or AB`in(36,44)`


``

Historically, why does Brutus have a problem with Julius Caeser's power?

Brutus was primarily concerned with the consolidation of political power by Caesar and the threat that it presented to the Roman Republic. Brutus saw his allegiance as being to the Roman Senate. By declaring himself the ultimate political authority of Rome and continuously usurping further power from other Roman institutions, Caesar had undermined the ability of the Senate to effectively govern. Brutus came to see Caesar as a tyrant, an oppressive ruler who was distinctly separate from and no longer subject to the citizenry of Rome. The assassination of Caesar was viewed as necessary to secure the Republican nature of Rome, and as it was to this principle which Brutus had his fundamental allegiance, he considered it to be his duty to oppose Caesar by whatever means he was able.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

What does "dissolution" mean as it is used in paragraph 1 of "The Masque of the Red Death?"

The dissolution means that the blood is breaking down.


The word “dissolution” means that something is dissolving.  The word is used to describe the dissolving of the victims' blood when the Red Death takes them. 



There were sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution.  The scarlet stains upon the body and especially upon the face of the victim, were the pest ban which shut him out from the aid and from the sympathy of his fellow-men.



As you can see, the blood dissolving from the pores of the victim causes red stains.  This is because a person’s blood literally weakens.  The red stains mark the victim, and make him a pariah.


The disease is a terrible one.  Its description is similar to the Bubonic Plague, or “Black Death” that decimated Europe in the middle ages. In this case, the “Red Death” gets its name from the blood that leaks out of victims’ pores.


A disease this strong kills its victims fast, and is very contagious.  This is why it kills half of the population of Prince Prospero’s kingdom.



When his dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court, and with these retired to the deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys.



Despite the safe haven of his castle, Prospero and his courtiers cannot escape the disease.  Death still finds them, and even then Prospero deludes himself into believing he can fight it.  Ultimately, not only does Prospero fall but so do all of his constituents.  No one can escape the Red Death.  Prospero would have been better off staying with his people and trying to help them in whatever way he could.


Metaphorically, the Red Death represents threats that a leader faces.  Prospero reacts in a deluded and selfish manner, and puts his own life and comfort ahead of his people.  The people inside the abbey are living out a kind of fantasy, and one that cannot possibly last.

What does Atticus want Scout to understand about Miss Caroline?

In Chapter 3, Scout returns from a rough first day at school. She sits down to read with Atticus and tells him that she doesn't think she'll go to school anymore if it's okay with him. Scout explains the unfortunate events that took place throughout the day to her father. Miss Caroline, who is new to Maycomb, punished Scout following her failed attempt to explain Walter Cunningham's "family ways." Atticus teaches Scout a "trick." Atticus tells Scout to metaphorically "climb into another person's skin" and walk around in it. He explains to her that she learned a lot of things about Miss Caroline during the first day of school. He tells Scout that she shouldn't expect Miss Caroline to understand everything about Maycomb and its community in one day. He wants Scout to understand that Miss Caroline viewed the situation differently and wants her to look at the situation from Miss Caroline's point of view. This is an important lesson in Scout's moral development throughout the novel. 

In the essay, "Self Reliance," what does every person realize at some moment in his education?

Emerson states specifically that every man comes to realize that envy is ignorance and imitation is suicide. The passage in question reads as follows:



There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better for worse as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till. 



When Emerson speaks of the plot of ground that is given to him to till, he is speaking metaphorically. What he means is that each person has certain interests, tastes, and talents that make him unique. He cannot be content with his life, and he probably will not be successful in life, unless he finds out who he is, what he can do that fits his character and personality, and how he can best survive in the ongoing struggle for existence. 


The world's literature is full of similar advice. Shakespeare has Polonius tell his son Laertes in Hamlet:



This above all, to thine own self be true...



The Bhagavad-Gita, which Emerson knew, says:



You must learn what kind of work to do, what kind of work to avoid, and how to reach a state of calm detachment from your work.  



The best time to find out who you are and what you should do in life is when you are in school. It is easy to get started on the wrong foot when you are young. Choosing a major in high school and college can start you on a road in life which you may find is not right for you. Then it is hard to turn back and start all over again. Most schools have counselors and various other services to help students choose the right career goals for themselves. It is well worth the time and effort to take vocational aptitude tests and any help that will guide a student in the right direction. We shouldn't just imitate someone we admire, or envy. That person can turn out to be entirely different from us as we grow older and can disappear. That is what Emerson means when he says "imitation is suicide." 


Emerson may be mistaken in saying, in effect, that "every man" arrives at the conviction that he has to find, metaphorically, the right plot of ground to till. Unfortunately, there are many people who end up tilling the wrong plot of ground all their lives--or until it is too late for them to turn back. Robert Frost seems to be toying with this common phenomenon in his famous poem "The Road Not Taken."



I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.


Wednesday, December 2, 2009

What are 5 pure elements that can be found in your home?

Most products and materials that would be found in your home are compounds, mixtures or alloys. Only the most stable elements will resist reacting over time. Metals found in the home are often alloys that incorporate desirable properties of several metals, such as strength and corrosion resistance.


Here are some examples of pure elements that might be found in a home:


Argon and tungsten are in incandescent light bulbs. Argon is inert and therefore keeps the tungsten filament from oxidizing.


Mercury is in some thermostats and in switches in space heaters that turn off when tipped over. Mercury completes the circuit when the appliance is in the upright position, but drains to a lower position and breaks the circuit when tilted.


Copper is used in electrical wiring and in some water pipes.


Carbon is in pencils. What we call pencil lead is actually the graphite form of carbon. The diamond form of carbon is in jewelry and is used as a cutting surface on saw blades designed to cut through metal.


About 20% of the air in your home is oxygen and about 80% is nitrogen.


Phosphorous is on the tips of matches and ignites from the friction of striking them.


Gold is found in jewelry and on the circuit boards in computers and small electronics.


Zinc is used as a coating on nails and screws and in water heaters to prevent galvanic corrosion.


Americium is used in smoke detectors.


Aluminum is used as foil and for beverage cans. Some outdoor furniture is made of cast aluminum because it's corrosion resistant.


Tantalum is used in capacitors in digital cameras, cell phones and tablets.

What are some examples in the text from Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye that show Holden Caulfield to be relatable?

The way Holden Caulfield relates to each reader can be different depending on individual experiences. Holden is a 16 year-old boy with anxiety and depression, but this seems to make him more human than unrelatable; hence, there are many different experiences that can apply to any and all readers. Readers can mostly identify with Holden as a brother, a student, and as a teenager.


As a brother, Holden loves his siblings. He makes a few mistakes, as everyone does, but on a whole, he loves his siblings. For example, he once rode off from his little brother Allie because he didn't want to hang with him, but he felt poorly about it later. Then, the way he treats his sister Phoebe is very kind, protective, and loving. He describes her in the following way:



"But you ought to see old Phoebe. . . You'd like her. I mean if you tell old Phoebe something, she knows exactly what the hell you're talking about. I mean you can take her anywhere with you" (67).



Next, as a student, Holden talks about teachers, administrators, and roommates in a way that seems universally relatable. It is hilarious how he describes Mr. Spencer, one of his professors, because students always make fun of teachers. He describes him the following way:



". . . I used to think about old Spencer quite a lot, and if you thought about him too much, you wondered what the heck he was still living for. I mean he was all stooped over, and he had very terrible posture, and in class, whenever he dropped a piece of chalk at the blackboard, some guy in the first row always had to get up and pick it up and hand it to him. That's awful, in my opinion" (6-7).



Finally, the insecurities and quirkiness of being a teenager is so accurately described, that many can relate with this awkward time in life. One awkward time Holden experiences is when he disappoints the fencing team by leaving the foils on the subway so they couldn't go to their competition. Later, during the school game, he is standing on Thomsen Hill feeling lonely. He describes it like this:



"So we got back to Pencey around two-thirty instead of around dinnertime. The whole team ostracized me the whole way back on the train. It was pretty funny, in a way" (3).



Holden acts like it's no big deal and "pretty funny," but it's not. Many people have experienced feeling ostracized after making a mistake with friends or family, and this also makes Holden relatable. There are many other relatable experiences throughout the book, too; such as, dating, smoking, drinking, being alone, and many others. Again, it just depends on the experiences that each reader brings along while reading.

What is the difference between the (R) -2-butanol and (S) -2-butanol? Describe the phenomenon of optical isomerism by using terms such as...

2-butanol is a clear, organic, secondary alcohol.  That means the hydroxyl group is attached to the second carbon atom.  The difference in the R-2-butanol and the S-2-butanol has to do with the positioning of the hydroxyl group on the second carbon atom.  The R group has the hydroxyl group leaning forward in a three dimensional model, while the S group has the hydroxyl group receding, leaning in a backwards fashion, in a three dimensional model.


The two forms of butanol are chiral enantiomers of each other, meaning they are non-superimposable mirror images of each other.  They are also optical stereoisomers, meaning they are the same chemical composition, but with a different placement of the atoms, the key difference being the positioning of the hydroxyl group.  The center of the group is asymmetric, having four carbon atoms, with the hydroxyl group on carbon atom two.  Both versions of the stereoisomers are found in equal proportions, making them a racemic mixture.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

How does Lombard handle Vera's question about her new employer?

In And Then There Were None, Vera and Lombard initially strike up a conversation when they meet. Vera soon mentions that she has yet to meet her new employer. Supposedly, she is to work for Mrs. Owen as a temporary secretary for the duration of the holidays.


When she asks Lombard to tell her what the Owens are like, he balks. He doesn't know how he is expected to answer. At this point, we deduce that poor Lombard has never met the Owens either. So, he does what many people do when they find themselves caught in an embarrassing situation: he changes the subject.


He pretends that there is a wasp on Vera's arm and makes a great show of batting it away. In response, Vera thanks Lombard for his gallant gesture. Lombard has managed to distract Vera admirably, and the talk soon turns to a query about the other guests. Soon, the train approaches and their attention is further centered on one General Macarthur, who will be part of their party on Indian Island.

Monday, November 30, 2009

What is Farquhar's motivation? Why did he do what he did?

Because he was an "original secessionist," which means he sided with the South at the beginning of the conflict between North and South during the Civil War, he is also described as "ardently devoted to the Southern cause," meaning he is passionate about all things Southern.  However, the story vaguely says that he cannot serve in the war as a soldier ("Circumstances of an imperious nature, which it is unnecessary to relate here, had prevented him from taking service with the gallant army..."). But, Farquhar "did what he could. No service was too humble for him."  Thus, when a man dressed as a Confederate soldier tells Farquhar about the advance of the Union army to the Owl Creek Bridge, and how there is plenty of kindling under the bridge that could be lit and burn down the bridge, Farquhar jumps at the chance to help the Southern cause in any way he can.  

Saturday, November 28, 2009

What did Senator Pittman believe was the reason for Republican opposition to joining the League?

Key Pittman was a senator from the state of Nevada that served as Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations and president pro tempore. Pittman was a staunch supporter of the League of Nations and Woodrow Wilson. The question you ask is about a Senate speech that Pittman gave in November of 1919. It would be very difficult to answer this question without understanding some background on the political players of the day.


The president, Woodrow Wilson, was a second term democratic president and was not in very good health, having suffered a stroke. The League of Nations was the hallmark of his Fourteen Points and, in fact, the only part of his legacy that was included in the Treaty of Versailles. The Republicans controlled both houses of Congress and were led by Wilson's chief political rival Henry Cabot Lodge. Lodge did not want the United States in the League of Nations because he thought it would compromise America's ability to make decisions unilaterally. Wilson was not at all interested in compromising on any parts of the Treaty and insisted the Congress ratify it unconditionally.


Pittman insinuates in his address to Congress that the Republicans are using the issue for political gain. The implication is that they are being deceitful to the American people and playing on their fear of being involved in further global conflicts. In doing so, they help their own political interest to take the White House in the 1920 election and maintain power in both houses of Congress.

What is the difference between The Lady Sings The Blues book and the play Lady Day at Emerson Bar and Grill?

Both the book, The Lady Sings The Blues, and the play, Lady Day At Emerson Bar and Grill, tell the story of Billie Holiday (1915-1959), an American jazz singer and song-writer.


The difference between the two is that the book is an autobiography of Holiday's life, while the play centers on an actress (acting as Holiday) singing tunes which tell of the most pertinent experiences of Holiday's life.


You can read a biography of Billie Holiday at the PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) website here.


As for Holiday's autobiography, some contend that the book consists of factual inaccuracies. However, many critics admit that the book highlights the authenticity of Holiday's unique voice as she tells the story of her colorful life. From the pages of The Lady Sings The Blues, Holiday speaks poignantly about abusive relationships, heroin addiction, the Jim Crow laws and racism, incarceration, alcoholism, and teenage prostitution. Holiday's autobiography was released simultaneously with her album of the same name, in 1956. The 1972 film of Holiday, starring Diana Ross as Holiday, and Billy Dee Williams as her husband, Louis McKay, was loosely based on Holiday's autobiography.


You can read a review of Billie Holiday's book here.


As for the play, Lady Day at Emerson Bar and Grill, the most famous Broadway performance of Billie Holiday's story is the one in which the inimitable Audra McDonald stars as Holiday. McDonald's performance won her critical acclaim and many awards. In between famous tunes like What a Little Moonlight Can Do and T'aint Nobody's Business If I Do, McDonald, as Holiday, recounts tales of love lost and of supreme heartache.


You can see the Broadway website describing Audra McDonald's performance here. The last Broadway performance of Lady Day at Emerson Bar and Grill was in 2014.


A critique of the play by the New York Times can be read here.

In Life of Pi, what are some reasons that prove that humans are the most dangerous animals?

When Pi first introduces the belief that man is the most dangerous among all animals, he discusses what zoos around the world have to deal with when visitors interact with the animals. Humans are not only disrespectful to a zoo's animals, but they can be deadly. For example, in chapter 8, Pi lists many things that visitors have done to innocent zoo animals throughout the years. Part of that list is as follows:



". . . we have in mind people who feed fishhooks to the otters, razors to the bears, apples with small nails in them to the elephants and hardware variations on the theme: ballpoint pens, paper clips, safety pins, rubber bands, combs, coffee spoons . . . " (29).



The list goes on after that, too. Then he lists all the types of animals who have died because of such cruelty.


The worst that humans become, though, is demonstrated when they act like wild animals for survival's sake. It's as if all rules of human decency fly out the window when people face imminent death. The cook is the worst example of a dangerous animal because he cuts off the leg of the sailor without flinching. Also, humans can lie to achieve their wicked goals, which is exactly what the cook does to get Pi and his mother to help him amputate the leg:



"It was the cook's idea. He was a brute. He dominated us . . . I can still hear his evil whisper. He would do the job to save the sailor's life, he said, but we would have to hold him" (304-305).



The evil whisper shows the character of the cook. When Pi and his mother discover that the amputation was for fish bait, rather than to save the sailor's life, they are heartbroken because of such betrayal and evil.


One more example of how humans are the most dangerous animals is when they become cannibals. Other than a hyena, who accidentally eats parts of another hyena during a hunt, not many animals eat their own kind. The cook not only dissects the sailor and eats his flesh, but he also kills Pi's mother and feeds her to the fish. Curiously, though, after the cook kills Pi's mother, his mouth is bloody after throwing her body overboard (311). The cook, therefore, is the epitome of how humans can be the most dangerous animals in the world.

Friday, November 27, 2009

What do George and Lennie have that other working men do not have?

This story is set during the Great Depression (1929-39). It was difficult to find and secure work, so men had to travel or do what they could to get jobs. George and Lennie are migrant workers. This was typical of ranch workers as many of them would have to move to other areas to find jobs. More than often, such workers would usually travel alone. Going alone and having no relationship or familial restrictions and obligations made it easier to move about. There was nothing to tie a man down. It was a lonely life. 


George occasionally complains that Lennie holds him back for these reasons. Going alone, George would be lonely but he would be freer to move to different places. But the friendship they have is what sets them apart from other workers. This outweighs the freedom that George would have on his own.


Lennie delights in hearing about the dream of their own farm but also in hearing about the bond of their friendship. He repeatedly asks George to tell him about these things. Of the friendship and how this makes them different from everyone else, George says: 



Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no fambly. The don't belong no place. They come to a ranch an' work up a stake and then they go into town and blow their stake . . . 



George adds that such lonely men having nothing to look forward to. Lennie prods George to go on. George says that he and Lennie are different because they have each other to talk to. Therefore, they don't have to waste all of their money (stake) at a bar with no place to go. Their friendship bonds them together and they use this bond to keep dreaming about the farm. This also sets them apart from the other workers. They have (a dream of) a future. 

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

What are the lower fixed point and upper fixed point in the Fahrenheit scale?

Fahrenheit scale is one of the three commonly used temperature scales (other two being Celsius and Kelvin scales). This was developed by Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit, a German physicist. This scale was based on three fixed points. The lower fixed point of 32 degrees corresponded to freezing of water. The upper fixed point of 212 degrees corresponded to boiling of water. The third fixed point of 96 degrees corresponded to human body temperature (which was later corrected to 98.6 degrees, the value we use today). Fahrenheit scale is not as commonly used in today's world, as the Celsius scale. There are some countries such as, United States that still use it; rest of the world uses the Celsius scale. We can easily convert between the two scale using the formula:


C = 5/9  (F-32),


where C and F are temperatures in Celsius and Fahrenheit.


hope this helps. 

In Oedipus Tyrannus, should we view Oedipus as tragic only, or can we find something heroic in his actions and end?

The answer to this really depends on your working definition of "tragedy" and of "hero". Since Oedipus Tyrannos was written in ancient Greece, it makes sense to use the Aristotelian definition of tragedy and the Homeric model of the hero.


The Homeric hero is a typical figure of oral-traditional epos. Most Homeric heroes are flat and static. In other words, they have a few striking characteristics -- Nestor is wise, Odysseus clever, and Achilles strong -- but they do not have fully developed three-dimensional characters. Even though they undergo many conflicts and adventures, they rarely (with limited exceptions) display self-awareness or evolve over time as characters. One can certainly argue that Oedipus conforms to this in that his horrifying recognition of his identity is not a matter of internal psychological self-knowledge but rather simply correct apprehension of external circumstances. The unhappy ending of the play does not negate the notion of an heroic type of character; Hector was certainly a noble and heroic character in the Iliad, and yet he died and his corpse was desecrated. 


Greek tragedy is continuous with Homeric epic in the sense that most tragedies are set chronologically in the period just after the Trojan war and contain characters from the heroic age. Like heroic characters, the protagonists of tragedy are noble, and the actions in which they engage are of "a certain magnitude". Oedipus is the king of Thebes and his acts, like those of the Greek leaders during the Trojan war, have a significant impact on the lives of everyone around him. Where he differs from the traditional heroic mold is having an essential character flaw that contributes to his downfall. In other words, one could say that Oedipus, like most tragic protagonists, is a flawed hero. 

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Who are the characters in chapter 6 of the book Lyddie?

The characters are Lyddie, Ezekial, Mrs. Cutler, and Triphena.


Lyddie is the main character in the book.  Lydia Worthen is a young woman who works at a pub called Cutler’s Tavern to pay off debts incurred by her family farm.


When visiting her family farm on a break from the tavern, Lyddie sees a runaway slave named Ezekial.  At first she is afraid of him because he is a strange man in her house.  He is the one who thinks that Lyddie is breaking in.  When he learns who she is, he explains that her neighbor Stevens is allowing him to stay there.  He tells her that he thinks she will be understanding.



"I hope he was not mistaken."  He smiled apologetically. "Here, do come down from there and share a cup of tea with me. You've had a long journey, I'd imagine, and a rude shock, finding your home occupied by a stranger." (Ch. 6)



Ezekial, the fugitive slave, is self-taught and likes to quote the Bible.  He is very kind to Lyddie.  She is so impressed by him that she lends him the money that she had from selling the calf.  It is all the money she has.


Lyddie and Ezekial have an interesting conversation where Lyddie compares her situation to his.



"I couldn't leave my home," she said.


"No? And yet you did."


"I had no choice," she said hotly. "I was made to."


"So many slaves," he said softly.


"I ain't a slave," she said. "I just‐I just‐‐" (Ch. 6)



This is a manta that continues to go through Lyddie’s head as she works at the factory later.  She does not want to think of herself as a slave, even though she often has little control over how much work she has to do.


When Lyddie returns to the tavern, the cruel and strict tavern owner Mistress Cutler immediately dismisses her for being away from her post.  Lyddie feels this is unfair, because she did not know that she couldn’t leave while the boss was away. 


Triphena, the cook and Lyddie’s friend, comments that Lyddie is the best she has ever had.  Lyddie tells Triphena that she is going to go be a factory worker.  Triphena lends Lyddie some money since she gave away all of hers.

Why does Marius leave the home of his grandfather and refuse money from him?

When Marius was a baby, his grandfather, Monsieur Gillenormand, demanded the child from George Pontmercy, his own son-in-law, under threat of disinheriting the child. Gillenormand, whose daughter died in childbirth, had no use for the "blockhead" (162) or his differing political opinions. Of course, Marius grows up not knowing this particular situation and feeling as if his father is somehow undesirable.


As an adult, Marius learns that his father had been coming to mass just to catch a glimpse of his son and that he had "sacrificed himself that his son might someday be rich and happy" (168). When Marius learns his father had earned the title of Baron and that he, himself, had inherited it, Gillenormand becomes extremely angry, arguing that Marius' father was a "bandit" (178) and a "traitor." Though his title came with no money, Marius, out of anger and indignation at the lies he endured and the lost time with his own father, leaves his grandfather's home, refusing to take any financial help.


Edition used:


Hugo, Victor. Les Miserables. Trans. Charles Wilbour. New York: Fawcett, 1961.

What were the results of the Sieges of Antioch and Jerusalem?

The Sieges of Antioch and Jerusalem occurred during the First Crusade to reclaim the Holy Land. The crusaders first lay siege to Antioch, which lay north of Palestine and was an important city due to its central location between Europe and the Holy Land. The siege lasted from October 1097 to June 1098, when the Muslims surrendered. Many crusaders died during the siege, but they successfully gained control of the strategic location.


The Siege of Jerusalem took place from June-July 1099. On July 14, the crusaders successfully breached the walls and began to pour into the city, where they brutally slaughtered many of its Muslim inhabitants. With Jerusalem now under Christian control, the crusaders considered their expedition a success. They organized the city into the First Kingdom of Jerusalem, which became one of the first "crusader states." The Kingdom of Jerusalem lasted until 1187, when it was conquered by Saladin and his Muslim army.

Monday, November 23, 2009

What would be a good thesis statement for a critical essay on Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" if I'm writing a character analysis on Mrs....

You might consider making the claim that Mrs. Mallard is a character with whom Chopin wants readers to sympathize, despite the fact that she seems to rejoice when she learns that her loving husband has died.


It seems, on the surface, that Mrs. Mallard's apparent joy is, indeed, monstrous, but an examination of the details that motivate her happiness helps us to understand it in context.  Published, in 1894, this story depicts marriage as it was at the time: a required institution for every young lady to enter, however much she may fear the loss of her individual identity or the repression of her own will.  Mrs. Mallard seems to be a young woman who might have chosen not to marry, had that option been a socially-acceptable one.  Once alone, she whispers the word, "'free, free, free!" as though she cannot believe that she now is.  The narrator tells us that she's thinking how



There would be no one to live for her during those coming years; she would live for herself.  There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature.  A kind intention or a cruel intention made the act seem no less a crime as she looked upon it in that brief moment of illumination.



Even though her husband had been "kind, tender," he had still been her husband, and that had given him a legal right to make any decisions for her.  The fact that he "never looked save with love upon her" does not change the fact that her will was not her own while he was living.  "What could love," she thinks, "the unsolved mystery, count for in the face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being!"  With his death, she is now free to be autonomous; she possesses her own self now and is possessed by no one else.  She can now recognize that this autonomy is actually the most important thing to her.


Thus, even though we might typically consider a widow's joy upon her loving husband's death a terrible thing, it becomes a great deal more understandable when we realize that his death actually grants her a new life.

Is the spring in Tuck Everlasting bad or good and why?

The spring is a bad thing because no one should have to live forever.


On balance, the spring is more dangerous than it's helpful.  When the Tucks first drank from the spring, they had no idea what it did.  They were just a thirsty family traveling through the woods that stopped for water.  Unfortunately, they soon realized that the spring granted them immortality, and that was problematic.


The biggest problem with the spring is that most people will drink from it having no idea what it does.  In this way, they do not get the choice.  It is a very grave decision to choose to live forever.  While it sounds great at first, there are serious downsides.  This is why the family kidnaps Winnie when she sees Jessie drinking from the spring.  If she had taken a drink, the choice would be made before she had enough information to make it.


May Tuck explains to Winnie the dangers of the spring.



"And we figured it'd be very bad if everyone knowed about that spring," said Mae. "We begun to see what it would mean. … That water—it stops you right where you are. If you'd had a drink of it today, you'd stay a little girl forever. You'd never grow up, not ever." (Ch. 7)



Being immortal makes the Tucks outcasts from society.  Because they cannot die, they do not age.  They can’t make friends, or marry and have children.  The friends, spouses, and kids age while they stay the same.  This means that Miles Tuck’s marriage was a disaster.  His kids soon outgrew him.



"I was married. I had two children. But, from the look of me, I was still twenty-two. My wife, she finally made up her mind I'd sold my soul to the Devil. She left me. She went away and she took the children with her." (Ch. 7)



Miles’s case is sad, but at least he had a wife and family once.  Jesse never even tried, knowing that the same thing would happen to him.  He asked Winnie to drink the water when they were the same age, but had she done so she would have been making the choice to condemn herself to the same wandering life as the Tucks.


The Man in the Yellow Suit wants to find the spring and sell it.  People who bought it would know they were making the choice to be immortal, but would likely not be aware of the ramifications.  Living forever sounds great, and most people do not see a downside.  The Tucks do, and they try to protect everyone else from the same fate.

Determine whether Interphase, early prophase, or late prophase. Discuss the stage of mitosis indicated by the abbreviated statements below: 1.) Has...

For the first part of the question, interphase is a time when cells synthesize organelles, grow, replicate the DNA and grow once more before mitotic division occurs.  At the start of  prophase, chromosomes are tightly coiled and seen as pairs of sister chromatids, joined by their centromeres. The spindle begins to form, nucleoli disappear and centrosomes move away from each other toward opposite sides of the cell by late prophase.


For the second part of the question, I have addressed each statement.


For statement 1, the nuclear envelope fragments during late prophase to prometaphase.


For statement 2, a cell plate derived from vesicles is visualized at the middle of the plant cell  by late telophase. Its purpose is to divide the cytoplasm between two daughter cells and it will become integrated into the cell wall.


For statement 3, chromatin material of the nucleus is condensed by prophase at which time it can be seen under the microscope as tightly coiled chromosomes.


For statement 4, the daughter chromosomes you refer to were called sister chromatids when they were joined but which separate once the centromeres divide during anaphase.


For statement 5, cytokinesis accelerates to completion during telophase and is rapidly occurring by late telophase resulting in the division of the cytoplasm between the two daughter cells.


I have included a chart of the cell cycle to better visualize the steps.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

In the novel Of Mice and Men, how is the theme of power presented?

While the importance of friendship, the pain of loneliness and the American Dream are the prominent themes in Of Mice and Men, power could be considered a theme because examples of misuse of power are apparent in the book.


George misuses the power he has over the simple minded Lennie when he reveals to Slim that he used to play dangerous jokes on Lennie. He describes a scene on the Sacramento River:






"One day a bunch of guys was standin’ around up on the Sacramento River. I was feelin’ pretty smart. I turns to Lennie and says, ‘Jump in.’ An’ he jumps. Couldn’t swim a stroke. He damn near drowned before we could get him. An’ he was so damn nice to me for pullin’ him out. Clean forgot I told him to jump in. Well, I ain’t done nothing like that no more.”









Throughout the course of the novel, however, George's behavior toward Lennie is nothing but honorable. The mercy killing at the end is a hard but necessary moment in the two men's friendship.


The saddest example of power in the novel is that which Carlson wields over Candy in the killing of Candy's dog. Carlson continues to insist that Candy's dog is too old and no good anymore. He finally gets the approval of Slim, who, in the world of the bunkhouse, has final say. Slim's power, however, can be considered benevolent because he offers one of his puppies to Candy after passing final judgement on the old dog. Slim says,






“You can have a pup if you want to.” He seemed to shake himself free for speech. “Carl’s right, Candy. That dog ain’t no good to himself. I wisht somebody’d shoot me if I get old an’ a cripple.” 






The dog is virtually Candy's only friend and his killing, even though probably the best thing for the dog, hits Candy hard.


Another example of power is that which is held by the brutal and unstable Curley. Because he is the boss's son the other men are afraid for their jobs if Curley takes a dislike to them. After the fight between Lennie and Curley in the bunkhouse Slim is able to turn the tables on Curley and threatens to tell what happens if Curley gets George and Lennie "canned":






“I think you got your han’ caught in a machine. If you don’t tell nobody what happened, we ain’t going to. But you jus’ tell an’ try to get this guy canned and we’ll tell ever’body, an’ then will you get the laugh.” 






The black stable buck Crooks is also a victim of the power of racism and segregation, prominent in 1930's America. Because he's black Crooks rarely associates with the white workers other than during horseshoe tournaments or on special occasions. When Lennie enters his private quarters and asks why Crooks is not allowed in the white bunkhouse Crooks replies, 









“’Cause I’m black. They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black. They say I stink. Well, I tell you, you all of you stink to me.” 















And later in the same chapter after Crooks shares some camaraderie with Lennie and Candy, Curley's wife reminds him of his impotence in the face of racism. After he tells her to get out of his room Curley's wife threatens him with a plain fact of life in segregated America. Merely mentioning that Crooks might have touched her or even spoken to her provocatively would get Crooks in terrible trouble. Curley's wife says,






“Listen, Nigger,” she said. “You know what I can do to you if you open your trap?” ... “Well, you keep your place then, Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny.”









So, one could make a definite argument that power, as exemplified by the above examples, is an important theme in Of Mice and Men.














Who in Macbeth said "I am in blood, Stepp'd in so far, that, should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go o'er"?

This quote is from Macbeth himself, in Act III, Scene 4. It occurs just after he has excused his guests at the dinner party after seeing the recently-murdered Banquo's ghost, and is spoken to his wife. What it means, more or less, is that Macbeth views himself at a point of no return. He has murdered both Duncan and Banquo by this point, and is concerned that Macduff did not show up for the dinner (a concern that will be vindicated by the witches later). He has "stepp'd" so deep into murder and treachery that he cannot get out of it--it is as difficult ("tedious") to turn back as to forge ahead. He plans to consult with the witches to get advice, and the passage suggests is that Macbeth will commit even more murderous deeds to maintain and consolidate his position of power. 

Why was the conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union after World War II often referred to as the Cold War?

After World War II ended, the United States and the Soviet Union were involved in a Cold War. A Cold War is a period of competition and confrontation between countries. After World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union didn’t fight each other directly, but instead, they were involved in a series of confrontations and competitions.


The Soviet Union wanted to spread its system of communism around the world. We wanted to prevent communism from spreading. Thus, we were often in confrontations with the Soviet Union over the spread of communism. When the Soviet Union tried to force the Allies out of West Berlin by blocking all of the land routes into the city, the Allies responded to this crisis by organizing the Berlin Airlift. The Allies flew supplies over the Soviet land blockade leading the Soviet Union to eventually end the blockade. West Berlin never became communist.


When North Korea, supported by the Soviet Union, invaded South Korea in June 1950 to try to unite Korea into a communist country, the United Nations, led by the United States organized a military force to defend South Korea. North Korea was unable to control South Korea.


The United States and the Soviet Union competed in what was known as the space race. The Soviet Union was the first country to put a satellite into space. The United States concerned that it was falling behind the Soviet Union formed NASA and put a great emphasis on math and science education. We were the first country to successfully land an astronaut on the moon in July 1969.


The United States and the Soviet Union also competed in the Middle East. The Soviet Union supported the Arab countries in the region, such as Egypt while the United States supported Israel. Israel and the Arab countries were enemies.


Even in sports, there was competition between the United States and the Soviet Union. Both countries tried to outdo each other in the Olympic games and in world competitions.


The Cold War was an appropriate name for the competitions and confrontations between the United States and the Soviet Union after World War II ended.

Please explain the beliefs of both the New Classical Theory and Milton Friedmans Natural Rate Hypothesis.

Milton Friedman’s Natural Rate theory was developed in response to the Phillips curve. The Phillips curve established a relationship between inflation and the rate of unemployment. The theory suggested that a rise in price inflation that is yet to be perceived by the employer would lead to an increase in the rate of employment. This is because the employer would view the increase in prices as an increase in demand, which would force the employer to procure more human resources to increase production. The curve also suggests that an increase in wages due to inflation would lead to an increase of labor supply especially when the workers do not anticipate the inflation.


The theory thus determined that monetary policies would generally control the rate of unemployment. However Friedman challenged the theory by suggesting a natural rate of unemployment that would result regardless of changes in the monetary policies. Friedman suggested that the Phillips curve only worked in the short run when the employer and worker did not perceive the inflation. He stated that in the event the employer and worker perceived the inflation, the unemployment rate would be automatically adjusted to the “natural rate”. According to Friedman, this suggests that inflation has no real impact on unemployment.


New classical theory suggests a return to market liberalization and limited interference by the government. In regards to labor markets, the new classical theory supports the establishment of free labor and product markets, where the wages and prices for commodities are set by market forces of demand and supply and not government monetary policies. This in turn supports the theory by Friedman, which states that inflation is not a reliable monetary tool in determining the rate of unemployment within an economy. Nonetheless, one of the three New classical theory approaches to emerge suggests that, while markets are able to generate economic stability between unemployment, inflation and market productivity, government should use microeconomic policy to adjust for imperfections in markets such as markets that fail to emerge or markets that are affected by imperfect knowledge.

Friday, November 20, 2009

How could World War 2 have been prevented?

One of the main reasons that is often cited as being a cause of the Second World War was the Treaty of Versailles that ended the First World War. On June 28th 1919 the Treaty of Versailles was signed, which effectively ended the five years of conflict between Germany and the Allied Powers. Since Germany was seen as one of the main aggressors in World War One and since they were on the losing side of the war as well, the Allied powers wanted to include clauses in the Treaty of Versailles that worked to punish the nation of Germany. Not only did the Allied powers view the Germans and the other central powers as responsible for the war but they also felt that the German nation and military would be able to quickly recover and wage further war if steps were not taken to prevent that outcome.


Therefore articles were included within the Treaty of Versailles that demanded heavy war reparations from particularly the nation of Germany. The result of these clauses within the Treaty was exactly as intended. Germany was cast into extreme national debt due to the fact that they had to pay these reparations and that they were not able to pay. This made it so that in the years the come the Germans were cast into a deep depression and they needed to find a way to recover. War is one of the most profitable enterprises a nation can engage in. Therefore in order to aid in the economic recovery of the nation of Germany, World War Two was started. There are many other reasons as to why the Second World War began, but one of the major reasons was the Carthaginian peace that came out of the Treaty of Versailles.


For further reading follow the link below.

What was the device called which Faber had given Montag in order to communicate with him?

In Part Two "The Sieve and the Sand" of the novel Fahrenheit 451, Montag travels to Faber's house trying to find meaning in th...