Is there any figurative language in this quote from To Kill a Mockingbird: "Calpurnia’s hands went to our shoulders and we stopped and looked...

Figurative language is any language that expresses an idea (or ideas) that are not to be understood literally. 

There's some figurative language here. This is Lula, upset because Cal has brought white children to a black church. We can tell by the attitude of her body that she's upset, even before she utters a word. 

She is "bullet-headed." Because it's safe to assume that her head isn't literally a bullet, this is figurative language. This, as well as her "Indian-bow mouth," are metaphors, meaning that her head is compared to the shape of a bullet and her mouth is compared to the shape of an Indian-bow.

Also, she seems "seven feet tall." This is hyperbole, which is simply another way of saying "exaggeration to for the sake of emphasis."  

Why has the narrator returned to her childhood home in "The Leap" by Louise Erdrich?

In the first paragraph, the narrator notes that her mother is sightless as a result of cataracts. Her mother was a trapeze artist in her younger days and this probably accounts for the graceful way her mother feels her way around the house and doesn't knock anything over. However, her mother loved to read as well and with no sight, she can no longer read. This is the biggest tangible reason the narrator returns to her home: 

Since my father's recent death, there is no one to read to her, which is why I returned, in fact, from my failed life where the land is flat. I came home to read to my mother, to read out loud, read long into the dark if I must, to read all night. 

The daughter mentions her "failed life," so this return is also somewhat of an escape or a retreat. But perhaps the largest motivating factor is that the narrator loves her mother and feels indebted to her. Note that the story is structured around the three times the narrator owes her life to her mother. The first instance is when her mother saves her own life in the trapeze accident and subsequently goes on living to eventually give birth to the narrator. The second is when her mother meets the narrator's father in the hospital. (This is the man who teaches the mother to read.) And the third time is when her mother saves the narrator from the fire with the aforementioned "leap." So, the narrator returns as a result of a failed life, but her main motivation is that she loves her mother and is gladly obliged to read to her. 

In the short story The First Seven Years, where is Max going as he trudges through the snowdrifts past Feld's shop? About what does Feld speak...

In the story, Max is on his way to class as he trudges through the snowdrifts past Feld's shop. Feld admires Max greatly because of Max's commitment to his college education. As the father of a grown daughter, Feld has often lamented his daughter's reluctance to attend college.

So, when Max appears in Feld's shop to inquire about repairing his old shoes, Feld seizes the opportunity to bring a cherished plan to action. He reasons to himself that his daughter, Miriam, might as well marry an educated man even if she will not go to college herself. He thinks that such a marriage would mean a better life for Miriam than the one she currently has. So, after discussing the business of Max's old shoes, Feld ushers Max into the hall for a private word. As Feld's assistant, Sobel, pounds away, Feld broaches the subject of Max dating Miriam. Max is initially surprised at the older man's request but soon asks to see a picture of Miriam. Upon seeing her picture, he pronounces that Miriam looks 'all right,' not exactly a very enthusiastic response.

However, Feld is ecstatic that Max has consented to meet Miriam; he gives Max their telephone number and advises Max to call when Miriam gets home from work at six o'clock. Elated at his success, Feld even charges Max a dollar fifty for a job which usually costs two dollars and twenty-five cents. However, as the story continues, we soon see that Feld does not bargain for his young assistant's real feelings towards his daughter.

`2x - 2y - 6z = -4, -3x + 2y + 6z = 1, x - y - 5z = -3` Solve the system of linear equations and check any solutions algebraically.

EQ1:   `2x-2y-6z=-4`

EQ2:   `-3x + 2y + 6z=1`

EQ3:    `x-y-5z=-3`

To solve this system of equation, let's apply elimination method. In this method, a variable or variables should be removed in order to get the value of the other variable.

Let's eliminate y. To do so, add EQ1 and EQ2.

           `2x-2y-6z=-4`

`+`      `-3x+2y+6z=1`

`----------------`

` `

                            `-x = -3`

Then, solve for x.

`(-x)/(-1)=(-3)/(-1)`

`x=3`

Isolate y again.Consider EQ1 and EQ3.

`2x-2y-6z=-4`

`x-y-5z=-3`

To be able to eliminate y, multiply EQ3 by -2. Then, add the two equations.

        `2x-2y-6z=-4`

`+` `-2x+2y+10z=6`

`---------------`

                         `4z=2`

And, solve for z.

`(4z)/4=2/4`

`z=1/2`

Now that the values of the two variables are known, let's solve for the remaining variable. Let's plug-in x=3 and z=1/2 to EQ1.

`2x - 2y -6z = -4`

`2(3)-2y-6(1/2)=-4`

`6-2y-3=-4`

`3-2y=-4`

`3-3-2y=-4-3`

`-2y=-7`

(-2y)/(-2)=(-7)/(-2)

`y=7/2`

Therefore, the solution is  `(3, 7/2, 1/2)` .

How does Gulliver characterize doctors in speaking to Dapple Grey?

Gulliver tells Dapple Grey that doctors "get their Livelihood by attending the Sick [...]," a concept that is completely foreign to the Houyhnhnms because they really do not suffer from diseases.  He says that we eat when we are not hungry, drink when we are not thirsty, sleep with a lot of people and contract diseases, and get drunk quite a bit, also causing disease; in short, we make ourselves ill with the terrible way we treat our bodies. Thus, a doctor will force the patient's body to purge whatever is hurting it, either by inducing vomit, bleeding the patient, inducing the evacuation of the bowels, etc., and he describes the medicines as being the worst-tasting stuff imaginable, filled with disgusting ingredients that turn the stomach.  

Gulliver also says that doctors have "invented imaginary Cures" for the "imaginary" diseases to which we are subject; such diseases most often affect females. Further, he states that if a doctor has predicted that a patient will die, and then that patient begins to recover, "they know how to approve their Sagacity to the World by a seasonable Dose." In other words, he says that, rather than appear to be wrong, a doctor will instead poison his patient!

`15^@` Find the exact values of the sine, cosine, and tangent of the angle.

You need to find the values of the sine, cosine and tangent of `15^o, ` such that:

`sin 15^o = sin ((30^o)/2) = sqrt((1 - cos 30^o)/2)`

`sin 15^o = sqrt((2 - sqrt 3)/4)`

`sin 15^o = (sqrt(2 - sqrt 3))/2`

`cos 15^o = cos ((30^o)/2) = sqrt((1 + cos 30^o)/2)`

`cos 15^o = (sqrt(2 + sqrt 3))/2`

`tan 15^o = (sin 15^o )/(cos 15^o)`

`tan 15^o = ((sqrt(2 - sqrt 3))/2)/((sqrt(2 + sqrt 3))/2)`

`tan 15^o = ((sqrt(2 - sqrt 3)))/((sqrt(2 + sqrt 3)))`

`tan 15^o = ((sqrt(4 - 3)))/(2 + sqrt 3)`

`tan 15^o = 1/(2 + sqrt 3)`

`tan 15^o = 1/(2 + sqrt 3)`

`tan 15^o = (2 - sqrt 3)/(4-3)`

`tan 15^o = (2 - sqrt 3)`

Hence, evaluating the values of sine, cosine and tangent of `15^o` , yields `sin 15^o = (sqrt(2 - sqrt 3))/2, cos 15^o = (sqrt(2 + sqrt 3))/2, tan 15^o = (2 - sqrt 3).`

If women still choose to get married in spite of Wollstonecraft's argument about equality, is it a violation of Wollstonecraft's ideas?

Probably not. Although Wollstonecraft had plenty to say about marriage in "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman," you won't see her saying (or even hinting) that marriage should be avoided entirely.

Her point is that women need to educate themselves, become good citizens, develop morals, be strong, and basically be good people who think rationally. Marriages based on physical attraction and flirtation are pointless, she says, because those things fade with time, while mutual respect and friendship can last forever in a marriage.

Interestingly, the answer to this question will be more meaningful if we assign a time period to it.

That is: "If women still choose to get married today, in the year 2016 or later, in spite of Wollstonecraft's argument about equality, is it a violation of Wollstonecraft's ideas?"

In that case, definitely not. Although you could find plenty of support for the idea that men and women have not yet achieved equality today, there are major advances that have been made toward that goal. 

Or: "If women in Wollstonecraft's time still choose to get married in spite of Wollstonecraft's argument about equality, is it a violation of Wollstonecraft's ideas?"

Still, probably not, for the reasons discussed above. To find more meaning here, let's consider some questions that would be a violation of Wollstonecraft's ideas in any time period:

1. If women aim to snag their husbands solely by looking hot and acting flirty, in spite of Wollstonecraft's argument about equality, is it a violation of Wollstonecraft's ideas? Yes.

2. If women enter marriage thinking that passionate love and romance are everlasting and that these will keep the marriage strong until the couple reaches old age, in spite of Wollstonecraft's argument about equality, is it a violation of Wollstonecraft's ideas? Yes.

3. If women decide to leave college early or skip it entirely because they already found a man, so what's the point, in spite of Wollstonecraft's argument about equality, is it a violation of Wollstonecraft's ideas? Yes.

4. If women keep quiet about their own ideas, avoid becoming physically stronger through exercise, and/or dress in clothes so tight they hurt or high heels that injure their feet, especially for the purpose of attracting a husband... all in spite of Wollstonecraft's argument about equality, is it a violation of Wollstonecraft's ideas? Yes.

A Consumer that eats only plants is a _________?

A consumer which eats only plants is called an herbivore.

A consumer which eats only animals is called a carnivore.

A species which eats both plants and animals is called an omnivore.

With respect to humans, there is the possibility of some confusion. All humans are omnivores. Some people, however, are vegetarians. Vegetarians are those who choose to eat only plants. However, this does not mean vegetarians are herbivores. Vegetarians are omnivores because the human species is omnivorous.

In the same way, a cat which only has access to feed pellets composed of corn is still a carnivore, even though it may be eating a totally vegetarian diet. 

The definition of whether an animal is a herbivore, omnivore or carnivore is made on the species level, although individuals may consume different diets.

What cells are involved in the innate immune response? Explain their role.

The innate immune system is a basic immune system that provides a generic response in a body to invading pathogens and disease-causing agents.  It does not have residual or long lasting effects, as does the adaptive immune system. Some of the cells that provide resistance to invading pathogens are:

• white blood cells (WBC's)- white blood cells are able to manipulate and travel on their own, and are excellent in trapping debris, particles that are foreign in nature, and disease causing microorganisms.


• mast cells. which release histamine and heparin, which dilates blood vessels.


• phagocytes, which literally means "cell eaters."  These engage cells that are foreign in nature, engulf them, and digest them.


• neutrophils, which have enzymes that kill or inhibit the growth of bacteria.


• dendrite cells, important to antigen presentation.


• natural killer cells (NK's), which destroy compromised cells within the host.

All these various types of cells provide an immediate response to invading foreign material which would otherwise result in rapid deterioration and death of an organism.

What objects from the society and temporal setting of Romeo and Juliet would you put in a time capsule?

The first thing I would put in the time capsule would be the vial from which Juliet drank the sleeping potion.  She was still clutching this in her hand when Romeo found her.

I would also include Romeo's dagger.  Romeo and Juliet both used this dagger to end their lives. Without this weapon Romeo could not have killed himself so quickly and possibly Juliet would have awakened and they would be together.

The letter that the Friar wrote that never made it to Romeo would also be in my time capsule. If the messenger had gotten the note to Romeo he would have known that Juliet was just sleeping.

Finally I would include a cross.  Religion played such a huge role in the lives of the characters in the play and the people of the time period.

Who is Don Pedro?

Don Pedro is a character in Much Ado About Nothing, one of William Shakespeare's many popular plays. Pedro was a member of the Aragonian nobility, and he is often referred to as "Prince" in the play. Due to his position, he has great social and political influence. He is smart, generous, and loyal to his friends, but he is also sometimes quick to think the worst of others.

Additionally, Don Pedro often serves as the "voice or reason" in the play. While the other characters make "much ado about nothing," Pedro remains relatively calm and diffuses situations which others may have escalated. One example of this is his proposal to Beatrice. When she denies his proposal, he does not pout or hold a grudge. Instead, he decides to help her find a good husband: Benedick.

In To Kill a Mockingbird why did Harper Lee choose Arthur as a name for one of the characters? What is the origin?

In To Kill A Mockingbird, Boo Radley's given name is Arthur. The name Arthur has a Roman origin from the Artorius clan. Arthur means noble or courageous. It is very interesting that Lee chose this particular character to have the name Arthur because Boo Radley is the town recluse and does not seem courageous at all. He always stays in his home, seemingly fearful of the world outside. Jem and Scout are fascinated by the myths that depict Boo as a monster and often try to catch sight of him. When the children are attacked by Bob Ewell, it is Boo Radley who saves them and kills Ewell. It is in this moment that he seems to truly live up to his name and shows tremendous courage. 

How were the plans for Reconstruction different after the Civil War?

After the Civil War, there were two plans of Reconstruction that were being considered for adoption. President Andrew Johnson had his plan. He wanted to give amnesty to the southern people as well as returning their property if they promised to be loyal to the United States. He wanted to make it harder for former confederate leaders to get amnesty. They would have to apply directly to him for amnesty.  In order to vote for delegates who would attend the state conventions to write the new state constitutions, people had to promise to be loyal to the United States and had to have been pardoned. He wanted new state governments to be established that would reject secession and abolish slavery by approving the thirteenth amendment.

The other plan that was being considered was a plan by a group of Republicans called Radical Republicans. They wanted Reconstruction to be very harsh on the South. Their plan called for giving voting rights to African-American males while taking away voting rights from Confederate leaders. They also wanted to give land to the former slaves by taking it from the large landowners in the South. The Radical Republicans also wanted to fund schools for African-Americans.

As time passed, the Radical Republicans were able to gain control of the process of Reconstruction. The fourteenth amendment was passed guaranteeing citizenship and the rights of citizenship to anybody born in the United States. The South was also divided into five military districts with the passage of the Reconstruction Act of 1867. Additionally, the fifteenth amendment was passed guaranteeing voting rights to former slaves. Eventually new constitutions were written in the southern states that had to include the ratification of the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments. Clearly, the Radical Republican plan was harsher on the South than President’s Johnson plan would have been.

What warning does Banquo give Macbeth?

In Act I, Scene 3, after Macbeth and Banquo have heard the Witches' prophecies, Macbeth asks Banquo:

Do you not hope your children shall be kings,
When those that gave the Thane of Cawdor to me
Promised no less to them?

What Macbeth means here is that the Witches promised that he would become king and also promised that Banquo's heirs would be kings. In response, Banquo gives Macbeth the following warning:

But ’tis strange;
And oftentimes, to win us to our harm,
The instruments of darkness tell us truths,
Win us with honest trifles, to betray's
In deepest consequence—

This suggests that the Witches, who are instruments of darkness, agents of the Devil, are not there to do either Macbeth or Banquo any good but to do them harm. Banquo's premonition turns out to be true because both men are destroyed by the play's end. Macbeth and Banquo quickly become suspicious of each other. Macbeth strikes first. He recruits men to murder both Banquo and his son Fleance--although Fleance manages to escape and keeps the prospect of Banquo's heirs becoming kings still alive. Macbeth murders King Duncan and manages to supplant him as king of Scotland. But the thanes and the common people hate him because they know he is a murderer and a usurper. He has to rule by escalating force and fear, leading to domestic chaos and desertions. The English king sends an army headed by Duncan's son and legitimate heir along with Macduff, the Thane of Fife. Macbeth trusts the "instruments of darkness" until the end, when he is slain by Macduff in hand-to-hand combat and his head is displayed on a pike.

So Shakespeare, through Banquo, is suggesting that the Three Witches stop Macbeth and Banquo on the heath in order to plant false notions in both their heads and cause their destruction with real truths that have fatal consequences. Macbeth tries to make the prophecies come true in a proactive manner, but Banquo keeps his head and does nothing. He reasons that if Fate intends for certain things to happen to him and his heirs, then those things will happen without his trying to interfere with Fate. Otherwise he will be content with whatever happens.

How does the media coverage of the Vietnam War affect the characters in Gary Schmidt's The Wednesday Wars?

In Gary Schmidt's The Wednesday Wars, two characters the media coverage of the Vietnam War affects the most are Holling and his sister Heather.

At first, Holling ignores the news coverage given by Walter Cronkite and is annoyed by his father's obsession with the news reports. However, as Holling grows closer to Mrs. Baker, the media coverage affects him more. Towards the beginning of the book, we learn that Mrs. Baker's husband, Tybalt Baker, has been drafted into the 101st Airborne Division. By February of the story, Mrs. Baker receives a telegram reporting that Lieutenant Baker is "MISSING IN ACTION" near the Khesanh marine base, which was surrounded by the Vietcong. Soon after learning Mrs. Baker's husband is missing, Holling begins devotedly watching Walter Cronkite report on the war every night with his family. As he watches, he "hop[es] for a sign, any sign of Lieutenant Tybalt Baker" ("March").

Mr. and Mrs. Hoodhood show some anxiety about the news reports of the war, especially when they learn that five thousand US Marines are trapped on the Khesanh base, surrounded by twenty-thousand Vietcong soldiers; however, Heather, Holling's sister, is the one who is stirred to express the most anger about and fear of the war. As a high school student, Heather is influenced to become involved in the flower child movement, a movement that expressed belief in "peace and understanding and freedom" and protested against the Vietnam War ("October"). At one point in the story, when Holling becomes humiliated enough to think of going to military school, Heather expresses her fear of losing her brother to the war by saying that the "next stop after military school is Saigon"; she continues further to talk about how the news reports "two hundred soldiers" dying in the war every single week ("January"). She ends by saying, "I couldn't stand it if ... " ("January"). Though Heather is unable to finish her thought, we know she is thinking of how dreadful it would be if she lost her brother to the terrible war, and we know her knowledge of the war has been influenced by media coverage.

Describe Mrs. Joe Gargery's bad treatment to Pip and the effect of this treatment on Pip in Great Expectations.

Pip is orphaned early in his childhood, and his older sister is forced to take him into her home.  Resenting his presence, she becomes abusive both physically and mentally, and her mistreatment of Pip affects him emotionally, causing him to become fearful and insecure.

When Pip encounters the convict in the graveyard where the melancholy child looks at his parents' graves, he is terrified. Out of this trepidation, he agrees to bring the convict food, but he is equally fearful of Mrs. Joe's discovering that he has stolen from her cupboard. As he sneaks downstairs, Pip imagines that the cracks in the boards of the stairs call out, "Stop thief!...Get up, Mrs. Joe!" Then, when the convict meets him and takes the food and drink Pip has brought, Pip is yet afraid.

As he returns home from the marshes where the convict was, Pip "fully expected to find a constable in the kitchen, waiting to take [him] up." But when the family has Christmas dinner and Mrs. Joe offers Uncle Pumblechook brandy, Pip's fears return because he has filled the bottle with tar water to replace the brandy which he has given to the convict. "I was in an agony of apprehension." But, he is saved by the appearance of the soldiers who are looking for two escaped men off the prison ship. Because they need a blacksmith to repair the chains on the two fugitives, Joe goes with the soldiers and Pip rides along on Joe's shoulders. Again, he is afraid that the convict will show his recognition of Pip and Mrs. Joe will interrogate him and then take Tickler to him.

In another part of the narrative, Uncle Pumblechook rushes over in his cart to inform Mrs. Joe that the wealthy Miss Havisham wants a boy to come and play with her ward. So, Pip is subjected to rough scrubbing and admonitions; finally, he is sent with Pumblechook, who takes him to Satis House the next day. When the supercilious Estella is told that she can play with Pip, she replies with disdain that he is but a "common laboring boy," and she also makes fun of Pip's coarse boots. After her abuse, Pip cries because his self-esteem is so low already. Later, when he returns home Pip feels ashamed of himself and Joe both for being "common." Certainly, Pip's humiliation at the hands of his sister and then by Estella provides much of his motivation to wish to become a gentleman.

What is the present-day Chinese government called?

After the Chinese Civil War, a communist government was installed in China in 1949. China was renamed the People's Republic of China and Mao Zedong was named the first Chairman or president. Since the death of Zedong in 1976, China has operated under a mixed economy, and communist principles have been loosened. Despite this, centralized government control has still remained strict when compared to the democracies of the West.

Presently, Li Keqiang is the premier of China, which means that he is the head of the government. Xi Jinping is the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the President of China.

China's government is a one-party dictatorship or one-party state. This means that only members of the Communist Party of China are allowed to hold office in government.

In the 18th century, was it only the American colonists who had "virtual representation" in Parliament, or did British citizens in England have...

The concept of "virtual representation" did not just apply to the American colonists, but to the people of Great Britain as well. Edmund Burke, in a famous speech to the Electors of Bristol, responsible for returning him to office, explained it like this:

Parliament is a deliberative assembly of one nation, with one interest, that of the whole; where, not local purposes, not local prejudices, ought to guide, but the general good, resulting from the general reason of the whole. You choose a member indeed; but when you have chosen him, he is not member of Bristol, but he is a member of parliament. 

In other words, Burke did not feel obligated to advance the interests of the Bristol merchants who elected him, but the people of Great Britain as a whole. This concept was fundamental to the British constitution, and it was rooted in the reality that many Parliamentary election districts, or "boroughs" were actually based in rural areas with very small populations. These boroughs could still choose members of the House of Commons, while other rapidly growing urban areas, like Manchester, could not. It might be argued that the concept of "virtual representation" was invented to justify this situation, as well as in answer to the complaints of the American colonists, but the point is that the English people were, in theory, no more directly represented than British subjects in America. They also, not incidentally, paid much higher taxes than people in the colonies. In reality, many Parliamentarians were in fact the direct representatives of the people that elected them, and Burke's ideal of virtual representation was in many ways nonexistent in real life, however. But the British could argue with propriety that they were not obligated by the English constitution to grant representatives in Parliament to the Americans.

How did the American economy come to be dominated by monopolistic corporations in industries such as steel and oil?

The main reason the American economy came to be dominated by monopolistic corporations in the post-Civil War era was that these businesses functioned in an essentially regulation-free environment. The federal government, and for that matter state governments, were almost totally unwilling to pass legislation that would limit or prohibit the formation of monopolies. So steel magnates like Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller, an oil tycoon, were free to build almost total control of their industries through innovative business practices like "vertical integration," the process of buying out the supply and distribution chains in a particular industry. Rockefeller built his Standard Oil empire as a trust, which placed the stock of competitors under a central board of directors. Business leaders in many other fields, including railroads, tobacco, sugar, and meat-packing used similar methods to gain almost total control of their industries, and profit enormously. The point is that they did so in an environment almost completely devoid of regulation. 

Regulation was slow in coming, and the late nineteenth century witnessed a gradual move toward limited oversight of economic activity. The Sherman Anti-Trust Act, passed in 1890, was an early attempt to limit the power of the "trusts," as all monopolies came to be known. It was seldom enforced, however, and was only really given teeth 24 years later by the Clayton Anti-trust Act, the result of two decades of Progressive demands for reform. The Interstate Commerce Act, passed in 1887, attempted to regulate the unfair business practices of the railroads, which were of particular concern to farmers, and it achieved some success. By and large, however, the nineteenth century witnessed few successful attempts to check the power of big corporations. 

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, what are Aunt Alexandra's ideas about breeding and family? Why does Atticus tell them to forget it?

In Chapter 13, Scout mentions that Aunt Alexandra is obsessed with heredity and believes that each family has a "streak" in their ancestry. Alexandra maintains that several families throughout Maycomb have drinking streaks, gambling streaks, mean streaks, and funny streaks. Aunt Alexandra also believes that the longer a family has occupied a piece of land, the "finer" that family was. Aunt Alexandra criticizes Atticus for not teaching his children about the proud Finch family history. Atticus then attempts to have his children sit down and listen to him explain their family history. Scout and Jem can tell that Atticus is acting strange, and Scout begins to cry. Atticus feels silly telling his children to remember useless information and tells Scout and Jem to forget about it. He doesn't share the same enthusiasm towards family history that his sister does.

What type of thinking spread during the Renaissance and Reformation periods?

During the Renaissance period, thinking shifted from that which closely aligned to the teachings of the Catholic Church to a more humanist perspective.  This was in part because of the invention of Gutenburg's printing press, which allowed different types of literature to be published in large quantities.  Petrarch was an Italian poet whose work helped to spread the ideas of humanism in Italy and the rest of Europe during the Renaissance.

Also during this time, Martin Luther took a stand against the Catholic Church in Germany.  He expressed his concerns with the church, specifically the selling of indulgences.  He also suggested that the mass should be in the language of the country where the church is located, rather than solely in Latin.  These new ideas and others were the beginning of the Protestant Reformation in Europe.  

In both cases, the Renaissance and the Reformation defied the teachings and outlook of the Catholic Church.  The Catholic Church lost strength and power in Europe because of these two movements.

In "To Build a Fire" by Jack London, what value assumptions about animals underlie the man's interactions with the dog? How does the story's plot...

There is the anthropocentric assumption that humans are more intelligent than all other animals, including dogs. Therefore, the reader would perhaps assume that the man knows best and that the dog is merely operating under its own simplistic instincts. The plot of this story proves this notion to be incorrect. The man is too proud. He recognizes this too late. The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him to take a companion with him but the man refused. His pride overrides his supposed higher intelligence (relative to other animals) and he uses this pride to override his instinct as well. Meanwhile, the dog's instinct is correct: 

The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold. It knew that it was no time for traveling. Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the man's judgment. 

When the man decides that his only chance for survival is to cut the dog open and warm his hands in the carcass, the story shows that the man has become the more savage creature. To be sure, he is out of options and is now acting on instinct and reason in order to survive. But note that, after the man has died, the dog doesn't feed on him or harm him in any way. The dog simply heads toward the camp. So, the assumption that this wolf-dog is more wild and therefore more savage than a man is overturned as well. 

What do you understand by radiant energy?

Radiant energy is the energy contained in the electromagnetic waves (which include visible light, infrared, ultraviolet, x-ray, gamma ray, microwaves, etc.). Our most familiar source of radiant energy is our Sun. Since, the intervening space between Earth and Sun is almost empty, we can hypothesize that radiant energy can move without a medium. Radiant energy can also be absorbed and can increase the temperature of a body, since we feel warm if we sit outside on a sunny day. In fact, radiant energy can not only be absorbed, it can also be reflected and scattered. That is what happens with the radiant energy from the Sun, part of it is reflected back to space, some part is absorbed and rest scattered. A combination of these processes is the reason we have a planet warm enough to support life. We can also make engineering uses of radiant energy. One common application is solar water heaters, which absorb the radiant energy from Sun and heat water (or space, such as buildings). 

Hope this helps. 

What does Mayella really mean in her final statement to the jury in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird?

During her testimony in Chapter 18 of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Mayella makes several different claims in her final statement to Atticus, the judge, and the jury.

First, it has become very clear to Mayella that Atticus's cross-examination has uncovered all of the holes in her story. One hole is that Tom Robinson is crippled in his left arm and hand, whereas Mayella had been bruised in her right eye, which only a left-handed man would have been capable of. As soon as she sees the flaw in testifying, contrary to Sheriff Tate's testimony, that Robinson had bruised her "left eye with his right fist," she gives the ridiculous argument, "I ducked and it--it glanced" (Ch. 18). A second hole in her story Atticus uncovers is that, though Mayella doesn't dare fully admit it, her father is abusive, as well as left-handed, making him the most likely suspect of abuse, not Robinson. Yet, Mayella, knowing she must defend herself against her father's wrath, sees she must stick to her story of Robinson abusing her; therefore, one thing she says in her final statement is, "That nigger yonder took advantage of me," which she means very literally even though she is lying.

She next makes the following claim in her final statement:

[I]f you fine fancy gentlemen don't wanta do nothin' about it then you're all yellow stikin' cowards, stinkin' cowards, the lot of you.

The word yellow can be used idiomatically to mean being to mean being "cowardly"; therefore, Mayella is calling Atticus, Judge Taylor, and the jury members cowardly if they refuse to convict Robinson (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs). The irony is that Mayella is truly the one being cowardly for refusing to speak the truth and have her father indicted rather than Robinson.

Finally, she declares to Atticus, "Your fancy airs don't come to nothin'--your ma'amin' and Miss Mayellerin' don't come to nothin', Mr. Finch--." By this statement, she is saying that his educated displays of civility don't amount to anything if he is a coward. But, again, the irony is that she herself is the one who is cowardly due to the fact that she has never been treated civilly her whole life and has no education to help her make better judgements.

Hence, though she appears to be insulting Atticus and the rest of the court in her final statement, ironically, everything she says actually applies to herself.

How are Romeo and Juliet infatuated with each other, and how is the infatuation connected to the monologue that begins, "O serpent heart, hid with...

In Juliet's monologue "O serpent heart, hid with a flowering face!", William Shakespeare shows Juliet's internal conflict. Though Romeo has just murdered her cousin, her infatuation and love for him directly juxtaposes her disdain for his murderous deed, making it difficult for Juliet to completely renounce her new husband. 

When Romeo and Juliet first meet, it is at the Juliet's family home at a party. Romeo arrived at the party upset because another woman named Rosalind didn't love him, but she is forgotten about the moment Romeo sees Juliet. His infatuation with her removes all traces of his former love, and now he wants nothing other than Juliet. Later in the play, Juliet's infatuation with Romeo leads her to defy her father's wishes and marry someone else other than the man he has chosen for her. This choice becomes especially difficult to bear once Romeo murders Juliet's cousin, Tybalt, for murdering his best friend, Mercutio. Juliet loves Romeo -- but had no idea that kind of rage was hidden within.

What are some quotes from Scout that are about Jem in Chapters 7 and 8?

Chapter 7 Quotes:

"Jem stayed moody and silent for a week. As Atticus had once advised me to do, I tried to climb into Jem's skin and walk around in it: if I had gone alone to the Radley Place at two in the morning, my funeral would have been held the next afternoon. So I left Jem alone and tried not to bother him." (Lee 77)

Scout's actions depict her taking into consideration her father's life lesson. By "climbing into Jem's skin" she is maturing and developing morally. Scout is beginning to view situations from other people's point of view, which is an important lesson Atticus teaches Scout following her rough first day of school.

"The sixth grade seemed to please him from the beginning: he went through a brief Egyptian Period that baffled me---he tried to walk flat a great deal, sticking one arm in front of him and one in back of him, putting one foot behind the other. He declared Egyptians walked that way." (Lee 79)

Scout's description of her brother misinterpreting Egyptian art portrays him as an innocent, naive child. Jem actually thinks that Egyptians walked stiff because of the way they were represented in hieroglyphs, which could not be further from the truth. The fact that Jem is excited to share what he learned depicts his affinity for school and education.

Chapter 8 Quotes:

"Jem scooped up some snow and began plastering it on. He permitted me to cover only the back, saving the public parts for himself." (Lee 89)

In typical Jem fashion, he takes the lead on building the snowman and lets Scout sparingly participate. Scout, being the younger sibling, is usually following Jem's lead and wants to partake in everything he does. The two children mix dirt and snow together to form a snowman which resembles their neighbor, Mr. Avery.

"Jem seemed to have lost his mind. He began pouring out our secrets right and left in total disregard for my safety if not for his own, omitting nothing, knot-hole, pants and all." (Lee 96)

After Atticus mentions that Boo Radley gave Scout a blanket to warm her while the children were outside watching Maudie's house fire, Jem begins confessing their various encounters regarding Boo Radley. Scout thinks that Atticus is going to punish them for bothering Boo, but Atticus simply laughs and thinks it's best to keep the blanket to themselves.

Does the end of "Ode to Autumn" provide any resolution?

As the other, excellent answer to this question suggests, John Keats' "To Autumn" ends with a description of the cyclical nature of life and the seasons. However, Keats also provides resolution in this final stanza by asserting that even autumn, a season of endings, has a touching beauty all it's own. Indeed, in addressing autumn in this final stanza, Keats says "thou hast thy music too" (24), and he backs up this claim by subsequently describing a scene of great beauty:

While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day, 

   And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue; 

Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn 

   Among the river sallows, borne aloft 

      Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies; 

And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn; 

   Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft 

   The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft; 

      And gathering swallows twitter in the skies. (25-33)

Though the natural beauty here is somewhat melancholy, it's beautiful nonetheless. Keats describes a sunset with immense virtuosity, and then illustrates a peaceful, bucolic scene populated by lambs, crickets, and singing birds. As such, the poem asserts that there is beauty even in the ending of a season and a year. More specifically, Keats is asserting the importance of endings by presenting autumn in a dignified fashion. In this way, he turns a classically melancholy season into something positive and gives resolution to the poem.   

How is commitment shown between Macbeth and his wife, in Act 1 of Macbeth?

When Lady Macbeth hears the witches' prophecy that Macbeth will be king, she immediately begins to conspire with him against Duncan. Macbeth and his wife show their commitment to each other as they agree to work together to murder Duncan. Lady Macbeth advises her husband to be friendly to Duncan when he arrives, but like her, to harden his heart and "be the serpent:"

Bear welcome in your eye,

Your hand, your tongue. Look like th' innocent flower,

But be the serpent under ’t.  

At the banquet that night, Lady Macbeth does her part by flattering Duncan in any way she can, which works to disarm him. Later, when Macbeth is beginning to have second thoughts about murdering Duncan, as he enjoys being in favor with the king, Lady Macbeth steels his resolve. She reminds him of his promise to kill Duncan and insists he will be coward if he backs out. She says to him that she would go so far as to dash her own baby's brains out if she had promised Macbeth to do so. She also reassures him that the murder will succeed.

Thus, from the start, we see that Macbeth and his wife are solidly in league and committed to each other in their murderous enterprise.  

What is Bud's idea about how the library affects people?

I think that your question is referring to Bud's time spent in the library in Chapter 9. Bud has gone back to the library in order to figure out how far it is to Grand Rapids. Once he knows that information, he can then calculate how long it will take him to walk there. He discovers that it is 120 miles away, and it will take him 24 hours of walking to get there. That's the only information he came to the library to obtain. But before he could leave the library, the librarian handed him a Civil War book. Bud wanted to say that he wasn't interested in history, but he took the book anyway. Bud was pleasantly surprised with the content of the book because it was filled with gory war pictures, which he likes to look at.  

I didn't want to tell her that I wasn't really interested in history, it was just that the best gory pictures in the world came from the Civil War. And this book was full of them. It really was a great book.

It's a hilarious line because Bud is judging the quality of a book based on the goriness of its pictures. Regardless of why Bud thinks that the book is good, he becomes so absorbed in the book that he ends up staying in the library until closing time.  

There's another thing that's strange about the library, it seems like time flies when you're in one. . . I couldn't believe it, it'd happened again! I'd spent the whole day reading.

Bud seems to think that being in a library causes people to lose track of time. I definitely agree, because I have personally burned way too many hours of my life in places like Barnes and Noble. Of course the coffee shop helps.   

How does Guy de Maupassant try to make the character of Madame Loisel interesting for the reader in "The Necklace"?

Guy de Maupassant's short story "The Necklace" is a about a young woman who feels trapped in a mundane existence and yearns for a more exciting life which, she feels, is only lived by the very wealthy. She often daydreams about what it would be like in a different existence:

She thought of the silent antechambers hung with Oriental tapestry, lit by tall bronze candelabra, land of the two great footmen in knee-breeches who sleep in the big arm-chairs, made drowsy by the heavy warmth of the hot-air stove. She thought of the long salons fitted up with ancient silk, of the delicate furniture carrying priceless curiosities, and of the coquettish perfumed boudoirs made for talks at five o’clock with intimate friends, with men - famous and sought after, whom all women envy and whose attention they all desire. 

Her husband is a simple man yet very devoted to his wife and obviously feels her boredom because one day he brings home tickets for a very fancy ball which, he feels, is the perfect event to bring his wife out of the doldrums. She treats him rudely, suggesting she has nothing to wear to such an affair. Because he wants to please her, he acquiesces and agrees to give her money for a new dress. 

But, even after buying her a new dress for the occasion, the petulant young woman is not satisfied and wants more. Madame Loisel says,

 “It annoys me not to have a single jewel, not a single stone, nothing to put on. I shall look like distress. I should almost rather not go at all.”

Her husband suggests that she see her old friend, Madame Forestier to borrow some jewelry. Of course, the jewel she borrows is the necklace of the story's title.

Up to this point in the story Madame Loisel is only interesting in that we are in anticipation of what may happen next in the story. She has virtually no redeeming qualities other than the fact she is "pretty and charming." Indeed, her looks and charm make her the most sought after woman at the ball.

It isn't until after the ball that Madame Loisel becomes truly interesting by revealing herself as both a rounded and dynamic character. A dynamic character is one who changes over the course of a story. Her resilience in the face of hardship is remarkable. After losing the necklace at the ball and having to sacrifice most of her comforts to purchase a new one Madame Loisel tackles her new life with robust energy:

She came to know what heavy housework meant and the odious cares of the kitchen. She washed the dishes, using her rosy nails on the greasy pots and pans. She washed the dirty linen, the shirts, and the dish-cloths, which she dried upon a line; she carried the slops down to the street every morning, and carried up the water, stopping for breath at every landing. And, dressed like a woman of the people, she went to the fruiterer, the grocer, the butcher, her basket on her arm, bargaining, insulted, defending her miserable money sou by sou. 

Finally, at the end of the story, Madame Loisel displays simple pride when she once again meets her friend Madame Forestier. She is quite happy to tell the woman the truth about the necklace and how she and her husband went into poverty to replace the lost item. It is after we learn that the necklace was really quite worthless that we see Madame Loisel as a noble character who is the victim of circumstance and the very formal manners of 19th century France.

It is difficult to analyze De Maupassant's use of language in "The Necklace" because I am not reading the original French version of the story. In fact, there are several translations, each one a little different. I have provided the link to the translation I used. Even the top textbook companies in the U.S., including Holt and Prentice-Hall have chosen differing translations.

In Into the Wild, what does Chris's mother not understand?

I believe that this question is asking about a specific section of the novel in which Billie McCandless admits not understanding something about her son.  It took me a little bit to find, but I believe that the question is asking about the following quote.  

“I just don’t understand why he had to take those kind of chances,” Billie protests through her tears. “I just don’t understand it at all.”

The quote can be found at the very end of chapter 13.  McCandless's body had been discovered and brought home a month earlier.  Krakauer and Billie are sitting at her dining room table, and she is going through a picture record of McCandless's final days.  She admits to Krakauer that she doesn't understand why her son could take chances and live the way that he did.  I believe that she isn't only referring to his Alaskan adventure.  I believe that she doesn't understand what pulled McCandless to live life on the road in the first place.  McCandless lived month after month with only a bag of rice and $20 to his name, and Billie doesn't understand why her son would enjoy that kind of risk.  To Billie, McCandless's wandering was a needless and risky style of life, and she cannot relate to it at all.  

When the man writes "Blood" on the wall, what literary devices are being used in Chapter 5, Book I of A Tale of Two Cities?

When the citizen of St. Antoine writes the word "Blood" on the wall with his finger dipped in the muddy wine of the street, his is a symbolic act. The wine symbolizes the bloodshed and foreshadows the violence to soon take place during the French Revolution.

In addition, there is foreshadowing of the forthcoming rebellion with the symbolic imagery of the wine/"blood" flowing everywhere in the street. Then, too, the desperate soaking of cloths and whatever the citizens could find with the symbolically flowing wine in order to obtain a few drops of this drink, followed by a mother's squeezing of the "lee-dye cloth," the wine-soaked cloth, in the desperate hope that her starving baby would obtain some nourishment from the drops of wine suggests the terrible conditions of the generations of starving people, symbolically shown conditions that are ripe for revolution.

That this flow of blood/wine takes place in St. Antoine is also significant for symbolism and foreshadowing since the wine-shop is owned by Monsieur and Madame Defarge, revolutionaries themselves who meet with others--all called "Jacques"--and who shelter an old prisoner of the Bastille.

How does the short story "All Summer in a Day" by Ray Bradbury relate to modern day life today? What other themes does it make readers think of?

Although "All Summer in a Day" is set far in the future on the planet Venus, its message is that children never really change--they still fall into bullying and cruelty toward those who are different. 

The story depicts a day at school for a classroom of nine-year-olds. The children have a teacher and they learn lessons about science, especially the upcoming "summer season," which will last only two hours. They write stories and poems about the assigned topic as extension activities. When they get a chance to play outside, they run around and play games, just like children do in school playgrounds now. So in those ways, their school day is not unlike a school day for American nine-year-olds. 

More sobering, however, is that the way the students on Venus behave is also similar to how children behave nowadays. They have singled out a girl they don't like because she is different from most of the children. She is a newcomer to Venus; she also is pale and shy and doesn't join easily in their games. They taunt her and challenge her views about things that she knows more about than they do. When the teacher leaves them alone for a few minutes, they act out against Margot in a way they couldn't do under their teacher's supervision. They cruelly lock Margot in a closet, teasing her that the sun will not be coming out after all. Then, in their excitement, they forget about her and tell their teacher that they are all present, even though Margot is missing. Only when it is too late do they realize Margot has missed the whole "summer" because of their bullying.

Themes of the story are bullying a weaker child; prejudice against those who look different or are from a different place; and jealousy towards those who are good at school or have superior knowledge in an area. Peer pressure is another theme, for it is the "mob mentality" that takes over when the children lock Margot up. One could think about how it is that children can be so cruel, how they learn to be cruel or whether it comes naturally, and whether children are ever as innocent as they are often portrayed. Selfishness can be another theme, as well as guilt and the inability to turn back the clock to correct a wrong that has been done. 

Ultimately, the story suggests that the more things change, the more they stay the same, at least when it comes to the failings of human nature.

Why does O'Connor mention the message from Mary Brigid O'Connell about her brother's socks in "Guests of the Nation"?

In the story, Bonaparte (the narrator) and his compatriot, Noble, watch over two English prisoners, Hawkins and Belcher. The British soldiers enjoy a good camaraderie with their Irish captors; all are on friendly terms, and the soldiers even play cards together.

The exchange between Hawkins and Bonaparte is used by the author to demonstrate the friendly rapport the English captives have with their Irish captors.

"You're the bloke they calls Bonaparte?' he said to me. 'Well, Bonaparte, Mary Brigid Ho'Connell was arskin about you and said 'ow you'd a pair of socks belonging to 'er younger brother."

O' Connor also includes this exchange to highlight the difficult situation Bonaparte and Noble find themselves in later on in the story. When orders come in to execute both Hawkins and Belcher, Bonaparte finds himself ambivalent. He feels only guilt that he must now execute men who he has come to regard as fellow human beings. Additionally, Belcher's dignity and kindness in the face of death adds to Bonaparte's guilt and sense of shame.

...I was somehow very small and very lonely. And anything that ever happened to me after, I never felt the same about again.

So, O' Connor includes the exchange about the socks to highlight the difficult moral decisions every soldier must make in the act of warfare. To undergird his point, he skilfully juxtaposes the humanity of the soldiers' earlier interactions with the inhumanity of the orders that are sent from superior officers.

What is an example of parallelism from Mark Antony's speech?

Parallelism is a common rhetorical device used for emphasis.  As part of a parallel structure, the orator repeats key phrases.  In his "I Have a Dream" speech, for example, Martin Luther King, Jr. starts numerous sentences with "I Have a Dream."  This helps to drive home the central point of the speech.

In Mark Antony's speech, he repeats the line, "And Brutus is an honorable man."  While that sounds innocent enough, the repetition of "Brutus" and "honorable" gets the audience to question whether Brutus is, indeed, honorable, in light of the fact that Brutus just killed his best friend (and the emperor), Julius Caesar.  In between stating, "And Brutus is an honorable man," Mark Antony is actually going about making a case AGAINST Brutus.  Thus, each time that line is repeated, the audience is revisiting the idea of Brutus' honor.  Each time, they are increasingly coming to the conclusion that Brutus is not honorable at all in how he handled Caesar's assassination.

Who is narrating this story, and how old is he when these events take place? What is his relationship to the old woman he calls "my friend"?

Buddy is narrating the story, although that is not his real name. We never find that out. His friend calls him Buddy because she used to have a best friend with that same name, but he died in the 1880's.

Buddy is seven years old during the time of this memory.

Buddy and his "friend" are actually distance cousins and they live together with other family members who we do not meet in the story. His friend is in her sixties. Despite their age difference, Buddy tells us that they are each others' best friends. The story recounts a Christmas they spend together, as they have many before, preparing for the holiday in their own special ways. They spend ALL of their time together and are obviously very close. They are friends and family.

How did the garden change Amir's perception of Amercia?

Amir longs for his homeland of India where, despite living in large cities, everyone knows his neighbors.  Amir is isolated in his world in Cleveland and hasn’t made many friends.  He feels part of that is due to his ethnicity, and the fact that everyone surrounding the apartment building is of different cultures. 

Amir loves to garden and is very good at it. His vegetables flourish in the garden and stand out above the rest.  His eggplants are particularly beautiful and draw the awe of the other gardeners. His neighbors start striking up conversations with Amir about his vegetables, bringing them together as a community and reminding Amir of his life in India.  Amir learns that sometimes it is small things that will bring people together if you just reach out and try to get to know one another.

The garden changes Amir’s perceptions that America is an unfriendly place, and like the vegetables that thrive in his garden, Amir’s life will now grow and become more complete.

What is the importance of bacteria?

A lot of the information we hear about bacteria is about the types that cause disease, but there are many types of bacteria. Some are very useful to us, and some are essential to our health.

Lactic acid bacteria are used in the dairy industry to produce yogurt and cheeses, and in the meat industry for salami and pepperoni. Bacteria ferment wine, sour dough bread and saurkraut.

Biotechnology uses bacteria to produce numerous products including

 fuels, foods, medicines, hormones, enzymes, proteins, and nucleic acids....human hormones such as insulin, enzymes such as streptokinase, and human proteins such as interferon and tumor necrosis factor.

Bacteria that live in our digestive tract break down various nutrients for us. Bacteria are on and within our bodies; some are beneficial, others not. Some that are helpful in one area are harmful in another. E. coli are essential helpers in the lower gut, but dangerous in the upper parts of the tract.

Bacteria also act as decomposers, an important part of the ecosystem. Without them, dead organisms would not decay as quickly and nutrients would not be recycled as efficiently.

What are the levels of goverment?Elaborate on them.

This question can be answered in several ways. One way is to look at the levels of government in our federal government. The Constitution created three branches or levels of government. Each branch has a specific job that is different from the jobs of the other branches. The legislative branch makes our laws. The legislative branch consists of the House of Representatives, which has 435 members, and the Senate, which has 100 members. The executive branch carries out our laws. This branch, headed by the President and the Vice President, is responsible for making sure that whatever a law says should occur actually does occur. The judicial branch, which is our court system, is responsible for interpreting our laws and deciding what the language of the law means. Each branch also is able to control the actions of the other branches through a system of checks and balances.

Another way to look at this question is to look at the different levels of government throughout the country. There is the local level of government. This would include school boards as well as the municipal and the county governments. Another level of government would be the state government. Finally, the third level would be the federal government, which is outlined in more detail in the previous paragraph.

List 5 things you would preserve at King Duncan's murder scene in Macbeth.

King Duncan is murdered by Macbeth in Macbeth's castle. Of course, at the time in which the play is set there were no forensic capabilities, so it would be a lot harder to prove a murder than it is now. But, just of the sake of the question, if we assume that there are modern forensic tools available there are several things from the murder scene that might prove useful.

First, and most obviously, the daggers would need to be preserved and carefully analyzed. We would expect to find King Duncan's blood on them, but sometimes when someone is in the act of stabbing they also cut themselves on the blade, so you might try to find the presence the another person's blood. You could also check the daggers for fingerprints.

The glasses that were used to get the guards drunk could be preserved and analyzed. At one point Lady Macbeth says "I have drugged their possets." Maybe something in addition to the wine could be found in the residue in the glasses.

The door handle could be checked for fingerprints. 

The clothing that the guards are wearing should be checked for King Duncan's blood, since they are initially suspected of the murder. 

King Duncan's bedsheets should also be preserved and checked for hairs or DNA, since that could have been transferred from the killer in the act. 

In George Orwell's 1984, How does Julia explain the Party's sexual puritanism?

Julia understands the Party's sexual puritanism as springing from more than just a desire on the part of the government to crush any vestige of life of outside of Party control. That might be one element behind the drive towards puritanism, but Julia intuitively grasps that the Party also wants to keep people (Party members that is: the government doesn't much care what the proles do) in what she calls a state of "hysteria" that is produced by sexual deprivation. The government's goal is to capture the Party members' pent up sexual energy and channel it into a lust for war ("war-fever") and worship of the Party leader. Julia intuits that a sexually satisfied and happy population is less likely to be riveted the Party and its activities. Julia explains her theory as follows:

When you make love you’re using up energy; and afterwards you feel happy and don’t give a damn for anything. They can’t bear you to feel like that. They want you to be bursting with energy all the time. All this marching up and down and cheering and waving flags is simply sex gone sour. If you’re happy inside yourself, why should you get excited about Big Brother and the Three-Year Plans and the Two Minutes Hate and all the rest of their bloody rot?’

Who is Madame la Guillotine in The Scarlet Pimpernel?

Madame la Guillotine is the name Parisians fondly christen the guillotine, an apparatus used to behead the aristocratic enemies of the French revolution. It is a macabre nickname, but the revolutionaries speak of the 'fond embrace of Madame la Guillotine' with great satisfaction: they view the guillotine as an instrument of justice.

Accordingly, the guillotine was originally introduced as an instrument of execution by a Dr. Joseph Ignace Guillotin. He proposed that the guillotine would be a more humane method of killing than the usual axe or sword beheadings. In The Scarlet Pimpernel, executions were attended by many of the working class, who shouted and bayed for the blood of aristocrats. The 'tricotteuses' or old women who sat, knitting and sewing, beneath the platform, were presented as pictures of grotesque womanhood, witches who gloried in gruesome executions. Playing on this loathsome image of the ghastly tricotteuses, the Scarlet Pimpernel manages to evade Bibot with his handle of curly locks, supposedly hair from the heads of fallen aristocrats.

For more on the guillotine, you may be interested in:

Eight things you may not know about the guillotine.

Describe how Charlie reacts to the ink blot test in "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes.

In "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes, Charlie Gordon is given a series of tests to determine whether or not he will be a good candidate for a surgery that might increase his intelligence. One of the tests Charlie is given is the Rorschach Test, also called the Inkblot Test. Charlie does not understand the test, and he becomes nervous because it reminds him of when he was a child and failed tests, often spilling ink on them. When the test proctor asks Charlie what he sees, he responds that he sees an inkblot. The proctor tries to get Charlie to understand that most people look at inkblots and see pictures, but Charlie still does not get it. He wants to put his glasses on, so that he can see better. He says,

"I told him it was a very nice inkblot with little points all around the edges" (Keyes 2)

Eventually, the tester gives up, and Charlie thinks he has failed the test. 

What are two conditions mint plants need to produce high quality oil?

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What was the nature of the opposition to World War I, both before and during American participation?

There was opposition to World War I before we joined the war and also during it. Before the war, Americans were shocked that the Europeans went war. We thought they were very unwise in going to war. Our people wanted to stay out of the war. We knew the war would be a very costly one in terms of lives and money. German-Americans were also afraid of what they would face if we went to war. They expected they would face discrimination and possible violence if we joined World War I.

During the war, there was opposition to some of the policies that went into effect in our country. People were concerned that their civil liberties were being curtailed. The Sedition Act made it illegal to publicly criticize the President or the government. The Espionage Act made anti-war activities illegal. During a war, there is usually a conflict between protecting civil liberties and fighting a war.

There was some opposition to joining the war, and also, opposition existed during the time when we were involved in it.

After climbing down the ladder, what did Lina soon find in Jeanne DuPrau's The City of Ember?

In chapter 14 of Jeanne DuPrau's The City of Ember, using what words they have in the instructions as clues, Doon and Lina follow the river in the Pipeworks to the hole in the Pipeworks wall the river flows through. There, among other rocks, they find the rock upon which the letter E has been drawn in curvy lines, E for egress. At this spot, both kids lay on their stomachs so they can peer over the riverbank, straight down at the rushing water, where they see a ledge. Along the wall of the riverbank, they see the iron rungs of a ladder. Both Doon and Lina carefully descend the ladder to the ledge below, first Doon then Lina. Once safely on the ledge, they see what looks like an "entry hall" carved into the wall of the river. As they proceed into this hallway, Lina is the first to recognize the door spoken of in the instructions.

There is barely enough light from the Pipeworks to see by, so Lina does most of her seeing by touch and observes that the door is made of metal and has a metal handle with a keyhole. To the right of the door, Lina finds a small steel panel. Running her fingers over the panel, Lina "felt a dent on one side," which she pressed to easily pop open the panel. Inside the panel, she sees that a "silver key was hanging on a hook." Beyond the door, Doon and Lina find candles, matches, and one boat. Farther in the room, they find another entryway to a room filled with hundreds of boats, enough for all the citizens of Ember to use to travel the river, which helps Doon and Lina reach the conclusion that the river leads the way out of Ember.

Why is Jonas surprised when he goes into the Annex for the first time in The Giver?

Jonas is surprised because the Annex has books and the speaker has an off switch.

When Jonas is selected to be the new Receiver of Memory, he has no idea what to expect at first. He barely knows who the current Receiver is, and knows almost nothing about the position itself. He is definitely not expecting the assignment.

The Receiver of Memory does not live with the other citizens of the community. Family units live in their own dwellings and there are separate living quarters for childless adults.  The Receiver has a special quarters behind the House of the Old, where the elderly live.

The Annex was very ordinary, its door unremarkable. He reached for the heavy handle, then noticed a buzzer on the wall. So he buzzed instead. (Ch. 10)

There is a small lobby with an attendant, who treats Jonas very respectfully. There are locks on the door, which is very unusual in the community. The attendant explains that they are to ensure the Receiver’s privacy by making sure no one will accidentally walk in on him.

The dwelling is a little more luxurious than Jonas’s, and obviously more secure. There are two very significant unusual things about the Annex. One is that it has books, when books are almost nonexistent in the community except for rule books and instruction books. The Receiver of Memory has many books, however.

The other unusual thing about the Receiver’s Annex is the speaker.

It was the same sort of speaker that occupied a place in every dwelling, but one thing about it was different. This one had a switch, which the man deftly snapped to the end that said OFF. (Ch. 10)

The speaker is used to spy on every citizen in the community. It communicates both ways. When citizens need something they ask for it there, and the speaker can comment on things citizens do. Sometimes announcements are made to the entire community that are really directed at one person. To turn the speaker off is an enormous power.  The Receiver is the only one who has privacy.

I need help with the attached question.

To add additional information, choice b--glass is not really a solid because it does not have the specific lattice pattern that is a characteristic of solids. Such noncrystalline solids have some characteristics of solids and some characteristics of liquids, which are identifiable under the microscope.

In a solid, the atoms are in an organized pattern, a lattice pattern, which causes a solid to keep its shape. In a liquid, the atoms don't have an organized atomic lattice structure, and the atoms move about more freely, albeit microscopically slowly, exhibiting the properties of a liquid. Glass does have properties of a liquid because its atoms can move about but still too slowly to see the shape of the glass change.

There is atomic order in glass of a noncrystalline nature, not structured as a crystalline lattice as found in solids, like salt, for example, in which the atoms form a crystalline pattern. The atoms in glass aare less ordered than those in a solid, but not as disorganized as in a liquid. The term amorphous is used to describe glass. When glass is manufactured, it is cooled and its atomic motion has slowed significantly enough to produce its almost solid state.

Why is diamond used as an abrasive?

Diamond is useful as an abrasive because of its hardness. It is the hardest naturally occurring mineral, rated at 10 on the Mohs scale of hardness. Diamond is also chemically inert to most corrosives. These two properties make it strong and wear-resistant. Diamond's hardness is a result of its strong covalent bonds. It's a covalent network solid with each carbon atom covalently bonded to four surrounding carbon atoms, creating a strong crystal lattice. 

Diamond is used for drilling, cutting, grinding and polishing other materials. Examples of products made for these purposes are abrasive powders, grinding wheels, cutting blades and discs, knife sharpeners and glass cutting points. Diamond is more expensive than other abrasives, but cutting tools made from diamond last longer.