An object is being pulled with a magnitude of 87N. The direction of this force is 60 degrees above the x-axis. Calculate the x and y components.

To resolve a force into its x and y components, you have to use trigonometry.

If the angle that the force F makes with the positive x-axis theta then the horizontal component of the force is automatically F cos theta and the vertical component of the force is F sin theta.

So for this problem the horizontal component is 87cos60 which is 43.5N and the vertical component is 87sin60 which is 75.3N

The key to understanding how to resolve forces is to know that if you complete the parallelogram( in this case a rectangle) about the force or vector then sin theta = opposite/hypotenuse. IN this case the opposite side is the vertical component of the force and the hypotenuse is just the magnitude of the force or vector itself. So opposite = vertical component of force = hypotenuse x sin theta = F sin theta.

By similar reasoning, Horizontal component of force = F cos theta

What does John Proctor mean when he says that "God is dead" in Act 3 of The Crucible?

Proctor says this horrifying line after he has seen the awful power that Abigail, "a whore" (to use his word), has over Danforth and the court, after his wife, Elizabeth, has lied to save his name (making it appear that he was lying when he explained Abigail's ulterior motives for accusing Elizabeth), and after Mary Warren, his servant who he brought to the court to confess that the girls were actually "sportin'" when they made accusations, has turned on him and told the court that Proctor is "the Devil's man."  

When Proctor says that "God is dead," he means that God is no longer the ruling force in Salem anymore.  The Devil is now in charge, and he is working through these lying girls and this corrupt court to take innocent victims. Further, Proctor says,

A fire, a fire is burning!  I hear the boot of Lucifer, I see his filthy face!  And it is my face, and yours, Danforth!  For them that quail now when you know in all your black hearts that this be fraud-- God damns our kind especially, and we will burn, we will burn together!

Not only is the Devil, then, working through the girls and Danforth, but also through men like Proctor (and even, perhaps, Hale), men who knew (or suspected) early on that it was not witchcraft but spite and greed at the root of these accusations, and said nothing.  They have all welcomed the Devil in, and he lives now in Salem, not God.

What does James mean when he says "Great, now we have two of them to look after"? How does Captain Keller react to this? Why is this surpising?

When Annie Sullivan arrives at the Keller home, Captain Keller is apprehensive.  He does not like that Annie is young and had been blind until recent surgeries.  He makes comments about her being from the North.  His wife, Kate, tries to reassure him.  They have a discussion about the topic, with Kate speaking positively about Annie and Captain Keller expressing his doubts.  Then James jumps into the conversation, saying, "Great improvement. Now we have two of them to look after."  James is referring to the fact that Annie was blind and that Helen, her new student, is blind and deaf.  He is also expressing his opinion that Helen is a burden to him because of her disabilities.  Captain Keller is annoyed by his son's comment and snaps at him, telling him to go "look after those strawberry plants."  This is surprising because James had been reaffirming Captain Keller's own doubts about Annie Sullivan.

What is the symbolism of the ants that are consumed by fire as Henry turns the burning log?

In Chapter 41, the final chapter, Henry remembers seeing ants on a burning log right after he hears the devastating news that his child has been delivered stillborn. He meditates on the inevitability of death and thinks, "That was what you did. You died. You did not know what it was about. You never had time to learn." He thinks about ants he once saw on a log he put on a fire. He observed them scrambling to get away from the fire. While some were able to escape and head off in an unknown direction, most inadvertently went towards the fire: "Most of them went toward the fire and then back toward the end and swarmed on the cool end and finally fell off into the fire." The ants symbolize the inevitability of death; everyone around Henry will die (including Catherine shortly after this scene), and he knows that one cannot avoid death. People scramble to avoid death, much as the ants try to head away from the fire, but it catches up to them in the same way in which the ants, thinking they are heading away from the fire, wind up falling into it. Henry attempted to douse the fire with whiskey and only wound up steaming the ants to death, so his attempts at being a savior failed. He knows at this point that Catherine will also likely die, and there is nothing he can do about it.

Why is it important for experiments to be able to be repeated?

Being able to repeat experiments is important in many fields of science. The main reason that it is important for experiments to be able to be repeated is so that the same scientist, or other scientists, can conduct the exact same experiments and see if they are able to obtain the same results. This helps to validate that the previous findings are correct and did not occur due to some random factor outside of the experimental set up. Repeating experiments and getting the same results leads to further support of the original findings. Validation of repeated experiments is very important in all fields, but is especially important in fields like medicine. For example, if a group of doctors or scientists discovers that a certain drug can help cure an illness, it is important the experiments are repeated, and the same results are obtained before that particular drug is administered to the general public. Hope this helps!

What does the quote "And he will make the face of heaven so fine" mean in Romeo and Juliet?

Act III, Scene 2 of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet opens with Juliet's soliloquy (a long speech delivered directly to the audience without other characters on stage) anticipating the arrival of Romeo for their honeymoon night. His plan had been to climb into her bedroom with a tackled stair he had provided the Nurse earlier in the day. Throughout Juliet's speech, she is praising and personifying the night, calling it "gentle" and "loving." She wants the night to be recognized as greater than the day, as she imagines that when Romeo dies he will be cut "out in little stars/ And he will make the face of heaven so fine/ That all the world will be in love with the night/ And pay no worship to the garish sun." In other words, she believes Romeo is so striking and impressive that his image in the stars will make the night sky more attractive than the sun. She goes on to lament that although she is already married she has yet to enjoy the physical pleasures which marriage brings. Unfortunately, these amorous reveries are interrupted when the Nurse brings news that Juliet's cousin Tybalt was killed by Romeo.

What was Kino's reaction when he caught the scorpion?

The Pearl is a story rich in symbolism, and the incident with the scorpion is certainly no exception. Upon discovering the scorpion at the bedside of his son, Coyotito, Kino and his wife pray. Coyotito represent the innocent man, and the scorpion the malevolent forces of the world. The act of prayer seeks for the intervention of a considerate and compassionate force; unfortunately the force does not manifest itself and the scorpion falls on the child, stinging him.

Kinu captures the scorpion and kills it, representative of the rage that mankind often feels when the seemingly purposeless cruelty of nature strikes out at those who have done nothing to deserve their fate. Lacking any means by which to control such forces of evil, we are left with the negative emotions that accompany our helplessness.

At the beginning of Toni Cade Bambara's "Raymond's Run," what does Squeaky reveal about her family and her own responsibility in the family?

In Toni Cade Bambara's short story "Raymond's Run," we find out that Squeaky has two brothers, and they all live with her parents.

The reader discovers that Squeaky does not need to do housework: her mother does it. She does not have to "hustle" to make money: her brother George does this by running errands for older kids and selling greeting cards at Christmas. Their father works. Squeaky has only one responsibility: she is in charge of keeping an eye on her brother Raymond who is disabled. Her brother George originally had the job, but he failed to watch Raymond closely enough, so the job was given to Squeaky.

But a lot people call him my little brother 'cause he needs looking after 'cause he's not quite right. And a lot of smart mouths gots lots to say about that too, especially when George was minding him. But now, if anybody has anything to say to Raymond, anything about his big head, they have to come by me.

Squeaky (as she is called because of her voice) is a young girl who knows what she needs and wants to do, and takes it all very seriously. While she is deeply interested in running and training for the race at school, she also knows that she must keep a close eye on Raymond to make certain he does not come to harm. For example, he is hard to keep up with when he decides to dart across the road to scare the pigeons in the park, as well as those sitting there eating their lunch.

Then I have to go behind him apologizing to all the old people sitting around trying to get some sun and getting all upset with the pigeons fluttering around them, scattering their newspapers and upsetting the wax-paper lunches in their laps.

Raymond is harmless, lost in his own world of pretend. Squeaky has no difficulty in speaking up for herself, and she uses this strength to protect Raymond from the unkindness of others. Squeaky cares for her brother and works hard to guarantee his safety and wellbeing. 

In Macbeth, who is named heir to the Scottish throne?

King Duncan names his eldest son, Malcolm, as heir to his throne. This happens soon after the traitors Macdonwald, the thane of Cawdor, and the Norwegian troops, under the leadership of Sweno, are defeated by the Scottish army. The thanes, generals and other leaders are all gathered at King Duncan's palace in Forres, when he makes the following announcement:

... We will establish our estate upon
Our eldest, Malcolm, whom we name hereafter
The Prince of Cumberland; which honour must
Not unaccompanied invest him only,
But signs of nobleness, like stars, shall shine
On all deservers. From hence to Inverness,
And bind us further to you.

The king has also graciously offered numerous accolades and rewards to various other men, such as Macbeth who had been granted the title thane of Cawdor, for their unwavering defence of king and country. He extends honour and praise to all out of gratitude for their courage and loyalty.

Since Macbeth is now the highest ranking general in Duncan's army and also the king's cousin, Duncan decides that they shall proceed to his castle at Inverness, there to celebrate their victory. The king clearly has much admiration for his cousin and calls him 'worthy.' It is ironic that he has such high regard for him since Macbeth has already started to plot his downfall, so that he may ascend to the throne.

In an aside Macbeth mutters:

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:
The eye wink at the hand; yet let that be,
Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see.

In these lines he clearly states his intent and sees the fact that Malcolm has been named heir as a development which should either lead to his failure of obtaining the crown or which he has to overcome, for it is a hurdle in his quest. In this instance he metaphorically asks that the stars not shine and thus veil his evil plan in darkness.

It is evident in the last two lines that Macbeth has already thought about how he was going to execute Duncan. The eye must not know what the hand is doing when it commits a foul deed. It is as if Macbeth has already seen the dagger with which to murder Duncan, in his hand. However, that should not make him falter or stop, for that which the eye is afraid to see will be done and will be seen to be done. Macbeth is determined to follow through with his plot.  

What point of view is "Sonny's Blues" told from?

The narrator in "Sonny's Blues" is Sonny's brother, and we are told this story from his point of view, in the first person point of view.  We know that something is in the first person point of view when the narrator is using "I" to tell the story, and in fact, "I" is the very first word in the story.  What this means is that we are getting the story from the brother's perspective, not from Sonny's perspective. That might make for a very different kind of story.  But the brother is not completely lacking in objectivity because as the story goes on, we see that he has regrets about how he has regarded and treated Sonny over the years, being a judgmental and neglectful brother to him. We see his growth as a person, really, such that by the time the story ends, he has developed some empathy and a great deal more love and appreciation for his brother.

What type of writing is John Green known for?

John Green is known for realistic young adult fiction.  All of his novels to date have been realistic fiction centered around teen protagonists.  The substance of these novels varies from narrator to narrator.  His work is very character-driven.  His narrators are usually well-spoken, intelligent teenagers who are struggling with their sense of identity and purpose.

John Green's books are often coming of age stories, or stories about people surmounting impossible odds.  They are stories about survival, stories about troubled teenagers, stories about kids who are learning about both themselves and the world.  He's known for tackling questions about philosophy and morality.  He's also known for writing work that connects directly with the struggles of his teenage fanbase.

John Green has stated that he writes intelligent teenagers because teenagers are much smarter than people give them credit for.  He has also stated that he writes teenagers in general because teenagers know more than people think and are condescended to more often than almost any other age group.

When does Jimmy recognize his friend Bob in "After Twenty Years"?

Jimmy recognizes his old friend Bob while he talks to him in the doorway of what once was Brady's restaurant. As Bob lights his cigar, Jimmy recognizes the "pale, square-jawed face with keen eyes and little white scar near his right eyebrow."

This recognition is not only of his old friend, but also of a wanted man known as "Silky Bob," a face Jimmy explains in his letter to Bob "of the man wanted in Chicago." And, because his friend is now a criminal and Jimmy is a policeman, they can no longer continue their old relationship. Still, Jimmy does not have the heart to embarrass his old friend by arresting him then. So, he pretends to not recognize Bob.

Later, however, a man posing as Jim comes across the street to Bob, and they walk together, talking until the man passes under a street light. Having wondered how Jimmy had grown taller, Bob's wonderment turns to astonishment as he notices that Jimmy no longer has a Roman nose. This man's is a pug. "You're not Jimmy Wells," he abruptly says. The other tells Silky Bob he has been under arrest for twenty minutes and shows him a note from Jimmy Wells that reveals his recognition of Bob:

....When you struck the match to light your cigar, I saw that it was the face of the man wanted in Chicago. Somehow I couldn't do it myself, so I went around and got a plainclothesman to do the job.

As Bob has said, Jimmy is "the truest, staunchest old chap in the world" as he saves Bob some embarrassment.

Describe the aims of the Fourteen Points.

The general aim of Woodrow Wilson’s 14 Points was to create a more just world order after WWI, an order that would make it less likely for further wars to take place.  The new order that he envisioned would have had free trade, respect for international law, open diplomacy, and self-determination for all people.  Let us see how these goals were laid out in each of the 14 Points.

1. Prevents countries from entering into secret diplomatic deals.


2. Provides for absolute freedom of the seas in war and peace time.


3. Calls for free trade.


4. Calls for reductions in countries’ arsenal of weaponry.


5. Says that colonies have to be divided up fairly with some attention paid to what the colonized people want.


6. Calls for withdrawal of other countries’ armies from Russia.


7. Calls for withdrawal from Belgium and restoration of its sovereignty.


8. Foreign armies must leave France and the question of Alsace-Lorraine be settled.


9. Italy’s borders should be redrawn to coincide with where Italian people live.


10. Various nationalities of Austria-Hungary should be able to have their own countries.


11. Says the Balkan region has to be split up between countries “along historically established lines of allegiance and nationality.”


12. The non-Turkish peoples of the Ottoman Empire should have their own countries.


13. An independent Polish state should be created and protected.


14. An organization should be created for all countries to join as a way to guarantee world peace (this became the League of Nations).

What do use scientists use to support a scientific explanation?

Science means "to know" and scientists actively seek to explain natural phenomena using observations, inductive reasoning and logic.

A logical way to find out the answer to a question or problem is by using the scientific method of problem solving.

First, a scientist poses a well-constructed question about something he or she would like to learn the answer to.

Next, a scientist will conduct research on what is already known about this topic. Using observations and prior knowledge, the scientist will try to formulate an answer to the question or problem which is known as a hypothesis. It is an explanation that needs to be supported by evidence.

A good hypothesis is one that can be tested by a controlled experiment. The information gathered during an experiment is known as data. Data can be qualitative, which uses descriptive terms like "on day 2, the plant grew" or quantitative which involves careful measurements--the length of the plant on day 2 was 6.2 cm. 

It is data that can support or refute a hypothesis or scientific explanation. If the data supports the hypothesis, the experiment should be repeated many times with large numbers of subjects to increase the chances that the results are valid. If the data doesn't support the explanation which happens often in science, it is a learning experience and a chance for the scientist to formulate a new hypothesis to be tested.

In what way does Lorraine wish that her mother was more like the Pigman?

Lorraine and her mother don't have a good relationship because her mother is verbally condescending and cheap. Her mother has suffered a lot in her adult life because Lorraine's father cheated on her and divorced her. After that, her mother was never the same. In fact, her mother takes out all of her bitterness and doubt on her daughter rather than providing a safe and loving home. As a result, Lorraine is drawn into the genuinely loving character of Mr. Pignati. She learns a lot from a man who has suffered in life as well, but who still wears a smile on his face. He is always respectful of Lorraine and treats her like an equal, if not like a daughter. Lorraine is able to find peace in her life for knowing Mr. Pignati and explains her desires for her mother to be like him as follows:

"Lots of times I'd cry myself to sleep, but more and more I felt myself thinking of the Pigman whenever I felt sad. Sometimes just after I put the light out, I'd see his face smiling or his eyes gleaming as he offered me the snails--some little happy detail I thought I'd forgotten--and I'd wish my mother were more like him. I'd wish she knew how to have a little fun for a change" (86).

As the passage indicates above, Lorraine wishes that her mother could have a little fun once in awhile. Both she and Lorraine would benefit from having fun; but as it is, her mother has a difficult career, feels like she failed in her marriage, and it has all hardened her so much that it's as if she is incapable of loosening up enough to have fun.

Who nearly catches Huck and Tom as they sneak away from Huck’s home? Briefly explain who this person is and what he is like.

While Huck and Tom are sneaking away from Huck's house, they are nearly caught by Miss Watson's slave, Jim. When they are running through the garden, Huck trips and wakes up Jim, but Huck and Tom sit very still and silent so Jim will not see them. Eventually, Jim goes back to sleep and does not see Tom and Huck.

Jim is Miss Watson's household slave. Jim is very intelligent and extremely loyal, especially to Huck. Jim is away from his family and longs to be with them more than anything, but he develops a special friendship with Huck. Jim's friendship and loyalty teaches Huck that being a good human being has nothing to do with your race. Jim seems to have a lot more maturity compared to the other adults in the book. He is a selfless, practical, and real person.

Hope this helps! Good luck.

What is the purpose of the poem "The Congo" by Vachel Lindsay?

Vachel Lindsay, who described himself as writing "singing poetry," was a forerunner of today's poet/performance artist.

His most famous poem, "The Congo," subtitles itself "A Study of the Negro Race." It traces what Lindsay views as primitives or savage Africans from their original home in the Congo to their life in the Americas.

From his point of view, Lindsay was an strong advocate for African-Americans, and many of his contemporaries, notable African-Americans like W.E B. Dubois and Langston Hughes, praised him in that regard.

"The Congo," the poem itself, however, despite its vivid imagery and memorable chorus of "Boomlay boomlay boomlay Booom!" is seen to depict African-Americans with strong racial stereotyping.

Lindsay's purpose in writing the poem, then, was a well intentioned attempt to romanticize African-Americans, but its purpose has ultimately been defeated by time. Today, the poem seems hopelessly mired in too many negative stereotypes to be currently used for the purpose Lindsay intended.

In "A White Heron" the story opens in the woods among shadows. Why did the author make that choice in the story? Explain how the shadows operate...

The first line contains a paradox of symbolism. There are shadows and a sunset that still "glimmered faintly." So, there is the foreboding image of the shadows juxtaposed with the hopeful image of the glimmering sun. The first paragraph ends with Sylvia taking her cow deeper into the dark woods: another foreboding image. Together, they follow the "shady-wood road." These images of shade do not suggest that the forest itself is evil, but they do suggest something dark to come. 

But that initial paradox sets up a few more. Sylvia is intimidated by the Hunter at first, but they do become friends. She did not understand how he could kill the birds he spoke so fondly of. But he is charming and Sylvia is enamored. "She had never seen anybody so charming and delightful; the woman's heart, asleep in the child, was vaguely thrilled by a dream of love." She wants to help him but does not want to let the heron be killed: She is conflicted. 

Another paradox appears regarding the symbolism of the shadows: 

She was not often in the woods so late as this, and it made her feel as if she were a part of the gray shadows and the moving leaves. She was just thinking how long it seemed since she first came to the farm a year ago, and wondering if everything went on in the noisy town just the same as when she was there, the thought of the great red-faced boy who used to chase and frighten her made her hurry along the path to escape from the shadow of the trees. 

She feels at home in the shadows and is also afraid of them. It just depends upon the circumstances and her state of mind. Here, the shadows symbolize both comfort and fear. This contributes to the theme of Sylvia's conflicted feelings for the hunter. At the end of the story, she continues to feel conflicted: 

Were the birds better friends than their hunter might have been, -- who can tell? 

The paradoxical symbolism of shadows mirrors her conflicted feelings for the hunter. Inevitably, she chooses to save the heron, thus showing her affinity for the woods and the forest creatures. (Her name, "Sylvia" resembles "sylvan" which means having an association with woods and/or the forest.) Note, in that paragraph illustrating the paradox of the shadows, that she is comforted by the shadows when she is alone in the forest but is scared when she feels chased by another person. 

What are the main comparisons and how do they differ: Confessions of an English Opium Eater by Thomas De- Quincey and Home at Grasmere by William...

To compare and contrast Thomas de Quincey's Confessions of an English Opium Eater with William Wordsworth's Home at Grasmere, it is helpful to note the relationship history between both authors.

Thomas de Quincey (1785-1859) was William Wordsworth's (1770-1850) junior by fifteen years. His relationship with Wordsworth earned him an invitation to stay with the Wordsworth family at their Dove Cottage, a house situated in Grasmere in the Lake District, in 1807. Wordsworth and his sister, Dorothy, lived at Grasmere from December of 1799 to May of 1808; upon their vacating Dove Cottage, de Quincey moved himself into the cozy home in 1809. He stayed until money ran out for him, in 1820.

To understand the differences between de Quincey and his mentor, it is worth noting the first split in their friendly acquaintance. This happened during the Cintra essay debacle. Accordingly, Wordsworth had put de Quincey in charge of proof-reading; de Quincey, a voracious reader, was well-known for his prose and ecstatic to be chosen by his idol to oversee the whole process of editing and printing. However, his joy soon turned to dismay when the autocratic Wordsworth made difficult and often contradictory demands on him. Furthermore, Cintra, at 216 pages, didn't sell well, and Wordsworth bitterly blamed de Quincey for obscuring his 'long and involved sentences' with de Quincey's 'unusual system of punctuation.'

To make matters worse, de Quincey and Wordsworth shared antithetical views about nature. While De Quincey enjoyed his idol's poems, he was more interested in people, history, and legends, than in 'waterfalls or sheepfolds or sunrises or daffodils.' Wordsworth viewed nature as the ultimate, transcending inspiration for his writing while de Quincey relied on laudanum (opium mixed in alcohol) to fuel his writing binges. On any given day, de Quincey was known to consume about '480 grains of opium or twelve thousand drops of laudanum.' He increased his dosage when his stomach ailments became worse.

So, you can see one of the main differences between Confessions of an English Opium Eater and Home at Grasmere. The former concerns itself with addiction, pain, and the struggle for relevance and meaning. It is a treatise filled with vulnerable confessions and humiliating concessions. The latter, on the other hand, concerns itself with the transcending influence of nature and how nature mitigates the dehumanizing influences of modernization and industrialization.

Say boldly then that solitude is not
Where these things are: he truly is alone,
He of the multitude whose eyes are doomed
To hold a vacant commerce day by day
With objects wanting life - repelling love;
He by the vast Metropolis immured,
Where pity shrinks from unremitting calls,
Where numbers overwhelm humanity,
And neighbourhood serves rather to divide
Than to unite. (from Home at Grasmere).

Home at Grasmere is also written in blank verse, while Confessions of an English Opium Eater is equal parts autobiography and cathartic prose.

Source: The English Opium Eater, a biography of Thomas de Quincey by Robert Morrison.

The addicted life of Thomas de Quincey.

Imagination, Metaphor, and Mythopoeia in Wordsworth, Shelley, and Keats by Firat Karadas.

What happened to Hyde after Jekyll dies?

Jekyll and Hyde, of necessity, die at the same time; because they share the same body, one cannot die without the other dying as well.  

When Mr. Utterson came to Dr. Jekyll's door, he hears Hyde's voice and determines to break it down in order to prevent Hyde from killing Jekyll (not realizing that they are the same person).  When he and Poole chop through the door, they see a laboratory, and "Right in the midst there lay the body of a man sorely contorted and still twitching."  It was Edward Hyde, wearing clothes that clearly belonged to Dr. Jekyll because they were too big for Hyde.  Hyde held a "crushed phial" that had contained some poison, the smell of which still hung in the air.  Hyde had killed himself rather than be arrested and hanged since he could not return to Jekyll's shape without the correct chemicals that he was never again able to procure.  There was no trace of Jekyll because he had been completely taken over by Hyde, and Utterson and Poole assume that Hyde had buried him under the floorboards (until Utterson reads Lanyon's and Jekyll's narratives and learns the truth).  

What secret code was spoken in Number the Stars?

In the book Number The Stars, there are several examples of the use of secret code to convey messages to family members that were part of the Danish resistance to the German occupation of Denmark during World War II. Germany had taken over many countries and had begun to round up the Jewish people to send them to concentration camps. Since Denmark is so close to Sweden, the Danish people helped the Jewish people escape by hiding them in boats that would head over to Sweden just a few miles away. Since Sweden wasn’t occupied by Germany during World War II, the Jewish people would be safe if they got to Sweden. Getting there, however, could be tricky.

The Rosens and Johansens were friends. The Rosens knew they needed to escape to Sweden in order to be safe. The Johansens and their extended family were part of the Danish resistance that helped the Jewish people escape from capture and from persecution by the Nazis. While the rest of the Rosen family would go elsewhere, their oldest daughter, Ellen, would stay with the Johansens. One example of the use of code was when Ellen would accompany the Johansens to visit their uncle, Uncle Henrik, for a few days. When the phone call was made to their uncle, he was told that they would be bringing a carton of cigarettes. During World War II, cigarettes were in short supply. In reality, the cigarettes were the code word for bringing Ellen.

Another example of the use of code was when their uncle said that the next day would be a good day for fishing. Since he was a fisherman, and he fished every day, this seemed like an odd statement. In reality, this statement meant that tomorrow would be the day the Rosen family would be smuggled by boat to Sweden.

Another example of code was the discussion about putting a coffin of a deceased great-aunt in the living room of their uncle’s house. The discussion about and the placement of the coffin in the living room was to distract the German soldiers who would want to know why so many people were in Uncle Henrik’s house. When the German soldiers would try to open the coffin, the Johansens would tell them the great-aunt died from a highly contagious disease. This likely would keep the German soldiers from opening the coffin. It worked perfectly as the German soldiers didn’t open the coffin.

The use of code and the actions of the Danish people show the bravery of the Danish people in helping the Jewish people escape from German persecution. Some of the Danish people in the resistance were killed for their defiance of German rule when they were caught taking part in some of the activities of the resistance movement.

What is a quote from The Great Gatsby on illegal business being conducted?

In chapter seven, Tom Buchanan confronts Jay Gatsby with the information he received from a private investigator he hired to learn about Gatsby's criminal activities. Tom explains to Nick, Jordan, and Daisy that Gatsby and Meyer Wolfsheim bought small drugstores in New York and Chicago and "sold grain alcohol over the counter." Gatsby does not deny it, responding, "What about it?"

Tom threatens to carry his investigation further, implying that Gatsby and Wolfsheim have been engaged in a gambling racket and something bigger that one of his sources, Walter Chase, is afraid to divulge. Once again, Gatsby is unmoved by Tom's threats and accusations, replying, "You can suit yourself about that, old sport." He also points out to Tom that Walter Chase, though a friend of Tom Buchanan, was willing to join him in the bootlegging enterprise.

According to the narrator, what is the veil's one desirable effect?

Though the veil has a number of tremendously negative effects, it does have one positive or desirable consequence as well: it makes "its wearer a very efficient clergyman."  Wearing the veil, Mr. Hooper "became a man of awful power over souls that were in agony for sin."  It seems to make converts, those who have led particularly sinful lives prior to their conversion to Puritanism, feel a great deal more comfortable to know that their minister "had been with [them] behind the black veil."  Typically, such a person might feel very awkward or embarrassed to divulge their darkest sins to a minister who they feel cannot possibly relate to or understand the choices they've made in their past; however, when faced with a minister who they feel can understand them, because they have proof that he has committed his own sins, they would likely feel a great deal more relaxed. 

Further, "Dying sinners cried aloud for Mr. Hooper, and would not yield their breath till he appeared."  Again, sinners feel a sort of kinship with Mr. Hooper; perhaps they feel a fellowship in the knowledge of their shared sin, especially when everyone else tries so hard to hide their own sinfulness.  These open sinners do not have to feel so isolated or alone when they have their minister nearby. 

Analyze the Civil Rights Movement’s complex relationship with the Democratic Party between 1948 and 1964. How was the party transformed by an...

Arguably, the Civil Rights Movement did not really begin to pick up steam until 1955, after the murder of Emmett Till and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, led by Rosa Parks and Dr. King. However, it is true that some inroads were made in 1948 during the Truman Administration. The efforts of the NAACP at this time, which pushed for full equality, should also not be underestimated.

In 1948, Truman integrated the U.S. Armed Forces. He appointed a committee to study the problems that might ensue if blacks and whites were to serve together. The report was called "Freedom to Serve." The report outlined the steps that would be necessary to integrate the military.

In 1949, all jobs were opened to qualified personnel, regardless of skin color. Later that year, Truman issued an executive order requiring fair employment in federal service jobs. In public housing, too, efforts were made toward integration.

Predictably, Southerners were outraged. Their response was to form a Dixiecrat party -- that is, a Southern party committed to the rights of the common, working white man and segregation. Truman, nevertheless, remained firm in his position on integration. This antagonism from Southerners would foreshadow President Johnson's difficulties with Southern Democrats in the 1960s.

It is important to note that many black people, for many years in the 19th- and 20th-centuries, were Republicans. The Republican Party was the party of Lincoln and, thus, the party for liberty. It was not really until the election of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Truman's predecessor and the man under whom he served as Vice President, that black people began to be courted by the Democratic Party.

The Election of 1960, famous for being the second-closest in American history, resulted in the inauguration of John F. Kennedy. In the first two years of his presidency, Kennedy mainly concerned himself with foreign affairs, particularly the threat of Communism. It was not until 1963, while watching the violent confrontation between police and black citizens in Birmingham, Alabama, that he realized that the matter of civil rights could not wait. Unfortunately, he could not turn his epiphany into legislation. Nevertheless, he and his brother, Attorney General Robert Kennedy, had frequent dialogues with major figures in the movement, and were viewed favorably by black constituents. This favorability, along with the off-putting conservatism of Republican candidate Barry Goldwater, allowed for Lyndon B. Johnson's landslide victory in 1964. 

During his years in the Senate, Johnson pretended that he was in league with the Dixiecrats. However, once in office, and under pressure from Civil Rights leaders, he signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In a famous quote, he announced that, by signing the document, the Democratic Party would lose the South for good. He was right. Notice that, today, Southern states -- with the exceptions of Virginia, Maryland, and occasionally, North Carolina and Florida -- now prefer Republican presidential candidates.

The following year, Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which sought to address rampant voter disfranchisement in the South. The Voting Rights Act eliminated the poll tax and citizenship tests, common tactics used to keep black people from voting. 

The Democratic Party remains the party that is most sympathetic to the concerns of the working-class. This is evident in its policies. However, many working-class whites, those who would have been Dixiecrats fifty years ago, now vote Republican. Ronald Reagan, a Democrat in his youth, once said, "I didn't leave the Democratic party. It left me." The sentiments of many white working-class and white middle-class people are echoed in that quote. 

The Democratic Party has changed in that it no longer focuses solely on the concerns of working-class white men, in the style of Jacksonian Democracy, but tries to address to concerns of people of all backgrounds. It also seeks to be a progressive party, not only concerned with Civil Rights for blacks, but also for Latino immigrants and LGBT citizens.

So, yes, the Democrats have lost some white, working-class voters, but it has also gained many voters of color.

Please give an example of dramatic irony from Act 5 in Macbeth? Offer a description of why and how is it dramatic irony.

Much dramatic irony abounds in Act 5 of The Tragedy of Macbeth.  One example is in Scene 1.  The doctor and gentlewoman overhear Lady Macbeth sleepwalking and talking about the blood on her hands.  Lady Macbeth continues to mutter, "Out, damned spot!" but the doctor and gentlewoman do not know what she means.  They think that she has gone mad, but the reader knows that this act is a manifestation of the guilt that Lady Macbeth feels over pushing Macbeth into the murder of Duncan.  Macbeth has also killed all of Macduff's family, and Lady Macbeth feels sympathy for Lady Macduff who was innocent in this situation.  Dramatic irony refers to events that are known by the reader and some characters which are unknown to other characters.  So here the doctor and gentlewoman are unaware of Lady Macbeth's (and Macbeth's) role in the murders while the reader has known all along their greedy intentions.

In The Outsiders, what did Cherry mean when she said,"Things are rough all over"?

In Chapter Two, Johnny tells everyone what happened the night four Socs beat him up. It is an emotional moment for Johnny, and Pony relates that the beating has left Johnny habitually nervous in his daily life.

After Johnny finishes his story, Cherry pipes up that not all Socs are as indiscriminately violent as the ones who beat up Johnny. She implores Pony to believe her assertions, proclaiming that Pony would be surprised if he knew the real state of affairs. She maintains that, even though the Socs come from the well-to-do West side of town, they have their own problems to deal with, problems that Pony would never even guess at. This is when she pronounces that 'things are rough all over,' meaning that each community has its own set of problems, no matter which side of town it's situated in.

Later, in Chapter Seven, Pony finally comes to understand what Cherry's words mean when he converses with Randy, a Soc. In the conversation, Randy admits that he is tired of all of the fighting and killing that occurs between Socs and Greasers. He contends that the fighting will never solve anything in the long term. In an emotional confession, he divulges that Bob's mother had a nervous breakdown after her son's death. Randy relates that Bob needed his parents to set limits on his behavior and to hold him accountable for his actions when he was alive. However, his parents never rose to the occasion; they were too afraid that they were to blame for their son's incorrigible behavior.

Randy maintains that Bob might still be alive if his parents had laid down consistent boundaries. After Randy's anguished confession, Pony realizes that wealth doesn't erase the very human challenges individuals and families face in their respective communities; life is rough no matter which side of town one resides in.

Which characters in The Great Gatsby are shallow? List and name reasons as to why they are shallow.

Shallow characters in Gatsby would potentially include the following:

Daisy Buchanan: She's concerned with money, constantly identified with money, and too shallow to come to Gatsby's funeral, even though Gatsby put his life on the line to protect her. She, along with Tom, retreats into "vast carelessness," leaving other people to clean up the mess. 

Tom Buchanan: He believes the racist drivel he reads, such as the Goddard's Rise of the Colored Empires, which Daisy makes fun of, and he judges people as to whether they are "Nordic." He also doesn't seem to have the depth to realize how much he hurts Daisy with his affairs. Nick dismisses Tom, saying he reached such a "limited excellence" at 21 that everything afterward savored "of anticlimax."  

Myrtle Wilson: She surrounds herself with gossip magazines, a lap dog and an overfurnished apartment at Tom's expense--and she's willing to exchange sex with Tom, despite his brutality, for the stuff he gives her. 

All the people who come to Gatsby's parties and drink his champagne but who can't be bothered to attend his funeral. 

Jordan Baker: Possibly. She cheats at golf, and outside of golf seems to lead a largely aimless existence.

Nick Carraway: Possibly. He likes to be seen on the arm of a golf celebrity like Jordan, dislikes his girlfriend back home for the sweat that forms on her upper lip after tennis and doesn't have the self-awareness to realize he isn't as honest as would like to believe, but he rises to a lyrical intensity when it comes to appreciating Gatsby. 

In the book Hatchet, how does Brian learn so much about turtles?

According to the text, Brian learned about turtles from a television program. In the story, his curiosity is piqued when he realizes that there are clawed marks on the sand going towards the lake and back towards a pile of sand further inland.

When Brian investigates by brushing aside the top pile of sand and digging down, he comes across a small chamber underground where seventeen eggs are nestling safely. He infers that the eggs must have been laid by the turtle which made the marks in the sand. Brian is fairly sure that a turtle made the marks because he remembers a television program about freshwater turtles that laid their eggs on land. Brian is extremely pleased to find the eggs as they will serve as necessary nourishment for his body.

What does sociology teach you?

Sociology can teach you many things. The study of sociology is generally defined as the study of society and the people, or groups, in it. This includes, but is not limited to, studying culture, social interactions, and social relationships between people, or groups. Sociology can also teach us about different social groups, and compare and contrast how they view certain situations, what attitudes that have towards themselves and others, and tell us about many other aspects of their lives. This greater understanding of different groups allows us to not only identify social problems, but develop methods and ideas that help to enact the best plan of action to help over come these problems. Sociology makes use of the scientific method to study our society, and the social issues that arise everyday. It is through this systematic study that sociology teaches us about how our society and culture, and the societies and cultures of others, function both individually, and as a whole. Hope this helps!

Compare the reader's confused state to that of Holden in The Catcher in the Rye.

J.D. Salinger's novel opens up with Holden in a mental hospital, or a place in California where he went after he "got pretty run-down and had to come out here and take it easy." In addition, the novel ends with Holden writing in second-person point-of-view, ending a therapy session probably, saying, "I could probably tell you what I did after I went home ... but I don't feel like it." As a result of this opening and closing, you, the reader, can probably place Holden, the narrator, on a therapist's couch telling his story.

When you approach the story from the point-of-view that the book you are reading is a therapy session, you can understand why Holden is confused throughout the novel. He's working through a confusing time in which he's basically attempting to get over his brother's death, even though it happened years before, and dealing with growing up and becoming an adult, which he detests.

As a reader, you can compare this to your feelings of confusion in regards to his long stream-of-consciousness narratives, including the one in the early part in which he discusses his brother Allie and his baseball glove and how Holden shattered all the windows in the garage after Allie died. You can even think about all the times in which you were confused about something and had all these thoughts that seemingly were connected, but didn't feel so. 

Overall, The Catcher in the Rye is the perfect novel to use psychological techniques to examine the Holden Caulfield.

Was the Cold War avoidable? Why or why not?

You can, of course, argue this either way.  I will give an argument for each side and you can decide which you think is the better argument.

We can say that the Cold War could not have been avoided because communism and democracy/capitalism were incompatible ideas that could not coexist.  Communists believed, as a matter of faith, that their system was destined to take over the world.  This made them believe in policies that tried to extend communism to other countries.  The West felt threatened by this expansion because they knew that communism believed it would take over the world.  The West inevitably fought back against what they saw as aggressive communism.

On the other hand, we can say that anything in human history could have been avoided.  The US and the USSR were allies during WWII.  They did not have to start distrusting one another.  The US could have been more understanding when the Soviets wanted to control Eastern Europe.  The US could have realized that it, itself, wants to control its own neighbors and it could have not felt threatened by the Soviets’ attempt to do the same thing.  The Soviets, in turn, could have been less paranoid about the West.  They could have believed that the West only wanted to contain communism, not to destroy it where it already existed.  If people had seen things in these ways, the Cold War could have been averted.

Which of these arguments do you find more convincing?

What are some quotes on racism, prejudice, and intolerance throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird?

There are plenty of quotes the deal with racism, prejudice, and intolerance throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Scout and Jem become the target of several racist comments from various community members in Maycomb. In Chapter 11, Mrs. Dubose says,

"Your father's no better than the niggers and trash he works for!" (Lee 135)

Mrs. Dubose is not the only character throughout the novel that uses derogatory racial slurs. In Chapter 9, Scout's cousin, Francis Hancock, is talking about her father Atticus and says,

"He's nothin' but a nigger-lover!" (Lee 110)

There are several scenes throughout the novel where Harper Lee illustrates the prejudice amongst the citizens of Maycomb's community. In Chapter 20, during Atticus' closing remarks he says,

"The witnesses for the state, with the exception of the sheriff of Maycomb County, have presented themselves to you gentlemen, to this court, in the cynical confidence that their testimony would not be doubted, confident that you gentlemen would go along with them on the assumption---the evil assumption---that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women, an assumption one associates with minds of their caliber." (Lee 273)

People are not only prejudiced towards the opposite race in Maycomb, but are also prejudiced towards others in regards to social class. This is evident when Scout asks her Aunt Alexandra if Walter Cunningham can come over to play. Alexandra refuses to let Scout play with Walter. When Scout asks why she can't play with Walter, Alexandra says,

"Because---he----is----trash, that's why you can't play with him, picking up his habits and Lord-knows-what." (Lee 301)

Intolerance is defined as an unwillingness or refusal to tolerate or respect persons from a different social group and opinions contrary to one's own. In Chapter 24, the ladies of Aunt Alexandra's missionary circle display their intolerance towards the Mrunas in Africa. Mrs. Merriweather says,

"Out there in J. Grimes Everett's land there's nothing but sin and squalor." (Lee 309)

Mrs. Merriweather is ignorant and intolerant towards cultures that contrast with Western civilization and her religious beliefs. She also comments,

"I tell you that there are some good but misguided people in this town. Good, but misguided. Folks in this town who think they're doing right, I mean." (Lee 311)

Mrs. Merriweather believes that Atticus' defense of Tom Robinson is wrong. She is unwilling to respect his opinion that all men should be treated fairly regardless of race.

In To Kill A Mockingbird when Mr. Ewell left the stand, what happened?

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, though set in the South during the mid-30s, is an American classic that was published in 1960.  On the surface, it deals with racial prejudice vs. justice.

Bob Ewell is the father of the young lady who has been supposedly raped by Tom Robinson, a Negro in the community.  Mr. Ewell is well-known in the town of Maycomb, Alabama.  His notoriety is is not due to any philanthropy, humanitarian efforts, or scholarly success.  His "claim to fame" is being an alcoholic who lives off of government welfare checks.  Atticus Finch, the attorney for the defense, does an admirable job of totally humiliating and discrediting Ewell.  So much so, that upon exiting the witness stand Bob Ewell spits in Atticus's face. He also vows to seek revenge against all involved in defending the black man who has supposedly defiled his daughter.  

Write a comparison for one of the characters using a metaphor for the story To Kill a Mockingbird.

A metaphor is a literary device called a figure of speech that compares two things that are not alike but may have common characteristics between them.  It is a way for a writer to get across an idea or impression of a person or thing by implying a similarity between the two.

Here are some ideas for the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird:

• Boo Radley is a cat nervously sneaking through the streets of Maycomb.


• Atticus is a battle-worn general courageously fighting injustice.  


• Scout is a chameleon changing with her environment.


• Mayella Ewell is a spider weaving a web to catch prey.


• Bob Ewell is a carnivore devouring the hopes and dreams of his children.


• Tom Robinson is a broken willow tree trying to survive his environment.


• Dill is a timid puppy seeking love and affection.

If you think of some dominant characteristics for each character, you can usually come up with something else to compare them to.  For example, Boo could also be a bear hibernating; Scout a finely wrapped present; Atticus another Yoda! 

In the story written by Jamaica Kincaid, "Girl," what is the relationship between the individual and society?

In this story, the mother is giving her daughter a litany of advice and commands on how to be a proper lady. The daughter is presumably an adolescent, a young girl moving into adulthood. The mother wants her daughter to follow this list of rules which adhere to a traditional female role and this includes becoming a wife who is subservient to her husband. 

The mother gives advice on cooking, cleaning, and ironing. She tells her daughter how to smile in certain situations. She warns her not to become a slut. She tells her how to love a man. She gives advice that reflects her Caribbean culture but gives more that reflects her Christian beliefs. She goes on and on. In the end, even though the daughter protests twice, the mother just keeps spewing out this advice. The run-one sentence, stream of consciousness style of this story emphasizes how the daughter is bombarded by these strict rules of how to be a lady.

Kincaid is showing how young girls are brainwashed by society but in this story, the brainwashing is coming from the mother. And the role she prescribes for her daughter is very traditional and leaves little room for her (daughter) to be free and experimental. The daughter, in her struggle to grow and develop as a free individual, is faced with this onslaught of directions from her mother.

The reader can see how the daughter, and any young woman, will face similar directions and brainwashing from all parts of society: media, magazines, television, and so on. And if these institutions are still largely patriarchal (run by traditional, reactionary men), they will perpetuate the idea that women have this limited, subservient role. The story gives a verbal display of how young women are encouraged and/or forced into limited roles, censoring the way they should think, move, act, look, etc. 

How does Dickinson powerfully convey ideas about death in her poem "Because I could not stop for Death"?

Emily Dickinson's poem "Because I could not stop for Death" uses a series of poetic devices that emphasize the themes and content of the piece. For each, I'll display an example, define the device, and analyze its presence: 

1. 
   Personification: "Because I could not stop for Death- / He kindly stopped for me-"
   the practice of giving human qualities and characteristics to non-human beings or objects
   In Dickinson's poem, death is not a fearsome, alien idea, but a polite gentleman who has "civility" and knows "no haste". As a result, Dickinson transforms a concept that many people fear and actively avoid into a familiar and personable figure who is not to be feared but to be interacted with. 


2. 
   Metaphor: "We paused before a House that seemed / A Swelling of the Ground- / The Roof was scarcely visible- / the Cornice- in the Ground-"
   a comparison between two unlike things
   Rather than refer to the place where death stops and stays as a tomb or a grave, Dickinson calls it a house, passingly describing it in a manner that implies it is non-descript rather than haunting. By doing so, she normalizes death, comparing the final resting place of a corpse to the commonplace resting place of a living person. Again, she works to normalize death and remove the fear with which it is normally associated. 

In Oedipus Rex, Oedipus suffered from a lack of knowledge; in Shakespeare's Hamlet, Hamlet suffered from a surfeit or surplus of knowledge. Oedipus...

In Shakespeare's Hamlet and Oedipus Rex, the action and/or inaction of the characters is not based upon their knowledge as much as the circumstances surrounding the death of each man's father.

Hamlet is struggling with his father's death from the start. He has not yet been called to action at the start of the play, but still he is suffering from a deep and overwhelming grief at his father's passing. His reaction to his mother's remarriage so soon after Old Hamlet's death to a man he finds disgusting (I.ii.132-162), as well as his repugnance with the manner in which the members at court and the new king drunkenly celebrate, are things about which Hamlet feels strongly (I.vi.9-13). However, there is nothing to be done, and he is left for a time to attempt to come to terms with his father's passing. The audience understands his depression. His feelings are fueled by the greatness of his dead father and the baseness of his uncle. It is this very difference that he throws in Gertrude's face in Act Three.

It is not until Hamlet learns that his father was murdered that he is called upon by the Ghost to avenge his sire's slaying. It is not his father's death that requires Hamlet to act, but the manner in which Old Hamlet died.

GHOST:

I am thy father's spirit,
Doom'd for a certain term to walk the night,
And for the day confined to fast in fires,
Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature
Are burnt and purged away. (I.v.13-17)

And...

List, list, O, list!
If thou didst ever thy dear father love— (27-28)

…Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder. (29)

[…] The serpent that did sting thy father's life
Now wears his crown. (44-45)

Hamlet struggles for the remainder of the play to act, for several reasons; and with these reasons, perhaps he knows "too much," because having all the facts forces the young prince to face the greatest dilemma of his untried life. The Elizabethan audience (for whom the Bard wrote) believed that it was a mortal sin to kill a king. In this case, Hamlet must know for certain that the Ghost is speaking the truth. People of the time also believed in all kinds of supernatural beings, such as ghosts, witches, etc. In this case, Hamlet cannot be sure that the Ghost is truly his father and not an evil spirit trying to damn his eternal soul by convincing him to commit regicide. It is for this reason that Hamlet arranges for the "play-within-a-play," re-enacting his father's murder in the orchard. When Claudius reacts so violently to the murder scene, Hamlet has his proof.

Even now, however, Hamlet is not free to act. The Ghost told Hamlet that he had to suffer a period of torment because he was not able to confess his sins before he died. When Hamlet has his chance to kill Claudius, the man is in a pose of prayer, and Hamlet refuses to send him to the next world free from his sins—because Claudius' murder had sent Old Hamlet to suffer in purgatory.

And so, with all this information, Hamlet (truly his father's son) weighs the wisdom of his actions—for losing one's soul to the devil for all eternity was the worst price a man could pay for his misdeeds on earth.

On the other hand, Oedipus is a man of action not because he does not know that his father is dead, but because he does not know that he murdered his father. It is this knowledge that freezes him in his tracks. If that were not enough, he discovers that in marrying Jocasta, he has committed incest by sleeping with his own mother.

As the story goes, a plague has befallen Thebes, and Creon, Oedipus' brother-in-law, has traveled to the temple of Apollo to discover what they must do to end the sickness and death. When he returns, Creon speaks of the previous king, Laius, who was murdered by an unknown hand, and the man responsible has never been brought to justice.

CREON:

He died, and the god now orders us clearly
to take violent vengeance on the murderers. (117-118)

Oedipus promises that he will not stop until he has discovered who the murderer is because he loves the people of Thebes and suffers himself because they suffer.

OEDIPUS:

Then I shall reveal these things anew,
for justly did Phoebus, and justly did you
assign me this case on behalf of the dead,
so that you will rightly see me as an ally,
avenging both this land and the god together. (143-147)

Tiresias, the blind prophet, tells Oedipus the truth he seeks:

That man, whom you have long sought,
threatening him and naming as the murderer
of Laius, that man is here.
An immigrant in theory, soon he will be
revealed a native Theban, though he will not be
happy to learn it; for blind instead of seeing,
a beggar instead of rich he will travel
foreign earth, tapping it with his staff.
He will be revealed to live with his children
as brother and father both; and to his parents
he is both his wife’s son and lord and his father’s
fellow-sower and slayer. (472-483)

Oedipus at first cannot believe what he has heard, and suspects a plot on Creon's part. Upon speaking to Jocasta about a prophecy Laius (her murdered husband) had once heard about his death, and the circumstances surrounding it, Oedipus finally suspects that Tiresias' words may be true. However, he has Jocasta send for the servant that survived the attack on Laius to have him confirm Oedipus' new suspicions. 

When all things are confirmed, Jocasta, realizing that she has married her son, kills herself. Oedipus blinds himself with the pins from the broaches (jewelry) his wife wears. His last wishes are to be led out of the city so that no one will ever see him again, and that the children of his incestuous relationship with Jocasta not suffer because of his sins.

Oedipus' lack of knowledge supports the old cliché, "Ignorance is bliss." As long as Oedipus is unaware of what he has done, he acts for the good of Thebes. He loves his wife and the people of the city and tries to be a worthy leader. With the news of the murder of a man (Laius) that he never knew, he feels required to act to spare the citizens of Thebes the suffering they are experiencing because Laius' murder has gone unpunished.

Not having enough information drives Oedipus because he believes that he must put right the wrong that has been committed. It is not the knowledge of knowing that his father is dead that causes the dilemma for Oedipus. (He is adopted and does not know this.) He has left his father's house so he never kills him, as was prophesied about him. Oedipus is proactive. When he hears that his [adoptive] father is dead, he believes the accusations of Tiresias are false. However, it is the knowledge of how his true father died (at Oedipus' hands) that is the turning point in Oedipus' life.

So with both of these men, Hamlet and Oedipus, it is not the knowledge of the death of their father that drives them, but the knowledge of how each father died that controls each son's behavior.

Where is the narrator?

In "The Pit and the Pendulum" by Edgar Allan Poe, the narrator is condemned to death in the Spanish Inquisition. After he is sentenced to die, he wakes up and struggles to find out where he is. Everything is black around him, and he fears that he has been placed in a tomb. He has been in dungeons before, but this is the first that has no light. 

To explore his surroundings, he reaches out with his hands: "My outstretched hands at length encountered some solid obstruction. It was a wall, seemingly of stone masonry— very smooth, slimy, and cold." Though he can feel the wall, he still cannot tell the dimensions of his cell. To do so, he counts the steps he takes pacing from a rag he finds on the floor: "Up to the period when I fell, I had counted fifty-two paces, and, upon resuming my walk, I had counted forty-eight more—when I arrived at the rag. There were in all, then, a hundred paces; and, admitting two paces to the yard, I presumed the dungeon to be fifty yards in circuit. I had met, however, with many angles in the wall, and thus I could form no guess at the shape of the vault, for vault I could not help supposing it to be." Though he knows the dimensions of his cell, he cannot figure out its shape. 

By mistakenly tearing loose some material from the side of the wall, the narrator realizes where he is: "I succeeded in dislodging a small fragment, and let it fall into the abyss. For many seconds I hearkened to its reverberations as it dashed against the sides of the chasm in its descent; at length, there was a sullen plunge into water, succeeded by loud echoes." The piece of the wall that has fallen loose crashes into the water below, and the narrator realizes that a large pit with water lies beneath him. 

When the narrator later wakes up, he is tied down, and he is able to glimpse, with the admission of a bit of light into his chamber, the figure of time on the ceiling far above him. Instead of holding a scythe, the figure holds a pendulum, which the narrator thinks is painted. He then realizes that the sharp pendulum is moving: "There was something, however, in the appearance of this machine which caused me to regard it more attentively. While I gazed directly upward at it (for its position was immediately over my own) I fancied that I saw it in motion. In an instant afterward the fancy was confirmed. Its sweep was brief, and of course slow." The narrator is now between the pit and the pendulum, with no apparent means of escape. 

What are some examples of compounds?

A chemical compound is a substance that is made of two or more elements that are chemically bonded together in a fixed ratio. The formula of a compound consists of the symbols of the elements it contains with subscripts representing their proportions. For example, water, which has the formula H2O, has two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom per molecule.

Here are some examples of chemical compounds and their formulas:

`CO_2` , carbon dioxide

`C_6H_12O_6` , glucose

`C_12H_22O_11` , sucrose (white sugar)

`NaCl` , sodium chloride (table salt)

`CH_3COOH`, acetic acid (vinegar)

`C_2H_5OH` , ethanol

`C_8H_18` , octane (gasoline)

`CaCO_3` , calcium carbonate (limestone)

`NaClO` , sodium hypochlorite (bleach)

`NaHCO_3` , sodium hydrogen carbonate (baking soda)

`MgSO_4` , magnesium sulfate (Epsom salt)

`NaOH` , sodium hydroxide (lye)

A compound can exist as individual particles called molecules or as a crystal lattice of repeating formula units. For example, carbon dioxide, a molecular compound, consists of molecules that each contain one carbon and two oxygen atoms. Alternatively, sodium chloride, an ionic compound, exists as a crystal lattice of many sodium and chloride ions in a 1:1 ratio.

Is Daisy in The Great Gatsby really a Catholic?

The narrator, Nick Carraway, who is also Daisy Buchanan's cousin, states, "Daisy was not a Catholic" and is surprised when he hears Myrtle's sister, Catherine, tell this lie to him. 

In Chapter Two at the New York apartment where Tom has taken Nick along with his mistress, Myrtle Wilson, to escape the heat and to have a small party, Nick observes that Mrytle has changed into an "elaborate afternoon dress" and, with the "influence of the dress, her personality has also undergone a change." For instance, when Tom orders her to get ice for the McKees, she raises her eyebrows "in despair at the shiftlessness of the lower orders, "These people! You have to keep after them all the time." Then, she looks at Nick and laughs "pointlessly" in her imagined role as hostess.
When Mr. McKee, the photographer expresses a desire to work on Long Island, but he needs "the entry" from someone of position, mockingly, Tom laughs, and as Myrtle enters with a tray, he tells McKee,

"She'll give you a letter of introduction, won't you Mrytle?...'George B. Wilson at the Gasoline Pump' or something like that."
"Do what?" she asked, startled.

At this point, Mrytle's sister leans over to Nick, "Neither of them can stand the person they're married to." But, she explains, "She's a Catholic and they don't believe in divorce." 
Nick narrates, "Daisy was not a Catholic and I was a little shocked at the elaborateness of the lie."