How does wealth foster acceptance in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer?

Perhaps, the best example of how wealth fosters social acceptance in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is in the development of the character of Huck Finn in the narrative. Whereas Huck has remained on the fringes of society in the small town of St. Petersburg, Missouri, once he acquires wealth, he is then assimilated into society, proving that money is a primary factor in social acceptance.

In Chapter 35 of Twain's novel, after Tom and Huck's "windfall," they are transformed in the eyes of the townspeople. Huck, who heretofore was virtually a social pariah is now

...courted admired, stared at....now their [he and Tom's] sayings were treasured and repeated; everything they did seemed somehow to be regarded as remarkable; they had evidently lost the power of doing and saying commonplace things....

 Another irony attached to Tom and Huck's elevation in society once they have discovered the treasure is the fact that they have performed actions that they should not have been doing that enabled them to make this discovery, but because the end result is acquisition of wealth, their misdeeds are absolved by the citizenry, and they miraculously receive social acceptance.

Further, with Twain's satire describing Huck as being "dragged" and "hurled" into polite society, the boy now must remain clean and neat, he has to eat with a knife and fork, use a napkin and go to church and have schooling. Despite the fact that "[H]e bravely bore his miseries," after two days, Huck runs off.

What is the biggest political issue in Half of a Yellow Sun?

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie addresses a number of political and social issues in her expansive sophomore novel Half of a Yellow Sun. Chief among them is her examination of the various facets of the Nigerian Civil War that spanned from the late 1960s to the early 1970s. During this time, a section of Nigeria attempted to secede and the citizens of this area formed the short-lived country of Biafra. Half of a Yellow Sun follows the interconnected lives of a number of characters as the incipient country of Biafra rises and falls. Biafra seceded from Nigeria for a number of political and economic reasons. Interestingly, Adichie focuses on a major social issue that contributed to the secession: ethnic divisions within Nigeria. Indeed, Adichie emphasizes the mistrust and violence that occurs between the Igbo and the Hausa. In a striking moment in the novel, Odenigbo chastises Olanna for sympathizing with a Hausa man:

"What's the matter is that you are saying that a bloody Muslim Hausa man is upset! He is complicit, absolutely complicit, in everything that happened to our people.... How can you sound this way after seeing what they did in Kano? Can you imagine what must have happened to Arize? They raped pregnant women before they cut them up!" (238).

In her depiction of the Nigerian Civil War, unquestionably the biggest political issue in Half of a Yellow Sun, Adichie foregrounds the ethnic tensions that spurred Biafra's short-lived secession from Nigeria.

How is the interactionist perspective useful in explaining racial tensions in contemporary American society?

The interactionist perspective of sociology views a society as the sum of all social interactions between individuals, and explains how individuals develop worldviews based on the meanings they assign to interactions and experiences. Followers of this theoretical tradition would understand contemporary American racial conflict as groups forming negative symbolic perceptions of each other through social forces such as the media. These perceptions manifest in conflictual interactions that, to the individual, support their negative interpretation of members of other groups. The sum of all negative individual understandings and conflictual interactions perpetuates the conflict between the groups.

According to the interactionist perspective, racial conflict can be ameliorated by individual members of different racial or ethnic groups interacting in positive contexts. If groups can develop positive symbols related to members of other groups, they can have less conflictual interactions. The sum of these more positive interpretations and interactions, according to interactionism, can manifest as more positive race relations between majority and minority groups.

How do Eckels and Travis respond to the challenge of the hunt in Ray Bradbury's "A Sound of Thunder"?

Eckels and his guide react in markedly different ways when the Tyrannosaurus Rex steps out of the jungle and approaches them: Eckels is terrified and cannot shoot, but Travis reacts quickly and bravely fires at the advancing "Tyrant Lizard," killing it.

This reaction is certainly foreshadowed when Eckels initially reports to the Time Safari, Inc. office. There the clerk warns Eckels of the danger and affords him the opportunity to cancel his trip: 

Anything happens to you, we're not responsible. Those dinosaurs are hungry." 
Eckels flushed angrily. "Trying to scare me!" 
Frankly, yes. We don't want anyone going who'll panic at the first shot....Your personal check's still there. Tear it up."
Mr. Eckels looked at the check. His fingers twitched.

When the mammoth creature explodes onto the scene, Eckels does, indeed, panic. For, when he sees this monster shaking the earth and approaching, Eckels, cries, "Get me out of here." He tells Travis and Lesperance that on his previous safaris he had good guides and safe conditions.  

"This time, I figured wrong. I've met my  match and admit it. This is too much for me to get hold of." 

Travis hisses at him to be quiet, and he instructs Eckels to turn around slowly and return to the Machine. When Eckels moves, the Tyrant Lizard sees him and charges. The two guides bravely fire into the eyes in which they see themselves mirrored. Then, "like a stone idol, like a mountain avalanche, Tyannosaurus crashes to the earth. 

The pusillanimous Eckels cowers in the ship on the return to the travel company, knowing that were it not for the courage and skill of Travis and Lesperance, he would have been eaten by the Tyrannosaurus Rex.

How does Jem develop empathy and tolerance by reading to Mrs. Dubose in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird?

In Chapter 11 of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, it was not so much the actual moments Jem had of reading to Mrs. Dubose that taught him lessons of empathy and tolerance but rather the revelations he had afterwards.

While reading to Mrs. Dubose, Jem was too young to understand what he was witnessing and unable to see Mrs. Dubose as anything but a nasty, sick old woman who had revolting fits. As her fits lessened, her insults increased, and Scout notes that "through the weeks [Jem] had cultivated an expression of polite and detached interest, which he would present to her in answer to her most blood-curdling inventions" (Ch. 11). Hence, it can be said that the more he hears her insult his father, the more he is able to stoically tolerate the insults, knowing the insults are meaningless. Yet, when Mrs. Dubose finally puts an end to their reading sessions, Jem is nothing more than jubilant, showing us that he actually had not come to increase in his understanding or tolerance of her the more time he spent with her. It's not until Atticus explains her situation that Jem comes to realize the true value of Mrs. Dubose and truly learns about empathy and tolerance.

Soon after the experience, Mrs. Dubose dies. The night of her death, Atticus explains to Jem that Mrs. Dubose had been a morphine addict due to pain medications she had been prescribed by her doctor for her illness for years. Yet, being a strong woman, Mrs. Dubose had decided she wanted to "leave this world beholden to nothing and nobody" and had determined to rid herself of her morphine addiction (Ch. 11). She had used Jem's reading as a means of distracting herself from her withdrawal symptoms. It is because she was strong enough to break herself of an addiction, despite the amount of pain she was in, that makes Atticus see her as the "bravest person [he] ever knew" (Ch. 11).

It is after Atticus explains Mrs. Dubose's situation and his own perspective of her that Jem is able to see Mrs. Dubose for her true worth. Jem is able to see her as his father saw her, as a "great lady" (Ch. 11). Jem's new perspective of Mrs. Dubose also allows him to finally truly be tolerant of others' differences because he was finally able to see Mrs. Dubose as having both a good and bad side. In addition, Jem is finally able to feel true empathy because he is able to see that Mrs. Dubose's illness provoked her bitter tongue and is able to see how courageous she was as she faced her pain on her own.

What is the narrator of Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" trying to express when he thinks: "I should have been a pair of ragged claws...

This complex poem has had many interpretations, but this one line  is key to what Eliot is trying to express -- the facticity of human existence, the present phenomenon of being a human being -- how complex, how convoluted it is, how wrapped up in our awareness of time:

  Time for you and time for me, 
And time yet for a hundred indecisions,
And for a hundred visions and revisions,
Before the taking of a toast and tea.

The antithesis of human existence, of human consciousness, would be to be alive, but without self-consciousness, without the need or the "desire" to be aware, would be to be a sea creature of purely utilitarian powers, functions, needs, and capabilities.  His metaphorical equivalent of that condition is a creature with ragged claws, neither knowing or caring about its own existence or its "meaning" in the "ocean" of physicality.  This line, then counterbalances all the lines articulating human actions and decisions and complexities.  It is important here and in all analysis of a poem's "meaning" to remember Eliot's admonishment:  "A poem must not mean but be."

Since the Cunninghams are poor in To Kill a Mockingbird, how do they pay Atticus, who is a lawyer, and the doctor, for the services they have...

The Cunninghams pay Atticus in farm goods.

The Cunninghams are a poor but respectable family in Maycomb.  They have a lot of pride, and a Cunningham never borrows money that he can’t repay.  Scout has a classmate, Walter Cunningham, who refused to borrow a quarter from the teacher for lunch.  Scout asked him home for dinner, however, and he accepted. 

When the Cunninghams need Atticus’s help with an entailment on their farm, Scout asks Atticus if the Cunninghams will ever pay him for his law services.  Atticus tells her that the Cunninghams can’t pay cash, but they will pay eventually.

One morning Jem and I found a load of stovewood in the back yard.

Later, a sack of hickory nuts appeared on the back steps. With Christmas came a crate of smilax and holly. That spring when we found a crokersack full of turnip greens, Atticus said Mr. Cunningham had more than paid him. (Ch. 2)

Atticus has to accept payment for services from farmers in the form of goods like wood and chickens.  This is because he knows that they can’t pay.  It is the Great Depression, and everyone is poor.  It is an especially bad time for farmers.

Atticus said professional people were poor because the farmers were poor. As Maycomb County was farm country, nickels and dimes were hard to come by for doctors and dentists and lawyers. (Ch. 2)

Bartering for services is actually very common even today.  It is a good way for someone to get something he needs without actually paying money.  Sometimes one person has something another person needs, and that person has something he needs too.  It is a win-win situation.

The Cunninghams are generally more respectable than the Ewells, who are poor but have no pride.  Atticus respects the Cunninghams, but says the Ewells live like pigs.  Although there is the incident with the mob, the Cunninghams seem to be a good group of people. 

What is the emotion Caroline and her family (not the Cratchits) experience when they learn that Scrooge is dead? Why do the feel that way?

Caroline and her husband had borrowed money from Scrooge and were not able to pay it back in time. Scrooge refused to give them any extension, despite the poor circumstances the family lived in.

When the third spirit visits Scrooge, it makes him witness his cleaning lady gleefully selling off some of his belongings. He is so horrified that he asks the spirit, “If there is any person in the town, who feels emotion caused by this man's death, show that person to me, Spirit, I beseech you!” In response the spirit takes him to Caroline’s house.

She is worriedly pacing the floor awaiting her husband with news of Scrooge’s answer to their request for extra time to pay back the loan. In this time, people who did not pay back debts were thrown in prison, often with their families. Scrooge had the power to put the entire family behind bars for an indeterminate time, at least until the debt was paid back. That was often impossible unless a friend or relative helped out, since one wouldn’t be making any money in jail. Caroline is right to be so nervous.

When her husband arrives with the news that Scrooge is dead, Caroline is happy, then she feels bad for being happy at a man’s death. “…she was thankful in her soul to hear it, and she said so, with clasped hands. She prayed forgiveness the next moment, and was sorry; but the first was the emotion of her heart.”

They have good reason to be happy. Now they won’t be sent to jail. Their debt is not erased; someone else will acquire it when Scrooge’s business is sold after his death, but that gives them plenty of time to get the money. Even if they don’t, Caroline’s husband points out that another creditor would not be as merciless as Scrooge.

The narrator sums up their feelings this way: “Soften it as they would, their hearts were lighter. The children's faces, hushed and clustered round to hear what they so little understood, were brighter; and it was a happier house for this man's death! The only emotion that the Ghost could show him, caused by the event, was one of pleasure.”

Realizing that his death caused people happiness had a powerful effect on Scrooge and went far in convincing him to change his ways.

Who does Anton compare Patty's father to?

In the story, Anton compares Patty's father to Adolph Hitler after he witnesses Patty's beating at her father's hands.

In discussing Harry Bergen, Patty's father, Anton theorizes that a 'man who is incapable of humor is capable of cruelty.' He imagines that, if Hitler, had had the self-awareness to step back and to 'observe the absurdity of his own behavior,' the world might not have been blighted by the effects of his cruelty.

Further expanding on the connection between power and cruelty, Anton asserts that the main difference between Harry Bergen and Adolph Hitler may be the 'degrees of power' held by both men. Basically, compared to Hitler, Harry Bergen is able to inflict his cruelty on fewer people due to his lower level of influence. From his vantage point, Anton also thinks that both men seem to have a predilection towards violence. He jokes that he doesn't know why this is the case, maintaining that the only questions he likes to raise appear to be those that are unanswerable. Anton's words highlight his own sense of humor, which further endears him to Patty.

What is the conflict between the children and Mrs. Dubose similar to?

The conflict between the children and Mrs. Dubose is similar to the challenges Atticus faces while representing Tom Robinson in his upcoming trial. Mrs. Dubose is an unforgiving racist who openly expresses her ignorant views and prejudiced beliefs towards Jem and Scout. She symbolically represents Maycomb's prejudiced views towards African Americans. Jem and Scout confront Mrs. Dubose as they walk past her house and become victims of her verbal tirade. In a similar way, Atticus has to confront Maycomb's racist jury whose prejudiced beliefs can sway their decision to convict an innocent man. Unlike his father, Jem is not able to "keep his cool" and ruins Mrs. Dubose's camellia bush by bashing it with Scout's baton. Atticus is continually encouraging his children to be tolerant of their neighbors' racist views and maintain composure in the face of adversity.

When a group of men, led by Mr. Cunningham, shows up at the Maycomb jailhouse the night before the Tom Robinson's trial, what have they come to do?

In Chapter 15, Walter Cunningham Sr. and the rest of the Old Sarum bunch arrive at the Maycomb County jailhouse to lynch Tom Robinson before his trial. Fortunately, Atticus is waiting outside of Tom's cell when they arrive. Atticus tells them to turn around and go home, and says that Sheriff Tate is around here somewhere. They tell Atticus that they called him off on a snipe hunt, which would allow them time to take Tom Robinson from the jail and lynch him. Seemingly out of nowhere, Scout runs out from behind Tyndal's Hardware store into the middle of the group of men. Jem and Dill follow Scout out of the shadows and Jem refuses to leave when Atticus tells him to go home. After numerous attempts to have a conversation with Walter Cunningham Sr., Scout successfully gains his attention. Walter Cunningham Sr. realizes Atticus' predicament and tells the men to head home. The Old Sarum bunch planned on lynching Tom Robinson that night but were unsuccessful.

What is the importance of psychology to a preschool teacher?

Nobody would suggest that one needs to be a specialist in psychology to be a preschool teacher, but some background in psychology, especially developmental psychology, would be helpful. This is because so much of pedagogy (the study of teaching and learning) is based upon developmental psychology. In short, it is important to understand how children's minds develop, emotionally, cognitively, and behaviorally, so that we can tailor instruction to meet their needs. This is important at every level of education from pre-K to post-secondary, but it is perhaps most important at the preschool level, where kids are becoming socialized and beginning to gain basic educational skills such as reading and speech that are crucial to their future development. In fact, a basic familiarity with developmental psychology is useful not just for early childhood teachers, but for coaches, babysitters, and parents as well. I have linked to a scholarly article that deals with this very subject and provides an overview of recent scholarly work on developmental psychology and pedagogy.

In "The Yellow Wallpaper," how would you describe the relationship between the patient and her caregivers?

The patient in this story is the narrator, so the perspective we get in this story is clearly biased: we only know what the narrator reports. We learn from the patient, a young female who has recently given birth, that her primary caregivers are her husband John and John’s sister Jennie. The patient's relationship with each of them is untherapeutic and may even be the cause of further deterioration. 

John, as the male and as a physician, is the dominant caregiver. Although the narrator has little power over her “treatment” and must listen to what John says, her initial attitude is one of skepticism. She explains that although both her husband and her brother, also a physician, believe that a regimen of rest and tonics will “cure” her, she is not so sure. However, as a woman who is suffering from depression in the 19th century, she must defer to the authority of her husband. The relationship is not based on mutual respect and trust, but on power and control.

The second caregiver is Jennie, whom the narrator describes as an “enthusiastic” and unambitious housekeeper. Although Jennie is solicitous and shows apparent concern, the narrator tells us that Jennie thinks that it is writing (the narrator’s profession) that has made her sick in the first place. As a result, the narrator must be secretive about her writing so that she is not caught – and reported – to her husband. Thus this second patient-caregiver relationship is not healthy either; Jennie is part babysitter, part spy.

Neither of these patient-caregiver relationships is healthy; both are based on uneven power dynamics, and each is further damaged by a lack of trust. It is no wonder that Jane (the narrator) gets progressively worse through the story, eventually having a psychotic split and descending into madness.

What was Bob's "real" problem according to Randy?

In Chapter 7, Randy Adderson stops by the Tasty Freeze to have a conversation with Ponyboy before the rumble. When Ponyboy gets into his car, Randy tells him that he won't be at the rumble and is going to leave town. Randy begins to talk to Ponyboy about his friend Bob Sheldon, who lost his life the night he tried to drown Ponyboy. He tells Ponyboy that Bob's parents spoiled him rotten and let him get away with everything. According to Randy, Bob's problem was that his parents never set any boundaries for him or punished him for his misbehavior. Whenever Bob would get into trouble, his parents would blame themselves, and Bob would go unpunished. Randy says that Bob needed somebody to "lay down the law" and tell him "no." Randy believes that if Bob's father would have beaten him with a belt just once in his life, Bob would probably still be alive. 

Consider the following statement and then compose a 3 page reflective essay."Where would you turn to if you wanted to find an accurate account of...

That's a fantastic question.  I have my reasons, which I will get to, but I want to remind you that this kind of question doesn't have a single correct answer.  This is a classic "what do you think" question.  If I were to ask you the question, I don't really care if you choose novel, poem, or textbook.  I care about why you chose what you chose.  I care about your reasons.  On top of that, I do not even need to agree with you.  I would be grading and judging based on the strength of your answer and your support.  My recommendation to you is to pick the answer that you feel most passionately about, or pick the answer that you can most easily defend.  

For me, a novel is the best choice (even if it is fictional).  My major complaint with a textbook is that it is factual to a fault.  You, the reader, are given information about what happened, but very rarely are you given a clear picture as to why something may or may not have happened.  Your initial question asked about human motivation.  Inherent in motivation is the why.  Why was a person motivated to do something?  The actual act is the factual information that a textbook would have.  The logic and the emotions that led to the act are what a novel can describe.  The novel, especially something like a historical fiction novel, can give you both the what and the why more clearly than a textbook. 

There is a secondary question hidden in your initial question.  "Would extensive research help in shaping your ideas?"  Yes.  More research gives you more data and evidence.  It's why scientists run multiple tests.  They want more data, so they have more evidence.  More evidence allows them to make better and more detailed conclusions about what and why something happens.  Extensive research into human motivation is going to give you more data.  As your data and evidence increases, you will be able to see more commonalities and themes throughout history and cultures.  All of that information can't help but give you a better understanding of human motivation.  

What purpose did Macbeth murdering Duncan serve?

Macbeth murdering Duncan is the first and most important evil act that Macbeth commits in the play.  Macbeth ultimately murders Duncan for a single reason: if Duncan is king Macbeth cannot be king. In order for the witches' prophecy to come true Macbeth must act to secure his position.  This becomes evident when Macbeth hears Duncan describing how his eldest son will be the next king when Duncan dies.  Macbeth recognizes that unless he does something to secure his spot, the crown will remain in possession of the royal family.  

However, Shakespeare's purpose in having Macbeth murder Duncan is much larger than the simple fact that Macbeth wants to become king.  This first evil act sets Macbeth on the trajectory towards his inevitable downfall.  He grapples endlessly with the painful truth that he must kill Duncan to satisfy his own ambition (end of Act 1 and Act 2, scene 1) and is conflicted about betraying a man to whom he is supposed to show considerable loyalty to.  Moreover, this first act of killing sparks the insatiable desire to retain power in Macbeth and shifts his characterization from conflicted to power-hungry, transforming him from a sympathetic character to a tyrant.  This ultimately demonstrates for readers that ambition leads one to commit unthinkable acts, ultimately eroding one's moral character.

How does the man's thinking or observation change as the story progresses in the short story, "To Build a Fire" by Jack London?

In the short story, "To Build a Fire" by Jack London, the newcomer heads out for his camp and ignores the advice of the old timers that it is too cold to travel alone. He is sure that he will be all right and is accompanied by his dog.  As he stops for lunch, he builds a fire to stay warm while he eats and is truly surprised at how fast his hand freezes even near the fire.  Still, he decides to go on even though he is now much more concerned as is the dog who is reluctant to leave the fire.  Now the man makes the dog walk in front of him in case the ice breaks and getting wet would mean death without a fire.  Eventually the man does break through the ice, gets wet, and desperately tries to start a fire. Because he places the fire under a tree like a rookie, the small fire causes the snow to let loose and covers the fire, killing it. The man then considers killing the dog to use its carcass for warmth. When the dog moves away out of reach, the man knows he must start a fire or die.  When he cannot start a fire, he sits down to face death, knowing now that he should have listened to the old timers.  The dog waits for fire and when it does not come, moves off to find another fire builder.

What is Davis' solution to the problem structuring Life in the Iron Mills?

Rebecca Harding Davis' novella "Life in the Iron Mills" presents a moral dilemma plaguing a working class family. Through detailed descriptions of both factory and home life for proletarian characters, Davis, like Friedrich Engels, highlights the distress and hardships that industrial capitalism puts on the working class. As a solution to these ills, Davis implies that money needs to be more equitably distributed among people of all classes. In a moment of free indirect discourse, the protagonist Hugh thinks about whether or not he should keep money that his wife Deborah stole from a wealthy industrialist:

The money,—there it lay on his knee, a little blotted slip of paper, nothing in itself; used to raise him out of the pit, something straight from God's hand. A thief! Well, what was it to be a thief? He met the question at last, face to face, wiping the clammy drops of sweat from his forehead. God made this money—the fresh air, too—for his children's use. He never made the difference between poor and rich. The Something who looked down on him that moment through the cool gray sky had a kindly face, he knew,—loved his children alike. Oh, he knew that!

In this interior monologue, Hugh indicates that money ought to be shared in common for theological reasons: "God made this money." Because God recognizes no "difference between poor and rich," and money ought to, like "fresh air," be held in common, it should be distributed more equitably to reflect this divine truth. Thus, instead of criticizing capitalism as an exploitative mode of production—as Marx does—Davis contends that the problem with capitalism isn't production but the circulation of money, offering a solution of distributive justice to the capitalist ills symbolized by the iron mills.

What are the social, ethical and commercial issues of using gene therapy to treat haemophilia?

Gene therapy presents a number of concerns that are not typical of other medical treatments. In addition to the raw economic cost of their development, gene therapies prompt ethical questions about their use.

From the perspective of the drug companies, gene therapies present two kinds of financial risks that delay their advancement. Most important is the cost of research and development. Gene therapy technologies are relatively new and lack the extensive body of knowledge present in other classes of clinical trials. Hence they are considered risky, causing regulatory agencies to set the bar of safety very high, every complication and death carefully scrutinized. There have been exactly three deaths in gene therapy trials since 1999 out of about 2000 studies. Each one made international headlines. However, there is another economic concern for any company pioneering gene therapy. Once they have developed a successful gene therapy treatment at great cost, the pathology they are treating is cured in a given patient. There is no potential market for continuing therapy, as you might have for a chronic condition. Every successful commercialized gene therapy treatment will eventually obviate itself. Compared to conventional drug development, this makes gene therapy very intimidating for medical device companies.

From the societal perspective, perhaps the most dangerous aspect of gene therapy is that the underlying conditions are treated permanently, not just for a given patient, but, provided the therapy affects the patients' germ cells, for all of that patient's descendants. For a condition like hemophilia, which actually endangers an individual, this perpetuity might seem advantageous. However, there is a dangerous slippery slope in this notion of reshaping an entire line of people. Consider conditions where there is a cultural aspect. For instance, the deaf community has a significant social cohesiveness, and numerous deaf parents have already refused cochlear implants to treat deafness in their children. Where does one draw the line at treating pathologies? Could short stature be considered a pathology? Very quickly, the applications of gene therapy may drift from treating congenital illness to making selections based on subjective parental preference or, even more dangerously, the optimization of performance or aesthetics. It would be a narrow line between treating a genetic predisposition for asthma and conveying superlative cardiopulmonary health to promote athleticism.  

Once we have expensive gene therapy treatments that can permanently cure congenital pathologies or possibly even improve performance for entire family lines, it becomes an ethical consideration of who receives such treatment. Even in countries with state-sponsored medical care, would such therapies be administered universally, or would they be considered expensive elective treatments? What started off as an egalitarian effort to treat a universal pathology like hemophilia could become a mechanism for magnifying class divisions.

How does Keats manage to embody such a complex theme in a simple poem?

One of Keats's greatest poems, "To Autumn," is at first glance a seemingly simple description of a season. Keats describes classic autumn scenes in the first and third stanzas, and in the second he personifies autumn and gives the season life through clever human characteristics. To say that the poem is only a series of descriptions would be missing the point, though. Indeed, the poem is also about the inherent (and, in some ways, surprising) beauty of endings and conclusions.

This idea is most forcefully communicated in the final stanza. First, Keats rejects the "songs of spring" (23), which is itself a symbolic suggestion that beginnings (represented here by the birth of a new year) are not the only valuable stages of a cycle. Keats follows this idea up with a description of a beautiful, but melancholy, autumn landscape:

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. (27-33)

This bittersweet description is beautiful, but it also reminds us that the autumn landscape is becoming dormant, and preparing for winter and the end of a year. Often, this period is thought of as wholly melancholy, but Keats suggests that there is value to be had even in the process of ending a year. By extension, we can see Keats arguing through his subtle descriptions that conclusions are not only sad, but also moments of extreme beauty and atonement. Thus, in a very simple poem, Keats muses on the forgotten value of cyclical endings, a topic that becomes even more poignant when we take into account Keats's own untimely death.

What is the theme statement for William Blake's "The Tyger"?

Blake's "The Tyger" appears in his Songs of Innocence and Experience as a song of "experience." These poems appear to be nursery rhymes, but in fact the idea at work behind Blake's "innocence and experience" dichotomy has to do with the nature of good and evil, and God's relationship to man.

In the case of "The Tyger," the theme is essentially expressed as a question in the first stanza, "What immortal hand or eye / Could frame thy fearful symmetry?" (l. 2-4) In other words, what are we mortals to infer about God (the "immortal hand or eye") given the dreadful nature of the tiger?

The next three stanzas simply rephrase this question over and over, with ever escalating language. The images in this section of the poem compare God to a blacksmith, fashioning the tiger (and, presumably, all creation) at the forge:

What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp? (l. 13-16)

Stanza five turns the question around, asking to know if God "smiled his work to see," suggesting that might have taken a perverse joy in creating a deadly animal. The final stanza returns to the question posed originally, only rephrasing it as "What immortal hand or eye / Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?" By substituting the word "dare" for the more neutral "could" of the first stanza, the poet clearly is expressing outrage at the existence of evil in the world, and challenging the moral authority of God.

What was the Great Burning in "By the Waters of Babylon?"

At the beginning of “By the Waters of Babylon,” we do not really know what the Great Burning was in any precise way. However, near the end of the story, we find out that the Great Burning was some kind of war involving extremely destructive, high-tech weapons.

At the start of the story, we are told that there was something called the Great Burning.  But at that point, all we know is that it destroyed the Place of the Gods.  It is clear that the Great Burning was something terrible, but we do not know what it was.

Later in the story, John gets to the Place of the Gods and we find out a little more.  He says that he looked and saw things like buildings and roads that were “broken in the time of the Great Burning when the fire fell out of the sky.”  So now we know that fire came from the sky, but we do not know if it was an asteroid impact or some other sort of disaster.

Finally, towards the end of the story, we find out the true nature of the Great Burning.  We find out that it was not a natural disaster but a war between the beings that John thinks (at that point) were gods.  John says:

When gods war with gods, they use weapons we do not know. It was fire falling out of the sky and a mist that poisoned. It was the time of the Great Burning and the Destruction.

This shows us quite clearly that the Great Burning was a war fought with advanced, destructive weapons that John cannot comprehend. This story was written before the discovery of nuclear weapons, but Benet clearly anticipates the creation of some sort of superweapons that could destroy whole cities and kill large populations. The Great Burning was a war fought between modern people using such weapons.

How can the arts be considered a remedy for crimes committed against citizens?

Great question!

The arts are a remedy for injustice and inequality because of their ability to raise awareness and consciousness--to take a problem and show an audience a new way of understanding or relating to it.

Pieces of art can also function as rallying cries--echoing and lending legitimacy to felt injustices and inspiring people to take action.

Let’s look at some examples of both of these ways that art can help facilitate social change in the context of racial justice. Authors like Toni Morrison, rappers like Immortal Technique, Nas, and Talib Kweli, and comedians such as Dave Chappelle and Key & Peele have each, in very different ways, communicated the ways that racial injustice permeates society through art. For example, Morrison, in the book “The Bluest Eye,” focuses on the way that African Americans have accepted and internalized white beauty norms.

An example of the second type, where art can act as a rallying cry for social change is exemplified by the song “Alright,” by Kendrick Lamar. The four word chorus of this song, “We gon' be alright,” became a mantra for the Black Lives Matter movement, uniting protesters as they strove for social change in police violence towards African Americans.

What does the lake symbolize in T.C. Boyle's "Greasy Lake"?

The lake of T.C. Boyle's story "Greasy Lake" symbolizes the changing perceptions of the narrator.

In the beginning of the narrative, the lake represents a spot that is secluded from "the world of 'do-gooders'" where teens can secretly engage in illicit behavior and escape the consequences. However, the pretense of safety in dangerous behavior becomes perilous itself as the narrator and his friends find themselves confronted with serious injury when in their drunkenness they mistake a car for that of a friend's. Instead of their friend Tony emerging from the car, "a bad greasy character" with steel-toed boots confronts the boys, and inflicts serious injury upon them. After the narrator pulls out a tire iron, he and his friends defeat their foe. Then, they turn their attention to the girlfriend, who comes shrieking out of the other car. Now, their minds turn from violence to lust as they try to assault her.

But, headlights coming toward them arrest their actions and send the narrator wading into the lake as he flees what he thinks may be the police. As he wades deeper, thinking to plunge under the water, the narrator senses that he has blundered onto "another greasy character." This one fills him with horror. This is "greasy primitivism" at its lowest, for it is a dead body. With an illuminated perception, the narrator realizes the foolishness of his and his friends' behaviors. He acknowledges with a new maturity from this experience that there are dire repercussions to illicit conduct. 

Further, as he listens, the narrator hears the cursing of the "greasy character" that he and his friends have beaten. This "greasy character" and a buddy, who has pulled up, call out to the narrator and his friends. When there is no response, they decide to strike the station wagon with a tire iron, breaking the windshield and seriously damaging the body of the vehicle. Then they pull away. Quickly, the boys hurry back to the station wagon and are able to escape after the narrator suddenly spots his keys. As the vehicle hobbles along, the narrator notices that "[T]here was a sheen of sun on the lake," symbolizing his enlightenment.

The Greasy Lake to which the boys have come as a shelter from the consequences of bad behavior has transformed itself in their perceptions to a place of horror. Yet, in experiencing this horror, the narrator, at least, has matured and "seen the light" of acting morally.

In "Two Kinds," how does the mother feel about life in America?

The mother thinks that America is the land of opportunity. There is the potential for a variety of different kinds of success. In coming to San Francisco, the mother had the highest hopes. 

My mother believed you could be anything you wanted to be in America. You could open a restaurant. You could work for the government and get good retirement. You could buy a house with almost no money down. You could become rich. You could become instantly famous. 

The mother takes great efforts to make her daughter into a prodigy. At first, she wants to groom her as the next Shirley Temple, the most famous child actor of her day. The mother is quite impressionable. She will be enchanted by any notion of a child success story. When she sees something of the kind in a magazine or on a television show, she is inspired to groom the daughter in the direction of some new talent. It is the mother's intention to live vicariously through her daughter and therefore, for her daughter to achieve the success that she (mother) believed was possible in America. Even when the daughter fails at the piano recital, her mother wants to continue the piano lessons. The mother's hope for her daughter in this land of opportunity trumps every setback. Although it is not overtly mentioned, the mother probably recognizes that life in America is more difficult for an immigrant. But the mother will accept no excuses. If the daughter is obedient (one kind), there is no reason she shouldn't succeed in America. 

Give two types of cells and their functions.

All living things are made up of one or more cells; this is one of the parts of modern cell theory. In multi-cellular organisms, cells are specialized for particular functions (jobs). This question could be answered in regards to fungi, protists, plants, and animals. I will answer in terms of animal cells; if you are interested in other types, please ask again.

Two types of animal cells are muscle cells, and nerve cells.

Muscle cells are specialized to provide movement of some sort in the animal when they contract and expand. They are generally long and thin so that when they act together and contract, they are capable of moving either voluntary muscle (such as that in a leg) or involuntary muscles (such as heart muscles or digestive tract muscles).

Nerve cells, or neurons, send messages along their length to either another nerve cell or another type of cell, such as a muscle cell. They are also long, but their structure is very different. Neurons receive a chemical signal through their branching network of dendrites. The signal is then transferred electrically along the shaft of the cell (the axon). At the other end, the cell releases its own chemical neurotransmitters that stimulate another nerve cell or other type of cell. See the attached link for a diagram; it is much easier to see how neurons structure is related to their function with a picture.

What page is the following quote on? "You trying to keep your distance from me will in no way lessen my affection for you."

This quote is on page 122 in my version of the text.

If you have a different version, you can easily find this quote by heading to Chapter 8, then flipping to about halfway through the chapter. Look for the break in the text after the phrase "twenty minutes" and before the sentence that starts with "I stayed in the back yard." That's when the scene begins that features this quote.

It's the scene in which Augustus says to Hazel:

"You realize that trying to keep your distance from me will not lessen my affection for you."

It happens when Hazel realizes that her cancer will severely shorten her life, and she doesn't want her eventual death to inflict pain on Augustus, her new boyfriend. But he wants to assure her that he likes her very much anyway and is willing to risk the pain of losing her.

How did I find this quote? Not by flipping through the entire book, looking for it--that would be tedious and time-consuming. First, I Googled the quote to see if anyone had already discussed it and if so, if its location within the book was mentioned. That worked: someone had blogged about that quote and included the page number. If for some reason that strategy didn't work, then I would try thinking through the plot a bit, trying to decide when someone would have said this to another character. It would probably be after Hazel and Augustus started dating, but before they got too serious. So I'd start looking through the middle of the novel until I found it, which would also work. But perhaps the most efficient strategy of all is to get your hands on a copy of the ebook, and use an automated search function to locate the quote. (Search for a small, unusual phrase within the quote, such as "lessen my affection.")

Why is the sky blue?

The sky appears blue during the day because of the scattering of light by particles in the atmosphere. The white light from the sun is made up of all of the colors of the rainbow. Blue light is scattered more than the other colors of visible light because of its shorter wavelength. We see more of the blue light because it's scattered in many directions. 

This phenomenon is called Raleigh scattering, after the British physicist Sir Raleigh. The electric field of a light wave hitting a polarizable particle causes the particle to oscillate, radiating what we see as scatted light. 

The same concept explains why the sky looks orange or red at sunset. When the sun is lower in the sky sunlight must travel a greater distance to reach us. In doing so it travels through more atmospheric gas and more of the blue light is scattered before it reaches us. The longer wavelengths, red and orange, then predominate.

On what page can the following quote be found in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird: Boo Radley is a myth to some children.

That exact quote can actually not be found in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. In fact, the word myth is only used once towards the end of the book when the children are being followed in the dark of the night by an unknown person. At first, Jem believes they are being followed by Cecil Jacobs as a prank, but as their pursuer continues, Scout begins to wonder "how long [Jem] would try to keep the Cecil myth going" (Ch. 28).  However, we do learn a great deal in the first chapter about the fears neighborhood children have of Boo Radley based on rumors.

In Chapter 1, we learn about Miss Stephanie Crawford's rumors that Arthur (Boo) Radley never leaves his house because his father put him under house arrest due to insanity once Boo stabbed his father in the leg with a pair of scissors. We also learn that Boo's inability to leave his house creates a great deal of fear and suspicion in the minds of Maycomb's citizens. Specifically, Scout narrates that, at one point, "The town was terrorized by a series of morbid nocturnal events," such as the mutilation of pets and chickens, and Maycomb's citizens suspected Boo of the misdeeds. Though the town learned Crazy Addie was the perpetrator, a man who later committed suicide by drowning in Barker's Eddy, many of Maycomb's citizens refused to stop thinking of Boo in a suspicious light.

In this first chapter, the more Dill grows curious about Boo, the more Jem recites other rumors surrounding Boo. For example, Jem tells Dill that Boo only leaves his house when it is pitch dark. Plus, Jem says Miss Stephanie Crawford once saw Boo in the middle of the night staring "straight through the window at her." Jem even goes so far as to give a mythical description of Boo. According to Jem, Boo is "six-and-a-half feet tall," has a "long jagged scar" across his face, "yellow and rotten" teeth, pop eyes, and drool coming out of his mouth. Boo also has bloodstained hands because he feeds mostly on small raw animals, such as squirrels and cats.

Hence, as we can see, Maycomb's citizens, especially the children, have invented many myths about Boo Radley due to the mystery that surrounds him and the Radley family.

How are Sonny and his brother alike in "Sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin?

In "Sonny's Blues," the narrator and his brother Sonny are similar in that they, arguably, are struggling to come to terms with the loss that they have experienced in their family life.  Early in the story, the reader learns about the story of the death of the narrator's uncle.  Sonny and the narrator never even knew that their father had a brother--the fact had been kept secret from them until their mother decided that they needed to know.  The uncle was killed in an act of racial violence, having been run over by a group of drunk whites.  Sonny and the narrator's father remained haunted by the death of his brother, and it seems that the event somehow colored the nature of their family relations.  The parents tried to protect Sonny and the narrator from the fact that violence can hit close to home, but they could not keep the boys sheltered from the world.  As the boys age and are forced to deal with the deaths of their parents, the mean streets in their neighborhood, and then the death of the narrator's daughter, neither Sonny nor the narrator appear to deal in healthy ways with the losses.  The narrator keeps his feels bottled up inside, and Sonny uses heroin as a means to escape.  It is only at the end of the story that through Sonny's music, Sonny and the narrator are able to deal with their emotional struggles.

What are the fixed variables for (a) changing the length of a pendulum + (b) changing the mass of a pendulum bob?

The time period of a pendulum is given as:

`T = 2pi sqrt(L/g)`

where, T is the time period, L is the length of the pendulum and g is acceleration due to gravity. In this equation, length is the independent variable, while the time period is the dependent variable. 

When we change the length (case A) of the pendulum, time period changes. A change in mass of the pendulum does not have any effect on the period of the pendulum. When we change both the length and the mass (case B), time period changes.

A fixed variable or a control variable is one which stays constant throughout. In both the given cases, acceleration due to gravity (g) stays constant. In the experiments that we carry out to study pendulum, we generally study the effect of variations in length, mass and angle of pendulum. In all those cases, g is constant and hence is the fixed variable. Specifically for the case, when we change only the mass of pendulum bob, length is also kept constant or fixed.

Hope this helps. 

How is Jody's coming of age shown throughout the novel?

One of the first impressions the reader has of Jody is when he is building a flutter-wheel in the river rather than doing the work his father has asked him to do. He is grateful for the gentle way that his father allows him the freedom to explore and sometimes play when he needs to be working. His life is also relatively stable at this point and his responsibilities few.

That quickly changes when they cannot kill Old Slewfoot and he starts to understand more of the conflict with the Forresters and the complexity of their world. Jody sees his once strong and seemingly inexhaustible father nearly killed by a rattlesnake bite that leaves him weak and unable to handle the load that he used to.

Jody quickly begins to shoulder more of the responsibility but his link to his playful childhood is Flag, the fawn he has taken under his wing. Soon the fact that Flag is ruining crops and causing trouble starts to mirror the conflict that Jody has to face between staying a boy and becoming a man in the hard world.

At the end of the story when Jody has to kill the wounded Flag, he faces the hardness of starvation as he tries to run away from his responsibilities. He returns to the farm unable to see things the way he did just a year before. His maturation and the death of the child in him are in some ways a mirror of the death of his beloved Flag.

Why are rainbows always curved?

Rainbows are formed when sunlight passes through water droplets in the sky, and the light gets "split up" into the different colors because the different wavelengths of light travel through the water droplet slightly differently. In order for you to observe this, there needs to be a specific angle between you, the water droplet, and the sun.

The reason why rainbows are always curved like a circle is because that curve represents a set of points that all form the same angle between you, the water droplet and the sun. This is also the reason rainbows always seem at a distance, and you can never really get closer to it. When you move, the rainbow also "moves", meaning you are actually observing the colors from a different set of water droplets.

If the sun rises in the northeast, where does it set?

Because the earth's axis of rotation is tilted, the sun's rising and setting locations appear to change throughout the year. There are only two times each year when the sun rises due east and sets due west. These times are the autumnal and vernal equinoxes in September and March, respectively. The rest of the year, the sun will be either north or south of due east and west. 

The northern hemisphere is tilted away from the sun during the winter, and so the sun will rise in the southeast and set in the southwest, staying in the southern part of the sky throughout the day. During the summer, the northern hemisphere is tilted toward the sun, so the sun will rise in the northeast and set in the northwest. 

It is important to remember that the earth is rotating on its axis, and the axis doesn't change directions. As the earth moves in its orbit around the sun, the axis simply ends up facing towards or away from the sun. Check out the link to the NASA site below for more information on this and the earth's seasons. This is a common misconception that makes it more difficult to understand the relationship between our earth and the sun. 

Images:

Image is pending but will be added shortly.

Why do think Margot does not fit in?

Margot, the young protagonist in “All Summer in a Day”, moved to Venus from Earth where she lived until she was four years old.  Margot doesn't fit in because she has seen the sun and has felt its warmth and light.  The other children in her school were not yet born with the sun came out seven years before.  All the children of Venus have known is a continuous rainfall.  When Margot explains what that the sun is like a "penny", the children don’t believe her and lock her in a closet in the classroom.  They forget she is there when the excitement of seeing the sun makes them rush outside.  Margot is crushed by the event because she has experienced the magical nature of the sun before, and it will be a long seven years before Margot will be able to see the sun again.

Find the value of k such that `(x^3-k*x^2+2)` / `(x-1)` has a remainder of 8.

Hello!

There is the Polynomial remainder theorem (its prove is simple provided we know that the remainder is a number (a monomial of degree 0)):

if a polynomial `P(x)` is divided by a binomial `(x-c)` then the remainder is equal to `P(c).`

Here `P(x)=x^3-k*x^2+2` and `c=1,` therefore the remainder is equal to

`P(1)=1-k+2=3-k.`

And it is equal to 8 by the condition of the problem,

`3-k=8.`

Therefore k=3-8=-5. This is the (unique) answer, k=-5.

Check the answer by the direct division:

`(x^3+5x^2+2)/(x-1)=[x^2(x-1)+x^2+5x^2+2]/(x-1)=`

`=x^2+[6x^2+2]/(x-1)=x^2+[6x(x-1)+6x+2]/(x-1)=`

`=x^2+6x+[6x+2]/(x-1)=x^2+6x+[6(x-1)+6+2]/(x-1)=`

`=(x^2+6x+6)+8/(x-1),`

or

`(x^3+5x^2+2)=(x^2+6x+6)(x-1)+8.`

How does the image of Mrs. Drover in the mirror compare to the way she feels?

In "The Demon Lover," Mrs. Drover "polished a clear patch" on her dusty mirror so that she could see herself. When she gazed into the mirror, "she was confronted by a woman of forty-­four." The time had seemed to pass quickly after her marriage. Mrs. Drover's physical appearance had been changed by the hardships of war. Rationing of foods had caused her to lose a good deal of weight, and "the pearls her husband had given her on their marriage hung loose round her now rather thinner throat." A recent illness had caused "an intermittent muscular flicker to the left of her mouth." This served as a reminder of the illness she had suffered. She was tired from the hardships of life and the added stress of the war.

Despite this all the recent hardships, her "most normal expression was one of controlled worry but of assent." Mrs. Drover was a woman who had been a source of steadiness and dependability for her husband and three children. She suffered from inner fear and anxiety due to the traumatizing bombings in London, but she still was able to "sustain a manner that was at once energetic and calm." Mrs. Drover held most of her fears and concerns inside of her. She did not want to appear anxious to her family, even though she was. She was also filled with a new fear because of the mysterious and ominous nature of the letter she received.

Mrs. Drover's appearance matched her inner feelings. She was tired, weary, feeling the effects of an illness, underweight, and anxious. She had been changed by the war and by the recent years.

What are three of the most important events in The Tale of Despereaux?

In The Tale of Despereaux there are three important plot events. First, Despereaux unexpectedly meets the Princess Pea when searching for what sounds like honey. He follows the music of the king's guitar and inches closer and closer to the sweet sound until he is in the princess's hand. He immediately and whole-heartedly falls in love with the princess and as he leaves, he shouts "I honor you" as a knight to his fair maiden.

Next, because he broke the sacred mouse rule of revealing oneself to a human, he is sent to the dungeon without being defended by his father to the Mouse Council. Even his own brother commits the heinous crime of "perfidy" by pushing him into the black abyss. But, by the grace of the jailer, Gregory, he is not torn to bits by the evil rats and ultimately is able to travel back up to the light in Mig's apron pocket. 

Finally, after a fitful sleep, he hears the heart-wrenching news: the princess, his dear maiden, is missing. Because he overheard Roscuro's evil plan, he knows exactly where she is at and further realizes that it is up to him to rescue her. He knows the only creature in the world who can help him traverse that dark place is the one creature no one can trust: a rat. But, on the tail of the rat he must be led to his fair maiden to honor her by saving her life, and so he plunges back down into the overwhelming blackness of the dungeon again. Once he is finally able to see the light of the princess, he must fight to the death, or so he thinks, to save her. Thankfully, due to Mig having a change of heart and the princess's pleadings, Roscuro finally realizes that it is truly light his heart craves, not revenge. And so, the reconciled friends are able to enjoy the light of the banquet hall together, which, in the words of the final page of the book, is "just so."

Why was Tom getting very disturbed for Dr. Robinson?

Interesting question! In the book The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, Tom witnesses a very unusual incident.

In the book, Tom and Huck visit a graveyard, which leads to them witnessing a murder. When Tom and Huck first see Dr. Robinson and the men with him (Injun Joe and Potter), Tom and Huck believe that they are devils. However, they soon realize who the individuals are. Subsequently, the boys watch the men.

As the boys watch, Tom and Huck realize that Dr. Robinson is having Injun Joe and Potter unbury a body. After completing their task, Injun Joe begins threatening Dr. Robinson. As the text reveals:

“He [Injun Joe] was threatening the doctor, with his fist in his face, by this time.”

Subsequently, Injun Joe stabs Dr. Robinson. The boys become very alarmed and disturbed. However, they are afraid to say anything due to their fear of Injun Joe. As the text reveals:

“Why, he’d [Injun Joe] kill us some time or other, just as dead sure as we’re a laying here.”

Thus, the boys become disturbed and frightened for Dr. Robinson. Subsequently, this fear eventually incites fear for themselves and they promise not to tell anyone about the events they witnessed at the graveyard.

What is the "best" and the "worst" in the poem "The Second Coming"?

This Yeats poem does everything a poem is meant to do. As “concentrated word magic” the poem speaks to a deep-felt anxiety in all Christians, that Christ’s appearance on Earth has somehow failed to redeem us all, and the chaos of the present time (referring not only to the political/military complications in Ireland in Yeats’ time, but in all the post-Nativity history of Man) signaled a need for another miracle, another sign of a right direction for humanity. "Surely some revelation is at hand; Surely the Second Coming is at hand." The best of the poem is its clarity of metaphor: the reference, for example, to the “ever-widening gyre” to illustrate how we are drifting farther and farther from the “center” of Christian dogma – the “falconer” (Jesus). If there is any weakness in this poem, it is the absence of an identifiable narrative voice, the singular narrator (most often expressed in the pronoun “I”). What this does is universalize the chaos: “And everywhere/ The ceremony of innocence is drowned.”

What does a tick living on a dog represent?

Tick and dog share a symbiotic relationship that can be described as parasitic. Symbiosis is the relationship between two organisms, where either one or both the organisms get the benefit. In mutualism, both the organisms benefit from the relationship, while in parasitism, only one organism gets the benefit, while the other gets adversely affected. In case of tick living on a dog, tick is a parasite. It is an invertebrate that bites the animal skin and buries its head into the animal skin and then it sucks their blood. Here, the tick is living off the dog by consuming its blood. The dog, on the other hand, loses blood and may also be infected by other diseases and hence gets adversely affected. Thus, tick living on a dog represents parasitic symbiosis.

hope this helps. 

Why does the moon change its shape every day?

What we see as light from the moon is actually a reflection of light from the sun. The shape of the moon we see depends on the angle formed between the sun, the earth, and the moon.

For example, when these 3 objects are aligned in a straight line, in the order of sun, earth, moon, we will observe a full moon, where the moon is a full circle. This is because all of the light from the sun is reflected by the moon, without any blockage from the earth. If these were aligned in the order of sun, moon, earth, however, you would not be able to see the moon anymore, since the moon itself is blocking the sunlight and the light is reflected back to the sun, making it invisible from the earth. As the moon orbits between these two positions, you will see various crescent and half shapes from the moon, depending on the position of the moon relative to the earth and the sun.

Describe the setting of the story "Eveline." How does the place where Eveline lives affect her personality?

There is a certain aura of stagnation, death, defeat, and paralysis in the setting of "Eveline."

Eveline Hill sits listlessly at the window with the funereal smell of "dusty cretonne" as she stares down a lonely avenue where there was once a field in which children played. Now, however, the field is gone, because an intruder, a Protestant man from Belfast, purchased this lot and had houses built upon it.

At the port where the ship rests that can take her away with her lover, the adult world of desire disturbs the waters around the ship, but causes "distress and nausea"--what Joyce calls paralysis--in Eveline.

Much like the setting, Eveline suffers a paralysis of spirit under the looming influence of the dead and the stagnation of her life:

• The man from Belfast who had houses built on the field has silenced the laughter of children and ruined the happy memories.


• Eveline's mother is deceased, and the hanging print of the promises of Blessed Margaret Mary Alacoque is a reminder of Eveline's promise made to her mother to keep the family together.


• Eveline perceives herself to be in danger of her father's violence, and feels helpless as there is no older brother any more who will protect her.


• Her life is "hard" as she suffers through squabbles about money.


• Eveline continues to sit at the window and inhales the "odour of dusty cretonne" as her dream of leaving with Frank fades because she is again reminded of her promise to her mother.


• She is further reminded of her mother's words that the end of pleasure is pain--"Derevaun Seraun!"


• When Eveline finally goes to the port, she sees the "black mass of the boat" that blows a "mournful whistle into the mist" and she halts, emotionally paralyzed.


• "A bell clanged upon her heart": Her duty evoked by the Blessed Margaret Mary paralyzes Eveline and she cannot board the ship.


• Eveline surrenders to the circumstances that she cannot control: "She set her white face to him [Frank], passive, like a helpless animal." 


• Much as she has sat listlessly at the window, Eveline has an insufficiency of will, and she cannot board the ship.

In "Once Upon A Time," in what way does the neighborhood begin to change?

In "Once Upon A Time," Nadine Gordimer relates a "bedtime story," which rather than sending the reader to sleep, serves as a warning to families who look for resolutions to problems without really understanding their fears and preoccupations.

The family in the story is living "happily ever after." It has a list of material possessions which should secure a comfortable life but which cannot satisfy the nagging fears which surround this family as the local neighborhood is rapidly changing. At first, the riots and the problems exist outside the neighborhood but as the burglaries increase, even the housemaids are being tied up and this increase in crime alarms the wife. Many people have installed burglar alarms, but they are not even effective as they are often set off by pets or go off randomly and become more of a noisy irritation in the neighborhood than a warning. 

More unemployed people begin to loiter on the streets in the neighborhood, looking for work or food, or "anything, baas." It seems they "spoil" the suburb. There are more and more break-ins, even while people are at home, and when the man and his wife go for a walk with their young son and the dog, they can no longer stop to admire the gardens of their neighbors because now they have high walls and security fences.

The neighborhood is becoming more afraid and less trusting, which means families are isolating themselves from the outside world, thinking that this will solve their problems.  

Discuss the title of the novel In Cold Blood by Truman Capote.

The title of Truman Capote’s 1966 true crime classic “In Cold Blood” works on multiple levels. Dick and Perry murdered the Clutter family for no real reason; they killed in a purposely ruthless manner, without feeling and with cruel intent, which is the basic definition of doing something in cold blood. However, Capote wants the reader to take the title one step further. Dick and Perry are executed at the end of the novel, and there are many people in America who think that execution is a form of murder. Perhaps Capote is suggesting that the American justice system killed Dick and Perry in cold blood. And finally, there’s Holcomb, Kansas. Before the Clutter murders it was a quiet small town with traditional values and a Norman Rockwell-like innocence. The Clutter murders and the trial and execution of Dick and Perry murdered a small town’s innocence in cold blood.

What are some examples of personification in the story "There will Come Soft Rains"?

The house is personified in the story because it and the electronics in it are described as if they had feelings.

In this story, we have a post-apocalyptic world where almost every living creature has died.  The house’s family is nothing but silhouettes in the paint on the side of the house.  The house itself was fully automated though, and therefore it does not realize that the people are dead.  It continues as if they are alive, even though it is personified as fearing that is people are gone.

Until this day, how well the house had kept its peace. How carefully it had inquired, "Who goes there? What's the password?" and, getting no answer from lonely foxes and whining cats, it had shut up its windows and drawn shades in an old maidenly preoccupation with self-protection which bordered on a mechanical paranoia.

This is personification because the house cannot really “keep its peace” the way a person would.  Houses cannot inquire.  Bradbury extends the electronic mind of the house to describing it as if it had actual feelings, because it has been programmed so well that it seems alive.  This personification extends to the disembodied voice that seems to have fear.  It also includes the only remaining inhabitants of the house, the robots.

The dog, once huge and fleshy, but now gone to bone and covered with sores, moved in and through the house, tracking mud. Behind it whirred angry mice, angry at having to pick up mud, angry at inconvenience.

The little robot cleaning mice do not really have emotions.  Machines cannot think.  However, Bradbury uses personification to describe them as angry that the dog tracked in mud, just like a person might be who had to clean up after it.  The dog, the only living creature in the story, does not last long.  It dies, and the robots just clean it up.  Despite the personification, real life means nothing more to them than garbage.

This story is a cautionary tale about relying too much on technology.  The irony is that the technology that made the humans’ lives easier is just an extension of the technology that killed them.  The nuclear apocalypse is part of the technification of the country.  The people were killed by technology, and technology lives on without them.

Who are the three ladies and man Pip meets at Mrs. Havisham's?

These people are her relations, principally cousins, who try to ingratiate themselves to Miss Havisham in hopes of being the recipient of her financial legacy on her death. They arrive on her birthday (as well as other days) to give the impression that Miss Havisham is a fond relation with whom they just wanted to spend some time. They make their jealousy and resentment of Pip (whom they assume will inherit much of Miss Havisham’s money) clear each time he arrives when they are present. Of course Miss Havisham sees through this and has no intention to leave them any money. Matthew Pocket (Henry’s father) is the only relative who is not present, having confronted her years ago with the ridiculousness of her keeping up the charade of the grieving jilted bride. As such, he is held in higher regard by her and willingly helps Pip provide money for Henry to have the career he wants. 

In the play Othello, who is Brabantio, and why did Iago and Roderigo awaken him in the middle of the night ?

Brabantio is the fair maiden, Desdemona's, father. He is a Venetian senator and is depicted as an overprotective and possessive parent who has been consistently turning away the many suitors who have come to woo his daughter. An example of this is illustrated in Act 1 scene 1 on the occasion of Roderigo and Iago's untimely visit to his home. He tells Roderigo:

I have charged thee not to haunt about my doors:
In honest plainness thou hast heard me say
My daughter is not for thee

Othello, the play's protagonist, is a general in the Venetian army and has been a regular guest in Brabantio's house. The senator had been entertained by Othello's dramatic tales about his life. During these conversations, Desdemona had been eavesdropping and was enthralled by Othello's storytelling to such an extent, that she requested he relate his woeful and dramatic life story privately to her. This Othello did and the two eventually fell in love and decided to elope.

It is important to note that Othello is much older than Desdemona and that he is also an outsider, a Moor, and therefore of a darker complexion than the Venetians. He is of noble blood and an excellent warrior and it is because of this that he had been appointed in this most venerable position.

Iago, a full time soldier, had applied for a position as Othello's lieutenant, but the general dismissed his application and instead appointed a young man, Michael Cassio, also an outsider since he is a Florentine, to be his second-in-command. Iago had to be satisfied with being Othello's ancient, which is a much lower rank.

Iago deeply resented being overlooked and despised Othello for having humiliated him in such a manner, for even the appeals made by senators on his behalf, were ignored by the general. In his bitterness, Iago swore revenge and began scheming against the general. He had managed to obtain the support of the sycophantic, love-struck and ill-fated Roderigo whom he would use as his puppet. At one point, Iago tells Roderigo after he had told him about his utter disappoint in Othello for not awarding him the position:

... 'tis the curse of service,
Preferment goes by letter and affection,
And not by old gradation, where each second
Stood heir to the first. Now, sir, be judge yourself,
Whether I in any just term am affined
To love the Moor.

It is obvious that Iago believes that his service to Othello was not a factor in the general's consideration to appoint a lieutenant, but that he was unfairly influenced by 'letter' and 'affection' - probably a reference to the fact that Othello was impressed by Cassio's writing skills and that he was fond of him. Iago asks Roderigo whether he could love Othello for such an injustice. When Roderigo replies that he 'would not follow him then,' Iago states his intent:

O, sir, content you;
I follow him to serve my turn upon him:

He categorically states that he will act as Othello's servant in order to exact his revenge. The two then proceed to Brabantio's house in order to awaken him with the terrible news that Othello has kidnapped Desdemona and is, at that moment, sexually abusing his daughter. Their purpose is to defile Othello's name to such an extent that Brabantio would be both distraught and angry. Their expectation is that the senator would demand Othello's arrest and incarceration. He would obviously also lose his position for committing such a heinous deed. 

Awake! what, ho, Brabantio! thieves! thieves! thieves!
Look to your house, your daughter and your bags!
Thieves! thieves!

Zounds, sir, you're robb'd; for shame, put on
your gown;
Your heart is burst, you have lost half your soul;
Even now, now, very now, an old black ram
Is topping your white ewe. Arise, arise;
Awake the snorting citizens with the bell,
Or else the devil will make a grandsire of you:
Arise, I say.

The two behave as if they're acting out of care and in Brabantio's best interests. They put on such a clamor that he is convinced and proceeds to take what he believes is necessary action, much to the delight of the two scoundrels. 

I need a thesis statement for Macbeth regarding Conservative Beliefs. Here is the prompt: Choose a specific character examine their dialogue,...

This is a great writing prompt! Before examining Macbeth's dialogue and actions, we should look at the specific type of archetype that Macbeth embodies, as well as the archetype he murders. 

In Macbeth, Macbeth begins the play representing the ideal knight, warrior or fighter. He is described as a man who can tear another man clean in two, and he is well admired by his peers. Loyal to his country, Macbeth is respected by nearly all of his kinsmen. Duncan, the other archetype who is important to note, is a fine example of a good king. Similarly to Macbeth, Duncan is well-liked by his people and peers. He is patient and thoughtful, only acting when it is necessary. 

It can be claimed that it is the destruction of these archetypes that creates so much turmoil within Macbeth. The death and destruction would not have occurred if Macbeth would have been content within his archetype. However, Macbeth is not content. Rather, he has vaulting ambition. This ambition is routinely mentioned in the play. 

MACBETH 

I have no spur /To prick the sides of my intent, but only / Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself / And falls on the other— (1.7.25-28)

In regards to a thesis, one possible working thesis could be: Macbeth, initially a man who appears as the archetype of the good knight, is moved too strongly by his vaulting ambition, resulting in an overthrow of Duncan, who represents the archetype of the king. Macbeth's denial of his destined place and position is the source of the violence and destruction within the play. 

Why did World War II begin?

World War II began on September 1, 1939, when Germany invaded Poland. Great Britain and France responded by declaring war on Germany, beginning a global conflict that would last until 1945. Over the next year, Nazi Germany would conquer almost every nation in Europe, and, along with Italy, drive through North Africa.  Hitler also invaded the Soviet Union, with whom he had signed a non-aggression pact, in June of 1941. The war became truly global in December of 1941 when Germany's ally Japan, already having invaded China years earlier, attacked the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. As the United States declared war on Japan, Hitler responded by declaring war on the United States. Thus all of the world's largest nations were involved in the most destructive war in human history, one which would only end with the utter destruction of Germany, Japan, and many other nations.

When did the War of 1812 take place?

The answer to this question may seem somewhat obvious, but in reality the War of 1812, which did, in fact, begin in 1812, was an extension of a long-running conflict between the United States and Great Britain over maritime issues and the alleged British role in supporting Native American groups in frontier conflicts with the United States. The United States declared war in 1812, and the war lasted until 1815. It witnessed a failed US invasion of Canada, the British occupation and burning of much of Washington, D.C., and several indecisive naval conflicts. The greatest American victory occurred at the Battle of New Orleans, where American forces under Andrew Jackson heavily defeated a British invasion force. Ironically, this battle occurred in January of 1815, about two weeks after American and British representatives had signed the Treaty of Ghent that ended the war. The news had not yet had time to reach the United States.

Why is sympathetic activation less discrete than parasympathetic activation? What are three reasons?

The sympathetic nervous system is that part of the autonomous nervous system that is most often associated with the "fight or flight syndrome."  The parasympathetic nervous system is that part of the autonomous nervous system that helps the body regulate homeostasis.  It is most often associated with the body's need to "rest and digest" and "feed and breed."

Three reasons the sympathetic nervous system is not as discrete in it's activation as the parasympathetic nervous system are:

1.)  The activation of a fight or flight response is not a gradual response to a perceived threat.  The response requires action of some sort, and in a rapid delivery to the perceived threat.

2.) The activation is used as a survival adaptation, such as waking from sleeping to respond to a perceived threat.

3.)  The activation is used to divert energy away from non-essential systems, such as the digestive system, and to essential systems used for heightened threat perception, such as the cardiovascular system.

The parts of the body regulated by the parasympathetic nervous system have more time to deliver the response needed, so the activation is more subtle.

To what extent do newspaper owners control what is published?

At some newspapers, the owner is also the publisher. At others, the owner hires the publisher. The Washington Post was owned by the Meyers-Graham family from 1933 until 2013 and five successive publishers during this period were Eugene Meyer and his direct heirs or in-laws. The Graham family has long been associated with the Democratic party and the editors they hired reflected this association. (The Post made its reputation by breaking the Watergate story in 1972.) Although, in an effort to show balance, they also hired Republican columnists, notably George Will, for their opinion pages.

Their competitor in the Washington market, The Washington Times, was owned by the Unification Church and its leader, Rev. Sun Myung Moon, who favored conservative causes and candidates, and who hired publishers who shared this preference. This was primarily in evidence on their editorial page, which was staunchly pro-Republican, although their coverage of local news was surprisingly non-partisan.

Some owners and publishers use their newspaper as a bully-pulpit for their partisan political agendas (this is known as "advocacy journalism"). Other owners, committed to objective news coverage, take a hands-off approach and trust their publishers/editors to pursue news coverage with no obvious political bias. Both are valid approaches to journalism. The mark of a good newspaper is to see what they do with news and information that conflicts with its apparent agenda; the best will publish the facts wherever they lead.

Where does Bob Ewell say he hates black people in To Kill a Mockingbird?

Often the diction of people indicates their feelings, rather than any overt declaration. Such is the case with Bob Ewell.

When he is on the witness stand in Chapter 17, Ewell claims that he heard his daughter screaming and he ran to the window of his house only to discover "that black nigger yonder ruttin' on my Mayella." Here, Ewell's use of a most pejorative term indicates his attitude toward African Americans. Certainly, the black people in the balcony recognize the hateful use of a degrading term from Ewell as "there was an angry muffled groan from the colored people," Scout narrates.

Then, in Chapter 23, as Atticus was leaving the post office, Bob Ewell spits in his face. When Atticus wipes his face with his handkerchief, Ewell asks, "Too proud to fight, you nigger-lovin' bastard?" but Atticus answers, "No, too old." Here Ewell's diction and its implication suggest that there is something terribly wrong with Atticus for wanting to defend Tom Robinson, a black man, whom Ewell has made the scapegoat for his daughter's behavior of which he disapproves.

How did the failures of F. Scott’s father affect his life and attitudes?

Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, F. Scott Fitzgerald was the son of Edward and Mollie. Fitzgerald's father, Edward, was from Maryland, and his mother came from a wealthy family in Saint Paul. Edward created a manufacturing company that made wicker furniture, but when it failed he took a job as a salesman for Proctor & Gamble in upstate New York. He was fired from the company and his family moved back to St. Paul, where Edward took an office job that was unfulfilling, but they lived comfortably on Mollie's family fortune (made from a wholesale grocery business). Biographical accounts say that Edward also drank rather heavily at times, and of course this was a problem for his son Francis Scott, who, it has been said, died young due to alcoholism.

F. Scott Fitzgerald attended St. Paul's Academy, a respected preparatory school, and then attended Princeton, graduating in 1917. He then joined the army, and believed he'd die in the war. But upon returning home, he began his writing career in earnest, begging work on his first novel, and by late 1919 had earned a solid reputation writing short stories for The Saturday Evening Post.

Fitzgerald's father's failure in business and the family reliance upon his mother's fortune conjure up themes one sees repeatedly in Fitzgerald's work: financial dissolution, the match of a poor man with a wealthy woman (seen most prominently in The Great Gatsby), and the general anxiety around financial success. Of course, the stock market crash of 1929 was also a factor; but Fitzgerald's depiction of the Roaring Twenties was colored by an upbringing where he knew himself to be a child of privilege. However, the presence of wealth in his own life was problematic: Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda spent money as quickly as he earned it, despite his being one of the highest paid writers in history. Alcoholism is also a common theme in Fitzgerald's work, a problem that plagued his father as well. It has been said that some of Fitzgerald's characters who had drinking problems were in oat base don his own struggle, such as The Beautiful and Damned and "Babylon Revisited."

How did the Industrial Revolution impact society?

The Industrial Revolution had a major impact on society. With the Industrial Revolution, machines were used in many ways. One use of machines was to make products. This impacted the workers significantly. With the use of machines, workers went to work in factories instead of working at home or in smaller work environments. The factories weren’t worker friendly. Pay was low, working conditions were poor, and hours were long. Even kids worked in the factories. The owners didn’t have a close relationship with the workers. As a result, they didn’t care as much about their workers.

Another impact of the Industrial Revolution was that products could be made quicker and cheaper. This allowed people, especially those in the middle and upper classes, to be able to afford products that they couldn’t afford in the past. This enabled them to improve their standard of living.

The Industrial Revolution also impacted transportation and communication. With the development of the steam engine, it was easier and quicker to transport people and products. River transportation was improved. Eventually, the railroads allowed for quicker transportation by land. The telegraph was used to increase the speed of communication. Messages could be sent much quicker with the use of the telegraph.  

How should I approach writing a thesis on why sports are bad?

The first thing you need to think about when writing an effective thesis statement is to determine several reasons why you think sports are bad.  Because the thesis of the essay is the main idea of the entire essay, it should focus on the reasons why sports are bad and then outlined why in your body paragraphs.

For example, sports are expensive to participate in, sports are physically dangerous, and sports are not as important as academics.

Next, using those three topics or reasons why sports are bad, write your thesis.

Participating in sports is bad because _____(reason #1)_________,

_____(reason #2)___________. ______(reason #3)_____________.

I like to encourage my students to avoid just “listing” the reasons why in their thesis.  Although there is nothing wrong with it, I like my students to try to be more sophisticated when they write their thesis statements. So, instead of just listing, think of ways you can say the same thing but in a more general way.

Ex.  Participating in sports is bad because of the physical and mental strain it puts on the athlete.  Then, in your body paragraphs, you can discuss the three physical and mental reasons why sports are bad.

As a formula, a good thesis statement will state the main idea of the topic and add a how or why reason.  Sports are bad (main idea) + because (how or why reason) . . .

In chapter 5 of Of Mice and Men how does Steinbeck present the atmosphere in the barn following the death of Curley's wife?

Steinbeck uses light and animal imagery along with physical descriptors to show significant parts of the atmosphere presented in the barn following the death of Curley's wife.

As chapter five opens, the barn is mostly dark with some light interspersed. These slivers of light occupy the initial description before we see Lennie: "The afternoon sun sliced in through the cracks of the barn walls and lay in bright lines on the hay."  The atmosphere of the barn changes when Lennie kills Curley's wife. The imagery of light is one way that Steinbeck is able to show this atmosphere in the barn.  Once Curley's wife dies, Steinbeck writes, "The sun streaks were high on the wall by now, and the light was growing soft in the barn. Curley’s wife lay on her back, and she was half covered with hay."  From light "slicing in" to "growing soft," Steinbeck uses the description of light to show the atmosphere of the barn following the death of Curley's wife. 

Steinbeck shows another change in the atmosphere  presented in the barn through animal imagery once Curley's wife has died. The puppy is already dead and buried in the hay. When Lennie is talking with Curley's wife, there is a symbolic connection to the puppy while he pets Curley's wife's hair until he kills her. Lennie is scared of what he has done and of George's reaction. Steinbeck changes the atmosphere presented in the barn from excitement to fear through animal imagery when Lennie uncovers the dead puppy, grabs it and runs from the barn.  

Another significant change in the atmosphere uses animal imagery. Steinbeck had used animal imagery throughout the book and again in the description of the barn's atmosphere associated with the pigeon.  The pigeon flies in, then leaves.  The dog smells the dead body, then goes back to protect her puppies. These are examples of how animal imagery presents a shift in the atmosphere presented in the barn.

In addition to light and animal imagery, Steinbeck suggests that the atmosphere changes in the barn with Curley's wife herself.  Curley's wife lies in the hay with a subtle beauty:

Curley’s wife lay with a half-covering of yellow hay. And the meanness and the plannings and the discontent and the ache for attention were all gone from her face. She was very pretty and simple, and her face was sweet and young. Now her rouged cheeks and her reddened lips made her seem alive and sleeping very lightly. The curls, tiny little sausages, were spread on the hay behind her head, and her lips were parted.

Steinbeck accentuates this beauty to give her a sense of dignity and grace in death, which she could never experience in life.  This imagery of Curley's wife accentuates the change in the atmosphere presented in the barn, and provided as a foreshadowing of Lennie's fate, by symbolizing finality.  

How does the history of chess relate to this story?

Chess is a major part of the story.  Waverly admits this from the beginning.  She says that she applied to chess what her mother taught her, namely, the art of invisible strength, a way to win arguments and respect from people. 

As the story progresses, Waverly learns chess and more importantly she excels.  At one point, she gains national recognition.  Some critics even say that she might be the first female Grandmaster.  In one of her matches, she describes her strategy in terms of the art of invisible strength.  Here is an excerpt:

As I began to play, the boy disappeared, the color ran out of the room, and I saw only my white pieces and his black ones waiting on the other side. A light wind began blowing past my ears. It whispered secrets only I could hear. "Blow from the South," it murmured. "The wind leaves no trail." I saw a clear path, the traps to avoid.

By the end of the story, Waverly sees her life as a chess game, especially in her relationship with her mother.  Waverly increasingly wants independence, but her mother is not ready to let her go.  At the end, a conflict ensues.  Waverly runs away and when see comes back, she knows that she will have to confront her mother.  She lies in bed and contemplates her next move.  The way she describes this is through a game of chess. 

Her black men advanced across the plane, slowly marching to each successive level as a single unit. My white pieces screamed as they scurried and fell off the board one by one.

Hence, the game of chess frames the story. It is a metaphor about Waverly's life and relationships. 

From what does Framton Nuttel suffer?

Framton Nuttel is supposed to be undergoing a "nerve cure" by residing in the English countryside and avoiding all excitement or exertion. Nowadays he would be diagnosed as "neurotic" and would probably be referred to a psychotherapy for expensive consultations. The author does not describe Framton's symptoms, but they undoubtedly include nervousness, insomnia, nightmares, some degree of paranoia, depression, and apprehension. 

"The doctors agree in ordering me complete rest, an absence of mental excitement, and avoidance of anything in the nature of violent physical exercise," announced Framton, who laboured under the tolerably widespread delusion that total strangers and chance acquaintances are hungry for the least detail of one's ailments and infirmities, their cause and cure. "On the matter of diet they are not so much in agreement," he continued.

The fact that he says, "On the matter of diet they are not so much in agreement," seems to be hinting that he wouldn't mind being invited to stay for dinner. He probably has a good appetite. His bad nerves are probably only imaginary. Mrs. Sappleton shows little interest in his health problems or his rest cure. She already plans to serve him tea and biscuits and hope never to see him again. Her attitude about this visitor reflects Saki's own attitude about weaklings with imaginary ailments. The reader does not have much sympathy with Framton either. This is at least partly because the reader doesn't approve of a complete stranger imposing on families all over the region with nothing to offer but letters of introduction from a woman they can barely remember. There has to be very little reader sympathy for Framton Nuttel in order to make the final scene truly funny.

Framton is made to order as a patsy for Vera's ghost story. He is a good example of how a competent professional fiction writer will create characters to suit his plot. Framton is a nervous wreck who is seeking "complete rest, an absence of mental excitement, and avoidance of anything in the nature of violent physical exercise." Instead he finds himself in a zany household where his hostess appears to be completely insane. He ends up getting plenty of mental excitement and violent physical exercise.

Framton grabbed wildly at his stick and hat; the hall door, the gravel drive, and the front gate were dimly noted stages in his headlong retreat. A cyclist coming along the road had to run into the hedge to avoid imminent collision.

The fact that he can run so fast and so far suggests that there is nothing seriously the matter with him.

Why do the other children stop searching for Ravi?

In “Games at Twilight,” Ravi is younger than all the other children.  It is partly for this reason that he remains so long in his hiding place; he is intent on winning the game of hide-and-seek, “to be the winner in a circle of older, bigger, luckier children.”  We can therefore assume that the others have a stronger connection with each other than they do with Ravi; he is not a part of their peer group.  It is partly for this reason that they forget about him – he is young, and is therefore somewhat of an afterthought in the fast-moving minds of the older children.

In addition to this detail, after Raghu, who had been It, found all the others, there had been an intense fight about who would be It next; in the immediacy of trying to avoid being It, one could imagine that any other thought was forced from the children’s minds.  And when their mother comes outside to put the argument to rest and make them play a different game, the children move on, living in the moment and forgetting everything that came before.  Even when Ravi finally appears, the children are not sympathetic or apologetic for having forgotten him; this sort of attitude is typical of other siblings and their friends toward younger siblings, especially at a young age, and further emphasizes that Ravi does not wholly belong.

In Night, what does author Elie Wiesel say is left behind in the trains other than the Jewish people's last valuables? What does he mean by this?

In Night, upon arriving at Auschwitz, author Elie Wiesel says,

"The cherished objects we had brought with us thus far were left behind in the train, and with them, at last, our illusions" (Wiesel 27).

Before the train pulled into Auschwitz, the Jewish people from Sighet still had hope. There was talk about "resettlement camps," where the men would work, and conditions might be hard but tolerable. Some even thought wherever they were going might not be bad at all. They would be able to continue their lives much as they had before, and eventually they would be able to go back home to their village. These were the illusions about which Wiesel wrote. The Jews had no idea how bad things were about to become; but as they stepped off the train at Auschwitz, they could see the fires, they could smell flesh burning, they could feel the Nazis' truncheons hitting their bodies. They had no choice but to leave their illusions behind once the reality of Auschwitz struck them.