Who are the characters in the short story, "Her First Ball?"

In this story of pictorial intensity, the story of a young country girl's introduction "to the beginning of everything," there are a few characters of consequence and others who briefly appear: 

Charaters

• Leila - the protagonist, she is the cousin of the Sheridan girls, who are in "The Garden Party." Leila moves from an hyper-consciousness of all things around her to the selective consciousness she chooses after the encounter with the fat man who tries to break her illusions.


• The Sheridan Girls - Laura, Meg, and Jose; these girls have invited Leila, who lives in the countryside to come to the city in order to attend the ball. They are amazed that Leila has never been to a ball before.


• Laurie Sheridan - He is the affectionate brother of the girls.


• Miss Eccles - Leila's dance teacher at the boarding school she has attended.


• The dance partners - Laura has four dance partners; they are experienced and ask her if she has attended some other ball; then, they are surprised when she tells them she is at her first dance. 


• The old women- These are mothers or grandmothers who sit above the dance floor, watching. The fat man alludes to them as "the poor old dears up there" who watch and remember how some "dreadful man" had tried to kiss her at a club ball so many years ago.


• The Fat Man - the antagonist, this cynical older man has been waiting to dance with Leila. Ushering her onto the floor, he says, "Come along, little lady." As they dance, he asks Leila if it is her first dance. Just as Leila begins to feel kindly toward him, he diminishes her excitement by telling her it will not be long before she is one of the older ladies sitting on the stage, who look on with aching hearts "because no one wants to kiss you now."

How does O. Henry build suspense during the climax of the story "A Retrieved Reformation"?

First of all, a five-year-old girl named Agatha has gotten accidentally locked in a new burglar-proof bank vault and she is hysterical. She will die of suffocation unless she can be rescued quickly. Jimmy Valentine happens to have his suitcase full of specialized safecracking tools with him--but if he opens the suitcase his fiancee Annabel and her whole assembled family will realize that he is not a legitimate small-town businessman named Ralph Spencer but a professional criminal! This revelation, of course, will be validated if he uses the tools to save the terrified child. But he is the only person who can open the vault because of its time lock, and if he doesn't free little Agatha she will die. Jimmy's fiancee is pleading with him to do something.

Annabel turned to Jimmy, her large eyes full of anguish, but not yet despairing. To a woman nothing seems quite impossible to the powers of the man she worships.

“Can't you do something, Ralph—try, won't you?”

In the meantime, Jimmy's nemesis Ben Price has come to the bank in Elmore to arrest him for the three bank jobs he pulled in Indiana right after being released from prison at the beginning of the story. Jimmy's past has come back to haunt him. It looks like his reformation is completely voided one way or another. He is threatened with losing everything he has gained by reforming--most importantly his fiancee Annabel, who was responsible for his wanting to reform in the first place. But Jimmy knows he must do the right thing, which proves that he has become a completely new man.

He set his suit-case on the table, and opened it out flat. From that time on he seemed to be unconscious of the presence of any one else. He laid out the shining, queer implements swiftly and orderly, whistling softly to himself as he always did when at work. In a deep silence and immovable, the others watched him as if under a spell.

In a minute Jimmy's pet drill was biting smoothly into the steel door. In ten minutes—breaking his own burglarious record—he threw back the bolts and opened the door.

Ben Price has observed Jimmy's noble sacrifice and decides not to arrest him after all, but to let him retain his new identity as Ralph Spencer, small-town businessman and soon-to-be family man and pillar of the community. Jimmy will have a lot of explaining to do to Annabel and her whole family, but the reader feels confident that they will forgive him for the same reasons that Ben Price forgave him. Ironically, Jimmy's reformation has been "retrieved" by his doing the thing he has supposedly given up doing--that is, using his expertise and state-of-the-art professional equipment to break into a bank vault.

What are the contents of the 1742 manuscript?

The tale of The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle begins with a visitor, Dr. Mortimer, approaching Holmes to solve one murder and potentially prevent a second.    

Dr. Mortimer's visit is occasioned by two things, the mysterious death of Sir Charles Baskerville and the impending arrival of his heir, Sir Henry. Although the doctor is not by nature superstitious, he does consider it important to apprise Holmes of the legend surrounding the "hound of the Baskervilles", a legend that begins with Hugo Baskerville. The story of the legend is told in the 1742 manuscript.

Hugo Baskerville had abducted a peasant girl. She escaped from the room in which he had imprisoned her and fled. He followed on horseback using hounds to hunt her down. His companions followed him, and saw his horse standing riderless and a great black hound tearing out his throat. Since then, several members of the family have died mysterious deaths. The document warns the Baskervilles avoid the moors at night. 

The legend is made relevant by Dr. Mortimer's description of the scene of Sir Charles' death:

Dr. Mortimer looked strangely at us for an instant, and his voice sank almost to a whisper as he answered: "Mr Holmes, they were the footprints of a gigantic hound!”

Identify the historical era Sherman Alexie is writing about in "What You Pawn I Will Redeem" and its significance to the story.

Sherman Alexie's "What You Pawn I Will Redeem" is contemporary to the time in which it was written.  The first publication of the story was in The New Yorker's April 2003 edition, so the story is likely set in the 1990s.  The protagonist Jackson lives in Seattle, but he is from Spokane.  Jackson also says that his people have lived with a 100-mile radius of Spokane for generations, so Spokane (the Spokane Indian Reservation) is the cultural hub for his people.  During the 1990s, Native Americans saw the implementation of more laws related to preserving and upholding their civil rights and liberties.  For example, the 1990 Indian Arts and Crafts Act called for the prevention of sales and marketing of items that look like Native American arts and crafts that are made by non-Native people.  So Alexie's story, appropriately so, is a quest for Jackson to reclaim his sense of identity, which has come out of an era espousing the same values.

Is Thoreau a snob? If so, is his democratic populism undermined by his disdain for popular culture?

Thoreau is a practical philosopher - he presents philosophical concepts as alternative ways of living that people can, and should, according to him, follow. His philosophy isn't one of abstract ideas one just ponders. The strength of his ideas to change society can be seen historically manifested in the non-violent civil disobedience employed by Ghandi and Martin Luther King.

On a practical level, few people in society can build a small shack in the woods and live "off the grid." Society needs many types of people - doctors, scientists, workers, legislators, the list is long - to function smoothly. His call for simplicity, is, however, taking root and becoming more popular.

Thoreau can't be called a 'snob', he was certainly not elitist - rather, he was purposefully separate from society. His disdain came from his observation of people in general not thinking for themselves. His democratic populism demands a society that will rise to higher ideals and standards, as opposed to individuals in society willingly conforming to lower, accepted ones.

In the short story "A Good Man is Hard to Find," how do you think the family works together and are they a functional family?

In Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find," the family is very dysfunctional and never really works together. The conflict between the grandmother and the rest of the family is central to the tension in the story. The grandmother makes suggestions throughout the story, and everyone either ignores her or sasses her, in the children's case. The parents never correct the children and generally act as if the grandmother is a hardship that they must endure. 

At the end, when the Misfit is about to kill everyone, the family could work together, but they still will not. The grandmother is babbling about the Misfit being a good man and Bailey is either saying nothing or saying harsh things to his mother. This family never works together and it ultimately leads to their downfall.

In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, what are Jem's thoughts during the time Mrs. Dubose died, and how does her death affect him? What are some...

In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem at first feels as tormented by Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose in death as in life.

In Chapter 11,  Atticus explains that Mrs. Dubose had asked Jem to read to her to distract her from her withdrawal symptoms as she weaned her way off of her morphine addiction. Atticus then hands Jem a box from Mrs. Dubose; it is a box of candy containing a Snow-on-the Mountain camellia nestled in cotton. Even after Atticus's explanation, Jem's response at seeing the camellia is rather violent and displays how tormented he had felt by Mrs. Dubose: Jem immediately screams, "Old hell-devil, old hell-devil ... Why can't she leave me alone?" and flings the box and flower down to the floor. However, once Atticus further explains why he saw her as a "great lady" and the "bravest person [he] ever knew," Jem begins seeing her differently and significantly changing as a result of his insights.

As Atticus explains, Mrs. Dubose was brave because she decided that she would die "beholden to nothing and nobody," not even to morphine despite the fact that the pain from her illness made the use of morphine understandable. Once Jem begins to see Mrs. Dubose as having been a great and brave lady, he begins wanting other girls around him to emulate her, such as Scout. Hence, one way in which we see Jem change as a result of Mrs. Dubose's death is that he begins to frown upon Scout's tomboyishness, shouting at her, "It's time you started bein' a girl and acting right!," making her cry (Ch. 12).

In addition, Scout describes Jem as having "acquired a maddening air of wisdom" since he now can understand and explain things she cannot.

All in all, Jem's experience with better understanding Mrs. Dubose after her death helped Jem to mature.

What is the tone/mood of "The Tell-Tale Heart"?

The overarching sense of anxiety and nervousness characterizes the tone and mood in the atmosphere of "The Tell-Tale Heart."  The narrator begins the story by trying to convince the reader that he is not mad, and later in the story, he continues to try to make the reader believe that he is sane.  The narrator is nervous that he in fact might be mad, and his anxiety causes him to behave in irrational ways--namely, by plotting to kill the old man.  Similarly, at the end of the story, the narrator puts on a show for the police officers by parading them around the house to show that nothing has gone amiss during the night.  But the narrator harbors anxiety over his crime, and his own nervous guilt causes him to eventually tear up the floor and give himself away to the police.  

On what night does A Christmas Carol take place?

Dickens' A Christmas Carol appropriately takes place on the night of Christmas Eve / morning of Christmas Day.  The story begins on Christmas Eve, as Scrooge is forcing his worker, Bob Cratchit, to work on the holiday; Scrooge, meanwhile, is seated at a desk, counting his money.  

Staging the story at this time helps Dickens to fully illustrate the difference in spirit between the Christmas season (kicked into high gear by Christmas Eve) and Scrooge's own, "Bah! Humbug," attitude.  In his refusal of nephew Fred's invitation, we see how Scrooge seems removed from the convivial feel of the holiday.

When Scrooge wakes up on Christmas morning, he is grateful that the holiday has not passed, and that he has the opportunity to engage in generous acts.  Thus, he is able to embody the Christmas spirit, and does so from that point forward.

How does Lennie act with other people?

Lennie is arguably the nicest person in the whole novella.  There are several times when people call him a "hell of a nice guy." For example, in a conversation between Slim and George, George says of Lennie: "Hell of a nice fella, but he ain’t bright." Later in the novel, Candy and Crooks also realize this fact about Lennie. 

From these points, we can say that Lennie's interaction with all people is friendly.  The problems come in, because people do not understand Lennie.  So, at times people take Lennie's friendly behavior in the wrong way, and they feel threatened.  In particular, this happens in Lennie's interaction with women.  In the beginning of the story, a woman accuses him of rape when Lennie just wanted to touch the soft fabric of her dress. At the end of the novella, Lennie accidentally kills Curley's wife, when Curley's wife thought that Lennie was up to something more sinister than petting her hair.

So, troubles abound in Lennie's interaction with people, but these problems are not entirely his fault.  This is partially why the story is so tragic. 

What are some factors that project a company culture?

The projection of company culture, in contrast to the internal practice itself, relate to the reflection of the company to the outside world and general public, including potential new hires. There are many factors in the projection of company culture, but several of them generally dominate this reflection.

At the most basic, the name of the company itself serves, intentionally or not, as a means of projection. Paired with the company name is the company logo and other associated symbols, including things such as employee uniforms.

The physical location of the company is also a route of projection. This is perhaps best emphasized by the emergence of Silicon Valley at the ultimate location for technology start ups. Just by having the company headquarters in a specific area a strong message can be sent about the cultural precepts of the company.

The public view of the company president, CEO, board of directors, or other company officers is intimately tied to public perception of the company, and as such acts as a strong route of projection. It is difficult for a company to reflect cultural values if the public can see the company leaders acting in a way that directly contradicts them.

The most traditional means of cultural projection is through the use of marketing and public relations projects. These serve as a means of direct and explicit communication between the company and the public, and if great care is not taken in their formulation, companied may find themselves projecting values other than those they seek to embrace.

Based on Patrick Henry's speech, how would you describe his beliefs on peace, freedom, and equality?

In his 1775 speech to the Virginia Convention, Henry uses an extended metaphor to characterize the need for the colonies to separate from Britain; to him, "it is a question of freedom or slavery." To Henry, freedom for the colonies meant the ability to trade freely without Britain's involvement, not to be taxed by them, not to be subjugated through the threat of military force, and for the colonies to create their own laws. To answer to a sovereign was, to Henry, akin to enslavement.

It is clear that Henry did not accept the concept of a monarchy.  He says, pointedly, near the beginning of the speech that he reveres God above all earthly kings--and that "war and subjugation" are the "last arguments to which kings resort." Henry did not believe in the divine right of kings to rule; he believed in the equality of human beings and had faith in their ability to organize their own governments.

Henry believed that peace would not exist in the colonies until they were free from Britain. He observes that "gentlemen may cry peace, peace--but there is no peace." Henry felt that the military aggression that Britain had already demonstrated in the colonies had compromised any hope of peaceful resolution. Henry also declared that living in peace was not an acceptable trade-off for consenting to let Britain rule the colonies.

What is the work of the Gothic period focused on?

Gothic literature describes a style of fiction which developed and became popular in the late eighteenth to mid-nineteenth centuries. Such writing developed with the intention of speaking to a sense of disquiet in readers' minds and as a rejection of Enlightenment literature, which emphasized the quantifiable and logical nature of the world. Gothic novels are characterized by themes of death, horror, and tragic relationships. The mood of the Gothic novel is altogether foreboding, with stories often taking place in settings which once were grand but have since fallen into disrepair. The dilapidated castle, the crumbling monastery, and the old haunted house are staples of Gothic setting. Supernatural elements are quite common in this genre, in the form of ghosts or humanoid beasts, like the monster of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. 

Gothic literature deals very much with morality, and uses such dark or macabre settings to reflect a perceived societal moral decay. Gothic fiction is heavily influenced by the cultural attitude that beauty and morality are tied to one another. Villains in this genre are often physically marked as abnormal in some way as a result of or in occurrence with their sins. In this way, spiritual ugliness translates to physical ugliness. 

In Chapters 1-17 of Lyddie, what can be learned from Lyddie's background, specifically her problems with her friends and family?

One of the lessons Lyddie learns gradually over the course of the novel, a lesson that everyone can benefit from learning, is that many things are more important in life than money. Lyddie is very focused on money. For people who have endured great poverty and have faced trauma due to losing their home, it's easy to become too focused on money, and that happens to Lyddie. Because her father was unable to make a good living on their farm, he deserted the family, leaving them without support for two years. Lyddie's mother is mentally ill and unable to contribute to the family income. She hires Lyddie and Charlie out to pay the family debts rather than go to the poor farm.

Lyddie resolves to work as hard as she can so that she can earn enough money to get the farm back so she can reunite her family. Although her goal is a good one and is about her family, at times she seems to become so hyper-focused on earning money that she neglects relationships. Several things happen that show her that money is not the most important thing in life.

First, she meets Ezekial, the runaway slave. He impresses her so much with his education that she gives him her calf money as a loan. She seems to understand that freedom is more important than money, and she considers that her father may be in a similar situation somewhere, totally dependent on others. 

At the factory, she works so hard that she doesn't spend time getting close to her roommates and Diana, an action she regrets later when they move away. She also tends to dislike people who are different than she is; she is unkind to Luke Stevens because he is a Quaker and to Brigid because she is Irish. Both Luke and Brigid are very kind to Lyddie, however, and Lyddie grows to accept and like them, learning to overcome her prejudices. She also learns from Betsy that reading and education can make life much more interesting and worthwhile. Although she feels Rachel is a burden and a drain on her money at first, she comes to deeply care for her sister, and her sister saves Lyddie's life when Lyddie gets sick. 

Lyddie's own illness and then Rachel's cough are also life-changing lessons for Lyddie, teaching her that life is a gift and health is invaluable. When she sees the health problems the factory causes, she becomes willing to sign the ten-hour petition even though it would diminish her own income.

Lyddie learns that many things in life are more important than money, including friendship, freedom, helping others, education, and good health. 

What is one reason England did bad things to the colonies?

Honestly, the answer is pretty simple: because they could. 

England, an island nation, lacked many natural resources, and this was the motivating factor behind their various conquests around the world. Their relationship with the colonies, which was unequal to the extreme, gave them the "right" to demand taxes, goods, and labour of their subjects within those colonies. These demands were easy to make because the monarchy believed that these sacrifices were owed to them, as the rulers of the colonies. It is also far easier to demand hardships of people who are far away and whose threat is therefore, particularly in this era, greatly diminished. By draining the colonies of resources and heavily taxing them, England guaranteed that its own inhabitants would greatly prosper. 

What are the different types of passive resistance?

Passive resistance can take many forms. The goal of passive resistance is to deliberately create obstacles to the implementation of unpopular policies and laws.

One form of passive resistance is using nonviolent protests. Nonviolent protests may include many actions. One act is a boycott, as in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Another action would be to have marches, as in the march from Selma to Montgomery. A third action would be to deliberately break laws in a peaceful manner. This could include sitting down in the middle of a street to protest some action. It could also include refusing to pay taxes or refusing to serve in the military if drafted.

Another form of passive resistance is to deliberately work slower than normal. Workers who can’t reach a contract settlement may not produce as much as they normal would produce to show their unhappiness with the lack of progress toward a new contract agreement. Students may move slowly to class or work at slower than normal rates to protest an unpopular school policy.

Deliberatively giving incorrect information or sabotaging plans are other forms of passive resistance. The people of Belgium did this in World War I as Germany moved through Belgium. This passive resistance delayed Germany’s movement through Belgium from six days to eighteen days. This delay allowed France to reposition its army to defend the country.

There are many forms of passive resistance that can be used to show displeasure with various policies, laws, plans, or ideas.

A student pours 36.4g of water at 11 C into a beaker containing 123.0g of water at 11 C. The density of water at 11 C is 1.00g/mL. They want to...

The mass of final solution would simply be the two masses added together. In this case, it would be 36.4g + 123.0g = 159.4g

Since the temperature of both initial water samples are at 11C, the final temperature of the mixed water will also be 11C, assuming the environment is also at the same temperature so that the water hasn't heated up or cooled down due to heat transfer between the beakers and the environment.

Since the water temperature does not change, the final density of the mixed water will also remain at 1.00g/ml. If there was a problem where the temperature of the water was changed, you would have to determine what the density of water is at the new temperature. Alternatively, you may be given the final volume of water in the mixed sample and be asked to calculate density based on that. In that case, the density would be mass divided by volume, or 159.4g divided by X volume.

What makes Edmund conclude that "Sis is alive" in chapter 7 of Avi's The Man Who Was Poe?

In chapter 7 of Avi's The Man Who Was Poe, it is while Edmund sits by the fire in Mrs. Whitman's kitchen, eating bread and jam, that Edmund prayerfully and emphatically says to himself, "Sis is alive. . . She is alive" (65). Edmund's certainty that she is alive stems from hopeful thinking and his own intuition.

In chapter 3, Edgar Allan Poe, calling himself Mr. Dupin, notices that the window of Edmund's tenement flat is near enough to the window next door that one can reach out and touch the other window. In chapter 5, they manage to gain entrance to the room, where Dupin finds a "wooden plank leaning against the wall near the window through which, just across the way, they could see Edmund's room" (45). Dupin discovers the plank easily reaches both window sills, making a perfect bridge for someone to walk from one window to the other. In this same chapter, Edmund finds a "pearl button" on the floor of the room, a button he knows came from his sister's shoe. Edmund also explains that Sis's favorite story is "Hansel and Gretel," and Sis must have left the button intentionally, just as the children in the story left a trail of crumbs. Dupin deduces that Sis has been kidnapped.

It's also at this point in the story that the motive for the kidnapping is being hinted at—the Providence Bank has just been robbed of a gold deposit. Everywhere Edmund goes that day, he hears talk of the gold robbery, including in the clothier's and Mrs. Whitman's kitchen. While hearing about the robbery, Edmund must have intuitively deduced the robbery and his sister's kidnapping are connected, and if she was kidnapped for the purposes of the robbery, then chances are she's still alive, as she may have been used in the robbery in some way.

How does Scout's view of racism change throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird?

To Kill a Mockingbird is told from the perspective of Scout, a rather precocious but innocent young girl. Scout has definite opinions about herself, what it means to be a girl and how others should or should not be treated.

Being very young at the beginning of the novel, Scout's views of racism have been guided by her upbringing. She has been brought up to view blacks as she would any other human being. In this sense, racist attitudes are unfamiliar to her. Her father Atticus has taught her to view all people with respect and understanding. Scout's caretaker, Calpurnia, is an African American who Scout looks up to as she would a parent. Since Scout is so young, she has been protected from much of the racism in her community.

This all changes as the novel progresses. Scout's father takes on the job of defending a black man in court and Scout is exposed to the racist views of her classmates, views they obviously adopted from their parents. Jem and Scout are the subject of teasing at school as the trial progresses. It seems that many of the students have adopted the points of view of their parents. Being verbally attacked by these students simply because her father is defending a black man changes Scouts views of racism by the end of the novel. Scout begins to see that not everyone treats blacks as equal to whites and realizes that the problem of racism is a real one. However, with her father's help, she also comes to see that just as people have a capacity for hatred, they have a capacity for tolerance as well.

How does the attitude of women in Medea differ from that of women today?

The attitude displayed by Medea is not necessarily all that different from what is felt and displayed by some women today. The strong-minded, half-supernatural Medea was just an extreme case; but the play is significant because it deals with a problem that will always exist between men and women. Psychiatrists have long recognized the prevalence of a so-called Medea complex, which they define as: 

Murderous hatred by a mother for her child(ren), driven by the desire for revenge on her husband; it is a reference to Medea of Greek mythology,who kills her children.

A truly harrowing example of this Medea complex in action is to be found in a recent popular memoir by Dave Peltzer titled A Child Called "It." His mother's mental and physical abuse over a long period of his childhood is nearly incredible. See reference link to the e-notes summary of that book below.

There are numerous entries for the Medea complex to be found in Google. It is a well-known phenomenon. It is easy to understand why a woman might feel intense hatred for a man who abandoned her after fathering one or more children. Since he is no longer available to be the object of her hatred and wrath, she might take it out on his children, either consciously or unconsciously, although she would not necessarily murder them! Furthermore, a divorced woman stuck with a couple of small children to raise alone will find it hard to remarry. This can make the children seem even more hateful. That situation is increasingly common, so the incidence of examples of the Medea complex ought to be increasing as well.

Apparently, women suffering from the Medea complex react different to sons and daughters. With sons they may hate and abuse them because they see the boy's fathers in them. With daughters it is more common to brainwash them to hate men, just as their mothers do. Miss Havisham in Charles Dickens' novel Great Expectations is an example of that kind of condition--although this woman was abandoned before she was married and did not have children of her own, just an adopted daughter named Estella.

Euripides was not writing about one exceptional woman but about a tendency he could sense among women of his time. Mothers are supposed to love their children, but this was not always the case then, and it is not always the case now.

Why did the founding fathers choose a government based off of a confederation?

The American colonists had just fought a war with England to escape the tyranny of a strong central government.  When discussion took place in the Continental Congress for the shape of a new United States, there was very little support for a federal system.  Delegates wanted to be very cautious about establishing a system that would strip the states of their autonomies.  They felt that a system could be created where power was concentrated in the states, but held together by a confederation.  A confederation is similar to an alliance or a league.  The members are bound by the alliance but do not necessarily have to answer to one another.  The states, at this time, had all drafted a constitution of their own at the behest of the Continental Congress.  There was some variation between the different state constitutions.  Each colony had a unique history and culture and there was not necessarily a sense of national unity yet.  For these reasons, a confederate system was chosen instead of a federal one.

Are gabbro and basalt chemically similar?

Yes, gabbro and basalt are similar chemically and in composition. The rocks are made mostly of plagioclase and pyroxene minerals. The rocks may also contain augite and olivine. Both are igneous rocks, which means that they are formed by the cooling and solidification of either magma or lava.

Gabbro is intrusive, which means it is found inside Earth's crust. However, basalt is usually extrusive. When referring to rocks, the term "extrusive" implies that the rock is found above Earth's surface.

Another difference between basalt and gabbro has to do with their grains, or the size of the crystals within the rocks. Basalt is fine-grained whereas gabbro is coarsely-grained. The difference in the crystal sizes of the rocks is due to the rate at which the lava or magma cools. Being intrusive, gabbro is closer to Earth's hot inner core. Therefore, it takes longer for gabbro to cool.

Disscuss the relationship between Antonio and Bassanio. What does their friendship reveal about their characters?

Bassanio and Antonio have a very close friendship. When Bassanio needs money to court Portia, he goes to Antonio. Even though Bassanio already owes Antonio a great deal of money, the merchant agrees to help his young friend with very little persuasion. Additionally, since Antonio's fortune is all tied up in his ships, the merchant must risk his life to insure a loan with the moneylender, Shylock, by promising a pound of his own flesh in the event that the money is lost at sea. This shows an intense dedication that very few people have for their friends.

Experts have wondered what makes the relationship so strong. Does Antonio see himself as a mentor figure to the young man? Are they simply dear friends? Because of these dedicated actions and frequent exchanges of affection, some have even suggested that the two men might be lovers. While this is an interesting notion, it is important to also note that men in these times tended to be much more expressive of their platonic love than is common in the West today.

Summarize how DNA directs the making of a protein.

Signal Transduction:

The production of a new protein actually begins outside of the cell when a signaling molecule binds to a specific receptor on the cell membrane. Common signaling molecules include hormones, neurotransmitters, and growth factors.  The binding of a receptor by a signaling molecule triggers a series of biochemical events that result in the activation of transcription factors within the nucleus of the cell. Transcription factors are cell proteins involved in converting specific DNA sequences into RNA.

Transcription:

Transcription is the process of turning a particular DNA sequence into its corresponding RNA sequence. The process of transcription is activated when transcription factors bind to specific sequences on the DNA. The binding of transcription factors to DNA leads to the activation of a protein called RNA polymerase. RNA polymerase copies a sequence of DNA into RNA. The new RNA sequence is called pre-messenger RNA.

The pre-messenger RNA sequence often contains sections of RNA that are not needed for protein production. These sequences are edited out by cellular enzymes. The resulting RNA sequence is called messenger RNA (mRNA). The messenger RNA strand is then transported out of nucleus into the cytoplasm of the cell.

Translation:

Translation is the process of creating a protein from the mRNA strand. Once in the cytoplasm, the messenger RNA strand is bound by a particle called a ribosome. Ribosomes are small proteins that are able to bind both messenger RNA and another type of RNA call transfer RNA. Transfer RNA (tRNA) molecules have specific amino acids attached to them. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. Each tRNA is able to recognize and bind to a particular three base sequence of mRNA called a codon. Each codon sequence is associated with a particular amino acid. As the ribosome  moves along the mRNA strand, tRNA molecules bring in new amino acids corresponding to each codon sequence. A chain of amino acids is created based on the codon sequences in the mRNA.

Protein Processing:

The strand of amino acids is then released from the ribosome. The chain of amino acids often undergoes further folding before it becomes a functional protein. The new protein is then packaged and secreted from the cell or used within the cell itself.

In The Time Machine, how many Eloi are in the great hall?

In Chapter Five of The Time Machine, the Time Traveller comes across a great hall in which he finds around twenty Eloi ("a score") asleep together. He often finds the Eloi huddled together in groups, but the reason for this behaviour does not become apparent until Chapter Seven. 

The Eloi are the hunted prey of the Morlocks. The Morlocks hunt them at night, under the cover of darkness, which explains why the Eloi live and sleep in groups, often preferring to sleep indoors in places like the great hall, which offer some protection from the outdoors. This explains why Weena is distressed by the Time Traveller's decision to sleep away from the "multitudes," in Chapter Five. She understands the danger posed by the Morlocks and fears for the safety of the Time Traveller. It is not until Chapter Seven, however, that the Time Traveller makes this connection. Once this happens, he utilises the power of his matches to keep the Morlocks at bay.

How was Tom Buchanan rude to Gatsby and how did Gatsby react?

Tom was rude to Gatsby on more than one occasion, seeing him as little more than a vulgar, nouveau-riche upstart who was hardly worth the time of day. 

To set the context for Tom's disdain, in one scene, Tom Buchanan and his friends the Sloanes, who are out horseback riding, stop at Gatsby's mansion for a drink. Gatsby is delighted to see them, but they want nothing more than to drink and run. Tom doesn't even remember having met Gatsby a few weeks earlier in New York City and is astonished that Gatsby doesn't understand when he and Mr. Sloane try to give him the brush off. Mrs. Sloane had just invited Gatsby to dinner: "Doesn't he know she doesn't want him?" Tom says as Gatsby goes off to get ready. The group leaves without him, telling him they can't wait, snubbing him entirely. 

Tom is surprised to discover that his wife is having an affair with the, to him, low-class Gatsby. When Tom is at the Plaza Hotel with Gatsby, Daisy, Jordan and Nick, having just realized what is going on between Gatsby and Daisy, he treats Gatsby with contempt, ridiculing the idea that Daisy would ever go off with him. He sneers at Gatsby as "Mr. Nobody from Nowhere." If someone as high class as Daisy can run off with someone as low class as Gatsby, Tom thinks, the next thing will be black/white intermarriage.

Gatsby responds by insisting that Daisy never loved Tom, and only ever really loved him. Tom continues to heap scorn on Gatsby, wondering how he could get close to Daisy at all "unless you brought groceries to the back door."

Gatsby responds by appealing directly to Daisy to confirm her love. She begins to waver. In the end, class will win out.

Is it important that the original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost?

It is extremely significant that the townspeople lost the original lottery paraphernalia. In addition to the reasons stated in the previous post, the loss of the box is significant in that it symbolizes the idea that the people in the village have no idea why they have to partake in the lottery. Like many traditions, it just is.

In the story, only one person—Old Man Warner—seems to really remember any reason why the lottery has to be held, who states a saying, "Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon." Then he goes on to discuss what he sees as dangers to abandoning the tradition like those in the north village.

In addition to the lost paraphernalia, other traditional actions that accompanied the lottery had been lost or changed. The villagers used paper instead of wood chips for the names, the "tuneless chant" that preceded the lottery had been abandoned, and the "ritual salute" had also been forgotten.

All of these suggest the idea that traditions are sometimes carried out despite people not knowing the reasons for carrying them out. While, as Old Man Warner points out, the lottery might have originally been held as a sort-of crop sacrifice, the lottery at the time of the story seems to be held as a way of sanctioned killing as evidenced by the boys' excitement of gathering rocks at the beginning of the story. 

In chapter 7-9 in To Kill a Mockingbird, explain what Atticus means when he says, "The jury couldn't possibly be expected to take Tom Robinson's...

In To Kill a Mockingbird, when Atticus says that the jury couldn't possibly be expected to take Tom's word against the Ewells', he is referring to the fact that Tom is black and the Ewells are white. Although the novel is set seventy or so years after the end of the Civil War there is still no real equality of the races in the southern town of Maycomb. There are no African Americans in positions of power; the black people work as servants in white people's homes or as manual laborers. Lynchings--unlawful executions of blacks by whites--are still common. Many barriers are up to prevent social and economic advancement of the black residents. Although technically anyone can advance to a position of power, the reality is that even attempting to vote can result in physical harm for the black residents of the South.

When Atticus agrees to defend Tom Robinson against the charge of raping Mayella he knows that he will lose. The jury will be all white. The testimony of a white witness will be given far more weight than that of a black witness. Even in the court the black people who are there are relegated to a balcony. Atticus knows that anyone on the jury who would side with Tom would be putting themself and their family at risk. This is shown graphically at the end of the book when Bob Ewell, despite having won in court, attempts to kill Atticus' children.

In Of Mice and Men, what is an external conflict between a character and society?

Historical context is pretty clear in Of Mice and Men. During this particular time period in American history people of color were treated poorly by whites. Crooks, the black stable hand in Of Mice and Men, was ostracized by everyone on the farm due to his skin color.

In Chapter 4, Lennie visits Crooks in his room while George and the rest of the stable hands are in town. Crooks reluctantly invites Lennie into his room, which is described as neat and orderly, but his behavior with Lennie during George's absence highlights how little he interacts with others. Despite Lennie's friendly behavior, Crooks clearly draws a line between the two of them, due to skin color. "You go on get outta my room. I ain't wanted in the bunk house, and you ain't wanted in my room... 'Cause I'm black. They play cards in there, but I can't play because I'm black. They say I stink. Well, I tell you, you all of you, you stink to me." (67) 

The isolation that Crooks has suffered makes his pain and suffering almost tangible to the reader. He wants to hurt others the way that society's views regarding racial boundaries have hurt him. Crooks is put into a perpetual conflict with society and indicates how his loneliness is a result of that conflict. 

In "The Twenty-One Balloons," what did Professor Sherman say that made the audience applaud for five minutes? Why did the crowd react that way?

Professor Sherman gets settled in his bed, propped up with pillows, and makes two statements that make the crowd go wild.  First he says, "I am happy to be home again!" (38). The crowd cheers for four minutes. Then he says, "I haven't been away very long, but I have certainly missed..." (38).  It is at this point that the crowd applauds for five minutes.  They are applauding wildly because the professor's statement reminds them that the Professor has broken the record of traveling around the world in eighty days by a full forty days, and this is an incredible and exciting thing to have accomplished. It should also be noted that the crowd has been anticipating this talk by Professor Sherman for five days now, and all of the preparations that the city has done in preparation have created a buildup of excitement. 

What are various types, uses, and effects of technology across the healthcare industry, and what is the impact? A prestigious health care...

By "organization members" you may be talking about stockholders-at-large and immediate participants within the organization. For this reason, the healthcare experience when it comes to technology needs to be universal and relevant enough to be used by everyone, or at least, to be recognized by everyone involved. In other words, technology cannot be exclusive, but inclusive. 

Some great new technology to be proposed at a healthcare level includes:

1. Cloud-based storage for millions of medical records with easy access to practitioners.

Rather than storing new client data into paper and pen folders, a specialized group should be able to scan the most significant information and enter it on a cloud-drive with its own access codes, depending on who is requesting the information. All access codes should be private, and nobody should have the same code. This will ease the access to information and will expedite diagnosis and treatment options. It will also help with prescriptions and drug interactions. In Emergency Rooms (ERs), a cloud-based storage that is of immediate access can make a difference between trying to figure out what is wrong with a patient and getting it right the first time. 

2. Cloud based access technology- If all practitioners in one healthcare environment carry with them the technology needed to access cloud-based storage data immediately, then it would be easier to prep for surgeries, acute care, and every other condition. When two practitioners, instead of one, have equal  access to data, things can happen quicker. While we proposed that no two practitioners have the same access codes, there should be parameters as to which information each is able to access.

3.Wireless monitoring of ICU and NICU units. If all personnel in a hospital had a wireless, real-life tracking device where they can check on patients from wherever they are, they would have a faster way to contact personnel that is closer to the patient, if needed.

4. Instant blood pathogen identifier- Hospitals decide which blood tests would be administered to ER cases, as well as typical hospital cases, not knowing if there are any known (or yet-to-be-known) pathogens that may risk the lives of those tending the patient, as well as the life of the patient, himself. Rather than offering a "rule-out" protocol for quarantine, there should be a way to administer blood tests that could immediately detect abnormal levels of any substance. 

5. Instant red flags- If there were a cloud-based access medical resource where red flags could be instantly identified a significant amount of time will be saved finding a treatment plan that works.

For example instant red-flags should pop up in a wireless device which can access cloud-based data regarding a patient if the latter has ever:

• suffered any form of cancer


• had any major surgeries


• had an organ removed


• been diagnosed with Hep C, HIV, or any potentially dangerous infectious disease


• has had a history of hypertension, low blood pressure


• has had diabetes


• has been a smoker


• has been treated for drug/alcohol addiction. 

As can be seen, it is easy to establish a good action plan for technology that could be easily available if the funds are properly allocated. Read on the article included and you will be amazed to see how much is actually available and has yet to be put into practice. 

How does Scrooge feel when he sees the Crachit family in A Christmas Carol?

Scrooge is a miserly, cruel employer who treats the father of the Crachit family cruelly everyday but particularly on Christmas Eve. After finally allowing him to leave for the night, Scrooge heads home. Along the way he shouts angrily at poor people and at his nephew who invites him to dinner. Once home, he falls asleep only to be awakened by the spirits of Christmas past, present and future who torment him with visions. It is the Ghost of Christmas present who takes Scrooge to view how the Crachit family celebrates Christmas. Here Scrooge sees how despite the family's poverty, they enjoy celebrating Christmas as best they can with joy and love for one another. Scrooge appears both baffled by the family's happiness and to soften at this point, remembering some of the things he has said to Crachit and how he has treated him. Scrooge sees frail, sickly Tiny Tim and asks the spirit if Tim will live. The spirit warns that unless his life changes and he has better conditions, he will die. This appears to bother Scrooge a great deal. He is obviously distressed by it and protests the spirit's words. The spirit reminds Scrooge that in the past, he has wished that the sick would just die and decrease the population. As they move on with the spirit of Christmas future, the image of the Crachits and Tiny Tim remain with Scrooge who continues to be distressed by what he has seen of Tim's illness.

What is George Nipping's testimony in Monster?

George Nipping is one of the witnesses for the defense. He is specifically called to defend James King (remember, even though Steve and King are being tried together, their fates will be decided separately of one another and their defense lawyers are working separately too – and sometimes against one another).

During his testimony, George Nipping claims that he once sold King a baseball glove that was for a left-handed person. Steve asks Petrocelli what that testimony is all about and she explains that, since the gunshot wound was on the left side of the body, Briggs is trying to make the defense that it couldn't have been done by the left-handed James King. She adds that it is not a very strong defense. 

Petrocelli cross-examines him and, unsurprisingly, knocks down his argument by saying that, having never seen King shoot a gun, Nipping couldn't know how he would do it. 

Discuss the title of the play The Bear?

The title The Bear comes straight from the play as a reference to Smirnov by Popova. Popova claimed that Smirnov was a crude man who did not know how to treat women.

POPOVA. You don't know how to behave before women!

SMIRNOV. No, I do know how to behave before women!

POPOVA. No, you don't! You're a rude, ill-bred man! Decent people don't talk to a woman like that!

Smirnov made his way into Popova’s home to collect a debt owed to him by Popova’s late husband. Popova, on the other hand, was mourning the loss of her husband and had limited her social interaction.

Popova informed Smirnov that she was unable to make the payment immediately, but promised to do so a day later, when her steward was around. Smirnov would hear none of it because he was also hard pressed to make payments to his own creditors the next day. The situation quickly degenerated into a heated exchange of words between the two.

Due to the conflict, Smirnov was unable to control himself and allowed his frustrations to get the best of him. He became sarcastic and made outright rude remarks.

SMIRNOV. What a business! How do you want me to talk to you? In French, or what? [Loses his temper and lisps] Madame, je vous prie.... How happy I am that you don't pay me.... Ah, pardon. I have disturbed you! Such lovely weather to-day! And how well you look in mourning! [Bows.]

POPOVA. That's silly and rude.

According to, Popova, Smirnov was behaving like a brute by refusing to understand or compromise with her situation. She believed he was insensitive and had no reason to interfere with the peace in her home. Popova’s last straw came when Smirnov challenged her to a gun duel. She not only insulted him by calling him bourbon but also called him a bear three times.

POPOVA. Do you think I'm afraid of you just because you have large fists and a bull's throat? Eh? You Bourbon!

SMIRNOV. We'll fight it out! I'm not going to be insulted by anybody, and I don't care if you are a woman, one of the "softer sex," indeed!

POPOVA. [Trying to interrupt him] Bear! Bear! Bear!

The title The Bear captured the height of the conflict which was also ironic because the two eventually fell in love.

What does the imagery surrounding Simon's death imply about good and evil?

In Chapter 9, Simon becomes the victim of an attack from Jack's frenzied, manic group of boys who mistake him for the beast. Simon's lifeless body lays on the sand while the dead paratrooper's body flies from the top of the mountain toward the beach. Golding describes how the tide swells and covers everything with a "layer of silver," depicting Simon's hair as having bright features. Golding writes that Simon's shoulders "became sculpted marble." (Golding 154) Simon's body is carried to sea by the tide and surrounded by illuminating sea creatures that create the image of a halo around his body. The imagery used in this text suggests that good ultimately triumphs over evil. Silver, which is a precious metal, and marble are long-lasting, valuable materials that Golding uses to describe Simon's body. Simon, who is a morally upright, understanding individual is depicted as a Christ figure throughout the novel. The imagery illustrating the illuminating sea creatures carrying his body to sea in a peaceful manner suggests a positive afterlife for Simon. The paratrooper's flight parallels Satan's rise to power after a Christ's death on the cross. Similar to Jesus Christ, who experiences death before his ultimate victory, Simon brutal death is followed by a serene journey out to sea that symbolizes his everlasting life.

`tan^2(2x)cos^4(2x)` Use the power reducing formulas to rewrite the expression in terms of the first power of the cosine.

It is known that

`cos^2(y)=(1/2)(1+cos(2y))`  and

`tan^2(y)=(1-cos(2y))/(1+cos(2y)).`

Repeating the first formula we obtain

`cos^4(y)=(1/4)(1+2cos(2y)+cos^2(2y))=`

`=(1/4)(1+2cos(2y)+(1/2)(1+cos(4y))=`

`=(1/8)(3+4cos(2y)+cos(4y)).`

Finally, for `y=2x` 

`tan^2(2x)*cos^4(2x)=(1-cos(4x))/(1+cos(4x))*(1/8)(3+4cos(4x)+cos(8x)).`

Why did the 2nd spirit take Scrooge to the miners' hut?

The Ghost of Christmas Present takes Scrooge to a variety of Christmas celebrations, including a party aboard a ship and Fred's party, which Scrooge had been invited to, but declined to attend.  While the miners' hut is not given a great deal of attention, one can picture it as a desolate and isolated place.  Yet, even in such a lonesome outpost, the miners are celebrating Christmas.

This is in direct contrast to Scrooge.  Even though Scrooge is in the midst of a town of celebrating Christmas, and even though he has a party invitation from his nephew, Scrooge is not celebrating in anywhere near the scope of that of the miners; in fact, he is not celebrating at all.  Contrasting him to the remote miners only helps to further drive home this point.

If you were Jim or Della, how would you feel about the gift you recivied?

To me, Della’s gift would be like the embodiment of true love. Without doubt it would be my most prized possession, symbolizing pure love.

Della’s long hair had been her most precious belonging, something that she had always been proud of and had never parted with. She felt no less than a princess with it hanging “below her knee.”  

“Della knew her hair was more beautiful than any queen’s jewels and gifts.”

Della got her enviable hair cut off to earn a few dollars so that she could buy me a Christmas gift!

No, that money didn’t buy her a gold fob, but it bought her me. The gift would be a constant reminder that I’ve been bought by somebody at the price of deepest, selfless and true love.

Holding the gift I would feel myself the most blessed and fortunate soul.

However, my first reaction might have been different. I might have been very upset. Knowing why she got her beautiful hair chopped off would have aroused a complex feeling in me mixed with different emotions including anger, helplessness, guilt, pity and immense love for Della. But soon, I know, these feelings would subside leaving the strongest one: the feeling of immense love for my beloved Della.

All my life the gold fob would be among the few dearest things I had, perhaps dearer than my life itself.

Faber tells Montag that they will have to work together to face Captain Beatty. Faber then tells Montag that he will read to him from the book of...

The allusion to the book of Job has significant symbolism that relates to Montag's stressful situation. Throughout the book of Job, Satan makes a bet with the Lord that Job will not remain faithful after he loses all his possessions, family, and household. Despite suffering significant losses and having his health decline, Job remains faithful to God. Job petitions God and asks God why he has allowed him to suffer after being such a faithful servant. The Lord speaks to Job and tells him humans will never have the capacity to understand how God operates. Like Job, Montag has also suffered losses. Montag has lost his job, his wife, and his good friend, Clarisse. Another similarity to Job is how Montag is searching for answers. Montag asks Faber to help him explain texts and is searching for meaning throughout the novel. In the story of Job, the Lord restores Job to greater glory and wealth than he had previously for remaining faithful during difficult times. In the novel Fahrenheit 451, Montag finds meaning to his life and is given the opportunity to rebuild a literate society. Both stories end with positive outcomes and involve searching for meaning in life.

In "Heritage," what problems does Countee Cullen face as he tries to reconcile African heritage with African American identity?

Countee Cullen faces several obstacles as he tries to reconcile his African ancestry with his American identity.

The first is isolation and distance. As the opening line of the poem asks, "What is Africa to me"? He doesn't have an answer to this, and must find or construct one by himself, rather than knowing it as part of his culture.

Second, there is the question of time, and the related issue of knowledge. As the first stanza of the poem says, it has been over 300 years since his fathers lived in Africa. As a result, he doesn't really know Africa, and so his mind and poem are full of images of Africa, and he doesn't even know if they fit, or how well they fit.

Third, religion. Cullen is Christian. The Africa of his fathers was not. His beliefs, and his spirit, divide him from his African heritage.

In what ways does the life of the author of "The Story of an Hour" parallel the life of the protagonist, Mrs. Mallard?

“The Story of an Hour” is a short one, and simple.  It tells of a young Mrs. Mallard with a weak heart who learns that her husband has been killed in a work accident.  After she sobs uncontrollably at the news, she isolates herself in her room and, after examining her emotions, is struck with the feeling of freedom.  Her husband’s love, up to that point, had been a burden, had been restricting, preventing her from living entirely for herself.  And now that he has died, she begins to envision with relish what her life will look like alone.  Indeed, she wishes “that life might be long.  It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long.”  What she dreaded as a married woman, she now eagerly anticipated as a widow.  However, there had been a strange miscommunication – her husband, in fact, had not been in the accident, and the shock the woman feels at seeing him walk through the door is enough to stop her heart.

In the story Mrs. Mallard believes her husband to have died; in reality, Kate Chopin’s husband Oscar died in 1892, when Kate was still quite young.  He never reemerged as Bently Mallard did, but we can imagine that Kate drew on her own experience with her husband’s death for this piece.  In addition, one of the most common themes in Chopin’s works is that of female empowerment – she was a very strong woman herself, and believed that women should have the opportunity to be in control of their own lives.  And here, in “The Story of an Hour,” we have a woman who is given that opportunity.  Moreover, rather than cede her newfound freedom back to her husband at the end of the story, she dies.  They say in the story that she dies “of heart disease – of joy that kills.”  Indeed, it was the shock of that joy being stripped away from her – she could not live as she once had.