If the north pole melted why would seas rise?. Does the ice displace the same water solid as it would melted so how could the oceans rise. In my...

You would be right, if all the ice was floating on top of the water. Actually, the volume of ice is larger than the volume of water (ice has a lower density, which is why it floats), so the water level should theoretically decrease if all the ice floating on water melts.

The reason that the sea level would rise if all the ice at the North Pole melted is because a large portion of that ice is actually on top of land. Currently, this ice does not contribute to sea level because it is water that has been removed from the oceans. If all of this ice were to melt, however, a lot of water would be added into the oceans, causing sea level to rise.

How is the Declaration of Sentiments similar to the Declaration of Independence?

The Declaration of Sentiments is very similar to the Declaration of Independence. The structure of both documents is nearly identical. Both documents open with an explanation of their purposes. This is referred to as the Preamble section of the document.

Both documents then explain how the government shouldn’t take away the rights of the people. This section focuses on the inalienable rights that people have including the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. These rights can’t be given up or taken away.

The third section lists all of the complaints each group has. In the Declaration of Independence, the complaints are directed at the King. In the Declaration of Sentiments, the complaints are directed at men. In both documents, there are many complaints that are listed and explained.

The last section calls for freedom. In the Declaration of Independence, it is freedom from Great Britain. In the Declaration of Sentiments, it is freedom from being treated unequally.

Both documents were a statement of wanting to have freedom and equality. The parallels between these two documents are fascinating.

Is Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift a valid criticism of human nature? Why or why not?

The answer to this question depends on your particular perspective. Some readers find Jonathan Swift's satirical attack to be witty and insightful, while others might find his writing to be mean-spirited and nasty. As such, you'll have to take my answer with a grain of salt, as it comes from my own unique context. For my part, I believe that Swift's Gulliver's Travels is a valid critique of human nature, as it skillfully uses satire to expose the often petty and shallow nature of humanity. 

Consider, for instance, the first voyage, in which Gulliver is stranded in Lilliput, the home of the minuscule Lilliputians. While residing in this strange world, Gulliver observes how remarkably petty and shallow the inhabitants are. Indeed, it appears that they spend much of their time engaging in meaningless competitions and squabbling over petty disputes. In this portion of the text, Swift is arguing that human society (and especially the European society of his day) is obsessed with accolades and arguments that are, in fact, quite meaningless. As a matter of fact, the Lilliputians' small size can be seen as symbolic of their similarly small and narrow perspective on life. Based on the skillful critique embedded in this satirical thrust, I believe that Swift's overall critique of human nature is valid, as he imaginatively points out important flaws in human society. 

Krakauer's version of thhe Chriss McCandless story unfolds in chapters and follows a a sequence of events that is not linear and that incorporates...

I have to admit that I was very thrown by your question.  I've read Krakauer's account of Chris McCandless, and I know that Corinne McCandless has published a book that details her interpretation of Chris and what happened to him; however, I did not know that any book about McCandless had been written by a person named "Penn."  Then I remembered that the 2007 movie was directed by Sean Penn, and the screenplay was also written by Sean Penn.  I am going to assume that is the "Penn" that your question is referring to.  

I'll start with this.  I really enjoyed Krakauer's book.  But there were parts of it that really annoyed me as a reader.  I didn't like the constant flashback interruptions, and I didn't like the break from McCandless for two entire chapters while Krakauer narrated about other men that McCandless was similar to in various ways.  I understand what Krakauer did, and I appreciated the comparisons, but it still annoyed me a lot as a reader.  I like chronological story telling.  I understand the concept of flashbacks, but I usually don't enjoy them, because it always seems that the story is being broken and new plot lines and characters are being introduced.  

So for me as a reader (and in this case movie watcher), I preferred Penn's more chronological story telling.  I do want to note though that Penn's narrative wasn't free from flashbacks.  His movie and screenplay starts the same way that the book started.  It started with McCandless being dropped off a few months before he dies and then flashes back to the sequences mentioned in your question.  I more enjoyed Penn's focus on McCandless as a singular character and showing his journey in a relatively unbroken narrative.  For viewers and readers, I think Penn's version is more accessible than Krakauer's version. 

What does the author mean by "when he and himself agreed upon anything, the thing was done"? Why has he expressed the meaning in this way?

The story was originally published in 1882. The author Frank R. Stockton's style of writing may seem old-fashioned by contemporary standards. He is simply being facetious when he says of the king, "He was greatly given to self-communing, and, when he and himself agreed upon anything, the thing was done," it is a whimsical way of saying that the king was an autocrat and never had a need to consult anyone else about his edicts. He might be compared to King Henry VIII or even to the Roman emperor Caligula, or to another Roman emperor, Nero, who thought of the idea of feeding Christians to lions and tigers in arenas seating many thousands of spectators.

He was a man of exuberant fancy, and, withal, of an authority so irresistible that, at his will, he turned his varied fancies into facts.

Stockton's tongue-in-cheek humor is deliberately intended to make light of a gruesome subject. If the author were to describe the defendant's ordeal in straightforward prose, it would only make it seem vile and loathsome. But using a rather fanciful and somewhat antiquated prose style, as well as setting the story far back in time, have the effect of softening the grim actuality. The story would not have been as popular as it has been over all these years if the tone had not given it a sort of fairy-tale quality. In fact, the author seems to have chosen exactly the right stylistic approach as well as the right ending.

It is noteworthy that while the king is an ogre and is responsible for the lover's plight and his daughter's distress, the king himself is the least important character. He remains mostly in the background, while attention is focused on the princess and her lover. 

Suppose you are on winter vacation and a big snowstorm hits. The electricity in your cabin goes off. You have a wood stove to keep you warm but you...

Since there is no electricity, the electrical pump cannot be used for lifting water out of the well. There is no other source of water, except for the snow from the snowstorm. The only way to get water is to collect some snow from outside and boil it on the woodstove (assuming you still have some dry wood to feed the woodstove). Once the boiling water is available from the wood stove, one can make hot cocoa.

Use of snow to get drinking water is not unheard of. High altitude climbers and soldiers on mountaintops commonly use snow and boil it to obtain drinking water for their daily needs.

Mountain snow or snow from a snowstorm would be as pure as rain water and hence can be used after boiling. Just remember that any leftover water could freeze pretty soon unless consumed or kept in a warm environment.

Hope this helps.  

does the mRNA more closely resemble the DNA strand from which it was transcribed?

Although mRNA copies one of the DNA strands precisely, after it is processed, it will have some differences compared to the DNA template strand.

Messenger RNA copies one of the strands of the DNA double helix which is called the template strand. The base-pairing rules apply-In DNA, adenine pairs with thymine and cytosine pairs with guanine. If the DNA template reads TAC GGC, the messenger RNA would read- AUG CCG. The reason there is a U in the second position of the first codon is because RNA lacks the base thymine (T) and the base uracil (U) is substituted. The DNA is copied into mRNA which is facilitated by the enzyme RNA polymerase along with transcription factors which are proteins. RNA polymerase assembles the transcript by separating the DNA at a specific point and joining RNA nucleotides that correspond to those in the DNA template strand. RNA polymerase joins DNA at the promoter region. 

Once a stop codon is reached (UAA, UAG, UGA) --the process of transcription stops. The mRNA transcript is called pre-mRNA because it must be further processed into mature mRNA. This entails splicing out sections of RNA known as introns which are stretches of DNA that don't code for a protein and splicing together exons-protein- coding genes that are needed to carry out translation and ultimately protein synthesis.

Next, a cap added to the 5 prime end of the mRNA which contains guanine, and a poly-A tail is added to the 3 prime end which consists of many adenine nucleotides. These facilitate the molecule of mRNA to exit the nucleus, travel to the cytosol and to attach to a ribosome at the 5 prime end. Also, the tail protects the mRNA from degradation by enzymes.  

The splicing and addition of a cap and a tail change the mRNA slightly from the DNA template.

In the poem "The Road Not Taken" - why does the poet describe the wood as yellow? Is it related to the season of the year, the time of the day, or...

In this poem, "wood" means wooded area or a forest. The fact that Frost describes it as "yellow" is significant. It most likely refers to the color of the leaves. If they are yellow, this indicates that it is autumn. The speaker is contemplating his decision to take one of two paths. People often make the mistake that the speaker is certain he has taken the less traveled road. But since the roads look basically the same, he can never be sure. "Though as for that the passing there, / Had worn them really about the same." He hopes he has taken the less traveled road and will always wonder where the other path would have taken him. In the last stanza, the speaker imagines himself as an older man thinking back with that same uncertain hope that he did, in fact, take the road "less traveled by." Perhaps the yellow leaves and the suggestion of autumn was used to foreshadow the speaker thinking about the autumn of his life in the last stanza. This notion of the "autumn of his life" means a person's later years. Spring represents birth, summer symbolizes life and growth, and winter symbolizes death or sleep. The autumn of one's life is the period right before death. Therefore, the yellow symbolizes autumn which foreshadows the speaker's thoughts about the autumn of his life, a time when he is reevaluating some of the choices he has made. 

A solution in which more solute can be dissolved is called a(n) __________ solution.

An unsaturated solution can dissolve more solute. 

In general, we can classify solutions as saturated, unsaturated and supersaturated. When the solute has reached its solubility limit, for a given solvent and conditions, the solution becomes saturated. A saturated solution will not dissolve any more solute and any extra solute added will simply stay as it is, without dissolving. An unsaturated solution has less solute than its solubility and hence can still add more solute, till it reaches the saturation level. A supersaturated solution has more solute than the solubility limit and hence the extra solute stays in the solvent. Hence, the answer is unsaturated solution. 

Interestingly, solubility is a function of temperature. For example, if we start adding sugar to a glass of water progressively, we will reach saturation, beyond which any extra sugar will only stay put in the solution. However, if we heat the water sample, part or all of the undissolved sugar may dissolve in water. Hence, heat can make a supersaturated solution, saturated or unsaturated.

Hope this helps.

I need help with a thesis statement comparing Aksionov in The Long Exile to Andy in The Shawshank Redemption.

"The Long Exile" is a short story by Leo Tolstoy.  It was published in 2008 as part of the collection of short stories in the book The Long Exile, and Other Short Stories. Comparatively, The Shawshank Redemption is a 1994 movie adaptation of a novella, by Stephen King, titled Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption. 

I feel it would be counterproductive to simply provide you with a thesis statement.  However, I can provide you with similarities and contrasts to help you grasp a good pathway to such a statement.

Both stories involve the lengthy incarceration of a wrongly accused innocent man.  Does that injustice, or the subsequent imprisonment, prevent either from trying to live a meaningful life?  

Both men come face-to-face with the reality of the circumstances that truly occurred and led to their being found guilty and sentenced to a life of incarceration.  Does the truth set them free?

One prisoner uses the information that clears him to try and obtain legal freedom.  However, in the end, he dies anyway.  By contrast, the other is denied the ability to use the discovery of the truth to free himself. Instead, he becomes a true criminal to find the ability to be free.

Are circumstances always as they seem? Is truth always the pathway to justice? Can we escape destiny?  Does it limit a person's abilities to positively influence others when we restrict their ability to interact with people?  

Is mystery important in one's life?

I would say that mystery is important in everyone's life for a few reasons. First, it is the inevitable human condition, and second, it provides us with challenges.

We all have mystery in our lives, which is the future.  We do not know what will happen to us. Certainly, we know the sun will rise in the east and set in the west. But the future is always a mystery in some way. What you will be, whom you will love, and where you will live are all mysteries at some point in your life.  If everything were predictable, if the future were known, I don't know how many of us would be all that engaged in our lives.  I think it is the mystery of the future that makes us want to get out of bed every day to see what will happen next. I know that is true for me. 

If there are other kinds of mysteries in our lives, we usually want to solve them. We are meant to be intellectually curious beings. This can be a grand mystery that leads to an important discovery, such as the mystery of the stars.  Or it can be a minor mystery, such as why that car has circled the block five times. In either case, we are intrigued and begin to investigate.  The world is filled with mysteries, great and small, and we need them for our minds and our satisfaction in solving them. 

How is Lady Macbeth connected to the Great Chain of Being?

The Great Chain of Being was a philosophical concept intended to organize everything in the universe into a hierarchy – a ranking system. It developed from certain of the ancient Greek philosophers, such as Plato and Aristotle, and was central to the way Christians in medieval and early modern Europe understood their world.

The rankings flow from high to low, more complex to less complex, more noble to less noble, more holy to less holy. God, naturally, is at the top. Next come angels, then humans, then animals, then plants, then rocks.

For our purposes, here are the important things to know about the GCoB:

1. Each rank can be further subdivided. So within the "humans" category, you have a hierarchy from King to nobles to knights to merchants to peasants, etc.

2. Every human family is also subdivided: Dad first, then Mom, then sons from oldest to youngest, then daughters from oldest to youngest.

3. It's a sin to disobey/disrespect/harm someone higher than you on the chain. Humans can't disobey God, peasants can't kill the King, and wives can't give their husbands attitude. (Guess how well that last one went over.)

4. This is a chain, not a ladder. You have to stay in your place. Theoretically, there should be no social mobility whatsoever.

Lady Macbeth gets in trouble because she subverts the GCoB in three ways. Two are pretty obvious, and the third is a little more subtle.

She's willing to disobey God

After hearing about the witches' prophecy, Lady Macbeth calls on demons – "murd'ring ministers" – to help her and her husband bring it to pass. She asks them to send the "dunnest smoke of hell" to hide her actions from heaven (I.v.55-61).

After Macbeth has killed Duncan, he suffers an attack of conscience. He's particularly horrified because he could not give the traditional Christian answer, "Amen," when he overheard soldiers praying in a room near Duncan's. "Wherefore could I not pronounce 'Amen'?" he asks his wife. "I had the most need of blessing." She replies, "Consider it not so deeply. ... These deeds must not be thought/After these ways; so, it will make us mad" (II.ii.37-46).

In other words, she's willing to ignore God's rules. And God is #1 in the GCoB power rankings: opposing Him is the biggest sin of all.

She pushes Macbeth to kill King Duncan

Macbeth is a noble, and Duncan is a king. In the GCoB, kings are higher than nobles, and so, as far as Macbeth is concerned, Duncan is sacrosanct. Killing him is a big no-no.

It's important to note that, while Macbeth carries out the assassination, Lady Macbeth shares the blame because she provides the impetus. Macbeth is ambitious, but she worries he's also "too full o' th' milk of human kindness" (I.iv.17) so she plans the whole thing. She tells him he must "put/This night’s great business into my dispatch," and later says, "Only look up to clear. ... Leave all the rest to me" (I.v.79-80, 84-86).

Macbeth still nearly botches things. Right before he's supposed to go stab Duncan, he decides, "We will proceed no further in this business" (I.vii.34). Lady Macbeth unleashes a vicious assault on his manhood.

Wouldst thou have that
Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life
And live a coward in thine own esteem,
Letting “I dare not” wait upon “I would”
...
When you durst do it, then you were a man. (I.vii.45-8, 56)

Macbeth wilts, and finishes the deed.

She's a wife acting like a husband

Lady Macbeth is clearly a clever, assertive, ambitious woman. But more to the point, some of her language makes it sound like she's coming to inhabit the male role in her marriage, and relegating Macbeth to the female role.

When she's invoking demons, the first thing she asks them to do is "unsex" her and imbue her whole body with "direst cruelty" (I.v.48-50). She wants them to take away her female-ness, and she plans to fill the void with masculine traits. She renounces her nature as a mother, too, inviting the demons, "Come to my woman’s breasts/And take my milk for gall" (I.v.54-55). Later, she proudly flaunts her un-womanliness to shame Macbeth:

I have given suck, and know
How tender ’tis to love the babe that milks me.
I would, while it was smiling in my face,
Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums
And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you
Have done to this. (I.vii.62-67)

So where does that leave Macbeth? This is her opinion of his behavior when he sees Banquo's ghost:

O, these flaws and starts,
Impostors to true fear, would well become
A woman’s story at a winter’s fire,
Authorized by her grandam. Shame itself! (III.iv.76-79)

The loser isn't worth more than a woman's bedtime story.

The Great Chain strikes back

In Shakespeare's plays, order always triumphs over disorder, although in the tragedies, this comes with a high body count. So too in Macbeth. In her ambition and her pride, Lady Macbeth violates the Great Chain of Being, and eventually her transgressions catch up with her. It drives her mad. In Act V, Scene I, a doctor and gentlewoman observe her sleepwalking, muttering, and trying madly to scrub her hands clean of the vestiges of Duncan's blood.

She is speaking in prose, rather than verse, which is a more unstructured form of speech. It's a sign she's breaking down. And what is it she's saying?

"Fie, my lord, fie, a soldier and afeard?" (V.i.38-39). She's still mocking Macbeth, even in her sleep, but it's significant that she's referring to him as a lord and a soldier – what he used to be – rather than a king. Things were good when he was a respected Thane and accomplished soldier. Those are the roles he was meant for.

"What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account?" (V.i.39-41). This question haunts her, because of course, no matter how high you try to get on the GCoB, God is always paramount. He's going to hold her responsible.

"The Thane of Fife had a wife. Where is she now?" (V.i.44-45). Macbeth ordered the murder of the Thane of Fife's wife and children. But why is Lady Macbeth only asking after wife? The idea of an empty position where a wife and mother should be is very relevant to her, because those are two roles she abrogated.

"All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand" (V.i.53-55). She imagines malodorous blood staining her hands. She considers using scent to cover up the stench, but has to dismiss the possibility. It wouldn't work for her. Perfume is for women, and she abandoned her womanhood.

In the final tally, Lady Macbeth is a woman who mounted a furious campaign to improve her and her husband's position in the world. But the Great Chain of Being is immutable, and her attempt to subvert it destroys her. Tortured and insane, she dies offstage, unseen: the ultimate diminution.

Note: the citations are all from the Folger Online edition of Macbeth, which can be accessed here.

How did the huge industrial trusts develop in industries such as steel and oil, and what was their effect on the economy?

Toward the end of the 1800s, huge trusts began to form in various industries, including the steel and the oil industries. This occurred in various ways. One factor that influenced the formation of trusts was the benefits of forming a corporation over a non-corporation. With a corporation, businesses can raise money more quickly by selling stock. The owners are also protected from lawsuits. Only the corporation can be sued, not the owners of the corporation.

Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller formed huge trusts in their respective industries. Carnegie had a big trust in the steel industry while Rockefeller had a big trust in the oil industry. They would often undersell the competition, forcing the competition to sell their businesses to Carnegie or Rockefeller. By buying out the competition, these men were able to dominate their industries.

The economy was affected by these actions. For consumers, fewer choices are not a good thing. Businesses are able to charge whatever prices they want when there is little or no competition. Workers are often negatively affected because they are working in huge companies. These workers are easily replaced. This makes it hard for them to get better pay and working conditions. The economy is dominated by a handful of influential businessmen. These people often influence major economic decisions because of the power they have.

The development of these trusts helped lead to the start of the Progressive Era. People became upset with the abuses they saw in politics, the economy, and the business world. This led to a series of laws and the development of government agencies to regulate the actions of businesses.  

What does "I am ashamed to think how easily we capitulate to badges and names, to large societies and dead institutions," mean?

The word, “capitulate,” means to give in or surrender. In this quote from Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Emerson details his disgust for conformity and giving in to society’s values.  The names and badges are the labels or stereotypes in which society marks and judges people.  Whether through race, social status, or name, we, as a society, are reliant on a system (like the system of slavery) that categorizes peoples’ worth. We also put our faith into institutions like religion and government.  We surrender our own individuality and self-reliance to these institution’s values in order to conform and fit in. Emerson doesn’t feel you will find your true self in these institutions, and that it is only through your own integrity and self-awareness that you will learn to not capitulate to society’s wishes. 

Emerson is ashamed of how easily we give up our individual freedoms and live for “dead” institutions and ideas.  Emerson believes in a more progressive individual who does not surrender to a society that believes in conformity over self-reliance.

In Warriors Don't Cry by Melba Pattillo Beals, what happens when Melba's family goes to Mr. Waylan's store to shop?

One Friday evening, when Melba's family goes to Mr Waylan's store to shop, they are overcharged for their groceries by twenty-two dollars.

In the novel, Melba describes how the adults in her family always lived in "constant fear and apprehension" of insulting white people. Although they tried to keep within the confines of what was expected of black people, Melba observes the adults in her life still lived in fear of making unintentional mistakes. She cites the example of their experience at Mr. Waylan's store.

Even though Melba's family are frequent customers of Mr. Waylan's store, they can do nothing when he overcharges them for their groceries. Despite the extra charge being more than a day's pay, Melba's family has no recourse. They have to pay the extra money. When Melba's grandmother dares to argue respectfully with Mr. Waylan, he yells at her so loudly that his voice is "loud enough for everyone within a block to hear."

Mr. Waylan's impossible rationale is that, since he always gave Melba's family credit when they didn't have "eating money," they are supposed to pay up even when he overcharges them. He further insults them and taunts them with the prospect of eating just beans for the next month if they don't comply.

The implication is that, if the family doesn't pay up quietly, Mr. Waylan will not extend them credit the following month, and they will be reduced to eating just beans. After paying up, Melba's family decides never to frequent Mr. Waylan's store again. Melba notes that, for fear of causing offense, her family shrinks from fighting back against the white grocer's unjust treatment.

How did World War II change the United States internationally, and domestically?

World War II produced the United States as global superpower and defender of capitalism and democracy in the world. European nations that were world powers before the war (Germany, Italy, United Kingdom and France) were totally destroyed by warfare. Their infrastructures, homes, economic systems, and social systems were destroyed. While the United States suffered over a million casualties throughout the course of the war, its economy was robust and its military largely unscathed. Many in the American government felt that it was strategically important to help other countries to recover from the war. Internationally, the United States offered billions of dollars of aid to the countries of Europe and established an alliance of countries through NATO to ensure their security. There was a shift in thinking about America's role in global politics. The newly formed United Nations was located in New York City and the U.S. became a major player in the organization. Because of the Allied victory in World War II, there were only two superpowers that survived, and the United States was one of them.

World War II also had a dramatic effect on the United States domestically. The sense of confidence that existed cannot be quantified, but was very evident. There was a sense of prosperity as Americans moved to the suburbs and an interstate highway system was born. Nuclear power, which was developed for military use, was applied for a more peaceful purpose as electric companies built nuclear reactors to produce electricity. Many social changes were on the horizon in the United States. As an example, African-Americans, who had fought so valiantly in the Allied victory, pressed for their rights at on the homefront. The prosperity of the 1950's allowed the growth of popular culture as many Americans bought a television and listened to rock and roll on their radios.

While World War II had the effect of destroying many countries, the United States matured into a political and economic superpower because of it.

What is the central idea of "La Belle Dame Sans Merci"?

"The Belle Dame sans Merci" means, in French, the beautiful lady without mercy (pity). The central idea of the poem is that beauty and our own illusions about it can deceive us.

The knight in the poem comes across a woman, saying she was "full beautiful--a faery's child." He thinks she loves him, but this is his subjective interpretation of events. She looks at him as if "she did love / and made sweet moan." She also, "in language strange" says she loved him, or so the knight wants to believe.

In fact, beguiled by her beauty, the garlands she makes for him and the honey and manna she gives him, the knight misinterprets the beautiful woman's intentions. She is not in love with him, but has lured him into her trap, so that she can hold him in "thrall" or captivity, like the other ghostly knights he sees.

Keats says here that beauty is a trap that can hold us in thrall.

Why did the U.S. go to war in Vietnam? How did President Johnson escalate the war?

The United States went to war in Vietnam because it wanted to prevent South Vietnam from falling to the forces of communism.  This was during the Cold War and the United States was very concerned with preventing communism from spreading around the world.  US leaders felt that if Vietnam fell to communism, a “domino effect” would ensue in which all of the other countries of Southeast Asia became communist as well.  The US was very opposed to communism and therefore did not want this to happen.  When South Vietnam started to come under attack from communist rebels, the US stepped in.

President Johnson escalated this war gradually at first.  He sent more and more troops in with broader missions.  For example, he sent ground forces in to guard air bases, but then allowed them to patrol away from their bases, expanding their mission.  Then, in 1964, he escalated the war dramatically.  He got Congress to pass the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution which gave him the power to do whatever he felt necessary to prosecute the war.  This led to a huge buildup in the American military presence in Vietnam.  Eventually, the US military had over 500,000 military personnel in Vietnam.

How does Wiesel juxtapose illusion and reality in terms of the German occupation and how does it effectively establish mood?

In section one of Elie Wiesel's memoir Night, the Jews are under the illusion that nothing will happen to them. They won't believe the horror stories of Moshe the Beadle who has witnessed the reality of Nazi atrocities in the forest of Galicia. Despite this first hand account they continue to remain optimistic. They hear contrasting reports of what is happening. Some reports suggest that the war will end soon and they will be untouched, but increasingly, bad news filters into Sighet. The Germans have occupied Hungary and the Jews in Budapest are living "in an atmosphere of fear and terror."

Soon the Nazis arrive in Sighet "with their steel helmets, and their emblem, the death's head." Even this does not collapse the illusion of safety. When a German commander gives Madame Kahn a box of chocolates, relief again pervades the town. The townspeople believe the Germans are simply benevolent guests. Even when the ghettos are set up and the deportations begin, many of the Jews cling to the illusion they will ultimately be safe. Elie's father refuses the pleadings of his servant Martha who wants to hide the family in her village.

The mood in this section is increasingly nervous and foreboding. The reader knows the outcome so becomes increasingly frustrated with people who are on the brink of disaster yet seem to carry on with their normal lives. Elie repeatedly notes that his mother continues with the everyday activities of the house despite the signs that indicate things will never be the same again. This same mood was reflected throughout a world where nobody could possibly envision the brutality of the Nazis and their attempt at total genocide. The illusion is soon obliterated when the Jews come to the gates of Auschwitz and are confronted by the reality of the flames which Madame Schächter had predicted on the train.   

What does this quote from Things Fall Apart mean? "The world has no end, and what is good among one people is an abomination with others."

This quote is highly significant in light of the major themes of Things Fall Apart. The second section of the novel is especially concerned with differences in cultural outlooks and discrepancies of moral perspectives.

Pointed conflicts emerge -- and become central to the novel -- as a result of the differing value systems of the Igbo people and the British people. The Christians who arrive to colonize the region adhere to a set of beliefs that in many instances run counter to the beliefs of Umuofia and the surrounding villages. Where Igbo beliefs sanction the scarring of stillborn babies to ward off stillbirths in the future, the English Christians see this act as "an abomination." 

When the English begin to mix and mingle with outcasts, the Igbo feel that line is being crossed. The British are engaging in taboo actions. Thus, the perceptions of each group is depicted as arising from differing cultural backgrounds that do not easily translate. The legal, social and religious systems of the Igbo people are intertwined as are those of the English Christians, seemingly amplifying the difficulty of a cross-cultural understanding. 

What is acceptable for one culture is unacceptable for another. 

The quotation in question relates to the novel's repeated concerns with localized and historically-determined customs and is echoed at the end of Chapter Eight in a conversation between Okonknwo, Obierka's and Obeirika's family.

Here, the men discuss other Igbo villages where "titled men climb trees and pound foo-foo for their wives." 

"All their customs are upside-down. They do not decide the bride-price as we do, with sticks. They haggle and bargain as if they were buying a goat or a cow in the market."

"That is very bad," said Obierika's eldest brother. "But what is good in one place is bad in another place."

The notion expressed in this quotation is the same as first quotation discussed. Ideas of proper action (morality, ethics, and etiquette) are distinct from place to place, even when those places exist within a very similar cultural milieu and share overlapping histories. 

In exploring differences in moral perspectives and worldviews, Achebe's novel suggests that (1) people do indeed understand that customs are relative and derive from cultural histories but (2) the understanding of this fact does not necessarily lead to the development of cross-cultural empathy or sensitivity. Each culture may continue to insist on enacting the codes and customs of its own social history even if that means undoing, contradicting or ultimately destroying the codes and customs of another culture.

The nature of the British occupation is problematized by the novel's explicit awareness of the ways that cultural norms are valid (only) within a specific context and should not (or cannot) be justifiably universalized. 

How did Jonas know that the leaders of the community were starting to give up the search?

When Jonas first left his community with little Gabriel, they frequently had to hide from low flying search planes.  Jonas counted on the fact that the pilots could not see color and that he had transferred memories of winter to himself and Gabriel so that the sensors on the plane could not detect their body warmth.  These planes usually came during the daytime, but they sometimes searched at night.  

As time went on, Jonas noted that there was no longer any sign of human life and "the frequency of the planes diminished."  When a rare plane did fly overhead, it flew more quickly, as if the pilots were not searching as thoroughly as they had been before.  It seemed that they had almost given up the search for Jonas and Gabriel.  Then at last Jonas did not see any planes all day and all night.

Victor reveals himself as the "true murderer." Why did he feel that his hands were "thrice accursed"? Do you agree?

Interesting question! In the book Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Victor feels remorse and guilt for making the creature. As the book progresses, Victor places the creature’s inhumane actions upon his own shoulders. This is especially seen through Justine’s conviction.

During Justine’s trial for the murder of William, Victor feels such guilt that he wishes to confess to the murder. However, Victor realizes that no one would believe him about making the creature. Eventually Justine confesses and is hanged (despite her innocence), causing Victor to feel further regret. This represents his “thrice-accursed” hands. The first was creating the monster, the second was the creature’s murder of William, and the third was Justine’s death.

Despite the guilt that Victor feels from his “thrice-accursed” hands, his own actions (and lack of action) caused the creation of the monster and the death of William and Justine. For example, Victor's own actions made the creature, which led to William and Justine’s deaths. Lastly, his inaction also incited negative repercussions. For example, Victor failed to even address the very creature’s existence, until it was too late.

As a result, Victor experienced much pain and agony. However, his own choices led to the suffering that ensued.

Did the Civil War change the character of the United States?

“It does not seem to me as if I were living in the country in which I was born.”  --Lawyer and author George Ticknor Curtis in an 1869 letter.

The Civil War changed the character of the United States in a profound way. It was not just the Union soldiers that had triumphed in the conflict between the states, industrialism was the ultimate victor. The North, with its capitalist-industrialist economy, had triumphed over the slave-driven agrarian economy of the South. The United States would forever move towards innovation and manufacturing. The decades that followed the Civil War saw unprecedented industrial growth that would move the United States towards becoming a global giant.

The notion that the federal government should be the most powerful force in the United States also was triumphant in the Civil War. By the end of the war, the federal budget had increased eight-fold from its pre-war levels. The federal government sold bonds for the first time and accumulated a deficit that was more than double pre-war levels. Throughout the course of the war, an income tax was enacted and a draft instituted. The government took unusual steps to curb individual liberties. Dozens of new federal agencies were established that would employ hundreds of thousands of people. Out of the misery that was the Civil War, the government bureaucracy was born.

In "The Story of My Life," what was the incident of "The Frost King?" What was the controversy?

Helen Keller's "The Story of My Life" gives an account of many of Helen's experiences up to the age of twenty two. It includes the highlights, such as Helen's first word- W-A-T-E-R and Miss Sullivan's inspiring teaching methods which allow Helen to "learn from life itself," (chapter 7). It also includes some of the worst experiences imaginable and which changed Helen's life forever. Helen feels that it is necessary to include challenging and saddening events because she grasps every opportunity to learn, and even painful memories can be beneficial to learning.

"The Frost King" is one such opportunity. When Helen is twelve, she writes a story and sends it to Mr Anagnos for his birthday. Mr Anagnos is so delighted and impressed by it that he publishes it in The Perkins' Institute report. Before long, it is being compared to "The Frost Fairies" which is a published story by Miss Margaret T. Canby from her book "Birdie and His Friends" and Helen is accused of plagiarism.

Helen vows that she has no recollection of ever having had the story told to her and Mr Anagnos believes Helen at first but when Helen says something about Jack Frost she rouses suspicion and loses the trust of her beloved Mr Anagnos. There is an inquiry and Helen and Miss Sullivan are questioned vigorously. Unfortunately, the controversy remains and Helen is never able to regain Mr Anagnos's trust and she says, "I felt so cold, I imagined I should die before morning." Helen is cleared of any wrongdoing but the loss of her friendship with Mr Anagnos leaves Helen full of regret. 

In the movie To Kill a Mockingbird, how does the plot develop so that the children eventually change their perception of Boo Radley?

At the beginning of the film To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout, Jem, and Dill view their neighbor, Boo Radley, with fear and suspicion.  They had heard many rumors about Boo, like that he stays chained to his bed most of the time and that he only comes out at night.  They believe that Boo is over six feet tall, eats animals raw, and has a large scar on his face.  Dill's aunt tells a story of when Boo stabbed his father in the leg with a pair of scissors.  She feeds the children's fear of Boo.  

Later, the children find gifts in the knot hole of an old tree.  They find two carved figurines that resemble themselves.  Jem confesses to Scout that he has been finding gifts in the knot hole for awhile.  He shows her the gifts and they realize that the gifts are from Boo.  Jem also tells her that the night his pants got stuck on the fence, someone folded them and set them out for him.  This is a turning point in the plot as their opinion on Boo shifts.  They start to view him more as a mysterious friend and a person who is probably lonely.  

Near the end, Jem and Scout are walking home together through the woods at night.  Bob Ewell attacks them, but Boo Radley appears and kills him.  Boo carries an injured Jem home.  Scout notices Boo at the house and takes his hand.  They realize that Boo is a true friend.

How does the style of "Raymond's Run" by Toni Cade Bambara express Squeaky's personality?

The narrative style of "Raymond's Run" by Toni Cade Bambara effectively expresses Squeaky's personality because it is written in Squeaky's voice. The story is told from her point of view, and in reading it, the reader begins to feel like he/she personally knows Squeaky. Readers find out right away what kind of person Squeaky is. She introduces herself in the beginning, saying that her only responsibility outside of school is to take care of her brother, Raymond. She then describes her brother and what is involved in taking care of him. The reader also finds out that Squeaky is proud of her ability to run and knows she is good at it. Furthermore, she quickly stands up to people who say mean things to her about Raymond as well as those who think they are better than she. Squeaky's personality comes through in "Raymond's Run" because the story is written through her eyes.

Two balls, each with a mass of 0.845 kg, exert a gravitational force of 8.43 × 10−11 N on each other. How far apart are the balls? The value...

The Universal Gravitation Law states that the gravitational force between two objects is directly proportional to the product of their masses, and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.  The proportionality constant is the universal gravitational constant G. The equation for this law is:

`F = G (m_1 m_2)/d^2`

You need to solve for d, the distance between the two objects. Here's the data you've provided:

F = 8.43 x10^(-11) N

m1 = m2 = 0.85 kg

G = 6.673 x 10^(-11) N (m^2)/(kg^2

Now we'll substitute these values into the equation:

`d^2 = G(m_1 m_2)/F = 6.673 x 10^(-11)(N m^2/(kg)^2)(0.85kg)^2/(8.43x10^(-11)N`  

`d=sqrt(0.57m^2) = 0.75 m`

The distance between the objects is 0.75 meters. 

What is the importance of education in Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw?

There is no doubt that education is a central theme in George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion. In the beginning of the play, Eliza Dolittle is introduced as an ignorant and illiterate child.  She speaks a type of Cockney that is considered low-class and uneducated.  She is also characterized as rude, sassy, and having no manners!

While she is selling flowers in Covent Garden, Eliza has a chance encounter with Colonel Pickering, who has come to London to study Phonetics (the sounds of human speech)  with Professor Higgins. Eliza then decides to seek out Professor Higgins to take lessons in Phonetics in order to improve her speech. She wants to learn how to speak correctly so that one day she can achieve her dream of becoming a sales girl in a flower shop.

This is where the importance of education comes in: not only does Eliza eventually learn how to speak properly, she also begins to seek out the deeper meaning of life.  As Dr. D. Prasad says in the The Criterion, 

Education is enlightenment...in Pygmalion, education is used as a tool for [freeing] working class individuals.

In other words, not only does education teach Eliza how to speak, it also allows her to leave her lower class life and make social progress! Additionally, Eliza gains spiritual enlightenment through education.  

She rises from ignorance and darkness to spiritual light (Prasad). 

So, education is important in Pygmalion because Eliza Dolittle learns how to speak correctly, which helps her attain social mobility that she would not have had before.  Additionally, education gives Eliza a new spiritual understanding of herself and the world around her.  

How do I find mood in a piece of writing?

One of the most efficient way to determine the mood of a piece of writing is to examine the word choices of the author. Many descriptive terms have a definite connotation, and by examining the additional meanings and looking for trends throughout the work we may begin to determine the mood.

For example, in Pickwick Papers by Dickens, the author writes the following:

“The river, reflecting the clear blue of the sky, glistened and sparkled as it flowed noiselessly on.”

The terms "clear blue", "glistened", "sparkled", and "noiselessly" convey a sense of calm beauty. Compare this to a description of waters that are "rough" or "roaring" and note that these latter violent descriptions would be used to convey a tense or potentially violent mood.

As another example, we may look to Wuthering Heights by Bronte:

“There was no moon, and everything beneath lay in misty darkness..."

With only a small number of words, the author effectively sets a mood of mystery. We are told twice over about the darkness of the scene, once directly and once by announcing the absence of moonlight. The description of mist help to further this mood by establishing a lack of vision and clarity.

What's a summary of "Once Upon a Time"?

"Once Upon a Time" begins with the author somewhat irritated by a presumption that she "ought" to write a children's book. That night, she awakens from a sound sleep, disturbed by something unknown, and she fears that it is a burglar. This is where historical context is needed: Gordimer lived in South Africa during apartheid and frequently wrote about how the nation could work toward a post-apartheid future. Violence was not uncommon; she fears that she will be murdered, a fate that has befallen neighbors.

She realizes that the sound was not derived from footsteps, but was rather a result of the mine underneath her house that shifts the structure around her. Still, she is unable to sleep, and so she tells herself a bedtime story. 

There was a family who was living "happily ever after" in a suburb: a husband, a wife, and their small son. They began to follow the advice of the husband's mother, an "old witch," who warned them not to take people in off the street. They acquiesced and implemented security measures such as insurance, a gate around the pool, and a neighborhood watch program which came with a YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED sign to be hung on the gate. The sign also contained a picture of a masked burglar, and it is said that because it is masked, it could not possibly be racist.

Soon, the family no longer felt that this was enough and riots outside the suburb convinced them to install electronically controlled gates with an intercom system. The maid was still concerned about the security, and so they had burglar bars installed on all the windows and put in sensitive burglar alarms. The alarms were not particularly useful: they were so sensitive that the cat could set them off, and thieves used the cover of the noise to break into the houses.

The wife stopped supplying the people outside the gates with food after the housemaid warned her against it. They decided to build the wall higher, and the mother-in-law supplied them with the extra bricks and a book of fairy tales for the son. Eventually, they decided to add security measures to the top of the fence, and chose a coil of vicious wire to be installed by a company called Dragon's Teeth.

One day, inspired by the tale of Sleeping Beauty, the little boy decided to make his way through the thicket of thorns. He took a ladder over to the wall and climbed into the razor-sharp coil of wire. It is heavily implied that he died, as the parents, the gardener, and the housemaid hacked the "bleeding mass of the little boy" out of the security wire with saws.

What was the effect of the new industrial revolution on American laborers, and how did labor organizations attempt to respond to these new conditions?

The Industrial Revolution had a profoundly negative effect on workers during the early Twentieth Century. In the past, workers that crafted consumer goods were highly valued and respected. With the introduction of machinery for the mass production of goods, the American worker became expendable. Work became more dangerous and employees were exploited for profit. No laws or government oversight existed to guarantee worker safety. The skill level required to work in industry was very low, and, therefore, wages were not even paid at a subsistence level. Laborers were required to work very long hours for limited pay. Children were used to perform some of the most difficult tasks. If a worker were injured on the job and could not perform his duties, he was simply fired and replaced by another unskilled laborer.

To counteract the difficulties faced by laborers in manufacturing, labor unions formed. They fought for the right to bargain for wages collectively and pressured Congress to act. Unions would organize strikes and many of them became violent. One labor union, the Industrial Workers of the World even advocated the use of violence to achieve their goals. The violence of the labor movement caught the attention of the federal government which enacted sweeping legislation in the early part of the Twentieth Century.

How do Antony and Octavius treat Brutus's body in Julius Caesar?

When the victorious Antony and Octavius view Brutus's dead body on the battlefield at Philippi, they both speak of him with praise and respect. Marc Antony says,

This was the noblest Roman of them all.
All the conspirators, save only he,
Did that they did in envy of great Caesar;
He only, in a general honest thought
And common good to all, made one of them.

Antony previously accused the conspirators of being primarily motivated by envy in his funeral oration. Envy has been defined as "the resentment which occurs when a person lacks another's superior quality, achievement, or possession and either desires it or wishes that the other lacked it" (Parrott). Julius Caesar aroused this painful emotion in other men because he was superior to them in many ways. Aristotle defines envy as "the pain caused by the good fortune of others." Brutus, according to Shakespeare's Marc Antony, was the only conspirator who was motivated by patriotism instead of envy.

Octavius concurs with Antony and even goes so far as to have Brutus's body kept overnight in his own tent.

According to his virtue let us use him,
With all respect and rites of burial.
Within my tent his bones to-night shall lie,
Most like a soldier, order'd honourably.

In "Through the Tunnel" by Doris Lessing, why does Jerry's mother feel impatient with Jerry and worry over things he might secretly be thinking about?

In that first paragraph, Jerry's mother "looked impatient, then smiled."  She assumed he was right behind her, but he was dawdling and stopping to turn and look "toward the bay" instead.  Her initial impatience seems to be a typical parental response when they believe their child is with them and turn around to find the child is lagging far behind, distracted by something or other.

When she sees where Jerry is looking, his mother asks, "'Why, darling, would you rather not come with me?  Would you rather--,'" stopping short before she finishes the question.  She doesn't honestly know what would amuse him, if those amusements would be ones she'd approve or feel were safe.  "She frowned, conscientiously worrying over what amusements he might secretly be longing for which she had been too busy or too careless to imagine."  As an eleven year-old boy, Jerry's interests are changing and he is beginning the process of becoming an adult, beginning to long for freedom and independence from his mother.  Perhaps this moment sort of snuck up on her.  She realized, of course, that this moment would come, but she worries now about how to treat him and what to say, "determined to be neither possessive nor lacking in devotion."  Her worry is caused by the internal conflict she feels, wanting to grant Jerry the independence he needs but also wanting to keep him safe.

How does the older George Orwell feel about his younger self in "Shooting an Elephant?"

Orwell does not look back at his stint as a imperial policeman in Burma very fondly. He tells the reader that in this job, "you see the dirty work of Empire at close quarters." Generally, he thinks that colonialism is immoral, but he also remembers that he despised the Burmese people--and they felt the same way about him. Above all, he remembers looking back that imperialism involved playing a role. As a young man, he had to act like what he thought a British imperial representative was supposed to be--resolute and decisive, even if that meant acting contrary to his personal sense of morality. This, in the end, was the significance of his memory of shooting the elephant. Looking back, he is struck by how, at the end of the day, he did the deed out of fear. He did not want to shoot the beast, which by the time he discovered it, had calmed down and was peacefully munching grass. He did so, he tells the reader, "solely to avoid looking a fool." He remembers that as an imperial policeman, he was "solely a puppet pushed to and fro" by the Burmese people, who expected him to shoot the elephant. He is not proud of the act, and remembers his younger self as essentially powerless to act in ways other than those prescribed for him by the logic of empire.

Which of the following best describes John Maynard Keynes's view regarding the economy? A. A balanced budget is not essential to promote economic...

John Maynard Keynes was an economist who broke with traditional economic theory.  Traditional economic theory said that the government should stay out of the economy.  Traditional economic theory said that balanced budgets were necessary for economic growth.  Keynes did not agree with these ideas.

Keynes said that the government should not try to have a balanced budget during bad economic times.  He said that a balanced budget would actually prevent economic growth in such times.  Instead, the government needed to do things to make sure that the people had more money that they could spend.  When the people spent their money, the economy would grow.

This means that Keynes wanted the government to lower taxes and to spend more during a recession.  This would, of course, result in a budget that was not balanced.  Keynes, then, thought that a balanced budget was not essential to economic growth.  He thought that lower taxes and more government spending (which would create deficits) would cause economic growth and get the country out of a recession or depression.

Logan has 4 teen age children of different ages. The product of the ages is 67184. Find the sum of the ages.

Hello!

I suppose that the ages are integer numbers, not fractional. Also teen age means integers from 13 to 19 (inclusive).

Let's decompose (factor) the given product, 67184. Try the factors at the given interval.

1) 67184 is divisible by 13, 67184 = 13*5168. Decompose the quotient.

2) 5168 isn't divisible by 14 and 15 but divisible by 16, 5168 = 16*323.

3) 323 is divisible by 17 and the quotient is 19. Hooray!

So we obtained that 67184 = 13*16*17*19. The only non-prime factor is 16, but we cannot divide it between other factors in a such way that they remain "teen age". Therefore this decomposition is the unique "teen" decomposition.

The answer for the question is 13 + 16 + 17 + 19 = 65.

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

According to the power reducing formulas, you may re-wrute the expression such that:

`sin^4 (2x)*cos^2 x = (1 - cos2*(2x))/2*(1 - cos2*(2x))/2*(1 + cos 2x)/2`

`sin^4 (2x)*cos^2 x=((1 - cos 4x)^2)/4*(1 + cos 2x)/2`

`sin^4 (2x)*cos^2 x=(1 - 2cos 4x + cos^2 4x)/4*(1 + cos 2x)/2`

`sin^4 (2x)*cos^2 x= (1 - 2cos 4x + (1 + cos 8x)/2)/4*(1 + cos 2x)/2`

`sin^4 (2x)*cos^2 x= (2 - 4cos 4x + 1 + cos 8x)/8*(1 + cos 2x)/2`

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

Hence, using the power reducing formulas yields `sin^4 (2x)*cos^2 x = (3 - 4cos 4x + cos 8x)/8*(1 + cos 2x)/2`
.

Why are wires given slack in summer and not in winter?

This is because of the thermal expansion and contraction of the wires. Most materials expand when they are heated and contract when they are cooled. The amount of expansion or contraction is a function of the material's properties (specifically the coefficient of thermal expansion), the amount of heat supplied, etc. This means that some materials may expand (or contract) more as compared to others, for the same amount of heat supplied. 

In summers, due to temperature increase, the wires expand. In comparison, the temperature decrease during winter will cause the wires to contract. If no slack was available during the summer and the wires were connected very tightly between any two sections, there would be no room for contraction in the winter season and the wires would break. To avoid that scenario, some slack is left in the wire to provide room for contraction.

Hope this helps.

112g of iron reacted completely with 64g of sulfur. What mass of iron sulfide was made?

There are two common sulfides of iron:

Iron(II)sulfide is FeS

Iron(III)sulfide is Fe2S3

Since we're told that 112 grams of iron reacts completely with 64 grams of sulfur, we can determine which compound formed by the mole ratio of Fe to S. Find the number of moles of each reactant using their molar mases:

112 g Fe x 1mol/55.8 g = 2.01 moles

64 g S x 1 mol/32.1 g = 1.99 moles S

Since the mole ratio is about 1:1, the formula is FeS and the equation is:

`Fe + S -> FeS`

According to the law of consevation of mass, the mass of the product(s) equals the mass of reactant(s) so the mass of FeS that formed is:

112 g + 64 g = 176 g

This method works because there's only one product and we know that both reactants reacted completely. If there's more than one product or there's an excess of one reactant, you could use dimensional analysis to convert from grams of the limiting reactant to moles, then to moles of the product in question, then to grams of the product. 

How did the Great Depression in America affect the economies of Europe?

The Great Depression was a global event, and many historians (and some observers at the time) located many of its origins in Europe. It is not as simple as saying that the Depression began in the United States and spread to Europe. But certainly the collapse of the American financial system reverberated in the economies of Europe. After World War I, the major European nations had received billions of dollars in loans from American banks and the US Treasury, both of whom were reluctant to write off these obligations even when it became apparent that they were hindering Europe's economic growth. Basically, the Great Depression was brought on by a collapse of the international banking system. Bank failures in the United States led to bank failures in Europe, because they were dependent, some more directly than others, on American capital. But at the same time, European bank failures led to similar problems for American financial institutions because they held so many European assets. So the effects of the Great Depression were similar in European nations as in the United States. What differed from nation to nation, both within Europe and elsewhere, were the responses of individual governments. 

Put these words in order to show how oxygen gets into your blood: mouth, trachea, alveoli, bronchi.

The trachea is a tube which passes between the mouth and the lungs (this is also sometimes referred to as the windpipe). This is a separate tube entirely from the esophagus. The function of the trachea is to allow the passage of air while the esophagus allows the passage of food and drink from the mouth to the stomach. 

When the trachea reaches the lungs, the passageway branches into several smaller tubes which also allow the passage of air. These smaller tubes are called the bronchi. (Note that the word bronchi is plural, bronchus is singular).

Alveoli are small sacs within the lungs where gas exchange between the air and the blood actually occurs. Alveoli are attached to the bronchi.

Thus, air passes from the mouth, to the trachea, to the bronchi,, and finally to the alveoli. 

"The Most Dangerous Game" portrays good and evil using the two main characters: Rainsford and General Zaroff. Which one of them is good and...

What a good question.  Generally speaking, general Zaroff is evil.  The extent of his evil is seen in his brazen desire to hunt humans for his own pleasure, or to put it another way to hunt humans to get over his boredom.  Here is what the text says:

To Rainsford's questioning glance the general said, "Ennui. Boredom."

From this perspective, Zaroff is the epitome of evil in this story. When it comes to Rainsford, we might think that he is the opposite of Zaroff, but he is not. He is not completely good. In the beginning of the story, Rainsford comes off as a arrogant hunter.  When his friend, Whitney, said that animals might have feelings, Rainsford dismissed it without hesitation.  He says:

"Bah! They've no understanding."

"Even so, I rather think they understand one thing--fear. The fear of pain and the fear of death."

At the end of the story, Rainsford becomes a hunter again.  He kills Zaroff.  Some might say that he had to do so, but this is not clear.  

In conclusion, no one comes off as good.  Zaroff is evil. Rainsford is better than Zaroff, but not good.  This is a story where no one is good.

How can you avoid plagiarism?

The best and easiest way to avoid plagiarism is to make sure that your work is entirely original.  

Of course that is really hard to do, if your teacher has asked you to write a research paper.  If that is the case, you need to give credit where credit is due.  If you are using the exact words from another author or source, then it needs to be in quotes.  That quotation needs to then be cited in proper format.  Even if you are paraphrasing somebody else's ideas or words, you must give that person credit by alerting your reader with a citation.  Any in text citations that occur also need to be fully cited in a "works cited" or bibliography page.  I always tell my students that if they are in doubt about whether or not they should cite something, they should cite it to be safe.  

Depending on the subject content, you might have to cite in APA or MLA format.  MLA is generally used in literature, while APA is generally used in history and the sciences.  Making a works cited page has become a lot less tedious than it used to be, because there are a number of good online generators.  I'll link a couple below.  

Why does Holden watch the game from the hill in The Catcher in the Rye?

When the novel opens, Holden is standing on top of a hill looking down at the football players and the fans. He gives two reasons why he is on the hill rather than down at the game, but neither reason is entirely satisfactory. The first reason is that he has been "ostracized" by the fencing team for losing all their equipment in New York. Holden is, or was, the manager of the team and responsible for the foils, masks, and other fencing equipment. This hardly explains why he has gone up to the top of Thomsen Hill, though. More likely, Holden feels ashamed of himself and wants to be alone. If he were to join the crowd watching the game, word would get around that he had returned early because the fencing match had to be called off and that he was responsible. Holden's descriptions of his last days at Pencey reveal that he is an outsider and a loner even without being "ostracized." He doesn't appear to have a single friend at the school. This is partly because he is known to be flunking practically all his courses. Many of the students must already know that Holden has been expelled. 

Holden says that his other reason for being up on Thomsen Hill, or at least not at the game, is that he is on his way to visit his history teacher Mr. Spencer, who is confined to his bedroom with the grippe. This hardly seems to explain why Holden would have climbed a hill to get to Mr. Spencer's home. Holden's real reason becomes apparent when he says,

Only, I wasn't watching the game too much. What I was really hanging around for, I was trying to feel some kind of a good-by. . . I mean I've left schools and places I didn't even know I was leaving them. I hate that. I don't care if it's a sad good-by or a bad good-by, but when I leave a place I like to know I'm leaving it. If you don't, you feel even worse.

Holden has already flunked out of two other prep schools. He obviously feels miserable. He will have to face his parents and be made to feel even more miserable for disappointing them. It is difficult to understand this boy because he doesn't even understand himself. It is easy to commiserate with his feelings, though. He has nobody to say good-bye to because everybody dislikes him, with the possible exception of old Mr. Spencer, who sent him a note asking him to come and see him before he leaves for his home in New York City. That meeting takes place in Chapter Two, and it doesn't make Holden feel any better. It turns into a lecture from an old man in a room that smells of Vicks Nose Drops. By the time Holden gets through describing a few of his other acquaintances at Pencey, it isn't hard to understand why he makes the sudden rash decision to stop just "hanging around" and leave for New York immediately.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, how does Atticus act toward Alexandra when she is staying in the house with them?

Atticus treats his sister, Alexandra, with overall firmness.  When she says or does something that he disagrees with, he confronts her in a polite, yet stern, manner.  Scout, the narrator, can tell that he is sometimes slightly irritated with her.  Scout can see "a subtle change in [her] father" and that he speaks to her in a way that is like "quiet digging in, [but] never outright irritation."  One day Aunt Alexandra suggests that they dismiss Calpurnia.  Atticus disagrees and is firm in telling his sister so.  He makes it clear that Calpurnia is a necessary part of the Finch household.

Aunt Alexandra does have some influence over her brother, however.  She tells him that his children should behave with the kind of breeding that lives up to the Finch name.  She pressures him into talking to them about their behavior, which he does without enthusiasm.

In Elie Wiesel's Night, is any progress made towards combating racism?

Elie Wiesel’s Night is a harrowing picture of the Holocaust. The book is punctuated with horrific scenes portraying unimaginable inhumanity. It is hard to believe that the story includes any progress made towards combating racism. Yet Night offers glimmers of hope.

In Night, the Holocaust is portrayed not just as extermination of physical bodies, but the destruction of souls. Elie loses his faith early in the memoir, yet many of his fellow Jews do not. Even after a day of back-breaking physical labor, over 10,000 Jews at Auschwitz gather for prayers celebrating the Jewish new year, Rosh Hashanah. Their prayers are an act of rebellion against the Nazis and symbolize the resilience of the human spirit in the face of horror.

The Nazis viewed the Jewish people as subhuman, people whose elimination would benefit the world. Yet Elie, by trying to keep his father alive, shows the reader that every race of people has the same humanity and worth. Another profound moment comes when Elie briefly considers letting his father, a man who becomes "dead weight," die. Elie proves that human beings, no matter their race, religion, or ideology, have both good and evil aspects to their nature.

Which literary device is "brown beetles"?

The two words, “brown beetles,” show the use of alliteration.  Alliteration is the repetition of like consonant sounds most often used at the beginning of words. The use of alliteration can create a rhythm or mood to a passage or line of poetry, and it is usually used for effect or creative meaning. 

For example, this sentence uses alliteration through the repetition of the “r” sound: "The rainstorm relentlessly rattled the ranch style house." The use of alliteration in this instance gives the reader a visual description, a description of sound, and perhaps, an idea that the house isn’t in good repair or standing up well to the rainstorm. 

Alliteration’s “cousin”, assonance is the repetition of like vowel sounds.  Here’s an example: "Anna ate the apple all the way down to the core." The “a” sound is being repeated.

For fun, let's extend "brown beetles" to, "The brown beetles burrowed between the basement wall and the box elder bushes."

What is education social mobility?

In sociology, the concept of social mobility refers to the movements of individuals between stratified social classes. Social mobility can be "downward," meaning it puts the individual in a less-privileged social class, or "upward," meaning the individual gains socio-economic status. This status consists of multiple advantages. Those who are upwardly socially mobile have acquired more material assets, social capital or resources due to networking, and education that they had previously. Downwardly socially mobile people lose access to these privileges.

While "education social mobility" is not an existing sociological phrase, it may refer to how social mobility is impacted by education. Individuals from low-income families who attain college degrees have a higher chance of being upwardly mobile to a higher social class than those who do not attend college. Sociological data analyses have shown that the more years of education an individual attains, the more likely they are to be upwardly socially mobile. The amount of education an individual attains may have a significant impact on their social mobility.

What is the word that signals a shift in the poem?

In Shakespeare's Sonnet 18, it is the word "But" at the start of line 9 that signals a shift in the poem.

Prior to that word, Shakespeare sets up the idea that beautiful things ultimately lose their beauty, and that a moment of perfection is quickly erased.  On a lovely summer day, for example, sometimes the sun gets too hot or goes behind a cloud.

"But," Shakespeare argues, the subject of his poem will neither lose (her?) beauty nor fade away.  In writing about her in her moment of perfection, Shakespeare will immortalize her for all time.  In the final couplet, Shakespeare concludes that as long as there are people on the earth who are able to read, the subject of his poem will live forever in her present beautiful state.

Thus, the "but" in line 9 serves as the transition from the concept of a beauty that fades to one that, through literature, lives forever.

What happens to Buck after he leaves Judge Miller's home in Call of the Wild?

The theft and sale of Buck in The Call of the Wild completely alters the dog's life as it reverses the generations of domestication of his breeds of St. Bernard and the Scottish shepherd and returns him to the atavistic nature of his ancestors.

Once Buck is in the possession of his captors, his freedom and kind treatment by humans vanishes. He becomes no more than a caged animal, at first. Then, he finds himself harnessed to a team that pulls a sled in Alaska. "He swiftly lost the fastidiousness which had characterized his old life." He begins to gobble down food lest another take it from him, and he steals what he can. These actions marks his adaptability and his new owners are pleased.

Because the "dominant primordial beast was strong in Buck" certain traits emerge in him such as cunning and deliberateness. For instance, he avoids fights, and although he hates his rival, the lead dog Spitz, Buck does not display his feelings and avoids offensive acts that would spur Spitz to fight. But, one day when Spitz tries to steal the nest Buck has made under a rock, he feels the "beast in him" roar, and he fights the usurper. However, as they fight, "famished beasts" appear, trying to steal as much food as they can. Buck fights them fiercely. Finally, one day Buck kills Spitz and takes over as the lead dog.

Later, Buck finds himself on another team that carries heavy loads of mail. When he and the other dogs arrive, they are in a "wretched state, worn out and worn down." One of the dogs is shot because he is so weakened. Afterwards, the owners sell Buck and his team to three eager prospectors. Unfortunately, they have little knowledge of the climate or dogs, and they overload the sled and have planned poorly for the journey they undertake. The woman, Mercedes, overfeeds the dogs early on and they run out of food for the dogs. By the time that they arrive, out of fourteen only five have survived. When the man, Hal, tries to beat the dogs and force them to cross thin ice, Buck's instincts tell him to rebel because of danger. When he does so, Hal beats him fiercely, but John Thornton intervenes, rescuing Buck from his insensitive owners who fall through the ice.

With Thornton as his owner, Buck lives happily; in his devotion to the man who has saved him, he, in turn, saves his owner from drowning and from an attack by another man. Buck even wins over a thousand dollars for Thornton as he pulls a load weighing about half a ton. Over time, however, more of the primordial beast emerges in Buck and he wanders off to hunt real game such as moose. He also mingles with wolves, but he still returns to camp at night. One time, however, Buck returns to find his owner has been killed by Yeehat Indians. Fiercely, he kills several of the Indians and runs off the others. Afterwards, Buck charges into the wild,; there he hears yelps that act as that atavistic call which persists in his memory. 

It was the call, the many-noted call, sounding more luringly and compelling than ever before.

Now without his human owner, Buck answers this call. When a pack of wolves come one day, Buck kills the boldest one and fights the others. But, when an old wolf approaches and sniffs his nose peacefully, then turns up his head and howls at the moon, Buck, too, howls. After this night he runs with the pack of wolves, yelping as they do. In time Buck becomes a legendary figure as the Indians who yet fear him call him the Ghost Dog.

What is the conflict in Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder?

In this first book in the Little House series, the Wilders live in the "big woods" of Wisconsin in a small log cabin. The area is already settled, and they have neighbors, though none too close by. The book is a year-long series of vignettes about the family's life. Their first conflict is the struggle to survive: Pa, their father, must hunt and kill enough animals for them to eat through winter as well as to have fur pelts to trade in the spring. The family must slaughter a pig for winter provisions and harvest crops and vegetables. In the winter, they gather maple syrup, while spring and summer are exhausting seasons of planting and harvesting. 

Other conflicts animate the story: the tomboy Laura, the book's protagonist, is often jealous of and sometimes fights with her pristine, golden-haired older sister Mary, who is prettier and does everything in a more ladylike way. Laura struggles with her own tendencies to disobey and rebel; for instance, she touches hot bullets although she is warned they will burn her fingers and she does not want to sit still, be quiet, and be good on Sundays. Although very young, Laura must learn to control her impulses, a lesson repeatedly reinforced in the narrative.  

What does the second chapter in Richard Dawkins' 2006 book, The God Delusion, say about religion?

"The God Hypothesis" is the second chapter in Richard Dawkins' 2006 book, The God Delusion. Dawkins is one of the more outspoken members of a movement sometimes termed the "new atheism", a vocal anti-religious movement. Dawkins himself is an evolutionary biologist and takes a Darwinian perspective on religion, seeing it as part of a primitive belief system that is no longer relevant to a modern, scientific world view.

While Dawkins heaps scorn and sarcasm on religion, picking out individual absurdities and distasteful elements in the Bible in this chapter, there doesn't seem to be much of a coherent philosophical argument. Dawkins' construction of religion is at what theologians would consider an extreme of literalism. He assumes that all religions take their narratives as absolute historical fact rather than as parables teaching moral lessons. He also tends to conflate all religions into a single set of naive supernatural beliefs. Oddly, he seems to see religion as a (failed) form of history or science rather than something on a different order, part of a tradition of philosophical understanding of the mysteries of our world and ourselves. Dawkins is not a fan of mysteries.

Dawkins tends to construct religion as a set of self-serving lies by the clergy to preserve their power and wealth or as a set of delusions. In a sense, one can say that Dawkins constructs religion in his own image, as something singular, literal-minded and scientific, albeit wrong, as opposed to ways that diverse thinkers over many cultures and periods have attempted to understand spiritual, mystical, and emotional aspects of humanity and the divine.

In J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, what causes Holden to almost “neck” with Jane?

Chapter 11 is where Holden discusses Jane Gallagher the most. He talks about what a great figure she has and how good looking she is, but his mother doesn't think that Jane is pretty. He likes her even if his mother doesn't think she is cute, though.

The situation surrounding "the only time old Jane and I ever got close to necking" deals with Jane's step-father (78). Holden and Jane are sitting out on her screened-in porch playing checkers. Mr. Cudahy, the step-dad, comes out and asks Jane where the cigarettes are, and she doesn't answer him. Jane never discloses what the issue is with her step-dad, but Holden asks her if he ever "got wise" with her. Jane starts to cry and Holden jumps to the rescue by sitting next to her and kissing her all over her face. It's ironic, though. Here he is asking if her step-dad has tried anything physical with her, and in her despair, Holden tries to comfort/get physical with her! 

". . . the next thing I knew, I was kissing her all over--anywhere--her eyes, her nose, her forehead, her eyebrows and all, her ears--her whole face except her mouth and all. She sort of wouldn't let me get to her mouth" (79).

Since Jane just sits there and takes his kisses and won't let him kiss her on the mouth, Holden declares it "close to necking." 

How would you film the opening settings in Washington Irving's Rip Van Winkle?

Washington Irving placed his stories in the New York that he knew well, especially the lush woods and hills along the Hudson River. Any film based upon his 1819 short story Rip Van Winkle, then, would need to include copious footage of this type of landscape. As multiple depictions of Rip Van Winkle have been filmed, or recreated in animation, any student contemplating the appropriate settings for another depiction of Irving’s story would do well to consult one or more of these previous productions for ideas and inspiration, as well as studying photographs of upstate New York and similar regions, such as the densely-forested areas of the Appalachians. A good filmed-version of Rip Van Winkle is that directed by Francis Coppola in 1987 for the Faerie Tale Theatre series produced by actress Shelley Duvall (best known for her portrayal of the wife in Stanley Kubrick’s version of Stephen King’s horror novel The Shining).

Once the location scouting has been done, the next task is to design and construct era-appropriate structures, such as houses, churches, saloons, and so on. In today’s computer-generated-imagery world, all of this, of course, can be done artificially, but set design and construction still occurs and would make for a more realistic depiction. Irving stories reflect the Dutch heritage prevalent in much of the region, and any portrayal of the time and place described in Rip Van Winkle should similarly display that heritage. Irving assisted in this regard by providing the following description of the village in which his story takes place:

“It is a little village, of great antiquity, having been founded by some of the Dutch colonists, in the early times of the province, just about the beginning of the government of the good Peter Stuyvesant, (may he rest in peace!) and there were some of the houses of the original settlers standing within a few years, built of small yellow bricks brought from Holland, having latticed windows and gable fronts, surmounted with weathercocks.”

In addition, then, to capturing the natural geographic beauty of the region, the opening scenes should include the noticeably Dutch-inspired architecture that would have been prevalent.

The physical setting thus established, one would now focus on the story’s principal protagonist, the titular character of Rip Van Winkle. Irving’s story is a commentary on culture in which he was raised and on the dynamics that develop between and among communities and families. Rip, the author notes, is a descendant of a great family that has, through time and intermarriage, been constitutionally diluted. Note, for example, the description of Rip in the following passage from the story:

“In that same village, and in one of these very houses (which, to tell the precise truth, was sadly time-worn and weather-beaten), there lived many years since, while the country was yet a province of Great Britain, a simple good-natured fellow, of the name of Rip Van Winkle. He was a descendant of the Van Winkles who figured so gallantly in the chivalrous days of Peter Stuyvesant, and accompanied him to the siege of Fort Christina. He inherited, however, but little of the martial character of his ancestors. I have observed that he was a simple good-natured man; he was, moreover, a kind neighbor, and an obedient hen-pecked husband. Indeed, to the latter circumstance might be owing that meekness of spirit which gained him such universal popularity; for those men are most apt to be obsequious and conciliating abroad, who are under the discipline of shrews at home.”

So, we now have the physical setting that would dominate the opening scene, possibly accompanied by opening credits, and an introduction to the main protagonist. Rip would be seen as a simple-minded man dominated by an overbearing wife. He is kind to everybody, but will clearly leave no discernable mark on this earth—at least until the heretofore unseen events to follow take place. The Van Winkle home and surrounding property, modest though it would be given Rip’s lack of worth ethic, would reflect his disdain for hard work and all-around laziness. In other words, the property would be a mess (“it was the worst-conditioned farm in the neighborhood”). The Van Winkle children, similarly, would reflect Rip’s cavalier attitude towards good order and discipline (“His children, too, were as ragged and wild as if they belonged to nobody”).

The student’s question did not specify how far into Irving’s story he or she wished depicted. Like any good story-teller, though, and Irving was a very good story teller, Rip Van Winkle does not lack descriptive narrative to aid in designing the settings in which the story occurs.

How do Portia's and Calpurnia's attitudes compare with those of their husbands?

Portia is in total sympathy with her husband Brutus. Her only complaint is that he doesn't take her into his confidence. She is troubled by seeing all the furtive men visiting him at his home at all hours. She keeps insisting on knowing what is going on until he finally tells her, in Act II, Scene 1:

Hark, hark, one knocks. Portia, go in awhile,
And by and by thy bosom shall partake
The secrets of my heart.
All my engagements I will construe to thee,
All the charactery of my sad brows.
Leave me with haste.

We do not hear what Brutus tells her later on. Shakespeare evidently felt that would be redundant, since his audience would already knows it all. But in Act II, Scene 4, Portia knows everything about the conspiracy and has in effect become a co-conspirator. She is tormented because, as a woman, she is confined to her home and cannot go to see what is happening at the Capitol. But she is obviously hoping that her husband's plans will be successful. Towards the end of this scene she says to herself:

The heavens speed thee in thine enterprise!

Calpurnia, on the other hand, opposes her husband Caesar when he prepares to go to the Capitol where he expects to be crowned king. In Act II, Scene 2, she says:

What mean you, Caesar? Think you to go forth?
You shall not stir out of your house today.

Calpurnia feels sure that something dreadful will happen if her husband goes to the Senate House. She obviously senses intuitively that the men who have come to escort Caesar to the Capitol are not as well disposed towards him as they seem. Caesar should have listened to her, but he is driven by ambition and pride. He wants that crown. The wily Decius tells him:

...the Senate have concluded
To give this day a crown to mighty Caesar.
If you shall send them word you will not come,
Their minds may change. Besides, it were a mock
Apt to be rendered for someone to say
"Break up the Senate till another time,
When Caesar's wife shall meet with better dreams."

Calpurnia is overruled because she is a woman. Caesar cannot let it be known that he was staying at home because of a woman's dreams and a woman's fears. Caesar is a powerful man, but he is blinded by his ambition. After Decius finishes speaking, Caesar tells Calpurnia:

How foolish do your fears seem now, Calpurnia!
I am ashamed I did yield to them.
Bring me my robe, for I will go.

This is the end of the conflict between Calpurnia and Caesar, but Scene 2 does not end immediately. Shakespeare prolongs it with some incidental dialogue, but evidently the playwright's main purpose is to show a servant bringing Caesar his robe and helping him to put it on. That robe is of great importance in the play. In Act III, Scene 2, Mark Antony will be showing the mob what appears to be the same robe covered with bloodstains and shredded with what appear to be the sword and dagger strokes of the assassins. This duplicate robe will serve to represent Caesar's mutilated body, which is never shown to the mob but only described.

What's the purpose of having the boys land on an island in Lord of the Flies?

William Golding chose to have the boys crash land on an abandoned island to illustrate how children would react without societal boundaries and adult supervision. The setting of the novel Lord of the Flies takes place on an uninhabited island, with an ideal climate, and abundant food source. The boys are free to express themselves without consequence or interference from civil authorities. This setting creates the ideal location for human instincts to develop untethered and unapologetic. The island is removed far from civilization, and the topography allows the author to create various scenes that enhance the plot and imagery throughout the story. The beautiful island symbolizes the Garden of Eden. William Golding alludes to Biblical events throughout the novel, and the setting allows him to parody The Coral Island by R. M. Ballantyne. 

How can I summarize Junot Diaz's The Dreamer?

Junot Diaz's essay The Dreamer is about Diaz's mother's desire to get an education as a young girl.
 
Diaz uses the first part of the essay to describe his mother. He mentions that she now lives in a nice house in New Jersey and enjoys feeding the squirrels in her backyard. In contrast to that, though, he also describes the way she grew up poor and even refers to her as "the kind of Dominican girl who was destined never to get off the mountain or out of the campo" (Diaz). 
 
He then recounts the way his grandmother expected his mother to work on the family's farm indefinitely unless, of course, she got married. When caring for the field hands, though, his mother realized that she wanted to become a nurse. However, she had no education and her mother did not support the idea of her obtaining one. 
 
That said, a few months later, Trujillo, the country's dictator at the time, mandated that all children under 15 be educated. If parents didn't obey the law, they could face imprisonment, but Diaz's grandmother didn't seem to care. So, in a last ditch effort, Diaz's mother drank water from a puddle in order to make herself sick.
 
Her family was planning on moving further up into the hills for seasonal work and eventually they decided they weren't going to wait for her to get better, so they left without her. As soon as her family left, Diaz's mother ran to the schoolhouse and reported her own mother. At one point, the grandmother tried to take the girl out of school and back into the hills but the police put her in handcuffs and Diaz's mother remained free to get her education. 
 
Diaz ends the essay informing the readers that his mother was never actually able to become a nurse because they immigrated to the United States and she was never able to learn English, despite trying very hard.
 
However, he then states that he currently works as a professional writer and attributes all of his success to her. He says he believes that, "who I am as an artist, everything that I've ever written, was possible because a seven-year-old girl up in the hills of Azua knelt before a puddle, found courage in herself and drank" (Diaz).
 
He goes on to conclude the essay, saying that he thinks of his mother's courage whenever he needs inspiration or faces hardship in his art. 

What is the dramatic importance of the coat episode in Arms and the Man by George Bernard Shaw?

The coat in Arms and the Man by George Bernard Shaw serves as a plot device. It gives Captain Bluntschli an excuse to revisit Raina to return the coat without explicitly stating that he has a romantic interest in her.       

The plot device of Raina putting a picture of herself in the pocket of the coat serves as a way for Shaw to make fun of the way romantic tokens are handled in melodrama. While in a melodrama or sensation novel, such a love token would have been pivotal in both plot development and relationship development, as the romantic Raina hopes, the pragmatic Captain Bluntschli doesn't even notice its presence. 

The photograph does, however, serve to make Raina's father aware of the relationship, because he has found the photograph and is curious about why it is inscribed:

Raina, to her Chocolate Cream Soldier: a Souvenir.

Thus familial pressure and discovery prompt Captain Bluntschli to admit that he loves Raina and move the plot towards its resolution of a happy marriage between him and Raina.