What would have been clarified or different if Fortunato had told the story "The Cask of Amontillado"?

Point of view is important to telling a story.  The point of view controls what information the reader gets, and frames it a certain way.  This story has what we call an unreliable narrator.  Montresor is crazy.  He does not really think rationally, so we have no idea whether or not we can trust what he says.

The biggest question of the story is: What did Fortunato do?  We are told by Montresor that he was insulted by Fortunato.

The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge. You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that gave utterance to a threat. At length I would be avenged …

If Fortunato was telling the story, we would not know that a murder was planned.  We might find out what Fortunato did to anger Montresor though, if he even feels like mentioning it.  The insult must have been something very slight for Fortunato to go into the catacombs.  You do not follow a man you have grievously injured underground.

The other information the reader would get from Fortunato would be whether or not, or when, he became suspicious.  Montresor seems to be doing a very good job of manipulating Fortunato. 

"Come," I said, with decision, "we will go back; your health is precious. You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as once I was. You are a man to be missed. For me it is no matter. We will go back; you will be ill, and I cannot be responsible. Besides, there is Luchresi --"

It would be interesting to see Fortunato’s mindset here.  Obviously he does not want Luchesi to look at that wine.  Why?  Is it just because he is conceited and wants to prevent anyone else from getting the glory?  There could be another reason.

Changing narrators would certainly be a twist on this story.  It would confirm that Montresor really is crazy.  Fortunato might confess to the injury.  What if he really did do something to Montresor?

Sum up what Slim says about the relationship between knowledge and kindness in Of Mice and Men.

Sim says that a person doesn’t have to be smart to be kind.

Slim and George have a conversation about Lennie when Slim mentions that it is unusual for two guys to stick together.  Most of the ranch hands are loners.  George explains that Lennie is not smart, but is still good.  He gives examples of the abuses he has heaped on Lennie that Lennie just took in stride.  Lennie cares about George, and would never hurt him.

Slim comments that brains are not needed to be a good person.

"He's a nice fella," said Slim. "Guy don't need no sense to be a nice fella. Seems to me sometimes it jus' works the other way around. Take a real smart guy and he ain't hardly ever a nice fella." (Ch. 3)

Lennie may be mentally challenged, but he is kind and a good friend in his own way.  He would never do anything against anyone.  He is childlike in his demeanor, and while he sometimes accidentally hurts people or animals, it is only because he doesn’t know his own strength.

George agrees, commenting that being lonely can turn a person mean.  He and Lennie have each other, and it helps them face the world.  George tells Slim that Lennie can be a nuisance.

"'Course he ain't mean. But he gets in trouble alla time because he's so God damn dumb. Like what happened in Weed-" (Ch. 3)

Slim seems a bit jealous of the relationship between George and Lennie.  He too is a genuinely good guy, and well-respected on the ranch.  George opens up to him, even though he normally is very protective of Lennie and doesn’t tell people about him.  Slim’s disarming nature makes it easy to talk to him.

Both the comments are Lennie's niceness and the story about what happened in Weed foreshadow Lennie's trouble with Curley's wife.  Lennie is a nice guy, so he didn't mean to kill her.  He likes soft things though, and this can be disastrous.  Lennie doesn't learn from his mistakes.

Why was it necessary for Athena to disguise herself as a mortal man in order to intervene with Odysseus and Telemachus?

In the lore of ancient Greece, it was believed that anyone who looked upon the true form of a god or goddess would die because the sight would be too overwhelming to handle. That is one reason Athena disguises herself: she really likes Odysseus and Telemachus, so she does not want to kill them.

It is a common theme in these kinds of stories for gods and goddesses to disguise themselves as humans and animals. That way they are not seen to be directly interfering with human affairs. Often it is just a random animal or person, but Athena's disguise is not just any random mortal man: he is Mentor, a friend of Odysseus. This disguise allows her to get close to the two men without raising their suspicions because of course Odysseus' friend is going to be around and involved. It also guarantees that they will at the very least listen to her advice, and their respect for Mentor makes it more likely that they will follow it as well. 

All in all, Athena adopts the guise of Mentor so as not to kill Odysseus and Telemachus while she does what she can to help them in their endeavors.

What does opening the door for Elijah symbolize?

I am assuming your question is referring to the Jewish Passover celebration in which participants symbolically open the door, welcoming the prophet Elijah to enter the home.  An extra place at the table is also set in anticipation for the guest.  These symbolic actions concerning the anticipation of the prophet Elijah are done every year at the Jewish Passover.

This expectant and hopeful anticipation of the prophet Elijah hearkens back to a prophecy in the Jewish book of Malachi, found in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.  In Malachi, the God of the Hebrews says, "Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me" (Malachi 3:1, NKJV).  The Jews understood this to be Elijah, who would appear to herald the coming of the Jewish Messiah.  Jews, anticipating the coming of Messiah for thousands of years, still today anticipate the prophet Elijah, who announces the coming of Messiah, by setting a place at the table and opening the door for his entrance.

In his soliloquy at the beginning of scene vii, what arguments against killing Duncan does Macbeth express? Which of these arguments seems to...

At the beginning of Act One Scene 7, the audience witnesses an extended soliloquy by Macbeth in which he expresses deep doubts about carrying out the murder of Duncan. Fundamentally, he realizes that the murder of Duncan is a fundamentally unjust act, one which makes the throne of Scotland which he will receive a "poison'd chalice." Duncan is both Macbeth's king and his cousin, which makes the murder not just treasonous but a violation of the bonds of kinship. Macbeth says these facts alone should make him "shut the door" against his murderer, not "bear the knife" himself. Also, Duncan is a good man, much beloved of the people of Scotland, and indeed of Macbeth himself:

...this Duncan
Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been
So clear in his great office, that his virtues
Will plead like angels trumpet-tongued against
The deep damnation of his taking-off...

Once people hear of the murder, Macbeth realizes, their "tears shall drown the wind." Finally, after this bout of soul-searching, the title character comes to the conclusion that there is really nothing motivating him to kill the King except his own "vaulting ambition." This realization seems to have convinced him to abandon, or at least put off, his plot to murder Duncan. When Lady Macbeth discovers that her husband is vacillating, she mocks him, appealing to his masculinity and his courage to goad him into proceeding with the murder.

Summarize Chapter 4-12 of World History and Geography by Jackson Spielvogel.

World History and Geography by Jackson Spielvogel is a popular American high school textbook that is published by Glencoe. Asking for a summary of nine chapters from the textbook (almost two hundred pages) is a little much. What I will provide is a quick overview of each of the first three chapters that you requested.

Chapter Four-- This chapter gives a quick look at the geography of the Ancient Greeks and how it impacted the early political and social history. The Mycenaean civilization was the first on mainland Greece and this period was followed by a Dark Age. During the Dark Ages, a group of people known as the Dorians brought the alphabet and iron which helped revive the Greek economy. The chapter continues with the discussion of Greece's culture, philosophy, and achievement. Also detailed are two major conflicts in Greece, one with Persia and the other between two Greek city-states: Sparta and Athens. The final section of the chapter discusses the Macedonian conquest and the impact of Alexander the Great.

Chapter Five--The major religions of Hinduism and Buddhism are examined from their doctrines and beliefs to the impact they had on India. This is the chapter that explains the rigid social structure of India that is called the caste system. The chapter explores three empires between 260 BC and 410 AD: Mauryan, Kushan, and Gupta. The culture and accomplishments of the three empires are examined, specifically the architecture and mathematics.

Chapter Six--Confucianism as a guiding principle of spirituality and civic life is discussed at the beginning of this chapter and is a theme throughout. Other Chinese philosophers (Daoism and Legalism) are also contemplated. The unification of China under the Qin Dynasty and an examination of the life of Qin Shihuangdi follows. The chapter concludes with the Han Dynasty, particularly the political structure, and technology. The chapter ends with the cause of the fall of the Han Empire.

Summarize what Marley’s ghost tells Scrooge about the afterlife. Scrooge responds, “‘But you were always a good man of business, Jacob.’”...

Marley's ghost tells Scrooge what the last seven years since his death have been like.  He is in a state of constant remorse because of how he lived his life on earth.  Marley has no peace as he wanders around the same area, never staying still.  Regretful, Marley tells Scrooge that he never rests and is always moving, as if in circles.  Scrooge begins to think of his own life, which is similar to how Marley lived his own when he was alive.  He speaks to Marley, as if reasoning with him, "But you were always a good man of business, Jacob."  Marley goes on and tells Scrooge that he lived his life with his eyes downcast, never seeing the suffering around him.  He then tells Scrooge that it is not too late.  He warns him that he needs to change his life.

What caused Bob Ewell's death?

Bob Ewell died from a knife wound. The cause of death given by Heck Tate was that Bob Ewell fell on his knife. At first, Atticus thought that Jem had stabbed Bob Ewell. Atticus was prepared for his son to go to trial. Then Mr. Tate informed him that it was Boo Radley who killed Bob Ewell. This was when Mr. Tate decided that they should simply conclude that Bob Ewell fell on his knife. This would protect Boo Radley from going to trial for murder.

This did not sit well with Atticus. He felt that it was dishonest. Scout, however, understood. She agreed with Mr. Tate's decision to not place the blame on Boo Radley. When she thought of Boo, she thought of innocence. She knew he was just trying to save her and Jem's lives. She did not think it was fair for Boo to go to jail for what happened:

"Well, it'd be sort of like shootin' a mockingbird, wouldn't it?" (To Kill a Mockingbird, Chapter 31).

State two processes that supply water vapour to the atmosphere.

Evaporation and transpiration are two processes that supply water vapor to the atmosphere.

Evaporation is the process by which liquids are converted into gases. Evaporation occurs at the surface of the liquid as the particles of a liquid are heated and gain kinetic energy. Kinetic energy is the energy of movement. As the liquid particles gain kinetic energy, they begin to move faster and more often. Therefore, the particles begin to move apart. The intermolecular forces between the liquid particles are broken when the particles move far enough apart from one other. Eventually, the particles gain so much kinetic energy that they are able to free themselves from the rest of liquid surface and become gaseous.

Transpiration is simply the evaporation of water that occurs through the leaves, stems, and flowers of trees and other plants.

What are balanced and unbalanced forces? Can you please provide an example as well.

The forces acting on an object can be balanced or unbalanced. When sitting on a chair, the force of gravity pulls you downwards, towards Earth. The chair supports you by pushing upwards. This balances the downwards force of gravity.

Balanced forces don’t always mean that the object is stopped - it might be travelling at the same speed without changing directions. Consider a girl, about to ride her bike. To take off, she must accelerate, pedalling fast and hard to produce a force large enough to push her forwards. She needs to overcome the friction caused by the roughness of the road and by the air that she pushes through. To speed up, she keeps accelerating. Her pedalling needs to provide a driving force that is bigger than the force of friction acting in the opposite direction. As she continues her journey, she may travel at a constant speed without slowing down or speeding up. When this happens, the forwards force from her pedalling is cancelled out by the friction forces pushing her backwards. At this stage, her motion is constant and all of the forces acting on her are balanced.

Whenever the forces acting on the girl are unbalanced, her motion will change. Motion always changes in the direction of the unbalanced force. This means that the forces are unbalanced when she:

• Starts moving (by pedalling fast and hard)


• Speeds up (by pedalling faster and harder)


• Slows down (by using the breaks)


• Comes to a stop (by using the breaks)


• Changes direction (by turning the handlebars)

What is the inciting incident in "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe?

In fiction, the inciting incident is one that kicks off the rising action.  At the very beginning of a story, the author will usually employ some exposition to set the scene, introduce a major character or two, and lay the foundation of the narrative voice and point-of-view.  Then the inciting incident occurs to provide some complications to the story.  In the exposition to "The Tell-Tale Heart," the reader learns that the narrator is trying to convince the audience that he is not mad, but he actually seems to be so.  So the tone in the atmosphere of the story suggests that something outrageous is going to occur.  Then the narrator tells us that he is going to tell us a story about how he planned to kill the old man because he was vexed by the man's pale eye.  This is the inciting incident--at the moment we learn about the murderous plot, the story takes on complications as the reader yearns to hear more about the plot and its execution.

Why was Steve no longer afraid of James King?

On Thursday, July 9th, James King and Steve Harmon are sitting together in a holding pen across from where they enter the courtroom. James asks Steve if he is going to cut a deal with the prosecutor. He attempts to intimidate Steve by scowling at him and narrowing his eyes. However, Steve Harmon thinks that James looks funny trying to intimidate him. Steve recalls the numerous times he's looked up to James and wanted to be tough like him, but no longer feels the same. Steve then begins to think of the constant threats that surround him in prison and begins to laugh. Steve mentions that the inmates, the judge, and even the guards terrify him, but James simply looks silly trying to scare him. Steve understands the difference between real threats and what James is trying to do. Steve says, "They do things to you in jail. You can't scare somebody with a look in here" (Myers 101). 

How does the narrator's mother save herself in the story "The Leap"?

The narrator claims that she owes her existence to her mother three times. The first instance is when the mother saves herself. Prior to the narrator's birth, her mother (Anna) was married to Harry Avalon. Together, Anna and Harry performed as "The Flying Avalons" in the circus. They were a trapeze act known to flirt during their performance. One day, during a part of the performance where they are to meet, lightning strikes the tent pole. The tent collapses and Harry falls to his death. Anna, instead of grabbing for Harry, twists away from him to grab another heavy wire. Anna chose to save herself and her unborn child instead of reaching for Harry. Anna survives but the baby is born with no life. 

Anna goes to the hospital and meets a doctor and this would become Anna's second husband and the narrator's father. This is the second time the narrator owes her life to her mother: meeting her father in the hospital. 

How can I compare the Preamble of the Constitution and The Giver to argue that The Giver's world is better?

An essay’s thesis statement is a statement that summarizes the argument you are trying to make.  In your case, you want to compare the vision of the world suggested by the Preamble of the Constitution with the one presented in The Giver.

The preamble of the Constitution states that the Founding Fathers were trying to construct a “more perfect Union.”  What exactly constitutes a perfect union?  The world described in The Giver is one version of a perfect world, but would our ancestors agree?  The “Declaration of Independence” states that our forefathers believed that “all men are created equal.”  The does seem very close to the vision produced in Jonas’s society.

In order to compare the world the Founders envisioned with the one presented in The Giver in your thesis, you need to write a summary of what the founders of the country intended in these statements, and specifically by “a more perfect Union.”  Here is an example.

The society presented in The Giver is more perfect than ours because everyone is treated equally and the safety of the people is their first priority.

The main point is to focus on what elements of Jonas’s society fulfill or exceed the vision presented by the Founding Fathers.  For example, in Jonas’s society everyone is created equal—literally.  People are actually created to be the same.  They are all treated equally.  They even look the same.

Almost every citizen in the community had dark eyes. His parents did, and Lily did, and so did all of his group members and friends. (Ch. 3)

Jonas’s community believes that peace can be promoted by keeping everyone the same, and ensuring that they act the same way through severe restrictions on behavior and conditioning to make sure everyone has almost no personality.

Perfect is sometimes not perfect, of course.  The world created in the book could certainly be described as tyrannical.  It is ironic that treating everyone the same makes everyone equally subjected. 

Is there a reaction mechanism for distilling wine into brandy and what is it?

No. No chemical reaction occurs when wine is distilled into brandy. Distillation is a separation technique that uses differences in volatility, or the inclination a substance has to vaporize, to separate the components of a mixture. 

To distill brandy, the starting wine is heated. The ethanol in the wine (along with other aromatic compounds) evaporates before the water. The evaporated gases are passed through a condenser (usually a chilled glass tube) where they revert to a liquid state. Thus, the wine has become more concentrated and has a higher alcohol content. Distillation may be repeated one or several times to achieve the desired alcohol concentration.

However, there most certainly was a chemical reaction in the process of making the starting wine. Yeast transformed sugar from grape juice into ethanol and carbon dioxide.

In one year the earth will get struck by lightning 3.15 times 10 to the 9th power times. Calculate the unit rate for the amount of times lightning...

Although this is technically a science question, we will be using math in order to solve it.

In order to work out your answer, you will have to divide the total lightning strikes by the number of weeks in the year. This will give you your unit rate per week.

3.15 x 10^9 strikes / 52 weeks = .0606 x 10^9 strikes / week

This figure is not in correct scientific notation, and we must change our figure so that it is expressed as a number between one and ten, and change the "power" to reflect the change.

.0606 x 10^9 strikes / week = 6.06 x 10 ^7 strikes / week

These two figures are equivalent; both mean six million, sixty thousand, or 60,060,000. 

Describe how George made the Irish stew. What was Montmorency's contribution to it?

The narrator relates this incident in Chapter XIV of Three Men in a Boat. George offered to cook supper one evening:

He … suggested that, with the vegetables and the remains of the cold beef and general odds and ends, we should make an Irish stew.

Such a dish is often made with leftovers from previous meals. It consists of some kind of meat, with the addition of potatoes, onions, and various vegetables. George took the lead in the cooking. Harris and the narrator were given the job of peeling and then scraping the potatoes. They weren’t good at either task, and they ended up with only four usable potatoes. To make up for the loss, the men raided their food hamper and added as many random vegetables and pieces of meat as they could find.

Even Montmorency, the fox terrier, got into the act. He brought a dead water-rat to the men, seemingly to donate it to the stew. According to the narrator, the three men devoted serious discussion to adding the rat to the mix. Harris thought it would work. George said he had never heard of putting water-rats in Irish stew, and he was against the idea. Harris answered that they could certainly try something new.

The narrator never tells us if Montmorency’s gift was used in the stew. He did admit that it “was a dish with a new flavour, with a taste like nothing else on earth.” The reader is left to decide what was really put into the pot.

Which event took place after the funeral? What was the public reaction to it? Who was the only one to object and why?

After the funeral two events occur, the chief of which is Virginia's marriage to the Duke of Cheshire. First, however, Lord Canterville insists that Virginia keep the magnificent heirloom jewels the ghost gave her, including a sixteenth-century ruby necklace from Venice. The only person to object is Mr. Otis, who, as a good, down-to-earth and practical American, believes the jewels are a ridiculous European extravagance. Virginia herself would rather have the box the jewels came in, but she does accept the jewelry.

The other event after the funeral is Virginia's wedding to the Duke of Cheshire, where she becomes the Duchess of Cheshire. Afterwards, Virginia wears the Canterville jewels, including a tiara, when she is presented to the Queen. Everyone is charmed by the jewels, as they are by Virginia's marriage, except for Mr. Otis, who objects to his daughter becoming an aristocrat with a title, as he fears she will lose her all-American "Republican" virtues, and except for the Marchioness of Dumbleton, who had been hoping the Duke of Cheshire would marry one of her seven daughters. Mr. Otis does come around to be proud of his daughter on her wedding day, leaving the Marchioness as the only person with any objections.

How does Slim react to the fact that George and Lennie travel together?

Slim shows curiosity about the fact that George and Lennie travel together. 

"It jus' seems kinda funny a cuckoo like him and a smart little guy like you travelin' together."

This is mainly intended to show that George and Slim are developing a cordial relationship and to provide an opportunity for Steinbeck to explain in the form of dialogue how the partnership between George and Lennie developed.

"Him and me was both born in Auburn. I knowed his Aunt Clara. She took him when he was a baby and raised him up. When his Aunt Clara died, Lennie just come along with me out workin'. Got kinda used to each other after a little while."

This explanation to Slim is mainly intended as exposition to the reader and to the future audience for the stage version of the story Steinbeck which intended to write immediately. He called the book "a playable novel." He wrote it in such a way that the exposition is conveyed in dialogue, as in a stage play. This made it extremely easy to convert the novel to a play. It had to be done quickly because both the book and the play came out in the same years, 1937.

George sounds defensive and apologetic about making friends with a "cuckoo" and planning to share a farm with him. When Slim says:

"Funny how you an' him string along together."

"What's funny about it?" George demanded defensively.

George is defensive because he has been asked about this and kidded about this before. Some students have asked if George and Lennie are gay. George wants tp make it clear that he has to look after Lennie because he promised Aunt Clara he would do so. Nevertheless, it seems "funny" that two men would be sharing a farm together. Steinbeck had to have two men sharing the dream because, although it would be more natural for a man and a woman to have such a dream, the author is writing about the hard lot of migrant farm workers. Women couldn't do the hard work and couldn't live in bunk houses with a bunch of men. So Steinbeck created two male bindlestiffs and made one of them retarded to account for their relationship. George has to look after Lennie and get Lennie jobs. Having two protagonists makes it easy for Stainbeck to convey expository information through dialogue, because the two men naturally talk to each other about all sort of subjects, past, present, and future. The structure of the novel can only be understood in light of the fact that it was "playable," i.e., intended to be swiftly converted into a stage play without any major changes.

Much of the dialogue throughout the entire short novel is invented to convey expository information to the reader and the future stage audience. Steinbeck does this adroitly because one of his major strengths as a writer was his dialogue-writing. This can be seen to even better advantage in his best novel The Grapes of Wrath, in which he deals with a whole family trying to make their way from Oklahoma to California in an unreliable jalopy.

What are examples of suspense in "The Cold Equations" by Tom Godwin?

One way an author creates suspense is by developing a rising action that leaves the reader uncertain of what's to follow. In his short story "The Cold Equations," author Tom Godwin creates suspense in his very first sentence:

He was not alone.

These words conjure up a multitude of hair-raising images in the reader's mind of stalkers and other predators lurking in hidden places. The sentence also immediately creates rising action because the reader knows that, as the story unfolds, the reader will learn who else is present in the story. But, since the reader is not given any clues prior to this opening sentence as to who the character is and who else is with the character, the rising action also leaves the reader uncertain of upcoming events.

Red herrings are often also used to create suspense. A red herring is an "irrelevant topic" used to distract the audience ("Red Herring," Literary Devices). A red herring is a type of logical fallacy that, when used in an argument, distracts the audience from the real issue. When used in literature, a red herring misleads a reader into drawing a conclusion that differs from the story's true resolution ("Red Herring").

Godwin creates a red herring at the start of the story when, after the narrator explains there is a stowaway on the ship, the narrator also describes Barton as completely accustomed to the sight of a man dying and ready to take a man's life per necessity. The use of the word man in the early paragraphs makes the reader think as Barton thinks, that the stowaway is a grown man who understands the repercussions of his actions. In reality, the stowaway is a young, innocent girl, which creates a new set of problems for the story. By using the word man in the early paragraphs, Godwin creates a red herring to throw the reader off and make the girl's presence more surprising, thereby creating suspense.

Why would Elizabethans be interested in "The Tempest"?

Well, the short answer is that Elizabethans never saw “The Tempest”. Elizabeth had died long before the play was written, and James I was the king at the time, so the English of the day are now called Jacobeans.

“The Tempest” is a fascinating, magical play and there are many reasons why it still appeals to modern audiences as much as it would've appealed to Jacobeans: it's got amazing characters, it's full of magic and strange creatures, it's very funny, it's visually striking and has beautiful language. Jacobeans also enjoyed the stagecraft and special effects possible in the newly developed indoor theater where the play likely premiered: magic tricks, disappearance and other illusions that would have been impossible on the traditional outdoor stage. Royal performances of the time often included a masque, an elaborate fantastical stage show more akin to Cirque du Soleil than a traditional play. They were extremely expensive to put on and they had all of the most wonderful theatrical innovations available at the time. Shakespeare actually includes a masque in “The Tempest” and it would have taken advantage of all the eye-popping effects of the new indoor stage.

The play was also very topical. It’s about travelers being shipwrecked on a magical island and at the time England was starting to explore what they called the New World – we know it today as North and South America. There were all sorts of wild stories coming back from people exploring in Bermuda and the Caribbean about the fantastical people and creatures that they found there. They riveted the Jacobean imagination. It's hard for us to imagine today what it would be like to discover a whole continent full of people and creatures that you didn't know was there before; it was almost like discovering a new planet, but one full of life and one you could travel to. The idea that a European nobleman like Prospero could go and become master of this magical realm played into Jacobean hopes about what a valiant English person could do to conquer the New World; it was fascinating and exciting and a big part of the appeal of the play.

In "The Catbird Seat," what was the main reason Mr. Martin wanted to kill Mrs. Barrows?

Mr. Fitweiler hired Mrs. Barrows at his special assistant without knowing anything about her. Fitweiler, who is head of the big New York-based F&S company, is getting old and seems to be gradually losing his mind. He is going to a psychiatrist for help. His hiring Ulgine Barrows as his assistant was obviously a big mistake. Mr. Martin reflects:

A week later he had introduced her as his special adviser. On that day confusion got its foot in the door.

She has created disruption throughout the executive offices by her reorganization schemes. In order to show her irrationality, the narrator keeps quoting the "gibberish" Mrs. Barrows is always spouting . She repeats phrases she has heard on the radio spoken by a popular baseball sportscaster named Red Barber. They include the following:

"Are you lifting the oxcart out of the ditch? Are you tearing up the pea patch? Are you hollering down the rain barrel?: Are you scraping around the bottom of the pickle barrel? Are you sitting in the catbird seat?"

"Sitting in the catbird seat" meant "sitting pretty, like a batter with three balls and no strikes on him." Ulgine Barrows has been driving Martin crazy with these mindless questions. She seems to be trying to learn to be "one of the boys" in an era in which women were entering the American workforce in large numbers and moving up to positions of power. But Martin treats her with friendly tolerance until it appears that she has her eye on his filing department. On the afternoon of Monday, November 2, 1941 she had bounced into Mr. Martin's office and asked, "Do you really need all these filing cabinets?"

Mr. Martin could no longer doubt that the finger was on his beloved department. 

He addresses an imaginary jury in his head:

"Gentlemen of the jury," he said to himself, "I demand the death penalty for this horrible person."

The reader expects to be reading a perfect-crime murder story; but Mr. Martin eventually thinks of a more subtle way of getting rid of Mrs. Barrows. Mr. Fitweileer discharges her because she thinks the staid and loyal company man Mr. Martin could have said and done the things of which she accuses him, including getting "coked to the gills" on heroin, and therefore the woman must be mad. It turns out that Mr. Martin was correct in foreseeing that, "Her pickaxe was on the upswing, poised for the first blow." After Mrs. Barrows is dragged forcefully out of Mr. Fitweiler's office, he tells Martin:

"You may not know, Martin, but Mrs. Barrows had planned a reorganization of your department--subject to my approval, of course, subject to my approval. This brought you, rather than anyone else, to her mind--but again that is a phenomenon for Dr. Fitch and not for us."

What was Bud's trick to falling asleep?

In Chapter 8, Bud and Bugs spend the night at a Hooverville in hopes of catching the morning train to Chicago. When Bud lies down, he does a little trick that helps him fall asleep. Bud takes his blanket out of his suitcase and pulls it all the way over his head. Then Bud takes a deep breath with his head buried underneath his blanket. He breathes deeply and smells three more times until the smells of his surrounding environment are gone, and all he can smell is his blanket. Bud mentions that the smell of his blanket reminds him of how his mother used to read to him before bedtime. As he closes his eyes, he imagines that his mother is reading him bedtime stories until he starts to dream, and gradually falls asleep.

What action did the First Continental Congress take?

The First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia in response to the passage of the Intolerable Acts in 1774. Its main achievement was to issue what became known as the "Association," a nonimportation agreement designed to put pressure on the British to lift the Boston Port Act and to backtrack from other coercive policies. As historian T.H. Breen has recently argued, what was significant about the Association was that local committees were formed to enforce it. These committees ensured, by tactics that sometimes included violence, that local merchants did not engage in trade with the British and that individuals did not purchase or consume imported goods. As Breen points out, these local committees, organized at various levels, "acquired legitmacy from [the First Continental Congress.]" The Association thus marked a major step toward expanding the revolution throughout the colonies and creating a single revolutionary consciousness. For these reasons, the proclamation of the Association by the First Continental Congress was a very significant event.

Differentiate between Julia and Katharine on the issue of intimacy in the novel, 1984.

In 1984, we see very differing attitudes to intimacy in the characters of Julia and Katharine, both of whom play an important role in Winston's life.

Katharine is Winston's wife and she appears in the novel through a memory, as she and Winston have long since parted. Katharine did not share any imtimacy with Winston, as he describes in Part 1, Chapter 6: "As soon as he touched her she seemed to wince and stiffen. To embrace her was like embracing a jointed wooden image." She was also a staunch supporter of the party and subscribed to the view that procreation was the sole purpose of marriage. She made Winston attempt this once a week, though she clearly hated it. Furthermore, she and Winston did not share any characteristics in common. As Winston states, she "had not a thought in her head that was not a slogan." Over time, when attempts at conceiving a baby had failed, Katharine grew bored of Winston and left. 

In stark contrast to Katharine is Julia, Winston's girlfriend. From their earliest moments of their relationship, we see how different Julia is to Katharine: she sends him a note which says 'I love you' and she acts on this feeling when they first meet in the woods: "She had clasped her arms about his neck, she was calling him darling, precious one, loved one." The pair also share a genuine hatred towards the party which they discuss in their meetings. This physical passion and shared interests helped bond Winston and Julia together and create a strong sense of intimacy between them.

To sum up, then, Katharine shied away from intimacy with Winston and only had sexual intercourse with him for the purposes of creating a child. But Julia is very different: she has a genuine love for Winston which binds her to him and which grows as they rebel against the party. In fact, torture is the only means of destroying their sense of intimacy. From that point on, they learn to love Big Brother, instead of each other. 

"What a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive." Explain how these lines from Anne of Green Gables refer to Anne.

In Anne of Green Gables, brother and sister, Marilla and Matthew find themselves the unwitting guardians of Anne Shirley who was sent to them by mistake, instead of a boy whom they had hoped for from the orphanage or "asylum" because a boy would be able to help Matthew. Anne is well known for her dramatic outbursts on many occasions and she uses language not ordinarily associated with a young girl of a lowly station. Her imaginative and sophisticated vocabulary is her way of making life interesting although she talks far more than she should and is often misunderstood by the residents of Avonlea. Anne obsesses over her hair color, because much to her dismay, she is a "redhead" and so she can't "wear pink; not even in (the) imagination."  

In chapter twenty seven, Anne has finally found a way to change her hair to a beautiful "raven" color. However, the dye which she bought from the peddler (a street trader) turns her hair "GREEN" instead, and as it will not wash out, Anne vows to stay home and keep it secret to hide her shame. Anne quotes from Sir Walter Scott's epic poem Marmion as she laments her actions; worried that the townspeople will think she is "not respectable." When Anne says "what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive," she is suggesting that by dying her hair she thought she could fool (deceive) herself and others, but all that she has done is to make her already despised hair color even worse, something Anne thought impossible. In chapter 7, she claims that red hair makes it "easier to be bad than good" and she feels that no-one understands what a burden she carries being a "redhead." Anne thinks, that this is like the first step of the "web" she is weaving and Josie Pye will relish Anne's unhappiness. Anne cannot really trick anyone in her attempts to be "good-looking when I grow up." 

According to The Pearl, what happened to Kino's house in Chapter 5?

Kino’s house is described as made of brush. He, Juana, and Coyotito live a simple life with few material possessions. When he finds the pearl, there are limited places in which to hide it, but he manages to find several spots, burying it in the dirt floor. When he makes his find known, especially when he refuses to sell it to the local pearl dealers, he has set himself up for the probable theft of the pearl. The doctor, the pearl merchants, even the priest, know he has it, and their greed makes it likely that they will try to steal it, which someone tries to do. Kino has killed one person who has attacked him in order to steal the pearl. Juana attempts to throw the pearl away, fearing that it has brought evil into their home. When they are absent, someone has set fire to their hut. The neighbors fear that they family has been burned to death, but they are in hiding in Juan Thomas’s house.

Should a judge in a criminal trial have credibility?

The word "credibility," while not exactly a legal term of art, in the law generally is used to characterize a witness whom the jury believes. When we say a witness has credibility, we mean the witness presents in a way that makes people think the witness is telling the truth. That particular use of the word does not seem applicable as applied to a judge. If we use the word in a larger sense, I would say a judge should have credibility in a criminal trial — or a civil trial, for that matter. 

A judge needs to be credible in his or her capacity as a judge. If we see a judge who is fumbling over legal concepts to make clearly erroneous rulings, who mispronounces words and has poor grammar, or who demonstrates clear partiality to one side or another, we are looking at someone who is not credible as a judge. A judge whose demeanor suggests that the proceedings are a joke or a waste of time does not have credibility as a judge. A judge caught sleeping on the bench loses all credibility. 

A judge's credibility matters a great deal in a country that functions under a rule of law. The judge is an integral part of the legal process, the person we count on to take the proceedings seriously, to guard the rights of the prosecution, the defendant, and the people, to understand the law, to be impartial, and to have a demeanor proper for the situation. If a judge has no credibility, we lose respect for the process, and when people lose respect for the process, it makes them less likely to be willing to live under the rule of law.

There are not enough people available to enforce a rule of law if large numbers of people are no longer willing to consent to be ruled by law. What would constitute a critical mass in this context is unclear, but there is a tipping point after which could come revolution or anarchy.  A failure to believe in government institutions has been responsible for many revolutions, and not just historically; even today, the Egyptian Spring and the civil war in Syria began because citizens doubted their governments. 

The judiciary is a government institution. It must command the respect of the people or fail. One way that respect is commanded is by ensuring there are judges with credibility.  In some states, judges are elected. In others, they are appointed. Either way, judicial candidates are carefully vetted by a state bar association. At the federal level, judges are appointed by the president, and these judges, too, are carefully vetted. Most of the time, people who would not make credible judges do not become judges.

In "The House on Mango Street" by Sandra Cisneros, what are the four most memorable quotes and what is their significance?

She looked out the window her whole life, the way so many women sit their sadness on an elbow.  I wonder if she made the best with what she got or was she sorry because she couldn't be all the things she wanted to be.  Esperanza. I have inherited her name, but I don't want to inherit her place by the window. 

The above quote is not my favorite quote from this story, but it is incredibly memorable.  It's memorable because the imagery of the woman sitting by the window is a reoccurring image throughout the story.  It's not a positive image either.  Esperanza interprets that image as showing how trapped women are in their lives in her neighborhood and her culture.  It's an especially sad quote because of how it foreshadows Sally's future, which ends up being worse.  She is not even allowed to look out of the window.  

Identity is a major theme of the novel, and Esperanza spends a lot of time struggling with her personal identity.  

In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting. It is like the number nine. A muddy color. It is the Mexican records my father plays on Sunday mornings when he is shaving, songs like sobbing.

Esperanza does not like her name, because it singles her out as different.  Non-Hispanics struggle with the name, and she doesn't see it meaning hope at all.  To Esperanza, her name is further cause for her suffering.  

Related to the theme of identity and loneliness that Esperanza feels about her name is this quote:

I would like to baptize myself under a new name, a name more like the real me, the one nobody sees. Esperanza as Lisandra or Maritza or Zeze the X. Yes. Something like Zeze the X will do. 

Like all kids do at some point, Esperanza is playing around with different names.  But Esperanza is serious.  She really, really wants a new name in order to more accurately reflect the person that she believes she is.  

I'll stick to memorable quotes about identity.  The following quote focuses on racial identity.  

All brown all around, we are safe. But watch us drive into a neighborhood of another color and our knees go shakity-shake and our car windows get rolled up tight and our eyes look straight.

Esperanza is acutely aware of her ethnicity, and this quote points out that it affects more than just her.  Many members of her community are aware of their race and feeling different in certain parts of the city.  

Why is the world a messed up place?

This is a matter of personal opinion and different people could give different answers.  My own view is that the world is a “messed up place” because it is inhabited by people and people are, by nature, imperfect.

We human beings are inherently selfish.  We are able to overcome this selfishness in many instances, but it seems to be part of who we are.  Because we are selfish, we tend to try to get what is best for us and for other people that we deem to be “like us.”  By trying to get what is best for us and those like us, we tend to make the world “messed up.”

If you think about the ways in which the world is “messed up,” you can see that they are connected to our selfishness and what could be called our “tribalism.”  Radical Muslims are engaging in terrorism because they want more for people “like them,” which they define as people who share their religious beliefs.  We are putting our planet at risk of global warming because we selfishly want more material goods and we do not really care about what happens to our posterity.  People in Europe and America are unwilling to take in refugees in part because they do not want to spend money on people who are not like them and they do not want people who are not like them in their country.  Essentially any problem that you can identify seems to come back to the fact that we human beings are selfish and tribal.  This (in my view) is why the world is a messed up place and why it always has been a messed up place.

Name three military technologies that changed how World War I was fought.

There were several new military technologies used in World War I. One of these technologies involved the airplane and the use of tracer ammunition. Tracer ammunition, first used by Great Britain, allowed a pilot to see where he was firing. Prior to this development, a pilot could not be sure of where his shots were going.

Another technology that used in World War I was chlorine gas. The Germans used chlorine gas. It had the potential to kill anybody who inhaled it. To counter the use of chlorine gas, the Allied soldiers began to use gas masks.

Other technologies used in World War I included the Zeppelin airship, the tank, and the flamethrower. The Zeppelin airship, used by Germany, could carry thousands of pounds of bombs that could be dropped on the enemy. The flamethrower, also used by Germany, was an invention that allowed a liquid flame to be shot at the enemy. The tank, first used by Great Britain, was a land weapon that moved across difficult terrain while offering more protection to its crew than other methods of fighting such as the use of horses.

These technologies impacted the fighting in World War I. It required each side to make adjustments for the use of these new weapons.

Who attacked Ponyboy in The Outsiders? What kind of car were they driving? What did they threaten to do? What was Ponyboy's reaction? Who rescued...

Ponyboy was attacked by Bob Sheldon and his friends in a blue mustang.  Johnny rescued him by killing Bob.

According to Ponyboy, Socs drive fancy cars and jump greasers for fun.  Bob Sheldon seems to fit the bill.  He attacked Johnny before, and when he pulls up with a car full of friends he attacks Ponboy and Johnny.  Sheldon drives a blue mustang.

When Pony and Johnny are talking to Cherry, the blue mustang drives by and Johnny becomes frightened.  Cherry tells them that it is Bob and Randy.  Bob asks Cherry to listen to him.  Pony realizes that Bob is the one who attacked Johnny before.  He gets a glass bottle to use as a weapon.

Johnny was breathing heavily and I noticed he was staring at the Soc's hand. H was wearing three heavy rings. I looked quickly at Johnny, an idea dawning on me.  remembered that it was a blue Mustang that had pulled up beside the vacant lot and that Johnny's face had been cut up by someone wearing rings... (Ch. 3)

Two-bit does not back down as the Socs insult them.  He says he doesn’t care that they outnumber the greasers.  Cherry does not want a fight though.  She agrees to go with the boys in the car.  Pony tells her he would not have used the broken bottle.  He wants her to understand he is not a bad person.

Pony and Johnny accidentally fall asleep in an empty lot, causing Pony to go home late.  Darry is angry because he was worried something had happened to Pony, and they argue.  Pony talks back to Darry, and Darry slaps him.  Pony runs away, upset.  He finds Johnny, and Johnny does not need an excuse to run away from home.  He is used to being hit.

They go to the park, and that’s where the trouble happens.  The blue mustang returns, and this time Bob is drunk and not backing down. 

It was Randy and Bob and three other Socs, and they recognized us. I knew Johnny recognized them; he was watching the moonlight glint off Bob's rings with huge eyes. (Ch. 4)

Bob is angry about having seen Pony with Soc girls, especially his girlfriend Cherry.  He attacks Pony, telling him he needs a bath.  Johnny kills Bob as he is trying to drown Pony in a fountain.  Johnny had a switchblade, and he used it to protect Pony.

Johnny is horrified by what he has done.  He saved Pony’s life, but he can hardly believe he killed Bob.  Johnny has post-traumatic stress disorder from being jumped by the Socs, and the entire incident was too much for him.  This event is the turning point in both of their lives.

Who do George and Curley seek to control? How do they try to exert power/control over others? Is their reason for exerting power/control good or bad?

In Of Mice and Men, George and Curley show different extremes of control.

George exerts control in order to make life better for he and Lennie. He understands that he represents the thinking for both men.  When he exerts control over Lennie, it is because he knows that Lennie trusts him. We recognize this when George tells Slim about when he was able to make Lennie jump into the Sacramento River simply because he told him to do so.

George knows that his control over Lennie is meant to keep him out of trouble and protect him.  He also knows that their dream of "livin' off the fatta land" is only possible if he is able to control Lennie's actions. Without George, he and Lennie know that disaster is unavoidable. George's exertion of control is only meant for good.  This can be seen in the end of the novella when George has to kill Lennie to prevent him from suffering at the hands of the lynch mob. George often laments about how happy he would be if he did not have to take care of Lennie, proving that his control of Lennie is for good purposes.  

Curley's exertion of control is to demonstrate his own power.  When he first encounters George and Lennie, his control is meant to substantiate his own power.  His insistence on Lennie speaking when he is spoken to is meant to validate his stature.  When he assaults Lennie, it is because he feels that he is losing credibility in the eyes of the other men in the bunkhouse. He uses control for his own ends. Even his continual searching for his wife is a way to exert control over her.  Finally, he organizes the lynch mob against Lennie as a way to wrestle control of the situation. Curley rejects Slim's advice to stay behind to grieve over the loss of his wife because he wants to showcase his control of the situation. It is a way to demonstrate to everyone that he is the source of power.  In all of these cases, Curley uses control for selfish and malevolent ends.

How significant was the Battle of the Somme to the Allies winning the war?

The significance of the Battle of Somme to the Allied effort in World War I is subject to great debate by historians.  The battle did have the effect of moving the line about ten miles in the Allies favor.  Some also argue that because of the casualties suffered by Germany at Somme, the Germans were not capable of winning the war moving forward.  These arguments are considered minority opinions.  The consensus opinion is that the entrance of the United States in the conflict was the greatest factor in Allied victory.  On the battlefield, the Battle of the Marne is considered to be an important turning point in the war.  The Battle of the Somme is viewed as a very costly encounter for both sides that claimed over a half million lives and only netted about 12 kilometers of land for the Allies.

Which words and phrases from the poem best contribute to a sense of setting?

The entire poem paints a beautiful picture, not only the landscape but of the historical milieu. The physical descriptions give us the desolation and emptiness of the mise-en-scene – the trunkless legs, the shattered visage and the pedestal lie in the sand “ in the desert “; “nothing besides remains.” Round these remnants of what once was a statue testament to the builder, Ozymandias, of a now lost civilization; "Around it boundless and bare,/ the lone and level sands stretch far away.”   The italicized lines best contribute to a sense of setting.  The rhythms, the metaphors of ruin, and the hubris of the builder (his boasting revealed by the fact that nothing remains of his empire) all are expressed by the other lines of the poem -- by the "story" implied in the narrative.

What is the proper role of government in times of economic crisis?

There is considerable debate on this question among various economists.

The general mainstream view is called the New Neoclassical Synthesis: Based primarily on the work of John Maynard Keynes, it says that the government has a vital role to play in stabilizing the economy during times of crisis by two basic methods.

The first is monetary policy, the decision of the central bank as to what target interest rates to set, which determines the amount of money in circulation. When the economy is in recession, the central bank should lower interest rates to increase the amount of money in circulation and thereby offset the recession.

The second is fiscal policy, the decision of the government as to how much to spend and how much to take in taxes. During recessions, especially very severe recessions where monetary policy is insufficient, the central bank should run a cyclical deficit, spending more money than they take in taxes, in order to increase the demand for goods and lift the economy out of recession. Then, once full employment is restored, they should balance their budget or even run a surplus in order to pay down the debt they incurred in the recession.

This is the mainstream view, but there are many economists who believe that it is no longer adequate. At the extreme left there are Marxian economists who believe that the government should take a great deal of control over the economy; at the extreme right there are Austrian economists who believe that the government should have almost no involvement in the economy whatsoever. There are also alternative centrist views, such as those that apply insights from behavioral economics to understand the causes of recessions and find better ways to prevent them or respond to them.

What are some arguments for or against the claim that marriage is a private affair?

Although one's personal relationships are a private affair, marriage is more than simply a relationship, as it involves a legal contract between two people. On the one hand, one can argue that the person with whom one chooses to have a relationship is a private choice, as are the terms of that relationship. For example, whether one marries someone of the same or of a different gender, and the race, ethnicity, or religion of one's spouse, is a matter of personal preference. 

There are circumstances where marriage becomes a matter of public interest. The first is where children are involved. The second is the question whether both partners in a marriage are of the age of consent and are freely joining in marriage and are free to end the marriage. Next, the issue of division of property is a public and legal issue. When a couple, especially one with children, divorces, the question of how they will contribute to the care and support of their children is a matter of public interest. 

Thus although much of marriage is a private affair, there are compelling reasons for public input into some of the conditions of marriage and divorce. 

How is color significant in The Giver? What is the true meaning of color?

What's your favorite color? As a matter of fact, what's your favorite movie or TV show? These are questions unknown to the people in The Giver because they don't have these things. People use these questions to get to know another person better; but in Jonas's world, they live under Sameness, a philosophy that eliminates preference. When people have preferences then they act like individuals rather than parts to a communal whole. The whole premise behind the way the community is structured is if preferences are gone, then people will focus more on the success of the community's goals rather than living life for individual dreams or aspirations. 

When Jonas receives memories from the Giver, he is also able to discern between colors. He asks the Giver why everyone can't see colors and the response is as follows:

"Our people made that choice, the choice to go to Sameness. . . We relinquished color when we relinquished sunshine and did away with differences. . . We gained control of many things. But we had to let others go" (95).

From the answer Jonas receives, to the other clues from the text, it seems that color is significant because it leads to people desiring preference. Once people have preferences, then they see that there is a choice; and when they discover the power that comes with making one's own choices, they'll want to choose other things, such as their jobs, families, and dreams. For example, Jonas catches glimpses of Fiona's hair color--red. If he could differentiate between her hair color and another girl's hair, he could start to prefer Fiona to another girl. As a result, he might be tempted to stop taking the pills each day that suppress sensual feelings as well. If everyone in the community preferred one person over another, then people would want to choose their spouses and that's not what the community wants. The community wants to be able to control family units without emotional ties so the ebb and flow of the community will always support Sameness and not individuality.