What is Lexington and Concord and why was it important?

Lexington and Concord were two small towns not far to the northwest of Boston at the time of the Revolutionary War.  There were small battles in each of these towns on April 19, 1775.  These battles were important because they were the first battles of what we now know as the Revolutionary War.

In 1775, the British Army leaders in Boston had heard that the Patriots were storing weapons and gunpowder in Concord.  They had also heard that some Patriot leaders were in Lexington.  They decided to make a foray out to capture the leaders and the gunpowder.  At this time, tensions were clearly high between the British and the colonists, but no military fighting had yet occurred.  When the British Army went to Lexington and Concord, this changed.  Battles were fought at the two towns and the British were harried by American militia members as they returned to Boston.  This fighting is important because it is generally seen as the beginning of the Revolutionary War.

When does Fortunato realize that Montresor plans to harm him?

Fortunato does not realize that Montresor plans to harm him until he has had a little time to sober up. It would appear that he begins to realize the terrible situation he is in at the following point in the story.

I had scarcely laid the first tier of the masonry when I discovered that the intoxication of Fortunato had in a great measure worn off. The earliest indication I had of this was a low moaning cry from the depth of the recess. It was not the cry of a drunken man.

Fortunato has to go over a whole series of incidents in his mind. He met Montresor up on the street. Montresor said he had a pipe of Amontillado he needed to have an expert sample. They came back to Montresor's palazzo together, down the stairs, along some passages--and now he is chained to the granite wall of a narrow niche, and Montresor, whom he thought was his friend, is starting to build a wall. The "low moaning cry" must represent Fortunato's realization that he has been tricked. Montresor has been deceiving him for years and has made a fool of him.

There was then a long and obstinate silence. 

Fortunato, now fully sober, must be feeling the chains, the padlock, and the bolts holding the chains to the rock wall. He is hoping to find a weak spot of some sort. But he wouldn't want to break free as long as Montresor was still there. Montresor might kill him. He is thinking of waiting until Montresor finishes the wall and then breaking the chain or the padlock. The mortar in the wall would still be damp, and he could knock out enough stones to get free of the niche. He is doing everything in silence because he doesn't want Montresor to guess what he is up to..

I laid the second tier, and the third, and the fourth; and then I heard the furious vibrations of the chain.

Fortunato has failed to find any weak place in the chains or padlock. Now he is desperate and starts struggling. It is futile.

A succession of loud and shrill screams, bursting suddenly from the throat of the chained form, seemed to thrust me violently back.

Fortunato is panicked. But he finds out that screaming for help is useless when Montresor starts screaming along with him. They are deep underground. Nobody could possibly hear them.

“Ha! ha! ha!—he! he! he!—a very good joke, indeed—an excellent jest. We will have many a rich laugh about it at the palazzo—he! he! he!—over our wine—he! he! he!”

As a last resort, Fortunato pretends that he believes this is all a practical joke. He is giving Montresor an excuse for changing his mind about killing him. He knows that Montresor might have some misgivings about having been seen with him just before he disappeared. He thinks he can make Montresor believe that he was expected at home that night and people would be out searching for him if he failed to appear. So he tries to plant some fears in Montresor's mind.

“He! he! he!—he! he! he!—yes, the Amontillado. But is it not getting late? Will not they be awaiting us at the palazzo, the Lady Fortunato and the rest? Let us be gone.”

He says "awaiting us" to suggest that many people had observed them together and assumed they were on their way to Fortunato's palazzo. Montresor had previously established that Fortunato was not expected anywhere. He had twice pretended he thought Fortunato had an "engagement," and the second time he had suggested this, Fortunato had said: “I have no engagement;—come.”

So the first indication that Fortunato realizes Montresor is his enemy, not his friend, and that his enemy has him in his power and intends to kill him, is when he utters that "low moaning cry from the depth of the recess." Fortunato never really believes this is a practical joke. He tries desperately to escape and uses psychology as a last resort, but in the end he is left to die. Montresor concludes his narrative with these words:

Against the new masonry I re-erected the old rampart of bones. For the half of a century no mortal has disturbed them. In pace requiescat!

How do Aboriginal residential schools contribute to ethnic discrimination?

Residential School systems contributed to the ethnic discrimination of aboriginal peoples by design. The primary factor was that the schools removed aboriginal children from the influence of their parents and aboriginal communities. In the isolated environment of the school these children could then be forcibly assimilated into the practices of the dominant culture. As the aboriginal cultural practices were viewed as being inferior, this process was viewed as being for the education and benefit of the children.

The schools themselves benefited from very little funding and generally failed to provide the students with a meaningful education. Children were taught skills to prepare them for a life as menial workers and servants, helping to entrench aboriginal peoples as inferior and subservient to members of the dominant culture.

Abuse at such residential schools was common. Emotional and psychological abuse was a prime means by which the aboriginal culture was struck from the children, and physical and sexual abuse was also frequently suffered by the children. The result of this was to ensure that while the children lost their native culture, they did not make the mistake of thinking they were becoming full members of the oppressive culture. They were not to be afforded the full consideration that those born into the dominant culture could rely upon.

All of these factors worked together to ensure that aboriginal children remained distinct from members of the colonizing society, leaving them prime targets for future discriminatory practices as they left the school and attempted to interface with the communities into which they had been forced.

How do the 9th and 10th limit the power of government

I assume that you are asking about the 9th and 10th Amendments to the Constitution of the United States and I have edited your question to reflect this.

The 9th Amendment says that

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

This means that we should not assume that the people do not have a right because that right is not listed in the Constitution.  In other words, it limits the power of government because it says that we should assume that the people have more rights rather than fewer rights.  This means that there are more restrictions on what the government can do to the people.  The more we restrict what the government can do, the more we limit its power.

The 10th Amendment says that

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

This amendment limits the power of the national government more than it limits the power of the government in general.  This amendment was created because people worried that the national government would have too much power and the states would have too little.  The amendment means that powers belong to the states unless the Constitution explicitly says that they do not.  This reduces the power of the national government and increases the power of the states.

Explain why the narrator seems pleased to meet Fortunato in The Cask of Amotillado.

The narrator, Montresor, is extremely pleased to meet Fortunato in the street because, tonight, he plans to exact his revenge on Fortunato for "The thousand injuries" he had done Montresor.  Montresor has come up with a plan and ensured that none of his servants will be home to witness his crime; all that remains is to find Fortunato and lure him into the trap Montresor has set.

This trap relies on Fortunato's one "weak point," his pride, especially the pride he feels in his taste and discernment as a connoisseur of wine.  Montresor, when he sees his nemesis, tells him that he has purchased a pipe (126 gallons) of Amontillado (a dry Spanish sherry) and that he was "silly enough to pay the full Amontillado price without consulting [Fortunato] in the matter."  In other words, he appeals to Fortunato's pride, thus increasing the likelihood that Fortunato will want to help him.  

Montresor goes on to flatter him even more, saying that he will seek out another local wine expert to confirm his purchase because "some fools will have it that his taste is a match for [Fortunato's]."  By calling those people "fools," Montresor implies that he knows that Fortunato's taste is better than this other man's, but by suggesting that he will ask for his assistance any way, Montresor guarantees that Fortunato will want to come in order to prove that his taste is, in fact, better.

Casually "bumping into" Fortunato in the street is the first step to exacting the revenge Montresor has so long desired.

Why were characters from the past brought before Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens?

In A Christmas Carol, author Charles Dickens writes about miserly old Ebenezer Scrooge, who says, "Bah humbug," whenever Christmas is mentioned. To save Scrooge's miserable life, his deceased partner, Jacob Marley, visits Scrooge with a warning and a message that he will soon be visited by three spirits. The first spirit is the Ghost of Christmas Past, who takes Scrooge on a journey of his personal past. Scrooge sees people and events from his past, and they remind him of what once was. He sees himself as a boy--a boy filled with imagination. He sees his sister, Fan, who he had loved so dearly. He sees his former mentor, Fezziwig, who had taught him much and treated him so well. He sees Belle, the girl he loved and would have married if money had not become such an obsession. All of this was done to help Scrooge realize how wonderful and satisfying life could be. The people he loved were generous and kind-hearted. All of the money in the world could not bring happiness the way trusting, loving relationships do. Scrooge needed to see himself through the eyes of the past in order to change, and this is done effectively with the first Ghost.

Why do the Jewish people, in Night by Elie Wiesel, obey those who are obviously intent on destroying them?

Many people today wonder why the Jewish people and others who were taken to concentration camps during the Holocaust did not revolt or fight the Nazis. The truth is that some did (look up Warsaw, for example), but most people just could not fathom what was happening. In Night by Elie Wiesel, we see this up close. Moshe the Beadle is taken away and nearly killed but is able to make his way back to Elie's town of Sighet. When he warns the other people there about what is happening, nobody believes him. Such horrors just could not register with the people. In Germany, when Hitler first came to power, he made all of the Jews register with the government. They did it because their government told them to do it, and they had no reason to believe their registration would be used against them. The events of the Holocaust were unprecedented. Another reason had to do with the Jewish faith. The Jewish people believed God would protect them. Some Jews kept that faith throughout the horrors they endured, while others, like Elie Wiesel, completely gave up on God.

"Why, but why should I bless Him? In every fiber I rebelled. Because He had had thousands of children burned in His pits? Because He kept six crematories working night and day, on Sundays and feast days? Because in His great might He had created Auschwitz, Birkenau, Buna, and so many factories of death?" (Wiesel 64)

Elie, like so many others, wished he had done something differently--wished his father had done something differently, but they just did not know what was coming.

In "Once Upon a Time," what do the changes to the neighborhood, including Gordimer's description of the "prison architecture," suggest about...

The changes to the neighborhood are multitudinous, and grow larger throughout the course of the story. In the beginning, the family is described as follows:

They were inscribed in a medical benefit society, their pet dog was licensed, they were insured against fire, flood damage and theft, and subscribed to the local Neighborhood Watch, which supplied them with a plaque for their gates lettered YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED over the silhouette of a would-be intruder.

These precautions are not particularly overdone: like the fence around the swimming pool, they serve a practical purpose. Most people have insurance, most people license their pets, many people subscribe to a neighborhood watch program—but the plaque adds an element of concern and foreshadowing. Unnecessarily antagonistic, it speaks not to pragmatism but to fear.

As the story continues, the neighborhood’s changes are driven less by reasonable precautions and more by fear. Security is paramount—it is the reason behind the electronically controlled gates and burglar alarms—but it quickly becomes evident that the security measures are ineffective. The alarms in particular are too easily triggered, often by pets or mice, and so:

The alarms called to one another across the gardens in shrills and bleats and wails that everyone soon became accustomed to, so that the din roused the inhabitants of the suburb no more than the croak of frogs and musical grating of cicadas' legs. Under cover of the electronic harpies' discourse intruders sawed the iron bars and broke into homes, taking away hi-fi equipment, television sets, cassette players, cameras and radios, jewelry and clothing, and sometimes were hungry enough to devour everything in the refrigerator or paused audaciously to drink the whiskey in the cabinets or patio bars.

Alarms are so named for a reason: they should shock people into realizing that something is wrong, so for them to be no more alarming than a cicada’s song means they have failed in their purpose. Adding insult to injury, the thieves actually take advantage of the noise to steal more. If the inhabitants of the neighborhood were more practical, they would realize the alarms have done far more harm than good. Instead, they keep the alarms and search for additional security measures. The very devices that they rely upon to keep them safe have quite obviously made them more vulnerable; at this point, it becomes evident that fear has overtaken reason. This pattern continues to escalate until the family’s son is caught in barbed wire and dies.

The story speaks of fear, just as the narrator’s frame does. Gordimer notes that “I have no burglar bars, no gun under the pillow, but I have the same fears as people who do take these precautions,” and proceeds to spin a story about how physical protection is no deterrent to fear. This fear leads to a mindset in which security is the only worthy value: worth more than empathy, as can be seen when the wife stops feeding people on the street; worth more than practicality or reason or pleasure; and, ultimately, worth more than their son’s life.

In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, how does Jem break the remaining code of childhood?

In Chapter 14, Jem broke the remaining code of childhood by telling Atticus that Dill had run away from home and was hiding under Scout's bed. As Scout was climbing into bed, she stepped on something that she thought was a snake. Scout beckoned Jem to come and check it out. Jem grabbed a broom and began to poke underneath Scout's bed. Surprisingly, Dill emerged from under the bed. Scout and Jem were shocked to see Dill, and he told them a made-up story about how he escaped from his parent's basement in Meridian. Jem then made Dill tell them how he truly traveled to Maycomb. Dill said that he took $13 from his mother, rode a train, then walked the rest of the way to Maycomb. Jem displayed his maturity and growth by telling Atticus that Dill had run away from Meridian. Scout and Dill were upset at Jem for telling Atticus. Scout mentioned that Jem looked like a "traitor" and that she and Dill did not speak to Jem when they left the room.

Name and describe three methods of treating raw sludge, and give the end product that may be produced from each method.

Sludge is a byproduct of many industrial or refining processes. Sludge is mostly water with lesser amounts of solid particles. It has a viscous consistency that is thick, wet, and mud-like.

Thickening is often the first step is treating raw sludge. Thickening is meant to reduce the volume of water in the sludge. It is carried out in a sedimentation tank or pool. Sludge contains toxins. Thickening increases the toxin concentration within the solid particles left behind from the process.

Sludge solids can be treated via anaerobic respiration or incineration. Anaerobic respiration is used to digest sludge in the absence of oxygen via the use of bacteria. Incineration is the burning of the sludge. Incineration of sludge often utilizes hearth incinerators. Anaerobic respiration and incineration of sludge may produce methane gas.

In the presence of oxygen, bacteria may also be used to digest sludge via aerobic respiration. In this process, carbon dioxide is produced.

Please provide arguments and quotes explaining why Romeo was correct in killing Tybalt and why he shouldn't be punished. Also provide arguments...

It's difficult to make the case that any of the characters in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet deserve to die. The two who die first, Mercutio and Tybalt, may deserve it the most because of their aggressive attitudes about the feud. It is obviously a matter of interpretation as to whether Tybalt warrants killing by Romeo. Arguments can be made on both sides. 

Romeo should go unpunished because Tybalt is antagonistic and stubborn. When he enters Act I, Scene 1, he threatens to kill Benvolio for no good reason other than Benvolio's name. Benvolio is simply trying to keep the servants of the two families from fighting in the streets of Verona. Tybalt challenges Benvolio. He says,

What, drawn and talk of peace? I hate the word
As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee.
Have at thee, coward!

Later at Lord Capulet's party he overhears Romeo and flies into a rage, fully intending on disrupting the party by fighting his perceived foe, even though Romeo is there with peaceful intent. In Act I, Scene 5, he says,

Fetch me my rapier, boy.
What, dares the slave
Come hither covered with an antic face
To fleer and scorn at our solemnity?
Now, by the stock and honor of my kin,
To strike him dead I hold it not a sin.

He feels it is his right to kill any Montague he comes across. After being dissuaded from fighting at the party by Lord Capulet he sends a letter to Romeo challenging him. 

In Act III, Scene 1, Tybalt is again the troublemaker as he comes upon Mercutio and Benvolio on the streets. His challenge is for Romeo but he is also willing to clash with Mercutio when the time is right. He says,

You shall find me apt enough to that, sir, an
you will give me occasion.

When Romeo shows up, Tybalt is not satisfied when the son of Montague backs down. Romeo, unknown to anyone else in the scene, has just married Juliet and won't engage Tybalt. Tybalt, not satisfied, continues to press for a fight. He says,

Boy, this shall not excuse the injuries
That thou hast done me. Therefore turn and draw.

After Mercutio is killed, Tybalt initially runs away but, because of his belligerent nature, returns to the scene and is perfectly willing to fight Romeo, who feels it is his duty to avenge his friend. Tybalt says,

Thou wretched boy that didst consort him here
Shalt with him hence.

Tybalt could have acted differently. Unfortunately, his anger and love of fighting got the best of him. Romeo is within his rights to kill him and should not be punished.

An opposing argument could also be made:

Tybalt doesn't deserve to die because he never intended to kill Mercutio. The two are engaged in sword play when Romeo tries to stop them, causing Mercutio to be stabbed under Romeo's arm. He bears no ill will toward Mercutio and tries to avoid fighting Mercutio when Romeo shows up. He says, in Act III, Scene 1, 

Well, peace be with you, sir. Here comes my man.

As he is dying Mercutio confirms that it was Romeo's fault that Tybalt stabbed him. He says, 

Why the devil came you between us?

I was hurt under your arm.

Mercutio blames both Tybalt and Romeo for his death as he utters the famous lines cursing the Montagues and Capulets:

A plague o’ both your houses!

Zounds, a dog, a rat, a mouse, a cat, to scratch a man to death!

Finally, it may be said that although Tybalt is quarrelsome he also has redeeming qualities and is loved by the Capulet family. These feelings are expressed by the Nurse in Act III, Scene 2. She says,

O Tybalt, Tybalt, the best friend I had!
O courteous Tybalt, honest gentleman,
That ever I should live to see thee dead!

The banishment of Romeo is totally fair. In fact, he is getting off easy because the Prince had said in Act I that the death penalty would be levied for fighting in the street after the brawl which opens the play. Romeo didn't need to killed Tybalt and should be relieved at the Prince's verdict.

Do you think the young man's appearance helped him to win the confidence of Gortsby in "Dusk"?

The fact that the young man who sits by Gortsby is well dressed certainly lends credibility to his story of being on what seems to be a business trip, and his unfamiliarity with London. It also piques Gortsby's interest in listening to this young man, but it is doubtful that this cynical and skeptical listener is impressed enough to afford the young man much credibility. 

Gortsby probably gives an ear to the young man's story because of his rationale for visiting the park at dusk:

The scene pleased Gortsby and harmonised with his present mood. Dusk, to his mind, was the hour of the defeated.

Gortsby is an observer of human nature, particularly the "defeated," among whom he counts himself as one, although his defeat is not the prevalent one of financial failure. Also, he seems to take a certain perverse delight in observing the misery of others, and he may derive some pleasure in feeling superior to them. Thus, he listens to the young man's tale until he detects a weakness in its credibility as the younger is not in possession of the soap that he has claimed to have purchased. After this discovery, Gortsby is disappointed in the young man and is able to demonstrate his acumen by making a quick, good judgement.  

According to Jared Diamond in Guns, Germs, and Steel, what are the eight prerequisites for turning a wild plant into a domesticate?

The answer to this question can be found in Chapter 7 of Guns, Germs, and Steel.  There, Diamond describes a number of criteria that make it more likely that a plant will be domesticated.

The first criterion is size. If a plant has larger fruit, it is likelier to be domesticated because people will be able to get more food for a given amount of effort as they picked the food.  The second criterion is taste.  Plants that taste good are likely to be selected by people and domesticated.  Then, on p.119, Diamond introduces a few more criteria.  He says that plants are more likely to be domesticated if they have fruit that is very fleshy or has few seeds.  He says they are more likely to be domesticated if they have oily seeds or if they have long fibers (for making into cloth). 

After that, the criteria are less obvious.  Diamond says that plants can only be domesticated if they do not have good mechanisms for dispersing their seeds.  He says that some seeds have mechanisms that prevent them from all germinating at the same time.  These kinds of plants would not be good for domesticating because their seeds would not all germinate at the same time and be mature at the same time.  These are the criteria that are the prerequisites for domesticating wild plants.

In A Christmas Carol how did Scrooge change when his girlfriend left him and how did their relationship change?

The Ghost of Christmas Past shows Ebenezer an encounter with Belle, his former fiancee.  In the memory, Belle breaks off her engagement to Scrooge, citing the fact that love of money has overtaken the love and passion that he previously felt for her.  The scene then cuts to a more recent Christmas, which a now-older Belle is sharing with her husband and family.  She tells her family about her former romance with Scrooge.  Her husband mentions that Scrooge is now all alone in the world, as his partner, Marley, is gone, and Scrooge has no one else.  Both episodes are hard for Ebenezer to take, and he subsequently begs the Ghost of Christmas Past to take him back to his home.

Does bond length affect bond angle?

Yes, for fundamental geometric reasons. If you have three atoms bonded in a triangle, and you make one of those bonds longer, you will make the corresponding bond angle larger.

That said, it doesn't always matter. If you have two atoms bonded to a third but not bonded to each other (e.g. H2O), changing the bond length wouldn't have much effect on the bond angle, because the geometry has no need to change.

In general, bond length is a more stable property than bond angle.

Bond length depends primarily on the two atoms being bonded (and whether it is a single, double, or triple bond), rather than on the structure of the molecule as a whole. This is why bond length is considered a transferable property; you can in effect "transfer" the bond length of say a C-H bond to other molecules with C-H bonds (a C-H bond is typically about 110 picometers, if you're curious). In practice, the transfer is not exact; there are still ways that the bond length can change as a result of the structure of the overall molecule, but as a general rule bond lengths are fairly consistent.

Bond angles, on the other hand, can vary tremendously, and are much more dependent on the structure of the molecule as a whole. There is no such thing as a "typical angle for a C-H bond"; it depends on what molecule that C-H bond is in.

We can often estimate the bond angle based on valence shell electron pair repulsion (VSEPR), which is based on the assumption that valence electrons will repel each other by electrostatic force, and seek an equilibrium that minimizes the repulsion. Of course, the real world is always more complicated, and the true structure of molecules deviates from VSEPR due to the wild world of quantum mechanics.

How significant was the domino theory as a reason for U.S. involvement in the conflict in Vietnam? Please provide 3 secondary sources that show a...

The domino theory stated that once Communism began to spread in one country, it would also spread to adjacent countries, and then more and more countries until it took over the world, as one domino knocks over the next, which knocks over the next, until they're all down. On this vision, Communism is something like a virus which spreads on contact. (This isn't as crazy as it sounds; ideas behave like mind-viruses in many respects.)

Most historians think that the domino theory was very important in motivating the decision to fight in the Vietnam War (which was never technically a war, actually; it was considered a "police action" under the law so that it didn't have to be approved by Congress). It definitely featured heavily in the public justifications for the war; most Americans did not consider Vietnam particularly important per se (it was sort of a backwater country many Americans had never even heard of), but the fear that losing Vietnam might mean losing the rest of Southeast Asia or even spreading Chinese Communism into Japan and India was highly motivating.

There are some, however, who believe that the domino theory was not the primary motivation for the Vietnam War and was more like an excuse the government used to garner support. This is not a very popular view among mainstream historians.

Which character poses a threat to Macbeth but escapes an assassination attempt?

There also is another character who poses a threat to Macbeth who escapes assassination and that is Banquo's son, Fleance. After the surrender of Norway in Act One, when Banquo and Macbeth are returning from battle, they encounter the witches who give each man future predictions.  They prophesy that Macbeth will become Thane of Cawdor and then King of Scotland. For Banquo they say, "Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none" (I. iii.). 

The word "get" here is short for the word "beget," which means "to generate offspring."  Banquo's son and the future males of his bloodline will be Kings of Scotland.  This is in fact true because the real life James I, King of England and Scotland, for whom Shakespeare wrote the play, was descended from Banquo and Fleance.

After Duncan bestows the thaneship of Cawdor of Macbeth because the former Cawdor was a traitor who has been executed, and after Macbeth murders Duncan to ascend to the throne, he is upset that he has no heir and that Banquo's children will inherit the title.  To Macbeth, this means he has damned himself for someone else's family bloodline.

He says: "If 't be so,
For Banquo's issue have I filed my mind;
For them the gracious Duncan have I murder'd;
Put rancours in the vessel of my peace
Only for them; and mine eternal jewel
Given to the common enemy of man,
To make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings!" (III. i).

In order to right this wrong, Macbeth directs the murderers to not only kill Banquo, but also Banquo's only son.  During the attack in the forest however, Fleance escapes and his dying father tells him, "Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly!
Thou mayst revenge" (III. iii). 

Even though Fleance is but a young boy, he is still alive and therefore can reestablish his family bloodline.  The reader is unsure of whether Fleance knows that the men who have murdered his father have been hired by Macbeth. But the upshot is the same.  This is confirmed by the witches when Macbeth goes to see them in Act Four and they show him a line of eight kings all descended from Banquo.

Why didn't Laurie's mom realize that Laurie was really Charles in Shirley Jackson's short story "Charles"?

Shirley Jackson is most widely known for her chilling short story "The Lottery" but she also wrote the very charming, and in some ways disturbing, short story "Charles."

From the beginning of the story Laurie is portrayed as quite a rude and obnoxious little boy:

"At lunch he spoke insolently to his father, spilled his baby sister’s milk, and remarked that his teacher said we were not to take the name of the Lord in vain."

When asked about his first year in school Laurie can only talk about "Charles," who is always getting in trouble and bringing the wrath of the kindergarten teacher. Laurie has really invented Charles because he does not want to admit he has been acting out in school. Unfortunately, Laurie's mom never dreams that Laurie could actually be the class bully. She is obviously in a state of denial over the behavior of her son. She can only see "my sweet-voiced nursery-school tot" and not the boy that could "hit the teacher."

Throughout the story Jackson uses foreshadowing to show us that Laurie is not a well behaved child and the situational irony at the end of the story probably comes as no surprise to the reader. Of course, Laurie's mother may be shocked to learn that there is no Charles. She has not been able to recognize the evidence that her son is a brat because she loves him dearly and sometimes people fail to recognize the negative in those that are closest to them. 

Can you help me with my graduation research paper??

Your graduation research paper should demonstrate your mastery of all your education to date: your control of the essay format (strong thesis statement, sound research and organizational techniques, etc.), your understanding of taxonomy, your control of the technical terms in your discipline, your ability to find order in random events/facts, etc. Think of this paper as your letter of introduction to college entrance, your model example of your potential intellectual potential. As such it should have these features: subject matter should be in your specialty/major, structure should be sound, grammar and other mechanics must be flawless. But most importantly, you must start with a unique idea, an ambitious proposition whose very originality makes your work stand out on first reading (what in pop culture is called a “wow” factor).

`sin(x + pi/6) - sin(x - (7pi)/6) = sqrt(3)/2` Find all solutions of the equation in the interval `[0, 2pi).`

Use the formula of difference of sinuses

`sin(a)-sin(b)=2sin((a-b)/2)cos((a+b)/2)`

and obtain

`2sin((2pi)/3)cos(x-pi/2)=sqrt(3)/2,`

or `2*sqrt(3)/2*cos(x-pi/2)=sqrt(3)/2,`

or `cos(x-pi/2)=1/2.`

The general solution is `x-pi/2=+-pi/3+2kpi,` or `x=pi/2+-pi/3+2kpi.`

The solutions on the interval `[0, 2pi)` are `x=(5pi)/6` and `x=pi/6.`

When an ecologist warns that we are using up irreplaceable natural resources and an economist rejoins that ingenuity and enterprise will find...

Under the given circumstances, the basic assumption is that the forces of scarcity and supply and demand will be in play. When the ecologist states that we are using up irreplaceable resources, it means that such resources are scarce and in limited quantity and cannot be replaced. Anything that is scarce and limited in quantity will eventually run out, depending on our rate of consumption. Hence the supply of such sources is limited, and, as the supply diminishes (while the demand stays steady or increases), the price of the commodity will increase. Over time, the continuous increase in price will force companies and consumers to looks for and accept alternatives that are relatively cheaper. Hence, price rise will force ingenuity and enterprise to find suitable alternatives. An example is petroleum. We have a limited quantity of it and the supply is going to run out some time in future. Given the oil crisis and rising fuel prices, scientists and businesses came out with solar power and wind energy and we are embracing them as possible alternatives to the petroleum oil.

Hope this helps. 

Who is the narrator in this story? What is the point of view? (First or third person)

The narrator in "The Scarlet Ibis" is the brother of William Armstrong, later called Doodle. This story is told from first person point of view because the brother narrates and uses "I" when he relates what occurs.

In "The Scarlet Ibis" by James Hurst, there is much that the reader learns about the brother because of his role as narrator. Certainly, he is quite different from Doodle: He is a healthy, able boy, and because Doodle is frail and cannot do normal activities, the narrator is embarrassed by him. Yet, he feels that by renaming Doodle, he was kind "because nobody expects much from someone called Doodle." However, as the narrator himself reveals, he really does expect things from Doodle: He wants Doodle to walk, to swim, to row a boat, even to run because, as he confesses, he is a "slave" to his pride.

Sadly, the narrator realizes that pride

...is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death.

For, once he has taught Doodle to walk, he begins to believe in "my own infallibility." This belief becomes the narrator's tragic flaw because he demands too much of Doodle, and the weakened boy tries to keep up with his brother in a storm, but his fragile heart gives out. His "streak of cruelty" in making Doodle push himself has killed his brother.

In what chapter of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird does Scout say the following: Don’t see how any jury could convict on what we heard and...

In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, it is actually Jem, not Scout, who says the following to Reverend Sykes toward the end of Chapter 21, approximately 3 or 4 pages from the end:

[Atticus] is not supposed to lean, Reverend, but don't fret, we've won it ... Don't see how any jury could convict on what we heard--." (Ch. 21)

Jem says the above to Reverend Sykes while sitting in the colored balcony in the courtroom as they wait for the jury to return with its verdict. While they wait, Jem and Reverend Sykes discuss the trial. Scout, Jem, and Dill had just returned to the courtroom after having gone back to the Finch house for their evening meal. Jem is eager to find out from Reverend Sykes what he had missed. Reverend Sykes gives his own description of the portion of Atticus's closing remarks that the children had missed. According to Reverend Sykes, Atticus's closing remarks were "mighty fair-minded," and it seemed to Reverend Sykes that Atticus had leaned in favor of acquitting Tom Robinson during his closing remarks.

Jem's response to Reverend Sykes shows his naive confidence in the court and jury system. Jem knows full well that all evidence revealed in the case was only circumstantial evidence, and all pointed toward the guilt of Bob Ewell and the innocence of Tom Robinson. Yet, Reverend Sykes must warn Jem not to be overly confident, saying to Jem one of the more important lines in the book that underscores the theme of racial prejudice:

Now don't you be so confident, Mr. Jem, I ain't ever seen any jury decide in favor of a colored man over a white man. (Ch. 21)

When the jury returns with its guilty verdict, proving Reverend Sykes correct in his doubts, Jem is shaken to the core because he now sees mankind's true capabilities of having an evil nature. Jem becomes so angered by the unjust verdict that he behaves very differently throughout the rest of the book and must reach new conclusions about mankind.

What rumours have spread about Betty in The Crucible, and who is responsible for the rumours?

It actually isn't Betty, Reverend Parris's young daughter, about whom rumors are spread; it is Abigail, his seventeen year-old "strikingly beautiful niece."  Parris asks her, in Act One, if her name "is entirely white [in the town]."  What he means by this is that he's heard that she is not known to be entirely innocent and pure, as an unmarried Puritan woman ought to be.  Further, he says,

Abigail, is there any other cause than you have told me, for your being discharged from Goody Proctor's service?  I have heard it said, and I tell you as I heard it, that she comes so rarely to the church this year for she will not sit so close to something soiled.

In other words, it sounds as though Elizabeth Proctor, the wife of Abigail's former lover, John Proctor, or someone who suspects what occurred between Abigail and John is talking.  It seems unlikely to me that it is Elizabeth spreading rumors about Abigail based on what we learn of her character later.  She wouldn't wish to soil or tarnish her own husband's name by speaking of his infidelity.  However, someone must have some suspicion about Abigail and John's affair because, as Parris says, it's been seven months since Elizabeth Proctor fired Abigail and no other family has inquired about hiring her.  This person assumes that Elizabeth comes rarely to church because she wouldn't want to be near someone as morally corrupt as Abigail.  However, we learn, in Act Two, that Elizabeth has rarely been to church this year because she's been ill.  Later, in Act Three, we learn that Elizabeth Proctor never lies; her husband testifies that she cannot lie when he is in the courtroom speaking to Danforth.  Therefore, it seems most likely that it is someone else -- not Elizabeth -- who spreads the rumors about Abigail.

But, of course, Abigail blames Elizabeth for the rumors.  She says, "My name is good in the village!  I will not have it said my name is soiled!  Goody Proctor is a gossiping liar!"  She has strong incentive to hate Elizabeth, the woman who is married to the man she loves, and the woman who dismissed her from their service, thereby separating her from him.  Further, Abigail is so vitriolic and the evidence is stacked against her, so we can discern, even at this early stage, that she is lying about her name (and also, likely, who is doing the rumor-spreading).

What is the theme of the short story "The Lottery Ticket"?

The theme of "The Lottery Ticket" by Anton Chekhov is the insidiously exciting but destructive nature of envy and desire for material possessions. 

In the exposition of Chekhov's story, Ivan Dmitritch and his wife Masha are quite content with the existing economic state in which they reside. But, when his wife mentions that she is in possession of a lottery ticket and her number may be in the newspaper this day, things begin to change. Ivan Dmitritch looks in the paper and discovers that his wife's series number matches the series number posted in the paper. "'Masha, 9,499 is there!' he said in a hollow voice." She, too, becomes excited just to know that part of their number matches the winning one for 75,000:

[T]o torment and tantalize oneself with hopes of possible fortune is so sweet, so thrilling!

Ivan Dmitritch tells his wife how he would like to purchase property and pay the immediate expenses, purchase new furnishings, engage in some travel, and make payment of all debts. He would save perhaps 40,000 in the bank and draw interest on it. Further, he engages in a more detailed reverie of how he would spend his days while his wife merely repeats absently "Yes, it would be nice to buy an estate," but seems to have her own thoughts as he develops his. In addition, he decides that he would like to travel abroad and visit various interesting places in Europe and enjoy the company of cosmopolitan people.

Suddenly, it occurs to him that his wife would not be interested in such travel, perhaps complaining that the train's rumblings make her head ache as she clutches her many parcels as they make their journeys. He reflects,

"She would only be in my way. I should be dependent upon her. I can fancy how, like a regular woman, she will lock the money up as soon as she gets it.... She will look after her relations and grudge me every farthing."

As he engages in these thoughts about her relatives, those "wretched detestable people," Masha's thoughts move in another direction as she considers that her husband will desire to grab all her winnings.

Now they look at each other with hatred and anger. As though out of spite, Ivan Dmitritch grabs the newspaper and turns to the page that has the other number. It is not hers. Suddenly, both their hopes and their sprouting hatred for each other disappear. But their home seems to appear differently to the husband and wife as a certain discontent settles upon them now because

...their rooms were dark and small and low-pitched, ...the supper they had been eating was not doing them good, but lying heavy on their stomachs, ...the evenings were long and wearisome.

In an ill-humor, Ivan Dmitritch looks around in discontent and complains of the condition of their rooms. He shouts that he is forced to go out. Rising, he curses and threatens to hang himself on the aspen tree.

His desire for more has changed the appearance of his life, his home.  His prospects pale in comparison to the greedy imaginings of just a short while ago as the seeds of envy for wealth and material possessions have consumed him.

The following question refers to “A Christmas Memory” by Truman Capote. Toward the end of the story, Buddy is separated from his friend....

In Truman Capote’s “A Christmas Memory” Buddy is separated from his friend when the adults decide it would be best for him to attend military school. The unidentified adults, under the guise of doing what is best for Buddy, send him off to both military school and summer camps.

Life separates us. Those who Know Best decide that I belong in a military school. And so follows a miserable succession of bugle-blowing prisons, grim reveille-ridden summer camps. I have a new home too. But it doesn't count. Home is where my friend is, and there I never go.

In essence, Buddy and his friend are separated physically, but remain connected emotionally because they frequently exchange letters with each other. Buddy’s friend shares stories of home and of Queenie, the dog. As his friend ages she confuses Buddy with her old friend who passed away years before their friendship began. Her old friend was also called Buddy, and her written thoughts become muddled between the two friends. One day at military school Buddy receives word of her death and that is when he realizes the two are apart forever. 

Discuss the art of storytelling from the perspective of Giovanni Boccaccio's Decameron, specifically his "Day 1 story 1" excerpt. How does the...

Boccaccio displays the art of storytelling impeccably in The Decameron; written primarily for the female reader of his time, his stories aim to provide necessary diversion for those members of his audience who pine away 'within the narrow confines of their bedchambers.'

The setting for the stories center on Italian life during the Black Plague of 1348. Boccaccio lays the framework for his stories by delineating the adventures of seven young women and three young men who flee plague-ridden Florence for a villa on the outskirts of the city. There, the group plan to wait out the duration of the disease while telling stories and engaging in favorite pastimes.

So, Boccaccio sets up his story skilfully by:

1)Noting the climate of fear the Plague occasioned during its time (he does this in the introduction before the first story on Day 1); his audience is sure to understand and appreciate a reality they will have experienced to some degree.

2)Giving voice to the superstitious beliefs of his readers. Is the plague a judgment sent from God?

3)Starting out the story on Day 1 with a very male and very licentious character. Portraying a man in a patriarchal society in such poor light is a sly stroke of genius, sure to ignite the interest of female readers who are probably more prone to hearing about the moral failings of women.

In other words, Boccaccio knows his audience. Being a successful story teller hinges on this knowledge. So, Boccaccio spends a whole page regaling his readers about 'what sort of a man' our protagonist, Ciappelletto is. He builds interest by portraying a well-rounded character his female readers can invest their emotions in. In all, Ciappelletto appears to be the worst sort of scoundrel a decent woman can encounter in 14th Century Italy. Hence, the charm of it all.

What's more, Ciappelletto is engaged in a mission of the utmost secrecy and violence on behalf of one Musciatto. While on this mission, Ciappelletto falls ill in the home of two Florentine brothers he is lodging with. The brothers are equal parts despairing and incensed when they find out that the unscrupulous Ciappelletto is close to death. They can't throw the rogue out without inviting a reputation for indecency and they know that no self-respecting priest would move to absolve Ciappelletto of his myriad sins. Furthermore, a decent church would more than likely reject the body for burial on their sacred grounds. The brothers reason that Ciappelletto's body would then be thrown into a ditch somewhere, and everyone would blame them for a vulgar display of manners. Either way, few attractive options remain open to the brothers.

At this point, Boccaccio has our interest piqued. What's going to happen to Ciappelletto? Can a man who has lived such an evil life obtain grace in his last moments? Boccaccio answers this question by having his protagonist engage in one last, despicable act of deception. In order to obtain the sacrament of last rites and a proper burial, Ciappelletto weaves a tangled web of tall tales to deceive the gullible friar the Florentine brothers have engaged for their guest's final purpose.

Ciappelleto does such a great job convincing the hapless, old priest of his moral supremacy that the priest (on behalf of the church) consents to accept his body for burial after death. The irony will not be lost on Boccaccio's female audience when they read of how the friar

...preached a sermon about him (Ciappelletto) and his life, coming out with the most wonderful facts about his fasts, his virginity, his simple innocence and holiness...

Whether one becomes indignant or merely amused at hearing about Ciappelletto's false 'integrity and purity,' the response will almost surely be a visceral one. That's how good story-tellers hold the attention of their audience.

In the end, Ciappelletto becomes known as a great saint, who penitents can invoke to come to their aid in time of need.

Many are the miracles, it is said, that God has performed through him and continues to perform for those who devoutly commend themselves to him.

Like a good story-teller, Boccaccio does not leave his readers in doubt about one thing:

...we should recognize the immensity of God's goodness towards us for, regardless of our error, He looks only at the purity of our faith and hears our prayer even when we choose one of His enemies for mediator, mistaking him for a friend of God...

Here, Boccaccio affirms the faith of his readers; he shows respect for the prevailing customs and beliefs of his time. In this, he skilfully joins the ranks of the best story-tellers in the lexicon of world literature.

In The Crucible, Abigail Williams was selfish and accused other people of witchcraft. What are some quotes showing she did this?

There are a couple of factors that motivated Abigail's behavior as portrayed in the play. First, she knew she might get into trouble for engaging in dancing and other activities in the woods (conjuring spirits, etc.), and that if she accused others of having bewitched her it would transfer the blame onto them. Secondly, she thinks that if she can somehow remove Elizabeth Proctor from the picture, John Proctor will fall in love with her and rekindle their affair, as she hopes to marry him. Her obsession with Proctor motivates her to accuse Elizabeth of witchcraft.

Abigail is emboldened by her position of power as an official of the court, and sees her self as a sort of martyr figure. In Act II, Scene 2, the longest courtroom scene, Justice Danforth suggests she might be deluded, and she answers:

"I have been hurt, Mister Danforth; I have seen my blood runnin‘ out! I have been near to murdered every day because I done my duty pointing out the Devil‘s people—and this is my reward? To be mistrusted, denied, questioned like a... "

When he tries to reassure her that he does not mistrust her, she speaks boldly, trying to impugn his authority: 

"Let you beware, Mister Danforth—think you to be so mighty that the power of Hell may not turn your wits?!— beware of it!"

She then begins to act as if a cold wind has entered the courtroom, and then, as Reverend Hale begins to state that he doubts her honesty, she pretends she sees a yellow bird on the rafters, which she thinks is a familiar sent by Mary Warren to attack her (Mary had earlier decided, at the insistence of John Proctor, to tell the truth in court about how the girls were only play-acting). She tries to declare her duty to God in accusing others.

"Oh, Mary, this is a black art to change your shape. No, I cannot, I cannot stop my mouth; it‘s God‘s work I do...". 

The other girls (Susannah and Mercy) join in on the game and the Justice is convinced that she is being bewitched. Finally Mary can't take it any more, and in order to be put back in Abigail's good graces, she turns on John Proctor, accusing him of being in league with the devil. Because Proctor has earlier confessed to committing adultery with Abigail, humiliating her, she allows Mary to condemn him. It becomes clear how selfish and mean-spirited her motivations are, because she ultimately only wants to protect herself, even if it costs others their lives.

What affects did racism have on Scout in the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird?

Racism affects Scout's character in several ways throughout the novel. Scout is forced to confront individuals such as Cecil Jacobs, Francis Harris, and Mrs. Dubose whose blatant racist remarks force Scout to defend her father. At the beginning of the novel, Scout's quick temper gets the best of her when others call her father a "nigger lover." As Scout matures, she is able to control her emotions when dealing with racist individuals. Racism alters Scout's perception of humanity. Throughout the novel, Scout witnesses the negative effects that racism has on individuals such as Tom Robinson and Dolphus Raymond. Scout develops the ability to question why some individuals like Miss Gates, can condemn the persecution of the Jews, yet support prejudice in the Maycomb community. Scout's moral development is shaped by her direct experience with the racism found in Maycomb County.

What is the significance of Shakespeare's presentation of magic, madness, fairy folklore, and the resolution of conflict in A Midsummer Night's Dream?

1. Magic: Shakespeare uses "magic" in the play to represent the inexplicable events that seem to occur in the lives of human beings for no apparent reason. Magic "explains" the state of mental and emotional chaos that typifies the state of being in love.

2. Madness: Madness is the outward manifestation, in this play, of the unstable conditions existing within those who have fallen under Cupid's influence. Theseus compares the "madness" of love to the madness of poets, thereby defining love as a state of creativity that is out of the ordinary.

3. Fairy Folklore: In Elizabethan England, there was a rich tradition of fairy stories and tales, particularly among country folk. Shakespeare appealed to this tradition for the pleasure of these people and in order to explain the state of otherworldliness experienced by people who have fallen in love.

4. Resolution of Conflict: Shakespeare uses all the above devices like an alchemist's mortar and pestle, in which all the lovers are tumbled about until, because of these devices acting on them, all obstructions to true love are ground away and love is victorious. This is typical of his romantic comedies. Love always wins in the end.

Can plastic be part of the soil? If it can't, why? If it can, how?

In a word, no.  You might as well ask "Can a person eat and digest plastic?"  In any event the answer to both questions would be no, since plastic is not an organic substance, meaning it is not composed of living things, or at the very least, the remains of living things.  Soil is a composite mix of nonliving things, such as rocks, minerals, and water, with living things, such as plants and animals.  It tends to take on the character of the biodegradable substances it contains, such as dead animals, dead plants, fecal residue, fertilizers, both organic and commercial.  Plastic may be used with the soil to help grow things.  It is used to help seal in moisture and prevent grass and weed growth in gardens.  It is also used in potting soil to help keep the soil from clumping together.  It also helps conduct the flow of water in between soil particles.  But plastic is not biodegradable, meaning it will not decompose over time to become a major constituent of the soil itself.

Who is Boo Radley's foil?

A foil in literature is a character who shows opposing or contrasting qualities to another character.  A foil is often used to show unique characteristics of a person by comparing his actions, words, and thoughts to another character.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Bob Ewell seems to be Boo Radley’s foil although there may be a good argument that society is Boo’s foil.  Because Bob Ewell represents an abusive racist in Maycomb’s southern society, his actions and thoughts seem to be in direct contrast with Boo’s, however.

We can see the difference in the two characters by how they protect and nurture the innocent children in the story.  Bob Ewell is an abusive father who doesn’t require his children to go to school and makes his oldest daughter, Mayella, take care of his seven children.  They live by the city dump and scavenge it for necessities.  Bob Ewell beats Mayella and forces her to accuse Tom Robinson of rape.  His actions represent the prejudice and racism that exists in Maycomb.

Boo, on the other hand, is kind and nurturing toward Scout and Jem.  Although he doesn’t have direct contact with them, he leaves presents in a tree, covers Scout with a blanket during Miss Maudie’s fire, and eventually saves their lives when Bob Ewell attacks them.  Boo represents the harmless mockingbird in the story.

Boo Radley is a courageous hero in the story by saving Scout and Jem while Bob Ewell preys on the innocent Scout and Jem to achieve his revenge on Atticus.   When it comes to comparing the two characters, their actions and beliefs are in opposition.  While Boo is kind and caring, Bob Ewell is mean and abusive.  They represent a dichotomy in Maycomb that exists with the different class of people present in the story.

If you set up a chart of binary opposites, it would look something like this:

Bob Ewell abuses his children/Boo gives presents to Scout and Jem.

Bob Ewell attacks Scout and Jem/ Boo saves Scout and Jem.

Bob Ewell represents racism and white trash poverty/ Boo represents the mockingbird.

Why do you think it is important to develop alternative energy sources?

Alternative energy sources are non-conventional energy sources. That is, sources other than the commonly used energy sources. Human beings commonly use fossil fuels (such as coal, natural gas, diesel, gasoline, etc.) as sources of energy. However, these sources will not last forever. In fact, we are in danger of running out of oil and coal in the next few decades. Environmental degradation is another concern associated with the use of conventional fuel sources. Fossil fuels generate carbon dioxide on combustion, and this greenhouse gas causes global warming and climate change. Many places are dependent on a select few countries (such as countries in the Middle East and Asia) for most of their oil requirements. Such a monopoly is a cause of economic and strategic concern and has already led to a global oil crisis and conflicts. 

To avoid all these issues, alternative energy sources are needed. Some examples of such energy sources include solar energy, wind power, wave energy, etc.

Hope this helps. 

What is an example of dramatic irony in Act V, scene iii of Romeo and Juliet?

Dramatic irony occurs when the readers or the audience are aware of something that a character in a literary work or drama does not know. There are three examples of dramatic irony in Act 5, Scene 3. 

First, as the scene opens, Count Paris is at Juliet's tomb when Romeo arrives. Paris hides and when he sees Romeo he believes that the Montague is simply there to vandalize the tomb because of the feud. Paris knows nothing about the relationship between Romeo and Juliet. Because of this misunderstanding Paris loses his life.

Second, when Romeo goes inside the tomb he doesn't realize that Juliet is actually still alive. He hasn't gotten the Friar's message about the plan for Juliet to fake her death. Friar John, who was supposed to deliver the message, is delayed by a plague threat. Romeo even comments that Juliet is still beautiful and her complexion not yet pale. Romeo says,

Death, that hath sucked the honey of thy breath,
Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty.
Thou art not conquered. Beauty’s ensign yet
Is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks,
And death’s pale flag is not advancèd there.

Unfortunately, Romeo doesn't recognize the signs of Juliet's health and takes his life by drinking poison. When Juliet awakens and finds him, she stabs herself with a dagger.

Third, the Prince, Lord Capulet, Lady Capulet, and Lord Montague arrive at the tomb to find the dead. They were all under the impression that Juliet was already dead and Romeo exiled to Mantua. None of them knew of the marriage of Romeo and Juliet. It finally takes the Friar, in his long monologue, lines 238-278, to explain everything the audience already knows. As with many of Shakespeare's plays, dramatic irony is one of the most important elements of the plot.

What are the roles of information in business?

The roles of information in business are essentially three-fold. One is to use information to make purchasing decisions. Another is to use information to make selling/marketing decisions. A third is to use information to make human resources decisions. There are other roles for information, however, I believe these are the three main roles of information in business. Let’s consider a typical retail food business and how it normally uses information:

Purchasing decisions

A food retailer would use information to plan its inventory purchases. A supermarket’s desire is to have on hand, at all times, the food products that its clientele want. Therefore, the company would look at the following information to base its inventory purchases on:

1. Past sales trends and what products have sold for them best in the past weeks, months, and years.

2. Customer surveys to ascertain what customers’ currently want.

3. Industry trade reports that detail what consumers are after and what their changing desires are. For example, today, more customers are looking for organic, and “clean label’ foods.

4. What its competitors are marketing and if they are actually successful in selling these items.

5. Reports from its suppliers on what products are on trend and selling well throughout the supermarket/food retailer industry as a whole.

Selling/marketing decisions

A food retailer would useinformation to plan its selling and marketing programs. It would seek information that tells them what advertising gives them the “most bang for their bucks”. In other words, this information would tell the supermarket if they should allocate money to print advertisements, radio, TV, or Internet advertising.

Furthermore, a food retailer would use information from industry experts to help them formulate marketing and promotions initiatives. They might use this information to institute in-store promotions such as baking and cooking demonstrations. Conversely, they may take their promotional efforts out into the community to spread the word about their business. This could be through setting up display booths at local community events or at regional trade shows.

The retailer would also use information gathered to come up with prices for their products. They can use information to decide what items to feature as specials, what items to premium price, and what items to freeze prices on.

Human resources decisions

A food retailer would use information to make human resources decisions such as how many employees to have on hand at peak hours and off hours, depending on sales. A business would consider the current labor rates and also the cost of training new employees. This is vital information they need to ensure they don’t over extend their budget as concerns payroll.

A business needs people to run effectively, and these employees must be trained properly and be rewarded properly for their efforts or a business will experience too much employee turnover, which is costly. Therefore, a business would use information to ensure it has qualified staff that can serve its customers well.

How many moles of potassium hydroxide (KOH) are dissolved in 250 mL of a 0.15-M KOH solution?

Molarity or M is a unit of concentration and is the ratio of number of moles to the volume of the solution (in liters). 

That is, molarity = number of moles / volume of solution

Here, the volume of solution is given as 250 ml. There are 1000 ml in a liter of a solution. Therefore the volume of solution is 250 ml/1000 L = 0.25 L.

The molarity of the solution is 0.15 M.

Thus, 0.15 = number of moles / 0.25 L

or, number of moles = 0.15 mol/L x 0.25 L = 0.0375 moles.

Thus, there are 0.0375 moles of potassium hydroxide in the solution when we have 250 mL of 0.15 M solution.

Since the molar mass of potassium hydroxide is 56.1 g, we have 2.1 g (0.0375 moles x 56.1 g/mole) of potassium hydroxide.

Hope this helps. 

In Maniac Magee, is Grayson from the West End or the East End?

Grayson is from the West End.

After Maniac runs away, he ends up in Two Mills.  When Maniac meets Amanda, she asks him where he is from.  She assumes he is from the West End, but he explains that he is from Bridgeport.

She stared at him, at the flap-soled sneakers. Back in those days the town was pretty much divided. The East End was blacks, the West End was whites. "I know you're not from the East End." (Ch. 3)

Race means nothing to Maniac, which is the reason he stayed with Amanda in the first place, since her family is black.  However, it means nothing to Maniac.  It is important in Two Mills, though, and Maniac has to leave the Beales to protect them.  He ends up in the buffalo pen at the zoo, where the groundskeeper, Grayson, takes him in.  Grayson is surprised that Maniac was living with a black family.

"And where you live."

"Well, I did live on Sycamore Street. Seven twenty- eight. "

"Did?"

"I guess I don't anymore."

The old man stared. "You said Sycamore?"

"Yep."

"Ain't that the East End?"

"Yep." (Ch. 22)

Grayson is white, so he is from the West End.  He is not judgmental of where Maniac was living, but is curious.  Maniac helps him understand that blacks and whites are pretty much the same, except for where they live in this case.

Maniac lives with Grayson until he dies.  Then he has nowhere to go again.  Since his parents died, he was happiest with Amanda’s family, the Beales.  He decides to go back to them, because their house has become his home.

Although most of the story is a lighthearted fantastical romp, there are some serious elements to it.  Racial segregation is an underlying theme in the story, and it helps remind us that while people are not always alike, that doesn’t mean that they won’t get along.

A 100 kg person falls off of a 20 m cliff. Assume the acceleration due to gravity is g = 9.8 N/kg. How much kinetic energy does the person gain...

Hello!

It is simple: the total energy is conserved, i.e. the total energy at the start and at the finish are the same. In this problem, energy exists in potential and kinetic states. 

At the start kinetic energy is zero and potential energy measured off the ground level is  `mgh` (a known formula). So the total energy is  `mgh.`

At the finish the potential energy is in turn zero, so the total energy is only kinetic.

So the kinetic energy gained is  `mgh=100*9.8*20` =19600 (J). This is the answer.

There is another method: we can find the speed `V` from the formulas of free-fall motion and compute the kinetic energy by the known formula  `(m V^2)/2.` The result will be the same.

Of course we ignore air resistance here, which is far from reality.

What happens if you're excessively overweight?

Being overweight poses a myriad of health risks. Although physical appearance may point to weight problems, it is important to ascertain these problems by checking your body mass index and waist size among other measures. Some of the health risks of being overweight include:

Type 2 Diabetes
Type 2 diabetes refers to abnormally high blood sugar levels. This leads to other health complications such as kidney, heart disease, blindness and stroke.

High blood pressure (hypertension)
Blood pressure refers to how hard the blood pushes against the walls of the blood vessels, especially the arteries. Weight gain leads to increasing strain on the heart which will be required to pump the blood harder in order to reach all parts of the body. The extra effort increases blood pressure moving through the arteries. This situation leads to other health risks such as heart failure and stroke.

Osteoarthritis
Excessive weight gain leads to increased strain on the bones and joints in the body, especially in the knees, hips and lower back. The extra strain on the bones leads to increased wearing of joint tissues leading to joint aches.

Other health-related conditions associated with being overweight include:
•    Colon, endometrial and postmenopausal breast cancer
•    Sleep apnea
•    Abnormal blood fats
•    Obesity hypoventilation syndrome
•    Gallstones

Even after earth being so big, why is the thinking power of human so small to discriminate?

To rephrase your question, I believe you are asking: "Even though earth is so big, why do humans stoop to the level of discrimination?"

Unfortunately, discrimination has occurred throughout history.  Globally speaking, humans have tried conquering other humans since the beginning of time.  There is always a group somewhere that hates another group for any given reason at any given time.  Sometimes these are isolated, localized events such as those on a school playground.  Others are extremely historical, such as the Holocaust.  As Dr. Seuss so aptly illustrates in his book, The Sneetches, there are always people who will dislike other people for petty reasons.

Why does this happen?  Maybe it is because the world is so big and there are things so much larger than ourselves, we find that we are uncomfortable with the feelings of insignificance we experience.  Look up into the night sky and see the stars--one gets a sense of awe and of smallness.  Some people have come to terms with this insignificance and live comfortably with it.  Unfortunately, others do not enjoy feeling small in this world.  In order to make themselves feel more important, they begin judging other people who are different than themselves.  It may be a skin color, a language, an appearance, an IQ, or a star on the belly--but there will be something a person decides to judge in order to lift themselves up on a higher mental plane.

Sadly, there has yet to be a solution to discrimination.  Every society faces it, and yet no society has ever fully eliminated it.  The best way to deal with discrimination is to remember that even if a person is trying to feel big in their own mind, it hasn't changed anything on the outside.  Discrimination has never stopped a determined person from accomplishing success.  The biggest danger is that discrimination breeds further discrimination.  Often, as seen in Sneetches, the person or group being discriminated against will retaliate in kind.  Soon, nobody can tell who is the victim and who is the aggressor.  Do not stoop to this level of discrimination, even in revenge.  After all, the discriminator is actually the small one, and the one who rises above discrimination is the successful one.  

The world is indeed very big.  Embrace it.

Look at the title of the poem "My Last Duchess." What can you find out from the three words chosen by Browning?

Robert Browning's "My Last Duchess" is spoken from the perspective of a widowed duke to a servant of the Count whose daughter he now wishes to marry. For this reason, the last word of the three-word title is the easiest to address: his new wife, perhaps the Count's daughter, will become a duchess by marrying him. This sounds pretty positive!

The word "Last," however, sounds a great deal less positive. To say his "last" duchess indicates that there used to be another duchess, a previous duchess, and so one inevitably wonders what happened to that duchess. Where did she go? Did she die? If so, how? Such an adjective should raise some questions on the part of the reader, and it is appropriate that it does because the question of what happened to the duke's last duchess is only obliquely addressed by the poem. When he grew frustrated with the way she smiled for everyone and didn't favor him and him alone, he says that he "gave commands; / Then all smiles stopped together" (lines 43-44). It sounds very much like he had her murdered because she didn't make him feel special enough.

Finally, the first word of the title -- "My" -- is perhaps the most alarming and telling. The duke seems to look upon the painting of his last duchess as though she were an object for him to possess, and when he could not possess her entirely while alive, he had her killed so that he could own what was left of her: this painting. The fact that only he is allowed to open the curtain that typically hides her portrait emphasizes how much he desires to own her smile, to possess her solely and share her smiles with no one else (unless he chooses to do so, as he has done in this case). He even refers to the Count's daughter as his "object," a fitting choice of words since that seems to be the way he views his last wife: as an object who should not have had a will of her own because it prevented his total ownership and control of her. This will to possess is further symbolized by how much he admires his statue of Neptune taming a seahorse in the last few lines; he, too, sought to tame something beautiful and free, and when he found that he could not, he disposed of her -- as one would a displeasing object one owns -- so that he could acquire another.

What cautionary messages is Washington Irving sending through Rip Van Winkle’s mishaps?

The message or moral presented in "Rip Van Winkle" is that if you don't work while you are young and don't make something of yourself, you will wake up one day and find that you have grown old, you can no longer do anything to make a decent living, you are dependent on others to take care of you, and that life has passed you by. Time passes so quickly in life that it can seem as if you have grown old overnight just like Rip Van Winkle. You look in the mirror and you don't even recognize yourself with those gray hairs and all those lines and wrinkles. You realize too late that you wasted your life on nothing but frivolities. You thought you had all the time in the world, but now you realize that all of your precious time has run out. Henry James alludes to these feelings in the phrase "the retribution of time." Life is a struggle for existence for almost all living creatures. The wise man, like the ant in the fable of "The Grasshopper and the Ant," prepares ahead of time. The Bible says:

6 Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:

7 Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,

8 Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.
                                        Proverbs 6:6-8 (King James Version)

How are the rules of the storytelling game in The Canterbury Tales like a contract?

The tale-telling game proposed by the Host is very much a functional oral contract. First, it is to be noted that the participants voluntarily enter into an agreement concerning a transfer of goods, here the intellectual property of the tales, amongst each other under a well-established set of terms. Each participant is responsible for the delivery of two tales along each leg of the journey. Furthermore, the participants agree to be bound by arbitration in the determining of the "best" tale, which will entitle the winner of arbitration to financial reward at the expense of the others. An arbitrator, the Host, is chosen by unanimous consent. In this way, the agreement to the game features the necessary components of a contract in additional to optional (although common) components.

The global recession forced thousands of firms into bankruptcy. Does this fact alone confirm that “external factors are more important than...

Not necessarily. It depends on the company, its industry, and the quality of its management, as well as the particular internal and external factors that affect a business. External factors are as important as internal factors in strategic planning.  I believe that one does not supersede the other.

First of all, astute company management is management that considers all factors carefully when coming up with a strategic plan. Good managers don’t just consider external factors when coming up with a strategy.

Yes, external factors are very important for a company to consider. For example, retail clothing firms are finding it quite tough to grow sales in the contemporary marketplace. The reason: today’s consumers are currently spending more money on “life experiences” (food and travel) than on products such as clothing.

This past Christmas season was, over all, a dismal one for retail sales in the U.S. Therefore, the external factors of “changing consumer thinking and preferences” are causing retailers to think differently about how to get people back into their stores.

However, a company cannot ignore internal factors in strategic planning as they are just as important. A clothing retailer may have a concept for a new product by a great in-house designer. The company may believe this new product offering can once again spur consumer interest – resulting in more consumers visiting the retailer (in store and online) and also resulting in more sales. As a result, the retailer must advance this program, this internal factor, in its effort to drive sales and profits.

The strategic plan would be to get this new and innovative clothing product to market. The retailer would take into account external forces, while internally continuing to engage in product development. Therefore, strategic planning involves taking into account, as a whole, external and internal factors.

Furthermore, strategic planning means considering the internal factor of “budget constraints.” A company has only so much money to allocate to its strategies and must take this internal factor into account, while at the same time considering external factors such as economic volatility, unemployment, high interest rates, and government regulations as pertains to their specific business.

Many firms were forced into bankruptcy during the global recession because they were not well-prepared to weather that economic storm. This was due to internal factors such as poor planning; inefficient operations; limited budgets; employees that may not have been properly trained; a wrong product mix; unsuitable pricing, and more. Then, harsh external factors combined with these and caused their downfall. Nonetheless, more efficient and well-prepared companies, with smart management, survived the global recession and are still thriving today.

What are examples of poor conductors of electricity?

Materials that are poor conductors of electricity are called insulators. Some examples are solid ionic compounds, non-metal elements, glass and plastics that are polymers of hydrocarbons.

The reason these substances don't conduct electricity is that charges can't move through them. The particles and their electrons are locked into a solid structure.

When ionic compounds are melted or dissolved in water they become conductive because the ions are free to move around, allowing charge to be transferred.

Metals are good conductors because they have mobile valence electrons. The electrons move freely through the solid material in response to a potential difference or charge separation. A metal can be thought of as an arrangement of nuclei in a sea of electrons. When metal is connected in a circuit, electrons flow from where there's more negative charge to where there's more positive charge. If a non-conductor is connected in a circuit this won't happen because the electrons in the non-conductor are associated with a particular atomic nucleus and don't easily leave it.

Some materials, such as silicon, are called semi-conductors because they conduct electricity better than non-metals but not as well as metals.

In Bud, Not Buddy, what are the most important rules that help Bud survive?

Bud has an entire book of rules and thoughts that he lives by. These rules are inserted throughout the story. One of the first things we learn about Bud is that his mother had a huge influence on how he thinks, even though Bud was only six when she died.

One of the things his mother repeated to him often was:

"When one door closes, another door opens."

This definitely helped Bud to survive psychologically and physically. Most adults would have given up if facing the same elements Bud did. However, each time Bud had to face a new obstacle, he would remember his mother's wisdom and go in search of another open door.

Some of Bud's own rules that help him to survive include:

"Rule 39 - The older you get, the worse something has to be to make you cry."

This helps Bud to understand how his grandfather truly feels when the truth comes out and he realizes that Bud really is his grandson. He hears his grandfather cry for the first time and realizes that he has a heart behind that mean exterior.

"Rule 29 - When you wake up and don't know for sure where you are at and there's a bunch of people standing around you, it's best to pretend you're still asleep until you can figure out what's going on."

This is how Bud survives the uncertainties of his daily life. At times, because of his constantly changing situation, Bud is not sure where he is when he wakes up. Several times during the story, Bud listens carefully to his surroundings and the people talking around him before acting.

How is Piggy from Lord of the Flies like Caesar from Julius Caesar?

There are a few similarities between Piggy and Julius Caesar.  While Piggy never held the commanding role held by Caesar, both have a weaker side to them that is displayed within the text.  

Both are singled out by a group, and both are ultimately killed by members of that group.  While members of the respective groups that ultimately killed both Piggy and Caesar likely included people who were not as happy about the prospect of killing them, no one in the group spoke up to prevent the actions.  Both groups, instead, featured people who were malleable and who were open to following the actions and dictates of a manipulative leader (Jack in LOTF; Cassius in Julius Caesar).  Thus, while Piggy and Caesar appear different, they, in fact, have share some important commonalities.  Sadly, they also met the same end by the end of the respective works in which they were featured.

Why are the characters in The Crucible blind to the truth?

This question can be answered in a way that both considers the historical setting of the play (the Salem Witch Trials) and its allegorical setting, the McCarthy Hearings. The main reason people remained blind to the truth, i.e., failed to recognize that the accusations being made were false, was an unwillingness to rise above the atmosphere of hysteria. The emotional intensity surrounding both situations caused people to believe outrageous statements without benefit of physical evidence or even logic. Being swept up in hysteria, which can also include feelings of fear, helplessness, vulnerability and horror, meant that people were willing to let others take control of the situation if it would alleviate their anxiety.

In this way, people in positions of authority (like the court officials or clergy in Salem, or the girls whose antics were on display in the trials, or the government officials during the McCarthy hearings) were able to advance an agenda that might not have found acceptance if it had been introduced within a less emotionally-charged situation. This same kind of situation can be seen following upsetting occurrences in more recent times: for example, the willingness of people to support the invasion of Iraq (a politically-motivated action on some level) following the 9-11 attacks (an event that incited widespread fear, grief, horror and anger).

Explain how The Crucible shows the individual against authority.

The Crucible shows an individual standing up against authority in two main characters.  Those two characters are John Proctor and Reverend Hale.  

John Proctor has a larger individual influence against the Puritan authority, so I will start with him.  John knows early on that Abigail and the girls in the forest were not affected by spirits in any way.  Abigail admits to John that they were simply dancing and took fright.  

We were dancin' in the woods last night, and my uncle leaped in on us. She took fright, is all.

John does not do anything with that knowledge though until the witchcraft trials are getting far out of control.  It's then that John decides to take his knowledge before the court in an effort to save the lives of his friends.  He knows that what he is doing will undermine the authority of the court, but John is still willing to ruin his good name in the community to undo the mistakes of the court.  

Parris: He's come to overthrow this court, Your Honor!

Reverend Hale is also willing to ruin his good name in defense of the accused.  Unfortunately, he can't convince the court to change its mind.  So instead of working directly against the court's authority, Hale begins to counsel the accused.  He wants to convince them to confess in order to save their lives.  

Why, it is all simple. I come to do the Devil's work. I come to counsel Christians they should belie themselves. . .  Life, woman, life is God's most precious gift; no principle, however glorious, may justify the taking of it. I beg you, woman, prevail upon your husband to confess. Let him give his lie.

Unfortunately, neither Hale nor Proctor succeeds, and far too many innocent people are killed.