How do Esperanza's vivid similes set the tone throughout the novel? Consider "the nose of that yellow Cadillac was all pleated like an...

The way Cisneros uses similes in The House on Mango Street helps to create concrete imagery that solidifies the image in the reader's brain. For example, in "Louie, His Cousin & His Other Cousin," the simile "The nose of that yellow Cadillac was all pleated like an alligator's" (25) gives a solid mental picture of the front of that car crunched up and looking like an alligator. This visual image is so vivid, unlikely that a reader would misunderstand what the car looks like after it crashes into a wall or a building as it tried to escape a cop. 

Another simile found in "Laughter" also help to create concrete imagery for sound. For instance, Esperanza says that the way she laughs with her sister is "all of a sudden and surprised like a pile of dishes breaking" (17). Immediately, the reader can mentally picture and hear dishes falling in the kitchen and smashing on the floor. When a simile relates to something that most humans have experienced, they will work for the benefit of the story and for the reader at the same time.

In contrast, Esperanza says that Rachel and Lucy's family laugh like "shy ice cream bells' giggle." The structure of the sentence in the book does not use the words like or as when mentioning "bells' giggle," so one could say that part is a metaphor. To be more specific, it could also be personification because inanimate objects like bells can't giggle. But the imagery is still there as one might mentally picture a couple of cute, little bells ringing to represent Rachel and Lucy's laughter.

The result of similes such as these, and found throughout the novel, add an intelligent, sensitive, and credible tone. As a result, Esperanza comes off as insightful and smart and the reader gets an authentic, empathetic feeling for the people and events in the story.

What is a fable?

The dictionary defines a fable as a short story intended to teach some kind of moral lesson. For example, the folk tale "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" is a fable warning people against the dangers of lying. Informally, the term "fable" may be used to refer to any short story or fabrication. Someone suspected of lying might be accused of coming up with a fable.

Fable is also the title of a video game series first introduced in 2004. This open-world fantasy role-playing game sends players on quests surrounding a central plot. Although the game does not focus on any one moral lesson, the decisions players make in the game do have consequences. In fact, the decisions a player makes influence whether they are perceived as a good or evil person in the game.

What are the metaphors in Tennyson's poem "The Eagle"?

Alfred, Lord Tennyson is considered one the finest English Romantic poets. As with William Wordsworth, his contemporary and predecessor as Poet Laureate of England, Tennyson wrote many poems glorifying nature. His poem, "The Eagle" is about the majestic bird perching high on a mountain cliff in the first stanza and then diving powerfully toward the sea to hunt for prey in the second stanza. The eagle is admired as beautiful and mighty.

Technically speaking there are no metaphors in the poem, but there are comparisons using personification and simile. Personification is when a non-human object or an animal is given human qualities. In the first stanza the eagle is personified as Tennyson says, "He clasps the crag with crooked hands." and "Ring'd with the azure world he stands." Of course, he doesn't have hands, he has talons, and he doesn't stand, he perches.

In the second stanza, Tennyson uses a simile, much like a metaphor except it uses the word like or as in the comparison. Tennyson compares the eagle to a thunderbolt as he swoops down from the cliff. The association is meant to show the swiftness and awe-inspiring quality of the bird. 

Why did the relationship between the US and the Soviet Union become tense?

The relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union became tense for several reasons. At the end of World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union had made several agreements. Within weeks of signing those agreements, it appeared the Soviet Union wasn’t following them. For example, the Declaration of Liberated Europe said that countries would be free to choose the kind of government they wanted. Yet the King of Romania said he was pressured to have a communist government in Romania. Additionally, the new government in Poland had very few pre-war members in the new government. We had an agreement there would be free elections in Poland, and there would be members of the pre-war government in it.

After World War II, the Soviet Union wanted to spread its system of communism. The United States wanted to keep communism from spreading. Thus, we opposed the Soviet Union when they tried to force us of West Berlin. We flew supplies over the Berlin Blockade. We opposed the Soviet-supported North Korea when North Korea invaded South Korea in June 1950. We developed an arsenal of nuclear weapons when the Soviets got the ability to create their own nuclear weapons.

The United States opposed the Soviet Union in many ways at the end of and immediately after World War II. This led to increased tensions between these countries.

In The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, how do Hassan and Baba display courage by facing their fears?

Hassan and Baba are both courageous individuals throughout the novel The Kite Runner. Hassan displays his courage by standing up to Assef and threating to shoot his eye out when Assef attempts to harm him and Amir. Hassan also faces his fears by refusing to give Assef the kite at the end of the tournament. Despite knowing that he will be harmed, Hassan stands his ground against Assef. Baba also faces his fears and displays courage throughout the novel. Baba is known for wrestling a bear and is viewed as a tough man. On their way out of Afghanistan, Baba stands up to a Russian soldier who attempts to rape an Afghan woman. Baba knows that the soldier could easily shoot him, but refuses to back down. Baba also faces his fear of becoming a failure when he moves to America. Despite losing his position of prominance that he held in Afghanistan, Baba displays courage by accepting a job at a gas station and working at a flea market on the weekends. His refusal to let his pride stand in his way depicts his courage. He also refuses to accept chemotherapy when he is diagnosed with cancer. Baba faces his fear and accepts the fact that he will die.

In Lord of the Flies, discuss the significance of the setting. How does the island help to convey the novel's theme?

The setting of the novel, Lord of the Flies, is significant because it allows the boys to be removed from the constraints of civilization. The boys were not displaced from their society and its rules and expectations and placed into a different society with its own rules and expectations; they were removed from their society and placed in a setting with no rules or expectations. One of the major themes in the novel is that human nature is created by the society in which it is nurtured. By the boys being placed in a setting that is devoid of human influence-- an uninhabited tropical island-- their true nature is able to emerge. The question that the reader must grapple with as a result of the setting is whether or not we are "good" or "bad" because that is who we are inherently, or because that is the self that society's influence has created.

what is the background to the witches giving Macbeth the prophecy

The witches (commonly referred to as the Weird Sisters) prophesy that Macbeth will be king of Scotland in the first few scenes of the play. The play itself begins at the end of a battle in which Macbeth has led the forces of Scotland to victory over Macdonwald on a gloomy plain (or "blasted heath," as it's often called).

Although the reader is given little information about who these Weird Sisters are and where they've come from, their presence in the play is absolutely essential, and so their origins and purpose are worth thinking about. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the term "Weird Sisters" was first used by Scottish writers to refer to the Fates, the group of women responsible for deciding the destinies of mortals in Greek and Roman mythology. This context is important, as the Weird Sisters essentially act as the Fates in a Scottish, medieval setting. Their prophesy determines not only the fate of Macbeth and his wife, but also the fate of the kingdom of Scotland. And what a gruesome fate it is.  

It's also worth considering the overall purpose of the Sisters in the play. Overall, they function as the primary supernatural presence in Shakespeare's dark reimagining of Scotland, and they immediately signify that the fabric separating reality from the spirit world (or sanity from insanity, if you prefer to think of it in those terms) will be very thin indeed. Additionally, they lend the play an eerie, often downright creepy tone that perfectly sets up Macbeth's tragic downfall. All in all, it's possible to read the Sisters as a personification of fate and destiny, but there are few other clues to their exact origins. This mystery of course only tempts readers to ask further questions about them.