Using a dictionary, look up the word “apocalypse.” How does this term and all its various meanings and related notions apply to pages 205-273...

Ordinarily, asking about apocalyptic conditions in Zeitoun would relate to the destruction of the city of New Orleans, but asking about this in regards to the portion of the book in which Abdulrahman is imprisoned brings up a different set of issues. The word "apocalypse," which in Merriam-Webster's dictionary is defined as "a sudden and very bad event that causes much fear, loss, or destruction," can best be related to this portion of the book by discussing the ideas of how, after a disaster like Katrina, the ruling powers will often resort to Draconian measures to restore the social order, which is dominated by fear.

In order to placate the fears of the ruling powers after Hurricane Katrina, perfectly legitimate members of society, like Abdulrahman Zeitoun were placed in prisons described like this:

"Chain-link fences, topped by razor wire, had been erected into a long, sixteen-foot-high cage extending about a hundred yards into the lot. Above the cage was a roof, a freestanding shelter like those at gas stations. The barbed wire extended to meet it."

These quickly constructed cages seem to be necessities in post-apocalyptic worlds to suppress any violence or anything that might interfere in the ruling powers' attempt to regain control.

In this real-life case, Abdulrahman, Nassar, and Todd did not evacuate the city when ordered to. These men became non-people. They lost all rights and all ability to communicate with the outside world. American laws, like the right to trial, were abandoned in favor of indefinite internment.  

In conclusion, the best way to apply the word "apocalypse" in this book is to discuss the authoritarian treatment of the people remaining in New Orleans as "post-apocalyptic."

What is a good topic sentence that will hook my readers on this this topic: "Martin Luther a hero or a zero"? This has to do with Martin Luther...

I believe that you are asking for advice on how to write a good "attention getting" statement to a paper or essay.  An attention getting statement is the first sentence that is written, and it is specifically designed to hook your reader's attention.  A hooked reader will keep on reading, which is what you want.  

Without knowing who your intended audience is, I can't write out a perfect "attention getter" for you.  You know your audience better than I do.  But I can offer strategies for how to write a good attention getting sentence.  

In my writing and speech classes, I teach five different types of attention getters.  

1. Make a bold statement.  Your "Martin Luther hero or zero" is on the right track for this kind of attention getter.  Most Christians have high esteem for Luther and his work toward creating the modern church.  So even mentioning that he could be considered a zero will grab a reader's attention.  The point with a bold statement is that you are stating a strong opinion about something controversial.  You could say something like "Martin Luther is the most overrated religious figure in history." A word of caution though.  I wouldn't make your bold statement something that is likely to run counter to reader opinion.  You don't want to put your reader on the defensive right from the beginning.  That makes your audience antagonistic to your writing.  Save your counter arguments for a bit later.  


2. Use a quote.  Because you have said that you are going to write about Martin Luther, use a quote from Martin Luther.  It doesn't even have to be from his 95 theses.  Readers automatically assume that they should pay closer attention to quoted material, because they think it must be worthwhile if the author (you) is quoting another writer's words.  


3. Ask a question.  Questions do a nice job of engaging readers, because questions always beg an answer.  "Was Martin Luther really as influential as the church gives him credit for?" If you can get your reader thinking about your question and trying to answer it in their own mind by the end of the first sentence, you have a hooked reader.  I find a lot of students like to use the question technique, because it's easy to write and start with.  If you're like a lot of students, the hardest part is simply starting to write. 


4. Use a definition.  This is my least favorite attention getter.  I feel it is dry and uninspiring, but it does work in the right situation.  It works for the same reason that a quote works.  Readers assume that the definition is key to understanding what is next, so they focus closely on the detail of the definition.  


5. Tell an anecdote.  This can be easily incorporated into a speech, but it doesn't necessarily always work with written papers.  I believe that you could make it work with Martin Luther.  I could easily see you narrating over the course of 6-8 sentences Martin Luther's actions and steps to the church door that he nailed his 95 theses to.  That kind of start would really get readers in the proper mind set to analyze what the impact of Luther's actions were.  

I hope this helps.  Good luck! 

Where does Book X of Homer's The Odyssey take place?

When Odysseus narrates the events of Book X in the story's present, he is in Phaeacia, at the court of King Alcinous and Queen Arete (recall that it was their daughter, Nausicaa, who led him back to their home after he survived Poseidon's terrible storm).  However, the events that he narrates -- landing in Aeolia and receiving the bag of winds that almost gets him home, getting blown all the way back to Aeolia when his crew betrays him and opens the bag, sailing to Laestrygonia and losing all of his ships but one to the giant cannibals who live there, and reaching Aeaea, where he and the crew spend a year in Circe's palace -- happened some nine years ago.  Remember that, in the meantime -- since his time at Circe's -- Odysseus has been to the underworld, has survived the Sirens and Scylla and Charybdis, has lost all of his men after they ate the cattle belonging to the sun god, Helios, and finally became the prisoner of Calypso for seven years.  Phaeacia, where Odysseus narrates Book X, is the first locale Odysseus finds after he has sailed away from Calypso's island.

Why would Morrsion choose this title to reflect her piece?

Toni Morrison's story, "Recitatif," is about two young girls, Roberta and Twyla, who are in an orphanage, despite the fact that their mothers are alive. One girl is white and the other is black and they become unlikely friends. The narrative shows them leaving the home and then running into each other at different stages of their lives. A recurring question that the girls ask each other is a variation of the question, "How's your mother?" At times, this question is meant to hurt the other girl, while it's also meant to show concern. 

The question about the girls' mother is repeated throughout the story, almost as a refrain in a song. The word 'recitatif' is a French style of music that is something between song and speech. It is generally used for narrative interludes between parts of an opera. Morrison arranges the story as if it were a song, having verses and refrains. The mother refrain separates the other parts of the story, and gives the entire story a song-like, spoken word feel to it.

What are two possible uses for hydrophobic material?

Hydrophobic materials are materials that do not mix well with water (“hydro” = water, “phobic” = fear of).

A group of nanomaterial scientists created a superhydrophobic material that is claimed to be 10,000 times more hydrophobic than the average hydrophobic material. This material is projected to be used in the following two capacities.

• Used as a windshield fluid, the material will be beneficial in causing rain and other precipitants to repel off of car windows.


• Steam turbines are used to make energy at nuclear power plants. The steam produced is collected by cooling towers. The inside of these cooling towers is not hydrophobic. Thus, the condensed water remains within. The superhydrophobic material could be used to line the towers in order to increase productivity.

How do the citizens feel about Caesar after Brutus's speech in Julius Caesar?

The citizens are supportive of Brutus and seem to accept his characterization of Caesar after his speech.

Brutus has an uphill battle in his speech to the people after killing Caesar.  Most of the people are afraid because they do not know what is happening and their leader is dead.  Brutus, the head of the conspiracy, has to explain to the people why they killed him.  It is important to him to win over public opinion.  His speech is very aggressive, but seems to do the trick.

Brutus attempts to justify the killing of Caesar by explaining that he did love Caesar, but that Caesar was ambitious and dangerous.  To live under him was akin to being a slave.  Brutus considers the assassins liberators.

If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of
Caesar's, to him I say, that Brutus' love to Caesar
was no less than his. If then that friend demand
why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer:
--Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved
Rome more. (Act 3, Scene 2)

Brutus seeks to explain to the people that he did not kill Caesar out of his own ambition to take his place.  He connects himself to Caesar throughout the speech, using repetition to demonstrate that he is totally in control and not a murderer.  He loved Caesar, but he loved his country more.

Brutus’s biggest justification is that Caesar was a king, and that living under him made them all slaves.  This is powerful rhetoric, and exonerates Brutus and the others.

Had you rather Caesar were living and
die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live
all free men? As Caesar loved me, I weep for him;
as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he was
valiant, I honour him: but, as he was ambitious, I
slew him. (Act 3, Scene 2)

How do the people respond?  They are quiet during Brutus’s speech. No one heckles him as they do Antony.  This could be interpreted as respect and support, or as fear.  However, the people do not seem to want to even hear Antony speak, and this would seem to indicate that Brutus has won them over, or at least the most vocal ones.

Brutus’s power over the people is short lived.  He made the crucial error of allowing Antony to speak after him.  Whereas Brutus uses logic to try to sway the people, Antony uses pure emotion.  His speech is flamboyant and tears at the people’s heartstrings.  It also reminds them of why they loved Caesar.  Antony does not excuse Caesar, but he does accuse his assassins.  He turns the tide of public opinion against Brutus and the others, so that by the time the speech is over they are an angry mob—a weapon he points directly at the conspirators.

Where do the Ewells live?

In Chapter 17, Mayella Ewell is called to the witness stand to testify during the Tom Robinson trial. Atticus questions Mayella about her family life and background. The Ewells are the most despicable, dirty family in Maycomb County. The Ewells live behind the town garbage dump about five hundred yards in front of a small Negro settlement. Their house is a tiny, old Negro cabin with a tin roof. It is shaped like a square and has four small bedrooms. Scout describes the Ewell's yard as a "playground for an insane child." (Lee 228) Inside the fence, there is garbage, random broken items, and remnants of an old Model T. The only aesthetically pleasing items in the entire Ewell residence are Mayella's red geraniums in the corner of the yard. Scout says that no one in the Maycomb community knew how many children lived there because no one ever drove past the Ewell residence.