Is there alliteration in this excerpt from "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"? "The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew, the furrow followed...

Yes, there is a good deal of alliteration in this passage from "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." Alliteration means to use the same consonant at the beginning of a word more than once in a poetic line. Here the letter "f" is used repeatedly: fair, foam, flew, furrow, followed, free and first. Coleridge also uses the letter "b:" "breeze," "blew" and "burst," and the letter "s:" "silent" and "sea." The motion of the "b" and "f" words, such as flew, blew and burst, contrasts with the stillness of the "s" words. 

Coleridge was trying to capture the flavor of a ballad from an earlier time in this fanciful tale of the supernatural. Medieval poets often relied on alliteration, so Coleridge is claiming an identity with them in this poem. The alliteration also underscores the excitement of the sailors at being the first humans ever to enter that sea. 

From chapter 4 in To Kill a Mockingbird, what do the items found in the Radley's tree symbolize?

Scout is the first to find two pieces of gum, wrapped in tin foil, and sticking out of the knothole of the Radley's tree. The fact that there are two pieces means that one is for her and one is for Jem. This first gift appeals to children's appetites, it's fun, and is one of many ways used to start up conversations with new friends. The gum is a token of friendship specifically given to two children who entertain Boo as he watches them from his house. If the children accept the gum, it is as if they are accepting Boo and rejecting the stories that anything from the Radley's property will cause instant death. When Jem finds out where Scout got the gum, for example, he tells her to spit it out immediately and go wash her mouth out. He also says, "Don't you know you're not supposed to even touch the trees over there? You'll get killed if you do!" (33). Since Scout didn't die from the gum, though, Jem is not hesitant to accept the next gift is discovered later.

Jem is the one who takes the next gift out of the Radley's knothole. When they get home, they unwrap the foil to discover a purple velvet box with two very polished Indian-head pennies inside. One is from the year 1900 and the other from 1906. Jem says the following:

"Well, Indian-heads--well, they come from the Indians. They're real strong magic, they make you have good luck. . . like long life 'n' good health, 'n' passin' six-week tests. . . these are real valuable to somebody" (35).

The above passage tells what Jem thinks the pennies symbolize--health and luck; but they are also another symbol of friendship. Since there are two pennies, then one is Jem and one for Scout. This shows that the gift giver wants to be friends with both of them, not just one. The years on the pennies might mean something special to Boo, too, and he wants to share that with the children. For Boo, a person who is shy and never talks with anyone other than family, this is a big step. He's putting himself out there to make friends and the gifts symbolize his genuine efforts and kindness.

What causes Brutus to undertake the decision to kill Caesar in Julius Caesar?

Brutus has to decide whether or not he should kill Caesar because he is asked by Cassius to join the conspiracy.

Brutus is a senator of Rome, but he is also from an old and very important family. For this reason, Cassius wants him to join the conspiracy to assassinate Julius Caesar. His name will lend legitimacy to their operations.

Cassius explains to Brutus that he is just as important as Caesar, and that it is their own fault if they subject themselves to Caesar’s control.

The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings.
Brutus and Caesar: what should be in that 'Caesar'?
Why should that name be sounded more than yours?
Write them together, yours is as fair a name … (Act 1, Scene 2)

Apparently this argument is convincing to Brutus, because he admits that he worries about Caesar’s ambition and agrees to have the conspirators over to his house.

Before they arrive, Brutus has to talk himself into killing Caesar. Caesar is very important to him, and the two of them are close because Caesar is like a father to Brutus. Yet he worries that Caesar is too ambitious, and that he will keep grabbing more and more power for himself.

It must be by his death: and for my part,
I know no personal cause to spurn at him,
But for the general. He would be crown'd:
How that might change his nature, there's the question.
It is the bright day that brings forth the adder;
And that craves wary walking.  (Act 2, Scene 1)

Brutus compares Caesar to a baby snake hiding in its shell.  As long as the snakeling is in the shell, it is not dangerous.  However, the minute it comes out it becomes deadly.  Brutus feels that Caesar has done nothing wrong yet, but that he is so ambitious that before long he will become a tyrant. The only thing to do is to stop him before he gets very far.

Religion as relates to US Constitution: was it directly confirmed or ruled not within the scope of the laws and government?

It is hard to answer this question in an objective way as the Constitution does not explicitly do either of these things. There is a great deal of controversy about what, exactly, the Constitution (or, to be more precise, the First Amendment) says about religion.

On the one hand, we can clearly say that the Constitution does not ever “directly confirm” religion.  The Constitution says very little on the subject of religion.  In the Constitution proper, there is only one mention, which comes in Article VI.  This passage states that

no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

In the amendments to the Constitution, religion is only mentioned twice, both times in the First Amendment.  There are two important clauses in this amendment that have to do with religion.  First, the establishment clause says that  

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.

What this literally means is that the government cannot create an official state religion.  Many people think that this clause means that religion is “ruled not within the scope of the laws and government.”  They think that it means that the government cannot prefer one religion over another and that it cannot prefer religion over a lack of religion (atheism or secularism).  However, there are people who think this is wrong.  In this link, we can see that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia recently said that the government should be free to promote religion so long as it does not favor one religion over another.

Second, the free exercise clause says that

Congress shall make no law … prohibiting the free exercise thereof (of religion).

This means that the government cannot make laws that infringe on people’s rights to practice religion.  You could say that this means that religion is “ruled not within the scope of the laws and government” because it says that the government cannot make laws reducing religious freedom.

Clearly, then, the Constitution does not “directly confirm” religion.  However, it is not possible to say objectively whether the Constitution rules that religions is “not within the scope of the laws and government.”

Should Nick trust Gatsby?

Nick should not trust Gatsby. There are several reasons for Nick not to trust Gatsby. These develop and emerge throughout the novel.

The first is simply that Gatsby hides his past. If someone keeps secrets, there are always questions about what happened/what he did in the past.

Next, Gatsby has an affair with a married woman. Regardless of how much he loves or desires Daisy, he's still involved in breaking an oath and a social code.

Gatsby deals with criminals, suggesting that what he is hiding is illegal too.

I would suggest that Gatsby's incredibly expensive parties are also a reason to not trust him. He is not hosting a lot of friends. He's not even holding these parties because he's running for office, and needs the approval of the guests. He just has some deep and badly defined need to be approved of. That suggests there is some gap deep in his character.

What happens to the inhabitants of the city in "The Masque of the Red Death"?

The inhabitants of the city all die of the Red Death plague.

When the Red Death falls upon Prince Prospero’s city, many people die.  The Red Death is dangerous and deadly.  It wipes through the population so quickly that Prospero doesn’t bother to help his people.  He just flees, locking himself and his thousand closest friends in a fortress.

But the Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless and sagacious. When his dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court, and with these retired to the deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys.

As you can see, half of the people in the kingdom had died by this time, and the rest were well on their way.  The Red Death killed by liquidating its host.  It was highly contagious and there was no way to escape it.

Prospero and his people thought they were safe inside their castle.  They felt that if they barricaded themselves away and did not let any infected people in, they would not be infected.  This was a plan that did not succeed.  Even though they survived six months this way, the Red Death still found them.

And now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death. He had come like a thief in the night. And one by one dropped the revellers in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel, and died each in the despairing posture of his fall.

When Prospero first saw Death, he does not believe it.  He is convinced that the imposter is just playing with them, dressed in a morbid costume.  He tries to fight back, but it’s pointless.  He dies, and so do all of his guests.  They die instantly, unlike the other victims.

What do Okeke's friends believe has caused Nnaemeka's behavior?

Okeke's friends believe that "other worldly" forces have caused Nnaemeka's behavior.

When Okeke's friends hear of Nnaemeka's desire to marry someone Nene, they demonstrate a profound difficulty to understand why he has done what he has done.  One of Okeke's friends argues that the Bible predicted this very scenario when children disobey their parents:  “What did Our Lord say?' asked another gentleman. 'Sons shall rise against their Fathers; it is there in the Holy Book.”  For this one of Okeke's friends, the only way to explain Nnaemeka's behavior is through the Bible.  At the same time, another friend suggested that Okeke might be "sick."  This friend argues that seeking the help of alternative medicine is the only to cure what ails Okeke's son:  “What is he then? The boy’s mind is diseased and only a good herbalist can bring him back to his right senses. The medicine he requires is Amalile, the same that women apply with success to recapture their husbands’ straying affection.”  In both situations, Okeke's friends cannot fathom why Nnaemeka would want to marry Nene. The only possible explanations they can offer is "other worldly" ones.  

Such beliefs reflect the extent of the traditionalism that Nnaemeka and Nene fight against in their decision to be married.  This idea demonstrates how marriage might not be necessarily seen as solely a "private affair" in many parts of the world.