Comment on the imagery used in the poem "Precious Words" by Emily Dickinson. Cite examples and identify the type of imagery. To which sense does...

Imagery is a literary device which appeals to one (or all)
of the five senses (sight, sound, taste, touch, smell). Authors use imagery to appeal to
the senses of a reader so that they can experience a deeper connection with the
text.

In Emily Dickinson's poem, XXI from Part One of
"Life", "He ate and drank the precious words" imagery is used to appeal to a reader's
sight.

The poem depicts a man sumbolically drunk off of
words he has read in a book. The book has not only "intoxicated" him, it has allowed him
to forget the problems in his life as well.

The imagery of
the poem details an image of a man, drunk and dancing. This is a visual image that the
reader can create in their own mind.

What ironies do you see in the title of the play The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Willaims?

Certainly, authors select titles for their works with both
the explicit and the implicit meanings in mind.  Tenessee Williams's play, The
Glass Menagerie has a title replete with meanings, some of which establish
incongruities between what seems to be and what is real, or
ironies. 

• On the surface, of course, the title
  is that of the collection of little glass wild animals kept by Laura as one of her forms
  of escape from the realities that threaten her; that is, as a form of illusion.  The
  implicit meaning of the title is that the members of the family, Laura, Tom, and Amanda,
  are themselves enclosed in the glass of illusion, an illusion that disguises the truth.
  Their enclosure is self-imposed, however.  Laura, for instance, shies away from being
  with the public; she cannot complete her course at the Rubicund Business School and
  retreats to the zoo and home. Tom, too, is unable to face reality; he dreams of writing
  and escapes reality by going to the movies. Amanda, the mother, lives for her children,
  but with her constant berating of Tom especially, she drives her son away.  Thus, for
  the characters of the play, Laura's and Tom's  truths of becoming
  something are disguised as illusions as are Amanda's memories of her past and all her
  gentleman callers. It is, therefore, ironic that the animals are held captive in
  glass when the family's enclosure of illusion is
  self-imposed.


• And, although Tom feels that he strikes out
  on his own, he and Laura and Amanda, while enclosed in their illusions, are not a
  "menagerie"; instead, they are very much alike. Tom, also, proves that he is much like
  his father, as well, when he abandons his family. 


• When
  he leaves the group and Tom looks through the screen of the stage directions, he is
  ironically yet part of the family--unlike the unicorn who has "broken" free--as he
  muses,

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I pass the lighted window of a shop where perfume
is sold. The window is filled with pieces of colored glass, tiny transparent bottles in
delicate colors, like bits of a shattered
rainbow.

• While the
  glass unicorn has escaped physically, Tom has also, but, ironically, he cannot escape
  psychologically.

.

What is one major event from the plot of The Devil's Arithmetic?

I would have to say that the one of the most important
events from the plot is near the end of the novel when the guard shows up looking for
three more Jews to take to the ovens. Rivka is one of the chosen and Chaya (Hannah)
decides to take her place. What prompts her is that she has "the
memories of Lublin and the shtetl and the camp itself ... she lived, had lived, would
live in the future -- she or someone with whom she shared memories. But Rivka only knew
now." Hannah's last words to Rivka are, "Run for your future. Run. Run. Run. And
remember." Hannah bravely walks towards the doors of the oven telling a story to help
calm those she is with -- a very brave last act.

The reason
this is important is because it is what ultimately ties the two story lines together.
Modern-day Hannah is a typical American teenager who is tired of the old stories told by
her older Jewish relatives. She doesn't fully appreciate what suffering and horrors they
endured to survive the concentration camps. Rivka, who was saved by Chaya, is actually
Hannah's Aunt Eva and Hannah's Jewish name is Chaya as she was named in memory of the
brave friend who sacrificed herself for Rivka. Hannah, with her time travel experience
now knows, remembers, and appreciates the events of the past and the importance of
remembering so that it could never happen again.

How does Jared Diamond restate/reword Yali's question in Guns, Germs and Steel?

Well, if we look at the book Yali's question is actually
restated in a number of different ways as the book progresses, each of which of course
allows Diamond to cast new light on world history and the way that certain conditions
favoured certain peoples over others. However, perhaps the most encompassing rewording
comes in the Prologue, which can be found in the following
paragraph:

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Thus, questions about inequality in the modern
world can be reformulated as follows. Why did wealth and power become distributed as
they now are, rather than in some otehr way? For instance, why weren't Native Americans,
Africans, and Aboriginal Australians the ones who decimated, subjugated, or exterminated
Europeans and Asians?

This
is, essentially, Yali's question in a nutshell, and the rest of the excellent book is
Diamond's attempt (and a very convincing one at that) to answer it. Yali's question
essentially concerns the reason behind inequalities in history, and his rephrasing of
Yali's question in the above quote helpfully gives Diamond a good frame of reference
with which to approach this massive issue.

What is the depiction of familial relationships in Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich?

In the novel, Love Medicine, by
Louise Erdrich, the depiction of familial relationships seem to mirror everything about
the lives of the two families in the story, the Kashpaws and the Lamartines. The
struggles these families face in a "white man's world" are similar to the frustrations
they bring upon each other simply by trying to survive in their often times harsh
environment.

There is no question that the ties within
these families are very strong. These people love their "kin" without ceasing—much the
way they are with those they fall in love with: caring passionately, even if these
husbands or lovers are the worst thing that could happen to them. Within the family,
regardless of how it is defined, devotion and loyalty for each other, even when paired
with anger or disappointment, are cherished.

The
connections with regard to family is seen in how the characters define themselves in
terms of "who" they have come from. At the front of Erdrich's novel (printed in 2009)
there is a family tree. The "legend" helps distinguish how these many family members are
related, and is defined in terms of relationships (marriage or affairs) and
children. There is a distinction between children of biological
birth and adoption, but these are not necessarily in place to show the separation
between the "kinds" of children as much as to illustrate the how far the
arms of the family spread through the
children.

Some of these family relationships are functional
and some are not. Lulu describes her relationship with her
boys:

Some did
me grief, though I was proud of
them.

Her pain and pride go
hand-in-hand. Gerry was "in and out of prison," but was able to speak to their people,
moving their hearts and spirits. Tragically, Henry, Jr., went off to war, but came back
so changed and broken, and he eventually took his own life, though his brother Lyman
tried to lie to make Lulu believe it was an accident. Lyman wanted to protect his
mother, but in losing his brother, he was never the
same.

"Family ties" is one of the novel's major
themes.

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...very strong ties exist among all the
characters—the ties to their common families and
heritage.

The ties that bind
in this novel are those of family, which transcend poverty, abandonment, loss, and
tragedy. While historically much has been done to subjugate the Native American and
dismantle his cultural heritage, this book demonstrates that love is often the
"strongest medicine" of all.

Why is the setting so important in Katherine Paterson's The Great Gilly Hopkins?

In Katherine Paterson's novel, The Great Gilly
Hopkins, I would assume the setting is important primarily because while
living in Maryland, Gilly will be required to interact with "people of color." With all
of the resentments Gilly has acquired in being bounced from one foster home to the next,
she takes her frustrations out on the weak (like William Ernest, the other foster child
in her home) and especially African-Americans. Her teacher, Miss Harris, and the
Trotter's dear friend, a blind Mr. Randolf, suffer from Gilly's lack of
tolerance.

This element of the story provides the reader
with a clear sense of Gilly's frustration with her life. It is especially obvious when
she arrives at the Trotter house. Gilly meets Maime Trotter and describes her (unkindly)
as a "bale of blubber" and a "freak." With William Ernest
(W.E.)...

She
waited until Mrs. Trotter and Miss Ellis were talking, then gave little W.E. the most
fearful face in all her repertory of scary looks, sort of a cross between Count Dracula
and Godzilla.

By the time she
gets into school, Gilly ends up making a racist card for Miss Harris, and later steals
money from blind Mr. Randolph.

However, it is only by
seeing this side of Gilly that the reader can begin to appreciate the changes Gilly goes
through when she really begins to settle in at Maime Trotter's home. She begins to read
to Mr. Randolph from the books in his library. Gilly also starts to cooperate with Miss
Harris, which enables Gilly to excel in her studies. Gilly even comes to the place where
she identifies Maime Trotter as her "mom," William as her "brother, and Mr. Randolph as
her uncle. These changes are indicative of how far Gilly has come. Without Gilly's need
to come to terms with the issue of race in her daily life at school and at home, we
would never have been able to see how far she has come by the time she is forced to
leave yet again.

What is the Declaration of the People of Farmington, 1774?

The Declaration of the People of Farmington was a
statement issued by the people of Farmington, Connecticut.  It was a protest against the
laws enacted by Parliament in response to the Boston Tea Party.  Specifically, it was a
reaction to the law that closed Boston harbor.

After the
Tea Party, Parliament passed a series of laws punishing the colonists for their
actions.  One of these was the Boston Port Act.  This law closed the port of Boston
until the tea had been paid for and order restored.  The Declaration of the People of
Farmington protests against this law in very inflammatory terms and sentences the law to
be burned.

how is cadmium, as a heavy metal, dangerous for our health?

Cadmium is an element that the human body does not require
for health. Because we don't need it and it is not common in an all-natural diet, the
body has no mechanism for controlling the level of cadmium or for clearing it from the
tissues. One consequence of this is bioaccumulation in both our bodies and those of the
animals we eat.

Cadmium has a number of industrial uses. It
is used as a pigment in paints, a plastic stabilizer, an anti-corrosion coating on other
metals, and in Nickel-Cadmium (NiCad) batteries.It is also found in varying amounts in
natural soils.

We are exposed to cadmium by eating meat
that has accumulated cadmium in it, by smoking tobacco, and by sanding, grinding, or
heating materials that cadmium has been incorporated into or coated onto. Cadmium that
is inhaled seems to have a more immediate toxic effect, causing respiratory distress and
pulmonary edema, or fluid buildup inside the lungs, a dangerous condition which can be
fatal. Cadmium that is swallowed can lead to a variety of problems including osteopenia,
which is a painful weakening of the bones, kidney failure, and
cancer.

What are some some particular attitudes and traditions the author wants to change in A Raisin in the Sun?I would greatly appreciate if someone...

In A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine
Hansberry challenges the materialistic view of happiness that is often associated with
the American Dream.  Hansberry is careful in her crafting of the story--the Younger
family receives a large sum of money not from winning a prize, but from the insurance
settlement from the death of the late Mr. Younger.  In the play, Lena Younger even
comments that the check represents what someone thinks Mr. Younger's life is worth.  As
a result, the money is symbolic of Mr. Younger's life, hard work, and dreams for his
family.  When Walter loses the money in the liquor store scheme, the family sees the
loss as their dreams going down the drain.  Lena has spent a portion of the money on a
house, but the house does not represent material ownership--it represents the family's
independence and ability to stick together as a unit during hard times.  At the end of
the play, the family is happy not because they have a new house, but because they are
able to stay together and see to the benefit of their family as a
whole.

Give a brief note about 18th century fashionable society in The Rape of the Lock.

The first canto sets up the satirical statement that Pope
is making about 18th century fashionable society.  The first two
lines,

What
dire Offence from am'rous Causes springs,            What mighty Contests rise from
trivial Things

suggest that
the poem references society's tendency to embellesh and exaggerate relatively small
infractions of its rules and to hold grudges for such infractions for a long time. 
Indeed this particular event, the impish cutting of a small lock of hair, springs of a
true story from the 18th century.  While most of us can understand how some things are
blown out of proportion, Pope, in Canto One, sets this event up as the cause of the
conflict and as a way to reveal the behaviors of the individuals involved as vain and
trivial.

In Canto Two, society's infatuation with physical
beauty is revealed as the author pens line after line comparing Belinda's beauty to that
of a divinity and describing her lavish garments, jewelry and surroundings.  The point
being made is that this society is vain and
materialistic.

In Canto Three, the behaviors of this
society are examined.  The important pursuits include card games and gossip, which are
both taken very seriously.  In fact, Belinda has sylphs which help her by protecting her
cards.  This insinuates that members of fashionable society could not function without a
myriad of helpers.

Canto Four,  Belinda reacts to the
"rape" of her lock of hair.  The use of the word "rape" indicates the level of reaction
that ensues this prankish act.  Instead of laughing it off as a joke, Belinda becomes
enraged and incapacitated, unable to act without her army of sylphs.  Her ladies react
similarly, treating this as the ultimate act of sabotage and
betrayal. 

Finally, after a battle reminiscent of epics
such as the Aenid, a truce is reached.  After the tragedy, Belinda is happy with a bit
of fame and martyrdom, as indicated by the lines

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This Lock, the Muse shall consecrate to
Fame,
And mid'st the Stars inscribe Belinda's
Name!

Belinda is not urged to
peace by fairness or practicality, but by the promise of her name in the
heavens. 

How were the conflicts of the Connecticut colonists resolved by the end of The Witch of Blackbird Pond?

The main conflicts of this novel include Kit's struggle to
deal with her new home in New England, aconflict between the Puritan settlers and a
Quaker woman they believe to be a witch (as they will soon accuse Kit of being), and
then a second external conflict between the colonists who desire freedom from the
English crown and the loyalists who are in allegiance to King James.  In the end, Kit
finds a new life with someone who accepts her wholeheartedly, the accused Quaker woman
is rescued and Kit is found innocent of witchcraft, and colonists are able to keep their
charter, which preserves their independence from England. 

What are some characteristics that help to make John Steinbeck's novel East of Eden a typical work of modern American literature?

Various characteristics help to make John Steinbeck’s
novel East of Eden a representative work of modern American
literature.  Among those characteristics are the
following:

• It is set in California; the most
  prominent works of nineteenth-century American writing tended not to be set on the west
  coast, since that coast was still in the process of development. Steinbeck is one of the
  first great writers from California (Jack London being
  another).


• It is fairly frank in its treatment of sexual
  matters, including the illicit sexuality of Cathy. Such frankness tended to be frowned
  upon in earlier American literature. Indeed, Kate Chopin never even tried to publish her
  provocative story “The Storm,” which seems rather tame by today’s standards but which
  was not tame at all by the standards of the generally genteel nineteenth
  century.


• Much of the novel is set in the early twentieth
  century and is therefore modern, by definition, in some of its subject matter. Sometimes
  the novel even calls attention to its modern setting, as in the following
  sentences:

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Also, to start the engine of a modern car, you
just do two things: turn a key and touch a starter. Everything else is
automatic.

As these two
sentences suggest, part of the theme of the novel is historical change, and specifically
how the world of nineteenth-century America evolved, in numerous ways, into the modern
American period.

• An Asian-American person is a
  prominent character in the book, a fact that suggests the broadening of perspective that
  was typical of much modern American fiction. Members of minority groups began to play
  increasingly important roles in American fiction of the twentieth century, not only as
  characters but as writers and audiences.


• World War I –
  perhaps the decisive event of the twentieth century in many ways – is one of the topics
  dealt with in the book.


• The structure of the novel is
  highly complex in ways that are often typical of modern fiction. Modern fiction often
  tried to puzzle and challenge its readers rather than presenting them with simple,
  straightforward stories, and in this sense, too, East of Eden might
  be called a representative work of modern
  fiction.

Why are the Four Skinny Trees important to Esperanza in The House on Mango Street?

The Four Skinny Trees are out of place on Mango Street. 
To a great extent, Esperanza identifies with them because she sees herself out of place,
to a large extent, on Mango Street.  In identifying with the trees, Esperanza is seeking
to explain her own state of being in the world.  She has demonstrated to a great extent
her ability to see through her own environment and her neighborhood.  She has shown the
ability to see herself in both the lights that which others view her and the prism
through which she sees herself.  In being able to do so, she is able to draw connections
between and against different elements in her neighborhood.  The Four Skinny Trees are
akin to her because they physically look out of place with the other trees on the
block.  Like Esperanza, while they might not appear to be in sync with what is there,
they are strong and extremely tough.  They have roots that go well beyond the surface,
and like Esperanza are tied to Mango Street.  In another sense, they are significant
because they are an embodiment of the transcendental qualities to which Esperanza ties
herself.  One of Esperanza's strongest traits is the idea that what is there in front of
her is not necessarily what will constitute the long- lasting vision of her state of
being in the world.  It is for this reason that she constantly looks to clouds and the
sky.  These elements represent a transcendental quality to her, something that goes
beyond and past the contingency of her world.  This is something that she identifies
with the trees as they "speak" to her.  Esperanza sees the trees as important because
they represent an element that is not contingent, but rather universal.  The connection
that Esperanza forms with them is reflective of those bonds that she will carry with her
outside of the socially dictated reality of Mango Street.  It is to this end that they
are important to her.

I am currently studying acids and bases. Can you please give me a general idea of what where studying?The PH scale?

Acids are substances that break apart in water in a way
that releases H+, also known as hydronium, ions. Hydronium ions are basically just a
proton, and they will react with anything that they can pull an electron off of, for
instance a metal. Since electrons are one of the basic particles that make up atoms,
removing them from things can be a powerful reaction; we use this reaction in many
processes, from helping to break down food in the stomach to storing electricity in car
batteries.

Bases are substances that release OH-, or
hydroxide, ions in water. These are able, because of their negative charge, to disrupt
complex molecules like proteins. Although most people realize that acids can be
dangerous to handle, sometimes they don't realize that a base can be just as dangerous.
We have bases in our saliva to protect our teeth from acidic foods, and we use them as
drain cleaners and paint strippers.

The pH scale (think
"power of Hydrogen") tells us mathematically how much H+ is present in a solution. The
scale runs from 0 to 14. 7 is neutral, any solution with a pH below 7 is an acid, and
anything above 7 is a base. Because the scale is logarithmic, it is based on powers of
10. This means that a solution with a pH of 5 will be 10 times more acid than one with a
pH of 6. A pH of 4 is 10x10, or 100, times more acid than pH
6.

If you need to learn to do the calculations for the pH
of solutions the link below will help you to understand it.

Give a practical example of the use of inverse functions.no

We can view a function as something that maps things of
one type to things of another type. The inverse of a function tells you how to get back
to the original value. We do this a lot in everyday life, without really thinking about
it.

For example, think of a sports team. Each
player has a name and a number. So if you knew a players name and wanted to know their
number, you could think of this as a function from players to their numbers. Now, if you
wanted to do the reverse, find a players name given their number, you would be using the
inverse of this function.

Another example:
suppose I am travelling at 60 miles per hour, and want to know how far I have gone in x
hours. Then this could be represented by the function`f(x) = 60 *
x`

Now I want to know the inverse: If I know I
have travelled x miles how long have I been travelling for? `f^{-1}(x) =
x/60`

What would be considered 10 major events in Mystic River?

1.  Dave is abducted while Sean and Jimmy watch and cannot
or do not do anything about it.

2.  Dave is molested before
he is set free and this scars him for the rest of his
life.

3.  Jimmy's daughter Katie is
murdered.

4.  Dave happens to have been at the same bar
where Katie was the night she was killed and comes home bloody from a
mugging.

5.  Sean is assigned to the
investigation.

6.  It becomes clear that Jimmy was a
criminal and he still has the ability to get guys to take care of things (for example
kill the guy he finds out has killed Katie.)

7.  Dave's
wife thinks he killed Katie and when they have a fight about it Dave tells her about
being molested when he was kidnapped.  This leads to her taking their child and
leaving.

8.  It turns out that Dave had killed a man who
was with a young male prostitute the night Katie died, hoping in a way to save the boy
(himself) from the molester.

9.  Jimmy and Val go to lunch
with Dave, confront him as Katie's killer and kill him despite him protesting his
innocence.

10.  Sean knows that Jimmy killed Dave wrongly
after they find the real killer and swears to bring him to
justice.

What are 5 similarities from the plot of The Crucible and Senator Joseph McCarthy, "McCarthyism"? Arthur Miller patterned his drama after the...

Both McCarthyism and the witchcraft accusations were
perpetuated by hysteria.  People were so caught up in the fear of the Communists during
the Cold War (and witchcraft in Salem) that the smallest hint or accusation that one had
any dealings with the Communist party (or witchcraft) would bring immediate and intense
scrutiny on that person.

Many people took notes of this
hysteria and used it as a way to settle grudges with old enemies.  During McCarthyism,
bitter politicians used it to tarnish the reputations their political rivals, while in
Salem citizens cried witchcraft against those who they had felt wronged them in the past
or against those they were envious of.

In both places the
accusations deflected the attention away from the prime concerns of the time, such as
race and gender discrimination in the United States, and the overly strict value system
of the Puritans in Salem.  Instead, the attention shifted toward Communism and
witchcraft which was simply a mask for society's real
issues.

In both cases, innocent people, who had nothing to
do with withcraft or Communism, were dragged into the controversy and often convicted of
crimes or had their reputations slandered over issues they knew nothing
about.

The way the courts handled the accusations are also
parallels.  The innocent until proven guilty idea didn't ring true in either case and
those accused were forced to implicate others or face jail time and a criminal
record.

Why did Jonas and The Giver choose the December ceremony as the time to implement their plan in The Giver?

Basically, Jonas chooses the Ceremony because it is the
one time everyone in the community can be guaranteed to be in one place. Symbolically,
however, the Ceremony is relevant because it is when Jonas’s life changed.  It was on
that day, during the Ceremony of Twelve, when Jonas became singled out.  From that point
on, he was never like anyone else in the community.  He also cemented his relationship
with The Giver from that time, and their relationship is built on shared pain. 
Eventually, trust is added to this.  Jonas’s journey began then, and by taking Gabriel
when he was supposed to enter his own ceremony, Jonas transforms him
too.

Please summarize the epilogue of Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond.

The epilogue of Guns, Germs, and
Steel by Jared Diamond is entitled “The Future of Human History as a
Science.” This title gives you a clue as to Diamond’s thinking at the end of the book,
his interpretation of what the future of human history should entail. His thought is
that history should be examined more scientifically. The epilogue explains that there
are shortcomings to his thinking in that it is nearly impossible to create experiments
in society and geography that can be replicated because there are too many variables
including human nature, environment, and the length of time that would be necessary to
carry out such experiments.

Jared Diamond espouses the idea
of geological determinism which theorizes that Europeans became dominant because they
had better raw materials and more favorable environmental conditions that those in the
Fertile Crescent and China. There were also power struggles, especially in China.
Whereas the Europeans were open to world exploration, the Chinese were facing civil
unrest as they battled the Eunuchs. Diamond suggests that the power struggles be looked
at only after the geographical situations are examined, thus making human history into a
science.

How does his pride affect Oedipus' actions in Sophocles' Oedipus the King?

In Sophocles' Oedipus the King, the
title character is initially portrayed as someone who cares about his people and is
willing to do whatever it takes to help rid them of the plague that affects the people
of Thebes.

Unfortunately, Oedipus is stirred to anger when
he finds himself being accused of the crimes he is trying to solve. In his conversation
with Teiresias, Oedipus' pride appears to burst forth when he wonders where Teiresias
was when the Sphinx vexed the Thebans. When the Thebans needed prophetic advice, Oedipus
declares that it was he, not Teiresias, who came forward and solved the monster's
riddle. So, in this instance, I would say that Oedipus' pride contributes to his anger,
which evokes further harsh words and more clear accusations of atrocities from
Teiresias.

This strikes me as the instance in the play in
which Oedipus exhibits what we moderns would consider pride.  

Is it okay to pick a point of view in an expository essay?

I think that you will have to pick a particular topic or
aspect of a topic upon which to base your expository essay.  Since most of it is
informational, based on evidence or analysis that you can find or assert, I think you
have to select some aspect of a point of view to defend and explain.  It is not like a
persuasive essay, but to a great extent, your purpose in an expository essay is going to
be writing about information, aspects of it, and defending it with your analysis and the
evidence that you find in a text.  This is what makes the selection of a point of view
critical.  Another way to think of this is with the idea of a thesis statement.  Your
thesis statement, or what you are going to prove, has a specific point of view.  This is
something that is understood and the point of view in the thesis is what will be
demonstrated over the course of the writing.  In this light, one sees that a particular
point of view is critical in writing.  It is the nature of the expository essay to have
a definite point of view from which evidence and analysis can be posited in convincing
the reader of an informed and informational mode of written
presentation.

How does Jane Austen show a preference for strong females in Pride and Predjudice?

This is a fascinating question, made all the more
interesting because I disagree with it. I assume that you would explain "preference" by
saying that the text makes clear Austen thinks favourably about the strong female
characters in this book. Whilst I think you are perfectly correct about Elizabeth Bennet
and the way that the author obviously shows a preference for her, I would disagree with
the presentation of other strong female characters, most notably Miss Caroline Bingley
and Lady Catherine de Bourgh, who are clearly strong female characters but also not
presented favourably in the text. Consider, for example, the way she tries to turn Mr.
Darcy against Lizzie and thereby advance her own
position:

She
often tried to provoke Darcy into disliking her guest by talking of their supposed
marriage, and planning his happiness in such an
alliance.

Clearly such mean
behaviour does not indicate that a character such as Caroline Bingley has a firm place
in the affections of Jane Austen. In addition, consider the way that Lady Catherine de
Bourgh takes Lizzie to task for the supposed alliance that exists between her and her
nephew. Both of these strong ladies are therefore not shown in the most flattering of
lights. Lastly, you might like to consider the way in which female characters who are
not strong are presented in a better light than these strong female characters, such as
Jane and Georgiana Darcy.

What is the historical context of Jean-Paul Sartre's No Exit?

Jean-Paul Sartre's No Exit was
performed in Paris in 1944 during the Nazi Occupation of World War II.  Because there
were curfews imposed by the Germans, Sartre wrote his play in one act so that Parisians
could meet this curfew.  Before the play could be performed, however, it had to meet the
approval of the German censors who approved and then disapproved several times as they
watched rehearsals.  Nevertheless, Sartre inserted subtle messages of resistance in his
play that the Parisians greatly appreciated. However, critics were divided in their
reviews, probably in order to prevent arousing suspicion by the
Nazis.

No Exit became symbolic of the
Resistance, an underground organization formed by the exiled general Charles de Gaulle
who was in Great Britain. Members of the Resistance of occupied France aided Great
Britain with military intelligence and by helping British pilots who were shot down
escape France.  Those who worked with the Germans under the newly formed Vichy
government were known as Collaborators; these are the pacifists to which Garcin alludes
in the play.  Another element in Sartre's play that relates to the Nazi occupation
is the ironic comments about the abundance of heat and light in the hellish room that
Garcin, Estelle, and Inez occupy. Of course, the philosophy of Existentialism that is
thematic to No Exit also appealed to the members of the Resistance
in its emphasis on the necessity and responsibility of the individual's creating his own
essence. 

What could be a motif for Rebecca in Rebecca?

What an interesting question! Of course, Rebecca in this
excellent novel is a rather fascinating character, because she never once appears in the
flesh, rather living on in the imagination of the unreliable narrator that tells us this
story and also in the memories of other characters, such as Mrs. Danvers. When I first
saw this question, my immediate response was to link the house of Manderley with
Rebecca, and having thought about it, I want to stick to this initial response. The
house of Manderley is somewhere where the narrator never feels comfortable. It is marked
by Rebecca's indelible presence and routines, and she is always made to feel lacking or
wanting when she compares herself to the way Rebecca was and how she managed Manderley.
In addition, if we look at the way Manderley is introducted when the narrator first
arrives there, there is a distinct sense of fear and doom in the way it is described.
Note how even the drive, as described in Chapter Seven, gives this
sense:

The
drive twisted and turned as a serpent, scarce wider in places than a path, and above our
heads was a great collonade of trees, whose branches nodded and intermingled with one
another, making an archway for us, like the roof of a church. Even the midday sun would
not penetrate the interlacing of those green leaves, they were too thickly entwined, one
with another, and only little flickering patches of warm light would come in
intermittent waves to dapple the drive with gold. It was very silent, very
still.

The drive is compared
to being a serpent with its obvious allusion to evil, temptation and deceit. The trees
keep the drive from light and warmth, plunging it into a kind of darkness, which could
be metaphorical of the darkness that the narrator endures for most of the novel. The
character of Rebecca seems so bound up in the character of Manderley itself, that it is
only natural to think of Manderley as being a kind of motif for Rebecca herself. I
always think of "The Fall of the House of Usher" and the way that the deaths of Roderick
and Madeline result in the "death" of the house itself, and the same could be said with
Manderley's end. When the phantom of Rebecca is finally killled off, Manderley dies with
her.

Boxer's cruel death is a result of Napoleon's tyrannical rule in Animal Farm. Discuss the lesson that comes out of the animals' reaction to his...

In the end, Boxer's death speaks largely to a couple of
elements on the farm.  The first would be that Napoleon's absolute control over the farm
is represented.  He is able to extract what he can out of Boxer and when he is no longer
useful, Napoleon negotiates his "exit."  The second thing shown is that the animals are
really powerless to help Boxer.  Napoleon had constructed Boxer's exit in such a manner
that the animals only recognize too late what was happening.  Muriel tries to sound out
the words on the carrying truck.  Clover yells out to Boxer that he is being taken to
the Knacker's.  Even Benjamin, who usually fails to care about anything, is motivated to
try to take action to help out his friend.  The lesson that is shown through Boxer's
death is twofold.  The first is that Boxer ends up suffering at the hands of the
political establishment that he loves so very much.  His implicit trust of Napoleon and
the animals is what ends up killing him.  The second half of this is that the animals
are made aware of their powerless condition, demonstrating that the pigs are in charge
and little can change that.  This lesson ends up substantiating Orwell's belief that
power can be manipulated to consolidate support and strengthen the control of those in
the position of power.

What purpose does the Chorus serve in speaking with Oedipus in Sophocles' Oedipus the King?

As in many of our surviving Greek tragedies, the chorus,
generally speaking, represents the viewpoint of someone who is not a king, queen,
prince, princess, or other upper-class person.

In
Sophocles' Oedipus the King, the chorus is given the persona of
elderly men from Thebes. In their initial conversation with Oedipus, they advise him to
consult Teiresias about the murder of Laius (and Oedipus follows their advice). They
also provide Oedipus with any information they know about Laius' murder. So, in their
opening encounter with Oedipus, they serve as advisors and
informants.

Later in the play, after Oedipus argues with
Creon, the elderly Thebans again take on the role of advisor as they urge Oedipus not to
suspect Creon of being disloyal to him.

After Oedipus
blinds himself, the chorus express both pity and horror at Oedipus. They actually think
that Oedipus would have been better off if he had killed
himself.

So, in Oedipus the King, the chorus' role with
respect to Oedipus himself appears to be that of advisor, provider of information, and
to serve as a group of citizens who reacts to what he has done after learning of his
true identity. These roles are not dissimilar to the roles taken on by other choruses in
Greek tragedies.

What does the poem "On the Subway" by Sharon Olds mean from a historical point of view?

The poem "On the Subway" provides a historical
point-of-view is regards to how Whites have, and still continue to, regard
African-Americans. The poem beings with the speaker stating her fear that the youth
across from her may attempt to rob her given he "has the casual look of a mugger."  She,
dressed in her furs feels obviously threatened.

The poem
shifts toward the middle where the speaker recognizes that the young man may be
regarding her with the same concern with which she regards him. She admits that he may
be looking at her in such a way that would lead him to believe that she "is taking the
food from his mouth."

In the end, the speaker recognizes
that the color of her skin makes his life very easy; this mirrors that fact that the
color of the boys skin makes his life very
hard.

Historically, the most prominent happening which
began the equality movement was that which happened on December 1, 1955 in Montgomery,
Alabama. Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger. This event lead to
the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Therefore, it could be seen as
mirroring the Park's incident by placing the poem in a similar setting. While it does
not take place on a bus, it does take place on a subway. This shows the current mode of
transportation used by the masses today (in larger cities). This being said, this
transfer to the subway also symbolizes that the prejudices of today's people still
exist.

The only difference between the poem and both the
past and today is that the speaker is able to put herself in the shoes of the young
man.

Please provide 5 examples of Kate Chopin's style of writing (diction, syntax, parallelism, anaphora, etc) from The Awakening?!?!?!

This novel is so rich with literary elements to be
evaluated that you could probably find 5 examples in each chapter or maybe even on each
page.  Chopin has a masterful way with words and imagery that transport the reader to
the time and place as well as into the mind of Edna Pontellier. Here are a few literary
examples to get you started.

The novel open with a bird in
a cage speaking in French saying, "Allez vous-en! Allez vous-en! Sapristi!"  (Go away,
go away, for heaven's sake). Right there, the reader is transported to French Creole New
Orleans with her use of these French words.  In addition to that, the fact that bird is
in a cage is clear symbol of something beautiful that is entrapped, and by the end of
chapter 1 the reader recognizes that Edna is perhaps like this caged bird, a woman
trapped in her marriage, tied to her children, and caged too by the expectations of
Creole society.  It even says that the bird can speak "a language which nobody
understood" which will come to represent Edna in that she too has an understanding of
herself that those around her are absolutely incapable of
understanding.

As the novel progresses, we see Edna's
subtle changes.  In chapter 5 she listen to the sea with its "sonorous murmur [that]
reached her like a loving but imperative entreaty."  This line is filled with
interesting diction.  The first word to consider is sonorous -- it means a deep or rich
sound, but it suggest something grand and even eloquent in the sound.  The next two
significant words seem to be a potential contradiction "loving" with "imperative"
because loving seems gentle and imperative connotes a demand, but what an interesting
combination to be lovingly commanded to listen to sea and be drawn into contemplation of
it.  The sea is intensely compelling to Edna, and this grows as the novel progresses. In
the next chapter we are explicitly told that the "voice of the sea speaks to the soul."
 There is no place deeper than that.

By the time we are in
chapter 19, Edna is quite dissatisfied with her life and how she living it, but she is
still uncertain what to make of her feelings.  There is great parallelism in the final
two paragraphs. The first paragraph says that "there were days when she was very happy
without knowing why" and the last paragraph says "there were days when she was unhappy,
she did not know way." Each paragraph goes on to explain those two opposite emotions and
the reader is as confused as Edna as to what to make of her character. Chopin has
created a character that is intriguing and complex, making us want to read
on.