Who in the story believed the legend and who did not?

Sir Charles Baskerville believed the legend of the Hound
of Baskerville, and it lead to his death.  When he saw a hound coming his way, he
thought the legend was true and died of fright.

Holmes does
not believe the story.  In fact, when Dr. Mortimer brings it to him he says it is
interesting only “to a collector of fairy tales” (p. 11).  It is facts that Holmes
wants, and he does take the case because he wants to find out who is exploiting the
legend and how, and of course why.

Sir Henry does not
completely believe the legend, and he takes up his home in the moor.  However, he is
nervous and worried because he thinks someone is trying to kill him like Sir
Charles.

Watson does not believe the story, but Stapleton
pretends to.  Stapleton of course needs to urge the story
along.

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Stapleton may fall in with such a superstition,
and Mortimer also; but if I have one quality upon earth it is common-sense, and nothing
will persuade me to believe in such a thing. (p.
69).

More importantly, Watson
believes that believing in the legend is beneath him, and he would be letting Holmes
down if he believed it.

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To do so would be to descend to the level of
these poor peasants, who are not content with a mere fiend dog, but must needs describe
him with hell-fire shooting from his mouth and eyes. Holmes would not listen to such
fancies, and I am his agent. (p.
69)

Of course, the locals
seem to view the legend as just a legend.  They believe it as people would any ghost
story, as a diversion.

Pls. help me factor these given, i'm new to factoring, a raised to 9 minus b raised to 9 a^9 - b^9the ^ sign is exponent, thx

This is the difference of two cubes and it returns the
product:

`a^(9)` - `b^(9)` = `a^(3*3)` - `b^(3*3)` =
(`a^(3)` -`b^(3)` )(`a^(3*2)` + `a^(3)`*`b^(3)` + `b^(3*2)`
)

`a^(9)` - `b^(9)` = (`a^(3)` - `b^(3)` )(`a^(6)` +
`a^(3)` *`b^(3)` + `b^(6)` )

We notice that the 1st factor
is also a difference of two cubes:

`a^(9)` - `b^(9)` = (a -
b)(`a^(2)` + ab + `b^(2)` )(`a^(6)` + `a^(3)`*`b^(3)` + `b^(6)`
)

The factorized expression is `a^(9)` -
`b^(9)` = (a-b)(`a^(2)` + ab + `b^(2)` )(`a^(6)` + `a^(3)` *`b^(3)` + `b^(6)`
).

What happened to Amir's mother in The Kite Runner?

Amir's mother, Sofia Akrami, died while giving birth to
Amir in 1963. Sofia was a successful professor of classic Farsi literature at the local
university in Kabul--"the descendant of a royal family," and the reason that Baba
referred to her as "my princess." She was considered one of the most beautiful women in
Kabul, and many people were surprised when Baba married her, since he "was not of royal
blood." Amir knows little about his mother, but he discovers a few unexpected facts upon
his return to Afghanistan when he converses with a beggar on the streets. The old man,
Dr. Rasul, had also been a professor, and he remembered Amir's
mother.

"Such
grace, such dignity, such a
tragedy."

They had shared a
piece of almond cake and tea with honey, and she was pregnant with Amir at the time,
"and all the more beautiful for it." She had told Rasul
that

' I'm so
afraid... Because I'm so profoundly happy... Happiness like this is frightening... They
only let you be this happy if they're preparing to take something from you.
'

Identify metaphors and hyperbole in "The Chrysanthemums."John Steinbeck's "The Chrysanthemums"

Authors often use literary devices in their narratives
as the employment of this figurative language embellishes a story, making  the common
uncommon, extending the meaning of something beyond its usual denotation.  In "The
Chrysanthemums," a story about which Steinbeck himself
wrote,

It is
entirely different and designed to strike without the reader's
knowledge,

there are unique
and interesting figures of speech.  In fact, the very first sentence contains both
metaphor and hyperbole:

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• The high grey-flannel
  fog of winter closed off the Salina Valley from the sky and from
  all the rest of the
  world.

[the fog is compared to
grey-flannel = metaphor, an implied comparison of two unlike
things]

["all the rest of the world" is a hyperbole, an
obvious exaggeration as it only closes the
valley.]

• As Elisa
  Allen works in her flower garden, she "brushed a cloud of hair
  out of her eyes...."  With a metaphor, Steinbeck compares Elisa's hair
  that is in her eyes to a cloud, suggesting the fog that hangs over the
  valley. 


•  As she works quickly in the dirt, the author
  describes her hands as having "terrier fingers," another
  metaphor.


• When the tinker pulls onto the Allen property,
  the two ranch shephers fly out at the little mongrel who accompanies the tinker.  All
  three dogs stop, and with..."ambassadorial dignity" they
  sniff one another.  This metaphor is delightfully descriptive; the dogs observe a
  protocol evidently regarding how they approach one another's end. 
  


• Using hyperbole, Steinbeck refers to the one old wagon,
  the horse, the donkey, the dog, and the tinker as "the
  caravan." 


• When the bedraggled horse and
  donkey "leaned luxuriously into their collars," hyperbole
  is again used as the poor, mismatched animals could never look
  luxurious.


• As the tinker leaves with her chrysanthemum in
  a pot, Elisha considers it metaphorically, "That's a bright
  direction.  There's a glowing there." She
  envisions a part of her passion extended to another
  person.


• Elisa stands on the porch as she waits for her
  husband to clean up; she looks toward the river road an perceives the willow-line as a
  "thin band of sunshine."  Here the willows still yellow
  with frosted leaves are compared to the sunshine in a
  metaphor.

Discuss a description of the tone of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas regarding characterization.

I think that Boyne's tone is revealed in the closing lines
of the story.  It is evident what Boyne's attitude has been throughout the construction
of Bruno's narrative:

readability="6">

Of course all this happened a long time ago and
nothing like that could ever happen again. Not in this day and
age.

It is with this
sentiment that Boyne reflects his tone throughout the story.  His attitude towards Bruno
is an embodiment of this idea.  Bruno is constantly trying to make sense of his world,
one that defies logic.  He seeks to understand why things are the way they are.  Those
who offer faulty logic such as Gretel or Bruno's father end up suffering at the end. 
The author's attitude towards Bruno is one that shows the strength of human character. 
No one else in the story displays the courage and strength of character that Bruno does
at the end when he holds Shmuel's hand and reaffirms their friendship in the gas
chamber.  Bruno shows no hesitation and little ambivalence in this moment.  Boyne draws
this stark contrast to what others have shown throughout the novel.  Bruno's mother's
ambivalence towards Auschwitz, the father's blind loyalty to it, and Gretel's changing
perspective to be hope to be embraced by it are all reflections of the contingent and
the temporary.  It is here where the tone is most evident.  Bruno speaks for
universality and the absolute belief that the only resistance to injustice is the
preaching of justice.  This is in stark contrast to others who embody a sense of the
contingent and temporary in the face of absolute terror.  In Boyne's closing words, we
see his affirmation of Bruno and in the fact that the ending of the novel spells
personal disaster and emotional heartache for the family, it reflects his attitude
towards both primary and secondary characters.

What is Jack's solution to the beast in Lord of the Flies? Evaluate this suggestion.

Jack's solution to the problem of the beast
is to hunt and kill it. He approaches everything from a childish and
savage point of view. In his mind, if something is scary or threatening, it needs to be
dealt with in as quick a way as possible. He doesn't stop to think if they actually have
a chance at killing it; he just leads the boys to search its lair and drive it out. Jack
is constantly trying to prove himself as a leader, and his main goal is to be in power.
Thus, if he kills the beast, he will destroy Ralph's weak hold on the leadership
position.

Jack has no set plan for his idea. He doesn't
stop to think things through, or develop a concrete blueprint for dealing with the
beast. Instead, he rounds up the rest of the boys and marches off to fight, without
knowing what the beast may be, or if they're capable of killing it. It is not the most
mature way of dealing with the issue, nor is it the most rational. His response
represents the more savage qualities in every human, lying just below the surface of
rational though.

How did socioeconomics come into play with Bryon in That Was Then, This is Now?

You will want to re-read Chapter Seven of this great
novel, as this chapter details the way in which Bryon changes thanks to his serious
relationship with Cathy and the way in which he becomes much more aware of his position
in life and seeks to change it to become more respectable. Consider what Bryon tells
us:

I got a
job in a supermarket and I did a pretty good job of changing my attitude, outwardly at
least. I couldn't help thinking smart-aleck things, but I could help saying them.
Sacking groceries wasn't the most fun job in the world, but I was bringing in
money.

This money was needed
by Bryon's mother, but this also represents Bryon's maturity from the kind of character
who we meet at the beginning of the book into a character who recognises that there is
no future in pool hustling and not being respectable. Thus Bryon begins to transform
himself to try to give himself some sort of hope of a future and also to improve his own
social standing, even going as far as to bite back the comments he would like to make
but now recognises are not appropriate.

It is also
socioeconomics that come into play with Bryon in a different way, as he notices that
Mark is earning a lot of money and begins to wonder where this money is coming from. At
first he assumes Mark is winning this money by playing poker, but his discovery of the
real source of this money is what leads to the story's tragic
ending.

Please comment on the use of purple in Emily Dickinson's poem "Me, change! Me, alter!"

This small and cryptic poem seems to be about the
religious experience of Emily Dickinson's Christianity and the need she feels to
"change" and "alter" in response to it. She relates this change to the changes in
nature, especially at the close of day and the riotous exuberance of colour that
accomanies twilight. Consider how purple is used in this
context:

Me,
change! Me, alter!
Then I will, when on the Everlasting Hill
A
Smaller Purple grows—
At sunset, or a lesser glow
Flickers upon
Cordillera—
At Day's superior
close!

The reference to a
"Smaller Purple" in this poem and the way that it parallels the change that the speaker
seems to desire in her own character and person suggests that the purple refers to some
kind of divine manifestation of power or glory. In other poems by Dickinson, purple is
normally a colour that is associated with the imperial power and person of Jesus, and
his robes are often said to be "purple," so perhaps we can relate the usage of purple in
this poem to the way that she links purple in with the personage of Jesus in other
poems.

Comment on the conflict experienced by Esperanza in The House on Mango Street.

A careful analysis of this excellent novel reveals that
the conflict facing Esperanza operates on many different levels. On the one hand, it is
an external conflict, as Mango Street is shown to be part of a barrio where the people
who live in it struggle against prejudice, poverty and oppression. Even those who should
know better, such as the nun in the very first vignette, judge Esperanza and those in
Mango Street based on the quality of their
accommodation:

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You live there? The way she
said it made me feel like nothing. There. I lived
there. I
nodded.

This is a theme that
runs throughout the novel, as various characters face this conflict of being judged
based on their skin colour, their ethnicity, the language that they speak and where they
live.

Yet at the same time, we see that Esperanza also
faces a massive internal conflict that is based around expectations and the lives that
other women lead. As she grows up, Esperanza sees women marry young, have children
young, and suffer domestic abuse as they are trapped in so many different ways. In
"Beautiful and Cruel," we see how Esperanza responds to the internal conflict of being
forced to choose between following societal expectations and making her own way. In a
sense, of course, this is also an external conflict, as Esperanza feels the pressure
that others place upon her to be more feminine, for example her parents. Note how this
conflict, and Esperanza's response, is presented:

readability="8">

My mother says when I get older my dusty hair
will settle and my blouse will learn to stay clean, but I have decided not to grow up
tame like the others who lay their necks on the threshold waiting for the ball and
chain.

Esperanza deliberately
decides to be different from the other "tame" women around her by standing up for
herself and not accepting a situation that would entrap her. There will be no "ball and
chain" for her.

Thus we can see that Esperanza faces many
different kinds of conflict in this excellent novel.

Where did the scene open?

The opening of Beowulf probably takes place in a Danish
mead hall with the scop calling the warriors to attention with the first word of the
epic, which is So or Listen.  He then proceeds to give the listeners the geneology of
Danish royalty, which began with Scyld Schefing, his son Beow, then Healfdane, who had 3
sons and a daughter. Hrothgar, one of Healfdane's sons, is the king of the Danes who
builds a famous mead hall, Heorot, which is attacked by the monster Grendel.  We also
learn that in the future, the mead hall is eventually burned to the ground because of a
feud between Hrothgar and his son-in-law, Ingeld.

What are some examples of Chris losing his identity from Into the Wild?

Perhaps the most significant example of Chris losing his
identity was his decision to change his name, at least in his own mind. He chose to do
this not through legal means, but simply by introducing himself to others; it was a way
of becoming an entirely different person than the well-to-do college graduate he had
been while living in society.

readability="14">

Driving west out of Atlanta, he intended to
invent an utterly new life for himself, one in which he would be free to wallow in
unfiltered experience. To symbolize the complete severance from his previous life, he
even adopted a new name... he was now Alexander Supertramp, master of his own
destiny.
(Krakauer, Into the Wild,
Amazon.com)

A person's name
is one of their defining features, and changing it, even symbolically, is not a light
decision. As he traveled, he adopted more and more of the "Supertramp" personality,
until he found himself in mortal peril. It is telling that when he wrote his last S.O.S.
he used his birth name, perhaps realizing that he might find himself dead and forgotten;
despite his efforts to lose his original identity, Chris wanted to be known and
respected by others, not to be forgotten as a simple hobo with no
purpose.

Which character do you least sympathise with in The Chrysalids?

I think the character that the author means us to
sympathise with least in this novel is Joseph Storm, the father of David and Petra, who,
throughout the novel, shows that he has wedded himself irreversibly to the principles of
Waknuk society that defy deviations and mutations. The way in which he is perfectly
happy to hunt down his son and daughter for his inflexible religious beliefs clearly
indicate that he is not a pleasant character. He is presented from his very first
introduction in the story as a character who is resolutely wedded to the duty of acting
to preserve his beliefs, as he "sets a high example" and also, we are told, slaughters
and burns any deviations much more than any other
farmer:

My
father, however, seldom called in the inspector, he preferred to be on the safe side and
liquidate anything doubtful. There were people who disapproved of his meticulousness,
saying that the local Deviation-rate, which had shown a steady overall improvement and
now stood at half what it had been in my grandfather's time, would have been better
still, but for my father.

In
addition to his rigorous and unyielding attitude towards deviations, let us remember the
dream that David has of his father when he sacrifices Sophie as if she were a mutated
calf. Throughout the entire story, he follows an inhumane set of laws and pursues them
to his very death.

Discuss the effectiveness of Hughes' "Trumpet Player."

The effectiveness of Hughes' homage to the jazz musician
is a powerful one.  "Trumpet Player" does not miss a beat in making the connection
between jazz and the history of African- Americans.  The indelible imprints of the slave
experience upon the jazz musician is present from the first stanza, where the prelude to
playing a note is the recollection of the slave experience and its brutality.  Hughes is
able to make the postmodern connection that language does not do justice to the slave
experience.  Instead, it has to be expressed through the notes of music, a non- verbal
mode of communication.  At the same time, Hughes is able to make the argument that the
music being played by the trumpet player is one that expresses desire and a sense of
individual redemption from a historical condition that might pin one down under its
oppressive weight.  In bringing out both conditions, Hughes is able to draw a paralell
between the modern condition where the understanding of the past condition is set
against the potential for hope and redemption of the present and the future.  This
becomes one of the strongest examples of effectiveness in the poem as Hughes is able to
take an individual predicament and link it to a collective one.

I would like to know the various obstacles that were needed to be solved in order to complete the deal.

In 1819 the U.S. had an
equal number of slave and free states (eleven each). States were generally divided along
the Mason – Dixon line. The Northern States (free) had greater population, and thus
greater representation in the House of Representatives, but the Senate was equally
divided. The population of the North was growing faster than the population in the
South, so if the two sections were to remain equally balanced, it could only occur in
the Senate, where each state was equally represented regardless of population. No move
had been made to extend slavery into territory gained by the Louisiana Purchase. That
year, Missouri wanted to join the Union as a state. Representative James Talmadge of New
York introduced a resolution that prohibited further introduction of slaves into
Missouri, and freedom at age 25 for those born into slavery after its admission as a
state. (at the time, Missouri already had 10,000 slaves.) The resolution passed the
House, but failed in the Senate, largely along sectional
lines.

Maine had applied for admission also, so compromise
was worked out:

• Slavery was excluded from
  balance of Louisiana Purchase north of 36° 30’N. (Southern Border of Missouri.) This
  appeared to be a victory for the South, as the area of the American West had been
  designated the Great American Desert, unfit for agriculture, or for anything but Indians
  and rattlesnakes, not necessarily in that order.


• Maine
  would join Union as free state, Missouri as slave state this meant that the slave state/
  free state division would remain along sectional
  lines.

Another problem arose when proslavery
interests in the Missouri Constitutional Convention insisted the State Constitution
provide that free blacks and mulattoes would be excluded from the state. (This was a
clear violation of the Federal Constitutional provision that protected "privileges and
immunities" of U.S. Citizens.) Free states were citizens of several other states. This
was an additional controversy that almost blocked Missouri from joining the
Union.

Henry Clay developed a
"Second Missouri Compromise:" The offending clause could remain but the legislature must
agree that it would never be construed so as to deny privileges that citizens held under
the U.S. constitution. (In other words, the Constitution did not mean what it said.)
Missouri was subsequently admitted to the Union as the 24th State in
1821.

How is Arthur 'Boo" Radley an innocent victim of the theme prejudice in To Kill a Mockingbird? What is the evidence from the book?

Like several of the other characters in To Kill
a Mockingbird(particularly Tom Robinson and Dolphus Raymond), Boo Radley has
been subjected to false accusations and unfounded gossip throughout the town of Maycomb.
While the prejudice against Tom and Dolphus is primarily racist, Boo's youthful
indiscretions and supposed mental instability are the reasons that the townspeople have
scorned him and his family. Although Boo had been in trouble with the law as a teenager,
it was the actions taken by his family that created his forced isolation within the
Radley home. When Boo stabbed his father in the leg with a pair of scissors, it only
spurred further gossip and speculation about Boo's mental
condition.

However, there is little or no evidence that Boo
ever committed any other unlawful acts, yet the townspeople choose to blame Boo for "any
stealthy small crimes committed in Maycomb." Boo is blamed for the death of azaleas
during a cold snap (it is instead believed that Boo breathes on them); he is blamed for
the death of a series of mutilated animals (though it is actually Crazy Addie, another
local mentally unstable character, who commits the acts); he is accused of poisoning
pecans from the family's own tree, though no one has ever claimed to be sick from eating
them. Rumors persist that Boo eats raw squirrels and has "a jagged scar" across his
face. Miss Rachel claims that Boo scratches on her window screen at night, yet there is
no real evidence of any of this, since Boo is actually never seen. It is his unusual
family history and his own invisibility that spurs the stories--and prompts the
nickname--of Boo Radley.

Identify themes of the poem, "The Last Sonnet."

As far as I can tell in Kaleb Christenberry's poem, "The
Last Sonnet," the themes seem to reflect a student's difficulty in writing a sonnet,
which is his last, and how he wishes he could avoid it.

In
a general sense, perhaps the poem reflects any desire to be relieved of completing a
task that we wish we did not have to do. In this case, it is a sonnet. Literally
speaking, it could be going to the dentist or taking out the
trash.

However, I find that the poem is so "inferior" to
the beautiful work of authors like Shakespeare (who wrote so many lovely sonnets), as
well as Wordsworth, Wyatt and Milton (among others), that I can only conclude that this
poem is poking fun at the sonnets youngsters may be forced to write for classroom
assignments. If this is the case, Christenberry has done a fine job: the sonnet sounds
like something a sixth-grader would write (not to insult the student). Personally, I
find the poem to be choppy, non-musical, awkward, and
unappealing.

For example, "listen" to a few lines from
Shakespeare's Sonnet 29:

readability="13">

When, in disgrace with fortune and men's
eyes,

I all alone beweep my outcast
state

And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless
cries

And look upon myself and curse my
fate...

There is a musical
rhythm here; the words are chosen carefully, and the reader flows from one line to the
next, effortlessly. The rhyme found at the end of each line forms a pattern as well:
a-b-a-b. "Eyes" and "cries" rhyme, and "state" and
"fate."

Compare Shakespeare's work with Christenberry's.
The rhyme at the end of the first and third line is what I call "cheap rhyme." It is
rhyming so it the line endings have similar sounds, but there is no serious attempt to
provide a flow or a more "artful" word, or a rich
content:

There
are many challenges that I have seen...

to this challenge I
am not very keen...

My
overall sense, then, is that the author is poking fun at the deadly sonnets some
students write to fulfill an assignment, where meeting the rhyme scheme and number of
syllables per line is like a "Mad Lib," where any number of words can be paired that
make no sense. Perhaps Christenberry is drawing our attention to the artistry
true poets employ because they have a sense of poetry
within. For the student who struggles just to finish—rhyming words
like "assignment" and "alignment"—he may rest assured that his teacher is also
struggling with his poem. And that may well be the author's point. For some people,
writing poetry is a useless exercise, and a painful journey for the
reader.

If this is the case, the author has provided an
excellent example of poetry written under duress rather than one written with passion
and fire.

Who is Gertrude, and why is she important to the plot of William Shakespeare's play Hamlet, Prince of Denmark?

Gertrude is the Hamlet of the title's mother, and widow to
his father also called Hamlet. It is after the death of his father and Gertrude's
marriage to her brother-in-law, Claudius, that Hamlet's depression and distress begins.
Her actions in marrying Claudius in what can be seen as immodest haste are central to
the play. Hamlet summarises the events as he sees them in Act 1 acene
ii-

Frailty,
thy name is woman—
A little month, or ere those shoes were old

With which she follow'd my poor father's body
Like Niobe, all
tears—why she, even she—
O God! a beast that wants discourse of reason

Would have mourn'd longer—married with my
uncle,

Hamlet is grieving and
also tormented by his mother's seeming deception of his father. His anxieties are
further intensified when his father's ghost reveals that he was murdered by Claudius,
and requests that his murder be avenged-

readability="7">

If thou hast nature in thee, bear it not.

Let not the royal bed of Denmark be
A couch for luxury and damned
incest.

At the
end of the play, Gertrude dies from drinking a poisoned cup meant for her son.

 

 

Describe these lines in "Piano" by Lawrence.In spite of myself, the insidious mastery of songBetrays me back, till the heart of me weeps to...

As with any poetic interpretation, the answer you will
receive will always be subjective. A poem rarely means the same thing any two people.
Poetry is meant to move, to bring about critical thought, or to evoke
feelings.

That being said, the lines mentioned, from
Lawrence's poem "The Piano", when used out of context of the poem, are spoken as a
remembrance. The speaker admits that he does not wish to be drawn back to a certain time
in the past, but the music he hears has such an affect upon him that he cannot control
it.

The speaker is swept back to a time where music was a
commonplace in his life. With the music came a sense of comfort and happiness- all
signified by the playing of a piano.

What is the difference between when to use a binomial distribution vs a geometric distribution.

The binomial distribution helps in finding the probability
that a number k of successful event is happening in a given series of attempts, while
the geometric distribution helps in finding the first failure when performing a number
of attempts.

The common thing that binomial and geometric
distributions have in common is that they are based on independent series of attempts. A
special case of negative binomial distribution oR Pascal distribution is represented by
the geometric distribution.

What are some important quotes in The Hunger Games?

One important quotation comes early in the book, when
Katniss crosses the fence to hunt. As she hunts, she thinks about her life in District
Twelve and how hard it is for the people there; most can't even go into the woods to
pick apples, instead relegated out of fear to the barren coal-mining soil inside the
fence.

readability="12">

"District Twelve. Where you can starve to death
in safety," I mutter. Then I glance quickly over my shoulder. Even here, in the middle
of nowhere, you worry someone might overhear you.
(Collins, The
Hunger Games, Google
Books)

This quote sets up the
world and gives an idea about how the people inside it feel; they are told they are
safe, but can't grow enough to eat, and the paranoia of the overpowering government is
so strong that they fear cameras and microphones even out in the woods. As it turns out,
that fear is well-founded, although not in this particular area. This quote shows the
irony of living in "safety" while starving, and how badly the citizens fear the
government.

Why does Oberon want to take the Changeling boy away from Titania in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream?

Oberon and Titania are estranged because Titania refuses
to give up her page boy to
him.

Puck "For
Oberon is passing fell and
wroth

Because that she, as her
attendant, hath

A lovely changeling
boy stol'n from an Indian king.

She
never had so sweet a changeling:

And
jealous Oberon would have the
child

Knight
of his train to trace the forests
wild."

Act II Scene
I

This boy (Indian  href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changeling">changeling) and Oberon wants
him for his "knight" and henchman.

Oberon
"I do but beg a little changling boy to be my
henchman" Act II Scene I

Oberon is also jealous
of Titania's attention to the boy and her feelings for the
boy.

Oberon devises a plan to humilate Titania and take her
attention from the boy. (Eye drops form the magic flower)  He says, "And ere I take this
charm from off her sight,

"As I can take it with
another herb,

I'll make her render up
her page to me."

In literature, what is the difference between symbolism and allusion?

In literature, “symbolism” and “allusion” resemble each
other in some ways but differ from each other in other ways.  Distinguishing between
them is made all the more difficult since “symbolism” can be (and has been) defined in
so many different ways.  However, here are some similarities and differences that may be
relevant to your question:

• Symbolism and
  allusion both communicate meaning more subtly and indirectly that outright statement. 
  For example, a lion can symbolize courage without a writer needing to say: “This lion
  represents courage.” However, if a writer presented a cowardly lion, he or she might
  possibly be alluding to the similar lion in The Wizard of Oz,
  especially if the writer’s lion says

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Courage. What makes a king out of a slave?
Courage.

What makes the flag on the mast to wave?
Courage.

In other words, if a
later text clearly echoes an earlier text (or, in this case, film), allusion is
involved.

• As has just been suggested, allusion
  depends on the reader’s knowledge of some earlier specific text, whereas symbolism does
  not. If I write a novel in which the main characters are named Adam and Eve and they are
  forced to leave an attractive place, I am certainly inviting readers to assume that I am
  alluding to the Biblical story of Adam and Eve.  However, if I present an attractive,
  innocent young man and young woman who are forced to leave an attractive place because
  of a misdeed they commit, I may be alluding to the Bible, or I may
  just be using the general symbolism of a kind of paradise lost – an archetypal story. 
  Using clear echoes from an earlier text would involve allusion. For instance, if I asked
  about the young couple, “who first persuaded them to revolt in such a foul and
  unattractive way?” someone who had a good knowledge and memory of John Milton’s
  Paradise Lost would recognize that I am alluding to a particular
  line from the opening book of that poem.


• Recognizing and
  responding to symbolism requires no great knowledge or education on the reader’s part.
  If I write a poem in which the sun rises, birds sing, a gentle breeze blows, and flowers
  begin to unfold, it takes no great education to assume that I am symbolizing such ideas
  as life, renewal, rebirth, and happiness.  However, if I write a poem featuring a story
  about an old carpenter named John, a clever and lecherous student named Nicholas, and an
  attractive young wife named Alisoun, an educated reader will assume that I am alluding
  in some way to Chaucer’s “The Miller’s Tale.”


• Symbolism,
  therefore, often transcends cultures (light symbolizes knowledge in many cultures);
  allusion tends to be more culturally specific.  Thus, if I begin an essay by writing
  “Fourscore and several years ago,” an American reader who is reasonably well educated
  will know that I am alluding to the opening words of Abraham Lincoln’s “Gettysburg
  Address” (“fourscore and seven years ago”). A reader from China might not recognize the
  allusion unless an editor provided a footnote calling attention to it and explaining
  it.

Therefore, symbolism tends to be somewhat
universal, whereas allusions tend to be rooted in knowledge of specific earlier
texts.

Write the standard equation of a line that passes through the point (1,4) and it has the slope m=1/4.

First, we'll recall the standard equation
form:

y = mx + n, where m is the slope of the line and n
represents the y intercept.

The equation of the line that
is passing through a point and it has a given slope, is;

y
- 4 = (1/4)*(x - 1)

We'll remove the
brackets;

y - 4 = x/4 -
1/4

We'll add 4 both sides:

y
= x/4 + 4 - 1/4

y = x/4 +
15/4

The requested standard form of the
equation of the line is: y = x/4 + 15/4.

From "The Bear," what conclusions can you draw about farce as a dramatic form?

Let us not forget that this play is subtitled "A Joke (or
a Farce) in One Act." Therefore we can say that this is a play that is representative of
the genre of farce. One of the aspects of farce that is definitely present in this
hilarioius play is the occurrence of absurd situations that only become more and more
ridiculous. We can see this is evident in the anger that Mrs. Popov expresses towards
Smirnov and the way that she challenges him to a duel, even though she has never fired a
pistol before in her life. What makes this situation even more farcical is that the
angrier Mrs. Popov gets, the more Smirnov falls in love with her, and her stirred up
emotions correspond to his feelings of passion for her. Note what Mrs. Popov says after
Smirnov has just shown her how to fire a pistol:

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Now don't you try to get out of it, Mr. Smirnov.
My blood is up. I won't be happy till I've drilled a hole through that skull of yours.
Follow me. What's the matter?
Scared?

It is of course
farcical that Smirnov chooses this precise moment to declare his love of Mrs. Popov,
whilst she is joyfully contemplating shooting him in the head. Such scenes make this an
excellent example of the farce form and add greatly to the humour of the
play.

What important philosophy is presented by Rainsford and Whitney in the beginning of "The Most Dangerous Game"? Why is this significant?

In Richard O'Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game," the
philosophy presented is that animals (all kinds of animals) have feelings. When Whitney
first presents the idea, Rainsford scoffs.

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"Great sport,
hunting."

"The best sport in the world," agreed
Rainsford.

"For the hunter," amended Whitney. "Not for the
jaguar."

"Don't talk rot, Whitney," said Rainsford. "You're
a big-game hunter, not a philosopher. Who cares about how a jaguar
feels?"

"Perhaps the jaguar does," observed
Whitney.

"Bah! They've no
understanding."

"Even so, I think they understand one
thing—fear. The fear of pain and the fear of
death."

Rainsford, a very
famous big-game hunter does not understand that an animal could feel fear or anything
else. In his mind, an animals has no understanding of the more sophisticated feelings of
human beings.

However, when Rainsford meets General Zaroff,
and the other man tries to get him to participate in hunting human beings, Rainsford is
appalled by General Zaroff's disturbing idea that less intelligent humans, or those of
poor circumstances, are not the equal to other human beings, and are, therefore,
disposable. It is not until Zaroff decides to hunt Rainsford that Rainsford himself
understands the concept of the "fear of pain and the fear of
death."

Very quickly, Rainsford is thrown into a situation
where he must kill or be killed. Only from the very real threat of being killed by
Zaroff can Rainsford understand the inherent desire in all creatures to live, as well as
what an "animal" (of any kind) will do in order to preserve its (his)
life.

It would have been interesting to learn if Rainsford
ever chose to hunt again after this experience. Would he be better able to understand
the common response of all creatures to violence and cruelty after leaving the
island?

Who is the goddess of witchcraft in the play Macbeth?

Hecate is the goddess of witchcraft. She is found in Act
3, Scene 5 of Macbeth. In this scene, Hecate appears before the three witches. She
demands to know why she has been excluded from their meetings with
Macbeth:

How
dare you
Trade and traffic with Macbeth
In riddles and affairs of
death;
And I, the mistress of your charms,
The secret contriver of
all harms,
Was never called to offer my part,
Or show the glory of
our art?

Hecate adds that
Macbeth will be back to know what his destiny is. She proclaims that Macbeth will see
apparitions that will lead him to the conclusion that he will be safe. She plays an
important role in this scene in that she declares lines that reveal Macbeth's belief
that he will be untouchable. Of course, this ultimately results in his
downfall:

He
shall spurn fate, scorn death, and bear
His hopes above wisdom, grace, and
fear.
And you all know, security
Is the major enemy of
humans.

How are the weak characters dependent upon the major characters in Lord of the Flies?

the novel is actually
about:


•Civilization vs. Savagery
•Good vs.
Evil
•Weak vs. Strong
•Morality vs. Immorality
•Democracy
vs. Totalitarianism
•Order vs. Chaos
•Law vs.
Anarchy
•Reason vs. Impulse

Character’s
Representations:

Piggy (and
glasses)

Clear-sightedness,
intelligence. Their state represents the status of    social
order.

Ralph, The
Conch

Democracy,
Order

Simon

Pure
Goodness, "Christ
Figure"

Roger

Evil,
Satan

Jack

Savagery,
Anarchy

The
Island

A microcosm representing the
world

The
"Scar"

Man's destruction, destructive
forces

The
Beast

The evil residing within
everyone, the dark side of human
nature.

Lord of the
Flies

The Devil, great danger or
evil

Lord of the Flies by William
Golding is a novel that

represents society and it's components in a
tale about a

children stranded on an island. Of the group there are
two

who want to lead the boys for the duration of their stay,
one

of which is Jack Merridew. Although he doesn't have
any

power at the beginning of the novel, he took every
chance

he had to try to take the position of chief which he
eventually

got. He ruled with an iron fist, allowing no one to
question

him or his leadership. Jack represented the wanting for
a

single, all powerful leader to guide the followers of
society

using any means he feels necessary.

Jack
was a very power hungry young boy. He liked to be in

command of things
and when he wasn't, he tried to put

himself into that position. This
desire for power was shown

throughout the novel, as was the fact that
he loved attention

that accompanied it. He loved to be the centre of
attention

and would do anything to boost himself above other
people.

To make him more evil, he was not able to conceal any
of

these characteristics, he had to let them
loose.

Upon the arrival of the boys to the island Jack was put in
the

middle of a power struggle. Although the conflict was
brief,

there was still a very obvious confrontation between
Jack

and Ralph.

What similar archetypes can be found in Jane Eyre and Oedipus Rex?

This is a very interesting question to consider. I would
argue that the chief archetype that links both of these excellent texts involves the
archetype of the journey. However, in the case of these texts, the journey is not a
literal archetypal journey as in The Odyssey, but a metaphorical
journey towards self-identity and self-knowledge. In a sense, both Jane
Eyre and Oedipus Rex feature the struggle of the central
character to identify themselves and discover who they really are. Jane has to struggle
to balance the two opposite compulsions of "feeling without judgement" and "judgement
without feeling," as expressed by the two characters Bertha Mason and Helen Burns. At
the end of the story, however, she is able to hold these two extremes in tension and can
live a happy life, secure in herself and in her
identity.

Oedipus, however, has often been viewed as a
detective who doesn't know that the person he is so desperately trying to track down is
actually himself. As the play progresses, he moves ever onwards towards self-discovery
as he realises his own identity and the tragic fate that has befallen him. Both texts
therefore seem to adapt the archetype of the journey with very different
impacts.

Why does Siddhartha experience discontent with life at the start of his journey? 

Hesse depicts Siddhartha as unhappy with life because it
lacks the real sense of meaning that he so desperately seeks.  Siddhartha is shown to be
precocious and one who seeks to understand more than what is there.  This deeper
striving for meaning is what causes him discontent.  It causes him discontent because he
is unable to simply capitulate to what others do and what others have prescribed for
him.  In this, Siddhartha is shown to be different than others, a non- conformist
immersed in a world of conformity and acquiescence to socially dictated notions of the
good.  The severe and intense strain of questioning to find meaning is what drives
Siddhartha to want more and to seek more out of reality and out of what is there.  His
need to want to know more and to want to gain a greater understanding to meaning in his
own life is what represents the discontent that he experiences.  It is this fundamental
discontent that encourages him to leave his home with Govinda and find meaning,
discovering a different path than what is there.  In his yearning to see what can be as
opposed to what is, Siddhartha feels discontent at being immersed in a world of the
latter.  His journey to achieve the former is the result of this
discontent.

Who are the characters that best illustrate the theme of loneliness and difference in Of Mice and Men?I have to write an essay on the theme of...

The Great Depression of the 1930s saw many men leave their
families when they could no longer provide for them.  They became "bindle stiffs,"
riding the railroad cars to California where they became itinerant workers on the large
corporate-owned farms.  Alienated from family and home, these disposessed men often
became paralyzed emotionally.  John Steinbeck wrote of Lennie Small, whom he created to
express this paralysis,

readability="6">

"Lennie was not to represent insanity at all but
the inarticulate and powerful yearning of all
men."

Steinbeck turned to the
ideology of socialism as a solution to man's alienation.  With the motif of the
fraternity of men that socialism brings, Steinbeck has his characters seek a sense of
belonging and hope with one another. For George and Lennie, who already have each other,
it is also their dream of owning a ranch that propels them; likewise Old Candy begins to
have hope for his future when he thinks of joining in on George and Lennie's plans. 
Even the Crooks, the doubly alienated stable worker, sheds some of his despair after he
learns of the dream ranch in which he may become a
partner.

But, outside of the dream, George and Lennie are
still just itinerant workers who must be cautious in their speech and actions so that
they can keep their jobs.  Worse yet, the boss's belligerent son, Curley, acts as an
opposing force to George and Lennie's friendship and happiness by harassing Lennie until
Lennie is instructed by George to "let him have it," and he crumples Curley's hand.  Of
course, when Curley's wife tempts Lennie and he accidentally breaks her neck, the
friendship of the two men is endangered; then, after Lennie's death, George knows the
dream, too, is dead and he is so terribly alone.

Likewise,
Curley's wife, who is merely a genitive of Curley, acts also as an opposing force; this
time she is a temptress, an Eve as it were, interfering with the fraternity of the
men. She and her husband illustrate difference as they both are outside the fraternity
of the men.

Old Candy, crippled by having lost a hand,
spends his days sweeping and cleaning up the bunkhouse.  He worries that the boss and
the others may feel that he is like his old dog and has outlived his usefulness. He
tells George and Lennie that he will make a will and leave his share to the others if
they let him buy in on their dream.  When he discovers Curley's wife and George leaves,
Candy kneels by her'

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"You...tramp....You done it di'n't you? I s'pose
you're glad.  Ever'body knowed you'd mess things up.  You wasn't no good.  You ain't no
good now, you lousy tart.....I could of hoed in the garden and washed dishes for them
guys."

Crooks, isolated from
the society of his home town, is doubly alienated as he is made to live in the stable
alone because he is black.  Hostile at first at Lennie who steps into the barn, he later
tells Lennie that he feels as though he is "goin' crazy" because he has no one to talk
to or to compare things by. Crooks expresses his
terrible aloneness,

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"A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody.....I
tell ya a guy get too lonely sn' he get sick."  ....Sometimes he get thinkin', an' he
got nothing to tell him that's so an' what ain't so....He can't turn to some other guy
and ast him if he sees it too.  He can't tell. He got nothing to measure
by."

Alienated from their own
communities and from those they work with, the bindle stiffs of the ranch in
Of Mice and Men experience a terrible
loneliness.

How did Copernicus contribute to the Big Bang theory?

I'm not sure that Copernicus considered all of the
implications of what would later be called the "Big Bang theory," but he was the first
man to put forward the notion that the Sun was the center of the universe. In 1514,
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543), a Polish astronomer, first discounted the accepted
geocentric system advanced by Ptolemy nearly 14 centuries earlier. Copernicus' idea,
known as the heliocentric system, proposed the theory that all of the planets revolved
around the Sun. More than four centuries would pass before Fred Hoyle coined the term
"Big Bang" in 1949.

The study of populations and communities is part of which branch of biology?A) Ecology B) Evolutionary biology C) Botany D) Cellular function

itemtype="http://schema.org/Person"> href="/people/samhouston">samhouston
class="divider">|

Middle School
Teacher

class="divider">|
(Level 1) Associate
Educator

Posted on href="/homework-help/study-populations-communities-part-which-branch-268843#answer-345898"
itemprop="url">July 24, 2011 at 10:47
PM

What is the significance of Act 1, Scene 2 in Macbeth?

In Act 1, Scene 2 of Macbeth, there
is an example of the type of man King Duncan is. Also, there is a look at Macbeth's
character as a soldier.

King Duncan is in high praise of
Macbeth. When the sergeant shares Macbeth's bravery and skillful war-fare skills, King
Duncan not only verbally praises Macbeth, but he grants him a position of honor as Thane
of Cawdor.

King Duncan is a good man. He is a fair man. It
is evident that he treats his soldiers well if they are worthy. Likewise, he punishes
the present Thane of Cawdor for his betrayal:

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No more that Thane of Cawdor shall deceive

Our bosom interest. Go pronounce his present death,(75)
And with
his former title greet
Macbeth.

Truly, we see into
the character of King Duncan as he bestows honor on Macbeth for a job well done.

Also, in Act 1, Scene 2, we see what a great warrior
Macbeth is. He is fierce on the battlefield. He is competent, skillful. Likewise, he
seems to be in honor of King Duncan as he does his job. Clearly, Macbeth's character is
puzzling. How he could turn into such a blood thirsty tyrant is a mystery.

In Act 1, Scene 5, even Lady Macbeth claims that her
husband has too much goodness in him to follow through with the murder of King Duncan:

Yet do I fear
thy nature;
It is too full o’ the milk of human
kindness

No doubt, Act 1,
Scene 2 is an example of Macbeth as a great soldier, one worthy to be named Thane of
Cawdor. The sergeant has nothing but high praise for Macbeth in this scene.

This scene shows that a man can fall even if he is a great
warrior and strong, skillful soldier.

In his presentation
of the title Thane of Cawdor, King Duncan thinks Macbeth is
noble:

What
the traitor has lost, noble Macbeth has
won.

Because of the children's innocent perspective on the events around them, what do they reveal that the adults cannot see in To Kill a...

Most of the adults in To Kill a
Mockingbird have settled in to their lives, with years of opinionated thought
engrained in them. Adults are less likely to change, and many of their beliefs and views
about other people around them will stay with them until they die. Racist attitudes and
views about various families (such as Alexandra's Streaks and "dicta" about people, see
Chapter 13) never go away. According to
Scout,

...
the present generation of people who had lived side by side for years and years, were
utterly predictable to one another: they took for granted attitudes, character shadings,
even gestures, as having been repeated in each generation and refined by
time.

Jem, Scout and Dill had
no such burden. They saw things from an innocence that only children can, without past
opinions or knowledge affecting their judgement. They hear gossip and listen to other
people's speculation, but they look at things more clearly than most adults. Although
they at first fall for the terrible rumors about Boo, they are able to see past them
once they receive his friendly gifts. They finally realize that the stories about Boo
are just rumors, and that the adults of Maycomb have misunderstood him in a disgraceful
way.

The children, like Atticus, are mostly color blind
when it comes to race, and the children feel at home at the Negro church and sitting in
the balcony of the courtroom. They have no fear of Dolphus Raymond, and they understand
him (unlike the other people in Maycomb) once they spend a few minutes getting to know
him.

What is Roylotts motive for the crimes and why does Roylotts plan backfire?

Dr. Roylett's motive was money.  His wife's will stated
that the total income they would get from her estate would be 100 pounds.  Due to the
fact that agriculture prices had fallen, the estate was now worth about 750 pounds. 
Upon marriage, according to the will, each girl would get 250 pounds.  That decrease in
his worth would "cripple him to a serious extent". 

The
reason Roylett's plan backfired was because of the genius of Sherlock Holmes.  Holmes
found the bell pull that was connected to the ventilator. The ventilator had no purpose,
opening only to the bedroom next store instead of to the outside air. He noticed that
the bed had  been fastened to the ground so that it could not be moved.  He figured
something had to crawl down that rope.  When the snake crawled down the rope, Holmes
attacked it with its cane, sending it back to through the ventilator.  It was so angry
that it attacked the first person it saw, which was Dr. Roylett.  The snake he had
chosen was the deadliest snake in India and killed within ten minutes of being the
victim being bitten. 

Please describe the main characters in The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman?

In Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book,
the central character is Bod, which is short for "Nobody." His last name is Owens, named
for the married ghost-couple that agrees to raise him.

When
he is a baby, Bod's parents and sister are murdered, but Bod has innocently wandered
away (losing his diaper on the way) from the scene of the murder before the killer can
dispose of him as well.

Mrs. Owens never had children of
her own. The spirit of Bod's dead mother appears as the murderer tries to gain entrance
into the graveyard. To Mrs. Owens she says:

readability="5">

My baby! He is trying to harm my baby!...Protect
my son!

Mrs. Owens knows this
is the baby's mother—and she believes that it is her duty to care
for the boy—because she has given the boy's mother her word. With her husband's
agreement, she talks to the others in the graveyard who debate the issue of "adopting" a
living child until the Lady on the Grey tells them:

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The dead should have
charity.

Silas is the
character who is not quite a ghost, but certainly an other-worldly character. He is able
to move between the graveyard and the world of the living, so it is he who provides Bod
with food, and eventually, clothes. He is Bod's
guardian.

His
guardian could always be counted upon to explain matters clearly and lucidly and as
simply as Bod needed in order to
understand.

Another character
is Miss Lupescu. At first Bod does not like this odd and strict teacher who comes to
replace Silas when he needs to "take a trip." She is a werewolf (actually a Hound of
God), but Bod does not find this out until he finds himself in deep
trouble.

And
now, bounding toward [the ghouls] across the desert floor in the shadow of Ghulheim, a
huge grey beast, like an enormous dog.

The dog spoke, in
Miss Lupescu's voice.

When
Bod is young, he meets a girl about his age named Scarlett who often visits the
graveyard. Soon she moves away, but later comes back into Bod's life. However, she
really has no way to understand this young man who has lived a very different life than
she has.

Finally there is the killer Jack. At the beginning
of the story, it is unclear why he killed Bod's family, but what
becomes obvious before too long is that he refuses to give up. If he can find Bod, Jack
will finish what he started and kill him.

Bod grows up in
the cemetery with Freedom of the Graveyard—the power to see what ghosts see. He moves
throughout the graveyard, visits the ghosts and spirits, learns of other creatures that
also abide there, is taught to read and write, learns to love those who are like his
family, and is protected from Jack.

Discuss the two tramps in Beckett's Waiting for Godot, and what they might represent in comparison to Pozzo and Lucky.

The two tramps in Samuel Beckett's play, Waiting
for Godot, are Estragon and Vladimir. They seem to represent "human
potential." The men have obviously known each other for a number of years. They are both
"waiting for Godot." Though these men once led very different lives of respectability,
both are now poverty-stricken and terribly disconsolate. They are suprised they have
survived so long: they agree that they could or should have killed themselves years
ago.

Pozzo and his slave, Lucky, appear: two more men that
seem to lack any measure of happiness. Pozzo is someone who immerses himself in unhappy
truths about life. He sees nothing of value in the world around him, and it seems he'd
be fine if everyone was as dejected as he is—Pozzo is particularly pessimistic; he is
also extremely unkind to Lucky. However, as nasty as Pozzo is with Lucky, the slave
becomes violent when Estragon offers him help, kicking the older man. For Pozzo and
Lucky, both are miserable, but neither seems to wish for anything to be
different—perhaps believing there is nothing
else.

The tramps symbolize those who are downtrodden, who
do not know how to improve their lives—though perhaps they would if they had the
opportunity—Godot may represent this. The fact that they wait unceasingly for Godot
would indicate that they have hope: otherwise, why would they wait so long for someone
who repeatedly does not appear? What would be the purpose? And why would they start each
day with the same intent?

Lucky has no interest in
bettering his life. We learn that he doesn't want to be sold by Pozzo (which is what
Pozzo plans to do). However, this also represents how we sometimes are: we may be
unhappy, but at least it is an unhappiness that we are familiar with. Sometimes we will
tolerate a disastrous situation just because we don't want to
change.

A boy comes to report that Godot won't be there
that day, but will be there the following day. Pozzo and Lucky are unaffected by this,
but Estragon and Vladimir continue to wait. In the second act, the
same situation exists, but some time must have passed for Pozzo is now blind and Lucky
is dumb. While Estragon and Vladimir seem much the same, Pozzo and Lucky's situation has
degraded considerably. Perhaps hope allows the friends to remain sustained, and
hopelessness causes the latter two to fail in their physical condition as they have
allowed their spirits and hearts to fail over the years. The boy returns with the same
message. Though Godot never appears, Estragon and Vladimir wait, perhaps holding on to
their the idea that there is nothing else to do...or that maybe he
will come...tomorrow.

What did Kennedy’s New Frontier program seek to do?

Kennedy's concept of the New Frontier was a way to capture
the nation's attention in accepting his vision for his presidency.  It consisted of
seeking to embrace initiatives that professed the greatness of America.  At least, this
is how the Kennedy administration wanted it to be perceived.  With the goals of
initiating and developing the space program and eliminating poverty, the New Frontier
sought to cast the attention of Americans to both greatness in terms of vision and
taking steps for said greatness in daily life.  Kennedy's New Vision wanted to capture
the nation's attention with the concept of being able to believe in "can do" and marvel
at the promises and possibilities of a particular generation.  With this philosophy,
Kennedy was able to cast himself or be cast as a leader of a group that could literally
transform the world, changing it from what is to what can be.  The New Frontier saw
government as a force for good, as something that can make these hopes into a reality
and in doing so, Kennedy was able to present a vision to voters that ended up gaining
widespread affirmation and helped to solidify his idealistic Presidential
legacy.

What attitude does Momaday communicate in the story The Way to Rainy Mountain?

I would want to answer this question by pointing towards
the way in which this excellent book is actually in part an elegy. An elegy is a term
that is used to mean a kind of funeral song or poem that praises a dead person. This
suggests that this text is actually rather ambiguous in terms of its mood. It praises
the Kiowa and their pride, fighting abilities and sense of freedom. However, at the same
time the text also grieves about the way in which their religion has been assaulted and
their culture has been lost. This ambivalence also could be said to impact the attitude
or mood of this text. There are certainly numerous images of light and life and
descriptions of nature that capture a joyful spirit, however, there are also images of
darkness and death such as the dark mist, and the cemetery, that create a much more
sombre and sad mood. Consider the following excerpt as an example of how the text
creates this ambivalent mood:

readability="13">

The long yellow grass on the mountain shone in
the bright light, and a scissortail hied above the land. There, where it ought to be, at
the end of a long and legendary way, was my grandmother's grave. Here and there on the
dark stones were ancestral names. Looking back once, I saw the mountain and came
away.

Note the way that the
setting of the narrator's grandmother's grave and the other "ancestral names" that adorn
the "dark stones" are coupled with the "bright light" that lights up the "yellow grass."
The mood might therefore be described as being bittersweet as there is both joy and
sadness present in the text.

Why might Montag's expression of affection to the hound be a turning point in his development in Fahrenheit 451? (Page 20)

At this moment in the book, readers have just experienced
a scene change from Montag having a talk with Clarisse which made him more aware of and
happy about the world around him. Then the scene shifts to Montag at work, which could
have been just a few moments later. Before Montag greets the dog, Bradbury
narrates:

He went out to look at the
city and the clouds had cleared away completely, and he lit a cigarette and came back to
bend down and look at the Hound. It was like a great bee come home from some field where
the honey is full of poison wildness, of insanity and nightmare, its body crammed with
that over-rich nectar and now it was sleeping the evil out of
itself.

This is a parodoxical statement
because it alludes to the power of the venom within the Mechanical Hound, but then make
the assumption that the evil can acutally be extracted from the Hound with
sleep.

The turning point of this entire situation for
Montag and his development come with the idea that he actually demonstrated human
emotion and thought. He considered the dog's abilities, and he actually thought kindly
of the dog for a moment. This is Clarisse's
influence.

Ironically, the dog is able to read human
thought and recognize change. The dog snapping at Montag is the evidence that Montag is
open to being enlightened about what is wrong with his dystopian
society.

Hope that helps.

Are we more defined by the greater challenges in our lives or by the small challenges we face everyday?

I would argue that we are more defined by the small,
everyday challenges.  This is because they are much more common and constant and
therefore make up a bigger part of our lives.

Great
challenges come along very rarely.  They do not make up a large part of what happens to
us so they should not be what defines us.  For example, if I react splendidly to a grave
family crisis but am irresponsible and unpleasant on a daily basis for the rest of the
time, which carries more weight?  To me, it is the daily actions that I take that would
define the way my family sees me.

Since small challenges
are the things that make up the vast majority of our lives, they are the things that
define us to a much greater extent than greater challenges do.

What are some quotes and/or language features that help relate to an important choice made by a character in The Outsiders?

Randy Adderson is the Soc who meets with Ponyboy outside
the Tasty Freeze and later visits him at the Curtis house. The best friend of the dead
Soc, Bob Sheldon, Randy is confused about the events since Bob's death, especially the
heroics performed by Pony, Johnny and Dally in saving the children from the church fire.
Randy can't believe a greaser would perform such an act, telling Pony
that

"I
wouldn't have. I would have let those kids burn to
death."

Author S. E. Hinton
creates an emotional scene that serves as a lesson for both Randy and Pony, and it is
the only time in the story when a Soc and greaser befriend each other. Randy has decided
not to take part in the rumble. "Close to tears," he tells Pony how Bob's parents never
told him "no," and how the rumble won't decide
anything.

readability="6">

"Greasers will still be greasers, and Socs will
still be Socs..."

Randy
reveals an emotional side to Pony that he could never show to his Soc pals.
Half-sobbing, he asks Pony for advice.

readability="7">

"What can I do? I'm marked a chicken if I punk
out at the rumble, and I'd hate myself if I didn't. I don't know what to
do."

The two depart on
friendly terms, and Pony recognizes that Randy is not just a
Soc--

    
"... he's just a guy."
     ... I felt better. Socs were just guys after
all.

During the trial in To Kill a Mockingbird, what do the witnesses reveal about themselves? Sheriff Tate, Tom Robinson, Mr. Ewell and Mayella Ewell.

There is always much that is revealed about a person who
finds him or herself on the witness stand and under the obligation of telling the
truth.

Sheriff
Tate

First of all, Sheriff Tate is dressed
professionally in a business suit for the trial of Tom Robinson.  He answers the
prosecutor's questions succinctly, offering no more information than is necessary.  When
Atticus cross-examines, Sheriff Tate displays his admiration for the acuity of Atticus's
mind; for instance, when Atticus asks for clarification of the time of the incident at
the Ewell house as well as when he wants to know exactly which eye of Mayella has been
blackened, Tate smiles as he recognizes the precision of
Atticus.

Bob
Ewell

A hostile witness to begin with, Bob
Ewell reveals his ignorance as he attempts to villify Tom Robinson and implicate him as
the perpetrator of a crime.  His seething hatred is revealed in the pejorative terms
that he uses regarding Robinson, as well as his disrespect for his own daughter as he
speaks of her as "screamin' like a stuck hog inside the house---"  Ewell's attempts to
embellish his testimony, in contrast to the minimalist speech of Sherriff Tate, suggest
his ulterior motives.  His ignorance is evident when he fails to realize why Atticus has
him write his name and points to his being left-handed.

In
addition, other than having bathed and washed his hair, Ewell displays little respect in
the courtroom ashe swears and is crude in his language. He exhibits "a haughty
suspicion" of Atticus, suggesting that he has something to
hide. 

Mayella
Ewell

The repressive and abusive conditions
under which Mayella lives are clearly evident in this witness's appearance and
testimony.  When first questioned, she looks at the judge and bursts into tears,
indicating the stress that she feels.  However, she is not ignorant as her father is
because she protests against Atticus,

readability="6">

"Don' wnt him doin' me like he done Papa, tryin'
to mke him out
left-handed...."

Unlike
Sheriff Tate, she embellishes her testimony as does her father. However, Scout points
out that Mayella has

readability="5">

something stealthy about  hers [testimony] like a
steady-eyed cat with a twitchy
tail.

Throughout her
testimony, Mayella looks to her father and is "jumpy."  At one point, Mayella
contradicts herself when Atticus asks if her father has ever hit
her,

"No, I
don't recollect if he hit me.  I mean yes I do, he hit
me."

This slip of the truth
may be an unconscious effort on Mayella's part to seem honest, or, perhaps, a
subconscious play for sympathy.  At any rate, Mayella Ewell reveals herself as a rather
pitiable victim of her environment.

Tom
Robinson

Appropriately aligned to the symbol
of the mockingbird, Tom Robinson reveals himself as entirely guileless and decent.  He
never implies that Mayella has lied; he simply states that she may be mistaken in her
recollection. Without realizing the implications of anything that he says, Tom speaks
from his heart, the most truthful place in any human being.  Unknowingly, he utters
words that condemn him regardless of the accuracy and extent of the evidence to the
contrary.  For, when he says that he has felt sorry for Mayella, he a black man and she
a white woman, he has violated the social taboo that supersedes all litigation at the
time.

According to Guns, Germs, and Steel, what are the 6 characteristics of domesticated animals ?Guns, Germs and steel

According to Diamond, there are a number of qualities that
an animal species must have if it is to be domesticated.  These
include:

• Diet.  It cannot be a carnivore because
  it takes too much to feed them.


• Growth rate.  It has to
  grow quickly so you don't have to spend too much feeding it before you kill and eat
  it.


• Breeding.  It has to be willing to breed in
  captivity.


• Disposition.  Mean and aggressive animals
  can't be domesticated.


• Tendency to panic.  If an animal
  is likely to panic and become uncontrollable, it will be too dangerous to domesticate
  it.


• Social structure.  It is very helpful if the animal
  is a herd animal or one that is used to living in a hierarchical society.  That way, it
  will be more likely to obey humans.

In Songs of Innocence and Experience, examine Blake's twin poems 'The Tiger' & 'The Lamb' as 'two aspects of God and two states of man.'

The series of poems that seemingly oppose each other or at
least discuss big questions in different ways that characterise this excellent
collection of poems serve to present the two states of innocence and experience in their
full glory. The state of innocence is implied throughout "The Lamb" as being one that is
characterised by a child-like trust in God and the divine, emphasised by the simple
rhyme and rhythm that the poem adopts. It is key to note that in this poem, the question
of who created the lamb is one that is answered explicitly and
clearly:

He
is called by thy name,

For He calls himself a
Lamb.

He is meek, and he is
mild;

He became a little
child.

Notice how the speaker
explicitly identifies both himself and the lamb he addresses with the figure of Jesus
Christ, the Lamb of the Passover, showing how they symbolise their creator's innocence
and purity.

However, the key difference between "The Tiger"
and "The Lamb" is the way in which "The Tiger," throughout the poem, asks the question
of who could have designed and made such a powerful and frightening figure. Crucially,
this question is never answered, which is important because the speaker of the poem is
struggling to understand how the creator of the lamb could also have made the
tiger:

When
the stars threw down their spears,

And watered heaven with
their tears,

Did he smile his work to
see?

Did he who made the Lamb make
thee?

Can the tiger, a
fearsome creature of the night, a ruthless predator, have the same source as the cute
fluffy little lamb, which is taken as a symbol of
innocence?

Thus it is that these two poems approach big
questions regarding the dual nature of God. On the one hand, God is characterised by
benevolence and goodness, as shown through his creation of the lamb. However, much more
disturbingly, God is also the creator of the tiger, a ruthless killer and a dangerous
predator. Can God be the source of both good and evil, and why does God allow evil if he
is good?

Secondly, note the way that these two poems can
also be applied to the dual nature of humanity, characterised by innocence and
experience. The speaker in "The Lamb" is an innocent child, whereas the speaker in "The
Tiger" is an adult with full awareness of the complexity of the world and the big
questions that have no easy answers. The first speaker represents the state of innocence
where we are able to accept simple answers; the second sees that when we reach a stage
of experience there are no answers to such complex questions.

Who in the United States is responsible for maintaining the money's purchasing power?

Really, the whole US government is responsible in some way
for maintaining the purchasing power of the dollar.  Perhaps the most responsible entity
is the Federal Reserve, which is the central bank of the US.  However, Congress and the
President play a role as well.

The Fed plays a large role
because it helps to control the money supply in the US.  When the Fed increases the
money supply, for example, the purchasing power of the dollar can decline.  Congress
also has an impact on the purchasing power of the dollar.  This is because it controls
(along with the president) the nation's fiscal policy.  We can see this happening today
as the elected branches argue over raising the debt ceiling.  If they are unable to come
to agreement, economic chaos may ensue and the purchasing power of the dollar may
collapse.

How does "The Rattrap" exemplify the truth that essential goodness of human beings can be awakened through love and understanding?

Honored and
noble Miss:

Since you have been so nice to me all day long,
as if I was a captain, I want to be nice to you, in return, as if I was a real captain:
for I do not want you to be embarrassed at this Christmas season by a thief; but you can
give back the money to the old man on the road-side, who has the money pouch hanging on
the window frame as a bait for poor wanderers.

The rat trap
is a Christmas present from a rat who would have been caught in this world’s rat trap if
he had not been raised to captain, because in that way he got power to clear
himself.

Written with friendship and high
regard,

In The Rattrap, the
homeless rat trap seller shows himself to be mean spirited and mercenary when he takes
the crofter's (tenant farmer's) hospitality and friendship then later goes back to take
his money too:

readability="9">

He only went up to the window, smashed a pane,
stuck in his hand, and got hold of the ... the thirty kronor. ... and thrust it into his
own pocket.

The rat trap
seller's normal way of life makes him insensible to the immorality of his thefts until
the veil is lifted one night when he reluctantly accepts, at the urging of the
ironmaster's daughter, freely given hospitality from the ironmaster who, ironically,
mistakes the rat trap seller for an old friend:

readability="7">

[The ironmaster] had sent his daughter,
apparently hoping that she would have better powers of persuasion than he
himself.

It is here that the
daughter of the ironmaster shows the rat trap seller so much genuine love, respect,
courtesy and understanding that he is prompted to confess all to her in a letter and
return the crofter's money through her. Her kindness brought out the inner goodness
dwelling silently within the rat trapper when she took up his side and insisted he stay
with them for Christmas, even after it had been discivered that he was not the old
friend:

That
morning she had felt so happy when she thought how homelike and Christmassy she was
going to make things for the poor hungry
wretch.

How is The Monster a foil to Victor Frankensten and how did this develop throughout the story?

A foil character is one that contrasts with another
character, usually the protagonist. The contrast is used to emphasize certain traits of
the protagonist.

Although the description of Victor and the
Monster can vary, Victor is usually described as selfish and arrogant, and suffering
from a god-complex. These characteristics are revealed through Victor's actions in the
first part of the novel. His total disregard for his friends and family and his
overly-ambitious pursuit of knowledge portray him as a man willing to go to any extreme
to reach his goals. In addition, Victor abandoning the creature shows him as a weak man
unable to accept the consequences of his actions.

However,
the Monster is often considered compassionate and selfless. As the Monster reveals his
tale to Victor, the reader is shown how human the monster is. The Monster takes refuge
in the small things in life--fire, reading, family. In addition, the Monster recounts
the "barbarity of man". Upon the Monster's first visit to a village, he is attacked and
rejected.

The treatment of the monster is the complete
opposite of Victor, making the monster a foil to Victor. The monster is portrayed as
grotesque and abnormal while his thoughts and feelings show true compassion. But, he is
still rejected by Victor and society. Victor, on the other hand, is accepted by everyone
even though his actions appear to be truly
grotesque.

Another aspect of the monster being a foil to
Victor is the plot. In a framed narration, such as Mary Shelley's
Frankenstein, there are several plots taking place. Sometimes the
plot of one becomes a foil to another. In the case of Frankenstein,
the monster's plot becomes the foil to Victor's. Victor's tale is presented at the
beginning of the novel, beginning with his privileged childhood. The monster's tale is
presented in the second half of the novel, and, it too, begins with the monster's
childhood, however, clearly not a privileged one. The differences in the two character's
"lives" allow the reader to gain perspective into each character's actions and
decisions. It is used to emphasize, in this case, the extreme consequences of Victor's
behavior.

Describe the features of Ship Trap Island in The Most Dangerous Game.

The reason General Zaroff has been so successful is
because of the features of Ship Trap Island. They fit his needs perfectly. (I don't know
if my page numbers will be the same as yours, but it should indicate where in the story
you will find the quote - beginning, middle, or end.)

1.
Dark: Rainsford can't see it when he is on the boat.  Other
ships cannot also see it; therefore, Zaroff can guide them with his spotlight to the
rocky shore to crash.  Rainsford says that it is "so dark I could sleep without closing
my eyes." (pg 2).  The island is located in the Caribbean Sea.  If you have ever been
out at sea at night, it would be totally dark except for the light of the moon.  The
night Rainsford lands on the island is "moonless" (pg 1)

2.
Rocky shore:  The first sound Rainsford hears of land is
the crashing of waves on the rocky shore. When Zaroff shows Rainsford the light, he says
that giant rocks with razor edges crush the ships.  He then rescues the men on the ship
for his next quarry.

3. Cliffs:
When Rainsford first lands on the island, he has to climb some cliffs to
find flat land.  The house is also encircled on three sides with cliffs that "dive down
to the sea" (pg. 3)

4. Dense
Jungle: The dense jungle grew down to the edge of the cliffs and fringed
the shore.  It is a "closely knit web of weeds and trees"  with no visible trails that
is a maze of hills, and swamps.  It is alive with insects that bite at Rainsford
"savagely". (pg 10)

5.Death Swamp:
Before sending Rainsford out into the jungle, Zaroff warns him about the
swamp.  It is located on the southeast corner of the island and has sections of
quicksand that have already taken the life of a man and a
dog.

6. Chateau: It is the
enormous home of General Zaroff, the only bulding and the only source of light on the
island. Located on a high bluff, it is surrounded on three sides by cliffs that "dive
down to the sea". The entrance is guarded by a tall spiked iron gate. There is a cove
between the house and the swamp.

7.
Cove: There is a cove between the swamp and the chateau. 
It is the cove that Rainsford dives into to escape General
Zaroff.

8. Large: Whitney
tells Rainsford in the first line that it is a "large" island.  But when Rainsford
starts his run, he plows through brush for two hours before he realizes that he cannot
make a straight trail but must make a trail of intricate
loops.

9. Hot: Rainsford tells
Whitney while they are on the boat, "This hot weather is making you soft." (pg
1)

How is Miss Caroline Fisher seen through the eyes of her class?To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Since Maycomb is an old town with few newcomers, the
children in Scout's class murmurs "apprehensively" when Miss Fisher states her name and
tells the class that she is from Winston County in North Alabama.  For, since Maycomb is
in the southern part of the state, and Winston County has the history of seceding from
Alabama in the War Between the States. Scout describes North Alabama as foreign to what
she knows,

readability="11">

North Alabama was full of Liquor Interests, Big
Mules, steel companies, Republicans, professor, and other persons of no
background.

Scout also notes
that Miss Caroline's approach to teaching is not relevant to the children of Maycomb. 
For, many of them "have chopped cotton and fed hogs from the time they were able to
walk," so the narrative stories do not interest them, but she seems unaware.  Later, she
questions Scout on her handwriting as well as her ability to read. As Scout finds
herself at ends with Miss Fisher, especially when she tries to explain to her teacher
about Walter Cunningham, she finds Miss Fisher resentful of what she perceives as
disrespect.  When she asks for Scout's hand in order to strike it with the ruler, and
Scout misinterprets this as an overture to shake her hand, the class breaks into
laughter as the teacher strikes Scout's hand.  As the lunch period begins, Miss Caroline
puts her head on the desk in embarrassment and dismay, for the children do not
understand or respect her.

After lunch, Miss Fisher
screams, the boys think she has seen a mouse, but it is lice crawling in the hair of
Burris Ewell.  Little Chuck Little politely brings Miss Fisher water in a paper cup
after Burris kills the "cootie" from his head.  Then, when Burris becomes contentious,
Little Chuck again tries to come to her aid. and soon after Burris hurls an insult
at her as he leaves, the other children gather around her desk in sympathy for her
tears.  Miss Fisher blows her nose and the young children ask her to read them a story. 
She has now endeared herself to them as a lady who needs
rescuing.