In Act III, scene 2, why may the establishment of Claudius's guilt be considered the crisis of the revenge plot?

The crisis of a drama usually proceeds and leads to the
climax.  In Shakespeare's Hamlet, the proof that Claudius is guilty
leads to Hamlet's decision to not kill Claudius while he's at prayer--and that is the
climax of the play.

Hamlet, until he sees Claudius's
reaction to the "play within the play," isn't entirely sure Claudius is guilty.  He has
no real proof--only the word of a ghost, who, he says in Act 2.2.565-572, could be a
devil trying to deceive him (as, by the way, the witches do to Macbeth in his play of
the same name).  Hamlet needs proof.  He is too reasonable to act like Fortinbras or
Laertes and just jump into revenge without thinking it
through.

The king's reaction to the murder scene in the
play gives Hamlet the proof he needs, though, and he sets off to kill the king.  He gets
an opportunity but decides not to take it.  Why?  Because he thinks Claudius is
confessing (he isn't, but Hamlet doesn't know that), and killing him immediately after
he confesses his sins would send Claudius straight to heaven.  And Hamlet doesn't want
to send Claudius to heaven, not when his father is suffering in a purgatory-like state,
and when Hamlet might be sent to hell because he kills
Claudius. 

The problem is, though, that when Hamlet decides
not to kill Claudius because he doesn't want to contribute to his salvation, he is
playing God.  Salvation is God's business, not Hamlet's.  Hamlet is messing where he
shouldn't be messing.

The result--you see it in Act 5:  the
sight Fortinbras says doesn't belong in a castle, only on a battlefield.  Death
everywhere. 

When Hamlet walks away from his rightful
revenge, by playing God, he dooms himself and so many others.  This is the climax. 
His receiving proof of Claudius's death could be considered the crisis, and Hamlet's
refusal to kill Claudius while the king's at prayer is the climax.  One leads to the
other.  

Please answer these questions about Lennie and the deaths he causes in Chapter 5 of Of Mice and MenONLYCHAPTER 5,How does Lennie react to...

In Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men,
Lennie also tries to cover the puppy up and hide it.  If he can keep George from finding
out that he has killed the puppy, he won't get into trouble.  He is also somewhat
comforted by Curley's wife, who tells him the pup is nothing and can easily be
replaced.

In contrast, Lennie, after killing Curley's
wife, very quickly sneaks out of the barn and, the reader learns later, goes to the spot
George told him to go to if he gets in trouble. 

This does
demonstrate that Lennie understands the difference between killing a puppy and killing a
human being.

What is the relationship between Joe and Pip in Chapter 57 of "Great Expectations"?

While Pip is sick and helpless in Chapter 57, his relationship with Joe is like it was when he was a child.  Joe, "good Christian man" that he is, cares for Pip's every need with joy and gentle, unconditional love.  Pip says,

"the tenderness of Joe was so beautifully proportioned to my need that I was like a child in his hands...he would sit and talk to me in the old confidence, and with the old simplicity, and in the old unassertive protecting way".

Pip, remembering how badly he had treated Joe when he came into his "expectations", feels grateful and terribly guilty, but when he tries to explain, Joe stops him, observing,

"ever the best of friends; ain't us, Pip?  Then why go into subjects...which as betweixt two sech must be for ever onnecessary?" 

Joe, with a forgiving heart, is content to enjoy the present, when he and Pip can be like before, with no questions asked.

As Pip gets better, his relationship with Joe changes.  Joe becomes more distant, and starts calling Pip "sir", and although Pip wants to tell Joe that he has learned from his experiences and wants their old friendship to continue as it was before, he does not speak what is in his heart.  After making sure that Pip is indeed well on the mend, Joe, not wanting his presence to become intrusive, leaves Pip and goes home, having, with infinite love, given Pip care and companionship when he was in need, and even paying off all his debts (Chapter 57).

What is the irony in "Girl," by Jamaica Kincaid?

The story is ironic because Jamaica Kincaid writes from a mother's perspective giving her daughter information on how she is to live her life.  The daughter rejects the information as being too confining and is determined to act rebellious.

Kincaid, from the Caribbean Island of Antigua, had a very conflictual relationship with her mother.  She left the island at age 17 partly to escape her mother and the lifestyle.

The author writes a story about a mother who imposes on her daughter ideas that seem old fashioned and restricting. 

"The mother is a woman in Antigua who understands a woman's "place." She lives in a culture that looks to both Christianity and obeah, an African-based religion, and that holds women in a position of subservience to men. She recites a catalog of advice and warnings to help her daughter learn all a woman should know. "

What hints are there in Chapter 4 of "A Tale of Two Cities" that Mr. Lorry's secret mission resurrects some issues from his own past?

The author gives us a clear hint that Mr. Lorry's mission resurrects issues from his own past through metaphor.  He describes the gentleman's thoughts as he awaits dinner, noting that "his mind was busily digging, digging, digging, in the live red coals".  The phrase "live red coals" expresses the idea that the memories recalled because of his mission, whatever they are, are still sensitive and perhaps very painful.

As Mr. Lorry awaits the arrival of Lucie Manette and commences his explanations when she does come, he strives to appear calm and nonchalant, but his actions betray the turmoil he feels.  When Lucie is presented, he perceives "a sudden vivd likeness...of a child whom he had held in his arms" long ago, and when the vision passes, he "cast(s) a troubled look" towards the place where it appeared.  Mr. Lorry is troubled by the story he must tell Lucie; he says, "it is very difficult to begin", and is tormented by "indecision".  Once he begins his tale, he insists that he is not emotionally involved, reiterating that he acts in a business capacity only -"Feelings!  I have no time for them, no chance of them".  His nervous mannerisms contradict his protestations, however, as he "flatten(s) his flaxen wig upon his head...which is most unnecessary", and is "exceedingly disconcerted" when Lucie questions him on what he has said. 

Discuss the role of the U.S. in political affairs of other countries and the U.S. and Soviet responses to each other during the Cold War.i need...

The topics that are the focus of your paper seem to take
US history from the time of early imperialism under Teddy Roosevelt in the first decade
of the 1900s to the time when the Cold War was beginning to heat up in the late 1940s
and early 1950s.

So with those two larger topics in mind -
imperialism and the Cold War, you may want to talk about the development of the
first:

* how the United States became an empire and
expanded its territories to include the Panama Canal, control over the Caribbean, with
heavy influence over Latin America and the Philippines.  Include why the US would do
this - for world power in competition with other empires, and for control of resources
which would aid our economy

And the beginning of the Cold
War second:

*how our goal of expanding our control as an
empire changed into a foreign policy of containing the Soviet empire's expansion, and
controlling more resources and influencing other countries with economic and military
aid so they wouldn't be communist, or so the Soviet Union would not gain access to their
resources.

What are five of Minerva's strengths in the novel, In the Time of the Butterflies?

Minerva is intelligent and determined.  From a young age, she desires to become a lawyer, but her ambitions are thwarted because her father dispproves.  She does eventually achieve her law degree, but is denied a license to practice by the dictator Trujillo.

Minerva is also passionately committed to the revolution in her country.  Her activism is born when she hears from a quiet schoolmate that her brothers were all murdered because they dared to resist Trujillo's regime, and from then on her involvement in the movement shapes the course of her life. 

There are a number of incidents in the book which show that Minerva is resourceful, and adept at salvaging the good out of bad circumstances.  While still in school she diffuses a dangerous situation by diverting attention from a classmate who had directed criticism toward Trujillo during a play, and when she discovers her father has fathered daughters out of wedlock, she accepts them and arranges for their education.  Later, while in prison, she organizes classes for the women in her cell. 

Finally, Minerva has a fierce sense of integrity, and is true to her beliefs.  When she is offered a pardon while in prison she refuses to accept it, because to do so would be an admission of guilt.