What main short story element is the driving force behind the plot in "A & P"?

The main element that structures and motivates the action is conflict (both internal and external).  Sammy has internal conflicts due to struggling with his reaction(s) to the young girls in the store, etc., and he has external conflicts with his job/boss. 

One way Hester endures her punishment is by dreaming of her past. What does the flashback reveal about Hester's past?

When Hester is on the scaffold, she thinks back several years and sees the face of an old man who looks like a scholar. What she is thinking about is Roger Chillingworth and the conditions and events that lead her to the scaffold. I'm not sure if this memory helps her endure her punishment because the memory is shortly followed by the recognition that the person she has remembered, her husband, is standing in the back of the crowd watching her punishment. From a conversation between Chillingworth and another bystander, we learn that Hester had been set to the New World alone in order to set up a house for herself and her husband. But, years past and her husband never appeared, leading her and some of the townspeople to think her husband probably drowned at sea. Now that he has reappeared only to find she has a baby in her arms that can't possibly be his, Hester must dread seeing him.

What do you learn from Bob Ewell's evidence?Is it that Mayella was abused and harassed?

Probably the most important thing we learn is that Ewell is left-handed. Whoever hit Mayella Ewell on the night of the alleged rape was also left handed. The bruising on her face, especially on her right eye means that someone was leading with their left hand. Tom Robinson has no use of his left hand because he got it caught in a cotton gin when he was a boy. Therefore, the most likely person who hit Mayella was her own father.

Discuss how Sir Oliver discovers the moral quality of his two nephews in School for Scandal.

Sir Oliver has been away sixteen years and amassed a fortune in India that he wants to give to the more worthy of his two nephews, his brother's sons. He has heard reports that Charles is a gambler and a wastrel and that Joseph is admired by all, which raises Sir Oliver's suspicions because, as he says, only a man with no morals can please everyone. Sir Oliver, Sir Peter, Rowley, and Mr. Moses put together a plan for Sir Oliver to go to Charles disguised as a moneylender named Mr. Premium whom Charles has never met. Mr. Premium is to buy Charles's family portraits so Charles might get the money he needs.

SIR PETER. What! One Charles has never had money from before?

MOSES. Yes-—Mr. Premium, of Crutched Friars.

SIR PETER. Egad, Sir Oliver a Thought strikes me! Charles you say does'nt know Mr. Premium?

MOSES. Not at all.

SIR PETER. Now then Sir Oliver you may have a better opportunity of satisfying yourself than by an old romancing tale of a poor Relation—-go with my friend Moses and represent Mr. Premium and then I'll answer for't you'll see your Nephew in all his glory.

This charade impresses Sir Oliver for two reasons. Firstly, Charles refuses to sell the portrait of his Uncle Oliver, not knowing, of course, that it is Sir Oliver himself standing before him in disguise. Secondly, Charles immediately send a large sum of money to Stanley, his poor relation who has been imprisoned for debt and for whom Charles has sold the family portraits.

Sir Oliver, favorably impressed by Charles's heart despite his drinking and gambling, goes to see Joseph but in a different disguise. This time he presents himself as Stanley, the poor relation. Joseph rudely dismisses him without any help.

SURFACE. Dear Sir—there needs no apology—He that is in Distress tho' a stranger has a right to claim kindred with the wealthy— I am sure I wish I was of that class, and had it in my power to offer you even a small relief.
[...]
SIR OLIVER. Dissembler! Then Sir—you cannot assist me?

SURFACE. At Present it grieves me to say I cannot—but whenever
I have the ability, you may depend upon hearing from me.

SIR OLIVER. I am extremely sorry——

Furthermore, it is discovered that Joseph has almost successfully seduced Sir Peter's wife, Lady Teazle. When Sir Oliver calls for Charles and Joesph to come to him because he has returned, he reveals all he knows and awards the fortune to Charles. Sir Peter also awards his permission to marry his daughter Maria.

What Act & Scene in Shakespeare's Macbeth did the character Macbeth have trouble sleeping?How about Lady Macbeth?

The motif of sleeplessness first occurs in Act 2, scene
2.  After Macbeth kills Duncan and returns to his chamber, we can see that he is already
in the grip of guilt and severe anxiety. He tells his wife, "There's one did laugh in's
sleep, and one cried, “Murder!" (30). He tells her that the servants were crying out in
their sleep with "God bless us" and "Amen", as if they had seen him
murder the king. Yet when Macbeth tries to pray he could not, a fact that distresses him
greatly.

When Lady Macbeth urges him not to dwell on the
matter ("consider it not so deeply"), he seems unable to hear her. He continues to
recount his experience: "Methought I heard a voice cry “Sleep no more! Macbeth doth
Murder sleep--” (35-36) and “Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor Shall
sleep no more. Macbeth shall sleep no more" (43).

Macbeth
next mentions sleeplessness in Act 3 scene 2, just after her orders the murder of Banquo
and his son Fleance. Although he has no idea that the plan will go awry, he tells Lady
Macbeth it is better to be dead, like the King, than to lie in bed tortured by doubts
and fears--a suggestion that he has been suffering in this way himself. Coincidentally,
his statement mirrors one that Lady Macbeth makes while alone on the stage (see Act 3
scene 3 ll 6-9).  Later in the act, after Macbeth has made a spectacle of himself
reacting to Banquo's "ghost", Lady Macbeth tells him that he lacks sleep, "the season of
all natures" (170).

Ironically, it is next Lady Macbeth who
next has trouble with sleeping--or at least with sleeping while not walking and talking
at the same time.  In Act 5, scene 1, the Doctor and Gentlewoman are bewildered to
witness her episodes of sleepwalking, which are accompanied by such morbid ramblings
about blood, guilt, and murder that the Doctor claims that her ailment can only be cured
by God: "More needs she the divine than the physician" (68).

What Act & Scene in Shakespeare's Macbeth did the character Macbeth have trouble sleeping?How about Lady Macbeth?

The motif of sleeplessness first occurs in Act 2, scene 2.  After Macbeth kills Duncan and returns to his chamber, we can see that he is already in the grip of guilt and severe anxiety. He tells his wife, "There's one did laugh in's sleep, and one cried, “Murder!" (30). He tells her that the servants were crying out in their sleep with "God bless us" and "Amen", as if they had seen him murder the king. Yet when Macbeth tries to pray he could not, a fact that distresses him greatly.

When Lady Macbeth urges him not to dwell on the matter ("consider it not so deeply"), he seems unable to hear her. He continues to recount his experience: "Methought I heard a voice cry “Sleep no more! Macbeth doth Murder sleep--” (35-36) and “Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor Shall sleep no more. Macbeth shall sleep no more" (43).

Macbeth next mentions sleeplessness in Act 3 scene 2, just after her orders the murder of Banquo and his son Fleance. Although he has no idea that the plan will go awry, he tells Lady Macbeth it is better to be dead, like the King, than to lie in bed tortured by doubts and fears--a suggestion that he has been suffering in this way himself. Coincidentally, his statement mirrors one that Lady Macbeth makes while alone on the stage (see Act 3 scene 3 ll 6-9).  Later in the act, after Macbeth has made a spectacle of himself reacting to Banquo's "ghost", Lady Macbeth tells him that he lacks sleep, "the season of all natures" (170).

Ironically, it is next Lady Macbeth who next has trouble with sleeping--or at least with sleeping while not walking and talking at the same time.  In Act 5, scene 1, the Doctor and Gentlewoman are bewildered to witness her episodes of sleepwalking, which are accompanied by such morbid ramblings about blood, guilt, and murder that the Doctor claims that her ailment can only be cured by God: "More needs she the divine than the physician" (68).

Write a short note on Medea's first monologue.

In Medea's first monologue, she reflects on the grievances that she has against Jason.  She recalls that she has abandoned her homeland and betrayed her father to help Jason in battle and to become his wife.  She is outraged that he has cast her aside to take another wife, and she wants Jason to see the error of his ways and to pay for what he has done to her.  She feels that she has made dire sacrifices for him, so she wants Jason to recognize her loyalty to him.  At the end of her monologue, she says that Jason will pay for what he has done to her because he has scorned her love for him.  This last line sets the course of revenge that Medea will enact against Jason.

What was the role of the SS in Hitler's Germany?

The role of the SS in Hitler's Germany was as the model of
racial purity, the social, military and political elite of the New Germany, and as
executors of the Final Solution Holocaust of the
Jews.

Entry requirements in the early SS were extremely
strict.  Applicants had to prove three centuries of pure German bloodline in their
family trees, undergo strenuous physical testing and training, and submit to rigid party
indoctrination.  Their training ended with a blood oath to the Fuhrer, Adolf
Hitler.

As wartime losses among the SS mounted, and the
scope and size of the Holocaust grew, they became less particular, admitting Ukranians,
Latvians, Lithuanians and Estonians.

What was the role of the SS in Hitler's Germany?

The role of the SS in Hitler's Germany was as the model of racial purity, the social, military and political elite of the New Germany, and as executors of the Final Solution Holocaust of the Jews.

Entry requirements in the early SS were extremely strict.  Applicants had to prove three centuries of pure German bloodline in their family trees, undergo strenuous physical testing and training, and submit to rigid party indoctrination.  Their training ended with a blood oath to the Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler.

As wartime losses among the SS mounted, and the scope and size of the Holocaust grew, they became less particular, admitting Ukranians, Latvians, Lithuanians and Estonians.

What is the summary of Chapter 8 and 9 of "Adam of the Road"?

Adam, Roger, and Nick set off on the road towards London in Chapter 8.  They are on foot, and Roger is feeling low because he lost Bayard to Jankin playing dice.  When they arrive in London, they stop at the "mighty cathedral of St. Paul's", and Adam, who can read Latin, translates a letter of recommendation given to Roger by Sir Edmund de Lisle.  Roger and Adam stop to eat at a "cook shop", and run into Jankin, who wants to gamble with Roger again, this time for Nick, but Roger refuses.  As they set off on the road again, in a foreshadowing of coming doom, it begins to rain.

In Chapter 9, Roger, Adam, and Nick walk all day in the downpour, and in a further foreshadowing, they see a magpie which is supposed to portend coming sorrow.  Soaked, they spend the night at an inn on Westhumble Lane, where the innkeeper's wife makes a great fuss over them.  Adam talks to an old gaffer, who tells him about his boyhood, and later that evening, Roger and Adam entertain the guests with a story of high adventure on the sea.  Before the tale is done, Jankin comes in.  He has ridden Bayard cruelly, showing off, and now Bayard is lame and Jankin is angry.  Adam goes to bed heavy-hearted at the news about the horse, and falls asleep with Nick at his side.

Based on "The Silver Sword", explain why Edek had been sent to the Warsaw camp.

I could not find an instance where Edek was sent to a "Warsaw" camp - I'm wondering if you might mean the "Warthe" camp, a camp in the nearby city of Posen for victims of tuberculosis, where Edek was sent at the war's end.

Peasants had been forbidden to sell food to anyone but the Nazis in Warsaw during the war, but "with the help of the older children they smuggled it to the towns and sold it to the Poles on the black market" anyway (Chapter 7).  Edek became a skillful and daring member of one of these smuggling rings when the children were separated from their parents, but was eventually caught and sent to a forced labor camp in Germany, where he worked for two years.  He managed to escape and return to Warsaw by hiding under a truck, but this escapade, coupled with the deprivation and abuse he suffered in the work camp, took a physical toll on Edek, and he contracted tuberculosis. In the immediate aftermath of the war, Edek ended up at a transit camp in Posen, from which he was sent to Warthe because of his illness.  Always wary of being confined, Edek refused the help offered him at Warthe, and despite his poor health again struck out on his own.  He managed to get to the village of Kolina, and there, just by chance, was reunited with his siblings.

Summarize "The Egg" by Sherwood Anderson? What impact do the changes in the characters have on the meaning of the story?

Basically the entire story is based around the changes in
the characters, particularly the father.  His decision that he really needs to be more
cheerful in order to be successful helps to highlight the real conundrum of the story
which is really the chicken or the egg question.  Because the story centers on the egg
itself, it is the changes of the characters and their actions around the egg that serve
to bring out its meaning.  For example the fact that the father, in the midst of his
rage, still cannot bring himself to destroy another egg brings up all kinds of ideas
about an egg being full of life or at least a symbol of it.

Summarize "The Egg" by Sherwood Anderson? What impact do the changes in the characters have on the meaning of the story?

Basically the entire story is based around the changes in the characters, particularly the father.  His decision that he really needs to be more cheerful in order to be successful helps to highlight the real conundrum of the story which is really the chicken or the egg question.  Because the story centers on the egg itself, it is the changes of the characters and their actions around the egg that serve to bring out its meaning.  For example the fact that the father, in the midst of his rage, still cannot bring himself to destroy another egg brings up all kinds of ideas about an egg being full of life or at least a symbol of it.

Prepare two journals in paragraph form from pages 7 to 24 in "The Great Gatsby" with transition words.First Part “Summary”What happened?Did the...

First of all, I would believe the summary would be Chapter I. In this Chapter, the first person narrator of the novel, Nick Carraway, begins his story, a man whose family has a well-to-do history in the Mid-West, has moved East, to West Egg, New York, a wealthy community off the Long Island Sound but not as wealthy as East Egg. He rents a small cottage beside Gatsby's mansion, yet he has not met him. Nick goes to the Buchanan's mansion for dinner. Extremely wealthy,the husband, Tom, is having an affair, and Daisy, his wife, seems bored and preoccupied. They have a 3-year old daughter, and we also meet Jordan Baker, a young, wealthy socialite. Literary devices would include first person narration and flashback. For the second journal entry, any reader would easily dislike Tom, his arrogance and his infidelity. Daisy seems distracted. The entire group, except Nick, seem to have shallow and selfish values.Nick is an observer, recording events. At the very end of the chapter, Nick sees Gatsby staring at the 'green light,' as Fitzgerald sets up the rest of the novel.

Discuss the importance of fossils as a record of evolutionary change over time.In addition, please name an animal group that appears to have...

Fossils are remains of a plant or animal that long ago in
prehistoric time or even earlier.  Fossils are formed by leaves, shells, skeletons, or
other organic forms that were preserved death of a plant or animal.  Tracks or trails
left by moving animals also form fossils.

Fossils help
scientists discover forms of life that existed in the past and how they lived. In this
way scientist can study how life on earth has changed over
time.

Fossils can provide a great deal of information about
the appearance and ways of life of prehistoric organisms.  One way of studying fossils
of an animal or plant is by comparing them with living species. Study of Fossil that do
not have close living relatives are more difficult to understand.  One way to learn how
such plant and animals  lived is to compare their fossils to unrelated living species
with similar shaped structures. The conditions under which fossil creatures died and
were buried is also useful in determining how they lived. Fossils of tracks, trails, or
burrows help scientists to figure out the behaviour of prehistoric animals. The location
of fossils in the(layers of rocks helps to determine when a particular type of plant or
animal lived.

Study of fossils also helps to determine how
the earth's climate and landscape have changed over time.  For instance, presence of a
fossil of a particular type of plant in a specific place, and belonging to a specific
time period indicates the that the climate was suitable for existence of that type of
plant.

The nature of differences and similarities in
characteristics of plant and animal life in different parts of the world at different
times also helps to understand the nature of continental drifts that has taken place
over millions of years.

Discuss the importance of fossils as a record of evolutionary change over time.In addition, please name an animal group that appears to have...

Fossils are remains of a plant or animal that long ago in prehistoric time or even earlier.  Fossils are formed by leaves, shells, skeletons, or other organic forms that were preserved death of a plant or animal.  Tracks or trails left by moving animals also form fossils.

Fossils help scientists discover forms of life that existed in the past and how they lived. In this way scientist can study how life on earth has changed over time.

Fossils can provide a great deal of information about the appearance and ways of life of prehistoric organisms.  One way of studying fossils of an animal or plant is by comparing them with living species. Study of Fossil that do not have close living relatives are more difficult to understand.  One way to learn how such plant and animals  lived is to compare their fossils to unrelated living species with similar shaped structures. The conditions under which fossil creatures died and were buried is also useful in determining how they lived. Fossils of tracks, trails, or burrows help scientists to figure out the behaviour of prehistoric animals. The location of fossils in the(layers of rocks helps to determine when a particular type of plant or animal lived.

Study of fossils also helps to determine how the earth's climate and landscape have changed over time.  For instance, presence of a fossil of a particular type of plant in a specific place, and belonging to a specific time period indicates the that the climate was suitable for existence of that type of plant.

The nature of differences and similarities in characteristics of plant and animal life in different parts of the world at different times also helps to understand the nature of continental drifts that has taken place over millions of years.

What are some Renaissance words or sayings?

This is a very good question. As with languages today, vocabulary and idiomatic expressions will vary from country to country, city to city, maybe even neighborhood to neighborhood. I found for you a fantastic web site that lists Renaissance English vocabulary side by side with its modern equivalent. In some cases, it even gives the word's derivation. Here are a few of the entries:

anon = later = I will see you anon

e'en = even/evening = 'tis e'en, let us rest

fare-thee-well = good-bye

There are many more words and expressions on the web site www.schools.net.au (linked below).

Another site you might find interesting is Virtual Renaissance (linked below). It allows you to "experience" several aspects of life during the Renaissance

Willy recalls his sons' teenage years as an idyllic past. What evidence can we find to show that the past is not as idyllic as Willy imagines it?

You might have hints of this less than ideal past in the fact that Biff has not made anything of his life since that time. It makes one wonder, hmm, was the past as good as it seemed? There were, however, some more specific points. In Act I, part 2, Biff took a football from school without permission, a sign of irresponsibility (or worse). However, it is in part 3 of that act that the signs really pile up. Biff wants Bernard to cheat for him (definitely a bad sign), he's too rough when interacting with girls (a worse sign), and Linda ends up crying.

What does fire symbolize in Like Water for Chocolate? Give two examples to support your answer.

Fire symbolizes desire and destructive passion in the novel, as there are actually three different times when characters explode into flames. The first example is when Gertrudis eats Tita's rose  petals and becomes so aroused that she sets the walls of the family's outdoor shower on fire. A second occasion is when Mama Elena's spirit becomes so angry about Tita and Pedro's relationship that it causes an oil lamp to explode and burn Pedro. The final example of this explosive passion is when Tita eats candles after Pedro's death, killing herself and destroying the family's ranch.

Why did Christopher Columbus want to find a shorter sea route to the west?

Columbus was looking for what would later be called the "Northwest Passage". If the earth was round, as Columbus believed, then he reasoned it would be much faster to go west and find a way to the riches in India, than to take the dangerous journey around the tip of Africa. ( There was no Suez Canal in those days.) Of course, Columbus did not realize that there was an entire continent between Europe and Asia that would be in his way. That's why he called the first natives he found in the New World "Indians", because he thought India would not be far away. Ironically, this led to the discovery of the riches in South and Central America which made Spain the most important European nation for centuries after Columbus' voyages,

What did the Pentagon Papers reveal about the Vietnam War & how did the Supreme Court rule on Nixon’s attempt to block their publication?

President Johnson had stated that two American destroyers
(a type of warship), the U.S.S. Maddox and the U.S.S. C. Turner Joy, had been attacked
without provocation in international waters. He then asked the Congress for permission
to accelerate American involvement in Vietnam and to bomb certain sites within North
Vietnam. Congress gave him permission with the Gulf of Tonkin
Resolution.

The Pentagon Papers, a series of articles being
published in the New York Times, revealed this to be, at best, an exeration of the
truth. It suggested that the American destroyers might even have penetrated into North
Vietnamese territorial waters prior to the attack on them. This intrusion would have
justified, under international law and international precedent, a retaliation by North
Vietnam. This retaliation is what Johnson described at an unprovoked attack (an apparent
lie).

These papers were being published during the Nixon
administration which tried to stop their continued publication. The Supreme Court ruled
that this would amount to "prior restraint" and is not allowed. They were published in
their entirety.

What did the Pentagon Papers reveal about the Vietnam War & how did the Supreme Court rule on Nixon’s attempt to block their publication?

President Johnson had stated that two American destroyers (a type of warship), the U.S.S. Maddox and the U.S.S. C. Turner Joy, had been attacked without provocation in international waters. He then asked the Congress for permission to accelerate American involvement in Vietnam and to bomb certain sites within North Vietnam. Congress gave him permission with the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.

The Pentagon Papers, a series of articles being published in the New York Times, revealed this to be, at best, an exeration of the truth. It suggested that the American destroyers might even have penetrated into North Vietnamese territorial waters prior to the attack on them. This intrusion would have justified, under international law and international precedent, a retaliation by North Vietnam. This retaliation is what Johnson described at an unprovoked attack (an apparent lie).

These papers were being published during the Nixon administration which tried to stop their continued publication. The Supreme Court ruled that this would amount to "prior restraint" and is not allowed. They were published in their entirety.

In these passages, what is the literal meaning and how does it develop theme in Hamlet?1)I would have such a fellow whipped for o’erdoing...

In Shakespeare's Hamlet, the lines
you cite literally mean that Hamlet would have an actor whipped for overacting, because
overacting creates an overblown performance compared even to an overblown
tyrant.

Hamlet is offering acting suggestions or advice to
the 1 Player.  He tells the actor to not overplay emotionally powerful speeches.  He
mentions overblown hand gestures and impassioned words presented without restraint as
things to avoid.  He says not to concentrate on pleasing the groundlings (those patrons
in standing positions on the floor of the playhouse who appreciate only mime shows and
spectacle).  Impassioned speeches must appear natural, and not be overdone just to
impress the masses.

Termagant is thought to be a Mohammedan
deity, and is represented in medieval mystery plays as a violent and ranting personage,
according to the note on the text in the Norton Critical Edition of
the play.  And Herod, of course, is the cruel tyrant from the New Testament.  Hamlet
would, then, have an actor whipped for overdoing a violent and ranting Termagent,
because doing so would present a character even more cruel and violent and outlandish
than Herod's actual "performances."

Thematically, the scene
focuses on acting, playing roles, restraint, precision.  Hamlet acts with restraint in
the play concerning his revenge, firmly establishing Claudius's guilt instead of acting
rashly, as Laertes does, for instance, after his father's death.  And almost everyone
acts and plays different roles in the play:  Hamlet pretends to be mad; Ophelia acts
like she doesn't love Hamlet and returns his gifts to her while Polonius and Claudius
spy on the two of them in order to judge Hamlet's reaction; Ros. and Guil. pretend to be
acting only as Hamlet's friends, when they are really acting on behalf of the
king.

Hamlet, of course, readers assume, wouldn't really
have an actor whipped for overacting.  He is just making a
point. 

In these passages, what is the literal meaning and how does it develop theme in Hamlet?1)I would have such a fellow whipped for o’erdoing...

In Shakespeare's Hamlet, the lines you cite literally mean that Hamlet would have an actor whipped for overacting, because overacting creates an overblown performance compared even to an overblown tyrant.

Hamlet is offering acting suggestions or advice to the 1 Player.  He tells the actor to not overplay emotionally powerful speeches.  He mentions overblown hand gestures and impassioned words presented without restraint as things to avoid.  He says not to concentrate on pleasing the groundlings (those patrons in standing positions on the floor of the playhouse who appreciate only mime shows and spectacle).  Impassioned speeches must appear natural, and not be overdone just to impress the masses.

Termagant is thought to be a Mohammedan deity, and is represented in medieval mystery plays as a violent and ranting personage, according to the note on the text in the Norton Critical Edition of the play.  And Herod, of course, is the cruel tyrant from the New Testament.  Hamlet would, then, have an actor whipped for overdoing a violent and ranting Termagent, because doing so would present a character even more cruel and violent and outlandish than Herod's actual "performances."

Thematically, the scene focuses on acting, playing roles, restraint, precision.  Hamlet acts with restraint in the play concerning his revenge, firmly establishing Claudius's guilt instead of acting rashly, as Laertes does, for instance, after his father's death.  And almost everyone acts and plays different roles in the play:  Hamlet pretends to be mad; Ophelia acts like she doesn't love Hamlet and returns his gifts to her while Polonius and Claudius spy on the two of them in order to judge Hamlet's reaction; Ros. and Guil. pretend to be acting only as Hamlet's friends, when they are really acting on behalf of the king.

Hamlet, of course, readers assume, wouldn't really have an actor whipped for overacting.  He is just making a point. 

How can I start an introduction for a Victor Frankenstein character analysis essay?

Victor Frankenstein is a brilliant scientist who has mastered everything he has learned from his professors. When Mary Shelley wrote this book, scientific discovery was making great leaps, some of the discoveries regarding human anatomy came courtesy of corpses from dug up graves.

Victor was fascinated with the science of life as well as the nature of electricity.  In his quest to understand death, Victor creates life, using his brilliant mind to actually bring a mosaic of corpses to life.  He is certainly satisfied with his success, but is then repulsed by the creature, abandoning him like a newborn babe without a mother or father to show him the way of the world or to protect him.

Victor Frankenstein uses science to exercise his superior intelligence, and to satisfy his curiosity but he does go too far.  In going too far with scientific discovery, Victor Frankenstein unleashes an evil force into the world. 

So to analyze the character, it is necessary to consider not only his privileged background and education, but what he does with the tools that it provides.  One question that often posed when analyzing Frankenstein is whether the creature is actually a better person than the great Dr. Frankenstein.

Examine Frankenstein's motives for creating the hideous monster, but also include the very important fact of how he leaves the poor creature alone, and what that means for his character.

How does Waiting for Godot relate to Sartre's Huis Clos (No Exit), in which it is concluded that hell is other people?

The title of Sartre's play in French is literally translated "Closed Door." The three main characters in the play are literally behind a closed door that allows no exit.

In Waiting for Godot Vladimir and Estragon are waiting for the never appearing Godot.

These plays fall into the category of theatre of the absurd, or absurdist drama. Absurdism is defined as "an avant-garde style in which structure, plot, and characterization are disregarded or garbled in order to stress the lack of logic in nature and man’s isolation in a universe which has no meaning or value." Isolation is heavily stressed in both plays.

Additionally, both Beckett and Sartre espoused existentialist philosophy, which "rejects the idea that the universe offers any clues about how humanity should live." Sartre simplified it by saying, “Existence precedes essence.” That is, the fact that we exist is all that matters, and we don't need to find some higher meaning to life.

Some scholars have said that "Godot" really is God; thus the playwright is telling us that God is not going to come. Just as Sartre's characters are trapped in a room that has no exit, so also Beckett's characters are trapped in a meaningless existence, constantly waiting.

Give 3 examples of how omens and portents influenced characters in Julius Caesar.

At the end of Act I, a terrible storm comes up.  Casca and Cicero each believe that the storm foreshadows events surrounding Caesar's impending assassination.  Casca is fearful of a host of strange sightings and believes that these signs prognosticate evil.  Cicero believes that the storm's power mirrors the power of the conspirators.  Cassius is also energized by the storm.

Caesar's wife, Calpurnia has a dream about a statue of her husband that was full of holes that bled profusely.  Fearing evil, she tried to convince Caesar that her dream was a warning for him not to go to the senate that day.  Ceasar even has one of his servants go to the priests to do a sacrifice to see what they have to say about Calpurnia's fears.  When the animal was sacrificed, there was no heart in it... a bad omen indeed.  Caesar even ignores this omen when Decius Brutus re-interprets Calpurnia's dream to have a favorable meaning just to entice Caesar to come to the Senate (and to his doom).

Brutus' conscience conjours up the ghost of Ceasar who tells Brutus that he will see him at Philippi.  Brutus is feeling guilty for his part in the conspiracy and his conscience manifests his guilt in the form of a ghost.  It is at Philippi that Brutus meets his end, so the appearance of the ghost foreshadows his demise.

What does moral character mean in "The Scarlet Letter"?

Morals are qualities that help us to do the right thing. A moral person would choose to do what is right, while an immoral person would choose to do what is best for him/her, even if it's the wrong thing to do. For example, if you have the opportunity to cheat on a test, would you? A person of good moral character would not. Morals are also the accepted beliefs of a society of what is right and wrong within society. Obvious morals of society are not stealing or killing. Moral character deals with a person who usually has an inner conflict. Do you help the kid who is being picked on by bullies, or do you just walk by and ignore it? Someone who is of good moral character does what's right, what's good, what is fair, and what's just, no matter what it costs that person.

In The Scarlet Letter, Dimmesdale doesn't do the right thing when he doesn't admit that he is Pearl's father. Sometimes a character in a novel changes and develops good moral character. Hester's husband changes for the worse. He becomes even more immoral as the plot develops.

Why does Ralph weep for Piggy and not for Simon at the end of "The Lord of the Flies?

I am not sure that the passage to which you are referring necessarily must be interpreted to mean that Ralph weeps more for Piggy than he does for Simon.  Although the last line of the paragraph -

"Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy" -

mentions Piggy by name and not Simon, it is the memory of Simon's death earlier in the same paragraph that causes Ralph to break down in the first place.  The author describes Ralph's state of mind at the end of the story by saying,

"the island was scorched up like dead wood - Simon was dead - and Jack had...the tears began to flow and sobs shook him.  He gave himself up to them now for the first time on the island; great shuddering spasms of grief that seemed to wrench his whole body".

I think it might well be argued that Ralph wept for both Simon and Piggy, both symbols of innocence and sacrifice whose lives were lost, victims of the baser nature of the human spirit (Chapter 12).

From this initial interaction between Proctor and Abigail in "The Crucible", what do you understand about their relationship?What is the nature of...

It is clear from the first moment of their exchange that John has put their relationship in the past and that Abigail is still holding on.  She believes that they love each other and should be together, and that it is only the claws of his wife and the community that are keeping them apart.  John shows that he obviously doesn't care about her.  The affair was one of sex, not love, and he is done with her. 

The conflict that arises is just this - she wants to be with John and John is shunning her.  Here are her comments to him when this becomes clear:

• I look for John Proctor that took me from my sleep and put knowledge in my heart! I never knew what pretense Salem was, I never knew the lying lessons I was taught by all these Christian women and their covenanted men! And now you bid me tear the light out of my eyes? I will not, I cannot! You loved me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you love me yet!

She refuses to believe that John does not love her, and she clearly shows her attitude towards the town as a whole.  Abigail is a young woman that has been burnt.  She is bitter, and she will retaliate.

In Chapter Three of "To Kill A Mockingbird", after Calpurnia makes Scout leave the table ,what lecture does she give Scout?

In Chapter 3, Scout rudely calls attention to the table manners of Jem's guest, Walter Cunningham. Calpurnia scolds Scout telling her that when people differ, Scout is not “called on to contradict ‘em. . . .” She also tells Scout that guests in her home should be treated guests, no matter how different they are. Calpurnia is trying to teach Scout to treat people equally, not on the basis of their wealth or lack of it. This foreshadows the lesson about race that Atticus will try to teach the town when he defends Tom Robinson.

What is the symbolic meaning of hot, cold, sun, and shadow in "The Man to Send Rain Clouds"?

Silko's story uses the natural world to depict the life of the residents of the resevation and their uneasy relationship with the whites who have forced them to live on the margins. 

The symbolism of the weather helps Silko make her point.  The heat of the day is contrasted with the cool snow Ken observes atop the mountain range:

He squinted up at the sun and unzipped his jacket. It sure was hot for this time of year. But high and northwest the blue mountains were still deep in snow.

In Native American mythology, the sun represents the highest form of worship of the Great Spirit.  Ken's looking to the sun, then, may represent his longing for a return to the old ways, while the snow and cold on the mountains might be an indication that such a hope is a long way from reality. 

The symbolism of shadows works its way into the story in a subtle way:

The priest turned away from Leon and looked out the window at the patio full of shadows and the dining-room windows of the nuns' cloister across the patio. The curtains were heavy, and the light from within faintly penetrated; it was impossible to see the nuns inside eating supper.

Shadows, in Indian spiritual beliefs, indicate the presence of the Trickster, that evil being who leads the People into trouble.  It's not hard to see that the priest and the nuns are representative of the Trickster. 

In "Sonny's Blues," where can we find signs or actions of insecurity and rebellion?

Sonny certainly is rebellious due to his checkered past and his time in prison.  His brother has also rebelled, but in different ways.  Sonny has his own insecurities about being able to function in society due to this checkered past, and his music is the only way he feels he "fits in."  It is his escape and his solace. His brother finally realizes this at the end of the story. His epiphany is that he finally realizes that he finally understands Sonny's connection to and passion for his music.  

What are the characteristics of the character Antigone in terms of what she is committed to?I am writing a research paper on Antigone, and I wanted...

Antigone is a tragic hero who
makes at least two mistakes which contribute to her death: she takes an unbending course
of action which leads, ultimately, to self-martyrdom; she refuses to suffer her
punishment alone and commits suicide out of weakness or love of
death.

Antigone is a feminist,
as she is not defined by men.  She demands to be heard by Creon and the public.  Unlike
her submissive and fearful sister Ismene, Antigone is an outspoken vixen generations
ahead of her time.

Antigone upholds the gods' laws over
man's laws. In this way, Antigone is a religious hero.  She
knows that her brother's body must be buried according to the gods' decree, and she is
willing to enact civil disobedience in moral
defense.

Antigone is a romantic
idealist.  In short, she has a death wish.  She sees suicide as a noble
cause, and she makes decisions that lead her to this fate.  She wants to be remembered
as a martyr.

What are the characteristics of the character Antigone in terms of what she is committed to?I am writing a research paper on Antigone, and I wanted...

Antigone is a tragic hero who makes at least two mistakes which contribute to her death: she takes an unbending course of action which leads, ultimately, to self-martyrdom; she refuses to suffer her punishment alone and commits suicide out of weakness or love of death.

Antigone is a feminist, as she is not defined by men.  She demands to be heard by Creon and the public.  Unlike her submissive and fearful sister Ismene, Antigone is an outspoken vixen generations ahead of her time.

Antigone upholds the gods' laws over man's laws. In this way, Antigone is a religious hero.  She knows that her brother's body must be buried according to the gods' decree, and she is willing to enact civil disobedience in moral defense.

Antigone is a romantic idealist.  In short, she has a death wish.  She sees suicide as a noble cause, and she makes decisions that lead her to this fate.  She wants to be remembered as a martyr.

Which of the following least describes Twain as a teenager? Answer: daring, secure, imaginative, competitive.which one would you choose

I would say the word that least describes Mark Twain
(Samuel Clemens) is "secure." His life was far from secure - ever -- but especially when
he was a teenager. He became a printer's apprentice when he was only 15 years old, left
home at 18 and worked as a printer in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, among other
cities. He spent his evenings in public libraries and became an autodidact - that is, he
taught himself. He was daring, imaginative and most likely competitive as well. He later
trained himself well enough to become qualified as a river boat pilot (after his teen
years), and the amount of information required for that designation was very rigorous.
It took him more than two years to study everything he needed to know to become a river
boat pilot, so this tells us that he was driven.

These
qualities followed him into his adult life, not always with great success. He had
constant financial problems due to making bad investments in some rather crazy schemes
and inventions and his imagination led him to become involved in the paranormal. Even
though he earned a great deal of money from his writing, he never became rich because he
was overly daring in his investments.

What do YOU
think?

Which of the following least describes Twain as a teenager? Answer: daring, secure, imaginative, competitive.which one would you choose

I would say the word that least describes Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) is "secure." His life was far from secure - ever -- but especially when he was a teenager. He became a printer's apprentice when he was only 15 years old, left home at 18 and worked as a printer in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, among other cities. He spent his evenings in public libraries and became an autodidact - that is, he taught himself. He was daring, imaginative and most likely competitive as well. He later trained himself well enough to become qualified as a river boat pilot (after his teen years), and the amount of information required for that designation was very rigorous. It took him more than two years to study everything he needed to know to become a river boat pilot, so this tells us that he was driven.

These qualities followed him into his adult life, not always with great success. He had constant financial problems due to making bad investments in some rather crazy schemes and inventions and his imagination led him to become involved in the paranormal. Even though he earned a great deal of money from his writing, he never became rich because he was overly daring in his investments.

What do YOU think?

In "Go Lovely Rose" what additional resemblances does the poet say there is between the rose and the woman? In the 1st stanza the poet says that...

The love lyric "Go Lovely Rose " by Edmund Waller (1606-87) is a fervent plea by the speaker to his extremely shy and withdrawn lover who "shuns to have her graces espied," to come out into the open so that he can praise her beauty.

The second and third stanzas do not contain any similes which compare the lover and the rose. However, the speaker personifies the rose as his messenger to advocate and plead his cause to his bashful lover. He instructs the rose to tell his lover that if he (the rose) had bloomed in a desert where there are no people, then it would have withered and died without anyone praising its beauty. So, he asks the rose to tell her to come out into the open so that he can admire and praise her beauty, because beauty which is hidden from the eyes of men has very little or no value at all, "Small is the worth/Of beauty from the light retired."

The poet exploits two characteristics of the rose to drive home his argument: the rose is a beautiful flower, but at the same time its beauty will last only for a short period of time ("How small a part of time") before it withers and dies. Similarly, the beauty of his lover, like that of the rose's is only temporary and there is no point in keeping it hidden. She must come out into the open so that her beauty can be admired and enjoyed.

What are some possible reasons that John Proctor would forbid Mary Warren from going to Salem?

John Proctor initially sees the trials as nonsense and
wants nothing to do with the trial.  Additionally, he doesn’t want his family to have
anything to do with the trials and Mary Warren, being his house servant, is included as
part of his household. When Proctor finds out she has gone he is furious at her for
disobeying his wishes.

Proctor may be opposed of his
household getting involved with the trial because he doesn’t want his adulterous past to
be revisited. Abigail is at the heart of the trial, and he believes her intentions are
bad.

What are some possible reasons that John Proctor would forbid Mary Warren from going to Salem?

John Proctor initially sees the trials as nonsense and wants nothing to do with the trial.  Additionally, he doesn’t want his family to have anything to do with the trials and Mary Warren, being his house servant, is included as part of his household. When Proctor finds out she has gone he is furious at her for disobeying his wishes.

Proctor may be opposed of his household getting involved with the trial because he doesn’t want his adulterous past to be revisited. Abigail is at the heart of the trial, and he believes her intentions are bad.

Where is the setting of the story Through the Tunnel?

The story is set in an unspecified foreign country, possibly South Africa.  Jerry and his mother are both English and travel to this country to vacation.  Since Jerry is not in his homeland, it is a perfect setting to help reinforce the theme of fitting in.  He sees the native boys and instantly longs to be one of them, despite not looking like them nor being able to pass "through the tunnel" as they do.  It is this drive to fit in that fuels him and sets up the story's conflict.

Another important setting of the story is that of the beach and the rocks protruding from the ocean.  These are important because the beach represents safety and the rocks represent danger.  Once Jerry has set his mind to going "through the tunnel" as the native boys do, he abandons the safety of the beach and begins to face the dangers and adversity of the rock.  In this way he is not only striving to fit in, but Jerry is also leaving the safety of childhood behind and entering the uncertain world of adulthood.

In The Tempest, does Miranda fall in love with Ferdinand?

Miranda falls instantly in love with Ferdinand. Miranda has been isolated on the island for twelve years with only her father, Ariel, and Caliban for company.

It is no wonder that she would quickly fall for someone that is not a relative, a spirit (although she mistakenly takes Ferdinand for one initially), or a beast(as she regards Caliban-and rightfully so).

Ferdinand will have to prove his worthiness to Prospero in order to win acceptance from him.

At the end of Chapter 30, why does Heck Tate lie about what has happened?Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird

In addition to the idea of protecting "the mockingbird,"
Boo Radley, Heck Tate, sherriff in Harper Lee's To Kill a
Mockingbird, seems reluctant to subject frail and mentally delicate
Boo to the rigors of another court case that could easily end in travesty as did that of
Tom Robinson.  At any rate, Boo's trial could be, as Scout remarked of Tom's "a
carnival."

Like Tom Robinson's trial, the interrogation of
Boo--not to mention his father--would become an event that would bring out the curious
and the cruel.  As Mr. Tate himself tells Atticus,

readability="13">

To my way of thinkin', Mr. Finch, taking the one
man who's done you and this town a great service an' draggin' him with his shy ways into
the limelight--to me, that's a sin.  It's a sin and I'm not about to have it on my
head.  If it was any other man, it'd be different.  But not this man, Mr.
Finch.

Here is Mr. Heck
Tate's statement is another motif of Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, "The
greater good is always the most important."

At the end of Chapter 30, why does Heck Tate lie about what has happened?Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird

In addition to the idea of protecting "the mockingbird," Boo Radley, Heck Tate, sherriff in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, seems reluctant to subject frail and mentally delicate Boo to the rigors of another court case that could easily end in travesty as did that of Tom Robinson.  At any rate, Boo's trial could be, as Scout remarked of Tom's "a carnival."

Like Tom Robinson's trial, the interrogation of Boo--not to mention his father--would become an event that would bring out the curious and the cruel.  As Mr. Tate himself tells Atticus,

To my way of thinkin', Mr. Finch, taking the one man who's done you and this town a great service an' draggin' him with his shy ways into the limelight--to me, that's a sin.  It's a sin and I'm not about to have it on my head.  If it was any other man, it'd be different.  But not this man, Mr. Finch.

Here is Mr. Heck Tate's statement is another motif of Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, "The greater good is always the most important."

In Act 3, Scene 2, why does Macbeth not tell Lady Macbeth about his plans to murder Banquo?

Macbeth says to Lady Macbeth, "Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck, / Till thou applaud the deed."  He is telling her that he doesn't want her to know until after the deed and then she'll be pleased with what he's done.   There are a couple possible reasons for why he isn't telling her.  It could be that he wants her to be proud of him for having the ability to plan and carry out a murder on his own.  In Act 1, sc. 7, when Macbeth suggests to his wife that they not go through with the murder of Duncan, she essentially calls him a wimp.  She attacks his masculinity and her tactic worked because Macbeth decides to go along with her.  She is the one who devised the plan, too. So it is entirely possible that he is trying to impress her.  Another possible reason for not telling Lady Macbeth of his plan to have Banquo and Fleance killed is "plausible deniability", but I have more belief in the first reason.

What is Creon's response to Teiresias' advice in lines 1145-1162 of "Antigone"?

Teiresias warns Creon that he is responsible for a sickness that has descended on Thebes. Polyneices's unburied body has polluted the city and the gods will hear no more prayers. The body is also polluting the cities close to Thebes, causing ill will toward Creon's city−state. In an act of hubris, or pride, Creon accuses the old man of trickery, stating that some enemy must have paid the seer to come and upset him.

Teiresias then correctly accuses Creon of tyranny and selfishness, and predicts the king he will lose his son and great grief will befall his house. After Teiresias leaves, Creon becomes fearful. He decides to allow Polyneices to be buried, and to set Antigone free. However, his decision comes too late. Antigone has killed herself and after discovering her body, Creon's son Haemon kills himself. When Eurydice, Creon's wife, hears her son is dead, she kills herself. Thus Creon's pride has resulted in the consequences Teirsias predicted.

In "Fahrenheit 451", what realization does Montag have as a result of the emergancy treatment of his wife?

Montag's wife is one of those people who completely accept the basic beliefs of the society. However, she cannot be that happy because she tries to commit suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills. The emergency personal send only technicians because attempts at suicide are so common in society that simple technicians are trained to deal with them. The "technicians" who come to fix her up are so casual about it that Montag realizes that something has happened to everybody, that under the "mask of happiness" lies a great emptiness.

heat!!!what are 6 ways in which heat enters the house in summer. also link me a diagram of heat entering the house, if possible. thank you v. much

Orientation of the home also matters in this instance. For
example, the front of my home faces the east. There is a room upstairs which has a very
large window and a cathedral ceiling. There are already three strikes against keeping
this room cool in the summer. First of all, the sun shines directly into the room in the
morning because the sun rises in the east. Second, heat rises (second floor). Third,
there is the cathedral ceiling which means there is no attic. The heat has nowhere to go
but to stay in the room.

There are many other ways that
homes retain heat. For example, using the oven creates heat. Heat also enters through
windows. One way to prevent this from happening is by covering windows with solar
shades.

heat!!!what are 6 ways in which heat enters the house in summer. also link me a diagram of heat entering the house, if possible. thank you v. much

Orientation of the home also matters in this instance. For example, the front of my home faces the east. There is a room upstairs which has a very large window and a cathedral ceiling. There are already three strikes against keeping this room cool in the summer. First of all, the sun shines directly into the room in the morning because the sun rises in the east. Second, heat rises (second floor). Third, there is the cathedral ceiling which means there is no attic. The heat has nowhere to go but to stay in the room.

There are many other ways that homes retain heat. For example, using the oven creates heat. Heat also enters through windows. One way to prevent this from happening is by covering windows with solar shades.

In Chapter 3 of The Great Gatsby, how does Nick meet Gatsby?

In chapter three of The Great Gatsby, Nick has been hand-delivered an invitation to one of Gatsby's parities. Other people just seem to show up and are never invited. They take advantage of Gatsby's great wealth. Nick, on the other hand, gets personally invited so he decides to go. Once he is there he looks for Gatsby with no success. Nick meets Jordan Baker and the two strike up a friendship. Everyone is dancing and having a good time. Nick and Jordan are seated with another couple and strike up a conversation. The other man tells Nick he looks familiar and asks him if was in the war. The two men talk about the war and start a conversation.

"We talked for a moment about some wet, gray little villages in France. Evidently he lived in this vicinity, for he told me that he had just bought a hydroplane, and was going to try it out in the morning."

We learn that the man is in fact Gatsby himself. Gatsby just talked to Nick like any other guest at the party. It goes to show us that Gatsby is not the type to just announce who he is. Everyone wants to know the elusive Gatsby, but Nick is the first to see the real man. He is not there to use Gatsby or take advantage of him. Nick is, and will be, Gatsby's one true friend.

Why does the traveling salesman take an interest in Elisa's chrysanthemums?

The only reason the tinker (the traveling salesman) takes interest in Elisa's chrysanthemums is because he is trying to get her business!  He is trying to get her to give him some pots to mend.  SO, he is merely lying and being deceitful in order to make some money.  We know this because he has thrown her chrysanthemum in the road at the end of the story, and Elisa sees this and breaks down and cries.

What were Napoleon's hobbies and interests?

As a youth, Napoleon was very interested in history and geography. At the age of 19 or 20, while he was a lieurenant en second in the royal corps of artillery, Bonaparte immersed himself in an assiduous study of military and political history, writing out a synopsis of every book he read. He was also deeply interested in polititcal science and was influenced profoundly by Jean-Jacque Rousseau who wrote The Social Contract. 

On a trip to Paris to make negotiations for his impoverished mother whose husband had died, Napoleon was appalled at the 'red tape' and protracted methods of administrative departments.  After this visit, Napoleon became very interested in politics, and immersed himself in the liberation of his native Corsica in September,1789. 

These early interests fostered Bonaparte's great legal reforms (such as the Code Napoleon) while he was Emperor.  Influenced by Rousseau's writing, he organized the public school system so well that all students throughout the country were on the same curriculum throughout the school year.

Is this a simple, compound, complex, or a compound complex sentence?" I leant against a pillar of the verandah,drew my grey mantle close about...

Is this a simple, compound, complex, or a compound complex
sentence?

" I leant against a pillar of the verandah,drew my grey
mantle close about me,and,trying to forget the cold which nipped me without,and the
unsatisfied hunger which gnawed me within, delivered myself up to the employment of
watching and thinking."

Is this a simple, compound, complex, or a compound complex sentence?" I leant against a pillar of the verandah,drew my grey mantle close about...

Is this a simple, compound, complex, or a compound complex sentence?

" I leant against a pillar of the verandah,drew my grey mantle close about me,and,trying to forget the cold which nipped me without,and the unsatisfied hunger which gnawed me within, delivered myself up to the employment of watching and thinking."

In lines 282-300 of "The Wife of Bath" from Canterbury Tales, what does the old woman think is the chief qualification of a gentleman?no

The Old Woman in the "Wife of Bath's Tale" says that a gentleman is one who "loves to work for virtuous ends, Public or private, and who most intends to do what deeds of gentleness he can, Take him to be the greatest gentleman.  Christ will we take our gentleness from Him, Not from a wealth of ancestry long and dim, though they bequeath their whole establishment By which we claim to be of high descent."

She is rebuking the knight for finding fault with her for being old and ugly, for being poor, and for being ill-bred and not of a wealthy and respected family.  She gives him a tongue-lashing and points out that Christ was the best and most perfect of all men on earth, and neither was he born into a wealthy family, nor did he wear beautiful clothes.  He was, however, gentle and kind to everyone he met, as the Old Woman has been.  She does not understand his greed and his anger toward her since she has done nothing to wrong him.

She then gives him the choice which is the climax of the story: keep her as she is--old, ugly, poor, but loyal and a good wife always to him OR young, beautiful, and unfaithful.  The knight, knowing her to be right about all the points in her speech and the fault she finds with him, leaves the choice to her to make.

She chooses to be--young, beautiful and faithful.  This wraps up the Wife's point, that women want equality in decision-making in the home.  Since the knight left the choice with her, he gets it all.

In Chapter One, why does Nick feel that Daisy is trying to show off her cynicism?

Daisy says, “You see I think everything’s terrible . . . I’ve been everywhere and seen everything and done everything….Sophisticated—God, I’m sophisticted” (22). The comments spring from the fact that Tom, her husband, is having an affair with a woman “in the city,” who has called while they are eating dinner. Daisy has told Nick, “I’m pretty cynical,” and Nick thinks “Evidently she had reason to be." Indeed, Daisy next tells Nick Tom was “God knows where” when their baby was born, meaning he was probably with his mistress. Yet, through all of this, Nick doubts her sincerity—she doesn’t ring true to  him. Immediately after this conversation she looks at him “with an absolute smirk on her lovely face,” signifying to him her pretentiousness and sense of privilege (22). Looking or saying she is cynical, Nick thinks, is a way of demonstrating that privilege; it is as though it is a luxury that only the wealthy can experience.

Discuss George Herbert as a metaphysical religious poet.

George Herbert chose at Cambridge to devote his poetry to
God and seemed to adjust easily to a religious life after leaving a court life. His
poetry expresses the notion that one feels God's presence or one doesn't, propounding
the theologically arguable concept that one cannot reason with God. His poetry is an
extension of his sermons and seeks to instruct by example rather than by precept. He
writes about his personal struggles in order that others may follow his example and thus
overcome their struggles. His struggles are not on the same order of Donne's, his fellow
religious poet, however, being less desperate and less
personal.

Herbert's approach to poetry writing is a more
commonplace approach than an intellectual one. He uses common everyday domestic
metaphors and imagery along with conceits (elaborate, intellectually original metaphors,
short or extended), which are important in his poetry. The questions that Herbert
explores, which constitute an extension to his sermons, are often resolved with a device
he innovated: two quiet lines that convey a resolution founded in emotion and that may
or may not answer the question(s) raised in the poem. The function of extending his
sermons determines the his poetic style, in large part.

Discuss George Herbert as a metaphysical religious poet.

George Herbert chose at Cambridge to devote his poetry to God and seemed to adjust easily to a religious life after leaving a court life. His poetry expresses the notion that one feels God's presence or one doesn't, propounding the theologically arguable concept that one cannot reason with God. His poetry is an extension of his sermons and seeks to instruct by example rather than by precept. He writes about his personal struggles in order that others may follow his example and thus overcome their struggles. His struggles are not on the same order of Donne's, his fellow religious poet, however, being less desperate and less personal.

Herbert's approach to poetry writing is a more commonplace approach than an intellectual one. He uses common everyday domestic metaphors and imagery along with conceits (elaborate, intellectually original metaphors, short or extended), which are important in his poetry. The questions that Herbert explores, which constitute an extension to his sermons, are often resolved with a device he innovated: two quiet lines that convey a resolution founded in emotion and that may or may not answer the question(s) raised in the poem. The function of extending his sermons determines the his poetic style, in large part.

In chapters 14-16 of "The Devil's Arithmetic", how does Chaya remember her number on her arm?

Following the example of Rivka, Chaya remembers the number on her arm by associating each digit with an idea.  Chaya, whose number is J19724, says,

"J for Jew.  And 1 for me, alone.  I am very, very much alone.  And 9...in English it is pronounced 'nine', which is like the German word for no.  No, I will not die here...Seven is for...each and every day of the week I stay alive.  One day at a time.  Then 2 for Gitl and Shmuel, who are here in this place, too...And 4 is for my family, I think.  I almost remember them.  If I close my eyes they are there, hovering within sight.  But when I open my eyes, they are gone" (Chapter 14).

By making each digit in her number stand for something which is meaningful to her, Chaya defeats the purpose of the number, which is to dehumanize her.  She makes it instead a vehicle for remembering those things in life that are important to her, and as such, it gives her the courage and determination to do everything she can to survive. 

In Animal Farm, what are some reasons why Snowball would be considered dangerous?

I find that linking the Animal Farm
characters to their Russian Revolution counterparts helps me to think through
why they do what they do.

Snowball represents Leon Trotsky.
He was a celebrated military mind, and he instituted many committees. This is a
dangerous place when the committees don't necessarily achieve
anything.

Snowball followed in these footsteps. He tried to
institute these committees: re-education, planning and development, and production. What
has made that dangerous for Snowball is that he spent all this time thinking and for
what? Working with incompetent animals? This is dangerous for him, but it is also
dangerous to another authority figure because it shows that he can think and
plan.

In Animal Farm, what are some reasons why Snowball would be considered dangerous?

I find that linking the Animal Farm characters to their Russian Revolution counterparts helps me to think through why they do what they do.

Snowball represents Leon Trotsky. He was a celebrated military mind, and he instituted many committees. This is a dangerous place when the committees don't necessarily achieve anything.

Snowball followed in these footsteps. He tried to institute these committees: re-education, planning and development, and production. What has made that dangerous for Snowball is that he spent all this time thinking and for what? Working with incompetent animals? This is dangerous for him, but it is also dangerous to another authority figure because it shows that he can think and plan.

What is the paradox in scene 3 "Lesser than Macbeth, and greater" How is this paradox true?

A paradox is a contradictory statement that expresses a truth.  The witches are contradicting themselves.  They say that Banquo is both lesser and greater than Macbeth.  How can both be true?  It would seem that they couldn't be - however, let me show you how they are.

Banquo is "lesser" than Macbeth in terms of power.  He does not have the political power that Macbeth has and will continue to get - Banquo is not a thane.  Also, there is every suggestion that while he is a powerful general, he is not as powerful as Macbeth.  King Duncan rewards Macbeth, not Banquo, for service.

However, Banquo is "greater" than Macbeth because he is both smarter and more grounded in his principles.  Banquo does not trust the witches or their prophecies, which turns out to be the better judgement - it is trust in the prophecies that brings Macbeth down.  Banquo immediately suspects Macbeth of the murder, knowing his friend well.  He does not rush to seek out his own power, like Macbeth did, when the prophecies seemed to be valid.  Finally, Banquo dies while trying to protect his son, encouraging Fleance to flee.  Macbeth pays little attention to Lady Macbeth as she slowly slids into insanity and dies - he is too focused on himself.

What are some songs that have to do with Sodapop and "his" horse and Johnny's death in "The Outsiders"?

First, examine the situations.  Sodapop loves his horse Mickey Mouse, and Ponyboy says that they were alike (Soda and the horse).  They were both michievious and full of energy.  A song about this type of personality would work, as would a song about strong bonds between friends.  Also, Soda loses his horse, so a song about separation would work.

Johnny is a troubled kid who suffers for things that aren't his fault and who dies after being a hero.  Songs about abuse, about dying young, and about being misunderstood would work.

Sodapop and Mickey:

You've Got a Friend; Goodbye My Friend; I Will Remember You; Lean On Me; Live Like Horses; Wildfire; Four Legged Friend

Johnny's death:

Only the Good Die Young; Goodbye My Friend; Angel; How Can I Help You Say Goodbye; Oh Very Young; The Crossroads

In chapter 6, why does Daisy say she's giving out "gren" cards?

I believe that the "green cards" are a reference to dance cards, which were a social custom at the time. When a woman attended a party where dancing would occur, she could hand out cards to men with whom she would like to dance. Another similar custom was a dance card or booklet that she kept, and potential dance partners asked to sign it so that they could dance with her. This custom is very different from modern dance behavior. The color green reinforces Fitzgerald's use of that color to represent hope and wealth as in the green light at the end of Daisy's dock. Daisy comes to Gatsby's party eager to have a good time, of course, but she also looks forward to seeing Jay in a very public place where their private behavior may go unnoticed. She's almost giddy with excitement because she offers Nick a card, telling him he can exchange it for a kiss, which would be, from Nick's perspective, pointless.

In The Crucible what is an example of Reverend Hale's insight into witchcraft and the law.

When we are first introduced to Reverend Hale, it is
indirectly.  We learn from other characters that he "has much experience in all demonic
arts."  Parris says this, only a few pages into act one (we probably don't have the same
version of the play, so our page numbers will be different).  So, through other
characters, we learn that Hale knows a lot about "demonic arts," meaning, the ways that
demons and spirits of the devil work here on earth.

When
Hale enters the scene, Miller, in a lengthy aside, gives us a lot of background
information on him.  He says that Hale has spent a lot of time studing "the invisible
world," and that he had ousted a witch in his own parish.  So, he had experience
identifying and calling out witchcraft.  He was pleased to be called upon, and felt like
his expertise was finally being recognized.  He brings many books on the subject, and
refers to them in his diagnosis of Betty and others.  All of this information can be
found nearer to the end of act one.

Reverend Hale also
knows enough about the law to advise John Proctor, and others, to get lawyers to present
their cases, in order to be fairly represented in court.  Near the middle of act three,
Hale begs Danforth to let John get a lawyer.  He
says,

"in all
justice sir, a claim so weighty cannot be argued by a farmer...send him home and let him
come again with a lawyer."

He
obviously knows enough about the courts to know that lawyers represent people.  Also,
throughout act three, Hale demands that justice be served, and that evidence be heard,
even when the judges refuse to listen to it.  He is more willing to look at things
objectively, and to take evidence based on facts and logic, as courts are supposed to
do.  Because of the theocracy that the Puritans had, religious ministers were often
involved with the execution of law, and Hale had also signed his name to many people's
death warrants, making them valid and final.

I hope that
those thoughts helped; good luck!

In The Crucible what is an example of Reverend Hale's insight into witchcraft and the law.

When we are first introduced to Reverend Hale, it is indirectly.  We learn from other characters that he "has much experience in all demonic arts."  Parris says this, only a few pages into act one (we probably don't have the same version of the play, so our page numbers will be different).  So, through other characters, we learn that Hale knows a lot about "demonic arts," meaning, the ways that demons and spirits of the devil work here on earth.

When Hale enters the scene, Miller, in a lengthy aside, gives us a lot of background information on him.  He says that Hale has spent a lot of time studing "the invisible world," and that he had ousted a witch in his own parish.  So, he had experience identifying and calling out witchcraft.  He was pleased to be called upon, and felt like his expertise was finally being recognized.  He brings many books on the subject, and refers to them in his diagnosis of Betty and others.  All of this information can be found nearer to the end of act one.

Reverend Hale also knows enough about the law to advise John Proctor, and others, to get lawyers to present their cases, in order to be fairly represented in court.  Near the middle of act three, Hale begs Danforth to let John get a lawyer.  He says,

"in all justice sir, a claim so weighty cannot be argued by a farmer...send him home and let him come again with a lawyer."

He obviously knows enough about the courts to know that lawyers represent people.  Also, throughout act three, Hale demands that justice be served, and that evidence be heard, even when the judges refuse to listen to it.  He is more willing to look at things objectively, and to take evidence based on facts and logic, as courts are supposed to do.  Because of the theocracy that the Puritans had, religious ministers were often involved with the execution of law, and Hale had also signed his name to many people's death warrants, making them valid and final.

I hope that those thoughts helped; good luck!

I need help with Yann Martel's comments about his book Life of Pi.In response to the question "Would you say that religion and fiction work in the...

Martel uses religion and fiction almost interchangably,
and makes the point that all religions have stories that explain our existence and
purpose here on earth, and that is a good thing, because it makes our lives more
meaningful, calm and happy.  He says that "dry, yeastless factuality" is boring and
frightening.  To imagine your life with no purpose or meaning is a terrifying thing--why
even bother living if that is the case?

He finds all of the
different "stories" that religions have fascinating, just as Pi does in the novel.  From
a Christian or Catholic perspective, the story revolves around Christ.  We are here on
earth to be tested and prove our worthiness for heaven.  But because we can never be
worthy, because we are in a fallen state, we had to have a Savior to come, to make up
that difference.  That Savior just so happened to be the son of God Himself, and he
atoned for all of our sins so that we could live with God again.  That story brings
purpose, meaning and direction to our lives.  Trying to explain life without God at the
center of it means that we are living a purposeless life, and that there is no one out
there to help us, and to guide and support us.  That is not a good way to live, and it
makes for a very boring story indeed.

In the novel, he
actually goes into people who live their lives without God, saying that he can't imagine
them dying, and how empty that would be to not know that something better was waiting
them.  Whether or not there is a God, or a purpose to our lives, Martel insists that
living with that belief is better than living without it.  God makes our lives better;
He makes the purpose more interesting, and the journey much
easier.

I hope that those thoughts help a bit; good
luck!

I need help with Yann Martel's comments about his book Life of Pi.In response to the question "Would you say that religion and fiction work in the...

Martel uses religion and fiction almost interchangably, and makes the point that all religions have stories that explain our existence and purpose here on earth, and that is a good thing, because it makes our lives more meaningful, calm and happy.  He says that "dry, yeastless factuality" is boring and frightening.  To imagine your life with no purpose or meaning is a terrifying thing--why even bother living if that is the case?

He finds all of the different "stories" that religions have fascinating, just as Pi does in the novel.  From a Christian or Catholic perspective, the story revolves around Christ.  We are here on earth to be tested and prove our worthiness for heaven.  But because we can never be worthy, because we are in a fallen state, we had to have a Savior to come, to make up that difference.  That Savior just so happened to be the son of God Himself, and he atoned for all of our sins so that we could live with God again.  That story brings purpose, meaning and direction to our lives.  Trying to explain life without God at the center of it means that we are living a purposeless life, and that there is no one out there to help us, and to guide and support us.  That is not a good way to live, and it makes for a very boring story indeed.

In the novel, he actually goes into people who live their lives without God, saying that he can't imagine them dying, and how empty that would be to not know that something better was waiting them.  Whether or not there is a God, or a purpose to our lives, Martel insists that living with that belief is better than living without it.  God makes our lives better; He makes the purpose more interesting, and the journey much easier.

I hope that those thoughts help a bit; good luck!

In Othello, how does Desdemona contribute to the tragedy?I need 2 specific examples, please. :) Thank you.

Desdemona plays at least one interesting part in the
events that enrage Othello to the point of committing murder.  She lies about where the
handkerchief is.  She loses it, bemoans its loss to Emilia, and then, when Othello asks
to see it (III, iv), she says, "I have it not about me," which of course is the truth,
for it is lost.  But later in the scene:

readability="13">

Othello

Is't
lost?  Is't gone?  Speak, is it out o'the
way?

Desdemona

It
is not lost, but what an if'it were?

Othello

Ha!

Desdemona

I
say it is not
lost.

Othello

Fetch't,
let me see
it.

Desdemona

Why,
so I can sir, but I will not
now...

And so, by lying about
the fact that the handkerchief is lost, Desdemona adds to Othello's suspicion (since he
will, in a later scene, see the handkerchief returned to Cassio by Bianca) and
ultimately to her own demise.

Some might argue that
Desdemona also shows a possibility of deceitful behaviour when she elopes in the opening
of the play with Othello.  It would have been highly improper and presumptuous for
Desdemona to marry (from her station in society) without first obtaining her father's
blessing and permission.  This, one could argue, makes her open to question later in the
play.  If she made a move for love behind her father's back, mightn't she also do so
behind Othello's back?  It does potentially leave her behaviour open to question and is
worth considering.

However, it is the interesting part that
the handkerchief plays in Othello, and even Desdemona's own part in
the events surrounding it, that push Othello over the edge and lead to the play's tragic
ending.

In Othello, how does Desdemona contribute to the tragedy?I need 2 specific examples, please. :) Thank you.

Desdemona plays at least one interesting part in the events that enrage Othello to the point of committing murder.  She lies about where the handkerchief is.  She loses it, bemoans its loss to Emilia, and then, when Othello asks to see it (III, iv), she says, "I have it not about me," which of course is the truth, for it is lost.  But later in the scene:

Othello

Is't lost?  Is't gone?  Speak, is it out o'the way?

Desdemona

It is not lost, but what an if'it were?

Othello

Ha!

Desdemona

I say it is not lost.

Othello

Fetch't, let me see it.

Desdemona

Why, so I can sir, but I will not now...

And so, by lying about the fact that the handkerchief is lost, Desdemona adds to Othello's suspicion (since he will, in a later scene, see the handkerchief returned to Cassio by Bianca) and ultimately to her own demise.

Some might argue that Desdemona also shows a possibility of deceitful behaviour when she elopes in the opening of the play with Othello.  It would have been highly improper and presumptuous for Desdemona to marry (from her station in society) without first obtaining her father's blessing and permission.  This, one could argue, makes her open to question later in the play.  If she made a move for love behind her father's back, mightn't she also do so behind Othello's back?  It does potentially leave her behaviour open to question and is worth considering.

However, it is the interesting part that the handkerchief plays in Othello, and even Desdemona's own part in the events surrounding it, that push Othello over the edge and lead to the play's tragic ending.

What situation does Peyton Farquhar face in the beginning of "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"?

Peyton Farquhar, at the beginning of the story, is being prepared to be hanged from a bridge.  He has been caught by the Northern army for trying to sabotage a bridge.  He is a Southern sympathizer and is paying the ultimate price for this.  During the course of the story, he has flashbacks about his family and why he is being hanged that give the reader a clearer picture of who he is. 

Which came first - the egg or the chicken? How?

Here is the key to the mystery to this egg VS chicken issue:

The ultimate victor is the chicken, not the egg.

According to the report from the researchers of  University of Sheffield and Warwick, a protein called ovocledidin-17 was found to be responsible for producing eggshells, and found only in the chicken's ovaries.

Here's how it works. The OC-17 attaches itself to the calcium carbonate particles to set up a formation, which looks like a crystal structure. It is dropped off once its crystal nucleus is big enough to grow on its own and so this protein replicates more of the similar types of eggshells, causing the amazing egg to be formed.

So, now you know the truth, the chicken came first before the egg.

In The Lovely Bones, where was Susie's body hidden?

Susie's body was cut into pieces and put into a garbage bag, then taken to the murderer's house, where it left a stain on the floor.  The murderer then placed Susie's body in a metal safe, locked it, and paid a small fee to discard it in a sinkhole outside of town.  The sinkhole was used as a kind of landfill, since objects that were discarded there were basically irretrievable.

How does Ralph change his opinion toward the beast in "Lord of the Flies"?

Chapter 10 is where Ralph begins to change his opinion about the beast. This occurs after Simon is killed in the previous chapter during the boys' frenzy. Ralph tells Piggy that they committed murder because he realizes that it was a savage frenzy that caused them to fall upon Simon and kill him.  He knows that they had all let the evil inside of each of them take control of themselves for that moment.  He tells Piggy that he is afraid "Of us," he says.  He is starting to understand that the real beast on the island is that evil in each of them and that the only way to defeat the beast is to keep that evil inside.  He also realizes that doing that is becoming progressively more difficult and that some of the boys are more savage than some of the others.  By the end of the story, Ralph has come to fully realize that there is no physical beast and he knows what Simon realized earlier that the real source of evil was that inner savagery..

What are four conflicts between the Putnams and the Nurses in Acts 1 and 2 of "The Crucible"?

1)  The Putnams' brother in law, James Bayley, was to be the next minister of Salem.  However, a faction which included the Nurse's prohibited this from occurring.

2)  Mrs. Putnam accused Rebecca Nurse of having murdered her babies as they were born, since Rebecca was the midwife and all but one (Ruth) died within a day of being born.

3)  In the opening scene, Rebecca comes in to see Betty and says that she is sure that Betty and Ruth are not bewitched but just being children, a point that Mrs. Putnam strongly disagrees with since she does believe the girls are bewitched.

How do Pip and Joe feel about the funeral arrangements Mr. Trabb oversees in Chapter 35 of "Great Expectations"?

Pip thinks the funeral arrangements are pretentious and overdone.  He describes "dismally absurd persons, each ostentatiously exhibiting a crutch done up in a black bandage - as if that instrument could possible communicate any comfort to anybody", pallbearers "blinded under a horrible black velvet housing", and himself and Joe forced into black crepe and bunting, "tied up...into ridiculous bundles".  Joe, being the gentle, uncomplaining character that he is, is more patient with the proceedings, although he expresses his discomfort to Pip, saying, "I would in preference have carried her to the church myself, along with three or four friendly ones wot come to it with willing harts and arms, but it were considered wot the neighbors would look down on such and would be of opinions as it were wanting in respect".  Joe is correct in his assessment of the reasons why a small, intimate, heartfelt service could not have taken place as he would have preferred.  The neighbourhood does indeed "highly approve" of the showy arrangements as conducted by Trabb, and "much admire" Pip and Joe for their part in the showy proceedings (Chapter 35).

What is a summary for Chapter 11 in Katherine Paterson's book Lyddie?

In Chapter 11, Lyddie is settling in at the mill.  She is more skillful with the looms, but the thing that is really making her happy is that in the evenings, Betsy has been reading to her from Oliver Twist.  Lyddie is consumed by the story, and gives Betsy ten cents to help pay for the lending library fee.  Betsy is thankful, because she is saving her money to go to Oberlin, a college in Ohio that takes female students.

Betsy finishes reading the book to Lyddie as summer begins and many of the girls prepare to take time off to visit their families.  Lyddie is disappointed that she cannot go, but comforts herself by thinking of the extra money she can make.  Lyddie decides that to pass the time during the hot summer months when she is not at the mill, she will spend some of her precious savings to buy a copy of Oliver Twist so she read it again on her own, and improve her literary skills.  Lyddie spends every free moment she has alone in her room, reading and copying sections from her treasured book.

On the third Sabbath in July Lyddie attends the Methodist service at the urging of Mrs. Bedlow, although she spends the time reading some pages she has copied instead of listening to the sermon.  As she walks home she thinks she sees Diana with a gentleman on Merrimack Street, but when she calls to her, the Diana does not respond.

The poem is full of contradictions and dualities. Analyze some examples and state how they contribute to convey the main ideas of this Ode.

‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’ portrays a contradiction between the transience of life and the permanence of art. The projection of this contradiction explicitly starts in the second stanza where Keats says “Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard / Are sweeter”. Keats obviously refers to the heard melodies of the nightingale which he has celebrated in his previous ode ‘Ode to a Nightingale’. The pictures portrayed on the surface of the urn are permanent and they altogether create a melody which the poet cannot hear – it is not felt through “the sensual ear, but, more endear’d”. Heard melodies can be affected by the “weariness, the fever, and the fret” of everyday life, but unheard melodies cannot. The “happy boughs” too cannot shed their leaves as spring is permanent in this artistic locale. The melodies of the “piping songs” too will remain “for ever new”.

 

In the final stanza Keats intensifies how this work of art will remain unchanged in perpetuity. Here again he offers a contradiction between the mutability of human life (symbolised by “old age”) and the permanence of this “Attic shape”. Human life will not receive the bliss of eternity, but art will:

 

"When old age shall this generation waste,
Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe
Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say'st,
'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.'"

What does Sarty think when he sees the house of Major de Spain? Why does the house make him feel safe?

Sarty's reaction contributes to the work as a whole in
several ways.  It provides unity when Sarty compares the house to a courthouse,
referring backward and pointing forward to the courthouse scenes.  It also reveals where
Sarty's mind is, figuratively:  on the courthouse.  His reaction also emphasizes the
hopelessness and poignancy (a quality of specialness) of and in Sarty's
position:  essentially, his reaction is mostly one of relief--this house, these people,
are too big to be hurt by his father, Sarty thinks.  He is only a wasp to them.  The
house is beyond Abner, Sarty thinks.  He is relieved:

readability="16">

...They are safe from him.  People
whose lives are a part of this peace and dignity are beyond his touch, he no more to
them than a buzzing wasp:  capable of stinging for a little moment but that's all; the
spell of this peace and dignity rendering even the barns and stable and cribs which
belong to it impervious to the puny flames he might contrive...this, the
peace and joy, ebbing for an instant as he looked again at the stiff black back, the
stiff and implacable limp of the figure which was not dwarfed by the house, for the
reason that it had never looked big anywhere and which now, against the serene columned
backdrop, had more than ever that imperious quality of something cut ruthlessly
from tin,...

Sarty's reaction
also, then, renews the image of Abner as metal, as tin, without heat (visible anger),
but hard like tin. 

Sarty's reaction also provides
foreshadowing, of course, since Sarty will end up being wrong--not even this house and
family and barn are beyond Abner's reach to maintain his dignity in his warped
way.

What does Sarty think when he sees the house of Major de Spain? Why does the house make him feel safe?

Sarty's reaction contributes to the work as a whole in several ways.  It provides unity when Sarty compares the house to a courthouse, referring backward and pointing forward to the courthouse scenes.  It also reveals where Sarty's mind is, figuratively:  on the courthouse.  His reaction also emphasizes the hopelessness and poignancy (a quality of specialness) of and in Sarty's position:  essentially, his reaction is mostly one of relief--this house, these people, are too big to be hurt by his father, Sarty thinks.  He is only a wasp to them.  The house is beyond Abner, Sarty thinks.  He is relieved:

...They are safe from him.  People whose lives are a part of this peace and dignity are beyond his touch, he no more to them than a buzzing wasp:  capable of stinging for a little moment but that's all; the spell of this peace and dignity rendering even the barns and stable and cribs which belong to it impervious to the puny flames he might contrive...this, the peace and joy, ebbing for an instant as he looked again at the stiff black back, the stiff and implacable limp of the figure which was not dwarfed by the house, for the reason that it had never looked big anywhere and which now, against the serene columned backdrop, had more than ever that imperious quality of something cut ruthlessly from tin,...

Sarty's reaction also, then, renews the image of Abner as metal, as tin, without heat (visible anger), but hard like tin. 

Sarty's reaction also provides foreshadowing, of course, since Sarty will end up being wrong--not even this house and family and barn are beyond Abner's reach to maintain his dignity in his warped way.

How does the political situation in Rome following Caesar’s murder compare with what it was under Caesar’s rule?

I suppose you would have to categorize it is a state of uncertainty.  When JC was in power, there were groups of people, like Brutus, Cassius, and Casca, that were unsure that JC was the right leader for Rome.  In addition, to make things worse, those people very much supported Pompey and his ideas.  When Caesar was the lone power, that group longed for Pompey's rule when Rome knew how its leadership would act.

Following the assassination, there would have been the same type of questions raised about who was to be in charge.  Brutus has a commonwealth in mind where all citizens have an equal vote (I suppose we could equate this to an early idea of democracy).  It is evident that the people don't understand this as they immediately try to crown Brutus after he kills JC.  Using that understanding, that the people need someone to tell them what to do, we can see that the people are in a state of limbo with their leadership.  Do you back Brutus, or do you back Octavious?  This would have been too big of a decision for Rome's commoners to make without help.

What is the thing that is referred to at the end of the story "Sophistication" by Sherwood Anderson? What is that thing?I am confused by this. Is...

The last sentence of the story "Sophistication"
reads,

"Man or
boy, woman or girl, they had for a moment taken hold of the thing that makes the mature
life of men and women in the modern world
possible."

The "thing" spoken
about in this passage is connection with another human being. The central theme in
Winesburg, Ohio, from which the story is taken, is the inability of
human beings to make true connections with other people. Because of this, they become
what Anderson calls "grotesques," individuals stunted in emotional growth and doomed to
live in isolation. In "Sophistication," George Willard is about to leave Winesburg, but
his leaving is bittersweet;

readability="13">

"To his mind his new sense of maturity set him
apart...he wanted someone to understand the feeling that had taken possession of
him...with all his heart he wants to come close to some other human, touch someone with
his hands, be touched by the hand of another..., he wants, most of all,
understanding."

George turns
to Helen in hope that, because she is a woman, she will be able to give him that
understanding. It is true that he is attracted to her, but it is not attraction of a
physical nature that he seeks. George thinks,

readability="7">

"He wanted to love and to be loved by her, but he
did not want at the moment to be confused by her
womanhood."

George wants
something deeper, a communion of souls that transcends the physical, and fortunately,
Helen wants the same thing -

readability="7">

"In the mind of each was the same thought. 'I
have come to this lonely place and here is this other,' was the substance of the thing
felt."

George and Helen kiss
for awhile, but it is not in physical joining that they will find fulfillment now. They
play like children, to relieve their embarrassment, and then they have a period where
Helen takes George's arm and walks beside him "in dignified
silence;"

"For
some reason they could not have explained they had both got from their silent evening
together the thing
needed."

George and Helen
have connected, in complete honesty of heart and purity of soul. They have achieved
something that is almost impossible for individuals to do, hindered as they are by their
own obsessions. Maturity cannot be truly realized without someone to share it with, even
if just for a moment. It is not romance, but a spiritual connection with another human
being that makes it possible for George to enter adulthood with authentic
maturity.

What is the thing that is referred to at the end of the story "Sophistication" by Sherwood Anderson? What is that thing?I am confused by this. Is...

The last sentence of the story "Sophistication" reads,

"Man or boy, woman or girl, they had for a moment taken hold of the thing that makes the mature life of men and women in the modern world possible."

The "thing" spoken about in this passage is connection with another human being. The central theme in Winesburg, Ohio, from which the story is taken, is the inability of human beings to make true connections with other people. Because of this, they become what Anderson calls "grotesques," individuals stunted in emotional growth and doomed to live in isolation. In "Sophistication," George Willard is about to leave Winesburg, but his leaving is bittersweet;

"To his mind his new sense of maturity set him apart...he wanted someone to understand the feeling that had taken possession of him...with all his heart he wants to come close to some other human, touch someone with his hands, be touched by the hand of another..., he wants, most of all, understanding."

George turns to Helen in hope that, because she is a woman, she will be able to give him that understanding. It is true that he is attracted to her, but it is not attraction of a physical nature that he seeks. George thinks,

"He wanted to love and to be loved by her, but he did not want at the moment to be confused by her womanhood."

George wants something deeper, a communion of souls that transcends the physical, and fortunately, Helen wants the same thing -

"In the mind of each was the same thought. 'I have come to this lonely place and here is this other,' was the substance of the thing felt."

George and Helen kiss for awhile, but it is not in physical joining that they will find fulfillment now. They play like children, to relieve their embarrassment, and then they have a period where Helen takes George's arm and walks beside him "in dignified silence;"

"For some reason they could not have explained they had both got from their silent evening together the thing needed."

George and Helen have connected, in complete honesty of heart and purity of soul. They have achieved something that is almost impossible for individuals to do, hindered as they are by their own obsessions. Maturity cannot be truly realized without someone to share it with, even if just for a moment. It is not romance, but a spiritual connection with another human being that makes it possible for George to enter adulthood with authentic maturity.