What are the main gothic elements in Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart"?

Gothic literature is characterized by a fascination with death, decay, and gloominess.  In Poe's story, death as obsession is evident.  The insane narrator can think of nothing else but killing the old man with whom he lives.  And, as with many gothic tales, there is a focal point for the death-obsession.  In this story, it is the old man's eye:

One of his eyes resembled that of a vulture—a pale blue eye with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me my blood ran cold, and so by degrees, very gradually, I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye for ever.

Decay is evident not only in the descriptions of the old man's failing body, but also in the house itself.  The physical manifestations of inanimate objects, like houses, is also a component of gothic literature.  In this case, the dim lighting, the creaking door hinges, and the loose floorboards are evidence of decay.

Gloominess, too, is ever-present in Poe's gruesome, gothic tale:

Presently I heard a slight groan, and I knew it was the groan of mortal terror. It was not a groan of pain or of grief—oh, no! it was the low stifled sound that arises from the bottom of the soul when overcharged with awe. I knew the sound well. Many a night, just at midnight, when all the world slept, it has welled up from my own bosom, deepening, with its dreadful echo, the terrors that distracted me.

Jack is clever. Why did he not insist on proving there was no beastie in "Lord of the Flies"?

Because he is clever, thats why.  Jack wants to hunt, to be active and lead boys into "battle".  He knows that as long as the boys are scared, they are more likely to hunt.  In discussing the beast with the group, Jack says this:

“You can feel as if you’re not hunting, but being hunted, as if something’s behind you all the time in the jungle.”

He is suggesting here that in order to survive, boys must hunt.  Hunt is all he wants to do, to the extent of creating war paint to use in his hunting:

“He made one cheek and one eye-socket white, then he rubbed red over the other half of his face and slashed a black bar of charcoal across from right ear to left jaw.”

The hunting, just like his leadership of the choir boys in the first chapter, make Jack feel important and powerful.  He hates that the boys have chosen Ralph as their leader and does all he can to undermine that, including flaming their fears about the beast, which will cause the boys to look towards him - the hunter - and away from Ralph.

It is Ralph, of course, that he ends up hunting in the end.

Comment on the repetition of the word "death" in T.S. Eliot's "Marina."

Ah, isn't the repetition of "death" lovely! Remember the first two lines in English in the poem: " What seas what shores what grey rocks and what islands
What water lapping the bow" 

Those lines repeat "what." They are a question, as are the lines that follow. The narrator asks and asks and asks—and then the answer comes. It's always the same answer. Death. Death. Death. The word comes again and again like the waves lapping on the bow and the rocks.  The repetition creates a rhythm, but also a structure, a question and answer  structure that parallels the physical location: land and water, life and death.

Jem was obviously disturbed by the fact that Mr. Radley had filled the knot hole with cement. Why was Jem more upset than Scout?I've been puzzled...

Jem is growing up and is beginning to understand more about the world in which he lives. He shows no fear when he asks Mr. Radley why he cemented the knothole in the tree, and he doesn't accept Mr. Radley's answer. Jem can see through Mr. Radley's lie. He is letting loose of his childish fears and superstitions about Boo Radley. He begins to put two and two together, remembering how his pants were mended when he went back to get them. Jem also isn't afraid to show his feelings about the knothole, which is another sign of his maturation. Jem understands the complexity of the situation, but Scout only knows that they won't be getting any more gifts in the tree.

In A Tale of Two Cities, what is Charles' "loadstone rock"?

In Chapter XXIV, entitled "Drawn to the Loadstone Rock," Charles Dickens alludes to The Rime of the  Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and the Loadstone Rock, a mythical rock which somehow magnitizes ships and brings sailors to their dooms. In this same way, Charles Darnay heads to his doom by returning to Paris in response to the desperate letter of Gabelle.

The "loadstone" that pulls Darnay back to Paris is the "sins of his father" and uncle who tortured and killed peasants on their properties. When he was a little boy, his mother came to Dr. Manette and hoped to find the sister of the murdered boy alive, but it was too late. Later, when Charles talks to his uncle insisting that the Evremonde family has acted wrongly, he tells the Marquis that he must 

...obey the last look of my dear mother's eyes, which implored me to have mercy and to redress....

This "loadstone" draws Darnay back to Gabelle and the peasants because of the obligation he feels about his mother's last wishes. Also, he feels obligated to vindicate Gabelle who has collected no taxes from the peasants per the directives of Darnay, thus, he has committed no offenses and is innocent of the charges against him, "treason against the majesty of the people."

In what way was Romeo and Juliet's love typical of adolescence, and what way is it not?

Wow.  This really depends on what you consider to be a "typical" love between adolescents.  They certainly fall in love quickly.  Romeo is in love with another girl when he sees Juliet, and almost immediately he renounces his old "love" and is seeking some sign of love from Juliet.  So, do you consider that mercurial change a sign of adolescence or do you think it was just Romeo?

They also risk a lot to have a relationship.  Juliet is well aware that her father intends for her to marry someone else and living in that society, she knows the consequences for disobeying her father could be very severe.  She is willing to risk that displeasure in order to be with Romeo.  Again, do you think that willingness to anger others is typical of adolescence, or do you think Juliet is just being herself?

And finally, they are very quick to make a binding agreement in front of the friar, wanting to make their relationships as permanent as possible given that their parents don't know what they've done.  So what you have to ask yourself is this... Is it typical of adolescence to try and make a relationship permanent or do you think they're different from modern teens.

Without knowing what you consider to be the typical teenage relationship, I'm afraid I can't be much help, but hopefully this gives you something to think about. 

Prove that y^2=4x+4 and y^2=4-4x intersect at right angles.

To find out the intersection point, we have to put the 2
equations into the relation:

4x+4 =
4-4x

For x=0, we'll have y^2 = 4*0 +
4

y^2 = 4

y1=2 and
y2=-2

To verify if the 2 curves (parabolas) are
perpendicular, we have to verify if the product of the slopes of their tangent lines, in
their intersection point, is -1.

First, let's calculate
their slopes. In order to do so, we'll calculate their
derivatives.

The derivative, with respect to x, for the
first parabola:

2y*y' = 4

y' =
4/2y

y' = 2/y, the slope of the first
parabola.

The derivative, with respect to x, for the second
parabola:

2y*y' = -4

y' =
-2/y, the slope of the second parabola.

Now, we'll check if
the product of slopes is -1.

(2/y)(-2/y) =
-4/y^2

We'll substitute y^2 by the value found at the point
of intersection, y^2=4

-4/y^2 =
-4/4=-1

The product of the slopes yields -1, so the
parabolas are intersecting eachother at right angle.

Why does the House of Usher remind the Narrator of "old wood-work"? It is in crumbling condition and yet remarkablly stable. It is many centuries...

In the fifth paragraph of the story, the narrator looks at the House of Usher and writes that the house," reminded me of the specious totality of old wood-work which has rotted for long years in some neglected vault, with no disturbance from the breath of the external air." In other words, the house mirrors Roderick's appearance. He has been rotting for years in his neglected house and apparently not been outside in the fresh air for months.

In "Whatle Talk", what does Mr.Jones mean when he tells T.J he should have been a whale?

Mr. Jones means that he would have had a better life as a whale, since whales have a straightforward communication with each other.  He listens to whale tapes and believes that whale communication surpasses human communication.  This stems from a devastating experience from Mr. Jones' past.

Mr. Jones is troubled by the tragic death of a young child who he accidentally killed, when the child climbed under his truck without his knowledge.  

He has been dealing with the grief of the incident ever since, he suffers from depression and identity issues.  He has tried to make amends in his life for the loss of the young child, but seems to come up short. 

In "Julius Caesar," what is Brutus deliberating about in this quote: "Since Cassius first did whet me against..."?act 2, scene 1

"Whet" means to "sharpen by rubbing against as if a knife or to stimulate" according to Webster's Dictionary.  By this definition, Brutus has been "sharpened or stimulated" against Caesar by Cassius.  Cassius has been in Brutus' ear about all the bad things Caesar has done and what it might mean for the future of Rome if something is not done about it.

Since Cassius has begun all this talking, planting the seed of conspiracy and rebellion, Brutus can think of nothing else.  The entire quote is:

Since Cassius first did whet me against Caesar, I have not slept.  Between the acting of a dreadful thing and the first motion, all the interim is like a phantasma, or a hideous dream.

They have been in his ear, they have left letters for him to find, they have been after him to act on behalf of Rome against the tyrant who would enslave them all with his notions of government.  This quote opens at the Ides of March dawns...little time is left for Brutus to make up his mind if he will act with or against the conspirators.  He is under pressure, can not sleep, and is plagued with horrible visions of what will happen--either way he is tortured.  The visions are not good no matter whose side he is on.  Hallucinations and hideous dreams are no one's friend. 

What are some parallels and contrasts in the book "Of Mice and Men"?I want some parallels and contrast between the characters and animals, if...

The ranch hands are described in terms of beasts of burden throughout the novel. Lenny receives this treatment the most. His hands are paws. He apes George's actions. He moves in a "bear-like" fashion.

Slim must drown off 4 of the 9 puppies because of a lack of food. The men immediately respond to the dinner bell in a hurried fashion because there is never enough food. They even come running at the sound of the dinner bell which is an obvious allusion to the Pavlov's dogs.

Curly's wife and Candy are both mirrored by dog imagery. "Lulu" and "Shepherd" both show a relationship between their character and their function on this ranch.

Why is there no potential for a rebellion in 1984?

Here's the recipe for keeping people unattached,
disorganized, uninformed, unmotivated, and
afraid:

Torture.

Physical
torture: prisoners are isolated and beaten.  Their teeth are pulled out.
 They are put in cages with rats.  The Ministry of Love and Room 101 are the church and
confessional of this dystopia.  This society is geared only for pain and
suffering.

Psychological
torture: people are afraid of each other: anyone could be a spy.  Cameras
are everywhere.  Parents are turned in by their kids.  Women are taught to hate sex.  No
one is trusted.  Everyone's addicted to gin and
misery.

Institutional torture:
there's no healthcare; there's no schools' there's not freedoms of speech; there's only
war.

So, torture breaks the will of basic existence, let
alone abstractions like rebellion.  It tears down the body and the mind.  Rebellion?
 What's that?  It cannot even be conceived.  The fatalism of 1984 does not allow for
rebellion.  If it does, it is solitary, harmless, and easily
quashed.

In The Stranger, Meursault is never given a first name, an age, or any physically defining features. What is the reason for this?

To give a first name to Meursault would signify admitting that he is, in fact, someone who has a defined identity. Even as an absurdist character, Meursault does not unite the characteristics that would deem him as an "equal" to the rest of society. He does not know how to understand people, he refuses to abide by the social canons and is overall a dispassionate person who lacks any knowledge about himself as a person. 

Since Meursault does not really make any meaningful connection with the rest of the world, not with a higher power, nor with his inner self, he is more like a non-entity that merely "sticks" to things and then lets them go. Hence, the fact that he is so detached from normalcy and his indifference to being a part of a whole are good reasons Camus could have chosen not to give this man a name. 

After Meursault finally comes to his senses (or so it seems) and wants to reclaim his spot in society, he seems to have had his humanity renewed, even accepting the concept of destiny:

 "We’re all elected by the same fate."

Still, his contradictory nature really does not let us conclude whether this change is temporary or not. 

Compare the characters of the policeman and the schoolmaster in "The Guest" by Albert Camus.

Albert Camus’s “The Guest” offers an unusual story of moral dilemma.  The point of view of the story is third person as the narrator relates the story in an unemotional manner avoiding prejudicing the reader. The setting of the story is 1957 in  Algeria during the French colonial period.  Civil war brews in the country, and everyone is on edge.

The main character is Daru, who finds himself on a plateau in the Atlas Mountains. aligned with the French .  Serving as the local school master, Daru begrudgingly accepts his position.   The two other characters are Balducci, a French policeman, who brings a prisoner with him.  The other character is an Arab man who has been accused of murdering his cousin.

 They were approaching. Balducci was holding back his horse in order not to hurt the Arab, and the group was advancing slowly.

Balducci, asserting that it is simply his job, reduces the Arab and his people to sub humans as he leads the Arab behind a horse.  The policeman describes the murdered relative of the Arab as a butchered sheep.   Balducci finds it easy to look to others to supply the orders. Balducci has chosen the path of least resistance.  He will let others decide his fate for him.  Blindly, he follows orders without question because he has little say so over what he is asked to do. 

As a citizen of France, Daru’s expectation is to follow the rules established by the French colonial government.  However, as an Algerian-born citizen, his honor points in the direction of aiding the Arab.  

What are the basic differences between the two men?

Balducci--

• assumes the responsibility of delivering the Arab


• believes that the Arab is guilty


• treats the Arab like an animal as he brings him up the mountainside


• divorces himself from any ethical choices


• presumes that he and Daru had a relationship


• avoids any part of the decision making process


• feels insulted by the younger man not agreeing with him

Daru--

• believes he has  no ethical responsibility to carry out the orders of the anonymous government


• makes a decision to disobey the orders


• gives the Arab the opportunity to escape


• treats the Arab humanely


• likes Balducci but feels no commitment to him


• torn by his conscience

These two men, following different paths  clash in the moment.  Balducci will not accept the teacher’s protests.  The policeman suffers no second thoughts about leaving the younger man in a precarious situation except to warn him to keep a gun close.

But you can't let them have their way."

"I won't hand him over," Daru said again.

"It's an order, son, and I repeat it."

"That's right. Repeat to them what l've said to you: I won't hand him over."

As he retreats back to the life of thoughtlessly following orders, he leaves Daru with a moral quandary   of choosing the right course of action.

What is the role of the setting in the novel, Life of Pi?any quotes or references would be helpful

The setting of the story, mainly Pi in the life boat with
the tiger, is what creates most of the conflict and really drives the story.  If it were
somewhere else, like a cozy apartment in London, things would have been decidedly
different and I can only imagine that Pi would have left the apartment in the hands of
the tiger and gone for help.

The earlier portion of the
story is important as well, because it shows the way that Pi begins to build this
understanding of science and animals and their nature.  It also serves to develop and
show the character his attitude towards animals and how he personifies them constantly
due to that experience as a child.

I am drawing the life boat and need the dimensions. I know it is 26 feet long, but don't know the width. Anyone know the size? Thanks!

"It was three and half feet deep, eight feet wide and twenty-six feet long, exactly."  The boat was designed to hold a maximum of thirty two people and was symmetrically shaped with rounded ends.  There were side benches inside that ran the length of the whole boat on both sides, which merged at the ends to form triangular shaped benches.

Where did Jimmie and Annie play in "The Miracle Worker"?

Annie says that when she and Jimmie were in the state almshouse, they used to play in "the deadhouse, where they kept the bodies till they could dig...the graves".

Annie relates the worst of her experiences as a child in the asylum to Captain and Kate Keller.  She is trying to impress upon them the depth of the urgency she feels that Helen be taught to communicate.  Annie firmly believes that if she is to be able to reach Helen, she must establish a position of control, a position which she has not been able to attain because of the doting interference of the Captain and Kate.  Annie brings up the possibility that if Helen cannot learn, placement in an asylum might have to be considered as a grisly possibility. 

Annie's memories of her time in the state almshouse are horrific.  In addition to playing in the deadhouse, she remembers that she and her brother "play(ed) with the rats because (they) didn't have toys"  The first year she was there, eighty babies were in residence, of which seventy died; her own brother Jimmie also eventually died in Tewksberry, an occurrence about which she is still haunted because of her inability to have prevented it.  Annie wants to impress upon the Keller's how extremely important it is that Helen learn to communicate, because the alternative of possible placement in the asylum is totally unacceptable (Act 2).

In "Of Mice and Men", what's one quote that shows that Curley's wife is not bad or a "tart", but just lonely?

Although Curley's wife's chief complaint appears to stem from dissatisfaction with her life on the farm, there is no doubt but that she is lonely as well.  Because of her flirtatious nature and Curley's insane jealousy, none of the ranch hands will associate with her, and so her only companionship comes from Curley, about whom she says,

"Sure I gotta husban'.  You all seen him.  Swell guy, ain't he?  Spends all his time sayin' what he's gonna do to guys he don't like, and he don't like nobody".

Curley treats his wife like a possession and does not give her the companionship and attention she craves.  She is isolated on the ranch, and she laments her loneliness and boredom, saying,

"...Sat'iday night.  Ever'body out doin' sum'pin'.  Ever'body!  An' what am I doin'?  Standing' here talkin' to a bunch of bindle stiffs - a nigger an' a dum-dum and a lousy ol' sheep - an' likin' it because they ain't nobody else" (Chapter 4).

In "I Knew a Woman," what do the seed, grass, and hay metaphors mean?

Let seed be grass, and grass turn into hay:
I'm martyr to a motion not my own;
What's freedom for? To know eternity.
I swear she cast a shadow white as stone.
But who would count eternity in days?
These old bones live to learn her wanton ways:
(I measure time by how a body sways.)

Roethke's poem is about a man who is madly in love with a woman. He is captivated and captured by her, and he is happy to be under her control. Seed, grass, and hay refer to the cycle of life. The speaker is saying that life goes on all around him, but he hardly notices it. He no longer measures time by the seasons or by the cycle of birth, life, and death. He measures time "by how a body sways."

How is Hamlet a typical Renaissance prince?

Remember that the Renaissance was fairly young when Shakespeare wrote Hamlet, and there were no clearly defined rules for what was considered "typical".  Hamlet, however, is different from Fortinbras and Laertes who are quick to action and have a "Damn the torpedos, full speed ahead" (to borrow a famous line from actor John Wayne) attitude with which they tend to act first, then think. 

Hamlet is just the opposite, in fact, the antithesis.  Hamlet thinks all the time, too much probably.  Also, Hamlet is a very well-educated and intelligent prince, a quality that makes him Renaissance-like.  Hamlet can be a man of action when action is immediately called for, as he proved when he fought the pirates, an event he describes in his letter to Horatio in Act 4.6. 

Hamlet also questions the world around himself.  He ponders philosophical matters, especially in his soliloquies, such as the meaning of life and what motivates people.  Nor does Hamlet readily accept the fact that the Ghost of his father is truly his father's spirit.  Even though at first Hamlet says, "It is an honest ghost" (Act 1.5), he later decides he must perform a test to see if the ghost was real or a demon meant to lead him astray.  Testing truth was a quality of Renaissance thought and evident in Protestantism, which is represented by Hamlet's university in Wittenberg.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, how old is Scout Finch and how does her age affect the storyline?

Scout is one of the most interesting choices as a narrator that I can think of. Her youth might at first seem like a barrier, but it is because she is young that we can see her as a reliable narrator. She often understands events way beyond her years. The most important lesson she learns is to walk in someone else's shoes, as Atticus teaches her. Because she is learning the lesson for the first time, she is able to scrutinize how it works in the world. She takes in the events of the Tom Robinson trial with an eye of equality, thanks to her father. At the end of the novel, in response to a lesson at school, Scout says, "...Jem, how can you (the people in the town) hate Hitler so bad an' turn around and be ugly about folks right at home-" (Page 249 Chapter 26).

She is allowed to be surprised at the way adults act, because she still believes that people should be consistent in their words and actions. This gives the reader a chance to work through those same thought patterns. She also has the wisdom of an adult narrator looking through a child's eyes. She is surprisingly forgiving of the world's injustices, but still takes it upon herself to act according to her own moral values.

In "The Crucible", what is Hale's advice to the Proctors as he prepares to leave their house?

jilllessa
|

High School Teacher

|
(Level 2) Associate Educator

Posted on October 14, 2008 at 10:26 AM

What is the setting, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution for Year of Wonders?

Year of Wonders is a novel that illustrates a year in the village of Eyam during an outbreak of the plague. It takes place in 1665 and 1666 as noted in the chapter titles. The village of Eyam (Eyam is the actual name of the village. The village is never named in the story) is located in the country, separate from London, but near other villages. This is important because the other villages are the ones in danger of being infected with the plague because of their proximity to Eyam. Eyam is a small village where everyone knows everyone's business.

The rising action of the story begins when George Viccars dies of the plague and then Anna Frith, the main character of the story, loses both her sons to the plague. These are apparently separate incidents, but we surmise that materials that Viccars owned and used carried the fatal "plague seeds" in the form of fleas from London. Viccars was a tailor and he had ordered material to make dresses for the women in the village. It is important to note that the rising action builds suspense because of the fact that no one knows what is happening and why people are dying.

The climax of the story would be near the end when Elinor Mompellion, the rector's wife is killed by Aphra Bont at the outdoor chapel that Rector Mompellion had established. The story seemed to have come to a happy conclusion and then this happens to take away the happy feelings of triumph for the village.

The falling action would be when Anna goes to help the Bradford women deliver the bastard child of the Colonel's wife. This sets up the resolution in which Anna escapes to safety with the child that she adopts and calls her own.

Where does Parris want to see gold candlesticks?

On the lectern at the church.  It's a particular source of
agitation for John Proctor, who feels that his and other members of the congregation's
money is being wasted by their preacher.  He states that it hurts his faith to see "my
money glaring at his elbows" when questioned by Reverend Hale about his spotty church
attendance.

It is also a window into the character of
Parris, who seems a little dimwitted, actually, and caught up in the trappings of
privilege that go along with his job, and his position in Salem
society.

Is the main character in "The Black Cat" mentally ill?What type of psychological illness do you believe he suffered from?

Does Poe have any happy, well-adjusted characters in his stories?

The narrator blames what he does on the "Fiend Intemperance," or alcohol. Some have said that alcohol brings out the worst in people or that alcohol is used as a way to self-medicate. We can make a case for both options: that he's not mentally ill but just a mean drunk or that he is mentally ill and the alcoholism is masking it.

If he is mentally ill, perhaps he has some form of psychosis or what is called a personality disorder. I've pasted a link to the Mayo Clinic's page on personality disorders below.

There's one big clue that the narrator is insane: At the beginning of the story he says he is not insane. There's an old saying that if you say you're not crazy, you probably are.

By the way, my black cat is doing just fine!

What sort of music is Les Misérables and what instrument would it be using?

The full title of the musical/play is Les Miserables, a musical adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel of the same title. The music was composed by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg, and the lyrics were written by Herbert Kretzmer. The music would be performed by an orchestra and would include all sorts of instruments, including violins, drums, flutes, clarinets, various horns, piano, and others. You can read about the creation of the music and songs at the official web site, linked in the sources section below.

The genre of the play is a relatively new one, called musical theater. Before the creation of such musicals, opera provided the only dramatic musical performances. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, such composers as Victor Herbert and the team of Gilbert and Sullivan introduced an alternative musical form: the operetta, sung in English. Out of this grew what we know today as musical theater, or the Broadway musical.

Visit the links below for more information.

What are some examples of ethos in Huckleberry Finn?

Ethos is the basic belief system characteristic of a group or individual.  Knowing this, some of the most basic examples of ethos are those involving slavery. Huck, for instance, grew up believing that black people were slaves.  There was no other explanation.  However, Jim and others, wanted to be free since they were people.  Whites in the south didn't recognize them as anything more than property...like the livestock they owned.  This book helps Huck to realize that Jim is a living, breathing, feeling, thinking individual, and he comes to believe that Jim--not just a black slave, but now his friend--deserves to be free.

Another example is the basic knowledge of right and wrong.  Huck does not allow the King and Duke to swindle the Wilkses because he knows the members of the family are good and righteous people whereas the King and the Duke are con artists.

What does the title suggest about the townspeople’s feelings towards Miss Emily? What does she represent to them and how is their attitude ironic?

The title may be more of a reflection of the author's attitude than the townspeople in "A Rose for Emily." When William Faulkner was asked about the significance of the title of the story, he said that the "rose" represented a tribute to Emily. Others have suggested that the rose represents the kind of thing you would put on the coffin of someone who has died, or a beautiful flower that has nasty thorns. However, the attitude of the townspeople towards Emily is apparent in the way they treat her. To them, she is a part of the Old South, a member of a distinguished family who deserves respect. Even though her father left her no money when he died, the town leaders treat give her special consideration. They find a way so she won't have to pay taxes. The entire town ignores the horrible smell coming from Miss Emily's house, Finally, several men sneak up in the middle of the night and put lime around the house to kill the smell. They never suspect Emily of any type of crime. Ironically, this special treatment allows this symbol of respect and civility to literally get away with murder.

What does Atticus tell Scout to do when she hears "ugly talk" at school?

When Cecil Jacobs calls Atticus a "nigger-lover", Scout is all too quick to defend her father--by using her fists and beating Cecil into the ground. When Atticus hears about this, he does not scold Scout (in typical Atticus fasion). Instead, he tells Scout that she's probably going to hear some ugly talk at school during the trial. He requests that she keep her head held high and to not use her fists to solve her problems. She does very well with this request until Christmas, when she strikes her cousin Francis for insulting Atticus.

Where else in the story does Coelho provide details about the physical setting in order to lend more meaning to the events which occur there?The...

Coelho describes the ruined church where Santiago spent the night with his sheep very well.  He gives explicit visual imagery so that the scene in imprinted in the reader's mind.  This is the place where the boy had his dream about going to the Pyramids.  When Santiago finally does get to the Pyramids, the leader of the robbers (after stealing Santiago's gold and nearly beating him to death) tells the boy that he, too, once had a dream about finding treasure, but he was not about to embark on a long journey because of a dream.  He goes on to describe the place he saw in his dream, and the reader (because of Coelho's vivid imagery in the earlier chapters) is able to recognize the location based on the robber's words.

In "The Crucible", what bold measures do John Proctor, Giles Corey, and Mary Warren take that could get them all into trouble?

All three try to get the court to see the girls and others are lying to the court. Giles Corey tries to get the court to see the motivation behind the witchcraft charges. He accuses Thomas Putnam of trying to kill his neighbors so he can buy their land. He also accuses Putnam of persuading his daughter to make accusations against George Jacobs so that his land would also be forfeited. But since there is no proof of the charges, he is not believed, Proctor gets Mary to say she never dealt with Satan and that her friends are lying. However, Mary can't fake a fainting spell so her testimony is not believed. Proctor then admits his affair with Abigail. But when Elizabeth will not confirm it, Proctor is not believed. Eventually, Corey and Proctor are also arrested but Mary saves herself by recanting and rejoining Abigail and the rest of the girls.

What is the setting in the short story "The Ambitious Guest"?

The setting of the story is a rural cabin that sits at the base of an unstable mountain.  The family often hears rumblings from the mountain.

"Although they are entirely comfortable, mention is made of the harsh winter weather and the dangerous position of the cottage, over which towers a mountain. The noise of stones tumbling down the mountain has often startled the family at midnight."

Fear and a sense of insecurity is one of the major themes in Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. Discuss

I think that it is clear that fear and insecurity is a
major theme in this book.  Just look at what Crusoe does right away when he finds
himself on the island.

After his first night up in the
tree, he starts to build himself fortifications.  He spends so much time on this --
without many tools he pounds stakes into the ground in a half circle that is 8 yards
deep and 16 across.  That's a huge amount of stakes!

Later
on, he plants all those trees in front of his home to make it impossible for people to
approach.  He makes himself his "country home" just in case and then he starts using
that cave as well.

On the other hand, you can argue that
he's pretty bold with regard to people.  After all, he gets himself all ready to go and
try to kill 20 cannibals before he talks himself out of it.  And he really does kill a
group of them with Friday's help.

So fear is not the only
thing going on, but it certainly is important.

How is the title of The Age of Innocence ironic to the content(characters, society, ideals, etc.) in the book?

If you are talking about the society of 1870s upper-class
New York, in certain ways I believe that this title is not ironic
(or contrary to what it means -- the term "ironic" is sometimes over- and misused.) 
Though it is true that there is a certain amount of calculation (such as evidenced by
the shockingly catty and gossipy talk of the men in the club box at the Opera in Chapter
1, and later between Newland Archer's mother and sister) among high society's members,
in essence the values, especially exacted of young women, were
innocent.  Though propriety was always protected, and appearances did mean a
great deal, truthfulness, honesty, and selflessness were highly valued traits.  If the
society was too idealistic (in such things as its inability to deal with the
consequences of bad marriages) it was perhaps out of an excess of innocence rather than
of malice.  In many ways the ideals of the society of New York at this time were
innocent in the extreme -- so innocent and enamored of virtue that there was no room for
human failing.  A society like this was destined to fall -- but, for a time, the rich of
this time were able to keep up at least the appearance of a virtuous simplicity,
supposedly removing their motives from the cares of this world.  Edith Wharton, when she
wrote this, was not necessarily being entirely tongue-in-cheek when she remembered the
idealistic idea this society had of itself.  The reality, of course, was not nearly as
innocent as it everyone hoped it would be, but for many of its members, the ideals of
selflessness and virtue were believed in and carried out (such as by both Newland and
Mae, whose actions, largely, were bent entirely on protecting and not hurting the other
person.)

In other ways, of course, the title is definitely
ironic.  What Newland and Countess and Olenska do, by falling in love after Newland is
engaged to Mae, is not innocent -- at least by Newland's society's standards.  But in a
way, of course, it is innocent.  Newland had never truly known a woman outside of his
stilted, cloistered world, and Ellen aroused in him feelings he could never have
imagined if he had not met her.  He learned a great deal about life and human heart from
Ellen -- and as such, it was the end of his innocence.  If he had never met Ellen he
might have lived a happy, innocent life with Mae; instead, such as after Adam and Eve
had eaten of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil, he actually made the choice to
not betray Mae and marry her.  So he made the choice with the knowledge of something
else, and, in the end, that made the choice that much more valuable.  He made it out of
experience and knowledge, and knowing what he was giving up, rather than in blind,
albeit innocent, ignorance.

Many characters, such as
Sillerton Jackson and Larry Lefferts, aren't the least bit innocent, of course.  Human
nature will always contain some devious traits, and even though the outer culture
encouraged innocence and at least the appearance of perfect virtue, there was no way
that every member could live up to these ideals.  The way the society treats Ellen
Olenska, for example, was far from innocent -- it was in the face of unpleasantness and
misfortune, perhaps, where the flaws of this society were most
evident. 

In To Kill A Mockingbird, hows does Harper Lee create and sustain in Chapter 17 and 18?

This is a bit of a challenge to answer as you have left
out a key part of your question - create and sustain what, exactly? However, as you are
possibly referring to suspense or dramatic tension, here are a few
ideas.

Chapters 17 and 18 are all about the trial and the
testimony that is being given. I chapter 17, the prosecuting attorney, Gilmore, is
questioning the sheriff, Heck Tate, who paints for us a picture of what he found when he
arrived at the Ewel residence on the day in question. We are given an image that we
should, as readers, begin to connect with and feel pity for Mayella as a broken and
abused woman who may have just been raped and already lives in less than ideal
conditions. However, as Atticus begins to cross-examine him, we learn that she did not
see a doctor (uncommon in a rape case today, but less uncommon then) as well as another
KEY piece of information - the fact that all of her injuries were to the right side of
her face. This is a bit of foreshadowing as to what Atticus plans to use in his defense
case and should generate suspense for the reader who begins to wonder if things are not
as they might appear on the surface. The detailing of the Ewell's living conditions also
should plant a seed of doubt in the reader's minds as well as to what really happened on
the night in question.

In chapter 18, the trial continues.
We see Mayella herself take the stand. Lee makes us feel sorry for her, as she is
nothing but a frightened and uneducated "child" (although she is over 18, she is
extremely immature socially). Then, Atticus builds his own case - the case of a victim
who was not raped but beaten by her own father. He essentially breaks down the
prosecutions case, clearing up the significance of the fact that she was injured on the
right side of her body - something Tom Robinson could not have done. She breaks down,
but does not change her story at all. Instead, she begins a tirade in the courtroom and
the prosecution rests leaving Atticus to call his only witness, Tom himself, to the
stand.

The build-up in these two chapters is that of a
standard courtroom drama. The reader gets to hear the evidence presented just as they
would in an actual court of law. Like the jury sitting in the stands, or like Jem and
Scout in the balcony, we see each aspect of the night in question revealed to us. As the
truth becomes clearer to us, we should begin to side with the defense (if we have not
already begun to do so) even though we know that the outcome, given the social situation
and racial tensions of the era, will likely not be in Tom's
favor.

How do the cohesive forces of water affect folded paper?

Cohesion is a force where both like molecules undergoes intermolecular attraction with each other within a body which acts to unite them., and this would cause surface tension amongst the two bodies. It is a force that binds the water and solidified particles together in a group strongly together.

See, if you put a paper clip on a water, why won't it sink? Simple, the cohesive forces of the particles near the water's surface acted on the papar clip, so the net force of the paper clip and the water surface cancel out, so the paper clip float.

So, in the case of water and folded paper, they are both in different states, one liquid and the other solid state, so cohesive forces would be present between the water and paper.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout has been said to have made "unique choices." Explain one unique choice.

The most timely unique choice Scout makes during the entire novel comes when she decides to initiate a conversation with Mr. Walter Cunningham in front of the jail on the evening before the trial. Along with Dill and Jem, Scout has chosen to find out why Atticus has mysteriously left the house on a Sunday evening. When they reach the jail, they find Atticus surrounded by a group of men. They know that something is not right, especially when Atticus repeatedly orders the children to return home. After one of the men tries to physically remove Jem himself, Scout defends her brother, kicking the man in the groin. Scout then remembers one of Atticus's bits of advice--

... to talk to people about what they were interested in, not about what you were interested in...

--and when she saw Mr. Cunningham's "familiar face," she decided that the polite thing to do would be to start a conversation with him. Scout's unique decision shamed the leader of the men who had come to lynch Tom Robinson--and possibly harm Atticus--and they were soon on their way.

What does Nora symbolize in A Doll's House?

Nora is symbolic of many things that have to do with gender roles in history. She is symbolic of a doll. Torvald has a pretty plaything that will perform for him-sing songs, flit about, and provide him amusement whenever he cares to play. Yet, when he tires of spending time with her, he puts her away-metaphorically. Torvald retreats into his study, where it is expected that his doll will not intrude until he wishes to play again.

Nora also symbolizes a caged bird-the "singing lark" that is treated as a beautiful and fragile pet. The cage she is kept in is her home and role as wife and mother, and it is confined to very well defined gender expectations that do not allow her to roam free and explore boundaries.

What is the only thing people call their own and who stays true to their beliefs in "1984"?

I suspect that at the deepest level of "own," there is nothing the people can call their own.  When you consider that the state can take away your ability to say "2 + 2 = 4" and can make you truly turn on the love of your life, what else can you 'have' except trivial "things," and even these are in short supply.  

And I would hazard a guess that there is no such thing as a "belief" in "1984."  However, it all depends on how you define "belief."  You can believe in Santa Claus for a while --- and many people believe in things that the rest of us may not (like predicting the future, ghosts, etc).  When I read your question, I tried to think of something that anyone in the story believed it, and came up empty, unless you say that O'Brien believes that power is the only ultimate, and that using power is the only value.  Perhaps we should be talking about values and not beliefs, although these too are in short supply. 

In chapters 12 and 14, what are some examples of literary devices.

There are tons of literary devices in these chapters. I
will give you a few examples to get you started. In chapter 12, Jem starts to experience
growing pains and Scout is having trouble coping with his treatment of her. Atticus has
been called to the state capitol because, as Scout
says:

As if
that were not enough, the state legislature was called into emergency session and
Atticus left us for two weeks. The Governor was eager to scrape a few barnacles off the
ship of state; there were sit-down strikes in
Birmingham..

"Scraping the
barnacles off the ship of state" is a metaphor that means the governor was trying to
clean things up.

Calpurnia is getting the children ready
for church. She scrubs Scout harder than usual, even peeks in on Jem. Of Scout's dress,
Scout says:

readability="5">

She had put so much starch in my dress it came up
like a tent when I sat
down.

This is a simile. The
author is comparing the starched ress to a stiff
"tent."

You can find literary devices in almost every
paragraph!

In chapter 14, Aunt Alexandra has arrived. The
chapter begins with Scout asking Atticus about the meaning of rape. The children reveal
they have been to church with Calpurnia. Aunt Alexandra is appalled. Scout sasses her
and Atticus becomes angry:

readability="7">

Atticus turned his head and pinned me to the wall
with his good eye. His voice was deadly: "First, apologize to your
aunt."

Do you think Atticus
literally pinned Scout to the wall? No -- this is another literary device. What is it?
Do you know? I think you do!

Continue in this way, and you
will find other examples.

Who is the Narrator in "The Storm" by Kate Chopin.

The narrator is an unnamed, third-person narrator.  This narrator "matter-of-factly" relays the events of the story without passing judgment on any of the characters; therefore, the narrator is also an objective narrator. The reader is told what is happening in the story, progressively, without commentary from the narrator.  The narrator also has some omniscience, meaning that he/she can look into the minds of some of the characters.

What book does Marlow find in the reed hut in the jungle? How does he feel when he puts the book away? Why?

As he steams up the Congo river toward the Inner Station,
Marlow finds a navigation manual in the reed hit in the jungle. Inside the navigation
manual are strange notations in the margin that Marlow cannot read. We learn later that
the book belongs to a Russian who works for Kurtz.

The
navigation manual is a symbol of Marlow's feelings as he journeys up the river. In many
ways the manual should be of great use to him and he should be very happy to find it.
The strange notations (probably written in Russian), however, cause him to further
wonder what he has gotten himself into and what possible people and events he might
encounter when he reaches the Inner Station. The book, and the journey itself, are
beginning to make Marlow very nervous.

Please write an outstanding and eye catching introduction about the bubonic plague.

There might be some fundamental challenges in this
question.  The first would be that I am not sure anyone could or would be able to write
an introduction for you in this forum.  Much of this has to come from your own research,
what you have argued, and what you have developed.  Some argue that the introduction
should be one of the last parts of the paper written because it has to take into account
what was proven in the body of the paper.  If this is the case, then I think you need to
survey what you have argued and what you have claimed and reflect that in the
introduction.  The other issue in play here is the idea of an "eye catching"
introduction.  I mean, you are writing about a disease that wiped out many people.  How
much more "eye catching" is that?  When terms like this are employed, it creates the
impression of surface and glib interpretations to writing. I think that it might be more
effective to compose an introduction that takes into account what is argued in the
paper, what its implications might be, and a these statement that demonstrates clear and
precise focus within the paper.  I think that this might be more powerful than anything
else.

In "To Kill a Mockingbird", how does Dill explain the loss of Jem’s pants? How does Jem get them back? Chapter 6 in " To Kill a Mckingbird

When Miss Stephanie and Atticus notice that his pants are missing, Dill quickly steps in and says, " We were playin' strip poker up yonder by the fish pond" (54).  To their relief, "[t]he neighbors seemed satisfied" (55) with that answer; at least all were satisfied except Miss Rachel, Dill's aunt, who was about to go at him when Atticus stepped in suspicious that the kids had never played that before.  Quickly thinking, Jem stepped in and said they ahd been playing with matches, not cards, realizing as Scout observes, that "[m]atches were dangerous, but cards were fatal" (55) in the disapproving eyes of adults. 

Jem went back later to get his pants, yet upon his return seemed strange and said nothing to Scout about what he had encountered when he went back.  It was not until a week later when school started that Jem finally spoke up and told Scout " When I went back for my breeches -- they were all in a tangle when I was gettin' out of 'em, I couldn't get 'em loose.  When I went back -- ... they were folded across the fence... like they were expectin' me" (58).  This leads the reader to believe that it was Boo Radley who had placed the pants on the fence for him, having been watching the kids' antics yet again, just like earlier when he was leaving gifts for them in the tree on the Radley property.

Was Israel's war of independence an act of aggression, and did Israel create the Arab refugee problem?antecendents of the war of indepence

I know this is a difficult question, but I would like to point out a few facts.  All of the area of Palestine had fallen into the territory of the Ottoman Empire until its collapse at the end of World War I when the territory that is now modern day Israel became a part of British mandate of Palestine.  Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon were also created as European Mandates at this time.  At the end of World War II the United Nations divided the Palestinian mandate between the Jews and the Arabs.  The angry Arab nations refused to recognize Israel and invaded in 1948.  Jordan, Syria and Lebanon also became independent nations at that time.  None of them had been independent nations since medieval times or earlier.   

From these facts, I do not believe the Israeli war for Independence was an agression.  They were the ones invaded, not invading.  Jews had lived in the area as settlers since the 19th century and had made great improvements to the land.  The horrors of World War II inspired the United Nations to give them a homeland in this land.  Arab inhabitants of the land were never told they had to leave and as pointed out earlier, were offered a home in Jordan so they did not have to become refugees. 

My information comes from Jerry Speilvogel: Western Civilization. Fifth edition; Wadworth/Thomas Learning, 2003, 811-813.

Please explain Eliot's poem "The Waste Land."

The first section, as the section title indicates (The Burial of the Dead), is about death. The narrator is surrounded by a desolate land full of "stony rubbish."

The next section, "A Game of Chess," transports the reader abruptly from the streets of London to a gilded drawing room, in which sits a rich, jewelry-laden lady who complains about her nerves and wonders what to do.  the poem then switches to a pub where two Cockney women are talking.  In just a few words we move from the upper crust of society to the dregs.

"The Fire Sermon" opens with an image of a river. The narrator sits on the banks and muses on the deplorable state of the world.

"Death by Water," the fourth section of the poem, describes a dead Phoenician lying in the water -- perhaps the same drowned sailor of whom Madame Sosostris (in section one) spoke.

The final section of the poem, "What the Thunder Said" calls for rain...a cleansing of sorts...and it comes.

The general theme is desolation, decay, and ruin of society through war, vice, and the dark side of human nature. 

What are the alleged advantages and disadvantages of various reformed proposals. And analyze the criticism of the Electoral College.

Candidates have no reason to poll, visit, advertise,
organize, campaign, or worry about the voter concerns in the small, medium, or large
states (35) where they are safely ahead or hopelessly behind. The reason for this is the
state-by-state winner-take-all rule enacted by 48 states, under which all of a state's
electoral votes are awarded to the candidate who gets the most votes in each separate
state.

A candidate has won the Presidency
without winning the most popular votes nationwide in one of every 14 presidential
elections.

In the past six decades, there have
been six presidential elections in which a shift of a relatively small number of votes
in one or two states would have elected (and, in 2000, did elect) a presidential
candidate who lost the popular vote
nationwide.

The National Popular Vote bill would
guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50
states (and DC).

Every vote, everywhere, would
be politically relevant and equal in presidential elections. Candidates would need to
care about voters across the nation, not just undecided voters in a handful of swing
states.

The bill would take effect only when
enacted, in identical form, by states possessing a majority of the electoral votes--that
is, enough electoral votes to elect a President (270 of 538). When the bill comes into
effect, all the electoral votes from those states would be awarded to the presidential
candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states (and DC).

The bill uses the power given to each state by
the Founding Fathers in the Constitution to change how they award their electoral votes
for president. The National Popular Vote bill does not try to abolish the Electoral
College, which would need a constitutional amendment, and could be stopped by states
with as little as 3% of the U.S. population. Historically, virtually all of the major
changes in the method of electing the President (for example, ending the requirement
that only men who owned substantial property could vote) have come about without federal
constitutional amendments, by state legislative action.

The bill has passed 29
state legislative chambers, including one house in AR DE, ME, MI, NM, NC, and OR, and
both houses in CA, CO, HI, IL, NJ, MD, MA, RI, VT, and WA. The bill has been enacted by
Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, Maryland, and Washington. These five states possess 61
electoral votes -- 23% of the 270 necessary to bring the law into
effect.

see
www.NationalPopularVote.com

In "The Most Dangerous Game", who is more characterized, General Zaroff or Rainsford?

The characterization we receive most is that of Rainsford.  This is for a few reasons:

1) We see him before, during, and after his run-in with Zaroff, whereas we only learn about Zaroff during his interactions with Rainsford.

2)  We are given a description of Zaroff from Rainsford's point of view, showing us not only how Zaroff looks and acts, but also Rainsford's interpretation of his look and mannerisms.

3) We are given a view into the mind of Rainsford, not Zaroff, several times: on the boat, when he arrives on the island, when he meets with Zaroff, and all throughout the hunt we learn how he is thinking his way through the jungle and away from Zaroff.

Comment critically on the ending of "Araby."

In the end he realizes that there is nothing for him at Araby, and all his hopes about entering a romantic world beyond the quiet, decent, brown street of his childhood have been reduced to fantasy. His realization and acceptance represent a loss of innocence, which makes him angry. The loss also wounds him. He realizes that his strong emotions were aroused only by a fantasy, for the idea of Mangan's sister and not for the real girl. This reality is symbolized by the English shop girl at the bazaar, with her discouraging tone of voice and her flirting ways toward the two men.

The boy must admit to himself that his worshipful love was tainted with lust. He experiences a painful disappointment when he acknowledges that he is a victim of his own vanity. He is not a pure spiritual being, but a boy growing to manhood in the material word and a human being subject to self-delusion and "blindness".

How does the prisoners' indoctrination benefit the Nazis in the novel Night?

The Nazis used hunger, fear, and violence to indoctrinate the prisoners into camp. The Nazis broke the prisoners down to their most basic animal instincts. They broke the prisoners' will to live, to worship, to be human. In Buna (Chapter 4), which was said to be a "good" camp, the Nazis starved their prisoners to the point of insanity. At one point during an air raid one prisoner gave his life trying to get some unmanned soup. With starved prisoners they are easy to control. The Nazis used fear through the hanging of pipet to "indoctrinate" the prisoners. They forced every prisoner to look the young boy in the eyes before they would give them food. Finally the Nazis indiscriminately beat people. Elie's father was beaten because he couldn't march in step, in actuality it was because Elie refused to give his shoes to the guard. The Nazis used any method they could to strike fear into the hearts of the weakened prisoners. Once the prisoners were "indoctrinated" the Nazis found it easy to rule the camp.

The final scene of Act II opens with "so smile the heavens upon this holy act...." Of what holy act is Friar speaking?What does this foreshadow as...

In the Prologue to Act I of Romeo and Juliet
the Chorus states,

readability="9">

A pair of star=cross'd lovers take their
life;

Who misadventured piteous
overthrows

Do with their death bury their
parents' strife.
(1.1.6-7)

The marriage of
Romeo to Juliet is the second of their "misadventured piteous overthrows"--a series of
events that keep them apart. After the words of Friar
Laurence,

readability="14">

these violent delights have violent
ends,

And, in their triumph die, like fire and
powder,

Which as they kiss, consume.
(2.6.9-11)

Romeo commits his
second act of "misadventured overthrow"--the first is invasion of the party and meeting
with Juliet--as he encounters Tybalt and seeks to ameliorate the tense conflict between
Tybalt and Mercutio.  His well-meaning declaration of love for Tybalt now that he is
related to the Capulets through marriage is misunderstood and backfires as it causes
Tybalt to become so enraged that he stabs Mercutio under Romeo's
arm.

As a result of his friend's angry death and curse
upon "both your houses," Romeo loses his dear friend, whom he has tried to save from
harm,  Romeo's act of love for Tybalt becomes overthrown by the insidious act of
Tybalt's having stabbed Mercutio and Romeo having, then, killed Tybalt--"a piteous
overthrow," indeed.

In what ways do you think the mythological figure of Cassandra and Madame Schachter in "Night" are similar?

You've asked for an opinion, so that's what I'll give you. The only similarities I can see between them is that they both had visions and they both were thought to be crazy.

Cassandra was the daughter of Priam and Hecuba of Troy. When their son Alexandros was born, Cassandra foresaw that he would bring war and devastation to Troy. Her parents believed this prophecy, and they commanded a servant to dispose of the baby. However, a shepherd found the baby, took him home, and named him Paris. Cassandra's prophecies were not always believed, however. When she spurned Apollo's advances, he cursed her by declaring that she would from then on be considered a liar and a crazy woman. When Paris returned to Troy as an adult, and his true identity was revealed, his parents welcomed him back as their son and a prince of Troy. Cassandra tried to remind them of her vision of the destruction of Troy, but they refused to believe her and had her thrown into the dungeon. We know what happened when Paris met Helen!

On the deportation train, Madame Schachter had a vision of fires, and everyone thought she had gone crazy. When they finally arrived at Auschwitz, they could see the furnaces, and Elie Weisel knew that her ravings were really a vision. 

If you're interested in reading a novel about Cassandra, I suggest The Firebrand by Marion Zimmer Bradley. It's a really good read.

What natural phenomenon comes to symbolize both Dimmesdale's "sin" and Governor Winthrop's "virtue" in The Scarlet Letter?

In Chapter 12, it is a meteor which comes to symbolize both Dimmesdale's guilt and Governor Winthrop's goodness.  The meteor is described as

"a light (which) gleamed far and wide over all the muffled sky.  It was doubtless caused by one of those meteors...burning out to waste, in the vacant regions of the atmosphere". 

Looking up at the phenomenon, Dimmesdale beholds a sign of his sin,

"the appearance of an immense letter, - the letter A, - marked out in lines of dull red light". 

After preaching the most powerful sermon of his life the next day, the tormented minister speaks with the old sexton of the church, who sees the meteor as evidence of the holiness of Governor Winthrop, who died that night.  He says,

"...the protent that was seen last night...a great red letter in the sky, - the letter A, which we interpret to stand for Angel.  For, as our good Governor Winthrop was made an angel this past night, it was doubtless held fit that there should be some notice thereof!"

Explain how an open market purchase increases the money supply.

In an open market purchase, what is happening is that the
government is buying up bonds that it has previously sold.  This is done by the Fed in
the United States.  This increases the money supply by adding money to the economy in
place of a piece of paper that is not liquid.

A bond is an
IOU -- it will be worth something at a later point but it cannot be used as cash.  It is
not really part of the money supply.

When the Fed buys
bonds, it gives actual money to investors in exchange for bonds.  So if I held bonds and
the government paid me $1,000 for them, I now have $1000 more in liquid money than I had
a moment ago - the money supply has increased.

Is Montag and Mildred's marriage in "Fahrenheit 451" a typical marriage in their culture? Please explain.

Yes. There is very little emotion in this society, there is no expression or means of expression and no longer any free thinking. Every thought and feeling is interrupted with the constant din of the TV walls that encompass the house which emit meaningless dribble that makes almost no sense. Since there is little opportunity to think and express, marriages are more like cohabiting than they are deep meaningful relationships. No one really has any relationship with anyone, it's a society in which everyone lives side by side but they are all alone, they nothing to connect them like literature.

Why is the King worried that the gold is $415 short, and how do they solve this problem in "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"?Chapters 24-End

The King is worried that if the gold is short, people will think he and the Duke stole it, so to avoid suspicion, they use their own money to make up the difference, planning to swindle even more money from the trusting family later.

Masquerading as the British brothers of the recently deceased Peter Wilkes, the King and the Duke learn that Wilkes has left his brothers $6000 in gold, which is hidden in the cellar.  When they fetch the gold and find it short, they replace the money with their own, then, to impress the family by their generosity and gain their unquestioning respect, they give the total amount to the dead man's daughters.  As anticipated, the daughters are completely grateful, and later, when the family doctor comes and accuses the two scoundrels of being frauds, Mary Jane, the oldest, demonstrates her total faith in the King and the Duke.  She returns the money to them, and instructs them, "Take this six thousand dollars, and invest for me and my sisters any way you want to, and don't give us no receipt for it" (Chapter XXV).

What is the substance of "The Moon" written by Percy Bysshe Shelley?

"The Moon" by Percy Bysshe Shelley is a complicated poem
though short. It has both a poetic conceit (i.e., an extended comparison between two
things) and an underlying metaphor, which is the metaphor (i.e., comparison of any
length between two things) upon which a poem is composed. In stanza one, the conceit is
a comparison between the moon and a "dying lady ... / ... / led by the insane ...
wanderings  of her feeble brain." This is how Shelley perceives and describes the moon
as it rises through the atmosphere that varies and veils the appearance of the moon. The
underlying metaphor is revealed in stanza two when we learn by inference (i.e., to
conclude through a reasoning process) that the poetic speaker--who may or may not be
different from Shelley--is comparing his lot in life to his perception of the moon as
told in stanza one.

In a pathetic fallacy (i.e., rhetorical
device in poems that gives human traits to nature), the speaker asks the personified
moon why it is pale and wandering. He asks if it is because the moon is weary "Of
climbing heaven ... / ... / Wandering companionless." He asks if it is because it is
alone among stars that are of a different kind than it is: "stars that have a different
birth, ...." He asks if it is because it is "ever changing." The final line and a half
make it clear by inference that it is the speaker himself who feels what is imputed to
the moon. He sees the moon as having a "joyless eye" and as finding "no object worth its
constancy" when in fact it is the speaker who has a joyless eye because he can find no
object worth his devotion and constant love. In other words, he has a broken heart
because his lady fair (who is never mentioned) has abandoned him and unworthily
withdrawn her love from him.

In "Night", what did the prisoners receive at the third barracks? What happened at the second barracks?Describe the floor in the third...

At five o'clock in the morning, the prisoners are driven out of the first barracks, where their clothes have been taken and their bodies shorn. They are beaten by the Kapos and forced to run in the icy wind, until after a few minutes they arrive at the second barracks.

At the second barracks, everyone is soaked in petrol, which is used as a disinfectant. The prisoners are then forced into a hot shower, and driven outside into the icy cold yet again. After another period of running, they arrive at the third barracks.

The third barracks is a "store", with very long tables covered by "mountains of prison clothes". As the prisoners pass the talbe, "trousers, tunic, shirt, and socks" are randomly thrown at them.

I don't believe that there is anything said about the floor in the third barracks, but in the fourth barracks, the "gypsies'camp", there is no floor. This barracks, into which the prisoners are marched in ranks of five, consists only of "a roof and four walls". In the absence of a floor, the feet of the prisoners sink into the mud (Chapter 3).

When the play was produced in New York, the magic-lantern slides were omitted. Is the device an extraneous gimmick? Might it even interfere with...

Critics and theatre directors alike have argued that the
inclusion of the slides was and would have been unnecessary for the action of the play
can and should be able to speak for itself. The strength of the dialogue and the
characterization alone tells the story. As they can be a distraction from what the
characters are doing on the stage, I can easily see how they would be a distraction,
particularly for an audience that was not accustomed to that sort of convention.
However, on the other hand, as Tom was a writer and this is Tom;s story, I think you
could also argue that the slides might be representative of the story that is playing
out inside of Tom's head in his memory. They are very cinematic, and with Tom;s
connections to the movies and his love of escaping from the apartment that serves as his
prison there is an element of dramatic narrative that could be played our on these
slides. They can create an almost split focal perspective - which can be either a good
or bad thing depending on how they are implemented.

Some
theatres have integrated the use of slides effectively. Kansas City rep, for instance,
updated William's original concept through projected cinematic imagery and integrated it
into the action of the play to give the play a "new" interpretation that stayed faithful
to Williams' original concept (see review). The Broadway revival, on the other hand, has
been criticized for integrating the device as a full curtain which served to conceal so
much of the action that it ended up being a distraction, (see
review).

As a director, I have directed the piece without
the inclusion of the images, and I have worked on a production in which they were
included. The biggest problem with them is that, although they can serve as a glimpse
into Tom's writers' mind (as the play is autobiographical, this can be useful) they are
often more distracting than driving. They tend to split the audience's focus, and that
can be dangerous.

What is dramatic irony in "Macbeth"?Is Macbeth a hero or a villain?

At the beginning of the play Macbeth, the three witches, who tell Macbeth of what is to come, recite the words, “Fair is foul, and foul is fair.” This is an example of irony as the witches mean to mislead Macbeth, through all of the prophecies they tell him. We know that this is going to happen, but Macbeth only realises their ill means at the very end of the play.

At the beginning of Act II, Banquo and his son are greeted by Macbeth, who calls himself a ‘friend’. Macbeth is nothing like a friend. This is dramatic irony, as we know that Macbeth will need to kill Banquo, because he knows too much and might become suspicious, but Macbeth does not consider this yet. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth plot to kill King Duncan, as the witches foretold that Macbeth would be the king of Scotland. When King Duncan is arriving at Macbeth’s castle, it is a sunny and bright day. He says to himself, “This castle hath a pleasant seat; the air nimbly and sweetly recommends itself unto our gentle senses.” Duncan then takes Lady Macbeth’s hand, who leads him into the castle. This scene is extremely ironic, because we would think (if walking into the scene right now) that Macbeth and King Duncan are just good friends, having a visit. In reality, Macbeth is getting ready to kill the man who is before him, and so the ‘sweet air’ and the beautiful sunlight makes the scene even more ironic.

I think that Shakespeare has used the term ‘dramatic irony’ well, as the audience (when watching the play) wait, as the suspense builds up, and tensions tighten, giving a real sense of a master playwright. The audience are on the edge of their seats, anticipating what will happen next, only to find that they have to wait a bit more each time, until there is a massive climax.

What does the brevity of the second last paragraph add to the general effect of the essay?

Varying the length of paragraphs, just like varying sentence length or structure, provides a way to achieve effect. A short paragraph can isolate a powerful idea for emphasis or drama, it might communicate tone, and it might also act as a means of transition. The third last paragraph ends with very dramatic and powerful detail of the animal’s death. The brevity of the second last paragraph enables the power of an understatement. On the one hand, it is cursory, to the point. The action is done, the animal dead, so the narrator tersely tells us he walked away. But the story doesn’t end there, for more gory details follow:  the animal is stripped to the bones.  He communicates a tone that shows his disgust with himself and what he did; he suggests he wants to be rid of the topic—he doesn’t want to talk about it anymore. But very dramatically he describes the result of his action, which is even more violent than the actual deed. The brevity enables all of this to stand out in relief to what precedes it. The paragraph also provides transition to the conclusion, which is the aftermath, where again the narrator expresses contempt for himself, especially in the last sentence.

What is modernism?

In addition to the excellent answer above, here are some
more points regarding Modernism:

•Modernism places faith in
the ideas, values, beliefs, culture, and norms of the
West

•Modernism attempts to reveal profound truths of
experience and life.

•Modernism attempts to find depth and
interior meaning beneath the surface of objects and
events.

•Modernism focused on central themes and a united
vision in a particular piece of literature

•Modern authors
guide and control the reader’s response to their work.

•
Modernism

•
rational

• scientific

•
utopian, elitist, belief in universal values

•
democratic

• hierarchical

•
organized

• centered

•
European, Western

•
generalizing

• determinate

•
objective

• objectivist values,
masterpieces

• formal
disciplines

• purposeful,
meaningful

• construction

•
belief in progress

•
theoretical

• analytical &
synthetic

• simplicity, elegance, spartan,
streamlined

• logical,
scientific

• cause-effect

•
linear

• harmonious,
integrated

• permanence

•
abstract

• communicative, prefer to be
understood

• unified,
coherent

• objective truth

•
apolitical to occasionally political

disciplines primarily
indifferent to power struggles

• reality is not
anthropocentric

Why does Macbeth invoke the night?From Macbethact3

Macbeth invokes the night because he has engaged murderers to kill Banquo and Fleance.  So he feels that when nightfall comes he will be free of the threat of Banquo and his heirs.

He has come to appreciate the night and the evil that can be wrought and how quickly, in the dark, a problem is solved, for Macbeth of course.  The night, which has an association with the forces of darkness, which Macbeth has now become intimately linked, for now will satisfy his fear of threats to his crown. When night comes, and Banquo and Fleance are killed, never to pose a threat or raise a suspicion, Macbeth believes that he will be free to enjoy being king. 

In the darkness, Macbeth takes care of his problems, when he thinks that no one can see, but he is deluding himself.

In "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson, what the kind of group behavior that exists? What human nature exists?

The group behavior in "The Lottery" is characterized by tradition and custom formed as what is known as group think.  Where an entire group of people believe the same thing even though it appears irrational and illogical.  No one acts as an individual, the town functions as a group for the lottery, no one objects, except Tessie Hutchinson, after her family is hastily picked and she is the "winner" of the lottery this year.

The behavior itself can be described as violent and cruel. The random selection of a member of the town to stone to death once a year is viewed as an ordinary event, similar to a county fair or a town picinic.

What the story points out is the dual nature of humanity.  Human beings can be both kind and loving and cold and cruel. This is exhibited in the story through the behavior of most of the townspeople who are eager to stone Tessie Hutchinson, except Mrs. Dunbar.

Two examples of the dual nature of humanity are:

Mrs. Dunbar is reluctant to participate, she picks up a very small stone.  As compared to Mrs. Graves who snaps at Tessie Hutchinson when she complains about the selection method and then positions herself in the front of the crowd as the stoning begins, ready to throw a heavy stone.

What is the significance of Meursault not caring for important events like his mother's death in "The Stranger"? Why does he notice small details...

I think Mersault does care about his mother's death, he just doesn't show the emotions that one would expect a man to show in the wake of the death of his mother. He says a few times that he probably loved his mother a great deal, but that that didn't mean anything. He also thinks about his mother when Salamono weeps for his lost dog.

 Mersault doesn't care for any events as such, he is only interested in the physical side of life, emotions are not important and merely prevent you from living your life. The scabs on the dog are a physical characteristic while his mothers death is supposed to trigger an emotional response.

Explain the emphasis on class in the relationships between Jimmy and other characters in Look Back in Anger.

It is clear from this play that class is a central theme that dominates the action and relationships between the characters. Note how Jimmy defiantly comes from the working class and how he hates the members of his family who are "pretty posh" just as much as he despises Alison's family. The class system in Britain, through the way that it clearly favours the upper classes at the expense of the lower classes, is clearly the reason why Jimmy is an angry young man. He feels so meaningless because of the way that his class background systematically renders him powerless and, he believes, insignificant. Even his attempts to do well in society seem doomed, as his degree is from the "wrong" university.

Note of course how Jimmy is compared to Nigel, who is clearly presented as being a stupid character, yet because he went to Sandhurst (the "right" place) has done well in life and is already a politician, tipped to "make it to the top." In particular note how Alison's mother is depicted as a character who is so consumed with class consciousness that she does everything she possibly can to stop Alison from marrying Jimmy. Thus class is shown to act as a barrier with nearly every relationship that Jimmy has in the play. The only person whom Jimmy is shown to be able to love without the stigma of class interfering is Hugh's salt-of-the-earth working class mother and Cliff. Jimmy likes Cliff because, as Cliff says, he is "common," pointing towards a similar class background.

Thus we can see that class is a dominating theme that prevents Jimmy from truly connectiong and loving a number of people in the play. It is a constant shadow that Jimmy takes around with him, preventing him from loving and from accepting the love that others have for him.

Where can I find relevant info on housing during the great depression - I am having trouble finding good info.

Here's another great article:

During the Great Depression, millions of people were out of work across the United States. Unable to find another job locally, many unemployed people hit the road, traveling from place to place, hoping to find some work. A few of these people had cars, but most hitchhiked or "road the rails." A large portion of the people who road the rails were teenagers, but there were also older men, women, and entire families who traveled in this manner. They would board freight trains and crisscross the country, hoping to find a job in one of the towns along the way. When there was a job opening, there were often literally a thousand people applying for the same job. Those who weren't lucky enough to get the job would perhaps stay in a shantytown (known as "Hoovervilles") outside of town. Housing in the shantytown was built out of any material that could be found freely, like driftwood, cardboard, or even newspapers. The farmers who had lost their homes and land usually headed west to California, where they heard rumors of agricultural jobs. Unfortunately, although there was some seasonal work, the conditions for these families were transient and hostile. Since many of these farmers came from Oklahoma and Arkansas, they were called the derogatory names of "Okies" and "Arkies." (The stories of these migrants to California were immortalized in the fictional book, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck.) The U.S. economy broke down and entered the Great Depression during the presidency of Herbert Hoover. Although President Hoover repeatedly spoke of optimism, the people blamed him for the Great Depression. Just as the shantytowns were named Hoovervilles after him, newspapers became known as "Hoover blankets," pockets of pants turned inside out (to show they were empty) were called "Hoover flags," and broken-down cars pulled by horses were known as "Hoover wagons."During the 1932 presidential election, Hoover did not stand a chance at reelection and Roosevelt won in a landslide. People of the United States had high hopes that President Roosevelt would be able to solve all their woes. As soon as Roosevelt took office, he closed all the banks and only let them reopen once they were stabilized. Next, Roosevelt began to establish programs that became known as the New Deal. These New Deal programs were most commonly known by their initials, which reminded some people of alphabet soup. Some of these programs were aimed at helping farmers, like the AAA (Agricultural Adjustment Administration). While other programs, such as the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) and the WPA (Works Progress Administration), attempted to help curb unemployment by hiring people for various projects.

Does the first paragraph of "Eveline" predict the end?

In a way, it certainly foreshadows the situation Eveline finds herself in as the story closes.  In the first paragraph she is alone and staring out a window - perhaps looking out upon the world that moving along while she is by herself and motionless. 

In the end, Eveline is again alone and motionless and the crowds of people sweep past her on to the boat.  She watches them go, but does not go with them.  Comparing the two scenes, readers can assume that the character of Eveline is doomed to inaction throughout her life.

What is the psychology of Gallimard in M. Butterfly leading to 24 years of relationship with Song and why is he a metaphor to orientalism?

In David Henry Hwang's play M. Butterfly, Gallimard is a metaphor for Orientalism because he views Song as the idealized, mysterious "Other."  In Edward Said's explanation of Orientalism, the "Other" is placed in a position of hierarchical subornination, and this is what Gallimard, from his perspective, has done to Song.  Readers understand that Song has actually tricked Gallimard into this position and actually has the upper hand; however, for Gallimard to admit this he would also have to denounce his sense of manhood that he has constructed around his relationship with Song.  In the dichotomy set up by Orientalism, the West is strong, because the East is weak:  in Gallimard and Song's relationship, he is strong because she is submissive.  Admitting that the relationship was never valid is the equivalent of saying that Gallimard's sense of manhood is also invalid.

On another note, there is a line in the play that says that the perfect woman can only be created by a man.  Ironically, this is what happens when Song takes on the persona of a woman, so Gallimard, for 24 years, had "the perfect woman."

What is the climax in "Lamb to the Slaughter" and is it part of the plot?

The plot of a story is made up of the exposition, rising action, falling action, and resolution. The climax is a key part to the plot because it indicates the highest point of action in the story including the highest point of emotional response from the characters.

In Lamb to Slaughterthe climax is upon the reader almost right at the beginning of the story when Mary Maloney the six months pregnant wife of Patrick the policeman murders her husband with a frozen leg of lamb. She had just been told that he is leaving her, he no longer loves her. She is in such shock over what he has just told her that she does not respond to what he says, instead she asks what he would like for dinner. He tries to tell her again to listen, but she descends the stairs to the freezer and retrieves the leg of lamb. When she ascends the stairs he tells her not to bother, he is going out. While his back is turned she smashes his head in with the frozen meat, still in shock. After she sees what she has done her height of emotional response comes over her and she begins to panic. This is the highest point of action in the story, the conflict is at its height and Mary's emotions are at their height. Everything that happens after the murder are the falling action and resolution to the conflict that Mary has murdered her husband that was going to leave her while she was six months pregnant.

What were the major inventions contributing to the rise of the industrial revolution?

The improved James Watt steam invention was probably the major jump-start to the industrial revolution.

There were several other inventions right around the 1750s that also enhanced productivity.  Some of these inventions are tied to water power as in the textile industry, and others are tied to steam power as the locomotives and steel industry.

John Kay invented the flying shuttle in 1733 in Lancashire, England. This is a device that allows the shuttle to be thrown back and forth across the loom mechanically rather than by hand.  This increased the speed by which cloth and woolen cloth could be produced.

Transportation canals which were used in the late 1761 to carry coal from the mines to the towns where it was used as fuel. The Bridgewater canal and other aquaducts were used to transport raw materials to the places of their manufacture. Use of manmade canals and water to transport larger quantities of raw material made the factory system more efficient.

1764, James Hargreaves invents the spinning jenny which could turn out more finished yarn than a single spinning wheel with one spindle.

1769, Richard Arkwright, invented a frame which pulls the raw cotton fiber into rollers which feed it into the spinning machine. His first attempt was powered by horses, but he later patented his machine to run on water power.  This machine is called the water frame.

Samuel Crompton invented a machine which is something that is a combination of two machines. He noticed that the spinning jenny had a tendency to break the yarn, and the water frame produced strong yarn that was thick.  His invention is called Crompton's mule and was patented in 1779.

John Wilkinson invented a machine in 1774: a precision water drill, that allowed steam power to literally take over the "power" industry. This water drill allows for the precision drilling required for cannon bore, rifle barrels, and steam engine cylinders.

Boulton and Watt market their new invention with a very profitable and lucrative method. They give the steam engines away free and install them free of charge with the stipulation that the new owner pay them 1/3 of the price saved on fuel consumption by using the new machine.

Arkwright moved work from the cottage to the factory. Bridgewater invented a canal system that allowed for raw materials to be cheaply and quickly transported outside of natural waterways. And, the Watt steam engine quickly took over horse or water power because it was cheaper and more efficient. It did not need to be fed, and industry could relocate closer to the source of raw materials.

In 1784 Henry Cort invented a machine to shake molten iron so that it was a better grade of iron. It could be hammered and was not brittle as previous cast iron had been.  The second machine he invented was a rolling machine that turned out bars of steel.

IN 1793, the cotton industry needed to catch up with the industrialized textile industry. Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin which revolutionized the cotton industry by making it so much easier to separate the cotton fiber from the seeds.

The move from the farm to the city had begun.