Why did John Proctor disclose his affair with Abigail?

I assume that you are talking about the time that John
Proctor admits his affair in public (in Act III) and not whenever he admitted it to his
wife (not actually seen in the play).

If that is what you
are asking about, he is going to disclose it mainly to get his wife and others out of
being accused of being witches.  He wants the court to know why Abigail has been doing
the things that she has done.

John's attempt to be honest
backfires when his wife does not back him up -- she's trying to save his reputation but
ends up hurting him instead.

Why did John Proctor disclose his affair with Abigail?

I assume that you are talking about the time that John Proctor admits his affair in public (in Act III) and not whenever he admitted it to his wife (not actually seen in the play).

If that is what you are asking about, he is going to disclose it mainly to get his wife and others out of being accused of being witches.  He wants the court to know why Abigail has been doing the things that she has done.

John's attempt to be honest backfires when his wife does not back him up -- she's trying to save his reputation but ends up hurting him instead.

In "The Great Gatsby," how long has it been since Gatsby and Daisy have been together?

Jordan recalls for Nick how Daisy and Jay met in chapter 4.  The year was 1917.  Though the reader doesn't know yet that the current year of the story is 1922.  Next this five year span of time is mentioned specifically again in chapter 5.  Nick has invited Daisy to his house for tea, at Jay's request.  Daisy and Jay see each other and Daisy comments that they haven't seen each other "...for many years."  Jay says, "Five years next November."  Jay has carefully noted the time which tells the reader how important that passage of time was.  Later, in chapter 6, Jay recalls to Nice about the first kiss that passed between the two of them, "...One autumn night, five years before, ...".

Coincidentally, it was five years that Jay Gatsby spent with Dan Cody transforming from James Gatz into Jay Gatsby.

Discuss the theme and central idea of "Jealous Husband Returns in the Form of a Parrot" by Robert Olen Butler.

"Jealous Husband Returns in the Form of a Parrot" provides the reader with many things to consider.  Robert Olen Butler wrote a touching recollection of the failure of communication in a marriage which involves a loss of trust and the poison of suspicion. 

The protagonist, an unnamed man/parrot, narrates the story after he has been reincarnated as a parrot.  Ironically, his former wife/widow wants a bird and selects her former husband/parrot to take home.

Those nut-brown eyes were before me and she said, "I want him." And that' s how I ended up in my own house once again. 

How did the man become the bird?  That is the heart of the story.  Jealousy invaded his marriage.  Thinking that she was cheating on him, he climbs a tree to see into the window, falls out of it, and breaks his neck. 

The primary idea of the story finds clarity in the tainted, jealous love that the narrator feels for his wife and the inability to communicate with her.  He never confronts his wife; he holds his feelings inside and allows them  to grow until he acts foolishly. 

After the parrot settles into his new cage, he understands that his wife has moved on in her life.  Men come and go.  The parrot can just see into her bedroom.  He has wanted to take a bite out of one of these men, but he lets it go. He uses his bird toys to take out his frustration. The bird is still thinking like the man.

In the beginning, nothing has changed.  As the man becomes more and more parrot, he does see that he loved his wife when he was a man, but because of his jealousy was unable to communicate with her. The parrot decides to fly away.  His cage door is open, and he flies toward the sky.  Forgetting about the glass, Wham!, he hits his head and falls to the floor. His wife hurries to help him and is consumed with worry.  She cries with fear that she will lose him. The parrot recovers.

Eventually the theme of the story becomes evident. The parrot/man comes to love his wife more than he had when he was alive.  He regrets his failure to communicate with her.  Finally, he realizes that he always had a dual persona.  He loved his wife but inside he was tortured by his jealousy and anger.  The author gives the parrot genuine compassion for his wife and a new perspective.  He understands how he failed in the relationship. 

I was jealous in life. I admit it.  I would admit it to her.  But it was my connection to her... I loved her more in that moment, seeing her terrible nakedness, than I ever have before. 

Cleverly, the author chose an animal that has the ability to talk.  Of course, he only mimics what he hears.  No matter because this parrot's world circulates around watching, thinking about, and observing the round robin of men who travel through her life.

The narrator tells the reader that he no longer despises her lovers. He feels pity for them.  When the woman offers her hand for the parrot to sit on it, he realizes that he cannot fill the hole in her heart that he made when he left her.  As the story progresses, the shift in the bird goes from predominantly human to now more birdlike.  After his realization that he can no longer truly satisfy his wife, the parrot wants to be free even at the cost of his life.  He will go out again by flinging himself into the thing [He no longer remembers the word glass.] which is between him and the freedom from all of the feelings that as a bird he no longer understands. 

How does the Democratic party of today relate to the Democratis party of the 1850s?

The Democratic Party of the Past and the Present is somewhat similar but it had different beliefs and ideals incalculated within their party members.

In the past, it started at the early 1803s to the 1850s, by Andrew Jackson, who gave the Democrats its name, as he sincerely felt that the Federalist was gaining too much unnecessary power, which he deemed inappropriate. This was the start of the "Jacksonian Democracy". The Democratic Party was full of farmers, city-dwelling laborers and Irish Catholics

In the Present, the Democratic Party was leaded by President Barack Obama, the 44th one. It placed more emphasis on the welfare of the citizens with its health plans and other incentives. It placed equal importance on the war against terrorism, deploying more troops to Afghanistan to fight Al-Qaeda.

In "To Kill a Mockingbird," why does Aunt Alexandra come to stay with the Finches? What is she like?

Aunt Alexandra comes to stay with Atticus and the Finch children because of the Tom Robinson trial for the most part.  Atticus will be very busy during the trial and won't have time to take care of the kids even with Calpurnia's help.  Another reason she is there is because she feels she must do what she can to protect the children.  She knows that the trial may get ugly and she disagrees with Atticus's involvement anyway, so she thinks that she can shield the children from any ugliness that may occur.  She feels that she must be there, too, to protect the family name.  Aunt Alexandra believes that Atticus is raising the children incorrectly.  She sees him as being much too liberal with the children and she wants to counteract that.  She is a staunch conservative in all her views.  She feels that one's family background is more important than what one does and that is not how Atticus has raised Scout and Jem.  Ultimately, she loses this battle of child-rearing philosophies.  Her reasons for being there are varied and each reason reflects what kind of person she is.

Why is Rosencrantz referred to as a "sponge?"

In Act IV, Scene II of Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two childhood friends of Hamlet, are working with King Claudius against the Prince. They come to Hamlet asking for Polonius's body:

Rosencrantz:

Tell us where [Polonius's body] 'tis, that we may take it thence
And bear it to the chapel.

Hamlet

Do not believe it.

Rosencrantz

Believe what?

Hamlet

That I can keep your counsel and not mine own.
Besides, to be demanded of a sponge! what
replication should be made by the son of a king?

Rosencrantz

Take you me for a sponge, my lord?

Hamlet

Ay, sir, that soaks up the king's countenance, his rewards, his authorities. But such officers do the king best service in the end: he keeps them, like an ape, in the corner of his jaw; first mouthed, to be last swallowed: when he needs what you have gleaned, it is but squeezing you, and, sponge, you
shall be dry again.

By referring to Rosencrantz as a sponge, Hamlet makes it clear that he is suspicious of his friend. He believes that Rosencrantz is an opportunist, and is eager to ally himself with King Claudius. Like a sponge, he wants to soak up all the benefits of being in subservience to someone with great power. Hamlet suggests, however, that once Claudius is through with him Rosencrantz will simply be "wrung out to dry."