Thursday, October 11, 2012

What is the story A Rose for Emily about?Please help me out

I don't understand your question.  Have you read
Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" and you don't understand it?  Or have you not read it and
you want someone to tell you what happens so you don't have to read
it?


I'll tell you what's at the center of the story in case
you don't understand it, but I won't give you plot details so you don't have to read
it.


Faulkner often writes about the South in the period
following the Civil War.  The South was devastated by the war:  its economy was
destroyed, and most of the battles and raids and destruction took place in the South. 
This story is about the recovery, or lack of it.  It is a bit of an allegory about
refusing to let go of a glorious past. 


Emily, once a
member of the aristocracy, has been "reduced" to a "commoner," so to speak.  And she
refuses to accept the reduced status. 


The story is
allegorically about the lengths a person will go to in order to hold on to a glorious
past. 

What is the story A Rose for Emily about?Please help me out

I don't understand your question.  Have you read Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" and you don't understand it?  Or have you not read it and you want someone to tell you what happens so you don't have to read it?


I'll tell you what's at the center of the story in case you don't understand it, but I won't give you plot details so you don't have to read it.


Faulkner often writes about the South in the period following the Civil War.  The South was devastated by the war:  its economy was destroyed, and most of the battles and raids and destruction took place in the South.  This story is about the recovery, or lack of it.  It is a bit of an allegory about refusing to let go of a glorious past. 


Emily, once a member of the aristocracy, has been "reduced" to a "commoner," so to speak.  And she refuses to accept the reduced status. 


The story is allegorically about the lengths a person will go to in order to hold on to a glorious past. 

I want to know more about the characteristics in "The Black Cat". Who is the main character and what are the characteristics for all the characters...

The main character would be our unnamed narrator. He is a crazy man who thinks he is sane. He starts out telling the reader that is was once a gentle and docile man who loved animals, and it is the cat that changes him into the monster. He honestly doesn't want to hurt the animal(s), but something from "beyond" entices him to do so, even leading to the death of his wife. If you believe he is a reliable narrator, then he would be a round character (many different traits) that changes over time (dynamic). If you think he is an unreliable narrator, I would still say he is a round character, but a static character (doesn't change over time).



The wife is the other main character. She is kind and understand and an unfortunate victim of her husband's wrath. She's a rather minor character, flat (one characteristic) and static (doesn't change, unless you count death as a change, but it isn't really a personality change).



The police officers are minor, static, flat characters.



You could make an argument that the cats (Pluto and the second black cat) are characters, but it's hard to classify them because, unless you really get to know a cat, it's hard to determine the personality. If you believe the narrator that the cat was spiting him on purpose, the cats could be considered round characters.

What would be the Resolution in A Raisin in the Sun?

Although the outcome doesn't seem very positive, some very important life lessons are learned here.

1. Joseph tells Beneatha that so many people are worse off than she, and that her dreams don't need to be forgotten because of this small bump in the road.  She can still be a doctor, and he would like to marry her and take her back to Africa to practice medicine when she's done.

2.  Momma tells Ruth and Beneatha that the time to love a person is not when everything is rosy, but when they are down and out.  Walter has lost the family's money, and he is in need of love and comfort now.

3.  Walter finds his pride.  The family decides to move into the house anyway--surely four grown people can earn enough to afford to move up in the world.  He tells Linder they don't want his money.  Linder makes a comment, "I hope you know what you're getting yourselves into."  The fact is, the family does.  Their eyes are open and they intend to make things better for their family and future. 

4.  Don't give up.  No matter how bad things look or get, with a little help, all can and will prevail.  Momma's plant at the end of the play represents this.  That poor plant should have long been dead, but it represents the will and determination of the family to survive in the midst of harsh circumstances.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Describe Tom's house in "The Devil and Tom Walker".no

At the beginning of the story, Tom's house is described as a "forlorn looking house that stood alone and had the look of starvation". Because of the stinginess and mistrust of both Tom and his wife, the house was as bad inside as it was out. Tom and his wife never trusted each other, they fought often, and neglected their animals. Their horse is pitifully described as having ribs sticking out, given barely enough food to survive. After Tom makes a deal with the devil, he builds a new, ostentatious home but never finishes it or furnishes it completely because he is too miserly. He still starves his horses and never takes care of his new possessions because that would cost money.

According to Aristotle, is "All My Sons" a real tragedy? If yes or no, please explain.

This would be easier to answer if there was a simple definition of tragedy.  There are several pieces to Aristotle's definition and they are interpreted multiple ways by different critics.  But, in my opinion, "All My Sons" is a tragedy, and can be seen as a classical tragedy.

“Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative; with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish its katharsis of such emotions. . .” (translation by S. H. Butcher)

Certainly, the play is serious and complete.  It absolutely attains a fairly high magnitude.  Miller's use of language is very artistic; look at the Doctor's speech about Chris having to be alone to watch his star go out.   In terms of catharsis, several characters can be said to have a catharsis, but most of all, it is Joe Keller who has the catharsis.  He finally comes to understand the true meaning of his actions and is undone by that.  I would also say that an audience would also find the play cathartic, in that there is much to be learned about setting priorities and making ethical choices, even in the face of family need.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Why is Russia at war with Georgia?

These are all excellent answers.  The conflict goes much farther back in time, however.  Georgia became a sort of vassal state to Russia in the 18th Century, partly for protection against the Ottoman Empire and partly because they could not protect themselves against the Russians anyway.  Ethnic and nationalist tensions between Georgia and Russia have surfaced continuously ever since.  Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan united as the Transcaucasion Federation in 1917, Georgia becoming independant the following year.  In 1922 they were forcibly annexed by the USSR.


The disturbing thing about the current unrest to me is the excuse used by Putin to explain the invasion of South Ossetia and Abkhazistan, that of the Russian national duty to "protect" Russians living in these areas.  The Abkhazi are not Russian, neither are the Ossetians, and neither ethnic group has expressed any interest in being part of Russia again.  The North Ossetians, living in Russia, want to seperate from the larger country and unite with the South Ossetians as an independant nation.


The excuse of protecting Russians living in neighboring countries is the same excuse Hitler gave for annexing Czechoslovakia and invading Poland, to "protect" Germans living in a country he wanted.

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

The crisis of a drama usually proceeds and leads to the climax.  In Shakespeare's Hamlet , the proof that Claudius is guilty...